Summary: Remy gets his first assignment and a rather pointless argument with Victor

Disclaimer: Merely the usual

Warnings: None I think

Remy scanned the gradually decreasing crowd for the Dark Lord, and not finding him, decided the Dark Lord must have retired to his quarters to wait for Remy there. Remy followed the Dark Lord's earlier directions and soon found himself infront of the Dark Lord's suite. Two burly guards blocked the doorway and by what Remy could tell from scent, they weren't exactly clean or human for that matter. They didn't appear to possess many brains and Remy was a bit worried he would have trouble getting past them. However what brains they had proved to have retained a sense of duty and when Remy flashed the ring from the Dark Lord, his presence was announced and he was ushered in only moments afterwards. Remy entered and moments later the doors were shut behind him. The room was dark, the only light coming from a fireplace off to one corner. Remy's attention was drawn to a pair of large dark leather armchairs set around the fireplace, one of which contained the Dark Lord, now in slightly less formal robes. Remy made to drop to his knees in the respect desired but the Dark Lord cut him off, "Mr. Sagoicci, we are utterly alone, such groveling is merely a waste of time. Come take a seat, I wish to discuss a few things about your future as one of my followers with you." Hesitantly, Remy did as he was bid with a slight nod, and soon was seated in the armchair opposite the Dark Lord. "Would you care for some tea, or perhaps the blood you vampires so favor?" offered the Dark Lord. Remy was reluctant to drink tea so late in the evening, but the prospect of some warm blood was significantly more desirable. It had been days since Remy had last had some and though he could go considerably longer without feeling the effects, it would be calming so Remy quickly assented to a goblet of blood. It arrived, with tea for the Dark Lord, moments later by house elf and then the discussion began in earnest.

"You are undoubtedly a very ambitious boy, very talented too, I might add, a credit to my forces. With your father who he is you also assuredly know that though I have managed to gain control of the governments of most of the wizarding world and hold most rebellions in check, there are still pocket groups out their. They engage in guerilla tactics, picking off my followers as they return home from shopping or from visiting a friend, hitting them from hidden locations and running, too cowardly to engage in proper combat like the wizards or witches they are. There is one such group, dubbed The Second Order, I'll bet you have heard of it, named for the infamously close minded Order of the Phoenix, defeated in the last battle against the 'light.' " Voldemort paused for a drink of tea, and Remy had a moment to absorb all that had been said.

"That is not the first time he has mentioned my father as a potential traitor, albeit not so bluntly, but if he is so sure of it, why doesn't he just arrest him." Thought Remy.

"Because, he still may serve a purpose yet, he is not entirely useless." Said the Dark Lord quietly. Remy quickly realized that the Dark Lord had been in his head, and the mental shields he had worked so hard to build quickly shot up. "Good, Good, my boy, you learn fast. Quite strong shields for one your age, impressive. I will not however shift through your thoughts unless I have reason too however. Back to business." Remy was a bit unsure to trust the word of a Dark Lord but was cut off by said Dark Lord continuing. "You are to be, as I said earlier, my top assassin, and should you prove adept, perhaps even my protégé. I see in you much of me as a child and perhaps you could be groomed to be my heir, but first you must prove yourself worthy. None of the following conversation may leave this room, if I have any reason to suspect a leak from you, you will wish you had never heard the word pain, understood?" Remy quickly nodded wincing slightly at the threat and leaned in eagerly.

