The Pledge of Loyalty

The next few weeks at Hogwarts were fairly standard for Pandora and her J.D.E's, until she received a letter at breakfast on the last Friday of October. Allora swooped down with a Slytherin green envelope in her talons and landed gracefully on Pandora's arms. After Pan had taken the envelope, she fed Allora the crusts off her toast.

Once the owl had munched on those, she swooped off in the direction of the Owlery, leaving Pandora to her post. She delicately opened the envelope and found a small note inside.

Riley's Office - 8pm - come alone. T.

Pandora didn't need to be a genius to work out this was a summons from Tom. When questioned by Pansy who the letter was from, she lied and said it was from her mother. Gathering up her bag and what was left of her toast, she walked off to Arithmancy, munching as she went. Her mind was trying to come up with a reason for her summons all through Arithmancy and Charms. Lunch was no better, her friends gave up trying to get her attention, as she was so spaced out, she wasn't even blinking.

Double History of Magic was diabolical, instead of her usual feverish note taking, she just sat there and doodled on her parchment whilst her mind wandered, although she still couldn't draw up any conclusions as to the reason for the summons. Thankfully by the time afternoon break had finished and she was walking to D.A.D.A, she realised she'd wasted all of her day so far, and decided to focus completely on what her Uncle Riley was saying.

Professor Riley focused on the importance of understanding the cruciatus curse that particular lesson, which Pandora found incredibly valuable. Afterall, if she was going to be training with Bell, then she might as well get to know the witch's signature curse. The lesson went well in Pandora's opinion and she found herself completely distracted from her meeting that evening.

During her free period that afternoon, Pandora studied in the Head's private library. There were several dark arts books that Severus had brought for her and Draco to study, whilst they were at Hogwarts. She found several curses that she thought would come in handy in the future, and set to work practicing them on the dummies.

At 7:10pm, Pandora made her way to Riley's office and found both her uncle and Severus waiting for her.

"I've enabled flooing from this fireplace for the rest of the year, so that should you need to leave the school grounds, you're always able to. You are to head home first, as I believe your mother has something for you, then she will take you where you need to go. Have a pleasant evening my Lady." With a respectful nod, Severus swept out of the room.

"Will you be coming with me Riley?" Pandora asked her uncle.

"Indirectly, yes. I'm heading directly to the destination, rather than to the Dagworth Estate. Astrid already knows where she it to bring you, so don't panic about getting there. Now, hurry up and floo home, or you'll be late." With a smile he gently nudged Pandora toward the fireplace and held out a pouch of floo powder.

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Pandora arrived in the entrance hall to find her mother already waiting for her, with an enormous grin on her face.

"Oh good! I was worried you weren't going to make it in time. I have a present from Tom for you. He says to wear them this evening." Astrid exclaimed whilst dragging Pandora into the Parlour excitedly.

With a flick of her wand a box appeared on the coffee table, and she gently handed it over to Pandora. Pandora tapped her wand on the box and it disappeared to reveal a set of Death Eater robes that were as black as pitch. Although once she'd unfolded them, she realised these robes were slightly different. The lining was of Slytherin green silk.

"Tom wanted to make sure people were aware that you weren't just another Death Eater. So, he had these specifically made for you to make you stand out as his equal." Astrid explained whilst beaming proudly at her daughter. Pandora swept the robes across her shoulders, looking every bit the Riddle heir. The robes billowed out as she walked about the room, its hem trailed along the ground behind her. Astrid beamed; her beautiful daughter looked perfect.

"Right, now that you're ready, it's time I took you to Tom." She gently looped her elbow with her daughter's and led her to the entrance hall. "Hold tight and empty your mind, I need to side-along apparate you to Tom's manor." With a click of her fingers, Astrid had her own Death Eater robes draped across her shoulders and her silver mask upon her face. "Right, off we go!" With a gentle pop they apparated.

Pandora found herself in an enormous entrance hall, a myriad of pops and cracks surrounded the hall as more and more Death Eaters flocked in. They marched as a collective into an enormous ballroom, Astrid pulled Pandora along to follow them into the room. Once in the room Pandora realised just how many followers Tom had; at least 200 people were dressed in midnight black robes, with silver masks hiding their identities. Only about 30 of the people had masks that were decorated with ornate carvings and designs. It was clear to her that the ones wearing specials masks were the inner circle.

Astrid walked Pandora over to the two large thrones situated on a raise dais. One throne - the larger of the two - was made of ebony, intricate detailing carved into it, the slightly smaller throne was also of ebony, with similar intricate carvings and a blood red velvet cushion.

