A Tiger in a Cage

By Wandering Phoenix

Summary: A strange young woman enters Voldemort's service and becomes a Death Eater. What the Dark Lord doesn't know is her dangerous secret, and what her true intent is. She is catapulted into the labyrinth of the Death Eater's world, where nothing is as it seems… (Takes place the summer after seventh year.)

Disclaimer: I do not own anything the infinitely talented writer J.K. Rowling does, and I can never hope to be as good of a writer as she is. However, I do own Rayne, and the details of her background, which will be explained in later chapters. I also own lots of chocolate, and you can't have any. So there.

A/N: This is my first fic, so any constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated! Please R and R!

Chapter One: A Stranger in the Night

It was night, one of those dark summer nights where the air is so full of possibilities that you can almost taste it. A strange bird perched among the branches of the beech tree, its color masked by the dancing shadows. It gazed down, watching, then surveyed the activity of the looming house—more of a castle, really—before taking flight.

It was time. The young woman sighed, took a few deep breaths, and detached herself from the cover of the tree. Why am I worried? she thought to herself, It would be next to impossible for him to figure out my true intentions. She lightly picked her staff up from the cool ground, and readjusted her emerald cloak. The stranger then began to walk towards the double iron doors that lay ahead.

Knocking, she removed her hood and checked the location of the knives on her back. It was unlikely that Muggle weapons would be necessary, but anything was possible these days. She heard the click of a lock, and the heavy doors were slowly pulled open.

"It took you long enough to get here," smirked the irritatingly attractive face of Draco Malfoy.

"You know me," she replied with a smile playing on her lips as she entered, "always fashionably late!"

Draco laughed and pushed his pale hair out of his eyes, but quickly became serious again. "That may be tolerable here, but you'll want to be on time tomorrow."

She nodded. "I know, don't worry. It's wonderful to see you again though!" she exclaimed, leaning in to kiss his cheek.

"It's nice to see you too, Rayne," he replied, genuinely smiling. "You might enjoy knowing my father will be gone for a week or so, and I had the servants set up a room for you on the east wing," he informed her while starting up the jade staircase.

Rayne followed him, half-listening to his tales of what had happened since her last visit to the Malfoy Manor. Thank God Lucius was gone. While Draco's father was generally tolerant of what she was, that didn't mean he liked her. Lucius was rarely welcoming to a rival for power, even though power was not Rayne's goal. Perhaps she never should have told the Malfoys that she wanted to be—

"We're here," announced Draco, interrupting her thoughts.

Rayne's eyes widened in shock as she took in the immense room. It was easily half as large as a Quidditch field, and lavishly decorated with expensive materials. "It's beautiful!" she exclaimed.

"Will you be needing anything?" inquired Draco, "I can have someone bring you something to eat, but as much as I'd love to, I can't stay and chat right now. I have…issues…to attend to"

"That's all right," answered Rayne, "I understand. Something to eat would be lovely though." She leaned her staff against the wall, and gave Draco a brief hug. The girl stifled a yawn and giggled. "I guess the journey really wore me out," she observed, "It's a pity I can't Apparate! I should just go to bed. G'night, I'll see you tomorrow."

"That's what you get when you carry a staff instead of a wand!" teased Draco, tossing his wand into the air and catching it.

"Alsnarayan," murmured Rayne, suppressing a grin.

"Hey!" shouted Draco, dropping his wand, which had suddenly become quite hot. "All right, point taken. Good night, Rayne." Draco turned and proceeded down the hall in his black robes as Rayne chuckled and entered her room.

The girl collapsed onto her red velvet bed after locking the door behind her. Then, picking up her staff she closed her eyes and raised the staff above her head. "Lithnora ayria" she whispered. Rayne opened her eyes, and focused on the shimmering space of air in front of her. "Come on, Solakara, lithnora!" The shimmering area began to take on a golden hue, and within moments a golden bird appeared.

Stretching out its wings, the aureate bird settled down onto the bedpost. "What is it, Rayne?" the bird sighed, "You must stop calling me here like this! It was bad enough sitting in that tree for an hour watching out for you!"

"I'm sorry, Solakara, but you are the only one I can talk to right now! It's not like I have other ayrias to call on. I'm just…not sure I can go through with this."

"It will be fine," said the bird, the ayria, gently. "He knows that you are a sorceress, and that is enough. He doesn't need to know the full extent of your power! Very few wizards are aware that you even exist, so everything should be fine tomorrow."

"That's just it!" exclaimed Rayne, "I will need to use much of my power, and the Dark Lord may be able to sense it! You know a Death Eater isn't supposed to rival his or her master for power!"

Solakara opened its beak to say more, but was interrupted by a knock at the door. "One moment!" called Rayne, before quietly saying, "Rala'nin." The ayria vanished, and Rayne opened the door. It was just a house elf, bearing a bowl of some sort of vegetable soup. She thanked the elf, and returned inside the room.

Rayne set down the bowl on an oak table positioned near the bay window. Rayne caught her reflection in the glass, and what she saw shocked her. Instead of the cool, composed person she was used to seeing, there was little more than a frightened girl with windblown auburn hair. Gazing out over the moonlit garden under the window, the harsh reality of what would happen tomorrow sank in. I can't go through with this! thought Rayne. But she had to go through with it. She had promised, she would be letting everyone down otherwise. Tomorrow, Rayne Altheriana would become a Death Eater.

……..

A/N: So what did you think? Some parts were meant to be a bit vague, but everything should be explained by chapter three. Also, any opinions on chapter length? Longer? Shorter? Let me know!

~ Wandering Phoenix ~