Author's Note: Hey guys! Here it is, the first chapter that opens the Deathly Hallows plotline. Hope you enjoy it and see you again next week!

Dedication: ViViV, thank you for taking an interest in this story. Your feedback is very much appreciated and I hope you continue to enjoy!

Thanks: Rubychanel and RiddleHorcrux and PureBlood King, thanks very much for your kind words! I really appreciate you taking the time to read this story and hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all rights and characters belong to J.K Rowling. I am simply having fun with my imagination. Thanks

"...I'll do it," he told them. "I'll release him. Not because he deserves it, and certainly not because you've earned it…but because I, Lord Voldemort, am now the single most powerful wizard in the world, and you have been there with me for a good duration of the journey."

He paused and looked around the room, his eyes landing on each and every one of the gleeful faces for a split second.

"All of you," he added, and in spite of himself, he smiled...

CHAPTER 41: MEETING AT MALFOY MANOR

Mysterious thing, time. Powerful. And yet, when meddled with, dangerous. Oh but the things you could explore with time. The things that you could achieve and amount to. It's the greatest thing in the world. Better than space. Or gravity. Even magic would not be what it is without time. Time is at the center of everything.

Tom continued to stare at the clock chiming in the sitting room. The Death Eaters seated at the long table with him were very quiet. All were wearing black and had their heads bowed and hands on the table. Everyone was there. Avery. Rowle. The Carrows. Greyback. Dolohov. Everyone. Even the Malfoys. Yes, all three of them. Lucius looked far worse than he had when Tom had last seen him. Azkaban had really done a number on him. But the traitor deserved it and he knew it.

It had been a long summer, though full of activity. Tom reckoned that things really started to happen the night Dumbledore was killed. Severus and the others had returned to Malfoy Manor with the news that Tom had been waiting nearly all his life for. Pleased, Tom awarded Severus the status of chief Death Eater and his personal assistant. He truly deserved it, Severus. It was, after all, through his efforts that Tom now had a clear path to Harry Potter, what with Dumbledore gone. The thought of it still brought a shine to Tom's red eyes. He tried to keep himself levelled and professional, but could hardly suppress the excitement.

The clock on the wall chimed 11. Some of the Death Eaters at the table looked up at it but remained silent. Tom continued to stare on. He was feeling very hopeful for the future, especially now that his Death Eaters were helping him concoct a plan to attack Harry Potter this summer. Not long after that was done, they would rise together and take over the Ministry of Magic. Tom would have everything he'd ever hoped for.

Tom's eyes landed on Draco. He was staring up at the body revolving overhead…the body of one of his former teachers. Draco seemed to have tears in his eyes which he was trying hard not to show. Tom sneered. If Draco continued to anger him this way, he would lose his temper and kill him. However, he knew very well that Narcissa and Lucius would not be pleased with this. And as much as he hated to admit it, he still needed them.

The door to the sitting room opened and in stepped two men, both dressed in black cloaks. They froze at the sight of the woman floating in the air above the table. Tom eyed the men for a second, then smiled.

"Severus," he said, softly. Snape forced his eyes away from his colleague and met Tom's. "I was beginning to worry you had lost your way. Come, we've saved you a seat."

Snape stepped forwards and took the seat on Tom's immediate right.

"Yaxley—beside Dolohov," instructed Tom without looking at the man.

Yaxley took his allotted place. Most of the eyes around the table were on Snape. Aware of this, he regarded his attention to Tom only.

"You bring news, I trust?" said Tom, kindly.

"It will happen Saturday next, at nightfall," said Snape, crossing his hands on the table.

Tom's red eyes fastened upon Snape's black ones with great intensity. The other Death Eaters shifted uncomfortably in their seats, fidgeting or stiffening. All were afraid that Tom would look at them. Snape, however, looked calmly back into Tom's face, and after a moment, Tom's lipless mouth curved into something like a smile.

"Good. Very good. And this information comes—"

"From the source we discussed," said Snape.

Tom smiled again, picturing how pleased Dumbledore would be with Mundungus Fletcher, if he were alive. Dumbledore had always taken betrayal to heart, and it was a pity he was not here to witness it again.

"My lord," Yaxley leaned forward to look down the long table at Tom and Snape. All faces turned to him, including Tom's. "I have heard differently. Dawlish, the auror, had let slip that the Potter boy will not be moved until the thirtieth of this month—the day before he turns seventeen."

"This is a false trail," said Snape, sharply. "The Auror office no longer plays any part in the protection of Harry Potter."

Ignoring Snape, Yaxley addressed Tom again.

"I assure you, my lord, Dawlish seemed quite certain," said Yaxley.

"If he has been confounded, naturally he is certain," Snape retaliated. "I assure you, Yaxley, that those closest to him believe we have infiltrated the Ministry."

