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Chapter 2:

The Meeting

The meeting had begun and the family had taken their places at the head of the table. Marcus, Aurora's father sat at the head of the table with Aurora and Draco to his right and Lucius and Naricssa to his left. No one dared ask why the two teens had such high stature within their ranks as they were far to scared of what Lucius would do let alone Marcus if he ever heard a word against his daughter.

The meeting began as usual with updates from all over the world on how business was going. The opera house in Venice was a success, the new hotel in America was bustling with new business and the Vampire bar in London was the talk of Nocturne Alley, everything was going exactly how it should. After two hours of updates, dinner and some small talk between the wives of having an all family picnic Marcus cleared his throat and everyone turned their attention to the head of the table once again.

He slowly rose to his feet and began pacing around the large conference table. "We have a problem, a very large and undoubtedly serious problem that must be taken care of immediately."

Draco and Aurora snapped to attention, neither of them had ever been left in the dark when it came to the workings of this family and now suddenly there was a problem they weren't aware of. Something was very wrong.

"As most of you know Voldemort was defeated many years ago by that simpleminded Potter boy." He spat as he suddenly stopped his pacing to stare down each of his listeners as if reading each of their minds. Once he felt each was paying close enough attention he began pacing once more and continued with his speech. "Voldemort was one of our best followers, he worked hard, had a goal and almost achieved that goal, but in the end he failed. His vision was warped and he had no perspective as to what he would do once in power. I blame myself for this as I was his teacher and guardian."

The group sat stunned at what they had just heard. Marcus was his guardian? What? They had all been taught by Marcus, he was their leader, the oldest and the strongest of all of them, but no one had ever thought…

"You mean, you were his… father?" one of the men asked with wide eyes. Everyone sat stunned, staring at the bowed head of their leader, all except for Aurora and Draco.

"No, he was not his father, but he had raised him." Aurora said motioning to her father that she would continue his speech, as she had realized what had happened and why she was to be at this meeting.

"Voldemort was taken in by my father during his last years at Hogwarts. He came to live here with him and my mother to be trained and brought into our ranks; however his vision was different from ours. Tom believed that we as purebloods were better than the rest, which is not true. Yes we are better," she said with a small smirk and a noticeable glance at Draco, "but not because of our blood. It was because of this belief that Voldemort was defeated by Harry so many years ago, and it was ultimately that belief that killed him."

With this final statement a single tear ran down Aurora's face. Draco quickly grasped her hand and pulled her back down to her seat. No one needed to hear the end of Marcus' and Aurora's speech, they already knew what had happened. The group sat stunned at what they had just heard. Voldemort had always been considered the most powerful wizard of the age, next to Dumbledore, but that was only the fools who did not know of Marcus. Tom had been trained personally by Marcus just as they all had; he was the most powerful of all the followers. How could he be dead?

Marcus had been in America doing research on potions when he had gotten the news. For months now there had been a plan to scavenge a deserted farm house in Ireland that had formerly belonged to an aged and wise wizard by the name of Rupert Ankolis. He was a known potions master and a genius at spell writing; they needed his notes to finish their plans. What Marcus' men had expected to find on their mission was an empty house with old magic books and a few ingredients they needed for the new potions they were creating every day. Instead, upon entering the dilapidated house they were attacked by ministry officials. They weren't there to harm anyone, but due to the presence of Voldemort and known "Death Eaters" dozens of their best men had been killed and the ministry now had the ingredients they had been looking for.

"Death Eaters… brainless gits. They couldn't tell a horse from a fish, not one of them." Marcus mumbled to himself as his rage grew. Death Eaters; that was the stupid name Tom had come up with for his team. Marcus had warned him not to bring more attention to himself than necessary but once Voldemort had a taste of power he couldn't give it up. To the day he died the only person he looked up to was Marcus and it was on a mission for him that he was killed. Everyone knew it, but no one blamed him. No one dared to blame him, it wasn't his fault but even if it was, no one dared go against their teacher.

The meeting ended abruptly when Marcus stormed from the room knocking his chair and anything else in his way to the floor. The men and women simply stared after him but as the pounding faded away up the stairs they all looked to Aurora to tell them what to do.

This was why she was his second instead of Lucius. He would allow his anger and frustration to control him just as her father did, but Aurora could put aside her sadness at the loss of her "brother" to give each member their orders and wish them all good luck on their expeditions. They all rose as she and Draco left, his arm clasped tightly around her waste and her head leaning gently on his shoulder as he led her back to their room.

The men and women stood silently watching the pair leave as small smiled appeared on all of their faces. Since her mother passed away Aurora had never allowed anyone to touch her without her permission, even her father was unable to hug her until she was ten. However over the past few years they had all noticed a chance in this. One person never bothered to ask before he grabbed her hand, and never apologized when he rubbed shoulders with her at the table. Something had changed and something was going on. Everyone knew but Narcissa was the first to speak.

"No one is to tell Marcus about them, it is her right to tell him she has found her prince, not ours." She said looking daggers at each of her teammates. They all nodded in unison agreeing that no one would tell, and as they said their goodbyes to each other they each gave Lucius a small pat on the back. He would soon be a true part of their teacher's family, something they all had hoped to be but no one could be more proud of their son's decision than Narcissa. She had hoped since Angela's death that the two young children would end up together. What she did not know was that they were destined to be together, but this fate would bring an end to all that they loved.