Chapter 11
His Worst Fear
He slowly opened his eyes and took a deep breath. The pain in his chest was searing.
Calm down. Nothing is wrong. They wouldn't dare to poison you.
He had been violently awoken from his sleep by a sudden wave of pain. Having a body again was a wonderful thing that he had grown used to over the past year, but it also had its inconveniencies. He could experience hunger, thirst or pain again. He could feel cold again. It was rather disconcerting.
Before he had the time to find the cause of the pain, it disappeared, leaving him as empty and numb as always. He let go of the breath he had been holding and brushed his spidery, white fingers over the skin of his snake-like skull. It still felt odd; he was still having trouble acknowledging his appearance. He had always been so proud of his looks, and he had never hesitated to use them to his benefit. And now he had to put up with this ugly, fragile body.
Of course, he hadn't had too much of a choice at that moment.
The spell that managed to provide him with a body was quite clear: bone of the father, flesh of the servant, and blood of the enemy. His father was a Muggle, his servant was Wormtail, and his worst enemy was Harry Potter. All of them were so obviously weak. Nothing good could come out of such an unfortunate combination. But after years of surviving in snake bodies, feeding himself on unicorn blood, and being at Wormtail's mercy, he had been so desperate to possess a body of his own that he had decided to go on with the spell at all costs.
He sat up on the edge of the comfortable bed, his bare feet touching the cold stone floor. The incompetent house elves had forgotten to light up the fire in the hearth again. His hand searched for the wand under his pillow and found it. He was carrying his wand at all times, though he was able to do some wandless magic too. He knew he couldn't trust any of the Death Eaters anymore. He had been naïve to believe that they would be faithful to him! Fourteen years before, he had thought they would come looking for him and that they would continue to fight for his cause; instead, the moment he had disappeared, they had gone into hiding, like scared little kittens. The only thing keeping them around him now was the genuine fear he was inspiring in them and their families.
He waved the wand, and the fireplace burst into red flames.
The retaliation he had recently taken against those who had betrayed him had produced an immense amount of fear within the Death Eaters' circle. He could sense their panic rise as soon as he entered a room where they were gathered. There were only a few people who could actually manage to look him in the eyes these days.
And it felt so good…he finally felt safe.
Fear was really the only way a leader could govern.
He had been thinking that being an inspirational leader could earn him the faith of the wizarding world. That was before he had lost his powers.
Ever since, Tom Riddle had learned better. They had all betrayed him. Therefore, fear was the only means of persuasion.
He paced around the room, trying to focus on the recently felt pain. Where could it have come from? He always drank a bit of Dreamless draught before sleep, to be safe from nightmares. He did not dream of the crimes he had committed; only the weak could be tortured by such trivial things.
But he had some concerns of his own. He feared betrayal from the Death Eaters.
Harry Potter was still much too young to represent any danger to him, but when he would be of age and ready to fight back, some Death Eaters might offer Potter help to bring Tom's reign to an end.
Then there was Dumbledore. The old fool was still alive. Tom knew Dumbledore would never confront him. He had always been a coward. But the fact that his old teacher was still alive and that he might interfere with his plans again didn't make him feel any better.
He sighed and sat on the couch in front of the fireplace, resting his legs under him with a sinuous move that he wasn't even aware of.
He was secured against death of course, but he had no special interest in having to put up with a mutiny. He glanced at the clock on the mantel piece. It was eleven o'clock in the evening. He had been sleeping all day long; his magically concocted body needed more rest than a normal body.
He wondered what Bellatrix had managed to do at Durmstrang. He had ordered her to bring Karkaroff to him for questioning. The headmaster had been such a traitorous snake, it made him sick. His most faithful lieutenants had gone to Azkaban because of him. Tom needed to punish the bastard himself.
He had allowed Bella to lead the attack because she was the one who had most suffered the effects of Karkaroff's betrayal: fifteen years in the company of the Dementors. In the end, the Lestrange girl had proved to be his most faithful follower. Who would have thought? She had been so young when she had joined the dark side that few of his people had taken her seriously.
