Eleven year old Daisy Potter woke early in the morning.
She stared silently at the ceiling, unblinking: the clock ticked on her nightstand; the cool air fluttered the curtains as it came through the window; and everything was quite...quiet.
Daisy was quite quiet, as she remained unmoving like this for the next half an hour.
She did not want them to know she was awake - to be known to be awake was to invite the consequence that was getting up and doing things. And doing things with people she did not want to be around at all. At least here, for right now, she could have herself to...herself. Her mind and body were hers, free to be as they were.
In this place, she could not be who she really was - who she desperately wanted to be again. Nor could she in the world. Because everyone in the world either hated her, or were terrified of her. Those who hated her still had to act polite, because that hate could get them into...trouble, but Daisy could always tell who felt which about her. It was obvious, plain as day, no matter which side of that emotional fence they were on.
Her own attempts to be kind were met with suspicion, fear, or discomfort. Thought to be a trick or trap, or a way of getting information from them, to be used against them or those they loved. A way to find the hidden, the vulnerable, and make them disappear. Or, maybe worse: to blackmail and coerce them with.
Daisy just wanted a real friend again, someone to tell the truth to, to share her true being with. Years ago, she had had a few - had finally found good, nice people to hang around with - a best friend, and even a cousin...and then the monster had taken her away from all of that.
She clenched her fists and shut her eyes, remembering years past, when she had arrived into a world more terrible - and more painful - than she ever could have imagined. She really had been so safe and sheltered before: from everything...
She wished she still was.
The first thing six year old Daisy saw when she woke up again was that same monster before her - the same one she had cast the Cutting Curse at in her room, after it had broken through her window with billowing black smoke and evil red eyes that glowed.
The first thing Daisy did was throw out her hand and try to cast a curse at the monster again, as she yelled at her friends to run away! She could protect them from any monster, she could keep them safe! But they hadn't run until after Kreacher had taken a green spell for them all...
Voldemort flicked his wand to deflect her current curse, his face lined with rage. Then, he aimed his wand directly at six year old Daisy's small frame.
Daisy was screaming more than she ever had in her life, as pain more than any she had felt in her life ripped through her! Every inch of her, inside and out! Her body was moving on its own, her arms were twisting back and her legs were moving sideways-
Voldemort let his spell go.
Daisy's cries and whimpers filled the silent room, her whole body shaking. Her dark hair splayed a mess, her fingernails digging into her palms...drawing blood free...
"Do not try and disrespect Lord Voldemort again," Voldemort said slowly, tilting his head at Daisy, examining her dispassionately. He inhaled through those slit nostrils of his, and then a thin smile appeared on his lips. "Tell me, Delphini, hasn't it been simply wretched with Harry Potter? I don't imagine you've had a good life, confined to a house under so many enchantments. Never allowed freedom, to make friends - to do...all those lovely things little girls do in life? Normal, free, happy little girls, that is..."
Daisy blinked, tears falling, her lips wobbling as she stared into the face of Voldemort. "I- mmm...I-"
"Yes? Tell me, child...my child..."
"I- I'm n-not- s-scared of you!" Daisy cried, curling her hands into fists. "You monster!"
Voldemort cocked his head at her. He smiled, and let out a truly mirthful laugh. "Exactly what I would have expected out of any child of mine. You have a strong will, girl - a strength and a power you displayed even back in the Black home - but it does you no good here. Because I know you lie. It's written all over your face."
Daisy shut her eyes and dropped her head.
"Now-" Voldemort began.
"I h-hate you."
"Excuse me?" came the simple, quiet response.
"I s-said I hate y-you!" Daisy yelled out, raising her head. "I h-hate that I'm your stupid daughter - you're stupid and evil and wrong and I want you to just die already so everybody can be happy! I'll kill you, I'll fucking kill you and then I can go back to mummy and daddy and-"
"Enough of this!" Voldemort shouted, and he struck her with another terrible curse. He held it for a full minute, this time. Daisy was left in a ball on the floor, shaking and crying to herself alone. He stood heaving, snarling. He whipped around and paced left, then came back the other way. He breathed, calming, easing. He passed his wand over his face, and Daisy saw it heal in seconds - as if it was never there to begin with. As if she had done nothing. "As you're only a child," he began slowly, dangerously. "I'll forgive your little...tantrum, child. But do not test my patience; I have little of it - especially for children."
"Now," he continued quietly, a force of will despite the low volume. "as I was saying - my daughter deserves far better in life than what you've obviously been given by Harry Potter. Your behavior is atrocious. But I will turn you from a scrambling, mad rat into a princess of the world. You will have anything you desire and more - any object, any building, any person."
"I don't want anything except for you to drop dead, you big fat cunt-"
Voldemort struck her with the torturous curse again - and held it for another minute. After he was finished, he simply shook his head at her. "We really must work on your manners, Delphini. Well, perhaps your mother can do better in that area than I - for I have never been any good with children, I admit." He gave a small, weary sort of sigh as he observed her on the floor. He flicked his wand at Daisy, and she found she could not move! She was lifted into the air, and made to drift alongside Voldemort as he turned and strode from the room.
A helpless puppet - or a knick-knack.
She couldn't even keep crying anymore.
They moved through the halls and down some stairs, to finally emerge into an expansive, lavish sitting room that could have accommodated two dozen house guests. But in this room, there was only one other person waiting on a pristine velvet sofa. A woman of billowing dark hair, heavily lidded eyes, and sharp features and pale skin. Her dark robes slithered down to the floor as she leapt to her feet upon Voldemort's entrance.
"It's her...? It's truly her, My Lord? Our- our child, our Delphi?"
Voldemort flicked his wand; Bellatrix flinched, bowing her head. But all that happened was that Daisy was sent gliding over to the sofa, to be deposited onto it quite unceremoniously. Daisy immediately wrapped arms around herself and drew in her legs, shutting her eyes.
"Do you think I could mistake my own child, Bellatrix?" Voldemort spoke, amused. "Perhaps I took the wrong one, hmm?"
"N-no, My Lord, of course not! I just...it is overwhelming," Bellatrix choked out. "To have her here with us again! To...see her! Delphi - Delphini-" she began to address the girl, emotional and frantic.
"M-my name is Daisy..."
Voldemort tssked. "I realize it will take you some time to...adjust, and to unlearn all the filthy things Potter and Greengrass must have crammed into your head, but you need to try to let it all go now - Delphi. Just as you will need to learn to let them go. Potter is dead, and I killed him. Do you understand? There is no more reason for you to keep using that name. You will go by Delphini or Delphi, now. That is the name we gave you at birth, your true name. You will use it from now on."
"No, I w-won't!" Daisy proclaimed, raising her head to throw a shaky, hesitant glare at Voldemort. "I'm daddy's daughter and he's not dead, and you're just-"
"This isn't going to be a debate, Delphini!" Bellatrix yelled suddenly, stalking forward, bearing down on Daisy. "Don't you dare disrespect your Lord, your father, after everything he did to get you back, after all this time without you! How could you possibly prefer to be back with those filthy little-!"
