Voldemort's HQ

Draco headed off the grounds, pulled on his black cloak, pulled his mask out and apparated to the meeting site. When he arrived his father greeted him and lead him into the main room with everyone. Standing around with all the other Death Eaters in their masks he closed his eyes for a moment, wishing he was back at Hogwarts, relaxing in the lounge with Pansy. He knew she would be there, waiting for him and worrying. His fingers wrapped around the potions vials in his pocket and he squeezed slight, taking comfort from the fact that he had something of his own, something that made him worthy to be here. He had done what he was told to and it was perfect. He had written to his father about it but aside from a note to bring a sample to the next meeting it hadn't been mentioned. Some of the other trainees pulled him into conversation and they stood aside from the general mass while they waited. He knew most of the fellow recruits from school, recent graduates mostly and several of his old quidditch teammates. All but five were Slytherins, three of the others were Durmstrang students and the other two were Ravenclaws that he hadn't immediately recognized, apparently they had graduated two years ago. Draco could feel his father's eyes on him, watching him and making sure that he behaved himself but he could also feel the eyes of others, the older Death Eaters watching them and assessing them.

Pansy had gone back to the common room for a while and sat with Max by the fire in the main room. The longer she sat there, the more she didn't want to be. She didn't want to just sit here and wait for him to come back, to mope around and stare dejectedly at the fireplace. That wasn't who she wanted to be, it wasn't who her father had raised her to be. Pansy was a fighter, or she was taught to be. Dad had always told her to go after what she wanted, never take no for an answer if it seemed worth it, to make her own destiny and make him proud while doing it. Sure, making him proud while doing what she wanted put a few limits on things, but she'd never had a problem before. Of course, she'd never fully gone for something before, never really done something others would consider stupid for the sake of something she believed in or wanted. Pansy knew that needed to change. Now.

She got up, headed up to her room and asked Daph to take care of Max while she was gone, though she was sure she shouldn't be gone more than overnight. Grabbing a traveling cloak and putting on an extra sweater, she left the common room. Heading to Draco's room, she searched through the papers on top of his trunk, looking for the letter from his father. Thankfully, he'd left it. After figuring out the location of this week's meeting, Pansy left the castle, hurrying toward Hogsmeade so she could apparate away.

Approaching the building, she wasn't perfectly sure why she came. A refusal to sit at school and wait for him? But what was she going to do here? She supposed she'd planned to find somewhere in here to hide, sneaking to Draco at night to make sure he was okay. Finding a way to be with him in secret even while he had to be away from school. She'd go in and hide, listening carefully to everything going on, and once they dispersed, she would find Draco and it would be alright. She snuck up to a window carefully, peeking in.

Draco was in there, and she thought she could pick out his tall thin form, but she couldn't be sure. She could spot her father over in another corner, she was familiar with his mask, the one he kept hanging in his study. She'd never seen a meeting before, never seen who attended them. Something of a menacing bunch with all the masks and hulking bodies. She turned to continue moving quietly around the building, looking for somewhere hidden to enter and wait a while before trying to get to Draco. But before she could manage to take more than three steps, a massive hand clamped down on her arm, jerking her backward and wrapping her up in an embrace so hard she could barely breathe much less use her wand on him. His hand reached up to clamp down over her mouth, so huge it covered half her face. His voice was deep, almost a growl, but she had no idea who it was. "What's a little angel like you doing lookin' in our window?" Pansy bit his hand where it covered her mouth. He whirled her around, that same massive hand striking her cheek. He laughed, but it was hollow as she reached up to hold her cheek, staring up into his masked face as if she wasn't terrified. "I'm mistaken. A little pistol, huh?" He grabbed her arm again, jerking her along behind him. It was all she could do not to fall as she hurried along with him. "Well welcome to the Death Eaters meeting, bitch. We're going to have fun, aren't we?"

This was so not part of the plan.

