And the Serpent shall lead thee astray...

[The Dark Lord Voldemort]

A strong breeze was blowing through the dark and foreboding trees that stood like sentinels near Hogwarts. Although the temperature was fairly comfortable it still made the lone figure that stood near the edge of the forest, waiting in the shadows, shiver as it whipped his black cloak around him violently. It appeared to him that every time he visited the castle at night, the wind was always blowing and howling and the sky was always reflecting the battle within him. Dark clouds were fighting for dominance over the little light that the moon was giving off and if there was rain, it was just as cold and unforgiving as he was. Two red, slit pupiled eyes blazed through the darkness in search of the one he was expecting; never did they falter from their quest, not even when an owl screeched from above.

The smells around him were different tonight as was the atmosphere. The presence of death seemed to linger here as if something terrible had happened recently. The feeling was not welcome though the figure could do little about it. A war was starting again because people refused to accept the truth and simply move on; he had won and the light had lost. Many of his followers had reported deaths among the new recruits. Some were mysterious deaths that had no meaning, while others screamed out messages to the Dark Lord as he viewed the crimes. It wasn’t the normal style of the Order, no they enjoyed showing off that they were still fighting and would fight in public. Whoever it was that was tracking down his people, hunting them like animals and murdering them was a professional or at least had some training.

They were either alone as a pair, seeing as the crimes had two different signatures on them, or had multiple ‘helpers’ who didn’t use spells so they couldn’t be traced. The murders were committed in private places where no one could hear the cries of the victim and the Death Eater was always tortured before they were killed slowly. Voldemort didn’t like what these murders were telling him. Someone was brave enough to challenge him and they didn’t seem to care if they got caught though it would be a long game before that happened. There was no lead on who could be involved. At times, Voldemort was sure it could be one of his own, at other times it was clear that he was wrong.

It was disturbing and Tom hated being disturbed in anyway.

The wind died down for a moment, letting his cloak fall to a neutral position. The damp ground bothered his feet, which were clothed in nothing more than cloth shoes. But he just stared ahead, ignoring the soft protests of his newest acquisition, who was hiding up his sleeve, wrapped around one pale arm of the Dark Lord.

‘It isss cold and wet out here. Marvolo, why musst we wait here for that pathetic human? The cassstle isss warm and dry.’

Voldemort twitched at the name the serpent used, but gave no reply right away. He missed Nagini. He had sent her away on a mission and although he knew her to be safe, she had yet to return. Their bond was more than master and serpent, true she was a Horcrux, but that wasn’t the only reason why he missed her so much. He couldn’t really ‘love’ anyone, no, love wasn’t what he felt for his serpent. It was something close to that. Perhaps he just valued her trust and the fact that she was still at his side even after everything he put her through. He missed speaking to her, her humor, the way she would treat his followers....

Voldemort pulled his mind away from his musings and snapped at his temporary replacement for Nagini.

‘Becaussse you fool, I need the ssspace! And I don’t want to have to deal with everyone elsse thisss evening!’

The serpent up his sleeve fell silent and uncoiled some so that his head now hung near Voldemort’s left wrist.

‘And don’t call me that name again, my name isss Voldemort. Lord Voldemort’

There was shape coming from the castle now, too far away for him to be sure of the identity but it was probably the one he was waiting for. So Voldemort leaned back into the deep shadows on the thick trunk of a nearby tree and toyed with his yew wand again, a slight smirk now gracing his pale face as his red eyes glittered mischievously.

[Scorpius Malfoy]

Scorpius fastened his black leather cloak with the metallic silver lining as he stood in front of the mirror. The buttons were black though, so as not to draw light or attention to the wearer. If he wanted to draw attention, the cloak was reversible, the buttons on the other side silver. But this night he did not want to draw attention, so it was the black side that faced outward.

As he smoothed his white-blond hair back, it still fell over his left eye. Well, whatever. Appearances may have been everything with the Dark Lord, but he had to feel comfortable in his own skin as well. Which was harder than it sounded, what with him being the teenage son of the legendary Draco Malfoy and all. Scorpius looked at his watch and gave a gasp.

