XXX: Hell Hath No Fury Like A Slytherin Scorned

A/N: This chapter contains some harrowing scenes. We thought it was fair to warn you.

Chapter XXX: Hell Hath No Fury Like A Slytherin Scorned

Of course Lucius would have been given the best room in the castle, Morgana thought as she climbed the stairs to Lucius' chambers. But she wished it would not have been a tower room. The higher she climbed, the dizzier she became, and the stitch in her side was making her wince. But what really slowed her down was that strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. Never before had it felt so wrong to go and see Lucius. And she almost regretted not having let Snape come up with an excuse for her.

She paused a minute in front of Lucius' door to catch her breath and gather her thoughts. Had she been impudent down in Snape's classroom? She had more or less told Lucius to put a sock in it and get out. He had smiled at her and scowled at Snape. But Morgana had the ominous feeling that Lucius had meant to scowl at her as well.

He told her to enter at once when she knocked, and Morgana slunk inside, carefully closing the door behind her. She lingered close to the threshold, her hand still on the doorknob. The climb up the stairs had made her dizzy, and somehow, the cold metal provided security. She tried to suppress a wave of nausea and breathe slowly, but her heart was beating so hard she was convinced that Lucius would hear it on the other side of the room, where he was sitting in an armchair, a glass of brandy in his hand.

'At last,' he growled. 'I started to wonder if the bat had taken you back to his lair.'

Morgana's grip around the doorknob tightened, this time not to keep her balance, but to keep her from slapping Lucius or saying something stupid. She had been angry at him down in Snape's classroom this evening. She had very much disliked him talking to Snape in such a condescending manner, just as much as she had disliked him disturbing her private time with her teacher. Now, once again, she felt anger rise in her chest.

'I said I'd be here in an hour, Lucius,' she replied curtly. 'That makes me three minutes early.'

'I care little for your tone, Morgana,' Lucius hissed in reply. 'Let alone the treatment of me in front of your greasy Head of House. After all I have done for you, after all I have given to you...' He theatrically buried his face in his free hand. 'I have laid my family on the line for you, and that is how you repay me? By mocking me in front of your teacher like I was some kind of pet?'

'It is thanks to Professor Snape that I am still able to be at school, Lucius,' Morgana explained calmly, now wavering between anger and affection for the blond wizard in front of her. Had she been too hard on him? 'I am already off Snape's favourite students list, and I cannot afford him being angry with me. And you disturbing our lesson tonight did not exactly help.'

'Watch your tongue!' Lucius shot up from his chair and fixed Morgana with an icy stare that made her inch backwards. What was he so angry about?

'You humiliated my son in front of the entire school, and me along with him, and I forgave you. I shower you with gifts, begin to plan a life with you, for us, for our child, and you humiliate me all over again.' Lucius closed the gap between them in a flash and grabbed Morgana's upper arms with a force that made her flinch. 'You have tested my considerable patience a great deal over the last weeks, Morgana Belakane,' he growled. 'I demand that you give me the respect I deserve.'

Morgana never got a chance to reply as Lucius pressed her up against the wall, crushing her mouth with his. He tasted of brandy, and his fingers still dug painfully into her biceps as he took kisses from her which she was not willing to give. As he ground himself against her, Morgana could feel that he was aroused. And she knew that she would not be able to refuse him if he decided to take her.

Still kissing her feverishly, Lucius jerked her from the door and marched her backwards towards the bed, his right hand already pulling her robes up. He was still grinding his hips against her, and as the back of her legs bumped against the bed, Morgana lost her balance and fell onto the mattress where Lucius pinned her down with his body.

She inhaled sharply as his smooth hand ran up the inside of her thigh just to brush her core and pull her knickers to the side. His touch sent shivers through her whole body, and she was not sure if they were of the good kind. She had always enjoyed Lucius dominating her, but so far he had always asked for her permission. Now, he had not! She tried to wriggle free, but Lucius had already positioned himself between her thighs, pinning her down with one hand around her throat and opening his trousers with the other.

'I believe,' he growled, his cold eyes boring into hers and glittering menacingly, 'that you owe me an apology, my love.'

Without warning, he thrust into her, and Morgana stifled a moan. She had not been ready for him, either physically or mentally, and he was hurting her. So were his teeth at her shoulder and his fingers at her throat.

'Say it,' Lucius hissed. 'Say that you are sorry, my love.'

Now Morgana was struggling in earnest. She did not want this, and she was certain that Lucius did not really want it, either. He was drunk. He would never deliberately hurt her. Never.

