Choosing Their Soulmate

~ Chapter 1: The Beginning ~

A very small lady in curly black hair with fading brown highlights surveyed the room before her. She took a deep breath before coming up to the stage and greeted the audience.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 'Choosing Their Soulmate' show! I'm Firesword and these are all the candidates!" She waves her hand grandly to where Voldemort and the rest were seated. The Dark Lord was scowling furiously at her. Firesword ignored him and faces the audience.

"It has been a very interesting afternoon today," Firesword said as she smiled sweetly at the audience. "But first, I would like to introduce the wizards and witches who I had picked to be the candidates for this game. First of all, Harry Potter," she said and The Boy Who Lived stood and gave a little bow at the audience. Delightful squeals echoed about the room and Firesword winced at the acoustics. "And I usually call him Green-Eyes so don't be confused," she added as a precaution.

"Next we have our favorite Slytherin prefect! Draco Malfoy!" Firesword did not bother to look if he bowed or gave some sort of greetings to the audience because the cheers bouncing off the walls were chaotic. "Lucius Malfoy!" More squeals and one woman at the back row fainted, making her neighbor protest loudly at her weight. "My personal favorite, Severus Snape. Sirius Black, the person whom I fancy to be my oathbrother and Remus a.k.a. Moony. And I certainly can't fail to forget the Dark Lord, Voldemort." Firesword ignored the gasps of horror. She continued.

"As for the ladies! We have Hermione! Minerva! Narcissa and Bellatrix! Cho! Luna and Tonks!" The audience were quieter this time, since there were only a handful of guys around the room.

"So let's get on with the results! Luscious Lucius and Green-Eyes are really close being the most favorite ladies' men. Oh, I'm sorry my dears..." Firesword swiftly turned to look over her shoulder when she heard Cho sniffling in the background. "Maybe some guy who wants to try his luck will come soon for you..." More sniffling. Bellatrix whispered something to Narcissa but Firesword was just too far to hear what they were saying.

"Drake, you were very close too! You've got ended up in a knot with your father and Green-Eyes," Firesword said as she winked at the Slytherin who sat beside the Dark Lord. "But of course, for the first round, Sirius won the title of Ladies' Beloved Man today!" Firesword smiled crookedly at Harry who sighed in resignation and made a face at his godfather, who smirked back. "Sev, don't worry. I'm sure there will be a lot more people wanting you. Let's wait a few more days and see if there are any of them who thinks that you're delectable. And Moony, no worries, you still have me." Firesword winked slyly at the werewolf who blushed. Her dark brown eyes settled onto the fuming Dark Lord. She knew only too well why he was fuming, almost steaming. He had no votes for the first round and it was a blow to his pride.

"Marv, maybe you should change your criteria rather than 'Extremely Black, Fire/Air, Will Power, Power'..." She spoke in a teasing tone.

The Dark Lord growled and flung a fireball at her. When she recovered from the impact, he growled, "I want you."

Firesword raised her right eyebrow. Hermione and McGonagall tried to stifle their giggles while Narcissa glared. "Not unless you can change my mind about Sev or Moony. Oh... by the way, you can't use the 'Imperio' on me any longer."
"Why is that?" Draco asked, toying with a lock of his silvery blond hair while sneering at her. Harry, who was seated directly behind him somehow knew that Draco was putting on his favorite expression and could not resist smacking the blond's head. The Potions Master saw that and smacked his head in return. A scuffle between the Potions Master and The Boy Who Lived broke out and Sirius watched with a smirk, his blue eyes twinkling in mischief and cheered for his godson. His best friend looked at the three of them, shaking his head with disapproval. The rest ignored the four wizards and listened attentively to Firesword's reply.

"That's because the bloke used it too much on me that I've become immune to it," Firesword replied acidly and stared hard at the Dark Lord. She ignored him once again and turned to the audience. "Well, that's it for now. Let's see if there are more of you willing to choose a soulmate. I'll see you guys again later." With that, Firesword quickly walked off. Voldemort leapt up to his feet and roared.

"FIRESWORD! COME BACK HERE!"

Firesword ignored the belligerent Dark Lord and continued to make her way to the kitchen (the show was held in her living room). Voldemort stormed toward the same direction and Snape exchanged an amused look with Lucius.

"Thirteen Galleons that she will be his by the time the thread hits two hundred," Lucius said thoughtfully, fiddling his cane absently.

"And that will probably take months," Snape answered with a smirk. The two wizards approached the group of ladies waiting for them by the corner and after a brief discussion, they went out, intent on giving the ladies a treat.

Narcissa stared darkly at her supposedly-husband's back and Bellatrix slapped her arm lightly. "I'm bored," Sirius's cousin spoke up and tugged her cousin to her feet. "Let's go shopping in Hogsmeade. I just saw a blouse that will really make me look wicked and I think it's time for me to renew my romance with my husband." The two witches left and the room now belonged to the group of audience still lingering in the house, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, McGonagall and the students.

"Firesword's crazy," Draco said easily as he admired Tonks's jet black hair. "Voldie could easily use the Cruciatus on her."

"Well, if he does that," Hermione began as she tried to tie her hair up into a bun and finally gave in to McGonagall's aid, "then he won't get her for sure."

"It's cloying," Harry said in a helpless tone. "Why on earth does Firesword want with a lunatic?"

"You're saying that Snape isn't?" Sirius countered, ruffling his godson's hair with familiarity.

"Sirius, I'm not fourteen anymore!" Harry protested and chuckles erupted about him. "At least Snape's a mysterious git. Why she would want a sadistic, blood mage totally eludes me," he answered as all of them walked slowly to the library upstairs.

"MARV! GET THE HELL OUT OF MY KITCHEN OR I WON'T COOK DINNER!!!!" Firesword screamed and Draco laughed aloud as they heard a pot thudding heavily on the floor. Various explosives erupted and they heard a yell. Tonks and Remus gave a significant look with Sirius and the three of them crept silently and peeked into the kitchen cautiously.

"AHHHH!!!! TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE! GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF ME!"

Tonks eyes widened. The rest came to crowd the kitchen entrance. In just several minutes, Firesword and the Dark Lord had managed to mess the kitchen. There were several scorched marks on the cabinet and a kitchen towel was smoldering in the sink. To their pleasure, they saw that Voldemort's face was slightly bruised and his robe was torn in several places. As Hermione had found out, Firesword was a violent woman when she's furious. But Voldemort wasn't the only one bruised. Firesword's elbow was scratched, her hair was totally messed up and Voldemort had absolutely ruined her blue shirt.

"Ah... I think it's wise if we leave them to sort the kitchen out," Remus spoke up diffidently as he watched Voldemort snaking his way to Firesword and trapping her against the wall.

"That's a very good idea," McGonagall agreed in firm voice, pulling Draco and Harry along.

It was quite a while before the doorway cleared and Voldemort felt that it was safe to make his move. "You are violent," he whispered, smiling cruelly at her. She glared at him but did not push the wizard away. "If you don't want me to want you, then it's best if you give in to me..." He began nuzzling her hair and she shuddered. Not without a fight laddie. I didn't choose to be in Slytherin for nothing, Firesword thought to herself.

To be continued... I think...