Good 'N Bad

Chapter : 27 Meetings

Author's Note: Hey guys, don't forget to vote and leave a comment. Things are getting pretty serious in the story.... so yeah, hope you enjoy it!!!

<Two weeks later>

          We were all sitting at the long table in the drawing room, in complete silence. Lord Voldemort was sitting at the head of the table, and nobody dared to utter a word. Bellatrix Lestrange was the only person at the table who looked at Voldemort with admiration, others did not even make eye contact with him.

          I scanned the crowd, to see how many of them I knew. Dolohov and Dawlish were sitting next to each other, and the Carrows sat at the end of the table, Narcissa sat by the left of her husband, and Draco sat to his right, and I was sitting to his right. There were two empty chairs, and we were apparently waiting for its occupants.

          The most intriguing part was that,  a body hung limp overhead, as if frozen. I could not distinguish who it was, but it kept rotating ever-so-slightly. Draco kept stealing glances at it. The door swung open, and Uncle Sev and another death eater, Yaxley, walked in, and seated themselves.

'Severus, here', said Voldemort, pointing to a chair right next to him, and he made his way there. 'What news have you for me?'

'Potter is to be transported to the house of a member of the Order of the Phoenix once he turns seventeen. Our only hope of capturing him is while he is being transported. My sources have revealed that the members themselves will be escorting Potter.'

'Very good Severus. Now that we know their plan, we will be present to "welcome" the boy. But first, I will need a new wand. I cannot let what happened last time repeat itself. So who is willing to give up their wand?' Nobody looked up, nobody stirred. 'How about you, Lucius', I saw him flinch at the mention of his name, and glance sidewards at Narcissa.

'Ye... Yes, my Lord', and he passed his wand to Voldemort reluctantly, though he did not show it.

'What is it Lucius?'

'Elm, my Lord..... and the core, dragon heartstring.'

'Good, very good', I heard a thump on the floor and the sound of something slithering. A huge snake emerged from under the table and onto Voldemort's shoulders, he stroked the creature, looking at Lucius Malfoy. 'What is it about my presence that displeases the Malfoys? Are you not happy that I am here?'

'Of course, my Lord', he wiped the sweat from his face with a shaking hand, Narcissa gave a stiff nod and Draco just glimpsed in his direction then looked away.

'My Lord', Bellatrix said in an awed voice, 'there is no greater pleasure than to have you here in our house.'

'That means a lot Bella, coming from you', you could see the joy on her face, she threw a triumphant look in my direction, as if I would have been jealous by what Voldemort said.

'You must be happy too, given that a happy event took place in your family, the marriage of your niece Nymphadora Tonks with the werewolf, Remus Lupin.' Everyone around the table started jeering and threw mocking glances at the Malfoys. Bellatrix was livid.

'She is no niece of ours, my Lord! We have cut her off from our family since she married the mudblood. We have nothing to do with her or the beast she has married.'

'What about you Draco?' He asked turning to Draco, 'Will you babysit the cubs?' Draco turned stiff in his seat. I held his hands from under the table, giving him a warning grip not to say anything. He didn't look at me, he kept staring at the wall at the opposite side, but he clutched my hand tightly.

'Do you recognize who this is, Draco?' he asked pointing to the body hanging above. Everyone took this as permission to have a look at the person dangling from above in a frozen state. Voldemort flicked Lucius' wand in the direction of the slowly revolving body and it immediately came to life. I let out a small gasp.

          It was the Muggle Studies teacher at Hogwarts, Charity Burbage, who was suspended from above. Draco too recognised her, and he immediately looked down to his lap, his eyes wide with terror. She was still revolving slowly, but struggled to get away from the invisible bonds that held her. When she turned to face Uncle Sev, she pleaded with him, the same way Dumbledore had done before he was killed. But this time, it was genuine. Dumbledore, it felt like, was asking Uncle Sev to make it fast, and Miss Burbage was requesting him to save her.

'Silence!' Voldemort ordered, 'You have been corrupting the minds of people, convincing them that wizards and muggles must mate in order to grow the existence of wizards.' There was no sound in the hall, except the whimpering which came from overhead, and the frequent pleas made to Uncle Sev.

'Avada Kedavra', a flash of green spread through the hall, followed by a resounding crash. Charity Burbage's limp body had fallen onto the table, making it tremble and creak. Several of the death eaters moved away from the table, Draco had fallen off his chair onto the floor.

'Nagini, dinner', he said in a menacing voice. The huge snake slithered onto the table, quickly making its way to the corpse, and jabbed its fangs into it. Never had I seen a more gruesome sight, I couldn't look away, though. My knees felt weak, and my hands shook with fright at the sight of blood splattering everywhere.

         After the snake had had its fill, it slithered back to Voldemort and wrapped itself around him, resting its head on his shoulders again.

'Well, you may now take your leave. Remember our plan. No one is to kill Harry except me, I need him alive!' All of them apparated immediately, the only ones left in the hall were Voldemort, the Malfoys, Uncle Sev, Yaxley and me.

'Ava..... stay back. I have... some matters... I need to discuss with you'.

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