Breakfast proceeded as the previous ones had, though whether due to his anger or something else, Katrina's portion was rather skimpy. Once breakfast was complete, she again found his hand stroking through her hair. She likened the touch of his hand to dry twigs and closed her eyes so she could try to pretend that was all it was.
The hand drew away and the scraping of chair legs signaled that he was standing. "Today you will accompany me around the houssse," he said, the sibilant tones grating on her nerves. "You will only ssspeak if I asssk you a quessstion. You will follow three ssstepsss behind me and when I sssit, you will kneel next to me. Do you have any quessstionsss?"
"No," she replied, risking a glance up at him. Seeing his wand begin a lazy arc in her direction, she hurriedly said, "No, my Lord."
He let out a hiss of air, "Better." He turned his back on her, facing the door, "Oh, and bring the tray with you."
She stood and retrieved the tray when it became obvious he was leaving the room. She hurried after him, trying not to jostle the tray too much. She glanced around quickly as she left the room. She hadn't had time to absorb many details when she had first been brought to the cottage. At that time, her only thought had been on her immediate survival.
Now, though, she had time to note the 3 other doors, all closed, on this floor. The stairs she followed Voldemort down were old and every stair creaked. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, and she stopped a short distance behind him.
"Wormtail!" he called out loudly.
Katrina bit her lip as Wormtail – or Peter Pettigrew as she knew him in school – came to a skidding, bowing halt before Voldemort. "Yes, my Lord," the hunched man simpered.
"Isss Avery here?"
"Yes, my Lord. He arrived five minutes ago."
"Good. Have him brought to the hall, I will be there momentarily."
Wormtail gave another quick bow before dashing off again.
Voldemort strode off and Katrina carefully followed him, making careful note of the layout of the cottage – not that there was much to it. The stairs came to an end before a door she assumed was the main door. To the left was a long room she assumed served as a living room of some sort. They went through the door to their immediate right which led into a kitchen.
Glancing around the kitchen, she saw a counter lining the left wall. There was a marble basin set into the counter with a swan neck faucet. On the opposite wall, there was a refrigerator and a stove. To the left of the fridge was a china cabinet. A small wooden table with four chairs completed the room.
"You may placcce the tray on the counter. The houssse-elf will take care of it presssently."
She was somewhat relieved that she wasn't going to be forced to do chores for this madman, until the ideas of what she could be forced to do instead crowded her mind. Certainly, there were worse things than having to wash a dish or two. She placed the tray on the counter next to the sink and turned to face Voldemort.
"Do you know the differenccce between a houssse elf and a pet," he asked, approaching her and raising a bony finger to trace her jaw.
She had an idea, but as the practice of keeping a 'pet' had been illegal for over a hundred years, she wasn't quite sure she knew exactly what he was referring to. "No, my Lord."
"To own a house elf isss to own their loyalty and ssserviccce. To own a pet isss to own one'sss body, magic, and sssoul. Your massster will have complete control over all assspectsss of your life. He will alssso have the resssponsssibility of caring for all of your needsss. The bond, which will be forged upon your presssentation to him, will ensure your loyalty to him. Asss for assuring hisss care for you… that will be my resssponsssibility."
Katrina bit the inside of her cheek and couldn't seem to stop shivering. What kind of monster could discuss the enslavement of another person as calmly and smoothly as if discussing the weather!
The finger left her jaw and he gracefully turned away from her, silently leaving the room. Remembering his instructions from earlier, she quickly followed as he entered the long room, which, if she had to guess, had previously been a living room. Currently, the only furniture in the room was a throne at the far end and a long table covered in scrolls off to one side.
Wormtail – she refused to call him Peter any longer – and a cloaked figure stood near the wall opposite the throne. She assumed the figure was Avery.
Voldemort stalked directly to the throne, not acknowledging the presence of anyone, and sat in a swirl of robes. She stopped adjacent to the throne and hesitated a mere moment. "My lord," she whispered, terrified for speaking out of turn.
His scarlet eyes met hers and he must have deduced her question, for he quietly hissed at her, "Alwaysss faccce the direction I do, unless I tell you otherwissse."
She quickly knelt next to his chair, facing out into the room, with a muttered, "Thank you, my Lord."
"Avery," Voldemort called out, gesturing the man next to Wormtail forward.
The somewhat short man slowly stepped forward. He was dressed in a black cloak with the hood drawn forward over his head. He walked up directly to Voldemort and dropped to his knees. He bent over and kissed the hem of Voldemort's robe. Voldemort's skeletal hand drew the hood away from the man's face a moment before his boot connected with Avery's jaw, knocking him backwards.
Rising slowly, Voldemort stalked towards the stunned man sprawled before him. He kicked him again, this time in the ribs, "Failuresss, all of you! A simple mission, break into the Minissstry and be prepared to sssteal the prophecccy from that Potter brat, and you couldn't even do it properly!"
"My… my Lord, he wasn't alone…"
"Crucio!"
Katrina scrunched her eyes closed, wishing she could as easily block out the man's screams but she didn't dare raise her hands to her ears. The scream ended after what felt like an eternity but was probably less than a minute. She risked a glance and saw Voldemort again circling the man like a gangly bird of prey.
"There were a handful of children! The lot of you were besssted by a group of teenagersss!"
A loud hissing filled the room and it to Katrina a moment to realize that it wasn't coming from Voldemort. She risked a glance up through her lashes and gasped as a massive snake slithered into the room and directly towards them. Hissing was exchanged between the snake and Voldemort as the snake stopped less than two feet from her. She shivered as the snake's head rose and its tongue flicked out. Katrina would have sworn the snake was contemplating her.
More hissing was exchanged before the snake moved to the other side of the throne and curled up upon itself. Katrina breathed a sigh of relief.
"Pet," Voldemort said, drawing Katrina's eyes to him, "Nagini will not harm you ssso long asss you obey me."
Katrina ducked her head again, "Yes, my Lord."
"Now, Avery… Cruico!"