Disclaimer: I own nothing, except OC's.


The floor was cold and the room dark.

Rose woke up with a start, not sure what had happened to her. She blinked a couple of times, her eyes adjusting to her new surroundings. It took a few minutes to remember her visit at Grimmauld Place, her talk with Dumbledore, what had happened after, then finally her return home.

The girl shuddered when she recalled Bellatrix's face just before the other Death Eater had stunned her. She tried to control the feeling of panic that slowly rose in her chest. Her hands trembled as she managed to get up and immediately felt slightly dizzy. Her wand was gone.

It seemed that they've put her in a cellar. Rose recognised shapes of boxes and barrels displayed in the room. Her mind was beginning to work properly.

I have to escape. They'll kill me if I don't.

She glanced around. There were no windows and only one door. Tears started to flow on girl's cheeks when she pulled the door handle in vain. It was locked.

Suddenly, there was a sound of footsteps approaching and the door burst open. Rose managed to step back just in time to avoid getting hit right in the face.

A small, balding man entered the ceiling, holding a wand in front of him to light his way.

And to curse me on the spot if I tried to flee, thought Rose as she eyed the wizard.

"Come. And don't even think about escaping," growled the man and led her up the stairs. They reached the door and proceeded through the hallway.

It was dark but she could see paintings on the walls, all of them pictured people with dark hair and aristocratic features. The men were handsome and the women beautiful, dressed in costumes from various ages. They were nobility for sure.

In time, Rose and her captor passed by an arras which looked like a couple of centuries old, and a case filled with expensive looking objects. The girl felt like she was being led to her execution. It was very likely to happen, after all.

Finally, they reached big, wooden door ornamented with golden carvings of plants. As they entered, Rose felt another attack of panic approaching. And when she saw who was present in the room, she thought she'd collapse right away.

The hall was big with a long table on the centre and grand fireplace on the right. Fire was crackling in it, it's light being the only source in the room. But the girl wasn't paying much attention to her surroundings, too busy staring at the people who were sitting at the end of the table.

It was the first time she saw Lord Voldemort.

He was sitting at the head of the table. Pale, with his red eyes and snake-like nostrils, he resembled a living corpse.

As Rose came closer, she recognised other people from Daily Prophet: a man with black hair and angry expression, Dolohov, a dark-haired woman who looked at the girl with crazy smile, Bellatrix Lestrange, her husband and few other Death Eaters. One of them was Lucius Malfoy. Rose knew about his crimes because of Harry's testimony, wizard society still considered him an esteemed citizen.

The girl felt somewhat relieved when she saw who was sitting next to Malfoy, it was Snape, a spy of the Order. Or so she thought. After all, anyone could be a traitor. He looked at her with unreadable expression on his face. Rose felt her fear rising once again, when she considered a possibility that Snape was in fact loyal to Voldemort and not Dumbledore. He's never been talkative and Rose didn't know much about him beside the fact that he was really mean as a teacher. She didn't know who to trust anymore.

On the right side of Voldemort sat a man with brown hair and dark eyes. He was pale and looked ill. There was a frown on his face, it seemed that he was disgusted by the sight of something.

Probably of one, certain blood-traitor.

The balding man gave Rose a slight push and she had no other choice but to move forward.

"Ah, you brought our dear guest!" Voldemort exclaimed. "Don't be shy child, come closer!"

The Death Eaters laughed at his words, everyone except Snape. Rose tried to stop tears that were threatening to flow from her eyes. She was paralyzed with fear, her hands trembled and she was sure that her captors sensed her panic. They seemed to be delighted with her suffering.

"Wormtail, where are your manners? Be a gentleman and pull out a chair for the lady!" said Voldemort, bringing another wave of laughter from his servants.

The man who brought Rose hurried to fulfill his command. Rose came closer but didn't sit.

"Take a seat, my dear," the Dark Lord pointed at the chair.

Rose didn't move. She was too terrified to think but somewhere in the back of her head she felt the need to stand up. They were going to kill her either way, so she could at least show some courage. Voldemort looked at her with cold eyes, not happy that she refused to do as she was told.

"I said sit," he hissed.

The girl felt her muscles move on their own accord and after few seconds she was sitting in the chair that Wormtail pulled out for her. She cast her eyes down, staring at the table, not looking at the others. They were probably very happy that their master humiliated a blood-traitor. Hell, she was sure that they were waiting with anticipation for his command to torture her. But the desired order didn't come. Instead Voldemort started to talk to them, completely ignoring Rose,

"My so-called friends," he began, "I am very disappointed with you."

The room fell silent. Rose felt a bit of satisfaction when their sneers disappeared and were replaced by fear. She dared to glance at a Death Eater who was sitting across from her. He was petrified.

"You have done nothing to help me, when I needed you the most. You've betrayed me. Abandoned me without second thought. I should kill you all right here."

No one dared to speak. No one, except Bellatrix who looked at her master with adoration and whispered:

"My lord, I have been faithful to you through all these years..."

"I know. You and few others, shall be rewarded beyond your imagination. The rest deserves to die." He looked at them with disgust. "But," he continued, "I am a merciful lord. It would be such a waste to spill noble blood, especially now, when there is not much of it in our society."

One of the Death Eaters smiled weakly in relief. This didn't escape Voldemort's eyes.

"You must surely know, Nott, that there are many other ways to cause pain. Pain that can take away your senses. You can breed without your sanity, Nott. Or your hands, for example. Or legs."

Nott stopped smiling and lowered his eyes in fear.

"I will forgive you all, just this one last time. Do not disappoint me again."

Everyone in the room muttered 'thank you, my lord' then they once again fell silent. Voldemort smiled at them. Rose thought that his smile was far more frightening than his usual face.

"I wouldn't be here, with you, if it weren't for our dear Barty."

