Hogwarts' Shinobi

Chapter 28

Malfoy Manor
23:59

The Malfoy house was deathly silent as Draco followed his parents to the large dining room. The room itself was rarely used, in fact, this was the first time he'd ever been in it. After all, when he ate with his parents, they were seated in the more informal dining room. That room paled in comparison to this one though. The large table that ran from one side of the room to the other was dark in colour. The chairs that surrounded it all consisted of straight backs with pitch-black armrests.

His parents lead him towards the trio of chairs positioned near the middle of the table. The instructions in which they'd told him beforehand were echoing in his mind. When the Dark Lord arrived, he was to be on his best behaviour. He was not to disobey their leader and he was to only talk when spoken to.

The blonde-haired boy watched in poorly hidden nervousness as the large clock on the wall chimed 12. Shifting in his seat, the green cushion the only thing soft about the chair. Suddenly there was a popping sound as the first guest arrived. Shortly after the first person arrived, there was a multitude of the sound, all ringing in quick succession as they began to settle themselves down in various seats. The scattered layout of the people taking seats seemed almost too random not to be properly organised beforehand.

As the room slowly filled with people clothed entirely in black, the boy's attention was drawn towards the largest seat in the room. The only seat that was consistently left empty as people settled down. The silence was almost eery as despite the large volume of people, and the large echoey ceiling, the only sound he could hear was his own breaths. Breaths that were slightly too quick to be normal. Focusing in on the small rush of air he exhaled, he began to slow it down until it was regular.

About 5 minutes after the popping had stopped and all the seats -except the largest one- had been filled, there was yet another pop. All eyes moving to look as a snake-like man appeared seamlessly out of thin air. The silence disappeared from the room, displaced by the sound of chairs scraping against the tiled floor as death eaters rose to stand.

"Sit." the voice of the snake-like man was raspy and clearly disused, but the authority behind it was clear. He was in charge here, and anybody who dared to challenge him would be unfortunate enough to experience being on the other side of his wand. Once more, the only sound in the room was caused by the dragging of chairs as they reseated themselves.

"It has come to my attention that our enemies potentially could have a formidable ally. Their limitations are currently unknown and after consideration, I have assigned them a danger ranking of 9." the man snapped his fingers, the skittish Peter Pettigrew who stood behind him then moved. Scuffing his feet as he scurried around the table, the man shakily handed a document to each death eater. 

Placed at the very top of the parchment was a moving image of the girl in question. She was young, the age written beneath was enough to confirm that fact. In fact, she wasn't much older then the only son of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. Her hair was an odd colour and her eyes green, not unlike those of the boy-who-lived. But it wasn't the girl's odd appearance, nor her clearly foreign name that drew their attention. It wasn't her young age, neither was it the fact she'd already become a medic at the prestigious Hogwarts despite her lack in years. No, it was the accomplishment at the bottom of the page.

For those who were fresh out of hiding, they were yet to hear of the miracle of which she had performed. How she was the only person in the history of magic to have saved somebody from the fate of the killing curse. Voldemort then spoke up once more, "According to additional sources, she is also proficient in non-verbal and wandless magic. In exchange for this, she uses hand signs. She doesn't even need to have contact with you to defeat you, but she is incredibly strong." the man stopped, his cold eyes scanning the people around him, gauging their thoughts.

"If you come into contact with her, you are not to engage. I have decided it would be in our best interest to recruit her before Dumbledore does if he hasn't already. It has also come to my attention that she is your age, Draco and that you are on good terms with her. Your first job as one of my followers is to recruit Sakura Haruno. Should you succeed, you shall be promoted, along with your family. Should you fail, both you and your parents shall die. Is that understood? Should you choose to accept, you will have until the school year ends to have sucessfully recruited her." 

Draco looked at the man in unease. The guilt eating away at him slightly, he was very fond of the pink-haired girl, not that he would admit it, and didn't want her getting hurt to save his own skin. On the other hand, he did not doubt her abilities, she was the strongest female he'd ever come across. On the other hand, maybe it was safest for her to be working for the Dark Lord. As long as she was on his side, he wouldn't try to kill her. And as much as he liked Sakura, it was either her or his entire family line. Coming to a decision, Draco nodded calmly at the Dark Lord. "I accept your conditions," he said formally, his face not betraying his worry for his friend and family. His parents shooting looks at the boy, the emotion in which they were trying to convey remaining unknown to their son who's eyes never left Voldemorts.

The man simply nodded before turning away from the youngest person in the meeting. Looking at the rest of his death eaters who were still focused on the parchment in front of them. Too fearful to meet their leader's eyes as he continued on with the meeting. "Nott, report."