"The slightly smaller seat is yours my dear, I suggest you sit down and wait for Tom to arrive, whilst I go and stand amongst the others. We need to ensure everyone knows that you are second in command after all!" With that Astrid wandered over and joined the inner circle standing at the front of the Death Eaters.

Pandora walked over to the smaller of the two thrones, carefully sat down and then ensured her robes were arranged properly around her, before lowering her hood and looking out at all her cousin's followers.

A deafening silence fell over the mumbling crowds as the sapient pearwood double doors swung open to reveal Lucius Malfoy with his beautiful wife Narcissa on his arm. The couple walked into the room looking every bit as high and mighty, as they were. Behind them flounced Bellatrix, who was twirling her wand between her fingers like a baton. Tom followed behind the three in an incredibly expensive black suit, the only bit of colour was his Slytherin green shirt beneath the jacket.

Lucius and Narcissa stood beside Tom's throne, whilst Bella came to stand beside Pandora's. Once Tom was seated all the Death Eaters bowed down to Pandora and Tom. Even Astrid bowed, although she would later assure Pandora that it was only something she had to do when surrounded by Death Eaters who weren't in the inner circle, as they didn't know she was part of Tom's family.

"My faithful followers, I am delighted to see so many faces! Surely the support we have far outweighs those of the light? Is that correct my darling Pandora?" He turned to her with a questioning and curious look.

"Oh yes, the light has many in their Order, however you have amassed a far greater crowd dear cousin!" She beamed up at him in delight. She wasn't sure how things were going to be between them, especially given she was still technically beneath him. However, he had addressed her with affection, so maybe she wasn't going to be completely beneath him after all. Her response was clearly to his liking as he proceeded to give her his devilishly charming grin.

"Now, my dear friends! There are a few things that need to be decided tonight, as well as a few announcements that need to be made. However, I will try not to keep you too long." He looked out over the crowd with a smirk. "First things first; it is not to be common knowledge that Pandora is my cousin, nor that she will be The Dark Lady should anything ever happen to me. This evening you will pledge your fealty to her just as you have to me, this will be done in private later this evening for those who are in my inner circle. Those who are not, will come up one by one and pledge their allegiance in a minute."

He looked out over the crowd as a few mutterings could be heard. His vicious glare was enough to silence them.

"However, before you come up and make your pledges, I would like to give Pandora the chance to address you all." He looked over at her and quietly chuckled at the tiny look of shock that passed over her face, before she quickly masked it with an air-tight look of indifference. She nodded at him in polite thanks, before gracefully rising up from her throne to stand, ensuring everyone could see her. She moved gracefully and stepped forward slightly, so she could look down on those who stood at the front.

"I will keep this short and sweet. I'm sure some of you feel that working beneath a woman is an atrocity. Well, tough shit. I'm also sure that some of you feel my age is an issue and that I couldn't possibly lead so many at such a young age. You are wrong! Now I'm sure as those of you who have children at Hogwarts already know, I have been labelled the brightest witch of my age. They are correct! I probably know more dark curses than half of you put together. And I have no qualms in making sure you all toe the line. I will not tolerate insubordination, or disrespect. I assure you; I have a good repertoire of spells and hexes that would make dear Bella's cruciatus feel like a tickle. You have all been given fair warning. I do not tolerate, half arsed morons. I expect results, and I expect you to meet deadlines. And before any of you start thinking of throwing a revolt, I wouldn't recommend it. Part of you swearing fealty to me will also be a binding curse that prevents betrayal. I've been working on it for the past week, and it is unbreakable. You have been warned."

As Pandora turned back and walked to her throne, her cloak billowing as she went, the look on Tom's face was one of extreme pride. He knew she'd give a good speech, but he hadn't been expecting one that would strike fear in even the proudest man, and yet at the same time provide confidence that she knew what she was doing. She would make a fine replacement should the unthinkable happen.

"I suggest you all heed her words! She has already proven to some of my inner circle that disrespect equals excruciating pain!" At this comment Lucius winced, thinking back to his son's moronic mouth, and the pain the stupid boy had then had to endure, for not knowing how to be respectful. "Now, I would recommend my inner circle come and stand beside myself and Pandora, the rest of you can, one by one, come forward and pledge fealty, then you may leave and return home. You won't be needed for the rest of the night. Severus, Dolohov, could you please help herd them along. I fear my patience will wear thin if this takes too long."

With a polite bow both men started to herd the rest of the Death Eaters, into a tidy queue, whilst the inner circle came to stand around the thrones.

