CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: THE PUNISHMENT
With her head bent down, she could no longer see where Voldemort was, except for the vague sense she got of his robes disturbing the air around her as he circled her like a predator. She willed herself to remain calm, but she was on the verge of panic. She'd known this was coming, but she'd hoped that her father would insist that she wait until coming of age before accepting the Dark Mark. Unfortunately, Voldemort seemed to like the idea of a fifteen year old in his service who'd already made the conscious choice to remain loyal to him.
Her palms were sweating she was sure of it, and the quiet sounds of two dozen Death-Eaters standing in a semi-circle to watch the initiation was not making helping her nerves. She didn't dare look up at the only two friendly faces in the crowd, though she knew exactly where Snape and Giles where both standing.
"You have ever been my loyal servant, have you not, Beth?" Voldemort asked.
"I have, my lord," she replied.
"You wish to serve only me?"
"I do, my lord."
"You will never betray me, will you?"
"Never, my lord."
Her heart was pounding furiously. She wanted this over with as quickly as possible. Of course, the Dark Lord had other ideas.
"If you are truly loyal…will you care to explain what this is?" he asked, shoving several pieces of parchment beneath her nose.
Buffy stared at the parchment, her breath catching in her throat. She knew exactly what that was. It was a crude sketch of the Azkaban prison, arrows and names scribbled into the margins. It was the plans of the Death-Eaters for the infiltration of the most secure facility in the wizarding world. She'd sent them to Dumbledore earlier that week, using one of the school owls so that none of the Slytherins would notice her going to Dumbledore's office for no apparent reason. Obviously something had gone very, very wrong.
"I've never seen them before, my lord," she replied.
He grabbed her by the hair and yanked her head back so that she was looking up at him.
"You lie."
"N-no," she replied nervously.
He shoved her ferociously, and she landed on her hands to keep from slamming face-first into the ground.
In the crowd of Death-Eaters, Snape and Giles very deliberately did not look at each other, though the urge to go and help the girl was strong in both of them. This was not what they'd been expecting when they'd been summoned this evening.
"My 'most faithful' servant has been lying to me," Voldemort announced. "Not only to me, but to all of you. To the man who raised her."
Benjamin Zabini's eyes held murder within them, and he stared at the young girl with disdain. She was humiliating the family name, and he couldn't believe that she had betrayed him, betrayed their lord. It seemed incomprehensible. He didn't understand how this could have happened.
"You have been reporting everything that we say back to your precious Headmaster, haven't you?" Voldemort demanded, his wand pointed at the girl who lay at his feet.
"N-never, I swear," she replied.
"Crucio!"
Snape and Giles both flinched as they heard Buffy scream. Voldemort just circled the twitching girl, watching in satisfaction as the Cruciatus Curse ripped through her body. He removed the spell and looked down at her, shaking his head in disappointment.
"You're just like your parents, girl. Cowardly!" he spat.
Buffy slowly sought out the eyes of her father within the crowd, wondering why on earth the Dark Lord was calling one of his most favoured servants a coward. But instead of seeing worry in her father's eyes, all she saw was disdain, anger and hatred. She looked away quickly, unable to bear the sight.
"Your father died begging for his life," Voldemort continued. "Will you now do the same?"
"My father..." she whispered in confusion.
Voldemort laughed coldly and knelt at her side, grabbing hold of her chin and tilting it upwards.
"You don't honestly think that an honourable man such as Benjamin Zabini could have produced an heir that was a vile betrayer, do you?" Voldemort asked. "No girl, you are not his. You were to be my greatest victory over Dumbledore. Over those bloody Potter's who continued to be thorns in my side. A true heiress of Gryffindor, as a servant to the last descendant of the Slytherins. The youngest in Godric Gryffindors line. And what a disappointment you have turned out to be."
Buffy's mind was spinning wildly. This wasn't making any sense whatsoever. Except, if she stopped to think about it, it did. Ben Zabini had always pushed her to be the best Death-Eater, even though he largely ignored his eldest Slytherin daughter.
"So you see, my child…you were nothing more than a failed experiment," Voldemort whispered. "You were raised to be loyal to me. The youngest of the Potter line, and the twin sister of the boy who was prophesised to be my downfall. But you, little girl, will never amount to anything more than a quivering pile of madness when my loyal followers are through with you. Zabini…I believe you are entitled to punish your 'daughter' as you see fit."
Zabini stepped forward, bowing his head to the Dark Lord before pointing his wand at Buffy. With all the anger, resentment and pain of betrayal inside of him, he cursed at his daughter and watched with cold eyes as she screamed in pain.
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Dumbledore was pacing the length of his study, and the sudden swish of movement broke his pattern. He looked up to see Rupert Giles and Professor Snape standing, a Popsicle stick held between them, the portkey that had brought them to his study. Dumbledore's eyes searched frantically for any sign of their young protégé, but she was conspicuously missing.
"What happened?" Dumbledore demanded.
"Voldemort's spies must have intercepted a communication of Buffy's. Plans of the attack on Azkaban. The Dark Lord was…unhappy to say the least," Snape replied.
"They're torturing her," Giles said, his voice tight and an unfamiliar knot of uneasiness had settled in his chest.
"Could you not get her out without revealing yourselves?" Dumbledore asked.
"Not without getting her killed," Giles replied. "Zabini has her this evening. He invited me to join him, seeing as how he believes that I had no part in her betrayal of him. He believes that I should feel as strongly about this as he does. I had no other choice but to accept his offer to join him this evening. I have done some despicable things in my time as a spy, but…I cannot harm her. I -will not- harm her."
Dumbledore leant back in his chair, his mind working overtime as he contemplated the position they were now in.
"Several members of the Order will jump at the chance to stage a rescue," Dumbledore said. "With any luck, we can get her out of Zabini's house without losing Miss Potter completely."
"I'm meant to meet him in two hours. To give him enough 'alone' time with her," Giles said, his voice soft and pained at the thought of what his protégé was having to endure.
"She's strong, Rupert," Dumbledore assured him. "She'll pull through."
Any option other than a good outcome seemed too unbearable to consider.
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REPOST: No idea why it was in italics, sorry.
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