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Chapter 1

The woman walked towards me. She was dressed in black robes and her face was hidden in the shadows. I knew who this was and I was terrified. This was Bellatrix Lestrange, one of the Death Eaters who had just escaped from Azkaban. She walked closer, out of the shadows, her wand drawn and her heavily lidded eyes full of pleasure. She was going to kill me and I knew it. Beforer I knew what I was doing, I pulled out my wand and yelled the first spell that came to my head.
"CRUCIO!"
Bellatrix was thrown to the ground and was writhing in pain, screaming. I was frozen in shock at what I had just did. An unforgivable curse? I thought Oh my gosh, I didn't know I had it in me! A strange pleasure began to seep through me. I was disgusted by it. After a few seconds that each felt like an eternity, the Death Eater got to her feet. Her wand was pointing at me. I knew that I had just sealed my own death.
"Come with me." She said. "Anyone who can perform the Cruciatis curse like that is no Auror. How old are you?"
I was frozen
"If you cannot answer me, I will have no choice but to kill you."
"18" I muttered
"Fresh from Hogwarts then. What house were you in?"
"Slytherin."
She pondered for a moment before speaking again
"I am supposed to recruit new Death Eaters. You seem ideal. You have two choices at the minute. You can either come with me and become a Death Eater or I can kill you right here on the spot."
I thought this through. The good part of me thought You'd rather die than become a Death Eater, you know that but every other molecule in my body thought Isn't this what you've always wanted?" and strangely, in a sick, twisted way, it was right. And that was the moment that my Death Eater Training began.


Chapter 2

I read the parchment for the umpteenth time. My instructions were clear. This was my final training excersize before joining the ranks of the Death Eaters. That idea no longer made me shudder, actually, it made me glow with pride. I disapparated and appeared again in a field on the outskirts of a town. The muggle residence was on the edge of the forest, out of sight of the sleeping village nearby. I swept through the darkness and reached the door. It was locked, naturally. The muggles were cautious, they didn't want people in their house stealing their things.I lifted my wand from my robes.
Alohamora I thought. There was a small glow and the lock clicked. I opened the door and, silently stepped inside. I cast the muffliato charm over the house so that I wasn't heard and crept through the house, up the stairs and into the master bedroom.
The muggle is a male, approximately 75 years old and lives alone. You are to wake him up in any way that you please, perform the Cruciatis Curse on him and attempt the Killing Curse. I remembered the words from the parchment as though I was still reading it. I saw the man curled up peacefully in his bed. These would be his last few moments. I took a deep breath and raised my wand. My ascension into the ranks of the Death Eaters began here.

Wingardium Leviosa I whispered, flicking my wand. The double bed began to rise steadily to the ceiling. I flicked my wand again and the bed gave a jolt and the sleeping man slipped out of the covers. and fell to the ground. Thud! He hit the ground.
"Huh, what? What just happened? I'm awake, I'm awake." The man looked up and saw me and a look of pure dread spread across his face.
"Who are you?" He demanded. "What are you doing in my house? What's that you're holding?" He said, pointing to my wand. "Who are you!?! Who are..."
"Crucio!" I interrupted. His shriek of agony reverberated through the room. I watched as his frail form writhed and twitched in pain. As the curses effects wore off and the wriggling subcided, he began to speak.
"Please...Please stop. Make it stop. Wha...What...What do you...want from me? I'll do any...anything. Just... Just make it stop." he pleaded
"I don't want anything from you." I stated plainly.
"Then.. why..."
"I have orders."
"From...who? And why... me? What did...what did I do?"
His rambling was beginning to irritate me.
"Let me go... please let me..."
"Crucio!"
His screams echoed around the room once more.
"Please! Make it stop! Make it stop!" he shrieked.
Strangely, the act of torturing the poor, helpless muggle that would have made most other witches or wizards wince and cringe just seeing it gave me pleasure. I was enjoying it! But I wasn't disgusted. Once more, the screams subcided and the man lay shaking on the floor, begging for mercy.
"Please! No more, no more! Make...Make it stop!" he pleaded.
"Had enough?"
"Yes... I want it.. I want it to stop.
"Do you want me to end it for you?"
"Yes! Yes...make it...make it go away."
"Ok."
He looked up at me, his fear now mixed with flickers of hope as I raised my wand, as though he though he believed that I would cast a spell that got rid of the pain and made him feel ontop of the world. I would show him mercy, but I wouldn't be that merciful.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
A flash of green light streaked through the air. The muggle screamed and fell limp.
"I've done it." I said quietly. My heart swelled, not with disgust, but with pride. "I've done it!" a grin spread across my face and I disapparated.

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Chapter 3

A Death eater that i had not seen before awaited me. He was huge and brutish, looking quite capable of ripping a person limb from limb without lifting his wand.
"Uhh, hello..." i said nervously
He meerly grunted.
"I just finished my training, I was told someone wanted to see me...."
"Oh, it's you. The Dark Lord has been told of your above average progress. He would like to see you. Follow me."
I was shocked. Already, I was being taken to the Dark Lord because I was doing well? It didn't seem possible. Just a month and a half ago I was a kind, well behaved Hogwarts student with plenty of NEWTs under my belt and my career choices wide and varied. I could have become a Ministry Employee, my Charms teacher had recommended it, saying that they heard a post was open in the Department of Transportation that would suit me perfectly. But here I was, not at the Ministry but at completely the other end of the scale, doing well.
The brutish Death Eater lead me to a chamberlike room and knocked softly on the door.
"Come In." said a cold voice.
The Death Eater pushed open the door and indicated for me to go inside. I entered the chamber but he simply turned and walked off, flicking his wand to close the door behind him. It was quite dark in the room but, by the light of the single candle, I could see his face. His eyes were blood crimson with catlike pupils in the centre, his face was like a skull, paler than white and his snakelike nostrils flared at the sight of me, his long, thin fingers caressed his wand.
"I have heard great things about you. Not only were you able to Cruciatis one of my best Death Eaters with no training, it only took you 3 days to master all 3 of the 'unforgivable' curses. I must say, I am impressed. Bellatrix chose her new recruit wisely." he said, scrutinising me with his blood coloured eyes."I would like to see your talent for myself before I begin to trust you." he continued. "I have had a muggle captured for you. Show me your skills."

I raised my wand. "Imperio!" I said and thought my command. I then levitated a small glass bottle from my robes and layed it on the floor. The muggle took the bottle and smashed it against the stone floor. He took a shard of glass and sliced a long wound along his lower, left arm. I released the curse and he dropped the shard of glass and began whimpering in pain at his arm. "Who are you? What are you doing? Who did this?" he ranted, bewildered and terrified. I rolled my eyes.
"Crucio!"
The muggle's screams echoed around the chamber. I took a quick glance at The Dark Lord. His face remained impasive as he watched the muggle writhe and squirm.
"No! No, No! Please no! No more!" the muggle man pleaded.
"Crucio!" I repeated and watched him scream again.
"Please! No more! NO MORE! Make it stop!"
I raised my wand again.
"NO! Please! Please no! I'd rather die!"
"Crucio!" I yelled for the third time.
"KILL ME!" the muggle screamed. "MAKE IT STOP! KILL ME!"
"If I must." I sighed. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"
The muggle screamed for one last time then fell silent and limp. I looked around at the dark Lord. "I must say, I'm impressed." he said. "I don't think anyone has earned their Mark so soon."
"The Dark Mark? Me?" I asked, shocked.
"Yes. You have just succeded in climbing to the rank of 'Death Eater'"

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Chapter 4

My left arm still smarted and burned slightly from where the Dark Mark had been tatooed across it. I admired my reflection in the mirror, my new, black robes falling smoothly to the ground, my chocolate brown hair puled back into a bun so that I could get my hood up easily, the silvery mask in my hand reflecting the light of the candles. I glanced at the clock. It was nearly time. I pulled my tall, pinted hood up and placed the mask upon my face. With a flick of my wand, the door opened and the candles went out. I left my bedroom, a feeling of nervousness and excitement bubbling inside me. My first mission as a Death Eater. I hope it goes well... Suddenly, my nerves swelled. What if it all goes wrong, what if my first assignment ia also my last... I was scared now. Then I had a stroke of genius. I hurried to my Potions cupboard and opened the door.
"Accio Liquid Luck!" A small phial of sunshine golden liquid soared out of the cupboard and into my hand. I uncorked it and took a swig. Suddenly, my nerves died away and a warm, bright hope took their place. I replaced the phial, closed the cupboard door and left the house, disapparating as soon as I had reached the corner of the deserted street.

