Unusual Beginnings

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UNUSUAL BEGINNINGS 02- The Charmed Ones
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Summer 1985
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Tali gazed into her vanity mirror, staring into the gap that was not there before she pulled out the loose tooth that had been bothering her for days. She had pulled it out only a few minutes ago and the bleeding had stopped but she couldn't resist leaving it alone. She opened her little palm to look at the tooth that used to cover the opening between her teeth and then returned to the mirror, making a face at herself. "Oh bugger. This is annoying!"

Raine- her cousin, her accomplice, her confidant, and pretty much her twin- was standing beside her when she placed her arm on Tali's shoulders and giggled with her. (Or at her?)

"You'll get used to it," said Raine who herself was smiling, two front teeth missing. "Just wait 'til you lose two."

Tali noticed the lisp in Raine's voice that she made a face at her and held in a laugh. She clutched at the tooth in her palm and moved closer to the mirror, intently staring at her gums. It was obviously red but the bleeding has subsided.

"At least there's no blood anymore," she commented as she tossed the blood- spotted tissues onto her trash bin.

Her father, Benjamin, and Uncle Redvin Raven entered the room. Their fathers walked towards them, carried their girls in their arms, and then sat on Tali's bed. They sat the girls on their laps so that the girls faced each other.

Ben held Tali's closed fist with one hand, the other palm facing upward, asking for something, and said, "Give me your tooth, Tali."

"Why?" she asked, pulling her fist away and clutching her tooth closer to her chest. "I want to keep it."

Ben sighed then begins to think of an explanation without telling the cause for his need of it. "I'll get you that chess set that you wanted."

Tali's eyes glowed as if she had just seen a piece of chocolate cake appear right in front of her eyes. "You promise?" (Sorry if I got anyone hungry!)

"Promise."

Tali looked down at her closed fist and then decided to hand the tooth to her father.

"Alright."

Ben took the tooth and placed it inside a pouch on his belt before smiling back at his daughter.

Red shook his head as he patted Tali's head. "You girls get more than what the Tooth Fairy is supposed to give you."

Raine looked up at her father and played with the stubble on his chin. "Because you love us a lot, Father. That's why!"

Redvin pushed Raine's hand back to her lap, touched Raine's long hair and pushed away the strands that were on her face.

"There's a party tonight, you two. We'll ask your mothers to pick dresses for you."

Simultaneously, the girls answered "okay," smiling at their fathers.

"Father?" asked Tali, her eyes still glowing.

"Yes, Tali?"

"Can Raine and I meet the Malfoys at the Mansion?"

The girls had grown quite accustomed to the Malfoys, even though the boys might be rougher than them. As their fathers are Death Eaters, they become close friends over the years. They would take all four of them to dinner together least every other day. The only thing that ever changed is whose house they would all eat at.

The children's mothers are hardly ever in the picture. The children barely know them; only knowing them as their "mums" but nothing more. The mothers are bound to their husband's mansion, although sometimes they are allowed to see each other; but only when their husbands were in good moods. Just their luck, it barely happens.

Since it is summer, the girls' mothers had dressed them in t-shirts and denim shorts. Although the fathers did not like the fact that shorts were Muggle-like, they would rather have the girls feel comfortable running around in shorts rather than in their more expensive Wizarding-World-bought clothing.

This made Ben realize that the girls could get a cold if they went to the Death Eater Mansion wearing what they were wearing. There is never any type of heating there even in the winter. Even in the summer, the mansion was as cold as Antarctica.

"Put on something over those shirts, the both of you. It's cold over in the Mansion."

Ben headed over to Tali's closet and took two sweaters from her huge closet. He hands a pink one to Red and took a green one for Tali. They then helped their daughters put the sweaters on.

"Go ahead girls," continued Ben. "We'll tell their... fathers."

But the girls had already run out of the room before Ben even finished his second sentence. Ben smiled as he looked at his only daughter run out of the room, Raine trailing right behind her. He then turned to Red and asked, "Do you have Raine's tooth?"

