Landing roughly, Severus stumbled but the arm around his waist caught him before he could fall.

With a heavy scowl, he turned and leveled his eyes at the owner of the arm and was met with piercing green eyes inches away from his own.

They were Lily's eyes. Stunned, he hardly resisted when hands roughly maneuvered his body against the wall. The crack of his forehead against the wall knocked him out of his daze and he hissed at the throbbing pain radiating from his head, his hands automatically scrambling for leverage on the stone wall.

When something warm and wet circled the shell of his ear he froze and the potions master attempted to cringe away from the wet appendage, but a pale hand tightly grabbed his jaw and forced his head still. His thin body forced even harder against the unforgiving wall as his assailant leaned his body weight against his back.

"Now, now dear calm yourself," was the soft reply to his struggles. "I wont kill you."

That didn't particularly reassure him, there were many things worse than death, and 'The Reaper' was one of them.

Severus felt a flutter of panic when the hand that hand been on his waist began to gently slide across his abdomen the thumb caressing the 'v' between his protruding ribs leaving a horrible trail of tingles in it's wake. A horrible sense of foreboding settling like rocks in his chest.

The tongue returned to the shell of his ear with the graze of teeth and he shuddered. He felt dirty and weak under the man's ministration, the man that had him pinned to the wall was a monster and having this monsters cold hands sliding all over his body and touching him like he was some whore made him want to bathe in bleach.

The hand on his stomach that was laying at a threatening pressure, falsely tentative slide down to firmly gripped Severus's hip, rocking him back against the other body while pushing his chest to the wall.

"There are so many things I could do to you right now." The words were spoken not unlike the words of a lover promising the moon, his voice was soft and sensual but Severus felt nothing but the sharp pang of disgust. A nose nuzzled the crook of his neck, "I wonder what you would look like strung up, hands above your head, shackles binding you to the wall, helpless, alone, your hair caked in your own blood. You would look so pretty, don't you agree my dear?"

Despite the man's promise to not kill him, he couldn't help but feel like he would not make it out of this encounter alive.

Making the split decision to flee, Severus kept one hand on the wall and with the other grabbed for his wand in his robe pocket. Making contact with the thick fabric of his black cloak, he groped for the lip of the pocket. But with a sharp snap, his struggles ceased and he dropped to his knees carefully cradling his limp jaw in his hands, he watched, almost in a daze as blood flowed out between his fingers and dripped onto the uncarpeted floor.

Hearing Hadrian tsk'ing disappointedly, Severus did look up as the other crouched down to stare him in the eyes, a small unremorseful smile pulled his lips ups. "Now, why did you do that?" His tone was reprimanding, as if asking a child to recount their naughty behaviour.

The older man watched with mild amusement as the potions master shock faded and finally absorbed what he had done.

Reaching out he ignored the potioneer's flinch and settled his hand on top of the long black hair and began to run his fingers threw the wiry black locks. Unlike his own, this mans hair had suffered years of being exposed to potions fumes and bad hygiene habits. Maybe he would by Severus a hair cap for his birthday…and a good bottle of shampoo.

Sighing, he continued his stroking and tenderly said, "We could have this without the pain."

The response to this was a gurgling sound and more blood being splattered on the floor.

Hadrian crinkled his nose, maybe breaking his jaw was a bad idea, but he shrugged, he would heal it. A mild bone breaking curse was an easy fix. Humming softly, he continued to card his fingers threw the hair and rocked back onto his heels.

What to do, what to do, Hadrian had wanted to meet with the infamous potions master for some time and have a little 'chat', that had been months ago. Now though, after a certain string of events he wanted the meeting for a different reason now.

The circumstances to their meeting had been hugely miscalculated on his part, but he could still salvage this into something beneficial.

"Now I'm going to heal your jaw my dear, but you must promise to be good," Best start off by preventing anymore incident's.

The man's black eyes blazed fiery hatred but gave a tiny reluctant nod none the less and Hadrian smiled.

Removing his hand from long hair he waved it in front of the shattered jaw, Severus gave a grunt as the broken bone realigned itself from the many pieces it was in and knitted together flawlessly.

As he felt his jaw mending, he felt his hatred for the man who had shattered his jaw burn passionately like a dragons flame. It was demeaning to be kicked around and petted like an abused dog before it's master. The dark lord was the only man who he had ever bowed to, but then there was this being who crouched before him, equally as monstrous as the dark lord himself but somehow this was more demeaning than anything the Dark lord had done to him.

"Good boy, now as much as I would love to turn you over and do unspeakable thing to you and your no doubt lovely corpse, I have come across some information you may be interested in." Hadrian said conversationally.

Severus didn't say anything, just glared coldly up at the man.