I opened my eyes and gulped in lungfuls of fresh air. There was already another Death Eater there, I recognised him as Yaxley. Suddenly, there was a loud CRACK! and Dolohov appeared. We were going in to put an Imperius curse on the Head of the Department of Transport, the same man that i would probably be working for if things had happened differently, if I had never met Bellatrix in that dark alleyway just two weeks earlier. We needed to imperius as many influential people in the Ministry as possible in order to cause it's downfall. We walked towards the mansion like house and checked for protective enchantments. Luckily, he must have forgotten to put them on (thank you, Liquid Luck!). We continued towards the door.
"Alohamora!" the door swung open and we continued towards the stairs and to his study. He was sitting at his desk, writing on a piece of parchment with a huge, peacock tail feather quill. The second he saw us, his eyes widened and he drew a breath to yell something but Dolohov was too quick for him.
"Imperio!"
The man's eyes emptied for a few seconds then he continued writing on the parchment. We left the house quickly and disapparated. It had gone extremely well. From apparation to disapparation, it had been less than 5 minutes! My first mission as a Death Eater, completed. My heart swelled with pride. Elated, I went to be debriefed.

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Chapter 5

"It went extremely well, my Lord." Dolohov said. "The job was completed within 5 minutes. There were no security charms on the house at all. It was very strange."
The Dark Lord said nothing, he looked deep in thought. "It seems you are being truthful. I believe that our newest recruit had an idea. What was it again?"
I flushed at being adressed directly by The Dark Lord but muttered "I took a mouthful of Felix Felicis before we left."
"Liquid Luck?" said Yaxley "Genius, why did I never think of that?"
"Because you're an idiot?" suggested Dolohov.
Yaxley raised his wand menacingly but after catching a venomous glare from the Dark lord, he settled with raming his wandtip at Dolohovs arm.
"Sunken to the level of using muggle violence then have you?" I jeered at Dolohov. I knew that he wouldn't dare attack me. After all, you're not supposed to curse a girl. Dolohov shot me an acid glare and I smirked at him.

We were out in another room and Dolohov cornered me. "What do you think you were doing back in there?" He growled.
"Stating my opinion." I said simply and continued to walk. He moved in front of me again stopping me.
"You dare humiliate me again and I'll..."
"You'll what?" I snapped, staring him down.
He was silent.
"Just what I thought." I said and, without another word, I left him looking as though he'd been stunned. I kept walking deeper into the woods, wanting some time to think when I saw them. Two wizards, dressed in Auror uniform. I froze, they froze. I was still in my Death Eater robes. One drew his wan and raised it.
"Stupe..."
But I was too quick for him.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" I yelled and a flash of green light exploded from the tip of my wand. The man crumpled.
"Obliviate!" The second Auror's eyes became vacant momentarily. I disapparated before he even knew that I existed.

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Sorry guys, I probably won't be able to add more for a few weeks as I'm away but I'll try and get on when I can and if you could send me any feedback by owl, it would be greatly appreciated. I hope you enjoy my fanfic and I'll write more as soon as possible.

Sorry about not being able to write for a while. I managed to snatch some time but I still won't be able to get on much. I would still like feedback though
Chapter 6

The only annoying part of being a Death Eater was that you were in constant danger of being uncovered and thrown in Azkaban and that made it tricky to have an actual house. So, within a fortnight of being promoted into the ranks of the Dark Lords followers, I had packed up, lock, stock and barrel and moved out.

My new home was a place where we could live in minimal danger of being discovered. We all knew that Cornelius Fudge's blissful ignorance couldn't last forever and, after the recent goings on inside Ministry walls, all Death Eaters were in danger. Occupational Hazard I thought to myself Nothing to worry about, just don't be careless. We lived in a cave, deep underground. The Dark Lord was a secret keeper and several powerful charms repelled muggles and most wizards and witches come to think of it. Only people with the Dark Mark could get in. In addition, all inhabitants had to make an Unbreakable Vow and then, eventually, we were let in. I had a small room deep in the bowels of a huge, complex cave system. I had a roommate named Matilda. She had a hammock on the other side of the hollow. We weren't very close, often not talking much except for the occasional "Hi." She was a little bit on the chubby side with frizzy black curls and slightly murky brown eyes.She wasn't exactly the prettiest person ever but she could throw one heck of a curse and had reflexes to rival a Cobra and had been a Death Eater ever since Harry Potter claimed to have seen the Dark Lord return in the graveyard. Not to be messed with.

Finally, we had another assignment. We had been lying low ever since the whole ministry fiasco, and many of us except the innemost circle of Death Eaters went without orders for about a month. Then, me, Matilda and a guy called Zak were given orders to 'take care of' a wizard and his 2 sons who were getting just a little to curious. They were trying to get at our cave system and it couldn't be tolerated. We were told "We would prefer that you not kill them so close to our caves unless it is absoloutly necessary. Just get rid of them and make sure that they don't come back." Matilda looked slightly disgruntled at the lack of killing required but Zak seemed to have extreme difficulty suppressing his groan of disappointment. But we went anyway.

The balding brown haired wizard with a hitler moustache looked around with a wary curiosity. His two sons, one with slightly lighter brown hair, one with blonde hair so pallid that it almost looked white, seemed annoyed.
"So what is this thing you're looking for, anyway?" said the pale haired boy loudly.
"Ummm..." murmured the father.
"Exactly. Why do you keep wasting our time?"
"You don't have to be here!" snapped his dad.
We watched the argumnent between the father and the pale haired son. The brown haired boy looked significantly unimpressed, even bored.
"This is too easy." murmured Zak.
"Shut up, I growled. "On the count of three. One...two..."
"Obliviate!" we whispered unison.
The agrument ceased abruptly and the three mens eyes went momentarily empty before refocusing.
"Where are we?" The father said.
"Haven't the foggiest. Whose idea was it to come here? It wasn't mine!" said the brown haired son, looking unconvinced.
"Well, one of you must be lying because it wasn't me!" said the pale haired boy arrogantly. The fighting resumed again.
"Would you cut it out!?! yelled the brown haired boy. "Lets just get out of here." and they disapparated.
"Well that was stupidly easy. I'm kind of disappointed at that. Did you have another swig of Liquid luck?" said Zak.
"No." I replied.
"Shame, I would have loved to have..."
"Let's just go." snapped Matilda. So we left, all feeling kind of annoyed at how well it went.

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Chapter 7
"I cannot believe how stupidly easy that was. Why do we always get the ridiculous jobs, why can't the higher rankers get the easy jobs instead? Why do they get to do the fun stuff?" Matilda ranted.
"The answer is the question." I said simply, only half paying attention.
"What on earth is that supposed to mean?"
"It means that because the jobs are fun, the higher ranking Death Eaters get them; and vice versa."
"It's not fair!"
"Life's not fair." I replied curtly, pulling my hood down over my eyes. She recognized the finality in my tone and, sighing, she lapsed into silence.