I HOPE YOU KNOW YOU JUST BROKE MY BRAIN WOMAN

As the Dark Lord entered they all circled up and faced him. He looked out over the group and began to speak. He talked of a recent raid and its success and he spent a while expounding upon the new problems caused by the mudbloods in their society. Draco couldn't decide what he thought of this, he understood what the Dark Lord was saying, agreed with it even, but the raids, the sheer brutality was horrific to him, regardless of the victims' blood status. After even more time had passed Voldemort abruptly stopped speaking and stared out at them, a chill passing over the room. His eyes lit up in a way that made Draco want to run but he stayed put, his legs holding him there. Speaking again that high cold voice announced it was time to assign the newest recruits with their mentors, but first there was one last piece of business to be taken care of. The doors opened and everyone's eyes flicked over to see two people enter.

He dragged her through hallways and a series of rooms, a high cold voice growing louder the further they went. She didn't stop trying to wrestle from his grip the entire time, but to no avail. They stopped outside a door, and he waited a second before pushing it open, a second full of pointless strugglings and punches and swears from Pansy. She made him jerk her after him into the room. She wasn't going willingly. Swallowing involuntarily as she realized she was being brought right into the meeting, the room full of Death Eaters and Voldemort himself, she straightened up, still pulling to escape his grasp, making him drag her along behind him. A ferocity was present in her eyes that had perhaps never been there before, not even in her dueling practices or previous fights. She'd set her jaw, lifted her chin, taking quick glances around but not looking at any one in particular. She didn't want to know where her father stood, where Draco stood.

Finally the man stopped with her, somewhat in the center of the circle. Her cheek had begun to bleed a little, though no one could be sure if it was from the original strike across her face or a latter one resulting from her making him wrestle her the whole way here while giving him a string of swears and curses that would make her mother faint. "Our very own little prowling bitch." He laughed, letting go of her arm and shoving her forward. Her wand, which he had taken from her on their journey inside, he threw across the room, it landing clattering on the floor in front of someone in the circle's feet. Pansy kept her feet, despite his intention for her to end up on the ground. If looks could kill, she'd have sliced the man's head off by now with the stare she was giving him over her shoulder. Though she was scared enough to lose her dinner right here on the ground, she wasn't letting that happen. It was time to step up and make her father proud, even if her presence here would have him angry beyond belief. She didn't like to think about what Draco was thinking right now, hardly able to even imagine the mess of emotions he must be tangled up in. She waited to see what would happen now, bracing herself for the worst she could imagine.

As the two figures entered the room and took a place in the center of the circle his heart stopped beating and his mind exploded with more emotions than he had ever felt before. Pansy. What the hell was she doing there? Part of him wanted to take her and shake her and ask her what the hell she was thinking, another part wanted to run in and grab her and hold her to shield her from everyone around them but the biggest part of him wanted to grab her and take her away, forget the consequences. And still there was a tiny part of him, a part he wished he could destroy, that wanted to keep his mask down, stay in the ranks and let this play out, that wanted to hide away from what was going to happen and wanted to pretend that he wasn't involved, that this had nothing to do with him. He watched as her gaze pinned down the man who had dragged her in, a fat man who he didn't recognize and he saw her there, standing tall and putting on a brave face. He saw the trickle of blood falling down her cheek and had to ball his hands into fists to stop himself from doing something reckless. He glanced over at his father and could see the glittering eyes from within the mask giving him a warning glare, reminding him what exactly was at stake here.

His eyes flicked back to the snakelike figure who was now circling Pansy and speaking. He called her a surprise, reminding them all that visitors were not and never would be welcome. The thin lips slipped into a maniacal smile and the next words that slipped out sent a chill through Draco's veins. He called Lucius up, told him to show the rest of them exactly how trespassers were welcomed.

Pansy watched, her gaze moving to rest on Voldemort's face. Never his eyes, but she was determined to at least stare at his face with her chin held high. She turned in a circle as he walked around her, not wanting to let him be behind her, out of her sight. Not that she had a wand to do anything about it, she just wanted to know where he was and what he was doing. Her heart stopped for a moment as he called on Lucius, telling him to come and show her what happened to their visitors. She watched as one man stepped forward from the circle, the long signature walking stick in his hand. He drew his wand from the end of it, passing the cane part to the beef-man who Pansy could still smell distinctly even from a distance. She tried to keep an eye on Voldemort, but he wasn't the threat to her right now, not when there was someone approaching with intentions of quite possibly hurting her rather badly. She knew Lucius didn't like her and never had. She was a bad influence on his little boy, got him in trouble, got him to rebel against his parents, got him to do things he never would have dreamed of doing without her encouragement. This was probably a dream come true for him, finally getting to give her the consequences that had added up all these years from her getting Draco into trouble. But Pansy had nothing to lose right now, at least not how she saw it.

