SACRIFICED TO THE SWORD

Disclaimer: Any body, thing or place you recognise does not belong to me and I make nothing from my use out of the except a strange satisfaction.

CHAPTER 4

It had been a long day, a long day in a series of long days, even before Severus had left the school to report to Voldemort. The gathering had only been underway for a few hours when he suddenly became aware that someone had tripped the warning charms in his office. He had often suspected that Albus had been able to know more about the goings on at the castle due to his connecting with the Schools magics, he had not however found this to be the case with his relationship to the core.

No, despite everything, he continued to feel as though the strands of magic remained just on the edge of his awareness, frustratingly just beyond his reach unless he expended no little effort in order to grasp them. And so, he had added some additional protection charms to the Heads office and his own quarters. It was these that had been activated and he suspected he knew by whom.

Minerva had rallied the rest of the staff behind her and though he had done everything in his power to create the impression, and the actual situation, whereby she had no time to consider molding anything close to an organised resistance. She was holding up extraordinarily well under the demands he was placing upon her and though he had had little doubt that she would, he was perhaps more surprised that she had yet to openly, or privately, loose her temper with him.

But this was not her style, subterfuge perhaps, but she would have done a better job of testing out his defences and probably neutralising them than the current infringers had. No, Severus was fairly certain it had to be students who had disrupted his wards, and if it was students then he had a pretty good idea of which ones.

His wand was in his hand as he stepped out of the fire, though a quick survey soon told him the room was empty, he could tell there had been someone there moments before, and where it was they had been searching.

The Sword.

Racing across the room, he followed them to the door, and managed to petrify them, containing the situation quietly before it spilled back out into the corridor. Unfortunately he hadn't anticipated Amycus Carrow barrelling up the stairs and knocking into the petrified students sending them sprawling.

Severus took a moment to breathe before summoning the students wands and the Sword, ordering Amycus to his feet and lifting the Petrificus Totalis on the two Gryffindors.

"In my office." He growled, turning his back on them while his mind ran through a hundred different options. He was going to have to take this seriously or more importantly, he had to be seen to be taking it seriously.

Summoning a students Head of House was standard procedure and did allow Severus not only a little more time to think before he had to make any pronouncements but would also, he hoped, provide him with an ally. As they waited for her to arrive, he paced from one side of the room to the other, allowing the students anxiety to rise.

He couldn't be sure, but he strongly suspected that Minerva must have run the length of the castle to arrive as quickly as she did, but the slight flush to her cheeks was all that gave any indication she might be even slightly harried.

"Ah, Professor, I see you did decide to join us." he drawled as she closed the door behind her and made a cursory sweep of her students. She did return his greeting but it was plain that he was not her priority quite yet.

"Are you unharmed?" she asked, taking the time to look at her students one at a time. Both Longbottom and the youngest Weasley replied in the affirmative though they remained tight lipped though he noticed that neither of them were entirely unhurt. The young red head was fairly bristling at the firm hand hold that Amycus had on her arm and when Minerva turned to face Severus her anger was palpable in the air.

Before she could say anything however, Alecto came storming through the door, a typically doe eyed Lovegood in tow.

"I found this one hanging around in the corridor." She crowed, thrusting the younger woman in the direction of the other two. "Shall I…?" she offered, and the headmaster could almost hear her crack her knuckles in anticipation.

"No." he cut her off abruptly. "And I think the Deputy Headmistress can be held responsible for all these students especially considering what it was they were attempting to steal.

"Now Miss Weasley, Mr Longbottom," Severus resumed his pacing across the hearth, allowing the sword to swing idly, noting with some satisfaction that it's weight was impeccably well balanced and that it swung and twisted with remarkable ease. "would you like to enlighten me as to what exactly it was you were thinking?"

"Not particularly."

"Miss Weasley!" Minerva reprimanded. Severus raised an eyebrow it would seem that the younger woman had no compunction in provoking him even if her Head of House knew the dangers that laid down that road.

"I have been informed," Severus continued, choosing not to make more out of the incident. "that a certain Undesirable Number 1 seems to believe he has some claim to this relic."

"He has more than a claim, it should be his." Longbottom interrupted, his restraint seeming to have been worn down. "Professor Dumbledore wanted Harry to have it." He added, and Severus saw a flash of pride in Minerva's eyes.

Dismissing this thought he turned and levelled the sword at the young man.

