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"Talking"

'Thinking'

"Dragon Speak"

Chapter Seven

She was a happy child, her mother and father loved her very much. She had as many toys as she wished. She even had a puppy. His name was Spot, due to the large inky blot on his back. However, her life had changed dramatically one day when she was at the mall with her mother, she should have never wandered and gotten lost. She should have never left with the pretty woman. The pretty woman had said her mother was looking for her, that she was an old friend. The little girl followed her.

She never saw her mother again.

The pretty woman was not as nice as she looked. She stuck the little girl in a cage, feeding her only scraps of food and water. Some people had came by and looked at her and the other children, luckily, she was never chosen. Those who were never came back. One day the woman had came, took little girl out of her cage, and brought her somewhere cold and into a bigger cage. The man who knew the woman took no interest in her.

Something moved across from the little girl. Her frightened eyes slowly looked across. A black-eyed girl glided toward her, mist swirling around her feet. The cage had suddenly gotten smaller; there was nowhere to run. Tears fell and froze on her cheeks. She would never see her mother again. She would never be free. Something deep inside her knew that this place, this hell, would be her grave.

She could not move as the girl -demon, her mind supplied- grabbed her head and pressed her lips to her own, the child wasn't even sure she wanted too, surely death would be better. Perhaps, the girl was not a demon, but an angel, sent to retrieve her from this hell. However, the thought quickly changed as pain gripped her body. The demon took her soul with no intentions to let it go.

Raven woke up, noticing she wasn't in her cave, but on a bed. "It's almost night." Selwyn said. "you've slept most of the day."

She glanced around the room. It wasn't much and it was bare of personal things. Almost cold, just like its decorator. She turned her blackened gaze back to Selwyn. "Did I feed on the soul of a small girl? Younger than me?"

"I take it you've seen her memories?" He said, taking a sip from his coffee cup.

"Why do I see their lives?" She sat up on the bed. She had, had dreams of the dragons too.

"Why wouldn't you? You are devouring their souls. Memories come with the package. It can be annoying, but also useful."

She nodded; Raven could see how it could be useful. Her mind flashed back to the woman. "Who was the woman you were with? The one who supplied the child?"

"Natalie, she supplied test subjects to your father when he was in need of one. She's a good ally to have. She was one of the few people James trusted." He pulled out a simple dull grey ring. "This holds a glamour charm on it." He handed it to Raven. "Put it on and touch it while saying activate." Raven did so. Her eyes were green again. "Darker, but not noticeably so, people don't pay much attention to you. You can go to class when they restart them. For now head back to the dormitory. You can use the floo since it would bring up unwanted questions."

She nodded, stepped in the floo and called out her destination. The whole Syltherin group was in the dorm room. All eyes on Raven as she stepped through the fire place. She could feel the fear growing in the room; she shut her eyes as it washed over her, basking in their terror.

"M-master?" Her slave whispered.

Raven's dark eyes snapped open. They were still looking at her. She walked on, stopping near Pansy. "How long until they let us out of here?"

Pansy shivered at the close contact. "I-I d-don't know, t-they haven't said anyt-t-thing."

She paused, looking at Pug. She had dark circles under her eyes and she seemed to be getting skinnier too. However, instead of saying anything about it, Raven grabbed her scarred arm and pulled her closer. "You are starting to become useless to me, Pug." She spoke quietly, though she had no doubt the rest of the house could hear her. "Do you know what happens then?" Pansy's mind jumped from one thought to another, none of them good. "You become nothing more than a prize to me." The smell of burning flesh filled the room along with Pansy's screams. The scarred arm had quickly torn under her fiery grip; she was burning the muscle now. "So, pug, start being more useful or you'll find out what nightmares truly are." Raven let go of her and she dropped to the ground, sobbing, holding the burnt appendage close.

No one moved to help her, not even Daphne, who was as far away as she could be, crying almost as much as Pansy. Raven moved to a chair and sat, basking in their growing fear. Her eyes sought out Malfoy, who stood impassive to her, his eyes met hers. He walked over to her. "Impressive."

She looked up at him, "Merely keeping my slave in-line. That was nothing."

He nodded. "I was wondering, what did you do to Greengrass?"

Raven's eyes snapped to said girl, she had dared not move; even her eyes had kept to the ground. "Nothing that she didn't deserve. I do not tolerate insolence."

"Nor should you." He said, standing by her side, not daring to sit beside her.

She smirked. "Making your dominance known Malfoy?"

"What?" He asked.

"Do not think me blind to hierarchy. You stand on my right. It may have been coincidence, but you do not sit, no doubt waiting for me to say you can." She said. "Am I right?"

He nodded. "As I have said, power is everything."

She offered him the chair on her right. "You are important yourself. You are the scion of Malfoy and your father has many political connections. You, most likely, will take your father's place."

"I will."

She looked at him, the glamour on the ring canceled. "Why have you chosen to follow me then? Why not eliminate me while you have the chance?"

He held her blackened gaze, containing his fear behind a mask, like his father taught him. "Honestly, I don't think I would be able to. You are power defined. Wherever your path takes you, destruction will follow and I don't intend to fall into the ashes."

She nodded, re-activating her glamour. "So, Draco, do you know how much longer we'll be in here?"

He smirked. "It shouldn't be too much longer, you were gone for a couple of hours, Severus came by to check on us again, I tried to ask him what's going on, but he wouldn't say. I'll send an owl to father, he's on the school board."

She knew why the teachers were panicking, but Raven nodded anyway. She was not going to reveal her secrets so early.

