Labelled Caustic

Chp 9. Jaded

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Three people walked out of the emerald flames and it quickly turned back to its original colour.

"The Brown´s? Master! They are not even death eaters!" Lucius said, his voice steady whilst he was quietly sizing them up.

"They have been one of our most faithful, like you, yes they did not go to Azkaban and no one even thought of them as Death Eaters, but they were. They carried their work in secret and using glamours to well, get what we needed and to get certain people of our backs. They were punished though because they to did not choose to find me and did not even join the circle when I received my new body and called them!" he said his voice intense and full of anger but it softened as he continued.

"But, they have proved themselves worthy, and they have been loyal alliances."

There was a grim silence and Lucius and the rest acknowledged this and bowed to the dark lord.

Ron´s jaw dropped and his eyes began to water. Suddenly his chest seemed so tight that he could scarcely breathe. Harry was frowning with contemplation and he tried to look over at Ron but he couldn´t even turn.

Draco himself didn´t expect this. Not one bit. He looked over at the third person. Couldn´t be it just couldn´t, then he saw the mouth of the third person curl up into a distinct grin.

`Oh bollocks.´

This was just wrong. He stiffened and then heard his father´s orders.

"Leland! Get Ms. Weasley from the east tower."

"Yes sir!"

The house elf appeared in front of Lucius and disappeared once again but before Voldemort had a chance to say anything the house elf had returned whimpering in their midst.

"Master Malfoy! Master Malfoy! Missus Weasley is not there!´

"Fool! Are you sure?"

"Very sure Master Malfoy!" The house elf was now on its knees and bowing very deeply as it was shaking.

"Lucius, what is this?" Lord Voldemort looked at him in askance. Before he could answer him though. The youngest of the Brown´s spoke up and Leland vanished with a poof of smoke.

"I think I know."

"What are you saying child?" Voldemort asked, looking at her with a sort of soft expression, if he was even capable of that.

The girl looked up and placed her hood down, smirking. Lavender looked around and winked at Draco.

"My parents are one of your most faithful servants and I am on your side as well master. When my Hogwarts letter came, my parents had sorted out a plan for me; for me to play a double role. They knew that Harry Potter would be attending and that he would surely get sorted out into Gryffindor just like his filthy parents," she said with such malice that Harry was quite utterly shocked.

Ron on the other hand was having trouble breathing and he didn´t want to believe what he was hearing. Harry´s eyes darted around trying to look for clues that Hermione was there, listening to this but he found none. That was a good sign though. Nagini continued its circling, hissing at them now and then.

"So, I got myself sorted into Gryffindor," she sniffed. "There is a very a thin line between Slytherin and Gryffindor and it was easy enough to fool that ragged old hat. I wasn´t to get too close to Harry though. I would just owl my parents whatever findings I noted and told them everything that went on in school. This year though, I decided to play a more extravagant role. I took on the role as that filthy weasel´s girlfriend."

Voldemort listened on with interest, "I´m sure that it was a most horrible experience," he said, his voice gilded with amusement.

"Right in one. A positive nightmare that one is, insecure and always the whiner..." Lavender said, curling her lips in disgust as she watched Ron blush madly and look utterly dejected.

"Lavender dear, do not stray," her father interjected firmly.

Lavender immediately shut her mouth and swallowed. "Yes, well, Draco here was doing the same thing, wasn´t he? Leading on his sister, so we could get Harry, but I sensed something, well, a bit off."

Her mouth curled into a full-fledged grin and moved towards Draco, "He said all he was doing was leading her on. Weren´t you Draco?" she asked, enjoying his silence.

"I didn´t think so, after seeing them together, I rather thought he loved her and tonight, I got the confirmation I needed. You would think that Lucius Malfoy as your most prized servant, his offspring would follow in his footsteps."

Draco´s eyes widened, he was glad that his hood masked his face and he took deep breaths as she continued. He could worm his way out of anything; he just needed to calm down first.

"Do not tread on grounds you are not familiar with, Ms Brown," Lucius hissed vindictively.

Voldemort was getting rather impatient though, he wanted Harry dead and this was just delaying the process even if it all was rather amusing.

"Get on with it!" he snarled.

Draco hoped that Hermione and Ginny were smart enough to move out of the library.

"Yes Master!" Lavender squeaked, she took a deep breath as she continued. "Well, I was with them when they were brought here by Portkey and well there is one missing from their number. Three vanished from the Gryffindor common room and only two are bound here. The mudblood must be running around in Harry´s invisibility cloak. Isn´t that funny?" Then she slipped her hands into her robes and pulled out the letter that was left in the common room.

Draco gave a snort but his mind was whirling around, `Stupid, stupid, incredibly stupid Potter!´ Harry on the other hand was looking indignant and stubborn.

Voldemort took the letter Lavender had given to him and read it. He burnt it the minute he finished with it and looked pointedly at Draco.

"Lucius, your son here, seems to have had other plans," Voldemort said softly, eyes never leaving his son.

"Explain Draco," his father said looking at him with anger that was etched in his eyes.

"That was just another ploy to get them here! I had a little fun while I was at I admit; messing around with their minds and toying with their emotions. Their stupidly trusting, this lot, as Lavender should know," Draco said smirking at her as he pulled back his hood. Then he turned to look at Voldemort and his father and continued with a cold face. "It is nothing and she has nothing against me. How can I, Draco Malfoy ever love something as foul as a Weasley?" he asked cocking his head to the side.

Ginny was positively trembling and her knees were buckling as she felt her heart ripped out of their valves from her body and thrown to the floor. Memories of Tom Riddle came flooding back as well and she was overwhelmed by it all. Hermione was holding her now; her grip was so hard that she left bruises along Ginny´s arms. Ginny bit her lip and felt blood trickle down, but she didn´t notice the pain. Her heart and head was hurting so much she feared that she would go mad right then and there. Ginny didn´t understand how Hermione could be so calm and collected. She was too tired, too tired to cry and so heart wrenched that she felt totally helpless, she might have just walked up to Voldemort and asked him to off her if she wasn´t gripped by Hermione so hard.

Hermione herself didn´t realise the harsh grip she was having on Ginny. Her mind was thinking of what to do, whether to run and get Ginny out of Malfoy Mansion as far as possible but knowing that Harry and Ron were there, helpless. She stayed rooted to the ground trying to think of what to do. She couldn´t leave them there, one her lover the other her very best friend. She couldn´t leave them there and if Ginny were to lose her brother, a one-way trip to St. Mungo´s wouldn´t be optional for her.

While Ginny and Hermione were hiding out and thinking of what to do, Voldemort looked at the boys closely as he was examining the situation. If the girl was telling the truth then another must still be around and she could be heading off to get help from that blasted Dumbledore. Then again this might be a stupid mistake on the girl´s part and would cause him another delay in finally finishing off Harry.

He was just thinking off pointing his wand and kill of Harry in one swift Avada Kedavra but that would suck out all the fun of torturing him wouldn´t it?

'Oh well we make do with what we have got,' he raised his wand and pointed it at Harry and Ron.

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