Bellatrix trained me hard every afternoon that week. It was the evening before the meeting about the raid.

Bellatrix was shooting spell after spell at me and I was blocking and dodging. Sweat was running down my face as I jumped out of the way and fired spells back at her, but I was grinning, having the time of my life.

"Petrificus Totalus!" She yelled.

"Prego! Stupify!"

"Bombarda!"

I blocked one last one and it shot back at her, and she just deflected it into a hill. Tiny clots of grass flew up in the air as a mini-crater was formed. I laughed a little and fell to sit in the grass. "I'm wore out!"

Bella laughed, stowing her wand into her boots. "Go and get something to eat and get some rest. You've earned it."

I nodded and ran to her, hugging her again tightly. "I've missed you, Auntie Belles...."

She smiled and hugged me back just as tight. "I've missed you too, Little Layla." She kissed my head.

I grinned and ran off inside, grabbing an apple from the kitchen and heading back up to my room.

I pulled my boots off and tossed them into my closet, and threw my socks into the hamper. I took my beautiful new robes off and hung them over the chair, running my hand over the material lovingly.

"You love those robes more than me," Bo hissed with jealousy from my bed post.

I turned an looked at him. "You're a jealous little thing aren't you?"

"I'm not little." His tongue flicked out towards me. "You taste disgusting. Like dirt and sweat."

I laughed some as untied my corset at the one side and slipped it off. "I was training with Bella again today." I slid my skirt off and tossed that as well into the hamper.

"How'd it go?"

"Well! I'm getting better at dueling!"

"You were never bad to begin with," he stated matter-of-factly.

I smiled over at him and kissed him on the head before going to shower.

I came back out, wrapped in my favorite black fluffy towel and looked through my drawers for my sweat pants. Finding them, I pulled them on up under my towel and grabbed one of my tank tops and threw it on, pulling my towel off and going to hang it on the hook in my bathroom.

I came back out and Bo was looking at me. "What?"

"Nothing."

"No, what? It's never nothing with you."

He blinked his big eyes at me, his tongue flicking in and out. "You taste better."

I rolled my eyes as I flopped on my bed, grabbing my father's book. "You're so weird sometimes."

He let out a low hiss and slithered down off of his favorite spot to curl up by my head and lay his face on my shoulder, reading with me. I looked down at him and smiled. It was nice to have a friend like Bo.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I woke up later than usual the next morning, having fallen asleep really late the night before. Bo was still curled up against me, his face resting against mine. I smiled a little and kissed him before getting up and getting ready and going to get something light to eat. I grabbed my spell book and decided to sit downstairs in the living room window seat for a change.

Our living room was a good size with a large fireplace against the wall to the left of the entrance. A large sofa and a chair, both of Victorian style, sat facing it. I walked across behind the sofa towards the large set of French double doors and the window seat that sat off the the right of them. Sun was pouring into the dark room, the golden light bathing the area in warmth and welcoming as I curled up into the seat and opened my book.

I nibbled on some toast that one of the filthy house elves had brought and sat on the other end of my seat. They'd learned the very first day I'd arrived that they should not talk to me if they wanted to live.

After a few hours the sun had moved and the light on my book was fading. My father's followers were starting to arrive for an early dinner that he was having before the meeting and the sounds of clinking glasses and rattling porcelain and smells of cooking food drifted from the kitchen and dining room.

I hadn't realized how hungry I was until that time. My stomach was growling at me to feed it and I sighed, not being able to concentrate any longer with my nagging hunger.

I got up and stretched out, my legs slightly cramped and I yawned. I lay my book on my seat and followed my nose to our elegant dining room.

It wasn't a room I ventured too often, but tonight I couldn't stay away. I saw a few elves darting here and there as I entered but there was no food served yet. I sighed and went down the hall and down a small flight of steps to the kitchens below.

The setting sun was pouring into large picture windows. This room was a little more familiar to me. I loved to cook, I'd done it a lot back in America, and to me, preparing my own food was better than having the filthy little service elves doing it. I was a little surprised when I saw Bella over the stove and oven, flittering back and forth, making the food. No wonder it smelled so good.

"Bella?"

She looked up and smiled. "Layla, hello, darling." She added something to a large kettle on the stove. "Would you like to help?"

I shrugged some. "Sure." I set my book down on the table that we had in the kitchen and went to her side, helping her finish the meal.

As we were serving it up, putting it on plates for the elves to take to the dining room, I looked over at her and smiled some. "I didn't know you knew how to cook, Auntie Belles."

"Well," she said, putting a few more plates on trays and handing it to an elf. "Dont you dare drop that!" she barked at it, but not unkindly so. Her gaze came back up to mine. "I figure why have an elf cook your food when you can do it better." She grinned at me with a wink.

So that was where I'd gotten it from when I was little. I grinned back.

"Go and tell your father that dinner is being served."

I nodded. "Alright. Where is he, exactly?"

"He's in his lounge with the other men, drinking whiskey and talking business with them."