"You would do well to be careful to whom you pledge your allegiances." He warned, holding the young mans gaze. Longbottom refused to look away and Severus was struck by just how much this young man had grown.

After a moment he let the sword fall, turning away to continue pacing once more. He waited another moment, trying desperately to muster some form of punishment that while classifiable as 'severe' would do no real lasting harm. Perhaps if he could focus on humiliation…

"Well," he began laconically, "no matter your motivation – you will have to be punished severely for such a blatant breaking of not only school rules, but also the law. As Headmaster, there are, a number of options open to me when it comes to punishing miscreants." He continued, turning to watch their reactions.

"Headmaster," Minerva began, insistently. He waved her off and ploughed on determined to at least make his point before he allowed her to intercede.

"I could call the Ministry and ask for their professional help." He suggested, knowing that there was no way he would do it but needing them to think that he still might. "But," he broke into the growing tension, "I rather feel that there is scope enough for your punishment within the confines of the school. Mr Filch has been begging for a chance to use the manacles he's hung in the Entrance Hall… Or perhaps I shall hand you over to the Professors' Carrow…" From the corner of his eye, he saw Minerva blanch at this thought and knew that there was only so long she could contain herself for under these circumstances.

"Really Headmaster!" she protested, and he could almost see her searching for some idea, anything that would allow her to deflect his anger.

"And then there is, of course, the matter of your Professor," he paused to look at her, "whom it is becoming rapidly apparent cannot control her own temper never mind her students."

It had been a throw away comment, the kind they had exchanged in the staffroom on an almost daily basis but it sparked something that he grasped as soon as she began to speak.

"I am ultimately responsible for my students behaviour." She offered with only a hint of trepidation.

"Are you suggesting that you should take the brunt of the punishment for your students misbehaviour?" Severus asked, allowing a truly sardonic smirk to grace his lips. "And what," he continued as he stalked languidly towards her, "could I possibly do to the upstanding and righteous Minerva McGonagall that would serve as a sterling example to the rest of the school?"

He didn't stop until he had firmly invaded her personal space. Raising a hand he paused to catch her eye before gently running her fingers down her cheek and was struck by the look in her eye. She was terrified. She was covering it exceptionally well, but she was absolutely petrified about what he might do to her.

Once, what seemed like a lifetime ago, when he was new to the staff of Hogwarts and still cutting his teeth in the staff room, he had been told something by Filius Flitwick that had shone a whole new light on Gryffindors like Minerva.

'Courage for people like Minerva is not about a lack of fear, it's about the overriding unquestionable doubt that something is more important than what ever it is you're scared of.'

He couldn't think of 'Minerva' now if this was going to work; not the woman who played the best chess in the school, the woman who had helped him and not asked the questions he could not answer. No, he could not think of her like that, he had to think of Albus' damn 'Greater Good'. After all, they were on the same side in this fight, they both wanted to get the students to the end of this war in one piece, or there about.

He could feel her suppress a shudder as he took her chin between finger and thumb.

"Oh, I think I might quite enjoy that challenge." He declared, releasing her chin and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Kneel."

It was a simple instruction, but a telling moment and Severus watched as she fought with herself. He knew what it was she saw when she looked at him, knew the hate and contempt that was reflected in his eyes, had cultivated it for a long time. She was searching for something now, something that she had been able to find before, a chink of that hurt young man who she always saw, never pitied but refused to use. There was no chink there, there couldn't be and yet in that moment he almost wished that she would see through him, see through it all.

There was no revelation though, only a steely determination growing by the moment.

"Kneel." He comanded, thrusting the sword towards Alecto, hilt first, hoping that she would take it from his hand. Eventually she did, and Severus leant in close to the Gryffindor ready to impart a little encouragement for her co-operation.

"Don't make me angry, Minerva," he began softly, "you wouldn't like me when I'm angry." He felt her shudder just before she succumbed and fell to her knees.

As soon as she did, there was a general outcry from her cubs, followed by the Carrows ubiquitously overzealous attempts to regain control. It was none of those voices, or his own, that stilled the disturbance however. The Lovegood girl's proclamation was not loud but somehow the implication of what she said seemed to lend weight to the simple statement.

"Professor Dumbledore! He was awake."

The rest of the rooms inhabitants all looked to the portrait, but Severus could not bring himself to turn and see what he knew was waiting for him. On more occasions than he could count over the last months he had been so convinced that Albus was watching him only to find when he turned that the former Headmaster was still apparently asleep in his frame.