"Yeah," answered Red, sounding a bit annoyed. "I got two of hers and Ranco has two of Riley's. Lucius has hidden Draco's already. We were just waiting for your daughter's tooth to come out."

"It's about damn time anyway," said Ben, clutching the pouch at his waist.

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The Death Eater Mansion was a mansion designed so that only Death Eaters can step inside. The fathers had told every Death Eater family to create just one Portkey; that Portkey would teleport them to the Mansion. And, of course, only people of their blood can use it.

Tali and Raine knew this. Their fathers had made sure that only they, the children, can teleport there. They didn't want the nosy mothers to know about any Death Eater business; else they might get scared and report everything to the Ministry of Magic. The children on the other hand seemed to have gotten used to every evil goings-on that they no longer got scared.

The girls head over to a huge, unused fireplace. They held each other's hand as they searched for the Portkey. Finally, Tali touches a piece of rock hidden inside the chimney. Seconds later, they are teleported to the main room of the Death Eater Mansion.

The main room looks like a lavishly decorated auditorium without any seats. There is the platform in the front, only two or three feet high. The rest of the room is a wide-open space with fortune plants on each corner of the room. Near most of the walls are shelves of Death Eater books and materials such as swords, daggers and other implements of torture. On the walls are portraits of Voldemort himself and a couple of other powerful wizards such as Salazar Slytherin and Grindelwald. The thick green curtains block the sunlight that would have protruded through windows. The candelabras on the ceiling release a green fiery glow to the room, giving the room an eerie effect.

Because the girls had grown up in living around such things, they paid no attention to it at all and just went about their business. Because not one of the Death Eaters is ever in the room while the sun was still up, they decide to play around.

"Let's play tag, Tali!" screamed Raine as she twirled about the room.

"Alright," said Tali as she came closer to Raine. She tapped Raine's arm and said, "You're it!" before she scurried away from her.

"Hey!" whined Raine as she started to chase Tali around the mansion but has a hard time trying to catch her. Raine was shorter than Tali by about an inch even though she was older than her by about three months. To Raine, this height difference made Tali seem harder to catch.

Tali was about to pass a doorway that lead to a special weapons room when Raine used her powers to move a shelf to block Tali's way.

"No fair! You used Magic!" whined Tali when she turns to face Raine. She turned back towards the shelf and moved the shelf with a blink of an eye and continued to run inside the room.

Raine stopped running, trying to catch her breath for a few moments when she heard a thudding sound and then the sound of glass shattering. A few seconds later, Tali screamed from the other room.

"Tali!" exclaimed Raine as she hurried go over to the room where she heard the scream come from. Inside, she noticed Tali sitting and sobbing, pulling her right knee closer to her body. As Raine knelt to get closer to Tali, trying not to cut herself with the glass and the sword on the floor, Raine watched traces of blood tickled down Tali's lower right leg.

"What happened?" she asked, trying not to panic or scare her cousin more.

"Ow, said Tali, trying to hold back her tears. She closed her eyes and winced, not touching the wound.

Raine took off the sweater that Benjamin had made her wear , rolled it around and placed it over Tali's wound.

"Tali, do you want me to call..." She stopped when she heard the voices of the younger Malfoy s yelling their names. Raine yelled back at them. "In here! We're in the weapon room! Help!"

The Malfoy boys ran into the room, sensing that something bad has happened.

"You okay, Tali?" asked Draco as he placed his hand on Tali's shoulders.

Riley squatted near Tali and diagnosed her condition.

"I'll go get father!" he lisped as he ran back out to the chimney from where he c ame from then Floo-ed back to his father's mansion.

Raine tried to calm Tali's cries while Draco patted Tali's back.

"Tali?"

Tali had closed her eyes, her body shaking with hyperventilating sobs. She applied more pressure on her wound, wincing as she realized that shards of glass dug deeper into her skin. Tears crawl down to her cheek as she let go of her leg and wiped her eyes. Draco kneeled in front of her and looked her straight in the eyes. He placed his hands over the sweater that alleviated the bleeding and closed his eyes in concentration. Seconds later, Draco removed the sweater from her leg revealing a few shards of glass on top of her healed wound. Tali smiled at Draco as he helped her brush off the shards and stand up.

