{Disclaimer: The Harry Potter World was created by J.K. Rowling and rights and owned by, but not limited to, Scholastic Books and Warner Brothers. I, therefore, own no parts of this save for Andromeda McGee, Wyvern the cat, and a few random Death Eaters.}

WARNING: This chapter contains very mature content and to say the least, is not extremely pleasant. Let this be a warning to you all. Also, for those of you have read my tale before, I edited a bit of the end of the original Chapter 20 to better fit with my ideas of the ending.

Chapter 20

Evil Hath Its Ways

**"A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong it is until it's in hot water." Eleanor Roosevelt**

As the clock struck midnight, Andy gasped in pain at the wand striking her left forearm. An incantation was shouted yet she could not fully discern the words. On her pale skin, a single line blossomed, tattooing a design that would stay with her until and most likely past her death. The line grew, tracing image that she already hated: a skull and a snake intertwined and never parting.

The skull only meant death, plain and simple. Given that it was a human skull, it meant the death of people. The people could be anyone. It could be her or her family, what was left of them, or other people she cared for, or even the deaths of people she never knew and would never meet. It would be death to the Muggles that Voldemort hated so much, even though he was half Muggle by birth. It reminded her of Hitler, killing off those who were not blonde-haired and blue-eyed, even though his own attributes were darker shades.

The snake had many meanings opposed to the simple skull. A serpent was cunning. In ancient Chinese, it symbolized patience. A snake would coil in the same position for hours on end and wait for an unsuspecting little beast to scamper by and SNAP! it was turned into dinner in the blink of an eye. For some reason, that meaning struck her as odd, but then again, Voldemort was never one to act hastily even though it may seem like he did. The snake was also the symbol of Slytherin, Voldemort's house and the house of many of his followers. The symbol almost made sense to her in a certain, disturbing way.

The meanings she found did nothing for her temperament. As the mark finished its final embellishments, the ceremony was complete and Andy McGee was officially a Death Eater. It was never meant to happen this way but it did.

"Rise and serve your master well, Andromeda McGee," Voldemort hissed. Andy pulled herself weakly off the floor, but by the time she was fully upright, Voldemort and his minions had already disappeared. She could feel the cool blackness wash over her as she collapse into a pile back on the cold stone floor.

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It had been after the luscious meal when she was brought down to Malfoy's dungeon. She hadn't eaten much. Nervousness had done its duty in quelling any hunger she might have had. Severus had sat next to her and had acted as if nothing was going to happen. It bothered her that he could be completely nonchalant with the whole ordeal, but there was nothing that she could do about that.

The first room they led her into was a dormitory sparsely decorated with only a wardrobe, a bed, a mirror, a wash stand, and another door on the opposite wall. Lucius Malfoy had told her to enter and she did so meekly, knowing better than to protest. A few moments later, a woman clad completely in black with long pale hair came in. Andy recognized her vaguely as Lucius's wife, Narcissa Malfoy, and from her obvious involvement with the upcoming activities, probably a Death Eater as well.

Narcissa walked over to the wardrobe and pulled out a long, sleeveless, black shift with a cord belt of the same color. "Strip completely out of your garments, including underclothing and change into these. When you are finished, exit through the door over there," she gestured to the door she did not enter from.

Andy waited until the door was firmly shut to discard her dress. Changing in front of a sneering Malfoy was not on the top of her list of things to accomplish tonight. Finding simpler, black undergarments, she exchanged them with her own and slid into the shift. With a deft hand, she knotted the belt around her waist. She took a deep breath and opened the door into the next room.

She could see no visible light coming from anywhere in the next area. The door behind here creaked eerily closed and she was alone. Cautiously, Andy drew her wand.

"There is no need for that here. You will come to no harm unless you fail to answer my questions correctly," an androgynous voice spoke from near by.

She let her eyes adjust and located a robed figure a few feet away from her. There was probably a spell to disguise the voice, she figured. Her wand was tucked into her belt, far enough from her hand to show that she meant no direct harm, but close enough where she could grab it at a moment's notice.

"That's better. State your full name."

"Andromeda Josephine McGee."

"Date of birth?"

Andy thought for a moment. She hadn't really celebrated her birthday since before Azkaban. "June 23, 1961."

"Occupation?"

"Potions Mistress at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Schools attended?"

"Hogwarts, and I was apprenticed for a few months in the Ministry's Experimental Potions Department, but never finished."

"House at Hogwarts?"

"Gryffindor."

Andy heard the person snort in disgust. He, or she for that matter, had an obvious distaste of Gryffindors. "Do you come here of your own free will with no person or creature forcing you to do so?"

"Yes," it was true, she did choose this path.

"What are you motives for joining our league?"

