Chapter 2

She walked into a drawing room that had a long, polished, wood table with many, silent, somber-looking people sitting around it. Furniture was pushed back against the walls and Sira's eyes focused on the reflection of a human figure rotating slowly on the table and in the mirror around the mantle of the fireplace. "Volkov," a voice said from the head of the table, "it is good to see you." He was directly in front of the fireplace, his face seeming to glow in the darkness of the room. Her blue eyes pierced through the gloom to his face. "Sit down there, Volkov," he hissed flatly and she took the seat that he directed her to, at the end of the table that she was standing at on the right side.

All of the people around the table watched her, their gazes fierce but empty. "So, Volkov, how is your fiancé?" the Dark Lord asked in a cold hiss.

"He is well, my Lord," she said loudly as she looked directly into his crimson eyes that seemed to burn in the gloom.

"That is good to hear," he stated flatly, "and I would like to speak with you after the meeting." Everyone seemed to stiffen with their fear for her but she didn't feel anything as she gazed into his eyes, never breaking the stare.

"As you wish, my Lord," she said proudly. He nodded his head as his attention turned to the door. Sira watched it as it opened and the Malfoy's stepped inside. Lucius glared at her as did Draco, both of their eyes holding fury. She shrugged as the Dark Lord motioned them to their seats, under the rotating figure above the table. They sat in silence, only the sound of the crackling fire present in the room and the occasional opening and closing of the door. Soon, everyone was there except for two people, even Cal was there and sitting happily beside her. They didn't talk to one another but they didn't have the feeling that everyone else seemed to have, the feeling that any second they were going to be punished.

Finally, the last two entered the room, Snape and Yaxley. "Yaxley. Snape. You are very nearly late," the Dark Lord said in a clear voice. Sira looked at Draco who was looking at the person rotating and hanging over the table, he had fear in his eyes and she was glaring at him a little. "Severus, here," he said as he motioned to a seat at his right. "Yaxley, beside Dolohov." They took their places and Sira continued to glare at Draco while everyone else watched Snape. "So?"

"My Lord, the Order of the Phoenix intends to move Harry Potter from his current place of safety on Saturday at nightfall," Snape said flatly as everyone now, including Sira, focused on him. The Dark Lord repeated the last three words as he stared into Snape's eyes so fiercely that some had to look away out of their terror. Then, Yaxley leaned forward.

"My Lord, I have heard differently," he said. "Dawlish, the Auror, let slip that Potter will not be moved until the thirtieth, the night before the boy turns seventeen." Then, Snape smiled and said that it was a false trail and that a Confundus Charm was place upon Dawlish. There was some back and forth and then the Dark Lord looked at the body over the table, lost in thought. Sira watched with fascination, but still not scared. Then, he asked where the boy was going to be taken and Snape answered him, saying that he would be at the home of someone in the Order.

Soon, the subject turned to when the Ministry of Magic would fall. They had one man, Pius Thinknesse, in a good position but they needed more than one man, even Sira knew that. But she, alone with the Dark Lord, doubted that the Ministry would fall before the day the boy was moved.

After discussing how Harry was going to travel, the Dark Lord started to speak again. "I shall attend to the boy in person," he said as he watched the body again. "There have been too many mistakes where Harry Potter is concerned. Some of them have been my own. That Potter lives is due more to my errors that his triumphs." A shot of fear when through Sira as a memory flashed in her mind.

She was about to walk out of Dumbledore's office last year when she turned and looked at Harry. "I may be a Death Eater, and I may have done some awful things," she told him with a smile, "but I still believe in you and you have my protection."

She had completely forgotten about the meeting until a scream broke her away from her thoughts, jumping a little in her surprise. "As I was saying," the Dark Lord said cruelly as he looked into each and every one of their faces, "I understand better now. I shall need, for instance, to borrow a wand from one of you before I go to kill Potter." She gave him an utterly horrified look but so did everyone else, even Cal. "No Volunteers? Let's see… Lucius, I see no reason for you to have a wand anymore."

Lucius looked up with horror in his eyes; Sira had never seen him that frightened. "My Lord?" he asked in a hoarse voice, in complete disbelief.

"Your wand, Lucius. I require your wand." Lucius looked to Narcissa but she didn't look back as he drew his wand and passed it to the Dark Lord. Sira actually felt sorry for Lucius, he had suffered so much already and now he was forced to suffer more. She couldn't help thinking that she should stand and give the Dark Lord her wand so Lucius wouldn't have to lose anymore. In her heart, she wanted to stand and defend him but in her mind, she wanted to sit, to stay where she was.

The urge grew stronger as the Dark Lord continued to insult Lucius and his family. Yes, he had made some mistakes and yes, he deserved to be punished but this was too much, it was immoral, unethical. Her blue eyes burned with her fury as she stared at her folded hands in her lap. Her body was stiff and trying hard not to quake with her rage. Bellatrix started to say how much of a pleasure it was to have him in their home and Sira suppressed the urge to hiss out of disgust.

