Prologue: A Fool's Mistake
A gentle breeze blows through a clearing on the edge of a dense, dark forest. A faint crack disturbs the silent area and a sudden flash of blue light shines from within the forest. Two figures shrouded in black cloaks as dark as the forest itself, emerge out into the clearing. Dragging an unseen object between the two of them they make their way up the clearing towards a castle far off in the distance. As the figures walked the shorter of the to spoke:
"Do you think He will be pleased with us, Father?"
The taller of the two frowned beneath his hood as he considered his companion's question. After a moment he spoke in a slow drawling tone.
"It is hard to say," he sighed. "Our Lord is a master Occlumens, therefore it is hard to discern his emotions. A word of wisdom, Scorpious: while in his presence do not speak unless he addresses you directly. If he is angered, and you will not always know it, he can be unmerciful. He will target you for any reason and I suggest that you give him none. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Father."
"Good. Enough talk now, we're drawing nearer and we must be alert."
The two figures fell silent and continued up the path toward the distant castle. Suddenly the taller of the two figures stopped and threw out his arm halting his companion. The shorter of the two men turned to the taller in confusion. The taller man ignored this and stared straight ahead as if seeing something his companion did not. He bent down and grabbed a rock from the path and hurled it ahead of them. Instead of soaring very far it hit an invisible wall and vanished. The taller man nodded in a satisfied sort of way and rolled up the sleeve of his left forearm. He indicated that his companion do the same and raising their left arms in a sort of salute the moved forward cautiously. As they passed through the invisible barrier blocking their way the air shimmered slightly but nothing else happened. The taller man heaved a sigh of relief and the two men continued forward towards their destination.
Inside the castle a man dressed in black robes sat at a desk in an office. He was middle aged and going bald. The man was gazing at the tip of his wand, eyes unfocused, when suddenly he jumped up startled by a high pitched whining ringing in his ears. He waved his wand at the stone wall and an image appeared of the two cloaked figures outside approaching the castle. He jumped up in alarm and bolted out of the room and down the corridor running as fast as his short legs could go. A short while later, he came to a screeching halt in front of a statue of an evil looking snake.
"Salazar!" he practically shouted at it and instantly the snake sprang to life and slithered aside, as the wall behind it split in two. The man stepped through and sprinted up a slowly revolving spiral staircase behind it and stopped before an oak door with a silver knocker in the shape of a viper. Ignoring the knocker he burst through the door and immediately dropped to the floor as dozens of red and green jets of light flew through the space he had just occupied.
"M' lord it's me! It's Jugson!" the man shouted.
"STOP!" came a high cold cruel voice from the back of the room. "What is the meaning of this?"
"Master," gasped Jugson, kneeling before the enshrouded man. "Two men approach the castle. They have managed to pass the wards meaning-"
"They have the Mark. Interesting..."The man finished, trailing off apparently lost in thought. After a moment he continued. "Well I think it would be appropriate of us to greet our...guests properly. You two! Go and meet our guests and escort them to me!" the two men indicated bowed and slouched out of the room.
Outside the two men reached the front steps leading into the castle. As they moved forward two cloaked figures materialized from the shadows on either side of the door, wands pointed at them.
"Identify yourselves!" one of the men said forcefully.
"Ahhh, Avery," said the taller of the two men, clearly amused by the effect of being recognized so easily had on Avery. "It's good to see that you're still alive"
"Identify yourselves." Avery repeated.
"Just loyal servants of the Dark Lord." replied taller man, still amused.
"We're all servants of the Dark Lord." stated the other man absently. The taller man stiffened at the sound of the second man's voice. He even cringed slightly as Avery barked: "Shut yer gob, Crabbe."
"V-Vincent?" said the taller man in a faltering voice. The man in question looked around, slightly surprised and said: "Draco?"
The tall man lowered his hood, revealing long silvering, pale-blond hair and a pale, pointed face.
