Chapter Seven
Tom Riddle stared over his group of Death Eater's, noting Lucius' absence to be with his wife while she gave birth. The doctor had arrived earlier, before the meeting had been called to order, and he had been shown upstairs by the tiny house-elf that Lucius let Narcissa keep around. Her pained screams hadn't been heard for a long while and Tom wondered with a smile if the doctor had put a silencing charm on the room. The doctor had seen the robes, he would know what the meeting was about and he had quite obviously taken it upon himself to make sure the birth did not disrupt the meeting. Tom would have to make sure he thanked the doctor for his efforts.
Severus Snape was standing nearby looking extremely nervous, which wasn't one of the few emotions Tom often saw on his face. Snape wasn't a nervous man by nature, he was barely twenty years old but he had already mastered the art of appearing completely uninterested in everything. To see the young Death Eater fidgeting with the sleeves of his robe appeared out of character, but Tom had a pretty good idea what he was nervous about. Somewhere, in a bedroom upstairs, Snape's lover was witnessing the birth of his first child. That child could push Snape completely out of the picture and he knew it. Tom was just waiting for that to happen and he could rush in to pick up the broken pieces. If Lucius betrayed Snape again Tom would be able to turn him into his most powerful follower just by being his friend.
A smile crossed Tom's lips, then he clapped his hands together once and waited for the others to stop talking to turn toward him.
"You are all here tonight because I have received some rather distressing news," Tom began, surveying the room carefully. "It appears that the Potters remain will hidden and that their new child had been born under this protective spell."
A low murmur rippled through the crowd and Tom saw Snape stiffen out of the corner of his eye.
"They're calling him Harry," he continued, his lip curling up in disgust. "Harry Potter. Is that name supposed to strike fear in the heart of the most powerful wizard in the world?"
The Death Eaters chuckled appropriately and Tom smiled. He had trained them so very well and most of them would follow him to the grave if it came to that.
"Harry Potter," he said again. "A mere child who will be taught to loathe me because of the things I've done. A tiny baby who will be brought up to kill me because of the people I've killed. I am still waiting!" he shouted, suddenly angry.
The crowd jumped and another murmur went through them at this.
Tom pushed past two of the Death Eaters near the front and made his way through the crowd. He snaked between people, moving closer to them than they would have liked, letting them feel the power that radiated off his body. He wanted them to be frightened, he wanted them to understand how angry he was.
"I am still waiting for someone to bring me their secret keeper," he said in a very low voice. "I have been made countless promises, each more ridiculous than the last. If you can't find me a simple secret keeper how can I expect you all to help me take over this world?" He turned away from them in disgust and pushed his way back through the crowd. "You need to prove yourselves to me, I need some sort of assurance that you all are still willing to do whatever it takes to bring us to power!"
"Anything!" one woman screamed from the crowd and Tom smiled at her.
"I have a surprise," he told them. "Bring them in," he said, crooking his finger at a man who stood near the door.
Snape frowned, watching the doorway and waiting for Tom's surprise to appear. He didn't like the turn the meeting had taken and he wasn't sure he wanted to know what assurance Tom would need of their loyalties. They were loyal, they were working themselves to the bone to try and find him the Potters, wasn't that enough for him?
Snape bit back the exclamation on his tongue when a group of dirty and ragged looked men and women were marched into the room. They were tied at the wrists and gagged, each of them looking weary and spent. They walked through the room until they were standing directly in front of Tom who motioned for them to stop. The look of fear on their faces was unmistakable, they were utterly terrified and they had good reason to be.
"Avery," Tom snapped, motioning to one of the men in the front. "Give me your wand."
Avery nodded and handed his wand over to Tom, waiting patiently to see what his Lord would do to the people before him.
"Pick one of the mudbloods," Tom demanded.
Avery frowned slightly, but nodded and went over to the group. He came back a moment later with a young woman. She was trembling in his grasp, her breath coming out in frightened gasps around her gag.
"Kill her," Tom said casually.
Snape's eyes fluttered shut as the reality of the situation finally sunk in. To prove their loyalty they would have to kill a mudblood without using their wand. They would have to use their hands and strangle the life right out of them. Their blood would spill in the Malfoy home and stain the floor, remaining there for everyone to see that someone had died there.
