Chapter 14! Finally, Voldemort! I also split these up so you could have more to read when I'm at my university.

I go back to school tomorrow, so updates wont' be as frequent, but i swear I will finish this story!

I warn you though...It's going to be pretty long, we still have to get through semester 2

Thanks for reading you guys, this is the best review and support I've had for a story, ever!


Our Time Is Running Out

Parchment 14: The Dark Lord's Mark

Bellatrix stared at Lixella with an odd expression. Her face was twisted into this look of judgment and disgust. Her lips pouted outward and her mouth frowned. Her large eyes squinted with complete insanity as they looked over Lixella.

"Come on, Lixella." said Draco as he took a seat next to his mother. Suddenly, the room became quiet and everyone stared at her. Lixella had never had all eyes on her before, it was rather unpleasant. Bellatrix cleared her throat, and Lixella realized that the crowd was not staring at her.

"Miss Cruxshade" a smooth voice said from behind her. She turned as slowly as she could, not wanting to look behind her. When she stopped, she was facing a grey robe. She was able to look up at him, but unable to lift her head. So he did it for her. With the tip of his wand, Voldemort slowly lifted up Lixella's chin. She averted her gaze, figuring out what to do next. "Miss Cruxshade, how nice to finally meet you" he said. Lixella stared back at him, his skin was as pale as the marble behind him.

"Good evening" she said, hiding fear. He lowered his wand and Lixella backed up and curtsied to him. His eyes squinted and the corners of his mouth turned upward into a devilish grin.

"And hello to all of you, my most…loyal…followers" he looked to Bellatrix, then peered at the Malfoys, "surely you are all aware of why I have called you here". He slithered around the room, making sure to comment on the people he passed. "I have called you all here because of…..her" he pointed a pale boney finger at Lixella. She put on a reserved face, biting back her nerves.

"I'm not sure if you all are aware of this. But this young lady, has evaded me for quite some time, now." his voice almost creped up her spine, he was even cold from a distance, "Every time I would try to get to her, she would slip just out of my grasp. So, I had to come up with a more, elaborate, plan this time. Are you aware of why I have brought you here, Lixella?"

"HE SAID TALK! You filthy little.."

"No, Bellatrix!….let Lixella speak!" Voldemort silenced her, "Go on Miss. Cruxshade!"

"Does it have something to do with my memories?" she asked hastily.

"that's right! Your precious…precious, lost memories."

"The ones from my childhood?"

"Yes, do you know why you can't remember anything, Lixella?"

She shook her head.

"because, they made you forget" Voldemort said, "they wiped your memory of your childhood. But I, dear Lixella, found it."

His pale eyes became slits. He snatched his hand away from Lixella's face, scraping her cheek. Voldemort walked around the long table and took his seat at the end, once more. He sat straight up, staring at Lixella. She was not sure what to do.

"Ever wonder why your eyes are purple?" he yelled, "it's not from your grandmother, like they told you. They're purple because as a child you were kidnapped, and experimented on."

"Ho-how do you know that?" Lixella asked.

"A pensive Miss Cruxshade. When the kidnappers removed your memories they put them in flasks and saved them in a secret pensive!" Voldemort's eyes grew wide, "you really DON'T remember! Perhaps you aren't even the girl I'm looking for?" He stared at her diligently, with a hand on his cheek. A tangle of nerves rushed through her. She realized that she would have to prove herself, in order to live.

"I have prepared something" he said, and summoned two men out. They were wheeling in a chest. It was made of iron, and had many locks. "You must show me that you can communicate with this creature. Otherwise, I'll never believe you!" he said.

With a wave of his hand, the chest flew open. A white woman with graceful posture, and black eyes, rose out of the chest. She stared at Lixella for a bit, before shifting her gaze to the rest of the room. She was uncomfortable, and very scared.

