Harry Potter and the Emerald Dragon

Title: Harry Potter and the Emerald Dragon (9/?)
Author: CPoe
Author email: [email protected]
Category: Romance, Adventure
Keywords: Harry, Emily, Hermione, Draco, Ron
Spoilers: All four books
Rating: R (to be on the safe side)
Summary: It's Harry's sixth year, and he meets a new girl that comes along with a lot of baggage. Romances are budding, confusion is all around, and the threesome's life is going to become a little hectic.
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK
Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books,
Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Harry Potter and the Emerald Dragon
Chapter 9: The Initiation
"Draco? Are you awake?" Emily asked, shaking his shoulder a bit. She saw one of his eyes open sleepily, and then close again.

"I never did understand why people ask that question," he responded, his eyes still closed.

"Ask what?"

"Whether someone's awake when they're obviously not," he replied, now opening both of his eyes. "Are you back to finish me off?"

"Save the sarcasm; if I wanted you dead..."

"...I would be already. Let's skip the pleasantries. When's the warden going to release me?" he asked with a nod of his head towards Madame Pomfrey's office.

"I haven't talked to her yet this morning, but yesterday she said it may be a couple of days."

"Days!" Draco responded, sitting up quickly. He swayed a little, as if lightheaded, and just barely caught himself from falling back down again. He lifted his hand to his head. "What the hell did you do to me?"

"Slammed you against a stone wall," Emily offered with a sunny smile. "Which you deserved."

"Well, I knew you were going to overreact and throw a fit, excuse me for being a little hesitant to broach the subject with you."

"Well, anyways, back to Pomfrey," Emily responded, trying to change the subject. "Do you want me to try to talk to her? Get her to let you out before tonight?"

"Yeah, see what you can do. Turn up the Emily charm." If you've got any.

Emily stepped back. It happened again. She could hear his thoughts too. She strained a little, trying to will herself to hear the rest of his thoughts, and suddenly, they came through clear as can be: My father is going to kill me if he finds out that she cracked my head open. He just doesn't understand how fucking difficult she is. He's always forgetting that she's an actual person, and a girl no less. Why couldn't someone else be the emerald dragon, a guy at least? Who's twisted idea was it to make it a girl? I mean look at her; she's just staring at me. Hey, maybe she fancies me. She's got that dazed look on her face, what's wrong with her?

"Well, are you going to go or not?" he suddenly asked aloud, looking at her as if she had dosed of into space. She simply smiled at him, and started to walk back towards Madame Pomfrey's office.

She was standing outside the large wooden door to Pomfrey's office, trying to decide what she was going to say to her, when suddenly, the door swung open before her.

"Good morning, Ms. Waters," Madam Pomfrey greeted her. "I was expecting you," she then added with a smile.

"Good morning," Emily answered back, a little alarmed that this woman was standing in front of her right now, leaving her no time to think about how she was going to go about getting Draco out of here. "I came to check in on Draco. He seems to be feeling much, much better."

"Better then yesterday, yes," Madame Pomfrey answered with a suspicious raise of her eyebrows.

"I was just speaking with him and he seemed perfectly fine."

"Oh, was he now?" Pomfrey asked, still looking rather suspiciously at her. "I checked his bandages this morning, and he still hasn't healed up as nicely as he should be before I release him. He needs his rest," she responded, turning around and walking behind her desk. Emily followed her into the office.

"But, he can rest back in the common room, or in his room. He's a prefect you know, has his own room and..."

"I am aware of the Slytherin prefect living arrangements. I still want to keep an eye on him though."

"For today, right? I mean, by this evening he should be perfectly fine and able to..."

"You are being rather persistent Ms. Waters; is there any specific reason you would like him to be released?"

"Oh, uh, nothing specific," Emily answered, trying hard to think of something, anything, to say to convince her. "It's just that he, uh, he..."

"He what?" she prompted, looking rather impatient.

"Has an assignment," Emily suddenly spluttered out.

"An assignment?"

"Yes, oh, he's been looking forward to this for weeks now. Weeks I tell you. It's worth a really big, huge, tremendous part of our grade. You must know how important it is for Draco to do good in school, considering his prominent parents."

"Yes. They have always seemed to be very interested in their son's--"

"Exactly! He needs to do this assignment or else he'll fail!"

"I'm sure his professor will give him an extension considering the circumstances, Ms. Waters."

