In the evening I trudged towards Hagrid's Hut, half expecting that Severus had left without me. But there he was, his black cloak wrapped tightly around him, looking as pale as ever, though his eyes were glittering with excited anticipation.
"So you have decided to come," he said and his lips formed an almost invisible smile when he took my hand. "Come on then. There's not much time."
We ran onto the Quidditch pitch and Severus withdrew a small vial from under his robes.
"Drink," he said breathlessly, "but not the lot. That'll do. Give it to me now." He knocked back the rest of the green liquid and gave me a rushed look.
"Get onto the broom," he said while I was feeling my body getting all wobbly. "The effect won't last long. A few minutes, perhaps."
We lifted off the ground without exchanging another word, effortlessly passing the invisible security barriers and soon gliding through the frosty evening's breeze towards a dark-blue horizon. Across the Hogwarts walls, Severus's little Shooting Star went, over the glittering black lake and over the Forbidden Forest, heading towards a part of Great Britain I had never seen before. Almost everything was covered in dark gloom and the wind was howling around my freezing ears. I shivered.
"Lean against my back if you want," Severus said. "I am wrapped in about thirty layers of clothes." And indeed I could feel a thick woollen jumper through his robes when I laid my arms around his familiar waist.
We had been flying for what seemed endless hours when Severus suddenly reduced speed and drew a black piece of cloth from the pocket of his robes.
"Wrap this round your face," he said, handing it to me without turning. "He doesn't want us to recognise each other. ... Of course we often know whom we are talking to," he added as an afterthought, "but often it is rather comfortable to remain anonymous."
I fully agreed and made an effort to combine the two ends of the cloth at the back of my head. Severus pulled some kind of outsized hat with spy-holes over his black hair and accelerated again. The broom was speeding forwards like a bird, right above the trees of a fir forest now, which was still covered in thick, white snow. We had to be in the very North of Scotland.
"Won't be a minute now until we arrive at the building," Severus said with a tremble in his voice I chose to ignore. Then, suddenly, without a warning, he slowed down again and turned around, his expression, of course, not visible because of the mask he was wearing.
"Are you sure you want to come with me? I can still take you back, you know."
I gave him a surprised look.
"Severus," I said, "what is so wrong about it all of a sudden? You used to beg me to come along only a few years ago!"
"Yes... used to," Severus sighed. "Everything seemed easy and under control then..."
"What are you talking about?" I said doubtfully, slightly irritated by the vagueness of his statements. "Do you think I cannot do this?"
He shook his head. "The problem is - you can't just visit one of our meetings. If you decide to join me now, Florence, you're in. There's no turning back."
His expression was one of dead seriousness and I felt a slight confusion rise somewhere inside myself. More than once he had tried to have me on with this tone - with this look. I had usually got the better of him. But was he joking now?
"Are you being serious?" I asked quietly and he nodded.
"You can still change your mind now. But later there's no turning back." I looked into his eyes and for the first time in years recognised, deep inside him, the boy I had known so many years ago. In a somewhat subliminal way, of course, but I felt that the Severus today was still the same person, merely with a lot more experience - wherever it had come from. What had changed him so much? What had happened to us?
"I'll go back if you want me to," I said, "but I don't like it. Why should I? I said I'd come and that's what I want to do." Severus smiled and watched the horizon where the contours of a huge castle slowly appeared out of the twilight.
"I just want you to be sure about it," he said. "Because your decision must be final."
A few minutes later we arrived the castle, which seemed to stare at its late night visitors, gloomily, in an somewhat threatening manner. It took me a while to realise that this had to be the residence of Lucius Malfoy, my secret archenemy. This had to be the infamous Malfoy manor he had been talking about all his life at school. It was when Severus and I crossed the massive drawbridge and the gigantic wooden entrance gates that, for the first time, I felt something like fear. It suddenly became all too clear to me what Severus had been talking about when he had told me that there was no going back. I suppressed a shudder.