"If you are, who I think you are, then the cry of a banshee in pain, shouldn't kill you. However, for us it would be fatal, to you it will be just a cry of sheer pain and agony!" He flicked his wand, and everyone placed their hands over their ears. However, he bound Lixella's hands behind her back. The two men, wearing silencer hats, began torturing the banshee with the cruciatus curse.

The banshee began crying out in agony. Her screeching went from low, to impossibly high pitched. Everyone in the room either winced, or closed their eyes shut. Lixella's eyes began to water from the noise. Then, she realized that, not only could she hear it, she could feel the pain. Lixella felt the stabbing sensation again. She stared at the banshee, screeching in fear, and tears formed in her eyes. This creature was being tortured for her, and she couldn't stop it. Suddenly, Lixella began to screech herself. Her voice went into a high pitched note, that was raspy and jagged.

Then, it all stopped at once. Everyone took their hands off of their ears, and stared at Lixella and the banshee. The both of them had fallen to the floor, Lixella on her knees, in sheer agony. She was crying, because she could still feel the banshee's pain. The white woman store up at her with weak black eyes. Lixella whispered, "I'm so sorry"

The attention in the room then changed to Voldemort. He was sitting in his chair, looking at Lixella with pride, but also with doubt.

"How did it feel, Lixella?" he asked, coldly, "You survived the screech, but how did it feel?"

Lixella remained silent, she was fixated on the banshee in front of her, who was near death.

"How did it feel!" he screamed. A jolt of adrenaline shot through her spine, and up to her mouth.

"Painful!" she shouted at him, "It was painful….because, I could feel her being tortured. Being stabbed!"

Voldemort grinned, he knew that he had found the right girl. He looked over to Draco, and motioned for him to go help Lixella up.

Draco ran over to her, he held her up by her arm. She couldn't stand on her own, so she had to lean on him. She could distantly hear clapping, from the end of the table.

"Wonderful….simply, spectacular" said Voldemort with a grin, "someone…get rid of that…that THING!"

The two men then stuffed the banshee back in the chest. Lixella wanted to free her, but knew that it was hopeless. Voldemort slowly rose out of his chair, and glided over to Lixella and Draco. She could barely hear anything because of the banshee cry. She was also pretty weak from the pain, but she saw Voldemort remove his wand.

"I think, it's about time….that you joined us, Miss Cruxshade" he peered over to Draco, "give me her arm Draco, I think Lixella would like to receive my gift for her now!"

Draco closed his eyes and exhaled uncomfortably. The last person he cared about, that hadn't been taken over by Voldemort, was about to be taken from him. He unwrapped Lixella's left arm from his shoulder, and presented it to Voldemort. He then moved over to her right side, to help her stand."It's okay" Draco whispered to her, "it's okay"

The pain shot up Lixella's arm and out to her entire body. It was as if someone was ripping her apart cell by cell. She bit back a scream, feeling her face turning red. Her right hand grabbed onto Draco's left arm, he held onto it. Lightning and needles were all she could imagine. She could feel her face turning red from her suppressed screams. Her knees were growing weaker, but Draco wouldn't let her fall down. Finally Voldemort stopped, and backed up to look at his work.

"Always fun.." he said, staring at Lixella's beaten form. He turned to the table of people, "Welcome our new death eater, Lixella Willow Cruxshade". Lixella thought she could hear clapping from the death eaters at the table.

It became silent as she fell to the ground. Her vision blurred, and her grip on Draco became weak. Lixella fell to the ground, completely blacked out from the intense pain, and lack of energy. Draco managed to catch her, before she hit the floor. Voldemort turned to him, "well…she doesn't look so good. Take her away, Draco. We'll be needing her later"

He picked her up and carried her out of the room. In the distance he could hear Voldemort questioning Bellatrix about their duel earlier.

He took her into her guestroom and laid her down on the bed. He walked over to the bathroom and removed a bottle of "essence of dittany", to help with the scaring. He remembered when his mother had to do all of this for him when he received his dark mark. He knew that she'd be out for only a little while, maybe 10-15 minutes at most. Draco wasn't sure if everyone would be gone by then, so he decided to stay upstairs.