Raine offered an affectionate pat on Draco's shoulders. "You have powers too, Draco. You healed Tali!"

Draco hugged both of the girls and moved closer to Tali. "Cool!"

"I didn't know you had powers, Draco," said Tali, who still had her arm on his waist.

"Me neither," giggled the boy as he inched away from Tali's hand. "Oh, what a mess!" he exclaimed staring at the broken glass and wooden scabbard on the floor.

Riley entered the room again, their fathers behind him. Benjamin hurriedly and worriedly carried Tali and he rushed her to the main room. Tali got annoyed being carried the way her father did that she whined a couple of times to make him let her go back down to the ground.

"Tali, shush!" said Ben as he laid Tali on the podium. He and the other fathers looked for the cut that Riley had told them about but, of course, it was no longer there.

"Are you tricking us, son?" Ranco asked in a demanding voice.

"No father ," answered Riley, but his father has already grabbed his ear. "Ow! Father!"

Raine pulled on Ranco's sleeve looking pitifully at her wincing friend, as she showed him the blood stained sweater.

"Draco healed Tali, Uncle Ranco," defended Raine. "You can let Riley go now."

Ranco let go of his son, his face turning as red as his son's ears.

Even without the cut, Ben continued to tend to Tali. "Are you sure you're fine, Tali?"

"Yes, father," she answered assuredly as Ben carried her in his arms.

Red took the sweater from Raine, throws it to the corner of the room. He then took off his cloak and wrapped her with it as he took her in his arms. He turned to the Malfoys and said, "We ought to get the girls ready. We're off."

Red and Ben lead the girls back to the Floo chimney while the Malfoy men led their sons back into the weapon room. Inside, Lucius looked at the glass shards and the sword on the floor. He squatted to pick up the sword but he stood back up in a jolt. He then he decided to make his son pick it up.

"Draco, take the sword and put it on the scabbard."

Draco frowned right at him. "You were there already!"

"Do it, Draco !"

"I'll do it, Uncle..." said Riley, as he walked towards it.

Ranco hurriedly picked him up in his arms with one swift motion. "No, Riley. Let Draco do it." Riley looked at his father as if he'd just turned into troll.

Lucius held out a loud sigh. "Draco, do as you are told."

"But..."

"Draco!"

Draco picked the sword up carefully in sheer terror, trying not to pick up any of the glass . He then placed the sword on top of the wooden part of the scabbard. " Is that okay, father?"

"That's right." Lucius held his hand out to Draco who readily accepted it. He then leads Draco right beside him and then took out his wand, pointing it to the glass on the floor.

"Reparo!" The scabbard returns to its original form. Lucius carries it up to the shelf and secures it. He then turns to Ranco and says "Let's go," before heading to fireplace with his son.

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Raine's room is so extravagantly decorated that you would not believe the room belonged to a five-year-old. She has a king-sized four-poster canopy bed with green, silver, and white sheets, a custom-made walk-in closet (so that she could reach her clothes with no trouble), a five foot wide, ceiling-high wooden bookcase filled with volumes upon volumes of books of different shapes and sizes. There is a small sliding ladder attached to it. And of course, everything is matching: anything wooden was maple colored; everything else is green, silver or black.

Raine and her father stand in front of a mirror which also serves as the door to one of her closets. Raine was dressed, wearing a green velvet frilly dress that came down to her knees. She had matching socks on and black silver buckled shoes. Her father places his cloak on her bed and straightened his shirt.

"Father, this collar is itchy," whined Raine as she scratched her already red neck. Red grabbed her hands and pulled them on her sides.

"Stop that !" he ordered. He goes back to putting his shirt in proper order but Raine continues to fiddle with her collar.

Raine started to speak with a perfect French accent. "I zon't like zhis zress. It's too... frou frou!"

Red raised an eyebrow at her. "Where did you learn that word? And how did you learn to speak like that?"