The man who sat on Voldemort's right hand bowed his head and said with hoarse voice,

"I live to serve you, my lord. It was a great honor to be able to help you."

Rose noticed that his hands trembled, probably with excitation at hearing his master praise him. So, this was the infamous Barty Crouch Jr., a murderer and a psychopath.

"You are my most faithful Death Eater. Your family is several centuries old, one of oldest pure-blooded families that ever existed, and it would be true loss to our world if the name of Crouch died with you..."

After these words, Voldemort turned his eyes back to Rose. She shivered when he spoke again,

"Our sweet Rose here is of noble parentage too. Her family tree is as ancient as Barty's. It was a shame, really, that I hadn't manage to recruit her parents for our cause before my...supposed downfall. But don't fret my friends, now Rose has a perfect chance to repair their mistakes!"

The Dark Lord showed his teeth in a hideous smile and Rose felt another wave of panic coming. Did he want to recruit her? Could she refuse? Was she brave enough to endure Cruciatus curse and not to give up? She cursed herself repeatedly for not heeding Sirius's advice to stay in his house. It was too late now, and she had to bear the consequences of her own foolishness.

"I won't join you. You'll have to kill me," the girl tried to sound confident but her voice was shaking and her hands were trembling.

The Death Eaters saw and laughed maliciously. Bellatrix exclaimed,

"Kill you? Oh no, no, first we have to play! I wonder how long will you last before you end up in St. Mungo's with the poor Longbottoms... Make sure to send them our best regards when you see them!"

The room shook with laughter. Voldemort silenced the deranged witch with a raise of his hand.

"Now, now Bellatrix, let's not frighten our lovely guest... My sweet child," he said to Rose. "Who said anything about joining my army? I am aware that you're not so fond of our beliefs and you are not very skilled when it comes to fighting. We could use your healing skills of course, but we have our Severus here. No, I have an entirely different role for you."

"As you all know," Voldemort addressed everyone else. "There are not many pure-blooded wizards and witches among our society. I fear that we'll come to our extinction if we don't do something about it. It is very sad indeed, that many members of noble families turned against our cause and became blood traitors. They pair with muggles and mudbloods and taint their precious family lines. It's revolting."

Many Death Eaters nodded their heads in agreement. Crouch looked like he was ready to vomit at the thought of marrying a mudblood or a muggle. Bellatrix frowned in disgust and her husband, Rodolphus, spoke,

"My Lord, anyone who associates with filth deserves to die a traitor's death. We are ready to get rid of all this dirt. We'll fight at your side to the end."

"I appreciate your words, Rodolphus. Your family has been always loyal to me, it will not be forgotten. I'm afraid that if this situation continues we'll have to mix with half-bloods. Our priority is to get rid of mudbloods and conquer muggles, so we won't have to hide anymore but we must not forget to ensure our superiority in other ways. Many of you haven't taken a spouse, there are hardly any small children of noble blood. We have to act now, before it will be too late."

"Barty," Voldemort continued, looking at his most faithful follower, "I promised you a reward for your loyalty. Lord Voldemort keeps his word. I'll give you a chance to continue your family bloodline and bring new pure-blooded wizards and witches to this world. I'll give you a wife of noble parentage, young and beautiful."

The Dark Lord turned his gaze to Rose and she knew that she'd been doomed.

"No!" she screamed, standing abruptly. Her chair fell on the floor but the girl didn't seem to notice that. "There's no way in hell I will marry this psychopath. Kill me if you must but I won't do that. I won't!"

What happened next was the worst experience Rose ever had in her life. As the curse hit her, her body started to writhe in agony. She screamed so loudly that she was sure she'll lose her voice.

Kill me, she thought. Kill me now, for when Crouch will land his hands on me I'll be far worse than dead.

The pain had stopped and Rose found herself lying on the cold floor. She heard silent footsteps near her head. Lord Voldemort kneeled beside her shivering form and whispered,

"We may do this hard way if you want. You heard what I told Nott, didn't you? I don't care if you'll give Barty a child voluntarily or not. You can give birth without your hands, fingers...You know what? I'm sure that your body could do this even without your soul inside. Do you want me to summon a dementor?"

Rose whimpered. She was disgusted with herself for being such a coward. She knew that she should stand up, curse them all and let them torture her if they wanted to. She knew that she shouldn't surrender. Harry wouldn't do such a thing and Hermione would first kill herself than marry a Death Eater. Sirius would expect Rose to fight back.

They'll keep me here as a brood mare and when I'll give them what they want, they'll dispose of me.

She had a choice. Live, for now, or die from tortures. A proud Gryffindor would choose death. Rose chose life.

"I'll do it," she whispered faintly.

"Excuse me? I didn't hear you..."

"I'll do what you want," she repeated.

Voldemort smiled at her.

"Good girl. I've known that you were a smart woman. Wormtail!" He addressed the small man, "Take her upstairs. If she flees, you'll die. Bellatrix and Narcissa will help her prepare for the wedding. Lucius, you have to inform your wife."

Rose didn't see other's reaction when she exited the room with Wormtail's help. Crouch didn't say a word and she wondered if he had expected this to happen. Was it truly a reward for him? Or maybe he thought of it as a punishment, to be married to a blood traitor?

After few minutes they reached a bedroom. There was a large four-poster bed with navy blue curtains, a wardrobe, a bookshelf and a desk by the window. The walls had sky blue wallpaper with small darker flowers printed on it. Everything was ornate and beautiful but Rose wasn't paying attention. She collapsed on the bed and cried for a long time before sleep overtook her.


Yeah...Voldy is marvellously evil and that's why I love him.

Thanks to my beta for making corrections :)

And thanks to all of you who reviewed this story, I really appreciate your opinion :)