He waved his wand again. He had set powerful spells around his room to be sure no one would be able to enter without permission. He set off the alarms and started for the door. He had to find out about the results of the raid.
Around twenty people were gathered in the great living room at Malfoy Manor. The Malfoy family had owned the property for eleven generations. It was a quite impressive medieval castle, surrounded by a large garden.
The living room was round and heavily decorated. The walls were covered in sculpted wood, and the floor was made of black marble. At least ten statues encircled the room. A handsome marble mantelpiece was situated above a huge fireplace directly across from the entrance.
The Malfoys had removed all the furniture from the room since they'd had the honor of welcoming the Dark Lord into their home. A large, wooden table had been placed in the middle of the room. The piece was mainly used for gatherings now.
The people gathered in the room were talking agitatedly when the door of the room suddenly swung open and a dark, tall figure appeared in the doorway. Instantly, all discussions halted and the people present in the room bowed deeply to the hooded figure in front of them.
"My lord, you have finally decided to honor us with your presence. We were beginning to wonder…"
Tom eyed the tall man with long, white-blond hair who had dared to speak. It was his host, Lucius Malfoy.
"Wonder what, Lucius? If I would wake up again?" He managed a lipless smile. "How considerate of you!"
Lucius Malfoy had been very pale when Voldemort appeared in the doorway. Now his expression was terrified, and it pleased Tom.
"My lord, I did not mean anything of the kind…I swear," Lucius said quickly.
Tom did not honor him with any other comment in response to his babbling, though. His eyes darted the room anxiously.
"Where is Bella?" he inquired. "I do not see her."
"My lord," Lucius spoke again. "Bella is not here."
Tom was starting to lose patience. Why do all of them have to be such idiots?
"Why state the obvious, Lucius?" He spoke in the calmest tone he could manage. "Where is she then?"
"Bellatrix chose not to come back with the rest of us tonight. She stayed behind, on Hogwarts grounds, to bring down a traitor," Malfoy explained in a shaky voice. He could not look Voldemort in the eye. He knew what would come.
"Are you trying to tell me that you left Bella behind?" Tom asked. His voice was controlled, but his chest filled with anger as he spoke. He surveyed the expressions on the Death Eaters' faces carefully. The people who had participated in the raid at Malfoy's side – Yaxley, Greyback, Crabbe, and Lucius' wife, Narcissa seemed on the verge of nervous breakdowns. Yaxley's hand was already under his robe, most probably gripping his wand. Narcissa's hands were trembling violently, and Tom saw her glancing nervously at her husband. Greyback was breathing heavily, like there was a huge burden placed on his chest. Crabbe had the best composure of them all. He was most certainly unaware of the gravity of the whole situation.
But the others knew. They knew how the Dark Lord would blame them for Bella's lack of clairvoyance and for her inability to deal with dangerous situations when she was angry. The Dark Lord would think they left her behind on purpose — to get rid of her his favorite follower.
Lucius recited their defense quickly: "My lord, this time it was Bella in command. It was her mission. She chose to stay behind. We insisted that she came with us, but she refused. She was so angry with that Durmstrang girl. We were on Hogwarts grounds, so we could not linger there. We had to obey her order!"
"It is the second time you have failed me, Lucius," Tom said coldly. "Bella commanded you…what about Death Eater loyalty? What happened with that? DEATH EATERS DO NOT LEAVE THEIR OWN KIND BEHIND! You have made a vow, all of you, to stand up for one another and to be loyal to one another! Where is your loyalty now, Lucius?"
Tom watched Malfoy shiver. He was dead pale.
"How about you, Narcissa? How could you leave your sister behind?" Tom asked silkily, taking a few steps towards Lucius' wife. "What kind of sisterly affection is that?"
Before he could take another step, Malfoy threw himself at his feet.