'Lucius, stop,' she pleaded, trying to make him snap out of his alcohol daze. 'Please stop. You're hurting me.'

'Just like you have hurt me. Now, say it.'

Morgana remained silent, but it wasn't Lucius' hand at her throat that made her unable to utter a sound. It was the look on his face. He looked evil, almost insane.

'Say it, my love,' he snarled as he relentlessly drove into her. 'One little word. Just say you're sorry.'

Later, Morgana would not remember what had made her say it. Maybe she had feared for her life as Lucius' fingers had closed around her throat, maybe she had been sorry for ever trusting the man whose steely eyes had been boring into hers, but she begged him for forgiveness there and then with what seemed to be her last breath, and Lucius came loudly, covering her face with kisses as he shot spurt after spurt of his seed into her.

He rolled off her and pulled her close, spooning her, tenderly kissing the back of her neck and caressing her breasts through the fabric of her school robes. And before he drifted off to sleep, he called her love once more.

Morgana only moved when she was sure that Lucius was fast asleep. She did not want him to notice that she was sneaking out. What if he took it as yet another insult? What would he do to her then? The safest thing to do would certainly have been to let him sleep and hope he would have forgotten about the whole evening when he woke up. But Morgana couldn't make herself stay. Her whole body was aching and she felt cold, so terribly cold.

When she had reached the door, she carefully glanced over her shoulder at the sleeping wizard on the bed. His shirt was open, his chest bared, and his long blond hair lay on the pillow like spun gold. He was beautiful.

Once she had shut the door from the outside, Morgana closed her eyes and tried to make sense of what had just happened in the tower room. Lucius could not have meant to hurt her, she tried to convince herself once more. He used to be dominating sometimes, they used to have increasingly rougher sex as time went on, but he had never before taken her like that, he had never hurt her. And he could not have meant to tonight either. He had been drunk. He had lost control. Yes, it must have been the brandy. It must have.

On shaking legs, Morgana made her way down the stairs, holding on to the wall for support and hoping that she wouldn't meet anyone before she reached the girls' bathroom. She did not want to explain her tearstained face and her bruised neck to anyone.

At the bottom of the stairs, she paused to rub her aching side. And only when she stood still did she feel something warm trickle down her thighs. Lucius' sperm, she concluded and did not even consider the possibility of blood before a sharp pain in her abdomen made her sink to her knees.

* * *

Snape slammed the door of his quarters shut behind him. To Hades with what Lucius wanted and what the slippery bastard was going to tell the Dark Lord about either him or the school. He, the Head of Slytherin House, was now going to Lucius Malfoy's room to get Morgana out of there. Surely, even a thick-headed inbred like Lucius must understand that a student spending the night with a school governor was not acceptable. If necessary, Snape was prepared to make a scene that would wake the whole castle in order to get the girl out of Lucius' room.

He should not have let her go to Lucius in the first place, Snape scolded himself. Lucius had been in an odd mood after he had interrupted their lesson, and the girl had obviously not wanted to go. He as her teacher and Head of House should have put his foot down and forbidden her to go. But he had let her go despite his better judgement. With any luck, he would get her out before Lucius had a chance to sink his fangs into her.

It was late, and the corridors were dark. But Snape didn't need any light. He knew the corridors like the back of his hand. But he did light his wand as he turned the last corner and heard a soft sobbing coming from the bottom of the stairs. And his blood turned to ice has he caught sight of a mop of flaming red hair.

'Miss Belakane?' He reached the cowering girl with a few swift strides and knelt down in front of her. 'Miss Belakane, what is the matter?'

Morgana bit her lip and inhaled sharply to cover up another sob. She had not wanted anyone to see her, not like this. She heard Snape call her name, heard him demand that she look at him, but she refused. Her cheeks were stained with tears, and she did not want him to see.

'Morgana, look at me,' Snape asked, now reaching out for the girl's chin to make her raise her head. But when their eyes finally met, he wished he had never made her look at him.

Her mind was wide open, her mental barriers broken down, and Snape's mind was flooded with images he had not been prepared to see:

...Lucius pushing Morgana up against the wall... his hand at her throat... him taking her with raw force... Morgana begging for forgiveness... for her life...

Snape let go of her as if burnt and stumbled backwards, struggling to get his own mental barriers up.

He had arrived too late!

'I should just have told him that I was sorry.' Morgana's voice wasn't much more than a whisper, but Snape heard. And her words enraged him beyond reason.

