"We haven't seen you in a while, Severus." Lucius said sardonically. He always invited Snape to their hunting.
"Some people don't like dirtying their hands, Malfoy. I chose the elegant way." He held up a vial of poison.
"My friend." The blond tapped his shoulder. "I thought you lost your courage…"
"You were wrong, Malfoy. Loyalty can be expressed in many ways." He said mysteriously.
"The Dark Lord is very satisfied with your potions." Avery grinned. Malfoy only snored. "Now let's go! The circle must be complete!"
The Death Eaters apparated in the cold storage. Some of them had their robes white because of the snow storm.
Voldemort stormed into the center of the circle and appeared to be very angry.
"My followers! I just heard that the McSweaths had been brutally captured. Amelia died during the interrogation. Her husband is now imprisoned in Azkaban!"
Many of the Death Eaters became angry, Severus shuddered. Amelia McSweart was his classmate at Hogwarts. Her husband was older than them and came from a wealthy pureblood family.
"They gave their life and freedom for us! For a holy idea that will have to be fulfilled without them! Their sacrifice won't be looked over! But I have good news too." Voldemort said with a smile.
A smaller figure appeared behind him dressed in black with the mask on him.
"I didn't know we had a new comrade." Severus whispered to Karkaroff. "Did I miss something, Igor?"
"Oh, there was no ceremony. I've never met this man."
"We have a new ally in our circle!" Voldemort said. "An ally who won't be noticed by the enemy!"
Severus shuddered…
They haven't learned anything new about the new ally. He was present in all their meetings for months. He never took off his mask so they could only guess who he was. He rarely talked but Severus found his voice familiar. The man being a traitor made him disgusted. It didn't matter who's side he was on.
But he didn't have much time to think about this. His soon to be born child took all his time. The Sampsons were beyond themselves when they heard the news. They bought all kind of baby stuff so the child may arrive into a perfect little world. The bedroom has been transformed. A crib was placed next to the bed with Muggle and magical toys. Severus took out the unnecessary potion bottles and books into the living room to make place for the baby's stuff. The house sparked like never before.
A few days before giving birth to the little one they both became tense and dispersed. The whole thing was new. They were young and newlywed: the arrival of their first child made them happy and worried too. They heard lot of things about how hard it is to raise a child. But they were afraid of something else too. The chaos in the wizard world made it hard to enjoy anything. Everyone felt threatened and Severus always feared for his little family.
The Muggle hospital where Sarah gave birth to the baby made the wizard reluctant. He didn't want those butcher doctors to touch his pregnant wife but everyone tried to reassure him. The healthy little boy finally arrived and the proud mother survived the procedure too. The child had his mother's blue eyes and they could see a few black mop of hair on his head. Severus spent the whole time with them while they were in the hospital. He managed to keep his cool but inside he almost exploded with pride every time he looked at the beautiful child. He watched the little boy sleeping and laughed when he saw his greed for milk. But the best part of it was when he held the little baby. It filled him with happiness and joy. He never imagined he would ever experience this.
The baby boy was very calm, he rarely cried. But he didn't like when he was taken from his mother: he cried and his young parents' heart almost broke when they heard it.
They eliminated this small obstacle soon because they left the hospital. While Sarah gathered her strength they stayed at her parents' house then left to go home.
"Now, little Lamerin." The woman stroked the little boy's face while the baby looked at her. "Aren't you sleepy now? If I rock him in my arms he falls asleep, but when I put him down he wakes up at once. Very clever baby!" She smiled.
The little boy squeezed Severus' finger and the man grinned.
"How tiny his hands are." He said.
"Who know, maybe one day he will hold a wand in them." The woman teased.
"One could never know…"
"How can you know if a child is capable of doing magic?"
"His toys and accidental magic will show it in time… but a lot of children only find out when the letter from Hogwarts arrives."
"This happens at what age?"
"Ten or eleven."
Lamerin reached for the magical toys in the crib with his other hand. When he touched a hanging ball, it popped and thousands of tiny stars fell out of it. He giggled to show his amusement making his parents smile.
"Well, he definitely likes magical things." Sarah chuckled. "The proud daddy will teach him everything, right?"
"The proud daddy would be proud even if he's little boy wouldn't be a wizard." Severus grinned.
"Where is that handsome blond lad now?" Severus asked Karkaroff.
The other understood the hint: the young Barthy Crouch couldn't appear because his father kept a close eye on him.
"I still don't understand why he isn't suspicious… the kid could be a spy…"
"You forget." Snape looked around carefully. "He treasures the kid…"
"It's hard to miss…" Karkaroff growled. "But all this just because he suffered from his father too…"
"He doesn't even question him." The black haired man sighed. "Even though his father is one of our worst enemies…"
"Lucius!" Igor nodded to the approaching blond man who was followed by Crabbe and Goyle. "How disheveled you are." He said sarcastically.
"We live in troubled times…" He wiped his sweaty forehead. "I heard the Dark Lord received some disturbing news and he is concerned…"
"The Dark Lord is concerned about something?" Severus asked. "It has never happened before…"
"Well, it happened now… I don't trust the authenticity of the information but he made a lot of Death Eaters to make sure… I have a very bad feeling, Severus! What if it's some bad omen?" He whispered.
Snape just blinked and he felt his heart froze in fear. An omen…
"That's impossible!" Karkaroff cried but hid his shaking hands. "An omen predicting our downfall?" He continued hoarsely.
"The Dark Lord is the greatest wizard of all times." Crabbe said, seemingly proud that he said something meaningful.
"Nothing and no one can defeat him." Goyle added.
"Whatever it is." Malfoy looked at them. "It made our Lord very depressed. The ones closest to him say he closed himself in his room and he is shouting Dumbledore's name." He shuddered. "And sometimes he just sits and thinks in the darkness… No one has ever seen him like this! I say this is a bad sign!"
Suddenly the door of the chapel burst open and Voldemort stormed out.
"My loyal Death Eaters! We gathered again!" Severus watched the Dark Lord's face. A crazy determination was written all over it…
"Our young comrade can't be with us" He looked at the empty place where Barthy used to stand. "We understand his suffering! Bellatrix Lestrange, where are you my faithful servant?" He looked around. The woman stepped in front of him and knelt. "Bella, let me congratulate for your escape with your husband! How are his injuries?"
"He is ashamed that he can't be here, My Lord, but he hasn't got enough strength to get out of bed yet."
"Let him heal! You showed a great example with your actions!"
"Nonsense!" Severus muttered to himself angrily. "Ever since these crazy people came here they just spilled blood everywhere. And the Dark Lord expects everyone to make bloodshed too! We've fought for greater reasons a long time ago…"
"Don't forget your duties, my Death Eaters!" Voldemort continued. "We have to know… We have to know if the prophecy about our downfall is true or not!"
Several people screamed and a few others knelt and cried out. Severus shuddered and though about his little son and wife.
"This can never happen, My Lord!" Bellatrix said.
"Find the one who said this prophecy and bring here!"