Thanks go to Whitehound for Beta, Britpick and invaluable story advice and canon facts. I'm posting two chapters since I will be busy with work over the next few days. Enjoy!


The atmosphere at Ma's was a mixture of tension you could cut with a knife offset by high spirits of equal intensity. The tension was, of course, from the men who came and tried to loose themselves in the pleasures of the flesh. The Death Eaters were on edge of course, but even those customers not part of our illustrious government showed the effects of the unease brought on by instability. It was the girls who were in high spirits from watching the unfolding drama and telling the sordid tidbits they had gleaned from the evening's work. They vied against each other for the most dramatic bit of news while unwinding around the kitchen table at the end of the night. I soaked up everything I heard.

Discipline had broken down amongst the brethren and information poured into the ears of the delighted whores they mistakenly turned to for comfort. Names were bandied about as replacements for the dead Lestranges, with Dolohov being the most frequently mentioned and even Macnair seeming a possibility. One name was never brought up. It would seem Severus Snape didn't factor into anyone's gossip anymore. They were so blind.

All of the girls were darkly amused at these events. Peaches and Angel were particularly vicious in their glee. Peaches had a good thing with Macnair, he was a possessive regular and didn't like when she was with another man, so it was always less work for her on nights he was there. But he would be more of a fool than even I thought if he assumed she felt any loyalty. After all, none of us would have been here if we weren't filthy mudbloods good for nothing else. It took no work at all to get her on board with sowing doubt and fueling insecurities. Indeed, she was the one who started what became known as 'the game'.

'The game' was easy to play and fun for everyone, if you were one of us whores. It was simple: pick a Death Eater at random and try to cause them some trouble. Points were scored by how many things another Death Eater would say about them behind their back. A whispered word here, an innocent, but untrue, statement there and the fools were off and running, chasing their tails trying to discover who had said what about them. It gave us a sense of power that was heady stuff for most of us. The only problem was trying to keep twenty-four women from slipping up and giving it all away. I had little control over that but was fairly secure in the knowledge that this need to use what little we had to tear them down couldn't be directly traced back as my idea. I just fanned the flames a little and watched it consume them all.

Mistrust now coiled around the entire corrupt government like a miasma, and the shifting alliances and factions were becoming obvious and easy to exploit.

On one side fell those Elders that had gotten fat and complacent in their own power, formerly vicious Death Eaters from the Dark Lord's first rise to power that no longer had their killer instinct. You could almost smell their fear. This group belonged to Macnair and Rookwood and the others in it followed where those two led.

The second group was comprised of well known but less secure Elders, like Carrow, Crabbe and Goyle and the younger men that had come of age almost too late to make an impression, such as the younger Crabbe and Goyle. This group didn't seem to have as much cohesion, just a seething discontent and greed.

In some cases fathers and sons fell on different sides, such was the case with Theo Nott and his father. Mercy and Ruby played the game well with those two, the girls had them at each other's throats. Their confrontation happened elsewhere; but we all heard about it afterwards and Nott Senior had not returned since.

It was a girl named Dusty that decided to see if we could expand the game outside of the house. There was another group of Elders that did not frequent our house of ill repute, Death Eaters who were more concerned with the power shifts and politics than in petty debauchery, among them Mulciber and my old nemesis Dolohov. Targeting Death Eaters who didn't fall under our direct influence was a greater challenge. Higher points would be scored if you picked a target and that person's name was on everyone's lips within the week. Whoever had the most points by Sunday morning would get out of chores as much as possible without incurring Ma's curiosity.

The game wasn't without its price. Frustrated men, especially those already at peace with violence, weren't well known for their restraint. Many of our number sported an injury or two as a result of the toll malicious gossip took. Myself included, that last living symbol of the vanquished was an especially obvious target. Macnair took a fierce enjoyment out of the sudden backhand across my face when I chanced to get too close on a bad day. However, for the most part we wore our bruises with pride around the huge table in the kitchen.

Things settled into a routine of sorts, having the game to look forward to became the focus for almost all the women. I think several almost became convinced that we, alone, were the cause of all the Death Eaters' problems. It wasn't until one particular Saturday night that proof another source was chafing away finally came.

It was a busy night, the Death Eaters had booked two lounges and eighteen rooms. The two factions were studiously avoiding each other and it was the girls swinging through both rooms who were racking up the most points. Angel had scored a minor rush of points by coming into the room of younger men still giggling about the 'very funny thing that she overheard someone say about some bint named Alecto'. Of course, she couldn't remember who had said it, she had only been passing through. No, she had no idea who they were talking about, for goodness sakes. Of course it might not have even been true, her apologies, she didn't mean to offend. Would the gentleman care for a drink to soothe his nerves? Surely, Mr. Rookwood was only having them on, or maybe it was Macnair, they were standing so very close together, after all… She was marvelous.

We were mingling, slowly being paired off with our designated partner or partners as the case may be, when the room filled with a collective hiss, as if we were suddenly surrounded by dozens of snakes. It took me a minute to catch on to what was going on and then I had to look to the other girls to see when they did. I didn't want to show I understood before they did and single myself out.

As of one body all the men all started to file out of the room, heading for the door with their arms clutched tightly to their bodies. Doors banged open upstairs and men came thrashing down the stairs holding their arms. Grudge matches that had been full blown earlier were set aside as the Death Eaters headed out the door to the apparition site.

Ma's voice could be heard fluting in the hallway and got louder as she came into the Rose Lounge.

"What was all that? What in Merlin's name was all that?"

"I know," called a girl from the other room. "It was the Summons, that's what that was alright." Maisy came in with her arms crossed across her chest. "I heard tell that's how he used to call his faithful in the days before the inglorious revolution." Done speaking she leaned over and spat into a potted plant.

"Aye, I heard the same. Never seen it done before tonight though," said Ruby.

"Well then," replied a still perplexed Ma. "Well then." She turned a critical eye on us and started clapping her hands. "Well the evening is still young, you lot tidy up the rooms and freshen up. You're not off the clock yet. Get moving." She started to shoo at us and we broke up and started to drift away.

Peaches slid up along side of me as I was plumping up cushions.

"So, the Dark Lord has summoned his minions."

"So it would seem."

"Do you think this means anything for us?"

"In what way?"

"Only that, he has no need to summon them through the mark anymore, they have regular business meetings and the like now. I'm just saying that it seems a mite suspicious that he cleared out the whole place of Death Eaters and here we've been making a lark out of playing with their brains, haven't we?" That said she punched a pillow viciously and dropped it onto a couch.

"Hold those thoughts. There's no use panicking when we don't have enough information." I tried to sound reassuring but her words had struck home. As I looked at the faces of the other women in the room I saw the same fear reflected in them as well.

We sat around in dread for two hours. The women not engaged upstairs were all crowded into the Lilac lounge as if to be alone was bad luck. Even Ma kept circling back into the room in an excess of nervous energy. We all knew something big was going down, but there was no telling what it meant for us.

A crack of apparition outside sent Ma back to her foyer shouting, "Someone turn the blasted radio on and stop looking like you are all at a funeral parlor!" The bell chimed to signal someone's entry and I saw Angel clutch her belly as if she was going to be sick. I walked over and sat next to her and wrapped my arms around her elbow and she sagged slightly against me. More apparitions sounded and soon the door opened to emit a loud boisterous group all calling for wine, women and song. Angel and I collapsed together and there was a thud as Dusty knocked against an end table in her relief and sent a lamp onto the sofa. Nervous smiles flew around the room until the party of young Death Eaters came barreling into the room, voices raised in triumph.


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