'Do not even DARE think that any of this was your fault, Morgana,' he bellowed, regretting his tone at once as he saw the girl flinch. But he was so angry that he was shaking. 'I will kill him,' he growled. 'So help me, Merlin, I WILL KILL HIM!'

'He isn't worth it,' Morgana commented in an oddly detached tone, and Snape grabbed her by the shoulders, making her look at him.

'But you are, Morgana. You are.'

He saw her bottom lip quiver and was just about to pull her up when her face contorted in pain.

'What is it?'

'It feels like a really bad stitch,' Morgana gasped, clasping her side, and Snape could literally see all the colour leave her face.

'Can you stand?' he asked, but immediately realised that she couldn't. Judging by the colour of her face, her blood pressure had fallen rapidly, and if she tried to stand, she would most certainly collapse.

Carefully, Snape pulled the girl up, steadying her with his arm around her shoulders. And as he changed his position to help her walk, he noticed that the front of her skirt was stained with dark red blood. Quickly, he extinguished the light of his wand. Morgana didn't need to see what he had just seen. She was upset as it was already. The last thing either of them needed was her panicking.

'We need to get you to the hospital wing, Morgana,' he whispered as he scooped her up into his arms. If his suspicion was right, then there was no time to lose. 'Poppy will know what to do.'

Snape's heart was pounding in his chest. This was the third time he was carrying this girl to the hospital wing, the third time that he was carrying her there because of Lucius Malfoy. And the third time because he had failed to protect her.

Halfway up the stairs to the hospital wing, he felt Morgana squirm in his arms and heard her stifle a sob. Who was she being brave for, he wondered. For him?

'We are nearly there, Morgana,' he murmured. 'Hold on to me.'

Morgana squeezed her eyes tightly shut, but still the tears rolled down her cheeks. It hurt so much, and she was so scared although she knew that she had no reason to be. Not now. Snape was holding her tight towards his chest, and his scent was so familiar and comforting. Dark chocolate and peppermint. She was safe in his arms, she knew that. And she let herself go and started to cry softly against his shoulder, wishing she had the words to tell him how grateful she was that he was there.

* * *

'Poppy!'

The mediwitch dropped a potion bottle as Snape came striding into the ward.

'In the name of the goddess, Severus! What has happened?'

Snape ignored Poppy's comment and marched towards the first empty bed he saw and placed Morgana carefully onto it. She had become strangely limp in his arms as he had climbed the last steps, and she had stopped crying. And for some terrifying moments, he had feared that she had passed out. But her eyes were open, and Snape awkwardly patted her shoulder in a comforting gesture before he swiped over to Poppy.

'Blood Replenishing Potion, Poppy,' he instructed in a low voice so Morgana could not hear. 'And Ceramite. The girl is having a miscarriage.'

The mediwitch paled and seemed to want nothing more than to tend to the girl immediately, but Snape resolutely directed her towards the medical cabinet. There was something he had to discuss with Morgana before Poppy saw the girl.

He silently approached the bed and closed the examination curtains behind him. Morgana was still lying in the very same position as he had left her. She looked too weak to move.

Snape pulled up a chair, listening for any signs of Poppy approaching. But the mediwitch was still busy at the potions cabinet.

'Poppy will ask questions about your bruises,' he stated calmly. 'If you feel like you cannot handle those questions at the moment, I will get rid of the bruises for you.'

Morgana did not object, and Snape took her silence as a yes. Carefully, he withdrew his wand and muttered a healing spell, managing to finish just in time before Poppy arrived with the potions.

'I need to examine the girl,' the mediwitch announced. 'If you'd wait in my office...'

Snape cast a fleeting glance at the girl on the bed. It did not feel right to leave her alone, not even with Poppy. He had already failed her once tonight. But him staying was inappropriate, and all he could do was look into Morgana's eyes as he left, hoping that she would understand that he would not be far away in case she needed him.

He had been pacing Poppy's office for nearly twenty minutes when the mediwitch finally arrived, a tired look on her face.

'Unfortunately, you were right, Severus,' she declared as she let herself fall onto a chair. 'Cervix dilated, membranes ruptured... I cannot say that I had not been expecting this. The poor thing has had a rough pregnancy from the start...'

'Miss Belakane has... lost the baby?' The words tasted bitter in Snape's mouth. This had not been supposed to happen.

Silence settled over the little office, and Severus shifted uncomfortably from one leg to the other. He did not really want to be there with Poppy. He wanted to do something. Brew more Blood Replenishing Potion or a Sleeping Draught for Morgana, wring Lucius' neck. Anything!

'Severus, who has done this to her?'

Snape turned around and fixed the mediwitch with an icy stare. But Poppy didn't flinch.