He had exactly 10 minutes to get to the Forbidden Forest for his meeting with Lord Voldemort, according to the time on the note. His current appearance would have to do. Closing his trunk, he dashed out of his dorm, out of the Slytherin common room, and slipped into the night. A strong breeze was blowing, and it ruffled Scorpius’ hair. Sighing, he fixed his hair and put the hood of his cloak up, looking at his watch again. Five minutes had elapsed, leaving him with five minutes to get to the meeting.

At least I wasn’t noticed leaving the castle, Scorpius thought. Not that anyone would have penalized him for meeting with the Dark Lord…the school was a Dark Arts academy after all, and meetings with Lord Voldemort meant you were especially privileged…but there were some teachers, like Nagini, whom you just didn’t want to get on their bad side.

Speaking of Nagini, he wondered where she had disappeared to. Off on some mission for Lord Voldemort, no doubt, he thought. Not that it was his place to wonder about such things, and Scorpius figured he should be more careful about his thoughts…after all, it was a known fact that Lord Voldemort was a Legilimens. And he never needed an excuse to torture his ‘full’ followers. A follower in training like himself was simple recreation ‘fun’ for such a powerful wizard as he was meeting.

Scorpius reached the edge of the forest, and began weaving in and out of the trees. “The Dark Lord can’t be far now,” he said to himself under his breath. He searched the forest, looking for a pair of red glowing eyes shaped like a serpent’s. Finally, he found what he sought, and called out hesitantly, “Master?”

But of course…how many people with glowing red eyes would just happen to be in the Forest tonight? Seeing a pale white hand and black robes in the shadows, he dropped to his knees in front of the other man. “I am sorry for my near-tardiness, Master,” Scorpius said as he looked at the ground. It was a sign of respect that he didn’t look the other man in the eyes.

[The Dark Lord Voldemort]

A soft snort was the only reply the serpentine man offered the boy as he stepped forward into the moonlight. Typical of a Malfoy to assume that Voldemort wanted to hear apologies before he reprimanded them, which is why he liked them so much. Well, them and Severus. Severus apologized a lot lately humorously enough, and he always did so as he arrived on the scene or after he bowed or kneeled. It really made no difference in how The Dark Lord treated them, if he wanted a show to cheer him up, they were going to get a Crucio no matter how many excuses or how much good news they brought him.

‘And tonight will be no different.....but first, business’ Voldemort thought idly to himself as he circled the young man before him. “Rissse” he hissed, bringing his pet out of his sleeve as he raised his arm up in a sweeping motion. The black rat snake fell from his hideout and hung limply from his master’s left hand, with four feet of him below the wrist and about six inches, including his head, up in his master’s hand. He looked to be dead. Voldemort’s thumb toyed with the head of the serpent, coaxing the beast to wrap around his arm, though he didn’t let the head go once the task had been completed.

“Sso, what news do you have boy? What did the beast ssay?” his eyes flashed in anger temporarily at the snake, who was attempting to wriggle his head out of Voldemort’s grasp. But after taking in the look, the snake gave up with a defeated hiss and just waited to be released. ‘Nagini never complained’ Voldemort thought viciously before turning around to face Scorpius.

“I’m sure he had sssomething to say didn’t he? They always do when asked to join me...” The Dark Lord leered, casting his eyes off into the distance toward Hogwarts as if reliving a memory about a similar incident. “Or did you not do as I requessssted?” The smile disappeared as he looked back over at the boy, trying to control his customary hiss in his speech. Contrary to popular belief, Voldemort didn’t like the constant hissing; it was confusing and it made him feel weak at times. Sometimes he wasn’t sure if he was speaking English or if he was hissing in Parseltongue, if it was the latter while he was speaking to his followers, than that was the reason why they just stared at him stupidly after a long speech. Or they were just that dense. Either way he wanted control over his life in every way, and hissing every time he pronounced an ‘S’ made him feel like he had a lisp unless he WAS speaking in Parseltongue, then it was fine.

