The door to Cho's room opened and a cloaked Death Eater entered. Voldemort didn't trust her enough to show her his other servants yet.
"This way," The Death Eater said in a husky voice, and motioned through the door.
She rose and left the room, the cloaked figure following closely behind. He led her to a large chamber. The walls were stone, and the room was empty, apart from a chair at one end, in which sat her new master. He beckoned to her, and she approached him cautiously, her knees beginning to shake under his gaze.
"So," he said softly, in that famously feared high voice, "Another young follower. You know what is required of you, to follow me?"
She nodded mutely.
"Very well."
He signalled to the same Death Eater, who came forward out of the shadows clutching an ebony wand. He grabbed her arm and pushed the sleeve of her robe up to bare the soft skin on her forearm. Then he touched the wand to her skin, and she screamed as she felt an unbearable searing pain pass thorugh it. He let go, his job complete. Where there had once been pale, unblemished skin, there was now an ugly skeletal head, with a snake coming from the mouth. The dark mark. Through her tears she looked down and stared at it, then stroked her arm sadly, mourning for her lost innocence.
"You will get used to it in time," said Voldemort, who had been silently watching al this time, "Now, however, it is time for your training."
"Training?" She blinked.
"Follow me." Came a voice from behind her. The Death Eater had uncovered his face, showing his identity to be Lucius Malfoy. She immediately understood. Now she was one of them, and she could not deny it- she had the burn mark on her arm. If she betrayed them, then she would be betraying herself. There was no turning back now. Cho followed him out of the hall, and into a smaller, totally bare chamber. There was one other in the room. A man she had never met before. He had long greasy hair in a pony tail, but a straight back, and he was tall and imposing. Then she knew what her 'training' would be like. Hard.
In the next few hours this man, who seemed to have no name, taught her aerobics. He even seemed mildly impressed at her flexibility, which she had gained from her many years on the Quidditch team. At last, having somersaulted twice in a row, cartwheeled the width of the room, and finally destroyed a target with a twitch of her wand, he told her she could rest. She doubled over, sweat pouring from her forehead and her legs screaming from tiredness. She could hardly hear her trainer's words through the awful throbbing in her head.
"This may seem hard for you" He was saying sternly, pacing from side to side in front of her, "But you will learn to love the chase and the pursuit. You will learn to love serving your master. You may think that you have made a good impression. You are no better than others your age, despite your Quidditch training. However, we can make you one of the best. I see that you will serve our master well. Now you will fight others of your age."
She looked up at where he was pointing, and gasped. Through the open door marched nine people no older than she was- five male, four female. Her mouth dropped as she recognised most of them- The girls she had seen around Hogwarts, but didn't know them by name, Draco Malfoy, his two followers Crabbe and Goyle, a boy she had never seen before, and... Seamus Finnigan? He grinned at her, "Never expected to see me here did you, Cho? Pleased you've joined us."
She nodded at him, open mouthed. "These will be your team mates," continued the trainer, "You will all be required to work together in your tasks. You will now be fighting Avery's group. I will be severly disappointed if we lose to them again."
There was a groan around the group. Seamus ambled over to Cho and started to explain to her- "Our master likes to build our strength by setting us in groups and putting us up against each other. We've been only a group of nine for the past few months, so you're coming should make all the difference. Our trainer- Master Lestrange- he's very competitive. We're better than most of the other groups, I mean, Wormtail's one is just a laughing stock, but Avery's is very difficult to win against."
He gestured towards the ten adolescents now approaching. They were all much taller and looked stronger than any of Cho's team. Marcus Flint grinned at Draco from over the heads of his team members. Draco smirked back at him. Cho looked around her and realised that she had never felt so utterly alone, not even when she had been told about Harry and Ginny getting back together. But there was no going back now. What had Cedric always told her? Make a decision and run with it. Never look back in short. She wasn't going to betray him now. Briefly she realised that she was doing just that by joining forces with his murderer. No looking back. No. Don't think of that. Then she was fighting Avery's team. The adrenalin rush was so sudden she hardly noticed it.
"Impedimenta!" She shouted over the roar that was the fight. Marcus Flint was stopped in his tracks. She spinned round and kicked another looming boy rather higher than she meant to. He staggered back and didn't rejoin the fight for a good long while. But all too soon it was over, and they feel back, the two masters counting injuries and casualties. Crabbe was lying crumpled on the floor wimpering. Cho flushed red as she realised that was what her kick had done. She had attacked her own team member by accident. She tried to remain passive and pretend it hadn't been her. When she looked up again Avery was shaking hands with Master Lestrange. They walked back to their teams and the team cheered as Lestrange told them that they had won by one point. As the adrenalin pumped through Cho's body again, she realised that this was the beginning...
So what do you think of it? Please review it and tell me what you think should happen next! I have a small idea of some of the plot in the chapters to come, but the climatic fight is quite a long way away yet.
