really belated gift fic for Underlucius, eventually slash, chapter 8 of 8, Part A
Title: Tinkers' Bubble (8/8)
Rating: strong R
Category: Drama, Action/adventure, Mystery, Darkfic, Slash, Angst
Main character(s): S. Snape, R. Lupin, L. & D. Malfoy, P. Pettigrew, N. Tonks
Pairing(s): see author notes.
Era: post-HBP
Length: 3500 4000 4100 (and counting :p) + 1000 words
WARNING: Character death (sort of), and a really nasty gang rape scene (That's the +1000 words, and I'll post it strictly friends-locked. The link will be hidden somewhere inside Part A.)
Disclaimer: I think we all know what should go here. (One day, I'll buy the rights from JKR. Muhahaha.)
Author notes: Main pairing is Snape/Lupin, but it's still very tentative, mostly due to the presence of Nymphadora Tonks and a bunch of Death Eaters, including Lordy Voldy himself. (If you find Tonks too much of a Mary Sue, please tell me.) All factoids are from Wikipedia and the HP-Lexicon. My eternal gratitude to my beta Timi. Occasional typos are my fault entirely. Scroll down for notes.
ETA (03-17-2006): I keep adding more and more "extras" to the story: polishing & embellishing the language, putting links to the end of each chapter, not just between parts of chapters, making more endnotes, etc. I'll do another round of britpicking (or, in my case, weeding XD) sometime in the weekend.
ETA (03-19-2006): Britpicked Chapters 1-2 and 7-8. (The rule of thumb: always begin with the parts you like best.) I didn't have to change too many things, thank goodness.
Tinkers' Bubble
Chapter 8
Between These Two
"'He is not good and not beautiful, as you admit yourself, but do not imagine for that reason any the more that he must be ugly and bad, but something between these two,' said she."
~ Plato1
By the time Snape reached the orchard, Lupin was no longer his old, recognisable self. At least, Snape couldn't think of him anymore as Lupin. Lucius had been true to his word and tried a whole array of hexes and curses on him. Now it seemed the werewolf's limbs were only held together by the caked blood that covered every inch of his body. Snape could also see that the werewolf was painfully thin, more than ever before. The Umbridge Bill hadn't been kind to him. He already looked like the Muggle skeletons that Grindelwald and Hitler had left behind in their cheerful working camps. Only his eyes were alive, and they were glazed with pain.
Voldemort rose from his throne. "Why so late, Severus? We have been waiting for you, you know."
"I stayed until it was certain Draco would recover, my Lord," Snape replied with a bow.
"Does that mean you are reluctant to place your trust in Wormtail?" Voldemort asked with a friendly smile, tilting his head to he side. He was in a good mood, which was a bad sign. The mask of benevolence he wore seemed much more frightening and disgusting than his usual raving madness.
"I trust him when he is frightened enough to do as we ask him, my Lord," Snape said with a shrug. "I merely stayed to remind him not to disappoint you by accidentally killing Draco."
"Yes, we are all aware of Wormtail's shortcomings," Voldemort said, chuckling. "Very well, I will overlook your tardiness, for now. Have you brought the poison?"
Snape nodded.
"Good," Voldemort said, his mouth quirking upwards with that horrible smile again.
Snape forced himself to keep looking at the smiling face. "Shall I administer it to him, my Lord?"
"No, not yet. The fun is just about to begin. As I said, we have been waiting for you. Fenrir has been barely able to restrain himself."
Snape stared at Voldemort's smiling mouth even as it stopped talking. They were going to do it Fenrir's way. A queue was already forming behind the werewolf. And he was not only supposed to end Lupin's suffering in the end; he was supposed to join in.
*
[A/N: The actual rape scene should go here, and I really think it's a valid part of the story, but it's so brutal (heavily influenced by Hubert Selby's short story Tralala) that I thought it would be better to post it separately. Please click this link to read it.]
*
The queue was getting shorter and shorter, as dawn arrived with a gloomy grey mist that enveloped the orchard, chilling people to the bone.
Fenrir Greyback stumbled forward from the mist, with a fresh bottle of Old Ogden's in his hand. He was so intoxicated that he could barely stand on his feet.
"Sat'r'day's always makin' me 'orny," he slurred. "Starvin' for sex, mates."
He staggered past the queuing Death Eaters, and paused by Lupin's body. "I wanna 'ave a go at 'im again. Best mornin' esker. Site. Size. Ex - " He waved his hand decisively, sloshing his whisky on the ground. "Sport."
