Chapter Eight

As he followed Lucius through the white tarpaulin flap of the marquee, Severus was reminded, as was so often the case in the wizarding world, that appearances could be deceiving. Inside the marquee they were met with the sight of a rich baroque décor; plush red carpet, carved balconies around the room, a small stage at the front with heavy scarlet curtains drawn across it; and rows upon rows of gilded, velvet-cushioned seats, which were rapidly filling up.

However, before he and Lucius could make their way further into the room and take their own seats, they were called away from the crush of guests filing in to hall by a silky voice.

"A word, if you please, Lucius," Bellatrix inclined her head to them, directing them to wait behind as the other guests filed in.

"What does she want with me now?" Lucius muttered irritably, stepping to one side, watching Bellatrix with narrowed eyes through the crowd. He motioned for Severus to wait with him. "Hold on a minute, Sev, this shouldn't take too long. And nothing will start until we get there, Bellatrix and I are both speaking this afternoon,".

Speaking? Severus asked himself, wondering exactly how many speeches they would be suffering this afternoon.

However, he did not have time to contemplate this as a pair of ornate gold doors he had not previously noticed swung shut after the final guest, leaving the three of them alone in the entrance of the marquee, which from the inside resembled a dimly lit entrance hall in a grand old house. Bellatrix stepped forward slowly, her features carefully arranged into an expression of false concern.

"Well? What is it?" Lucius asked pointedly. Bellatrix smiled slightly.

"Please understand that I'm only passing on the message," She began softly, sparing a quick glance at Severus, before focusing her attention on Malfoy. "It seems, Lucius, that the Dark Lord is feeling a little displeased with you," She said, unable to keep a secret Cheshire Cat smile off her face. Malfoy narrowed his eyes, fixing Bellatrix with a hard glare.

"And why might that be, Bella?" He asked in a steely tone.

Bellatrix lowered her eyelashes with a mock-modest smile.

"I fear he believes you have been rather - I'm not sure, perhaps too…frivolous?" She smirked. "All these parties you've been attending, dances and the like…And the people you've been associating with?" Her voice was soft with disbelief. "Bartemius Crouch at the Ministry? And that mudblood girl? It's just not proper conduct, Lucius," She shook her head slowly at him.

Lucius was furious. Pointing his finger at Bellatrix, he stabbed at the air, punctuating his words.

"You know perfectly well 'that mudblood girl' holds high office in the Ministry, and the Wizengamot! Mudbloods may be filth, but they have their use. Imagine if one of our more 'questionable' operations were to come to the attention of the Aurors - we'd value support from the Wizengamot then! And as for Crouch…" Here Lucius paused, and appeared to regain his composure. He took a step back and straightened his shoulders before continuing more calmly.

"Crouch could be dangerous to us. He is…zealous. To the point of obsession. Surely it would be safer, at least for the moment, to avoid suspicion?"

Bellatrix held up her hands.

"Fair enough, and I'm sure the Dark Lord will understand. But you should know that although he is all in favour of subtle deceit, there are times when loyalty and political beliefs are more important to the Dark Lord, Lucius. You seem to forget this."

Lucius raised a questioning eyebrow, but did not interrupt.

Watching the entire exchange, Severus could hardly believe what he was hearing. So the followers of the Dark Lord were already involved in 'operations', including deceiving the ministry? Severus realised he was unsurprised. After all, even through sheltered Hogwarts rumours had spread…whispered along corridors, spoken with pride in the Slytherin common room, boasted in the dorms, and denied by Dumbledore in his speeches to the school; everyone had heard something of what Voldemort was doing outside the school.

"Well what can I say?" Bellatrix continued slowly "I do know. I am his most loyal follower, after all,". It was a blatant challenge. Lucius looked her straight in the eye, and a slow grin spread across his good-looking face.

"Of course," He said, his voice dripping sarcasm. "Most loyal, you say? How odd…" He trailed off.

"What is?" Bellatrix snapped, looking suddenly wary. Something was wrong here - she had clearly not planned for Lucius to look so scornful.

"I was merely remarking how odd it seems that the Dark Lord doesn't consider his 'most loyal follower' worthy enough to enter his inner circle," Lucius smirked.

Bellatrix stared uncertainly at him. Her eyes flickered over to the quiet, watchful Severus, and suddenly, understanding dawned them both.

Lucius, a Death Eater?

Death Eaters…rumours abounded about these most loyal followers of Voldemort almost as much as they did about the Dark lord himself. They were his closest, most loyal supporters. While there were those who agreed with Voldemort's ideas, the Death Eaters were much more than that. They followed him as their master, obeying his every command without question and offering their lives to him. There were said to be the elite, hand-chosen by Voldemort himself, although the more public Voldemort seemed to become, the more Death Eaters seemed to appear behind him.

Obviously contemplating this, Bellatrix gave an almost imperceptible swallow. "What do you mean?" She asked slowly, feigning ignorance, but Lucius was already laughing quietly to himself as he unfastened the Malfoy-imprinted cufflinks of his left arm. He glanced at Severus and motioned him closer, rolling up his sleeve. Despite managing to appear nonchalant, Bellatrix leaned closer.

Lucius looked down at his arm, and then extended it slowly for them to see.

Severus stared. There, burned onto Lucius' left forearm was an image he had only ever seen before in the pages of the Daily Prophet, accompanying articles on Voldemort, which had been steadily becoming more and more frequent over the months. Stories of distrust and enmity, riots and vandalism and even, on occasion, murder. Hovering over each of these attacks was what they called the Dark Mark, Voldemort's personal insignia of a serpent protruding from the mouth of a skull. Now here it was, branded on Lucius' arm, marking him as one of the elite. A Death Eater.

Severus first coherent thought was of Regulus Black. And how he was going to kill him.

Just to see…Severus mentally berated himself for having been so stupid as to believe him. Black must have known all along that this meeting had been arranged for one purpose and one purpose only - so that each of these guests would leave as firm supporters of Voldemort, steadfastly persuaded by his Death Eaters.

Why else would Lucius and Bellatrix have spoken so plainly in front of him about their activities, when they knew he was going back to Hogwarts, and Dumbledore? The only explanation was that they were completely confident he would leave as one of them. Severus was furious at having been being played so easily, but he had no time to express it - Bellatrix was staring at Lucius' Dark Mark with an expression of pure rage.

It seemed impossible that a face so beautiful could be twisted into an expression so ugly, yet there it was. She was seething, her eyes wide and her teeth bared. She radiated jealousy, as she clutched compulsively at Lucius arm, inspecting it closely before dropping it as though it were red-hot, leaving angry red marks from her nails imprinted in his flesh.

"When did you get this?" She hissed, livid. "When?!"

Lucius rolled his sleeve down and began to move towards the ornate gold doors leading into the main hall.

"Several weeks ago," He said casually over his shoulder. "But then - he's always placed more importance on me than on you, Bella. I'm the head of out little operation, remember?" He laughed softly at her, and then turned to Severus, who had all but forgotten his own anger in the face of this violent rivalry.

"Coming Severus? I'm sure Narcissa or Antonin will have acquired a couple of front row seats for us,"

Noticing he had dropped the 'Sev's, and that his speech had suddenly become more short and to the point, Severus had to wonder if Bellatrix's comments on his frivolity hadn't affected Lucius after all as they pushed open the doors without a backwards glance at the fuming Bellatrix Black.