Author's Note: I humbly apologise for the late update. Here is the next chapter. Thank you to all the readers for sticking up with me. Also thank you to all those who have added the story on their favourite/following lists, and those who reviewed.
I don't own Harry Potter.
Good day to all!
CHAPTER 5
MALFOY MANOR, WHILTSHIRE, ENGLAND
The floo roared with green flames indicating the arrival of the guests. Lord Voldemort moved to stand beside Narcissa, straightening his robes for what seemed to be like the hundredth time that morning. Narcissa smirked openly seeing at which the Dark Lord narrowed his eyes. She knew how anxious Lord Voldemort had been all week for this meeting. She had never seen him so reckless and after getting to know Elara personally, she wanted to see how these two people would come along.
The Dark Lord did not like the smug look on Narcissa's face. Shrugging his shoulders he focussed his attention to the group of guests. First came Cassiopeia Black gracefully stepping out of the floo to be greeted by Lucius and Severus. Voldemort had purposely ordered Severus to attend the meeting instead of Rodolphus; he wanted to see which side the Potions master/spy was playing on in this war.
The next two guests were the most unexpected people he could have imagined- Ted Tonks and Andromeda Tonks. What in the blazes were the people of Dumbledore's precious Order doing here?!
The husband and wife gazed at him with a look of suppressed fear but nodded in Severus' direction as if already knowing that he would be present. Finally came Lady Black; the one person Lord Voldemort was looking forward to meet. It wasn't every day the Dark Lord was impressed by anyone, but Elara Black definitely needed to be observed and assessed or so he thought. After all the woman had been the reason for the death of Bellatrix, one of the finest duellists' in his ranks no matter how insane. Also he had lost Rabastan because of man's crazy love issues. So yes, the Dark Lord needed to keep a check on Elara.
He watched as she gracefully stepped out of the floo. Her waist length wavy brown hair neatly tied in a braid. Just like that crimson orbs clashed with stormy grey ones making Lord Voldemort's breath hitch. He moved forward to greet Madame Black and the Tonks'. As soon as he reached in front of Elara, he kissed the back of her hand in a formal greeting never breaking eye contact; this was power play, this was a quite warning on his behalf to Lady Black to not play with the devil or tests the water.
Elara searched the man's face as her eyes fell on him. When she had arrived at the manor she had expected an old wizard in his 60s to be meeting and greeting them. But never in her thoughts she had she had wondered to be in presence of such an intimidating man looking in late twenties or early thirties; it was very silly of her, a mistake on her part. Of course the man standing in front of her was the Dark Lord, power practically radiating of him and she could sense the dark magic swirling around him like a cloak. No wonder the man had thousands of followers ready to die for him in the blink of an eye.
But she was Lady Black and she would not show he slight uncomfortable feeling she felt in his presence, so Elara did what Arcturus had taught her; she looked him straight in the eye without a hint of fear.
"Welcome to Malfoy Manor, Lady Black. You have my word that no harm shall come to you or your guests whilst you are all are here today." Voldemort spoke in a velvety smooth voice. He inwardly smirked when he saw the muggleborn bint Tonks and his wife tense up as he spoke.
Elara followed his gaze and understood. Inwardly rolling her eyes she too gave the oath," And you have my word on behalf of acquaintances' that they will not utter about you or your hiding place to any other soul." Voldemort nodded in agreement, turned on his heel and left, expecting others to follow suit. Cassiopeia scowled at his behaviour but wisely kept her mouth shut.
Entering upon the stupidly luxurious room, Elara took the seat between Cassiopeia and Andromeda; the Dark Lord watching her every move like a predator watching its prey before hunt. Once Narcissa ordered the elves for tea to be served, Elara took the opportunity to speak, "Thank you for accepting our request, Lord Voldemort. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." Voldemort's eyebrow shot up hearing the pleasant tone on her voice.
"I was very curious indeed to meet you and find out why my dear aunt was practically lusting after you for so many reasons, not to mention the fact that she was killing and torturing her own family for you. I must admit I'm not disappointed with what I see." Elara said looking the Dark Lord up and down.
