Sophie appeared in the middle of a forest, so dark that the light of the afternoon could not penatrate it. She stood before her master, her snake-like eyes watching her every move.

"Ah, Ssophia," he stated upon her arrival.

Sophie lowered her head, a sign of respect that all Death Eaters knew to obey. Voldemort would not tolerate insolence from anyone and certainly not from the small girl who stood before him. He sneered down at her as she wondered what he could have called her here for.

Slowly, he circled her and Sophie felt very much like a bird. She was obviously the prey this snake was considering. She wasn't necessarily afraid, but she knew better than to think she could try anything. She was at the mercy of the Dark Lord and that was something even the strongest of wizards would cower at.

Instead of blubbering like a baby, Sophie kept her head held high, her mind blocked, and her emotions in check. She allowed Voldemort to finish his circle around her and finally met his eyes when he came to stand before her once more.

"We have much to discusssss," he hissed.

"There isn't much to discuss, Severus," Dumbledore was saying, safe in his office inside Hogwarts castle. "Sophie has her own role to play in the war against Voldemort and he has need of her now. We can do nothing for now. We don't even know where she was summoned to."

Snape stood at the window with his arms folded tightly across his chest, only the tops of his hands sticking out from his long sleeves. He glowered at the grounds, not knowing why she would be called without him.

"If I didn't know any better, Severus, I would think you actually cared for the girl," Dumbledore stated, sitting behind his desk.

His eyes twinkled brightly as he watched the younger man over his half-moon spectecals. Books and papers were splayed out over his desk enough to make it seem as if he would have more important matters at hand, but it didn't look as though he noticed any of it.

"It's a good thing you know better, then," Snape replied, turning from the window. "I simply am worried for my safety now with Ms. Roe as a spy as well. What use does the Dark Lord have for me, when he has another competent spy at his disposal?"
Though his concerns were justified, Dumbledore didn't seem to give them much thought before he dismissed them altogether.

"That isn't going to happen, Severus. Tom has too much invested in you to dispose of you now," the Headmaster stated. "Besides, Sophie has another role to play and she isn't much of a spy against me or the Order. She isn't included for many of the meetings and we don't get together too much to discuss that side of things. No, Tom has her here for other reasons but they are not to replace you."

Snape wasn't reassured, but he sighed and let the subject drop.

Sophia had already been gone an hour, but this was not an unusual length of time that the Dark Lord might command of his followers. Severus only came to Dumbledore because he figured that the Headmaster should be warned about this. He also didn't like the empty feeling his room was left with after she Disapparated.

The Potion's Master did not leave himself time to dwell on what this could mean. So he enjoyed the witch's company. That would not be so unheard of if it weren't applied to someone like him. But Severus Snape did not enjoy anyone's company and he certainly didn't worry about anyone else. So what was the feeling doing in the pit of his stomach, masked only by the cool indiference he was so used to showing the world?

Snape raised an eyebrow at the Headmaster, as if daring him to say what those 'other reasons' were. Dumbledore did not take the bait. Instead, he sighed and glanced at the darkening window. It would soon be dinner and then night would take over the castle once more.

Before either wizards could say much more, the fireplace blazed green and a head poked through. Kingsley Shacklebolt's face stared up at Dumbledore, green flames licking up the sides of his head.

"Excuse me, Headmaster, Professor," he said. "But there's been..."

"Of course, Kingsley," Dumbledore replied. "If you'll excuse us, Severus."

Snape did not need to be told twice before he swept from the room. The winding staircase led him down to the Entrance Hall where he quickly pushed through the students and started down the stairs into the dungeons toward the sanctuary of his rooms. He wondered about why he needed to tell Dumbledore about Sophia's departure, but he didn't linger on it long as he muttered the password to his rooms and entered.

The room was as empty as he'd left it, though Snape didn't really expect anything else. Behind him, the door closed softly. Candles came to life as he stalked to the chair in the center of the room, his favorite chair, and settled himself into it. The atmosphere was still slightly empty, but he ignored it and summoned a book to himself from one of his many bookshelves. Quietly, he started to read.

