Authors Note: I don't really have much to say except that I wrote this in France on the one day when I had some computer time and felt inspired...please tell me what you think!! And also, help with title and chapter names would be greatly appreciated...

The Dark Side

Chapter 1

Reunited

Draco sighed, glancing around the table with utter contempt and boredom written in his

face. He had been forced to sit through these events since he was a child of seven years old. His

father, being prestigious in the ministry and other highly renowned groups in the wizarding world,

was constantly holding functions and dinners at the Malfoy Manor. This event, although slightly

different than the others, was just as dull. Since his father had been caught by Harry Potter

(Draco cringed outwardly at the mere thought of the name) things had been different around

Malfoy Manor. From the time school ended until now, his fathers first night home and out of

Azkaban prison, there had been noticeable changes taking place. Firstly, the manor did not run

with the marked efficiency that it had in the days before his fathers departure. Normally, the

house would be the centre of non-stop dinners, balls, and "meetings".

When his father had been captured, Narcissa, Dracos mother, had not left her bed

chambers, and the houselves had been slacking off. No matter how many times Draco

reprimanded them, the consistently forgot to dust the mantelpiece and stair rail. No matter how

much practice he had, and no matter how many times he tried, he could never get quite the air of

command and distain in his voice that his father had mastered so perfectly. Just the sound of his

voice was enough to make anyone, Draco included, shudder with fear. Upon hearing that tone,

people were filled with a desire to do whatever Luscious suggested.

This was a gift, an art, of speaking to people and getting them to want to do what you

wanted them to do. This was part of the reason that Luscious was such a worthy and valued

servant of the Dark Lord. This was also the reason that Luscious had so much influence in the

ministry and had so many highly placed friends. It was also the reason that his marriage to

Narcissa Black had been a success. It was the reason that Luscious had done as well as he had

done in life.

Tonight, the purpose of the meeting being held at Malfoy Manor was to make a plan of

action on the elimination of Harry Potter. All of the Death Eaters who had been captured by

Harry Potter and Dumbledore were rejoining the ranks of the Death Eaters and being filled in on

what had been happening. Luscious was going to be a very busy man. His first task was to get

back in to the good graces of the ministry, and then to get his fellow Death Eaters back in

favour, their reputations clear. Fudge would be easy, his mind was easily moulded. All it would

take was a few well worded articles from Reeta Skeeter and Fudge would turn on Dumbledore

again. Reeta had been quite instrumental in the fall of Dumbledore and Harry Potter, although it

was a pity that Hermione had found out about her secret. That article had ruined quite a lot of

work.

"You'll just have to submit the articles under a faux name, the Granger mud blood will never

suspect." Draco heard the wheedling voice of his father state from his right. "Those articles, as

well as our influence in the Daily Prophet is imperative, you understand Reeta." His father said,

looking at a fidgeting Reeta. She was wearing a red tailored suit, the same shade of red as her

long, pincer like talons that passed as fingernails. In her hand she was clutching an alligator

handbag and a pad of paper. Under Luscious praise and assurances of her importance, she

relaxed slightly, just as everyone did when they were in Luscious favour.

Lucious was treading on thin ice here, and everyone at the table excluding Reeta herself

knew it. She was not only key in the bringing of the Death Eaters back into the favour of the

minister, but also in the eyes of the public. It would be the public who would eventually decide

whether or not the Death Eaters would be successful, which was why fear was such a useful

weapon. People tended to be easily convinced of many things when blinded by fear, or even if

they were not blinded, all were too weak to stay opposed to Voldemort when faced with what

he was capable of.

"Yes, yes of course!" She said, jotting something down on her paper. "I'll have to put just

the right spin on it, Dumbledore; crazy, had us all fooled, scheming to take over as minister...that

kind of thing."

"Yes Reeta, that's exactly what we want." Luscious assured her, with the air of talking to an

over excited five year old who had just received a great treat. Reeta chewed on the end of her

pen, twisting a lock of hair around her figure.

