The Dark Lord's Daughter- Book One (A Harry Potter Fan Fic)

Chapter Ten: Leah's Dark Mark

As Leah's sixth year came to an end, she wanted nothing more than to leave. Since the night of Barty's escape, Leah had received no word from either him or her father, not even Wormtail. She had no idea what was going on.

When she arrived at Malfoy Manor, she practically ran through the door. Draco and Amber followed behind her. Daphne hadn't arrived home yet. No one seemed to be home. The hall was deserted.

"Leah," Amber whined. "What in the world is going on? You're so pale."

Leah ignored her. "Where is everyone?"

"What are you talking about? Who else is supposed to be here? Aunty and Uncle are still back there." Amber jabbed her thumb over her shoulder to the open door.

"Right," said Aunt Narcissa as she finally walked through the door. "Trunks in rooms please. Who wants to come and pick up Daphne with me?"

Everyone migrated to either their rooms or the kitchen, but Leah stayed rooted to the spot in the hall. She was so sure someone, Barty, her father, anyone, would have been here to greet her. She felt her heart sink. Maybe they didn't care for her as much as she thought they did.

Her hands curled to fists at her sides. Whirling around, she kicked her truck on the floor behind her, swearing at the pain it caused.

"Now, now, Leah," said a cold voice behind her. "What kind of lady uses that sort of language?"

Leah turned around so fast she almost lost her balance. Standing in the doorway was Lord Voldemort himself. He was tall and pale, his red eyes gleaming and his snake like nostrils flaring. To his left, Wormtail cowered, and to his left, Barty stood grinning at her. Leah's heart soared.

"My Lord," Leah sounded breathless as she dropped to her knees in front of him.

"My Lord," Uncle Lucuis's shocked voice came from the entrance of the kitchen.

Amber came running out of the kitchen, she stopped short, out of breath, and stares at Voldemort.

"Ahhh good," he sighed, "everyone is here."

"Not everyone, my Lord," Leah said. "My sister has not arrived home yet from Durmstrang."

"I see," he swept into the hall. Everyone seemed to melt away before him. "Then we will just have to wait."

"I'm sorry, father," Amber said hesitantly, "but what are we waiting for?"

"For what I promised your sister," he said, turning his gaze to Leah.

Uncle Lucius returned half an hour later with Daphne trailing in his wake.

"Leah, what's going on?" Daphne went straight to her sister. "Uncle said-"

"Shhh!" hushed Aunt Narcissa. Leah pointed to the center of the room where Voldemort stood silhouetted against the flames in the fireplace.

Leah heard Daphne's sharp intake of breath. "Is that-?"

"Yes, my daughter," replied Voldemort. "It is."

A small hiss made the three girls turn. Nagini was sliding on the floor toward her master. Amber and Daphne jumped, Aunt Narcissa actually let out a little scream. Leah crossed the room to pet her giant, diamond shaped head. None of the others could understand her snake like language except Leah as the snake chatted away.

"Now that we are all here," Voldemort continued quietly, "we have a ceremony to begin. Leah, step forward."

Leah raised her head proudly and stepped before her father.

"Under normal circumstances, there would be a big celebration and all would be here to watch. Also, normally I would wait until you turned 17, but you have shown you deserve you Mark. After all," he smirked, "without your help, I would not have returned to my body."

Leah heard Amber clap her hands silently behind her.

"Hold out your arm," Voldemort ordered. She rolled up the sleeve of her robe and extended her left arm. "Let all of you bare witness!" he called out. His voice rang through the room, filled with power. He pressed the tip of his wand to her skin.

Leah was not sure what she expected, but it was not this pain. Her knees buckled and only her father's grip on her arm kept her upright. It felt like a white hot brand was being pressed to her skin. She cried out in pain, but didn't withdraw her arm.

She watched as ink slowly spider-webbed from the tip of Voldemort's wand and etched themselves onto her skin. Watching it seemed to make the pain worse. She looked away and instead turned her gaze over Voldemort's shoulder to where Barty was standing. He met her gaze and nodded in encouragement. The pain seemed to vanish and she regained the use of her legs. As long as she looked at him, she felt no pain.

Suddenly, Voldemort's cold grip on her arm vanished. Leah looked down at her arm where her new Dark Mark was. It was glossy black, like new ink and the edges of the tattoo were bright red and throbbing. Never in her life had Leah felt such pain, but never in her life had she felt more exhilarated.

"Now," said Voldemort, drawing Leah's gaze from her Mark to him. "Now you have no reason to not respond to my call. I expect nothing less than complete obedience from my eldest daughter. Others will look to you as an example. For better or for worse," he warned as he stepped back so he could study her. Nagini circled the two of them, running her scales on Leah's leg before she slithered up to rest on Voldemort's shoulders.

"Ok everyone," Aunt Narcissa said in a shaken voice. "Let's all get ready for dinner. I want all of you back down in half an hour. We'll having something special prepared in honor of Leah's achievement."

Leah retreated to her room to change her robes. She wanted something with short sleeves so she could show off her Mark, which she kept glancing at like she was afraid it would disappear if she kept it out of sight for too long.

She was in the process between choosing between a set of black robes and a set of green robes when there was a soft knock on her door. She crossed the room to open it. Her heart lept when she saw Barty on the other side. He came into her room, shutting the door quickly behind him.

"I wanted to see you before we went down to have dinner," he explained. "Let's see your arm."

She held her arm out to him. The tattoo had faded slightly so it looked months old instead of just a few minutes. The edges were less red and the swelling had gone down.

"Does it hurt?" he looked up at her, eyes filled with concern.

"Not so much now."

He bent down and pressed his lips gently in the center of her Mark. It made her skin tingle.

"I am so proud of you." He pulled her into a close embrace, burying his face in her black hair. She wrapped her arms around his waist and breathed deeply. He smelled like coffee and broomstick polish. To Leah, there was no better smell in the world.

She felt like they remained in their embrace for hours, but it was only a few short minutes.

"I don't want you to leave yet," Leah confessed.

"I'll sneak back, I promise."

"Why are we even sneaking around?" Leah chuckled.

"It's not the right time to tell your parents yet." Leah opened her mouth to retort, but Barty silenced her with a kiss. "I'll see you at dinner." He left her room, leaving her feeling cold and lonely.