"He can't get an extension, it must be done tonight!"

"Tonight? What kind of assignment can only be done tonight?"

"Uh, well, it's...it's...for Astronomy!" Emily responded, thanking goodness that she had come up with something. "The stars and planets are only in this formation once every, uh, six-thousand years!"

"I don't know about this..."

"I promise to keep an eye on him the entire time. Anything strange happens, I'll bring him right back down here...immediately." Madame Pomfrey sat back in her chair and stared at Emily for what felt like ages. Emily tried to look as non-guilty as possible. Deciding that it couldn't hurt, she decided to try to read her thoughts: All the students around here think they can just bully me around and ignore proper medical procedure. They never attended ten years of post-Hogwarts training in mediwizardry! They haven't been seeing patients for nearly sixty years! All they care about are their Quidditch games, and their classes, and their Christmas vacations. I bet they're not even going up to the astronomy tower for astronomy. But, what's the use. He'll just sneak out...

"Since it's for a class, and it can't be postponed, I'll let him leave at 10pm," Madame Pomfrey began, "But, I want him back by eight tomorrow morning. Understood?" Emily nodded. "This is against my better judgment you know..."

"He will be most appreciative..."

"And, no funny business either," she added.

"Funny business?" Emily questioned, though she knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Do you honestly think I don't know what goes on up in the astronomy tower after hours?" Madame Pomfrey asked, giving Emily a knowing look. Emily instantly felt herself flush.

"I don't know what you mean, Madame Pomfrey. Draco and I are simply friends that will be working on a class assignment," she responded.

"Good. Because he is in no condition to be doing anything more," she responded, turning back to some papers she must have been working on earlier. "I'll see you around ten," she added.

"Ten," Emily said, turning from the desk and walking out of the door and over to Draco. He was sitting up with what looked to be five, or even six, pillows placed behind his back.

"So, am I a free man?" he asked as he saw her approach.

"Not exactly," Emily responded, sitting down on the edge of his bed. "You're out for tonight. But you have to return tomorrow morning."

"How'd you pull that one off?"

"I told her we had an astronomy assignment that couldn't be postponed," Emily answered. "She was suspicious, but agreed to let you go."

"Good. Though, I don't know how I'm going to explain this orange bandage to my father. Do you suppose I could ask her to take it off, you know, for vanity sake?"

"Though I doubt that she'd question your narcissism," Emily responded, "she might be even more suspicious for why I wanted you out of here tonight. She already thinks we're going up there to make out."

"She what?!?"

"She actually had the nerve to say to me, oh, what was it exactly? Oh, yeah, 'no funny business'!" Emily remembered, giving Draco a repulsed look. "As if."

"As if what? There are lots of girls in this school that would jump at the opportunity to go to the astronomy tower with me."

"Like who?" Emily challenged, "That Parkinson girl?"

"And the rest of the Slytherin girls," Draco gloated. The unfortunate thing about it was that he was right. They all wanted him. "Every single girl in Slytherin wants me," he then added, looking at her strangely. She strained herself, and was able to hear his thoughts again: I wonder if she'll bite. She's an interesting one, to say the least. Definitely the pick of the Slytherin litter. Everyone thinks we're shagging already, why disappoint them? She'd be a good shag too, I bet...

She leaned in close to him, placing her mouth just next to his right ear. "I'd be a great shag, though I don't suppose you'll ever find out from personal experience," she whispered. She then jumped up off his bed, grabbed her bag, and began to walk out of the room. "See you at ten," she yelled behind her as she walked off into the hallway.

* * * * *

Ron pushed open the heavy glass doors that lead into the library. Being that it was Saturday, the tables were all practically empty. Behind the large circulation desk, the librarian sat with a book in her lap. Ron approached her, and as he did so, he saw her glance up at him, and then lift her arm, pointing towards the back of the library.

"She's back there," she said, looking back down at her book again.

"Thanks," Ron responded, finding it rather creepy that the librarians were so well informed about student's personal lives. He followed the narrow aisle to the back of the library, where it dead-ended into a stack of books that looked to rise several stories up. He looked to his left, and saw that that passageway dead-ended into a similar stack of books. He then looked to his right, and saw that there was a door that stood slightly ajar down that passageway a bit. He walked to it, and poked his head inside.

The shades were pulled and the room was completely dark, save the wedge of light that came in from his opening the door.

"Are you in here?" he whispered. No response. "Hermione?"