"My lord," he cried. "My lord, we would never betray Bella. She is our family! She wanted us to go. She was in command. We had to obey! You told us to obey!"
Tom, disgusted, managed to pull away from Lucius, who was gripping uncontrollably the hem of his robes.
He pointed his wand at Yaxley: "Explain!"
As Tom seated himself at the long table and the others took their allotted places, Yaxley commenced his relation of the day's events.
"My lord, Bella and I had just captured Karkaroff, and Bella was inflicting the Cruciatus on him to be sure he would not dare fight back while we carried him here, when Lucius sent us a Patronus to come and give him a hand against the seventh year students. They were protecting the map to Grindewald's prison; they were sure we were after it and had lifted barricades in the deputy headmaster's office. They were showing fierce resistance to Lucius and Narcissa."
"So you left Karkaroff there and went to help these idiots," Tom drawled. "And the traitor escaped me again!" He clenched his fists under the table.
"No, milord, that's not what happened!" Yaxley said quickly.
"What was your primarily objective, Yaxley?" Tom continued, as if he had not heard Yaxley. "I told you to get Karkaroff. I do not need the stupid map. I know Grindewald's whereabouts!"
Though the whole audience was astonished to find out that Voldemort knew where the most secret prison in the wizarding world was located, their eyes moved back to Yaxley eagerly.
"Milord, Karkaroff did not escape. He is…dead." Yaxley said, avoiding Voldemort's gaze.
He did not manage to say another word because a flash of green light struck him down. Forever silenced.
Tom's patience had reached its limits. He was having a most unpleasant day. He turned to face Lucius Malfoy.
"Explain!" he commanded.
Lucius managed to take his eyes from the dead body lying on the floor with great difficulty.
"Milord, when we returned to Igor's office, he was dead. Someone else had been in the room, a student, who had taken Salazar's sword and was just preparing to flee when we spotted her. We tried to apprehend her, but she fought back. I must say, her magic was well above the skills of a student. She managed to conjure a broom and jumped off the window. We tracked her and followed her, but she was very fast. My guess is that she was a Quidditch player by the way she was flying. We believe she must be underage because she did not choose to Disapparate though we had managed to break their spells and Apparate on Durmstrang grounds and thus the possibility of Disapparating existed."
"Spare me the details," Tom intervened impatiently. "Is she dead? Where's the Slytherin sword?"
"I was just getting there, milord. We followed her for hours and asked for the help of the Dementors, but we could not apprehend her. She was heading for Hogwarts."
"It seems like she knew about Dumbledore. She thought she'd be safe there."
"Absolutely, milord," Lucius agreed, happy that Voldemort had not cursed him yet.
"Therefore, when we reached Hogwarts, I asked Bella to return, but she wouldn't listen. She was keen on killing that student. She ordered us to go. We did not want to, but she insisted until we had to."
"So you left her there, and she has not returned yet," Tom concluded.
"I'm afraid so, milord. We were all in danger on Hogwarts grounds. It would have been madness to stay."
Tom remotely registered Malfoy's terrified expression. He was fighting between anger and a good laugh. By now, Bella had to be in Azkaban. The bitch deserved it, though. She had willingly fallen into the old fool's hands, and it was entirely her fault.
"Well, bring me the Prophet first thing tomorrow morning," he finally said, amused. He watched the Death Eaters around him wearing expressions that oscillated between fear and bewilderment.
Tom stood, and the others jumped to their feet too. He left the room and opened the manor's front door. He had not seen Nagini in a week, but he hoped she would be somewhere in the gardens. He had an assignment for her.
The next morning, Tom took his time reading the entire article about Bellatrix Lestrange's capture in the Prophet. As he had predicted, Bella was already in prison, strictly guarded by Aurors and, of course, by Dementors.
He was having breakfast in the dining room, and he had requested Lucius' presence.
"Has Nagini returned yet?" he asked Malfoy, placing his cup of tea on the table.