"Well, they've got that right, haven't they?" said Amycus Carrow, who was sitting a short distance from Yaxley.

He gave a wheezy giggle that was echoed here and there along the table. Tom did not laugh. His gaze had wandered upwards to the body revolving slowly overhead. If only Yaxley knew how close Tom was to killing him at that moment. But even Tom was not stupid enough to do that. He could not just go around killing every Death Eater that annoyed him to bullocks. He needed to keep his calm because even he knew that a leader was nothing without any followers.

"My lord," Yaxley went on, "Dawlish believes an entire party of aurors will be used to transfer the boy—"

Tom held up his white hand to silence Yaxley. He looked somewhat resentful as Tom turned back to Snape, who seemed to understand him completely.

"Where will he be taken, the boy?"

"To a safe house," said Snape at once. "Most likely the home of someone in the Order, I expect. I'm told it's been given every manner of protection that the Order and Ministry together could provide. Unless the Ministry has fallen before next Saturday and we have undone the enchantments… once the boy is there, it will be impractical to attack him."

"Well, Yaxley?" Tom called down the table, the firelight glinting in his red eyes. "Will the Ministry have fallen by next Saturday?"

Once again, all heads turned. Yaxley squared his shoulders and took a nervous breath.

"My lord, I have good news on that score," he announced, quietly. "I have—with difficulty, and after great effort—succeeded in placing an Imperius Curse upon Pius Thicknesse, who I'm sure you know, is the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

The Death Eaters looked very impressed and some muttered congratulations to Yaxley which he accepted quietly. Dolohov, who was sitting next to him, clapped him on the back proudly.

"It is a start," said Tom, simply. "But Thicknesse is only one man, Yaxley. Scrimgeour must be surrounded by our people before I act. One failed attempt on the Minister's life will set me back a long way."

For a fraction of a second, Tom thought he'd caught Snape looking up at the witch revolving in the air above them.

"Yes, my lord, that is true," said Yaxley quickly. "But Thicknesse has regular contact not only with the Minister himself but also with the Heads of all the other Ministry departments. It will, I think, be easy…now that we have such a high-ranking official under our…er, your control…" his voice trailed away as he looked curiously at Tom, who was now smiling strangely.

"As long as our friend Thicknesse is not discovered," said Tom. "And at any rate, it remains unlikely that the Ministry will be mine before next Saturday. If we cannot touch the boy at his destination, then it must be done while he travels."

"I agree completely," added Snape.

"But," said Yaxley, who was glaring at Snape quite resentfully, "We are at an advantage here! We now have several people planted within the Department of Magical Transport. If the boy apparates or uses the Floo Network, we shall know immediately."

"He will not do either," said Snape, lazily. "The Order is eschewing any form of transport that is controlled or regulated by the Ministry; they mistrust everything to do with the place."

Tom nodded. This was no new information to him.

"All the better," he said. "He will have to move in the open."

Again, Tom looked up at the slowly revolving witch as he went on.

"I shall attend to the boy in person. There have been too many mistakes where Harry Potter is concerned. Some of them have been my own, I'll admit. That Potter lives is due more to my errors, than to his triumphs."

"My lord!" exclaimed Bellatrix who was sitting next to Narcissa, some ways down the table. "My lord, I'd like to volunteer myself for this task. I want to kill the boy."

At these words, seemingly in response to them, a sudden wail sounded—a terrible, drawn-out cry of misery and pain. Many of those at the table looked downwards, startled, for the sound seemed to have issued from below their feet.

"Wormtail!" shouted Tom, who felt his fury coming back now. "Have I not spoken to you about keeping our guest quiet?!"

"Yes m-my lord," gasped Wormtail, who'd been standing in the shadows of the doorway all throughout the meeting. "Right away, my lord!"

He scurried out from the room, and even out in the hall Tom could hear his nervous whimper. Tom scowled at what a pain Ollivander was being, but still turned back to Bellatrix to answer her request.

"As much as I admire your bloodlust, Bella, I must be the one to kill Harry Potter," he said, simply, though with a small smile.

Bellatrix frowned and looked as though she was about to protest, but decided against it and sat back in her chair.

"However," said Tom, who now began to rise from his chair. "I am faced with a complication."

The other Death Eaters looked up at him curiously. Again, Snape gazed up at the revolving witch but then looked away quickly. His eyes seemed to lock with that of Draco's and they appeared to be having a silent conversation.

"It seems that my wand and Potter's share the same core," Tom continued, addressing the entire table. "They are, in some ways, twins. We can wound but not fatally harm one another. And so, if I am to kill him, I must do it with another's wand."

