I didn't experience euphoria when I killed Longbottom, but I did have a deep feeling of satisfaction. It was that feeling of satisfaction that kept me from flinching as the Dark Mark was seared onto my left wrist.

"The last person who received their Mark without flinching was your worthless father," Bellatrix said after the ceremony. "I had such high hopes for him and after his initial assignment; it seemed he lived up to them all. Don't be like him and let your baser instincts be your undoing."

"My lord father seems to thrive despite his 'baser instincts,'" I replied bitingly, refusing to allow her to bait me.

"The hyphenated last name you carry does not negate the fact that you're a Malfoy and a Black. A baseborn, half-blood one, but one nevertheless - it would be in your best interests to never forget that."

I had never wanted to curse someone so badly but I stilled my tongue and although my fingers twitched, I kept my hand away from my wand.

"A word of advice, Abraxas – you will not always have the element of surprise or the good fortune to duel someone one against one. Stop being so chatty and finish the kill."

I couldn't stop the surprise that showed on my face. While I was concentrating on not cursing and possibly killing my great-aunt, the witch had looked through my memories without me even realizing it.

"However," Bellatrix said as she exited the room, "breaking the Longbottom boy by using the Cruciatus Curse was a delicious piece of irony."

~*~*~* Page Break *~*~*~

Before leaving for the assassination mission that would make me a lord if I was successful, I went to speak with my foster father.

"Enter," he said, giving me permission to enter his study. "I thought you would be well on your way to start your mission. What delays you?"

"I wished to confer with you, my Lord, before I left. The Network's reports have stated that Zabini is on the move, his harlot of a wife, pregnant. They also have stated that although Zabini's strategizing prowess hasn't diminished, his magical power has and he only enters the fray when covering the retreat. Are you aware of any reason why his magic is diminishing and do you have any idea of any places he would deem safe enough to hide at in order to protect his pregnant witch?"

"So his betrayal has finally caught up to him," my foster father, Theodore Nott, murmured, a distant look in his eyes. I remained silent, waiting for the answers to the questions both spoken and unspoken.

"Do you remember the consequences of an Unbreakable Vow," he questioned.

"The most commonly used penalties are loss of magic or instant death," I replied.

"We knew after the Third Task of the Tri-wizard Competition that our Lord had returned and that we all would be eventually called into service. Daphne Warrington was our bonder. We became bond brothers, pledging to protect each other, not to harm one another and to protect and not harm those who we considered family. Zabini was the one who broke the bond."

"I will admit that I antagonized your birth mother. I hated her for her low birth and more importantly, I hated her because of the power she held over your father. I did not, however, intentionally seek to harm her, physically or emotionally, while your father was alive. Zabini was different in that aspect. He despised her for living when he thought his tramp of a wife was dead. He despised the fact that she had stopped fighting against the current regime while he continued to do so, in memory of his supposedly dead love. He despised that she found some semblance of happiness with your father and he with her when all he was left with memories."

"Zabini taunted your mother being pregnant and unwed, and he did so callously. He did so with full knowledge that she knew her best friend had gotten married without her and that it was too dangerous for your father to marry her. He knew that she was having a difficult pregnancy, and that the doctor warned against becoming too emotionally stressed. He distressed her so much that she went into premature labor twice, the second time almost killing the both of you. That is what severed the bond."

There was an almost uncomfortable silence that filled the room and my foster father cleared his throat before continuing.

"There's a property in Wales that Draco inherited from one of his Black relatives. We all went there to get away from the war, if only for a little while. Draco was Secret Keeper and when he died, Zabini and I became the Secret Keepers. Hopefully the arrogant prick forgets that."

My lord father rose to his feet and walked over to the window over and stared out unseeingly.

Knowing that I had been dismissed, I left the study and went to my room to pack for what I knew was going to be a long trip. My thoughts whirled – my foster father did not speak often about either of my birth parents. I thought he hated the both of them and now with this new information, it seemed he didn't hate my birth father as much as I thought he did. I wondered what caused rift between the two of them and came to the conclusion that the constant competition that the Dark Lord employed to receive the best results was the cause of it.

Armed with this knowledge, I looked over records of every mission Zabini did prior to defecting. I was hoping to find some clue to figure where he may have hidden if he was at the property that was mentioned to me. It was in those records where I found the knowledge that would make this mission so very satisfying. I was going to employ the same methods he used to break Granger's loyalty to my birth father. The only difference was what would be said was going to be the truth, a truth that he would personally deliver.