Chapter Thirteen
When they walk into the meeting, all of the other Death Eaters are already there. Bellatrix smiles widely, crazily, at her and indicates the seat next to her. Sasha sits down. Severus is at her right, to the left of the Dark Lord, and Yaxley is seated in front of her, his white blonde hair is pulled back to the nape of his neck with a black ribbon.
Sasha is basking in the dark energy that is buzzing around the room.
"Welcome, my faithful followers," the Dark Lord speaks, "I trust you have valuable information for me?"
"Indeed, My Lord," Avery answers. He's seated to Yaxley's right. The Dark Lord focuses his red stare on him, silently inviting him to continue.
"The Prophecy is constantly being guarded by members of Dumbledore's Order. After having put Podmore under the Imperius I ordered him to retrieve it."
"And?" The Lord's voice has a dangerous undertone.
"He—He failed, My Lord."
"Sasha, show Avery what happens to those who fail."
She supposes the Dark Lord wants to see more of her powers, therefore letting her punish the man. Overwhelmed by the Dark Magic floating in the air, she doesn't question it. She fixes her gaze on his form.
Avery screams loudly, squirming in his seat, as all of his skin begins to boil. Thick, hot bubbles form under the thin tissue, some are already bursting, tearing the skin, blood starts dripping.
Between the screams his hoarse voice calls, "Wait!"
The Dark Lord holds up his hand to Sasha, which she sees out of the corner of her eyes. She pulls away her gaze from the hurt man, which instantly ends the spell, and looks back to the Dark Lord.
"What was that, Avery?"
He's out of breath, but attempts to form a coherent answer as fast as possible, fearing the repercussions in case he doesn't succeed, "I can fix it."
"Speak."
"I am rather sure the prophecy can only be removed by an Unspeakable, My Lord."
"Rather sure, are you?"
"I'm certain," Avery quickly corrects, "Certain!"
"Good."
"I can put the Imperius Curse on the Unspeakable Bode, My Lord," Lucius speaks up.
The Dark Lord turns his red eyes to the fair-haired man, "Do it as soon as possible, then, Lucius."
"Yes, My Lord." He bows his head in a submissive stance.
The slight curling of his lips indicates their Lord is pleased.
The meeting ends soon after. Unlike other times, the Dark Lord doesn't disappear before them; he stays seated, observing his followers as they start leaving. Avery limps to the exit, wincing constantly as his broken skin rubs against his clothing.
Sasha is about to get up when Bellatrix grabs her wrist, "We should go out sometime together, along with Cissy," Narcissa, to Bellatrix's left, looks up at the mention of her name, "The three of us together, going to terrorize some muggles or mudbloods, what do you say?" A mad glint is once again present in her dark eyes, she's practically bouncing with excitement at the prospect of torturing innocents.
"Sure," Sasha responds, "Though it will have to be in the weekend or sometime I'm free from school, of course."
"Ah yes, you're being watched by that horrid muggle-lover," Sasha supposes the woman is referring to the Headmaster, "Okay then," she nods, "I'll let you know when," she smiles wide, showing her horrible teeth.
"Of course, Bellatrix, I'll await your message."
"Oh! Call me Bella, Bellatrix is so formal—"
An ice cold voice interrupts her, "Bella, leave, will you? I need to have a word with Sasha."
The addressed woman pouts at his dismissal and turns away.
Severus, having observed the entire exchange, ever-so-slightly narrows his eyes in thought, before once more adopting his neutral facial expression. He is still waiting, stood next to the table, for Sasha. She looks up to the Dark Lord inquiringly, "My Lord?"
"I shall speak when we are alone."
Severus is the only one left in the room, by now, and he, too, is confused by the Dark Lord's request, "My Lord, you are aware—"
"Yes, Severus, now leave. Now," he repeats when Severus opens his mouth to add something. The dark man bows to his Lord, nods once to Sasha, and leaves the room.
The Dark Lord still does not speak for a while, until, "Ah, he has left." Apparently he was waiting for Severus to disapparate from the manor.
Sasha wonders what this man needs to talk to her about, which even Severus, apparently, cannot know of. She is also thinking about how she'll get back to the castle, as she hasn't yet learned how to apparate; she doesn't even know if her magic allows their kind of transportation.
He has gotten up from his chair and walks toward the big open space next to the table. When he reaches the spot he aimed for, he turns on his heel and faces her again. He is holding his wand in both hands, turning it slowly between long, pale fingers. She hasn't moved from where Severus left her, next to her seat.
"Come," he simply orders in his inhumanly high voice.
She swallows, suddenly remembering Severus' words from earlier, about not yet having practised occlumency. She advances, coming to stand a few feet before him in the open space.
"I wonder," he begins, "about your powers. They are rather unique, are they not? Yes. You know, I could not find a single book about your kind. Quite extraordinary, I find, quite intriguing as well. So now I wonder…" he trails off, circling her.