Raine continued to speak with a French accent. "It zis French. Monsieur Rober' zold me about his wife's skirt. Her skirt looked a lot like zhee 'em of zhis skuht."

Red didn't know whether to laugh at Raine's precocity or how the dress does look 'frou-frou' as Raine had noticed. All he could do was shake his head and smile before tending back on his shirt.

Speaking in her normal voice, Raine pleaded once again. "Can I change to another dress, please? I really don't like this collar."

"No."

Raine crossed her arms indignantly as she continued to watch her father put on his cloak. A smaller version of it hang by her vanity chair. Red took the smaller version from the chair and started to put in on her.

Raine looked at herself and then her father. She noticed the color scheme of their outfits was very similar. "Father, we match too much."

"Well, it's for a very special occasion"

"Whose birthday?"

"Not a birthday."

"Then what for?"

"You'll see."

Raine looked at herself at the mirror as her father closed the clasps of her cloak. The clasps had an intricate design of six snakes intertwined with each other. The snakes were silver but every pair of eyes was of different colored gems. She started to play with the clasp but Red grabbed her hand again.

"Ready?"

As Raine nodded her head, Red lead her back to the Death Eater Mansion.

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Ranco turned the weapon room from that morning into a dressing room for the children and the rest of the fathers. Red and Raine arrive at the room only a few minutes ago and Raine had not stopped fidgeting since.

Red hit her hand angrily. "Raine, stop it already!"

Raine looked her father with teary eyes. "But I hate this dress!!!"

"It's fine."

"How come Tali gets to wear a normal one?"

Red looked at Tali and noticed that under her cloak- which was also similar to Raine's- Tali was wearing a dress with the similar material as Raine's but the hemline was straight instead of frilly at the bottom.

"Enough Raine," he muttered, rolling his eyes.

Lucius was fixing Draco's cloak when he decided to interrupt the never-ending Raven father-daughter debate. "Do you two always have to fight all the time?"

Raine pointed to her very mad father. "Father started it, Uncle Lucius! He won't let me have another dress."

Red had been rubbing his forehead the whole time that they had been there. He was obviously in the brink of a migraine.

"I am going to be so happy once this day is over. Raine. Just today, please, please, be obedient," he stressed.

But of course, Raine does not want to end the debate right there. "I want a different dress. I hate this one !"

Red pulled Raine's ear. "No! We are late. There is no time to go back to our mansion."

Raine tried to pull her father's fingers away but realized that it hurt more. She then dug her nails on her father's arm just so he would let her go. "You lie. Where's mummy?"

"She is elsewhere, Raine."

"How come?"

"Stop with the questions, Raine!"

"I want mum to be here."

Red turned away, refusing to may any more attention to Raine. He was concentrating on the pounding right between his eyes and his temples.

Raine continued to scratch her neck. "I tell you. This dress is itchy, father."

Red controlled his rage, knowing that once the day ended, he could control Raine from getting on his nerves. "What did I say, Raine? Stop fidgeting!"

"You're not wearing this dress. That's why it's okay with you!"

"Would you stop debating with me?"

"I am not bedating with you."

Red's eyes started to twitch. "You are just now! And it's 'debating'."

"It's itchy!"

Lucius put his hand on Red's shoulder, stifling a laugh. "Red, you've got one talker there."

"Unluckily." Red looked at Raine angrily because she was still scratching her neck. Red slapped her face lightly then turned away. Raine finally stopped, tears forming around her eyes about to cry.

Lucius started to laugh. "Reminds me much of you when we were younger."

"No doubt." Red looked around again and realized that both Raine and Tali had suddenly disappeared. "Raine?"

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Raine had led Tali out in the yard. She wipes the tears from her face and says, "I just don't like this dress, Tali."

Tali shifted her head to one side. "What are you going to do?"

"This!" exclaimed Raine. She closed her eyes, concentrating really hard. After Tali had blinked, Raine's clothing had changed from a dress to a red shirt and dark blue skirt.

"Heh heh, cool!" laughed Tali. "Your dad's going to be really angry!"

