The Eagle and The Snake: A Tragic Love Story

21. The Mission

Carly spent the summer travelling between her home, 12 Grimmauld Place, and the Lovegood house.
On the last day of the holidays, her and Luna were sat in the forest beside their tent, enjoying their last few moments together.
They knew that once they returned to Hogwarts they would have to go back to being nothing more than friends, when in the company of others.
When at home they could be themselves, because the people in their immediate family knew about them.
But at school, they would have to go back to hiding their relationship, which neither of them were looking forward to doing.

The girls were just about to head inside the enchanted tent to get some sleep, when they heard the sound of twigs snapping, alerting them that someone was near.
They both jumped to their feet and took out their wands, so that they could defend themselves.
A cloaked figure came out of the darkness, and approached them.
"Good evening girls" said the man.
It took the pair a few moments to realise that the figure was Lord Voldemort.
And when they figured it out, they both lowered their wands awkwardly.

"You know, most of my followers bow in my presence" continued Voldemort.
Luna and Carly looked at each other, before turning back to Voldemort and bowing their heads.
"Good. Now, I trust you haven't told anyone about me?" Questioned Voldemort.
"Not, a soul" answered Carly.
"My lord" she added quickly, afterwards.
"That is reassuring to know. Trust and secrecy are a big part of my organisation" replied Voldemort.
"We understand, my lord".

"I knew I was right to recruit such bright witches like you two, despite your young age... Now, tomorrow you return to Hogwarts, so you will have to be especially careful around Dumbledore, for he is bound to be suspicious of you, as we share the same beliefs. But you must not give him any reason to suspect that you have actually joined me" Voldemort said sternly.
"We won't" promised Luna.
"She's right. Dumbledore thinks I'm closer to joining the Order right now, than I am to joining you. So, he's unlikely to suspect me" admitted Carly.

"Why does he think that?" Quizzed Voldemort.
"Because I spent some time around the Order this summer. I can't tell you where the headquarters are though, because of the Fidelius Charm" informed Carly.
"I see. Don't worry, I do not need you to spy on the Order for me, as I already have a spy in Dumbledore's precious little group. And I already know all about the Fidelius Charm" revealed Voldemort.

"I also got to meet my uncle during the holidays. So, I know that Sirius is innocent, and that Peter Pettigrew was the real traitor" admitted Carly quietly.
"Ah, I wondered when Dumbledore would use that piece of information to try and convince you to join his cause. I take it that this still failed to make you loyal to him?" Questioned Voldemort.
"It did. Dumbledore was one of the reasons Sirius ended up in Azkaban in the first place. It was his inaccurate testimony that allowed Barty Crouch to throw Sirius in prison without a trial. So, I would never join him" insisted Carly.
"That is good to hear".

"I am not like Sirius. He chose to put other people over the person he loved most, and I would never do that" informed Carly, before taking hold of Luna's hand.
"Nor would I" added Luna.
"It is sad how low some people will stoop, to do what they think is right. They supress important parts of themselves, all because someone tells them that's the good thing to do. I'm glad that you two have not fallen into that trap" replied Voldemort.
"We haven't. We are with you, and nothing will ever change that" announced Carly.

"Then I suppose it is time I gave you both your first mission" said Voldemort.
Luna and Carly's eyes lit up with curiosity.
"What do you want us to do, my lord?" Asked Carly.
"I need you to get close to your brother, Harry Potter" answered Voldemort.
"Over the holidays we actually did manage to bond a bit"
"That is good. I will need you to strengthen this bond while you are at Hogwarts. I want you to get him to trust you, as you are the only one who can do that. And I also need to know what Harry gets up to, so I can exploit his weaknesses"
"We won't let you down".

"Is there anything else we can do for you, my lord?" Questioned Luna.
"I may need your help getting Harry Potter to retrieve something for me. But I am going to try and get it on my own, first, as it is very important to me. I cannot move forward with my plans without it. But for now, I just want you to focus on befriending Harry, and any other potential death eaters, who you can see joining my ranks in the future. You will listen to your classmates, and report back to me any information you hear that you think will be of use to me" informed Voldemort.

"How will we get in contact with you, my lord?" Quizzed Carly.
"It is going to be too difficult to write to me, as mail can easily be intercepted. So, I will come to you, when you return home for the Christmas holidays, and you can tell me what you've learned then" answered Voldemort.
"Is there really no way we can keep in touch with you regularly?" Asked Luna.
"If there is something important you need to tell me, you can write a coded letter to Lucius Malfoy, and I will see the message eventually. But if there is an emergency, you can tell Snape and he will protect you on my behalf, before getting word to me".

"Professor Snape is really a death eater?" Gasped Luna.
"Of course. He is one of my most trusted and loyal death eaters. I would've thought your friends in the Order would have told you that. They think he is their spy, but really he is mine" revealed Voldemort.
"The people in the Order are not our friends" Carly said quickly.
"I'm glad to hear it... Once I trust you both more, I will give you more difficult tasks, and I will allow you to sit in on meetings. You will also get to know more death eaters, but for now, the only people you should be in contact with, are me, Snape, and Lucius" informed Voldemort.
"We will prove our worth to you, and get you to trust us" promised Carly.
"I look forward to seeing how useful you both can be... Goodnight girls"
"Goodnight, my lord".

Once Voldemort was gone, the girls felt able to relax.
"Now that we've got our first mission, it suddenly feels so real" admitted Luna.
"This is what we've been waiting for" reminded Carly.
"I know, but now that it's happening it feels kind of scary" replied Luna.
"We're not little kids anymore, and growing up can be scary. But we are doing the right thing. And soon Voldemort will see just how useful we are. Then he will fully embrace us and introduce us to our new death eater family".
Luna sighed and placed her arm around Carly's waist, "And so it begins".
Carly lent her head onto Luna's shoulder, "There's definitely no turning back now".