A/N: Please do leave a review if you're enjoying the story!
Not an update, just correcting some spelling errors
It was the eve of 25th December.
The atmosphere in the Malfoy Manor was more than just tense. The festivities of Yule had been kept to a minimum as Voldemort's temper had reached its peak. The night before, Bellatrix and Lucius had been crucioed within an inch of their lives for losing the artefacts given to them. Narcissa had presented him with the fake diadems in hopes of calming him but once he discovered their true nature he nearly burnt the mansion down.
Snape arrived early morning with potions and herbs to help everyone who had faced the Dark Lord's wrath. After tending to the death eaters, he went to Voldemort's chambers
"My lord…" Snape said announcing himself and bowing deeply
"Severus! Did you discover anything about the heir?" He asked
"Not yet my lord… but I have been unable to procure more potion to held Dumbledore…" he said handing a vial of the pink potion to Voldemort
"Excellent… We could move up the plan then?" Voldemort asked
"I would advise against it my lord…" Snape said "he is after all Dumbledore…"
"And I have surpassed even him! I have surpassed DEATH ITSELF!" Voldemort said but his vestige blurred a little. He coughed up black blood and sat down…
Snape stood silently completely ignoring the moment of weakness.
"Leave… I must feed and heal…" Voldemort said
Snape bowed and left.
As he left McNair walked in. Snape stopped him before he entered
"What?" McNair snapped
"Wait a while…" Snape said and walked away
McNair stopped just outside the doors to the west wing when he heard moans of a woman in the throes of passion coming from inside. He deiced to wait in the library till he was summoned.
—
Blaise and Draco had received word that the attack would happen on the 1st of January, until then all they had to do way lay low. Draco found that waiting was the worse than working on that blasted cabinet. At first there was silent dread, then he started dreaming of the worst possible outcomes and whenever he saw Hermione, he would cling to her like it's the last time he's going to see her. Amidst this inner turmoil he found going to a Christmas party thrown by some teacher completely pointless. Blaise however, had insisted he come.
Over the past weeks Blaise had been in a heaven of his own creation. He would seek out Luna and they would spend endless hours on the edge of the dark forest seeking the creatures that lived in there. They had even considered the possibility of becoming animagus together. Blaise had promised her that they would do so in their final year. Blaise smiled as he thought about their conversation a couple of days ago
Flashback begins
"Luna!" Blaise called out and was greeted with a peck on his lips when he came near "Your hello's are the best…" He smiled
Luna smiled back "Come I want you to meet a friend of mine…"
She led him into the back and threw out a sickle. A niffler crawled out of its spot.
"A niffler… what do we call him?" Blaise asked sitting down and extending his hand with some food on it
"Bandit…" Luna said
"I like it…" Blaise smiled as the niffler at off his hand
They sat there for a while in silence petting Bandit and a few more of his friends who had come out once Blaise threw a handful of galleon
"Luna… there's this Christmas party that Slughorn is throwing on Christmas…" Blaise said
"Oh I know… I'm going… are you?" Luna asked
"You are? With whom?" Blaise asked
"Does it bother you that someone else asked me?" Luna said
"Yes… I thought we were courting, why would you say yes to another boy?" Blaise said a little put out
"Would it bother you less if I said it was not another boy?" Luna said
"You are brilliant my love, but I find that Slughron can be a bit superficial…"
"It's true…" She said dreamily "Well, it wasn't another boy or man… it was Hermione… she thought that we could go as friends…. Honestly however I feel she was trying to help you from being gawked at further for taking me on a second public date…" Luna smiled at him
"I don't mind the gawking…" Blaise said smiling and crawling over to Luna and putting his arms around her "I find that I quite enjoy us being the center of attention…"
"I like being the center of your attention…" Luna said snuggling into him for more warmth
"Hermione's interests might be a bit more self serving…" Blaise thought out loud "Do tell her I appreciate the gesture…" he kissed her on the forehead
"So you will bring Draco?" Luna asked looking up at him
"I suppose that's the only option I have left…" he kissed her nose
Flashback ends
Blaise fixed his cravat as Draco looked perfectly put together with a scowl on his face.
"I don't understand why I must endure slughorn on Christmas, I have managed to avoid all the stupid slug club meetings since school started…" Draco whined
"Well if you hadn't missed them, you'd have met some pretty interesting new members…" Blaise hinted
"I don't want to meet new members, I want to go meet my girlfriend and give her a Christmas gift at midnight dressed up like Santa…" Draco said
"Draco Malfoy indulging in muggle traditions on yule… I thought I'd never see the day…" Blaise smiled. Draco threw a book at his head that Blaise wandelssly set down on his bedside "Don't let 'mione catch you doing that… Books are even more scared than Christmas to her… come for a bit and if you absolutely hate it, we can leave by 11, you have plenty of time to turn into a wicked Santa and meet your girl.."