The Dark Lord smirked slightly, and continued. "Your first assignment as assassin will be relatively easy and consider it something like a test. You will find all the information on your target in this folder." The Dark Lord summoned a manila folder from his writing desk and sent it over to land lightly in Remy's lap. Remy made to open it but was stopped from doing so. "No, wait until you get home, don't waste my time by reading it all here. You may pick the way of disposing of the target, but try to be as clean as possible, make it look accidental or like suicide. You have two weeks to perform the job, and get me a rough plan in one. If you get caught, I will not bail you out, you will be accountable for yourself and will not be cushioned because of age. It is a big world out there, and I can not play nursemaid to every imbecile who muddles an assignment. Also, I charge you with feeding me all information on the Second Order, many members of which I know to be close to your father. His career was totally wasted by his incredibly stupid choice and if you wish to be anything in life I suggest you think twice about crossing me like he did. All information will be justly rewarded. If you have anything to report you may find me through any of the Death Eaters and report, you will be instantly admitted. Now, I believe that is all, Good Evening, Mr., Sagoicci." The Dark Lord turned his attention to the Fire and Remy took it as a sign he was dismissed. In his mind he fiddled with the idea of telling the Dark Lord about his Order initiation in just three days, not sure if it was prudent or what would be done with the information. "Yes, do you have something to add?" came the silky inquiry from the Dark Lord and Remy made a quick and potentially rash decision.

"Master, I am to be initiated into the Order in three days time, I'm not sure what to do, or how to handle the situation. In all honesty Master, I'm pretty sure my loyalties lie solely with you, but on the other side is the only family I have ever had. What do you suggest?" "This is a nasty position for one so young as yourself, rest assured my boy that should anything happen to your father, you will always be welcome at my castle. Join the Order, and report all that goes on and members' names if you can. Mention nothing of this detail, act as if all is normal and you are still in the middle on the matter. Again, all information will be rewarded, you, Mr. Sagoicci, may fast accumulate quite a small fortune for yourself, as well as rising rapidly in the ranks if you prove yourself as useful as your father did not. Now if you have nothing else to add, you are dismissed." This time Remy bowed and left the room in a swirl of his newly earned Death Eater robes. As he walked through the hallways to get to the entryway he felt slightly more at ease having told the Dark Lord his secret. Those he passed in the hall were all of low rank and they took one look at his robes before bowing deeply in respect as he passed. Remy thought he could get used to this power, and the Dark Lord had said it could only get better. Clutching the heavy folder on his assignment to his chest with one hand he drew his wand with the other and made a portkey to the castle out of a twig he found on the carpet in the entryway. Soon he was on his way home, accompanied by the characteristic tug behind the navel that comes with travel by portkey.

The bright half moon was shining over the vast Sagoicci grounds when, with a lurch, Remy arrived. Whistling a bright and bouncy tune, Remy walked the few feet to the Castle doors and opened them, closing his eyes and smiling at the familiar brightness and warmth. A twin clearing of thoughts quickly announced the presence of one annoyed Malfoy and one very ticked off vampire lord. Remy mentally rolled his eyes and responded in a sarcastically happy tone, "Waited up for me father, Stephan? Oh, how perfectly splendid, I just had a quick business chat, purely confidential of course with the Dark Lord, you needn't have waited for me. To think you could be cozy in bed right now if…" Remy was cut off. "If you weren't such a prat and told your father yourself, I swear Remy, your father looked like he was going to eat me when I told him you were meeting with the Dark Lord alone. I love you Remy, but I would like to live past my 16th birthday at least." Ranted Stephan in a tone that belied a mix of annoyance and anger, but overlaid with enough humor to make it less rant and more reproach. "Thank you very much Mr. Malfoy, you presence will no longer be needed, my son and I obviously need a little heart to heart on a little thing called, oh I don't know sense." Stephan went to his rooms reluctantly, after casting a sympathetic glance in Remy's direction. Remy was ushered into the nearest sitting room where he was plopped down into a chair and subjected to the anger of a cranky vampire lord.

