A/N: A short chapter. I do apologize. It's one of those things where the stopping point comes too early for one's taste. C'est La Vie. Thanks to everyone for coming by again. I hope you enjoy my Voldemort. It's easy portraying a villain meeting his enemy. The question is how well do I portray the villain meeting a friend (sort of).

Chapter 27: A Loyal Servant

Voldemort laughed.

Draco Malfoy remained on his knees, waiting for the Dark Lord to decide what to do. He was in a cemetery, that much he knew, but where it was he had no idea. Behind him, Sirius Black was cursing. The only coherent words were when the man said angrily, "He knew. He knew."

"Wormtail," Voldemort ordered.

Pettigrew waved his wand. Sirius Black could be heard yelling, "Damn you, Peter. We were friends."

"Were, Sirius. The important word is 'were'."

Voldemort ordered Draco to rise. He did so, careful not to take his eyes off the creature that the dark wizard had become. The question was asked. How could the scion of Lucius Malfoy be trusted? The answer was simple. How could he prove he could be trusted.

"Only through my actions," Draco answered.

"And why would you want to join with me."

Draco dared to smile. "The most powerful wizard who ever lived? Who wouldn't want to?"

"Many. Why do you want to?"

"My clothes."

The Dark Lord chided him. He was wearing a Quidditch uniform. Admirable colours and in dreadful shape. Could he explain himself?

"I've plenty of good clothes, Sir, er, Master. But everything I own was given to me. I've never worn a new shirt that I chose. I've never had the luxury of buying a pair of shoes because I liked the way they looked. I've never had enough money for something that struck my fancy." His voice became bitter. "And I have my father to thank for all of that. He made sure that I had nothing. YOU can make it so I can have whatever I want." He made his voice sound wistful. "I'd give anything for that."

"Will you give me your hand?"

A chill ran through Draco's body. The way the man said it. He was asking a literal question. "Sir?"

"Will you sacrifice your hand that I might be restored?"

A million thoughts raced through his head. If I refuse, I am dead. If I agree, he is restored and I am maimed for life. What could he do? He had no other options. Taking a deep breath, Draco answered as firmly as he could. "Yes."

He would do this. He would become a faithful follower. Not because he believed in this man but because the alternative was death. A hand was a small price to pay.

"Do you think he lies, Wormtail?"

"He has that reputation, Master." Sirius Black began to shout something but Wormtail waved his wand. A spell to silence the man. "However, the proof is in the potion."

Voldemort sneered. "And it means you keep your own hand, coward." The sneer stayed in its place. "I think I prefer this way better. Should I be restored to my full body, it will be the proof that he is telling the truth. Prepare the cauldron."

Wormtail turned around. It must have been a spell because a stone cauldron, large enough for a man to hide in, appeared out of the shadows as it moved through the tombstones. From the sloshing sounds, it seemed to be filled with water. The cauldron came to rest between them.

"Do it," Voldemort said.

Wormtail took the frail twisted body of his master and dropped it into the cauldron. It sank to the bottom. Wormtail raised his wand. He closed his eyes.

"Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son."

A crack appeared in the ground near to Draco. He looked over to see a tombstone with the name TOM RIDDLE on the base. Bound to the stone by ropes was Sirius Black, his mouth also bound. He was looking not at Draco but at the ground. From the crack, what looked like dust began to flow out of it and to the cauldron. Blue sparks shot out from the cauldron as the dust touched the water. Draco stared at the sparks as Wormtail began to wave his wand again.

"Flesh of the servant, willingly given, you will revive your master."

The man pulled out a long sharp knife and looked to Draco. The message was clear. His wand was ready as was the knife. Live or die. Draco chose life. With false bravado, He stepped forward and held out his right hand. He watched as the knife was raised. This was the moment of truth. He steeled himself for the moment. The knife came down.

One thing happened and one thing did not. The hand fell into the cauldron causing more blue sparks. And the thing that did not happen was that Draco did not react. He stared idly at his arm, at the spurting blood. Them he felt for his wand. It wasn't on him. He looked around to where he had first arrived. It was on the ground only a few footsteps away. He walked toward it while Wormtail recited something about blood from the enemy. As he picked it up, he idly noticed that Wormtail was sticking Sirius Black in the arm with the knife. Draco turned away. As he pointed the wand at his injured hand, there came frantic noise behind him. He ignored it. Instead, he screamed.

In medical terms, he cauterized the wound. His arm stopped bleeding. "You were right, Uncle Al. Not that I wanted to find out. There's hell to pay, now."


"Constant Vigilance," The man was trying to tell the boy. "It's not a fancy saying. It's a fact of life. What if you went into shock?"

"Don' know."

