Chapter Five

Into the Enemy's Midst

A week later, I left 12 Grimmauld Place with my fist inside my cloak, clenched around my trusted wand, with the silent, hopeful "farewells" and "good lucks" trailing along after me. I wasn't too worried; I had already contacted someone who was quite certainly the enemy and I was meeting them far from here. As 12 Grimmauld Place shrank behind me, I turned on my heel, with a loud, resounding crack, I Disapparated.

I reappeared again at the fringes of a moor at almost the exact time my contact did. I didn't like him at all; he was weak-minded but powerfully built physically, and his eyes raked over my body as though with x-ray vision. I forced myself not to squirm. Then he grunted and yanked a cloth out of his pocket, swiftly spelling it for absolute darkness before tying it around my eyes.

"What are you doing?" I demanded, my voice quavering with forced fright.

"Just until we know you're trustworthy," he grunted, and then gripped my arm as we again Disapparated.

I forced my pounding heart to calm when we arrived, knowing, as he shoved my along a winding road, exactly where I was going, exactly whom I would see. "Where are you taking me?" I whispered, still unable to see.

There was the sound of a door opening and I was shoved through; after what felt like an age's walk through a winding, unpredictable building, there was another door that I was pushed through. I swallowed hard past a lump in my throat, forcing my mind blank as I felt the cloth around my eyes being clumsily undone. "Well, Blacnell?" a soft, silky voice said. "What have you caught today?"

I opened my eyes to find myself gazing into a face quite unlike Voldemort's; the man – yes, I was certain he was mortal – was perhaps in his mid- to late-thirties, with black, intelligent, probing eyes and pale skin, but not chalk-white, as Voldemort had been. He was very tall, about six inches north of six feet, and his blacker-than-night hair fell gracefully around his delicately chiseled features.

"She seemed a good choice, my Lord – a good head about her."

The man had eyes only for me; unlike Blacnell, he didn't look over my body, and I knew that he was searching for an opening to my mind. "Yes, Blacnell, you are dismissed," he said softly; his voice moved through the air like the finest silk. "You will receive your reward later."

Blacnell scuttled from the room, shutting the door behind him. The man slowly circled me once, and then leaned down to look into my eyes. "Tell me, child, do you know who I am?"

My voice quavered with the proper fear. "Yes, my…my Lord," I stammered out.

"Very good," he murmured, "very good. And do you know why you are here?"

I swallowed again and gained control of my voice. "To join you," I whispered, my voice barely audible; I did not look away from him. I felt him poking and prodding around my mind and let him see the non-incriminating memories – studying in the library at Hogwarts, going home on holidays to the Muggle world…

"Muggle-born; what a coincidence," he said, smiling almost indulgently. "So am I."

"Well, that was a surprise; even Voldemort had at least been half-blood. I just nodded, trying not to be too afraid, because I was afraid…I was terribly afraid, of being discovered, of betraying the Order on accident. For once, Snape had been right; spying was a tricky business. "You would be of use," he said softly. "I have few very trusted followers; their minds are weak, I cannot confide in them. You, however…so accomplished with spells and Legilimency…I believe I can trust you?"

Relief surged through me; I was safe. "Absolutely, my Lord," I answered, my voice quavering slightly.

He leaned down to my ear and murmured, "My name is Lord Verloren. And yours?"

So here it was, my first lie; I prayed fervently that it would not be my last. "Lily, my Lord," I said. "Lily Terran."

"Very well, Lily Terran," he said, and gripped my arm for a moment before releasing it. "Will you receive my Mark?"

"Yes," I managed.

"Kneel."

I knelt before him, feeling far from powerful. He lifted my right hand and cradled it in both of his, then reached for his wand and traced a shape on my palm, and then traced the shape again on his own. "Your wand."

Silently, I handed it to him, now fighting to keep from trembling. He murmured something, and our wands crossed, the tip of mine touching his palm, the tip of his touching mine. "Do you, Lily Terran, solemnly swear that you will forever remain loyal to me?"

I spoke clearly, my voice betraying none of my fear. "Yes, my Lord, I do."

"And do you forever promise to regard my life as your own, and yours as mine?"

"Yes, my Lord, I do."

Finally, his other hand gripped my left arm and he set me on my feet again. "And do you swear that you will do my bidding and my will for as long as I live?"

I swallowed once more, hard. "Yes, my Lord, I do."

Thin bands of black and purple light wound around our wands and our hands, where our fingertips touched; then they vanished into our skin. It reminded me of the Unbreakable Vow, though this was slightly different. I looked down at the shape now etched in my palm; it was a very simple drawing, a black, four-pointed star, with points of purple light forever moving in rotation around it. "If you ever need speak with me," he said softly, "touch your palm with your wand and say, Verloren. With the bond we now share, you can talk to me from the greatest distance imaginable." His eyes once again met mine. "We shall speak again tomorrow. Until then, Lily Terran, you are dismissed."

Trembling with exhaustion and fear, I Disapparated outside the building, appearing once again just outside 12 Grimmauld Place. With a feeling of intense relief, I walked to the front door as it appeared, opened it, and the instant my feet touched on the inside, I felt safe again. Three people – one I expected, two I had not – were waiting for me as the door clicked softly shut behind me.