"Please, dear Bella, have some patience with her," Voldemort interrupted idly. "She's spent years being corrupted by Potter, the worst Dumbledore-lover of them all. We need not be too upset with her, it's unfortunate but natural. In time, she will be taught what is right. But I think we can allow a certain leeway; she really does not know any better - no other way."
"Y-yes, of course, My Lord. I apologize..." Bellatrix bowed her head, stepping away. "You are right. We shouldn't press her too soon..."
"Now, I believe I promised you something...? Here we are..." Voldemort waved his wand, and Daisy was transformed.
Daisy's appearance changed with a single pop; her hair was suddenly in braids, she wore a black dress and glistening black slippers of crystal, and atop her head was a tiara of silver with emeralds ringing it.
"Do try and cheer up now, won't you? My princess."
"Fuck you up your arse!" Daisy choked, rising on shaking legs.
Voldemort sighed. "You see? See how being raised by those degenerate traitors has done its damage to you? You have no manners, no respect - a foul mouth of a common lowlife. To speak this way to your own father."
Daisy ripped the tiara off and slammed it down at her feet. She glared at Voldemort and took a shaky step forward. "You're not my daddy - Harry Potter is! He's always going to be!"
Voldemort smiled at her, as if humoring her. "But I am, Delphi. I created you - as did Bella here. We are your parents. I'm your...daddy, and she is your mummy. Potter and Greengrass were only playing at it, but they had no right to."
"No, you're not," Daisy refuted stubbornly. "All that means is you're the freak who shot sperm into that freak! It doesn't mean anything except that you somehow have a working prick! And you look like a cauliflower that started flaking after-!"
"Crucio!" Voldemort snarled.
Daisy collapsed onto the floor, shrieking and thrashing under the spell.
"How many times must we do this? I tire of it already," Voldemort said, exasperated.
Daisy lay there, trembling and silent. After several minutes, she finally pushed herself up. Her legs threatened to give out again. She eyed Voldemort fully, glowering. Then she looked to Bellatrix. She squeezed her fist, her lips contorting, and let out a yell of incoherent rage and anguish. "Depulso!" Light flared, and Bellatrix was slammed back against the wall so hard it cracked. She fell forward onto her hands and knees, gasping and disoriented. A hand went to the back of her head. Astonishment and even a little bit of fear on her face. Then, rage, as she went for her wand.
In an instant, Voldemort flicked his at Bellatrix, his eyes flashing; she began to writhe and scream as Daisy had before. "Let me make one thing clear to you," he spoke in a low hiss, after Bellatrix had gone quiet. "you may care for Delphi, you may attend to her, but my daughter is mine alone to punish or not - am I understood? She is mine, and no one will hurt her unless I deem it necessary. Not even her mother. She is my flesh and blood, she is half of me - to harm her is to harm me - and those who would dare to harm Voldemort's person will suffer exquisitely!"
"Y-yes, My Lord, I- lost myself, the shock of the- I'm sorry...I'm sorry..." Bellatrix gasped, throwing herself at the monster's feet and planting her face on the floor. "Forgive me, forgive me!"
Voldemort ignored her, turning to Daisy. His smile returned. "Truly, you are my daughter; you've the mind of a Slytherin, natural and quick as can be. Such a clever girl - but don't think that being clever will let you escape punishment." He pointed his wand at Daisy again, and she suffered again. "Apologize, now, and fix your behavior if you don't want to be punished again."
"I- I'm s-sorry, I'm sorry, please, sorry, I'm so-"
"That's quite enough. Excellent, Delphini. Now-"
From her place on the floor, Daisy shoved out her arms with a scream of incantation, and a jet of blue flew at Voldemort.
He lazily waved his wand, the energy hitting an invisible barrier, and dissipating. "Clever," he said softly, his smile twisting into something ugly. "Deceit, lies - the sheer gall to attack Lord Voldemort again, thinking you could catch him off guard-"
"I already have-"
"Crucio! Don't interrupt when I'm speaking to you! And don't give me cheek like that, child! Especially when your father is paying you a compliment!"
Daisy curled up into a ball once more, her hands shaking and coming to rest over her mouth. Then she puked.
"Now...undoubtedly you have inherited my natural gift for parseltongue," Voldemort went on bracingly. He flicked his wand, and her sick vanished away. He strode up to her, standing over her as he spoke on. "Potter never let you have a pet while you were kept cooped up in that old house, did he? Would you like a pet? I happen to have a very beautiful serpent for a companion. She's a lovely girl - she would be so happy to have someone else to talk to, and certainly she would be all too pleased to spend time with my daughter. Why don't I take you to get familiar with her? Her name is Nagini."
Daisy was pulled up to her feet by an unyielding magic and another flick of Voldemort's wand, and then another yanked her forward to stumble along behind him out the room in a shaky walk - all before she could even answer. Not that she wanted to! Or even could, if she had wanted to.
Bellatrix jumped to her feet, her expression full of hurt and uncertainty, and she hurried after them.
That very night, six year old Daisy found herself sitting at the head of a long table, looking around at all the people in their black robes and fancy outfits in a vast dining room lit by burning torches.
Voldemort sat in the most exquisitely designed chair of them all, right beside Daisy. Bellatrix was sitting on the left side, nearest to Daisy and Voldemort. Voldemort surveyed the table, the people seated up and down its length, before he began to speak. His voice was soft, clear, and carried around the room in a way no one could mishear.
"Welcome, welcome, my friends. It has been some time since we have all gathered like this, has it not? I felt the occasion warranted it, for it is most momentous! A joyous day for your Lord, personally. I'm pleased beyond measure to announce that my long lost daughter, darling Delphini, has returned to me." Voldemort turned and gave a nod down at Daisy - a flash of a fond smile. "Lost to me some years ago, stolen from me by Albus Dumbledore, and given to be raised and indoctrinated by Harry Potter into those muggle-loving ideals! Given the alias of 'Daisy Potter'. Doubtless a cunning, insidious plan to make my own child into an Order weapon to be used against me someday. To turn all her power, all her abilities, all her intellect...against her own father. But, I am also overjoyed to be able to tell you all that, in regaining my lost child, I was also finally able to snuff out the life of Harry Potter."
"As I have made clear already to my dear Bella," Voldemort went on, in a voice that was suddenly cold and high - and deadly. "I will say this only tonight, and any who disregard my word will face the most dire consequences: My daughter...is to be treated with the very same level of deference as you all do myself. Anyone who so much as misplaces a hair on her head will be made to regret it before you are killed. To harm her is to harm me. And to harm your Lord invites death. There will be no excuses, no explanations, and no second chances. Am I understood?"
A cacophony of voices gave immediate assent.
"Good. Now...Severus - stand, come forth," Voldemort called out.
