Author's Note: Happy weekend everyone! I decided, after much thought, to have a chapter be in the present and have a chapter in the past. I plan on making the past chapter in italics. My husband's birthday is tomorrow and we have a holiday party to go to on Monday. I might be able to take small breaks to write, but for now I have at least have a page for chapter 3. Thank you for those who have followed and reviewed the previous chapter.

Chapter 2

"Come along, Charlotte. We can't be late for the meeting," her mother smiled and started to circle her daughter like a shark eyeing its prey. Charlotte nodded at her mother and stood still awaiting the results for the inspection. Her mother made sure to get the best of the best for her only child. The Dark Lord was back and now his "loyal" followers had to prove how they stayed true to him.

Her parents didn't appear at Hogwarts the night the Dark Lord killed Cedric Diggory. He now questioned their allegiance to him. Charlotte's parents had simply forgotten about him after his downfall. The only way her mother and father avoided jail time was by telling the ministry about the lowly death eaters. The only person truly not loyal to the Dark Lord was Charlotte. She hadn't told her parents what she told professor McGonagle. She wanted to be an auror and bring down the man she was forced to see tonight.

"You look wonderful, my red headed goddess," she smiled and touched her cheek affectionately. She cupped her daughter's face being sure to not mess up the make up. Her mother always made sure to shower her daughter with gifts and compliments. Loud footsteps distracted the mother and daughter. Her father suddenly stood at the foot of the stairs and smiled at them.

"Both of my women look lovely tonight. Let us get to Malfoy Manor before we are late. We don't need to get in any more trouble," he smiled and walked over to the fireplace. He grabbed the floo powder and stepped inside the fireplace. He smiled at his family and winked at them.

"Malfoy Manor," he called out and threw the powder at his feet. A green flame engulfed her father and soon he was gone. Charlotte's mother smiled and walked to the fire place. She repeated the actions of her husband and was soon gone. Charlotte was now in the house by herself. Her eyes started to water as she bit her lip. A lot had happened during her sixth year at Hogwarts. The tri-wizard tournament occurred and left a student with a promising future dead.

Cedric Diggory is dead!

The Dark Lord is back!

Another innocent life claimed by the Dark Lord's hatred. Charlotte shook her head and started to get back to being the Slytherin she was born to be. She grabbed the powder and sighed softly. What was going to happen in this meeting? Her heart ached and she wondered what was going to happen in her seventh year at school. Ever since Harry Potter joined Hogwarts, the school had never been the same.

"Malfoy Manor!" she called and threw down the powder towards her feet. Her body started to spin as she groaned feeling the pain of being teleported to Malfoy Manor. Green lights and flames started to circle her body. By the time she made it to the house, her body felt like it had just been pulled from every end. She groaned and dusted herself off. She bit her lip as she wondered how she was going to get down. The bars around the fireplace were quite tall and she had foolishly decided to wear high heels. She was barely stable on her own feet let alone being hoisted higher.

"Need help?" a voice startled her and she gasped softly. She looked down at her high heels and back at him. The step seemed to be tall to get down and she wasn't exactly the most agile creature. The teenager in front of her was younger than her by at least two or three years. He was significantly taller than her. His blonde hair and grey eyes were the two features that attracted her attention before.

"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy," she nodded and he smiled moving his hand to help her out. He suddenly moved carrying her bridal style out of the fire place. His strong arms held her close and placed her on the ground. She almost stumbled on the ground and he quickly held her hand to steady her. She blushed even darker when she realized she was still holding his hand. Charlotte quickly let her hand drop his and smiled.

"I believe I have told you to call me Draco, Charlotte," his English accent playfully scolded her and her face once again turned red. Charlotte always played the idea that she had a crush on him. He was smart, handsome, and treated her like a gentleman should treat a woman. Charlotte opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She suddenly closed her mouth and nodded. He smirked triumphantly and started to walk towards the people talking on the other side of the door.

The red head smiled following him and started to wonder what the Dark Lord was going to do. He knew most of them were not as loyal to him as when he first took power. They pretty much went their own separate ways and left him in his weak state. She noticed he was holding the door open for her. She quickly walked towards the door and smiled.

"Thank you, Mr. Ma-Draco," she smiled warmly at him and he smirked once again. She felt herself melt and smiled nervously. Even she could tell he was nervous about the meeting. His parents were death eaters before his fall and didn't bother to ever try and bring him back. A black table came into view in the middle of the room. Nervous witches and wizards sat around the table. Charlotte gulped as she walked towards her parents and sat in between her mother and father. She sat down between them and stared at the table.

Very little chatter filled the room as most of the elders had ghost like white faces. She looked up to see Draco staring at her. She smiled shortly at her and he smiled back. A loud pop caused everyone to be silent as Charlotte's face suddenly turned white. She still wanted to be an auror and now she was about to see the man that she would one day betray.