Cassiopeia smirked and sipped her tea as if nothing was wrong, as if her granddaughter not just passed an embarrassing comment to the most feared Dark Lord so casually. Narcissa too smiled while Severus had an amused expression on his face. When he had first heard about Lady Black he had wanted to thank her for taking the burden named Bellatrix off their shoulders, and now openly commenting on the Dark Lord's looks; Severus was definitely liking her.
Lucius on the other hand was a choking fit clearly not expecting such an offensive comment on his Lord while Voldemort blinked a few times and tried very hard to hide the blush threatening to come on his cheeks Salazar! The nerve of this woman; she had commented and insulted him, The Dark Lord of all people, at the same time! And what was wrong with him? He hadn't even known the woman for 5 minutes and he was already embarrassed and blushing. Dark Lords don't blush!
He knew he was quite good looking and used the fact to his full advantage to get what he desired but never had anyone said anything like that on his face. Quickly hiding his discomfort he smirked in Elara's direction, "I'm truly flattered that you find me up to your expectations, Lady Black. But give me one good reason why i shall listen to you when you have killed one of my comrades?"
"You and I both know that Bellatrix was more of a liability than an asset. Correct me if I'm wrong she would already have posed a problem to all of you.
Aunt Bella was chaos and you've been quite the opposite since your return two years ago. She would have been a thorn on your side since your agenda is to win the war politically and not mass slaughter. In fact you should be thanking me that I got rid of her."
It was quite for a moment before he spoke again, "I'm listening."
"We heard about your obviously failed attempts to take over the ministry because of your little stunt and duel with Dumbledore earlier this year." Cassiopeia said in a very sarcastic tone. For a moment Voldemort felt like a child being scolded by his mother for acting stupidly, which the Dark Lord didn't like one bit; no one reprimanded the Dark Lord. Ignoring the sulking Dark Lord in front of her, Cassiopeia continued, "That is why we have come to offer a proposal."
"Why offer the proposition to the Dark Lord and not the Leader of the Light?" Severus spoke for the first time, his gaze truly focussed on his fellow Order members. He had been shocked to see the Tonks' family to be in attendance with Lady Black that day. Bu his reaction, Voldemort too was interested to get the answer.
"I had surprisingly in depth conversation with brother Draco during our short meetings. He shed light upon how you truly mean no harm to either muggleborns or Harry Potter, how you want a separation from muggle world totally, how you want to introduce muggleborns into our world earlier, how you want to build magical orphanages and primary schools. From what I've heard these ideas of yours to help our society develop are truly astounding.
I have no qualms against muggles mind that but I'll not deny the repercussions of what can happen if the muggles find about our world. They can be ruthless bastards and with their technology developing so fast, wizards will not have a chance to stand against them in state of war.
But people are starting to believe Albus Dumbledore and looking up to him just like they did earlier. With the light families firmly in his pocket and grey families and participating in the war you only have the Dark Sect at you side, and I don't think people will believe anything said by a dark wizard or witch right now, even if it is for the betterment of the society."
Every word she said was true. Since his return the Light families have sworn allegiance to Dumbledore and he too had lost many of his followers thanks to Azkaban.
"What do you suggest we do then?" Narcissa asked.
"That brings us to the Proposal." Cassiopeia said.
"We offer a marriage proposal for Lord Voldemort to Lady Black."
The Dark Lord's eye widened as his brain processed the meaning of the words. Narcissa inhaled sharply while Lucius and Severus looked gobsmacked. Madame Black continued in a clipped tone, "The Black Family never swore it's allegiance to either you or Dumbledore in the last war. The family members who did however, are all dead, which means that despite being a Dark family we're neutral.
We can help you gain a new identity. You claim your inheritances, seats on the Wizengamot and carry out whatever plans you have for our society. We will help you in every possible way. In return we want you, the Leader of the Dark Sect swear protection to the remaining members of the Black family including the Malfoy's, the Tonks' and the Potter's. Also we want your help in getting revenge and destroying Dumbledore." When Cassiopeia was finished she looked at the Dark Lord sitting across from her expectantly.
Lord Voldemort was in deep thought. The opportunity laid in front of him was too good to be true, but then the condition was demanding as well. Sure he wasn't concerned about the Harry Potter problem anymore but to swear protection to his once nemesis would not be good for his reputation. He still had his doubts so he voiced them,
"Why Harry Potter?"
