Chapter Thirteen - Legilimency

While Severus Snape was not particularly concerned about the fate of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, both of whom had experienced the Dark Lord's displeasure recently, he had made up his mind to try and do something about Draco. With each day that passed, the Dark Lord grew angrier at the lack of progress being made and he often turned his irritation upon the Death Eaters, since Maro was apparently indifferent to the Dark Lord's attempts to punish him. And he had become less discriminating in his targets lately and if Snape was not known for his compassion, he was nonetheless worried about the boy. He was, afterall, only seventeen, barely an adult.

However, Snape knew that escaping would be nothing short of impossible. For one thing, Lord Voldemort just so happened to be an accomplished Legilimens. Snape himself happened to be a pretty damn good Occlumens but there was the little matter of Draco. He might have been taught by his dear aunt to shield his mind, but Snape doubted the boy would be able to resist an attack from Voldemort. So, obviously... Draco would have to know absolutely nothing of Snape's plan which was admittedly sketchy at best. Still, he did like a challenge.

The most immediate challenge was to feign interest in the current discussion while actually plotting the escape. The Dark Lord was once again waxing lyrical about his frustration and Maro was once again reacting with utter indifference. Only the most trusted Death Eaters were present at these discussions and Bellatrix Lestrange shot a furtive look at Snape. It was widely known that Snape was high in the Dark Lord's favour but this did not grant him any greater secrets. He shook his head at her absent-mindedly and continued to think. If he only had an Invisibility Cloak, then his task would be so much simpler. Disillusionment Charms were a possibility, but risky, maybe too risky...

"Surely we should attack again immediately, particularly if what you have told me is true? They will be off-guard and -"

"Not a chance," Maro interrupted, leaning forward a little on his chair which was nothing more than a glorified tree stump. "I don't know what your regular witch or wizard is like, but I do know that Dante, as... thick as he sometimes is, will be on even higher alert after all this. Plus one of his old partners has arrived. I assure you, she will not be easily fooled either."

A sibilant hiss escaped from Voldemort's lips. His carefully made plans were crumbling before him. Every time he suggested something, Maro immediately gave at least five reasons why this would certainly not work. The most irritating thing was that Maro seemed to be immune to any threats, often referring to his 'master'. Who this master might be, Voldemort could not begin to guess and nor did he have any particular inclination to do so.

"Tom?"

His long fingers gave an almost imperceptible twitch. No matter how many times he told the man, Maro refused to call him Voldemort. He made no sign that he had heard but Maro continued anyway.

"You know Harry Potter extremely well, I understand. Surely you must know of some way of drawing him out into the open, vulnerable to attack? He is only a boy after all, he must have a weakness."

For a moment, all was silent. Snape hardly dared look at Voldemort, having already realised exactly what would be following. A second later, Voldemort's thin lips turned up slightly at the end into a smile.

"The boy has heroic tendencies. I used the trick before, luring him by convincing him I had one of his loved ones held hostage. I doubt he will have learnt his lesson. All we will need is someone for him to come and rescue again…" His red eyes came to rest on Snape's impassive face. "Any ideas, Severus?"

"Draco Malfoy, my lord," Snape replied smoothly. Things were going to need great reconsideration. "While he did attempt to kill Dumbledore, Potter will no doubt still feel it his duty to come to the boy's aid."

Maro clapped his hands and rubbed them together in delight. "Finally, we're getting somewhere!"

After the meeting, Bellatrix had hung back a little, shooting meaningful looks in Snape's direction which he took to mean that she wished to speak to him. He obliged, waiting until all was clear and they could not be overhead. From the look on her face, he had an idea that she would have quite liked to slap him.

"What exactly are you thinking?" she hissed, her face barely inches from his own. "Suggesting my sister's son, just like that?"

"Dear me, Bella," Snape said in a low voice. "One would think you were worried about young Draco."

She drew back a little, a thunderous expression engraved into her features. "You know as well as I do that our master does not look kindly upon failure, however slight or long ago it may have been. You think Draco will be let off lightly? What will it do to Narcissa, after you promised to look after –"

He cut across her swiftly. "I would remind you that promise was to only kill Dumbledore if the boy himself was unable to do so. In any case, I do not intend to leave Draco to his fate. I am fully aware of our master's views on failure and punishment. I don't think age concerns him either."

"What are you going to do then?"

"I can't take him away; the Dark Lord will be keeping a close eye on him. The best I can do is to go to the castle myself and ensure Potter plays hero again."

She looked at him doubtfully. "What makes you think Potter will help?"

"Oh I'm sure there'll be some way I can convince him," Snape answered sardonically. "I think it would be wise if you were to inform Draco that he has a duty to perform. It may appear suspicious if I speak with him and then leave."

"Your leaving will be suspicious enough in any case," Bellatrix pointed out. Despite her rather obvious lack of faith in him, Snape secured a promise from her that she would keep quiet about his plans. Everything had been upset by Voldemort's latest idea but there was a way to make it all come round right in the end. After all, Harry Potter was the most predictable teenager Snape had ever come across.