"Not going to say anything? Too bad, I heard you liked talking." A knowing smile smoothly replacing his pleased one and lowered his voice like he was telling him a secret. "Especially to a certain headmaster about things he shouldn't know."

It felt like a bucket of cold water had been splashed on his face, they knew. This was the reason he was handed off; gritting his teeth he glared unflinchingly up at the monstrous man in front of him. If this man was to be his end, than he would not go down without letting him know pain.

Hadrian clearly wasn't bothered by his plight, "Don't fret my dear, I won't tell."

Narrowing his eyes suspiciously, the potions master bit out, "What do you want?" The dismissal about his betrayal was much too casual for a loyal sycophant of the dark lord..

"It talks!" He chuckled, smiling gleefully, "But yes, what do I want?" Rubbing his chin, Hadrian acted thoughtful, although he knew exactly what he wanted long before this meeting. Dramatically he shot one finger into the air and shouted, "Ah, I have it!" Pulling up the left sleeve of his robe, he revealed an intricate black mark, one Severus was intimately familiar with. A tattoo with a skull and an intertying snake, a brand, one that he wasn't supposed to have.

In the beginning it was a rumor that 'The Reaper' was not a bearer of the dark mark. 'The Reaper's' high standing was a sign that he was a special man to the dark lord, one who had earned the right to be free from the mark, from being owned like cattle. The rumor was marked true when Hadrian commonly choose to wear muggle t-shirts on missions instead of the black battle robes. It was popular gossip amongst the death eaters, this mysterious man named Hadrian with no mark but was always taking part in the most horrific tasks. Eventually gaining the name Hadrian 'The Reaper' for his inhumane acts.

Now looking at the dark mark, imbedded into the deathly pale flesh, he noticed long, jagged claw marks running threw it. Hadrian had tried to remove it, much like he had, meaning that this had not been a mutual decision. How long had he had the mark for?

As if reading his thoughts, a stony look chilled Hadrian's features, Severus immediately decided he preferred the inane smiles. "He told me he would never mark me." His tone was nothing like the cheery one he held before, it was quiet and unsuccessful in hiding the rage underlying his quiet voice. "He said that I had no need to be branded like a slave, that he trusted me."

Severus scowled but choose to stay silent.

Everything was silent for a minute before the cheery voice returned, "As I said, my dear, do not fret I will not tell anyone about your secrets," Fingers and thumb gripped his chin gently drawing his head forward, "As long as they become mine as well."

When the door to his office, slammed open Dumbledore couldn't help the small jump of his hands at the noise, nearly knocking over his ink. Immediately after the loud bang, his potions master limped in, face bright red, fist's balled at his side and wand gripped painfully in his right hand.

Watching sadly as his ex-student further entered is office with all the grace of a raging hippogriff and starred down his nose at him, the headmaster couldn't hold back a wince at the look.

"What did he punish you for this time my boy?" He asked gently, the subject of his punishments were always a delicate topic, even though the professor would never admit it so.

"Albus, my position has been compromised."

Frowning in worry, the headmaster quickly stood from his desk. "My boy, what happened?"

Ignoring the question, Severus's face darkened. "Though my position is compromised, it appears that my status will not be revealed to the dark lord."

Pausing bewildered he asked, "How so?" He was confused, did he not just say that he was revealed. He doubted anyone that followed the dark lord would let such information slip by them.

Gritting his teeth fiercely he continued, "The one who discovered my position wishes to...assist us."

Albus guessed that this person was not one of Severus's most tolerated individuals.

Sighing with a bit of relief Albus beamed, "That is great news my boy! Although that makes me wonder about your condition?"

"The one who wishes to assist, was ordered by the dark lord to punish me for my inattentiveness and thought it would be suspicious if I left unharmed."

Oh yes, Hadrian made sure that his injuries were real and relative to the kind of punishment the dark lord expected from him. Though some of it was faked, Hadrian made sure he screamed just once for real because his 'voice was pretty when he screamed'. The man was a monster in human skin no doubt, he remembered after he had agreed with the terms his wand was snatched from his pocket and tossed away against the far wall. He was then pulled to the ground by his ankle, back hitting the hard floor painfully before the older man crawled on top of him with a wicked smirk. His hands were than forcibly pinned above his head, lacking in the physical strength as most wizards did, he was unable to free himself. The man had than whispered in his ear that he couldn't let Severus walk out uninjured because that would ruin his reputation, as well as raise unwanted suspicion. Though the last part seemed to have been added as an afterthought.

From there the potions master had been subjected to a few mild curses that made the injures look like they had been done by hand over a period of time, rather than the seconds it took to cast. Which was slow and bloody, the route 'The Reaper' usually took with his victims and as well having his leg viciously pulled, resulting in a pulled tendon and the 'pretty scream'.

When it was over nearly two hours later, Hadrian took it upon himself to maul Severus's ear while he was at it. Now his ear was an angry red and purple and burning like fire.

