The Darkness Spreads

The Dark Lord's sanctuary was a cave underneath the sea. A place where most people might expect to find snakes but not human inhabitants. A place therefore, which was perfectly suited for Lord Voldemort.

Only a select few of his followers were ever allowed to come here. Many of them were his loyal supporters from the war but some of them had fallen from grace while new faces had entered the circle. Rodolphus Lestrange had always been one of the chosen few as had his wife and brother.

They were meeting in this underground hall, lit by torches whose flames burned silver and blue and green but not the normal warm orange and yellow.

Everyone who came in fell to his knees and kissed the Master's robes. Rituals such as this had been abandoned for any appearances the Dark Lord made in front of outsiders. Only here were they still carried through, just like other traditions such as the use of the Cruciatus curse for failure.

The Dark Lord's lesser followers were spared all these things but the price was a lower rank as well as less influence and less knowledge.

There were few Death Eaters who did not yearn to become members of the Dark Lord's inner circle.

As he had done since his very first day among the Death Eaters, Rodolphus felt a small twinge of jealousy whenever he saw Bellatrix kiss the Dark Lord's robes and look up to him with this devotion and admiration she never gave to him, she never could give to him because he had done nothing to earn it.

Ever since his first day among the Death Eaters, Rodolphus knew very well how to hide this feeling behind invisible shields of Occlumency. The Dark Lord didn't know. Maybe he could guess, maybe not, it didn't matter.

Bellatrix was his wife, the mother of his children, the woman who had stood by his side from his first day at Hogwarts. She was the closest friend he had ever had, what did it matter if her love belonged to someone else?

Someone who would never return it for the Dark Lord could not love.

Severus Snape arrived and assumed his place on Rodolphus' other side. His second friend and collaborator in making his healing potions. He gave Rodolphus a curt nod, the most open sign of recognition that could be expected of him.

When the last member of the inner circle Colin Avery had arrived, the Dark Lord spoke:

"Welcome my Death Eaters. I've called you tonight to discuss some important developments. It is my belief, and I'm sure everyone here agrees with me, that it isn't enough to turn Wizarding Great Britain into a place free of harmful Muggle influence, unworthy people and false fear of certain forms of magic, caused by a so-called morality bound on keeping magic harmless to Muggles. It is my belief that Wizarding Europe and yes, one day the entire Wizarding world should be freed of these things."

The members of the circle were cheering. Rodolphus and Severus only did so half-heartedly however. The entire Wizarding world was an ambitious goal indeed. Many people from other cultures actually used their magic in completely different ways. Trying to turn them all into members of one society seemed impossible to Rodolphus.

In his lifetime this most certainly wouldn't happen. Europe was a different matter though. Rabastan had actually been sent out with a mission concerning this, his report was due today. As far as Rodolphus knew, his brother hadn't been as successful as the Dark Lord had hoped.

"There are two European countries where we are going to begin our campaign. France because of its powerful magical school and great tradition of magical prowess and Germany due to the German Ministry's misguided practice to shelter our enemies for reasons of unfounded guilt due to past events. Two of you have been to these countries so you can report on your progress. Rabastan Lestrange, I'm expecting your report about the French situation. Could you achieve anything among your relatives in Normandy?"

Rabastan stepped in front of the Dark Lord.

"Unfortunately, I've not been able to reach my relatives," he began.

Rodolphus hadn't expected anything else. Unlike the British one the French branch of the family was strictly against the Dark Arts. Rodolphus remembered one visit after his fifth year at Hogwarts where Carole L'étrange had kept talking about her dreams of becoming an Auror and fighting for good. Rodolphus was quite sure that Carole would have been a Gryffindor later fighting on Dumbledore's side if she had been to Hogwarts.

After the trial, Rabastan and Rodolphus had never heard from them again.

"They weren't at home when I arrived and didn't leave any information about their whereabouts. I was able to speak to the leaders of the French movement, Olivier and Suzanne Dupré as well as André Martin however. They can spot a few new members but they think there should be more. They're directly attempting to influence Beauxbatons now. The position of the Potions teacher has become void and they're trying to get one of their people in there. They've succeeded in killing Head Auror Bardot by the way. He has introduced very strict policies against any dark magic users and there was a suspicion that he might have found out too much. There's hope that his successor will be less trouble. If they're lucky, the position will go to someone they can bribe. I can't quite remember the name but you'll see it in my written report."

