Many years had passed since Tom Riddle had first entered Violet’s shop. He was now far older, far more powerful, and much uglier. He stood motionless in the middle of the graveyard “ the same place he had stood so many years ago at the first Death Eater meeting. That had been a monumental night, yes, but this meeting would be even more momentous! Tonight he and his followers would crush that pitiful Order of the Phoenix. Voldemort laughed quietly. He almost rubbed his hands with malicious glee, but stopped himself in time. Just because you were evil didn’t mean you had to go totally off the deep end. With an effort, he turned his thoughts to smaller business to be taken care of at the meeting. Bellatrix Lestrange must be rewarded “ she was the one who discovered how to penetrate the Order’s headquarters. Goyle and Macnair would need to be reassigned to collecting information in the south. Draco Malfoy would need to report on his progress. A private meeting with Snape to discuss why he had been unable to provide them with information relevant to the Order. That was all Voldemort could think of. The rest of his Death Eaters were functioning smoothly. He glanced at the sky. The sun was setting; it was time for the meeting to begin.
“Come here, Wormtail,” he ordered. The little man hurried into the circle, scurrying like a rat.
“Arm,” Voldemort said curtly. Wormtail extended his arm and rolled up the sleeve of his robe, revealing the Dark Mark glowing scarlet. Voldemort pressed his finger against the tattoo. Wormtail’s skin hissed, and the Mark turned black. Wormtail gasped; Voldemort knew he was repressing a scream of pain. He thrust the man back and waited for his Death Eaters to appear.
The tattoo on my arm burned black and I clenched my teeth, fighting the urge to hiss with pain.
“All right, I’m ready,” I said rubbing my forearm.
“You got the box?” Violet asked. I picked it up off the table and tucked it under my arm. “Y-yes,” I said, and cursed my voice for betraying with me. I shouldn’t be so frightened. After all, I was only on a mission to overthrow the evilest, most powerful Dark Lord of all time with nothing but some cool clothes and a trick Horcrux, knowing that the aforesaid Dark Lord would happily chop me up into itty-bitty pieces and feed me to his pet snake before going off to play miniature golf with my head, or any other parts of my anatomy he might have saved from the snake.
All right, maybe I should be frightened.
“Yes, I’ve got the box,” I repeated firmly.
“Time to go,” said Snape, and disapparated with a bang. I hesitated a minute before following him.
“You think I have a chance in hell?” I asked Violet.
“Honey bun, I don’t work with hopeless causes. Now you should go, before Sunshine gets scared.”
“Okay,” I breathed. “I’m going.” I steeled myself for the jump.
“Just don’t forget the box!” Violet called as she faded from sight, to be replaced by the bleak graveyard. As soon as the earth was firm beneath my feet, I hurled the box to the ground and screwed my eyes shut.
Suddenly it was a lot darker. A thick layer of fog wafted out of the small crater where the box had landed and draped it around Snape and myself. Ominous, threatening music was playing. It wasn’t raining, but a bolt of lightning came down out of the sky and struck the ground behind me, doubtless producing a neat back-lighting effect. This was Violet’s complete Dark Lord Grand Entrance package. I had to hand it to her, the woman knew her melodrama.
Snape grabbed my arm above the elbow. “Thought I was going to have to kill you for a second there,” he hissed. I strove to work up a sardonic smile.
“Now, Sunshine, you didn’t think I wasn’t coming, did you?” I asked.
“Shut up, you idiot, and look around,” he said. “We’re completely surrounded by some very curious Death Eaters. If you want this revolution to happen, you’d better get going.” And he shoved me forward with such force that I nearly stumbled.
Voldemort stood before me, tall and menacing in his black robes. The fog from Violet’s Grand Entrance kit obscured his face so I couldn’t make out his expression. I couldn’t decide which would be worse: fury or amusement.
“So good of you to join us, Draco,” he said, his voice a hiss. “We were beginning to worry.”
“Eurgf,” I said.
“I beg you pardon, did you wish to say something?” his icy tone was telling me that I had better say no. I tried to speak, but my voice was sticking in my throat. So I kicked Snape’s ankle and pointed to the distant spire of Ravenclaw’s grave.
“Look,” I sputtered. He turned, looking in the direction I had indicated. I sneaked a look at his face. Was that just the smallest flicker of fear there?
Snape swished his wand and the grave disappeared. I turned back to Voldemort. He was looking at me, his face completely expressionless. A poker face.
So that’s how you’re playing it? I thought, trying to pretend nothings changed.
“There’s more to me than horcruxes, boy,” he said, laughing his creepy, high laugh.“I’d kill you this instant if this wasn’t so amusing.” I tried to think of something to say. This was the point where I should kill him, quickly. I pointed my wand him.
“Av- ava “ avada k-atishoo!” An inopportune sneeze destroyed any momentum I might have had and convinced me of what was rapidly becoming obvious: I wasn’t a killer. I looked towards Snape, my expression pleading.
