Fate Untold (Harry Potter Fanfiction)

Chapter 18: Make Him Pay

The Dark Lord's inner circle had never been so uncomfortable in their whole entire lives. They had spent numerous years in Azkaban, trapped in cold, dark cells and painfully being fed to the Dementors, but not even that could have prepared them for the scene in front of them. They were ready to run or hide, or both. They swore that spells were about to start flying any moment now. Why? Because Lord Voldemort and the Girl-Who-Lived were currently arguing in Parseltongue, eyes glowing and wands at the ready. The tension was heavy in the air around them, their magic sparking quite menacingly. They looked just about ready to hurl the Killing Curse at each other.

It all started when Tom ordered a meeting with all of his Death Eaters to establish Henrik as his soul-bonded partner. The Dark Lord's consort, as Barty so called him. The introduction went incredibly well but then, Ashley arrived just as Tom dismissed his lower-ranked followers to scheme with his inner circle. Ashley didn't leave because she'd already known about the 'raid' they had planned. She and Tom had talked about it once before but to her surprise, he apparently had changed his mind about her coming with. This, of course, didn't fail to aggravate her. She refused to back down, and neither did Tom. Now, there they were, the people (and animals) around them not knowing what to do to ease the slowly escalating fight. The Death Eaters looked towards Henrik, knowing that he was in charge for the time being.

"You guys can go. This'll take a while." He sighed exasperatedly.

He'd guess that the Death Eaters had never moved so fast before. The room was cleared out within a few seconds, leaving only him, the bickering duo, and their respective familars. Speaking of those familiars, they seemed just as done as he was. They were coiled together near his feet, quietly watching the scene before them. Well, at least Nagini was. She was just disappointedly shaking her head at them. Moko, on the other hand, was hissing very loudly. Henrik assumed that he was cheering Ashley on and most likely cursing Tom to hell and back. The male serpent was so protective over Ashley. He was ready to fight anyone who upset her even a little bit.

Henrik didn't know what Tom said but it must have been bad because all of a sudden, silence filled the place. Ashley took a step back, face pinched into a hurt expression. The fighting stance she had on earlier fell away as her shoulders sagged and her fists loosened. Henrik saw a flicker of guilt pass through Tom's eyes before he brought back his steely gaze and pursed his lips. Glaring, Ashley straightened up, the fire within her returning in full force.

"Are you fucking serious right now?! How dare you?!" She growled, scarily similar to her soul-bonded in that moment.

"Ashley-" Tom was immediately cut off.

"This kid," Ashley spat, "has risked her life so many times for you, you ungrateful git! You've no right to tell me that all of this is just some game to me!"

"That's not what I-"

"I'm not deaf. I heard what you said and I know what you meant... Moko, let's go."

She turned and stalked out of the room, ears hypothetically smoking. Moko dutifully slithered after her, but not before baring his fangs at Tom. Henrik watched from the sidelines as the Slytherin grumbled to himself, stomping over to his chair (throne, really) and collapsing down on top of it. Henrik heaved out a sigh and approached his forlorn lover, sitting on the arm of the chair and leaning against Tom. Henrik rejected the opportunity to start the conversation, letting Tom gather his thoughts and defend his side first.

"It's too dangerous for her, Henrik." Tom eventually spoke, "The Order will be there; I don't want her to get hurt."

"You hurt her just now." Henrik softly reminded.

"You don't think I know that?" Tom snapped.

Henrik leveled him with a pointed look, one that successfully made the Slytherin cringe and apologize. Tom never did like when his soul-bonded was cross with him, especially when he knew that he, himself, was being irrationally ill-natured.