"Go away," she answered back.

"Hermione, please, can I come in without you yelling at me and trying to hex me?" There was no response. "Okay, I'm coming in now." Still no response. Deciding to chance it anyway, Ron ducked into the room, and shut the door behind him. Realizing the room was now pitch black, he fumbled through his pockets until he found his wand. "Lumos," he commanded. The tip of his wand glowed bright yellow, and illuminated the small room. Sitting on a large armchair in the corner, curled up, was Hermione.

"I told the librarian not to tell you where to find me," she said, wiping her eyes and sniffling a bit. "I should have known better."

"Yeah, you know those librarians, such an untrustworthy lot," Ron responded.

"Just go away, Ronald."

"You know, I can always tell when you're mad at me - "

"Oh, what gave it away?" she interrupted in mock surprise.

"Ha, ha, funny," he responded, walking up to her and kneeling down in front of the chair she was sitting in. "What I was going to say was that I can always tell when you're mad at me because you call me Ronald. My mum and Ginny do the same thing. Must be a girl thing."

"Must be," she answered, still sitting all curled up in her chair. Ron reached up and placed a hand on her arm. She flinched at first, but then didn't resist.

"I'm really sorry about spying on you this morning," Ron said, figuring he'd better get it over with now instead of drawing it out and allowing her to get even more angry at him.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you sorry?" she asked, looking down at him for the first time.

"What do you mean, 'why am I sorry'?"

"You're just apologizing because I'm mad at you."

"No, I'm not," he protested, though, when he thought about it, she was right.

"Then why are you apologizing?"

"Because I'm sorry."

"That's like defining a word with the word," she said. What the hell is she talking about? He wondered to himself, Defining a word with the word, what is that? "You don't even know why I'm mad."

"Yes I do."

"Then why?"

"Because I was spying on you."

"Oh, just...forget it Ron," she said impatiently, turning her head away from him and leaning against the back of the chair.

"Hey, you called me Ron," he responded, hoping to throw some light on the situation.

"My mistake, Ronald," she answered back coldly. So, I'm back to square one. Great going! He sat there for a moment, kneeling on the floor before her. His wand cast a light on her that made her almost glow. He didn't know why, but at that moment, he wanted more than anything for her to just stop being mad at him, to just reach out her arms and hug him and tell him that she was sorry for putting him through this hell of trying to convince her he really was sorry. But, he knew that would never happen, even though it was the truth: He really was sorry.

"I'm sorry because I shouldn't have invaded your privacy like that. You didn't want me to know, and I should have been adult enough to respect your wishes," he began, just allowing the words to flow from his mouth without any thought at all, "All I was thinking about was that you were hiding something from me, and I couldn't stand it. And the fact that you were off with Ginny made it worse. I'm her big brother, and I'm supposed to protect her. And I want to protect you, too, though I'm sure you'll never actually let me. Not that you'd ever need protecting, you're pretty formidable on your own. In fact, you'd probably end up protecting me if it came down to it..." He then stopped himself, realizing he was beginning to babble and it wasn't really helping the situation. "And I know that you aren't really angry that I found out about how you run every morning," he added.

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, I know you...better then you think I do... And I know that what you're really angry about is that I overheard what you and Ginny were talking about."

"No, I'm angry that you invaded my privacy and that you - "

"No, you're angry because I heard you admit to something that you didn't want me to hear."

"I never admitted anything," she said, leaning away from the chair and looking down at him. "You must have been mistaken."

"Oh," he said, with a shrug, "You're right, I must have been mistaken. Too bad though."

"Too bad?"

"Oh, yeah. I mean, I was going to tell you how I loved you too, but since I was mistaken - "

"You love me?" she asked, her eyes widening. Ron couldn't believe the surprise he heard in her voice.

"Of course I love you!" he sputtered out, "I've known it ever since I saw you dancing with Viktor Krum at the Yule Ball our fourth year. I saw his greasy paws holding you, and that stupid dazed look he got whenever he saw you. It made me sick," he said, the mental picture of it all recreating itself in his mind so vividly that he almost started to gag again. "I thought to myself, 'Look, there's the girl I love, and she's dancing with the world famous Viktor Krum.' After that I didn't think I - "

"Oh, will you shut up!" Hermione suddenly said, swatting at him with one of the pillows from the armchair.

"Shut up?" he asked, completely bewildered. Isn't this what girls want? Emotional declarations...