*****
Snape
I could see Draco staring at me, begging me to take care of Voldemort for him. I wasn’t going to, for several reasons. 1.) If Draco was incapable of pulling off this revolution by himself, then he wasn’t worthy of being the Dark Lord. He couldn’t keep leaning on me forever, and 2.) I was having major last minute doubts as to whether I even wanted him to succeed. If he did, it would give Violet practically complete control over the Dark Forces here, and Violet was dangerous. I couldn’t quite believe she had done so much for Draco out of the goodness of her heart. Surely, she had an ulterior motive. Draco was far too close to her, maybe he was better off dead, as he was about to be. Voldemort was still taunting him, but soon he would grow bored and finish him off, and maybe it was better that way…A blinding thought struck me: the tattoo! That tattoo Violet had given him was supposed to protect him from all harmful magic. Normally I would assume that it would be insufficient to block a death curse from Voldemort himself, but this was one of those moments of perfect premonition. I knew it would work; Voldemort would try to kill him and fail. I knew it with a cold, perfect certainty. That tattoo changed everything, dammit! If Draco couldn’t die and also couldn’t kill, everything would be in a dreadful deadlock. I had to do something.
*****
Draco
Snape was no use, he seemed to be lost in contemplation. Great, my only helper here is busy pondering the mysteries of the universe while I prepare to be killed. Thanks, Snape, I thought. Voldemort was talking to me in his awful voice, taunting me with something about being weak and unfit, the Death Eaters on the sides were sniggering. Luckily, the blood pounding in my ears blocked their voices from my mind. Think, Draco, think.
Something kicked my leg. I whirled around. It was Snape. How had he gotten behind me?
“Wait till he tries to kill you,” he whispered.
“What?” I hissed.
“Tattoo,” he replied. “Blocks the spell. Then when he’s distracted, take him.”
“But I can’t do it,” I whispered desperately. “I can’t kill him! I just can’t!”
“Then do something else, fool! Transfigure him, anything!”
I racked my brain for a suitable spell. One that McGonagall had taught us last week “ how to transfigure things into badgers “ came up. I slipped my wand out of my pocket and brought it up to chest level. All the adrenaline racing around my bloodstream was making it a bit hard too speak, but I needed to get Voldemort to stop gloating and get on with it.
“Hey,” I yelled. “Not that this isn’t fascinating, Voldie, but if you’re going to kill me, could you get on with it? Time’s a’ wastin’, buddy.”
He stopped speaking, shocked. Then he drew himself up and smiled grimly.
“Your wish is my command,” he said. “AVADA KEDAVRA!”
A wave of green light issued from his wand and engulfed me. For half a second I was utterly terrified, tattoo forgotten. Then the light disappeared, leaving me very much alive. Voldemort stared at me speechless, wand dangling loosely from his fingers. In that split-second opportunity, I gathered all my nerve and acted. It was badger time.
“Ansotaxideo.” I yelled. A jet of lavender light pulsed out of my wand and hit him just under the breastbone. He collapsed, shrinking, because badgers are significantly smaller than people. But he shrunk much too far and in the wrong directions, until he was left lying on the wet ground as what I can only describe as a doorknob. The badger spell hadn’t been totally wasted, the doorknob was elaborately worked to look like the head of a snarling badger, teeth agape, but beyond the ears it was rounded and smoothed and doorknob-like. I picked it up off the ground and stared it.
“You’re hopeless,” Snape said. “I suppose you were intending to make him a badger?”
“Yes,” I admitted. “But this works, too. I think the Death-Eaters are the more pressing issue right now.
I hopped on top of a convenient monument and held the doorknob high so the Death Eaters could see it.
“Hey people,” I yelled. “I have a few announcements to make!”
“Draco, get down from there before you fall and break your neck,” said my father. I ignored him.
“First, I have defeated Voldemort. He’s a doorknob now, and I’m sure you all agree that a doorknob is not a fit leader for this august organization. Second, as he was defeated by me, it is now my right to assume the leadership. Third, if you would all like to re-locate to my private headquarters in central London, we can celebrate the beginning of my term. Fourth, drinks will be provided in abundance.”
They might have been skeptical about the first three announcements, but the fourth was a universal hit. After a very short discussion it was decided that the leadership-thing could be worked out later, at the moment we might as well celebrate. I gave the coordinates and the party Apparated into the lobby of my as-yet-unnamed headquarters. An inspiration struck me. I went to the front door and carefully unscrewed the doorknob. It was a rather nice one, silver with an elegant D engraved on it. I pulled Voldemort out of my pocket and screwed him in tightly, so the snarling badger was perfectly centered. I dropped the old knob in my pocket; it would look good on my door at home. Then I went to grab something alcoholic before it all disappeared.
Becoming a Dark Lord by FinalCow
Chapter Notes: yay for Leanne, the fastest mod in the west!