A few hours later, the silence was broken by the sound of ruffling parchment. After a moment, two small, emerald green, parchment serpents soared into the room. Their slim necks were stretched out in front of them as they slithered across the slightly stale air. One of them turned and began to float towards me, moving as though it was on solid ground, not thin air, the other turned towards Matilda. They were quite small and oddly graceful as they undulated across the room. The snake coming towards me landed on my outstretched palm and curled into a spiral, its parchment tongue still flickering in and out. Matilda glared with wide, cautious eyes at the parchment creature that had settled on her shoulder. Suddenly, they both opened their paper mouths wide and a piece of parchment flew out, landing on our bunks. Matilda sat there, carefully eying the folded green note as though it was about to catch fire. I picked mine up. Written in an elegant script on one side was my name. I unfolded the emerald parchment carefully. The writing continued in the same neat script;
We have another assignment for you.
We heard that you are gifted at making potions. Rumor of the Felix Felicis stunt has spread quickly through such a small, tightly packed community. Anyone who can brew something as advanced as that is no amateur. Hopefully you will be able to brew a Wolfsbane potion for us. We can provide any ingredients or equipment you may require. We will need a 3 year supply (or one year each for three people) If you cannot make the potion, that is no problem, we will have Severus do it. If you do or do not brew the potion, we will need you to administer it. We have captured 3 werewolves unwilling to join our cause. We will need you to convince them to take the potion. They will then keep their human minds during transformation but we trust you already know that. It also means that they will be able to be imperiused the same as a human. When you have brewed the potion, you will need to administer it to them and place an Imperius curse on them that will force them to join our cause. Then take them to Fenir Greyback and he will take it from there. Take as much time as you need to create the potion just make sure it is right. If you don’t think you can brew it, just tell us though if you will attempt it, reply with what you will need. Please inform us when you are finished.
Thank you.

I took a moment or two to think it over then got out a thick, dusty, leather bound volume and looked up the potion. Then, I got out another piece of emerald green parchment and my beautiful swan feather quill and scrawled my reply;
I will attempt the potion.
I will need: and I scribbled a list of ingredients. Then I folded the parchment into a small square and, unsure, stopped what I was doing. The snake, which had coiled on my bunk, looked up at me with eyes that had been drawn onto its head. It slithered through the air towards me and hissed “Where too?”
I froze.
“Umm, could you deliver this note to the person who sent me this please” I said and indicated to the letter that lay, unfolded, on my bunk.
“Can do.” It hissed and swallowed the folded parchment whole and slithered through the air out of the room. I glanced at Matilda who was still staring, dumbstruck at the snake. I cleared my throat loudly, snapping her out of her stupor and she took the note and read it quickly, her eyes flitting across the page. She got up and hurried to get her quill and some parchment and stubbed her toe in the hurry. Cussing angrily, she scribbled her reply and folded it, tossing it to the snake. “Send this to the guy who sent me that.” She said, pointing to her note. The snake nodded its parchment head and slithered into the air, swallowing the letter as it went. She was still annoyed at her stubbed toe. I rolled my eyes and waved my wand and her cussing subsided. She opened her mouth to thank me but before she could say anything, I said “Don’t mention it.” And pulled my hood back down over my face.

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Chapter 8

I checked the picture of the potion in the book against the real thing. They looked identical. It was finished, eventually. Matilda was out with a muggle hunting party but she wasn't actually doing any hunting. She was keeping away any witches and wizards that tried to put a stop to it. To say that she was really annoyed was the understatement of the year. She was furious.

I scrawled a note on a piece of emerald green parchment.
I have finished the Wolfsbane potion. What now?
I folded the letter and fed it to a small parchment snake. It blinked its ink eyes and flicked its red paper tongue. "Where too?" it hissed.
"The instructor." I replied. The snake set off, undulating through thin air as though it was slithering over an invisible platform. The instructor was the person who gave me my missions, as I called them. I layed back on my bed and opened a book. It was Rita Skeeters autobiography. It wasn't very good, it was just trying to glamourise her. I despised her but I liked her articles about Harry Potter. He needed to be taken down a few notches. Suddenly, I heard the ruffling of parhment as the snake returned, slithering through the air. It landed on my bed and spat out a note.
Take the potion to the prison block in the lower west wing. It's cell 7. Make them take the potion however you like, torture them, threaten them, imperius them, as long as they take it. Then place the imperius curse on them to do whatever Fenir Greyback or any other Death Eater tells them to. Then take them to Greyback and he will take it from there.
The note said in the elegant script. I poured 3 goblets of the Wolfsbane potion and took them to the cell.

The three halfbreeds sat huddled in the cell. There was a teenager, she looked like a witch, a muggle child, about 8 and a man maybe a year older that myself. I raised my wand.
The muggle child spoke "Why is she pointing a stick at us?"
"It's not a stick its a wand you idiot now keep your mouth shut before she uses it to kill you." the young witch snapped.
"Now, we can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way. You can take this potion without resistance or complaint and I will leave you alone. Or, you can put up a fight and I will put you through more pain than you ever thought humanly possible to experience, capeesh?"
They were silent.
I placed a goblet in front of each person and watched them drink every last drop without complaint.
"Good. Petrificus Totalus!" The three of them froze.
"Imperio! Imperio! Imperio!" I chanted then released the body bind curse and escorted them to Greyback, almost wondering what misery he was going to put them through before I realised I didn't care. I handed him the rest of the potion and left without another word.

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Sorry about not being able to write for a while but i have just been somewhere with no computers and no way to connect to the internet but I won't be going away for quite a while now.
Chapter 9

To say that Matilda was in a bad mood was a gross understatement. It was scary how angry she actually was. It was the end of the day and my roomate came back from the Muggle Hunting trip. If looks could kill, I would have been dead a million times. She flopped against her hammock and stayed there, unmoving, for about a day, never leaving for even food or water. Eventually, I was annoyed.
"What is wrong with you!?" I yelled.
She sat up.
"I JUST GOT SENT ON A STUPID MUGGLE HUNTING TRIP AND DIDN'T GET TO DO ANY STUPID HUNTING!!!" she bellowed, or words to that effect anyway.
"Jeesh, calm down..."
"Calm down? CALM DOWN!" Matilda was almost hysterical now.
"It was just a job, if you feel that bad about it you should tell someone. But meanwhile, I think there was someone in Africa who didn't hear you."
Matildas next sentence was more of a roar but I did make out the words Avada Kedavra and ducked swiftly a few moments before a jet of green light went shooting over my head.Suddenly, another parchment snake slithered through the air into the room. It spat out a note and waited for the note to be read. The letter remeained untouched. The snake unfolded the note with its tail and its mouth and began to hiss the note.
"Matilda...
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" she yelled and the parchment snake burst into flames and began to burn. Matilda continued to scream hexes at everything. The shelf holding her potions exploded and droplets splashed everywhere.
"SHUT UP!" I yelled with my wand in my hand. Somehow, it worked. Her mouth opened and closed like a goldfish but there was no sound. I threw a small phial to her and snapped "Drink." it was a calming potion. She drank it without complaint, either that or I couldn't hear the complaint, then her rage reddened face turned back to a normal colour. The spell that made her be quiet released.
"Reparo!" she muttered and the shelf and glass bottles upon it fixed themselves.
"You really need to go to an anger management class." I commented before opening my book and continuing to read.
Matildas mouth opened to retort but she closed it again, realising that she ought not to or risk being blown into millions of pieces.


