Chapter Two: Reunion
"Where is everyone?" Draco said more to himself than to Crabbe. Normally when a man assumed command of a post his subordinates would be there to great him and to submit their loyalty to him. However, Draco was soon to discover that these were to be no ordinary Death Eaters.
Draco let out a deep, disgusted sigh and walked over towards the house. Crabbe followed closely behind. Draco stopped in front of the door and opened it by using his wand. There was no way that he was going to touch it with his bare hands. Draco scanned the interior of the building as he entered the small stairwell. If it was possible, the inside of the house looked more deteriorated than the outside. At the back of the stairwell was a door that hung on one hinge which led to what appeared to be the kitchen. There were also two doorways on the right and left of the stairwell. Draco decided to try the door on the left. It was slightly ajar, so he merely pushed it in with his foot. The door hit something hard behind it with a rather lound BANG and before he knew what was happening, Draco was met with five wands pointed in his direction. He instinctively raised his own wand but knew immediately that he had no chance, one against five were not good odds. Crabbe didn't count as far as he was concerned.
"Malfoy?! Draco Malfoy?!" came a surprised and very familiar voice.
Draco tore his eyes away from the wands and saw none other than, "Marcus Flint!"
"Fancy seeing you here." Flint said as he lowered his wand and motioned the others to do the same.
"Well, I could say the same about you." Draco lowered his own wand at looked at the other Death Eaters. "Goyle, you're here too?! Well, actually, that doesn't really surprise me." He then saw another familiar face, "You got exiled here too, aye, Zabini?"
Blaise nodded his head. "Good to see ya again, Malfoy, Crabbe."
"These two guys over here," said Flint, "are Frank Pearney and Victor Borgase. Frank went to Beauxbaton and Victor went to Durmstrang." *Not to be confused with Victor Krum*
"Are you our new commander?" Victor asked.
"Yes." Draco answered in a defeated sigh. "For now anyways."
"What did you do?" Frank asked.
"Excuse me?"
"What did you do to wind up here at Hades' Toilet?"
"Hades' Toilet? I thought we were at the Brenton Post?" said a very confused Crabbe.
Draco looked at Crabbe like he was the biggest idiot in the world. "It's a joke, Crabbe."
"Oh." And then Crabbe began to laugh and Draco just shook his head in disgust.
"It's what we affectionately call this hell hole." Said Flint. "So, what did you do to get exiled here."
"Two botched missions. One thanks to a group of goodie goodies and the other because of the village idiot over here." Draco pointed a thumb at Crabbe who was beside him.
"Well, welcome anyways." Flint said. "Now, would you care for the grand tour?" Draco cracked a small smile and followed Flint out the door.
After Flint had finished giving the tour of the downstairs he led Crabbe and Malfoy up the stairs to where they would be staying. Draco let out a groan as he saw it. It was one large room with six beds lined against the walls, three on each side. "Could this get any worse?" Maybe Voldemort wasn't doing him any favors after all by sending him there instead of killing him.
"Not too great, I know, but the roof doesn't leak and the beds are okay if you don't mind a few springs poking into your back. But not to worry, Malfoy, this is where us underlings stay, you, on the other hand, get the master bedroom."
Draco's eyes lit up slightly at the thought. Maybe it wasn't going to be that bad after all. However, this little ray of hope was shattered as he entered his new quarters. It wasn't much different than any other part of the house. Everything was covered in dust and dirt, there was a cracked mirror and the covers on the bed looked as if they dated back to the eighteen hundreds.
"Is there anything you need, Draco?" Flint said as he began to back out the door.
"Yeah, tell the boys that I'll be down in fifteen minutes for a meeting."
Flint nodded and shut the door to leave Draco to wallow in self-pity and disgust. Draco sat down hard on the bed and when he did it made a very audible crack and shook as if it were about to break apart. "Wonderful."
Fifteen minutes later Draco entered, what appeared to be the sitting room, where he had first met the Death Eaters, and found them all lounging in the half-broken and battered chairs and couch. All of them, except for Crabbe, looked as if they hadn't changed their clothes in months and their hair and beards were sadly in need of a trim.
"So, tell me, "he said as he looked down at them, "what became of your last commander?"
"Don't know really." Answered Blaise. "He left in the dead of night. Haven't seen or heard of him since. It was pretty weird. He had only been here for a couple of weeks and one night he just left. Didn't leave a note and didn't even bother to take any of his things."
"Hm." Muttered Draco as he furrowed his brow. He then began to walk around the couch when he suddenly tripped on a pile of unseen clothes. He managed to catch himself on the side of the couch, saving himself from a rather embarrassing fall.
"Don't you guys ever clean this place?! It looks like a garbage heap!"
"Well, it does have that lived in look." Said Victor as he took a cigar out of his mouth.
"Besides, cleaning takes too much effort." Said Frank.
"Can't you guys just use a cleaning spell or something?"
"No." Frank answered.
"Why?"
"Because we don't know any." Blaise replied. "Why don't you use a cleaning spell if the place disgusts you that much?"
"I don't know any either. Malfoys never have to trouble with something so lowly as cleaning." He said the last word as if it were something that tasted rather nasty. "Okay, the first thing we do is hire someone to clean this place up. I refuse to take my life in my hands every time I walk down those stairs, praying to God that I don't trip over the mounds of clothes and garbage and break my neck."
The Death Eaters just shrugged.
