Deal with the Devil

Chapter 36

It was Saturday and Elena stood in front of her vanity mirror, staring at the sorrowful creature staring right back. She wished she could be stronger, but the weakness was written into her bones, etched on her skin, blazing out of her so anyone could see. It was no wonder she'd caught the eye of so many wolves; she was easy prey. Small, uncertain, frail. She'd spent the past almost year trying to build herself up and Tom Riddle had knocked her back to the start with a flick of his wrist.

Still, she hadn't completely reverted. She knew how to dress like someone with confidence now, as evidenced by her black pencil skirt and black high-collared blouse, neat hose and sensible black heels. Her hair was braided tightly in the hopes that it would be less likely to come loose should she be subjected to more torture. Her makeup was tasteful, understated, and mostly in place as a mask for her lack of control.

Over it all she threw on her traveling cloak, stalked to the fireplace, and floo'd to the shop.

Tom Riddle sat on the counter awaiting her, also dressed in unrelieved black. He surveyed her form and she could almost physically feel his eyes on her legs, hips, breasts. "You'll want to put up your hood and hold your cloak closed for a bit. I don't want to spoil your reveal." Elena nodded and stepped forward, taking his offered arm. His free hand skimmed over her waist beneath the cloak and she almost didn't realize when the tugging feeling in her core became the pull of apparition.

"A graveyard?" Elena stepped away and closed her cloak with fists on the inside. Around them were tombs and tombstones, marble angels. The white stone gleamed in the moonlight.

"It's a private place, fitting for my Death Eaters." He smirked and his fingertips stroked her cheeks before he pulled her hood forward and plunged her face into shadow. "The men should be arriving soon. It'll be nice to have the whole family together again, won't it?" He tapped the tip of her nose and backed away, checking a watch he'd hidden somewhere in his robes. As the first pop of apparition rang out, he nodded and put it away.

There was another pop and another, another. Far more than she'd expected. By the time it ended, there were nine men circling Tom, all falling to a kneel before him and all hiding their faces in their hoods.

"Rise, my Death Eaters. Rise and dispense with the hoods. We are all family here." They stood as one and lowered their hoods to reveal their faces. There was Nott, Dolohov, Rosier, Avery, Mulciber, Lestrange. She paused on Abraxas Malfoy's white hair shining like the marble in the night. He stood proudly among the other men. There were two others she didn't know.

"Welcome, gentlemen. I called this meeting as a reunion of sorts." He gestured toward her. "Our esteemed guest has been absent so long that I thought it best to have a reintroduction. Go on," he commanded.

Elena swallowed and pushed back the cloth, staring at each of the men in turn. Rad's face broke into a feral, hungry grin. Dolohov's eyes sparkled. Nott seemed... disappointed somehow. And Abraxas Malfoy frowned.

"This is Elena... Mullens. In her sixth and seventh years at Hogwarts, she was a part of my coterie. While she is not a Death Eater, you may consider her mine all the same, a pet of sorts." Lestrange laughed. "She is the illegitimate daughter of Cassandra Vablatsky." Understanding dawned on Malfoy's face, as though he hadn't placed her before now. She imagined he wouldn't have.

"Where has she been, my lord?"

"Upset you missed your chance with her, Rad?" The young man looked irritated but shook his head. "She's been hiding, playing the little mouse again. No worries; she's already had a taste of the Cruciatus as a part of her penance." He turned to her. "Radcliffe here is engaged to be married to a lovely Pureblooded French witch," he confided to the girl. "Though it looks like he might have preferred you."