Nemesis

Prologue

The castle was dark and desolated. No one in the little village of St. Martha Mead ever ventured near it; firstly because it was a little way off from the village, and secondly, because it was rumoured to be haunted. Some laughed at the latter suggestion, but kept away from the gloomy place nevertheless. It wasn't surprising in the least, though. St. Martha Mead was what is known as a Muggle village.

The castle had only two occupants at present. A tall, thin man with a face as white as chalk, nostrils like slits and gleaming red eyes stood in the dark hall of the monument. He looked more reptilian than human. Near him, by his feet, was a huge snake known by the name of Nagini. This man was Lord Voldemort, the current Dark Lord. He was pacing impatiently, apparently waiting for someone. The scariest thing was that he kept hissing at the snake in Parseltongue, for he was one of the only two Parselmouths in the world.

Lord Voldemort was angry, very angry. He didn't like to be kept waiting.

Calm down, Master. Lucius must be on his way. The snake hissed at him.

I don't like waiting, Nagini, and Lucius knows it well. He shall be punished for his tardiness.

But Master, he...

Shut up, Nagini!

Silence reigned for the quarter of an hour. Nagini crawled away from her Master and took a tour of the huge castle. The castle had been built by Salazar Slytherin himself after he had left Hogwarts. The Great Founder had buried himself in his work away from the Wizarding World after the break up. No one knew what had happened to him, or the reason for his reclusion. All that was known was that he had lived in this castle till he died. He was buried in the grounds and the other three Hogwarts Founders had erected a small monument where he was buried, which was covered with flowers charmed never to dry. It was probably the only bright spot in the dark place, but it was hidden totally by tall dark trees, and was an invisible if one didn't know of his existence. Nagini loved this spot; her Master hated it. She was here when she felt the vibrations of someone's footfalls. She recognised it instantly as that of Lucius Malfoy, the very man her Master was awaiting. She slithered back to her Master.

Ah, Nagini. What news do you bring? Lord Voldemort asked her.

Lucius is here, Master.

Lord Voldemort nodded. Within a few minutes, Lucius Malfoy was standing in front of him, bowing and kissing the hem of his robes.

"So, Lucius, have you done what I asked you to do?" the Dark Lord asked.

"Yes, Master."

"Is it ready?"

"Yes, Master."

"You do know that I have to punish you for being late, don't you, Lucius?"

"Yes, Master."

"Crucio!"

Lucius Malfoy fell to the ground, twitching with the pain of the curse. Ten minutes later, he was standing with shaky knees in front of the Dark Lord, waiting to be dismissed.

"You shall bring it to me in a week's time."

"Yes, Master."

"I plan to use it on the boy's very first day at Hogwarts."

"Yes, Master. May I ask something?"

Lord Voldemort looked at his servant and something like pride appeared on his face.

"Certainly, Lucius."

"Surely it would be better to wait another year, Master, so that the boy is out of Dumbledore's protection?"

"No, Lucius. The boy gets stronger by the day. I must have him before he reaches his full potential."

"Oh, I see, Master."

"Do you? I wonder."

Lucius stayed tactfully silent.

"You must not fail this time, Lucius."

"I will not, Master."

"You know the penalty if you fail again."

"Yes, Master."

"I shall have Harry Potter this time!"

"Yes, Master."

"You may go now, Lucius."

"Yes, Master."

The Death Eater left the castle without another word. He Apparated straight to his Manor, where his wife, Narcissa Malfoy was waiting for him with pain numbing potions.

"Are you all right?" she asked solicitously.

"As well as can be expected," he muttered, falling on the couch.

"How long?"

"Ten."

Silently but deftly, Narcissa gave him the potion and started massaging her husband's shoulders with her hands. After about fifteen minutes, he pulled her down next to himself.

"I thought about it," he said.

"And?"

"I think I agree with you."

"Thank Merlin. What are we going to do?"

"You must place wards around us, so that no one may hear what we say."

"Sure."

Narcissa pulled out her wand and did as she was told. Draco Malfoy, listening outside the door, sighed in frustration as the conversation between his parents went silent. He quietly returned to his own room and picked up the newspaper. The headlines screamed at him.

'HARRY POTTER WILL DEFEAT YOU-KNOW-WHO, SAYS THE MINISTER FOR MAGIC'

Draco threw away the paper in disgust. He wondered what Potter was up to. Probably reading the paper and blushing. For a Boy Wonder, Potter seemed really naïve, he thought. He had received his Hogwarts letter the day before, and had lost his temper on seeing that Potter had been made Head Boy instead of him. The Mudblood Granger was the Head Girl, of course - no surprises there. But Potter! Really! He had not even been a Prefect! Draco had always hoped to be the Head Boy himself, and the fact that the badge had been handed to his arch-rival increased his agony tenfold.

"At least he's better than the Weasel," he had said to himself, but he felt differently now. There was no way Weasley could be given the badge. Draco Malfoy was next in line.

"I wish the Dark Lord would kill Potter soon enough for me to get the badge!" he yelled angrily at no one in particular, "I hate him! I HATE him! I HATE POTTER!"

With that thought in mind, Draco Malfoy went off to sleep.