'I recognise a raped girl when I see one, Severus,' she said calmly. 'I have been a mediwitch for forty years.'

Snape shook his head. 'I cannot tell you this, Poppy.'

'Then tell Dumbledore.'

Dumbledore! With a jolt, Snape realised that the old man did not know yet that his brilliant plan had gone up in flames. Of course, he needed to be informed. But he was not Snape's first priority.

'Poppy, I want you to inform the Headmaster. I will...' Then he broke off, frowning and suddenly wondering if he should ask the mediwitch for permission, and if Morgana wanted to see him at all. 'May I see the girl?'

A kind smile flitted over Poppy's face at the Potions master's soft tone. 'She has been asking for you, Severus,' she said. 'And I saw the look in her eyes when you left. I think Morgana would be very glad to see you. She needs some she can trust by her side right now.'

Snape nodded curtly, turned on his heel and had left the office before Poppy had even risen from her chair. And his hand had already gripped the curtain around Morgana's bed when he paused. Had Poppy told the girl? Did Morgana know that she had lost her child? Or would he have to tell her?

Carefully avoiding making a sound, he pulled back the curtain. Morgana lay curled up under a white blanket, and for a moment, Snape thought that she was asleep and considered leaving.

'Don't go, please.'

Suddenly Morgana was looking at him with her big blue eyes, and Snape felt something tug at his heart. What had this girl done to deserve such a cruel fate? Was being sprung from an ancient bloodline enough to justify how she had been treated, both by Lucius, the Dark Lord and Dumbledore?

With the grace of a panther, Snape approached the bed and sat down on the edge, carefully avoiding getting too close.

'How are you feeling, Miss Belakane?' he asked, at once realising how inane a question it was. But he had to say something. He could not just sit there and stare at the girl.

If possible, Morgana huddled up even more, pulling the blanket around herself. 'It doesn't hurt anymore,' she replied. What else was there to say?

Snape nodded slowly, desperately trying to come up with a conversation topic. But Morgana beat him to it.

'The baby...' she started. 'It's gone, isn't it?'

Once more, Snape nodded. 'I am sorry, Morgana.'

'Don't be. It was never supposed to be born, was it?'

The cold, detached tone in her voice made the muscles in Snape's jaw tighten. The girl was right, of course. He had been supposed to give her a potion in a few weeks' time to get rid of the child, and she had agreed to that back in January. But had anybody been thinking about what that would mean for the girl? Had anyone considered the damage such an act would inflict on her soul?

'What is going to happen now, Professor? Dumbledore said that the resistance isn't ready...'

Snape's first reaction to Morgana's question was to scold her. Let the grown-ups worry about that, he wanted to tell her. The only thing you need to worry about is to get well again. Instead, he took a deep breath in order to keep his voice calm. 'Lucius will not get away with this,' he murmured.

The Dark Lord would, of course, be informed about what happened this evening. And Snape would personally see to it that he would hear about the horrors Lucius had inflicted upon Morgana and to be under no illusion as to who was to blame for the death of the baby. But of course, he could not tell her this.

Lucius... Morgana shuddered at the very name. He had lied to her from the very first day. And she had believed him when he had told her he loved her. She had been so naive, so incredibly dumb.

'Dumbledore will be best placed as to advise if you wish to press charges through the Wizengamot,' Snape continued. 'If you wish to seek justice, we will support you. I will help you to place your memories into a Pensieve, so you will not need to re-tell what has happened to you.'

'Half the Wizengamot is on Lucius' payroll,' Morgana stated in a bitter tone. 'I very much prefer the idea of Voldemort dealing with him when he finds out.'

To Snape's surprise, Morgana did not even flinch at the name of the Dark Lord. And why should she? She had seen true evil that night, had experienced it at her own body. Why would she fear a name?

'I am sure the Dark Lord will punish Lucius savagely.'

Morgana looked up at her teacher and Head of House. His face was even paler than usual, and he looked tired. And despite her being grateful that he was right there by her side, that he cared, Morgana felt so terribly sorry that he had been dragged into this whole mess.

'It is late, sir,' she pointed out. 'You don't need to be here with me.'

'I will stay until you fall asleep,' Snape announced and pointed to the bottle of Dreamless Sleep Draught that was standing on the table beside the bed. 'Have you taken your potion?'

Morgana nodded.

'I want you to take a Sleeping Potion as well,' Snape went on. 'No discussion.'

He watched the girl carefully as she drank her potion, and as he saw her eyes flutter shut, he extinguished the candle on the nightstand.