Finally, the rat snake was released, but violently so and fell to the ground with a thud, having let go of Voldemort’s arm after the Dark Lord turned on Scorpius. The snake didn’t care what happened to the boy, but he did care about what happened to his serpent self. So with every bit of the self-preservation skills that a human Slytherin would possess, the snake slithered away into the shadows a few feet from the two wizards in the hope that he would be allowed to return to some place warm soon. "Ssssstupid humanssss" he muttered under his breath so that Voldemort wouldn't hear him.

[Scorpius Malfoy]

Scorpius gracefully rose to his feet, still not looking the Dark Lord in the eye. To do so would be to issue an unofficial challenge, and only a fool or someone with a death wish would challenge the un-questioned ruler of the Wizarding world since the war had been won. Or lost, depending on your point of view I suppose, the young Slytherin thought as Lord Voldemort circled him.

As a black snake appeared in Voldemort’s hand and he flinched inwardly. Despite being in Slytherin, he really didn’t care for snakes overly much unless they were ball pythons that one could buy from Magical Menagerie in Diagon Alley. But Scorpius didn’t like the rest of the species…there was just something about them that was creepy, although fitting for the Dark Lord.

Scorpius hoped the older wizard didn’t see his flinch, but then of course he would, now wouldn’t he? Lord Voldemort tended to be very observant, that much the blond-haired wizard knew form observation. Well, that and the fact that he played upon his followers’ weaknesses. His father Draco had warned him about that long ago though that the Dark Lord was an expert Legilimens, and to never lie to him if he valued his sanity.

He gulped and really hoped Voldemort didn’t bring that snake anywhere near him. He wasn’t sure how well the cool Malfoy exterior would hold up if he did. Thankfully, after the Dark Lord hissed his questions at him, he dropped the snake and it slithered off. Scorpius’ shoulders relaxed just the slightest inch, but then tensed up again as he thought about what he had to do.

Sometimes he wondered why Voldemort seemed to hiss even when he wasn’t speaking to snakes. But the last thing Scorpius was going to do was make fun of his master’s speech. “He said…he said this, Master.” Moving slowly, so the Dark Lord would think he was going to attack, he pulled out his wand and flicked it twice while muttering a spell. For a moment, nothing happened. Then Lucio’s voice came out of seeming nowhere, but it was really coming from the wand, which could act like a Muggle tape recorder.

“Perhaps you should just go back and tell your Dark Lord that if he really wants me, he can send two adults of his Order to recruit me. Or invite me to one of those secret meetings I know you people have...Until then, the answer is no, I will not follow some mutation when I can lead my own army of my kin.” The voice faded away and Scorpius quickly flicked the wand twice again while muttering the counter-spell.

Then Scorpius put the wand away, back in his robes, and continued to look at the ground while stammering out, “I…he said…I didn’t mean for it to be…please don’t be angry!” He knew if it had been him that had been told no, and called a mutation to boot, he would have been pissed. And Voldemort was famous for his temper when things didn’t go his way, everyone knew that. With that in mind, he dropped to his knees again and covered his head, preparing for the worst.



((LOL I really like this post, love how submissive Scorpius is. XD))

[The Dark Lord Voldemort]

Voldemort snarled in reply to both the boy’s actions and the words of the target. Completely ignoring the whimpering, cowering young man before him, Voldemort started to pace back and forth, muttering to himself in Parseltongue. The muttering and pacing soon turned to shouting and blasting sticks and rocks out of his way as he walked. That became full blow ranting as he lay eyes on the castle once more, reminding himself of his teenage years when someone would tell him to basically shove his ideas and orders up his arse. Suddenly, as if that memory had been a trigger, he whirled around and pointed his wand at Scorpius with a glare that would, if he were a Basilisk, kill the boy instantly. And like his pet snake, Nagini, he struck with a venomous bite that promised a slow and painful death to the one who pissed him off.

“Crucio!” Voldemort’s voice echoed off the trees with a vicious hiss, the sleeves to his robes cracked in the otherwise silent air like a whip when he brought his hand up quickly.

