'Time passes like the wind,
As we race to beat the days dusky grin.
Mornings just a moment away,
Your body glistens in candlelight,
As we all look on in fiendish delight.
The ritual is just beginning.
Come fulfill the prophecy.
With our demons of debauchery
As virgins and spectres sing,
This madness will never cease.'
"Demons - The Offspring"
Voldemort's concentration had wandered from the book that he'd been studying. He marked the page and closed it, resting back into his chair and exhaling a breath. Nagini, resting in the corner, raised her head to study her master. She saw he had closed his eyes and was rubbing his temple with his fingers, so she rested her head back down. He would call her if he wanted her.
Voldemort's thoughts travelled back to the to the day he had first heard about the prophecy. Not the prophecy that had foretold the destiny between himself and Harry Potter, but another made centuries before. Shock had been his first emotion, quickly followed by anger. How could he not have known about it? He who prided himself on being in control and having knowledge of almost everything!
He would never have known of its existence had it not been for Severus. He had been one of the most valued and useful of his followers, whose death had been unfortunate, though he'd believed it necessary at the time. In hindsight he had learned that Severus' death had been a mistake and it was a pity, for he would have proved most useful with this current matter.
He recalled listening in disbelief as Severus had told him about the pupil at Hogwarts called to Dumbledore's office to receive a prophecy involving him. Severus had relayed everything to him; how the girl had trembled with fear and anger as she had informed Dumbledore, and those gathered in the headmaster's office, of the message it had contained, before forcefully throwing the prophecy against the stone floor.
It had been foretold that this girl would give him an heir, one with powerful magic and skills, whose legacy and name would be remembered for centuries to come. He recalled his anger and humiliation as Severus had told him that the girl was a mudblood. The idea of impregnating a mudblood and spawning a child with her was abhorrent. He could see this news damaging his reputation and challenging his beliefs, and those of his followers.
Severus had sworn to keep this knowledge to himself and had reassured Voldemort that Dumbledore, McGonagall and chosen Order members who knew of its existence had sworn to keep it secret. And he was certain that the girl had told no-one, except her family, who were in hiding, their memories modified. He felt relief that this information was safely hidden, and should he decide to deal with her, then Severus was his key to gaining possession of the girl.
He had focused himself once more upon his plans to obtain the prophecy about himself and Harry Potter from the Department of Mysteries. That plan had failed miserably and the damned boy had escaped him again. His next plan had succeeded, with no thanks to that useless spawn of Lucius Malfoy's. Severus had stepped in to complete the mission, and remove the thorn of Albus Dumbledore for good.
Despite his continuing victories, learning that Harry Potter was seeking out and attempting to destroy his Horcruxes showed Voldemort that he was fallible. Indeed, things could have turned out very differently, and it still rankled inside him to recollect the errors that he'd made, though he would never admit them to anyone but himself. The mistake he'd made with the Elder wand and killing Severus. That he hadn't realised sooner Harry Potter was one of his Horcruxes.
This threat to his immortality seemed to awaken a vulnerability inside him, and cause him to reconsider his dismissal of siring an heir. The idea began to feed his ego and intrigue him. How powerful would the child be? He had so much knowledge to impart and he would be instrumental in raising and teaching this child. The idea of creating and controlling a human life that would belong to him, be of his blood began to become a more interesting idea.
The only bitter aftertaste had been the bloodline of the potential mother, so he'd decided to have her investigated before he would commit to fulfilling the prophecy. Severus' assessment of the girl had intrigued him. Her magical skills were good and she was intelligent. She had some admirable qualities, and with her youth, he could mould and shape her, ridding her of those qualities he despised. Severus also provided a picture of the girl, for he'd wanted to know if she would please him physically, and if the child should resemble its mother, the features it would inherit. If the child took after him in his original incarnation, then it would be a striking individual.
He'd been a handsome man in his younger days before he had transformed himself. His appearance now generally aroused fear where it had once aroused desire. Yes, that was how he liked it...fear was intoxicating. However, he did not go without female attention, having several female followers who offered themselves to him. And he would satisfy his needs, bestowing upon them the honour of sharing his bed.
Bella had been his favourite for some years, and her devotion to him was absolute. She was always eager to serve him, in bed, and in any other way he requested of her. She was a most useful woman, although she could be impetuous. He had noticed recently his interest in her was beginning to wane. She was ageing, becoming clingy and seemed to want more from him. He found he was becoming increasingly irritated by her.
The girl's picture had pleased him, despite being an unremarkable muggle photograph, still and two-dimensional. It showed that she was a beauty without question, with a slender form and delicate features. What fascinated him most were her eyes...their colour was unusual and striking, and something in their depths drew you in. And they held a fire and strength that her delicate appearance belied. Yes, any child of theirs would be physically attractive, and it would be pleasurable for him to mate with the girl.
That decided, he had turned to having her parentage and ancestry looked into, and hired Wizarding genealogists to research her family tree, for he could not countenance that this girl was not of magical blood, not if she would be mother to his child. The first one had been useless and made the mistake of suggesting to him that maybe the girl was just a mudblood after all. That day the genealogist's wife became a widow. Fortunately the next one had succeeded where the first failed and was handsomely rewarded.
He had known that there was more to this girl than her being a mere mudblood witch. The truth of who she was had made her acquisition a priority, but by then he no longer had his spy inside the Order, for by the time he'd discovered the truth of who she was, he had already killed Severus. He had cursed himself for these errors, for the Order had hidden her well. Even now, two years after his victory, the girl remained frustratingly out of his reach.
He had selected Lucius to oversee finding the girl, telling none of his followers of her true ancestry, only that she would give him an heir, and that it had been foretold in a prophecy. It was a risky strategy but he saw it as a chance to test the faith of his followers. If they were truly loyal to him, then they would not question that he would father a child with this girl. She would be found, and she would fulfill her destiny. She could not hide forever...not from him.