Eventually, Hadrian deemed his work satisfactory, told Severus to grab his wand and make a show of leaving to show off his hard work and left the room leaving the door open to swing behind him.

Severus did not do the latter as 'The Reaper' suggested, instead he tried his best to slink out of the residency hallway (which he discovered he was in from the black drapes in the hall) without being noticed but sneaking around a building housing many death eaters was not possible, so he held himself with his usual stiff back, and scowl and ignored their snickers and inappropriate gestures, believing his limp was caused by something other than an injured leg.

Dumbledore, apprised Severus carefully, placed an old hand on his shoulder in a show of comfort and took his lack of retracting as acceptance. "I think it's time we got you to Poppy, and on our way down enlighten me a little about our new ally?"

The face Severus made with the word ally made Albus's gut clench unpleasantly. "I would not make the mistake of calling this man an 'ally' Albus his reasons for helping us are purely selfish." He gave the headmaster a hard look. "He would not hesitate to betray us if better opportunity presented itself."

Gaining a thoughtful look on his face the headmaster quickly weighed his options. Using this to get another spy Voldemort's ranks would be a unique and very advantageous opportunity, the light needed allies desperately, but he would need to be very careful. This man, as Severus described him so far seemed to be a fairly high ranked death eater if Tom was willing to allow someone other than himself pass out punishments.

"What else can you tell me?" He probed.

Severus's mind mostly drew blank, there really wasn't much he knew just rumors and what he saw of the man today. "I had never met him before today, and the rest of my knowledge is merely rumors."

"All rumors have a basis of truth, Severus."

Scoffing at that he said. "He goes by Hadrian, his last name is unknown, but the death eaters began calling him 'The Reaper' many years ago."

Albus raised a brow. "'The Reaper'?" An interesting name.

"'He is the dark lords favorite." The potions master sneered, "He never partakes on many raids only the ones that promise a challenge to himself, he is a necromancer known to practice his art on wizards the dark lord discloses to him."

"And why would Voldemort's-" Severus flinched. "Favorite wish for his demise?"

Rubbing at his forearm, he remembered the pain of each calling and the deep scratches marring pale flesh. It was not hard to remember why he wanted him gone. "Part of being in the dark lords favor, he was never marked but during our 'session' today he revealed to me that he had unwillingly received the dark mark recently."

Voldemort forced a follower to bear his mark, it did not surprise Albus that Tom would sink to such a level but it was a wonder why he would betray the trust of his supposed most loyal follower? Was he perhaps suspecting disloyalty from the man? Or maybe he had withheld the urge to brand him until now? But what mattered was that the end result is the same, Hadrian clearly had some trust in Tom which had been shattered by the branding.

"Is there a reason why Hadrian didn't wish to be marked?" He inquired curiously.

Severus shook his head, "I am unaware of the reason."

Entering Madame Pomphrey's office, the smell of plastic and potions dominated the air and Severus's nose crinkled. Hadrian's room smelled disturbingly similar.

"Oh my, headmaster Dumbledore what happened?" The medi-witch bustled into the room, the proximity wards having alerted her the duos arrival.

Dumbledore waved at her jovially, "Good afternoon Poppy, Severus here just needs a little patch up, he just got back."

Nodding quickly, she practically pushed the potions master to the bed. Pulling out her wand she banished his cloths onto a chair, sans briefs and summoned a cart filled with potions and wraps to her. Carefully with practiced hands she began to examine all of his wounds, and grabbing the appropriate potion to heal them along the way, she did this all with fast, concise motions until she reached Severus's head and neck.

Turning his head away, he knew exactly what she was looking at and bit viciously down on his cheek to stop himself from leaving and spitting some rather unsavory words at the witch.

Dumbledore who was sitting in a chair on the opposite side of the bed noticed Poppy's strange expressions and asked, "Poppy, is something wrong?"

Poppy's wide blue eyes passed from Severus to the head master, and without saying anything she quickly turned her attention to his legs, more specifically his inner thighs.

At this Dumbledore's expression quickly went from confused to horrified, finally catching on to what she was looking for.

When hands landed on his leg Severus violently pulled away, "I was not raped!" He hissed.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of Severus but it needs to be treated." Her tone was hard and left no room for argument, but he resisted belligerently.

"There is nothing to treat because I was not raped!" His temper flared. Hadrian was no doubt laughing manically at him, Snape was now aware that this is exactly what the man had wanted when Hadrian had roughly grabbed his thighs and bit his ear and neck. At the time he believed that Hadrian's was getting some perverse sexual pleasure from biting him, by the man's rough laughing it was not hard to believe but he now knew it was to make them think he was sexually assaulted so that he would be violated by a medic who believed him to be lying when he protested.