His face contorted into a look of pure rage; no one told Tom Riddle or Lord Voldemort no.
Not only had this happened, but the one who he sent to ensure that the deal was struck had failed miserably. “I knew it! I should have sent one of my chosen to do the job...Not some....Weak, pathetic boy! A true Death Eater would have succeeded!” He snapped, pulling his wand away and releasing Scorpius from the curse momentarily. “But I digress, true you are but a boy, true you aren’t a Death Eater.....” he said quietly, twirling his wand in his hands, focusing on his fingers while he talked. His eyes darted up to the form of the young Malfoy before him.

“But still, you have failed me, just like your father and grandfather....What should I do with you?” he sneered, slowly looking over at his serpent who was curled around the base of a rock now, staring at his master in fear. “Should I feed you to Nagini? Or perhaps....” Voldemort shifted to half face Scorpius again, an odd glint in his eyes, almost predatory in a way. It was the same glint that formed in the eyes of a hungry cat that was stalking a prize bird. He twirled the wand toward the boy and raised it slowly, tauntingly as he crouched down to address his prey.

“You know, I had Harry in this position once...He was fourteen, right after the Tri-Wizard Tournament. I was going to kill him....” he smiled, getting his face close to Scorpius’. “I wonder if your family will miss you like Harry’s missed and still misses, him”

[Scorpius Malfoy]

Scorpius heard Voldemort snarl and shook like a leaf under the cloak. As the other wizard muttered to himself in the language of the snakes, he wondered what the outcome of this disastrous adventure would be. He had failed, he had shamed the Malfoy name. But he didn’t have to wonder long, because the Dark Lord turned and used the Cruciatus curse on him. As the spell struck him, he screamed in pain.

Nothing could have prepared him for this. True, his father used the Cruciatus curse on him when he would misbehave, and his grandfather Lucius even more so. But this…this was mind-numbing, bone-crunching, agonizing, searing pain, inflicted the way only one who was true evil could do. Scorpius would have thought his ‘experience’ with it would have given him some immunity, but apparently not. As the Dark Lord released him from the curse, he lay panting on the ground, wondering what his next move should be. He was, in an odd way, grateful for the pain. It made him feel as if his failure had been washed away.

Scorpius heard the next words of the Dark Lord and winced. He hated being reminded of failures. “Well, excuse me! I’m only fifteen and not even a Hogwarts graduate yet, what do you expect from me? I’m trying to become a full Death Eater and serve you faithfully, and this is the thanks I get?” he snapped. Then he covered his mouth and looked up fearfully. “Oh Merlin. I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

As Voldemort crouched down next to him, he was smiling, and that wasn’t good. Then as his master mused over how to kill him, he struggled to his knees, then to his feet before squatting down. If he died tonight, it would not be like a Muggle shaking in fear. Of course Scorpius was scared out of his wits, but these might be his final moments and he was determined to have his say.

“You would truly kill me? Knowing that doing so would cause one of the oldest purebloods families to die out?” he asked quietly. “I am the only Malfoy heir, and unlike that half-blood Harry, I have family that loves me,” he almost whispered in the Dark Lord’s ear. Scorpius was shaking with nerves, but he stood firm, unsure whether or not Voldemort would take that in a good way or a bad way. Since the other wizard’s wand was still raised, this may not have been the smartest move.

[The Dark Lord Voldemort]

Voldemort stared at the boy silently, not letting any emotion show on his, pale, serpentine face as Scorpius shouted at him about the problems he had with his master’s way of things. His nostrils flared for a moment, then seemed to disappear into his face as he held his breath and fury. Blood red eyes that had been devoid of any sort of emotion as well during this little rant suddenly blazed with anger, burning holes in Scorpius with their intense gaze. The wind started to blow around them gently, almost as if someone were trying to calm the explosive temper of Tom Riddle before it got out of hand. And for a brief second, it seemed as if time had stopped. Slowly, Voldemort started to breath again and his eyes shut with a soft, wet, ‘click’. The hissing of his temporary familiar did little to assist the wind in keeping the mad man’s cool, but he seemed to be ignoring it, like he was counting in his head, not something he did very often.