"Very well, Rabastan. I have to confess that I'm disappointed in your relatives' behaviour. It seems as if I couldn't count on their support. Very disappointing indeed."

Rabastan bowed his head. Anything he could have said would only have enraged the Dark Lord more.

"It doesn't seem as if the French movement has come much closer to reaching our goal," the Dark Lord continued.

Rodolphus feared that this wouldn't become any easier either. There had been a certain rivalry between French and English people among wizards as well as Muggles. It was quite likely that the French including the dark wizards among them simply had no desire to be ruled by a British Dark Lord. He wasn't sure if their approach could prove successful but he couldn't think of any alternative either. With the exception of outright war. It was doubtful that this could work out in favour for the Dark Lord however. The French would probably receive aid from other European nations and they alone had much more magical citizens because of Britain's yearlong war.

"I think I'll have to speak to Olivier, Suzanne and André myself," the Dark Lord continued. "I wish you to organize a meeting for me, Rabastan. That was all."

Rabastan returned to his place in the circle, a grave look on his face.

"Antonin Dolohov, your report on the situation in Germany please."

"Yes Master." Dolohov stepped to the front. A Russian wizard who had attended Durmstrang Institute Antonin Dolohov was one of the few Death Eaters outside of Rodolphus' circle of close acquaintances whom he respected. He was highly talented in the Cruciatus curse as well as in a variety of other curses for torture and killing, many of which unknown to British wizards. He was also fluent in English and German in addition to his native Russian.

"The German Wizarding community has a special form of organisation. It is split in small regions with their own Ministries. All of them have their own law-enforcement departments. This is quite convenient for us because communication between them often isn't very good and they don't like to hand over responsibility to the central organisations. Like Rabastan I've spoken to the people in charge of the movement, Ulrike Prätorius, Stefan Schmitt and Thomas Langkamp. They're quite successful in recruiting people among the older generations of former Durmstrang students who've learned under Karkaroff. The situation among the younger students is very different though. This has to do with the new Durmstrang Headmistress. Galina Achatowa is a witch of prodigious skill and she strongly disapproves of any "western influence" upon the school. Any sign of a student sympathizing with our cause leads to immediate expulsion and is reported to the Ministry of the country the offender hailed from."

"She needs to die," the Dark Lord said simply.

"I hate to say it Master but this may prove difficult. Achatowa's skills rival those of Albus Dumbledore and she has strong support in the Russian Wizarding community as well as in all others which send students to Durmstrang. The school's reputation has greatly improved since she's in charge. I'll pass your wish on of course."

"Everything else would be a very bad idea indeed," the Dark Lord told him. "Dumbledore died and so will she. Continue."

"Well, it's important to note that only a very small minority of German witches and wizards attend Durmstrang. That's true for all the other countries sending students there as well. This should be obvious given the huge number of people living there but I'd still like to note it. Most young witches and wizards in Germany go to the small schools in their various regions. Within the German Wizarding community any pride in pure blood and any interest in dark magic is frowned upon due to the past experiences with Grindelwald. As you can all imagine there are quite a few German wizards who don't want to accept this and wish to fight for a different society."

Rodolphus could of course. The situation in the UK hadn't been much different in his youth.

"There is a very grave problem however," Dolohov said. "Many of those people are supporters of the late wizard Grindelwald. Somehow, the information that you, Master, have killed Grindelwald has reached them. Those so-called Neo-Grindelwaldianer have wished to free Grindelwald from prison and bring him back to power in the past. His death was another proof of the British's desire to win dominance over their country in their eyes. The Grindelwald supporters strongly oppose our people for this reason. To them, they're traitors."

Rodolphus had never met members of this organisation in person but he had dealt with the consequences of their actions. Almost two years ago, members of the group had abducted and tortured the nine-year old daughter of German Aurors with friendly ties to the British Magical community. The German Healers had asked for help with the child's treatment which Rodolphus and Neville Longbottom had given. The child had recovered and the official relations between both countries had improved as well.
"There have been quite a few fights between dark witches and wizards who support us and those who support Grindelwald," Dolohov continued. The German Aurors have noticed these fights as a serious security problem."

This was bad news indeed. A group of determined dark witches and wizards fighting the German Death Eaters along with the Aurors. They had to make sure that none of them could make it into Great Britain and cause trouble here.

Rodolphus was very impressed by Dolohov's great insights into the workings of a country which wasn't even his own in spite of the relatively bad news.

