Clouds on the horizon
Opening quote
I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.
J. Robert Oppenheimer
Six months earlier
Tom Riddle had always sought after power, in one form or another. As a child he'd discovered magic. In the orphanage he'd started using it ruthlessly and that attitude had never changed, only intensified as he grew more skilled in its use. Then the point came when Tom Marvolo Riddle turned into Lord Voldemort and all that really kept him from realising his full potential was an obscure prophecy that Snape had told him about. Snape. That elusive Potions Master who had seemingly escaped his grasp. No one ever escaped Lord Voldemort. No one. Snape would find that to be true for himself as well. It wouldn't take much longer to find a way to get on his track and then it wouldn't matter where he had run to…
A few hundred miles southeast of the Dark Lord's musings, a meeting of minds took place as well. Dimitri and Jane had just finished the last of the tourists Heidi had lured into the top of the Volterra tower. They shared a satisfied smile and left the bloodless corpse for the human servants to dispose of. As they walked off arm in arm, they talked about the series of "concerts" they had planned in order to facilitate the vampire feast the Volturi held every ten years. Vampires came from near and far to participate in this event – provided they had an invitation. This time, they had sent a coven invite to the Cullens. Aro, Caius and Marcus thought this had been a hilarious idea. They knew that the Cullens would decline. After all, they were "vegetarians" among their kind. Aro still couldn't grasp the voluntary abstinence from human blood. There was nothing that tasted as delicious, in his opinion. His mouth watered at the thought. But then, he also knew that Carlisle Cullen had never even tried to drink human blood and that astonished him even more.
Jane wondered if Aro would permit her to find out how long Carlisle would last under her skillful form of torture before he began begging to die. After all, he had broken their highest law. What was it about this human woman that kept him from feasting on her? She was puzzled to some extent, but not overly concerned. Aro would determine what Carlisle's punishment would ultimately be and the woman… the woman would be hers.
The other issue was this strange newcomer. Aro hadn't decided yet what was to be done about him. He had appeared almost out of nowhere. One of the Nomads had dutifully informed the Guard and they had passed it on to Aro. Apparently he was part of the Quileute tribe, despite the fact that he had never lived there before. This would have to be explored in detail. She decided to suggest to Aro to send a research party to find out all they could. Preferably without alerting anyone to their presence. Then they could decide what to do. All in good time.
Bellatrix Lestrange felt honored to be called to the Dark Lord's side. When she walked down the street leading to Malfoy Manor, she held her head high and the arrogant smile on her face deterred any of the beggars from approaching her. The gate opened for her and closed as soon as she'd crossed into the grounds. Quickly she made her way to the door. She knew the Dark Lord did not like to be kept waiting. Bellatrix wondered what it was he wanted her to do that required such secrecy and speed. After all, they were winning, nearly all of the ministry was theirs already and they could operate in the open, even among the Muggles. There was nothing that stood in their way any longer. Well, almost. They had yet to deal with Dumbledore but once he was taken care of – her smile turned vicious at that thought – Hogwarts would be theirs too and the students could be properly educated.
It didn't take long for her to understand the nature of her assignment. She smiled as she apparated to Diagon Alley. How convenient that Ollivander's wand shop was next to his sister's "Witches and Wizards Abroad". What a silly Muggle notion, this storing of one's goods on a stranger's property. Bellatrix shook her head as she entered the wand shop, completely ignoring the suddenly pale parents who quickly ushered their child out, keeping their eyes cast down while shushing their confused boy. Mr. Ollivander shot back to the counter with a wand held out to the prospective customer – encountering Bellatrix Lestrange instead made him drop the wand. His lively eyes became still as he politely asked her how he could be of service. "Come," Bellatrix imperiously waved her hand and left the shop with swishing robes. Mr. Ollivander followed her, his stoop getting more pronounced with every step especially when he realised where they were headed. He wished he could warn his sister.
Apparently she had seen who would visit her already and the shop was empty. Bellatrix took out her wand and with a quick motion and a softly spoken curse, Mr. Ollivander was on the floor screaming in agony. On the street outside people hurried by, averting their faces, their only rational thought being gratefulness it wasn't them. It didn't take long for Miss Ollivander to rush back when she heard her brother's screams. She fell to her knees at his side and begged Bellatrix to stop. Of course, that would have been far too easy to satisfy Bellatrix' craving for someone else's pain and she forced Miss Ollivander to retrieve that coward Snape's belongings while her brother's screams subsided to hoarse groans that were somehow even more terrifying than his screams had been. As soon as she hurried down the street to give her Dark Master what he'd asked for, Mister Ollivander's body stopped writhing. When his sister rushed to his side, she feared she would only find an empty shell left there.
But Mr. Ollivander was tougher than he looked and even though she had to support him all the way to their apartment above his shop, his mind seemed unaffected by his ordeal. He ordered her to pack their things and they left through the "Leaky Cauldron", carrying only their usual things and looking only slightly the worse for wear. When the Knight Bus arrived, they got on, paid their fare and sat silently until they arrived at a small village. They watched the Bus take off again and then apparated to yet another village where they separated and apparated twice more, to finally meet again in Dover. They took the ferry to Oostende and the train to Brussels where they used false passports to buy tickets to some obscure Caribbean island that would keep them safe. For a while. They had friends there who were not afraid to stand up to the Dark Lord. Sometimes magic older than anything Voldemort was familiar with had its advantages. And Voodoo was far older than Tom Riddle. Mr. Ollivander smiled at the thought of those two powers meeting and hedged his bets on the outcome as he and his sister fastened their seatbelts on the plane…