Chapter Eight - The Reunion

Chapter Eight - The Reunion

Narcissa sat in the small waiting room. Her face was burried in the heels of her hands and a cigarette was burning between her fingers. She was very shaken from the trip last week and even more shaken about something else.

Oh my god. I can't believe I married Lucius Malfoy.

She remembered very little about their marriage in a Vegas casino, but what she did remember wasn't pleasing to her. Her face contorted when she thought about living with that bafoon for the rest of her life.

I know, I'll just get our marriage annu-- I'll divorce that sonuvabitch! Ha ha, I'll leave his ass!

Narcissa cackled aloud, immersed in her new idea. She began to think of nothing but this, playing scenes over and over again until her conniving smile grew wider and wider.

"Mrs. Malfoy?"

Narcissa twisted her hands, cigarette in mouth, oblivious to the nurse.

"Mrs. Malfoy?"

The nurse was standing over her.

"Mrs. Malfoy! I have news for you!" the nurse said, half irritated, half excited.

Narcissa blinked, awakened from her pleasant daydream. She wasn't used to being referred to as "Mrs. Malfoy" and certainly was not going to get used to it.

"What is it?" she barked, her Brooklyn accent adding effect. "If it's about my ulcer, I could care le--"

"No! It's good news."

"Yeah?" she replied sarcastically.

"Mrs. Malfoy, you're pregnant."

Narcissa's mouth opened and her cigarette fell to the floor. She stared around the room in disbelief. She then began to beat her head against the table, screaming and almost sobbing.

"Damn those Vegas cocktails! Damn them to hell!"

Severus Snape, now a professor, was hardly pleased with his current position. Although he hadn't heard from Tom or Lucius for a very long time, the idiots he had the chore of teaching were eating away at what was left of his soul. He was so grateful that the school year was ending in a matter of days. It astonished him how they could sit there for hours on end and not take in a single word he said. But one day, something even more astonishing arrived by owl.

The note that fell directly into his scrambled eggs read:

To whom it may concern;

If one values his life, he will attend a certain meeting of the newly formed Death Eaters held tonight at 16 Jaques Avenue. Be prepared for a great misfortune should one refuse this invitation.

The invite didn't need to be signed, for Severus knew whom it was from. His insides turned over. He could only imagine how much "fun" it would be sitting in an empty warehouse with the people he had spent a year trying to forget.

This is going to be one bloody hell of an evening, he thought darkly.

Severus raised an eyebrow as he stood on the pavement in front of a run-down building.

"Please tell me ..." he began as he fumbled inside his pocket for the note he received earlier that day. He grumbled as he saw that he was at the correct address.

"Riddle has never been known for his taste in living quarters," he said as he approached the structure that read "The Fatty Club" in broken letters. His thoughts wandered from his old apartment, to Tom's less-than-substantial dorm at Hogwarts, and then to the old Riddle household. His thoughts were not positive when he reached for the dusty doorknob.

The door creaked and echoed through the very empty building.

Perhaps I'm early, he thought, even though he was slightly worried. Blood pounded in his ears when he caught sight of a small object sitting on the only piece of furniture in the room.

"Tom?!" he screamed as he ran closer to a small coffee table. His wild thoughts were confirmed when he stood at the table's edge. What looked like a human skull was perched on a frayed doily. Severus reached for it.

"Oh dear god, what have they do--"

Before Severus could finish his horror-stricken sentence, his feet left the ground. He felt like his stomach was about to leap up into his throat. When he thought he was about to lose his dinner, he stumbled onto a hard floor. He was on all fours and panting heavily.

A portkey, he thought. Should've known ...

"Well, well, look who decided to grace us with his presence!"

Severus looked up towards the ceiling to find himself gazing at the face of Forrest Lestrange, who was standing over him with an artificial air of superiority.

"A pleasure to see you as well, Lestrange," he said sarcastically.

Severus stood up and dusted off his robes. He found he was in a rather large room. The windows and doors were sealed and a swamp cooler was on full blast in one corner. There were couches and chairs and a podium.

The dark room was crowded, mostly with unfamiliar faces. Two burly men were poking at a small guy with glasses and brown hair that stood on end. In getting a closer look, Severus could tell that the large men were Crabbe and Goyle, and the smaller was Alan Stormer. He noticed a few others, but he didn't see Tom or--

"Severus!"

That high-pitched squeal of joy could only belong to one individual.

"Lucius--" Severus began as he was pulled into a bear hug.

"Sevey!" Lucius squeezed a little harder. "I missed you! Where have you been?! Tom's been worried sick!"

"I'm sure he has," Severus said cynically. "I've gotten a real paying job, Lucius. And what have you been doing?"

"Omigod, Sev, guess what!" Lucius was jumping from foot to foot in jocund anticipation.

"Hmm?"