"Most parents would be worried sick if their child's boyfriend came back, late I might add, from a party to say their son was going to be late, and said that he had a meeting to attend to. But me, I know what party it was, I was there and I know who the meeting was with and for that I was terrified, and righteously angry that you didn't tell me about this meeting sooner and I could have dissuaded you. Private meetings with the Dark Lord, only mean two things, death or subterfuge. He doesn't just sit you down with a cup of tea and discuss the weather, you aren't safe, that's why these meetings are to be avoided at all costs. You must tell me if he tries to schedule another one and I will get you out of it." Remy snorted and then responded sarcastically, "And how, do you plan to do that? Militarily speaking, I am your superior officer, you have no sway over me in Death Eater matters. Furthermore, what if I were to tell you that all the Dark Lord did was to more or less sit me down with a cup of tea, or rather it was blood, and discuss, in this case confidential business dealings. He was very civil and my death was never even discussed." It was then, that Victor noticed the folder resting lightly on Remy's lap and made to grab it, but Remy was faster, quickly slapping his father's hands away and sitting on the folder. "What is that folder?" cried a semi-enraged Victor. "A little late for questions, the proper order usually is ask first then take. I am afraid all I can tell you is that it is confidential, as are the contents of my meeting and that you have no business reading it. Even I have yet to read it." "As your father, I am entitled to know your actions and allegiances, and therefore have a right to that folder and it's contents." Insisted Victor. Remy sighed and mentally prepared himself to lie to the man he calls father.

"My actions, as of yet are again confidential, my allegiances…. are undecided. That is all I can tell you, besides the fact that I am utterly safe in the Dark Lord's capable hands. Now I am very tired and wish to review this folder before I retire, so good night and we can finish this lovely discussion in the morning." And with that Remy grabbed the folder, clutching it warily to himself, turned on his heel and left the room to go off to bed, and somewhere in his brain he wondered how irreparable the damage between he and his adoptive father was. Meanwhile, back in the sitting room, Victor sat with his head in his hands, sobbing silently and thinking, "What on earth have I made in this boy, he is so much like Tom when Tom was young, have I inadvertently made the next Dark Lord, oh why me?" Victor cursed his existence and his move to become a father and, grabbing a cloak to ward of the now early morning chill, also grabbed a bottle of fire whisky and made to sit atop the battlements and drown his worries in alcohol.

Once Remy got to his rooms he had to force himself to stay up just a bit longer to read the file. Opening it he saw that on top was a magical photograph of the target and identification and location information. These were all on a small half sheet of paper with the photo pasted onto it. The target was female, with longish brown hair, rather straight, her face was delicate and fair, with very clear and smooth skin Remy noticed. She appeared to be around 20, still rather young. Remy looked at the ID and read

Name: Amelia Fairbanks

Age: 21

Location: Unknown but currently works as a clerk in a small book store in Muggle London.

Other Info: Wife of Rufus Fairbanks, a Death Eater who defected then committed suicide a month ago rather than face the punishment. Amelia has been under surveillance and has proved to be of traitorous stock, spilling secrets from the Death Eater meetings she infrequently attends with the excuse that she must care for her young son, now three. However, it has been discovered that she attends Order meetings during these times.

Remy recognized the name Fairbanks and vaguely remembered the death of the man, but he didn't think he had ever seen the woman. He wondered what was to be done with the child and pondered it, he could rationalize the death of traitorous scum like the woman but he didn't know if he could kill the child, perhaps the boy could be raised by one of the Death Eaters. Remy made himself stop thinking and forced himself to clear his sleep-deprived mind. Stephan's birthday was tomorrow and, painful as it was, Remy wanted to get up early to surprise his boyfriend with his gifts. He murmured a quick alarm charm to alert him if someone tried to open the folder and, placing it under his pillow he went to sleep. His dreams that night were quasi-nightmares. In one he was torn, quite literally by his loyalty to his father and sworn fealty to the Dark Lord, the rest were similar to this, and it wasn't until after a dreamless sleep potion in the early morning that he was ever able to sink into a restful slumber. He was already very cranky with his father and after being up half the night, tomorrow would indeed prove interesting. He would only get a few hours of sleep that night but he focused instead on the prospect of a nap during the day tomorrow.

There it is, another chapter, comments appreciated, just read and review, thanks much. If you have any questions you can pm me or whatever floats your boat. I apologize for the delayed update, I turned 16 on the 28 and I have had family and friends in and out of my house all week. This was the first time I managed to stay up long enough to update, and I did two chapters so readers better enjoy.

Ciao

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