Testing
Author: verus_janus
Title: Testing
Characters: Severus Snape, and someone else
Word Count: 700
Rating: G
Warnings: None
For:
darkarts_ldws
Prompt: Severus Snape, Invading the Mind
The Dark Lord had ordered it, and he was always a loyal servant,wasn't he? No matter that his old loyalties, hidden with the Dark Lord's ascendance, had been sworn to another in his youth. His youth? Well, if he was not exactly old now, he was not the young man - barely more than a boy - he had been. The venerable old man was gone now. And the Dark Lord had ordered this.
He knew he was secure, his secrets locked in Occlumency more intense than that in anyone he had thus far met. This boy - this young recruit. What would he know of the precariousness of divided
allegiance? He seemed ardent. He was clever. That was why the Dark Lord chose him.
He took the thin young wrist in his fingers, indelibly stained with his own Dark Arts. The pulse was surprisingly calm and steady. Why? The Dark Lord had summoned the boy to this as well. Would he not be trepidatious at all? Everyone had some secret.
"Look at me."
But the dark eyes that raised to his were not afraid either. They were lit, not with defiance, but with electricity born of concentration. Something was odd.
Was it a test for him, a trap? Was the boy more than he seemed, trained perhaps to power? The Dark Lord always feared betrayal. What of Karkaroff, for instance? What of the dead? He had thought himself secure, after all these years, but he was always careful. This very request to test the boy spoke of the paranoia of these times, ripe with momentum and tumult. But perhaps paranoia was prudent.
"Legilimens!"
The boy let him slide in almost easily; his barrier of resistance was thin and flexible. It seemed contrived. The shock of another inside his mind, prodding his soul, was no sudden start. It had been expected. He looked inside. There was the boy, light of loyalty blazing within him. Just beyond, obscured, was his secret love of his friends, as if it were guilty of eclipsing his love of the Dark Lord. Perhaps a touch of divided loyalties after all? But there was little else. Studiousness and inventiveness - the boy working with books and spells. Another half-obscured weakness: the boy was worried he would be disliked because he was too serious. Strangely, the rest was opaque and smooth. If the inside of a mind could have a colour, it would have been a soft swirl of mother of pearl. He had never seen anything like it. What did the boy do to relax? Where was his family? What did he dream? What had hurt him?
And then there was a flash of metaphoric light within him, and the boy was looking back into him. Curious, he had left himself unguarded. He shut the boy out utterly. But not before he revealed the vision of the old man, shining, arms raised in spell and beauty, his beard flowing white against the night. It was as if a door had opened and then closed between them. He was no longer in the boy's mind either, though he still held the thin wrist.
He prepared to cast Obliviate. This would not come out. Ever. He had guarded it too long.
But the boy spoke. "Gellert Grindelwald was a great man, Mr. Dolohov. Of course you revere him." He smiled - one of the first times Antonin had seen him do so - and his eyes smiled with secrets. It was not a popular sentiment, but he had spoken it. The Dark Lord was jealous. The boy was opening himself to trust by agreeing.
"Yes he was, Severus," the man answered. Perhaps, after all, he would not make him forget. His mind was fine. The boy had prepared for this, stilled his pulse, shown him what he was looking for - a weakness, a hidden secret, talents and good qualities. Whatever his true secrets were, they remained his own. Why not work with such a one, as an ally rather than a rival? Why tear such a promising young boy to political pieces? Perhaps, after all, he really did enjoy study and experimentation - books and spells. There was always room for one more alliance.
first posted to my dreamwidth account.
Title: Testing
Characters: Severus Snape, and someone else
Word Count: 700
Rating: G
Warnings: None
For:
darkarts_ldws
Prompt: Severus Snape, Invading the Mind
The Dark Lord had ordered it, and he was always a loyal servant,wasn't he? No matter that his old loyalties, hidden with the Dark Lord's ascendance, had been sworn to another in his youth. His youth? Well, if he was not exactly old now, he was not the young man - barely more than a boy - he had been. The venerable old man was gone now. And the Dark Lord had ordered this.
He knew he was secure, his secrets locked in Occlumency more intense than that in anyone he had thus far met. This boy - this young recruit. What would he know of the precariousness of divided
allegiance? He seemed ardent. He was clever. That was why the Dark Lord chose him.
He took the thin young wrist in his fingers, indelibly stained with his own Dark Arts. The pulse was surprisingly calm and steady. Why? The Dark Lord had summoned the boy to this as well. Would he not be trepidatious at all? Everyone had some secret.
"Look at me."
But the dark eyes that raised to his were not afraid either. They were lit, not with defiance, but with electricity born of concentration. Something was odd.
Was it a test for him, a trap? Was the boy more than he seemed, trained perhaps to power? The Dark Lord always feared betrayal. What of Karkaroff, for instance? What of the dead? He had thought himself secure, after all these years, but he was always careful. This very request to test the boy spoke of the paranoia of these times, ripe with momentum and tumult. But perhaps paranoia was prudent.
"Legilimens!"
The boy let him slide in almost easily; his barrier of resistance was thin and flexible. It seemed contrived. The shock of another inside his mind, prodding his soul, was no sudden start. It had been expected. He looked inside. There was the boy, light of loyalty blazing within him. Just beyond, obscured, was his secret love of his friends, as if it were guilty of eclipsing his love of the Dark Lord. Perhaps a touch of divided loyalties after all? But there was little else. Studiousness and inventiveness - the boy working with books and spells. Another half-obscured weakness: the boy was worried he would be disliked because he was too serious. Strangely, the rest was opaque and smooth. If the inside of a mind could have a colour, it would have been a soft swirl of mother of pearl. He had never seen anything like it. What did the boy do to relax? Where was his family? What did he dream? What had hurt him?
And then there was a flash of metaphoric light within him, and the boy was looking back into him. Curious, he had left himself unguarded. He shut the boy out utterly. But not before he revealed the vision of the old man, shining, arms raised in spell and beauty, his beard flowing white against the night. It was as if a door had opened and then closed between them. He was no longer in the boy's mind either, though he still held the thin wrist.
He prepared to cast Obliviate. This would not come out. Ever. He had guarded it too long.
But the boy spoke. "Gellert Grindelwald was a great man, Mr. Dolohov. Of course you revere him." He smiled - one of the first times Antonin had seen him do so - and his eyes smiled with secrets. It was not a popular sentiment, but he had spoken it. The Dark Lord was jealous. The boy was opening himself to trust by agreeing.
"Yes he was, Severus," the man answered. Perhaps, after all, he would not make him forget. His mind was fine. The boy had prepared for this, stilled his pulse, shown him what he was looking for - a weakness, a hidden secret, talents and good qualities. Whatever his true secrets were, they remained his own. Why not work with such a one, as an ally rather than a rival? Why tear such a promising young boy to political pieces? Perhaps, after all, he really did enjoy study and experimentation - books and spells. There was always room for one more alliance.
first posted to my dreamwidth account.