Sophie was quiet as she listened to the Dark Lord talk, his voice a sharp hissing, though he was speaking plain English. He was not speaking to her at that moment. Instead, he was giving orders to his rat-like minion, Wormtail. She wondered why they all seemed like animals, Voldemort a snake and his servant a rat. Not only did they look like them, but they were also very close to the animal of their likness.

They were now in Malfoy Manor, the Dark Lord's private room, to be exact. Sophie was awaiting orders, but it seemed there wasn't much he wanted with her except to call her from the castle. They'd spoken briefly while out in the woods, then moved to the Manor without much talk. Then he called Wormtail and she was left forgotten.

This didn't really bother Sophie. If Voldemort wanted to just leave her be, that was fine with her. She knew that when he finally directed his attention to her, it would surely be unwanted. Nothing pleasant could come of attention from the most evil wizard to walk the planet.

So, instead of calling attention to herself and speeding up the process of torture and talk of destroying the muggle world, Sophie studied the large snake in the corner of the room. The beast was coiled tightly around itself, sleeping lightly. Every once in a while, she moved her head or looked up at her master before laying back down. Sophie knew that Nagini was the closest thing to Voldemort and that he would never allow anything to happen to her. She wondered why the snake was so important.

She wasn't able to ponder on it long, though. The Dark Lord finished up his business with Wormtail and looked to her with an evil, horrid smirk. His eyes looked her over once before he started speaking. Sophie gave him everything he asked for, information, obedience.

She was relieved that she was a better Occlumens than he was Legilimens because there were many things she kept from him during those conversations. She produced fake memories with ease and fed them to the man in front of her without guilt. The only emotion she felt was the slight tinge of fear at the very back of her mind that one of these times he would realize the lies she so readily gave and that would be the end of her. Sophie had been working with him since she was a child, but that did not mean he had any attachment to her, it just meant that he could better manipulate her with the knowledge and closeness he had on her.

At the end of their meeting, Voldemort looked on her with cold, but satisfied eyes. Their plans were still in order. Everything was ready with the girl and as soon as the time was right, he would use her to his advantage. She was his secret weapon, indispensible at the moment. But that didn't mean he couldn't have a little fun with her. He wouldn't kill her, but he could harm her.

Sophie was expecting the blow from the Cruciatus Curse that came her way, but that didn't mean she was prepared for it. One could never get used to the pain that was inflicted by such a curse. It was intense, pressing in the forefront of her mind. She couldn't think of anything else. There was no way to get passed it. Her body spasmed on the hard floor of the room as she lost all control. Her mind went to a place where the pain couldn't touch her.

There was not much in this small corner of her mind. Happy thoughts, memories which meant a lot to her, they were sparse, but they helped her to keep her sanity in moments like these. One thing was here that wasn't the last time she'd used this small space of her brain. A man dressed in all black, hair long and greasy, and eyes as black as night.

Severus Snape stood in her safe haven and she was only slightly surprised to find him there. After all, they were growing closer lately and she did like him. There were no bad memories attached to him and he did make her feel safe. Of course he would be here, in the safest parts of her mind.

With that settled, Sophie set out to shield herself from the pain. The wizard stepped up, stood in front of her, and raised his wand. The pain was still there, but it was almost like he was countering it, protecting her. She was able to forget and ignore the intense agony, focused instead on the protection Snape gave her.

For the duration of the curse, this is how she got through it with her sanity intact. Not that she would ever tell anyone, but Snape stayed there, giving comfort and protecting her. She knew it was a figment of her imagination and that it wasn't real, but it did help and Sophie knew that was all that really mattered. She did not want to end up like the Longbottoms.

When finally tired of the torture and Sophie's voice ran hoarse from screaming, Voldemort dropped the curse and waited until she was able to right herself again. Her body shook from the linger affects, but her back was straight and she was able to meet his eyes, her mental shields as strong as ever.

The Dark Lord was pleased with the way she screamed, but also disappointed. Snape didn't scream. This witch was supposed to be stronger than him. She was supposed to be stronger than all of them, that was why she was his secret weapon. He scowled at her in anger.

"You dare scream?" he yelled down at her. "You must be stronger than that!"

He screamed the Unforgivable at her again and she tried, but couldn't hold back the cry that escaped her lips. Sophie fell to the floor, once again trying to reach that small spot tucked into the corner of her mind.