"I. Got. MARRIED!" Lucius brandished a large diamond ring and shoved it into Severus' face.

"Isn't the woman supposed to wear that thing?" Severus implored.

"Oh, Narcissa doesn't like sparkly things," Lucius replied, admiring his ringed finger. "But I love the way diamonds shimmer in the sunlight! Don't you?"

"Well--"

"Guess what else!"

"What ever next, Lucius?"

"I've got myself a strapping young boy to carry on the family name! He's so adorable! You should see the way he knaws on Narcissa's ear!"

"Sounds charming, Lucius," Severus said, his gaze now fixed on a group of foreign wizards. "Where did all these people come from?"

"Tom has his ways," Lucius said with a broad grin. "He has such ambition! He set his mind on something and he followed through with it!" Lucius sighed. "Our little dark lord."

The already dark room was growing darker and a light shown on the podium. Severus and Lucius took their seats at an empty couch. The rooom flooded with applause as Tom Riddle stepped up to the podium. Tom's hair was very thin and he looked a little whiter than he had the last time Severus had seen him.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Tom began, motioning with his hands to quiet the excited crowd. "I thank you all for your support in attending this meeting."

Crabbe and Goyle began whooping from one corner of the room.

Tom tilted his head and ignored the two. "A very special thank you to Stormer for introducing the idea of a porkey to keep certain members from finding out the whereabouts of our secret organization's headquarters."

Severus narrowed his eyes as people laughed and clapped for Alan.

"And also to the Malfoys for their financial and moral support."

Lucius jumped up and pointed to himself as a weak applause sounded from the crowd. He bowed several times and whispered "thank yous" to no one in particular.

Tom organized some papers on the podium and cleared his throat.

"However, I regret to inform you that I will be leaving yet again," he said with fake sadness. Some members sighed and gasped. "But before I go, we must get some work done. Pettigrew! Assistance!"

At these orders, Peter Pettigrew came bounding out of a chair that seemed far too small to hold his weight. He was holding a chart and he pinned it to an old easel that was resting near Tom.

"What the hell is Pettigrew doing here?!" Severus demanded, managing to keep his voice low enough so that only Lucius could here him.

"Well ... " Lucius tapped his chin and his gaze wandered, and he eventually forgot he had started talking in the first place. Severus, slightly flustered, looked back at the head of the room.

The chart read "The Official Death Eaters Circle of Fun." Below that was a diagram of little stick firgures standing in a circle. Each was labeled.

"Now," Tom said, pushing Pettigrew aside and standing in front of the diagram. "Death Eaters, arise."

There was a scuffling sound of chairs and Tom's audience arose with difficulty, members pushing members and some even cracking chairs over each other's heads.

"Memo, Pettigrew," Tom said, and Peter whipped out a pad a paper and waited eagerly for Tom's next words. "We must work on this band of disobedient numb skulls." Peter knew by "we" he meant "you" and Peter scribbled Tom's command frivolously.

Amidst the crowd, Lucius waved his hands frantically. Tom caught sight of this and narrowed his gaze in disgust.

"What is it, Malfoy?"

"I was wondering, Tom, if may--"

Tom shuddered at the mention of his own name.

"Let me make it a point," he began, slowly and murderously, a vein in his forehead thumping slightly. "To abolish that name." He scoured the room with his penetrating gaze. "From here on out, I will be referred to as your supreme leader ... "

The Death Eaters waited anxiously as a sound resembling a drum roll sounded from behind their "supreme leader."

"... LORD VOLDEMORT!"

The Death Eaters stood wide-eyed in shock. A few started to chortle.

"Lord Voldemort?" an unfamiliar wizard blurted between fits of laughter. "That's a hoot and a half!"

A moment later, that wizard was nothing but a small spider scuttling on the floor. Tom blew smoke off his wand and looked at his hushed audience with his o-familiar stare.

"Let that be a warning to you misfits," he said. "Defiance is not tolerated."

There was an air of hushed tension hovering above the crowd.

"Now!" Voldemort said, clapping his hands together excitedly. "Let's get to the Circle of Fun!"

A few moments later, Voldemort and Pettigrew were assorting Death Eaters according to the diagram. In a relatively short time, most of the members were sorted.

"... And Snape, you get to stand next to Malfoy."

"Goody," Severus murmured from a crack in his mouth.

Lucius smiled faintly. He had a strange urge to do the Hokey Pokey in this large circle, but he refrained. Tom, well, this "Voldemort" fellow, was rather frightening.

When the circle was completed, Voldemort looked on with satisfaction.

"Remember your positions," he said, holding his hands behind his back and pacing around the circle. "Now, before I go, I will assign you each a mission."

The Death Eaters turned to one another in delight. Severus groaned.

Yipee, guess who gets to be the "Official Toilet Scrubber" he thought as he crossed his arms.

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