Raine crossed her arms and doesn't seem to care. "I told him I didn't want the dress."

"I don't like this one either," said Tali, looking at her own dress, "but I don't want father to get mad."

Raine mocked her cousin. "Goody two-shoes."

"Bad...Raine," grumbled Tali, realizing that it was an awful attempt for a comeback since Raine just laughed at her. Tali jumped all of a sudden when she heard a noise from behind her. Turning her head, she saw that the Malfoy boys pointing at them from across the yard. The Malfoy boys walked to them, looking smug in their suits, pushing each other on the shoulder.

"Knew they were here, Riley," said Draco as he playfully pushed Riley.

Riley proudly raised his eyebrows. "No, I told you so." Riley switched his attention to Raine, noticing a change in her outfit. "Raine? You've got normal clothes on ? Hey!" Riley smiled and closed his eyes. His suit suddenly changed to a grey t-shirt and a pair of black trousers. "That's more like it."

"How do you two do that?" Tali asked as she and Draco attempted to do what the others just did. N o results. "Not fair!" she screamed and then smirked. "Oh well. You two are so gonna get it."

Raine shook her head. "Nuh uh!"

Tali answered back loudly, teasing them. "Yuh huh! Yeah huh! Yuh huh!"

Riley started to laugh at her and told her, "You sound like a hippogriff, Tali!"

All Tali could do was give him a bad look and hide her red face.

Draco took Tali's hand and started to head back into the mansion with her. "Come on, Tali. Let's go tell their dads."

Riley held Raine's hand and led her farther into the yard. "Let's get out of here, Raine."

"Okay. But to where?"

"The garden. They won't look there."

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Draco and Tali lead the fathers to the yard but Raine and Riley were no longer there.

"Hey! Where'd they go?" Draco asked Tali all she could do was shrug her shoulders at him.

Lucius looked at Red and Ranco angrily. "Your children are menaces!"

Red and Ranco glowered at him before starting to scream their children's name.

"Raine!"

"Get out wherever you are this instant !"

"Boy! Come out now!"

"Riley!"

Ben held Draco and Tali's hands. "We have to get them ready, Lucius ," he said.

Lucius' lips started to curl in irritation. His eyes targeted the fathers of the little renegades.

" Find those kids of yours and head to the meeting room at once!"

Red and Ranco head to the garden while the other fathers lead their children back into the meeting room.

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"Catch me if you can, Riley!" shouted Raine as Riley chased her around the maze garden.

After a few moments of running around, Riley caught Raine's arm. "Gotcha! You chase me now!"

She then gave him a few seconds to run then started to chase him. As she turned at a curve in the garden, she tripped on herself.

"Riley! I tripped!" she screamed as she tried to sit up. Riley came back from the turn and saw her sitting on the ground.

"Raine?" he asked, noticing her tights were ruined and her knees were scratched.

"Don't worry,"Â said he as he knelt beside her. He touched her knees, closed his eyes and, like Draco did a few hours ago, healed her knees, and also fixed her tights.

Raine gave him a friendly hug. "Thank you, Riley." As she kissed his cheek, a flower suddenly grew out of the garden wall. Riley pricked his fingers, pulled it away and sucked on the cut.

Raine took his hand and kissed it. "Now let me try!" A second later, it healed also.

"I didn't know you can do it, too."

"I can, but Tali can't."

"Draco can. That's great."

When they heard their names being called, they turn to the direction from whence they came from a few minutes ago. Their fathers were only a few feet away from them so they decided to run again.

"Raine!" shouted Red as he and Ranco started to chase after the laughing pair. "Raine! What are you wearing? Get back here!"

Half-panting, half-breathing in, Ranco screeched, "I don't have time for this. Riley!"

Raine and Riley stopped in their tracks because they were cornered at the end of the garden. They searched around for an escape route but there isn't any. They then looked at each other and then to the vine wall. The vines started to move and blocked their fathers from getting to them.

Surprised about what was happening, the fathers took out their wands and called up a spell.