Avery swallowed hard and glanced at Tom. They might have been Death Eaters, willing to take any life with their wand, but not a single one of them had killed with their bare hands.
"Kill her," Tom repeated. "Don't make me say it again."
Avery's mouth opened as if to say something, but no sounds came forward. Instead, his thin hands came up and wrapped around the girl's pale throat. She whimpered behind her gag and tried to back away, but the Death Eater's behind her pushed her forward into Avery's hands. He grasped her tightly, his face a mixture of emotion. Snape watched as he tightened his grip, cutting off the air that rushed to her lungs. The girl stiffened and tried to tear his hands away, but his grip was too strong for her.
Her death was slow and silent, nothing like the others had expected. The first one should have screamed, the death should have generated the energy in the room and made it easier for the others to perform their task. Instead it weighed down upon them, making the others uneasy and uncertain.
Tom refused to relent and one by one the mudbloods were murdered. Snape kept track, counting fourteen over the course of the hour; ten females and four males. There were many more yet to go and he dreaded each and every time Tom called a name. Soon enough he would be expected to commit murder and Snape wasn't sure he would be able to do it. These people hadn't done anything to him and he wasn't willing to wrap his fingers around the throat if an innocent. He just made potions, that was his job. He wasn't a murderer.
Seventeen, eighteen, he counted every body that went down onto the floor. They littered the room, young and old being left where they fell, their wrists still bound even in death. It was a horrible sight, one Snape found himself barely able to look at but he forced his eyes to remain on the meeting. If he looked away or wretched in disgust there was no telling what Tom might do to him. He had already seen the Cruciatus curse used seven times that night when a Death Eater had faltered before the murder they were to perform and he didn't want the eighth time to be his.
"Severus," Tom said finally and Snape felt his breath catch in his throat. He was mean but he wasn't a killer. He couldn't do it, he wouldn't be able to do it.
"Pick one," Tom ordered.
Snape moved forward mechanically and walked into the group of sobbing people. His hand closed down on the shoulder of one without even looking and he dragged her back toward the front of the group.
"Kill her."
His eyes met hers, black on black and he stepped back, startled at the color. She was fair and thin, her dark hair tumbling down her back in curls and her eyes darting nervously. She was beautiful, a stunning creature with eyes blacker than his own. Snape had never seen eyes blacker than his own.
"Kill her," Tom repeated.
Slowly his hands went to her throat and closed around it. He swallowed hard and begged for forgiveness through his eyes. If she saw it she made no effort to understand or accept it, she just stared back.
Snape felt a shudder of disgust run through him and his breath came out in short, frightened gasps, but he tightened his hands more. Maybe he could break her neck, maybe he would be able to make it quick. He would have to decide soon or he would be the next Death Eater screaming in agony.
He bit his lip and tightened his grip.
"Draco!"
The Death Eaters turned and Snape dropped his victim, turning to see Lucius standing on the stairs with a tiny child in his arms.
"I have a son!" he exclaimed, his eyes searching for Snape and finally finding him. "I have a baby son and his name is Draco."
Tom waved his hand and the remaining mudbloods were taken from the room. "I think this meeting is over. Go home."
Snape felt his heart leap thankfully and he went to the foot of the stairs. Lucius walked down to meet him and they both stared at the tiny boy in his arms.
"Draco," Snape murmured, watching as the child's grey eyes opened. "You saved me from having to do something I'd regret for the rest of my life," he said softly.
Lucius nodded and glanced toward Tom who had begun to leave the room.
"I know," he whispered. "I waited until your name was called."
Snape glanced up at him.
Lucius smiled. "I couldn't let you do that."
"You would have done it," Snape said simply.
Lucius nodded. "I would have. But you don't have it in you."
"Thank you," Snape murmured.
"Go home and get some sleep," Lucius said, looking back toward the child in his arms. "I will see you tomorrow." He leaned over and kissed Snape fiercely, taking the other man completely off guard. "This doesn't change a thing," he hissed, then turned and walked back up the stairs.
Snape stood alone for a long moment, staring at the corpses that now littered the room.
"The birth might not change anything, Lucius," he murmured, "but this does."