I nodded again and and headed back up into the main part of my home. I walked down the hall, away from the living and dining rooms, until I came to the lounge where Father let the his men hang out until meetings started.

I knocked on the doorframe and stepped into the room a little. "Father?"

He looked up from his high-backed chair. His legs were crossed, casually a brandy glass in his hand, only a few sips worth of caramel-coloured liquid left in the bottom. I smiled some as he reminded me of a character out of a Charles Dickens novel. "Yes, Layla?"

"Dinner's ready in the dining room."

He nodded and the men all got up and heading for the dinning room. I stood to the side and let them pass, my father being last.

I fell into step a few strides behind him and followed into the dining room.

In the lounge, there looked to be a lot more men than what there actually were. There was Greyback, and Parkinson, Crabbe, Goyle, McNair, about seven that I didn't know, my father, Bellatrix, and, of course, Draco, though I hadn't seen him in the lounge. I wondered for a brief second why he wasn't at home, eating dinner with his mother when it occurred to me, maybe I really didn't want to know, and I pushed it out of my mind, taking the seat between Father and Bella.

He stood up his arms open, an almost friendly gesture. "My friends, Bonne appetite," and he sat.

The men talked amongst themselves, even including Draco in some conversations. The sound of his voice drifted over to me, and my heart skipped a beat. I discreetly pinched my leg and winced.

Bella looked down at me. "Are you alright, darling? You haven't touched your food much."

I looked at my plate, really looked at it for the first time, and saw that I'd only really been pushing the food around.

I flushed a little and grinned at her. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just distracted, excited for the raid, I guess."

She put her hand on my leg comfortingly. I smiled up at her and ate most of what was on my plate.

As everyone was finishing up, Father stood again. "Please, take your time and finish up, have some more to drink. We shall meet in the meeting hall in approximately half an hour. Layla, will you come with me please? Bella, you as well."

I looked up at him and nodded, quickly following him, Bella right behind me.

He took us down the meeting room and shut the door. "What's up?"

He smiled at me, and it was a fond, proud smile. "I thought my daughter might want her Mark."

My jaw dropped. "R-really? You'd Mark me?"

Bella stood slightly behind him, grinning proudly at me. "Do you want to be Marked?"

"Yes!!"

They both chuckled at me. Bella stepped forward. "I was talking with your Father about it, and we have determined that It might be better if you have your own, special Mark."

I sat up on the table and looked at them, my heart racing with adrenaline. "Yes, I'd like that, very much."

Bella smiled. "I thought you might. It's going to be on your body, rather than your arm, so you can hide it in public when you go out. This way, you can't be identified as the Dark Lord's daughter."

I nodded. It made sense to me. I'd always wanted a tattoo, too.

Bella touched my arm. "Layla, it will hurt like hell, it'll burn."

I swallowed hard, and nodded again. "Okay...."

She kissed my head. "Let me get you're corset off, here." She quickly untied the bodice and I slipped it off.

I felt a little awkward being in just my bra in front of my father, but I was sure he didn't really care.

"Lay back, sweetie," she said softly.

I lay on the edge of the table, biting my lip.

Bella stood near my head and stroked my hair. My father approached and muttered something, the tip of his wand flaring up flaming hot. I sucked in a breath fast. Bella conjured a clothe and rolled it up. "You may want to bite on this."

I took it from her with one hand as she gripped my other. I was watching her and she smiled some, then nodded at my father.

At first there was only tingling at my hip bone, but it blazed almost immediately into a searing pain and I screamed out, my body convulsing.

"Shhh...." Bella cooed at me, kissing my head again. "Shh...."

Father looked up at Bella, almost annoyed, any sympathy that he had for me as a daughter gone. "Hold her please?"

She nodded and held my wrists down, putting a spell on my legs so I couldn't move them. I was helpless.

He started at the tattoo again and it flared violent, making me cry out, tears streaking down my face.

"Bite down on the cloth, Sweetheart."

I obeyed and bit down hard, the pain so bad that I started see bright white spots exploding in front of them, and then it all went black.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When I came to, I was laying on the table still, Bella standing over me, holding a cold wet cloth over my left side.

She smiled when she saw my eyes flutter open. "Hello, pet."

I winced some as I sat up. "Hi."

Her eyes looked misty as she looked at me, putting the cloth back in the bowl on the table. "I am so proud of you, Layla."

"Why? I passed out...."

"But you did it, and now, you're one of us. I couldn't be any prouder."

I smiled some and looked down. Sure enough there was the Dark Mark, but it was vivid, elaborate, and artistic.

Vines of thorns and a few roses surrounded the skull and snake, leaves curled here and there, a few looked like curled up fairies. It was beautiful.

"Wow...He designed this?"

She nodded, and handed me my bodice, helping me get it back on.

"Did I miss the meeting?"

She laughed some. "No, you were only out ten minutes."

"Oh." I stood up and fixed myself, turning to look at her.

She smiled widely. "Beautiful."

I smiled back as she wrapped her arm around my shoulders and took me to the kitchen. "Did you pass out when you go yours?"