A man stood from his chair. Tall, thin, sallow skinned. A hooked nose and eyes that glistened black. He swept around the table with billowing black robes and an expressionless face.
He came to stop before Voldemort, and knelt there. "I am, as ever, at your service, My Lord," he said clearly.
"Excellent. I have decided, my friend, that you will be given the honor of acting as my daughter's personal attendant. You will see to her needs, her wants, her every desires, and most importantly of all...you will do everything in your power to ensure she is safe and protected - most particularly from the Order that will seek to steal their weapon back from us. Steal my daughter from me again. Doubtless they are already scheming a way to kidnap her again." Voldemort paused, eyeing Daisy. "And, most unfortunately, as she still suffers from their years of brainwashing, you must not allow her to make any attempts at seeking out the Order herself - for her own good. For now, it's best not to let her out of your sight. Other than this, however, she is free to go where she wants and do as she pleases in this world - unless I say otherwise, of course."
"Of course. I understand."
"And, Severus: Should you fail to keep her safe...I will show you the true depths of the Dark Arts, of methods and magicks so horrific you could never have imagined them in your worst nightmares. And then, I will kill you with my own, bare hands. I will force the life from your eyes. Do you understand?"
"Perfectly, My Lord," Severus said clearly. "I assure you, I won't fail in my duty - in this greatest honor."
"I have trusted you more than any other Death Eater, Severus, and you have done more for me than any of them combined - bringing me the prophecy about the Potters, playing your role to perfection for years as my spy, killing Albus Dumbledore - thus I gave you the position of Headmaster at Hogwarts. I trusted you with my school; I do hope you won't prove me wrong in entrusting my daughter to you now."
Snape nodded, and stood when Voldemort gestured. He strode around the monster's seat to stand behind Daisy's, hovering there his arms crossed. "On that subject, My Lord, am I not to continue in running the school, then?"
"No, not for a few more years to come," Voldemort replied absently. "You may retake the position once my daughter is of age to attend - but until then, I will be placing another of my trusted Death Eaters at Hogwarts in your stead."
"Very good, My Lord. Thank you for obliging my curiosity."
"Think nothing of it, my old friend," Voldemort smiled, waving a hand. "Now then, why don't we all celebrate this momentous occasion - I've had the finest of feasts prepared for us tonight. Or so I am assured," he concluded, with a humorous look to Narcissa and Draco Malfoy. "It is, I hope, all-"
Daisy whirled in her chair with her fork, making to stab it into Severus Snape with a snarl-
Voldemort raised a hand, a single finger - and Daisy was frozen. A twitch of that finger, and the fork vanished out of her hand. "Any more displays like that and I might be forced to deprive you of this wonderful dinner, Delphi. Do you want to go hungry tonight, after such a...trying day?"
Daisy's lips twisted. She shook her head, straining against the magic to do it.
Voldemort chuckled softly, letting her go. "Impressive, truly, darling Delphi. Very impressive. You remind me of myself at your age..." He sighed fondly, as if nostalgic.
Daisy put her hands down on the table, staring at her plate as food materialized. The fork reappeared beside her right hand. She picked it up, with Voldemort watching her - and Snape too - and she stabbed it into her steak. She picked up the knife and cut it apart furiously, then jammed the piece into her mouth.
"Good, Delphi. Very good," Voldemort praised her, amusement in his voice. "You are learning already, aren't you?"
He swept his gaze around the table, a wide smile coming to his face. "Macnair - inform the Ministry to expect my appearance tomorrow; I want the world to know this wonderful news as well! I wish to share with all...the news that my daughter has been reunited with me again - and that my final enemy has been defeated. Once the Order hears that Potter is dead - and the world at large - I'm certain we'll see a swift decline in active resistance finally."
"Yes, My Lord," the man nodded.
"Excellent."
"It has been months, and still she refuses to cooperate in any willing fashion," Voldemort hissed. "She will not obey, she will not speak to me, she does not acknowledge my presence unless forced to. The only thing that gets through to her is the Cruciatus! And yet even now, she still clings to the ideals of the Order, and the notion that Harry Potter is her 'real parent.' Tell me how I am to change this!"
Mind Healer Rebecca Terrance took a calming breath as she stood before the Dark Lord himself. The Dark Lord had come to St. Mungo's to personally request services of someone in her profession - and the rest of the staff had pointed him in her direction (thrown her under the bus, she rather thought, as the muggle saying went). She tried to betray no revulsion at the man - the monster's - casual admittance to torturing of his own child. She knew enough of that was going around anyway, since his takeover. At Hogwarts, and in many homes. There was little she could ever risk doing to change it. "It- will be easier for me to give you your answers if we could sit down for this discussion, My Lord," she spoke, neutral and calm.
Voldemort eyed her imperiously. A snort of air. "Yes, very well - let us sit."
They did, mercifully allowing Rebecca chance to compose herself further. She clutched her hands to her knees, leaning back in her chair. Then she let them go, exercising every technique she knew. "You...want your daughter to acknowledge you? To communicate with you? Even to- accept you as her father? Her parent?"
"Yes."
"Well, My Lord, if...Delphini is not going to be the one to connect with you - have you considered why she won't?"
"Of course I have!" Voldemort snapped. "It's because of the Order, because of Potter and Greengrass. They took her from me, they warped her mind, they- turned her against me! Before she was to even meet me!"
"Yes, they did," Rebecca agreed swiftly. "And because of that, your daughter has feelings of hostility toward you? Discomfort? Anger? Even fear, I'd presume?" she went on delicately.
"Yes, she has displayed such feelings clearly," Voldemort said, frustrated. "How am I to rid her of them?"
"Well...I would say that you need to try to be someone she wants to be around: if she's uncomfortable with you, try to make her feel comfortable; if she's afraid of you, try to make her not afraid. If she's angry toward you, try to find a way to soothe those feelings. If she won't connect with you, then you need to be the one to try to connect with her."
"And how do I do that?"
"Talk to her. Try and empathize with her - tell her about your...childhood, your feelings, and try and get her to open up to you about hers in turn. Draw a connection, make a comparison. Something she can identify with. Truly try to understand her - why she does what she does, why she thinks how she does - and try to get her to understand you. This will be the first step in trying to get her to start talking to you at all, My Lord. Once she feels she can talk to you, she might start to want to."
Voldemort sat silently. "And after I've done this?"
"With time, and patience, after you have a connection established with her, you can begin with showing of affection. Show her you care, show her you enjoy her presence. Show her you can take an interest in her; whatever her hobbies are, what her interests are, what games she liked to play, you need to get her to engage in them with you. I'm sure Potter and Greengrass did this every day with her, and that is why she has such a strong affection for them, in itself. Children naturally gravitate toward those who show them compassion, tenderness, affection and attentiveness. People who can listen to them, who can care for them, and express love toward them. People who are interested in them."
"Love," Voldemort pronounced.
