«Mattheo»
A cloud of expensive perfume wrapped itself around me, as I placed down the glass bottle. I fixed my suit in the mirror and stepped out of my room. The hallway was cold and there was no sound to be heard.
Tonight was a big day for four heirs of the fifteen families. They would devote themselves to the dark Lord, in exchange for the dark mark. My father always likes to go big on these kind of occasions, so I was bracing myself for what was yet to come.
I walked down the wooden stairs of the Manor and threw open the doors to the big hall, where the ceremony would take place.
A long table was standing in the middle of the room with a big chandelier over it. You could hear the fire crackling in the back of the room, along with some quiet classical music. The long and dark curtains, which usually stopped the light from flooding in, were pulled aside.
All the heads at the table turned to look at me, while I made my way over to them. The one at the head of the table was the last one to turn. When he saw me, a smile creeped up on his pale face.
"Ah! My son!" he hissed and looked at me for a few seconds before he continued.
"Sit next to your father." he pointed to the empty chair next to him with his wand.
"Father." I said with a nod as I pulled out the chair to his left. Before I took a seat, I unbuttoned my suit with one hand. Severus Snape was sitting next to me, judging Bellatrix for her inappropriate comments on my late appearance.
Severus was one of my fathers most loyal followers and probably the most brilliant out of all of them. Bellatrix was a rather impulsive and crazy personality, which I decided to avoid as much as possible.
"Who's missing?" my father asked and everyone's eyes wandered to the three empty chairs at the other side of the table.
"The Malfoys, Father." I said with a straight face while leaning back in the chair, pushing up my hips, so I could sit comfortably.
"Typical." he looked around the table and before he could say anything else, the wooden doors got opened again and two blonde men as well as a woman entered the room.
"Lucius." Tom rose from his seat, raising both of his hands to welcome the man and his family.
"My Lord." the man with blonde long hair said, while lowering his head.
"It certainly is really mindful of you to join us." The Malfoys made their way over to the three free seats, while he was talking.
"I'm sorry my Lord, but we-" Lucius started, but got interrupted by Tom.
"I don't care Lucius. Sit down!" My father said harshly, before gathering himself again.
"Today, four heirs of the fifteen families will officially join our side with their devotion." my father said slowly while looking around the faces of all the people.
"Severus?" he gestured in his direction, signalising him to stand up.
Severus Snape rose from his seat next to me and made his way over to the dark Lord. Before he started with the ceremony he pulled out a piece of parchment paper.
"The Family Berkshire sends their first born son, Lorenzo Berkshire. Son to Daisy Berkshire and Charles Berkshire." Severus read out from the parchment paper and all the attention shifted towards him.
The Berkshire Family is going to be the newest addition to the fifteen families. Their oldest son, Lorenzo, made his way towards my father and Severus Snape.
When he stood in front of my father he cleared his throat before speaking. Clearly letting his nervousness shine through.
"I, Lorenzo Berkshire, pledge loyalty to the dark Lord and the dark side of magic. I vow to, at all times, protect the Lord and his family."
Bellatrix started clapping when Lorenzo finished, animating the others to do so as well.
My father grabbed the boys forearm forcefully and placed his wand onto it. A few seconds later the dark mark appeared on the boys forearm.
"Now that you are a part of the dark Lords followers, you were given your first mission. Severus spoke to the boy, who nodded.
My eyes wandered the room out of boredom while Severus continued talking and they locked with Draco's. I scoffed at his sight, not breaking the eye contact.
I already disliked Draco the first day I met him at Malfoy Manor many years ago. Our mothers however, got along well, so we did spend quite some time together when we were younger. Draco turned seventeen a few months ago and his father insisted that he would get the dark mark as soon as possible. Since then he has been a pain in the ass at the death eater meetings.
Severus voice snapped me back out of my thoughts. "The Family Nott sends their only son, Theodore Nott." Theodore rose from his seat, smirking at me.