- - - - - - -

A day after the catastrophic events of Dante's possession, the hunter was in his room, perched on the edge of his bed and gloomily contemplating his ruined waistcoat which was dotted with bullet holes. Even after apologising for about twenty minutes, Lady had still seen fit to make him look like some sort of cheese. It might have been pretty funny if not for the predictable side-effects of pain and blood. He'd been forced to don his backup clothes, which consisted of a black t-shirt, a leather jacket and a spare pair of leather trousers.

"I did say sorry, you know," he said. "About fifty times."

Lady shifted a little in the doorway. "Thing is, I couldn't really shoot Lilith, and you don't die that easy anyway."

"That doesn't mean you can shoot me!"

"I did like the look on your face though yesterday, when you went to apologise to that kid."

Dante flushed, a rare occurrence for the hardcore demon hunter. After being severely reprimanded by Lady (and we won't even go into what Nevan did), he'd immediately gone to the Great Hall, managed to find Neville and explained the situation to him at great length. Poor Neville looked as if he'd be traumatised for the rest of his days.

He shot a dark look at her. "This is the reason you don't have a boyfriend."

"No," she disagreed. "It's because I know that most men are jerks. And don't you dare imply anything stupid," she added upon seeing a smirk twitch at his mouth.

Dante's expression turned sulky. "Pfft, like I'd try saying anything to you at all, Little Miss Trigger Happy. I don't think you ever realise how much it costs me to replace my clothes."

"What the hell are you on about, that stuff looks like you nicked it from a trash can."

"Hey!!"

Before Dante could explain in detail how each item of his outfit had to be carefully tailored to suit his special needs, and how there could never be a stitch out of place, and how all this cost a great deal of his hard-earned money which she took most of anyway, Hagrid drew up to the door, his huge shoulders heaving up and down in great gasps of breath. Lady took a step back in surprise, not having come face to face with the half-giant before. Dante however immediately registered the urgency apparent on Hagrid's face. He stood up, tossed aside the ruined rag that had once been a waistcoat and said simply, "Let's go."

- - - - - - -

"And so that's when McGonagall told me to keep an eye on you, and here we both are. Except I won't keep a proper eye on you, of course." Dante winked with his head turned resolutely away from the former Potions Master. "They've told me about this mind-reading thing you do."

Snape twisted slightly in his chair and glared. "It's called Legilimency," he muttered irritably and then returned his attention to the thin chains binding him to the chair. He was uncomfortably reminded of that chair within the court room at the Ministry. At least here he wasn't surrounded by arrogant officials peering down their noses at him. No, he was just sharing this room with the devil hunter who was nonchalantly lying on a bed with a thin mattress, head resting against the wall and humming to himself from time to time, in between explaining how he had come to be the guard in here.

He had barely gotten away early that morning, even with his Disillusionment Charm in place and Bella doing her best to distract just about every single Death Eater in the forest. He had not counted upon the monsters seeking to prevent his escape and their sudden roars of delight at discovering a new plaything had brought Fenrir Greyback sniffing round. The werewolf had started to raise the alarm when he realised Snape's intention but the latter silenced him swiftly with a Stunning Spell. He could have killed the man but Snape had no wish to tear his soul any further. Leave that to Voldemort.

It had been relatively easy to avoid the demons' attacks. After all, he'd studied the Dark Arts and also ways in which to magically defend oneself and it was a simple matter to cast physical shields when necessary, to attack when defence would not suffice. Streaking across the front lawn at a surprising pace, his progress was only arrested by the apparently sudden appearance of most of the school's staff along with a couple of Aurors, Tonks and Kingsley. Surprisingly, none of them were particularly pleased at his arrival and he was unceremoniously stuck in this room, left alone for a short while and then… this man had arrived.

Dante plucked at his shirt with a scowl and then spoke again to Snape. "What made you come back anyway? You're not thick. You knew they'd lock you up."

"I am not accustomed to answering the questions of a man who doesn't look at me," Snape snapped.

"Ooh, tetchy, aren't we?"

Snape ignored him. Nobody had wanted to listen to him when he'd arrived, convinced Voldemort had sent him as a spy when all these years it had been the other way round. Naturally nobody thought he was telling the truth and none of them made eye contact, only too aware of his prowess as a Legilimens. He wanted to show at least one of them the truth somehow but that was becoming increasingly impossible. At least, he had thought so until he'd come face to face with Dante, not for the first time.

All he needed now was for Dante to just look at him and he might be able to convince the other man.

"The Dark Lord has been wondering why the Headmistress called you in," he said evenly.

"Is that so?" Dante asked in a voice devoid of interest. "Hasn't Maro told you all about how I'm a fearsome demon killer?"

"That's funny because I would have thought a fearsome demon killer wouldn't have let a child die." He sensed rather than saw that Dante had tensed and could picture the tight expression on the man's face.

"What are you getting at?"

His conscience pricked him but Snape pressed on nonetheless. "You let her die, didn't you? You could have gone after her, such a prodigious fighter as yourself, yet you left her -"

A sudden red blur. Dante was stood before him, snarling, "You don't get it, I couldn't do anything, not then!" His blazing blue eyes locked with Snape's own dark eyes and in that moment he realised but it was too late.

