When Voldemort and Jemima reached the dining room, Voldemort stopped right in his tracks.
Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco Malfoy were standing by the dining table, waiting for their Dark Lord.
"Ah.." Voldemort said, which brought their attention to him, and the toddler. "I see you have brought your son, Draco, to his first Death Eaters meeting."
Lucius nodded. "Yes, my Lord."
"Who do you have there, my Lord?" Narcissa asked while looking at Jemima.
Voldemort looked at Jemima. "What do you say, little one?" he asked her.
"I'm Jemima." she said with a smile.
Narcissa smiled. "What a pretty name for a pretty girl," she slowly walked up to Voldemort to get a good look at Jemima. "You have the most prettiest eyes, too."
Jemima blushed then giggled. "Thank you." then she hid her face in Voldemort's shoulder.
"Little one," Voldemort said which got Jemima's attention. She looked up at him. "You don't have to hide from these people and they didn't even get to introduce you to their son."
Jemima looked at Lucius and Narcissa, then her eyes landed on Draco. "Hi," she said waving at him. Draco bowed his head slightly. "Tom," Voldemort looked at Jemima and ignored the gasps that were emitted from the Malfoy's. "Can you put me down please?" he nodded then put her down.
She ran over to Draco and tugged at his pant leg. The Malfoy's gasped, again. Draco looked between Voldemort and his parents awkwardly then looked down at Jemima and kneeled down to her height. "How old are you?" she asked him.
"I'm 15." Draco replied. He looked at Voldemort, and he instantly regretted it. Those red eyes sent a shiver down his spine. He looked back at Jemima.
"Oh," she then held up four fingers. "I'm four." she said with a smile. Then she did something unexpected.
She raised her arms up for Draco to pick her up. Draco's eyes widened then he looked at Voldemort for comfirmation. Voldemort just nodded.
Draco carefully and awkwardly picked Jemima up and she immediately put her arms around his neck.
Jemima was startled by a loud crack. "Ah, Severus. Good to see you." Jemima's eyes then landed on a man who wore black clothes, his skin was pale white, his hair was long, oily and black, he had a hooked nose, and coal black eyes.
Severus felt a pair of unfamiliar eyes on him, so he looked to his left, and he saw a toddler in Draco's arms. He looked over at Voldemort and asked, "Who's the child, my Lord?" Voldemort looked at Jemima expectantly.
"I'm Jemima, and I'm four years old." Jemima said as she held up four fingers.
Severus was very confused as to why Voldemort had a four year child.
Severus didn't notice that Draco put Jemima down, and that she ran over to him and tugged at his pant leg.
"Sev-er-us?" Severus shook his head then looked down confusedly until he saw Jemima smiling up at him. Jemima raised her arms up, silently asking Severus to pick her up, which he did.
Jemima immediately thought that she was comfortable in Severus' arms. Yeah, she was quite comfortable in Tom's and Draco's arms, but she felt safer in Severus' arms. She did like Draco as a friend, but Severus was different. She felt a fatherly vibe coming from Severus.
"Well, Jemima. You have the stage today, don't you, little one?" Voldemort asked her, completely amused. Jemima looked at Voldemort and laughed softly.
Jemima looked back at Severus and smiled. Severus felt uncomfortable under the toddlers stare, so he just gave her a slight grin which made the toddler throw her arms around his neck and hugged him. Voldemort chuckled.
"Seems like she has good instincts. She trusts you, just like I trust you."
Severus looked at Voldemort incredulously. "She barely knows me, my Lord."
Voldemort shrugged. "It seems like Jemima has a good sense of judgement. Jemima," Jemima looked up at Voldemort. "Do you trust Severus?" Jemima nodded frantically.
Another loud crack interrupted their conversation. "Hello, my Lord! I hope you're having a good morning!" said a very shrill voice. Jemima was mostly startled by the voice.
Voldemort sighed. "Hello Bellatrix."
Bellatrix walked into the dining room, and smiled. Then she turned to everyone with her smile still on her face, until her eyes landed on Severus, who had a toddler in his arms. "Oh, what a cutie you are." she walked up to Severus and started cooing at Jemima.
Jemima made an immediate note that she did not like this woman. The woman's hair was crazy, her teeth were rotted, and she was just plain scary. The woman would not leave her alone. She tried to get away from Bellatrix, but she couldn't because she was still in Severus' arms. So her final resolve was... to cry.
Bellatrix was taken aback by Jemima crying. "Bella, leave her alone. You scared her into tears!" Voldemort shouted at Bellatrix.
Bellatrix looked at Voldemort and bowed. "I'm sorry, my Lord." and walked over to her sister, Narcissa.
The dining room was filled with Jemima's sobs and Severus comforting her. Jemima started to calm down once a few more people apparated into the Manor.
For the meeting, Jemima sat with Severus. She was studying everyone at the table. She immediately liked the Lestrange brothers because they were making funny faces at her which made her giggle. Voldemort saw this but didn't say anything. There was one man that Jemima felt was not a good man. A man named Wormtail. She wanted to know why his name was Wormtail. He wasn't even a worm, and he didn't have a tail!
After the meeting, Rabastan asked their Dark Lord, "Why does Severus have that little blue eyed toddler in his lap?" then he made a silly face at Jemima which made her giggle at him.
"That little girl," he gestured towards Jemima. "Is Jemima. I found her lying in the middle of the street in Surrey."
That statement earned a few 'ohs' and 'ahs'.
People were starting to leave, so Jemima being Jemima wanted to say goodbye to everyone.
Before the Malfoy's left, Jemima ran over to Draco and gave him a hug. "Will I get to see you again?" she asked quietly.
Draco smiled warmly. "Of course you will." and he gave her another hug then the Malfoy's left.
Jemima ran over to the Lestrange brothers and started talking to them.
"Jemima is extremely smart for a four year old." Severus commented which made Voldemort look up at him.
Voldemort nodded. "I told her that this morning."
"Tom!" Jemima ran over to Voldemort. "I'm hungry."
Voldemort nodded. "Alright. It's lunchtime anyways," then he looked up at Severus again. "I will see you at the next meeting." Severus nodded.
"Bye, Severus." Severus grinned lightly at Jemima then apparated away.
"Ok, let's get you something to eat."
A/N: Blehh. I see patterns in this chapter. I keep saying 'looked at' or 'looked up'. Blehhhh. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. :)