"Where is everyone?" Draco said more to himself than to Crabbe. Normally when a man assumed command of a post his subordinates would be there to great him and to submit their loyalty to him. However, Draco was soon to discover that these were to be no ordinary Death Eaters.
Draco let out a deep, disgusted sigh and walked over towards the house. Crabbe followed closely behind. Draco stopped in front of the door and opened it by using his wand. There was no way that he was going to touch it with his bare hands. Draco scanned the interior of the building as he entered the small stairwell. If it was possible, the inside of the house looked more deteriorated than the outside. At the back of the stairwell was a door that hung on one hinge which led to what appeared to be the kitchen. There were also two doorways on the right and left of the stairwell. Draco decided to try the door on the left. It was slightly ajar, so he merely pushed it in with his foot. The door hit something hard behind it with a rather lound BANG and before he knew what was happening, Draco was met with five wands pointed in his direction. He instinctively raised his own wand but knew immediately that he had no chance, one against five were not good odds. Crabbe didn't count as far as he was concerned.
"Malfoy?! Draco Malfoy?!" came a surprised and very familiar voice.
Draco tore his eyes away from the wands and saw none other than, "Marcus Flint!"
"Fancy seeing you here." Flint said as he lowered his wand and motioned the others to do the same.
"Well, I could say the same about you." Draco lowered his own wand at looked at the other Death Eaters. "Goyle, you're here too?! Well, actually, that doesn't really surprise me." He then saw another familiar face, "You got exiled here too, aye, Zabini?"
Blaise nodded his head. "Good to see ya again, Malfoy, Crabbe."
"These two guys over here," said Flint, "are Frank Pearney and Victor Borgase. Frank went to Beauxbaton and Victor went to Durmstrang." *Not to be confused with Victor Krum*
"Are you our new commander?" Victor asked.
"Yes." Draco answered in a defeated sigh. "For now anyways."
"What did you do?" Frank asked.
"Excuse me?"
"What did you do to wind up here at Hades' Toilet?"
"Hades' Toilet? I thought we were at the Brenton Post?" said a very confused Crabbe.
Draco looked at Crabbe like he was the biggest idiot in the world. "It's a joke, Crabbe."
"Oh." And then Crabbe began to laugh and Draco just shook his head in disgust.
"It's what we affectionately call this hell hole." Said Flint. "So, what did you do to get exiled here."
"Two botched missions. One thanks to a group of goodie goodies and the other because of the village idiot over here." Draco pointed a thumb at Crabbe who was beside him.
"Well, welcome anyways." Flint said. "Now, would you care for the grand tour?" Draco cracked a small smile and followed Flint out the door.
After Flint had finished giving the tour of the downstairs he led Crabbe and Malfoy up the stairs to where they would be staying. Draco let out a groan as he saw it. It was one large room with six beds lined against the walls, three on each side. "Could this get any worse?" Maybe Voldemort wasn't doing him any favors after all by sending him there instead of killing him.
"Not too great, I know, but the roof doesn't leak and the beds are okay if you don't mind a few springs poking into your back. But not to worry, Malfoy, this is where us underlings stay, you, on the other hand, get the master bedroom."
Draco's eyes lit up slightly at the thought. Maybe it wasn't going to be that bad after all. However, this little ray of hope was shattered as he entered his new quarters. It wasn't much different than any other part of the house. Everything was covered in dust and dirt, there was a cracked mirror and the covers on the bed looked as if they dated back to the eighteen hundreds.
"Is there anything you need, Draco?" Flint said as he began to back out the door.
"Yeah, tell the boys that I'll be down in fifteen minutes for a meeting."
Flint nodded and shut the door to leave Draco to wallow in self-pity and disgust. Draco sat down hard on the bed and when he did it made a very audible crack and shook as if it were about to break apart. "Wonderful."
Fifteen minutes later Draco entered, what appeared to be the sitting room, where he had first met the Death Eaters, and found them all lounging in the half-broken and battered chairs and couch. All of them, except for Crabbe, looked as if they hadn't changed their clothes in months and their hair and beards were sadly in need of a trim.
"So, tell me, "he said as he looked down at them, "what became of your last commander?"
"Don't know really." Answered Blaise. "He left in the dead of night. Haven't seen or heard of him since. It was pretty weird. He had only been here for a couple of weeks and one night he just left. Didn't leave a note and didn't even bother to take any of his things."
"Hm." Muttered Draco as he furrowed his brow. He then began to walk around the couch when he suddenly tripped on a pile of unseen clothes. He managed to catch himself on the side of the couch, saving himself from a rather embarrassing fall.
"Don't you guys ever clean this place?! It looks like a garbage heap!"
"Well, it does have that lived in look." Said Victor as he took a cigar out of his mouth.
"Besides, cleaning takes too much effort." Said Frank.
"Can't you guys just use a cleaning spell or something?"
"No." Frank answered.
"Why?"
"Because we don't know any." Blaise replied. "Why don't you use a cleaning spell if the place disgusts you that much?"
"I don't know any either. Malfoys never have to trouble with something so lowly as cleaning." He said the last word as if it were something that tasted rather nasty. "Okay, the first thing we do is hire someone to clean this place up. I refuse to take my life in my hands every time I walk down those stairs, praying to God that I don't trip over the mounds of clothes and garbage and break my neck."
The Death Eaters just shrugged.