When the distraught teen finally realized his error and attempted to rectify it, The Dark Lord’s eyes snapped open to reveal pupils narrowed into thin slits as he focused on his prey. “So, the truth comes out....” he said softly, now sneering at the weakling before him as he brought his wand back down to his chest level. The young man drew himself up to his master’s height, whispering his biting words into his ear. This disturbed the Dark Lord, forcing him to pull away so that he was now rising to his feet; his servant would not be at his level, he must be beneath him.

“I would indeed” Voldemort began, humor written all over the skull like face. “Your family may have been of some use once before, but lately I have found myself, disappointed in the quality of service from that bloodline....” he continued to back off now, pulling his wand up to casting height once more. “And I do not believe you will be missed in the same way as Harry, young Malfoy, no, I believe your being the heir is the only reason any tears would be shed. So sad....”

Voldemort then walked off toward a tree nearby, keeping his back to Scorpius as he muttered something to his serpent, who slithered off in the direction of Hogwarts at a quick pace. With the same grace he displayed in many a battle, the Dark Lord whirled around and pointed his wand right at the young man’s chest. His snake like face now twisted in a look of pure malice and glee “Enough of you! Let’s see if you know how to duel a proper wizard!” The air cracked with the superior power of the elder wizard and a passing herd of Thestrals screeched loudly in terror as Voldemort hissed out a spell using Parseltongue.

“Sectumsempra!”

[Scorpius Malfoy]

Scorpius looked up at the Dark Lord as his nostrils seemed to disappear. Voldemort was pissed, there was no arguing that. He didn’t know the other man well, but even a novice wizard like himself could read the anger in the Dark Lord’s eyes. Scorpius gulped. He had really done it now, he had pissed the older wizard off royally. How could he tell? It wasn’t hard, the burning red eyes were almost burning holes in him.

He held his breath and heard a wet ‘click’, though he didn’t know where it was coming from. He only hoped it wasn’t a snake. Then Voldemort’s eyes snapped open, and he realized that ‘click’ had been his eyes closing. Ewww, Scorpius thought. “No, not the truth, Master. Merely an opinion, and a wrong one at that,” he said frantically, trying to back-pedal, wishing he had never opened his mouth. As the Dark Lord brought his wand back to chest level, he breathed a sigh of relief…surely no one could cast a spell from that position?

But he breathed too soon, because as Voldemort appeared to have humor on his skull-like face and said he believed Scorpius wouldn’t be missed, he suddenly announced his challenge and hissed something in Parseltongue. With the reflexes born of a Seeker, Scorpius rolled sideways and heard a low-hanging tree branch fall to the ground as the spell (because that’s obviously what had happened, a spell had been cast and probably a Dark one at that), just narrowly missed him. Fortunately the air had seemed to crackle with power and the Thestrals had screeched, which really had been his only warning.

Okay, he wants to duel? Fine. I’ll die on my feet, the young Malfoy heir thought. Jumping to his feet, and whipping his wand out of his robes with the same speed he used to catch the Snitch, Scorpius whispered, ”Protego!” to shield himself, followed by a ”Axelo!” to do some damage. He had learned this curse from a friend of his father’s, Antonin Dolohov, who reported great success using it on Hermione Granger in 1995.

He would fall back on his training that his father and grandfather had taught him, the strategies he had been told, though he doubted they ever thought he would be dueling the Dark Lord himself. Rule number one: distract the enemy, make them mad so they lose control and fire off spells wildly. “What’s the matter?” Scorpius yelled at Voldemort. “Can’t even speak in English when dueling a mere student?”

