Confessions of an Ex-Death-Eater

13.

I awoke to realise that Severus was carrying me up to my mother's rooms.

'Do not speak,' he muttered as he tapped on her door.

He nodded to my mother when she opened to the door, pushing past he and grunting slightly as he put me down on her bed.

'He did well,' he said. He withdrew two vials of potions from the depths of his robes. 'Give him one of these now, and another in the morning, he will need to rest. Counsel is being held at 10am tomorrow, make sure he isn't late.' And he swept out of the room without so much as a second glance at me.

My mother came to me, sitting on the edge of the bed and brushing back my hair from my face as I drank Severus' potion. It was then that I allowed the tears to come and she held me in her arms until I fell asleep.

The Counsel was held in our formal dining room with various men and women from Voldemort's inner circle sitting around the long table and Voldemort taking my father's seat at the end. One thing was clear. He owned the manor now; he owned our lives.

The meeting itself was relatively boring. Various discussions were held about finance, reports on the various plans that Voldemort was hatching, and feedback from his various spies. It was through that meeting, and with a sense of hopelessness, that I came to realise how far spread his influence was, particularly within the Ministry, whether with his own men or through victims who were placed under the Imperius Curse.

At the close of the meeting Voldemort asked me to remain behind and, as the door shut behind the last Death-eater, the room temperature seemed to drop a couple of degrees.

'You have impressed me, Draco,' his voice slithered through the still room towards me where I remained rigidly pinned to my chair. 'I have chosen you for a particular task I wish you to complete next year for me.' He paused, as if waiting for me to say something but I did not. I could not. I did not want this privilege that he was inferring. I did not want to be special or his Chosen One.

He nodded as if aware of what I was thinking, and carried on, heedless to my thoughts. 'Are you aware of the Room of Hidden things at Hogwarts, Draco?

I shook my head, not trusting my voice.

'No matter,' he dismissed. 'It is easy enough to find...' and he explained about the Room of Requirements.

'It is a long time since I have been in that room, but I remember that there is a very particular cabinet hidden amongst the junk and old rubbish. It is one of a pair, the other is in Borgin and Burkes. They are Vanishing Cabinets, Draco. Do you know what Vanishing Cabinets are and how they work?'

I shook my head.

'I want to get my Death-eaters into Hogwarts, Draco. And these cabinets are the way but they are broken. I need you to research into the cabinets over the summer and I want you to repair the one at Hogwarts. That is the first part of your task.'

He paused again, watching me closely.

Then he said, 'And then, you are assigned your first utilisation of the killing curse. You will not use it before this point, you will not use the curse on anyone else, especially not on Harry Potter, even if the opportunity arises and you think that will please me. No, you have a privileged duty which must not be put at risk. I want you to kill Albus Dumbledore.'

I felt like the bottom had fallen out of my world. I did not understand how I could ever fulfil such a task; I did not have it in me to kill another man, let alone pit myself against one as powerful as Dumbledore.

Voldemort had stood up and walked around the table. He placed his hands carefully on the back of the chair opposite me and studied me.

'Once my Death-eaters are in Hogwarts, and with Dumbledore dead, that school with all its young, bendable minds, is mine. The future is mine. So, know this, Draco. If you tell anyone what I have tasked you with, I will kill both you and your father. If you fail me, I will kill you and your father. If you are caught, I will kill your father. And you, if you have not been killed by either Dumbledore, his Order of the Phoenix, or the Aurors first. I know full well that you blame your father for where you are now and I know that you won't grieve for him. You may even believe it would be worth dying instead of succeeding in my plans. But consider, Draco, without either you or your father alive, who will protect your mother from incidents like the one yesterday?'

I remained silent, utterly trapped in my situation. I had no choice. Although Voldemort was right and I would sacrifice my father, even myself, I would not submit my mother to further danger.

'I'm glad you understand.' Voldemort nodded in satisfaction. 'Come, Nagini,' he hissed as he turned to leave the room. But at the door he stopped and turned to look at me, 'Of course, Draco, if you succeed, then there will be no doubts that the Malfoy family honour will be utterly restored. Just think how proud your father would be of you then.'

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