Thanks to kmoaton for betaing! Enjoy!


After the meeting, Libby had taken the satchel from Greyback and had taken it to his rooms. Heinrich examined its contents. The man hadn't brought back much but he had given the boy a few things, such as his journals and a few other books.

"Libby is being told that the young sir is to be trying new clothes tomorrow instead of being with the Dark Lord," the house elf informed him as Heinrich began to place the books on the shelves in the study. Heinrich sighed at the news. From the way the house elf talked, it sounded like getting a new wardrobe of clothes would take up most of the day.

She had been right, Heinrich learned. Breakfast had been delivered to his room and almost as soon as he had been done eating, the house elf had led him to the rooms of Narcissa Malfoy.

Heinrich wasn't sure what to think of the woman. He had discovered during the meeting the previous night that he was residing in her house. The woman didn't seem to mind that the Dark Lord was living in her house but he had the feeling that she wouldn't easily reveal what she was truly feeling.

When he had entered the room, she had stared at him before sniffing and beginning to order the seamstress around. She barely glanced at him or said anything beyond what was necessary. Heinrich was beginning to get the feeling that while she couldn't say anything about his presence in her house, she didn't want him around. Was it because of his mother? Because of her curse? Was she judging him based on what his mother was? Based on something that he couldn't control?

The realization that that might be the case made Heinrich stare coldly at the woman. She stared back just as coldly before ordering him to hold up his arms and let the seamstress measure his chest for a third time.

By the end of the day, Heinrich's walk-in closet was filled with robes, dress robes, trousers, shirts, polos, ties, underclothes, socks, and shoes. He doubted that he would wear all of these new clothes but since he was receiving them for free, he wasn't about to voice his thoughts. He also knew that there would be more expectations from him at the Dark Lord's side than there were among the pack. If new clothes were a part of those expectations, he would just have to deal with it.

Libby popped into the room as Heinrich was examining his new wardrobe. He looked at her, wondering what she had been ordered to tell him.

"The Dark Lord is requesting that the young sir come down for dinner," she said. Heinrich nodded in understanding.

"Are there others there?" he asked.

"Just the Dark Lord and Master and Mistress Malfoy is being in the manor," Libby said. Heinrich was relieved to hear that. Last night had been awkward for him. He had a feeling that his position had come to a surprise for most of the inner circle Death Eaters. They probably hadn't expected someone new to come into their midst. Add to the fact that Heinrich was in a different position than them and it only made sense that there would be some stares and jealous looks, not to mention stiff conversation.

Heinrich started to open the door but he spotted Libby giving his clothes a reproachful look. The teen hesitated.

"What is it?" he asked. Libby fidgeted nervously upon being caught.

"Young sir should not bes going to dinner withouts wearing a robe," the house elf said. "It's not being propers."

Heinrich looked down at his trousers and button up long-sleeved shirt. He hadn't expected that something would be wrong with his current ensemble.

"Then pick out something else for me to wear," he ordered.

A few minutes later, Heinrich was striding down the hall, wearing one of his new robes. It was a basic black robe but according to Libby, it would be more proper to wear a robe than to wear nothing over his clothes. It was just the first clue that Heinrich still had a lot to learn about the wizarding world. He was starting to get the feeling that his etiquette lessons were lacking, since that didn't seem to matter much among the pack. Werewolves seemed to prefer efficiency to being polite.

The other three were already sitting when Heinrich arrived. The teen noticed with a feeling of discomfort that both Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy stood upon seeing him. He had a feeling that they wouldn't have stood up had he been an ordinary Death Eater.

Lord Voldemort watched the Malfoy family carefully. He had been furious with them earlier in the summer when he had discovered they had sent their son out of the country for the season, preventing him from branding the boy as one of his Death Eaters. Now he could see that it had been for the best. He wouldn't have been able to trust the boy to keep his mouth closed about this newest development. Now the Dark Lord just had to worry about Draco's parents writing to him. He had already given orders for any owls sent out by either Lucius or Narcissa to be redirected to his study so he could check their correspondence before it was delivered to the correct destination.