He tossed the bottle of whisky to Snape, and unbuckled his belt. "Give way to me conk'rin' cock, gent'men an' gent'wolves."
Marcus Flint tried to shove him away. "It's my turn, you tosser. You aren't getting another fuck while there's so many of us left standing."
Greyback grabbed the boy's neck and lifted him in the air. Flint's skin was rapidly purpling under his fingers. "There. You ain't standin' anymore."
Lucius Malfoy rapidly ended the Imperius on Lupin, and trained his wand on Greyback. "Let Marcus go. Now."
Greyback shook his head slowly. "Not a shanse."
Snape lifted his wand - Lupin's wand - as well, and stood beside Malfoy. "Put him down, pussywolf."
The rest of the werewolves began to growl.
Snape growled back. "Shut up, mutts." The growling around him intensified. The rest of the wizards drew their wands.
"Stop it, everybody!" a shrill voice cried. "In the name of the Dark Lord Voldemort!"2
It was Bellatrix. The Dark Lord's name seemed to work magic. Everyone turned towards her voice. Bellatrix was shoving her way through the crowd, but it was the person behind her that struck fear in the hearts and made people back down several steps.
The Dark Lord glided over to Greyback. The werewolf stared at him as if he had been put in a trance, and lowered Flint to the ground without a word. Flint slumped on the lawn and quietly started to weep.
Voldemort looked around. "Fenrir Greyback is a most valuable ally to our cause," he hissed. "As a reward for his unwavering loyalty, he can have another turn, but no more. After that, the revel shall go on as before."
He turned to sweep back to his chair.
Greyback leered at Lucius and Snape. "See? He values me more (hic). Values me more than you, wizards."
Voldemort stopped in his tracks, and looked back over his shoulder. "One more thing, Fenrir." He waited until the werewolf stepped closer. "Crucio."
It lasted only a few minutes, but left Greyback howling in pain. (He hadn't let go of the bottle, though.) When it was over, Voldemort resumed his place on the small throne, and two werewolves helped Greyback up from the ground. He shook his head to clear it, then staggered over to Lupin. He shoved the bottle in Snape's hand, tore his fly open, and positioned himself behind Lupin's arse.
He didn't thrust in, though. Instead, he started sniffing the air.
"What's the matter, Greyback?" Snape asked, just to daunt him a bit. "Too many scent marks over your territory?"
Greyback was towering over Lupin, cock erect and flushed, but in spite of this regal stance, he managed to look quite confused. "I think he's dead."
"Do you think so? Well, let's see," Lucius said. "Lupin, get on your knees and bark."
The body lay still.
Lucius began to laugh. "It seems there will be no more sex for you today, Greyback. At least not with Lupin.
"Somehow, I thought he would be more durable," Snape said in a soft voice.
"It's a shame you haven't gotten to him in the end," Lucius said, still laughing. "It would have been good to see you poison him after you've taken your turn."
Voldemort was watching them with languid eyes. He had been watching them throughout the night, with a half-filled wineglass in his hands. The wine was still intact.
"Is it done, then?" he asked.
Lucius bowed deeply. "Yes, my Lord."
Voldemort nodded. "Dispose of the body as you see fit, Lucius. It is time for us all to retire."
The Death Eaters took their leave and Disapparated, provided they felt capable of managing it without splinching temselves. Werewolves and those who were too drunk used the Malfoys' Floo parlour.
In less than a quarter of an hour, the orchard was empty but for Lucius and Snape and Lupin's body.
Snape was still holding Greyback's bottle. He looked at it thoughtfully, then shrank it and put it inside his pocket. Then he spoke up. "Do you want to dump him somewhere, Lucius?"
Lucius nodded. "I was thinking of Hogsmeade. It would scare the entire village and teach the Order to fear us. Not to mention the press. This murder should hold the attention of the media for a few weeks at least."
"Sounds reasonable," Snape admitted. He grabbed Lupin's ankle. "On the count of three, then?"
*
They were back in five minutes. When Lucius wasn't making snide comments or thinly veiled threats about Snape's "dangerous" ambition to rise in the ranks, he was an efficient partner in work.
"Are you certain you don't want to stay?" Lucius asked.
"I am. I need to find a safe place to hide, you know," Snape replied, stressing the word safe, which made it clear he didn't consider the Mansion such a place. "Are you going to see Draco?"