Then, the Dark Lord mocked Bellatrix and the Malfoy's for now being in-laws with a werewolf. This comment caused many to laugh, but Sira only snarled to herself, not knowing why she felt so strongly. Draco gave his father a terrified look, seeming to lose all of the anger from earlier but Lucius didn't notice for he was in a position much like Sira was in. Narcissa shook her at her son and then stared blankly at the opposite wall.

She felt like she was going to be sick as the Dark Lord silenced the laughter, as he stroked the great snake that now hung around his shoulder. Then, he motioned everyone's attention to the body over the table. "For those of you who do not know, we are joined here tonight by Charity Burbage who, until recently, taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Yes… Professor Burbage taught the children of witches and wizards all about Muggles… how they are not so different from us…" the Dark Lord hissed. Sira was losing it; all of this was so wrong. She was going to be physically sick. "Avada Kedavra!" the Dark Lord barked.

There was a flash of green light and Charity fell to the table below with a crash. Many of the Death Eaters jumped out of their seats and away from the body. Draco had fallen to the floor. Sira continued to sit where she was, anger causing her heart to hammer in her chest. "Dinner, Nagini," the Dark Lord hissed as the snake slithered off of his shoulders and onto the polished wood of the table.

She heard the sounds of disgust coming from the other Death Eaters as they watched the snake consume its meal but she refused to watch. She was too furious to care about anyone else. She was also disgusted with the Dark Lord and with herself. She shouldn't be feeling for Lucius, she loves Scabior, and yet she still did. The longing to snarl again filled her.

"Friends, you are dismissed," the Dark Lord hissed softly as Nagini slid off the table, her belly bursting with her meal. The Death Eaters stood and quickly headed for the door, all except for her. Cal looked at her, puzzled and questioning, but Sira just looked at her, her blue eyes filled with her anger as she shook her head. Her friend turned and headed out of the room as Sira leaned back in her chair.

Her chest rose as she inhaled deeply, her head up and her eyes focused blankly at the opposite wall. All was quiet except for the crackling of the fire behind her Lord. They were the only ones in the room. His gaze weighed upon her heavily but she didn't dare to look at him, she kept her blank stare on the wall. "Volkov, you seem less than happy with the meeting," he said in a soft hiss. It caught her off guard, sending fear through her and making her look at him.

His crimson eyes bored into hers, she wanted to look away but she didn't dare to, she was too terrified. An evil smile formed on his face as he continued to gaze at him. She wanted to scream for her body was slowly growing colder with each passing second. "Are you not happy with my treatment of Lucius?" She jumped a little in her seat.

"How dare you accuse me of this, my Lord?" she asked horrified. "I love Scabior. My heart belongs to him."

"Lies... Volkov," he said coldly. "Lies coming from someone I used to trust, someone I held up with high regard. I thought you were better than that, especially since I have trained you, I have groomed you, to be someone better than that, someone would not stoop to lies and secrecy like the Malfoy's have."

"My Lord, I-," she breathed with her dread.

"But you still feel for Lucius, Volkov," he snarled cruelly but so softly it cut like a knife, "you still long for him. You feel that my distrust in him is wrong but it is you who is wrong. At least you are revolted with yourself, which leads me to believe that you still are the person I made you to be." She looked away for a moment and then dropped her eyes from his face. "Volkov, you are not going to be put at the same rank in my standards as the Malfoy's but, only to caution you, if you continue the way you are, you will be placed with them. Do you want that? Do you want to be shamed in front of your fellow Death Eaters?"

"No, my Lord, I don't want to be ridiculed," she said quietly as she looked into his face again with fear starting to leave her eyes, "for I have come too far to be treated that way."

"So will you continue to speak dishonesties, keep secrets, or long for a man when you are bound to another?" he asked, his red eyes showing no emotion.

"No, my Lord," she panted. "I will not." He smiled at her answer.

"Good, Volkov. I knew my little wolf would obey," he growled as she smiled back at him. "You are dismissed." She stood from her seat and bowed to him. She headed slowly and gracefully to the door and started to push it open. "Volkov, one last thing." She turned to him, baffled and confused. In his pale hands, was her mask, her Death Eater mask, which she threw in the Hall of Prophecy that day in the Department of Mysteries. She hadn't seen it since that day.

"My mask?" she whispered with surprise in her voice.

"You will need it," he said flatly as he slid it across the table to her. She picked it up and shifted it in her hands as she examined it. It looked brand-new, like she had never thrown it across a room. Her eyes looked up at the Dark Lord, all of her anger towards him was gone for her was gracious to her.

"Thank you, Master," she panted happily as her eyes filled with her gratitude. "I cannot thank you enough. Thank you." The cold smile on his face softened a little as he gazed at her. He nodded his head to her and she bowed low again. Then, she headed out of the door and was gone, leaving the Dark Lord alone in the dark drawing room with an evil smile on his face.