Severus seemed to know his way around, since he did not use the doorbell, nor did he ask to be admitted. Since there was no porter anywhere, no one seemed to take any notice of two visitors entering the castle on their own accord.
We entered a narrow building, using a small iron door that was situated at the other end of the inner courtyard, which we had crossed hastily without looking around. From here, a small staircase of massive wood lead to the underground vaults of the building and towards a single, extremely shabby door at the end of the corridor. Severus, who had determinedly approached it at first, hesitated for a second before opening it at last.
I held my breath and cautiously peered into the dark room. The light of the torches revealed a pile of black-cloaked, masked figures and I suddenly remembered that I was wearing a mask as well. The mere thought of it was such a great comfort that I was able to follow Severus into the semidarkness of the room without further hesitation.
The door slammed behind me with a bang and I noticed that the Death Eaters were sitting around the fire in a semicircle, though they didn't seem to be roasting anything. Severus, who took his place next to one of the many figures gave me a sign to take a seat as well. I hurried to follow his advice.
"Where is he?" Severus murmured towards the person next to him, who shrugged.
"Hasn't turned up since I arrived."
A quick look in my direction told me that Severus had recognised the man's voice. I, on the other hand, hadn't and continued to stare into the flames, which caused an painful sensation of complete safetly inside. Some of the Death Eaters chatted restrainedly, others stared into the fire like me. Nobody made any sudden movements. Every now and then another masked figure turned up, until the small room was almost bursting. Lord Voldemort would have a hard job entering it, I thought, in case he decided to turn up eventually.
A sudden bolt of lightning that seemed to emerge from the stone ceiling and right into the fireplace pulled me violently into the real world again. A couple of Death Eaters screamed, others jumped to their feet. Most of them, however, seemed to be used to this kind of entrance performance and got calmly to their feet. I got the impression they were silently laughing at the others, was, however, still unable to make out anything behind their masks.
I hadn't jumped or screamed, but my look was obviously a startled one, because Severus took my hand protectively and pressed it slightly against his own, warm body. I looked at him and noticed that his usually grave black eyes had adopted a gleam I had never seen in them before. When we looked back at the fireplace a gaunt figure had risen from the red flames and stepped out of it with a gleam of satisfaction on his snake-like expression. This, without a doubt, was Lord Voldemort.
The Death Eaters formed a semicircle around their Lord, who welcomed each of them individually. I heard the all-too-familiar, slippery voice of Lucius Malfoy, who professed his 'tremendous delight' to encounter his master once more. I recognised some of the other voices as well. There was Nostradamus Travers, whose parents were on friendly terms with my father, and whom I had always played hide-and-seek with as a child. And Mr. Rosier I recognized. Usually, when not masked, well-known face, appearing in the Daily Prophet every other day.
When Voldemort had reached Severus I once again noticed the strange gleam in the young Professor's eyes. Stronger this time, and with a touch of utter devotion.
"It is good to see you," Voldemort said in his unusual, high pitched whisper, "I appreciate your service, young Snape." After that, his eyes rested at my face and a glimpse of surprised recognition was gliding over his face.
"Florence Dyker. Such an unexpected pleasure to have you with us." I wondered what on earth people were wearing masks for, if the Dark Lord mentioned the name of each of them anyway. It was only later that I understood all this secretiveness to be more ritual than necessary on the one hand, and that, on the other hand, there were Death Eaters whom the Dark Lord never addressed directly. Some also never spoke on their own accord.
I remained silent for a few seconds and stared back into the unbending, red eyes in front of me. Lord Voldemort was not only unattractive, but his whole appearance unmistakably resembled a snake. Afraid such a powerful wizard might be able to read minds I quickly banned those thoughts from my memory, however, and continued looking at him, displaying as much devotion on my face as I could muster, but also actually feeling the thrill for which I had come. A pleasant prickle - an awareness to be standing in front of the mightiest wizard of all times.
"Master," I whispered. "To finally face you in person..." Lord Voldemort gave me a very snake-like smile. My words had hit his taste.