"DRACO MALFOY!" bellowed Avery, raising his wand. "I'll kill you, you traitorous basta-"
He was quickly cut off by a right hook to the jaw. he crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
"Very nice," Crabbe chuckled glancing at Scorpious, whom was rubbing is knuckles. He turned his attention to Draco Malfoy whom was still frozen in shock. He quickly regained his composure though, for he turned to his son and said: "That was not a wise decision, Scorpious."
"Yes, Father." Scorpious muttered, lowering his own hood as well. He had shoulder-length pale blond hair and cold gray eyes, like his father. His only semblance to his mother was a noticeably darker shade of skin.
Draco turned to Crabbe with a look of surprised confusion on his face. "Tell me-"
"How I survived the Fiendfyre?" interrupted Crabbe. "What you and the others failed to remember in your haste to escape, was that you can alter the Room while inside it. I remember I kept repeating 'make me fireproof' and eventually I was encased in a charmed bubble. Like a bloody hamster ball. Barely made it out alive through a door in the back of the Room. Got burned pretty bad as I was going through the door, though. Cant seem to take out what it creates inside."
As he spoke he lowered his hood revealing heavily scarred skin. His face was so mangled it was hardly recognizable to Draco. His skin was ash white and chalky. His usually flat nose seemed even flatter and his ears had shriveled up to little nubs. His eyes however, were worst of it all. no longer the carefree dull eyes Draco had once known. They were cold, empty and void of emotion. He had a gaze that seemed to freeze your very soul.
"Now," Crabbe said in his usual dull, soft voice. "Enough talk, why are you here?"
"Ah...yes, well," Draco began. "Young Scorpious and I have stumbled across something in our travels that we hope will aid us in our effort in redeeming the damage my parents caused to the Malfoy family name." He indicated the empty space between himself and Scorpious. Crabbe bent forward with a frown and snatched at the air. His hand grasped at something silvery and fluid-like and he pulled it upward, revealing an unconscious man with graying red hair.
"Is that-"
"Yes," Draco stated simply. "We found him hiding in a small village between Limerick and Tipperary."
"Well let us get inside. The Dark Lord is waiting."
Back inside the room at the top of the moving spiral staircase, the two Malfoy's knelt before their Master.
"So Draco," said Voldemort softly, his scarlet eyes gleaming in the light of the fireplace. "You have honored us with your presence. After all those years spent hiding from the wrath of your Lord, with your worthless father and weak-hearted mother, you decide to come here. Surely you must know that there is a...bounty on your family? Dead or alive, I believe."
My Lord I indeed know this," drawled Draco as a few of the Death Eaters snickered at their Master's jibe. "I was forced into hiding after my spineless father and cowardly mother betrayed you. I spent years trying to find a suitable way to redeem my name in your eyes and after Mother died of her 'illness' and Father his 'magical accident', I decided to travel west to train young Scorpious." at this Voldemort's eyes flicked over to Scorpious with a look of mild interest and a hint of curiosity on his face. Draco continued: "After a few years and to my delight, I discovered something that I hoped could possibly please you enough to redeem the name Malfoy and I could once again take my place as a Death Eater."
"Very well," Voldemort said with a slightly amused tone, tearing his gaze from Scorpious' visage and turning his cold red eyes upon Draco. "Show me what it is you so foolishly believe will bring about my forgiveness, that you would risk your new families life by coming here."
At this Draco nodded at Scorpious, whom stooped and removed the Invisibility Cloak from their hostage.
"My Lord," Draco announced proudly. "I present to you, the last known survivor of his family, Undesirable Number One."
Voldemort leaned forward, a cruel smirk twisting his snake-like visage. he drew his legendary wand, pointed it at the red haired man and said: "Rennervate"
The man stirred slightly, groaned and mumbled something incoherent. Twice he tried to stand, once making it as far as one knee, before collapsing to the floor. Voldemort flicked his wand, bringing the man to his knees, his arms outstretched to either side of him. The man struggled slightly against the magic holding him, but gave up quickly. He glanced around with a dazed look in his eyes, frowning as he took in his surroundings, his unfocused gaze started to clear as it came to rest on the snake-like face in front of him. The man stared at Voldemort for a full minute before doing something that shocked the entire room of Death Eaters and even Voldemort seemed taken aback.