"Yes, shut up," she said, leaning a little closer to him, "so I can kiss you."

"Oh, so you can kiss me?" he asked, exhaling slowly with relief.

"Yes, so I can kiss you."

* * * * *

Emily tried to busy herself with her schoolwork for the rest of the morning and afternoon, though she failed to get much done. Her mind kept wandering back to thoughts of the initiation that evening, and of her newly found talent. Particularly about her newly found talent. She knew now that if she really tried to listen to someone's thoughts, she could. But then there were other times when people's thoughts suddenly came to her, without trying. These times, she didn't understand. Also, when she really wanted to, she could make her thoughts be heard by someone else. But that only happened when she really wanted it to; they couldn't just see her thoughts unless she allowed them. Phew for that!

She then started thinking back to her conversation with Hermione that morning, and really hoped that Hermione had listened and not started telling everyone at the school about it. She had immediately decided that this wasn't something she wanted Draco to find out about, though she was a little on edge that he might figure it out based on their conversation in the infirmary that morning. But she couldn't have helped it; it was just too good a chance to pass up. Beside that, he may suspect that she had read his mind, but he would never go and tell the death eaters anything unless he knew it was true - which was who she was really trying to keep this information from. While she hadn't completely made up her mind about who she was playing for, or as Draco had put it, where her loyalties were, she definitely knew that she wanted to keep as much about her 'talents' (as she was now calling them) to herself just in case. In case of what, she didn't know.

As she sat there on her trunk at the foot of her bed, she heard the large door to her dormitory open. Pansy walked in.

"This just arrived for you," she said, shoving an envelope in front of Emily's face. Emily could tell that she was still somewhat miffed over the little incident that had happened the other day. She reached up and took the envelope from her.

"Thanks," she said flatly. Pansy just stood there, glaring at her. "Can I help you with something else?"

"Draco's in the hospital wing?" she asked in a snotty tone. Oh, of course she'd be interested in that! Emily thought to herself.

"Yes."

"I heard he fell," she said in a suspicious tone.

"He did."

"Tripped in fact," she added, now looking down at her hands as though they were very interesting. Crowned jewels in fact. Emily knew she was up to something.

"He did," she responded casually, tracing her hands along the corners of the envelope she was holding.

"Draco doesn't trip," Pansy retorted in a harsh, sardonic tone.

"Well, he did yesterday," Emily answered back in an equally evil manner. This girl had better stop putting her nose where it doesn't belong.

"I doubt that," she responded, taking her eyes off her apparently remarkable hands and looking up at Emily. "Lovers' spat?"

"Well, to be quite honest, Draco proposed to me and I was just so overjoyed that I jumped on him in a fit of passion," Emily said, rolling her eyes, "I must have overestimated my jump because he fell backwards and hit his head," she added, placing her hand up to her mouth as if this was all very painful to retell. "My poor baby!"

"Oh, save it," Pansy responded, turning her back on Emily who could hardly keep her giggles to herself. "I've got my eye on you two."

"Oh, I'm soooo scared," Emily yelled back as Pansy opened the dorm door and went out into the hallway. As soon as Pansy was out of site, Emily ripped open the envelope. Inside, there was a neatly folded sheet of parchment:


I look forward to our meeting this evening, and do hope you will not be late. I understand that, despite certain obstacles, Mr. Malfoy will be escorting you as planned. I am pleased that you have taken such a liking to him, though I hope his involvement will be small once we have had the opportunity to meet. I should trust that his job of overseeing you will no longer be necessary.

I rarely address my servants personally, especially through the written word, for reasons I'm sure you understand. This is an honor only bestowed on my closest and most trusted companions, of which I intend for you to soon become.

The purpose of this letter is to address the issue of a former acquaintance of yours; one you took before you fully understood your position in the wider scheme of things. I want to impress upon you the fact that he is a former acquaintance, of which you will no longer have contact with unless arranged by myself. I do realize that he is a classmate of yours, a point that I feel is of our advantage, but I wish for you to limit your interactions with him. He is not to be underestimated, as I have unfortunately done in the past.

I will not speak of him this evening at your initiation, which is why I have chosen to write you this letter. I do not trust all my servants as much as I would like, and will therefore be keeping issues concerning his demise in private.

Your father will serve as a medium between us. Trust him only. He is a weak man, as I'm sure you have observed, but he wouldn't dare go against me. Let me repeat, trust him only.