"ya didn't know what you were getting yourself into…huh?" he asked to her sleeping form.

He looked at her and sighed. He had met her as a kid, and known her for a semester in school. Yet, he couldn't help but feel like they were supposed to be popping up in each others lives. He enjoyed her company, but he would deny it at all costs. Her sense of humor was terrible because it involved picking on him.

He kind of liked that she was able to do that. She didn't swoon over him, nor did she desperately despise him. She just, got to him. They both got to each other. They both needed someone to taunt, and to fight with. Both of their lives were so fucked up, and there was no one to yell at. So, they yelled at each other, over petty things like nationality. If she left, then he would have to go back to holding it all in. Even his parents didn't do that. They fought with each other, all the time. They didn't mean it, but they needed the outlet.

Lixella always came when he needed to meet her. She was strangely always there when he needed someone to yell at, in life. She moved slightly and began muttering something about banshees. Draco sat up and turned the lamp light down.

"Dra-co" she whispered inaudibly. He wasn't sure if he had heard that at all, "he-l". Hell? Was she dreaming about hell?

"bloody hell, what's wrong?" he whispered in a worried tone

"hel-p….me" she whispered almost inaudibly.

"me?" Draco looked at her with a squinted eyes. He thought he'd heard his name, but he wasn't sure of it. He stayed in the chair by the bed for a good 30 minutes. Every few seconds Lixella would begin mumbling about something, but he couldn't figure out what it was. Every 5 minutes he would apply another swipe of dittany onto the dark mark. However, at around 25 minutes, he fell asleep with his mouth hanging open. His head was tilted onto the back of the chair, and he was snoring a bit. After a few minutes, he awoke to a loud thump. He shot up in his chair, with his hand over his wand. He looked to the bed, and found that Lixella wasn't there. She had fallen onto the floor, after having a fit in her sleep.

"dear god, woman! You can't even sleep like a normal being" he said rolling his eyes. Draco got up and knelt down to pick Lixella up off of the floor.

"well god! It's not like I planned to fall off of the bed" she yanked her arm away from his grip. She stood up quickly, only to wobble back onto the bed. "Jesus, what happened?" she asked, half awake.

"You fainted because of your dar…" suddenly Lixella screamed and fell onto the pillow in pain.

"MY ARM!" she yelled as she pulled up her sleeve. Her eyes almost fell out of her skull as she stared at the marking, "HOLY HELL! MY ARM!".

"it's okay…lixella…"he watched her rummage around in the bed, shocked at the marking and upset. "Lixella!" he snapped. She turned to him with large eyes, "Lixella, it's okay…it's over, It's okay" he stated with a concerned look. "Look, I have one too" he lifted his sleeve, "it means that you're safe now, I can protect you".

Lixella stared at him for what seemed like forever, then, tears appeared. She didn't start crying, but she couldn't hold back tears. He got up from the chair, and sat next to her on the bed. He wrapped an arm around her, and pulled her into him.

"I don't…want this" she said, "I never…ever…wanted this"

"yeah, I know…but, he likes you" Draco stated, "you're a new weapon. So, you can't leave."

She sat up and put her arm next to his. He was right, they were exactly the same. Neither of them could ever leave. Both of them were stuck there for reasons beyond their control. She was a death eater, or at least branded into the cult. She was no longer a person, she was a weapon. Lixella laid her head on Draco's shoulder. He smelled like oak trees, and men's soap. She was still crying.

"I'll have to hold my kid with this arm one day" she stated as her tears hit the shoulder of his suit.

"yeah" he replied, "me too"

They sat, in silence, staring at their marks of fate. The silence was peaceful, and lasted for several minutes. It seemed like several hours. The two of them had to find a way to survive. They had to fight, for and against each other.


So, Voldemort is always a fun guy to write...I like Bellatrix more, though!

anyhow, thanks for reading my last chapter of winter break...i'll update soon, I promise!

Have a great spring semester everyone ^_^ and thanks for being so supportive!