Haphephobia

Unplanned Reconciliation

Adeline couldn't let the plan come to fruition, knowing the devastating impact it would have on the world. Not just the Wizarding World, but the muggle world too. She'd been quiet during the meeting, suffering stiffly and quietly under Voldemort's surprisingly gentle touch as she absorbed anything and everything that was being said. She identified who was, and who wasn't, in the inner circle. Rated them inside her head from strongest to weakest, and tried to pinpoint any advantage she could use if she ever had to fight any of the death eaters present. Bellatrix had proven less of an adversary and more of a spoiled child; clinging to the naïve hope that she would become the Dark Lord's wife, perhaps even birth him an Heir. But the young elf knew better. Voldemort had spend his entire life trying to defeat death, and taking an Heir would feel like a failure, like he knew his death was inevitable so he had to create a future without him in it. No, if the Dark Lord had his way, she figured he would be the only one in power, for all of eternity. The thought was a scary one, and flashes of a possible future with the stench of death and rivers of muggle blood pouring uninterrupted through the streets like an ominous tidal wave, worried her. 

The man with the achingly familiar blond hair had indeed ended up being a Malfoy. The Patriarch, in fact. Father to the pathetic, lovestruck Draco Malfoy that had found ways to annoy her on a daily basis. The way he held his cane, and ordered an assortment of house elves around, made her believe this was his home. This giant, extravagant mansion that, ignoring its too Slytherin décor, was actually worth her admiration, was his. It was a sobering thought, realising that not everything death eater related had to be gruesome and despicable. She knew she had been grimacing behind her mask at that realisation, and it had been the umpteenth time during that meeting that she was glad the mask was there. It hid her identity, giving her the feeling that she still had some control in this entire situation, and also prevented her true thoughts from accidentally showing on her face. No matter her power, no matter her cunning, she was still a child in a world of adults, and she had much to catch up on after having lived the life she had, missed the things she had.

Adeline had considered the others in the room as well, but she would have to review her impressions of them at a later moment. The meeting had ended a considerable time ago, and the Dark Lord had stated she were not to leave the room, before he himself left. Hypocrite. She hissed at his retreating form in her mind, letting her eyes wander for the first time now that she was alone. What she had initially assumed to be a meeting room actually was a grand dining room, and the details in it were another pang to her realisation not all evil had to look the part too. Her curiosity, barely satisfied by the quick glance around, would have to be put on hold as her attention was forced to a loud 'pop' right in front of her.

''Parum be bringing Serpent ma'am dinner.'' The littlest of house elves declared, ignoring the fact he nearly gave the poor girl a heart attack. With a snap of his fingers, a plate appeared on the table the meeting was held at earlier, and next to it a glass of pumpkin juice. Adeline played with the idea of refusing the food, there were potions that could have been added to it which she wouldn't taste or smell, but quickly stomped the thought down. Rebelling against the Dark Lord after all the information she'd gained, would likely incur his wrath in ways she didn't want to imagine right before dinner. She nodded at the little creature as it stood there, having likely been ordered to make sure she fed. Adeline stood from the conjured cushion, thoughtlessly letting it dissolve into nothing as she took a seat at the table and began eating, the daunting mask resting next to her plate as a constant reminder of her situation. It was some sort of stew, and to her surprise it tasted better than Hogwarts food. This was clearly made with the utmost care, and high quality ingredients. Worthy of a Malfoy, she thought with an amused smile.

After she finished her food, her fork tapping listlessly against the empty plate, the young elven girl took a moment to order her thoughts. She'd been taken after revealing her heritage to the leader of the dark side, and she'd been paraded around as some prized possession. She would be well taken care of, she'd realised that much, even if some death eaters were clearly unhappy that some 'nobody' they had never heard of was more important than them. They had likely spend their entire lives grovelling, trying to prove their worth to a man who wanted nothing more than pawns he could strategically use and dispose of. In a way, she mused, these death eaters have been bred to be the perfect toys for Voldemort. Their parents had, after all, been part of this order way before these death eaters were more than a thought about reproduction in their parents minds. A spark of amusement bubbled up, and her lips curled in a quiet grin as she imagined saying that to Lucius' face. Would he turn as red as his son would, whenever she got the better of him with her wand? 

BANG!

A loud noise broke the girl from her thoughts, her head snapping up to look at the doors she had entered through earlier on. It sounded like someone crashed into the furniture, as a grunt of pain barely made it to her sensitive ears through the closed door. The sound worried her, but the scream that followed it worried her more. There was absolute terror and pain in the voice, the sound horribly disfigured by it to the point it sounded like an animal. Adeline noticed that Parum had slapped his leathery hands over his floppy ears, hunching his shoulders as he tried to block the sound. Clearly, house elves had above average hearing as well, so the scream must have hurt his head. She felt the stirrings of a headache forming as another scream rose from behind the doors, and she had enough. Hastily, the girl scrambled from her seat and shot off towards the doors, ignoring Parum's panicked noise as she threw the doors open with more force than necessary, her heart beating wildly in her chest as she tried to press down her rising panic, choking on her breath at the scene before her. 

Voldemort stood with his wand in hand, held between his index-finger and thumb in a lazy grip, a red light- cruciatus curse, her mind supplied- streaming down to a figure on the floor like an ominous beam. There, having screamed so loud that his voice broke, writhed a man with dark hair, unable to answer as the Dark Lord stared down at him imperiously, keeping the curse intact. ''I am disappointed in you, Severusss. Keeping a True Born Elf from your Master is not something I shall easily... forgive.''