Theodore and I have been friends for many years now. He is the only one I really trust around here, unlike Draco. I knew he wasn't exactly exited at the idea of serving my father, but we promised to go through it together.
"I, Theodore Nott, pledge loyalty to the dark Lord and the dark side of magic. I vow to, at all times, protect the Lord and his family."
My father grabbed his forearm and pressed the tip of his wand onto the forearm, letting the dark mark appear in black ink.
"Now that you are a part of the dark Lords followers, you were given your first mission, which you will claim later." Severus spoke slowly while looking down at Theodore.
He nodded and made his way back to where he sat before. Severus cleared his throat before continuing.
"The Family Snape sends their only daughter, Olive Eileen Crayer. Daughter to Anne Snape and Matthew Crayer." Severus Snape said, while fixating his eyes onto his niece.
Since Severus doesn't have any children, his niece is going to fill in the spot of the Snape heir. I never really knew his niece before, since they kept her from the Manor as long as possible.
She made her way towards my father, her hair tied back neatly into a bun and a dark silk dress hugging her body. I could see how her hands were trembling, but her face remained calm.
If you took a closer look, you could see the resemblance to Severus. She certainly looked like a Snape, just with a softer appearance.
"I, Olive Eileen Crayer, pledge loyalty to the dark Lord and the dark side of magic. I vow to, at all times, protect the Lord and his family."
My father took her arm and turned it, so her forearm was facing upwards. Before he put his wand onto her forearm, he paused.
"How old are you?" he asked the girl. Here eyes widened and she shot a look at her uncle.
"Seventeen." she answered and my father nodded before he looked at Severus Snape.
"She's too weak." he let go of her arm and whispered a few words towards Severus Snape.
Severus placed his hand onto her shoulder and guided her back to her seat. My father looked at the girl again and I knew he had a different plan for her. She wasn't too weak. You could sense her strength and confidence. But I couldn't figure out what his plan was.
"The Family Zabini sends their only son, Blaise Zabini." Severus read out one last time, while Blaise rose from his seat.
Blaise was the right hand of Draco. You never saw them separated and Draco certainly profited from his loyalty.
"I, Blaise Zabini, pledge loyalty to the dark Lord and the dark side of magic. I vow to, at all times, protect the Lord and his family."
Severus nodded at him while announcing that he was given his first mission, which he could claim later.
Everyone took their seats again and my father rose from his seat, towering over everyone at the table.
"I have one more announcement to make." I looked at my father and he had a grin on his face. He liked to do this. Keep everyone in the dark and make sudden changes or adjustments to his plans.
"Regarding what?" Lucius asked confused from the other end of the table. My head turned faster than anyone else's. It was certainly brave to interfere when the dark Lord was talking.
"Excellent question." Tom answered and Lucius nodded proudly, not knowing what was about to happen.
"Since your son failed many of his missions in the past, I decided that he is not going to get any tasks in the near future." Tom said and turned to look at Draco.
Draco seemed nervous and could barely hold eye contact with Tom. It amused me to see him like this. Our friendship ended years ago and we never really saw each other anymore. But since he's a death eater, he's attending the meetings as well.
"My Lord, my Lord. Did you really think that through?" Lucius stuttered and I smirked.
Wrong question.
"How do you dare Lucius? Questioning my decisions..." Tom paused while directly staring at Lucius. „Of course I thought it through! He failed too many of his missions and is clearly not ready." my father said.
"And who is going to repair the cabinet and keep an eye on everything that happens in Hogwarts?" Bellatrix questioned, also enjoying what was happening.
"Very good question." Tom said with a small grin.
"Instead of Lucius son, Mattheo is going to be the eyes and ears of Hogwarts." he answered.
"What?!" Lucius and I said in union, looking at Tom and then at each other. My father looked at Lucius with glaring eyes, signalising him to stay silent.