"No, not yet milord. I have not seen her," Lucius answered warily. He was still shaken after Tom's outburst the previous evening.
At least Yaxley had benefited from a proper burial, because Nagini was nowhere to be found. The Dark Lord had the nasty habit of always feeding his victims to Nagini.
"She keeps wandering around those damn gardens of yours, Lucius," Tom said annoyed. "I could not find her last night. I called her, but she wouldn't show up."
"Milord, Nagini will show up soon; she always does. She was raised in the forests, and she enjoys freedom."
Lucius watched Voldemort's face contort into a hideous scowl.
"Find her, Malfoy", he barked, returning to reading the Prophet.
"Milord, what about Bella?"
"What about her?"
"Shouldn't we go and take her from Azkaban?"
"We shall let Bella enjoy her new cell for a while. Maybe next time she will think first and act later," he said without taking his eyes from the newspaper.
Lucius gaped. Even he felt sorry for his sister-in-law, though he could not stand her. Leaving her at the Dementors' mercy was too cruel, even for Voldemort.
As Lucius left the dining room, leaving the Dark Lord to read Rita Skeeter's fantasized account of Bellatrix's life, he crossed paths with Voldemort's pet; she was slithering towards the entrance of the dining room. As she past him by, Nagini raised her head, darted her tongue out, and hissed. Lucius scowled in disgust. Most of the Death Eaters liked snakes, but Nagini terrified them all.
Nagini slithered further through the half-open door of the dining room until she encircled herself around Tom's armchair and hissed tenderly, resting her head on Tom's right leg.
Tom continued to read The Daily Prophet as if he had not noticed her presence.
Nagini hissed again, and Tom shook her off.
"Next time you are missing for three days in a row, find yourself another master, Nagini," he spoke back in Parseltongue.
Then he looked down at her and froze. Nagini had been gravely injured. Part of her tail was gone, and she had begun to grow a new one.
"What happened to you, girl?" he asked.
As the snake spoke to him again, Tom raised an eyebrow.
"It seems like the same person managed to nail both you and Bella," he hissed back. "What were you doing on Hogwarts grounds? Searching for fresh meat, were we? Again?"
The snake shook her head violently. Tom smirked.
"That's what you deserve, Nagini. I told you not to leave these grounds. I needed you here to do something for me, and you were nowhere to be found!"
At this point, Nagini began to hiss furiously. Tom frowned.
"Spying on Harry Potter you say? Nagini, what a dirty creature you are…" Tom looked pleased, though. "Still, you are taking this enmity with that stupid kid much too seriously," he added, resuming his reading.
Nagini began to circle his armchair.
"Fine, I see you've had quite a busy night! Now flee, I'm reading!"
The snake did not seem too eager to leave though. Tom was getting impatient. Maybe I should make another horcrux. Animated creatures are too much of a headache…
Tom watched the snake carefully as the creature slithered outside the room, and he sighed. He had already made the decision to leave Bellatrix in prison for a couple of weeks. After all, he had to punish her for her lack of obedience. But at the same time, Tom knew he could not afford to let Bella rot in Azkaban. She was one of the few supporters who followed his orders blindly and still believed in him and in his vision of the wizarding world.
He was still angry because he had not managed to get his hands on Karkaroff and have the pleasure of dealing with him himself. That traitor deserved the worst.
Tom decided to wait for a couple of weeks before liberating Bellatrix. That would give her time to rethink her actions thoroughly. In the meantime, it was time to call for a new meeting with the giants' leaders.
Lucius tapped nervously on the door and didn't wait for Narcissa's answer to enter.
His wife was facing a large mirror placed in the far corner of the room. She was trying on a new dress robe she had bought for herself the other night, when she had been shopping on the Diagon Alley with her best friends.
Lucius smirked. While he was struggling to keep his family alive, his wife was wasting her time on trifles. As usual.