Meeting the Headmaster's sympathetic eyes, Severus stared coldly back . "My boy, just let her heal you." There was a slight pleading note to his voice that made the potions master bite back a sharp retort.

"I. Was. Not. Raped." He punctuated.

"Severu-." Albus began but was interrupted by the potions masters growl.

"I was not sexually assaulted Albus, I assure you I am aware of what has happened to my person."

"Then you were willing?" Poppy asked from his other side.

"Nothing of the sort! I did not participate in any sexual acts, willingly or otherwise." His temper was raising violently, still the witch didn't move.

Poppy was giving him an odd look, as if she was trying to decide the credibility of his statement. "You must understand that people who come in with these types of injuries are usually sexual assault victims Severus, so I must be sure that you are telling the truth, how did you get these particular injuries then?"

Fighting back an ashamed blush he scowled darkly at the women's ageing face. "One of the dark lords servants was ordered to punish me for my behavior and he simply found the most humiliating way to do so."

She starred back incredulously, "And he thought that making it look like he raped you would be embarrassing?" There was a tad of hysteria in her voice as she tried to wrap her head around this man's way of thinking. "Monster, that man, doing such a thing, out of-" She trailed off.

Her face was quickly turning red in her anger, she could imagine the type of monster that man was, uncaring and ruthless, hideously scarred face and large groping hands, poor Severus. She wondered how lucky he was to not have that 'thing' decide that 'seeming' wasn't enough and taking it all the way.

Severus deep voice brought her back. "What did you expect from a man in the dark lords ranks, a casual sense of humor? Dung bombs and sticky string?"

Eventually Severus (with a lot of hassling from Dumbledore) gave himself over to the old witch, and thankfully she didn't say anything more about his misguiding injuries besides a few low grumbles under her breath.

Later into the night, still slightly drowsy with pain relievers he managed to convince the old witch that he was an adult and could safely rest within his own courters.

Not up for any conversation he swiftly informed the headmaster that he would continue his report in the morning and went down to his chambers where he proceeded to pass out fully clothed on the couch.

Hadrian was near giddy as he exited his room.

His old professor had been so much fun to tease. He didn't remember too much from his first time around but he felt like the teasing was well deserved, so he didn't feel too bad for his ex-professor, it's not like he did anything truly terrible anyways.

A giggled escaped his mouth as he remembered the man's blushing face, beat red and flushed with shame. The teacher he remembered would have fought tooth and nail and made his assailant pay dearly despite consequences, rather than roll over and endure the embarrassment, he briefly wondered why this one wasn't the same. Also he remembered the potions master having more 'umph' in him, this Severus just kind of growled, the other one had a vicious bite to back his bark, that disappointed him mildly. He was looking forward to wrestling with the man.

But it did make Severus kind of cute, kind of like an angry pup, an odd smile appeared on his lips. Other Severus would kill him if he knew what he thought about his counterpart.

His smile stretched more when to his right, a group of death eaters slunk closer to the wall and he smiled at them pleasantly, which only seem to make them cower further.

"You seemed to have had fun, I hope you let my potions master at least able to crawl away." A salutary voice drawled.

Rage simmered just below the surface of his skin but he maintained his grin. "Oh yes my lord, of course, but it was a shame to know I could not keep him."

The dark wizard smiled coldly, "When he no longer is useful to me you may have him."

"Thank you, my lord." Hadrian grinned, returning the dark glee.

Two red eyes scanned the raven haired man bottom to top as if searching for something out of place. Hadrian resisted the urge to rip those twin red orbs right out of its skull.

"I hope your still not upset with me about that...little incident we had, didn't my gift appease you?" Hadrian did not like the tone in his voice. The man was treating him like he was stupid, he had heard him use it on many death eaters before to make them feel guilt for not accepting his 'apology'. Of course they took it seriously and lapped at his feet repletely telling him how gracious he was, how merciful, how selfless; it made Hadrian want to through up. His voice, was so fake, it made him wonder why people would fall for it.

His grin faded and he eyed the man with clear distrust and mild anger, making sure he didn't reveal just how angry he actually was. "Slightly, you broke my trust my lord, it will take a while for it to be regained. Till than I think it will be best if we stayed a respectful distance, I will be returning to my home in a few days."

If any other death eater besides himself were to speak as such to the dark lord, they would have immediately been faced with a hoard of defensive death eaters ready to rip apart any who disrespect their master. But being him, and in a private setting, he could get away with it with only mild annoyance from the serpentine man.

Letting out a sigh that sounded a lot like regret but he could tell it was annoyance, "if that is what you wish Hadrian, I will abide by it. Return when you feel like the trust between us could be rebuilt." Without a second after, with billowing robes the man turned and strode back down the hall in which he came.

Hadrian starred after him.

Breaking the dark lord would be so much fun.