That was one of the tasks he would train Heinrich to deal with eventually. However, that would be one of the last tasks added to the list, when Lord Voldemort no longer had to be concerned about word of the boy's change in allegiance getting out. Once it became well known in the magical community, he would pass that task over to Heinrich.

Heinrich sat down without apologizing for his lateness. He would apologize if something was said but he was starting to realize what powers his new position would give him.

The meal served was much richer than Heinrich was accustomed to. Meals with the werewolves had been simple and there was an emphasis on meats and proteins. Tonight's meal contained a wide variety of foods and left Heinrich wondering what would happen to the uneaten food. Did it go to waste or would the house elves save it for later meals? He didn't quite feel comfortable enough to ask. The others at the table were eating in silence, though he suspected the Malfoys were staying silent out of fear.

Well, he could relate. He didn't want to speak up in fear of accidentally angering the Dark Lord. He had already been punished once and even though that was brief, it wasn't something he wanted to repeat any time soon.

"Leave us," Lord Voldemort ordered at the end of the meal. Heinrich glanced at him to see whom the order was directed to. The man's red eyes were glaring at the Malfoys and they quickly left, all sense of propriety vanishing at the order.

"My lord?" Heinrich asked after a few moments of silence. He tried not to fidget in his seat when red eyes were turned on him.

"In the mornings, you'll have lessons in dueling, spells and curses, and politics," the Dark Lord stated. "With the Lestrange family and Lucius Malfoy. After lunch, you'll be shadowing me, learning what you need to do. I don't permit interruptions, so you'll be expected to remain silent while I'm working. After dinner, your nights will be spent based on what I decide that you need to do. Libby will fetch you for any meetings that I've determined you should be at. If there's a meeting and your presence hasn't been requested, you will be expected to remain in your quarters."

The Dark Lord didn't ask if he understood. The teen should have been aware that he didn't waste time asking for such things. Either one did as the Dark Lord commanded or they were punished painfully.

"You can spend the rest of the night in your quarters," Lord Voldemort decided. "Your presence isn't needed anywhere else for the rest of the night." Heinrich nodded and got to his feet. He attempted to leave the dining room as quickly as he was able but he was stopped shortly before he got to the door by one last order.

"Your lessons start at dawn."

The Dark Lord watched the teen go, thinking quietly to himself. With the way he had arranged things, he was in control over whom the teen would come in contact with. He could keep the boy isolated if he so wished but he could also manipulate the friendships and relationships the boy formed. As much as he detested such things, he understood that they were necessary. The boy needed relationships to rely on, especially when he would be introduced to the darker side of things. Lord Voldemort didn't expect the boy to participate in activities such as torturing and executing prisoners but he had to know of them. If the boy had a steady relationship with someone in the household, he would be committed to staying in the manor, even if he didn't like the activities he had agreed to be associated with.

The only question that Lord Voldemort was left with was whom he should urge the boy to form those relationships with. He had to be certainty of the loyalty of the Death Eaters the teen would associate with.

It was one thing to say that lessons started at dawn and it was another thing entirely to actually go to the aforementioned lessons. Heinrich was accustomed to waking up shortly after the sun rose but to get to his lessons on time, he had to wake up before the sun actually rose.

Libby's presence made things easier for the teen. The house elf had continued picking out his clothes ever since he had ordered her to do so that first night, which cut down on the time he had to spend getting ready in the morning. The house elf also delivered his breakfast in the morning and made sure that he was awake. All Heinrich really had to do was made sure that he stayed awake to get dressed, eat breakfast, and make sure his hair and teeth were clean.

He had been late once, for a dueling lesson with the Lestranges. That morning had also been the first and only time he had been placed in a duel against Bellatrix Lestrange.

That had been quite an experience. Heinrich still shuddered whenever he thought of that morning. He hadn't known he would be dueling until he had walked into the room and had spotted the woman waiting for him.