At this, Tom paused and looked around the table curiously. The Death Eaters seemed to have realised what he was requested and almost automatically turned their heads down, all of them avoiding his red eyes. Tom chuckled.

"Come now," he said, "Surely one of you would like the honour?"

The Death Eaters kept their mouths shut and their eyes fixed on the table. Some of them began to breathe heavier and others twisted their fingers around nervously. Tom slowly walked around the table, eyeing each one with immense hatred. He stopped behind one particular Death Eater with whom he was most displeased and glared down at him.

"What about you, Lucius?"

Lucius slowly turned his head around to face Tom and frowned.

"M-my lord?"

His eyes were sunken and shadowed as he gazed up at Tom nervously.

"My lord?" said Tom, mocking the shriveled excuse for a Death Eater. "I require your wand."

"I…" Luicus glanced sideways at his wife. She was staring straight ahead, quite as pale as he was, her long blonde hair hanging down her back. Beneath the table, her slim fingers closed briefly on his wrist. At this touch, Lucius put his hand into his robes, withdrew a wand and passed it along to Tom, who held it up in front of his red eyes, examining it closely.

"Do I detect elm?" he said, in a very quiet voice.

"Y-yes, m-my lord," whispered Lucius, quite hoarsely.

"And the core?"

"D-dragon—dragon heartstring."

"Dragon heartstring," Tom repeated. He examined the wand once more and then stared at Lucius, who looked to be on the verge of tears, rather like Wormtail always did. "Why are you so down, Lucius? I have given you your liberty…is that not enough for you?"

"Of course not, my lord," said Lucius, quietly, but Tom ignored him as he returned to his seat.

"I have noticed that you and your family seem less happy of late…what is it about my presence in your home that displeases you, Lucius?"

"Nothing—nothing, my lord!" exclaimed Lucius, hoarsely.

"Such lies, Lucius," sneered Tom.

His soft voice seemed to hiss on even after his mouth stopped moving. One or two of the wizards sitting across from Lucius seemed to shudder. Nagini was heard sliding across the floor beneath the table. She emerged to climb slowly up on Tom's chair. She rose, seemingly endlessly, and came to rest across Tom's shoulders. Tom stroked her absently with long, thin fingers, while his red eyes were still on Lucius Malfoy.

"Why do the Malfoys look so unhappy with their lot?" he wondered aloud. "Is my return—my rise to power—not the very thing they professed to desire for so many years?"

"Of course, my lord," said Lucius, quickly. His hand shook as he wiped sweat from his upper lip. "We did desire it—we do."

To his left, Narcissa made an odd, stiff nod, her eyes averted from Tom and the snake. To his right, Draco, who had been gazing up at the inert body overhead, glanced quickly at Tom and away again, terrified to make eye contact. His eyes landed on Snape who did not look away.

"My lord," said Bellatrix again, her voice constricted with emotion, "It is an honour to have you here, in our family's house. There can be no higher pleasure."

Where Narcissa sat rigid and impassive, her sister leaned towards Tom, for mere words could not demonstrate her longing for closeness.

"No higher pleasure," Tom repeated, his head tilted a little to one side as he considered Bellatrix. "You were not pleased then with our closeness many years ago, Bella? Was sleeping with me really that awful?"

Bellatrix blushed furiously and looked down at the table.

"Of course I was pleased, my lord," she said, quietly. "You know that."

Tom smiled darkly at the look on Rodolphus Lestrange's face on the other end of the table.

"Bella," said Tom, turning back to her. "I know you speak the truth…but surely you don't expect me to believe that you weren't even a little pleased to hear about the event that has taken place in your family this week?"

She stared at him, her lips parted, evidently confused.

"I d-don't know what you mean, my lord," she said.

"I'm talking about your niece, Bella," Tom clarified. "And yours, Lucius and Narcissa. She has just married the werewolf, Remus Lupin. You must be so proud."

There was an eruption of jeering laughter from around the table. Many leaned forward to exchange gleeful looks. Nagini, disliking the disturbance, opened her mouth wide and hissed angrily, silencing the Death Eaters at once. Bella's face was red again. She appeared to be angry.

"She is no niece of ours," she said through gritted teeth. "We—Narcissa and I—have never set eyes on our sister since she married the mudblood. This brat has nothing to do with either of us, nor any beast she marries."

Tom, who appeared to be very amused, turned to Draco, who was still locked in a gaze with Snape.

"What say you, Draco?" he asked, and though his voice was quiet, it carried clearly through the jeers of the other Death Eaters. "Will you babysit the cubs?"

The laugher increased. Draco Malfoy looked in terror at his father, who was staring down into his own lap, then caught his mother's eye. She shook her head almost imperceptibly, then resumed her own deadpan stare at the opposite wall. Snape was the next one Draco looked at and he seemed to instruct Draco. With one careful breath, Draco turned to Tom, met his eyes, and shook his head. This was not the right answer.

