Before long, Lord Voldemort returned. He was holding a bundle of rope in his hand, and Severus watched helplessly as the Dark Lord pulled his legs apart, looped the rope around the backs of his knees, and tied it to the shackles on his neck.
"Lord..."
Lord Voldemort's Yew wand pressed lightly against the base of Severus's spine, tearing his trousers wide enough for a man to pass through.
Severus watched in sheer disbelief as the Dark Lord pressed down upon him.
A terrifying sensation traveled from his nerve endings straight to his brain, making his scalp tingle and almost forcing a scream from his throat against his will.
His hands were seized, his wrists bound together behind his head, and hooked onto the shackles so that he could not move an inch. Effectively, his only option now was to thrust his hips to meet Lord Voldemort's pace, whether willingly or by force.
The Dark Lord's crimson eyes seemed devoid of all emotion. Severus turned his head away in agony, only for his waist to be gripped and pinched ruthlessly.
"Aren't you doing this for Lily?"
The Dark Lord said with a cruel mockery of mercy, "Be my lover, and the Dark Lord will spare her life. None of the Death Eaters shall touch her."
This was a bargaining chip Severus could not refuse, and the only one Lord Voldemort could use to keep him here.
Just this one.
"Master... don't... kill me..."
Lord Voldemort chuckled. His Potions Master still cherished his own life, after all.
How wonderful.
"Then how are you going to compensate me?"
Finally caught in my grasp, my double agent.
"Anything."
Severus said, but the next moment he suddenly sensed the Dark Lord's boiling rage.
"Is that how you answered Dumbledore?" Lord Voldemort asked. Severus saw murderous intent flash in those crimson eyes, though it was forcibly reined in at the last second.
The viper bared its fangs and struck its prey. The Potions Master let out a wretched, strangled cry, utterly powerless and unable to struggle, before collapsing limply to the ground, completely immobilized.
"Clack."
The shackles were unlocked, and Lord Voldemort carried Severus upstairs to his bedroom.
What followed was another round of ruthless torture. This time, Lord Voldemort used a slender whip, leaving numerous bloody stripes across Severus's body.
Severus was permitted to wear a single loose robe, but nothing else. His wrists were locked in a new pair of manacles that monitored his magic in real-time, and the shackles around his ankles were now joined by a rigid horizontal bar.
"Master..."
Severus lay face down on the bed. The effects of the potion had finally worn off, but his body had reached its absolute limit.
"Go brew your own potions. My potions lab is open to you."
It always had been.
Lord Voldemort gave Severus a long, deep look, and finally tossed a candy onto the bed.
"There are more of these candies in the potions lab."
With that, he turned and left. Having wreaked havoc for so long, Dumbledore would soon be making his move. If he didn't order the Death Eaters to pull back and conserve their strength now, they would likely suffer a devastating blow from the Order of the Phoenix.
Lord Voldemort pondered as he walked, feeling rather like a player in a Muggle horror game who hits a certain stage and instantly triggers a boss fight—a boss equipped with an unanswerable one-hit-kill mechanic.
Terrifying for a Dark Lord. The Dark Lord gave a disdainful scowl.
As the most rebellious Eighth Horcrux of No-Nose, his vessel was a Time-Turner—specifically, the largest and most ancient Time-Turner in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic.
This was the real reason he had been able to reverse time.
Fawkes, Gorth, and Phinit—three phoenixes belonging respectively to the three Dumbledore siblings—had all sacrificed themselves, combined with his own soul, to finally turn back the hands of time.
Ah, "Damn it." Lord Voldemort suddenly remembered something just as Abraxas came over to report. "What is it, Voldy?"
"I need to go to Godric's Hollow!"
Leaving those words behind, Lord Voldemort Apparated away, leaving Abraxas utterly baffled and muttering under his breath, "What is up with Voldy today..."
He wanted to borrow the potions lab. Voldy's lab was never open to outsiders, but now that he was gone, he had better sneak in while he had the chance, lest all the good ingredients be wasted by that spy.
Even if that was Voldy's officially stamped Potions Master, still... still, the man was practically a fifteen-year-old cub!
Abraxas pushed the door open and headed straight for the Dark Lord's potions lab, completely abandoning any pretense of Malfoy grace. His platinum-blond hair whipped wildly behind him as he shoved the door open with a resounding bang.
"Sectumsempra!"
A streak of Dark Magic came flying straight at his face. Fortunately, Abraxas had always kept up with his training, allowing him to narrowly dodge it, though a stinging bloody scratch was left across his cheek.
Abraxas let out a hiss. "Episkey."
The pain lingered.
Only then did he cast his gaze upon the black-robed wizard standing before the cauldron, and the moment he saw him clearly, he wished he could claw his own eyes out.
Ahhhhh, Voldy, why is he dressed so! scandalously! through! and! through!
That messy, tattered black robe barely covered his back, chest, and long legs... Don't think he couldn't tell the man was wearing absolutely nothing underneath, Voldy!!!!
And why didn't he even clean up the bloodstains?!
Is it really a good idea to leave a wand in his hand?!
What was that just now, that was insanely powerful Dark Magic?!
Terrified, Abraxas slammed the potions lab door shut with a loud "Bang!", pressed his back against it, and gasped for breath, still in a state of utter shock.
Help me. That brief glimpse seemed to show uncleaned traces of white fluid still clinging to those legs. Could Voldy that idiot really have left a mess like that?
Help, help, help, help, help, someone save me—
Whoever wants to work this damn job can have it, I'm taking a vacation! Where is Lucius?!
As soon as you manage to produce an heir, get your lazy ass over here and start working shifts!!
Inside the potions lab, Severus was also standing there with his wand raised in lingering panic, though he dared not leave the cauldron. The Wolfsbane Potion was not yet invented, and if he brewed it now, it might just prove his worth.
Wait... was that person just now Abraxas Malfoy?
Lucius's father?
He should be dead by now... No, the Dark Lord had also been reborn, and Abraxas was the Dark Lord's closest friend, so of course he was alive...
What kind of healthy fifty-something wizard just drops dead anyway?
Suddenly recalling his own deeply humiliating posture, Severus's hand holding the wand trembled slightly, his mouth tasting of bitter ash.
He... was also Lucius's good friend...
After a short wait, the door of the potions lab trembled and inched open a tiny crack, and a set of proper, dignified robes was tossed in from the outside.
"Severus! These are from Voldy's wardrobe, your size. You... you-you-you, put them on right now! I just wanted to sneak in and pinch some potion ingredients while Voldy was away!"
Severus: "......"
This behavior seemed, somehow, roughly, perhaps, just a teensy-weensy bit familiar?
At Malfoy Manor, Lucius—who was cuddling intimately with Narcissa in a honey-sweet embrace—suddenly let out a loud: "Achoo!"
Narcissa: (ー_ー)||