Narcissa observed him in the mirror for a moment.
"Did you tell him?" she asked.
"No," Lucius replied simply.
He could see her smirking in the mirror.
"He'll find out, sooner or later. Better tell him yourself, before the word goes out."
"Narcissa," he drawled, "our days will be numbered if he finds out about what happened at Durmstrang."
"They already are," his wife emphasized. "Bella will tell him eventually."
"Not anytime soon," Lucius said, looking a bit relieved at the thought. "He'll let her stay in Azkaban for a while. If we're lucky enough, by the time he gets her out, your sister's reason will be completely gone, and her word will not matter anymore. I talked to Crabbe and the others. They'll keep their mouths shut. It's in their interest too that the truth about the mass murder of Pureblood students doesn't reach the Dark Lord's ears. As for us, with Bella away from here, we can try again to find Grindelwald."
"First of all, please don't talk about Bella like that. Her allegiance to the Dark Lord has saved our family after you failed to acquire the prophecy for him. And second of all, please stop talking nonsense about that old man."
Lucius sat in an armchair and looked at his wife impatiently.
"I thought we already discussed this. You know just as well as I do that Grindelwald is the only one who can oppose the Dark Lord successfully."
"No, Lucius, I don't know that. Grindelwald is not only an old lunatic, but he's also a very dangerous man. I am glad he's secluded somewhere away from the world."
"Narcissa," Lucius began, but he was cut off by his wife's angry stare.
"Listen, Lucius. That attempt to find Grindelwald's whereabouts could cost us dearly if the others suspected why we are looking for Grindelwald."
"But they are not…"
"I want to save our family as much as you do, and that's why I've done the only thing that could protect Draco, at least."
Lucius sprang from his armchair.
"What are you talking about, Narcissa? What have you done?"
"I went to the only person who really has the power to vanquish the Dark Lord now. He has his trust, and he is powerful enough to kill him if necessary. He's also at Hogwarts most of the time, so he can keep an eye on our dragon."
"You went to see Snape?" Lucius spat incredulously. "Of all people, you went to see Snape?"
"He's the only one who can help us, Lucius," Narcissa said icily.
"Narcissa, Snape is a traitor! How could you do that to me? How could you do this to our family?"
"I went to see him when you were in Azkaban. I was desperate."
Lucius glared at her, speechless.
"But I was right about him. Severus is a good person. He made the vow with me. He'll protect Draco or die."
"Cissy," Lucius said softly, as if he were talking to a child. "All Snape wants is to see me — us — finished. He's always hated me for belonging to an old, Pureblood, wealthy family. He's always been envious of me. No matter how powerful he is, Snape knows he cannot be like me. His purpose was always to take my place and win the Dark Lord's favors. That's what he's always wanted, can't you see?"
"You're paranoid. You're starting to sound like Bella. He made the vow. He'll have to take care of our Draco."
"Yeah, sure. I bet he's done that for some reason of his own and not from the goodness of his heart."
Narcissa came to sit in an armchair next to her husband, and Lucius sat too.
"Do you have any news from Draco?" she asked softly.
"Why don't you go ask Snape?" Lucius said nastily.
"Why don't you just answer my question?"
"He doesn't write to you at all?"
"No, he's mad at me. He says that I'm treating him like a child, and he is not a child anymore."
Lucius gave her a sad smile.
"He doesn't write to me either. I have written to him five letters to ask about his progress with the task the Dark Lord has given him. No answer."
"Great!" Narcissa said bitterly. "What are we going to do?"
"We'll try to come up with something."
"Oh, Lucius, just give up the Grindelwald quest!" she exclaimed. "It will bring us nothing but trouble. The only person we should have on our side is Severus. With Severus we stand better chances to find the Horcruxes and get rid of him."
"I don't trust Snape, Narcissa. He is fascinated by the Dark Lord in a way that I have never been. I was looking for more power, but Snape loves the dark arts more than he loves power. He's a dangerous man. I told you."