The door suddenly opened causing a cold chill to go through the room. She felt like she was about to pass out. A man with a silver hair slowly walked in. He looked like a rat as he scurried around the floor and towards the table. He took a seat next to the head of the table and sighed. The doors suddenly bursted open.

The Dark Lord has finally made his appearance. He slowly walked towards the table with a sick smile on his face. The death eaters looked down at the table as he took a seat in front of the other criminals. He sighed happily and closed his eyes. He opened them and had an angry look on his face. Charlotte stared in front of her as she waited for him to talk.

"Only a couple of you came the night I sent out the call at my dear old school," he spoke just loud enough for everyone to hear what he had to say. Her parents looked at each other nervously. They didn't want to come in fear they would be caught by Headmaster Dumbledore. The Dark Lord stood up and started to walk around the table. The room suddenly became tense.

"I thought you all were loyal to me, but clearly, I was wrong. I think I should show you my power is still as good as it was all those years ago," he smiled and turned towards the double doors. He lifted his hand and suddenly a man floated in the room. He was badly beaten and could barely tell what was going on.

"Help me," the man begged weakly as Charlotte frowned. Tears immediately wanted to spring to her cheeks, but she couldn't save him in front of all these Death Eaters. The Dark Lord smiled and moved his arm so the man slowly started to move towards the table. The rest of the Death Eaters looked on in fear. Charlotte bit her lip and tried to block out everything that was happening around her. The man continued to plead for his life.

"I can take down any one of you with the drop of a hat," the Dark Lord spoke over the man's pleas for help. He stood in front of the table and noticed his Death Eaters were not looking up. Bellatrix would often peer up to see the Dark Lord and the man. At least, none of them were going to get injured, they hoped.

"Crucio!" he called out and the man started to yell in pain as he body thrashed around. Charlotte closed her eyes tighter as she clenched her teeth. The man continued to scream for what seemed like forever before the Dark Lord took the curse off of him. Charlotte sighed in relief thinking it was all over. The man was now unconscious and laying on the table. The Dark Lord started to walk around the table examining each one of them. Charlotte tried to remain calm as she looked up to see Draco staring at her.

"I hope that this will serve as a lesson that I am still the same that I was all those years ago," he continued to walk around the table. His snake, Nagini, suddenly appeared and started to slither his tongue around the man. Voldemort looked at his snake and smiled.

"I know, Nagini, you are hungry. You may feast," he smiled and the snake quickly went to work to eat the innocent man. The Dark Lord left with the silver handed man and the very full snake. The older Death Eaters sighed in relief as they were not the muggle this time. Charlotte's mother smiled and looked at her. She slowly touched her hand and smiled.

"You were braver then when I first witnessed something like that," she tried to reassure the girl. Charlotte looked at her sadly and stood up. Her heart raced as she walked off from the table and towards the double doors towards the chimney.

"Charlotte! Get back here!" her mother called for her angrily.

"Let her be, Minerva, she is just scared like when we were kids," Charlotte's father assured her mother. The doors closed behind her signaling an end from all the conversation in the room. She started to cry as she collapsed on to her knees. The low glow from the fire heated her face. She bent over and hid her face in her hands.

Two arms suddenly wrapped themselves around her. She was suddenly hoisted up as she looked away from the person. Charlotte felt so embarrassed. Her heart ached as she started to calm down. She felt safe in the man's arms. His aroma smelled familiar and she quickly turned to see Draco looking at her. She started to cry once more as he sighed softly. Draco accustomed to this by now.

"He was innocent, Draco. He probably had a wife and kids," she explained as he moved to be in front of her. His hand slowly rose up as he wiped off the tears with her finger. She looked at him and started to calm down. Those grey eyes of his showed true . . . caring.

"What if they do this to me one day? What if I don't please him and he attempts to hurt me or worse?" she asked and she noticed a difference in him. His face suddenly appeared white.

"He would never . . ." he was cut off by a frantic Charlotte.

"You don't know that. He has killed and tortured his own followers in the past," she tried to explain as she shook her head. Tears slowly continued to pour down her cheeks. Draco placed his forehead on hers so their eyes were looking at each other. Charlotte found herself looking deep into his eyes. His hands were suddenly around her neck as he stayed motionless. The fire's flames revealing his caring face to her.

"He will not hurt you. I will protect you," he whispered as she smiled softly. Her stomach started to have butterflies. The famous Draco Malfoy promised to protect her. He looked sincere in his promise. The world seemed to melt around them. He smiled as their noses and mouths were so close to each other.

"I promise," he spoke softly as her breath was suddenly caught in her throat. Her world started to spin slowly as she blushed darkly. Draco smiled and suddenly stood up. Their lips were so close. He reached a hand out and she smiled.

"Thank you, Draco," she was grateful for him. He smiled and slowly placed a kiss on her lips.