"Only, how exactly am I supposed to prove these claims?" Reeta asked, coming back

down to earth. She really was rather thick, as Draco had learned in his fourth year when she

had been routing around for information on Hermione and Harry, he and his friends had been

only too pleased to oblidge.

"The same way you did it with Potter a little while back. Use your animargus form, do some

snooping, maybe an interview or two with outside sources, talk to Dumbledore and get quotes

that you can manipulate. Why do I need to go over this with you every time? You're good at

what you do, so just do it!" Luscious sounded a little peeved now, but delivered the last

statement in a way so that she could not be offended. He complemented her in a way that made

it sound bad. Reeta sank a little lower in her seat, looking scared, but still writing fast. Some of

the other Death Eaters traded impressed looks. Draco couldn't help but feel a small bubble of

pride welling up in his chest; his dad was so feared and respected, it would be a life

accomplishment for Draco to measure up to the man his father was. "Reeta, we need you, and

we need these articles."

"Yes, but isn't it rather, mean?" She asked, hesitant, yet also determined.

"Reeta, Reeta, Reeta," wheedled Luscious. "You wouldn't want to find yourself in the same

position you were in last year, would you? Do you remember?" He asked her, threateningly, yet

in a dreadfully calm manor.

"No, no of course not. It will be in the press within the week." She told him.

"Not good enough, I want it in tomorrows paper, I'll be expecting it." He told her. Some of

the other Death Eaters looked nervous now, was it really wise to push her so? Yet Draco had

all the confidence in the world that his father knew exactly what he was doing, and glancing at

aunt Bella, he had no need to worry. She was lounging in her seat, scanning the room lazily,

totally at her ease. She apparently had all the confidence in the world that Luscious could handle

it, and if he couldn't, well, he always had her as backup.

Reeta jumped up and scampered to the door, knowing that that was her cue to go. Draco

could see the expression of fear in her eyes, the same way he often felt around his father,

although after years of practice he was able to hide it.

"Now that she's gone, let's get down to business, who's taking notes?" Said Luscious,

changing his tone so that it was crisp and authoritative. He pointed to Vincent Crabbe and

signalled a houself to come forward. The houself had been sitting in a corner, waiting for the cue.

It silently bore a silver tray with wine and wine glasses. Luscious poured himself a glass, sipped

and set the glass down. A moment later his expression changed, he threw the glass on the floor,

spewing wine from his lips and in to the face of the elf, and knocked the tray out of the

houselves hands. "You call this red wine? I call this utter rubbish, bring me the 1872 bottle, now!

Don't just stand there!" Luscious yelled at the terrified elf. It scampered away, eyes down, feet

stumbling slightly. Draco thought there was something familiar in this elves manor and

appearance. The way its ears flapped and its eyes widened.

When the elf returned Luscious tasted the wine and sighed with pleasure, sinking back into

his seat, signalling the other elves forward to serve his guests with a slight flick of his wrist. The

long, hard oak table was almost full, save for the empty seat Reeta had filled moments before.

His father was at one end of the table with Narcissa to his right and Draco to his left. At the

other end of the table there was an empty seat, sometimes filled by the Dark lord himself. The

lengths of the table were filled by the numerous Death Eaters, Crabbe, Goyle, Mcnare, Belatrix,

the whole crowd of familiar faces.

Belatrix looked at Draco through hazy, heavily lidded eyes, she was sitting next to him upon

her own request. This was normally the point in the dinner when Draco and his mother would

leave while the Death Eaters discussed plans and future targets. Draco, on cue, stood up, as did

his mother.

"Sit Draco!" Commanded Belatrix, or Aunt Bella as Draco called her. She had always been

his favourite Aunt, his mothers cousin really, so not technically his aunt, but they had been raised

as sisters, and he was always told to refer to her as Aunt Bella. He did whatever she said, for

she, like his father, had that air of command that demanded the attention and obedience of her

audience. He sat, his mother mirrored him. "You can go Narcissa." She said disdainfully. "I think

it is about time he joined the ranks of the Death Eaters, wouldn't you agree Luscious." She

drawled in her thick accent, relict to the years she had spent stationed in France. There were

murmurs around the table from the other Death Eaters. "Silence! Luscious, do you agree, or

no?" Bella asked. Draco tensed, and she removed her hand from his arm where she had

grasped it restrainingly. Draco had long dreamed of serving as a Death Eater beside his father,

but he was not quite sure he was ready yet. He had seen the things they did to each other, and

could not and did not want to imagine the things they did to others.

