The Potion Princess

The Road to Hell

Snape holds the door open for her and the two of them stand on the porch steps together, just within the boundaries of the Fidelus charm.  He lets Audra yank on her hair, hard, giving her just enough time to get her breathing even and convince herself that she doesn't feel the need to cry, not even a little bit.  She just has time to give him a nod before he takes her by the arm and the world around them liquefies and spins, reforming to give her an image of a long gravel lane guarded by tall hedges.

The Malfoy Manor.

Something brushes against her hand and she jerks away, bumping into Snape, but it is only a feather off of one of the idiotic peacocks that Lucius has decided to keep around. Snape turns away to hide a smile, and Audra laughs at her own paranoia, reaching up to her neck to feel where the chain of her locket had been lying only a few minutes before.  It already feels wrong not to have it with her, but she couldn't sick it, not tonight.

"Come on,"  Snape takes great strides towards the towering iron gates, his robes flying out behind him like a cape.  He doesn't look back towards her as he moves ahead, leaving her to run to catch up.  "It'll all be over soon."

The gates open slowly, with the screeching and groaning of hinges that aren't put into use very often.  The gravel changes into crushes shells, the sort of over the top display of wealth that only her uncle would be capable of using.  It makes Audra tread more lightly, unable to bear the sound of the thin shells snapping under the weight of her heavy boots and she is relieved when she makes it onto the cement steps, even if it takes her closer to the Dark Lord and his mark.

The door swings open, revealing- It takes Audra a second for her mind to process what she was seeing, considering she was expecting robes and death eater masks and the Dark Lord resting Nagini around his shoulders like a scaly accessory.  Instead, there's a Christmas party- a towering tree dripping with expensive ornaments and lit by candles, piles of presents, cookies in the shape of candy canes and mistletoe randomly blooming in the doorways when a couple passes underneath them. 

"Audra!"  Vance makes his way to her and forces a gold wrapped present into her hand.  She opens it later to see a set of knives and matching cutting board made out of dragon bone, but for the moment, she clutches to it, a bit shell shocked.  "Merry Christmas, little sister."

Audra looks across the room to see Snape making small talk with her mother, and Emmeline warding off the advances of another Slytherin boy, holding a glass in one shaking hand.  You'll be together, she remembers Snape telling her, and she finds that it was a comfort after all.

Audra leans in to kiss Vance's cheek, surprised to find that she's glad to get the chance to spend Christmas with him.  "Merry Christmas, big brother."

She kneels in the middle of the room at the Dark Lord's feet.  Emmeline is beside her, and behind both of them is a ring of masked and robed people.  The scent of eggnog and holiday desserts still clung to them all, but now they have changed into what Audra is beginning to think is their ceremonial costumes- masks and hooded robes that make them look like evil shadows melting off the walls.  She imagines it might have been scarier if they weren't surrounded by scraps of ribbon and holiday decorations, or if Vance would stop smiling at her behind his. 

"Give me your arm, Emmeline."  The Dark Lord's voice was hard and cold and greedy, like he was a collector trying his best to acquire all his favorite pieces.  When Emmeline lifts her hand up to him, Audra can see her arm shaking.  She's shaking all over actually, and as much as Audra wants to help her, there's nothing she can do about it now.  He pulls her out of her kneeling position and halfway onto her feet before pressing his wand to her skin, the mark issuing out from the tip.  It's dark and ugly and Emmeline lets out the start of a scream before getting a grip on herself.  She falls to the floor when Voldemort releases her, cradling her arm to her chest.