Severus couldn't bring himself to look at her face directly as he knew he would break. He kept himself strong and waited for Voldemort to say what he particularly wanted from him.

The Dark Lord turned to Severus and started, "You must spy for us on all activities of the mud-blood prince. Worry not, you only need to do it till the end of this year, as there won't be a need after that. Until then, your mother will be our guest. She will live inside a secure room, with everything from food to other basic needs." His voice abruptly turned a bit colder, "But remember, if you dared to betray us, or even utter a single word about this to anyone not here, she will face exactly what Lord Malfoy told you. Now make a decision." ​​

The words of Voldemort fell like a spear on his ears. The gravity of what was being asked of him was too big. To betray his best friend, whom he really saw as a brother... this was a crime in his mind.

But... seeing Eileen's face, his resolve was wavering. His heart was in conflict.

"No, Severus. Don't worry about me. Do not listen to these monsters." Eileen cried. She loved her son and knew she had already ruined his childhood. Now, she didn't want to ruin the rest of his life by being a liability to him. She knew who was Magnus and what his name and status meant. If Severus betrayed him, he wouldn't just be breaking a friendship but making an enemy out of the descendant of Merlin, this was akin to rejecting god in her mind.

Severus's fist shivered, his breathing became heavy. His forehead's veins popped up. He could not think of a way out. He wanted to save Eilnee, there was no doubt about it.

Between Magnus and Eileen, he couldn't choose. Both held equal importance to him. He felt like killing himself, but it wouldn't solve anything.

"Quick, we don't have all day." Voldemort annoyedly nudged him.

"HEHE... I can bet he will choose his mama." Bellatrix fanatically shouted, exactly what was expected of her.

*Sigh*

Severus took a very long breath. His face looked devoid of any emotions. All the changes that had appeared on him through the years disappeared in a second. The dark and broody Severus returned, his mind under great stress.

He could only pray, only hope. ~Magnus, please look through my change in personality.~

"I will do it," He resolutely agreed to them.

"NO! DON'T DO IT! You will not be able to... forgive yourself after this... *Sniff* Don't, Sev." Eileen pleaded.

~The same will happen if I left you to die.~ He said to himself.

"HAHAHA... good boy, good decision." Voldemort laughed. He walked up to him and put his arm around his shoulder.

"You will enjoy being a part of us, Mr Prince. However, before you start your mission, there is one more thing." He stepped away all of a sudden, "HOLD HIM!"

"What are you doing?" Severus confused, looked left and right. 2 Death Eaters jumped and slammed his upper body on the table and bent him. He tried to move and free himself but they overpowered him. He didn't have his wand either, so he felt helpless. His face paled when Lucius acted next.

Lucius came forward and grabbed his arm, "Nothing, we're just ensuring our property now."

Voldemort came forward with his wand out and a hideous smile plastered on his face. "Don't worry, it won't hurt. It's just a simple... Dark Mark."

"NO! I will spy for you, this is not needed." Severus panicked. He didn't know if this Dark Mark could ever be removed. Getting this mark was as good as becoming a Death Eater, and if he was found out, he's afraid nobody will believe him, not after betraying Magnus.

Voldemort took great joy in his agony and put his wand on his wrist and upper arm. "I will be done soon, and after this, you will become an official member of our order. And..." He came near his head and whispered, "With this, I will always know what you do, what you will say and where you are. Hahaha..."

"Hold him tight," he ordered.

Voldemort cast some kind of a spell immediately and slowly waved his wand over the wrist. Severus was hurting and he clenched his teeth. He felt something moving in his veins and making its presence known across its body.

The spell was complicated, after all, it had so many functions. It was made by Voldemort himself. This spell made sure that his subjects stayed loyal to him. However, the only thing it lacked was the ability to read its subjects' minds.

The whole process lasted 3 minutes, but they felt like an eternity to Severus. Once he was released, he looked at his arm. It had a dark coloured skull and snake coming out of the mouth of the skull and coiling itself around in loops. The mark was also moving slightly, like the magical portraits.

"You may leave now, Mr Prince, but just keep on sending letters containing the information to your house. Make it look like you are writing to your mother. If you do a good job we will keep Miss Prince safe. Break the deal, and we will... you know it. Mr Malfoy, take him away." Voldemort ordered and didn't even spare a glance at Severus further.

"SEVERUS!" Eileen called him when she saw him being dragged away.

Severus glanced at her and softly nodded, trying to give her strength. He knew all he needed to do was somehow let Magnus know about everything and all problems might get solved. Merlin's magic was with him after all.

Lucius brought him to the same place he appeared and shoved his wand in his hand. "Severus, you may have joined the wrong side originally, as long as you do good, My Lord will treat you right. Believe me."

~It's really hard to trust someone with a face like that.~ Severus muttered to himself.

He simply nodded, not in the mood to talk. Lucius handed him the same box as before, "You know what to do."

Severus grabbed it and chanted, "Hail the Dark Lord."

*WOOSH*

...

Severus found himself back at his home, outside it was already evening and the sky was turning dark. The lights were not on at home so everything was nearly dark. Similar to how he was feeling right now.

As soon as his feet touched the floor again he collapsed. His eyes finally let loose and a few tears appeared on his expressionless face. He made no noise however, he didn't want the Dark Lord to feel good with his misery.

~I must keep a distance from Rag and Mag whenever they will talk about sensitive things.~ Severus understood this much about the dark mark now.

He went to his room and sat down on the chair. Brainstorming what he should do, however, the more he thought he felt more helpless, the Dark Mark had restricted too many things that he could have done.

Now, if Magnus didn't take the initiative and used legilimency on him, he will never be able to tell people. What made him feel bad was that Magnus would most likely never do something like using Legilimency on him, his best friend.

He folded his arms and rested his head between them on the table. He didn't feel like moving, or even turning on the lights. There was just one single candle now, and he just stared at its flames.

He felt like a candle. As it would burn and kill itself slowly, the surrounding darkness would soon take over.

...

Magnus' Mansion.

What happened with Severus, Magnus had no idea, if he did, he would have used Merlin's staff and do everything possible to help his friend. But he was oblivious.

He was at home, packing his luggage and humming some songs. He was taking many electronic items with him this time. They included mobile phones, Portable Radio, an electric record player, an electric generator that runs on fuel, and a few portable batteries that were large. He was going to turn his Slytherin Hall into a big music room where people can relax at times. Of course, he didn't forget to bring many vinyl records.

"Hehe, this year, I am going to conquer Slytherin house, then, when other houses find how cool mine is, I will gift them these too." He planned as an evil capitalist would. But Magnus was not evil, he was a good boy, as he did things for free when it came to making friends.

After half an hour, he was done with the packing. This time he was taking 3 extra boxes, and mind you, they were all enchanted to have extra space.

~Is dinner ready?~ He wondered and headed to the kitchen. He didn't hear any sound from there, however.

"Mum, where are you?" He loudly asked.

*TANG TING*

All of a sudden he heard a loud steel plate dropping sound. He ran inside to see what happened, and what he found shocked him.

"CHAD? What the..."

[A/N: Before you bros jump on me, don't worry. I'm not gonna be pushing this Severus plot for too long. Currently, it's nearly September 1st in the fic timeline, this whole arc will come to a conclusion by October end in this novel.]

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Special thanks to *Douglas Flower* *Umar Latif* *Julian Rocamora* *Darrien Steely* *Franklin Walley*