Chapter Four

Karen struggled to pull away from her captor, but found it was to no avail. Her heart beat faster as the facts settled in. She heard the woman mutter, "Immobulis." and found it impossible to move.

The woman checked her pockets and took her wand. It was all she had in her pockets. She walked across the room to where Voldemort sat in his throne of stone. Karen was sure her heart would explode, it was beating so fast. The woman laid the wand on one of the armrests.

Voldemort picked up the wand, examining it. "You left so quickly last time Karen. I didn't have a chance to have a proper talk with you." He stood up, walking closer to her. "Bella, take the spell off."

The woman nodded and with a flick of her wand, Karen was able to move again. "So, Karen. Tell me honestly, and I will know if you're lying, did you know that your dear Professor was going to use a Port-key?"

She shook her head quickly. "No sir, I didn't."

"Master! You will address me as your master!"

"No m-master...I didn't know." She stuttered. She gripped the seams of her cloak to stop her hands from shaking.
"Why should I believe you?" He asked. He put his hands behind his back and paced slowly in front of her. He reminded her of a vulture just waiting for its prey to make a mistake.

"I never said you had to. I just told you the truth, nothing else. Besides how would I know Professor Snape was going to use a Port-key? Until you said his name I didn't even know he was a Death Eater."

Voldemort's lips curled into a satisfied smile. "A bit snippy isn't she, Bella?"

Bellatrix's Polyjuice Potion had worn off while Voldemort had been speaking to Karen and the trusting face she had worn before was replaced by something worse. Her face was gaunt-like and her eyes seemed to be rather dull. There seemed to be little life left in her. Even the smirk on her face held no real happiness.

"Yes my Lord, she is. We can fix that easily."

This seemed to bring some pleasure to Voldemort's face. "Yes. Yes we will, but I want the others here. It does get rather boring with only one tormentor."

Karen's eyes widened. They weren't talking about torture, were they? She had been forced to watch Harry's torture, and it had been more than she could bear to watch him shrieking and thrashing on the floor.

"Please, Master!" Karen begged, "Please don't hurt me!"

Voldemort only laughed.

"Please! I will obey!"

Voldemort walked closer to her, lifting her chin so she was looking into his eyes. They were black. Karen guessed that before he had become hideous he had blue eyes. The longer she stared into them, the more she could see almost a bluish tinge around the iris.

"Yes I know you will obey. Once you've found out what the consequences are when you don't obey." He let her head droop.

There was nothing she could do. She wanted to scream, beg him to not hurt her, do anything, but she knew it would be futile. There was no point. She would suffer and there was no stopping it. She sank backwards, drawing her knees to her so she would have something to hold onto.

She was snapped out of her daze when she felt a sharp, burning pain on her forearm. She didn't have to look to know what it was. The Dark Mark. Voldemort had pressed his finger against Bellatrix's and was summoning his followers to him. Before she knew it, the Death Eaters were appearing, forming a circle around her.

Since Lucius and many others were in Azkaban, Bellatrix was Voldemort's closest follower. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad since there weren't as many as them. Well, that was all the she could hope for...

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Snape knew something was wrong when he felt the burning of the Dark Mark. Voldemort never summoned them for meetings at such close intervals. The normal time between each meeting was two to three weeks. He must have captured someone. They didn't necessarily have to be important. But who could it be? He must be calling them for a torture session. The Dark Lord bored too easily when he watched only one or two Death Eaters torturing a victim. Their spells didn't vary enough for him.

He looked at the clock. It was five-thirty. There was something he was supposed to do, but he couldn't remember what it was.

As he tried to remember what it was he forgot, he drifted from the subject of who could have been captured. Suddenly it came back to him. Karen Shan! He was supposed to meet Shan and the Ministry worker at the main doors to ensure that she got back safely. How could he be so stupid? He had done this before on many other occasions when students had left for funerals. Why did he forget now? It must have been all the things he had on his mind lately.

He got up quickly and half-ran out of his office. When he reached the main doors no one was there. He was about to leave and check the Great Hall; after all she could have already gotten there and headed for dinner early, when the door opened. Mrs. Cunningham looked out of breath and worried about something. Karen wasn't with her.

"Excuse me, where is Karen Shan?" He asked politely, although anger was already boiling inside him. If something had happened to her he could be blamed easily.

"She's gone!" she cried. "She was talking to one of her relatives and when I turned to get her she was not there!"

Snape's eyes widened slightly, "What did she look like?"

"I...I..." she stuttered.
"What did she look like!" he shouted, growing very impatient.

"I don't know..."

Snape turned and left the woman standing at the door. He had to tell Albus immediately. The woman had to be a Death Eater.

"Ice Mice." He said when he reached the stone gargoyle. The statue hopped out of the way and a set of stairs revealed themselves. He hurried up the stairs and knocked on the door when he reached the top. He stood there impatiently.

Finally, Dumbledore's voice called out, "Come in."

He pushed open the door. Dumbledore was seated behind his desk and Fudge was standing near by.

"Excuse me for interrupting, Headmaster, but I must speak with you. It is a matter of great importance." Snape said quietly.

"No, no, Severus you have no need to apologize. The Minister and I were just discussing one of your students." Dumbledore said gravely.

"One of my students, sir?"

"Yes, the Minister has informed me that someone believed Karen Shan to be a Death Eater. I was just telling him it was a preposterous idea that one of the students became a Death Eater!"

"Who said this?" Snape asked.

"They wished to remain anonymous!" Fudge said matter-of-factly. "So, professor, you would know your students better than anyone else. Do you think it's possible that Shan is a Death Eater?"

"No. It isn't," he lied.

"Really? And what did you need to speak to the Headmaster about so urgently?" Fudge asked.

"That's none of your business!" Snape shouted.

Fudge only smirked. "My, my, Albus. Your Potions Master sure has a temper! He could just be found unsafe to teach!"

"Please Severus...go on." Dumbledore said pleadingly.

Snape sighed. "I just met Mrs. Cunningham at the door. She was supposed to bring Karen back from her uncle's funeral. She came back without her, saying that Karen had been talking to one of her relatives when she and the 'relative' disappeared."

"Hah! You see!" Fudge cried triumphantly, "She is a Death Eater! Why else would she disappear! She isn't important enough for You-Know-Who to kidnap her!"

Snape sneered at Fudge. He was a moron.

"I think you should leave, Minister, if you aren't going to do anything to help recover Miss Shan. You will only be in the way."

Fudge looked crestfallen for a moment before he turned away defiantly and stormed out of Dumbledore's office.

"Now that that's taken care of..." Dumbledore said more to himself than Snape.

"What are we going to do, Albus?" Snape asked, looking to his colleague for reassurance.

"I don't know Severus...I really don't know."
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A/N: Sorry this one took so long but I had to re-write half of it because it got deleted. Anyway, PLEASE review! I really enoy your comments and love to know how I could improve the chapters and my writing.

Disclaimer: See Chapter one