'What is your favourite potion, sir?' Morgana murmured.

Snape frowned. 'To make or in general?'

'In general.'

'Felix Felicis,' he answered. 'Luck is the very best friend one can have.'

'Mine is Amortentia,' Morgana declared, her voice now so slurry that it was hard to make out the words. 'It smells of roses and dark chocolate...'

Had her eyes not been closed already, Morgana would have seen Snape's eyebrows shoot up in surprise. And he was unspeakably relieved that the girl, despite everything, had not completely given up on love just yet.

'Sleep now,' he whispered. And as he carefully brushed a strand of hair from her pale face, he realised that Morgana was already fast asleep.

He stayed seated for a minute or two, studying the girl's face. She looked peaceful, and the only thing that betrayed her were the traces of dried tears on her cheeks.

* * *

'Is the girl asleep?' Dumbledore enquired as Snape entered Poppy's office later. He had already emptied half his cup of tea, and Snape concluded that he had arrived a while ago.

'Poppy has told me everything she knows,' Dumbledore continued. 'But something tells me you know more.'

Snape took a seat and gratefully accepted the cup of herbal tea that Dumbledore sat before him. 'Lucius lost control tonight,' he started. 'He interrupted our tutorial, and neither myself nor Miss Belakane were impressed. She all but told him to put a sock in it.'

Dumbledore smiled. 'That sounds like something our Morgana would say, yes.'

'She should not have.' There was a bitter taste in Snape's mouth, despite the sweet tea. 'When she went to Lucius' chambers afterwards, he accused her of humiliating him. To teach her a lesson, he forced himself on her, throttled her to make her apologise...'

He could not make himself go into details. One day, when Morgana decided that she was ready, Dumbledore would see the memories. They were not his to tell.

'Should we have anticipated this, Severus?' Dumbledore asked. 'Should we have anticipated that Lucius would lose control one day? I truly believed Morgana would be safe once she carried his child.'

'So far, he has played his role well, Headmaster,' Snape replied. 'But his error has cost him gravely. Even if Morgana had not lost the child tonight, she would turn from Lucius now. He has lost her. He has lost the heir.'

Dumbledore nodded gravely. 'I assume you will report this to Voldemort?'

'I will leave as soon as you see it fit to dismiss me, Headmaster.'

'Then go now. Inform Voldemort before Lucius gets a chance to distort the truth.'

* * *

Snape entered the library of the Riddle Residence with swift strides. There was no time to lose. If Lucius should come around and for some reason contacted the Dark Lord, he would certainly manage to wriggle himself out of the situation somehow. And Snape wanted to see some punishment.

He fell to his knees and in front of the armchair by the fireplace and reverently kissed the Dark Lord's hand.

'I was surprised to be contacted, Severus,' Voldemort said as Snape had risen again. 'Why the late visit?'

'My Lord, I bring tragic news,' Snape started, trying to sound mortified. It wasn't hard to pretend. He truly suffered for the girl. 'We have lost the heir tonight, my Lord. The girl miscarried.'

'Miscarried?' Voldemort's voice reached new levels of iciness. 'Why? Lucius assured me the girl was well.'

'The girl has not been well for weeks, as I have tried to mention on several occasions. She has been ill and under a considerable amount of stress. And tonight... My Lord, Lucius forced himself onto her tonight. He raped her in a moment of madness.'

Voldemort shot off from his chair as if stung by a Blast-Ended Skrewt. 'Lucius did WHAT?!'

'My Lord, I know it sounds preposterous. But I have seen the girl's memories. Take them, my Lord.'

The force with which Voldemort entered his mind made Snape sink to his knees, and he struggled to shield off any other memories he had of Morgana. The Dark Lord must not know how much the girl meant to him. It was taxing, and when Voldemort finally withdrew, Snape was panting, and his knees were weak as he stood up again.

'The heir... GONE!' Voldemort was beside himself. 'Is it Lucius' fault?'

'The mediwitch informed me that she had anticipated the girl having difficulties as some point. However, Lucius physically assaulting the girl might have been the last straw. Her body could not take anymore, my Lord. Neither could her mind. Lucius broke her.'

Voldemort's red eyes flashed dangerously. 'Your arm, Severus,' he commanded, withdrawing his wand. 'Let us summon the others. They will need to know that Lucius has failed.'

Snape's jaws tightened at the searing pain in his left forearm as the Mark was activated. And within minutes, the library filled with loyal servants of the Dark Lord. Bellatrix arrived first, as usual, tightly followed by Crabbe and Goyle. Then came Nott, Yaxley... Lucius arrived last, his blond hair held back in a ponytail, his expensive robes fluttering around him. He had no idea what awaited him.