He giggled.
The man's giggle grew steadily into a chuckle, which grew into loud cackling laughter. His eyes rolled madly around as he continued to laugh like a madman. He didn't seem capable of stopping so Voldemort flicked his wand yet again. The man made an odd spluttering choking sound as the laughter caught in his throat. Voldemort's eyes narrowed.
"So... you've managed to be quite a thorn in my side. Freeing enslaved Muggles and Mudbloods alike. Destroyed four of my internment camps, led a rebellion in Paris and Moscow," Voldemort listed the accusations off as a prosecutor would to a murderer. "And my personal favorite: murdering Fenrir Greyback."
The man was grinning from ear to ear through the matted tangle of elbow length graying red hair. He seemed to take pride in the charges he was accused of.
"I will however be gracious enough to be quick and painless in my Judgement IF and only if you divulge any and all information concerning more resistance attempts from my subjects." As Voldemort spoke he flicked his wand for a third time, granting the man his ability to speak again.
The man tilted his head sideways, grinning broadly, as if sizing up the pale Lord in front of him, before clearing his throat to speak:
"Very well Tommy boy," giggled the man. "I'll divulge some interesting information. You," he paused dramatically. "Are an ugly git." And at that he fell back into fits of mad laughter.
"It seems I need to loosen your tongue." Voldemort said his eyes narrowing even further. He slashed his wand through the air and the man's eyes bulged as his tongue started to swell. Just before it hit the ground Voldemort flicked his wand once more and the enormous tongue flew upward smashing it's owner in the face. There was an audible crack as the man's nose broke and began to bleed furiously. Voldemort lowered his wand and the man's tongue resumed it's normal size.
"See, I too can be funny," he said in a dangerous tone as the Death Eaters howled with laughter. The man nodded and began to giggle again, despite the blood drenching his tattered robes. "Now, your last chance."
The man stopped giggling and put on a serious sort of face as if considering Voldemort's threat. He spoke again:
"Yes... there is something... you will die," there was a suddenly silence around the room as he spoke. The man's grin remained but his tone was suddenly harsh and cold. "Your entire army will be taken out with no survivors. A single man, foretold in a prophecy will take you down all on his own." He fell back into giggling madly.
"Who? Give me the name of this man" demanded Voldemort, who knew better than to forsake a prophecy. The man however, ignored him and continued cackling louder and crazier than ever. "Answer me! CRUCIO!"
The man writhed around on the ground in apparent agony, yet his mad laughter never seem to falter. His hair flew about wildly as his head rolled, revealing a missing ear. His head sagged forward onto his chest as the curse was lifted. He gave a wheezed giggle before falling into a short coughing fit. After he recovered he started to laugh again.
"Now tell me or I'll torture it out of you."
The man's head was bowed his matted graying red hair was obscuring his face. He chuckled quietly for a moment before speaking:
"You made a fool's mistake all those years ago," he began in a hushed tone. "You thought that because you were right, killing him no longer mattered."
"Who?"
"Harry Potter."
Everyone in the room behind the man seemed to draw breath as one at the mention of the name.
"Then again as I said before... you're a bloody git." Suddenly the man's wrists flicked upwards so that his palms were facing Draco and Scorpious, who were still standing on either side of him. He silently mouthed words and the Malfoy's were blasted into the walls by an unseen force emanating from the man. The man jumped to his feet taking advantage of the sudden confusion. He lunged at Voldemort's throat bellowing "FOR FRED!" He grasped Voldemort's neck and shouted "CRUCIO!"
Momentarily Voldemort writhed beneath the man's hands, red eyes wide in shock, before thirty jets of green light hit the man in the back. George Weasley slumped to the ground at Voldemort's feet, a haunting look of triumph in his face, dead.
Voldemort's slit-like nostril began to bleed.
AN: CHAPTER ONE TO BE UPLOADED SOON