Thanks for reading this far!
Arianwen
"This way," The Death Eater said in a husky voice, and motioned through the door.
She rose and left the room, the cloaked figure following closely behind. He led her to a large chamber. The walls were stone, and the room was empty, apart from a chair at one end, in which sat her new master. He beckoned to her, and she approached him cautiously, her knees beginning to shake under his gaze.
"So," he said softly, in that famously feared high voice, "Another young follower. You know what is required of you, to follow me?"
She nodded mutely.
"Very well."
He signalled to the same Death Eater, who came forward out of the shadows clutching an ebony wand. He grabbed her arm and pushed the sleeve of her robe up to bare the soft skin on her forearm. Then he touched the wand to her skin, and she screamed as she felt an unbearable searing pain pass thorugh it. He let go, his job complete. Where there had once been pale, unblemished skin, there was now an ugly skeletal head, with a snake coming from the mouth. The dark mark. Through her tears she looked down and stared at it, then stroked her arm sadly, mourning for her lost innocence.
"You will get used to it in time," said Voldemort, who had been silently watching al this time, "Now, however, it is time for your training."
"Training?" She blinked.
"Follow me." Came a voice from behind her. The Death Eater had uncovered his face, showing his identity to be Lucius Malfoy. She immediately understood. Now she was one of them, and she could not deny it- she had the burn mark on her arm. If she betrayed them, then she would be betraying herself. There was no turning back now. Cho followed him out of the hall, and into a smaller, totally bare chamber. There was one other in the room. A man she had never met before. He had long greasy hair in a pony tail, but a straight back, and he was tall and imposing. Then she knew what her 'training' would be like. Hard.
In the next few hours this man, who seemed to have no name, taught her aerobics. He even seemed mildly impressed at her flexibility, which she had gained from her many years on the Quidditch team. At last, having somersaulted twice in a row, cartwheeled the width of the room, and finally destroyed a target with a twitch of her wand, he told her she could rest. She doubled over, sweat pouring from her forehead and her legs screaming from tiredness. She could hardly hear her trainer's words through the awful throbbing in her head.
"This may seem hard for you" He was saying sternly, pacing from side to side in front of her, "But you will learn to love the chase and the pursuit. You will learn to love serving your master. You may think that you have made a good impression. You are no better than others your age, despite your Quidditch training. However, we can make you one of the best. I see that you will serve our master well. Now you will fight others of your age."
She looked up at where he was pointing, and gasped. Through the open door marched nine people no older than she was- five male, four female. Her mouth dropped as she recognised most of them- The girls she had seen around Hogwarts, but didn't know them by name, Draco Malfoy, his two followers Crabbe and Goyle, a boy she had never seen before, and... Seamus Finnigan? He grinned at her, "Never expected to see me here did you, Cho? Pleased you've joined us."
She nodded at him, open mouthed. "These will be your team mates," continued the trainer, "You will all be required to work together in your tasks. You will now be fighting Avery's group. I will be severly disappointed if we lose to them again."
There was a groan around the group. Seamus ambled over to Cho and started to explain to her- "Our master likes to build our strength by setting us in groups and putting us up against each other. We've been only a group of nine for the past few months, so you're coming should make all the difference. Our trainer- Master Lestrange- he's very competitive. We're better than most of the other groups, I mean, Wormtail's one is just a laughing stock, but Avery's is very difficult to win against."
He gestured towards the ten adolescents now approaching. They were all much taller and looked stronger than any of Cho's team. Marcus Flint grinned at Draco from over the heads of his team members. Draco smirked back at him. Cho looked around her and realised that she had never felt so utterly alone, not even when she had been told about Harry and Ginny getting back together. But there was no going back now. What had Cedric always told her? Make a decision and run with it. Never look back in short. She wasn't going to betray him now. Briefly she realised that she was doing just that by joining forces with his murderer. No looking back. No. Don't think of that. Then she was fighting Avery's team. The adrenalin rush was so sudden she hardly noticed it.
"Impedimenta!" She shouted over the roar that was the fight. Marcus Flint was stopped in his tracks. She spinned round and kicked another looming boy rather higher than she meant to. He staggered back and didn't rejoin the fight for a good long while. But all too soon it was over, and they feel back, the two masters counting injuries and casualties. Crabbe was lying crumpled on the floor wimpering. Cho flushed red as she realised that was what her kick had done. She had attacked her own team member by accident. She tried to remain passive and pretend it hadn't been her. When she looked up again Avery was shaking hands with Master Lestrange. They walked back to their teams and the team cheered as Lestrange told them that they had won by one point. As the adrenalin pumped through Cho's body again, she realised that this was the beginning...
So what do you think of it? Please review it and tell me what you think should happen next! I have a small idea of some of the plot in the chapters to come, but the climatic fight is quite a long way away yet.
Thanks for reading this far!
Arianwen