"You filthy cowards, hiding behind your masks." She was glaring with everything in her now, all her frustration with this welling up to the surface and coming out. Sure, it'd probably make it worse for her in the end, but did it matter? It was going to be bad anyway, she was determined to at least go down swinging. "Can you even do it? The attack of a coward? Masked, attacking an unarmed little girl? Do you even see me, Lucius?" Yes, Lucius. Not Mr. Malfoy as it had always been. She had no respect for anyone in this room right now, save for her father and Draco, wherever they were. Her voice was low. She figured only Lucius and the closest people could hear her, but she didn't know which those were, and didn't care. She took a deep breath and stared at him, watching his wand raise. "Do it." She dropped to the ground, on purpose, avoiding the curse as it shot from his wand, not caring who it might have struck behind her. She looked up at him, a smirk across her lips. It was mere seconds though until the beef-man had reappeared at her side, kicking her fully to the ground where Lucius aimed his wand and muttered the curse. Pansy was completely unprepared for it, as anyone like her would be, and though she would have liked to say she stayed strong as long as she could and didn't give him the satisfaction of her screams, that was a lie. They pierced the looming silence, echoing off the walls and the blank masks of the circle as they watched. The pain was beyond words.

Finally it stopped. The cold voice was talking again. "Wait, wait." Dark robes fluttered in front of her face where she lay on the floor, her arms and legs feeling tangled up, the stone cold on her skin. A long-fingered hand reached down and turned her face up toward him, and Voldemort looked over her face before he let go and laughed. "Ahhhh, Leonidas's little girl! It appears you have some of your father's fight in you." He walked away from her, and she thought she had escaped finally, maybe they would let her go, tell her to go back to school unless she wanted another taste of this welcome. She moved slowly, putting her hands flat on the ground and pushing up, raising her body up off the ground so she could sit up a little bit. She was muttering a series of swears and curses again, directing them at the beef-man and Lucius. She turned to watch him walking away from her, but instead of dismissing her, he gave commands again. "Lucius. The punishment for such cheek, if you please."

Draco stood there and watched as his father stepped forwards and drew his wand. He felt a false sense of relief when his father passed the cane away, prematurely glad that she was being spared what he considered the worst punishment at all. He had to stop himself from reacting when his father cast the first curse, stop himself from shouting out when she was kicked and stop himself from throwing himself at his father to make it all stop when she started to scream. He couldn't take his eyes from her until the curse was released. As soon as her screams stopped he turned his eyes away, his face and mask never moving. He knew that any movement would alert Voldemort to him and his emotions and he couldn't let that happen. His eyes ran over the opoosite side of the circle until they landed on a familiar pair. Leonidas. As soon as he found the older man's eyes Voldemort's voice said his name and Draco's attention was pulled back to the middle in time to see the jet of red light fly from his father's wand again. It was now a matter of waiting until the dark lord lost interest and allowed her to go free again, not that he could go after her. He was trapped here until the full meeting was over.

Pansy stayed where she was this time, silent and curling into a defensive ball on the stone floor. It seemed however that in the somewhat excessive amount of time that Lucius punished her for her mouth, Voldemort was otherwise distracted, addressing the circle though she couldn't tell what he was saying, not above her own screams and the pain across her skin and in every fiber of herself. But once it had stopped and she'd formed the silent defensive ball, she whimpered and listened. "Now, now for the real attraction tonight, the mentors. Right? Boys, come forward, come, don't be shy. Just step over her, she won't bite." He laughed, cold, high. "Well, she might, but Lucius would take care of that, won't you Lucius? Such a pity a pretty thing has to be so dull. Where were we..."