Yet, perhaps it would be safer to be a Death Eater, that way they would not kill him, and

Dumbledore did not have enough backbone to kill anyone. That was the difference between him

and the Dark Lord. That and that the Dark Lord was on the rise and Dumbledore was going

downhill. It did not matter what Draco wanted, however, it all depended on what his father said.

"He is a bit young, Bella. He is still in school after all. Perhaps next year when he can

perform magic and apperate-"

"Nonsense, he can perform magic. He is a big boy, aren't you Draco." It was not a

question, so he did not respond. "Besides, he is now perfectly positioned to suit our needs. We

need someone to infiltrate their ranks, and we need someone who can get to Potter without

suspicion. It is time Luscious, you cannot go on protecting him forever." She said, looking at his

father pointedly and implying something Draco did not understand. What did she mean,

protecting him? From what?

"Yes, of course Bella, that's all well and good, but we do not want the ministry on our tale

about underage magic of all things. And he would not be able to attend meetings during school,

there would be suspicion aroused." Luscious said, fidgeting nervously and averting his eyes from

Draco. He was apparently disturbed by what she had said. Draco had never seen his father like

this before.

"Well of course not, and there would be certain necessary precautions taken, of course, but

I think it is time he knew what we are doing here, what we are planning and what we're all

about."

"And what do you think He would say about all this?" Luscious asked her nervously.

"Draco is rather young after all, do you think He would approve?"

"If by 'He' you mean my Lord Voldemort," there were shivers around the table, Luscious

himself cringed slightly. Draco showed no emotion at all, he had heard the name before, and

although he would not go so far as to use it himself, he could see nothing wrong with saying it.

Unless the Dark Lord himself would appear suddenly whenever someone said his name, then

there was no reason not to say it. It was, after all, merely a name. Bella appeared indifferent to

the reaction she got to the name. "He was asking about it just the other day, he wanted to know

how old the boy was, and whether or not he was going to become a Death Eater. Of course,

we all knew the Draco would. He's a Slytherin, a Malfoy, part Black, and a wonderful wizard,"

Bella ticked off on her figures, giving him a favouring smile. "Of course he would become a

Death Eater.

Draco cringed inwardly-he did not let any emotion register on his face during a moment

when his fate was being decided and an entire room of powerful wizards was staring at him-

upon hearing this, his fate had been sealed the day he was born solely because of his parents.

Sometimes he envied mud bloods, if only for their freedom to choose their paths. Not that he

would ever want to be a mud blood, that would be beyond unthinkable.

"Well, I suppose so then, Draco, from now on you are a Death Eater, you will stay at these

meetings with us and will attend all of the ones we have when you are not in school." He said the

last part slightly louder and more firmly, looking around the table, challenging anyone who

thought to argue with this. Bella raised her eyebrows, but did not speak. "Happy Bella?"

Luscious taunted, knowing that this was not enough for her, but also knowing she could do

nothing to change what he had said.

"Of course Luscious," a faint smile was creeping in to her eyes, as if she had some secret

that kept her going. A secret no one else knew. "But you do know that I am not the person you

need to please. It is Voldemort who will decide who is happy in the end." Everyone except

Draco cringed at the sound of the name, and in the silence that followed this statement, there

was a distinct shudder that ran around the table. Luscious said nothing, although he looked

slightly uneasy.

Authors Note: Ok, so please review and tell me what you think!! I really do have some good ideas, and am, as always, open to any suggestions or critisms that you may have. All of the hinting that I did in that chapter was not just for fun, it really did have a purpose, and I am not, as I normally do, making this up as I go along, I have an actual plotline for his one-well, at least I think I do...anyway, tell me what you think!! Jules