She has to consciously force herself not to shiver at his closeness and his voice. It's almost as if he tries to give her a false sense of security, despite her knowledge of what he's capable of, by talking to her in a calm way. Even though she knows she can defend herself against him, his manner of moving, of talking, unsettles her.
"What are you capable of? What exactly are your powers? How dark are you, exactly? Because I did notice," he stops walking, standing before her again, closer than before.
She doesn't move, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of thinking she might be frightened. She holds her breath, not moving a muscle, as he, unexpectedly, caresses her right cheek with the tip of his wand.
"You have gotten darker since the first time we met, starting when your pulled your power from Severus, if I am correct."
She nods once. She doesn't react yet to his closeness, his touch, awaiting what he is planning, she attempts to make him think she doesn't care about his movements, she remains playing the submissive little girl for now, wanting to know what he'll do.
"So that was dark magic, which you hadn't used for a while, judging by your reaction to it. Why is that, I wonder?"
"The reason is irrelevant," she responds, still feeling his wand on her cheek, looking into his crimson eyes, far too close for comfort. She refuses to step back and bravely matches his gaze, "It lies in the past and is therefore unimportant."
"It may be irrelevant to you, Sasha," this time she does shiver, as her name formed by his tongue sounds an awful lot like a snake's speech, "However, I want to know every minute detail of your existence and your abilities, and you will tell me. In return I shall show you how to return to the castle you are currently residing in."
"And if I don't?" she challenges him.
"Then I'll take the information forcefully."
She is instantly reminded of the fact that Severus didn't yet teach her Occlumency. Unconsciously, her eyes widen; the Dark Lord notices, "Ah, yes, I thought you hadn't learnt yet. Perfect," he whispers. She swallows, unwillingly intimidated by him.
She doesn't want to talk about her past, she doesn't want to pronounce the words, certain names, and especially not to him. Therefore it might be easier to let him read her mind. On the other hand, if he does, there is the possibility he'll see parts of the Order meetings. But must she tell him of her past? She is powerful enough to throw him off for a moment, just long enough to make her exit. Though she has promised to help this world eradicate this man, and she certainly isn't a coward. What is her past, compared to the lives this man took and will take until he's stopped? She conveniently forgets for now the blood she herself has on her hands.
"Speak," he orders her as he sees her thinking about it. When he notices she still hesitates, he takes the choice from her.
"Legilimens."
He delves through her mind harshly, unlike Severus' painless, smooth approach, giving her a splitting headache almost immediately. It's almost like rapidly flipping through the pages of a book, nearly tearing them. She sees flashes of her last week, the holidays, her time in the University – she senses his disgust when he notices they are muggles –, her years spent alone, trying to get rid of the dark magic, the dream about her mother—"
"Stop!" She finally breaks through his magic, throwing him away from her, using an instinctual flow of dark magic.
He lands on his back – he is furious. As soon as he lands, he gets back up. He approaches her with quick steps, his eyes burning through her in his rage. Her few steps backwards aren't fast enough. Soon he clamps his hand around her neck.
"Do not try that again, or I assure you I will punish someone you care for," he hisses, knowing he can't truly hurt her, undoubtedly thinking back to the first time he tried to use Crucio on her. She knows he means it – he doesn't care about hurting someone to get his way – and her thoughts immediately go to the dark-haired professor who is undoubtedly impatiently waiting for her to return to the castle.
Her heart is beating fast in her chest, not from fear, but from the images she saw, her mother's worried look especially. He holds her for a while longer, then throws her down. She, too, gets up quickly.
"I will tell you," her voice is hoarse, her head is still pounding.
A pleased, smug expression covers his face, "Let us sit," he indicates the table she just left. Dizzily she makes her way to a chair as he sits at the head of the table again.
She breathes in deeply, calming her heartbeat, and then looks up to him, "What do you wish to know, exactly, My Lord?"
"Why did you stop using Dark Magic?" His main focus is Dark Magic, that much is clear; Severus was right.
"Because I had a vision of my mother, which you just saw a glimpse of. She told me this person I had become wasn't me. I now see I was misguided, she was wrong. I had forgotten what this feeling was like."
He seems pleased with her answer. He must know what she means, since he himself uses similar magic every single day.
"Why did you start using it?"
Damn. She really doesn't want to think of that day, never mind speak of it. She is afraid of the feelings it may trigger. Perhaps she can show him only that memory? Focus on that one and try to hide her other memories, like she did when Severus went with her to erase the memories of those in and around the school. It will surely be easier than trying to word what happened that day, won't it? She hopes so.
"I can show you," she suggests, "It may convey better what happened exactly."
"Indeed," he agrees, gladly pointing his wand to her forehead. She closes her eyes in anticipation of the uncomfortable feeling it will bring, and focuses on the required memory.
"Legilimens!"
[To be continued]