Disclaimer: still don't own anything.

Summary: Voldemort never dreams except when he dreams and does not remember. Moving on from a good nights rest, he takes the next step in his plans.

Warnings: Mentions of deaths and a bit of blood

Chapter 10: The next step

The dark Lord never dreamed.

Even when he had been a small child with the name of Tom Riddle back in the orphanage. He never had any dream at all.

However, this fact was about to change.

Everything around him was cladded in darkness. Everything was... nothing. He couldn't even tell if he was standing or laying. Though when he lifted his foot and took a hesitant step his food touched something... or nothing, he really couldn't tell.

He took another step, then another.

And he walked.

The temperature, that had felt like his own, became colder with each step and with each following step it became hotter too. He had to lift his hand to protect his eyes since the darkness had started to hurt just as though he was staring right into the sun.

"My, my, you really seem to be lost, aren't you?"

A voice, not speaking but still echoing in the air, asked.

Voldemort stopped. But oddly, while he had been walking he did not feel like he had been moving at all. But now, when he had stopped in his tracks, he suddenly knew he was moving through the darkness. He wanted to look around but his eyes were still blinded by the blackness around him.

"Not greeting me, are you? I should have taught you some manners when we first met, shouldn't I?"

The non-voice mused.

"Or should I say when we will meet for the first time?"

The speed with which he was now moving slightly ruffled his hair.

"Who are you? Show yourself!", Voldemort demanded.

"Well, my child, you do have forgotten me, don't you? Although you have killed me before, died, came back..."

The speed now became nauseating. He was moving, yes, but it seemed to be in all directions at once. The pressure cause by the speed now pressed on him, pinning him down on... nothing. "You are not real.", he hissed.

"I am not, am I?", the non-voice laughed.

"What do you want?", Voldemort hissed again. It became harder to speak.

"What do I want? Well, why should I tell you that? It is much more interesting if you have to find it out on your own, isn't it?"

"Don't have time for that", the dark Lord pressed through gritted teeth.

"Oh? Is that so? Well, in that case I might just show you something and take my leave."

And he was falling, spinning around himself and falling faster and faster.

The non-voice laughed and while he was descending to whatever there was down there (or up, or left, or right?) the non voice's laughter contorted into a high pitched, menacing cackle. A laughter just like his own.

A flash of green light and suddenly he knew he was the one laughing.

He stopped.

Had he been the non-voice too?

Another flash of green light.

And another.

Another.

The nothingness around him shone in the green flashes around him.

Then a voice, barely even a whisper was heard. And he felt relieved knowing it was not him who was speaking.

"No..."

A voice of a woman.

Another voice, a male voice this time, paired itself in a strange duet with the female voice.

"...inside..."

"No..."

The soft spoken words were barely audible at first but grew louder whilst he fell.

Were they down there?

"No! Not... Please! Not him!... Me!"

"... Go inside.. take..."

"No!"

"Please"

Other voices joined the pair.

"Where are we?..." the voice of a young man.

"Who're u?, a drunken male voice.

"Tom?", the voice of another woman.

"I only served..."

"Protego!"

"Dont kill me!"

"No!"

More and more voices added to the chorus. More and more screams filled his ears. Those words, only whispers at first, now screamed at him.

"DONT!"

"RUN!"

"I SWEAR I DONT KNOW MORE!"

"CALL THE POLICE!

"HELP ME!"

"PLEASE!"

"NOT HARRY!"

He couldn't move. He wanted to press both hands down on his ears. To shut the voices out. To stop this chorus of horror. But he couldn't. He could not move. Only fall. Those screams where the last words, the last pleas, of dying people. He recognised some. But most of them he did not know.

In his desperation he opened his mouth to scream.

And laughed instead.

A high pitched, cruel laughter echoed, drowning all other screams around him. Until he heard another pair of voices.

"EXPELLIARMUS" "AVADA KEDAVRA"

And a green light rising through the darkness. Rising through everything. Coming for him.

In the instant the light was about to reach him, he knew that this was his own death. That he was just one of those many voices. There wasn't even time to scream. The light will hit him.

