When Stella and Draco got home, they were in horrible trouble. The Slytherins talked about it before they got there. Lucius was furious. The boy, named John, who let Stella borrow his broom, was fortunately paid for by her dad. Nacrissa was just horrified and hardly said anything.

All of them were in a room with a few couches and a warm fireplace, arguing. The other Slytherins supported Draco on his idea that Stella started it all. Stella was trying to argue, but there were so many boys that shouted against her opinion. The truth was the Slytherin's story was exaggerated and mostly false, and Stella was just saying the truth. Lucius just sent the Slytherins out and his children were both sent to their rooms.

It was nine o'clock, and Stella was in her bed. The lights were shut out but she heard some talking downstairs. She covered her head with a pillow to muffle the noises some more, but she was curious who was here. Hardly anyone visits this place. She got up, put some black robes on and quietly, without making a sound, sneaked out of her room. She walked around the corner of her room slowly and looked downstairs. There were three men, two in large black cloaks, sitting near the fireplace. One, she soon realized, was her dad, and the other two she couldn't recognize or didn't know. One of the two strangers was a bit shorter than the other one and had his hood off. She moved closer but kept out of sight.

"Quite a neat place you've got here, Lucius," said the short one. He reminded Stella of a rat.

"Thanks," muttered Lucius.

"Draco is nearly a Death Eater, eh?" said the taller one. He had this very cold, hiss-like, voice. Stella shivered.

"Yep," muttered Lucius.

"What the heck is a Death Eater? What are they talking about? And what does my brother have to do with it?" Stella thought.

"How old is he again?" said the taller stranger.

"Sixteen," muttered Lucius.

"Well, time flies. Just two more years and he'll be learning the curses."

"Yep."

She had no clue about what on earth they're talking about. She suddenly heard some odd hissing sounds.

 "I heard you had a daughter."

"Oh… Uh… Yeah, she's eleven."

"Thanks for talking about me to these people I don't even know daddy… and you said I should stay away from strangers… WELL GEE, why didn't YOU think of that?" she thought sarcastically.

"Starting Hogwarts I see… Make sure you tell your son to keep her away from the brat and Dumbledore."

"He knows already."

The hissing noise grew louder and odder.

"Good. Is she supposed to be in bed?"

"Uh… Yes, why?"

"Nagini tells me she's up there." The taller man pointed almost directly at Stella.

Stella shivered and looked around her nervously. There was no human but she saw a green snake at her foot, which was hissing at her face as she stared. She screamed and ran downstairs and hugged Lucius tightly.

"I AM SO SORRY BUT THERE WAS A SNAKE OVER THERE AND IT LOOKED AS IF IT WAS ABOUT TO KILL ME - KILL IT, KILL IT, KILL IT!" she screamed.

There was a short silence. After a few seconds the two strangers laughed.

Lucius shoved her off, "Stella, everyone else is sleeping!!" he whispered loudly, "Go to bed!"

"But –"

"Now!"

"But who -"

"Now! I'll tell you tomorrow!"

"There IS a SNAKE over there!"

"Nagini is harmless, little girl!" laughed the taller man. Stella shot a glare at him.

"Hey! If you call me a little girl again I s-swear I'll – mufun fuufmm!" Lucius put his hand over Stella's mouth before she could finish her threat.

Lucius was sweating. "What – is – WRONG – with – you – TODAY?!?!" he whispered loudly and sharply in her ear.

"Aw, Lucius, don't worry," said the smaller man.

"She's supposed to be grounded," muttered Lucius.

"Really?"

"Yes, Wormtail."

"So that's his name – mmfym!" said Stella, muffled by Lucius's hand again.

"Shut – UP!!" whispered Lucius angrily.

"Hey, calm down -" said Wormtail.

"Let her go," said the tall one.

Lucius let go suddenly and sat down. Stella sat down as well. There was a long silence, and luckily, no one woke up from the racket downstairs. Stella scratched the back of her head.

Lucius broke out, "Oh Merlin! She's supposed to be in bed!"

"You'll wake the dead by yelling Lucius. She'll fall asleep eventually," said the taller one.

"Who are you?" asked Stella.

"I'm Voldemort," said the tall one. Everyone else, except Stella, shuddered at the name.

"Okay… Mr. Voldemort… I would like to know what's going on. First, what is a Death Eater? What does my brother has to do with it? Wha- MUNMFUU!!" Lucius placed his hand over her mouth and dragged her to another room.

"Stop Lucius! Do I have to repeat myself?" snapped Voldemort.

Lucius dragged her back to her seat.

"Good. Let me ask a few questions myself. Why didn't you tell me you had a daughter?" Voldemort asked Lucius.

"Uh… Nacrissa… Did… It was her idea…" mumbled Lucius, nervously.

"Excuse me? Speak up!" snapped Voldemort.

Lucius suddenly spoke properly, "My wife and I adopted her when she was five. We, uh, didn't talk much…"

"Ah. So you're telling me that you didn't talk about her to anyone and managed to not talk about me and the Death Eaters?!?"

"Uh… Yeah, um, I guess."

"You fool…"

"Uh…"

"Well, Stella," said Voldemort, looking at Stella now.

"Erm, yes?" she said.

"Let me explain in the most simple words… Your daddy is a Death Eater. He works for me. I'm his master."

Stella's jaw dropped a little, "W-What?? That's ridiculous…"

"It is, isn't it? That's because you didn't know," Voldemort shook his head. "Do you know the difference between muggle-borns, half-blood, and pure-blooded people?"

"No…"

"Lucius, why?" asked Voldemort, turning to Lucius right now.

"I thought Nacrissa would tell her," said Lucius.

"It turns out she didn't, huh? Well…" Voldemort turned to Stella, "You do know what a muggle is, right?"

"I guess…" she said.

"You guess?"

"It's a person that can not perform magic?"

"Right! What's a muggle-born?"

"I-It's a person who was born from a muggle family?"

"Is that a question or an answer?"

"… Both."

"Is a muggle-born a wizard or a muggle?"

"… Muggle?"

Voldemort was silent for a while, and then he said, "How about a pure-blood, Stella?"

"… Muggle?" she said.

Voldemort got up, stood silent and angry. After a while he said, "Lucius, get out of my face before I decide to kill you…"

Lucius ran quickly out of the room. He tripped on a few things but managed to get out anyway. Voldemort sat back down.

"This is going to take all night…" he said.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Author's Note:

Sorry it took so long to upload. Because of one of my latest stories, The Bad Fanfiction Express, got removed, I wasn't allowed to upload until 4-29-2004. I don't understand WHY they removed it. It wasn't a mst, or a "interactive" fiction… WEIRD…