Surprising turn - a turn for the better? Or into madness ... (Draco Ff)

Chapter 44 ~ Death or Azkaban? - I prefer death...

Victoria's Pov.

"Ready?" I asked the Ice Prince, kneeling in front of him.
My black, floor-length dress fell elegantly and flowily to the floor as I eyed Draco.
He had perched on the edge of his bed and kept his head bowed.
He continued to stare at the ground and barely moved.
I took his hand and wrapped it in mine.
"This is the first Death Eater meeting my father will be attending again..." breathed young Malfoy into the silent room.
"And?" I asked unimaginatively or compassionately.
I didn't understand what he was getting at.
He lifted his head and frowned.
"My father had failed the dark lord.  I don't even want to imagine what could happen at the meeting today.
He's still my father....", he said with a slightly trembling voice.
He tightened our grip on our hands and sighed as he lifted his eyes and eyed me lovingly.
I couldn't help but smile honestly.
He got up and picked me up by my elbows.
He stopped a few inches from me and looked down at me.
He put his hands on my waist and slowly approached me.
Just before our lips met he paused and breathed in a low voice.
"You look beautiful..."
I could feel his warm breath on my skin and felt goosebumps spreading all over my body.
My heartbeat quickened and my breathing became more hectic.
With a dull knock on the dark oak door, we put a greater distance between us and looked expectantly towards the door.
As Narcissa suddenly appeared from behind the door, I could see a faint pink tint on Draco's cheeks.
"The meeting will take place in a few minutes." she said, but left the door open.
I heard her go back down the stairs and turned to the Ice Prince.
A crooked grin had formed on his face.
"Shall we go downstairs?" the man asked me, pointing towards the door.
I nodded and started walking.
Draco held out his arm, which I unceremoniously hooked myself into.
With slow steps we entered the hall where the meetings always took place and sat down on our seats.
I was seated to my mother's right, who was seated right next to the dark lord, who wasn't there yet.
Next to me sat Draco, who was still holding my hand under the table, drawing circles on the back of my hand.
Next to Draco, his parents had settled.
The rest of the seats were occupied by Death Eaters I only knew from the meetings.
I let my eyes wander around the room and realized that one seat was still empty.
However, I paid little attention to this realization and continued to survey each Death Eater who had taken a seat at the long table.
Each of them wore an emotionless expression.
They all resembled dead people.
With their sunken, pale faces, they seemed more dead than alive.
But when the dark lord entered the room in his frightening form, I turned away from his followers and gave my full attention to my lord.
As he approached the long table with Nagini, even the smallest of whispers fell silent and everyone looked down at their hands or down at the table.
He sat down at the head of the long table and with a wave of his hand Wormtail pulled out his wand and levitated Draco's and my old Muggle Studies teacher over the center of the table.
I only knew her by sight as I had never taken her classes.
Like many other Death Eaters, I started to smile.
The dark lord looked around and noticed the empty seat to his left, directly across from my mother.
Which actually Severus Snape should be sitting on.
I knew that if he didn't appear soon, nothing could be guaranteed.
I looked around cautiously and saw that everyone present still had their heads bowed.
It was quiet in the dining room.
No one dared to utter a peep.
No one intended to disturb the dark lord.
Apparently he seemed to be waiting for Snape, because he didn't say a word and just stared silently into the flames of the fireplace, which was located at the end of the long table.
At the moment I had no idea why the dark lord had convened this meeting, since nothing special was happening in the wizarding world at the moment.
Of course, there were still constant headlines in the Daily Prophet about muggle murders.
The murders of wizards and witches also increased dramatically and everyone in the magical world knew what was going on.
Only the muggles remained clueless.
I remembered the many headlines that appeared in the Daily Prophet as a result of my actions.
"Family Murdered Cruelly"
"Muggle Village Wiped Out"
"Historian and author Bathilda Bagshot found dead.."
Those were just a few of the dozens of headlines.
Every time I read the Daily Prophet and realized that my atrocious deeds were being reported in the newspaper, I threw it away and couldn't bring myself to read the article and have to relive it all.
I often imagined my future.
However, it always ended in death or Azkaban.
Although death seemed more satisfying to me at the moment.
The worst thing would be to rot and die in Azkaban.
So I preferred death.
"Severus," the dark lord said in a cold voice and all eyes turned to the person just mentioned.
I too was snapped out of my thoughts and looked at the former potions professor who had just appeared in the flames of the fireplace.
"I was afraid you were lost.  Come on, we've reserved a seat for you."
Snape stepped out of the fireplace and slowly began to walk.
His long cloak dragged on the floor as he stepped around the table and sat down next to the dark lord.
"I take it you have news," the dark lord said in a hissing voice, looking at Snape expectantly, a mischievous grin forming on his snake-like face...