But it did not.

Red flames blocked the green death.

They were... hot and cold at the same time. And strangely... pleasant.

The voices were gone. And somehow he must have stopped to fall. The nothingness was still there but it had lost its eerie aura.

Voldemort looked into the flames, he couldn't see past it, but somehow he knew there was someone inside. Another beating heart.

"Because I want to", the non-voice softly echoed.

Voldemort woke up. He felt refreshed. He had slept well and for about five hours. More than he normally did, actually. Of course he had not dreamed. He never dreamed anything. Never.

He often only slept about three hours. That was a sufficient time to rest the body. He did not see any reason to waste more hours. Back at school, he did not understand why all the others had to waste their precious time snoring in their beds. The fact that he only needed about three hours gave him much more time to hone his skills and even underlined that he was much more superior compared to his classmates. He was convinced, he never needed more sleep since he did not waste time with dreaming stupid dreams. Dreams were for the weak. And he, Lord Voldemort was anything but weak.

He got up, took his clothes and went to the bathroom. Today was an important meeting with his friends. He had quite the impressive list of tasks for them. As well as a special gift for each one of them. But before that, he still had about three more hours.

XXX

"My Lord.", Lestrange bowed as deep as ever. Voldemort just nodded shortly.

"The knights of Walpurgis are all gathered.", he said humbly.

Of course they are. Voldemort thought. But didn't said anything and entered the dining hall of the Lestrange manor.

The room was dark and stifling hot. Six man sat at the long table. Six pairs of eyes were set upon him as he walked towards the seat at the head of the table. Lestrange sat himself at the empty seat to his right.

"Good morning, my friends. I hope you are all well." It was not a question. "I assume you all know why I have summoned you here?" Occasional nodding and murmurs of approval followed.

"As you all well know, today is the day we will finally start with our next step. Our next step to change the world to what it should be. Not only the wizarding world, but the world itself. A world, where wizards will stand at the top."

More murmurs of approval. Voldemort moved on.

"And therefore I have decided to end our little organisation which we call The Nights Of Walpurgis."

Silence. Voldemort took a moment to look into each face and savour the uncertainty of each individual. He knew they did not see this step coming. A smile crept upon his face as he started to speak again. This time in a much lower voice. He knew his friends had to concentrate to catch every word of his.

"Yes. To end our little organisation and to start anew as a new organisation which will be known throughout the world. Loved and admired by all their supporters and feared by their enemies. For it shall feast upon their dead bodies to nourish its own strength and rise above all. Even the impossible: Death itself. From now on, our organisation will be called and known as Death Eaters."

The last words were barely even audible but he knew they all heard it. He continued in a normal tone and grinned as he watched the other men twitch at the sudden change of volume. "Therefore, I have decided on an identification mark that will show each of us our loyalty to the noble cause we are about to devote all our strength to."

He took out his wand and quickly drew a complicated gesture, stating in a clear voice: "Morsmordre ."

A skull made out of green steam formed above the table. Slightly glowing, the form solidified as it rotated slowly around its own axis. The spooky grinning teeth slowly opened and a thick tongue lazily rolled out of its mouth. It became thicker and longer, quivering unnatural. Two eyes opened at the top of the supposed tongue and the snake opened its mouth showing its deadly fangs. The snake curled and uncurled, always changing the direction it was about to strike to. The skull grinned with green glowing eyes.

"Incredible.", whispered Lestrange.

"Truly a piece of art.", stated Abraxas Malfoy.

"It sure is.", agreed Rosier.

Dolohov even leaned forward. His eyes reflecting the green light of the mark.

"Truly worthy to be the sign of our identification.", Avery said in a respectful tone.

Nott and Mulciber simply nodded but stared at the mark in awe as well as the others.

Voldemort just waited for another few moments to give them the opportunity to admire the mark even more. When he spoke again, all eyes were set upon him again.

"I call this mark you see here the Dark Mark. It will become one of our greatest weapons against our enemies."