The curse was lifted before she could locate the much needed protection.

Voldemort was now standing from his throne, the only piece of furniture in the large, rectangular room. He circled her, spitting before her face as Sophie moaned lowly.

"You must be stronger or I have no use for you, Sophia," he stated, glaring down at her coldly.

As she slowly came to her senses, Sophie noticed that there were others in the room now. Some she could put names to, others she could not. Lucius Malfoy, Wormtail, Goyle, and two other men she'd seen around before. They laughed at her pain and waited for orders from their master.

"Harm, but not kill," Voldemort told them.

Two hours and still no sign of Sophia, though that didn't necessarily mean she wasn't back. It only meant that she didn't come to see him when she returned. Snape didn't think this was the case. He knew what meeting with the Dark Lord were like and the feeling in his stomach grew worse with each passing minute.

The book could not hold his attention for long and he gave up on that nearly half an hour earlier. Instead, he worked on a potion in his lab. Madam Pomfrey needed to restock a few potions and he decided to use this time to work on them. He hoped they would bring some peace to him, but they were mindless potions and didn't require enough thought to hold him captive for long. While his hands worked, he wondered what Sophia could possibly be doing with the Dark Lord.

When it was time for dinner, Severus put a stasis charm on the simmering cauldron he was working with and cleaned his hands before leaving the room. He hoped he would see Sophia fine and well at the Head Table to his left for the evening meal, but somehow he knew that this would not be what he would find.

Snape was correct in his assuption that Sophia was not back. He took his usual seat at the end of the table and gathered some food onto the plate before him. The seat to his left was empty, but it was still early.

The rest of the Head Table filled in and students came and went, but Sophia Roe never showed. Snape knew what that had to mean. He sighed as he pushed his plate away and rose from the table, heading back to rooms.

Dumbledore found him before he could get there. Sophia had returned. She was in the Hospital Wing.

It was all Snape could do not to rush. He forced himself to move at the same speed as the Headmaster, refusing to allow himself to ask any questions that might allow concern to seep into his voice, but of course, Dumbledore knew anyway.

The Headmaster watched his potion's Professor out of the corner of his eye as they headed up to the Hospital Wing. To someone who didn't know him as well, he may have looked cold and uncaring, but Albus could see the subtle changes in the man. He was not as indifferent as he might want everyone to think.

They entered the Hospital Wing only minutes later, but to Snape it could have been hours or days. He could not have described what was going through his mind during those long minutes. He knew what could happen in meetings with the Dark Lord and he knew what might be found on the hospital bed before him.

Snape followed Dumbledore passed all of the empty beds, thankful that there were no eyes to witness the emotion that was playing across his usual stone-cold face. At the end of the room, behind a partition, Madam Pomfrey emerged. Her face was solemn, eyes sad. For just a moment, Snape thought the worst.

"She's stable," the mediwitch stated, voice showing her age much more today than it normally did.

Severus felt the smallest sigh of relief leave his lips, but he knew that this wasn't great news. Stable was a relative term. It meant that she would not die right now. It meant that she was still hurt, worse than just some cuts and scrapes. She could have died and the thought scared him more than he'd like to admit even to himself.

"Did she say what happened, Poppy?" Dumbledore questioned.

They stood just outside the curtain hiding Sophia from nosy eyes and Snape was forced to wait to see her for himself. He imagined the worst, pale skin, glossy eyes, no breath. It was all too easy to imagine her as another of the dead bodies he saw so frequently while working for the Dark Lord.

"She'd been subjected to the Crutiatus Curse for some amount of time," the witch answered. "I had to give her a calming draught to help with the tremors, though they still wrack her body in her sleep. She told me that when he was done cursing her, he allowed his followers to attack her. She couldn't name all of the hexes and curses they used against her, some of them were non-verbal, others she didn't hear over the pain and other's shouting. They kicked and hit her, whatever they could do to cause harm, but nothing that could possibly kill her."

Dumbledore sighed and Snape felt sick to his stomach. All too many times he'd been around one of these gatherings, where anyone and everyone was allowed to just have fun with the person of the Dark Lord's choosing. He himself was forced to participate many times, cursing and adding a kick or two to some unknown wizard.

