Chapter twenty seven

The Dark Castle

/

The black-cloaked figures stood silently in four semicircles, with their faces mostly covered by creepy white masks and faced the tall, ebony-black throne. On either side of it stood four other Death Eaters, whom the Dark Lord trusted the most. The throne itself was empty for now.

A meagre number of peculiar torches, half of them flaming yellow and half green, were shining in the vast, windowless stone court. The hall thus took on the gloomy tinge of a tomb, and the temperature inside could not be higher than ten degrees above zero. However, none of the Death Eaters moved to warm up. Everyone just waited patiently.

Angela's stomach tightened with nervousness, and she struggled to keep herself from fidgeting while standing next to her mother on the edge of the first half circle. Next to Mary, there was Narcissa Malfoy standing, then her son and husband. Angela and Draco, along with three others, were the only ones without masks and dark hoods half covered their faces.

When they arrived, Angela took a cursory glance to see that there were about seventy Death Eaters gathered, and she was surprised with how their numbers could have increased so much so quickly. The other three present without masks she knew from Hogwarts. They were all seventh-year-students, two from Slytherin, and one from Ravenclaw.

Finally, one of the two doors on the northern side of the court opened, and there was a rustle among the standing Death Eaters. First, two more followers of the Dark Lord entered, remained standing close to the throne, and then the tall, thin figure of Lord Voldemort appeared before their eyes, and the door slammed shut behind him. Voldemort quietly walked and then remained standing in front of the gathering and flashed a crimson gaze over them.

Even though Angela had already met the Dark Lord twice, and it was not any pleasant experience in either case, she still had to gather all her will not to shake in revulsion and fear. The dark wizard´s deathly pale skin, emaciated fingers, a bald head, narrow lips, snake nostrils and most of all those red pupils made her use everything she had learned so far to hide her disgust. On the contrary, she could show fear any time, since their leader revelled in it.

Voldemort welcomed his followers, took his seat on the throne, and listened to the reports about the events at the Ministry of Magic, about Dementors, vampires, werewolves, giants, and last but not least, about Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter. Only one Death Eater could give him the closest information about these people – Angela recognized Professor Snape by his voice and could not help but smirk. Ever since she had found out he´s returned to Voldemort´s service, he repelled her even more than ever before.

After the Death Eaters finished their reports, Voldemort rose again.

"I have a surprise for you today, my faithful," he began talking extremely quietly, yet everyone could hear him clearly. There was a ripple of interest among the Death Eaters. "But unfortunately, it will have to wait for a while longer," the Dark Lord cut short their expectations.

"As you all know very well, several of my loyalists who were supposed to bring me an oracle from the Ministry of Magic this past June at my behest have failed. They were imprisoned and therefore I had to deal with their liberation. Although they… failed me, letting them rot in prison for nothing would be an inappropriate waste."

Voldemort paused for a moment.

"I've already punished almost all of them for how much they let me down, but we still have someone left…" Voldemort fixed his gaze on Lucius Malfoy, who fell to his knees.

"Master, you know how terribly sorry I am. I did my best to remedy it during the last mission and I did…"

"Enough!" Voldemort cut him off. "Get up!" he ordered with narrowed eyes.

Malfoy slowly stood up.

"Come to me, Lucius," he urged.

The wizard walked up to within a meter of him and pulled his mask away in humility.

"You know I have to punish you, Lucius. To exemplary punish you. For you to remember that you must not let me down again."

"Yes, Master," Malfoy replied surrendered, awaiting the cruel decision.

Voldemort glared at him for a moment, but then turned his attention back to the semicircle of Death Eaters.

"Draco, come closer," he whispered to Angela's dismay. Almost immediately, she realized how Voldemort wanted to punish Lucius Malfoy and a cold chill ran down her spine.

Draco raised his head and slowly stepped out of line. Pale Lucius turned to him.

"Lucius, your son is in training now, isn't he?"

The blonde Death Eater nodded jerkily.

"Your son will be punished in your place," Voldemort finally revealed his verdict.

Lucius Malfoy paled even more, but made no protest, while Draco just stood motionless, staring straight ahead.