"Yes. Love. Parents give children love, and children in turn love them back. The evidence of its strength is self-evident, My Lord; Delphini refuses you completely, no matter what you do or say, and yearns instead for the ones who have shown her love over these years. Beyond scolding, punishment, beyond fear. Love is a power all its own, and a power to overpower anything else, if it's true and genuine. Even magic, as you are aware, My Lord," she finished with great care. "If you want Delphini to stay with you, to choose you over them, to want to be with you, and furthermore, to even begin to change her mind on what she was taught- wrongly- by those who stole her from you, then you need to build up to showing her she's loved by you. She needs to care what you think to listen to you, and accept your words."
"Perhaps you're right," Voldemort mused quietly. "Love is a power championed by my worst enemies, love is what has robbed me of everything, destroyed me before, protected Potter from me despite all my powers - rebounded my own Killing Curse - and now...it has ensnared my daughter. Stolen her from me. Perhaps there is truly something to it that is beyond my magic, beyond my understanding..."
Rebecca sat in silence.
"Could I make the power that is love my own as well?" Voldemort continued on. He met her gaze. "Could I possess what the likes of Lily Potter once did? What Harry Potter once had? With my daughter's aid in the endeavor?"
"I believe..." Rebecca began carefully. "that through your daughter, you could discover love's power, yes. But it will take time, patience, and genuine effort. A change in your very way of thinking itself."
"Yes, yes I imagine it would - if I cannot comprehend it now, clearly something about me is...lacking, missing or stolen..." Voldemort ruminated, nodding with great distaste. "I will need to think in ways quite unlike my usual self, if I'm to understand this...this power. To truly learn to harness it, as my enemies have."
"And in doing so, you'll see your daughter improve as well," Rebecca stated. "One of the most important things about this endeavor, My Lord...will be the need to not look at love as an end goal, a power to obtain, but instead to focus on understanding it with and through your daughter. It will...come naturally to you, then, My Lord. But you can't be trying to force it, or focusing on it above your daughter's relationship, or it will never work."
Voldemort stared at her a long moment. "I believe I understand; I've encountered similar things before. Yes, fitting that Dumbledore would create such an obstacle...because he did understand this, didn't he...? And he knew I could not...But I will. I will earn my daughter's love, and she will love me?"
"In time, and with patience, yes."
"Lord Voldemort has all the time in the world - and he has pursued many goals before, more complex and worthy of patience than this. Than some...love and relationship with a child. He will succeed. You will help me succeed in this."
"Yes, My Lord. I will."
If there was anything Voldemort prided himself on, it was his ability to adapt, evolve, and overcome. To push boundaries and grow beyond any other person in this world! Any mage!
But for the first time in a very long time - since childhood - he found himself...lacking. Floundering, even. And hating it.
There was an area he had not explored, a part of life he knew nothing about, beyond captured moments between others.
Something Dumbledore, Lily Potter, and even Harry Potter had been...utter masters of.
And Voldemort had not.
He admitted, at last, that yes, Dumbledore had been correct in his assessment decades ago.
"I have experimented; I have pushed the boundaries of magic further, perhaps, than they have ever been pushed-"
"Of some kinds of magic. Of some. Of others, you remain...forgive me...woefully ignorant."
"The old argument...But nothing I have seen in the world has supported your famous pronouncements that love is more powerful than my kind of magic, Dumbledore."
Hindsight was everything, was it not? One's mistakes informed the future. And if Voldemort had experienced all that he had in recent years, because of the Potter line...if he had known, then...oh, he might have even conceded it to the old man! But he knew now. He would concede now, that singular point. That evident truth, that which he had so often dismissed as irrelevant or harmless, or weak.
Love was indeed...a realm and a power all its own, to rival and even overpower anything he knew!
A realm that Voldemort regrettably knew nothing about.
He knew lust, he knew charm, seduction, certainly - he could never have had an issue with utilizing these methods on Delphini - but love? No.
It infuriated him, frustrated him to no end.
But he would rectify his ignorance now! His lack of knowledge would be filled in, his inexperience replaced by personal experience!
Voldemort would learn, he would be as studious as he was in any magical experiments, any rituals and custom spells. Any old tomes he possessed.
And he would master this, too. This area of love, this power of love.
And in doing so, he would master his daughter as well.
He was confident in his ability to do so.
Even if it meant truly heeding that woman's advice on the issue.
Attempt to establish a connection. Your childhood to hers...
He had never told anyone anything willingly - not unless he could have helped it! Not even as a child!
He loathed that Dumbledore and all those muggles even knew as much as they did about him.
And now he was meant to intentionally expose his hated years, his weaknesses, to his daughter?
Well, if it was a true necessity in this pursuit...he had settled for weakening himself before, had he not? Fleeting vulnerability for the sake of a greater goal...
This was no different, and only Voldemort was strong enough to endure it for the worthy end he aimed for.
Yes...if the likes of Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore could do it, then so could Lord Voldemort! He had ripped his soul apart for the sake of his goals - he could survive this. That agonizing pain and sense of overwhelming loss, the panic and terror that he had just done something irreparable, the first few times he had done it...this would be nothing compared to that experience.
Voldemort knew sacrifice well, and he had done it before.
He could sacrifice a little again, to retake his child from Harry Potter's grasp (a grasp that remained even in death and memory).
"You know," Voldemort began airily. "that I have told you before that you remind me of myself, at your age. When I was your age, I lived...in a muggle orphanage, surrounded by muggle children."
A shift in her eyes. A glance up, at last. Then, stoicism - but she continued to gaze at him.
He felt the glow of pride burning in him, of a victory won. A small one, a first one, but it was his. He had always taken a certain pride and amusement in successfully manipulating and coercing others for his own ends. Getting a win over his daughter in this game of winning her love was also something he would relish. Yes, this was a game he had once enjoyed, the thrill of the hunt, pressing just the right way...until they submitted and he won what he wanted. He admitted a bit of nostalgia for it, for those early days when he won things with effort and cunning, and not overwhelming power. Things these days, he admitted to himself...were just too easy. So easy it was almost...boring.
Perhaps he should start joining his Death Eaters in battle again - engaging in the thrill of the hunt, holding the terrors of death over his helplessly defeated enemies, savoring it until he finally snuffed out their lives! Yes, that could fix his boredom as of late quite nicely.
As would this.
"I hated every last one of those muggles," Voldemort continued. "Their annoying cries, their shouting, running around and causing chaos and noise. Annoyances, all of them. They were disgusting, irritating gnats. And they knew I was different from them - better than them. They sensed it, somehow, by some limited power those muggles had. And they hated me for it." He went on furiously. "They tried many times to poke at me, to hurt me for it. But I hurt them instead. I made them suffer, I made them cry, I made them lose what they loved most. I made them do what I wanted. And I made them leave me alone."
Delphi continued to gaze at him, with an active curiosity now in her dark eyes.