[The Dark Lord Voldemort]

Voldemort simply waved his hand in front of him as if bored, dispersing the spell that had been tossed his way with great ease; his face didn’t even register the event. Although the spell had been a powerfully dark one, a familiar one at that, it was still too weak when cast by the Malfoy Heir compared to the Dark Lord’s own arsenal. Now had it been cast by the one who invented it...Perhaps it would have caused some damage. As the boy rolled away from the serpentine mage, Voldemort tracked him with only his eyes, letting his wand stay in just the right position to shoot off another spell when the time came. “Foolish boy, did you really think you could use the curssses that my first Death Eatersss invented? Curssses that they practiced in my presence to impressss me? Here let me sshow you how to properly cast that ssspell.” he said, stressing certain words much like an angry Professor might, one who had expected more from his student.

Voldemort rushed toward Scorpius in a gliding manner and hissed“Axelo!”

With a quick and rather violent slash of his wand, purple fire was hurled across the distance between him and the young Malfoy. Voldemort didn’t even give the child a chance to recover from that first curse before he sent four others his way, two non-verbal mixed in to make it hard for Scorpius to know how to block them.

“Confringo”

Voldemort cast a shield up to prevent one of the return spells from hitting their mark, and actually had to side step one that he was sure would have made him bleed. He took this opportunity to cast those two non-verbals, one right on the tail of the other, before shouting “Duro!” with a smirk.

And then Scorpius just had to make that comment about Tom’s uncontrollable hissing. Well that wiped the smirk right off of Voldemort’s face. Again it was a blank slate but his eyes seemed to sparkle with an odd gleam.

Malfoy’s good mood would cease this instant, The Dark Lord would make sure of that. True, he was angry but he also knew the boy was baiting him; hell Potter and Dumbledore had both done it enough times in the past with success. But not this time, no, this time Lord Voldemort would learn from his mistakes and control that hot temper of his. He would not sink to the level of emotional teenagers who were having spats over who was better in what subject.

Two more curses were thrown, the first was a very nasty one that looked like nothing more than a large, glowing mass of deep green goo that sizzled as it soared toward its target. The bits of goo that dropped to the ground as the mass made its way over to the boy, burned holes into the ground like acid and filled the air with a rotting corpse smell. The second spell was deep orange and extremely hot one that set the grass around them on fire, effectively cutting both wizards off from the rest of the world. A ring of fire now surrounded them like an arena and Voldemort kept his wand trained on the wizard he was dueling in such a way, one might think he hadn’t noticed that the earth was burning around him.

“Come, letsss ssee what else you can do...Boy”

[Scorpius Malfoy]

Scorpius swore under his breath as Lord Voldemort tossed aside his curse as if it were nothing. He was the Malfoy heir, damnmit! His knowledge of curses was supposed to be vast and… His thoughts were cut off as the Dark Lord seemed to glide toward him and threw the Axelo curse back at the blond Slytherin prefect. He grimaced but didn’t cry out as the purple fire struck him across the right shoulder. He already knew that would leave a mark if he couldn’t get to some Dittany fast, and it wasn’t like he could just pause the duel to go acquire some. Well, whatever. He would wear the scar as a mark of pride…that is, if he survived the next few minutes.

Curse after curse was hurled his way, a few non verbal but mostly verbal. As the Confringo curse hit its mark, a cut appeared over his right eye. He barely had time to think that this really wasn’t a good day for the right side of his body before two more non-verbals were tossed his way, almost casually, as if Lord Voldemort really could care less if this duel continued or not. Scorpius’ shield charm broke and he just managed to re-cast it as glowing goo seemed to rain from the air and landed at his feet, just barely missing his trainers.

Ew, Scorpius thought. That goo really reeks. Suddenly, a ring of fire surrounded the two wizards, cutting off any hope he might have had of turning tail and running to live and see another day, or even to take cover behind a tree. Not that he would run away, because only cowards ran. He had started this and by Merlin he would finish it. But then the Duro curse hit him so hard, it knocked him flat on his back and his wand out of his hand, where it rolled to the edge of the fiery arena.