"I have other things to do," Lucius snapped. "I'll see him when I have time."
Snape glared at him. "Scared, Lucius? I promise you won't end up with chronic Mugglitis if you - Merlin forbid - breathe in the same air as he does."
Lucius lifted his wand and opened his mouth to say something, but Snape didn't wait for him. He Disapparated before Lucius could have hexed him.
He wasn't going to look for a safe haven, of course. He Apparated back to Hogsmeade, or, more precisely, to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, where Lupin's body was hidden under a layer of dead leaves. The Shrieking Shack was near, and the ruins of the low stone wall that used to encircle the house could be seen scattered among the trees.
Snape dragged the body onto a clear patch of grass that was bathing in early morning sunlight. He cast several healing charms on the body, to do away with the burned scalp and most of the injuries. When he deemed that the injuries were mostly healed, he started CPR on Lupin. The five pushes went fine, but when he had to touch Lupin's warm, swollen lips with his own, everything seemed to go wrong. It had to be wrong, kissing people as if they were all female. Lupin was decidedly not a woman, and Snape could barely rein in his wandering thoughts when he looked at that mouth.
He quickly pulled back, and instead of mouth-to-mouth first aid, he performed two difficult medical spells: one that made the lungs move and another that got the heart going. They didn't go very well, but they would have to do. Then he sat down on a tree trunk, and pulled the miniaturised bottle of whisky out of his pocket. He didn't bother to undo the shrinking charm, just downed the spirit in one gulp.
A split second later, Tonks Apparated in front of the nearest chunk of wall. She was carrying a huge backpack, and stumbled under its weight. She had to sit down on the wall, but she tried her best anyway to keep her wand pointed at Snape.
"Don't move," she said, voice trembling. "Or I - "
"Or you what? You can't even hold that wand straight," sneered Snape, trying to ignore the dull, alcohol-fuelled haze in his head.
Tonks flushed red with anger at his comment. She grabbed her wand in both hands, and levelled it at Snape again. "Is it better this way?"
Go to Part B
NOTES
[1] From Plato's Symposium. The lines belong to phophetess Diotima, describing Eros, the god of love.
[2] A reference to the Malfoys' family motto in Draco Malfoy, the Amazing Bouncing Rat by Maya: "In the name of the Dark Lord Insert-name-here!"
Rating: strong R
Category: Drama, Action/adventure, Mystery, Darkfic, Slash, Angst
Main character(s): S. Snape, R. Lupin, L. & D. Malfoy, P. Pettigrew, N. Tonks
Pairing(s): see author notes.
Era: post-HBP
Length: 3500 4000 4100 (and counting :p) + 1000 words
WARNING: Character death (sort of), and a really nasty gang rape scene (That's the +1000 words, and I'll post it strictly friends-locked. The link will be hidden somewhere inside Part A.)
Disclaimer: I think we all know what should go here. (One day, I'll buy the rights from JKR. Muhahaha.)
Author notes: Main pairing is Snape/Lupin, but it's still very tentative, mostly due to the presence of Nymphadora Tonks and a bunch of Death Eaters, including Lordy Voldy himself. (If you find Tonks too much of a Mary Sue, please tell me.) All factoids are from Wikipedia and the HP-Lexicon. My eternal gratitude to my beta Timi. Occasional typos are my fault entirely. Scroll down for notes.
ETA (03-17-2006): I keep adding more and more "extras" to the story: polishing & embellishing the language, putting links to the end of each chapter, not just between parts of chapters, making more endnotes, etc. I'll do another round of britpicking (or, in my case, weeding XD) sometime in the weekend.
ETA (03-19-2006): Britpicked Chapters 1-2 and 7-8. (The rule of thumb: always begin with the parts you like best.) I didn't have to change too many things, thank goodness.
Tinkers' Bubble
Chapter 8
Between These Two
"'He is not good and not beautiful, as you admit yourself, but do not imagine for that reason any the more that he must be ugly and bad, but something between these two,' said she."
~ Plato1
By the time Snape reached the orchard, Lupin was no longer his old, recognisable self. At least, Snape couldn't think of him anymore as Lupin. Lucius had been true to his word and tried a whole array of hexes and curses on him. Now it seemed the werewolf's limbs were only held together by the caked blood that covered every inch of his body. Snape could also see that the werewolf was painfully thin, more than ever before. The Umbridge Bill hadn't been kind to him. He already looked like the Muggle skeletons that Grindelwald and Hitler had left behind in their cheerful working camps. Only his eyes were alive, and they were glazed with pain.