"You can go and see her," the mediwitch said. "But do not wake her. She needs her rest if she is to heal properly."

The stern woman left then, walking briskly back to her office. Severus and the Headmaster were alone on the outside of the privacy curtain. Together, they slowly made their way to the inside to see for themselves how bad the young witch truly was.

The breath was stolen from Snape the moment he laid eyes on Sophia. She lay pale and umoving on her bed, but for the small rise and fall of her chest, covered by a thin hospital gown and blanket. Her eyes were closed, bruises covered her face and exposed arms and Snape knew there were more that they couldn't see. Every few seconds her body would twitch and shake with the after affects of the Unforgivable she'd been subjected to for so long.

This was only slightly better than the picture he conjured in his head, yet in many ways it was worse. This Sophia was real life, laying in front of him. Though she wasn't dead, there was this unexpected frailty to her that shook Snape to the very core of his being. She always seemed too kind and happy, but never once did she look fragile or vunerable to him.

"I have things I must attend to," Dumbledore said, braking the silence what could have been hours later. "You should stay with Sophie. She will need a familiar face to see when she wakes up."

At the sound of the Headmaster's voice, Snape felt the cold wall slide back into place and he sneered at the older wizard.

"And why would I stay with her? Do I not have things to attend to as well?" Severus sneered. "Have a house-elf do it. I'm sure Poppy can handle things on her own. I am no mediwitch or healer."

"I have asked you to stay with her, Severus. Not a house-elf. Poppy has to sleep and take care of others. I'm sure you can handle staying with Sophie for just a few hours until the morning," Dumbledore replied.

There was no arguing with this side of the Headmaster. This was how he was always roped into things he didn't want to do, but today he didn't even really want to put up a fight about it.

Dumbledore nodded before turning around and slowly leaving the room and Severus to himself. The wing was dark, just a single candle lit on the nightstand beside Sophia's bed. In the dim lighting, he conjured a large, comfortable chair and settled himself into it. He watched the woman lying in the hospital bed and felt his stomach churn. He knew there would be no sleep tonight. Still, somehow, he manage to find it anyway.

Only hours later, Snape was awoken by the sound of movement. He was always a light sleeper and the uncommon noise aroused him into full wakefulness. His eyelids slid open, dark eyes landing on an unusual sight. It took him a moment to remember the events of the hours before he fell asleep and then to curse himself for falling into oblivion.

Sophia struggled against the confining blankets wrapped around her and Snape stood, laying a hand on the bed and effectively calming all movement as she looked up at him. Her eyes held no fear. She didn't seem to be in any pain.

"Professor Snape," she whispered softly, her voice rough.

Snape's was soft in contrast as he whispered back, "Ms. Roe."

"The blankets," she explained, reaching to attempt to move them once again.

"Let me," Snape replied, quickly fixing what had been bothering her so much.

He looked back into her eyes, finding them staring up at him in the darkness. The light of the candle was long since burned down to a faint glow, but he could still see her perfectly.

Sophie watched Snape's face as he fixed the blankets for her when she could not. She was slightly surprised to find him so kind, but it was easily forgotten about. His eyes came back up to meet hers and she found something much more shocking. There was a softness to his eyes that she never expected to find. He seemed genuinely worried about her comfort, about her in general.

They stayed like that for some time, but neither could state just how much that was. Finally, Snape stepped back and Sophie searched for something to say to break the silence which had been so perfect only moments before. Her eyes cast around the darkness, looking for something to spark inspiration for conversation.

"How long have you been sitting there?" Sophie asked, her eyes landing on the chair.

Snape looked back at the chair, feeling as the wall came up once again.

"Only a few hours," he replied.

Sophie could see that the moment between them passed, but after all the changes in their relationship, she could sense when something between them shifted. Now was one of those times. Snape allowed her to see something that she was sure hadn't been seen by anyone in a very long time, if it'd ever been seen before. She was amazed that she would be the one he showed it to and she treasured the fact even as he closed in on himself again.

"I'm sorry to keep you from your bed," Sophie said, grinning through a spasm.

"Though the sentiment is appreciated, it was only under orders that I was forced to sit in that thing for so long," Snape sneered, but the corner of his mouth twitched upward.

Something definitely shifted.