In this story when Sirius dies, he doesn't fall through the veil he just gets hit by an avada and falls to the floor. I needed there to be a body unfortunately because that's the scene my brain came up with, c'est la vie.
For pictures to go with this story, mostly dresses lets be honest, check out my Tumblr! Details in my bio.
Chapter Four - The Dark Lord
Christmas passed rather gloomily for Zabrina. She was frustrated at the displays of affection her mother and brother showed Sirius and the rest of the house guests and increasingly found herself alone in one of the upstairs rooms when everyone else was downstairs having fun.
She didn't mind the solitude, it gave her time to read her school books and continue her education; there was more need now than ever before for her powers as a witch to be strong and she worked hard towards that goal. If the Dark Lord was recruiting her she needed to be the best, not only because she wanted to be worthy but for her own self preservation. You didn't last long in those circles unless you made yourself indispensable, she had done her research.
On one cold night she made her way to the drawing room where everyone was sitting playing games of wizard chess or listening to the wireless by the fire. The scene reeked of contentment and happiness, Zabrina glared at her brother who was in turn gazing adoringly at Sirius and listening to him tell a story. Harry and Ron were listening too and her mother was fawning worse than her brother was. Anyone else would at that moment have felt rather left out but Zabrina only felt a cold rage simmering under the surface, she couldn't stand the smug looks on their faces, the happy families' charade that had somehow managed to take root within the walls of her home.
"I'm going out, Mother." She called over the noise of the room.
All heads turned towards her as though they had forgotten she existed and were surprised at the intrusion. She planted an unconcerned sneer on her face and turned to go in a whoosh of her long black cloak and heavy black velvet dress. She was pulling her hood up just as her mother called her name.
"Zabrina dear, you can't just go out, come and join us!"
Grinding her teeth together Zabrina took a moment to compose herself, she could hear Mrs. Weasley's influence in her mother's tone and it made her want to curse someone.
"I assure you mother I do not feel the need, and anyway... I wish to visit Draco."
Zabrina turned to face them; she could see Harry and his cronies whispering amongst themselves. Didn't they know how rude they were being? They were guests in her house and did they care about her whereabouts at any other point in the day? No, only when she was doing something they didn't deem appropriate. Zabrina wished she could curse them right then and there but she kept her cool, there were far more important matters to attend to and she had no time for these, children.
Smirking she faced Evangeline. "Mother I must go, you know I am... expected."
Letting her words hang in the air so her mother knew exactly whom she was meeting she watched the fight go out of the woman's eyes. Zabrina knew Evangeline was conflicted, but she trusted that her mother's hatred of the establishment and all it stood for would continue to keep her in check and on the right side.
"Well... right... for now!" Zabrina laughed to herself.
Thinking of plans that were only just beginning to take root in her mind she set off into the night in a swirl of her black velvet.
At Malfoy Manor, the Dark Lord was awaiting her. Zabrina had told him that she was not privy to the Order's meetings but just being in the house was useful, she could give details of everyone who came or went and also many of the portraits could be relied upon to tell her whatever they heard, she was mistress of the house after all, regardless of what Mrs. Weasley liked to think, and with her mother's increasing reclusiveness their loyalty lay entirely with her.
The Dark Lord was pleased with her information, but he did not allow her to go when she got up to leave. Instead, he questioned Zabrina on her schooling.
"Do you feel that your education is lacking?" he asked in his high, cold voice.
"I do my Lord," she replied, "I teach myself as much as possible and have ways of gaining access to the restricted section which I utilise whenever I can."
"Good, good" he murmured. "I think it would be useful if your education continued out-with the school however. It is almost criminal the ways that Hogwarts squashes down the talents of those they feel are unconventional, shall we say, in their methods."