"Harry never wanted to participate in the war firstly. He hates that he is being forced to fight the most feared wizard with far more experience without any logical reason. And since Sirius' death earlier this year the boy had grown resentful against Dumbledore." It was Andromeda who answered as confidently as ever.
"Also Harry is a member of the family through grandma Dorea. I wouldn't allow Dumbledore to use my cousin as a pawn in his game." Elara spoke.
"Still doesn't explain the presence of these two here." Lucius said pointing towards his sister in law and her husband.
"We aren't fools to realise that Dumbledore has been misusing his powers ever since the Order has reinstated the only things discussed is how to kill Voldemort and his death eaters. Many of the Order members are frustrated including Harry. Also the promises the Light's Leader made to help the wizarding world haven't been into action since he acquired the position of Chief Warlock. When we heard from Draco that you actually have plans to help muggleborns, half bloods and pure bloods alike, there wasn't shadow of doubt where we wanted to stand." Ted Tonks voiced his thoughts clearing all the confusion.
"And why the revenge against Dumbledore? From your tone it seems quite personal." Voldemort leaned forward, elbows resting on knees while eyes glued on Elara.
"The two men who fired deadly curses at my mother that day in Diagon Alley weren't death eaters. They were Dumbledore's men. And also his failed attempts to murder me by sending assassins to kill me twice."
Dumbledore wanted to kill you? Why?" Narcissa asked getting into his mother hen mode. Even the Tonks' were shocked by this piece of information.
"We don't know yet. We just knew who they worked for when uncle Arcturus caught them. It was several days of torture before killing them but they even they didn't know the reason. The only work they had was to kill Elara in any way possible."
"So when I attend my last year at Hogwarts this summer I want to ensure that the rest of my family remains safe and out of harms way." The determination in her grey eyes fascinated Voldemort to no end. When he had first heard of Lady Black he had thought of a narrow minded woman just like other snotty purebloods. Instead a young woman with a fierce strength and passion to keep her loved ones safe sat across from him.
He had thought he'll have to display his powers to prove his worth, instead he got praise for his idea of equality and a promise to be helped in times of need. In his opinion the marriage proposal was actually a bloody brilliant idea. It would not pose a threat when asked why protection to two Light Families was being given. Clearing his throat he asked Elara one last question, "Hypothetically if I agree to this alliance, how do you plan to get me a new identity? The Goblins aren't helpful to two legged wand users."
"Goblins demand respect and are greedy creatures. The unclaimed vaults in Gringotts are non-profitable to them and just using up their precious space. Share your ideas with them. Introduce the law of compulsory inheritance test for everyone, including the muggleborns that enter our world every year. When old vaults will be reopened their business will flourish. In return you can make you offer to be their ally."
"That is actually a very good idea Lady Black."
"Thank you Mr Snape."
Everyone looked at the Dark Lord waiting for his reply. Elara was a bit tensed. If he agreed it would be beneficial to both of them, but if rejected the proposal her family would find itself in the middle of bloodshed. She had never even thought about marrying anyone, but when she realised this was the only way to protect her family, Elara had not hesitated to do what was right.
She was also worried about the upcoming year at Hogwarts. How would Dumbledore react to her sudden presence? She didn't want to ponder over those thoughts for now. If required she would die happily to keep her family safe.
Voldemort stared intently at the young woman in front of him. Her brows were furrowed as he waited for his answer.
"I accept your proposal."
The relief that washed over her face and the genuine smile she wore was enough to make him realize that he took the right decision.
Narcissa and Andromeda looked as if Christmas had come; well they had a wedding to plan! From the look on Severus' face it felt like he approved of Lady Black completely. She had handled the situation so well. He had no doubt she would be perfect match for their Lord. And Severus believed that Lord Voldemort had already taken a liking to his future bride.
"How about we meet tomorrow to discuss the wedding date and other things?"
"That will be alright."
Elara quickly took her departure to write to the goblins and arrange meeting with them. Andromeda, Narcissa and Cassiopeia remained to discuss the wedding details. Severus and Ted left to meet headmaster while Lucius took charge of the guest list. The manor suddenly filled with chatter and warmth. Lord Voldemort smiled genuinely as he thought of ways to destroy Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.
Author's note: What is going on the Light's side?
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