"And you will be the one to carry it out," the Dark Lord added with a noticeable pleasure in his voice.

There was a buzz among the Death Eaters. Angela expected exactly this and just lowered her gaze to the ground. Her mother did not even raise an eyebrow.

Lucius froze in terror. He could only see the unreadable look in his son's eyes. Although he raised him strictly and punished him severely for any weakness, he was his only son and he loved him. How not to love your own blood?

Narcissa anxiously bit her perfectly made-up lip and then made a sudden move as if to draw her wand and defend her son, but Mary Rosier grabbed her arm. She looked into her eyes for a long time before Narcissa let her arms hang limply at her sides and stared down at the floor.

"Lucius, do my bidding. You know what to do," Voldemort challenged him harshly.

Malfoy pulled out his wand with a slightly shaking hand. Draco did not move, and he just stared at his father. Angela wanted to run away, but she could not. She felt like a frozen statue. It was as if she was reliving it. But now, Draco was in her place instead…

Lucius made up his mind. He swore loyalty and obedience to his Lord. Whatever it cost him… His intention had to be determined or the curse would not work. Sharply, he held out his hand with the wand, and the screams of the tortured young man began to resound through the hall, which the walls returned with multiple echoes.

Angela clenched nails into her palms and tried to control her trembling with her eyes tightly closed.

It took ages for the screams to finally stop. Draco was panting and shivering as he knelt on the ground. Lucius Malfoy looked as if he had been poured with the bucket of ice-cold water.

Lord Voldemort smiled slyly: "Excellent. I am pleased with you, Lucius. Return to your places."

Lucius Malfoy hid his wand and approached his son, offering him a hand. However, Draco slowly stood up on his own and did not even look at his father´s palm. He turned his back to him and caught the glinting gaze from under Angela's hood. Lucius then stood beside him a little stiffly and put his mask back on.

"And now we can finally proceed to the mentioned surprise," Lord Voldemort announced. "A while ago, one of my faithful servants returned to us, whom everyone believed to be dead," the Dark Lord gestured with his hand and Mary Rosier walked over to him.

"It was necessary to keep her presence here a secret, so very few of you knew about her, but now I think it is appropriate that everyone should know about her return."

Voldemort looked at Mary and she pulled the mask off her face. A chorus of surprised gasps echoed through the ranks of Death Eaters. Of course, they all had noticed the other female figure in their ranks Yet, when anyone had asked about her, Narcissa, who was the only one who talked with her, refused to reveal anything in advance.

Now that time has come. And before them stood a woman who had convinced the entire wizarding world of her death.

"Mary did incur my displeasure when she didn't come forward as soon as she sensed the Mark," Voldemort whispered coldly. "But luckily for her, she could make up for it with good news."

Whispering Death Eaters perked up.

"She has gained several followers for my needs in Europe, where she has been hiding for a long time. They'll be joining us before too long," explained apparently satisfied Voldemort.

The congregation hummed appraisingly. Angela just sneered in disgust in the shadow of her hood.

Mary smiled smugly: "Thank you, Master, for your appreciation," she said with a bow.

With an impatient gesture, the Lord sent her back to her place. Angela did not understand how she could to it, but when her mother came back, she raised her head and smiled. Mary nodded her head in response.

Lord Voldemort settled into his elevated throne.

"The next mass meeting will be exactly within month from now," he announced. "Rosier ladies and the Malfoys will stay. The others may go," he graciously dismissed his supporters.

Each of the Death Eaters knelt with their heads down on one knee and left. Before long, there were only five figures standing in the hall.

The Dark Lord scanned them with an icy gaze for a moment. He motioned to Angela and Draco. Both of them at once stepped forward and knelt on the ground.

"Get up," he urged them with a mysterious undertone in his voice.

They stood up and looked directly at him.

"Draco and Angela," Voldemort tapped the back of the throne with his long nails. "You do train together, don't you?"

They both nodded.

"How long?"

"Almost six months, sir," Angela answered for both of them. From the colour of Draco's skin, she did not quite trust his voice.

"It's almost time for the first test then…" the Dark Lord remarked. "When is your initiation to take place?"

