-August 30 1991-
"Where are you off to, my love?" Lucius asked, giving her a soft kiss in greeting. He had been sitting at the breakfast table looking over paperwork when Narcissa walked in, dressed to impress and preparing to floo away.
"The Dark Lord is off to attend some business today," she responded. Lucius nodded, clearly aware that he was. Narcissa nodded at him. It wasn't unusual for Lucius to be called out on a raid. Though the war was long over, the battles still continued. "He has kindly asked me to watch over Little One while he is away."
Lucius raised an eyebrow. "Kindly?"
"Indeed," Narcissa replied coolly. "It is not the first time that I have watched over the little angel. I do not mind in the slightest."
"Will I be receiving a tulip today?" Lucius deadpanned, returning his disinterested gaze to the stack of papers resting on the table. Narcissa fought back a smirk. As much as he may deny it, she knew that Lucius enjoyed Little One's strange tendencies just as much as everyone else did.
"I'll be sure to tell him you say hello." Narcissa said with a fond smile. Lucius merely snorted elegantly and returned his attention to the paperwork. "I will see you later tonight, husband."
Lucius smiled at her. "Have fun, my love."
Narcissa nodded before she grabbed the floo powder from her mantle. "Dark Lord's Castle." she said, stepping into the green fire with grace. She stepped out into the greeting hall of her Lord's castle and was greeted with the sight of the Dark Lord barking orders to his Death Eaters, a familiar Inferius hitched on his hip. Narcissa fought to keep a fond smile off her face at the sight.
When the Dark Lord dismissed his followers, he turned to greet her with a cool stare. Narcissa bowed deeply, a respectful, "My Lord." escaping her lips. The Dark Lord tipped his head slightly and Narcissa stood. Narcissa watched as Little One squirmed in the Dark Lord's arms. He looked at Little One with eyes filled with fondness. He hissed something is parseltongue at the child (Narcissa bit back a flinch at the language) and set the boy onto the ground. Little One grinned up at the Dark Lord before he ran over to Narcissa, pulling out a daisy to hand to her when he reached her outstretched arms.
"Hello Little One," Narcissa said, bending her head so Little One could stick the daisy behind her ear. "It's nice to see you. Lucius misses you, you know."
Little One tilted his head, reminding Narcissa of a confused puppy, before his Avada eyes lit up in realization. As Narcissa shifted her weight so that she could carry Little One on her hip, Little One reached into his bag to pull out another tulip. Narcissa grinned, and promised to give it to Lucius.
"I will return by nightfall." a cold voice called, forcing Narcissa to tear her eyes from the adorable toddler hitched around her waist. The Dark Lord was staring at Narcissa with an odd look on his face---one Narcissa dared not decipher. She merely nodded, instead, choosing to boy one last time. Little One waved at the Dark Lord, a wide smile decorating his face. The Dark Lord's cold, crimson eyes softened for a second as they looked at the Inferius. Just as quickly, the emotion vanished, and the cool indifferent mask returned. His gaze snapped back to Narcissa's and he bit out, "I don't think I need to remind you what's at stake, should you fail me."
Narcissa held her head high. "No, My Lord." she said firmly. "I will take care of Little One. I swear it."
The Dark Lord eyed her for another second before he nodded curtly. "Very well." he then looked back at Little One and hissed in parseltongue again, before he swiftly exited the hall.
Narcissa waits a few more seconds before she returns her attention to the Inferius in her arms. She smiles at him. "What do you say we go play in the garden?" she asks. The Inferius grins brightly and nods.
Narcissa chuckles fondly before she quickly walks out of the Dark Lord's entrance hall. The Dark Lord's castle is very large, and Narcissa has really only been on the first level---the one where most Death Eater business was conducted---but even so, the grandeur never ceased to amaze. The Dark Lord's first level made Malfoy Manor look like a cottage.
Narcissa walked swiftly through the ornate halls, passing stiff greetings at the people she passed, before she finally made it to the large gardens outside the left wing. Narcissa squinted against the bright sun for a brief second until her eyes adjusted. She instinctively tightened her grip on Little One as the toddler began to squirm out of her hold. Sensing his desire to stand on his own, Narcissa quickly set the Inferius on the ground.
Narcissa watched as Little One excitedly ran around the impressive gardens. Narcissa resigned herself to staying outside with a rambunctious toddler for the rest of the day, and set her sights on finding a bench she could sit on.
