A/N: Quick little Oneshot type story. 2 Parts and the second part will either be posted tomorrow or tonight. Hope you enjoy, it's just my take on how the scene at Malfoy Manor could have gone, with a few extras thrown in (Fred)! Hope you enjoy! Please Read and Review! :)
As he walked, his boots hit the white marble floor with purpose, leaving a resounding clack to echo the cold halls. He was in a hurry. He had been summoned, for the first time in a long time, in the middle of the night. He was one of the Inner Circle, for the first time in his life, one of the elite, and was rarely called in the night without warning.
Regardless of the time, he was fully dressed and wide awake. If his Master wanted him there, at Malfoy Manor, then that was he would be. Happily, for his Master and his noble cause.
He had reached the dining room, where the meetings were generally held. He was breathless with anticipation, electrified adrenaline coursing through his blood, eager for what he hoped the night would bring: death.
He opened the closed doors, an expressionless mask on his face, hiding his joy. His brother was there, kneeling on the floor, much to Fred's joy, and perhaps just a dash of uncertainty. His goal, and that of all the other Death Eaters, had been finding him, and his two friends and co conspirators - Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. It was all about them, they were the key to the war. For better or for worse. It was about time that they were caught and put to justice. Assuming that it was them.
The one that was presumably Potter, looked distorted, unlike Harry himself, and not even a pair of glasses on his nose. Still though, the prospect of Harry Potter was enough to give Fred a twisted smile of joy.
In the room, around the three, were the two Malfoys, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Fenrir Greyback. In Fred's opinion, the other lowly people, likely Snatchers, weren't worth mentioning.
"Fred". Draco stood up, a relaxed expression on his face, he had been squatting in front of the prisoners. His posture was relaxed, if his stance was tense. Fred narrowed his eyes vaguely, wondering what this meant, but he shoved his suspicions aside, now was not the time to doubt loyalties.
"Draco. Is it really them?" despite how excited he was, his voice was calm.
Draco shrugged, turning his back and walking to the other side of the room carelessly. He didn't respond. Fred glared at him before turning to Bellatrix who was still examining the prisoners.
"Is it them?"
She turned away from Hermione, and looked at him through heavily lidded eyes, "You tell me".
He approached cautiously, almost afraid that he would see the eyes of Harry Potter staring back at him. While Fred was a loyal Death Eater, he didn't want his family, filthy blood traitors as they were, to die. If it was Potter, that would mean that it was Ron. He couldn't care less about Granger or Potter.
He looked down at his face, studying it carefully. Moments ticked by, the occupants of the room had fallen silent full of nervous energy.
The eyes. The infamous eyes. They were definately those of Harry Potter. Snape would know.
He stood up smoothing his crisp robes. His shoulders high, and eyes piercing, he looked to Bellatrix, the authority of the room, "I can't be sure. I think that they are his eyes. We should call Snape". Bellatrix eyed him, but he knew that she would take his advice, he had proven himself to be trustworthy to the cause. Moments later, Bellatrix had her wand out, and was pointing it at her left arm. As a high up death eater, she like all in the Inner circle could call other death eaters, as well as the Lord, which all with a mark could do. As the most respected death eater in the room, Lucius had lost his authority when he lost his wand, Bellatrix was solely given this honor.
The minutes waiting for Snape to arrive were spent torturing the mudblood.
Bellatrix had immediately, after calling for Snape, cut her free from the others, saying that they could do something productive while waiting for him.
She was currently laying on her back, screaming and sobbing.
Fred stood next to Draco, watching him. Draco had never been cut out for the heavier parts of being a death eater. Sometimes Fred envied him his innocence and inexperience. As one of the Inner circle, Fred had gladly done worse things, many times over, than what Bellatrix was doing to Hermione. Sometimes, in the deepest darks of his mind, Fred wondered what his life would be if he had chosen differently. The light instead of the dark.
While Hermione screamed and writhed, feeling the wrath of Bellatrix's knife in her arm, the Snatchers and Greyback were holding the other two prisoners back. As Snape would be there soon, to identify them, Bellatrix had decided that the would be best left out. Fred was sure that she had decided it mostly because she wanted them to see Granger in pain.
Ron and Potter, if that was who he was, were putting up quite a fight. The Snatchers had wanted to simply stun them, but Bellatrix had screamed at them not to. So they struggled on.