"Miss Rosier will come of age in September, so it may not be until October, sir," Lucius answered for them.

"Hmm, in that case you started your training late, didn't you?" the Dark Lord raised his voice.

Lucius paled a little again. Angela's mother took the word instead.

"Yes, they did, Master. The last few months have been a bit difficult, but they are both very docile and diligent, so we can easily catch up."

"Good," Voldemort nodded condescendingly and stood up. "So, we're missing one thing…" he added, walking over to Draco first.

Angela held her breath for a moment in an attempt to calm her racing pulse. Voldemort wanted to check if they had any wrong thoughts in their heads. She had been preparing for this gradually all evening, so at that moment she was only concentrating on hiding everything that he could not be allowed to find deep in her subconscious. Voldemort could look through the rest at will, even if she was not exactly thrilled about it.

Her only luck was that she controlled the Occlumency so well. Her aunt Marion was a master at it and taught her niece everything she knew. Therefore, Angela knew how to fortify her subconscious and disguise it so that it would not look like she was hiding anything. Her natural fear from the dark wizard would help her with this a lot, since she could wrap all her precious memories and secret thoughts in it.

Yet, she had never felt so scared. If Voldemort would caught just a glimpse of her real relation to Harry or Dumbledore in her mind…

The Dark Lord stood by Draco for a very long time, and the hall was deafeningly quiet. Angela was horrified to think that Voldemort might find out some things about her from him too, but she quickly pushed that thought away. She could not let herself be distracted.

Finally, Voldemort nodded in satisfaction and Draco relaxed. The Lord walked to the side to stand in front of her and she looked up to him. Seeing fear in her eyes only made him apparently pleased.

Then, Angela felt the disgusting presence of an alien mind in her head. Reckless claws tore at her thoughts and she could not broke from the captivity of those red eyes. It seemed endless and when her mental torture finally subsided, she got a terrible headache. The Dark Lord turned away from them and settled down.

"I am satisfied with you, so keep it that way. I will test you soon. You can leave now. Lucius, Narcissa, Mary, you stay."

Draco and Angela bowed deeply and quickly left. Once they were hidden from looks of the others behind the door, Angela grabbed her head and Draco leaned against the wall, completely exhausted. Their eyes met and in that moment, they understood each other completely.

They waited for the Malfoys and Mary and then made their way above the ground level through a complex system of corridors. They passed through the black chained gate out into the other courtyard. There was darkness and no light, but the Death Eaters knew their way around well and led them out of the huge castle, which towers cast dark outlines against the starlit sky.

Angela looked up in fascination. Finally, it stopped snowing, it cleared up and the view of the night sky in the mountains was really beautiful.

However, she forgot about her spinning head and stumbled on the stairs leading outside the castle walls. Draco readily caught her and she looked up at him gratefully. That evening, she was truly glad to have someone by her side who understood her.

/

As soon as they apparated to the entrance of the secret passage leading to Malfoy Manor, Mary grabbed Angela's elbow almost painfully.

"Excuse us for a moment. She'll be there in a little while," she turned to the Malfoys and pulled her daughter aside in a rather nasty way.

As the blonde family disappeared as if they had sunk into the ground, Mary gave her daughter a hard look from behind her Death Eater mask. Angela jerked away from her.

"What is it?" she barked, not understanding what could be wrong.

"Keep this cheeky tone for yourself!" Mary snapped. "The Dark Lord sensed something about you that he didn't like!"

If being cut, no blood would be found in Angela at that moment.

"It's about your friend," Mary continued. "He said that you sympathize with her and don't like Lucius for what he did."

Oh, Merlin… She was so focused on protecting anything related to Harry, that she forgot about Daria a little. Yet, Voldemort could have found something a lot more dangerous for her and everyone around her. It could been much worse, she knew. So, she slowly relaxed.

"That's true," she replied defiantly.

"I convinced him that your friendship with her was over for good and it took me a great effort. Therefore, as I said, you stop hanging out with her immediately. It must not happen again!"

"Yes, you've explained it sufficiently, Mother."

"Excellent, I'm glad it's clear to you. You will root out such foolish thoughts and feelings of yourself, or you will see!"