And that was that. He had two choices…roll toward his wand and hope to get off another curse…any curse…or surrender to the one he called Master and beg for forgiveness. He thought for a moment. If he made any sudden moves toward his wand, he was sure to die, something he wasn’t exactly ready for. And he wasn’t a 6th year yet where he would be starting to learn non-verbal spells. So there really was only one thing to do. Scorpius got to his feet, grimacing but trying to hide his pain as blood ran down one side of his face. Wussiness in the face of pain or showing any emotion was not an option around the Dark Lord. He looked up at the shadow that was Lord Voldemort before bowing his head and swallowing a whole lot of pride. “I yield. I can do nothing else. I beg forgiveness, Master.” He left his wand where it was, not wanting to piss off Lord Voldemort any more than he had already done, and hoped it didn’t catch fire.

[The Dark Lord Voldemort]

Voldemort merely blinked in reply, not a startled or confused blink, but one of indifference to the situation. Almost like how an owl does when it is bored and seems to find what it is staring at only slightly interesting. He then brought his wand up to his face as if to examine it, except he didn’t look at the wand, his eyes were trained instead, on the boy. A snake, not unlike the one that Tom had been carrying around earlier, slithered near the Serpentine man and hissed something quickly, before disappearing into the brush once more. Voldemort shook off the snake’s words and opened his mouth for a second, took a breath, then closed it...He frowned a little and then opened his mouth once more. “I take it you believe that I will simply ignore your insubordination and accept your yield? Thus giving you yet another chance to prove yourself?”

His glinting red eyes scanned the grounds after another hiss from the brush sounded, though this time it was much louder, bigger almost. A smile flitted across his face for only a second, before it was replaced by the blank look that was normal for him. He started to walk toward Scorpius, eyeing him carefully as if sensing a trap, then summoned his wand so that there was no way he could lunge for it to cast a spell. “Such an interesting wand. Ebony...Is it not? Heart-string of a dragon for the core?” The Dark Lord inspected it for damage, tisking a little when he noticed the burn mark on the handle. Voldemort then watched the boy for a reaction, gauging how to proceed with the events of the evening. In truth, he thought the young Slytherin fought quite well, indeed he had held his ground, cast a few very harmful spells and then yielded instead of fleeing. He wanted him to wear the mark, he wanted this young man to be one of his Death Eaters, if only for his skill and the fact that he, Scorpius, even after this little fight, appeared to want to get his mark and serve the Dark Lord. ‘ Such a willing pawn. And quite the asset’

An idea suddenly stuck him and he quickly formulated a plan...The Order was quite the bother lately, quite the bother indeed and three of the members stood out the most...Mad-Eye Moody, whom everyone thought to be dead and was damn near impossible to find, Remus Lupin, who was almost always causing trouble with his pup, and of course the Order member known simply by his Animagus name, at least to Tom and his minions as none of them know who the man is. ‘Sticky-Fingers has been stealing quite a lot of my belongings as of late...This must stop. I will give the boy three names and he will pick which one to bring to me.’

“I will accept your yield on one condition my young fellow....” he leaned close to the boy’s ear, handing back his wand of Ebony as he spoke. When Voldemort pulled back, he was wearing a satisfied grin, one that was so close to Nagini’s, it was hard to miss the connection between the two. “I do hope that this time you will not fail me?” he said simply, snatching the boy’s left arm into his left hand and pressed the Elder wand’s tip to Scorpius’ forearm. An inky form slithered from the tip and glided onto the bare forearm, there it started to seep into the skin, slowly as if burrowing. The shadowy mass wriggled into place, taking on the form of the Dark Mark with painful ease and slowness, almost like Voldemort was making a point by dragging out the marking.

Voldemort then released the arm and spun away from Scorpius, heading off into the forest like a man with a mission, the eerie sounds of hissing followed him and the tell-tail signs of snakes could barely be made out in the darkness.

((Annnd after your next reply the thread shall be finished...Basically Voldemort has given you the task of fetching one of those three people to bring to him alive, but not necessarily in one piece...Oh and seeing as we don't have a Moody yet, hence why Tom thought that he was Damn Near Impossible to find, that means either Remus or Sticky-Fingers is your next target XD Good luck))