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Chapter 10

The parchment snake landed on my bed and spat out the note.
You have received an owl. We have not read it but we have used a dark detector and it came up clean. You may want to watch out.
Then the snake spat out something else, a letter in an envelope with a red yellow, gold and black seal. My family crest. Every wizarding member of my family for generations had been in either Hufflepuff or Gryffindor. Until I was sorted that is. My mother and father were shocked when I was placed in Slytherin, in fact, they were almost disgusted. I, however, glowed with pride.
I tore off the vile seal and vanished it. Then I read the letter.
Where on Earth are you?!? You've been missing for months, everybody thinks that you're dead! Or in Azkaban or being held hostage! Your house sold, your owls unread, it was like you'd disappeared off the face of the Earth!For all we know you could have gone and joined the Death Eaters! But we know you have more sense than that, even though you are the first Slytherin in our family for over 300 years!
On the off-chance that you do read this letter, your twin brothers have arrived safely at Hogwarts. Timmy is now a Hufflepuff and Tommy a Gryffindor! How wonderful!
Anyway, please reply if you get this, it's driving your brothers, your father and I mad with worry.
All the best
-Mum xxx

I rolled my eyes. It was just like my Mum to worry like that. I scrawled a reply.
Relax! I'm fine. Honestly, you worry too much. I found myself a nice new home in the countryside and a comfortable job that I'm enjoying. I found loads of new friends in the neighborhood too. And my brothers names are Timothy and Thomas. Not Timmy and Tommy. If they heard you calling them that they'd have your guts for garters.
I promise I'll be ok.
I love you!
I didn't want to have to lie to my Mother but some of that wasn't exactly the whole truth either. But what she didn't know couldn't hurt her. And now I had another Gryffindor and another Hufflepuff in my family. Great I thought.

Then Matilda came in. "Hey what's that?"
"Letters from my family."
"Lucky. My family abandoned me as soon as they heard I was a Death Eater. They don't have the guts to turn me in though." she said, biting down on an apple.
"I just had some really great news!" the sarcasm dripped so thickly from my voice you could almost see it. "My twin little brothers hve been sorted. One's a Hufflepuff and the other's a Gryffindor."
"Ooh" she said, wincing.
"I know."
I sealed the envelope with a green seal and addressed it to my mother.
"Anyway, you'll never guess what I heard." Matilda began darkly.
"What?"
"Theres a rumor going around about our status. Apparently only the inner circle are branded with the Dark Mark and they'd never get locked away in this dump. We aren't what they tell us we are."
I glanced down and my left wrist curiously.
"I heard someone in the caves tried to summon him. It didn't work. These aren't real Dark Marks. These are just regular, common garder tatoos. No magical properties whatsoever."
My eyes widened in shock.
"Not real..." I trailed off.
"The stinging and the burning is just a charm. They are in fact just fake, stick on tatoos with a Permanent Sticking Charm on them. You can press your finger against them and it don't do squat. Evidently the Dark Lord doesn't trust us."
"Of course he does!" I snapped back.
"How can he!"
"He just does! Yes, the marks are a bit of a Swizz but that doesn't mean he doesn't trust us. You evidently aren't as loyal as some of the others in these caves. You are forever moaning about how bitterly unfair the jobs are and now you have the nerve to say that the Dark Lord does not trust us! And you call youself a Death Eater." I spat.
She looked ashamed.
"If anyone had heard you you would be dead by now." I growled with undisguised malice.
Then she opened her mouth to say something but seeing the disgust in my expresion, closed it again. She seemed to have a habbit of that.

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Guys, I have a feedback thread but nobody is giving me any feedback! I'm just going on instinct here. If you like this or think it could be improved or have any great ideas for the plotline, even if you think it's rubbish I'm dying for information here! I really don't like being in the dark. And this has had quite a few views so I know that people have read it. Please, I'm begging here. If you have time, please post. I don't care whether you love it or hate it.
Chapter 11
It had only been a few minutes before Matilda's rant but I heard the heavy stomp of footsteps. A girl from a dorm across the corridor named Joanne, a Metamorphagus in fact, stormed into the room, her hair was blazing red and orange like fire. Her teeth and nails were sharp as though they were fangs and claws.
"I heard you!" she shrieked "Every word. Spit it out, who was it? Who dares to insult the Dark Lord!"
I had no loyalty to Matilda, I had made no promises to her. I raised my hand and pointed to her. She narrowed her eyes at me viciously. She opened her mouth to scream at me but I cut her off.
"I never promised not to tell anybody. What you said deserves to be punished." I spat, the malice and disgust thick in my voice.
Matilda was fuming. Not thinking to get out her wand, she grabbed one of my elixers from the shelf and hurled it at me.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" The small phial floated gently back onto the shelf. She hurled another one with the same result.
"Protego!" Now she couldn't get at the potions that took me up to a month to brew.
The Metamorphagus girl was watching as she vented her rage on me. Both her and I were getting bored by now.
"Pertificus Totalus!" she said and Matilda froze. "I challenge you to a duel which you will not win. It will not be to the death because I daresay your roommate will want a piece of you for hurling her elixers around like a common muggle child hurls rocks." The Joanne growled."And you'll pay for turning my hair Gryffindor colours!" she continued, indicating to her fiery gold and red hair, which then promptly became black with thin green and silver highlights framing her face."You will be at the duel. Sunset, at the Cliff Tower. If you don't show up, that'll be the last sunset you'll ever see. Understood?"
I removed the body-bind curse from Matilda and she nodded soundlessly.
"And I will make sure that most of the community are there. See you at sunset." And with that, the Metamorphagus swept out of the room.

I didn't speak to my roommate until it was 5 minutes to sunset. She had a gleam in her eye that looked like she had a plan.
"You will duel. There are at least two people who will fight you and, if you're not finished by then, I'm sure that some of the audience will want a turn. You are most likely going to be dead by the end of the night whether you run like the coward you are or fight like the idiot you are. You may be able to throw a good curse and you may have lightening reflexes but if you are winning against Joanne, I will join the fight. If it's two against one, you cannot win. This may be called a duel but really, it's punishment. And I will make sure that you turn up. Imperio!"
She marched behind me to the Cliff Tower, a tower of rock near a deep fissure in the land. A 300 foot cliff with a sheer jagged edge rose from a freezing, fast flowing river filled with sharp boulders that jutted out from the water, forming rapids that went on for miles. The tower had a courtyard inside it's base and the ceiling was held up by pillars of rock that made it look like an ancient Greek temple with a tall tower of rock ontop of it. This was the battle arena, the courtyard where many duels had been held before. An audience that consisted of most of the residents of the caves was crowded around the space. Joanne was standing coolly at one side of the courtyard. Matilda wove her way through the crowd and stood on the opposite side of the paved square. Small tufts of grass grew between the irregular slabs of rock that had been worn smooth by countless duelers. Matilda's eyes were full of a deep dread. I walked to the centre of the stage.
"My Fellow Death Eaters!" my voice echoed, magically amplified, through the crowd. "This woman, Matilda, has been challenged to a duel by Joanne as punishment for doubt and disrespect. She may not deserve it but we are sparing her from the wrath of the Dark Lord. Joanne will be dueling her to begin with. I will be her second and will duel after Joanne has finished. If you wish to have a turn, please sign your names on the parchment here." I indicated to a piece of parchemnt and a quill that were hovering by the edge of the arena. about dozen people began making their way towards it.
"Let the battle begin NOW!"
The oponents bowed to eachother and then the duel began.
Joanne and Matilda circled. Shakily, Matilda mumbled "Stupefy!" and the jet of red light quivered slowly through the air then faltered and vanished.
Joanne laughed as Matilda tried again. This time, a proper Stunning spell arched towards it's target.
"Protego!" The stream of light exploded and vanished.
"Here's a real spell. Crucio!" the Curse hit Matilda and she collapsed onto the stone floor, writhing and screeching.
"Get up. Get up so I can duel you properly! Imperio!" the still writhing woman got to her feet and picked up her wand. "And fight properly! Then maybe your life will last a few minutes longer!"
"Crucio!" Matilda spat. Joanne's back arched inwards and she stifled a groan. However, the curse was only half-hearted and the victim regained composure within 5 seconds. But Matilda was slightly heartened by the mildly successful Cruciatis Curse.
"Levicorpus!" Joanna was lifted by her ankle into the air. She yelled in rage and shot a jet of green light at Matilda. She ducked out of the way and staggered.
"Save some for me!" I called then reversed the effects of the Levicorpus charm and Joanne was back on her feet and angry, very angry.
"Sectumsempra!" Matilda's left hand had been cursed straight off. Her face twisted in pain, she crumpled.
"No, please..." Matilda groaned. "No more..."
"Honestly." I said, walking towards her. "You sound like the muggle I tortured once."
She continued to whimper.
"Silencio!" I yelled and the whimpering was muffled. "Now, you can have one nights rest but the duel will continue tomorrow, same time same place. And you will all get your turns! Don't fear!" I added and a few of the people in the audience nodded, satisfied.