Emily turned the page over, and found it empty. It was unsigned, but she knew exactly who the author was. She wondered how it was that he was able to get this letter to her without the use of an owl, and how Pansy came to be the messenger, however she placed these thoughts to the back of her mind.

After reading the letter, she suddenly had a fear of which she had never had before. While she hadn't liked the idea of meeting the Dark Lord, and had hoped she could avoid it for a while longer, she had never actually felt fear towards him. But now she did. His words had an effect on her, and she felt as if she could feel his power through them. The idea of going against him, one she had been considering as a remote back-end plan, instantly fled from her mind. She was stuck in this situation more then ever now.

Just as she was beginning to fall into a pit of self-pity, one she had become all to familiar with over the past few weeks as she lost more and more control over her life, she glanced down at her watch and realized it was almost time to go and fetch Draco from the hospital wing. She stood up from her trunk, and opened it, rummaging though its contents for something appropriate to wear. She was currently wearing a pair of ripped jeans with an old college sweatshirt her mother had brought her almost four years ago. She didn't feel it was appropriate attire for a meeting with the most feared dark wizard in all of England.

It took her a while, but she eventually managed to find a pair of dark, charcoal wool pants and a dark green wraparound sweater. She dressed quickly, throwing her heavy cloak on over her outfit, and hurried out of the room towards the door. Just before she exited, she passed by a mirror that Pansy had placed on the wall, and as she passed, she caught a glimpse of her hair - shaggy as usual with pink wisps around her face. She titled her head to the side, and quickly decided it was time for a change. She closed her eyes and pictured her hair falling neatly around her face, and the pink highlights disappearing and returning to their natural honey blonde. When she opened her eyes again, it was done, and she gave her head a little shake, giving it the perfect windswept look.

And another part of me is lost.

With that thought, she hurried out the door and made her way towards Draco's bedroom, and then on to the hospital wing.

* * * *

"I don't feel comfortable about this," Madame Pomfrey grunted as she changed Draco's bandage for what he felt was the hundredth time in the past three hours.

"I'll be fine."

"And if you aren't, you are to inform Ms. Waters immediately," she responded, tucking in the end of the gauze and stepping away from him.

"Are you done?" he asked, swinging his legs around so they hung off the side of the bed.

"Yes."

"Good." And just then, the hospital wing doors flung open, and Emily came striding into the room. Except, at first, Draco wasn't even sure if it was, in fact, Emily. She looked different. Very different.

"Hey," she addressed him with an unusually warm smile, coming up to the side of his bed opposite Madame Pomfrey. She then looked up towards the nurse, "Good evening, Madame Pomfrey."

"Good evening, dear," she responded, packing up her supplies. "I want him back by eight tomorrow morning."

"Will do."

"And remember..."

"I know, if anything happens, I'm to bring him down here immediately."

"And..."

"And no funny business," Emily said with a stifled giggle that Draco hoped only he had heard.

"Very well then," she responded, turning on her heel and retreating back to her office.

"You look...different," he said, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Just cleaned up a bit," she responded, heaving a small bag onto the bed next to him.

"What's this?"

"Clothes for you. I figured you'd want to change. Oh, and I brought a hooded cloak, so your father won't notice the bandage," she said, and then added a little slyly, "Though, I hear orange is the hot new color this season."

"You seem in better spirits," he said, pulling clothes out of the bag and placing them onto the bed. She had managed to choose his favorite clothes, the ones he was planning on wearing this evening anyway. He looked up at her, and saw that she was smiling. "What's the smile for?"

"Oh, nothing," she responded, and he noticed that she was looking at him strangely, like how she was earlier that morning. Almost as if she was looking through him.

"Well, are you going to stand there staring at me while I change, or will you bugger off and leave me alone to change in privacy?"

"You could have asked me nicely," she responded, reaching up and swinging closed the curtains around his bed. Something's different about her, I can tell, he thought to himself as he slipped the sweater she had chosen for him over his head and then jumped off the bed and pulled on his pants. She's hiding something, I can feel it.

"Are you done yet?" she asked from the other side of the curtain.

"One second," he called back, zipping his fly and buttoning his pants. He inspected himself in the mirror next to his bed, and was instantly repulsed by the orange-turban-looking bandage around his head. "This bandage is hideous."

