Ad Mortem Festinamus

Lucius was used to being treated with reverence - except his own father and Narcissa Black, he had hardly ever met anyone not awed by his fortunes and rank. Curiously enough, even Lord Voldemort seemed to be quite impressed with his acquisition for his order. The young man showed extraordinary talent for the Dark Arts, yes. But a lot of his disciples were pretty skilful in that quarter.

Truth was that Lucius Malfoy was the epitome of what Lord Voldemort had wanted to be when he was still called Tom Riddle. His dynasty might not go back to great Salazar Slytherin himself, but it was as pure and noble and untainted as it could possibly be. For two thousand years, the respective heirs had only ever married witches from families of equal standing; Lucius Malfoy was related to every wizard family of consequence all through Europe, a policy that had also spared him the deplorable fate of other English purebloods, who were degenerated by marrying their own cousins over and over again. Tom Riddle had seen his own uncle, who was only a tad better than the wretched man that had been Tom's father. A wizard? Sure. But otherwise... Tom had styled himself a name that should command respect. Lucius Malfoy had been born to such a name.

Since changing his name into 'Lord Voldemort', a plan had been forming in his mind. Vague at first, more and more clear in time, rich in detail. He would take the place that was rightfully his. He would achieve a power more absolute than the world had seen before. He would defy and eventually defeat death itself. And a wizard like Lucius Malfoy would help him with all three tasks at hand.

He personally educated him to advance in the Dark Arts, and only three months into their dealings, Lucius Malfoy officially joined the Dark Order. Lord Voldemort had given this ceremony a good deal of thought. To get where he wanted to get, he needed unconditional loyalty and service. His 'Death Eaters', as he would call them, ought to feel more obliged to the order than to their own families. He must be able to rely on them under all circumstances, but all the time, they mustn't figure him out.

"Aut cavere aut carere, aut omnia aut nihil.. Qui non est mecum, contra me est. Nemo potest duobus dominis servire," he called solemnly.

His disciples cried in unison, "Volo!"

"Tempus fugit - tempus nos avidum devorat et chaos. Dii essemus, ni moreremur. Vade mecum. Serva me, servabo te. Aeterna in desiderio."

"Volo!"

"Parva necat morsu spatiosum vipera taurum, estote ergo prudentes sicut serpentes. Si quid est, quo teneris, aut expedi aut incide. Venit dies magnus irae, Aut fortiter mori aut liberos vivere. Ad arma!"

"Aut vincere aut mori - cedo nulli!"

He had taken out a golden dagger and slashed it through his palm, letting the blood drip into a golden goblet. Then he handed the goblet to each of the kneeling youngsters, they swallowed his blood and then he announced, "Immota fides!"

"Immota fides! In perpetuum."

"Meus es tu," he said, tipping his wand on their outstretched left arms. A kind of branding appeared on the skin, a skull with a protruding snake, slithering out of its mouth. This part was deliberately painful; Lord Voldemort did believe in the saying that a hard lesson was learnt for good.

"Semper et ubique!"

They got up in the same order in which they had drunk. The first one was Bellatrix Lestrange. She equalled Malfoy in talent and purity, the problem with her was rather her uncontrollable temper. She was followed by the boy, her husband and this one's younger brother. Then came Devlin Mulciber, Gavin Wilkes and the last one was Elias Yaxley. They looked elated - comparably young all of them, they were easily impressed by promises of adventure and combat, by drinking blood and some Latin phrases. He had others followers, decidedly older, who hadn't gone through any similar ceremony, and who'd possibly not have been blinded by the whole ballyhoo.

Lucius stared at his wrist, trying not to let show how much it hurt. The snake flicked its tongue as if mocking him, but he thought it was the coolest thing he had ever seen. He would fight. He would excel himself, prove the master his worthiness. And to his own father, he'd show it as well. No, not the mark, of course. It was forbidden to speak about the order or its proceedings. But he would prove to his father that he wasn't the idle child that Abraxas liked to see in him. There was more to life than administering a fortune. Abraxas only sat at home, nagging about the state of the world. Lucius was going to do something about it.

But for tonight, they'd just celebrate and have some fun. After drinking a vat of elf-made wine, they set out on the streets, showing off basically. Devlin proved his mastery of the Imperius Curse by making scores of muggles jump onto the street, right in front of the next car. He let them jump down bridges, attack accidental bystanders. Then it was Bellatrix' turn. She had a knack for the Cruciatus Curse, and Lucius thought to himself that this streak was running in the family. All those girls just loved to torture other people, didn't they? Only that Narcissa didn't need an Unforgivable for reaching the same end.

Their little party suddenly came to an end when Rabastan, quite out of the blue, pointed his wand at the driver of a car that had stopped before a jammed crossing. "Avada Kedavra," he yelled, and the muggle collapsed at once, with his car shooting forth into the traffic, causing a mass collision. They were tittering with that sight still, when half a dozen Aurors emerged out of thin air, pointing their wands at Rabastan. Naturally, all of their merry little bunch disapparated at once, still the arrival of the Aurors had sobered them up a bit, and they delighted in simply continuing to get wasted in Rabastan's apartment.

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Aut... It's faith or abstention, all or nothing. Who is not for me is against me. No one can save two lords.

Volo... I want.

Tempus... Times flies, time and chaos consume us. We would be gods if we weren't to die. Go with me. Help me and I will help you. Desire the eternal.

Parva... The smallest viper's bite can kill a bull. Hence be sly as the snakes. If there is something withholding you, liberate yourself or destroy it. The great day of wrath has come; either die valiantly or live free. To arms!

Cedo... I will not yield.

Immota... Unwavering fidelity. (Forever.)