Lost Cub

Chapter Twenty-Four

Tom x Severus

Severus gripped his hair and sat down on the couch, exhausted. He'd just gotten back from Lily's will reading, and... he wasn't sure how Hunter had so willingly forgiven him. He'd bullied the poor child, and yet, the minute he'd felt the least bit guilty, the child was hugging him!

Part of him was furious with himself for showing weakness. The other... the other wanted to drown his guilt in a bottle of firewhiskey.

He was about to go get said whiskey when his Mark flared. Severus froze.

The Dark Lord was calling him?!

He knew the Dark Lord had returned two weeks after Christmas, because the faded Dark Mark had suddenly turned jet black. The submissive vampire had whimpered at the pain and power coursing through the Mark, both in longing and fear. Since he'd been bitten after the Dark Lord had "died," Severus hadn't realized his vampire would react so... oddly to the Mark.

Severus sighed. Ignoring the call was not an option. After dressing in his Death Eater mask and robes, he Apparated, concentrating on the image the Mark had given him.

He found himself in an unfamiliar library, bigger even than the one in Prince Manor. There was an unfamiliar man standing by the fireplace, talking to Wormtail, who was cowering. He was rather handsome.... Severus shook himself.

The man turned, and Severus recognized him when he saw the familiar amber eyes and overpowering Dark Magic. Severus blanched and knelt, avoiding eye contact. He cursed the fact that he hadn't washed his face, knowing his eyes were still red from crying....

"...Severus?" Voldemort sounded startled, and his voice was deep and smooth, instead of the usual high, cold tone. "Wormtail, leave," he ordered. The sniveling rat bolted.

Severus kept his head down, hiding his pain and shock and fear behind a blank mask.

The Dark Lord was silent for a long time. Finally he said quietly, "I was prepared to be angry."

Severus said nothing.

"Severus. Why were you crying?"

He didn't offer a reply. He was still surprised at the Dark Lord's gentle tone.

"Severus." Voldemort's tone was firmer this time. Severus looked up. "Answer the question."

"I..." Severus hesitated. "It's difficult to... talk about, my Lord."

"Did someone hurt you?"

"No, my Lord. I..." Severus choked. "I hurt someone else...."

"Ah." Voldemort nodded. "This is about Hunter."

Severus blinked. Before the Dark Lord had disappeared, he referred to Hunter as "the brat."

"Before I returned, I was a wraith, capable of possessing wizards, but not much else," Voldemort said calmly. Severus tensed. The Dark Lord was rarely calm. If it seemed that way, he was very angry. "Before Christmas, I had been possessing Quirinus Quirrell for nearly a year."

Ah, so that was how the Dark Lord knew Hunter... Quirrell had been particularly protective of the child....

"I grew fond of Hunter Lupin-Black," Voldemort continued. The Dark Lord knew Hunter's parentage? "He is a very kind, sweet, shy child. So imagine my surprise, and my anger, when my favorite Death Eater had been treating him... less than kindly."

Severus' vampire perked up at the words 'favorite Death Eater.' He himself was panicking.

Voldemort studied him. "You went to Lily's and Potter's will reading." It was a statement, not a question.