End Chapter Seven
Tom Riddle stared over his group of Death Eater's, noting Lucius' absence to be with his wife while she gave birth. The doctor had arrived earlier, before the meeting had been called to order, and he had been shown upstairs by the tiny house-elf that Lucius let Narcissa keep around. Her pained screams hadn't been heard for a long while and Tom wondered with a smile if the doctor had put a silencing charm on the room. The doctor had seen the robes, he would know what the meeting was about and he had quite obviously taken it upon himself to make sure the birth did not disrupt the meeting. Tom would have to make sure he thanked the doctor for his efforts.
Severus Snape was standing nearby looking extremely nervous, which wasn't one of the few emotions Tom often saw on his face. Snape wasn't a nervous man by nature, he was barely twenty years old but he had already mastered the art of appearing completely uninterested in everything. To see the young Death Eater fidgeting with the sleeves of his robe appeared out of character, but Tom had a pretty good idea what he was nervous about. Somewhere, in a bedroom upstairs, Snape's lover was witnessing the birth of his first child. That child could push Snape completely out of the picture and he knew it. Tom was just waiting for that to happen and he could rush in to pick up the broken pieces. If Lucius betrayed Snape again Tom would be able to turn him into his most powerful follower just by being his friend.
A smile crossed Tom's lips, then he clapped his hands together once and waited for the others to stop talking to turn toward him.
"You are all here tonight because I have received some rather distressing news," Tom began, surveying the room carefully. "It appears that the Potters remain will hidden and that their new child had been born under this protective spell."
A low murmur rippled through the crowd and Tom saw Snape stiffen out of the corner of his eye.
"They're calling him Harry," he continued, his lip curling up in disgust. "Harry Potter. Is that name supposed to strike fear in the heart of the most powerful wizard in the world?"
The Death Eaters chuckled appropriately and Tom smiled. He had trained them so very well and most of them would follow him to the grave if it came to that.
"Harry Potter," he said again. "A mere child who will be taught to loathe me because of the things I've done. A tiny baby who will be brought up to kill me because of the people I've killed. I am still waiting!" he shouted, suddenly angry.
The crowd jumped and another murmur went through them at this.
Tom pushed past two of the Death Eaters near the front and made his way through the crowd. He snaked between people, moving closer to them than they would have liked, letting them feel the power that radiated off his body. He wanted them to be frightened, he wanted them to understand how angry he was.
"I am still waiting for someone to bring me their secret keeper," he said in a very low voice. "I have been made countless promises, each more ridiculous than the last. If you can't find me a simple secret keeper how can I expect you all to help me take over this world?" He turned away from them in disgust and pushed his way back through the crowd. "You need to prove yourselves to me, I need some sort of assurance that you all are still willing to do whatever it takes to bring us to power!"
"Anything!" one woman screamed from the crowd and Tom smiled at her.
"I have a surprise," he told them. "Bring them in," he said, crooking his finger at a man who stood near the door.
Snape frowned, watching the doorway and waiting for Tom's surprise to appear. He didn't like the turn the meeting had taken and he wasn't sure he wanted to know what assurance Tom would need of their loyalties. They were loyal, they were working themselves to the bone to try and find him the Potters, wasn't that enough for him?
Snape bit back the exclamation on his tongue when a group of dirty and ragged looked men and women were marched into the room. They were tied at the wrists and gagged, each of them looking weary and spent. They walked through the room until they were standing directly in front of Tom who motioned for them to stop. The look of fear on their faces was unmistakable, they were utterly terrified and they had good reason to be.
"Avery," Tom snapped, motioning to one of the men in the front. "Give me your wand."
Avery nodded and handed his wand over to Tom, waiting patiently to see what his Lord would do to the people before him.
"Pick one of the mudbloods," Tom demanded.
Avery frowned slightly, but nodded and went over to the group. He came back a moment later with a young woman. She was trembling in his grasp, her breath coming out in frightened gasps around her gag.
"Kill her," Tom said casually.
Snape's eyes fluttered shut as the reality of the situation finally sunk in. To prove their loyalty they would have to kill a mudblood without using their wand. They would have to use their hands and strangle the life right out of them. Their blood would spill in the Malfoy home and stain the floor, remaining there for everyone to see that someone had died there.