Andy's eyes widened. She hadn't thought about that. Why did she choose to join the Death Eaters and not run away? Clearing her mind as Severus had taught her, she gave what she hoped was the best answer. "Seventeen years ago, Lord Voldemort asked if I would join his forces. I refused. By refusing someone as powerful as he, I was promptly Obliviated and sent to Azkaban. Thankfully, he had mercy and released the prisoners, including myself, a little over a year ago. After regaining my identity, I was soon called by Lord Voldemort to recreate the Merlin's Potion that I had brewed in my youth and did so willingly for him. I wished to prove my worthiness to him. I decided he was a much stronger force than I had realized before. The stronger force always wins at the end." She took a deep breath and hoped her reply would suffice.

The lights in the room grew brighter, but not intense enough to hurt her unadjusted eyes. A robed figured in a throne on the opposite wall. She hadn't noticed it through the gloom. The dark individual began to clap slowly. "Impressive, Miss McGee," he hissed. Andy drew a shape intake of breath. It was Lord Voldemort. She steeled herself for whatever he planned to do to her, but he only continued talking. "You finally realized that you were wrong not to join me when I first offered. But you were young and naïve and Azkaban certainly has a way of shaping priorities. What made you realize that I was right after all this time? Was it Dumbledore's righteousness that never got anything accomplished? Or was it the subtlety of my power seeping through the Wizarding world?"

"Both, sir, but partly neither as well, sir," Andy answered. "After spending a year at Hogwarts I came to realize that after all of Dumbledore's intelligence, he could never destroy you. He could never figure out when you would next attack or what your next move would be. At every turn, he under estimated your power. It made me realize that if I wanted to be on the winning side, I would have to serve you, not Dumbledore."

"Quite correct, Miss McGee, and he never will figure out my strategies until the very end. Since you did see the light of my ways, I will not punish you as I had originally intended."

"Thank you, sir."

"But since it did you longer than it should have," Lord Voldemort continued, "You will receive some punishment. Crucio!"

Andy fell to cold stone floor, writhing as bolts of pain coursed through her entire body. Every single nerve burned with fierce agony as if she was on fire with a thousand flames. Her bones felt crushed to every known limit that they could with stand and just when she thought that she could not stand it any longer, it stopped. She laid breathing heavily on the floor.

"I believe that should be sufficient for the time being unless you chose to commit other errors that displease me," the Dark Lord paused, watching Andy climb to her feet. He would have to remember that she was stronger than she looked. "Bring in the prisoners." A Death Eater guarding the door broke his statue-like stance and left the room.

Voldemort resumed his conversation with Andy. "Now Miss McGee, even though you claim to want to serve me willingly, I make certain that all of my soldiers will obey any order that I give them." The Death Eater reappeared with two bodies which he deposited near one wall. "If you do not obey my orders, you will die painfully. Is that understood?"

"Yes, my Lord," Andy stuck a glance at the two bodies. She could only imagine what he wanted her to do with them.

"We will make things a bit more interesting though. No need to have one of my newest members reported." He flicked his wand at Andy and she felt her shift grow into a full robe with a hood and mask to cover her face. Hardened boots appeared on her feet. "There. Now what I would like you to do is torture both of them. They are withholding certain information that I require. You may do what you wish with them as long as they are not dead before I find what I am searching for."

Andy approached the two bodies. "I assume their wands are already broken, sir?"

"Of course. It is standard procedure to either break or steal the wands of prisoners here."

She nudged the first one with the toe of her boot. Both men had burlap bags covering their faces. She nodded thoughtfully to herself. It was a good idea. She couldn't see them and they couldn't see her. She couldn't break down seeing who it was that she was tormenting. She took another deep breath and steeled herself. With a point of her wand, she revived the first prisoner. He moaned in pain. She looked over both men carefully before deciding on a course of action. With another flick of her wand, she lifted him and flung him against a blank wall. He cried out in pain but stuck there, suspended with no bonds save for Andy's magic. She cast another spell at him.

"I haven't heard any screaming yet."

"I realize that, sir. I'm setting it up to maximize the situation. I cast a spell on that one, making him to only be able to focus on the other prisoner. He will be able to see through the other's point of view and feel what he feels, though not quite as powerfully, sir."

"Continue, then." Voldemort was almost impressed at her intelligence, but not quite. He knew that many of his followers would have simply cast Crucio and stopped at that. This would be more interesting to watch at least.

Andy revived the second prisoner and promptly kicked him hard in the ribs. He groaned and lay still on the ground. "Get up and fight like a man," she hissed menacingly at him.