He continued on, giving out the mentors rather quickly, pairing them off and sending them to stand together in the circle, rearranging things a little. He took none for himself, finding them all rather uninteresting, none as promising as that young Black daughter. She had been his only personal pupil as of late. The others all gone to stand with their new mentors, Draco was left standing in the center alone. "Now, where to put you... where to put you." He walked about a little, and suddenly was reminded of Pansy's presence in the floor. His face brightened, as if amused while he turned back to Draco, making a sweeping gesture toward Pansy. "Oh, was that yours?" His expression fell to one of annoyance. "Pick it up. Her precious daddy will be your mentor."

Pansy didn't know what to think, but she was facing the opposite direction from Draco and couldn't bring herself to sit up or turn over. She figured there would be a punishment for moving next, and she would like to think she was finished with those for now. She ached, and her eyes wouldn't focus and her ears were ringing. She tried to listen to what he was saying, but couldn't make herself focus, rather clueless as to what was happening.

Draco stepped forwards when the Dark Lord called all of them, standing slightly to the back so he didn't have to step too close to Pansy. As everyone was paired off with their mentors he felt his nerves rising, why hadn't his named been called yet? Soon he was the last one left, pinned there by that red gaze. He couldn't help but feel like Voldemort sounded rather like the sorting hat and for a second fought to keep his composure. He didn't know why he wanted to laugh, it was probably the only way his emotions knew to escape but he bit his lip to stop himself from making any sound. When Voldemort noticed Pansy again Draco instantly sobered up. So Leo was to be his mentor, Draco barely computed that fact after Voldemort said that he should pick her up from the center. At last he could take her from the line of fire.

He felt his father's stare on him still as he nodded to Voldemort and bowed slightly in submission before stepping just past him to lean down and check on Pansy. She was somewhat conscious but he knew that this wasn't the moment to try to bring her back and make sure she was okay. He quickly slipped his arms under her and picked her up, cradling her in his arms and walked past Leonidas out of the circle to the corner where he gently put her down, out of sight of most of the Death Eaters. He brushed her hair back and gave her a soft touch to her uninjured cheek before turning back and taking his place next to Leonidas in the circle to await further instructions.

Pansy whimpered slightly as she felt someone's arms slip under her, the familiar smell of Draco helping her realize it was him picking her up off the ground. Automatically her head turned to rest against his chest as he carried her away. She blinked up at him when he sat her down in the corner, leaning up against the wall and just trying to breathe properly again. She closed her eyes and pressed her face into his hand as he touched her cheek. Watching him go, she curled up into the corner, hoping she was as invisible as she could be. Eventually she drifted off, into either sleep or unconsciousness, or some kind of combination of them both. And there she stayed for the remainder of the meeting, forgotten at least for now, at least until people would start to leave and someone might catch a glance of her and remember about her presence. What would happen when that happened, who knew. Perhaps it depended on who found her, if the Dark Lord was done playing with her, if beef-man wanted another round, or if her father would manage to come and get her.

As the meeting drew to a close Draco couldn't help but wonder what was going to become of Pansy and obviously he wasn't the only one. The large death eater who had dragged her in asked what Voldemort wanted to do with her and if he could have her. It took all of Draco's self control and Leo's hand on his arm to stop him. Instead her father stepped forwards and told the Dark Lord that he wanted to deal with her punishment himself. After getting approval he stepped back and picked her up to take her out of the room. Draco had watched him before turning back to see both his father and Voldemort watching him with matching calculating gazes. The cold voice rang out again, snidely suggesting that Draco might want to follow his mentor and help clean up his mess. Draco nodded and thanked his Lord before heading after Pansy and her father to a room in a wing of the castle that he hadn't been in before. He closed the door after Leo and stood there for a moment, not sure what he was allowed to do.