The weekend had come, Selwyn went passed the borders and apparated away. "Hello Natalie."

She smiled at him. "Hello yourself." Her smile gave way to a pout, "Someone's here to see you, in room seven. You owe me Justus."

He frowned. "Who is it?"

She rolled her eyes, "obviously someone with power, or I would have told him to come back. He gave the name Thomas Selwyn, know him?"

He nodded. "I do. Forgive me, but I think he will keep my attention for most of the night." Selwyn walked passed her and into room seven. He saw a man sitting at the table, sipping from a cup. He wore easily forgettable attire, his hair was blonde and his eyes were blue. However, he knew instantly that the man was far from ordinary. He ignored the man for now, using his wand to set up numerous wards. "Using the name Selwyn again? I figured you had dropped it when they apprehended James." Selwyn said as he put down several rune stones he had for such an occasion.

'Selwyn' smiled at him. "The way I hear it, you are using it as well. However, I knew you'd recognize it from the old days. How else could I get your attention?"

He snorted. "You could have just said Voldemort."

The man chuckled. "And give myself away? I am believed to be dead Faust and no one else would dare use my name, it would alert some unwanted attention."

Selwyn sat opposite of him. "So what brings you out from hiding?"

Voldemort said nothing, but offered, "tea?"

Selwyn growled. "You know I detest it."

"Natalie made it herself, it's quite good. You would know if you drank it." He said, pouring himself another cup.

"You would hate it too, if you saw the Cwn Annwn in every leaf." He said.

"Ah, are the hounds still after you then?"

He snorted. "Of course they are, I may be able to hide my presence from them, but Arawn never gives up a chase. He intends to see me punished for my sins."

"One would think he would come after me as well." He said, taking another drink.

"You haven't been noticed yet. He's been after me for decades, but enough of self-righteous beings, what brings you here Voldemort? And don't change the subject again."

Voldemort glared at him. "If you weren't you, I would have killed you long ago."

He smirked. "If I weren't me, you wouldn't be here. You wouldn't be alive."

He sat back. "I am well aware of my life debt."

"Soul," he corrected. "Not life. There is a major difference."

"I am well aware what the contract holds, Faust." Voldemort said, looking at the complicated runes on his left palm. "How is my Raven?"

Selwyn looked at him for a moment, before answering, "she's well. There was an incident with her dementor powers, but I've dealt with it."

"Incident?" He inquired.

He nodded. "She hadn't fed for a while, her dementor half seen fit to try and devour Greengrass's soul. The way I heard it, she had it coming."

"Greengrass? Her father was apart of my inner circle, he had quite the taste for children."

"His own daughter as well, judging by the girl's screams." He glared at the man before him. "Why are you here?"

He sat the cup down, looking at Selwyn. "Have you found anything on the whereabouts of James?"

"No, I know he isn't dead, but he's not fully alive either."

"Dementors?" Voldemort suggested.

"If only, if his soul was devoured I could have easily retrieved it. No, I suspect he's heavily drugged, maybe even in the D.O.M."

"Pity James's pet Unspeakable was killed. She could have gotten us in there with ease. Though, I don't suppose you have any contacts?"

Selwyn did not answer right away. "No, however, couldn't Lucius pull some strings? He's apart of the ministry after all."

"Possibly, however, it may draw attention. If I recall correctly, you used to be an Unspeakable, did you not?" He asked.

"I was, once." He said.

Voldemort smirked at him, "No one ever stops being an Unspeakable. You still have the mask, don't you?"

He gave an irritated look, "Was there something else you wanted?"

"Enough of the pleasantries then?" His smirk grew with Selwyn's irritation. "Yes, I did come for a specific thing, I'm sure you are well aware of the stone in Hogwarts?"

"Of course, Dumbledore has stupidly announced its presence to the school. However, due to the latest incident with the Cerberus and Raven, he will no doubt enhance the protections or perhaps move the stone."

"Yes, my contact had told me that someone had cursed the dog, I had assumed my Raven had something to do with it." He frowned, "That does slow my plans," His eyes flickered to Selwyn. "What price would you want to retrieve the stone for me?"

"Price?" His mouth turned into a twisted malicious smile as his eyes started to gleam with chaos. "What are you willing to pay, Tom Riddle?" The shadows around him seemed to twitch, as if they were trying to reach out and touch him. Selwyn could hear the faint sounds of howls, though he knew they could not find him. Arawn could sense his power acting up, but he could not tell his location.

Voldemort didn't even blink at the other's change in attitude; he knew what Justus Faust was. "I am willing to offer a blood sacrifice,"

He suddenly snatched the scarred hand, touching the rune there. "It cannot be your blood, it is tainted. It must be pure, untouched."

"How many?" The dark lord asked, not bothering to snatch his hand away from him.

Selwyn's smirk grew more twisted. The shadows lapped around him like water, trying to touch him. "Seven, magical." His eyes were growing darker. "Do you accept these terms for the retrieval of the sorcerer's stone, Tom Marvolo Riddle?"

"Yes." Selwyn raised his thumb to his mouth and bit it. He smeared the blood over the rune, which glowed before settling down again.

The shadows stopped moving and his face became apathetic. "I will have it within the month. I expect the same from you, failure to uphold your deal, or mine, will result in death."

He jerked his hand away from him, the rune still burned. "I remember."

Selwyn sighed. "I should have known you wanted another contract. Was that all you needed?"

Voldemort nodded. "I'll have your sacrifices ready when you bring me the stone." He rose from his seat and left.

End of Chapter Seven