Disclaimer: I'm just taking them out to play. Like sick little marionette dolls. Yep.
A/N: BIG thanks to all of those who reviewed. I'm glad you all found the last chapter amusing. I know I had fun plotting it ::grin::
Okay, 2 chapters in 2 days. I so deserve a cookie. Or something equally as cool.
Well...this'll be a different chapter. Yet again, we have a run in with our favorite Dark Lord. Y'know, I'm really starting to like him. I mean yeah, he's evil. But he's an structured evil. At least that's how I view him.
The inner circle was alot bigger than Severus remembered. And for the first time in over 10 years, there was an outer circle as well. The ranks had clearly swelled as of late, the numbers of death eaters expanded.
He looked around impassively, not wanting to draw attention to himself. He was extremely curious as to who the recent members were. Of course, it was close to impossible to figure out who his fellow death eaters were, while they had their masks on at least.
Severus didn't waste time trying to scrutinze the identities of those in the outer circle. With any luck, they'd end up revealing themselves. The outer circle tended to consist of the duller, less intelligent lackeys of the Dark Lord, and it was given that sooner or later they'd screw up.
Now the inner circle was a very different matter. Normally, the Dark Lord prefered to keep his closest followers to a small number, around twelve of so. But a quick count showed that there was 24 in attendance. An uncharacteristic amount. Perhaps some of the new recruits had gotten confused and stood in the inner circle by mistake?
No, not possible. Surely Lucius and perhaps Bellatrix would have noticed and properly punished the offenders. They were very protective of their positions of honor in the death eaters, expecially after their escape from Azkaban.
The actual escape was rather uneventful. Dumbledore had been more than expecting it, putting Lucius and the rest in there after the incident in the Ministry of magic two years ago had been more of a stalling tatic. The Dementors had once again joined the Dark Lord's cause, and promptly released the entirety of Azkaban earlier this year, when the order from the Dark Lord came.
Was that a glimpse of red hair he saw? He glanced discreetly to his right. He wouldn't be the least surprised if it was Percy Weasley. The boy was a pain in the arse. Oh well, nothing to be done about him now.
Severus shifted slightly, refusing to give into the cold by shivering. He wished he could cast a warming charm, or that he had had the sense to cast one earlier. But pulling out his wand in this crowd could mean death. Though unlikely, it was still a possiblity.
Finally, when Severus had begun to think that the eerie silence was starting to get to him, the Dark Lord arrived. True to his fashion, he arrived in a most dramatic way, popping out of no where grasping a thin man by the neck.
The only sound that was being heard now were the desperate chokes of the man as he struggled to breathe. If Severus wasn't so desensitized to this sort of thing, he might have felt pity for the man. But instead, there was only apathy. Another nameless face in the myriad of people that he didn't, couldn't, save.
"This" the Dark Lord began, letting the man drop the the floor. "Is an example of filth of the worst kind."
The thin man on the floor was hacking terribly, his coughs uncontrollable as he lay in a ungraceful heap on the cold ground.
"He is a traitor." he said simply. Severus thought he might have heard a low growl from the spot where he knew Bellatrix stood.
The Dark Lord took notice of his follower's anger and discontent, and continued "Not to us."
Which immediately caused confusion among the ranks. What on earth was the Dark Lord talking about?
"There is nothing worse than a traitor, a turncoat. Whether they are ours, or our enemies." the Dark Lord lectured in a deathly still tone, his voice devoid of any emotion.
"If you are going to fight for a cause, you need to be for it 100 percent of the way. Anything less than that, and this is your fate." Passion slowly crept into the Dark Lord's voice, as he kicked the offending man in the stomach.
"I will not, not stand for anything less than your best. I have no use for pitiful excuses, handicaps you believe you have, or any such nonsense. I will have your best." the Dark Lord demanded.
"This man, is the one who made our next move possible." he spat, clearly showing his opinion that the person before him was a pitiful excuse for a human being.
"With the information that he willingly provided, we will storm Hogwarts, and put an end to this once and for all." the Dark Lord said, his very words penetrating into the very cores of his followers. The end.
There was some mumuring in the back, almost directly behind Severus. As much as he wanted to turn around and see who it was, as many other were doing, he remained facing forward, his eyes on the Dark Lord and the pitiful man. For once, Severus agreed with the Dark Lord. This traitor should die. After all he's jepordized for them. For him.
The Dark Lord strode over, obviously angry at this interruption. He stood next to Severus, not leaving the sanctity of the Inner Circle. "You had something to say?" the Dark Lord asked dangerously. His voice held the promise of pain.
The hooded figure he was looking at with his serpentine eyes started trembling, shaking so hard that Severus wondered if he would fall.
"H..Ha..Harry P..p..Potter, sir." he finally stuttered out.
The Dark Lord's eyes narrowed, but he took it all in stride. "Avada Kedavra." He simply said, and with a torrent of green light the man fell lifeless into the grass.
"Let that be a lesson. To all of you." The Dark Lord said, in almost too-calm of a voice. His eyes raked the crowds of his followers.
"I will tell you now and I will notsay this again." he paused. "Harry Potter is nothing, nothing compared to me." he finally spat out.
"The only reason he is still alive today is due to his damned luck and the good graces of Albus Dumbledore." he continued. "Do not think otherwise."
"Avada Kedavra!" he roared suddenly, frightening everyone, for they each assumed that the curse was aimed for them.
The man from before, the traitor, was dead. It was really a blessing in disguise. For if the Dark Lord had not been so impulsive, his death would have surely been much longer and much more painful.
"Leave. Be prepared to be summoned at any time." He said, slightly calmer.
Snape prepared himself to disapperate, when he felt a cold, thin hand on his shoulder. He fought the urge to shrug it off.
"You stay Snape. I want to speak to you." the Dark Lord ordered. Severus could never figure out how he knew each one of his death eaters, even when their masks where on.
"As you wish, my lord." he nodded subserviently.
The pair waited for everyone to disapperate, though Lucius took his time in doing so. He was obviously irritated that he had not been asked to stay.
The Dark Lord meandered over to the dead body of the turncoat, turning it over nonchalantly with his foot.
"Who was he?" Severus asked. He was very curious as to who the snitch could be. He already had several ideas in his head as to who the culprit was.
"It is of no consequence." The Dark Lord replied simply, not willing to give out the information.
"I want you to get your wife out of Hogwarts." he ordered, making hard eye contact with Severus.
"My Lord?" he asked, conveying his confusion. Or so the Dark Lord would percieve it. Severus just wanted to know why he wanted Hermione out of there.
"You have done well with the girl, very well. Congradulations on providing me with a son." the Dark Lord told Severus.
My son, Severus thought. Mine. Thank Merlin for Occlumency, otherwise he'd surely be in pain right now.
"I believe the congradulations are yours, sir." he said with difficulty, although the Dark Lord didn't pick up on it.
If Severus didn't know better, he would have thought the Dark Lord was smiling. Smiling!
He certainly sounded pleased as he continued "I need you to make sure that she's in a safe place, away from the battle and Hogwarts."
"I understand, my lord. I will do so. When does she need to be out of Hogwarts?" Severus asked, hoping to get an idea of when the attack would be.
"Get her out tommorrow. I don't want her anywhere near there."
"Of course my lord." Severus answered.
Funny how sometimes their goals seemed to be exactly the same.
A/N: Ooh. Snape's getting protective.
Anywho, lemme know whatcha think.