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Sorry if this is a bit gruesome guys, I wanted a very tense climaxy sort of thing
Chapter 12

We were at the Cliff Tower. It was sunset. There were more people there than the night before and the atmosphere was so dense you could cut it with a knife. Sheer terror radiated from Matilda like heat from a flame. Joanne was happy with her victory, she had forced Matilda into begging for mercy and that, to her, was a clear win. Now it was my turn.

I wore a simple Emerald Green robe, and I had forced Matilda to wear red and yellow. The audience jeered at her calling her the Gryffinpuff and the Huffledore and, strangest of all, the Gruffledoorf. Her morale lowered even more, her eyes were sparkling with tears .
"People." My voice, magically intensified, resounded through the air "I am truly sorry but I doubt that Matilda will survive this duel." Disappointment broke through in mumbles and groans. "But you have my word that you can do whatever you please to her once I have finished. She will not be allowed to rest in peace. More like pieces. Slice her apart, blow her up, drop her down the cliff, do whatever you please, when I have finished. And I promise that I will show no mercy." A malicious grin spread across my face as I faced my opponent. Nobody would care that she was dead, fights to the death between the low ranking Death Eaters were more common than the deaths from Auror attacks. Maybe even larger than the rate of those being put in Azkaban, which was quite small because we were quite skilled at being inconspicuous. This was just another duel. Just another death. Just another soldier lost in battle.

"Let the Duel begin... NOW!" yelled Joanne.

Furnunculus!” I yelled. It was a simple jinx, but it was amusing to watch ugly boils sprout on Matilda’s arms and face. She looked livid.
”Incendio!” she cried, enraged. A bolt of flame shot towards me at split in two, forming a ring around me.
”Aguamenti!” the jet of water hit the flames and, with a hiss, they became smoke, which rose into the air.
”Expelliarmus!”
”Protego!” The red bolt exploded as it hit my shield. Matilda was truly desperate now.
”Uhhh... Serpensortia!” A slim, black snake erupted from the end of her wand. It hissed, flicking it’s tongue and curling to strike.
”Calm Down.” I cooed ”I’m not going to hurt you. In return, please refrain from hurting me.” The words escaped my mouth in a soft hiss. The snake hesitated, then coiled into a perfect spiral and fell asleep. ”Avada Kedavra!” I whispered and, almost unnoticeably, it died. I looked up and the crowd was aghast and the fear radiating from Matilda was so strong that you could almost feel it hitting you in great waves.
“Yes, I’m a parselmouth! That’s why I’m the only Slytherin in my family for hundreds of years. My dad was a descendant of Salazar Slytherin’s sister! My brother’s had a naive Hufflepuff father, but mine, a descendant of Elithabetha Slytherin... no wonder I’m a parselmouth when I’m the heir of a witch so deep in the Dark Arts she could give even Bellatrix Lestrange a run for her money! At least you knew before you died...”
Matilda was scared, deeply and truly, but she tried to put on a brave face.
”Crucio!” she yelled. The jet of light shivered through the air.
”Diffindo!” Our spells collided in midair, exploding in a scatter of sparks.
”Ferula!” Matilda’s left arm was suddenly cast in a splint. She took a moment to pull it off.
“Now I am beginning to tire at watching you attempt to fight me.” I said.
”Stupefy!” I deflected the spell wordlessly.
“You will die very painfully and very, very soon. Crucio!”
Her screams echoed through the air as she fell to her knees and sobbed. A jeer rose from the audience. A stunning spell flew towards her and she crumpled, unconscious.
“A little restraint please, we don’t want her humanely euthanized. Ennervate”
“Please... please, no. I’ll do anything just make it stop. Don’t kill me! NO!”
“You can all join in now. Those wishing to participate may cast a Cruciatis Curse at her, but make sure it’s not too strong, we don’t want her to die just yet.”
Several yells of ”Crucio!” sounded and Matilda’s screams were so loud and so agonised that they drowned out the cheering, jeers and applause. Her black hair hung limp and sodden with tears and the light was fading from her murky brown eyes. She was no longer the Death Eater who could kill you in a heartbeat and react faster than a cobra. She was just a woman on the edge of death. I felt no empathy, I just pitied her. Her screams faded into sobs of fear and pain.
“You are about to die. Goodbye Matilda. Avada... no, I have a better idea.” She looked up hopefully.
”Sectumsempra!” The gashes sliced across her as though someone was wielding an invisible sword.The blood pulsed like a crimson fountain from her torso. A scream echoed out, louder and more painful than before. ”Crucio!” but her screams could not get any louder. Her voice faltered and fell into sobs.
“When she is dead, you may do as you wish.” I said simply, the turned and walked away, leaving my dying roommate to the wrath of the other Death Eaters.

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SORRY everyone about the massive delay between the chapters but my PC totally rejected Veritaserum for about 2 months. It wouldn't let it load properly and I was sat there for about 5 minutes staring at the background picture but my PC seems to have resolved its issues with VTM and now I can get on here again. Hurray! And you guys have had months and the Feedback thread remains stubbornly empty. C'mon people PLEASE visit the feedback thread HERE! Pretty please...
Chapter 13
I sat, perfectly still on my bunk, staring at Matilda’s half of the room. While I had been stood behind the crowd, watching the other Death Eaters play with what was left of my old roommate, someone had been into our -my- room and had taken all of Matilda's old possessions. They had found an envelope with a small piece of parchment pinned to the back that read; If I die, send this to my parents. The address is already on the front. which I would have found rather touching; a few months ago. I found it lying on her bed along with her possessions neatly piled up and ready to be sold or sent to family members. I suppose I should honour her wishes. She was my friend, well, sort of my friend.
Suddenly, I heard the faint whisper of a parchment snake undulating through the air. It landed silently on my bunk and spat out a small scroll of parchment. It was unnerving to not have Matilda asking "What does it say?" before I had a chance to read the letters. It was sort of, lonely, being all on my own... I almost thought that I missed her until I remembered what she had said. I unfolded the note and scanned it quickly.
Please write a letter to Matilda’s parents explaining what has happened, but make sure everything seems normal. Say that it was a tragic accident of some kind, make something up, but do not mention anything about Death Eaters as only Matilda's mother and father know that she was one and they will probably be showing the letter to family members and friends. You will be getting a new roommate in a few days as soon as Matilda's things have been removed. Her name is Lilly- Anne. She is quite nervous and we are putting her in with you as we hope that you can teach her a few tricks. She has potential.
I folded the piece of parchment and wondered for a moment. Who was this Lily-Anne? What was she like? Would we be friends or would it all just go wrong like it did with Matilda? I guess I'm not going to know until she gets here. I thought and reached for my quill and ink bottle and began to write.

Dear Matilda's parents.

