Death Eaters... Forever?

My last few days at Hogwarts were rather tedious – although my duel with Severus was awesome. I almost won, but at the last moment, he blinded me with the Conjunctivitis curse.
I stayed in the Gryffindor tower, although Dumbledore told me I would have to return to my own house next year.

Fred and I decided that our relationship just wouldn’t be able to last the summer and we agreed to break up. I was sad, but as he said, if we still felt the same about each other in a few years’ time, we could try again. And anyway, he was still a great friend, and George had been feeling rather left out lately, not surprisingly.

All my friends – including Severus – promised to write to me over the holidays. Speaking of which, I wasn’t looking forward to another summer living with Draco, although I’d seen a better side of him during the Quidditch World Cup.

I was brooding much more, and as George said, Harry and I could make a clown depressed. I spoke to Harry about what had happened in the third challenge, and he told me. The Dark Lord was back, but no one wanted to believe him, or even Albus.

Lucius picked Draco and me up from the train station, taking us back to his mansion.
During the first week of the holidays, I barely saw Lucius at all, and when I did, he seemed exhausted. Narcissa took me to Gringotts Bank to get some money from my inheritance to buy clothes and other necessities with. I didn’t need much, because I’d taken most of my possessions to Hogwarts this year, but nothing had survived the house fire my parents had died in.

I bought three dresses, some boots, a pair of robes and some owl food for Midnight. I also bought more parchment to write to my friends with.

I buried myself in my books, studying to the point of exhaustion and beyond. I played with the Potions kit I’d got for Christmas, and practised flying on my Firebolt. This left no room for thinking, luckily for me, and I was feeling content, if not totally happy.

I was fitter than ever from flying so much, and I even learnt a new Potion from the Potions kit.
At the end of the week, after reading until midnight, I fell asleep, absolutely exhausted-

-and found myself having a nightmare similar to my old nightmares in second year. I knew it was just a nightmare, but I was scared, the oppressive feeling still smothering me. Instead of my old nightmares, however, I could see. I was in a dark stone room, and from what I could see, there was no door. I was unable to turn around, so I couldn’t check if there was one behind me.

“Do you know who I am?” It was the same hissing voice from my old nightmare, although it was much stronger now.

“Yes,” I found myself saying. “You’re Tom Riddle.” He chuckled.

“It’s been a while since anyone has addressed me as he, but you are correct. Do you know why I have been looking for you?”

“My talents,” I replied with absolute certainty.

“Very quick,” Tom appraised me, and I was horrified to find myself pleased with myself. The oppressive feeling suddenly lifted, and I found myself able to turn around.

A tall man in dark robes stood there, his face a strange mix of snake and human. I was immediately drawn to his eyes, however, the colour of clotted blood. I wasn’t disgusted by his looks, more intrigued by them than anything.

“Ah, Kyera, your thoughts are music to my ears,” he said silkily. I jolted. How did he get past my mind barriers without my knowledge?

He laughed. “Practice. Now, will you swear your allegiance to me?”
Wow, that was to the point.

“No.” I replied simply. His eyes turned dark, almost black in colour.

“Have it your way. But I will win you over eventually. Crucio!” A searing hot pain spread from my chest, paralysing me and causing me to collapse. I was briefly aware that I was screaming, but I couldn’t seem to rise from the ocean of pain. It was as if burning hot pokers were being pressed against every inch of my skin, but the pain went deeper than that, and my very sanity were being drawn away. And then it stopped as suddenly as it had begun, and I lay there shuddering from the simple memory of the pain, my voice hoarse from screaming. The shock began to set in, and I started to shake. Through the haze of receding pain, I heard the Dark Lord laughing at me.

“Soon, I will Mark you as my own,” he whispered in my ear.
And then the nightmare ended.

I woke up shuddering with the pain and shock, and I had obviously been screaming in my sleep, because my voice was hoarse, my throat raw.

I immediately scrawled a letter to Severus and sent it off to Hogwarts with Midnight.
The sun was just beginning to rise, turning the fluffy white clouds brilliant orange.
I sighed. There was no hope of sleeping now. I read for a while, and then went down to breakfast. Lucius was there already.

“Narcissa will be away for the remainder of the holidays, and Draco will be over at his friends for the night. If you would like anything, ask the house elves – or me if it is urgent.” Trust my luck to get stuck alone with Lucius Malfoy, I thought darkly.

It was an uneventful day, the house even quieter without two of its occupants. That night, Lucius and I had dinner together as we would have if the others had been there. He asked me how my schooling was progressing, which began a polite conversation that battled with the awkward silence. I told him I had mastered most of my subjects, and he tested me on my knowledge – thankfully I knew it all. After dinner, we continued the conversation in the library, where he showed me his most precious books.

“So what do you aspire to become when you begin your career?” He asked after I had asked about his Ministry work.

“Well, I was thinking of becoming a Healer, but I know I’d get bored eventually, so I might be an Auror or something similarly exciting.” He nodded. I found myself thinking he was actually quite irresistible, but I immediately pushed that thought away.

I had received a letter from Dumbledore apologising that Severus was away on personal business. I wondered what business he meant.

The fact that I still hadn’t been able to tell anyone of my dream was really getting to me, so I decided to tell Lucius.

“Have you had any other nightmares like this?” He asked once I’d finished.

“Yes, I did. In my second year, it was as if someone was looking for me.” I quickly explained the nightmares that had plagued me back then, and he looked at me thoughtfully, but only nodded and said he would think on it.

That night, I was too afraid to sleep, so instead I wrote a letter to Harry asking about his holidays. Once I’d sent Midnight away with the letter, I practised some of the more complex Dark Arts spells Severus had been teaching me. I made progress, and once it was a reasonable hour, I went down to have breakfast. Lucius was, as usual, already there, and as he came in he looked up at me.

“Why were you practising seventh form spells last night?” He asked.

“I couldn’t sleep. Did I wake you?”

“No, I was already awake, I heard you from the corridor. You’re advanced,” He remarked. I blushed with pleasure.

“Thank you.” And then I remembered the World Cup. It seemed like more than a year ago, but I was still surprised that I’d forgotten. I made up my mind within a few seconds.

“Sir, are you a Death Eater?” He looked up sharply.

“Who told you that?”

“No one did. I overheard a Death Eaters’ conversation at the World Cup.” He was silent, his face impassive. “Are you?” I prompted.

Lucius looked straight into my eyes. “Yes.”