Voldemort pulled his lips into his best smile, and sought more avenues of...connection. "All that I wanted was to get out of that place - to make something better of myself. To use my powers to become all I knew I was meant to be. Special, superior! To see all the world, do as I pleased in it. Enjoy myself to the fullest, without care for anyone else. And, of course, I did."
He paused, eyeing Delphi sharply.
She said nothing, and looked away.
Had he lost her interest already?! He had just opened up to her, he had just told her things no one else on this earth could claim to know, and the best she could do was to-
No. Calm. She is a child, she is your child. Continue to bond, ease her feelings - it will take time. Patience. Continue the game with her.
Well, if she had no interest in hearing of his life now...
"Tell me, Delphi, what your life was like in Potter's home," Voldemort spoke delicately. "What sort of things did you do there? What did he do for you? What did he allow you to do? Come now...perhaps if you tell me, I can do the same for you here in our home."
Delphi looked up again, quick. Betraying her interest renewed - and the hope on her face. Then it was gone, and she was a mask again.
So like himself, he thought fondly. Of course, he had been much better at this game at her age than she clearly was. A deficiency obviously brought about due to Potter's parenting.
"Please, tell me," Voldemort enticed further, softly. "I am your father; I only want...to do what is best for you." There - that was something parents said, wasn't it? He'd heard such phrases often enough from watching others (or perhaps read it in a book or two?).
He saw the precise moment she came to her decision. And it pleased him greatly.
"Daddy and mummy and I used to...eat ice cream, and go to the park, and he read my favorite stories to me at night. We played football sometimes too, and even baseball. And we went to the beach! And I made a sand castle and..." Delphi seemed to catch herself, falling silent and ducking her head. Her long hair fell, shimmering. Her lips were pressed tightly together now.
Some emotion. Anger, or distress? Perhaps mourning for Potter (a natural attachment due to time and affection, Voldemort reminded himself, maddening as it was). It was another victory - a greater one - he consoled himself firmly. This was early times, and one must not rush it.
Yet, Voldemort could not help but feel triumphant in face of his daughter. This bonding, this parenting, this love was not nearly so difficult as he had been expecting. And from these beginnings, he would come to understand it all - all that he had not before. As he had not understood the twin cores before, or the legend of the Elder Wand. He had mastered those, sought them out across the world, and he would do so again with this pursuit.
Yes, the pursuit and mastery of love's power would come swiftly, as all things did to Lord Voldemort.
And then he would claim it for himself, and perhaps even begin to use it against his enemies!
The power to rebound the unblockable, most powerful deadly curse in the world's history...what might Voldemort be able to twist that power into himself?
He was nearly giddy with the possibilities.
But he needn't get ahead of himself.
"What else did they do for you there, Delphi?" Voldemort asked one day.
"I was learning how to fight Death Eaters," she said flatly, emotionless.
Voldemort was ecstatic. Here was something he could do for his daughter that Potter could not hope to! "Potter was training you in magical combat, was he? Already?"
"Yes."
"Of course. That explains your remarkable level of skill - and power - already. Though, of course, I'd credit natural ability more than Potter's work..." Voldemort smiled. "You know, Delphi, I could continue your training. I could teach you things Potter could never dream of - how would you like to fly?"
"Like on a broom?"
Voldemort's smile broadened. A full grin. "Oh no: I mean magical, unaided flight! No broomstick, no magic carpets, nothing but your own will and power! It is a technique I invented myself, Delphi. A spell. Something I've taught only to my most trusted...friend, dear Severus. I would be perfectly happy to teach you as well, my darling daughter. Wouldn't you like that?"
Delphi's expression was one of utter wonder - and temptation. Even what Voldemort could discern to be...excitement.
Voldemort felt a rush of pleasure at that expression on the girl's face, strange and squirming in him - almost burning. He extinguished it, schooling his features into a mask. "Then come, Delphi - come now. I shall teach you."
"Right now? Just like that?" she responded, betraying herself again (as if her mind already did not).
Voldemort regarded her. He offered out his hand, in a manner entirely foreign to himself. But he had to be patient, he had to be different - think different. If he wanted to win her. He was on verge of a vital win here, he could feel it, and if he lost it to impatience or a misstep...he would set himself back with her. "Yes, of course. You are my daughter after all. I'm happy to start training you," he told her, using words so foreign to his life experience. "We could even ask your mother to be involved; she's been longing to get to know you as well, you know. She has...missed you greatly, since your birth. She's overjoyed to have you back in her life."
He registered the dark look on her face at mention of her mother. He saw the tension in her body. He feared he would lose this, lose her, that he had made a mistake-
"Ok," she agreed at last. And she took his hand. Entirely of her own volition.
The moment she did, a strange tingling rose in Voldemort's palm, shooting through his arm.
He gazed at her suspiciously. Had she just done magic on him? Or, attempted to, it had felt like...
He wanted to punish her for it again, but on the other hand...it might ruin this great victory of his - set his progress back. And that, he could not afford.
So Voldemort ignored the sensation, and began a slow walk, leading his daughter through the halls of Riddle manor.
"Come here, come here - that's it, sit here with mummy for the evening! She's never going to let anyone take you away again...Stealing a baby from her loving parents, her rightful family..." Bellatrix was cooing, pulling Daisy right onto her lap.
"That's not why daddy took me from you," Daisy refuted, sitting rigid.
"What lies has he been telling you all your life, darling?" Bellatrix hissed, stroking at her arms and hair.
"They weren't lies!" Daisy shouted.
"Don't yell. Well - let us hear them," Voldemort said quietly, raising an eyebrow. "We will determine whether they are lies or truth, Delphi."
"Daisy," she insisted, uncaring if it got her another punishment. "Daddy told me you were going to cut me up and use me in a ritual to make yourself stronger! You don't love me, you don't care - you just had me to use me like a cooking ingredient!"
"That's disgusting, Delphi," Voldemort stated mildly. "And of course it's a lie. A horrible lie, to tell a child...especially about her own parents."
"It's the truth!"
"It is not," Voldemort replied. "I have already shared the truth with you - and all my friends. The world at large. The truth is that Potter and the Order took you to use you as a weapon. They lied to you, they brainwashed you, Delphi. They made you see them as loving family. Perhaps they were - but it was all for the sake of using you. These years you've been away from us, all we ever did was wonder...when we would get you back. Bella was beside herself with worry - with fear. Weren't you, dear Bella?"
"I w-was!" Bellatrix wrapped her arms tighter around Daisy, holding her like death to her bosom. "I couldn't rest or eat without you - as soon as I recovered from the birth I was out trying to find you! Hunting for any information on the Order! We knew they had to have you, we knew what they had in mind for you - a beautiful, powerful baby girl! My little baby girl...All we wanted was you safe and home again, with us..."
"That's not true," Daisy insisted, squirming with discomfort as the woman held her more firmly than ever, and started crying. "Daddy saved me from you!"