"Yeah, I know," she said, walking around the curtain and standing behind him. "The cloak will hide it I hope," she added, handing it to him. "We should get going, he doesn't want us to be late." Draco swung around now, eyeing her suspiciously again.

"You spoke with him?" he asked.

"No, I just assumed that he would be quite disappointed with us if we were late," she responded casually. "And, considering your current condition, I'm assuming we'll be walking out there. I don't think I'd trust you on a broom."

"Right," he said, shoving his dirty clothes into the bag and tossing them under the bed. "Let's go then."

The two of them exited the hospital wing, and began their long walk out to the forbidden forest. As they approached it, Draco began to slow down his steps.

"Are you all right?" Emily asked, back tracking a little and coming to his side, "Does your head hurt?"

"No, it's the forest," Draco admitted, "I hate this bloody place."

"Oh," she said, turning around and staring at the wall of trees that stood before them. "Doesn't look that bad. A little dark, but - "

"It's got all kinds of things crawling around in it."

"Don't tell me you're scared of a few bugs and rodents."

"It isn't called the Forbidden Forest for nothing, you know. There are werewolves and giant spiders and all kinds of evil things lurking in there."

"Well then," Emily started, pausing a little for what Draco could have sworn was a muffled laugh, "I'll just leave you here and go ahead myself. Shall I explain to your father why - "

"I never said I wasn't going in there. I just...wanted to make sure you knew what you were getting yourself into."

"Well, thanks for caring," she said with a sarcastic smile before she grabbed his arm and pulled him into the forest with her. As soon as they were past the border trees, all of the light from the moon was instantly shadowed by the foliage that loomed high above them. Draco removed his wand, and lit its end. He looked at Emily, expecting her to do the same, but she didn't.

"Light your wand, so we can see," he said, nudging her a bit.

"I don't have my wand," she responded back.

"You what?" he asked, turning towards her in alarm. "You forgot your wand?"

"I didn't forget it. I didn't bring it."

"Why the hell would you do a thing like that?"

"Because I don't need it Draco. I only use it in classes to keep up appearances," she replied, stopping for a moment and looking down on the ground.

"What are you doing?" he asked as she bent down and picked up a small twig. A moment later, the end of it lit up and a light twice as bright as his wand emanated from it. "Oh, right," he said, looking at his pathetic light and whispering, "Nox."

They traveled the rest of the way in silence. His father had instructed him to walk along the path for about a kilometer, until they came to a fork. They were then to take the right path, and follow it for about a hundred meters - where they should find a large tree, about four times as wide as those surrounding it. At that point, they should then turn off the path entirely and walk due west.

"West is this way," Draco muttered, pointing off to his right.

"No, I think it's this way," Emily corrected, pointing to the left.

"Emily, I think I've been going to school here longer then you have," he responded.

"Well, I think I know my directions, and the way you're pointing is definitely east!"

"Fine," he muttered, retrieving his wand from out of his pocket and placing it sideways on the palm of his hand. " Point me west," he commanded, and the wand spun around on his palm a few times, finally coming to a stop pointing in the direction he had originally pointed in. "See!" he yelled.

"Give me that," she snapped, grabbing his wand away and placing it in the palm of her hand. "Point me west," she said, and Draco's wand spun violently several times in her hand, finally coming to a stop after several revolutions.

"Can't always be right," Draco said, grabbing his wand from her palm and walking off to the right. After a few seconds, he heard her footsteps behind him.

"Have you ever met the Dark Lord?" Draco heard Emily whisper from behind him.

"No."

"I'm assuming your dad has."

"Yes, though only twice since his return."

"Really?"

"Your father remains his most trusted servant, for he was the one who searched him out and helped to bring him back to power. In the times when the Dark Lord was...missing...my father denounced the ways of the Death Eaters for his own safety. The Dark Lord has never forgiven him for that."

"Is he scary?"

"What?"

"You know, is he going to torture us for hours and make us swear our lives to him until our eyes are about to explode?"

"You're the one getting initiated...not me," he responded, though after seeing the horrified look on her face, he then decided to add, "I doubt he'll torture you or, what was that you said? Poke your eyes out?"

Just then, Draco saw a clearing up ahead. He glanced down at his watch, and saw that it was ten minutes of the hour.

"Is that it?" Emily asked.

"I think so, and we're a little early," he said, quickening his steps. However, as they approached the clearing, he realized they weren't the first ones to arrive. They both clamored into the clearing, and came to a swift halt.