"Yes, Mother," she nodded stiffly. She had to supress an outburst growing in her chest, which would make very clear that she did not think being friends with Daria and condemning murder was foolish.

"Now get out of my sight," Mary bade her quite a rude farewell.

Angela did not have to be told that twice. She turned on her heel and disappeared into the secret passage in a moment. She heard a loud crack as her mother apparated away and immediately kicked the stone wall furiously until her leg tingled from toe to knee.

"Damn, I'm such an idiot!" she screamed in pain.

She promised herself that next time her inner barrier would have to be even better. Much better. What if had Voldemort found her feelings for Harry somewhere? Her true feelings... She could not let that happen.

All flustered, she made her way down the torch-lit corridor.

/

Draco was just leaving the living room when Angela appeared in the cellar door and headed for the stairs, a convulsed look on her face. He watched her pass in wonder.

"What happened to you?" he asked quietly.

Angela stopped for a moment and turned sharply.

"Nothing. Where are your parents?" she asked completely nonsensically.

"Still in the basement," Draco replied in astonishment. "Didn't you see them?"

"No," Angela replied distractedly and dashed up the stairs.

Something prompted Draco to follow her. "Angela, wait a minute! Why are you in such a hurry?" he called after her.

She did not answer and walked briskly on. Draco frowned. What possessed her?

He almost caught up with her, but she still had enough of a lead to slam the door of her room in his face. The lock clicked.

"Angela, open up," Draco urged through the door. "Don't you want to talk?" he suggested a little more quietly.

Nothing came from inside, but he was determined to wait a while. Suddenly, the loud notes of a piano rang out from the room, making Draco flinch in surprise…

No fear…

Destination darkness

The calm tones were replaced by music full of drums and guitars from some Muggle band.

"Angela, don't be silly!" Draco called, though he doubted she could hear him over the rant. The music started playing even louder.

Girl, you lived your life

Like a sleeping swan

"You know my mother hates it!" Draco tried again.

Your time has come

To go deeper

Draco angrily kicked the door, something he would never normally do, but he had a really rough evening. He could unlock them with a spell, but he did not want to do it against her will.

Girl, the final journey

Has just began

Your destiny

Chose the reaper

"Pretty depressing song," Draco muttered, giving up and turning away from the door.

/

Angela was lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling, music blaring around her, though she could not really hear her favourite song.

/

Narcissa came out of the basement with Lucius in tow and tilted her head with a frown. The music continued to blare upstairs above them. The lady of the house frowned very unpleasantly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lucius asked.

"Leave it to me. Our young lady is in her mood again, but I had warned her…"

Narcissa found herself at the door in an instant, from where a slightly quieter, but still loud music was wafting, and she magically amplified her voice.

"Angela, turn it off immediately or I'll throw that damn Muggle stuff out!" she screamed menacingly, ready to kick the door down.

The music stopped and a deafening silence spread over the corridor.

"Well, that's better," Narcissa said normally, but Angela could still hear clearly due to the spell still working. "May it never happen again!"

Narcissa gracefully turned away from the door and left.

Angela smirked to herself in the safety of her room. If only Narcissa knew that the song had just ended…

She got up and only now turned off the player before the next song started. She slipped off her cloak and threw it over the back of the chair. In the light from her wand, she pulled out a pack of cigarettes, which she had recently purchased, from a secret stash under her bed. Draco's bad habit took a liking to her somewhat.

She opened the door to the balcony and leaned against the frame with a cigarette in hand.

Anyone looking from the outside could only see a small orange light. But only after a while did she realize that it was not hers alone. On the other side of the house, there was another larger balcony, under which there was a winter garden on the ground floor. Another cigarette light flickered there. Even though Angela could only see the dark outline of the figure, she knew it was Draco. That balcony belonged to his room.

In a moment, his light disappeared. With a sigh, Angela also finished smoking and disposed of the butt. Just as she was chillingly closing the window, muffled, angry voices reached her through the door. She walked through the room, still dark, and opened it only for the cranny. The sounds of the argument grew louder. She recognized the Malfoys.

In the middle of the corridor, she saw Draco leaning on the railing. His face was lit by the yellow light from the hall.

