𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐏𝐄 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐒

X

Act X.

Vincit omnia veritas.

Truth conquers all.

Voldemort watched the writhing man with avid fascination, a mixture of pure bliss and great malice flittering through his red eyes. An hour had gone by and still he was relentless in his torture. He was greatly displeased by Lucius’ failure, which came at the heels of Voldemort’s having to rectify his last one. Needless to say the Dark Lord’s patience with the blonde had grown thin, which was why Lucius was still writhing violently on the hard floor. His body was thrashing wildly, his skin bruising and scraping against the jagged ground, blood starting to seep from the vicious cuts. The Dark Lord smiled at such an enticing sight. The magnificent red of Lucius’ pure blood staining the stark contrast of his pale, bone white skin. It was marvelous! There was no such better artistry than the heady mix of beauty and pain. Even as a child, he had loved breaking his toys, almost as much as he did acquiring them. He was always utterly fascinated by the bending and twisting of plastic limbs and the satisfying snap of synthetic material breaking. It was always one of his few treasured childhood memories. Approaching footsteps shook him from his reverie and he smiled sardonically at the man who had immediately knelt before him.

“Ah, Severus. There you are.” Voldemort greeted the kneeling man with a predatory smile.

“My Lord. I came as soon as you called.” Severus intoned evenly, although inside he was crowing like a happy pig in the mud at the sight that had greeted him when he’d stepped inside the chamber. Cruciatus had never looked so good as when applied to Lucius Malfoy. Serves you right you foul, loathsome bastard! Severus thought viciously.

“Did you?” Voldemort asked with cocked eyebrow. “Did you really? I bet you had to ask permission to take your leave from the old fool.”

Not liking where this was going one bit, Severus struggled to find a good way of answering. “To keep appearances, I had to, My Lord. It was the only way I could keep my position secret so I can still be able to serve you.”

Smiling darkly, Voldemort advanced towards the dark bowed head. He wordlessly ended the curse on Lucius and ignored the tortured man’s hoarse gratitude as he came to a stop before his spy. “I wonder, Severus, if that is such the case. The brat was your godson, was he not? Perhaps you stayed a bit later to check up on the traitor? Perhaps that is what kept you.” He smiled dangerously at the prostrating man. “Didn’t you care for him? Perhaps you even knew of his choice and did not turn him in?” His voice had dropped down to a malevolent hiss at the last question.

Struggling not to blanch visibly at the naked accusation in the Dark Lord’s red eyes, Severus tried to think of a way to diffuse the situation. Hell and damnation! He didn’t know the bloody tables would be turned on him! “I cared for him as a child out of duty. He has never been anything but a means to an end, Master. I have no loyalty to the spoilt brat. His arrogance has always grated my nerves and I am more than enraged to have suffered his existence for nothing.” Severus lied deftly, immediately putting up his mental shields wandlessly. He had to be careful, constructing them in such a way that it didn’t make the Dark Lord suspicious by their strength but making them sturdy enough to cover his tracks. And this was why, when Voldemort made to enter his mind, he was ready. He didn’t survive more than twenty years as a spy without learning a thing or two.

With a twisted smile on his thin lips, Voldemort lifted his wand with great malice and said, “We’ll see about that. Legilimens!”

Severus stiffened at the invasion, no matter how ready he was for it. It was a peculiar kind of torture to have your mind entered as brutally as the Dark Lord had a penchant for doing. He haphazardly rifled through his memories, stopping and enjoying the painful ones. Severus opened his mind to the violation. Gently coaxing Voldemort’s search into more ambiguous memories rather than the tender ones he had of the boy. He focused solely on the moments when he truly did feel exasperation and irritation for the boy because he really was as stubborn and arrogant as his father at times. It always drove him insane when the boy would copy his father’s tone and demeanor. It always irked him that the boy had made for such a perfect minute version of Lucius. One was bad enough! It also helped that he had distanced himself from the boy as he grew older. It hurt to do so but it was the best thing to do and his decision, no matter how painful, was the right one because it saved him now from a similar appointment with the hard ground like the one Lucius had just endured.