Fate Set Right

Chapter 29

"They were ridding our world of undeserving Mudbloods. They were trying to understand how the filthy Muggles manage to tap into the power they do not deserve to birth magical children. But this man stopped them. This man who pretended to be loyal to me!"

The Dark Lord's hand slashed through the air and a fresh gash appeared on the man's chest.

"This is what happens to those who betray this family. This is what happens when someone sides with those of bad blood! Crucio !"

Severus flinched inwardly, his body still as stone while watching the man twitch and thrash under the Unforgivable Curse.

His blood ran cold when he watched as those nearest the altar stepped forward once the Dark Lord ended the spell. One by one, they took their turn torturing the man. Could he torture a man he didn't know? Could he torture anyone for the sake of it? Well, if he didn't, he imagined he'd be killed. Probably as slowly as this poor soul. But you had to mean an Unforgivable. He...

"Severus," the Dark Lord said, beckoning him forward. "Have you ever cast the Cruciatus?"

"No... my Lord," he confessed, hearing a collective chuckle from the Death Eaters. It reminded him of the older men his father spent his time with. They would laugh whenever Severus would say anything: that he would get the hell out of Cokeworth, that he would never become a mill worker, that he wasn't going to be what everyone said he would be. They were all so condescending, and he loathed it. And he'd showed them, sort of. As far as anyone was concerned, Toby's boy was shipped off to boarding school. A scholarship, they were all told, because he was too damn smart. It had gotten him punched in the face a few times by those deadbeats' kids, but he'd showed them.

He channeled that rage now, not realizing the Dark Lord was encouraging him. Severus wanted to show those in the circle that he was powerful, that he was more than his age, that if they laughed at him with that same ugly condescension, he could hurt them. He was better than they were. He didn't believe in their shit, regardless of what language they chanted it in. He didn't think any of them were superior to him or his Muggle-born love, and he would show them, too.

" Crucio ," he said in an eerily calm voice, pointing his wand at the man with an emotionless expression he was sure would make them all believe he was bored.

And the man, the poor man, twitched and thrashed as though electrocuted. Was it the strongest Cruciatus cast? No, there was that woman who had a much better Unforgivable, and perhaps a couple others. But his was powerful, and the only sound that met Severus' ears were gurgled cries and the thud of a body repeatedly hitting stone.

Severus ended the spell and returned to his place in the circle, shaking and screaming inside while he let out a heavy sigh.

"You have all expressed your displeasure, and I am pleased to see it was not found wanting," the Dark Lord announced. " Avada Kedavra ."

With a flash of green, the man on the stone stopped moving. He remained frozen with a grimace, eyes lifeless, but Severus could still see that he had died in pain and pissed off.

Voldemort shook his head at the man, as if they had just had a heart to heart in which the Dark Lord had expressed his deepest disappointment. With a lazy flick of his wand, the Dark Lord lit the corpse on fire.

"We are family," he said solemnly, "and family does not betray each other. Family stands together, stands strong. And we will stand strong together and I will be like your father. Leading you. Guiding you. Teaching you to be stronger. I will be like an elder brother, looking after your well-being, ensuring you reach your greatest potential." Then his face morphed from something benign to something horrid. "But if you turn your back on me, I will disown you. I will make you less than nothing. I will ensure that you suffer the worst and beg for death. He is dead! When we find his family, we will make them suffer exactly as he did."