"Our supporters there are in a precarious situation indeed," Dolohov said. "The Neo-Grindelwaldianer kept them so busy they couldn't do much against Ministry and society so far."

As Rodolphus had expected, the Dark Lord didn't like this at all. He was fair enough not to punish Dolohov for he was not to blame for this situation but he received no praise for his efforts either.

After these matters had been settled for the moment, Bellatrix reported about the security problems within Wizarding Britain. There didn't seem to be many however. A few enemies of the Dark Lord had escaped Azkaban with outside help in the past, but since security had been improved, such things hadn't happened anymore.

Bellatrix assumed that the former prisoners and their helpers had probably fled to Germany or another country that offered asylum to people facing prosecution by the Dark Lord's regime.

The crime rate was relatively low; the greatest risk was posed by stray Dementors. The Security Officers were able to capture but not kill them.

The state of the Health Care System didn't seem to be of any interest to the Dark Lord this evening, which didn't surprise Rodolphus too much. There weren't any serious threats at the moment.

Severus Snape spoke about Hogwarts where everything seemed to run smoothly as well. There had been a few violent arguments but nothing worse than the stuff that had happened during Rodolphus' own school days. Rebellion against the Dark Lord didn't seem to be a problem anymore. Not since Neville Longbottom was on their side and had given up on his secret student army.

"I'm glad to be able to tell you that the situation inside Great Britain seems really satisfactory," the Dark Lord said. "Good work. Now let's hope that we can spread this to other countries as well. The tasks are clear, the meeting is over. You're free to go."

The silence was broken by noise when everyone tried to get towards the exit of the cave. It was a great honour to meet the Dark Lord in his private quarters, but most Death Eaters were still glad when they could leave again without having incurred his disapproval. Rodolphus was no exception there. The Dark Lord hadn't seemed to be too interested in him and his work one way or the other since the war though. Rodolphus wouldn't have objected to receiving a bit more recognition than that but he was used to it by now and he actually preferred to be left alone. He got this wish most of the time, the Dark Lord was more interested in his abroad adventures and some secret personal projects.

The actual running of the country was left to the Death Eaters which was the best course of action in Rodolphus' eyes. He seriously doubted that the Dark Lord's style in punishment and greeting would win him many sympathies among the general population. His few public speeches did however. Lots of people were listening to him with admiration by now, among them many witches. Bellatrix was getting competition.

Rodolphus cast a sideways glance at her. She seemed to be deeply in thought, probably going through everything the Dark Lord had said in her mind once again and trying to find ways to further his goals.

"Did you inform Longbottom about the Memory Potion?" Severus asked. Rodolphus turned around. He had almost forgotten about his presence.

"Yes, I did."

Neville's visit hadn't gone too well. Roderic and his many questions again. Bellatrix absolutely didn't want to tell the children what they had truly been doing during the War. During the last years, she had gotten over her unhealthy obsession with the Cruciatus curse. She had finally left the shadows of her past behind and started to use the curse rather than be used by it. Somehow, this had also caused a desire to shield her children from everything dark because they were supposed to be too young. Rodolphus didn't really approve of that. He had always hated this kind of behaviour in his own mother and was sure that Roderic felt the same way. They had so much in common. He would have to discuss the matter with Bellatrix when the opportunity arose. No matter how you looked at it, it was much better if Roderic learned it from them and not from someone else. Rodolphus wasn't sure if Neville wouldn't have given in to the boy's questioning if he had not been sitting on a table with them.

"Has he been able to grasp at least the basic concepts?"

It took Rodolphus a moment to realise that Severus was talking about Neville not about Roderic.

"I'm sure he did. He made the potion for this Lockhart and it was perfectly fine," he told Severus.

"I'm astonished," Severus said. "Neville Longbottom, capable of brewing a correct healing potion. Sometimes, you really are able to work miracles."

Rodolphus didn't like Severus' constant jabs at Neville's intelligence. The boy had suffered from the effects of the Memory Charm placed on him and from his various insecurity issues but he had never been stupid. He didn't have Severus' own brilliance, no doubt, but his diligence and good will made up for that. Neville was an excellent Healer who despite of his strong sense of compassion had the nerve to deal with the less pleasant facts of this profession as well. Some cases such as the one of the tortured German girl did touch him deeply but so far, that had never kept him from working effectively.