"Know. Shock doesn't freeze you. It makes you numb. The sensation of not feeling anything is what freezes you. But it can be a blessing. Especially if you're hurt, which you probably are. And you're probably hurt badly. There won't be any pain. Say you broke your arm and the bone was sticking out. You could reset the arm without a problem. As long as you're alert enough to know what happened."

"An' this 'appened to you?" The boy was laughing.

"The day I lost my leg. I then disabled two death eaters before putting a tourniquet on it. Once the shock wears of, though, there's hell to pay." The man sighed, "It's like your body wants to make up for lost time. There's bloody hell to pay."


The first thing Draco felt was his foot, the one that was bitten. It hurt worse than when it first happened. Then he felt his hand. The one that wasn't there. It felt like it was on fire. His arm tried to make the hand seem the phantom it was by causing him even more pain. If he had a knife, he would have tried to cut the whole arm off. To add to that, every ache was amplified tenfold. The result was that Draco fell to his knees in an effort to remain conscious.

The world became black, then tried to return to focus. The pain throbbed in time to his heartbeat. It was an effort not to fall over. He tried to take a deep breath but found himself rasping for breath.

Voldemort was saying something to Wormtail. The ratty little man answered. Draco vaguely heard him utter a cry of pain. The cry didn't last long. It was followed by popping noises. This also registered but barely. Someone screamed. It wasn't enough to make Draco look up. He was still concentrating on the pain. There were voices arguing. Someone familiar was shouting a word. RENNERVATE.

Energy flowed through Draco. Strength enough to withstand the pain and react to what was happening around him. He looked up to see people, all wearing masks. He turned to look behind him. There were perhaps a dozen people in all. And Voldemort was glaring at one of them who still had his wand out.

"I can explain, Master." It was the clear and calm voice of Rodolphus Lestrange.

"No need, Rodolphus," Voldemort was saying. "We know why you are here despite my orders that you remain at Hogwarts. I know you can't tell me the truth, but you can tell me if I am wrong about anything." The menacing voice became calm. "You made an unbreakable vow to Lucius Malfoy." He paused. "Part of the vow was that you not tell anyone. The other part was to do everything you could to protect and help Draco Malfoy." Another pause. "It appears I do know. Rodolphus, this is not convenient. It could cause problems with carrying out any of my orders. I have no choice. AVEDA KEDAVRA."

Voldemort's wand, suddenly in hand, engulfed Draco's godfather. The man fell lifeless to the ground. Draco idly thought, 'one down, one to go'. He stared at the body while the Dark Lord spoke to the next figure. "Bellatrix, I trust you are not upset?"

"Never, Master." Bellatrix Lestrange's voice sounded joyful, worshipful, when she replied.

Voldemort turned back to Draco. "And here is the hero of the hour. Are you upset, Mister Malfoy?"

His voice was shaky as he answered, not because of what happened but because of the pain he was still trying to control. "He made it obvious, Master, that he did only what he had to do. He cared for me as much as he cared . . . for his own son."

"Can you stand?" Voldemort watched as Draco rose slowly to his feet. He then told his followers how the young boy they were watching offered his own hand, to show he had forsaken his parents. The boy was to be considered one of them, to be trusted completely. But . . . the Dark Lord was giving Draco a hateful look. "But Mister Malfoy has one more task to perform. Draco, kill Sirius Black for me?"

"As you wish, Master." He raised his wand. There was no emotion. He would do this because he had to. Survival was his only goal regardless of what it took. The man brought it upon himself by trying to interfere.

By trying to interfere?

"Master, may I ask a favour? I would like to ask him why he followed me." When Voldemort began to raise his wand, Draco quickly added, "I have a foreboding. He knows something."

Voldemort flicked his wand. The gag over Sirius's mouth disappeared. He commanded Draco. "ASK."

Draco asked his question. His voice was still shaky but it held only curiosity. "Why did you try to stop me?" Before Sirius could answer, he added, "Did you know what would happen?"

"Of course I did, you damned fool. What I didn't know was that you knew." His voice held disgust. "I never thought you respected . . . him."

Voldemort stepped toward the bound man. "You knew the cup was a portkey?"

Sirius sneered. "I even put a tracking spell on it. Bagman wouldn't notice even if I told him. I would wager every Auror in the Ministry is waiting for my signal." He confidently shouted, "NOW."

Several Death Eaters drew their wands as they desperately looked around. Voldemort didn't flinch, Neither did Draco. Draco wouldn't have reacted if an Auror apparated directly in front of him. Voldemort, however, laughed.

"I wonder," Voldemort sneered, "would the Aurors make an appearance if the tracking spell had been removed by my agent at Hogwarts? Because it appears that is exactly what happened."

Sirius sneered back. "Then kill me. I'm no longer of any use to you. I don't have any more jokes to tell."

"Master." It was Bellatrix Lestrange. "I know him. He's hiding something."