Narcissa sighed, and she was silent for a few minutes.
"We'll see which one of us is right in time, Lucius," she finally said. "And speaking of what happened at Durmstrang, at least we know little Liliana is safe. When I saw her in Igor's office, I thought that was the end of her."
"The Dark Lord must not find out that we knew that Igor had a child. He would probably kill her to take his vengeance against her father."
"Poor Lily. She's just a child. What damage could she possibly do to the Dark Lord?"
"You know how paranoid he is. Look at the Potter story," Lucius said.
"Who cares about Potter? Narcissa said with a laugh. "Lily is a different story. I've always liked her. Pureblood, powerful, bold girl. I think she'd be suitable for our dragon when they got older and all this war will be over."
"Women!" Lucius said, exasperated.
"Anyway," Narcissa continued, "with Igor gone, she doesn't have anyone to look out for her. We must bring her here when the war is over."
Lucius nodded and stood up.
"Please write to Draco again," Narcissa whispered. "And tell him I love him…"
Lucius agreed silently and exited the room.
Narcissa went to the window and looked outside thoughtfully. She wanted so much for the war to be over. She and Lucius had been racking their brains for months trying to find a way for their family to leave Voldemort's side unscathed. As much as the Dark Lord did not want to see, things were not going well. Even though she was not very much involved in the Dark Lord's plans and missions, Narcissa knew that negotiations with the giants were not going as planned, the Dementors were not under his absolute control yet, and the Order of the Phoenix was spying on them and intruding in their plans.
Nevertheless, one thing was clear. Even though the wizarding world was still divided by the Dark Lord's return, no one could stop him. No one dared to challenge him. He was immortal, and he was going to stay immortal until somebody had the courage to find his damned Horcruxes, destroy them, and then finally confront him.
She had been in there for weeks. Bella didn't quite remember how many weeks, because it seemed like an eternity since she'd been thrown back into Azkaban.
Where are you, milord?
She had been asking herself the same question every week, every day, every hour, every minute, and every second since she had stepped into the damn cell.
It was a drafty, cold place. It didn't have a window, and therefore Bella could not say whether it was day or night. Her limbs had gone completely numb in the two or three hours following her incarceration.
Physical cold did not matter anymore. Hunger and pain did not matter anymore. Nightmares did not matter anymore.
The only thing that mattered was that her master had not come for her.
Bella had examined all the possibilities and could not come with any reasonable explanation. Was he so mad at her that he had abandoned her?
The thought was unbearable to Bella, for she knew it was probably the truth. She had disobeyed his order by doing much more than her assignment allowed her. He was right to be angry.
Bella knew it would be impossible for her to escape even if she had a wand. She was already too weak because the Dementors had been feeding royally on her despair.
She could not see them, but she knew that they had to be close by, everywhere, outside the walls of her prison, behind the door of the cell, hovering in the deserted corridors. The sound of dying prisoners was driving her mad.
She touched her forehead. Her temples were throbbing in pain. She had not slept in a long time.
"Please change your mind," she whispered pleadingly.
Two weeks later it happened again. Tom awoke with a start, sweating heavily.
Nightmare, he mused. Impossible. And the pain in his chest. Searing.
He could not remember what it was all about, but it was bad enough to startle him from his sound sleep.
It was the second time in three weeks' time. Something was wrong.
He stood up and put his black robes on. He grabbed his wand, set off the room alarms, and exited.
When he reached the living room he saw the clock on the mantelpiece indicating the hour: It was past midnight.
Tom took a deep breath and went outside the house for a walk. He needed to clear his mind.
He had finally managed to convince the giants to be on his side in the upcoming war, and he was rather pleased with himself. His influence in the wizarding world was expanding.
Then, suddenly, pain and nightmares. Where could they come from? Tom was rather suspicious about such things. Was the boy getting stronger? Tom smirked. He had closed the connection between him and Harry Potter months ago. It was better like this. He did not need the boy anymore, and he knew the boy was not a real threat to him. He was so weak; he could not even perform an unforgivable curse properly.
