THE TWO WITNESSES | RON WEASLEY [BOOK TWO]

12. A SONG OF CONVICTION

Voldemort ran his long, pale fingers across the length of his body, over his chest as he examined himself. He looked content, somehow forming an expression across his gross features. His eyes, similar to that of the snake that hissed at Gene's feet went to Gene, narrowing. Then, he drew a wand from a deep pocket within his robes and lifted Wormtail to stand.

"Your arm." Voldemort said.

"Oh, master! Oh, thank you, Master!"

Wormtail began to hold out the bleeding stump of flesh where his hand should have been, though Voldemort laughed, a cold, hair-raising laugh.

"The other arm, Wormtail." he said, forcing the sleeve of his left arm up to reveal the Dark Mark in red, inked into the skin of Wormtail's forearm. He pressed his wand against the skin and it turned an inky black colour before her eyes.

Voldemort began to pace the small grounds before them, eyes travelling over the empty graveyard, easily ignoring the whimpers from Wormtail who lay sprawled across the grass, clutching his stump. Until he looked right at Gene, his lips twisting into a cruel smile.

"You stand, Genevieve Fiordalis and Harry Potter, upon the remains of my late father," he hissed. "A Muggle and a fool. Very much like your dear mothers. But they all had their uses. Your mothers died to protect you as children, and I killed my father, and see how useful he has proved himself, in death." he gave a cold laugh, glancing at the snake that circled him now.

He continued to pace, eyes tracking any movement in the distance, as though he was waiting for something, or someone.

"You see that house upon the hillside? My father lived there. My mother, a witch who lived here in this village, fell in love with him. But he abandoned her when she told him what she was. He didn't like magic, my father... He left her and returned to his Muggle parents before I was even born, and she died giving birth to me, leaving me to be raised in a Muggle orphanage. But I vowed to find him. I revenged myself upon him, that fool who gave me his name. Tom Riddle."

He sneered his fathers name with an ugly expression twisted onto his snake-like face. He continued to pace, slits of red where real eyes should have been shifting between the figures that inhabited the graveyard.

"Listen to me, reliving family history. Why, I am growing quite sentimental." he said quietly, "But look! My true family returns."

The sky began to change rapidly, darkening as the jet black cloaks swished in the shadows of the graveyard, wizards Apparating into the empty spaces where Voldemort was once looking. One by one, they approached cautiously as he watched on. They fell to their knees, crawling toward Voldemort's feet and kissed the ends of his robes. The other Death Eaters followed, murmuring their gratitude and joy of his return, and Gene watched on in horror.

"Welcome, my friends." Voldemort said, sending chills down Gene's spine, "Thirteen years it's been, and yet you stand before me as though it were only yesterday. I confess myself disappointed that not one of you tried to find me."

Voldemort suddenly began to grab each of the hooded figures masks, and they dropped to the ground as he revealed their names. Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, McNair and finally- Malfoy.

"Not even you, Lucius." the disappointment was evident in his voice as he fell to his knees.

"My Lord. Had I detected any sign or even a whisper of your whereabouts-" Lucius began to argue.

"There were signs, my friend, and more than whispers." Voldemort countered.

"I assure you, I never renounced the old ways. The face I have been obliged to present each day since your absence, that was my true mask." he returned, and it was believable enough, it seemed.