"Vinus Inflamarae!"

The vines were suddenly engulfed in flames and as fast as they burn, the faster the fire died down.

The fathers grabbed their children and carried them by their stomachs so that their feet would not touch the ground. They had to do so because they most certainly did not want to be late for this ceremony.

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In the Death Eater Meeting room, Tali and Draco were talking to several surrounding Death Eaters. The Death Eaters were all wearing some type of hooded cloaks, with their hoods up that only their faces show. Normally, their appearance would scare a normal five-year-old into relieving themselves on their pants, but not Tali, Draco, or the other children. They had grown seeing these folks daily. Almost every other day, there would be a Death Eater as a guest in one of the mansions.

An old, but still beautiful woman with grey eyes and traces of grey hair protruding from under her hood surrounded her sallow face.

"You look beautiful, Ms. Black," she said. "That is a very nice dress." Tali curtsied at her as she turned to Draco. "Stunning look, Mr. Malfoy."

Tali smiled at Draco as he bowed to her. Tali and Draco noticed their fathers looking and waving at them. Draco took Tali's hands and w alks over to them. Lucius started to speak as soon as Tali and Draco are by his side.

"Everyone!" he announced loudly . "These are two of the four reasons that we are meeting tonight." He then led them to a huge couch on the platform . Ben and Lucius took their children to the right side of the couch and sat them on their laps.

When Red and Ranco entered the room, their two children were throwing tantrums.

"And those are the other two ," Lucius added unenthusiastically, supporting his head on his hands. He sighed loudly as Tali and Draco look at each other, giggling and shaking this little heads.

"Let me go!!!" Raine cried as she tries to get away from her father. Both she and Riley refuse to stay still. "Aah! Let me go!"

"Behave the both of you," said Red as he slapped Raine's cheek again. Raine looked at her father, already hurt, and stopped moving. Riley saw what had happened and stopped fidgeting also. With them finally staying still, Red and Ranco had enough time to sit their children on the couch .

The weapon room door suddenly opened and a heavily cloaked man appeared. He was levitating half a foot off the floor, looking like a hazy spirit of some kind. The scared children shifted closer to their fathers and the Death Eaters started to kneel.

Voldemort stopped in front of the fathers, looks at the children and starts to speak.

"Children ," he garbled. He then turned to four Death Eaters in front of the crowd. (One of them being, in fact, our dear old Severus Snape, staying on the far left of Voldemort, carrying two teeth on a green pillow.)

" The offerings?" Voldemort asked. The four pillow carriers walk towards him, two on either side. They each carried a small pillow and on it were the children's teeth. The two on his left were carrying two teeth each. The Death Eaters started to chant in Latin as Voldemort ordered the fathers to cover their children's eyes.

The fathers obediently did as they were ordered . Voldemort takes the tooth on his right side with one hand. He walked closer to Tali and Draco touching their foreheads with his wand.

"Patior Pati Pasus Sum!"

Tali and Draco screamed in agony and suddenly quieted down. Voldemort then holds out the two talismans he had just created and distributed one to the Draco and Tali's fathers.

"The Poena Charms," he said to them.

The Poena Charms are small, thumb-sized, opaque glass vials tied onto leather necklaces and inside are the teeth floating inside a thick white liquid.

Lucius and Ben let go of their children's eyes as they took the charms from their master. Tali and Draco looked at Voldemort, as if in a trance , smiling at him.

"Res secundae ," said Voldemort as he touched both of them on their cheeks . The two held on to each of his arms and stared into red eyes . On the back of their palms were the silver snakes similar to the clasps on their cloaks.

As Voldemort laughed, Raine tried to break free from her father's grip to see what had caused Tali and Draco to scream before.

"Tali? Tali! Why did you scream? Father, what happened to her? What is the man saying?"

Red settled her back down and whispered, "Shh! Be quiet and stay put before I hit you again !"

"Let go of us!"Â Riley said as he also tries to get away. "I said let us go!"

Voldemort walked towards Raine and Riley. He touched their foreheads and says "Heredis Legitimus" before walking backwards to take the remaining teeth from the Death Eaters.