Voldemort rose from his throne. "Why so late, Severus? We have been waiting for you, you know."
"I stayed until it was certain Draco would recover, my Lord," Snape replied with a bow.
"Does that mean you are reluctant to place your trust in Wormtail?" Voldemort asked with a friendly smile, tilting his head to he side. He was in a good mood, which was a bad sign. The mask of benevolence he wore seemed much more frightening and disgusting than his usual raving madness.
"I trust him when he is frightened enough to do as we ask him, my Lord," Snape said with a shrug. "I merely stayed to remind him not to disappoint you by accidentally killing Draco."
"Yes, we are all aware of Wormtail's shortcomings," Voldemort said, chuckling. "Very well, I will overlook your tardiness, for now. Have you brought the poison?"
Snape nodded.
"Good," Voldemort said, his mouth quirking upwards with that horrible smile again.
Snape forced himself to keep looking at the smiling face. "Shall I administer it to him, my Lord?"
"No, not yet. The fun is just about to begin. As I said, we have been waiting for you. Fenrir has been barely able to restrain himself."
Snape stared at Voldemort's smiling mouth even as it stopped talking. They were going to do it Fenrir's way. A queue was already forming behind the werewolf. And he was not only supposed to end Lupin's suffering in the end; he was supposed to join in.
*
[A/N: The actual rape scene should go here, and I really think it's a valid part of the story, but it's so brutal (heavily influenced by Hubert Selby's short story Tralala) that I thought it would be better to post it separately. Please click this link to read it.]
*
The queue was getting shorter and shorter, as dawn arrived with a gloomy grey mist that enveloped the orchard, chilling people to the bone.
Fenrir Greyback stumbled forward from the mist, with a fresh bottle of Old Ogden's in his hand. He was so intoxicated that he could barely stand on his feet.
"Sat'r'day's always makin' me 'orny," he slurred. "Starvin' for sex, mates."
He staggered past the queuing Death Eaters, and paused by Lupin's body. "I wanna 'ave a go at 'im again. Best mornin' esker. Site. Size. Ex - " He waved his hand decisively, sloshing his whisky on the ground. "Sport."
He tossed the bottle of whisky to Snape, and unbuckled his belt. "Give way to me conk'rin' cock, gent'men an' gent'wolves."
Marcus Flint tried to shove him away. "It's my turn, you tosser. You aren't getting another fuck while there's so many of us left standing."
Greyback grabbed the boy's neck and lifted him in the air. Flint's skin was rapidly purpling under his fingers. "There. You ain't standin' anymore."
Lucius Malfoy rapidly ended the Imperius on Lupin, and trained his wand on Greyback. "Let Marcus go. Now."
Greyback shook his head slowly. "Not a shanse."
Snape lifted his wand - Lupin's wand - as well, and stood beside Malfoy. "Put him down, pussywolf."
The rest of the werewolves began to growl.
Snape growled back. "Shut up, mutts." The growling around him intensified. The rest of the wizards drew their wands.
"Stop it, everybody!" a shrill voice cried. "In the name of the Dark Lord Voldemort!"2
It was Bellatrix. The Dark Lord's name seemed to work magic. Everyone turned towards her voice. Bellatrix was shoving her way through the crowd, but it was the person behind her that struck fear in the hearts and made people back down several steps.
The Dark Lord glided over to Greyback. The werewolf stared at him as if he had been put in a trance, and lowered Flint to the ground without a word. Flint slumped on the lawn and quietly started to weep.
Voldemort looked around. "Fenrir Greyback is a most valuable ally to our cause," he hissed. "As a reward for his unwavering loyalty, he can have another turn, but no more. After that, the revel shall go on as before."
He turned to sweep back to his chair.
Greyback leered at Lucius and Snape. "See? He values me more (hic). Values me more than you, wizards."
Voldemort stopped in his tracks, and looked back over his shoulder. "One more thing, Fenrir." He waited until the werewolf stepped closer. "Crucio."
It lasted only a few minutes, but left Greyback howling in pain. (He hadn't let go of the bottle, though.) When it was over, Voldemort resumed his place on the small throne, and two werewolves helped Greyback up from the ground. He shook his head to clear it, then staggered over to Lupin. He shoved the bottle in Snape's hand, tore his fly open, and positioned himself behind Lupin's arse.