"He is, Bellatrix. His plan to trap me failed. He would have a second plan." Voldemort was smiling. He held his face inches away from Sirius'. "Perhaps there is another group of Aurors waiting for us. It would not be difficult to guess that the portkey works both ways. Knowing what it was, I would wager a knut on his knowing my plan to launch a surprise attack on Hogwarts. I would wager more but I know I will lose. Guessing my plan, he would have told others." He moved to the center of the circle and looked at his minions. "Had this man not come, my clever plan would have failed. And it would have been my fault." He turned to Sirius. "Next time, I will not try to be so clever." He ignored the muted conversations amongst the Death Eaters. "Any last words before you die."

Sirius looked at Voldemort's wand pointed directly at him. He looked at Draco. "I was trying to protect you. I DID promise."

For some reason Draco thought it was funny. His godfather made a promise. And died because of it. With a slightly mad laugh, he said, "Yeah, and YOU didn't promise not to tell."

Draco kept laughing but it died in the sudden silence.

"You promised?" Voldemort asked in amused delight. "An unbreakable vow?"

Did he? That was Draco's thought. He never knew how an unbreakable vow was made. He never thought to ask. But that didn't matter now. "Too bad, Sirius. You could have been useful." He raised his wand, again. "Should I kill him now, Master?"

Voldemort's voice was soothing. "No, Draco. You don't want to kill the man who is going to help you. He has to protect you even if it means letting you, even if it means helping you follow my orders. He would have to. Should you fail, you would die. We can't allow that to happen."

Draco knew Sirius was faking his look of despair. As quickly as the look came upon his face, it changed back to hatred. "Unless you die first, you bloody bastard."

Voldemort waved his wand and the ropes fell off of Sirius. Before they landed on the ground, Voldemort had turned his wand on Draco. "You can try if you like. The instant you fail to do exactly what I say, I will kill the boy."

Sirius eyed the Dark Lord as he raised himself to his feet. "I won't swear loyalty to you, if that's what you want."

Another grim laugh. The Death Eaters joined in. "I don't need to. You've already sworn allegiance to my servant. That is enough." He raised his wand casually as he talked, almost as though he had forgotten to pay attention.

Sirius lunged. He was not even half way when Bellatrix shouted, "Crucio." He fell at once to the ground, writhing in pain. Voldemort gestured with his hand and Bellatrix ended the spell.

"I command you to return, Sirius Black. Make whatever excuses you want. You will be the one to blame if Draco Malfoy is not treated kindly upon his return. Isn't that a wonderful plan?" He walked around the prone body. "I promise you, poor Draco will manage a spectacular escape and return to you whole." A snicker. "Almost whole." He turned his back and walked away from the man. "It is a test. You have a reputation for being clever. We will find out exactly how clever you are." He gave his wand a wave. A second wand flew from the grass and into his hand. As he turned around, he ordered Sirius to get up. He waited until the man was on his feet. Walking back to him, Voldemort casually reached inside Sirius' robes and put the wand in its special pocket. "It is time for you to go."

Draco smiled when Sirius looked at him. He assured his legal guardian that he would be fine. He was among friends. Sirius gave him a doubtful look. He turned back to Voldemort and glared, to receive a chuckle in return as well as a petty gesture which said he should go away.

Slowly, probably because of both the Cruciatus curse and the tight ropes, he made his way toward the Tri-Wizard cup where it had fallen near a headstone. He gave a final, worried look at Draco. Then he looked directly at Wormtail.

"Peter, I promise. When I get the chance, I will kill you."

He grabbed the handle of the cup and disappeared in a whirl of smoke.

Draco laughed to himself as he remembered his earlier thought. The one down was down. Uncle Rodolphus. The one to go was gone. Uncle Sirius.

"It wasn't what I expected."

"Draco?"

"Oh, did I say that out loud? I'm sorry, Master."

"You are forgiven." Voldemort walked the short distance to where he was standing. He carefully cupped Draco's chin in his palm and forced the boy to look at him. "I can touch you now, you know, without feeling any pain. It's because you sacrificed your hand. It freed me from your mother's curse."

Draco stared at the man, looking at his restored face for the first time. Pale, hairless, red eyes, a pair of snake like slits instead of a nose. Draco grunted as his arm suddenly throbbed. He tried to explain but Voldemort said he understood. He would take care of it. Would Draco like that? To be free of the pain? His wand hovered above Draco's injury. Voldemort smiled as he said that Draco would feel none of the pain shortly. As he stepped back, he told Draco not to worry. He raised his wand. "This is necessary, Draco. If you survive, I will explain. Otherwise, you have my apologies."

"Apologies?" Draco asked. Deep inside he already knew. His gambit had failed. His face, however, showed only exhaustion as the Dark Lord shouted the expected words.

"AVEDA KEDAVRA"