"How can it be a weapon?", Dolohov asked puzzled. Nearly everyone held their breath. They knew that the Dark Lord never liked to be interrupted, but said Dark Lord only grinned. "You shall see, my dump friend.", he turned around and looked at Lestrange, ordering:" Show them your left arm."

Lestrange, who was the only one who had known about the Dark Mark before the meeting (although not about the name changes), obeyed immediately, rolled up the sleeve of his robe and presented his left arm.

The same skull with the same snake quivering from its mouth was on his arm. But only this time it did not shine in a green light. It was pitch black like burned flesh.

Voldemort did not wait for any of them to inspect it further as he started to talk again:" This mark is not only a symbol which can be casted in the sky to scare some Muggles or even the idiots from the ministry. It will be our tool of communication as well. Whoever I will grant this mark to, will form a kind of connection with me. Whenever I need to speak to you, you will know. Whenever you need to speak to me, I will know. You will know when I am angry, when I am nearby, when I am far away. I will always know if you are in danger."

"So... you will always know where we are and we will know where you are?" Again it was Dolohov asking the stupid questions for the rest of them.

"No.", Voldemort smiled,"No. I never said that, Dolohov. I will only know where you are if you want me to know it. It is the same the other way around too, of course. You don't have to fear I will interrupt your... privacy."

The others laughed just as expected and Dolohovs face became nearly the same red as his hair.

"Mulciber, Nott, Rosier and Avery. I am willing to grant you the privileges you will gain by wearing this mark.", he continued in a business-like tone.

Said person looked at him eagerly.

"What about me?", Dolohov asked irritated. Malfoy looked as though he had wanted to ask the same question but had been intelligent enough to let the dump one ask it for him.

"You?", Voldemort asked in a sceptical tone, "Oh my good, old friend Dolohov. You are not suited enough to carry such an important secret of ours right on your left arm where any Auror could find it. You sure understand that, don't you? It is out of my good will and thanks to our old friendship I even invited you here today." And because I need an idiot whose desire to be acknowledged verifies carrying the mark as a privilege, he thought with glee.

"And what about him?", Dolohov gestured in the direction of Malfoy.

Voldemort looked at the silvery blond with a pensive expression. The other one stared right back, waiting for the answer of the Dark Lord. "Hm..., he is another case. Truth to be told. I do not trust you enough to wear it, Malfoy. I do have the feeling you work more for your own sake than for the sake of our future world."

Mulciber, who sat next to Malfoy leaned farer away from him as though his lack of loyalty was a contagious illness. Perfect.

Malfoy cleared his throat nervously:" I assure you, my Lord. I am devoted to our cause entirely. Just give me an opportunity to prove my worth."

"To prove your worth?", the Dark Lord interrupted him, chuckling. "My friend, there is no need to proof your worth. You already did that when you killed Leach. There is need to prove your loyalty."

"I can do that, my Lord."

"And I am quite curious of your proof." Voldemort said, dismissing the topic with a wave of his hand. Malfoy was not dump enough to speak again. He will leave it to him to earn the right to wear the Dark Mark.

"Now then, who wants to be the first, or more like, the second...," he nodded appreciatively at Lestrange,"...to receive the Dark Mark? Rosier, maybe?"

Said person stood up, went to the Dark Lord and knelt down. The man with the red eyes took the man's exposed left arm in his own left hand. For a moment he held his wand slightly over the naked skin before he made a slashing gesture. The man twitched slightly because of the sudden pain the small gash on his arm was causing. The Dark Lord silently recited the incantation in his mind whilst the blood dropped down from the wound and onto the floor.

The man started to twitch more, a whimper escaped him. The blood was glowing in a wed red, and started to form the Dark Mark. For only a short moment a green flame rose from the man's arm and he screamed in agony. But as fast as the flames had come they were gone again, leaving a black skull and a quivering snake on the forearm of the kneeling man.

Four more kneeling man. Four more wounds. Four more flames. Four more screams and four more marks.