I am a friend of Matilda's and we were walking by the cliffs and the rocks just slid away and there was a miniature landslide. It dragged her down with it. By the time I got to the bottom of the cliffs, she had been swept away. I found her a few miles downriver but not fast enough to save her. I'm so sorry for your loss. I found a letter addressed to you and I enclosed it. If there's anything of Matilda’s that you would like, please reply, the owl will know where to find me.
I'm so sorry.
I signed my name at the bottom of the page and folded the parchment then slipped it and Matilda's letter into an envelope. The snake, which had been coiled on my pillow, slithered through the air and hissed, a soft sound that I could make out in parseltongue.
Send in an owl.
It must have been speaking to another snake near the owlery because, in less than a minute, a magnificent barn owl glided into the room. I offered the letter to him and he took it in his sharp beak. I gave him a gentle stroke down his back and he turned his lamp like eyes on me, which looked confused. Obviously no-one had stroked him before they had sent him away. I had gotten in the habit of it at Hogwarts. After freezing for a moment, the shock wore off the owl and he nuzzled my hand with the side of his head. His feathers were soft and downy, like the fur of a kitten. And then he swooped out of the room, graceful and silent as a golden and white shadow with the emerald green parchment snake undulating after him.

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Chapter 14

I stood at the Cliff Tower. It was sunset and my crimson robes billowed gently around me in the cool breeze. The bliss was wearing off as I fought against the Imperius curse. As soon as the effects had faded enough for me to think coherently, I realised that I was scared, no I was terrified and I hadn't got a clue why. I looked around. I was in the almost temple-like building not far from the rushing rapids that flowed hundreds of feet down in a deep chasm. Ornate, stone columns held up an equally magnificent stone roof. Tufts of grass grew up from between the slabs on the ground, which had been worn smooth. I wondered idly why there were so many cracks and burn marks on them, and on the columns and the underside of the roof. Probably curses that missed their target. I thought. Then I remembered why I was here. The memory hit me like a ton of bricks. I was here to die. My breath came quicker and my heart sped up, pounding so hard that I thought that it was going to burst with the effort. Death Eaters were crowding around the edge of the stadium and more were gathering, swarming towards it like ants to sugar. They were laughing, chatting, joking. This was all just a laugh to them. Like the Romans watching a fight to the death between an emaciated, terrified lion and a Gladiator, armed with the sharpest sword in the land. I was the lion, and, glancing around, getting more and more terrified by the minute, I spotted the Gladiator. It was me.

The other me was leaning coolly against one of the stone columns, wearing a perfectly tailored robe of mint green velvet. Her chocolate brown hair was flowing down past her shoulders in graceful waves and there was a small, ornate silver flower resting in it. I instantly recognised it as my favourite hair slide, which I had bought from a small jewellery shop in Diagon Alley when I as shopping for my school things for my second year at Hogwarts. It was beautifully crafted and it was an exact replica of the small, 5 petal flower of Poison Ivy. Set in the centre was a small fluorite stone which was mint green in colour and glittered every time the light of the sunset caught it. The other me twiddled with my wand, Lignum Vitae with a Chimera Scale and a Runespore Fang. She looked exactly like me in every single way, except from the cold look in her eyes. I had never seen that cold look before. It terrified me.

Joanne was standing beside the other me. They were chatting casually, laughing and joking, shooting me glares. I watched as my apple green, silver flecked eyes surveyed me with disdain. Then they flickered towards the west, where the sunset splattered the watery blue sky with vivid pinks, glowing golds and intense violets. The Sunset. Those words struck a chord. The chord filled me with fear. Another realisation. I would probably be dead before the sun had fully set.

The other me spoke. "It's time. Sonorus!"
Joanne glared at me. Her eyes flashed crimson, literally. Get out your wand! she mouthed. I fumbled in my robe and found it. It looked... strange. Unfamiliar. It was lighter, shorter, stubbier, paler than my wand, which the other me was now flexing her fingers around. It was made of white ash, which was softer and lighter, in colour and weight, than the Lignum Vitae that I was used to.

My magically intensified voice echoed through the clock tower.
"People, I am truly sorry but I doubt that Matilda will survive this duel." Groans and grumbles rose from the crowd and many eyes flickered to me. "But you have my word that you can do whatever you please to her once I have finished. She will not be allowed to rest in peace. More like pieces. Slice her apart, blow her up, drop her down the cliff, do whatever you please, when I have finished. And I promise that I will show no mercy."

I looked around desperately, terrified and looking for an escape. But we were surrounded in the battleground. Every way out was blocked by Death Eaters. Only now did I really hear the anticipating murmurs of the crowd. Only now did I see the bloodstains on the cracked stone floors and the burned columns. Only now did I see my reflection in the puddle of rainwater. My face was rounder than normal, framed by frizzy, black curls, my eyes were a murky brownish colour, filled with tears and rimmed with red from crying. I only just noticed that I was crying. But that was the least of my problems. I wasn't me anymore, I was Matilda. And I was going to die. I watched helplessly as my own eyes stared at me, utterly cold and my own wand was raised at me. And then I woke up.

My heart thudded hard, my breath was shallow and the back of my neck was coated in a thin film of cold sweat. My eyelids fluttered open and I sat bolt upright. I reached for my wand. It was definitely my wand, made of dark Lignum Vitae. It was comfortingly heavy in my hand. I ran to the bathroom and stared into the mirror. I stared back. With my chocolate brown wavy hair and silver flecked green eyes. I let out a sigh of relief. I was me again.

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Chapter 15

There was a knock at the door and a girl walked in, looking nervous. She was slight, no more than 5 feet high and she looked somehow, insubstantial, as though a light breeze could blow her away. Her hair was blonde so pale that it was almost white and it fell to her shoulders, so light and feathery that it was blown backwards by her slow, nervous walk. Her skin was deathly pale, the colour of undisturbed snow. It was almost eerie. There were only two things that distinguished her from a corpse. One, the fact that she was moving slowly into the room. And two, her eyes. They were wild, childlike and innocent, but they seemed to blaze. I supposed that she said they were brown, but they weren't they were amber, almost golden, the colour of fire. They seemed to flicker like a flame as well. One moment, they were the colour of copper, a deep, rich orange, the next they were pure, dazzling yellow-gold. They mesmerised me. I saw her pallid cheeks flush faintly pink and I realised I was staring. I looked down, embarrassed.
"Hi." she said uncertainly. "My name is Lily-Anne, you must be my new roommate."
"Yeah. Welcome to the caves."
Lily-Anne smiled uncertainly and then walked towards her bed, so quietly that I wouldn't have known that she was moving if I hadn't been seeing it with my own eyes. She sat down and unpacked her things. I noticed that most of her clothes were indistinct, the kind that allow someone to blend into the background; plain black T-shirts and faded blue jeans. And she seemed, sad. Not devastated just sort of, melancholy. Her eyes blazed, but not with emotion, just with a deep knowledge, a deep pain and a deep sadness.
I noticed that she was holding something in her hand. It was a piece of parchment, aged and slightly crumpled from being rolled up and unravelled many times. On the parchment was a picture of a lily, beautifully drawn by hand with a quill and beneath it, five words, written in a plain script. I will always love you. Her smouldering eyes were filled with tears as she stared at the piece of parchment. Then she looked up and our eyes met. And I knew exactly what had happened. This was a note from a lover, someone who had been murdered by a Death Eater. And now, she had been forced to become one of the monsters that had killed the one person that truly understood her. I felt sick, enraged and devastated all at the same time.
Then I realised something that shook me. It was going to change my life. It was going to knock me off the ladder that I was climbing towards The Dark Lords inner circle. It was going to drive me insane. I knew this girl. When I first started Hogwarts, she was beginning her 6th year. I remembered seeing her, sitting at the Ravenclaw table. Back then, her skin wasn't deathly pale, but it had a beautiful strawberries-and-cream complexion. She smiled. Her hair was long and it was golden, not cropped and white. Her eyes were full of a deep happiness. She seemed to have a substance, she was still short and slender but she didn’t look like she had been shrunk and distorted. She looked like she could stand in a breeze without being blown away. And her fingers were twined with boys. A boy that I instantly recognized. It was the man in the Auror uniform that I had encountered on my way out of my first debriefing, the night that I had jeered at Dolohov, the night that I had first received my first praise from one of my new colleagues. It was the boy that I had been too quick for.
I had killed Lily-Anne's lover.
A spasm of pain and guilt ripped through my chest like a red hot sword straight out of the furnace. I doubled over and threw up. I don't want this anymore I want to stop. I want to go home, back to my family. I want to have a normal life, I want to take up that job at the Ministry that my Charms teacher had recommended. I want to take it back, to start over again. I don't want this anymore. I don't want this. I don't want this. I DON'T WANT THIS! My mind kept screaming those four words to me.Pushing and pulling me around, ripping and tearing at me until I almost felt like I was falling. Falling into regret and guilt and pain. I had become a monster. I should have died. I don't want this I don't want this
I don't want this... Lestrange gave me a choice.
I don't want this...I shouldn't have chosen this.
I don't want this...I should have chosen death.
I don' twant this...So many people are dead because of me.
I don't want this...Because I chose the wrong one.
I remembered that night as though it were yesterday. Bellatrix standing there in the dark alley, looking like a Goddess of evil. Saying "...You have two choices at the minute. You can either come with me and become a Death Eater or I can kill you right here on the spot. I remembered my thoughts whirring around my head. The good, smart part of me telling me You'd rather die than become a Death Eater, you know that. But I hadn't listened. I should have listened. Because I hadn't listened, people were dead. People who hadn't done anything wrong. People like Matilda, who was supposed to be my friend. But I had listened to the wrong voice. The evil voice. Thevoice that I had thought was right. Oh, God, what have I done? You should have listened I don't want this You should have listened I don't want this... It pounded in my head, never ceasing. It was like a heartbeat. It wouldn't cease until I was dead. Until I had paid for what I had done to Lily-Anne’s lover, to Matilda, to the muggles, to so many people...
Lily-Anne was staring at me in alarm. A girl, kneeling on the floor with her head in her hands murmuring "Make it stop, make it stop..." Being driven to madness. I managed to look up at her and whisper "I'm so sorry..." and then I lost my battle. The grief and the guilt and the pain washed over me and pulled me under. I passed out. But it didn’t stop. I was falling through a tunnel. The light at the top was fading until it was no longer white but a twisted green. It was green smoke, forming into a skull with a snake slithering out of its jaw. But as I fell, it didn’t seem to get any smaller, any further away. Instead, it got more defined. It looked more twisted and evil and wrong the further I fell. And all the time, the voices whispered; I don’t want this You should have listened Because of you Wrong Descision... it went on and on, all of those people whispering to me all at the same time. The words began to melt into each other. But it was always the same words; Idon& #8217;twantthisYoushouldhavelistenedBecauseofyouWrongdescisi
on... always whispering. Except one voice. One of them was getting louder. It was no longer whispering, it was speaking, shouting, yelling, screaming... I DON’T WANT THIS YOU SHOULD HAVE LISTENED
BECAUSE OF YOU WRONG DESCISION... and I recognised the voice. It was Matilda’s voice. My journey into the abyss had begun.