Tom knew that there was only real obstacle left in his path: Dumbledore.
Not for long, old man.
How he hated the old fool! As long as he lived, the mudbloods and the blood traitors felt safe and protected. They knew there was still hope for them.
Tom needed to make sure that hope would be gone soon. He needed to give a powerful blow to the public trust in Dumbledore. He needed to embarrass the old man, to ridicule him. He needed audience. He needed to bring him down in the public eye.
I have to come up with a plan soon. The old man is weak; I felt how weak he was the last time we confronted each other. He will not stand for long now.
Tom was sick of hearing about Dumbledore and the Chosen One. He knew very well Potter was not ready to face him. With Dumbledore gone, the kid meant nothing.
We need to infiltrate the Ministry completely first. Let Hogwarts fall at the end. Add more fireworks to the script. I'll need Bella's input there.
It was time to get her out of Azkaban.
Bella made her way through the crowd of Death Eaters with great difficulty. She needed to see the Dark Lord closer, to hear his convincing voice, to let his words sink into her memory forever.
But the other Death Eaters would not let her get to him. She could not see his face from where she stood; still she absorbed his every word.
"Yes, my friends," Voldemort was saying. "Death can be overcome. And I stand before you tonight as the living proof."
Bella pushed fiercely through the crowd and managed to take a few more steps towards him. Then, she was finally able to see her lord.
He looked like a god, with his tall, lean stature, his dark eyes glittering like precious stones, as he spoke passionately to the crowd. How beautiful and fascinating those eyes were to Bella. She could not stop staring at him, could not breathe…
The sound of thunder startled her from her wonderful dream. For a moment it had seemed so real, as if she were eighteen again.
But she could not dwell on that dream.
She felt the cold drops of rain touching her body and turned quickly to see how that was possible. There was no window… how come?...
There he stood, the same tall, lean figure, black robes fluttering around him, like the wings of an angel. A dark angel of death and, for a second, Bella thought she was still dreaming. It hadn't been the thunder, but the explosion of the exterior wall of her cell that had awoken her. The Dark Lord stepped in. Behind him, several Dementors were hovering, daring not to come closer, though. The silvery light of his Patronus — a huge snake — was encircling his body, securing him from the Dementors.
"Milord!" Bella exclaimed, throwing herself at his feet. "You came! I knew you wouldn't leave me here to die!"
"Don't be stupid, Bella," he drawled, and with a wave of his hand, he repaired the wall behind him. "You still have work to do for me."
The sound of the heavy rain falling outside the prison walls subsided. Tom threw his broomstick in a corner and dismissed his Patronus.
"Thank you so much for coming for me milord," Bella said. "I…"
"Rise, girl" he cut her off. "I don't have time for this gratitude rubbish. Better tell me why you disobeyed my orders so I shall know whether to leave you here to rot or not."
By his icy tone, Bella knew her master was not in the mood for small talk.
She got up slowly and looked him in the eyes. Though his face was nowhere as handsome as it used to be years ago, he was just as fascinating now as he had been back then.
"Milord, I wanted to bring you more than you assigned me. The circumstances were in our favor. Karkaroff was not properly prepared for the attack, as he had not predicted that the school could be so easily found. We Apparated on the schools grounds and took the culprit by surprise. We cornered him easily. He was in his office."
"Get to the point. I've heard that before," Tom said.
"I wanted to acquire Salazar's sword for you, milord. I knew how much you wanted it. So we started to search his office. And Lucius went to find the map to Grindelwald's whereabouts, but he met some resistance from the students. I went to help him, too.
The students resisted fiercely, so we had to kill them…most of them."
She paused to see the effect of the news on Voldemort's face, but there was none. He looked at her expectantly.
