Despite the horror stories told by idealistic parents to their impressionable children about a snake-man that would come and eat them in the night if they misbehaved, Lord Voldemort was not a hideous monster; he had retained much of his former beauty, albeit having blood-red eyes that glowed ominously when upset or angry.
No matter what the misinformed public thought, death-eaters were death-eaters because they chose to be, not because they were forced, blackmailed, or tortured into doing so, but because they genuinely respected and trusted the man we called 'Master'. And believe me when I tell you, a Slytherin would not call a man master lightly. We had our pride.
We joined together for a common cause; to rid the Wizarding World of mudbloods and wizard scum. Each of us had our reasons; some, like myself, had been tormented by muggle 'relatives' who, under their misguided impressions of wizards and magic, tried to 'beat the Devil out of us'. Others who had formerly been at the height of Wizarding society were now angry and resentful of the ever increasing popularity of muggleborns and considered it an offence that these intruders were permitted to take over the 'territory', so to speak, that had been undeniably theirs.
We were not, popular to common belief, a bunch of psychos who went around murdering people for no good reason. Well, at least not until later, but I was well away from it by then. But I am rambling again and I promised that I wouldn't do that.
I had done my best not to bring the subject of death-eaters and their ideals in our lessons, not wanting to influence Draco's decision about what he would do in the future, particularly if something went wrong. But one day, out of the blue, Lucius mentioned that the Dark Lord was coming to visit, primarily to meet Draco. I, of course, protested; he was still too young. He'd be terrified. What if he angered the Dark Lord? Lucius simply waved my concerns aside, assuring me that nothing would go wrong.
"Besides," he said, "Even I wouldn't dare cancel an arrangement with Lord Voldemort. Draco will be fine, he knows better than to misbehave in company, particularly in important company." He glanced up, "I have spoken to Draco about this, Severus, it's not as though I am springing this upon him. He has been instructed explicitly on what to do and what not to do. I would not subject my son to this lightly, no matter what you think of me."
May 6th 1987
"…You will speak only when you are permitted to do so, say nothing otherwise."
Lucius spoke in a hurried whisper, his fingers fumbling with the clasps of Draco's cloak. " If you are asked a question, keep your answer short and concise and leave it at that." Draco nodded silently, chewing his thumb absently. "And for Merlin's sake, take that blasted thumb out of your mouth! You are not a baby, Draco," Lucius snapped, slapping it out of the boy's mouth.
I could tell that he was more anxious than angry, but that didn't stop Draco casting a fearful look up, anticipating something more but Lucius just grabbed him by the arm and led him into the living room where the Dark Lord was making small talk with Narcissa, who had graciously decided to make an appearance. They were sipping tea from the china that Lucius' mother had presented her daughter-in-law with for a wedding present' a present Lucius despised wholeheartedly
"Lucius." The Dark Lord rose gracefully, inclining his head towards Lucius, "And you must be Draco." He spoke softly, his voice hardly more than a purr. A slight smile graced his features as his ruby eyes swept over my little godson, clutching at a handful of his father's cloak tightly in his fist. "Such a pretty boy. You have done well Lucius."
Lucius bowed his head. "Thank you, my lord."
The Dark Lord smiled, showing rows of sharp, pearly white teeth "But is he as pretty inside?" he continued, sitting back down again, "Come here, boy and let me look at you."
Draco hesitated, shrinking back slightly, but Lucius pushed him forward, forcing him over to the Dark Lord, his face passive.
Draco moved slowly, unsure what he was supposed to do or where he was supposed to look. I wasn't scared for him, though; the Dark Lord was compassionate, he wouldn't hurt one of his own unless there was a reason for doing so and this was even more so in the case of a child. I only hoped that Draco would do nothing to anger him…
The Dark Lord tilted Draco's head gently up and traced his jawbone with a single, slender finger, all the while holding the little boy's gaze with his own. Draco's head was turned this way and that as Lord Voldemort examined him, his nails scratching lightly over Draco's features. The Dark Lord was not smiling anymore, instead his expression was hard and gaze intent, pushing and pushing into the boy's mind until…
Draco whimpered, tears springing into his eyes and tried to shrink away, but the Dark Lord hushed him and held a hand up to his face, keeping where he was as he searched Draco's mind.
Lucius and I watched from the sideline, the elder Malfoy's fists were clenched by his side. I could tell that he wanted to snatch Draco back, but he didn't dare. Neither of us could do anything but watch in silence.
"Intelligent," the Dark Lord murmured suddenly, "You have taught him well, Severus. Obedient too… but he has no spirit." He shot Lucius a look, "You have spoiled this boy, Lucius."
"I can assure you my lord, I have in no way-,"
"I said spoiled, Malfoy," the Dark Lord snapped impatiently, eyes flashing. "Not spoilt. Draco has been telling me that you haven't been treating him properly." Lucius shot Draco a quick, warning look, and then turned back to the Dark Lord with a tight-lipped smile.