Bright silvery snakes, similar to Tali and Draco's, appeared on Raine and Riley's foreheads. Voldemort took the two pairs of teeth on one hand and pointed his wand out to Raine and Riley's foreheads.

"Patior Pati Pasus Sum!"

Raine and Riley had the same reaction as the other two, only they screamed louder. Voldemort then handed the two talismans to their fathers , who in turn had let go of the children upon receiving their precious gifts. The talismans that Red and Ranco received were similar to what Lucius and Benjamin got from the Dark Lord, except for the fact that there were two teeth inside the vials instead of one.

In unison, the fathers bow to their master and said, "Gratias, Dominicus."

As Voldemort holds his head higher, Raine looked at him and then turned to her father.

"What's a Dominus, father?" she asked slowly.

Voldemort touched her chin and turned her face so that he may look at her. "Nihil interest, liborum. 'Dominicus' aut 'Dominus,' rationes idem. Tu voluntatis etiam fildelis. " (No difference, children. Dominicus or Dominus {which both means 'Master'}, you will still follow me.) Raine's brown eyes were staring intently into Voldemort's. Her lips were quivering in fear.

Riley scooted down from his father's knee, trying to get a closer view of Voldemort. "What are you saying to her?"

Voldemort looked to Riley , touched his head and looked at the silver snakes on the boy's forehead . "In due time, boy. In due time you will see."

He then took a few steps back before waving his hand across the faces of the children. As all the traces of the silver snakes disappeared , the children yawned and fell right asleep.

Voldemort faced his Death Eaters, his movement suggesting tiredness and frailty. "Take care of my heirs, all of you. Treat them as you will treat... me..."

Voldemort's voice suddenly trailed off. He tipped a little towards his side, looking very close to fainting. The woman who had talked to Tali earlier ran to Voldemort's side, supporting him.

Voldemort took her hand and looked at her, a tone of relief in his voice. " Oh, dear Claire."

"Master ? Do you need me to h e lp..."

"I'll be alright, Claire. Thank you." Voldemort looked back at his Death Eaters, trying to remain on his feet. "I am drained for now. All of you, I will be gone for a while. I leave the fathers in charge. Keep to the Circle if you all know what is right for you. Have patience, my Death Eaters. I will come back. I promise you."Â

After his last words, Voldemort disapparated from the scene . The other Death Eaters does the same a few moments later.

Claire walked towards the fathers and their sleeping children. Each of the fathers stood up, carrying their sleeping children in their arms.

"Gentlemen ," said Claire as each of the fathers gives her a kiss on the cheek. "Why, it's been long. Four years?"

Red gave her an affectionate smile . "Just about."

She then touched the foreheads of each of the sleeping children, looking at their innocent faces. "So, these are the Mages of this generation. I've been looking forward to meeting them."

"You can get to meet them if you want. ," said Lucius. "Come over to a barbecue next week. You know you are always welcome to all our homes."

Claire shook her head. "I don't want the children to know me yet. Not until they are in school at least."

Lucius raised an eyebrow. "Just to let you know, they are going to Durmstrang."

Claire shook her head again. "No. They should be going to Hogwarts, under Dumbledore's eye."

"Dumbledore?" exclaimed Ranco. "I don't think we would like him breathing on their necks."

"He'll be breathing down yours if you don't. He might take it to the Century Ministry. They specialize in Mages, you know that. They can take the children away from you."

"If our fellow Death Eaters in that Ministry fail their jobs, they will lose their heads."

Claire and the fathers started to laugh, more sinister than ever.

Ranco moved his son to his other arm, keeping his eyes on Claire. "You're the one that told Master about suppressing their power, did you not?"

"I did. I told him that if He wants them, He is going to have to hide their powers. The four of you ought to teach your children about loyalty to Him."

"We will," answered the fathers .

"Well, I am off. Take care and take care of your little ones." Claire disapparated out of the room as the fathers took their sleeping children back to their homes, happy that their Master had given them yet another present.

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