"You're early," came a snakelike hiss from a figure that stood with his back to them. Draco watched as he slowly turned around. "How pleasant." He gave a wave of his hand, and two other hooded figures ran forward to his side. He said a few words that Draco couldn't make out, before they both hurried over to the two of them.

"Come," came the voice of his father, Lucius. "You will stand next to me," he said, grabbing Draco's shoulder and steering him towards a spot in the clearing. Draco noticed that there were other figures milling about, each taking a spot in the clearing that seemed random. Once he was positioned next to his father, he saw that Emily had been led, most likely by her father, to the center of the circle, and was now standing, face to face, with the Dark Lord.

* * *

"We meet at last," the Dark Lord said, lowering his head down a bit to her level. "I trust you received my letter," he added in a voice just above as hiss.

"Yes....Sir," she responded, wishing she had asked Draco how to address the Dark Lord on their way over. She felt her father lean over next to her and whisper something into her ear. "Master," she quickly corrected herself.

"Good," he said. "Let us begin," he then added, reaching out his hand towards her father, who seemed to hesitate a bit, but then drew up his sleeve, revealing a black tattoo with a skull and a snake twisting through it on his arm. He placed his arm into the grip of the Dark Lord, at which point Voldemort held up his wand.

"Mordstrom!" he commanded with a flick of his wand. Emily watched as her father grunted in pain and his tattoo glowed bright green. A moment later, it was over, and her father was pulling his cloak back down over his arm. "You can take your spot Wormtail." Her father hesitated a moment, looking over at her. "She will stay with me." With that, her father walked away, and took a spot a few feet over from where Draco and his father were standing.

Moments later, the distinctive 'pop' of people Apparating filled the air. It went on for nearly a minute, and by the end of it, there was a complete circle of people standing around her, filling in all the spots between where the original few stood. Nobody spoke as they arrived; they simply found their spots and stood with their hoods pulled over their heads and their arms behind their backs. Realizing she was the only person without their hood up, Emily moved to raise hers, however her hand was quickly gabbed by that of the Dark Lord that stood beside her.

"Leave it off," he said, obviously referring to her hood. She did as she was told, and dropped her arms back to her side. "I wish you had been brought up in this community, so you would feel comfortable at this moment, as Draco will when it is his turn. But, under the circumstances, you will have to make do." He spoke such that no one else in the circle could hear him, his voice strangely soothing.

"Greetings, my faithful servants!" he called. He wasn't yelling, more projecting his voice to all that stood before him. "We gather here for the first time as a complete circle," he said, taking a few steps forward and throwing his arms wide. "For the first time since my unfortunate leave of absence, for which we shall soon seek vengeance." He turned suddenly, facing Emily. "The purpose of today's meeting is to initiate the daughter of one of my most faithful servants." Emily could feel the eyes of all the Death Eaters around her focus on her. She felt alone and scared for one of the first times in her life.

"Step forward," Voldemort commanded, and she did so without a thought in her mind. "Kneel down and extend your left forearm." She did this also without thought, pulling up the sleeve of her cloak and revealing her bare skin. "Do you give yourself to my service, as my faithful servant?" he asked.

"Yes, Master."

"Do you do so willingly?"

"Yes, Master."

He then threw his hands up into the air, causing a cloud of green haze to encircle him. The haze grew thicker and thicker, swirling up and around his outstretch body like a small tornado. Then, suddenly, he brought his wand down towards her arm, and all the green haze shot down and into it.

The pain was unlike anything she had ever felt before. It shot in at the spot where his wand touched her, and spread like lightening to the rest of her body. It only lasted for a microsecond, but when it was over, and he removed his wand from her flesh, she fell to the ground, unable to support herself any longer.

She watched the Dark Lord turn away from her and address the rest of the Death Eaters. He was ignoring her, stepping around her crumpled body as he spoke. After a few moments, she was able to push herself up with her arms, regaining her strength. She was breathing deeply, as if she had just finished running a marathon. She was vaguely aware of the Dark Lord's rantings. They concerned her, for she heard him speak of the Emerald Dragon several times. As soon as she was able to, she pushed herself up and stood on her feet, though her legs still felt very wobbly.

He was still raging about something or another to his 'servants', completely unaware of the fact that Emily was no longer on the ground but, instead, standing directly behind him. He was turning in a circle now, addressing those that stood behind him, when he finally realized this. He stepped back a little, and gave what she could have sworn was a little gasp. He quickly collected himself though, and she could hear whispering among those standing in the circle around them.

