Darkness Within||Draco Malfoy Fanfiction

Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Who I am

I arranged my features into a neutral expression, careful not to show how anxious I was.

"Draco, how about you first?" Draco swallowed. I saw Narcissa eyeing her son fretfully as Draco slowly made his way up to the front, where Voldemort was smiling creepily at him. Only a sixteen year old boy, but already a Death Eater because of his father's failures...It effectively stole away his innocence and his childhood. I felt a pang in my heart for him.

I didn't really think about myself, because being the daughter of Lord Voldemort automatically meant that I was chained to this life. I was born into it, even if I didn't know it for nearly sixteen years of my life.

Draco...Draco was forced into it. Voldemort dragged up Draco's left sleeve, revealing his porcelain skin underneath. I stared at his unblemished left forearm for the last time. He was looking down at it too, his gaze scorching as if he could keep his forearm bare forever. Then Voldemort pressed the tip of his wand against the skin.

"Morsmordre."

Coils of black magic snaked out from the tip, wrapping themselves around Draco's arm as a dark mist settled over his skin. I saw his eyes widen and he clenched his jaw, his hand curling into a fist as he gritted his teeth against the pain. I knew Draco, and I knew that he would not show weakness before the Dark Lord, the Death Eaters, his mother and me. Then, Voldemort drew his wand away as the magic settled and there, seared into his skin, was the Dark Mark. Black against white. Imprinted upon him forever. The skin around it was red and raw as it had been burned in, and it looked like it hurt terribly. Not just physically, but mentally too.

But Draco drew his sleeve back down and walked back to his seat, his head hung. He looked thoroughly dejected, knowing that he was bound to this life forever, in service of the Dark Lord. He was a Death Eater for life.

"And now, Roxy," Father smiled, turning to me. I held out my arm, drawing up my sleeve. Every pair of eyes was on us. I had to admit, I was terrified. Terrified knowing that this was it. That this was to be my fate. The daughter of the darkest Lord in history, and a marked Death Eater who hadn't yet even reached the age of sixteen. It was enough to make me tremble. I felt the fear consume me. All I wanted to do was bolt, and flee far, far away. But this was my reality, no matter how horrible it was. I dreaded to think of what would become of me. Terrified of what came next.

I suddenly missed the innocent days when I was oblivious to all of this, and wore sleeveless dresses and tops all the time, unaware that something this horrible could happen. How was I going to hide this from everyone? I desperately wanted back the past years. Anything, anything to stop this from becoming a cruel reality.

The ice-cold tip of the wand pressed into my skin. I shivered.  Around me, Cybele hissed lowly, sensing my discomfort.

"Morsmordre." I saw the black magic coil around my left forearm, and that dark mist settle over my skin. The magic seemed to be burning into my flesh and I tensed my muscles, willing myself not to scream. Then, the coils flew off and shot through the air in every direction as the mist exploded with a bang that sent Death Eaters scurrying for cover, horrified at what was going on. They had all drawn their wands.

But Voldemort and I were staring at the emblem that was shimmering over my skin, pulsing with a faint light. Voldemort was staring at it with wide eyes.

"The House of Le Fay," he breathed, "Of course. They wouldn't want a descendant of theirs branded with something like the Dark Mark. The bloodline of Le Fay is perhaps the most powerful of them all, Roxy. After all, it was Morgana herself who began it." He turned to the nervous Death Eaters.