Leo picked up his daughter, cradling her against him as he carried her through the castle, headed to his room to wake her up and make sure she was alright before putting her to bed. He laid her down gently on his bed, pushing her hair off her forehead and nudging her slightly while saying her name to wake her. Finally Pansy woke up, looking at her dad. Her expression immediately went apologetic as she saw the look on his face. Though he did make sure to lecture her for being stupid enough to show up here, he was too concerned that she recover from the cruciatus to say much else. He moved her again so that she was under the covers, dropping them up over her shoulder and telling her to sleep. Pansy laid there with her eyes shut, but stayed awake as Leo led Draco back toward the door, speaking lowly to him before the door opened and shut again. She heard the chair by the fireplace squeak, the crackling of flames increasing as he stoked up the fire and settled down to read a while. Pansy fell asleep eventually, but not before deciding that if she managed to wake up in the middle of the night, she wanted to sneak out and try to find Draco.

Leo, after putting his daughter beneath the covers of his bed, turned to Draco with a stern look. He took the boy by the arm, pushing him back toward the door despite the fact that he knew the blonde would want to talk to Pansy. "No. Just go to your room. You're why she came and why she's passed out in that bed right now. We'll talk tomorrow. Let her sleep. Goodnight, Draco." Leo was grumpy, but who wouldn't be when their little girl had been tortured, twice, before his eyes. After the door was shut and locked, he went over to sit by the fire, reading a while and heating up the fire until it grew late and he put his feet up on the table, sleeping there in the chair so Pansy had the bed to herself.

Draco was about to go over to see her when Leo took his arm and shoved him out the room, telling him this was his fault and to leave. Draco nodded and accepted that right now nothing would get him past the older man. He walked across the hall to his room and shut the door, stripping down and going to lie on his bed. He didn't even bother to pull the blankets over himself, he just lay there staring at the ceiling. After a while he pulled out his wand and started to shoot little bursts of light up, trying to reform some of the basic constellations he knew to distract himself, even though all that did was remind him of the girl across the hall, who shouldn't even be there.

The night passed on and though Pansy slept relatively peacefully for several hours, she woke as the fire began to die. She sat up slowly, her head pounding and dizziness overtaking her for a few seconds before she got her orientation right and looked around. Her father was still asleep in the chair, and she slipped carefully from beneath the blankets. Crossing the room as carefully as she could, she froze and held her breath as something creaked beneath her foot. Luckily it didn't wake her father, and she continued toward the door, opening it carefully and looking around. She still didn't have her wand, apparently someone had taken that, but her eyes adjusted and she noted that Draco's name was written on a plaque on the door directly across the hall. Well that was convenient. She hurried across the hall and turned the knob, pushing on the door only to find it locked. She groaned and knocked very carefully, hoping Draco would either be awake or would wake easily.

Draco heard his doorknob turn and sat up as someone gently knocked on his door. He got up and walked to the door, cracking it open to see Pansy on the other side, upright and awake. He quickly opened it further and pulled her into the room, shutting the door and pulling her into a hug. He held her close for a second before stepping back and holding her at arms length. "What the hell were you thinking?"

Pansy breathed a sigh of relief after he opened the door, resting her head against his chest as he hugged her and letting his arms wrapped around her hold her up for a moment. She looked up at him with a weak smile as he asked her what she was thinking. "Well first off, your dad's a dick." She continued whispering, stepping forward to take his face in her hands. "I was thinking that I didn't want to just sit at home and wait for you to get back. I don't know. It was a stupid rash decision and... I'm dizzy, can we sit?" She took his hand and moved toward his bed, sitting at first but then lying down and curling up on her side to talk to him, still holding his hand in hers, "and I thought I'd come here and hide and be with you when you could slip away and maybe it wouldn't be so bad and you wouldn't come back so hollow and terrified for once. I just didn't plan on getting caught by that jackass."

Draco gave her an apologetic smile when she said his dad was a dick and shook his head when she said that she didn't want to wait for him to come back. He walked to the bed with her and sat down next to her when she curled up, holding her hand and smoothing his other hand over her hair. As she spoke he gave her the 'what were you thinking' glare and leaned back against his headboard. "You really shouldn't have come her Pans, nothing good ever happens in this castle. You should have known that, you've spent your whole life watching people come back from here and meeting other death eaters, what made you think you would be able to hide from any of them?" He shook his head and looked down at her, his expression now more sad than anything, his fingers still gently running through the hair at her temple.