He didn't thrust in, though. Instead, he started sniffing the air.
"What's the matter, Greyback?" Snape asked, just to daunt him a bit. "Too many scent marks over your territory?"
Greyback was towering over Lupin, cock erect and flushed, but in spite of this regal stance, he managed to look quite confused. "I think he's dead."
"Do you think so? Well, let's see," Lucius said. "Lupin, get on your knees and bark."
The body lay still.
Lucius began to laugh. "It seems there will be no more sex for you today, Greyback. At least not with Lupin.
"Somehow, I thought he would be more durable," Snape said in a soft voice.
"It's a shame you haven't gotten to him in the end," Lucius said, still laughing. "It would have been good to see you poison him after you've taken your turn."
Voldemort was watching them with languid eyes. He had been watching them throughout the night, with a half-filled wineglass in his hands. The wine was still intact.
"Is it done, then?" he asked.
Lucius bowed deeply. "Yes, my Lord."
Voldemort nodded. "Dispose of the body as you see fit, Lucius. It is time for us all to retire."
The Death Eaters took their leave and Disapparated, provided they felt capable of managing it without splinching temselves. Werewolves and those who were too drunk used the Malfoys' Floo parlour.
In less than a quarter of an hour, the orchard was empty but for Lucius and Snape and Lupin's body.
Snape was still holding Greyback's bottle. He looked at it thoughtfully, then shrank it and put it inside his pocket. Then he spoke up. "Do you want to dump him somewhere, Lucius?"
Lucius nodded. "I was thinking of Hogsmeade. It would scare the entire village and teach the Order to fear us. Not to mention the press. This murder should hold the attention of the media for a few weeks at least."
"Sounds reasonable," Snape admitted. He grabbed Lupin's ankle. "On the count of three, then?"
*
They were back in five minutes. When Lucius wasn't making snide comments or thinly veiled threats about Snape's "dangerous" ambition to rise in the ranks, he was an efficient partner in work.
"Are you certain you don't want to stay?" Lucius asked.
"I am. I need to find a safe place to hide, you know," Snape replied, stressing the word safe, which made it clear he didn't consider the Mansion such a place. "Are you going to see Draco?"
"I have other things to do," Lucius snapped. "I'll see him when I have time."
Snape glared at him. "Scared, Lucius? I promise you won't end up with chronic Mugglitis if you - Merlin forbid - breathe in the same air as he does."
Lucius lifted his wand and opened his mouth to say something, but Snape didn't wait for him. He Disapparated before Lucius could have hexed him.
He wasn't going to look for a safe haven, of course. He Apparated back to Hogsmeade, or, more precisely, to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, where Lupin's body was hidden under a layer of dead leaves. The Shrieking Shack was near, and the ruins of the low stone wall that used to encircle the house could be seen scattered among the trees.
Snape dragged the body onto a clear patch of grass that was bathing in early morning sunlight. He cast several healing charms on the body, to do away with the burned scalp and most of the injuries. When he deemed that the injuries were mostly healed, he started CPR on Lupin. The five pushes went fine, but when he had to touch Lupin's warm, swollen lips with his own, everything seemed to go wrong. It had to be wrong, kissing people as if they were all female. Lupin was decidedly not a woman, and Snape could barely rein in his wandering thoughts when he looked at that mouth.
He quickly pulled back, and instead of mouth-to-mouth first aid, he performed two difficult medical spells: one that made the lungs move and another that got the heart going. They didn't go very well, but they would have to do. Then he sat down on a tree trunk, and pulled the miniaturised bottle of whisky out of his pocket. He didn't bother to undo the shrinking charm, just downed the spirit in one gulp.
A split second later, Tonks Apparated in front of the nearest chunk of wall. She was carrying a huge backpack, and stumbled under its weight. She had to sit down on the wall, but she tried her best anyway to keep her wand pointed at Snape.
"Don't move," she said, voice trembling. "Or I - "
"Or you what? You can't even hold that wand straight," sneered Snape, trying to ignore the dull, alcohol-fuelled haze in his head.
Tonks flushed red with anger at his comment. She grabbed her wand in both hands, and levelled it at Snape again. "Is it better this way?"
Go to Part B
NOTES
[1] From Plato's Symposium. The lines belong to phophetess Diotima, describing Eros, the god of love.
[2] A reference to the Malfoys' family motto in Draco Malfoy, the Amazing Bouncing Rat by Maya: "In the name of the Dark Lord Insert-name-here!"