When he had met adult Neville for the first time, Rodolphus had found someone completely different from what he had expected. Severus had asked him to come to Hogwarts because the Carrows had tortured a boy so badly that Madam Pomfrey couldn't help him. The other children had been crying and panicking but not so Neville. He had calmly done what was necessary. Well, after attempting to attack Rodolphus but there was no need to count this.

"You should reconsider your opinion. People can change, Severus."

Severus' mouth narrowed. "The way you're thinking about him, one could almost believe he was your own son," he said.

Severus' suggestion was so absurd that it wasn't really worth any reply. Rodolphus thought that his statement had bothered Severus for some reason but he had no idea why that was.

Bellatrix however didn't want to take this remark quietly. "Really Snape, you might be undyingly in love with a Gryffindor girl but that doesn't mean that everyone is."

Severus' face turned livid. She had really struck a nerve with this statement.

Rodolphus decided that it was time to end this conversation before it got too badly out of hand. He was quite pleased about Bellatrix showing signs of jealousy on his behalf though.

"We should go, I think," he said before Severus could respond. "The Dark Lord wouldn't want us to linger behind like that. Maybe the boats will be gone if we're too slow."

To his surprise no one disagreed and the three of them stepped into the last boat. Rodolphus made sure to sit between Bellatrix and Severus who were glaring at each other angrily. The boat moved away from the island on its own accord carrying them through the mists. The Dark Lord's fortress was guarded by Dementors which were causing the mist. Rodolphus could see a few of them floating around above them.

The journey always reminded him of the one to Azkaban. Back then he had been travelling in a very similar boat, accompanied by two Dementors and Cordelia Savage of all people. They didn't seem to have bothered her all, her self-control was really admirable.

Severus was more badly affected by the Dementors than either Rodolphus or Bellatrix. His face had turned very pale and his hands were shaking slightly. Maybe because he wasn't used to their presence like them. He had spent those thirteen years as a rather bad teacher at Hogwarts after all.

Rodolphus did the same thing Severus had done to him earlier, he used Legilimency on him. He wanted to know what was bothering him. The memory Severus was seeing in front of his inner eyes was the one where he had been bullied by the Gryffindors and later used the term Mudblood against Lily Evans. Seriously, was this still bothering him so much?

To his surprise, he saw his own words there too. "People can change, Severus."

Severus realised what Rodolphus was doing, quickly hiding his thoughts obviously ashamed that the Dementors had made him drop his guard.

How could he still care about her after so many years? In Rodolphus' opinion, she had never been a good friend, Mudblood or not. She had felt ashamed for her unpopular friend from the wrong house, associated with his enemies, only looking for an opportunity to cast him aside. Why couldn't he simply accept this and move on?

He looked at Bellatrix. What had she done to him, especially in those years after Azkaban? Had this changed his feelings in any way? No it had not and he had been rewarded. She had found back to her real self after all.

Severus disapparated after a very short goodbye, Rodolphus wasn't really surprised by this. He needed time to himself after the Dementor-accompanied journey. He and Bellatrix apparated home quickly as well.

When they arrived, they were greeted by a shaken-looking Roxy, wearing her nightgown.

"Mum, Dad, where have you been so long?"

"We've met the Dark Lord," Bellatrix said. "What's wrong with you?"

"I had a bad dream."

"Well, it's over now. You're awake," Bellatrix told her.

Roxy didn't look very convinced. "I've been dreaming about Debbie's Gran you know. She didn't want me to play with Debbie. That's why she took me to a place where you can never be happy again. Everything was dark and I was all alone."

She was crying now. Bellatrix put an arm around her. "It was only a dream. No one can do this to you. I am the one who decides if people get locked up somewhere nowadays."

"Debbie said that I could visit her. But I don't think I want to. I don't really want to meet her Gran."

Rodolphus didn't think that this was a particularly good idea either. Had Neville come up with this or had it been the child's idea?

"I hope Debbie doesn't think I don't like her when I say no."

"I don't think so. She can't come here either after all," Rodolphus said. He wasn't quite sure if Deborah or Neville was the one objecting to this.

"Maybe Neville can simply take Deborah with him when he's visiting us next time," he suggested. "This way you can spend a bit of time together."

"Yes, but we don't have to decide this tonight," Bellatrix said. "You should go back to your bed now."

"Can I stay in your room?"

"No, you're too old for that," Bellatrix said.

"Will you read me a story?"