Once they had all knelt down in front of their Lord, Voldemort addressed them. 'My friends, as you all know, we have been promised a child in sixth months' time, a child that will combine two of the most ancient Wizard bloodlines in the country. MY HEIR!'

The Death Eaters cheered, and Voldemort strode over to Lucius and benevolently put his bony white hand on the blond wizard's shoulder. 'Lucius here had fathered that child, giving his seed for the cause, our cause...'

Lucius puffed his chest out. Who would have thought that he would get his own private celebration party after his terrible dinner at Hogwarts? But when he felt Voldemort tighten his grip around his shoulder, Lucius' smug smile froze.

'But tonight, my friends, Lucius has failed us all,' Voldemort continued. 'Tonight, Lucius has lost control. And he has destroyed our hope for an heir.'

The vise-like grip Voldemort held around his shoulder made Lucius sink to his knees. He did not understand. 'My Lord, no... what...'

'Only speak when spoken to, Lucius!' Voldemort spat. 'Tell us, what did you do tonight?'

'I was at Hogwarts for the inspection, my Lord,' Lucius began, his mind feverishly trying to figure out what was going on. 'I dined in the Great Hall, where I was forced to converse with a filthy Mudblood. Then, to lift my spirits, I joined the girl for her Potions tutorial with Severus, who, as usual, tried to make me look bad in front of her.'

Snape almost snorted. As if Lucius had needed any help to make himself look bad.

'The girl was where she was supposed to be then, Lucius? In Severus' care.'

'Yes, my Lord,' Lucius affirmed. 'But how could I leave her there, in the dungeons, in the darkness? The girl needs light and laughter, not a sour Potions master. He's turning her against me.'

'How do you mean, Lucius?' Still, Voldemort seemed genuinely interested in hearing Lucius' version of the events. It was like watching a snake carefully slither around a mouse before striking.

'The girl has always eaten out of my hand, my Lord,' Lucius started, seeing his chance to get back at Snape. 'But since she started spending her evenings with Severus, supposedly to catch up on Potions, she has become cheeky, insubordinate. Tonight she disrespected me, belittled me, scolded me like a naughty pet.'

'So you decided to... teach her a lesson?'

Anyone who did not know Voldemort could have mistaken the pitch in his voice as curiosity. But the Death Eaters knew better. And even Lucius felt a shiver go down his spine.

'My Lord, I... it was a game... I meant to scare her a little...'

'What did you do, Lucius? Tell me!'

Lucius swallowed. The tone in Voldemort's voice made it very clear that he would not yield before he was told the truth.

'I... I took her for my own, my Lord, without ceremony. To show her who is in charge...'

Voldemort's Crucio hit Lucius square in the chest before he had even finished his explanation. And as he lay on the ground, twitching and reeling in agony, he heard the Dark Lord's thunderous voice:

'YOU DARED LAY HANDS ON THE MOTHER OF THE HEIR OF SLYTHERIN?'

The curse was lifted, and Lucius gasped for air. 'My Lord,' he panted, 'it was a game, a joke. The girl likes it rough. She has on occasions begged me to take her harder.'

Snape sneered in contempt. How he wanted to strangle Lucius right now. Yes, he wanted to hurt him with his own bare hands. Any spell would be a waste of magic on that sorry excuse of a human being.

'Did she beg you tonight, Lucius?' Voldemort hissed. 'Did she?'

Now Lucius kept silent, realising that whatever he had done to the girl had had fatal consequences.

So the Dark Lord turned to Snape. 'Did the girl beg to be taken harder tonight, Severus?'

'She begged for something else, my Lord,' Snape replied, his head bowed, wondering how he would ever been able to forget what he had seen in Morgana's mind. 'She begged for forgiveness as Lucius strangled her. She begged for her life.'

Slowly, Lord Voldemort turned back to Lucius, who was now kneeling on the floor. And from his lips came a hiss that echoed from the walls of the Riddle library. None of the Death Eaters spoke Parseltongue, but they had all heard that particular sound often enough to know what it meant. The Dark Lord had called for his snake.

Even Bellatrix took a step backwards as Nagini slithered into the room, but she needn't fear the snake. It had received its orders already.

Lucius flinched as the snake approached him, hissing and taking up his scent. Ironically enough, he – an exemplary Slytherin – hated snakes. Always had, always would. But he did not dare move as Nagini slowly started to coil around his legs.