Malfoy and Dolohov watched the scene. The first one with a blank expressions, the latter with an expression of jealousy. They both knew they were not part of the group. And that was because the Dark Lord did not acknowledged them the same way he acknowledged the others.

After a lot of congratulating between the lucky ones receiving the Mark, everyone took their seats again. Voldemort was exhausted. Really, he shouldn't cast that incantation more than three times a day. It was exceptionally tiring. Well, he will finish the meeting and rest for now.

"My friends,", he began to speak again,"I congratulate you all on taking this step. I am sure we will accomplish all our goals. But for now, you should learn more about the benefits of the mark yourself and- of course- experience it. We will discuss everything else in seven days on January the 16th. Until then."

He got up and strolled out of the room, apparating as soon as he left the building. He had a lot of work to do before the next Saturday.

This one was written fast. Its nice to finally have a few days off.

The next chapter should be finished next week too.

But a few things first.

I have written a small list of explanation to some things I think need a bit more information. Most of them are explanations of how I regard the characters in cannon and how this affects this story. Please take into account that this is only my interpretation and you don't need to share them. Although they could be useful to understand this story and further chapters better.

About the dream: it is not a normal dream and Voldemort does not remember it for a reason.

About the non-voice: I tried to give this character a special speech pattern because he might show up in some chapters in a different way. Since English is not my native language and I am mostly self taught, I am not sure I managed to deliver it as I hope I would. Still, I hope the character is recognizable.

About the cruelty Severus is experiencing: I am convinced he was physically and mentally abused as a child. A person who does not care even the slightest about how he looks and devotes his complete existence to one person is rather odd and unique. But also his uncertainty and the spidery movement described in the books as well as other details let me believe that. I think Lilly was the only person who had ever been nice to him without seeking a favour in return. She just liked him and he loved her for that. I try to build up the story from the canon universe and therefore try to build the same framework for each character. I do not want them to go completely out of character but the more time passes the more the characters will differ from their originals. (but don't worry, Severus will never start to sing love songs or throw around with candy. Although... maybe poisoned ones...)

About Severus' pouch: This one never existed in cannon. But actually it could have. I think it has a lot to do with the psyche of Severus' mother Eileen. She was abused by Tobias in cannon as well and Severus did look neglected in the books too. The fact that he looks even more neglected in this story is because he himself chose to not be dependent of his parents in order to get stronger. While he most likely wanted to win the love of his parents, especially Eileen, in cannon, he completely abandons them as his family in this story. This also leads to a different behaviour of Eileen. Young Severus desire to be loved made him inferior to her and she had power over him. She did not need to win his affection because she always had it, even if she helped Tobias abusing him (although she might only have stood next to him and did not intervene). But in this story, she clearly feels she has lost his affection and fears to lose him entirely. Tobias does not love her, her family has abandoned her and she does not want to lose the love of her son. That is why she gifted him with her most precious possession in this story. It was to tell him: look how much you are worth to me. It is the same case with the wand of her mother. Due to the abuse, she is not able to tell him that she is sorry and that she loves him. She is simply not strong enough to free herself from Tobias. And loving her son and wanting the best for him would mean to muster up enough courage to go this step.

About Severus character changes: I fear I let him grow up rather fast. But I have met a lot of people myself who came from such families and I have to admit, they do grow up much faster and don't experience a normal childhood. But not everything is as it seems. You might have noticed how he regards his mother and father. He often thinks of them as strangers (this man, this woman) and sometimes even as monsters (especially in his fathers case), but there are also moments he sees Eileen as his mother and has problems to not see Tobias as his father. He even corrects his thinking about him (father, man, monster). He is still a child wanting to be loved but the encounter with the Dark Lord changed his thinking about love. Only if you are strong enough you have the right to be loved and only the strong ones should have the right to love. It is a philosophy he is starting to develop more and more. While the desire to be loved and acknowledged drives the young Severus in cannon, it is the desire to become powerful that drives him now.

That's it for now. Hope it helped you a little bit. Please let me know what you think about my explanation corner. Do you think it was helpful or interesting or do you rather not have those to make your own interpretations?