| Girl on Fire |

81

VERONICA MALFOY

I knew he was here. I knew The Dark Lord was here because the room went cold.

He walked in with Mattheo right behind him. The second we locked eyes, I felt a wave of relief. I could see him smile at me. He walked over and sat in the chair next to me. Draco sat across from me and nodded. The Dark Lord was speaking to my father and mother so I had a moment. I reached over and squeezed Mattheo's hand. "Where were you?" I whispered. "I went to Riddle Manor. My father wanted to speak." he said. I nodded. "Are you ok? Are you hurt? Did he do to you anything?" I asked. He shook his head. "Relax, I'm alright." he said. I nodded and he kissed me. Then The Dark Lord sat down at the head of the table. The room went quiet and everyone turned to face him.

"Welcome my friends..." he began

"We have gathered here today for the initiation of a new generation of death eaters. These young men and women will take the dark mark and pledge their loyalty to myself, their Lord, and my cause." he said. I looked around as he continued to talk and my friends were terrified. I realized this was their first time ever being in the same room as The Dark Lord. "I would like to thank the Zabini Family for putting forth their only son, Blaise Zabini. The De La Cruz Family for putting forth their first-born daughter Allison De La Cruz, The Nott family for putting forth the first-born son Theodore Nott, and the Berkshire family, for putting forth their son Lorenzo Berkshire." he said. They each rose from their seats and lined up. Allison's hands were shaking and I looked to Mattheo. "Please, do something." I whispered. "You know I can't." he whispered back. I glared at him. "Those are our friends." I said. "It's not worth it. He won't change his mind." Mattheo said. "So you just give up? Are you going to let this happen to them?" I asked. "I remember a time when you wanted the dark mark. When you see it as a power move." he said. "Then I received it and I was made Potters whore all as a distraction. What's going to happen to Allison? You remember what he made me do, don't you?" I said. "Veronica, there's nothing we can do," he said. "Well, I'm not giving up." I whispered. "Veronica, Mattheo, is there something you two have to talk about that is more important than the initiation of your beloved friends. If I remember correctly, son, this was your idea." The Dark Lord said. All our heads snapped to face him. "What? This was your idea?" I asked.

"That's not true. Not entirely. I said we should expand our army, build up our ranks. I never said you should do so with my friends." Mattheo said. "But you were ok with it once you understood why I thought it should be them," The Dark Lord said with a smirk. "I was never ok with it." he said. Mattheo looked at me nervously. "Veronica, you have to believe me. I was just trying to protect you." he said. "What about them?" I exclaimed as I gestured to my friends. " Who protects them?" I asked. "Veronica, now is not the time for this," he said. My head was spinning. He was willing to just abandon our friends. I just ignored him and faced The Dark Lord.

I stood up and walked over next to my friends. "My Lord, I would like to ask you to reconsider your decision to initiate my friends." I said. He gave me that strange smile. "And why is that?" he asked. "You don't need them. If you want to expand your ranks with younger witches and wizards, you couldn't have picked a worse group." I said. He scoffed. "I'm sorry?" he exclaimed. "Allison is one of the weakest people I know. She could never handle the duties that come with being a death eater. She would go mad under the pressure within a week. Blaise is lazy. He doesn't fo anything unless it benefits him. He doesn't do what he's asked and he procrastinates. He also thinks he's better than everyone else, which is bloody annoying. Theo is a mess. He doesn't apply himself, he barely scrapes by in school, he got fired from a simple internship at the Ministry, and he hasn't had a girlfriend for more than a month. He just can't handle himself. Lastly, Lorenzo. He can't take anything seriously. He makes a joke about everything. I'm sure it's just his way of keeping up a front so his emotions are intact but still. I guarantee any task you give him, he'll fail. It's pathetic." I said. I refused to look in my friend's direction as I insulted them but I hoped they knew I had to. I had to say this or they would get the dark mark and be screwed forever. "Well then, aren't you quite the friend? I'm the Dark Lord and even I don't speak so poorly about my friends." he said. He walked over and towered over me. "You are either very cruel, or very desperate. Which one is it?" he asked. "I'm honest." I stated. He smirked. "Oh, I'm sure," he said. "And we will all be going back to school. With all due respect, is it really an excellent choice to have 7 student death eaters. I mean, what if the teachers find out?" I asked. "That's been taken care of," he said. "Of course it has." I mumbled. "What did you say?" he snapped. He turned to face me with a glare on his face. Mattheo quickly stood up and rushed over.

Now he decides to help...