"How could you do that?" Narcissa screamed so loudly that it reached her.

"I had to," came the slightly quieter reply.

Angela slowly headed for the stairs.

"You had to? Had to?! You tortured your own and only son!"

"And what do you think I should have done?!" Lucius raised his voice. "Should I have disobeyed our Lord's command?"

"Yes! Yes, you should have! Then he would surely punish you for disobeying an order! It wasn't Draco's fault!"

"I know that! What's done is done, I can´t take it back!"

Angela gently placed a hand on Draco's shoulder. He glanced at her and looked down again without changing his expression.

"No, you won't take it back, that´s for sure," Narcissa almost whispered. "I've had enough. I'm sick of you," she said quietly, wanting to turn away from him.

Lucius grabbed her arm: "How can you blame me? Don´t you know what I suffered because of you two?"

"I'd say those few months in Azkaban did you good," Narcissa hissed with unexpected anger.

Lucius froze. He gripped her arm even tighter. "That's enough. You will calm down immediately. Come on."

Narcissa wanted to protest, but the look in her husband's eyes stopped her and she let him lead her into the kitchen without resistance. Draco straightened up and Angela let her hand drop.

"Draco," she began extremely quietly. "I…"

"I don't want any pity," he cut her off and walked away to his room.

Angela looked thoughtfully at the hall once more, and then remembered something.

/

Draco was lying on an unmade bed with dark sheets, staring blankly at the ceiling. If he held out his hands in front of him, he would see them tremble in the light from the fireplace. His whole body ached, but his head hurt the most. And his throat was still tight from the words he had heard during his parents' argument...

There was a soft knock on the door. Draco was tempted to lock and not be disturbed, but in the end, good manners got the better of him.

"Come in," he hummed softly.

Angela slipped into his room. He did not even expect anyone else.

"What you want?"

Undeterred by the cold tone of his voice, the brunette sat on his bed.

"I´ve got something for you," she said in a strange tone, opening her clenched palm. In it was a small vial of bright blue liquid.

"What is it?" Draco asked tiredly, sitting up with difficulty.

"This counters the effects of the Cruciatus curse," Angela replied quietly. "Your hands will stop shaking and the pain will also go away after a while. You're just going to feel pretty weird for about two more days."

"I don't need anything like that," he protested angrily. He did not want to admit his weakness in front of her.

Angela just silently extended her hand to him. Reluctantly, he looked into her eyes. She had understanding and weariness in them. He sighed and took the bottle.

"Not exactly any usual potion, is it?"

"No. It belongs to black magic and it takes a lot of time to make it. I got this bottle for the worst cases. We'll learn how to do it later."

"But certainly not at school," Draco added.

Angela smirked in agreement.

"Who did you get this from?" he asked, opening it.

"Surprisingly, from my mother. As you can see she's thinking about me dearly," she remarked cynically.

Draco tossed it in his throat without hesitation and swallowed. It did not taste gross at all, a bit like mint toothpaste.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Angela shrugged and looked at him questioningly.

"What upset you so much today?"

She was silent for a long moment, but then suddenly started talking quietly.

"When my mother showed up, it was already a year after Voldemort rose. And even after she returned to England, she did not report to him immediately. Before she could fix it, the Dark Lord found her. He punished her the same way he punished your father," Angela said all of it dryly, but her voice trembled.

Draco was looking at her in understanding. He knew exactly how she felt.

"That evening the Dark Lord also tested me and decided that I was worthy to become one of his loyalists, just as my mother wanted."

Silence fell upon Draco's room. After a moment, he returned the empty vial to her. He felt much better already. Mentally, however, nothing seemed to improve much.

"What´s the meaning of that ring anyway?" Angela suddenly asked.

Draco looked down at his hand, "Each male Malfoy gets one. They are copies of an original that once had powerful magic in it. It is said to be a rare symbol of our family," he uttered those sentences with a kind of irony that Angela did not notice and continued to admire the impressive piece of jewellery. It fitted Draco, but she realized that she definitely would not want it for herself…

/

A/N: The song used in this chapter is "No Fear" by The Rasmus.