"Silence!" The Dark Lord suddenly bellowed, raising his hand to the people who had began to speak. He glanced down on Emily, and circled her, as if she was an item up for sale that he needed to inspect thoroughly. "I told you she was strong," he said once he had returned to face her head on. She was able to see up under his hood, and saw a face there that didn't quite look human. She resisted the urge to flinch, and instead gazed steadily into the darkness of his hood. "Very strong indeed," he then added in a voice she was sure that only she could hear. He then turned around swiftly, walking towards the perimeter of the circle at lightening speed. He walked the perimeter, the entire perimeter, and when he was finished, he returned to his spot next to Emily. "Avery! Goyle!" He called. The two men stepped forward.

"Yes, Master," they said in unison.

"Make room between you for our new inductee; she has apparently regained her strength enough to stand, astonishing as it is." The two men went back into the circle, leaving a space between them for her. She took a few steps forward, making her way toward the opening, but was again caught off guard by the grip of the Dark Lord. He leaned forward, and spoke very quickly, but clearly. "Raise your hood as you take your spot. You will be released shortly, at which point you shall return to that school of yours escorted by Mr. Malfoy. That mark," he said, grabbing her forearm which was still tender, "will serve as a beacon. When it pains you, you are to come to me immediately via Apparation." He released his grip. "You are dismissed."

She hesitated for a moment, fighting down the urge to defy him, as she would normally have done if someone talked to her like that. If it weren't for the fact that you wouldn't think twice about AKing me on the spot... she thought to herself. But then, she quieted her rebellion and walked quietly to the cleared spot for her among the other Death Eaters, raising her hood as she did so.

"You have all been given assignments recently concerning your service to me. I do not feel that I have to warn you about the consequences that will befall you should you not carry them out." He paused here, and Emily felt a slight twinge in her new scar, followed by a quick stabbing pain as if a long needle had been stabbed into her forearm. She saw some members of the circle cringe and grab for their forearm. Emily, however, stood as she had been before. "Until we next meet."

And with that, the Dark Lord disappeared into a pillar of gray smoke.

A few moments after his disappearance, the circle began to break up, and the distinctive popping noise could be heard all around. Emily stood where she was, staring about at all the other death eaters; of which she was now a member. After a few moments, three people approached her.

"You did well."

"Thank you," she responded dully to her father, scratching at her scar.

"It will hurt for a few days," he responded.

"It doesn't hurt, just itches."

"Then you are lucky. Most of us would have still been unconscious on the ground at this moment," he responded, turning to the man that stood beside him. "This is Lucius Malfoy."

"A pleasure to meet you," the hooded man said, reaching out his hand. She took it, feeling there was no point resisting it. "You are impressive," he added, as he released her hand. She allowed it to fall to her side. "I hope my boy here will be able to live up to your example," he said, wrapping his arm around the third person that stood next to him and patting him on the side of the head. She saw him wince a bit.

"And this," her father said, looking past her at the man that had been standing next to her during the meeting, "This is Avery." The man simply nodded in her direction, and she nodded in return, still scratching at her scar.

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone get up as fast as you did," Avery spoke, his voice deep and prominent. He was larger then the others.

Wanting desperately to get out of this situation, she turned to Draco. "We should be getting back, Filch will be lurking around and I don't want to arouse suspicion."

"Good thinking," Lucius responded, looking down at Draco as if to say why didn't you have similar sense. Emily turned away, aware that Draco was walking just behind her, when suddenly, she remembered something the Dark Lord had said to her, and she spun back around.

"He said..." she began, feeling a bit weak all of a sudden. She shook her head, and then began again. "He said when my scar hurt I was to Apparate to him. Except, I can't Apparate"

The three remaining men exchanged glances with each other.

"Meet me tomorrow morning at sunup. By the Whomping Willow. I'll show you," her father spoke.

"But, isn't it illegal? I mean, if the rules here are the same as back home then,"

"You are home!" her father suddenly spoke sternly. "And, you will begin to learn tomorrow morning, as I said."

"Don't think you..." she began to talk back to him, but Draco grabbed her wrist, signaling her to just let it go. She took a few deep breaths, "Tomorrow at sunup.," she said, turning back around and walking off and back into the woods.

* * * * *