Zabrina felt a thrill of anticipation as she left the library several hours later. The Dark Lord had taught her several dark spells and had shown her Legilimency. Zabrina had no trouble in understanding it and knew that if she practiced she would be proficient very soon. As the end of the holidays were approaching, the Dark Lord had suggested that Zabrina make arrangements to visit her sick mother on occasion, that way she could be free from school grounds to do as she pleased. He had also instructed her to learn and practice the unforgivable curses, by any means necessary.
She conveyed none of this to Draco when they met in his private study. He knew that she would want to keep things to herself and did not push her but she could tell he was frustrated and did not agree with the situation. It almost made Zabrina smile, poor Draco, he thought she was being used terribly, a pawn in her evil Grandfather's wicked plan.
She, however, knew better. Zabrina was finding she was more and more capable of mastering her magic, she could feel the power within her, a wealth of untapped resources just waiting to be unleashed, and The Dark Lord was the one who was being taken advantage of, if anything.
Draco held his hand out to her and she took it, "I want to know you will be alright," he said seriously. "I want to know that you are being careful."
"Draco, darling, as if I could be anything else. You worry too much, really."
She allowed her tone to soften, her eyelids to lower, her hair to slide from her neck in long languid waves as she tilted her head to one side.
"Don't you trust me?"
"Of course I do!" he replied, "it's just that, in the time we have got to know each other, I mean really know each other, more than in school, I've grown... rather fond of you."
His tone was stilting and it lacked the flair with which she would have preferred to hear the words but she understood Draco's reluctance to speak of such matters. She didn't need such paltry things as words anyway, deep down she knew he would be hers.
It grew late but Zabrina was reluctant to leave, Draco was showing her his favourite places around the Manor, and favourite with Draco meant hidden, and secret. Zabrina enjoyed nothing more than secrets, it was as though she was getting a slice of a person's soul when they were revealed to her and she kept them close, in case they were ever needed. Having Draco's secrets, however, made her feel special, and although she knew she was, in every way, extraordinary, it was not often that others felt the need to single her out.
Draco knew more about Zabrina than, he suspected, even she knew. He had been watching her for a long time throughout school, even when he used to tease her he had mostly done so because he wanted to get to know her better, to get a rise out of her. He knew her favourite spells, her immense knowledge, her intensity and attitude which were, mostly, for show. And yet there was still so much of her that had yet to be revealed to him, she was an enigma and they was nothing he liked more than a good puzzle. Therefore, he revealed the manors secrets to her and watched as her eyes sparked with pleasure when she knew she was the only person he had told. He watched too the way her hands caressed objects as she passed them, as though leaving her signature to mark the place. She had such self confidence and poise and yet he wondered how much of it was real, and how much was a show she put on in order to hide her real feelings, her real agenda.
The clock in the library struck midnight and Zabrina sighed.
"I'm going to have to go Draco, you know I would rather stay but the madhouse awaits!"
It wasn't often Draco heard her joke and he looked into her eyes sharply, just in time to catch a glimmer of sadness within them.
"What's wrong?" He asked, placing a long, white finger under her chin and tilting her face up towards him. Her large green eyes mesmerised him, holding them both still with their powerful gaze, but then she sighed and moved away,
"Sometimes, Draco, I feel like you are my only ally in this whole world, and if you left me I-"
"I would never leave you!" Draco interrupted instantly, as she had hoped he would.
He tried not to think of her use of the word ally, this was a war but was that really how she saw him? Allies were there to be used until a war was over, not beyond. But he supposed such a word as 'friend' would convey too much from her closeted heart.
He ran his hands through his white blonde hair in exasperation and took a step towards her, his hand reaching out for hers.
"As long as you are honest with me, about the big things. Don't hide from me Zabrina, or I won't be able to help you, if you ever need me too."
She smiled up at him but the sadness in her eyes was plain for him to see now, "Oh Draco." She whispered, "It's not your help I need, it's just you, on my side. If I know you will always be there then I'll be able to do anything."
And clutching her hand he swore he always would be, without really knowing what he was swearing to at all.