'Tell me, Lucius,' Voldemort addressed him again, 'what do you know about the girl's pregnancy?'

'I know that she had difficulties to begin with, my Lord, mostly due to Severus' poor potion making.' Despite him having a huge snake coiling around his waist now, Lucius could not pass on the opportunity to make Snape look bad. 'However, she had been strong and healthy over the last weeks.'

'Is that so, Severus?' Voldemort enquired, his eyes never leaving his snake.

'No, my Lord,' Snape replied. 'As I have mentioned earlier, the girl has been ill.'

'That's a lie!' Lucius exclaimed, but both Snape and Voldemort ignored him. Nagini, however, continued her way up his body.

'The nurse informed me about the girl's low blood pressure, nose bleeds, back pains...' Snape continued. 'My potions helped her eat and sleep, but she has by no means been healthy.'

'Did you not know that, Lucius?' Voldemort enquired. 'I believed you would take care of the woman who carried my heir.'

'I did! My Lord, I worshipped the girl! And she threw it back in my face!' Lucius pleaded as Nagini's body tightened around his chest. 'She was becoming a liability. She needed... to be taught... respect,' he gasped.

'And you really believed that scaring a pregnant girl with physical violence would give you respect, Lucius?'

Voldemort chuckled, and Lucius felt Nagini loosen her grip somewhat.

'I tried the path of least resistance, my Lord,' he explained. 'I offered the girl unconditional affection and seduction. Tonight, she crossed the line. She was insolent, and I decided to teach her a lesson. I sought to give her a short, sharp shock to keep her in line.'

Voldemort hissed, and Lucius realised that he had said too much as Nagini's muscles once more contracted around his chest. And to his horror, he heard the snake's hissing close to his ear. The beast was making its way up towards his throat.

'Let us see how well Lucius' lesson works then,' Voldemort said to the other Death Eaters. 'Let us see if Nagini slowly squeezing the air out of him will give him a short, sharp shock.'

Lucius was now clawing at the snake's body, trying to get it off his throat. But Nagini hugged him tighter and tighter.

'Is that what the girl looked like, Lucius?' Voldemort asked. 'Eyes widened in fear, clawing at your hands?'

Lucius did still not understand. Why was Voldemort so angry? Why did he care that much about the girl?

'It is not the girl I am concerned about, Lucius,' the Dark Lord bellowed. He had obviously been using Legilimency on the blond wizard. 'It is the heir I am concerned about. The heir that will never be born.'

Lucius gasped in terror. Never been born? What...?

'Yes, Lucius,' Voldemort continued. 'The girl miscarried tonight due to your treatment of her. YOU LOST ME MY HEIR!'

Voldemort hissed, and Nagini wrapped herself tighter around Lucius' throat. And although he could see the Dark Lord's lips moving, the voice Lucius heard was his own:

'Say that you are sorry, my love. One little word. Just say you're sorry.'

He had demanded an apology from the girl, and now the Dark Lord demanded the same thing from him.

With what seemed to be his last breath, Lucius Malfoy begged for forgiveness and his life, and in the same moment as the word sorry left his lips, the snake disappeared into thin air, and he collapsed onto the floor, coughing and panting.

'Do you really think the girl meant it when she apologised to you with her last breath?' Voldemort asked. 'Or did she do it do save her life?'

Lucius couldn't speak. He was still gasping for air, and his whole body was trembling. Miscarried... the heir gone... HIS child gone... he could not believe it.

'Slytherin self-preservation, Lucius,' Voldemort hissed. 'A Slytherin would do and say anything to survive.' He stepped closer to the blond wizard and forced him to look up.

'I could kill you tonight, Lucius,' he announced. 'I could have Nagini squeeze the life out of you. Or I could let your companions shred you to pieces for you betrayal. But I will not. Gracious as I am, I will give you a chance to redeem yourself. Just one, Lucius. If you fail once more, you will wish that it was you that had never been born.'

* * *

It was long past midnight when Snape finally returned to Hogwarts. He felt drained, but he did not have the peace of mind to retire. He wanted to inform Dumbledore about Voldemort's newest plan. And he wanted to make sure Morgana was still sound asleep, resting and escaping the nightmare of which her waking hours were made up.

He found Dumbledore still in the hospital wing, sitting alone in Poppy's office, drinking yet more tea, while the nurse was busying herself in the ward.

'You return unharmed, I see,' Dumbledore greeted him and pulled up a chair which Snape gratefully accepted.