Pansy shrugged, looking up at him. "Seventeen years of watching my dad leave and wanting to give anything to go with him, I watched you walk away and I realized I could finally go after someone, and could follow you here. I don't know. I just... I couldn't watch you leave if I knew I could go after you. Call me stupid, but I had to try it no matter how dumb it might have been." She curled up tighter, remembering the sensation of the curse. "Bunch of asswipes in there. Just grumpy for someone to sneak in on their stupid little ego-stroking session. Want to think they're special and worth something. Coward shitheads behind masks. If I had my wand..." She was sneering now, staring at his door and wishing she could just track down the one who'd caught her and teach him a thing or two, and find a few more while she was at it.

Draco couldn't help but laugh, he knew what she was saying wasn't funny and the situation wasn't funny but he couldn't stop himself. It was a form of stress relief and better he be laughing than crying. He caught his breath after a few moments and scooted down the bed so he could lie next to her, still holding her hand in his, unwilling to let her go. He leaned in and gave her a soft kiss, "Maybe hold off on that hunting Kitten, you barely made it across a hallway into my room."

Pansy pouted at him. "Such little faith." She smiled at him though, knowing he was right. A couple crucios take the energy right out of you no matter who you are, and little scrawny Pansy didn't deal with it well. "I can't stay, you know. Daddy would kill you if he woke up to find me gone, sleeping over here in your bed instead." She blinked slowly at him though, her sleepiness returning quickly after the terribly exhausting trip across the hallway.

Draco smiled and scooted closer to give her a hug, "I know you can't stay." He kissed her on the forehead and pulled back a little, "You should probably head back now before he wakes up and notices." Draco didn't really want to die because his girlfriend came to visit him. When she didn't move he sat up again and rubbed his hand on her shoulder, "Come on, you really can't fall asleep here."

Pansy sat up a little, moving over slowly toward him. She pressed her lips to his, resting her hand on his cheek and kissing him slowly, deeply. She continued kissing him as long as she could, until his hand pushing on her shoulder reminded her once again that she couldn't stay and needed to get back before her father woke up to find her gone. She sat up again, looking down at where he was lying. Leaning down again, she kissed him one more time before slowly standing up and sneaking back toward the door.

Draco smiled when she gave him one last kiss and rolled off the bed as she walked to the door, slipping up behind her and wrapping her in his arms one last time, pressing a kiss to her neck before he opened the door to check that it was all clear for her to sneak back across the hall. He gave her one last kiss and a hug before letting her go, "I'll see you in the morning." Closing the door behind her he went back to his bed and this time he fell asleep.

Pansy smirked when his arms wrapped around her, turning to look at him as he checked out the door. She reached up and took his face in her hands as he gave her another kiss, her tongue sneaking out to move along his lips. He moved away before there was a chance to deepen it, and she hurried back across the hall. "Night." Pushing the door open carefully, she locked it back and crawled back into bed, rolling over under the covers and curling up to go back to sleep until it was morning.

Morning came and Leo shook Pansy awake. She blinked up at him, almost having forgotten where she was. "Pansy, go home. I don't need to remind you how much of an idiot you were for coming here, but I must tell you I'm proud of how you handled being caught. No tears, baby girl." He stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers, petting her hair as he sat up. "Get home. It's still early. No one's up, I'll make Draco walk you to to the door, and you leave. It'll be worse today than it was last night if you hang around. You understand me?" Pansy nodded, getting up out of bed and following him to the door. They crossed into Draco's room, and Leo reached down to grab the sleeping boy's shoulder, pulling him from bed. "Get dressed. Take Pansy to the door and make sure she goes home." He left the room, probably heading out to clear the path to the door and ensure that no one would catch them.

Draco was jolted awake by Leo grabbing his shoulder but he nodded and got up, quickly pulling on a shirt and pants. Certain that Leo was gone by now he smiled at her and pulled her into his arms for a kiss, "How are you feeling this morning?" Reaching out he grabbed his death eater robes and walked her to the door of his room, letting go of her to pull them on before they left his room.