"Saved you from what, exactly?" Voldemort posed the question curiously. "What, then, Delphi? What was it that he expected us to do to you that he felt the need to hide you away for the rest of your life? What have we done to you since regaining you, darling? Have we not given you everything, anything you could ever want? Haven't we listened to you, talked to you? Given you care, attention - even taught you things no one else knows?"
"It's all just-"
"We're doing everything we can to make sure our daughter is comfortable and happy with us," Voldemort went on over her, firm. "Safe and at peace with us, now, again - and no longer in the arms of terrorists. People who want to hurt, kill, and steal from us, and overthrow the rightful government."
"Because the government is wrong! It's evil, you're wrong and evil!"
"Why?" Voldemort said simply. "What makes the government evil? What makes me evil? What have I done, besides care for you, attend to you?"
"You cursed me a lot when I first got here! You still curse me!"
"You were a mess of an unruly child who attacked me first," Voldemort replied calmly. "Remember? And I forgave you for that, with a little punishment as a proper parent should give his daughter. But I've been remarkably patient with you, for all the damage to your mind those terrorists have done to you. The false beliefs they've instilled in you...such wretched ideas..."
"No, you're a monster - you killed daddy's mummy and daddy too!"
"Something I regret to this day," Voldemort spoke, indeed regretfully. "It was a war, Delphi, and a necessity. I had no choice. I gave Harry's mother the chance to stop fighting me and live - and she chose to keep fighting me instead. Ask dear Severus about that one, Delphi, and even he will tell you the truth. She needn't have died - neither of them should have. Lily Potter was fierce and powerful, talented as any pureblood witch. And James Potter was a valiant, strong pureblood man. Brave and talented beyond measure, or so Wormtail and Severus have told me. I asked the both of them to join me, several times over, in fact - but they refused me every time. Including the final time."
"You still killed my daddy when you didn't have to!"
"He chose to die, Delphi, for your life and your little friends," Voldemort replied. "You weren't conscious at the time, but he asked for that, for you and them - and I've given it to you in spades. But him? I gave him what he wanted, we agreed, Delphi. Even as the worst of enemies, fated to fight...we found common ground. And I offered my mercy again to even my worst foe. So please, tell me again how I'm some kind of evil monster - or your beautiful, attentive mother here."
"It's- it's wrong to hurt and kill others just because they have different blood! That's evil!"
Voldemort regarded her a long moment, silent. His scarlet gaze flickered to Bellatrix. "Leave us, Bella. I need to speak with our dear daughter alone a minute."
"Y-yes, My Lord..." Bellatrix jumped to her feet, bowing from the room.
Voldemort flicked his wand at the door, magic pulsing through the air. A satisfied look appeared on his face, momentarily. Then he looked to Daisy with utmost seriousness - and calm. "I think...I shall tell you my greatest secret, Delphi: I agree - but there isn't much I can do about it just yet."
"What?"
"I told you: I was raised in a muggle orphanage. I am, myself, a half blood." Voldemort gazed at her. "When I first entered the magical world, I saw the- problems it had. I saw the flaws in its people. Ridiculous ideas about blood purity, about worth and family. How they believe the world should be is nothing but vanity and self indulgence. Perfectly fitted to themselves. And I realized that if it was ever...going to change, then someone had to be the one to change it. I decided to be that person. I decided to be the one...to rise up, and keep these purebloods in check. And, eventually, change this world into something better. Something where...there is only power, and those too weak to deserve it. Where all are equal, if you can prove your worth in power and skill. Where any mage is a mage, tried and true, if they can prove it! Why, even non-human beings, who have been oppressed and controlled for too long by these superiority obsessed wizards! That is my goal, Delphi - power, and equality in power."
"You see, Delphi? I was able to secure them all, and keep them under control. But most of them still control the government, and their ideas are widespread. I aim to change that, to erase those ideas; have I not rallied the giants, the werewolves, and even let the Dementors out of their prison? All Dark creatures, all so...mistreated and misunderstood. The giants, driven into the mountains and to near extinction; the Dementors, all crammed into Azkaban and locked away, deprived of sustenance and freedom. I aim to...help them all. But it will take time, and effort. That is why...I made myself immortal. So that I can live long enough to see it all change, to make it change, myself! But your parents, and Potter's parents, they all thought I was just another pureblood idealist myself. They thought I believed in it, truly. But I never have. And because they thought that, they all tried to stop my plans. I could never tell them the truth - or anyone else. I had to fight a war against them, to keep things on track! To make sure they didn't ruin everything I hoped to achieve."
"My parents loved me-" Daisy said, not catching more than a quarter of the man's speech.
"I'm sure they did," Voldemort interrupted. "And they've done a good job raising you so far, Delphi. I give them that. I'm grateful for that. But they were terrorists, and they were only going to put you in harm's way with their misguided ideas about fighting this world! Trying to take it all on. But you're here, with us now, safe and - hopefully - happy. Your mother and I want to make you feel every bit as...loved and relaxed as you were with Potter and Greengrass. Just give us the chance, please? Keep an open mind, Delphi. I promise you, as hard as it is to believe, nothing is as you were told. What you believe...is not true."
Daisy stared into those crimson eyes. She felt confusion, she felt frustration. She felt like crying. This wasn't right, this wasn't true - it wasn't like daddy said, it wasn't like it should be...He was evil, he was a monster, he had killed Kreacher after Kreacher had put himself between her and him...he had hurt her again and again since taking her away! But...lately he was being...nice and...kind of...he was...
"I...have never been a parent before - it was never something I imagined for myself," Voldemort spoke on, hesitant and slow. "But I am...trying, Delphi. We are trying, for your sake. We are very...new to this. Can you forgive me my slip ups? My little mistakes, here and there, along the way?"
"I- c-can I go to bed?" she choked out, uncertain why that thought and desire got out above the rest. She was just...she was confused. She was tired.
"Of course you can," Voldemort indulged. He flicked his wand at the door; it swung open, revealing Bellatrix standing there. "Bella - take our daughter to bed, please. And then we will need to have a...conversation afterward, alone."
"Yes, My Lord...of course, of course!" Bellatrix said instantly, elated. She practically bounced her way to Daisy, grabbing her hand and swinging it gleefully. "Come along, Delphi - time for bed!"
"Daisy..."
Bellatrix glared daggers at her, and Daisy kept her mouth shut.
She didn't want to hurt again tonight.
"All you do is scream and yell at me!" eight year old Daisy yelled at her mother.
"Because all you are is an unruly brat! Never trust halfblooded filth to raise a pureblood girl!" her mother yelled right back.
"Did your mother yell at you all the time as a kid too? I think that's why you do it to me."
"Like you, sometimes I had to be punished," Bellatrix snapped. "But we're not discussing that!"
"Why not? I want to know what you were like as a kid. Were you good, were you happy? Did you have fun with your sisters and cousins?"
"We're not talking about my childhood."
