For the Too Many Cooks challenge, where Amber and I are going back and forth with drabbles until we can't anymore. Our theme is an AU!wolfstar, where I will be writing Sirius' tale and she will be writing Remus', which will be found under "And I'll Wait For You Come This Summer". And she gave me the prompt of "eyes".
For Amber, who is my love.
.
Sirius stands behind his cousin Bellatrix. He scans the room, seeing many people that he knows, that he's friends with. They are here to watch him join the right cause, the noble cause.
Bellatrix bows in front of Voldemort. "My Lord," she says. "My cousin is here to offer you his loyalty." She moves to the side to present Sirius to him. "I can assure you that he will be loyal."
Voldemort strides past Bellatrix and circles around Sirius. "Is that true?" he demands, his voice velvety.
Dipping his head out of respect, Sirius replies, "Yes, my Lord. I wish to pledge my loyalty to you and your noble cause."
Without warning, Sirius feels his veins set ablaze. The pain is nearly enough to cause him to fall to his knees, but he refrains. He knows this is a test to see if he will break easily. He closes his eyes and bites back a scream, trying to focus on something other than the pain. He gets a mouth full of bitter copper.
The curse is soon lifted and Sirius reopens his eyes. Voldemort stands in front of him, holding out his hand. Sirius offers his tired arm. Pressing his wand into skin, Voldemort carves the tattoo into his forearm.
Sirius grits his teeth. It's not as bad as Crucio, but he feels the snake crawling, digging into his tender skin. After several long moments, Voldemort pulls away. Sirius flexes his hand and watches as the tattoo moves along with the motions.
"Thank you, my Lord," Sirius murmurs, his head still bowed. It isn't until Voldemort has swept past him that Sirius raises his head.
Most of the people have already left the room, leaving only him, his cousin and her husband. He meets the eyes of Bellatrix. She gives him a twisted smile as she passes. "You did well, cousin," she says.
Sirius nods. He watches her leave the room, pride swelling in his chest.