"You know how children are; they don't understand what's good for them. Particularly if they are used to getting their own way. Draco knows his boundaries and if he decides to cross them, then he knows also that he will be punished. With respect, my lord, I hardly think that that could be considered 'mistreatment'." I kept my mouth shut. I seemed to be getting rather good at that…
The Dark Lord shrugged as though to say, 'If you say so.'
Releasing his hold on Draco, he stood up and made to leave, pausing briefly by Lucius to hiss, "I want an heir, Malfoy. I have no use for a broken child with a crushed spirit. Might I suggest you bare that in mind?" Then, with a swish and a flick and a swirl of dark material, the Dark Lord disapparated.
"Well, that certainly went splendidly didn't it?" I mused. Unfortunately, Lucius didn't seem to agree,
"You vindictive little brat!" he snarled, rounding on Draco, eyes blazing "Do you have any idea what you have just done?"
Draco shook his head slowly, watching his father tremulously; apprehensive of what was going to happen. His eyes flicked to me every so often, wide and pleading but I knew that now was not the time to comfort him, as much as I wanted to. 'Later,' I thought to him, 'Just hold on, Dragon.'
Draco yelped as Lucius' hand threaded through the air and gripped a handful of the boy's white-blonde hair, yanking him forwards.
"What did you say to him?"
"P-please…"
"I told you to say nothing!" This was accompanied by a hard shake, making Draco give a little whimper of pain, "I told you to keep your silence!"
"I did! I did!" Draco protested grasping helplessly at the much stronger hand, "Please Father…I-I didn't say anything…r-really I didn't…"
"Liar!" The furious man raised his free hand to slap his little boy, the sound of the hit making me cringe inwardly.
"He…he w-went into my mind." Draco cried desperately, his hand held up to a now brilliantly pink cheek, "I-I-I tried to b-block him, honest I did…but-but he pushed and pushed an'….an' he b-broke in…please Sir it's not my fault…he made me see things…things that happened before…but I didn't say! I-I'd never say…ow!" Lucius pushed him away contemptuously. Draco stumbled and almost fell, but steadied himself quickly.
"Go upstairs Draco. We will talk then." Lucius said, the cold voice, slippery and completely void of any emotion. Draco froze, and then began to tremble, his back pressed against the wall as though in an attempt to melt through it,
"No Father, please…"
"Draco."
I watched, completely powerless, as my precious godson bowed his head meekly in submission and walked stiffly into the hall, his hands clasped firmly behind his back in an attempt to stop them from shaking.
"That was completely unreasonable!" I snapped, turning angrily on my 'best friend', "How on earth can you berate him for that?"
"He disobeyed me."
"It wasn't his fault! You saw yourself that Draco never uttered a word in the Dark Lord's presence!"
Lucius scowled. "The boy humiliated me in front Lord Voldemort and I intend to make him pay, whatever you may think. Now, if you don't mind." He turned on his heal, but I was to quick and grabbed hold of his sleeve,
"No! I won't let you do this! It isn't fair! He has done nothing wrong!"
"Do you think I care?" Lucius demanded, shrugging me off. His refined features were distorted horribly with anger. He was losing control,. "He is my son and I shall do what I like with him! It is neither yours nor anyone else's business how I treat Draco so keep your nose out of it, Severus. If you don't like it, you know perfectly well that you can leave."
I don't believe that I had ever hated anyone as much as I hated Lucius just then. Well, maybe…but not often. He knew perfectly well that I wouldn't leave no matter how angry he made me. I knew, also, that if I did leave, I would never be allowed back again and I would never see Draco. I was, as ever, between a rock and a very hard place.
"And I don't want you going to him later either," Lucius continued, his voice laced with malice. "You completely undermine me when you do that." He thought for a moment, "Perhaps, if you disciplined him on occasion, none of this would've happened. Perhaps if you taught him better…" His lip curled into an unpleasant smile, "I trust that it is still in your room?"
"It is under my bed and it will stay there," I replied curtly, "I was rather hoping that the mice would eat it, but even they seem to find it distasteful."
Lucius sneered, "Well, then it's lucky that neither of us are mice, isn't it? Now," he shoved me aside, "out of my way."
Of course I followed, almost running to keep up with him. I knew that I had to stop him from hurting Draco; I had never seen him this angry before and to be honest, it seemed to me that once he'd started on the boy, he'd lose control completely and Merlin only knows what would happen then…
But instead of marching straight into Draco's room as I had expected, Lucius stopped suddenly outside the door and turned slowly to look me directly in the eye.
"I have a proposition for you Severus," he said with a somewhat manic smile. For some reason that didn't make me feel any better. "I'm not going to punish Draco."
My head snapped up, "What?"
Lucius smirked, "I'm not going to punish Draco," he repeated, "you are."
Ba ba ba buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmm...etc.
After the next chapter I probably won't be updating so frequently, but i promise to try :)
Thankyou lovely reviewers, Riddle plushies for all!
Lily xxx
