Author's note: This chapter was written in response to the Hogwarts Online daily prompt for September 3rd.


Cady's time with Snape hadn't gone quite as horribly as she thought it might. He returned to his attic room fifteen minutes later with red-rimmed eyes, sniffling and brushing at white powder that had somehow gotten onto his nose. He taught her the relevant spells, as well as a few attack spells he personally found useful, with a bored, detached air. When he finally dismissed her hours later, she was glad to be away from his dark influence. Cady was sure that with enough time around the professor, she'd be writing pathetic poetry or contemplating slitting her wrists just to escape him.

When she came into the parlor, Voldemort was addressing the Death Eaters gathered there. There seemed to be twice as many as the night before gathered into the room, but still no sign of any members of the Malfoy family or Bellatrix Lestrange. It was just as well. Cady was having a hard enough time keeping the names of the rest of the Death Eaters straight since she'd been drinking while trying to learn them the night before. Walking closer to the raised dais, she strained to hear what Voldemort was saying.

"No, really," he began. "You use your thumb on the arches and your fingers on the rest of the foot." Cady pushed through the crowd and glanced down. A tall, thin boy with platinum blonde hair knelt at Voldemort's feet, massaging them one by one in his lap.

"As I was saying," Voldemort said to the crowd, "Tonight's mission is not for everyone. I'll be taking Crabbe, Goyle, Bella, Rodolphus, and our three newest recruits. But I will need everyone to rest up because we'll be taking down three Muggle villages in the morning. I expect you all to be on top of your game. Or, you know, suffer unspeakable pain before the sweet mercy of death. Any questions?" Wisely, no one asked any questions. As usual, his speech was self-explanatory and only someone who wanted to be hurt would dare questions orders or the authority of the person giving them. In spite of what Voldemort had told her earlir, Cady wondered if Bella was one who was allowed to question.

"Oh, yes," Voldemort said.

Cady looked around, wondering suddenly if she'd overestimated the intelligence of one of her fellow Death Eaters. It would be fun to see someone else punished. She frowned when she realized the truth. No one had asked a question. The boy at the Dark Lord's feet had done some little trick with his hands, bringing the massage to a satisfactory conclusion. As she watched, the Dark Lord pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it into the kneeling boy's mouth.

"Good boy, Draco," Voldemort said. "Now go upstairs and take your potion. We've got time for a little fun before the attack."

So that was Lucius Malfoy's son? Cady let her eyes follow the boy as he scurried from the room, chewing quickly on whatever morsel he'd been fed. Cady wondered, not for the first time, if the rumors of misery suffered by the Malfoy's at the hand of the Dark Lord were circulated by someone who was merely jealous of their closeness to him. From everything she'd seen, they were all close to him and reveled in his presence in their home. Of couse, she would have to see Narcissa Malfoy to be sure of that.

An hour later, Cady and the other Death Eaters were flying towards their destination. She hadn't gotten directions from the Dark Lord, but the rumor was they were to attack the house of a Ministry employee who was friendly with Harry Potter. Cady had mounted her broom with excitement, wondering if tonight would be the night she could prove herself by personally hurting the target of this mission. Of course, she'd have to beat Bellatrix to the punch. The older witch had spent the last hour at Malfoy Manor skipping around the house and blasting Death Eaters with dismemberment curses at random.

Cady had no time to be jealous of the powerful witch; she was too busy being in awe. The Dark Lord and Bellatrix flew ahead of everyone else, without brooms. They'd done the complicated series of spells silently, but Cady was determined to learn them. She felt the need to know everything she could in order to make her way up the ladder.

Finally, they reached their destination. The brooms circled around the Dark Lord and Bellatrix, hovering just out of sight of the closest nearby village and the house below.

Cady turned as a voice near her asked, "Hey, you know why they call it the Burrow?"

Another voice responded. "No, why?"

"Because those Weasleys hump each other all the time like rabbits." Both wizards laughed softly at the lame joke. "No, really," the first wizard continued. "They're all inbred, that's why both the parents have red hair."

"All right," Voldemort interrupted. "It is time. Since taking over the Ministry, I feel as if our enemies have taken shelter in their homes, a false sense of security keeping them warm in their beds at night. Well, I have another way to keep them warm in their beds." He lifted one hand next to his face. A fireball appeared; the light reflected off of his red eyes, making them appear as if they were on fire as well. He turned in the direction of the Burrow. "We'll show them that a few anti-intrusion spells are nothing when the reign of fire comes to consume them. Feel my pain!" he shouted, flying forward, the fireball still raised in his hand.

Voldemort flew quickly before coming to a sudden stop. There was a sickening thwack as he came up against an invisible barrier, crushing his chin in the process. Everyone stopped flying behind him. The fireball had been reduced to a spark. The Dark Lord shook his hand to throw the spark down and put his hands up to his face to heal himself. He raised one hand and beckoned. "Crabbe."

The wizard who'd told the bad joke her earlier flew forward. "Yes, My Lord?"

"Didn't you tell me you'd be able to get rid of the protections around the house before we attacked?"

"Yes," Crabbe answered. "I have found it's easiest to disable them in the daytime when...oh."

"Yes," Voldemort said. "Oh." He turned to his minion and flew until he was within striking distance. "Did it ever occur to you that I wanted to do this at night because I don't want the few fools who aren't afraid of me to interfere?" He grabbed the other man's head in both his hands. "What's in here?" He knocked above the temple with one fist. "Is it hollow?"

"No, My Lord."

"Then why are you so stupid?"

"Snape said..."

"Oh, shut it," Voldemort said. "That simpering fool would not give you permission to make such a mistake." He sighed and turned to the rest of the group. "Well, all. It seems tonight has been wasted. And it's a pity. I had really been looking forward to trying out this Everlasting Flame charm. It's waterproof and everything." He pouted.

Cady flew forward and raised one hand. Voldemort turned to her. "We could...attack the neighboring villages. There are three within close flying distance. If we attack all of them, the flames and smoke will be seen for hundreds of miles."

Voldemort smiled; Bellatrix, seeing the gesture, frowned at Cady. "That is a marvelous idea," he said. He motioned her to fly next to him. "I can see you are going to have the best ideas. How are you at planning parties?"