kbinnz - Harry's New Home

TBC...

*Chapter 14*: Chapter 14

Snape sighed. There were times when he did rather miss the excitement of the old days. Matching wits against students тАУ even the Weasley twins тАУ just wasn't the same as serving as a double agent, caught between the two most powerful wizards of the age.

Then again, Snape noted, coming to a halt before a barred iron door. There were some memories of the old days that he could do without. So much for nostalgia. He gestured impatiently and the other Azkaban guard reluctantly unlocked the door. "He's dangerous, this one! Kill you as soon as look at you!" he warned.

"I know that better than you." Snape shoved past him and entered the dank cell. Behind him, the guard grumbled resentfully but walked away. Damn тАУ it's actually a bit warmer than my dungeons. I really need to get some new warming spells. He crossed to the low, narrow bunk and gave the recumbent figure a vigorous kick in the side. "Wake up, you bastard."

"Who the тАУ " Bleary eyes blinked, fought to focus, and finally widened. "Snivellus?"

Snape sighed. Well, there went one of his long-cherished hopes. The creep wasn't completely insane yet. On the other hand, it did mean that he might be able to play the role that Snape had in mind.

It had taken him days to figure it out, but in the end it had made an awful kind of sense. Snape wanted to torture the Dursleys, and not merely for a few days or weeks as Lucius or Bellatrix might. Who knew how to make someone's life a true misery for years on end? Who but the Marauders?

Unfortunately for Snape's plan, both Potter and Pettigrew were dead and the mangy werewolf had been the most law-abiding of the bunch. On the other hand, Black wasn't dead, just exiled to Azkaban. He might well be insane after so many years in that environment, but if he weren'tтАж Who knew better than Sirius Black how to make someone's existence utterly wretched? And who knew this better than Severus Snape? So Snape had overcome his loathing and come to Azkaban to pick Black's brain about the best ways to torment the Dursleys.

It was an inspired plan, Snape congratulated himself. No one would ever assume that he of all people would come within twenty miles of Sirius Black, let alone seek his assistance. This was one plot he was confident Dumbledore would never anticipate.

"What the b-bloody hell тАУ" Black was shivering and close to incoherent. Snape used a sticking hex to fasten him to the bunk тАУ disoriented he might be, but Black was still a powerful wizard even without his wand тАУ and forced chocolate and pepper-up potions down the man's throat. After a surprisingly short time, he could detect the return of sanity to Black's eyes.

"Come to gloat, Snivellus?" Black snarled, then yelped as a stinging hex caught him in the chest.

"Mind your manners, Black," Snape drawled lazily. "You may have noticed a distinct lack of other Marauders to hide behind."

"Bast тАУ ow!" The second hex hurt even more than the first, and Sirius broke off with a glare.

"My, my, I am surprised," Snape said mockingly. "Did it only take two hexes to teach you to hold your tongue? Your IQ must have risen sharply in the last ten years. Azkaban really has been good for you."

"What do you want?" Sirius spat.

Snape twirled his wand idly. "Hmmm. So many choices. To pay you back for all your kind attention during our school days, perhaps?" He smirked as Black paled at his words. "I see you haven't lost all your memories to the Dementors. Can you think of a few things I might like to do?"

"Fine тАУ get your sick thrills, you bloody Death Eater!"

"Let's not play the pot and the kettle, Black!" Snape snapped back, then grimaced at his involuntary pun. "You were the one who turned on your best friends and killed a dozen Muggles in the process. You would have made Voldemort very proud if he'd still been around to appreciate it!"

"What?" Sirius shook his head, confusion once again clouding his eyes.

Snape snarled in frustration and shoved more chocolate down the man's throat. When Black seemed to have recovered, he started over. "Black, if you had a Muggle family to torture, how would you go about it?"

Black stared at him for a moment then spat directly in his face. Snape leaped backwards, bringing up his wand.

"Do it! Kill me! Curse me!" Black shouted, his face distorted with rage. "But don't expect me to help you harm innocents, you Slytherin bastard!"

Snape scourgify'd the spittle from his face, but the Gryffindor's odd words prevented the immediate retaliation he longed to launch. "Feeling remorse for all the Muggles you killed?" he taunted. "Isn't it a bit late to reprise the role of noble hero?"

Black stared at him. "I thought I was the insane one, Snivellus. What are you talking about?"

"Trying to pretend it was all a bad dream, Black? Pettigrew, the Muggles, the Potters тАУ you killed them all. Deny it if you can!"

Sirius shook his head as if trying to clear it. "What? No тАУ Voldemort killed James and Lily."

Snape tried to hide his flinch at the Dark Lord's name. "After you betrayed them by revealing their location. And then when that poor idiot Pettigrew tried to capture you, you killed him and blew up a city block full of Muggles in the process!"

"That тАУ that's not true," Sirius argued, eyes focused inwards as he tried to dredge up the memories. Prolonged exposure to Dementors had a detrimental effect on rational thought. "Pettigrew тАУ Peter was the traitor. I tried to capture him. He was the one who caused the explosion, killed everyoneтАж And then I woke up hereтАж" He looked up at Snape. "What are you these days, Snivellus? Minister of Magic? Or did Malfoy snag that for himself after Voldemort vanished? Do you gloat every day about your glorious victories?"

Snape frowned. "What victories?"

"The ones that let Voldemort's supporters seize control even after that bastard was dead," Sirius snarled. "Proud of yourself, you greasy bastard?" He blinked and looked at Snape again. "Hey тАУ what happened to your hair?"

"Fudge is minister, Dumbledore still heads the Wizengamot, and the Dark Lord's supporters were rounded up and imprisoned after He fell," Snape informed Black, ignoring the question about his hair. "Why would you think that Malfoy and the Death Eaters won?"

Sirius' eyes grew even more confused. "But тАУ but if they didn't, if Dumbledore is still alive, then what am I doing here?" His countenance grew even more stricken. "Oh Merlin тАУ what happened to Harry? If the Death Eaters didn't come to power and kill himтАж"

That did it. Snape had had enough of this doubletalk. On the one hand he suspected that Black was merely delusional, butтАж he had to be sure. Lifting his wand, he snapped, "Legilimens!" and an instant later he was in Black's mind.

Emotions, images, and sounds flashed past him in a dizzying blur тАУ he had always known Black was a chaotic, emotional mess, and Azkaban hadn't helped in that regard тАУ but he definitely wasn't insane. Yet.

Snape pieced together enough scraps and tatters of memory to become appalled. Even his undiminished hatred for the man couldn't suppress the feelings of horror and pity as he realized what had happened. He pulled out and stared at the prisoner, aghast.

Black believed it тАУ believed that he was here on Azkaban because the Dark Lord had won, that Pettigrew had betrayed James and Lily, that in the ensuing chaos, Harry and the remaining Order of the Phoenix members had been killed and the war lost.

"Prove it," Snape fought to keep his voice from trembling. "Prove what you're thinking is true."

Sirius squinted up at him, his head racked with pain from Snape's mental assault. "Get stuffed. I don't take orders from Death Eating bastards."