Fred stalked forward, out of sympathy for Draco, and surprised. He approached the Snatchers. He had noticed that one of them was holding a bag earlier, but had discarded it from his mind, thinking it of no consequence. Now, in the attempts to keep the two prisoners at bay, the Snatcher had dropped the bag, and one of its contents had come spilling out. It was the Sword of Gryffindor.
Fred knew for a fact that it was in the Lestrange's vault. How a lowly Snatcher had gotten his hands on it, was beyond Fred, but he was going to find out. He stalked over to the snatcher, and pulled out his wand. Without even muttering an incantation, rope bounds flew out of his wand and bound themselves to both Harry and Ron. They fell to the ground next to each other, unable to do anything but thrash helplessly at their feet. Fred walked forward, ignoring the prisoners, until he was toe to toe with the snatcher, who had, by now, reclaimed his bag.
"I happened to notice something interesting in that bag of yours, mind pulling it out", his voice was soft, laden with unspoken threat. The Snatcher looked terrified, but stared at him definitely, not moving back despite their close proximity.
Behind Fred, Snape walked into the room. Billowing black robes made him seem even paler than usual, but when he saw the prisoners, all three of them, he seemed to get even paler still. Bellatrix, upon hearing his footsteps, stood up to greet him. She threw the knife carelessly to the side, looking disgusted at the ruby blood dripping off it. Snape nodded to acknowledge her presence, but his eyes remained on the two boys, thrashing on the ground, Harry in particular. It was only his mastery of Occlumency that allowed him to keep an uninterested look on his face. He raised an eyebrow at the sobbing, bloody mass on the floor that was Hermione. He took a step towards her, but seemed to catch himself, and redirected his attentions to Bellatrix.
"You called", he raised an eyebrow, silently asking for an explanation.
She let out a puff of air, blowing the stay hairs out of her eyes, "and you took your time". Her words were dangerous, but her voice lazy.
His face didn't change, "I don't come at your beck and call, Bella".
"Yet here you are".
He looked past her, tempted to roll his eyes, and looked at the still struggling prisoners.
"Is that who I think it is"?
She jerked her head behind her, still facing him, gesturing for him to look. He swept past her, inches away from hitting her shoulder with his. She stared at the spot that he had been moments ago, head cocked to the side, before whirling around to face him and the others. She noticed the altercation with Fred and the Snatcher and walked leisurely over to them.
"What do we have here" Bellatrix drawled, in a comparable manner to that of her brother in law.
Fred let go of the Snatchers robes, he had grabbed them violently and pressed his wand to the neck of the Snatcher when he refused to do more than pull the sword partially out of the bag.
Bellatrix, her eyes fixated on what little of the sword was revealed above the rim of the bag, stalked forward, shoving roughly past Fred and in front of the Snatcher. The Snatcher, knowing that his time was up unless he acted, quickly pulled the rest of the sword out, handle first, and handed it to Bellatrix, with a pathetic slight bow. When she took it he scrambled back, hoping that she would leave him alone now. Unfortunately for him, she did not.
She took large strides back to him, holding the sword at her side in a maniac fashion, "Where did you get this" her voice was deadly soft, showing the true face of her insanity. When he didn't reply, probably frozen with fear, Bellatrix leaned forward, getting even more in his face that she had been previously. This time she was yelling, "I will ask you again, where did you get this sword!"
He stuttered a reply, "It was in the tent with 'em" he gestured wildly at the prisoners, a thick accent making his words almost indistinguishable.
She twirled around, robes swishing in her wake, and stomped over to Hermione who was still on the ground, but had stopped sobbing. She flinched away from Bellatrix's feet, and then her face when Bellatrix got on her hands next to her.
"Where did you get the sword of Godric Gryffindor"?
Snape, on the other side of the room, had been paying vague attention, mostly focused on examining Potter and the youngest Weasley male, and after determining it was them, what he should do. When he heard Bellatrix's words about the Sword of Gryffindor, he rocketed to his feet, warning bells going off in his head.
He had just given, in secret, the sword the Potter, and now it was back in the Dark's hands. If the Dark Lord got whiff of this, he would be dead, and, worst of all, the Dark Lord would know that Harry was looking for Horcruxes. That would not be allowed.
Under Bellatrix, Hermione screamed. Weasley's and Potter's efforts to get out were increasing, and one of the Snatchers kicked one of them. Snape turned around and glared at the Snatcher, making him back up quickly, looking confused but afraid. Snape's mind was racing.
Part 2/2 later!
R/R