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Chapter 16

As soon as I had recovered from my mental breakdown I realised that I had made a huge mistake. I shouldn't have just given in to it. I should have fought it. Instead I had to make up some rubbish about having a really bad migraine. Lily-Anne didn't look too convinced but accepted the story, which I was glad about. I didn't need rumours of my insanity flying around the caves.

Joanne came to check if I was ok. I told her that I was fine and I probably added too much of something to the headache potion I took last night. She, too, didn't look too convinced but still swallowed the story. But people believing my pathetic story was the least of my problems. There was the crushing guilt, the madness, the voices in my head. But my thoughts were oddly clear, as though they were detached somehow from the grief and remorse that was threatening to wash over my head and drown me, and apart from the babble of voices as though they were on the other end of a defective phone line. I felt as though I were floating somewhere above myself, watching from above and I felt sorry for myself. Watching from above. It sounded like my nightmare. I was watching myself like a wary gazelle watches a stalking leopardess. I was still doing that, watching myself, making sure that none of what was going on inside my head escaped through my lips. I just wanted to be able to go home. To be able to be with my family and tell them everything and to be able to start over.
But I could never go home. I no longer had one. Well, at least, not with my mother and father and my two little brothers. The Dark Lord would never just let me go. It was unheard of. You can't just stop being a Death Eater. I am home I thought stubbornly. The caves are my home now. But as firmly as I thought it, I still couldn't make myself believe it. Where had it changed? What had gone wrong with me? A few days ago, I would have laughed at myself for even thinking this. But now, there was nothing I wanted more that to just get out of here.

But if I thought that this was bad, I was badly mistaken. Everything started to go really wrong. The faint rustle of parchment, which I knew to be emerald green in colour, awakened me almost as I sat, lost in thought. The snake coiled on my bunk and spat out the note before slithering off again. The note read
A wizard has stumbled too close to our cave. We have brought him in. He needs disposing of. Quickly. Come to cell 2 in the dungeons.

It was very brief and very clear. I realised my hand was shaking as I reached into my pocket for my wand. I gripped it tight to steady my hand and swept from my room and down the hall towards the dungeons in the lower west wing of the caves.

As I arrived, I felt queasy. My heart was pounding harshly in my chest and nausea splashed around in my stomach. My legs shook slightly as I moved and I felt weak, almost faint. I felt like there was no oxygen left in my bloodstream as my breath quickened, my chest tightened and my head became more and more oxygen starved. A wizard cowered in the corner. No, not a wizard, a boy. He looked no more than eleven or twelve years old with tousled, almost fluffy brown hair and green eyes that blazed with terror. I composed my features into a terrifying mask, hiding my nausea and stepped into the cell. The boy cowered and whimpered as I raised my wand, but then he stared me straight in the face and a flash of recognition crossed his own. And he whispered one word, so silently that I was barely sure that he had even spoken. But he had definitely said one word. He had said my name. And instantly, I recognised the bedraggled, thin, barely alive boy. This was Tom, my little brother. He had come looking for me.
Tears pricked in my eyes as I surveyed Tom. He was thin and dirty. Mud smeared his skin and his clothes and clumped in his fluffy brown hair. He looked exhausted, weak and hungry. I felt a stab of pity. He had come looking for me, he had risked his life to come and find his sister. He had sensed that there was something wrong when I hadn’t seen my family in months. And he was worried, not just because of what I was, but for Tim. Because Tom never went anywhere without his twin brother, Tim. They must have run away in the half term holidays and come to find me. They had only sealed their own deaths. At least one of them is safe. I thought, attempting to create a bubble of hope inside me. But it was small and it’s walls were impossibly thin. And it burst and shattered when I heard two heavy sets of footsteps, and one lighter set, along with a whole lot of yelling. The door was opened behind me and Tim was thrown into the cell. He saw me, standing before his twin in my sweeping black cloak, my wand in my hand and he cried out, an unbearable sound of an innocent child’s heart being savaged and torn into hundreds of pieces. He fell to his knees and huddled silently for just a few seconds before sitting up and staring me right in the eyes. His were hard, cold and empty, but they seemed to pierce straight into me, ripping me open and exposing the very core of my tattered soul. He spoke. He said my name and then three words, calm, collected and calculating. They were quiet, but they reverberated into me and would haunt me for the rest of my days.
"Go on then, sis."”
Those words tore through me like a murderous, bloodthirsty beast, tearing at my lungs, my heart and my soul with its dagger-like teeth and terrible claws. It left my insides in a heap of bleeding mess. The pain was indescribable, but for some reason, I remained perfectly still. I felt more connected than ever with myself but my face remained the perfect mask of calm. Inside, I just wanted to grab them both in my arms and disapparate. I wanted to hide my innocent brothers from danger and let them have me. But they would tea me to pieces before I got the chance and even if I did manage to escape, we would all be sought out and murdered. There was only one thing I could do. I had to kill my brothers.