Dante was running and so was Snape, rain lashing viciously at his/their faces. The latter realised he was seeing through Dante's eyes instead of viewing the memory from a distance and this unsettled him. The rapid footsteps were those of a child, ragged gasps like thunder in his ears.

"Dante! Hide, hide and don't come out!"

There was a curious shift in the surroundings and they were stood alone in a ravaged room. Glistening glass littered the floor and Snape saw splashes of blood streaked across the damaged walls. A small voice floated out.

"Mom… Vergil…"

That change again and now the scene was atop a tower with wind whistling and the moon appearing huge, providing a baleful glow over the confrontation at the very apex of the structure. Bright sparks flew, illuminating the faces of the combatants. Blue and red, reckless and graceful, the twins fought fiercely, bitterly. Without warning there was an awful screech of metal scraping against metal and Rebellion was flung high into the dark sky and both Dante and Severus felt the icy sting of the katana as the weapon slid between ribs. A cool voice that was yet charged with adrenalin spoke: "Foolishness, Dante…"

Then they were watching as the elder twin leaned back, further and further until finally Vergil was falling off the edge, a slight smile or smirk on his usually passive face. Dante lunged forward with a hand outstretched, barely knowing what he was doing, barely considering what might happen if he could reach but the cool katana struck again, biting deep into his palm and Vergil was lost within the darkness that seemed solid.

"Quit that!" Dante growled aloud. One hand was clutching at his head, buried in the silver hair. His teeth were bared, in pain or anger but Snape did not relent.

Thunder roared and lightning struck a bright scar against the sky and the flash reflected brightly off the gleaming metal of the amulet resting in his hand. The jewel winked and a woman's voice echoed dimly: "Vergil, Dante, happy birthday…" Nelo Angelo, Vergil, both only a memory now as Dante knelt alone, clutching the final memento of his family.

"Get the hell out of my mind!" Dante cried and shoved back mentally, casting the pair of them through Snape's own memories. Unlike Dante, he did not resist the intrusion – this was the only way he could convince the man that he had all this time been on Dumbledore's side, right until the end. Dante saw with growing understanding how Snape had given the Potters to Voldemort, had then begged the Headmaster to protect Lily, how he had sworn to help protect Harry after she died, how he had done so for years

And then how in the end he had killed Dumbledore to preserve Draco's own before fleeing, so that those who had trusted him thought they had been betrayed.

At last Snape broke the eye contact, looking away to the side. When he looked back he saw Dante had moved back slightly, his own sharp gaze fixed upon the double agent.

"He told you to kill him," said Dante in a low voice, the sentence a statement rather than a question. Snape nodded. For a few minutes there was only silence. At last Dante straightened fully and moved towards the door without a word.

"Where are you going?" Snape asked, slightly worried by the expression on Dante's face. Dante paused a moment.

"I'm going to tell McGonagall all this so that you can get out of those chains," he answered and continued on his way, opening the door. He spotted Snape about to say something further and shook his head, pre-empting the apology. "Don't. I get why you did it. Just don't pull anything like that on me again." He left the room, closing the door behind him with a soft snick.

Snape was left alone and he found it impossible to stop thinking about the devil hunter who was part demon himself, and about what he had gleaned of the strange man's history. But still he thought about Draco and wondered how long it would be before the next inevitable confrontation.

- - - - - - - -

A/N: Well this took me a while, didn't it? My apologies. I should warn you all that the next chapter may be a little time in coming again, as in three days I will be taking my GCSEs and I'm afraid exams come before fan fiction (crazy, ain't it?). This chapter's a bit shorter than the previous ones, which bugs me slightly but I really didn't want to drag it out any longer and anyway, I've got plans for the next few chapters. Before now I've not had much in the way of concrete plans but I think that now I got most of the plot figured out, except for a couple of fiddly bits at the end. I doubt even the best writers have every teeny bit decided before hand anyway: I reckon stories like to write themselves sometimes. This is pretty much irrelevant, but here's something that isn't: if you read my fic, if you favourite it, or add it to your alert list, please do me the great favour of reviewing. I like to know what I'm doing well and what I can improve, even ideas for what can happen – hey, if you've got better ideas than me, I'm open to 'em. For now, this is Cobalt Demoness, over and out!

PS: I remember someone asking about Lilith in a review. A while back I was fascinated by demonology so I was checking out demon names and found that one. I thought it was a pretty name (maybe I'll call my daughter Lilith?) and when I wrote Chapter 12, I decided to use it. Also, someone said they skim read Dante's possession bit. Heh, I completely understand. You have NO idea how much I was cringing and going "I'm so dead, aaaahhh!" while writing it.

PPS: Oh yeah. Final thing: definitely no Vergil at all, folks. Even if you beg me in reviews. He has no place in this story the way I see it. And, if I'm honest, I couldn't bring myself to put him into the Harry Potter universe. Don't ask me why. And now I'm really going.