Mechanically, he stood up and waited. Andy stepped forward and punched him firmly in the stomach. He bent over with an "Oof!" She grabbed him by his hair and yanked his head upwards to get him to stand straight. Her next strike fell to the pressure point where the collar bone meets the neck. He whimpered as pain lanced through the area and placed a hand where it hurt. She grabbed his arm roughly, pulling it back and forcing him down with a wrist lock. A well placed palm shattered his elbow. He screamed at the torturing agony and his scream was echoed by his companion.

Voldemort laughed, "Interesting choice of torture, but effective nonetheless. You may continue. I don't believe he will talk yet."

Neither prisoner made any move to answer except for whimpers of agony.

Andy eyed her prisoner critically, debating what to use next. She noticed his unbroken arm supporting him, hand splayed out on the floor. Taking initiative, she ground the heel of her heavy boots into it; crushing the bones together and feeling them snap like twigs under her weight. The two men screamed together.

"Now, are you ready to talk yet?" Voldemort's voice was deep and menacing.

"Never," the man Andy was in the process of beating rasped.

"It is only your loss."

Andy used her foot to turn him on his back. He had one broken elbow and a crushed hand and wouldn't give in. Hmm, what to do next? With a quick motion of her foot, she brought it down on his shin, feeling it break into more pieces than it originally had. The man was past screaming. Instead, she could almost hear the tears streaming from his eyes. Breaking his bones was obviously not enough for him. A flick of her wand suspended him in the air in front of her.

The Death Eater guards in the room held ceremonial spears, giving Andy a brilliant idea. "May I?" she asked the closest one. He gave it to her willingly. She returned to the man suspended in the middle of the room and checked the sharpness of the blade. Obviously, the spears were still used for something, given the blade had a decent edge. She ran the tip across the prisoner's arm, seeing a line of blood well up. "Perfect." Using the sharp tip, she traced a line from his navel up to his throat.

"My Lord, do you have any alcohol?" Andy asked not pausing from her destruction of the prisoner's skin.

"Fetch two bottles of Ogden's Old Fire Whiskey," Voldemort ordered one of his minions. The underling returned a few moments later presenting the bottles to his master along with two snifters. Voldemort levitated a bottle to Andy. She sniffed at it, finding it rather potent and took a deep swig. She could feel it coursing through her veins and it gave her the calm she needed to resume her torture. She ripped off the remaining tatters of the prisoner's shirt and soaked a corner of it with the whiskey. Using an almost, but not quite gentle touch, she ran the cloth down the open wound.

The prisoner screamed hoarsely, louder than he had before. Seizing inspiration, Andy used the spear to cut off the remains of his pants. She cut a thin stripe from his navel downward toward his genitalia and stopped just above. "No! No! Not that! Anything but that!"

"Oh really?" Voldemort questioned cruelly. "So you will talk now, will you?"

"I will never tell you my secrets!"

"Pity, resume your work."

The spear crept further downward across certain regions that are incredibly receptive to pain. His shrieking was nearly deafening as Andy wrung the whiskey-soaked rag out over his nether regions.

"I'll talk! I'll talk! It's at Hogwarts! That's all I know! It's at Hogwarts!"

"Let him go," Voldemort ordered. "Now was that so difficult?" The Dark Lord glared at the trembling prisoner from his throne. "Cooperation will get you somewhere in life. Unfortunately for you, cooperation will only bring your death closer." The tortured man's shrieks had quieted to sobs of despair. On the far wall, the other man keened with anguish. Voldemort released the spell holding him up and let him drop to the ground into a wailing heap. A point of his wand stunned the unbroken man once more. "Take these two away. I shall decide what to do with them later."

Somewhere in the mansion, a clock began its strike of midnight. "Come here, McGee." Andy walked up to the throne of Lord Voldemort, feeling her legs shake with adrenaline. "Kneel." She dropped to her knees and felt Voldemort grab her left arm. His wand struck her forearm and she could feel it trace the lines of the skull and serpent permanently into her skin. "You have proved yourself worthy of serving me as a Death Eater. There are few who are truly up to this great task, but you have shown yourself to have skill, intelligence, and imagination, talents that will prosper under my lead. Rise and serve your master well, Andromeda McGee."

{Author's Note: That was honestly the most difficult chapter that I have ever written in my entire life. It's not getting proof read by me at the moment, because I honestly am too scared to read what I wrote. I blame this chapter on my SUPA Chemistry midterm exam.

Sora: I have probably explained that I have spelling difficulties, and decided that was how I wanted to spell it at the time. Yes, you are correct and thank you for catching it.

Anna: Thanks for reviewing! ::Hands over one large Moose Tracks sundae with dark chocolate, sprinkles, and a cherry on top::

{Peace, Love, and Vanilla Coke, Nataly Ravenlock}