"When I came back to find Karkaroff, he was dead. And there was this girl at his side. She was holding a piece of parchment and Salazar's sword. She ran away, but we managed to track her down with the help of the Dementors. We followed her to…Hogwarts. And then I tried to apprehend her for you, milord."
"And Dumbledore caught you." Tom smirked.
Bella was tempted to nod, but she hesitated. It was humiliating for her to admit that she had been taken down by a sixteen-year-old girl. But she had to tell the Dark Lord the truth.
"You left some details out of your little story, Bella," Tom said icily and pressed two fingers to her forehead. "Legilimens!"
Pain seared through the back of her head like a sharp knife.
The Dark Lord could see everything now, as if he were standing next to her when she was giving order to the other Death Eaters to kill all Durmstrang students; as she was torturing Igor Karkaroff to death in his office; as she stayed behind out of her own will to hunt down the Durmstrang girl; as she hit the ground violently and a wand was pointed at her…
Bella managed to sprang free from her master's grip on her mind.
"Let me see!" he ordered, as Bella crawled into a corner, covering her face in horror with her hands.
He reached for her and made her stand. His hand clutched at her neck and raised her a few inches above the ground.
"What are you hiding from me, Bella?" he asked dangerously. "What did you see?"
"Milord, don't make me say it. I think I must be losing my mind."
"I reckon you already have if you think you can hide something from me. Speak! "
"Milord," Bella said, trembling with fear and forcing herself to breathe, "when that girl looked at me…I thought…"
Voldemort glared, tightening his grip around her neck.
"What?"
"I thought … I saw… I saw…YOU, milord!"
Bella suddenly fell heavily to the ground. Voldemort had released her. She inhaled deeply and looked up to see her master resting his forehead against the hard stone wall, breathing as heavily as she was. He seemed to be on the verge of madness.
It could not be. It simply could not be.
He hit his head hard against the stone wall, hoping he would wake up from the nightmare.
I saw her dead. I saw both of them dead.
He could see the image in his head as if it were yesterday. He was standing in the middle of the cemetery, with Igor Karkaroff, heavy rain falling around them. The grave was open, and he could see the little body wrapped up in her mother's arms. She had died at birth and that terrible woman had died giving her birth. The danger had been removed. In fact, it had never existed.
There was no other Slytherin.
Could it be that Karkaroff had lied to him? Could it be that Karkaroff had planned this vengeance against him?
Impossible. No one could outsmart Lord Voldemort.
He slowly leaned towards Bella and touched her forehead.
The image of Liliana Karkaroff glaring at Bella, wand in hand, formed itself clearly into his mind.
Salazar's eyes.
He sunk to his knees, next to Bella, panting, his temples throbbing with unexpected pain. Suddenly all recent nightmares and pains corroborated and, for the first time in seventeen years, an unfamiliar feeling crept inside him: fear.
It cannot be. It cannot be.
A few minutes passed in silence, while Voldemort stared unseeingly at the wall.
Bella watched him intently. Something was terribly wrong if the Dark Lord was in such a state. She suddenly felt frightened.
"Milord," she asked tentatively, "are you all right?"
Tom got to his feet. He brushed his fingers over his hairless skull. Then he pulled his hood back until his face was completely hidden again.
"Are you ready to go?" he asked.
He seemed recomposed.
Bella stumbled to get up. Tom extended his right hand to her; with his other hand, he pointed his wand at the exterior wall of the cell.
"Confringo!" he ordered, and the stone wall exploded again. He summoned his broom and mounted, pulling Bella behind him.
"Expecto patronum!" The snake of light encircled both of them protectively as they flew into the rainy night.
Tom's mind was still restless.
It's not over yet, Karkaroff.
A/N Ok, so there you have it, an insight of the Dark Side. And of course, Tom's in da house...:). At last!
The Nagini scene is one of my best friends' favorites. She is annoyingly persistant so that I would involve Nagini more in the story! Can you believe that?
Cheers!
Chantal
