Thanks for following and all your wonderful comments! Any bets on who's going to win Lilith's heart?
He wasn't Lord Voldemort anymore, not in the proper sense of the name anyway. He had a nose for one thing, Nagini had noticed that right off, and his skin looked like that of the other humans, not the pasty white it had been. Hers had looked like that once upon a time. The serpent hadn't known the master in his first form, the one with the real name but she imagined this is what the man must have looked like. He bore hair, short dark hair with just the hint of a wave and of course there was the nose. Nagini kind of missed his old nose, it had looked like hers. Damn she missed her human nose and her womanly form. The only remnants of the old dark lord were his immense power and his voice, that hadn't changed. The smile was different too or the sudden appearance of one was the difference actually, though it was small and rare. His powerful dark mind was still completely intact and that was what the snake liked best about her master.
Yes the dark lord was younger and full of life which had surprised her at first but the spell cast had been to return him to his former glory. Her master seemed pleased enough and that was all that counted. Perhaps Carrow was not so useless after all, dumb as they come but alas he was useful. Nagini observed the squat, smug DeathEater as they awaited the dark lord's arrival while he lounged in a plush, high backed chair at the dining room table. He sat crookedly in his chair, chin on his fist as if in deep thought but that was unlikely, she mused. Despite the fact that Amycus seemed loyal and had diligently piecemeal'd several different spells together to pull Voldemort out through the veil, Nagini didn't trust him. He seemed more self serving than anything, she would need to watch him.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the echoing of the long, confident strides of someone approaching at a steady pace. The occupants of the unkempt and gloomy Malfoy manor sat up or straightened their backs at the sound and put on a smile, Narcissa, Amycus, Alecto and Yaxley, all pretending that they were enjoying one another's company for the sake of their lord.
"Good day." the dark lord greeted them in a monotone voice and pursed his lips together as he observed them from the half darkness that seemed to permeate the manor night and day.
Despite his youthful appearance the dark lord still had an immense presence whenever he walked into a room. Even if you didn't recognize the man you could still "feel" that it was him. Getting what he wanted normally took no more than a stern look.
"Good day." they all greeted in turn, feeling the obligatory anxiousness his presence always seemed to require.
The dark lord had been less than pleased to learn that his army had been depleted by death, defect and incarceration in his absence. Yaxley had taken to hunting down the defectors which helped a bit and soon a handful of his most faithful men would be retrieved from Azkaban. Still he had expected better. The only one that hadn't displeased him was Nagini.
"Give me news." he demanded, sitting stiffly at the head of the table. Voldemort looked to all four of his followers in turn, frowning deeply when their eyes averted. Finally his bronze eyes landed on Nagini as she slithered around the elongated table to settle at his side.
"I have newssss masssster." she hissed, red eyes glowing with delight.
His hand reached down to affectionately stroke the cool scales of her head, even as he favored the others with a cold sneer causing them to visibly cringe. Nagini lived to please her lord and basked in his silent praise.
"Don't keep me in suspense Nagini." he quirked one brow and rubbed his palms together eagerly.
"By your dessssire I have been to ssssee the DeathEatersssss and tell them of your coming. In turn they have told me of the new ssssubject they offer, a witch. According to Malfoy she issss in need of refinement but issss quite powerful."
Voldemort smiled in earnest then, his sharpened mind instantly excited by the thought of teaching and molding this witch. No one outside of his little circle knew of his return and by the time they found out, the witch would have honed her skills. She would be him but with all the charms being a woman afforded and he found he relished that thought. She would be the weapon no one saw coming and she would draw others to his cause. It was perfect.
A shower and a full belly? The witch was worth her weight in gold, perhaps even more, she was very petite, Antonin thought as he stared at the remnants of breakfast, the plate set out before him on his cot. Each man had had an increase in rations, though men such as Thorfinn and Fenrir had gotten more because of their size. He did feel a tiny bit guilty thinking that her kindness was actually just strengthening them for an escape but not enough so to stop eating.
"I can't beweave we haff so much foowd." Thorfinn groaned around a mouthful of eggs, voicing everyone's thoughts. "I mwean I'm almost fuwl and still have sowm left." his golden mane hung around his face as he stared intently down at his veritable feast.
Dolohov chuckled a little at his antics. One of the most impressive things about Rowle was his ability to easily shift from comic relief to a DeathEater with all the cunning and intensity of a hippogriff.
Even Rodolphus, who was nothing less than sore where Lilith was regarded, happily shoveled mouthful after delicious mouthful into his gullet. He couldn't remember the last time a meal had done more than take the edge off his hunger. Rod still thought she was too good to be true, like maybe she was using them as some sort of human guinea pigs. He wouldn't put that past the ministry.
"You gowna eat thwat?" Thor demanded, offering to exchange his empty plate with Rabastan's half eaten one, wearing a hopeful grin.
He traded tattered, misshapen metal plates without comment and laid back on his lumpy cot. Though he was loathe to give up anything Lilith had provided he also didn't want to waste a precious commodity. He couldn't have forced himself to eat another bite however, his stomach tied in all sorts of knots. A lot of thoughts tortured the mind of Rabastan Lestrange that morning but none more so than, had Lilith felt anything from his kiss? That shouldn't have been in the forefront, clearly there was much at stake, including the witch herself, but gods her lips… He needed to talk to her again and make sure she understood that he was being truthful and hopefully secure a promise that she would do as he asked. But every time that thought crossed his mind another thought about how good she smelled and tasted came right behind it.
"We're going to have to roll Rowle out of here come time." Fenrir favored the engorged wizard with an exaggerated eye roll and a smirk.
His own plate was long since empty and lay forlorn by his feet on the filthy ground. After living in the wilds for so long with forest and cave floors beneath his feet it didn't bother him as much as the others who had been used to plush carpets and tile.
"Not it!" Draco called from his cell, giving them all a good chuckle.
The youngest of them all, the boy was quiet and reserved but had a few good zingers every now and then. He was shite as a DeathEater though, they all thought it but never put voice to it. If the dark lord believed in him then so be it.
Dolohov was glad to see Fenrir looking like his old self, especially after his outburst the night before. He suspected he knew the issue but didn't care much further than to hope it wouldn't interfere with their plans, the rest would work itself out. He wasn't about to get all the men talking about their feelings or some such shit even if it was refreshing to realize they still had feelings at all.
Two weeks, Fenrir told himself as he began pacing the meager length of his cell, he had two weeks to make a solid plan, draw Lilith to his side and not kill Rabastan. He could tell without a doubt that the wizard wanted her, fuck he'd ruined Fenrir's plan to get to her first. He'd been pretty convincing, the wolf had to admit, but he'd seen right through it, having had the exact same plan and all. He wanted badly to know what Lestrange had done during his time with the witch, specifically how he'd come to leave his scent on Fenrir's mate. The good news was that she'd looked disturbed by the encounter, not that he wanted her to be upset but whatever had happened he was glad she hadn't enjoyed it.
And then it hit Fenrir, the perfect way to get rid of Rab and bring her to his side in one fell swoop. Rabastan would have no choice but to back off because she would clearly, without a doubt belong to him. Also if things went awry and they got separated during their escape his wolf instincts would lead him to her, it was the best way to keep her safe. Lilith would never agree to it so he'd have to do it now and apologize later but once she realized Fenrir was her true mate she'd forgive him.
He needed to mark Lilith now.