His first assumption had been right, he realized quickly into the duel. She had been amused when he had placed her under the Cruciatus curse and had spent most of the duel cackling wildly, despite the fact that Heinrich was trying to place her under the most painful curses he could think of.

At least his unexplainable anger towards the woman made the duel easier than expected. He hadn't been as inhibited as he normally had been and he had discovered that he had known many more curses than he had thought he knew. Dueling with someone he hated as much as Bellatrix Lestrange had made him very inventive with his dueling techniques.

Unfortunately he hadn't had the opportunity to duel with her again. It was slightly disappointing. He didn't enjoy being around the woman but the duel had been enjoyable.

Much more enjoyable than his politics lesson with Lucius Malfoy.

The man had been perfectly civil to him the entire time Heinrich had stayed in Malfoy Manor, much more civil than his wife had been, but for some reason, Heinrich didn't trust him. Maybe it was the fact that the man seemed to charm everyone and remind Heinrich that he was young and awkward still. Or maybe it was because the man seemed to be too slippery and incapable of giving a straight answer. The only time Heinrich had heard the man give the closest thing to a short answer was when he was talking with Lord Voldemort.

Lord Voldemort.

It had been nearly two weeks and Heinrich wasn't sure what to make of the afternoons that he spent with the man. The first few days had been intimidating and Heinrich was sure that he had messed up things more than he had gotten them right. He had tried his best but he was always too slow to move out of the way or to fetch something. He already had marks from the numerous hexes that had been sent in his direction but he refused to say anything about them. He wouldn't be seen as weak. Other Death Eaters bore their punishments without complaint and Heinrich was determined to do the same.

Lord Voldemort had been completely serious when he had said that he expected for Heinrich to remain silent and out of the way. Even the smallest sigh could subject the teen to some form of punishment or an irritated hex. Heinrich would sit across the desk from the man, watching him do paperwork, or stand off to the side when the man was meeting with members of the inner circle. He wasn't allowed to do any of the paperwork or read anything other than what was given to him. It was a very restricted living, Heinrich realized somewhat bitterly. He wasn't adjusting well to the sudden amount of restrictions that were placed on him and the green-eyed boy was aware that those restrictions wouldn't ease up until he could prove himself in some way.

Heinrich quickly realized that the Dark Lord didn't deal with Death Eaters outside of the inner circle too often. There were only one or two meetings a week that all Death Eaters were ordered to attend, not the nearly daily meetings that the inner circle were required to attend.

The other Death Eaters were aware of Heinrich's presence and his new position but none of them had actually seen his face. During the larger meetings, all faces were hidden except for Lord Voldemort's. Libby had provided Heinrich with a mask the night of the first meeting, similar to the mask that all Death Eaters had, with the exception of its color. Instead of the traditional white, his was a dark red.

He was sure that the Death Eaters were curious about them but not many were allowed to stay after the meetings. None of them wanted to risk angering the Dark Lord with their continued presence just to catch a glimpse of his face.

It wasn't like they would get the chance. He was kept mostly isolated from everyone else. Normally after the meetings were complete, Heinrich was ordered back to his quarters or for further studies with Lucius Malfoy or the Lestranges.


Severus Snape resisted the urge to check his Dark Mark. It wouldn't do to check it now, not when students were expected to arrive within minutes for the welcome feast.

The Dark Mark had been weighing heavily on him for the past couple of weeks and the man was beginning to fear that he was falling out of favor with the Dark Lord. Unless the amount of meetings over the summer had decreased, Severus had begun to note that he was being summoned less and less. He understood being summoned less during the school year, when the Dark Lord was aware that he had to perform his role as a spy more than his role as obedient Death Eater, but it was strange not to deal with the constant summons throughout the summer.

To the Potions master, that meant only one thing and he was struggling to find where he had slipped up.

