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

Chapter Eleven: Nightmares and Daydreams

The rest of the summer were some of Leah's bests days at Malfoy Manor. Her father and Barty continued to live with them, but to her disgust, Wormtail stayed too.

All summer long, Death Eaters paraded in and out, much to Aunt Narcissa's displeasure. Every time a new Death Eater would arrive, Voldemort would call Leah to his side and present her. Leah was forced to learn each by name and Voldemort taught her which ones were trustworthy and which ones were not.

On the third week, Savannah and her parents arrived. A tall man with graying, white-blonde hair stepped in front of Voldemort and Leah and bowed.

"My Lord, Daniel Yaxley, at your service. And may I present my wife, Rebecca and my daughter, Savannah?"

Rebecca Yaxley stepped forward and bowed like her husband. She was talk and slim with wavy brown hair, but she had Savannah's brown eyes.

Voldemort inclined his head slightly at their greeting, but remained silent. Daniel turned his attention to Leah.

"And young Miss Riddle as well. I am delighted. Savannah has told us much about you." Leah nodded politely. She saw Savannah blush slightly from behind her mother, but Leah winked at her.

"And what is you do?" Voldemort asked quietly.

"I'm in politics," Daniel replied curtly. "I currently work in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry."

"Good, good, we need people in the Minisrty." He stared at Daniel for a long time, but Daniel didn't squirm away like most people would. "Leah," Voldemort said finally, "take Mrs. Yaxley and her daughter and show them around. I have business with Mr. Yaxley."

Leah bowed slightly to her father and gestured Savannah and her mother to follow her. "Hungry? Thirsty?" Leah inquired.

"I would like some tea if you don't mind," said Mrs, Yaxley. Leah lead them to the kitchen where Aunt Narcissa was being served coffee by the new house elf.

"Aunt Narcissa," Leah called, "this is Rebecca Yaxley. She's Savannah's mother."

Mrs. Yaxley strode across the hall to shake hands with the other woman and the two immediately began to chat.

"Let's leave them to it then." Leah grabbed Savannah's hand and pulled her outside to the garden.

"Has your whole summer been like this? Meeting all your father's followers?." Savannah asked. Leah nodded. "Seems dull."

"Oh no, I love it. This has been the best summer of my life."

"Really?" Savannah made a face.

Leah and Savannah sat on the bench in the garden and began to talk about their summers. Leah was so into their conversation that she didn't even notice another person had entered the garden until Savannah gripped her arm hard.

"Oh my God," she whispered. "Is that him?"

Leah looked up and saw Barty strolling through the garden. Their eyes met for just a second, but it was enough to make her blush.

"Yes, that's him."

Savannah's grip on her arm tightened. "Now I understand why you like him so much. How old is he?"

Leah's blush deepened. "He's 33."

"Bloody hell Leah!" Savannah exclaimed. "What does your father think?"

"He doesn't know yet."

Just then, Barty walked over to them, one hand behind his back.

"Miss Yaxley, a pleasure as always." He gave her a small bow. "And Leah," he said in a softer voice, pulling a handful of flowers from behind his back. Leah heard a small "ooooh" from Savannah as she took the flowers. Barty took her hand a kissed it in a gentlemanly fashion, then walked away. "Until next time, ladies."

The rest of summer passed quickly. Leah saw more familiar faces as parents brought their children to see the Dark Lord. She saw Damian and Crabbe and Goyle. She even saw Flint once for a brief time. Whenever Voldemort did not required Leah, she would sneak off to meet Barty in the garden where they would spend hours loosing themselves among the flowers.

On the instances where Voldemort would send Barty on a mission, Leah would lie in her bed and think about what they would be doing if he were there. She longed for the day where she could go out on missions for herself.

At night, Leah found it hard to sleep, knowing Barty was only a few rooms away from her made her heart ache. More than once, she considered sneaking into his room.

One night, Leah was laying in her bed, staring at the ceiling in an attempt to bully her brain into relaxing when she heard a shout from down the hall. She sat up and grabbed her wand from her bedside table. Opening her door, she peered into the hallway. Nothing stirred, but she heard the shout again from the right. Quietly as she could, she walked down the hall, checking each of the doors for the sound.

She finally came to Barty's door and stopped to listen. The shouting was coming from his room. Was he being attacked? Heart hammering, she opened the door.

Barty was laying on his bed, thrashing around in his covers and yelling. At first Leah thought he was having some sort of seizure, but as she reached his bed. She found his eyes still closed. He was covered in cold sweat. Remembering what he had told her about his nightmares of Azkaban, Leah prodded him awake.

Barty woke with a start and jumped off his bed. The movement caught Leah off guard and she stumbled backwards, losing her balance and falling on her butt. When she looked up, Barty was cowering against the opposite wall, breathing heavily and staring at Leah in horror.

"Leah," he whispered, "I'm so sorry."

"Barty.." She looked at him, filled with pity.

"It's that place, Leah." He looked at her desperately, sounding half insane. "Will I never be rid of it?"

Leah walked around the bed towards him, approaching slowly like she would a skittish animal. Once she reached him, she reached her hand out and touched his face. At once, his breathing started to slow.

"I promise you never have to go back there."

Barty sank to the ground at her words and pulled her into his arms. She felt his body shake as he mastered to control himself. Once or twice she felt a tear all onto her face.

Leah was not sure how long they remained on the floor, but finally Barty was calm enough to stand up. Leah walked to the door but Barty caught her hand.

"No, don't go." Leah smiled and climbed into bed with him. She curled against his side. Feeling content, she listened to the sound of his breaking before her eyelids started to droop and she fell asleep.