"You had to have played with your sisters a lot - Narcissa, and Andromeda."
"Don't you mention her in front of me!" Bellatrix said thunderously.
"Did you ever?"
"Be quiet!"
"Did you?"
"Enough with this." Bellatrix smacked her across the face, snarling at her.
Daisy's head whipped aside. She sat silently a long moment. Then she turned and looked her mother in the eye. "If you tell me, I won't go tell him what you just did to me," she said flatly.
"When we were very very little, yes," Bellatrix finally hissed out, her face shaking. "But that was a very very long time ago. Before Andromeda went off with that muggleborn, before she besmirched the family name, before she had that little brat of a child of her own! I thought her a sister, I thought I loved her, I thought she was an honorable and proud member of our family, but she was none of those things! Just a filthy traitor, a lying, pathetic little-!"
Daisy ducked her head, smiling to herself.
She had won today over her mother. Won what she wanted to know out of her.
What she wanted to know for her plan.
Maybe there was an obvious way to escape - one that Daisy voiced at the age of ten to her father, after another dueling session (one that left her again with many bruises, burns, and agonizing pain wracking her body). At least none of her bones were broken this time...and he always stopped short of doing her permanent major damage. Unfortunately, with magic, the highest limits of what constituted that were incredibly lax.
"Tell me...father..." Daisy gasped harshly, clutching at her chest as she lay on her side. "What's stopping me from using all of this training...to just leave?"
Voldemort narrowed his eyes at her, his wand twitching at his side. "Oh, nothing, really, I suppose," he said casually, waving a hand. "Only the fact that, if you do such a thing, I will have every last person in that Order safehouse of yours - Renita's Refuge, was it? - rounded up, lined up, and killed. Every family, husbands and wives, and even the children. Teenagers, little boys and girls, and even their infants. I will spare no one, I will carry it out personally, and I will make sure to tell each and every one of them before they die...that my daughter gave me their names, and requested this of me. And I, as your indulging father, could not refuse my daughter's wishes."
He paused, and then continued on, in a hissing whisper. "But I will not just stop there: I will go after every single person once known to be or even merely suspected of being affiliated with the Order - and their families - and I will do the very same thing for them all as well."
"What if I used all of this to kill you?" Daisy dared again to say boldly.
Another pause. Then, high, real, mirthful laughter erupted out of Voldemort. "Do you truly believe that you, a ten year old girl, could actually kill Lord Voldemort?! Oh, no, dear girl - not even his own!" he gasped, legitimately clutching at his sides. "That's completely ridiculous, child! The first truly adorable thing you have said in a long while yet!" he crowed on.
Daisy stood with her head bowed, her wand at her side. She felt doubt. Guilt, even. Confusion again. She was making him laugh, she was...but wasn't that good for her plans? Either way? He could be nice sometimes, so...giving, willing, he could be...but then he was just the monster again, the...
Voldemort's mirth subsided. He stood gazing at her. Further examining her - staring right into her eyes. A new look grew there. One she was familiar with - and fearful of. "On the subject of your 'running away,' I confess myself disappointed in you, Delphini. I had thought we were making such progress these last few years. I had thought...you were finally beginning to rid yourself of the idea of running back to those filthy terrorists. But it seems they still have more of a hold on you than I thought."
Daisy stood, gripping the Yew and Phoenix wand tight. She shook her head swiftly. "I don't! I just- I was mad, I was hurt, it was a stray thought, I'm sorry, father- I- I don't know where it came from...sometimes it's still just so hard to forget..."
Silence.
She waited for the punishment to come.
But it didn't.
"Well, let us continue, then, and you can put it out of your mind," Voldemort said lightly. "I do understand how the mind can race during the heat of battle."
"Yes - I'd love to. Thank you, father."
"Of course, of course. Now...prepare yourself."
Daisy grimaced behind her hair, then threw her head back and raised her wand, adopting the stance again, trying to be ready for what was to come.
Ten year old Daisy stood before her mother, her face set and her lips pressed. She had to say what she was to say next - and say it right. If nothing else, then to put it in her head. To try to...just...the things she had learned. A piece of valuable information. A weapon. A poison. "You know, mother, for someone who goes on so much about the pride of the family, upholding the Black honor, and the value of blood, you sure seem to love some deformed half blood freak more than your family - your own daughter. Don't tell me he's an exception."
"How dare you say such a thing about your Lord!" Bellatrix fired up immediately, stooping down to get in her face. Half reaching for her face before pulling back. "You know nothing about the Heir of Slytherin, the purest and most glorious of-"
"Get real, mother," Daisy scoffed. "I know more about him than you ever have. I know his name is Tom Riddle. I know he grew up in a muggle orphanage. And I know he's a half blood."
"So you're going to concoct lies about him now, are you?" Bellatrix hissed. "How can you even-"
"Where are we, mother?" Daisy interrupted. She gestured around her room. "This is a muggle manor, Riddle manor. And Voldemort's birth name was Tom Riddle. He changed it when he was in school. And I learned from the Malfoys that father gave Lucius Malfoy a diary - it had the name Tom Riddle in it. Why would father have a diary with a muggle's name on it? Why would he give it to Lucius, to use to open the Chamber of Secrets? And why...when he resurrected in that graveyard just down this hill, did he do it near the gravestone of a Tom Riddle? I learned that from Wormtail."
"You've been learning far too much!" Bellatrix said, looking...fearful. Almost worried for her, for once? "Stop questioning people around here, stop with-"
"Face the facts, mother; it all lines up. The fact is that father didn't want anyone to know he was a half blood! He's been lying to you this entire time - to everyone!"
Bellatrix laughed in her face, then whirled away. She stalked to the wall, stopping there. She turned back, her eyes glinting, her face flushed. "Even if that's true, the Dark Lord has long since proven himself the most powerful, capable wizard in the world - one who changed the world how we desired."
"I told you not to tell me he's some kind of exception," Daisy growled out. "That's not a good defense! I mean, so what? That just means you don't need him anymore."
"What are you talking about?" Bellatrix whispered, looking aghast.
"Nothing. Just that, if you purebloods are so powerful and great, why are you still kissing some half blood filth's feet after you got what you wanted out of him? Using him to achieve this world, getting him to do all the work, take all the risks - that was smart - but now it's past time to get rid of him."
"That was never our intentions, you're talking treason again and I will not have it in-"
"Unless you're just too attached to him to let him go," Daisy went on coolly, trying her best to imitate her own father. To talk to her mother the way he talked to her most of the time. "Your little half blood pet. Your useful stooge. Or is it that you know he's too strong to defeat? In that case, you accept your own stupid ideals are bullshit - half bloods, muggleborns, and muggles aren't any different from pure bloods. You're not better, or stronger. Blood means nothing. Father is right: there is only power, and those too weak to deserve it. Or to use it. You're too much of a coward to use it - all of you purebloods are. As a consequence, father is using all of you, the half blood who tricked all the mighty purebloods into serving him - into...degrading yourselves. You're all pathetic! And I want no part of it...it's humiliating to have a sniveling, groveling pureblood slut for a mother! You don't deserve him, you deserve better than him! Someone who won't use you, fuck you, and then turn around and treat you like garbage while he laughs behind your-"
Bellatrix lunged at Daisy.