The end of the holidays could not have come sooner for Zabrina. Grimmauld Place was stifling, the others felt the need to talk to her and try to include her in everything. Presumably only to distract her from Draco, and to try to get her onto their side. Frequently Hermione and Ginny would drop hints about falling for bad boys and unsuitable partners. It made Zabrina seethe with rage but she kept her cool, she knew there were bigger battles to fight than petty rivalries with unwanted house guests.
On her return to Hogwarts Zabrina immediately presented professor Snape with a written request that she should visit her sick mother on alternate weekends. Permission was obviously granted and Zabrina was satisfied. So busy was she with the frequent weekends away under the Dark Lords tutelage and the extra studying that she tried to fit in at school, there was barely enough time to see Draco outside of class. They would try to get together as often as possible however, to do homework in the common room or the library. Little did she know that it was to be thoughts of those happy, innocent moments that were to keep Zabrina going, drawing upon them often throughout the dark times that were to engulf the coming years.
They were all in black. It was not unusual as the Hogwarts uniform was black robes but coupled with everyone's stark white faces and sombre expressions it caused quite a contrast. The funeral was small, not many people had known that Sirius was innocent of the crimes that had earned him a life sentence in Azkaban. In the end, his escape had only really earned him another life sentence, a death sentence.
Zabrina stood with her mother and Tommy whilst nearby Hermione and Ron stood side by side with Harry, lending him their strength. There was someone talking about Sirius and everyone was listening, heads bowed but Zabrina was staring straight ahead, a small smile on her face. Suddenly people started to shuffle and fidget and Zabrina looked down, no trace of the smile left on her face. First Tommy walked forward to the gaping hole in the earth where Sirius lay, interned in Mahogany. Tommy lifted a handful of earth from a mound and, with a shaking hand threw it gently onto the coffin. Next their mother threw some, she was crying silently and when she turned away to walk back to her place she staggered slightly. There was a pause before Tommy turned to Zabrina and just looked at her, expectantly. Zabrina took a few steps forward; she gazed down at the coffin. Her father lay in there, cold and silent, but all she could feel was triumph. The Dark Lord was out in the open, he had shown his face, she had known there would be casualties but this was more than she could have hoped for. Her father had only been a burden. She leaned forward slightly, as though looking into the hole but she never bent down to the earth. Instead, she spat, ruthlessly onto the dark wood and turned with a blank stare to face her family. There was a sharp crack that echoed throughout the silent grave yard as her mother's hand connected sharply with Zabrina's face.
"How could you Zabrina? Spitting on his coffin, in front of everyone!" Tommy was on a rampage, shouting and occasionally throwing things around the drawing room. Zabrina could only roll her eyes and remain silent until he had finished.
"You showed us up! You showed us up, you who are supposedly so proud of our family name! Sometimes I wonder if we are really even twins, perhaps it's all a bad joke or... or I just imagined it!"
She hoped he was running out of steam, there was only so much soliloquising she could take and Tommy was reaching the limit. She observed him as he stormed around the room. His hair was lighter than hers, a friendly sort of brown as opposed to the raven dark locks that she took from their father. They were certainly not identical twins in any respect and yet they had really been very close as children. Almost inseparable.
As Tommy threw yet another hideous vase at the wall, relieving him of his frustrations and them of all their family heirlooms, Zabrina thought she saw a glimpse of something within him. Yes, Tommy was impulsive and arrogant but he was also very like her, or at least he had been, once. Could this rage, this unconquerable temper, perhaps be an outward reflection of Zabrina's own inner fury that fuelled her fire, her desire to see the world burn at her feet? Something she kept so very closely hidden as opposed to her Gryffindor brother. Musingly, she wondered whether Tommy and she were really quite so different after all, and just where the future was set to take them.
She did not think of this for long however and soon turned her mind to other things. Most notably Tommy's insistence that she write a letter of apology to their mother and all their friends, something which she staunchly refused to do.
And so those thoughts were lost in the melee of the situation and would not be pondered again for quite some time, when, perhaps, their conclusion would come too late.