"Florence Dyker." He looked at Severus for a brief moment and have a short, hissing laugh. "A Dyker and a Snape - very tasteful, indeed."
And that was it. Still smirking he turned towards the next Death Eater, who flung himself to his knees and kissed the hem of his black robes. "My Lord, such an honour..."
Voldemort gave him a mirthless smile and turned towards the next person in the row. With a shudder I recognised the voice of one of our neighbours. Mrs. Lestrange, a young, black-haired witch, who was the owner of the huge garden where my friends and I had more than once lost our ball - and asked for permission to fetch it.
"Good work, Bella," Voldemort hissed almost inaudibly. "How did you manage the whole lot?"
"Got to know how," Mrs. Lestrange replied at the same level and Voldemort awarded her with an open laugh before turning towards the last Death Eater, being Mrs. Lestrange's reputedly deceased husband without a doubt.
When he had finished the whole lot the Dark Lord summoned a throne-like armchair, sat down and closed his eyes for a moment. The Death Eaters remained silent. No one moved and in the end Lord Voldemort, slowly and calculatingly, opened his gleaming red eyes again. He looked around in a thoroughly satisfied manner.
"The world belongs to us," he finally announced. "I have seen it."
An excited muttering raised among the Death Eaters. They did not understand him.
"Since the beginning of this year," Lord Voldemort explained, "we have accomplished more than ever before in such a short amount of time. You, my group of closest followers, have achieved more than I would ever have expected of you, and I am therefore convinced that, powered by our determination and strength of mind, we will rule the world in less than a year... or at least the part that is worth ruling."
Some Death Eaters laughed nervously.
"However," said Voldemort, suddenly assuming an icy undertone, "we cannot afford to rest on our laurels just yet. There's still enough to do. We need to find allies in other countries as well who are going to support me with loyalty and strength. This is our job for the following weeks. This is going to be our aim."
The Death Eaters applauded. Lord Voldemort basked in his own glory at first, then continued to speak. He gave a detailed explanation on what he intended to do and how. He delegated and offered some kind of reward for those, who achieved the most. The atmosphere livened up and I was more and more carried away by the seemingly endless exaltation of everyone else. I cheered on Lord Voldemort's words along with them and listened eagerly to learn about his plans for the future.
In the middle of all the excitement the mood suddenly changed. The Dark Lord's voice became more dangerous - more focused - and the Death Eaters' cheering voices were glowing with devotion. There was some kind of music, apparently coming from the underground, and the celebration headed ecstatically towards its climax. What happened then came as a sudden blow. Ruthless and unforeseen.
Nothing around me seemed particularly clear. I was pushed forward and suddenly stood in front of the Dark Lord himself, who gave me a snake-like grin. I couldn't think of anything but smile back and allow myself to get carried away by the soft seduction that invaded my body cell by cell. Through all the voices, the music and the heat of the fire the Dark Lord actually seemed to turn into a snake... into a basilisk of unimaginable size, which lead me from one ecstasy into the next. My legs weren't working properly and I had the distinct impression that my head banged against the floor at some point. However, I felt neither pain nor confusion. I didn't feel anything for a while, apart from boundless, eternal satisfaction.
And then the bite came.
I shrieked in pain. My heart had stopped pounding for a second and my head was suddenly clear again. I saw a bunch of stars flicker around my head and felt... my arm burning. For the split of a second I thought there was actually a snake. That it had actually bitten me. But at that moment I saw the Dark Lord in his usual, human shape, standing in front of me, holding his wand at ease. His red eyes were boring into me, seeming to flip through every layer of my brain, which doubled the pain coming, very recognisably now, from the inner side of my left forearm. Pulling myself together I looked down and saw the flaming red mark, which had burned right into my flesh and not only parted my heart from the rest of my body for a second, but also, it seemed, my soul. I had got a glimpse of what the eternal purgatory had to be like. Shortly after that, I lost consciousness.