Daisy raised her wand in an instant; the barrier sprang up between them, pushing her mother back, sending her stumbling backwards.
Bellatrix hit hard, the wind escaping her lungs. Her eyes were wide and shimmering as she gazed at Daisy.
Daisy looked back at her with sharpness, with a curl to her lip. Maintaining it. "Was his pasty snake prick just that good, mother, or what?"
Bellatrix whipped out her wand, slashing it, and the barrier vanished. She thrust her wand at Daisy, and a jet of red light emerged to hit her in the chest.
The force of the spell lifted her up and sent her flying into the wall.
Her last conscious thought, with a pounding head, was that it was worth it.
Eleven year old Daisy's mind returned to the present, rubbing at her eyes and passing a hand over her hair.
It was time to get up. Time to move. To do.
She would be going to Hogwarts today.
On one hand, she might be able to make a real friend there. But on the other hand...she would be away from her birth parents for a long time. She couldn't advance her plans any more if she wasn't around them.
And she had to admit to herself that while brutal beyond belief, the training she daily received from her parents was working well. She knew a slew of dark spells and powers no one else her age could ever - she could probably handle anyone in Hogwarts! She was not afraid of using any of them...as long as it was on the right people.
She got out of her bed, taking the Yew and Phoenix wand from the nightstand and aiming it at the drawer; her clothes flew into her arms, and she started to dress herself.
She supposed her plans for both her parents - each of them carried out in different ways, but with the same end goal - would have to be put on hold. The plan was simple, always had been: to get them to lower their guard and let her go free, or...get them to lower their guard so she could kill them and then run away free herself.
She had been leaning more toward the second version of the plan lately. At least, in her mind, it was the one more likely to succeed.
Sorry, daddy, she apologized in earnest, in silence. I'm trying your way, I've been trying to work up to it, I really have! But...I don't think it's going to work out. For either of them. I can't even get mother to admit she's a dumb hypocrite who's being lied to and treated wrong - I can't make her see that! How am I supposed to make her see how wrong everything else is? And father...he's barely even letting me show him any real love or kindness. He just tolerates it from me. He sometimes returns it, but it's not...it's not really...
Enough. It's not enough, from either of them.
They'll never get there.
So they should just die.
Daisy exited the room, striding the halls and descending the stairs.
She entered the great dining room, finding several of her father's followers already there; they usually were, passing in and out of the place, or staying a night or two when they pleased. Sometimes she even saw them enter with guests. Guests of various ages and sexes - all in bad to terrible physical condition. Those were the nights she liked to cast silencing spells on her door, and stay in her room for as long as she could.
Daisy had only tried to help these guests once. Her father's punishment had been a string of them, a rage and a fury of dark spells that had left her bedridden for two weeks straight, wishing it would just all end already - and her mother had even been allowed to join in for once (something the woman had not hesitated to jump on; she had called it "a long awaited discipline").
She stopped at the sight before her.
The food, the laughter, and the thin, hurt woman bound in thick ropes on the table - like a trophy on display. Like another piece of food to play with at the table.
Daisy gazed up the table to her father; he was already seated, of course.
She moved around the left side of the table, close to the backs of those chairs. To the Death Eaters.
She watched heads follow her, she watched the ones who had been laughing at the woman - she watched...
She raised her head, and put a bit more of a swing into her body. And she watched as one head turned, as eyes drifted - as they had been, these last two years especially (though not solely this one's). Daisy stopped, turned, and slashed her wand instantly, the thought in her mind with the roaring hot rage and pleasure. Crucio!
Utter satisfaction flowed through Daisy as she watched the man fall from his chair, flailing like a gasping fish!
She held the curse, and held it, and held it, pushing more and more, her lips curving into a wide smirk-
"That's quite enough," came the soft, if humorous tones of her father.
Daisy let the spell go, hating to have to. She continued on her way, seating herself next to Voldemort.
He turned his scarlet gaze on her. "Was that practice, or amusement?"
"Neither," Daisy lied. "He was gawking at my arse again."
No, not a lie, but she knew damn well it had been an excuse. An excuse that made her feel momentary remorse, at the thought of her daddy - and her mummy, out there still, somewhere, she knew. Probably trying with all her might to find Daisy, get her back...
If she ever did, she would probably congratulate Daisy on this little stunt.
But Daisy knew her daddy would have felt very different about it, if he could ever have known, if he were still...
"Was he?" Voldemort said quietly, gazing down the table.
"I- was not- My Lord, of course I would never-" the man protested, debasing himself on the floor even as he twitched and spasmed.
"I understand your desire," Voldemort cut across, in a very calm tone. "My daughter is quite beautiful, is she not? Quite...desirable?"
Daisy fought her best to keep her face expressionless, even as her insides squirmed at her father's words. This was what she had wanted, and yet...
"S-she- yes- quite so," the man agreed openly, another glance cast at Daisy.
"And yet repeatedly she has had to put you in your place for such behavior," Voldemort went on, thoughtful. "Perhaps her spells are not as powerful as she thinks, or perhaps...you simply are incapable of accepting what she is conveying to you."
"My Lord-"
"You have always looked, but never touched - never so foolishly succumbed to lust, as others have before," Voldemort continued, unwavering. "And yet, this pattern of behavior strikes me as quite...potentially problematic. If there is even the possibility that you will harm my daughter in future, then steps must be taken to remove that possibility. Permanently."
"My Lord! I would never- I am not like that buffoon Goyle, or-" the Death Eater shouted.
"But you might someday be!" Voldemort interrupted him yet again, his voice sharp. "I see it in your eyes, in your filthy, weak mind. Consumed by thoughts and fantasies abound, I see, indeed...quite troubling. A trouble that must be removed."
"My Lor-"
Voldemort raised his arm, aiming his wand, and the green light burst from its tip.
The Death Eater was already prostrate, his face on the floor. He simply relaxed completely, and slumped forward a few inches before stopping again.
Cold.
And forever.
"Did that amuse you, Delphini?"
Daisy set her gaze squarely on the woman on the table, trying to get her eye, to convey something...anything good or decent...just...she had gotten rid of one of her problems! Maybe that would at least make the hours to come a little easier? More bearable? No...that was more excuses. But it also wasn't entirely untrue! She had- she had...
This was what she had wanted, and yet...
"Yes."
A strong hand of spindly fingers, sharp nails on the ends, touching her hair. Her head. Stroking at her. Caressing her.
No.
She hated this world of lies.
She wanted her little world of nothing but the truth back.
But that world had died with her daddy, years ago.
And she would never have it again.