"Alright," Bellatrix said giving her husband an apologetic look. "I'll see you later."

This wasn't how Rodolphus had imagined the rest of the evening to go. Children had a tendency to mess up any plans however, they had learned this very quickly. The decision not to have any during the war had been absolutely correct.

Rodolphus wouldn't be worried about a normal nightmare but he didn't like this. The children knew that something was wrong between their two families but they didn't know what it was. As far as Rodolphus knew this was true for Neville's children as well. He strongly suspected that it was one of the reasons for Deborah's magic problems.

Rodolphus could imagine telling Roderic but not Roxy. She was too young and would never understand. Roxy living in fear of Alice wasn't desirable either though. She'd never harm a child, he was certain of that. If Roxy ever met her she like Roderic would know that something was wrong with her as well as between her and Roxy's parents. There was no viable solution to this.

Without realising it, Rodolphus had walked towards the door of a room where he kept various objects he didn't really need too frequently. He muttered the password and walked inside. One cupboard contained an assortment of inherited or captured wands. Having spare wands was always a good idea.

One of those wands had belonged to Alice Longbottom. Poplar and Phoenix feather, an unusual combination. Usually, a captured wand would work quite well for its new owner. Alice's wand however was as stubborn as its mistress. It refused to perform even the simplest spell for Rodolphus. The wand was practically useless to him. He probably should give it back but for some reason, Neville had never mentioned the wand. Maybe she hadn't told him. Sometimes he thought that she wasn't telling him anything. Otherwise, Neville would probably behave differently.

Rodolphus had no idea what kind of effect the Memory Potion would have on him if he ever took it. He had had to inform him about the possibility though; anything else would have been suspicious.

Maybe Severus hadn't been so wrong after all. It would have been better if their paths hadn't intertwined so much again. Rodolphus didn't tell anyone, not even his wife, but he knew that Neville's loyalty to the new regime was nowhere as strong as most people believed. From his side, there was something like a truce between them but nothing more.

Neville did not only offer help to the patients at -Hospital but also to those who weren't eligible for treatment there. He was sure that Rodolphus did not know but the signs were hard to miss. Neville often seemed way more tired than he should be from his scheduled work, not only his body but also his magic. He also tended to ask questions and search for information that didn't fit any of his current patients.

How could Rodolphus blame him for that? Had he not done just the same? Werewolves, Death Eaters, women from Knockturn Alley, his oath had included them all.

Still, Rodolphus knew that he wasn't supposed to keep this a secret. He was neglecting his duty. He also knew that neither the Dark Lord nor any of the other Death Eaters understood the meaning of the Healer's Oath. They'd consider him an enemy of the state and punish him accordingly.

Sometimes he did wonder if he had shared his knowledge with the wrong person after all.

The answer was always the same one, no. Rodolphus couldn't think of anyone else who would have understood it all so easily and could carry it out so well.

There was something else as well. When working with Neville he was able to connect with that other side, the life before Voldemort, in a way he had considered impossible before.

It was an extremely fragile balance.

If something went slightly wrong everything would come tumbling down and most of the things that could go wrong where outside of his control.

So many people kept secrets from each other which could easily come to the light. He didn't tell Bellatrix that he knew about Neville's secret patients and Neville wasn't aware of that either. Alice (presumably) wasn't telling Neville about the torture while his own memories were hidden beneath the Memory Charm. All four children didn't know what had happened but all of them were aware of the fact that there was something wrong.

The situation with Roderic at dinner had been quite problematic already. And the boy wouldn't stop asking questions, Rodolphus knew him well enough.

They wouldn't be able to keep this up forever. Even small things like Roxy's dream reminded him of that.

He didn't know what to do to prevent the disaster either however. If Neville turned against the Dark Lord's regime completely, would he do what Rodolphus had done himself and use his gift against them? Rodolphus didn't really believe it but you could never be sure.

He'd be able to hide the fact that he had known more, that wasn't the problem but he wanted to prevent harm for Bellatrix, Rabastan or the children.

"Rodolphus, what are you doing here?" Bellatrix was standing in the doorway. "Don't you want to come upstairs?"

"I've just been thinking," he said closing the drawer with the various wands.

Bellatrix didn't ask what he had been thinking about. She had learned that she wouldn't receive an answer to this question.

Rodolphus followed her upstairs to their bedroom.

He'd try to figure out a solution tomorrow or, more likely, he'd put it all away to the back of his mind again.