I never expected this to happen. For my whole life I was home schooled. My biggest dream back then was to visit Hogwarts like every eleven year old. I wanted to make friends, since I never had many because of who my father is.
"Mattheo is going to take over Draco's task." Tom repeated while looking at Lucius, making sure he stayed silent.
Then Tom walked over to Draco, putting his hand onto the shoulder of the boy. You could see how his body tensed, the second the pale hand touched his shoulder.
"You don't mind letting Mattheo take over your task, right?" he mumbled and Draco shook his head.
"Do you mind?" Tom asked again because a head shake wasn't an answer for him.
"No, Sir." Draco answered after he cleared his throat.
"Sir." Tom laughed, mocking Draco who tensed even more. He walked back over to the head of the table and looked at everyone.
"This is settled then. Let the celebration begin!" The doors opened and the food was brought into the room.
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There was a lot of talking I had to go through until the guests finally said there goodbyes. The last ones to leave were the Malfoys, Severus and his niece.
"Thank you for having us, Tom." Severus said and my father nodded. I think Severus is possibly the only one, along with me, who get's to call him Tom.
"Is Olive attending Hogwarts as well?" he asked and Severus turned to his niece, letting her speak.
"Yes. It's going to be my sixth year." I could see a little smile form on her lips but she quickly hid it, when her eyes met mine.
"I'm sure the potion talent runs in the family."
"Certainly." she answered, looking proudly at her uncle.
"Good evening." Severus added and his hand guided his niece out of the room.
She shot a last look in my direction and nodded politely, as a way of saying goodbye. I could see the innocence and warmth in her eyes. The love she had for the world, which I was lacking. We watched them exit the room and I turned to leave as well.
"Mattheo." I heard my fathers voice say behind me, while I was starting to walk away.
"Yes father?" I turned to look at him. Sometimes it feel's like I lost my father that day he changed his name and appearance to the way you know him today.
"You won't disappoint me, right?" he was looking directly at me and I knew he was referring to my task at Hogwarts.
"Trust me. I won't." I answered with a grin and tucked my hands into my pockets.
"Good. You'll leave for Hogwarts tomorrow morning." he added before walking over to the Malfoys.
I walked out of the big hall back to my room. When you get up the big stairs my room is directly on the right.
I threw the suit jacket I was wearing onto the big bed and rolled up the sleeves of the white shirt.
Since I was leaving tomorrow I started to pack my things for Hogwarts.
Eventually someone knocked on the door.
"Come in." I said while searching for my favourite shirt. The door opened and a blonde head appeared.
"What do you want?" I asked harshly. My eyes glaring at the boy in front of me.
Draco walked into the the room and closed the door, looking around before he answered.
"Since we're now going to school together, I think we should iron out some things." he said while leaning onto the wall.
"There is nothing to iron out." I closed the closet door and stared at the boy.
He scoffed. „I meant that we should start fresh." Draco walked around my room, looking at the things that were standing on the dresser.
"I know how you meant it. And I'm not interested." I walked into my bathroom, disinterested in a conversation.
"You know, you haven't changed. You're still that cold and closed up, emotionless prick." he said and narrowed his eyebrows.
"Just like your father." Draco added. I stormed up to him, pressing him against the wall, my hand on his neck.
"You say that one more time and you're dead." I said through gritted teeth.
"Mh, what yould your dear mommy say, if she saw you like that. Would she be proud?" he asked innocently with a little smile.
I looked at the boy in front of me. The dark eye bags around his eyes and the scars on his hands, just gave out little information about his life. But I knew more than he probably liked.
My grip tightened around his neck and just before there was no air left in his lungs, I let him go.
"Leave!" I said, pointing to the door.
Gasping for air, but still with a smug grin on his face, he left the room.
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A/N: Ugh, I'm in love with this chapter c: Are you Team Mattheo or Team Draco? Let me know. This one was an extra long chapter, let me know if you like it that way :)