It didn't take long for it to become obvious that this time was to be no different but what intrigued him was that the girl had actually seen Albus awake… there was no time to linger on those thoughts for the meantime though.

"You would all do well," he began sharply, waiting until they all looked back toward him. "not to make your Professor's act of sacrifice futile by further misbehaviour." The Gryffindors turned to look at their Head of House, sitting prone at his feet, as though only just realising that this was actually going to happen.

The looks that passed between the students and teacher however, showed that Minerva may be bowing but she was not going to be broken, at least not before her charges.

"Do as he says. It will be fine." It was as though if she could put enough conviction into that one statement, if she could make them believe that, then it really would be true. If only the world worked in that way.

Walking around her, he chose a point at which he would be just outside her field of vision before he stopped and lent down to stage whisper next to her ear.

"I do wish you wouldn't utter such inane platitudes, they are so beneath a woman of your intelligence."

He let the statement hang there for a moment before turning to he Carrows and effectively dismissing them under the cover of work. The students might not enjoy their night in the forest, but Hagrid would keep them safe at least.

"Meanwhile," he continued playing to his crowd and setting the scene for what he was sure they were convinced would follow. "I think I shall teach Professor McGonagall a little something about control and… restraint." With a flick of his wand he bound her ankles and wrists.

"Make sure we're not disturbed." He declared, the carnal and predatory look in Amycus' eyes as he nodded in understanding enough to turn his stomach. He turned his back on them though, and as he heard the door closing behind them he whispered "Obscuro".

He waited for several moments, watching to see what effect the spell would have, how Minerva would react to having her sight completely removed.

Her body tensed and Severus could see her fight the growing panic. She was kneeling bound and blinded on his office floor and there was going to be nobody coming to rescue her. She managed to keep her cool however, didn't squirm or plead no, she was waiting to see what happened before she showed her cards.

Severus tried to imagine what sort of things were running through her head, he knew she was not innocent in these matters, she was an intelligent woman who was not afraid of the truth of the matter. She knew what it was he had done in the past, had listened impartially as he had poured out vitriol about how no-one would ever trust a man like him. She had trusted him. She didn't now, not since Albus' death.

After several moments Minerva had still said nothing and with a growing clarity, Severus realised that that the witches silence was the key.

The Deputy Headmistress was normally exceptionally eloquent, until her temper got the better of her that was, and she was usually quick with a sharp retort or a spirited defence of a student, colleague or theory when necessary. She was also known for her obstinate refusal to ask for personal help or even to acknowledge when something was wrong with her, no matter how serious.

No matter what he did tonight, if Severus left Minerva fit to leave the room under her own steam then he doubted very much she would seek help from anyone if she could help it.

That did not mean secrecy however, the students were no doubt pouring out their concerns to Hagrid already and in turn he would likely contact Flitwick, or perhaps Sprout or even Madame Pomfrey. So whether Minerva liked it or not, the chances were that there would be someone asking uncomfortable questions as soon as she set foot in her own rooms. She would deny everything of course to begin with but there was only so long that even someone as private as Minerva would be able to fend off their concerns.

But if there was nothing to tell…

Once an idea was planted in the mind of her colleagues it would be easy enough to perpetuate and given Minerva's known propensity for secrecy regarding personal matters there was every chance that her claims that nothing had happened wouldn't be entirely convincing.

What he was considering would put Minerva in a horribly unpleasant situation, isolate her further from her colleagues and add another stressor to her load. It was however, a vast improvement on the alternative.

With a flick of his wand, Severus dowsed the father and almost instantly the temperature in the airy room dropped.

"Do not move." He hissed ominously. "I will be back and I will knowif you have."

He cast a quick warding ring around her and turned to leave the room but once he reached the doorway he stopped, turning back to look at the older woman as she knelt in the middle of the room. These days his decisions and actions always seemed directed towards perpetuating the lesser of two evils; certainly in the short term. He would keep from physically harming Minerva for as long as he could, but what the long-term effects of prolonged manipulation in this way would be, he could only guess but he'd taken the first down this path and had little choice now but to follow where it led.

A/N: Well I hope you've enjoyed this - let me know either way I do love a little feedback :)

I'm hoping to continue this series of snapshots throughout the year but obviously I'd like any thoughts you guys have on the matter…

Thanks for reading!

xLx