The Slytherin Gem

92

((That's Lexion in the picture))

Jade woke up abruptly, as she had been forced to do so by a spell. The first thing she saw was four familiar faces but none of those faces made her feel relieved. It actually made it all worse. She was quite confused and didn't know what was going on.

She hadn't seen most of those people in months, and the last time she saw them things hadn't ended up well.

Lexion and Rabastan grabbed her by her arms and pulled her up. She felt a bit dizzy but that wasn't important at the moment. Finley smiled at her when Jade looked at her father but the smile didn't reach his icy blue eyes, for a moment Jade thought she had imagined it as the smile was gone so quickly.

The fourth person that was close to her was Rodolphus Lestrange. He didn't say or do anything. He didn't look pleased or bothered to see her, it was whatever to him.

She looked around and she couldn't deny she felt scared. She was surrounded by Death Eaters in a clearing in the Forbidden Forest. She quickly spotted Bellatrix not far from where she was. In a far corner, she saw Amycus and Alecto, they were with two other women Jade didn't know. Among the crowd, she recognised several parents of her school mates, even some of her school mates were there, mostly Slytherins in her year and some that had graduated in the last few years that Jade still remembered. Lucius and Narcissa were also there and she felt sad about seeing them in that state, as she knew the battle hadn't done it, it was the punishment they went through after she escaped with Harry. They both looked miserable and broken.

She also could spot some creatures that had joined the dark side, among them were a couple of werewolves she didn't know besides Fenrir, some giants but there weren't as many as she had seen in the battlefield, most of them had been killed. She also saw spiders and goblins and other creatures, some she thought would never be persuaded to fight for Voldemort.

She thought she was brought there because her parents and everyone else knew what she had done. Betrayed them. Betrayed their Lord and helped Harry. She had after all, stood up for her classmates, including Muggle-Borns and Half-Bloods, gone on a mission with Harry and his friends, broke into her family's vault and took something from there, married against her family's will and destroyed a Horcrux herself. Just one reason would be enough for punishment.

But her thoughts stopped when she saw Nagini. The snake was there... She reached for her pocket slowly, despite knowing normal magic wouldn't probably kill the snake, but that didn't really matter, she didn't find her wand. She tried the other pocket but nothing. She tried to keep calm despite the fact she was freaking out. Being so vulnerable in such an environment was the worst case scenario.

And at last she saw Voldemort. She had never been face to face with him before. She had been close but he hadn't seen her before, like back in the Shrieking Shack where he killed Snape. Fury made her blood boil but she couldn't lose her temper at the moment, not without a wand and being surrounded by at least two hundred Death Eaters, if not more.

The man, if he could be called that, slowly and quite gracefully made his way towards her. People in the way quickly scurried away and bowed down as he passed them by, Jade couldn't believe how pathetic they were and to think her parents and brother were part of it. Finally, he reached her and she didn't know what to do, she wouldn't bow down like them. Everyone was looking at her, making the whole situation more awkward.

"What's your name?" Voldemort asked her, looking at her and for a second she saw the red in his eyes that Harry had described but Jade couldn't understand what he meant until that moment.

"It's Jade," she said, trying to speak clearly and with confidence, despite the fact she felt insecure without her wand.

"Your parents and Aunt Bellatrix claim you are very skillful, that you'll be a good addition to my troops."