As the Heart Grows Colder

PROLOGUE

Lord Voldemort paced silently in front of his Death Eaters. He had a long, white, bony finger pressed to his chin, and he seemed to be considering them all, one by one.

"You have all been very faithful to me, thus far. And Lord Voldemort rewards those who are faithful. I will give each of you the opportunity to exact revenge upon one person whom you feel has wronged you - in whatever way you decide. The choice is yours to make. But choose wisely. This is the only time you will get free reign. After this little treat, it will be back to me to decide on your missions. So I say again - choose wisely. I give you one hour."

Lord Voldemort turned away from the silent crowd, all of whom were wearing long, black robes and their trademark Death Eater masks (which looked like they were made out of bone), and strode from the room, shutting the door behind him.

~*~

An hour later, Voldemort reentered the room just as silently as he had left it. He stared around at the group of Death Eaters, who had gotten up from their chairs they'd been sitting in when he'd entered, and were now standing at attention. The chairs were surrounding a long table in the very center of the room. After seeming to ponder them all for a moment, he walked (again, silently) to the head of the table that was positioned in front of a large, ornate fireplace, which currently had a blazing fire in the grate. Voldemort did not sit down at the throne-like armchair, preferring to stand in front of it. He put his hands palms-down on the table, splaying his long, bony, white fingers out in front of them. He stared at them all, silently still, long enough for all of the Death Eaters to start to get nervous, and a few of them to start fidgeting. After making them all extremely nervous, even the ones who hadn't moved, he sat down comfortably in his armchair as if this were just a meeting of a Gobstones club that was about to come to order.

However, this was anything but.

Voldemort stared from one to the other, his eyes roving completely around the table before coming to rest on the person to his immediate right. Before he could speak, however, a gigantic snake came slithering up his chair and came to rest around his shoulders. Only after she had settled, did Lord Voldemort speak, a very slight and almost imperceptible tone of adoration in his voice as he turned to look at the snake and said, "Nagini." He placed his hand on the snake's head and turned his eyes back, once again, to the man on his right.

"Severus?"

Severus Snape, previously the Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, spoke immediately. "I want revenge on the werewolf Remus Lupin."

"And what form would you like this revenge to take?" Voldemort asked him.

"I want his first-born child kidnapped and raised as a Death Eater."

Voldemort nodded his approval, and then moved on to the next person. "Bellatrix?"

"I want revenge on Neville Longbottom."

"And what form would you like this revenge to take?"

"I want him to suffer the same fate as his parents, but at the hand of his best friend."

Voldemort nodded his approval, and then moved on.

And so it went, around the table, until he reached the three Malfoys: first the son, then the father, then the mother.

"Draco?"

"I want revenge on the blood traitor, Ron Weasley."

"And what form would you like this revenge to take?"

"I want him to be forced to watch as his girlfriend, the Mudblood Hermione Granger, is tortured by the Death Eaters."

Voldemort nodded his approval, and then moved on to Draco's father. "Lucius?"

"My son's choice actually fits quite nicely with mine. He can be forced to watch them both." Many around the table gave him a quizzical look, but none more so than his son. After a moment, he said, "I want revenge on the blood traitor and Muggle-loving fool, Arthur Weasley," he said with a sneer and a slight growl.

"And what form would you like this revenge to take?"

Lucius Malfoy hesitated for the tiny space of a second. He opened his mouth to speak. "I want his daughter."