"Enough," said Tom, stroking Nagini who was still very angry. "Enough!"

The laughter died at once.

"Many of our oldest family trees become a little diseased over time," Tom told Bellatrix who was gazing at him, breathless and imploring. "You must prune yours, must you not? To keep it healthy? Cut away those parts that threaten the health of the rest."

"Yes, my lord," whispered Bella, and her eyes swam with tears of gratitude. "At the first chance!"

"You shall have it," said Tom, approvingly. "And in your family, so in the world…we shall cut away the canker that infects us until only those of the true blood remain…"

And with that, Tom raised Lucius' wand, pointed it directly at the slowly revolving figure suspended over the table and gave it a tiny flick. The figure came to life with a groan and began to struggle against invisible bonds.

"You recognise our guest, Severus?" Tom asked cleverly.

Snape raised his eyes again to the upside-down face. All of the Death Eaters were looking up at the captive now too, as though they had been given permission to show curiosity.

As the witch revolved to face the firelight, the woman said, in a cracked and terrified voice, "Severus! Help me!"

"Yes," Snape answered, as the prisoner turned slowly away again.

"And you, Draco?" asked Tom, stroking Nagini's snout with his wand-free hand.

"Please!" she hissed at him. "Please, I'm so hungry!"

"Soon," he hissed back, still waiting for Draco's answer.

Draco shook his head jerkily. Now that the woman had woken, he seemed unable to look at her anymore.

"But you would not have taken her classes," said Tom, scolding himself. "How silly of me. For those of you who do not know, we are joined here tonight by Miss Charity Burbage who, until recently, taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Her speciality was Muggle Studies."

There were small noises of comprehension around the table. Amycus Carrow's sister cackled.

"Yes..." said Tom, thoughtfully. "Professor Burbage taught the children of witches and wizards all about muggles…how they are not so different from us…" Dolohov spat on the floor at these words. Charity Burbage revolved to face Snape again.

"Severus…please….please…"

"Silence," said Tom, and with another twitch of Lucius' wand, Charity fell silent as if gagged. "Not content with corrupting and polluting the minds of wizarding children, last week, Professor Burbage wrote an impassioned defense of mudbloods in the Daily Prophet. Wizards, she says, must accept these thieves of their knowledge and magic. The dwindling of the purebloods is, says Professor Burbage, a most desirable circumstance…she would have us all mate with muggles…or, no doubt, werewolves…"

Nobody laughed this time: there was no mistaking the anger and contempt in Tom's voice. For the third time, Charity Burbage revolved to face Snape. Tears were pouring from her eyes into her hair. Snape looked back at her, quite impassive, as she turned slowly away from him again.

"Severus please…." she gasped. "W-we're friends?"

"Avada Kedavra!" yelled Tom.

The flash of green light illuminated every corner of the room. Charity fell, with a resounding crash, on to the table, which trembled and creaked. Several of the Death Eaters leapt back in their chairs. Draco fell out of his on to the floor.

"Dinner, Nagini," said Tom, softly, and the great snake swayed and slithered from his shoulders on to the polished table.

Once Nagini was finished, Tom declared that the Death Eaters were dismissed from the meeting. Several of them jumped to their feet to go and throw up. Others stuck around, pretending to desire more time with Tom. But Tom was not fooled. He motioned for Snape to follow him outside, which he did at once.

"I have been thinking," Tom began as they strode along the garden path, "That Hogwarts needs a replacement headmaster."

"Naturally," said Snape. "I expect it will be the deputy headmistress who will take Dumbledore's place."

"I expect not," said Tom.

"My lord?"

"You will take Dumbledore's place, Severus."

Snape did not seem to comprehend and stared at Tom with much confusion.

"I already told you once before, Severus, that the defense against the dark arts teaching job is cursed and that no one lasts longer than a year."

"But…" said Snape, "Why me?"

Tom stopped walking and turned to look at Snape, smiling.

"Because you are my favourite," he replied, simply. "You were a great servant to me in the first war. You did not turn your back on me when I fell. You kept Dumbledore at your side and revealed all his secrets to me. And most importantly perhaps, you have given me what I have been waiting for my whole life…you have killed Albus Dumbledore. It is the best gift anyone has ever given me. The day you joined my ranks was a gift to my future, Severus."

"Your words are most kind, my lord," replied Snape.

"Good," said Tom, resuming the walk. "So you'll do it then?"

"Absolutely, my lord."

Tom paused.

"Thank you."

He would hate now to lose Snape and preferred to keep him in the safety net of Hogwarts. After all, Snape gave him a future, and Lord Voldemort was appreciative.

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