Narcissa watched the child peer at the flowers with awe and happiness, and frown slowly worked its way onto her face.
He really was quite the strange one.
No one actually knew where Little One had come from. No one knew who he was when he was alive, or the relationship he had with her Lord. Based on the way the Lord acted around Little One, Narcissa wouldn't be surprised if Little One was the Dark Lord's son. His reactions to the Inferius... well they were almost paternal.
"If a father was a homicidal Dark Lord." Narcissa mused to herself.
But the truth of the matter was simple. No matter the reason, the Dark Lord---dare she say it---actually loved Little One. Narcissa didn't think people like the Dark Lord even felt love. And yet...
Although, Narcissa wasn't sure if it was so much love, as it was a possessive feeling in nature. Narcissa wasn't blind, and neither were the Death Eaters. The Dark Lord would most likely do anything for Little One. If Little One told the Dark Lord to, Narcissa was sure he'd give Little One the moon!
Another strange mystery about the Inferius---speaking. Most Inferius were made by fools who dappled in necromancy. They weren't aware of the power necessary to create a successful, fully functional Inferius. The ritual required strong magic, but also the strong will to preserve a life. A soul. The necromancers believed they could just create an army of undead without forming the necessary attachments to each soul. In order for an Inferius to be made properly, the caster needed to want the Inferius to live. Not for power, but for sentimentality. For the pure purpose of never losing that soul.
Little One was created perfectly. It was obvious because, if one didn't look properly or looked from a distance, one wouldn't be able to tell he was even dead! There was no rotting flesh, no missing appendages. Little One's skin was fair and healthy---with the exception of the stitches going up his neck. (Narcissa knew that those stitches were most likely holding Little One together. No doubt, Little One had received some sort of injury on his neck, and that was how he died.) Little One's head was full of hair, no missing patches and no sunken skull. He did not give off the smell of rotten flesh, and most importantly: Little One did not attack the living.
If an Inferius was made incorrectly, they would be the opposite of Little One. That was where the horror stories of the Inferius came from. But whoever made Little One, they did it perfectly.
(Narcissa had a strong suspicion as to what powerful, and sentimental wizard brought Little One back to life.)
However, a correctly made Inferius also retained its intelligence from when it was alive. Little One appeared to be about four, so he should, theoretically, be able to speak. Narcissa knew that Little One could speak, but he never had.
Well, not around anyone that wasn't the Dark Lord. And never in english. Once, almost four years ago, Narcissa had been a part of the lucky four (The others being Barty, Lucius and Snape) to hear Little One speak. He had been sitting with Nagini, curled up by the fire, when the Dark Lord hissed at him. To the amazement of the only other four people in the room, Little One opened his mouth and hissed back at him. That was how Narcissa knew that the Dark Lord was speaking to Little One every time he hissed. Before that, Narcissa had assumed that the Dark Lord was just talking to himself.
Narcissa wondered, though, why Little One never spoke English. She knew he understood it just fine, yet never had he spoken it.
Just one of the many mysteries of the great enigma, Little One.
Narcissa had once wondered, back before she truly knew Little One, if he was the one controlling the Dark Lord. It was her first time meeting an Inferius, after all, and they were notoriously dark, and dangerous creatures.
But then she saw the way Little One had cried when Dolohov stepped on a spider Little One had befriended---and the way the Dark Lord held him under the cruciatus for five extra minutes because of it---and she thought better of it.
Little One was, without a doubt, the most gentle creature she had ever encountered in her entire life. He befriended every living creature, giving personalized flowers to each person he met as a sign of friendship and greeting, and could charm a man out of murder with his adorable pout.
It was no wonder the Dark Lord was so protective of the child. He was quite effective at ending wars.
She smiled as Little One ran up to her, an excited grin on his face as he showed her the butterfly that had perched on his arm. Narcissa patted his head fondly, smiling a little wider at the silent giggle that left his lips as he watched the butterfly fly away.
Yes, Narcissa thought, watching the child chase after the butterfly with a dopey grin on his face. Little One is a wonder. How did such a docile creature meet the Big Bad Dark Lord?
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Voldemort smirked at the empty house on Privet Drive, a deadly glint in his crimson eyes.
Had it really been so long, already?