PLAYING A FACADE | D.M fanfic

thirty.

We were lucky that the Dark Lord did not hear about the skirmish at Malfoy manor but what happened the next few days wasn't great either. Lucius and I haven't talked since the skirmish and I honestly did not mind that and because we let Potter and his friends escaped, the Dark Lord learned that the golden trio were hunting down the Dark Lord's Horcruxes. The news enraged Lord Voldemort. No one knew for sure what were the Lord's Horcruxes. I knew that Potter destroyed one in our second year in the Chamber. It was then revealed that one of the Lord's Horcruxes was destroyed by Dumbledore, Marvolo Gaunt's ring, minutes before his death, which explained why Dumbledore looked so tired in the Astronomy Tower.

A Death Eater, part of the main twenty four, apparated to the manor as I was walking down the grand stairs to get some food in the kitchen.

"My Lord," The man said, bowing down to Lord Voldemort. He had short dark brown hair, darker than Emerald's.

"Rookwood," The Lord greeted, "What brings you here?" And Augustus Rookwood stood up, yet he did not look at the Lord at the eye. Instead, he looked at the shiny black marble floors of the manor.

"Salazar Slytherin's locket was destroyed by Ronald Weasley, my Lord." Rookwood replied, still looking down.

"Am I hearing this right, Rookwood?" Voldemort asked, his voice raising, "Salazar's Slytherin locket was destroyed by a blood traitor?"

"Yes, my Lord."

And that was the last straw. Lord Voldemort broke into a scream, he was angry and I rushed to the kitchen, not wanting to get sucked into the mess Rookwood brought with him. I was wrong to think that the Dark Lord would just be angered, because turns out, it was more than that. He was enraged and Rookwood would be his victim. A jet of green light shot out of His wand, hitting right at Rookwood's chest.

The Dark Lord just murdered one of his followers.

My heart started beating faster. The last and first death I saw was Dumbledore's. I forgot the feeling of shock and emptiness that you feel when you see someone getting killed. Bellatrix appeared next to Voldemort, putting the pieces together on what just happened. My appetite was gone by then. That didn't end there as for the next few days, the rest of his Horcruxes were destroyed one by one and every Death Eater who brought the news, or any bad news, were murdered by the Dark Lord himself. Malfoy manor had become a place of massacre, amplifying its dark roots. I have never called the manor my home, but it was still unsettling, watching lifeless bodies toppling down to the ground. Lord Voldemort had made it clear that anyone bringing Him news that He did not like would be killed. He made that loud and clear.

For the rest of the week, I continued to sleep in Emerald's room, hugging her through the night. The news about the massacre travelled fast, Emerald knew about it before I told her, meaning that she knew it from her parents.

The Lord held a meeting on a Sunday afternoon, the day before Emerald and I go back to Hogwarts. The main twenty four was then down to the main twelve. The Dark Lord killed half of us. Half of His main followers. And of course, he gave us another task, which was to bring Harry Potter to Him if Potter steps his foot into Hogwarts, to do anything that would stop Potter from defeating the Dark Lord at all cost. I must admit, the weight of this task was lighter than the first task He gave me as every Death Eater and every supporter was given this task.

"Bring the boy to me." He said and the whole room nodded, "Spread the news to everyone."

"Yes, my Lord." We all said in unison. The air in the room was then filled more with fear than victory.

"You are all dismissed," He ended and we all apparated, including me.

I apparated to my room, and so did Emerald. I immediately embraced her as soon as I saw her before we dove in for a kiss. It wasn't long, but it wasn't short either and Emerald pulled apart, her viridescent orbs looking right through my striking grey ones, "I'll see you tonight."