But I couldn’t. My shredded insides writhed as my conscience poured acid on them. I couldn’t kill my own brothers. I had already ruined too many lives. My brothers wouldn’t be next. They were going to die anyway, whether I killed them or not, unless I got them away. I committed myself to it. I was going to make sure that my brothers survived. But I wasn’t going to. I knew that, but I was strangely ok with it. It was mostly because they were comforting me. The voices. Matilda’s voice whispered
I forgive you. IforgiveyouIforgiveyouIforgiveyou...
Whilst the voices of the others, all of the other people whose lives I had stolen chimed in whispering
iforgiveyouIforgiveyouIforgiveyouIforgiveyou...
It almost sounded like music. One voice would stop whispering, just for a moment to say something, to comfort me. To welcome me to wherever it was they were. But all the time, their strange song continued, soothing me, like a lullaby.

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Chapter 17

I had to think quickly to save my brothers. The voices stopped and began to help me think, suggesting ideas. Then Matilda's voice whispered Interrogation... Perfect.

It was clear that the other Death Eaters that crowed around the cell, waiting for some action, were getting impatient. One of them coughed pointedly and looked from me to the two boys.

"I think it'd be a good idea to interrogate them first. See who they've told, how they found out. I can do that. I know these boys. They must have come looking for me wondering where I was. I know how to manipulate them, but I think they will talk more if I can have them on my own. They won't talk if they think someone else is listening. They’re a pair of wandless teenage boys. I'm a Death Eater. I think I can handle them, no sweat." I said calmly. The others shuffled off, muttering and annoyed. I turned back to the boys as soon as I knew that there was no one there and cast muffliato around the cell. I checked for bugs, the cell was clean. Nobody could listen into our conversation. Then I moved towards my brothers and hugged them both to me.

"Boys..." I breathed. "Are you okay? Tim?" The boy who had been thrown into the cell first nodded his head almost imperceptibly. "Tom?" The other boy nodded also. I sat back and blinked away the tears that were welling in my eyes. They seemed so... small, so vulnerable. Not like two almost-twelve-year-old boys.

"You didn't honestly think I was going to kill you, did you?" I asked and laughed weakly.

"Well, you did look a bit freaky at first, sis. But then you went all soft. You're just a big marshmallow really." Said Tim and smiled. It was so good to see him smile.

Meanwhile, Tom was surveying my black robes and the ornate silver mask, which I had removed and placed on the floor beside me. "A Death Eater, eh? Wow. Who Imperiused you then? I thought you could throw that stuff off." I had to admit that I would have never expected that from an eleven year old. How did he know about unforgiveable curses? He had only been at Hogwarts for about a term and a half. To my surprise, I had said that out loud.

"Dad figured it out, that you're a Death Eater I mean. Don't ask how, he just did, he didn't tell us though, and he taught us about Unforgiveable Curses in the Christmas holidays. We were kind of confused at first, but we figured it's just Dad being overprotective, as usual." Tom said.

"But just before the end of term, we figured it out for ourselves." Tim continued from where his brother left off. "Well, we thought that you'd been captured by the Death Eaters, not that you had become one. That took us by surprise. "On the contrary, my little brothers seemed to be taking it all in their stride, but that's what they usually did, they completely freaked out on the inside but looked a perfectly calm outside. "Mum still doesn't know, though. We didn't tell her. We got our stuff and took off to come and save you. Yeah, I know" he said, cutting me off as I opened my mouth to speak. "We're idiots. But you're our sister, and we had to come and get you. That's what families do." Another wave of tears welled up in my eyes.

"So what happened then?" asked Tom. And I launched into the story, telling them everything, spilling my soul, my darkest secrets. And then my brothers knew every gory, twisted detail. They knew that their sister was a monster. And they hugged me. But I'm a monster! A disgusting, twisted beast I thought Why do they still love me? Why aren't they angry? Or scared? Then the other part of my brain chimed in. Because you're their sister. And they do love you, and they can't help that. And now, if you want to get out of this mess, you're going to have to stop asking why and start thinking of a plan! That part of my brain gave me a mental kick and I sat up.

"We have to get out of here. Because if we don't you two are going to die and I'm going to have mental breakdown." I said

"Right. What's the plan?" asked Tim.

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Sorry about the delay between chapters, but places to see, people to go etc etc
Guys, this story is coming to an end pretty soon. If there’s no feedback, how will I know if anyone has liked my fanfic or if I just wrote it to waste time?
Chapter 18

I layed my wand down, facing the wall. It wouldn't do any damage there. In theory. The muffliato spell had been lifted. The boys would be dead soon, and everyone would know. At least, they thought they would be.
"AVADA KEDAVRA! AVADA KEDAVRA!" I yelled, and quickly grabbed by wand again. The boys lay limp at my feet. They didn't move, but they were still alive, perfectly alert. They had a knack for staying completely still and silent, even when breathing deeply. A Death Eater strode down the hall and glanced quickly at the 'dead' boys. I nodded once at the other Death Eater and he nodded back.
"Mobilicorpus!" I said, and the two boys rose limply into the air and floated behind me as I wandered upstairs and out into the grounds. I passed the Cliff Tower and crossed a bridge over the chasm and to the graveyard. It was a desolate, lonely place. Dusty, battered, makeshift headstones with barely legible words engraved upon them fought the encroaching grasses, weeds and moss. I waved my wand and lowered the boys to the ground, then waved it again to dig two graves. Two graves that would remain empty. I dumped the dirt back into the hole and carved my brothers' names and a few words into a pair of smooth, flat-ish stones and lay them at the head of the rectangle of disturbed earth.

My brothers stood up, beaming and we prepared to disapparate. It would be hard, disapparating and taking two people with me, but with the joy that filled me, I knew that I would manage. But then I saw him, the Death Eater who had nodded to me not ten minutes ago. He stared at us. He knew that the boys were alive.
"OBLIVIATE!" I cried in desperation. My spell was deflected easily.
“Oh no.” Tom said, almost silently. “We’re going to die.”
“No, no we’re not. No we’re not...” I insisted frantically.
The man was now on the bridge. He was getting to close. I began to panic. We're going to die! We're going to die! I couldn't think straight. He was almost upon us. Matilda’s voice suddenly echoed through my brain, crystal-clear and demanding. DISAPPARATE! it cried.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" I heard someone yell. The emerald light flashed as we disappeared.

We landed in the heart of a deep woodland. The place had a faint, green aura to it. I looked around, we were alone. And then I checked that my brothers were alright. Tom was breathing heavily and looked severely shaken, but was otherwise okay. I turned to Tim. He was laying on the forest floor. Still.
"Tom?" I whispered "Tom, you can stop pretending now, we got away."
My brother didn't move. He seemed... small, fragile. I took his face in my hand and turned it towards me. His green eyes were vacant and glassy. Like a derelict building. There was nothing in there, no spark of intelligence, no bright glow of life.
“Tom, it’s not funny.” I scolded. “Tom? Tom? Oh, no, Tom! TOM! TOM!!”
I cried, trying to reawaken my little brother. But there was no sign of life. He was dead. But I refused to believe it. Tim sobbed over the corpse of his lost twin. And eventually, so did I. Reality crept up on me, seeping through the cracks like icy water. He was dead. And it was all I could do to save Tim and I from meeting that same fate. The pain was unbearable. I had watched this boy grow up, flourish, thrive, and then he was snatched from me. It wasn’t fair. And, I realised, it was my fault. It’s always my fault. People are dying everywhere. And it always seems to be my fault. I wanted to die. If I died, nobody else would have had to. The whispering voices began to creep up on me, like the wind through the trees. Yourfaultyourfaultyourfaultyourfault... It was like an eerie melody, murmuring in the back of my head. I had tuned it out, but it was invading the foreground of my brain from behind. It was all I could hear except for the desperate sobs of my brother. I wept beside the boy and his empty twin, lifted into madness my the gentle tendrils of the music.

Yourfaultyourfaultyourfaultyourfault...

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