Avery swallowed hard and glanced at Tom. They might have been Death Eaters, willing to take any life with their wand, but not a single one of them had killed with their bare hands.
"Kill her," Tom repeated. "Don't make me say it again."
Avery's mouth opened as if to say something, but no sounds came forward. Instead, his thin hands came up and wrapped around the girl's pale throat. She whimpered behind her gag and tried to back away, but the Death Eater's behind her pushed her forward into Avery's hands. He grasped her tightly, his face a mixture of emotion. Snape watched as he tightened his grip, cutting off the air that rushed to her lungs. The girl stiffened and tried to tear his hands away, but his grip was too strong for her.
Her death was slow and silent, nothing like the others had expected. The first one should have screamed, the death should have generated the energy in the room and made it easier for the others to perform their task. Instead it weighed down upon them, making the others uneasy and uncertain.
Tom refused to relent and one by one the mudbloods were murdered. Snape kept track, counting fourteen over the course of the hour; ten females and four males. There were many more yet to go and he dreaded each and every time Tom called a name. Soon enough he would be expected to commit murder and Snape wasn't sure he would be able to do it. These people hadn't done anything to him and he wasn't willing to wrap his fingers around the throat if an innocent. He just made potions, that was his job. He wasn't a murderer.
Seventeen, eighteen, he counted every body that went down onto the floor. They littered the room, young and old being left where they fell, their wrists still bound even in death. It was a horrible sight, one Snape found himself barely able to look at but he forced his eyes to remain on the meeting. If he looked away or wretched in disgust there was no telling what Tom might do to him. He had already seen the Cruciatus curse used seven times that night when a Death Eater had faltered before the murder they were to perform and he didn't want the eighth time to be his.
"Severus," Tom said finally and Snape felt his breath catch in his throat. He was mean but he wasn't a killer. He couldn't do it, he wouldn't be able to do it.
"Pick one," Tom ordered.
Snape moved forward mechanically and walked into the group of sobbing people. His hand closed down on the shoulder of one without even looking and he dragged her back toward the front of the group.
"Kill her."
His eyes met hers, black on black and he stepped back, startled at the color. She was fair and thin, her dark hair tumbling down her back in curls and her eyes darting nervously. She was beautiful, a stunning creature with eyes blacker than his own. Snape had never seen eyes blacker than his own.
"Kill her," Tom repeated.
Slowly his hands went to her throat and closed around it. He swallowed hard and begged for forgiveness through his eyes. If she saw it she made no effort to understand or accept it, she just stared back.
Snape felt a shudder of disgust run through him and his breath came out in short, frightened gasps, but he tightened his hands more. Maybe he could break her neck, maybe he would be able to make it quick. He would have to decide soon or he would be the next Death Eater screaming in agony.
He bit his lip and tightened his grip.
"Draco!"
The Death Eaters turned and Snape dropped his victim, turning to see Lucius standing on the stairs with a tiny child in his arms.
"I have a son!" he exclaimed, his eyes searching for Snape and finally finding him. "I have a baby son and his name is Draco."
Tom waved his hand and the remaining mudbloods were taken from the room. "I think this meeting is over. Go home."
Snape felt his heart leap thankfully and he went to the foot of the stairs. Lucius walked down to meet him and they both stared at the tiny boy in his arms.
"Draco," Snape murmured, watching as the child's grey eyes opened. "You saved me from having to do something I'd regret for the rest of my life," he said softly.
Lucius nodded and glanced toward Tom who had begun to leave the room.
"I know," he whispered. "I waited until your name was called."
Snape glanced up at him.
Lucius smiled. "I couldn't let you do that."
"You would have done it," Snape said simply.
Lucius nodded. "I would have. But you don't have it in you."
"Thank you," Snape murmured.
"Go home and get some sleep," Lucius said, looking back toward the child in his arms. "I will see you tomorrow." He leaned over and kissed Snape fiercely, taking the other man completely off guard. "This doesn't change a thing," he hissed, then turned and walked back up the stairs.
Snape stood alone for a long moment, staring at the corpses that now littered the room.
"The birth might not change anything, Lucius," he murmured, "but this does."
End Chapter Seven