Pandora's patience was wearing thin incredibly quickly as each insipid follower came up to take the pledge, it was a rather simple process really. A vow of allegiance and support, as well as unwavering loyalty. Followed by the quick but intricately crafted spell Pandora had created, and the follower would then leave.

The spell itself was relatively simple, with her left hand on top of the follower's head, and her wand swished into an infinity sign, the words 'Ligatum servire, usque in finem' and the spell was sealed with a shimmer of purple light.

However, having to perform this over 170 times was incredibly boring and tiring. Eventually the last follower left, letting Pandora finally sat down and let her weary body rest. Several of the followers had surprised her. Naturally she saw a ridiculous amount of Slytherin parents. There were even a large handful of Ravenclaw parents. However, there was only a meagre group of Hufflepuff parents, and they were usually spies that had been sent to infiltrate Hogwarts, the Ministry and even a few of the original Order. Although according to Tom, they had always been on his sides.

What surprised Pan the most was how many Gryffindor parents there were in the group. Romilda Vane's parents were both in the group, as were Demelza Robins' parents. Katie Bell's father as well as Lee Jordan's mother were also amongst those that pledged. Both of Alicia Spinnet's parents were there as well as the Patil twins' father. Even Lavender Brown's mother was there.

Much to her disgust, Cormac McLaggen and both his parents were also amongst those in the crowd. Unfortunately, somehow Cormac had heard from someone still at Hogwarts that Pandora used to be Hermione, and much to her disgust he tried to kiss her on the hand. She thankfully realised what he was intending to do and withdrew her hand immediately, which caused a curious look from Tom. However, thankfully the whole thing passed without another incident.

"Right, my dear friends, now that the rabble has been dealt with, shall we retire to the dining room? I believe the house elves have put on quite the spread! Pandora, will you walk with me? I'd like to ask you about something?" Pan nodded at Tom and placed her arm into the crook of his elbow, as they walked side by side to the dining room.

With the rest of the inner circle waiting patiently in the dining room for Pandora and Tom to appear, the two decided to take a walk around the delightful gardens whilst they talked.

"There are actually a couple of things I'd like to discuss, even if only briefly. For a start, I applaud you on your marvellous speech! I shall rest assured knowing that they cannot betray you, you'll have to tell me about your spell at a later date, but for now we have more important things to discuss. For a start, why wouldn't you let the young McLaggen boy kiss your hand? It seemed like he was trying to be a proper gentleman?" Tom looked at Pandora curiously, as he waited for her explanation. His expression startled Pandora, as it was the same face, she herself pulled when she too was curious.

"Well, you see, Cormac and I dated for a while. But I broke it off with him, because he was like an over-excited puppy! And truth be told, all he wanted to do was 'bed' the brainy witch from the Golden Trio. He made me feel like a possession and I hated it. He made my life hell after we split up, spreading all sorts of rumours to put any other guy off me, he decided if he couldn't have me, then no-one else was allowed to either." Pandora rolled her eyes as she thought about the rumours. Cormac's rumours had worked for about 2 months, and then people started to realise he was just pissed off at being dumped, and soon forgot about the ridiculous bullshit he was spreading around.

"Okay, well that makes sense. I shall try to prevent him getting too close to you in future. And any chance he had at working his way into my inner circle, just went up in flames. I need people I can trust, and I certainly don't trust him now! Anyway, onto the next subject! There is someone in my inner circle, who you thought was dead. This person is someone who can really tell you about what happened the night Harry Potter got his iconic scar, for she was there. I think it's about time you met Sparrow..."

By this point Tom had led Pandora back into the house and they were just outside the entrance to the dining room, the doors swept open, and Pandora walked in followed by Tom. She took her place beside Bellatrix, on Tom's left-hand side. Once seated she looked up expecting to see Lucius sitting opposite her, she didn't however, expect to see an auburn-haired woman, with vibrant green eyes and a delicate smile.

"Hello Pandora."

A/N Disclaimer first! I do not own sapient pearwood. It's actually owned by sir Terry Pratchett, as it's what 'Twoflower's Luggage' was made from. It sounded expensive enough, so I borrowed it. So that is my little homage to him. I cried when he died :(

Also, another cliff hanger! I am evil! Any guesses as to whom the strange woman is? A box of Bertie Botts to anyone who guesses correctly!

Apologies for the enormous delay in updating, as I'm sure you all can understand... C19 has a lot to answer for, and I'm a Key Worker, so things are even more stressful! I may have another chapter already written and ready to upload after this, but depending on how you like this one, I may update it sooner rather than later!

Reviews are my bread and butter! Keep 'em coming :D

Much Love

Az xXx