"fine…" Draco scowled
—
"Enter…" Came Voldemort's voice and McNair walked in and bowed
"The giants have begun their march… they should be by the gates of Hogwarts just as we bring down the wards…" McNair informed
"Well done…" Voldemort said "… I will need you to setup a workshop for Gregorovitch and Ollivander to work together… the new generation will need the best wands we can supply…"
"It will be done my lord…" McNair said bowing "… My lord, if I may… It is the eve of yule and there is a magical custom that strengthens one's power… practitioners of the secret arts have been doing it for centuries… considering the battle it my bring us fortune should you…" he finished abruptly as Voldemort stood up and strode towards him
"And what custom is this?" He asked.
'Clearly sex had put him in a better mood' thought McNair "A visit to the temple of Morgana my lord…" He said
"Where is it?"
"Near my home my lord… if you wish I could take you there…"
"And what must one do at this temple?" Voldemort asked
"We offer a blood to the brassard of Morgana my lord, it still radiates with her magic…" McNair said
Voldemort's eyes gleamed red and McNair regretted brining up the temple but Voldemort's mind was made "Show me the way death eater…. " He said smiling maniacally
As they walked out, Voldemort put his hand out "Come my love… join us…" and Nagini slithered up his arm to perch around his neck.
—
Draco's scowl morphed into a well practiced look of aristocratic boredom as he and Blaise entered the party.
"Let's start at the bar…" Blaise said leading him but Draco stopped short. Blaise noticed it and turned to his friend with an impish smile "I did tell you we had some interesting new members…"
If he hand't been trained to perfection by Narcissa, his jaw would have hit the floor. Hermione granger was standing there in an emerald green lace forest dress. 'Oh that witch' Draco thought as his eyes raked her from the toes to the top of her head. The corset was lined with peach so it looked like she had nothing on inside. It lifted her ample bosom just enough to cause an elegant cleavage. The skirt was long on the right and pleated up and held just half way up her thigh on the left in a pattern that was elegant and racy at the same time. She had her hair up in an elegant bun with green butterfly clip on one side. Draco wondered if the butterfly few was would he be able to run his hands through those luscious brown curls. She wore a pair of simple silver chain earrings that accentuated her neck and collarbone in a manner that made every man want to turn into a vampire. To add to the ensemble, she was wearing peep toe heels and gloves made of the same glimmering lace her corset was made of. Draco was sure she had her wand in a holster on the long side of the skirt and he really had the urge to slide his hands up her legs to check it. To drive him completely over the edge he had on forest green eye-shadow and had even done something to make her lashes glimmer every time she blinked them. Her lips were deep shade of red and Draco wanted to devour them.
Hermione was smiling and having a please conversation with what appeared to be an actual vampire and had not yet noticed Draco.
"If you're done drooling over what you possess, might I suggest we greet our host?" Blaise said handing him a glass of fire-whisky and dragging Draco away.
After the pleasantries were done with. Draco found his way to Hermione who was trying to get away from Mclaggen; who was trying to get her to step under a mistletoe in a secluded corner. She took another couple of steps back and bumped into a very firm chest.
"Watch were you're going granger…" Draco said cheekily "McLaggen…." He said curtly
"Malfoy… I was just going to as Hermione for a dance…" He said trying to take her hand as Hermione turned away from him to face Draco
"Granger, it seems we've gotten ourselves in a completely undesirable predicament…" Draco said completely ignoring McLaggen and drinking in the beautiful eyes of girlfriend while somehow managing to look bored "but it is yule, customs, house unity and all that…" He said and pulled a wide eyed Hermione close with one hand on her waist and the other around her neck and kissed her deeply
McLaggen just stood there staring as Draco kissed Hermione who was kissing him back and holding on to the jacket of his robes. Draco opened his eyes briefly and said to McLaggen "It's not a show you oaf, buzz off…"
McLaggen cleared his throat and walked away muttering about women and being drunk
"He's gonna talk…"Draco said gently
"No one is gonna believe him…" Hermione said pulling Draco back in for a kiss.
—
They arrived at the McNair Mansion via floo and then McNair apparated Voldemort to mountain covered in snow nestled between two higher peaks. There was a soft glow emanating from the cave. Voldemort walked in and found an altar made of gold with a magnificent peacock brassard placed in the center.
The brassard seemed to sending out pulses of magic.
"This…" Voldemort said walking up to the altar and touching it with a single spidery finger "… this can't be destroyed, can it…" He turned to McNair
"No my lord… it is quite powerful, it is magic itself…" McNair said
Voldemort touched the brassard and as a wave of magic pulsated he felt revived more than he had by feeding on Arianna. His eyes glowed malevolently.
"A blood sacrifice you said?" Voldemort raised his wand on McNair and cast sectumsempra and levitated him over the brassard. The brassard absorbed the blood and sent out a wave of magic, but it didn't go into the earth as Voldemort was holding it in his hands. His black slit eyes glowed golden and he almost looked human again. He took a deep breath in, as the life left McNairs eyes, he put the wand to the dead man's temple and bellowed "vita aeterna!"
He screamed in pain as McNair seemed to be gasping and coming to live, he then pulled the life out of McNair, a shred of his own soul and transferred it into the brassard with the spell "signare anima"
The brassard once golden began to turn black. He put the Brassard on his person and with every pulse of magic, Voldemort felt stronger than ever.
See you next weekend!