'The Dark Lord was anguished by the news I brought,' he started as he saw Dumbledore's questioning look. 'It was the closest to regret and sorrow I have ever seen from him. As much as he is incapable of love and happiness, he very much wanted this child. And it upset him greatly when he found out how Lucius had treated the girl.'

'I assume Lucius has been punished?'

Snape nodded. 'He set Nagini on him. But his true punishment is yet to come.' Snape rubbed his tired eyes with his left hand before he went on. 'Lucius has been charged with retrieving the Prophecy from the Department of Mysteries.'

Dumbledore frowned. 'A suicide mission. Lucius is bound to fail. The Order is ready, Severus.'

'They better be,' Snape spat. 'By summer I want to see Lucius Malfoy in Azkaban for what he has done to the girl.'

Dumbledore fixed his Potions master with an inquiring stare. 'I had no idea that Morgana was that dear to you, Severus.'

Snape frowned. 'Miss Belakane,' he responded, stressing her last name, 'is one of the most capable witches in my House. I demand justice to be done.'

'And justice will be done, Severus,' Dumbledore assured him.

Then the door opened, and Poppy entered the office, looking just as tired as Snape felt. 'Good thing you're here, Severus,' she announced as her eyes fell on the Potions master. 'The girl refuses to take another Sleeping Potion. Maybe you can have a word? She seems to respond to you.'

'Another Sleeping Potion?' Snape frowned. 'The dose I gave her earlier should have made her sleep until lunch time at the least.'

Poppy sighed. 'I know, Severus. But as with your other potions, her body seems to be fighting it somehow. Or her mind, I don't know. In any case, she keeps waking up, and I do not want to give her anything stronger. Not in her condition.'

Snape narrowed his eyes. What, by Hades, made the girl resistant to his potions? It was a hard blow for his professional ego. And with a scowl on his face, he billowed out of Poppy's office without further explanation. Maybe, ordering the girl to rest would help.

The expression on his face softened immediately when he approached the side of the ward where he knew Morgana's bed stood, and heard soft sobs from the other side of the curtain. The sound enraged him beyond reason. That girl had once been the cockiest witch in the castle, and now Lucius had broken her, reduced her to a mere shadow of her former self.

Snape cleared his throat unnecessarily loudly to give Morgana a chance to wipe away her tears. The last thing she needed right now was him witnessing her weakness. As expected, the sobbing subsided immediately, and Snape carefully pulled back the curtains and approached the bed.

Morgana was sitting with her knees drawn up to her chin. Her eyes were red-rimmed from crying but lit up as she caught sight of her Head of House.

'I hear you are having problems sleeping, Miss Belakane. I thought I would pop by and tuck you in for the night.' Snape did not know what to say to the girl, but he hoped his attempt at humour would ease the blackness of the situation and at least make her smile.

Morgana gave a strange sound somewhere between a sob and a snort, and the corners of her mouth indeed twitched upwards. But that beginning of a smile disappeared almost immediately.

Snape strode over to the nightstand and picked up the bottle of Sleeping Potion. 'I cannot believe this is not working,' he muttered. 'Is that your newest project? Trying to make me doubt my potion making abilities?'

This time, he succeeded, and he relished the sight of Morgana's face brightening with a little smile.

'Making you doubt your abilities, sir?' she asked. 'Convincing people that Hungarian Horntails make good pets for children would be easier.'

Snape snorted, unspeakably relieved that the girl still knew how to smile and jest. Maybe Lucius had not managed to break her spirits after all.

'You need to rest now, Miss Belakane,' he announced. 'Tomorrow, you will be excused from your lessons.'

'First lesson tomorrow is Potions, sir,' Morgana protested. 'I would very much like to participate, now that... now that I can handle the fumes again.'

'You will pose a hazard to everyone in the room when you fall asleep over your cauldron,' Snape growled. 'If you do not sleep for at least six hours, I will not have you in my classroom.' He waved the Sleeping Draught in front of her nose, his eyes glittering. 'Like some?'

While Morgana obediently drank her potion, Snape rummaged around in the nightstand until he found a little, leather-bound book and then pulled up a chair.

'Beedle the Bard?' Morgana asked in disbelief. 'You are not planning on reading me a bedtime story, are you, sir?'

Snape smirked. 'This is the only book available at the moment. And I am not leaving until you are asleep. So unless you want me to be gawking at this drivel all night, I suggest you stop fighting the effect of my potion and snuggle up.'

He settled onto the chair and casually crossed his legs before opening the book. And he had not even read the first page of The Wizard and the Hopping Pot before her slow and rhythmical breathing told him that Morgana was finally fast asleep.