She laughed as she sat me down and got me some water. "No, I didn't. I, however was branded. Your father actually drew yours on."

"So I did okay? He's not ashamed?" I took a few gulps of the cool liquid.

She laughed again and shook her head. "You did fine. Draco passed out when he just got branded, so don't feel too bad."

I grinned, finishing my drink and sat the cup down, getting up.

I ran upstairs to get my robes and I shrugged them on over my corset and skirt, after we headed together to the meeting. I took the seat to my father's right, and Bella sat beside me.

He started to talk and I was glancing around, my body trembling slightly. Draco looked up and caught my eye, looked me over, then looked back up at me, he grinned.

I grinned a little back and sat, paying attention as he spoke.

The meeting ended after a while and we were dismissed. I got up and I went out of the room.
"Layla!" I heard someone call.

I turned around and saw Draco jogging towards me. I smiled some. "Hi," I said, trying to be nice.

"Hi! You're going with us?"

I grinned and nodded at him. "I just got Marked."

"Congrats!" he said. He looked like he was going to hug me, then stopped, just grinning.

"Thank you," I said with a small smile.

"Are you excited?" he asked as we walked together.

"Yes, very. Your aunt has been helping me to train."

He grins. "Bellatrix. She's a good person to learn from."

I nodded at him. "Yeah, she knew me when I was a child. I consider her an aunt as well."

He nodded some.

"Are you ready for the raid?" I asked him as we walked.

He grinned down at me, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Always. I love raids."

I laughed a little. "Yes, though you love wands and spells." I grinned. "I like hand-to-hand combat and fighting with knives."

He looked at me, with a look that said he didn't know what to think of me again. "Hand-to-hand is fun."

I nodded and looked up at him. "Do you want to go down to the training rooms for a bit?"

He nodded. "Sure."

I smiled and bounced away ahead of him, going towards the steps to the basement where my father had put together a training room for hand-to-hand training.

It was narrow set of stone steps that lead down into darkness, then opened up into a large stone chamber. Mats were scattered over the floor and a variety of weapons hung from hooks and shelves on the walls.

Draco shrugged his robes off and hung them on one of the bare hooks on the wall. I couldn't help but to give him a quick once over with my eyes. He was wearing a tight-fitting dark blue shirt that made his eyes seem brighter than usual. His black dress pants hugged all of the right places on him and made my knees go a little weak.

I took mine off and hung it up as well. As I turned back towards him, I saw him looking at me.

My skin seemed paler than normal against my off-the-shoulder black corset and skirt I was wearing, almost iridescent and glittering in the torch light.

He swallowed hard. "Wow. You look amazing, Layla."

I grinned at him. "Focus, Malfoy. I'll kick your ass faster if you don't."

He snapped out of it and smirked at me. "Bring it on, Riddle."

I pulled down a strap of leather and used it to tie up my skirt with. I walked around him in a slow circle, like a hawk would circle its prey before swooping down on it.

"I bet you can't even apparate yet, little boy."

He chuckled, watching me intently. "Can so...."

I stopped, grinning, and spun, apparating right behind him and grabbing him around the neck, putting him in a choke hold.

His elbow came back instantly, colliding with my stomach, knocking me backwards and onto the floor. I rolled back and landed in a crouch as he spun to face me.

"Impressive, for a girl," he said, walking towards me.

"I could say the same for you, Malfoy."

He lunged at me and I rolled out of the way and up to my feet, bringing my elbow down in the middle of his back, knocking him flat.

He grabbed me around the ankle and flipped me off of my feet, landing me flat on my back. I groaned some in pain.

He chuckled and I brought my foot up to kick him in the face, only he caught it and shoved it away.

We wrestled and fought for a while, both getting winded. We finally gave up, laying with our heads together on the mat, him laying one way, me the other, panting.

I looked sideways at his face, sweaty and flushed. I laughed. "You look like you just got done shagging," I teased.

He looked over at me and smiled. "If only...."

"Not with me," I said hastily, sitting up, wrapping my arms around my legs.

He rolled to his side and put his head head up on his hand, looking up at me. "Why not, Layal?"

I let out a sharp laugh. "Are you kidding me? Draco it was a thing, that's all. It was one and done. It's over, let it go..."

"We can't just shag occasionally?" The way he asked it sounded like he wanted more than that, but he'd settle for only that if it was all he could get.

"No, we can't. That's dangerous. Besides, Father's looking to find someone he finds suitable for me now."

"Ha!" he laughed. "Good luck with that! He's only saying that so you won't ask him about it."

"If he doesn't find someone, I'll keep asking." I fell silent and he rolled to lay on his back again, looking up at the ceiling.

I sighed after a few minutes and rolled to my stomach, hovering over him, looking down into his face. "Draco...is it the sex you like? Or is it me?"

He laughed and sat up, making me move to sit as well. "The sex. I don't do emotional relationships.

That stung me for some reason. "I have to go. I have studying to do."

I jumped up to my feet and grabbed my robes, heading up to my room.

Behind me, I heard him groan.