There was another matter of concern as well, a concern that came in the form of a red-masked Death Eater. He had appeared one night at the Dark Lord's side and since then he had been at every large meeting that was held after. Severus had expected to see him during the inner circle meetings—if a Death Eater stood out that much, surely they were favored by the Dark Lord and would be privy to such meetings—but the additional seat added to the table had remained empty at every meeting Severus had been summoned to. There were a few others in the inner circle that Severus knew hadn't seen the figure outside the larger meetings and the other members of the inner circle refused to reveal if they had seen the true face of the figure or not.

The lack of identity and the lack of information coming from Lucius only increased Severus's fears. He was no longer trusted as much as he had been before.

The Potions professor's attention was drawn to the students that were entering the Great Hall. It had seemed that they had arrived finally. With anticipation, Severus Snape and the other professors watched as the students filed in, hoping to see one face in particular.

Severus instinctively knew that Harry Potter hadn't caught the train to Hogwarts when he saw his two comrades enter the Great Hall and look up at the head table nervously. If Potter had been on that train, he would have been with them or among the other Gryffindors. As it was, Granger and Weasley were among the last group of students to enter the Great Hall before the first years arrived and the Sorting took place.

Snape had to hand it to his colleagues, especially Minerva and Albus. They didn't display any outward sign of worry, even when whispers started circulating among the Great Hall that Harry Potter hadn't arrived for his sixth year at Hogwarts.

Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley had been in a state of distress all summer. They had both been devastated to learn of their best friend's disappearance and they were just as confused as the members of the Order of the Phoenix as to what could have happened to Harry. The few letters they had exchanged before his disappearance hadn't revealed anything besides what they had believed would be the normal grief for a teenager that had just lost his godfather and one of the closest living memories he had had of his parents.

The empty seat next to them in the Great Hall was a stark reminder of how much they had lost over the summer.

"He's not coming back, is he?" Ron asked as he eyed the seat. Hermione could only shake her head.

"I wish he could have told us what was going on," she said. "He could have told us if things weren't easy for him but he never does! Why does he never tell us these things, Ron?"

The redhead shrugged at the question.

"So you think he left of his own accord?" he asked. "You don't think he was kidnapped like Dumbledore does?"

"I don't know," Hermione replied, hanging her head. "Dumbledore has a point because the Harry I know would never leave his wand or cloak behind but that doesn't explain the potion."

"Someone could have drugged him before kidnapping him," Ron pointed out.

"But he would have fought before then and there were no signs of a fight," Hermione said. "I don't know why he would just up and leave but I refuse to believe that it's as simple as him being kidnapped. The only ones that would want to take him are Death Eaters and if Death Eaters had gotten a hold of him, I'd think that we'd have heard something by now."

The bushy-haired girl stabbed the food on her plate in frustration. She just wanted to know what had happened to her friend.

After the welcome feast, Dumbledore gathered all of the Hogwarts professors in the staff meeting room.

"I'm sure we've all noticed the missing face," he said quietly and was met with nods. Severus stood off in the corner, knowing that he would have to take whatever Dumbledore said tonight to the Dark Lord as soon as possible. The best way to examine everyone's reactions and to fully comprehend the words being spoken was to remain off to the side, silent and nearly invisible.

"Is there any news, Albus?" Minerva questioned. "Anything at all?"

The headmaster could only shake his head.

"We haven't identified the potion that was in the vial we found yet," he said. "And there's been no news of any Death Eater claiming to have Harry Potter." The elderly man glanced at Severus, who nodded. That information was still correct. "I believe that our best course of action would be to continue our efforts to find Mr. Potter but also to start considering other options and ways that we can defeat Voldemort."

So Albus was starting to have doubts that Harry Potter was still alive or able to defeat You-Know-Who. That must have been devastating for the older man, who had whole-heartedly believed in Trelawney's prophecy.

Severus Snape had never been so optimistic. He would do everything he could to ensure that he found Potter and ensure that the boy was safe, but he wasn't under the impression that everyone else was. He didn't really believe that the boy could take down Voldemort. The older wizard was too cunning and had too much of a survival instinct.

Much like his own, Severus realized bitterly.


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