I do not own Harry Potter.

Anthony walked briskly through his childhood home, his friend at his side. If they didn't hurry they would be late to the meeting. Why tonight of all nights did his roommate decide he wanted to join? Tonight, what would be one of the most important nights of Tony's young life.

After opening the gates with the usual ritual, Anthony had had to step into the parlor to give his friend a quick run through of what to do tonight at the meeting. Do not look anyone in the eye. Do not speak unless spoken to. Do not fidget. Do not smile. Do not frown. Address Him as My Lord. Treat everyone as your better. Do not look at the snake, do not touch the snake, do not smell the snake, do not breathe loudly near the snake. Don't even think about the snake. Answer all questions honestly. Follow all instructions exactly. Do not make any sudden movements. Do not pull out your wand unless instructed to. Do not rise first, do not sit last. Do not go near his tigers. Stand when announcing yourself. Do not attempt to sit near Anthony; Anthony's spot was Voldemort's direct right. His friend's would be at the end of the left side. These, along with many others, were the instructions Anthony had given his friend.

"Why tonight, why tonight?" he muttered under his breath as they picked up the pace to a jog.

"Sorry Tony," his friend said cheerfully.

"Do not act happy!" Dolocelli hissed at him.

"Jeez, sorry…forgot this was a no fun zone." They had reached the dining room door.

Anthony whirled around and stared him straight in the eye. "This is a no fun zone. Do not talk back if you want to live through tonight. It seriously would have been safer for you not to come at all."

His companion cleared his face of all emotions, putting on a mask of perfection. "You know that's not possible. I have to join, I have the orders."

"He would have understood," Anthony insisted.

"But I wouldn't have."

Without another word, the men entered the room. In the dim light the faces were covered by shadows, but there were dozens of them. Men and women of all shapes and sizes hovered by their chairs. Only one figure sat at the head of the table.

Anthony made his way towards the front of the spacious room, his friend following behind for two steps. Then he stopped short, as if remembering his directions and turned to walk in the opposite way. Just as he reached his seat the grandfather clock located in the room declared that it was eleven on the dot. The sound of chairs scraping filled the room as everyone sat, the man rushing as to not be the last.

When the last bell rang, the head of the table rose. "Welcome, friends. I see that we are all present, with one to spare. Tell me stranger, what is your name?"

The man stood up quickly, staring determinately at the table in front of him. "I am Aiden McHugh, my Lord."

"What is your profession McHugh?"

"My Lord, I work at Gringotts as a Curse Breaker."

"Ahh, a Curse Breaker. I see it safe to assume that you are a friend of Mr. Dolocelli's then?"

"Yes my Lord."

Voldemort stared at Aiden for a long time. "Look at me, Mr. McHugh." Aiden raise his head slowly and looked straight into his pale face. His red eyes were captivating, capturing all of Aiden's attention. "Is your blood pure, Mr. McHugh?"

"As pure as the finest of gold my Lord," Aiden assured him, breathless.

"Your parents?"

"Liam and Bridgette McHugh of Dublin my Lord."

"Any siblings?"

"Kathleen O'Reilly, Mary Connolly, and Patricia Donavon."

"Your sisters' husbands. Their bloods are pure as well?"

"Of course my Lord."

"Do any of them have any children?"

"Kathleen has just given birth to her first son, Joseph Gregory."

"I see. And you McHugh?"

"I, my Lord?"

"Are you married? Any significant other in your life? Children from past lovers?"

"No sir."

Voldemort gave him another hard look, searching his face for any lies. "Very well. We will be doing a check on all the information you have provided us with. You may be seated and stay for the rest of the meeting. Anthony will be in touch about a more permanent membership once we have confirmed your honesty."

Aiden bowed his head and graciously took his seat. He was surprised that his inquisition had been so…easy. All he had to do was tell the truth; he really was a pure blood, was from Dublin, and all his sisters had married pure bloods.

"So we move forward my friends," Voldemort declared, sweeping his arms to notify them that he was addressing the entire room now and they should start paying attention. As if they weren't already hanging onto his every word. "Anthony, if you will." With a small motion towards the black haired man, Voldemort sat down as Tony stood.

"Friends," he said in a deep voice. "As most of you know, we need to move forward with our cleansing of the world. It is simply not acceptable to allow such filthy creatures to live amongst our kind. Mudbloods, half-breeds, Muggles, all creatures…they simply cannot measure up to those of us that are of the purest blood. Therefore we must either eliminate or enslave them. It is our duty.

Now as most of you know, we have chosen to eliminate all Mudbloods, Muggles, and all those that resist. But what if there weren't any that resisted? What if we had a tool that allowed us to know all? To control all? Wouldn't it be marvelous."

"Well yes it would be marvelous, if such a thing existed," came a snooty voice halfway down the table. "But we don't have time to listen to you prattle on about fairy tales, Dolocelli."

"Peace, Malfoy," Anthony answered with a smugness about him. "For such a thing does exist. The Mittens of Merlin would allow the wearer to control all."

The same voice burst out into laughter. "Magic Mittens!" he cried. "You've called us all together so we can listen to you go on about Magic Mittens! Are we going to knit these mittens?"

Tony sneered down at him. "You jeer Lucius, but I have seen the mittens with my own eyes. They had been passed down from generation to generation throughout my family, from Merlin himself."

"Oh really," Malfoy said, still disbelieving. "Then why don't you have them now?"

Anthony growled. "Blood traitors. When Juliana Dolocelli married Jared Potter, she took as many priceless possessions with her she could smuggle out of our estates. The mittens included. She then went on to sell as many as she could, to add insult to injury. When questioned about it she simply told us that she was taking her inheritance."

A feminine voice scoffed next to Lucius. "Why didn't you simply kill her right then and there? What kept you? Family bonding?"

"No Narcissa, far from it. My grandfather tried to kill her with his bare hands, but he could not. Merlin had cast a spell upon all his heirs that they could not do bodily harm to one another. He had always feared that his daughters would always gang up upon the beautiful Rosalie and beat her to death. The spell that was meant to protect us hindered us.

Now my father spent most of his life there on trying to relocate the possessions his sister had stolen. He had not an ounce of luck. I, however, have stumbled upon the mittens. They are located in vault 2017 of Gringotts."

He paused to let this sink in. a voice from somewhere he could not see called out, "Well that ought to be easy enough. With McHugh here on our side now, we have a handful of useful people."

A voice with a soft accent came from the far left. "No. Only the Curse Breaker assigned to that customer is allowed to travel down into the vaults with them."

"Exactly," replied Anthony. "We need Lily Evans."

Told you so ;) Review?

Isabel