Chapter Text
Four of the six people stood with their backs straight, gazing ahead, unbothered. Though, on the inside, they were just as terrified as the other two who kept their eyes on the floor.
It didn’t matter how aloof they tried to appear, because the moment the doors to the room opened, and a man with confident strides entered the room, their heads dropped too. The sound of his boots clacking against the polished marble echoed across the empty hall they were in. This was where Death Eater meetings were usually held, but when only the six of them were called to meet with their lord—well, that was concerning.
Would they get sent away on months-long missions like Dolohov? Would they be asked to fill a Ministry position they weren’t qualified for but couldn’t turn down? Would they be punished for an error on their end?
Each of the Death Eaters recounted all their actions to get a hint of what the issue could be. The severity of the fuck up determined their punishment. It got to the point where he involved their families in the torture. Just a few months ago, their lord brought in Selwyn’s wife. Rather than punishing her to punish him, he had her torture her own husband.
How was one to recover from that? How do you go back home to the family you’ve worked hard to protect from the Dark Lord, only to never be able to look your wife in the eye again?
The Dark Lord stood in front of them, his scrutinizing eyes taking in their stature.
“Lucius,” he hissed in a cold voice. Lucius looked up, directly into his lord’s eyes. They assessed him for a moment before he asked, “How is Narcissa?”
“Fine, my lord,” Lucius choked, before clearing his throat. He turned his gaze down to the Dark Lord’s shoes.
“Look at me,” the Dark Lord snapped. Lucius whipped his head back up, meeting his eyes evenly. “And how is Draco?”
“Doing well, my lord… thank you for asking,” he added the last part in hopes that his lord would get on with why he was asking.
Draco got out—it was immunity that Lucius was able to miraculously buy him. Nothing was set in stone, as the Malfoys were very loyal to the Dark Lord and always would be, which meant that if he required Draco’s services in the future (and he would once Lucius dies), then Draco will have to agree. But at least until then he will have gained more sense, more power and have grown away from the Dark Lord’s vicious habits.
“I hear… he has a child now. A boy?”
Lucius' heart gripped. After years of being together, Draco and Astoria finally tied the knot last year. Scorpius, Lucius’ pride and joy, was born just a few weeks ago.
“Yes, my lord. A boy. Named… Scorpius,” Lucius said softly, feeling less and less in control.
“I believe congratulations are in order,” the Dark Lord added. “I would have sent my well wishes to Draco as well, had I known.”
Lucius gulped.
“It’s his wife, my lord, she is not yet well and does not wish to spread the news yet—”
“Rookwood,” the Dark Lord continued, disinterested in Lucius’ excuses.
“Yes, my lord,” Rookwood instantly looked up and met his eyes.
“How is that project you were working on in the Ministry?”
“Going well, my lord. We hit a couple snags, but it’s nothing I wasn’t able to smooth forward. The Head of the Department has just been switched out, as well—Jerome Tywick. He and I get along very well, I don’t foresee any more complications in the future.”
“Perfect,” he murmured. Rookwood let out a soft exhale and nodded.
The Dark Lord narrowed his eyes at him for a short moment. Then he took a step forward, eyeing Alecto Carrow suspiciously. She gulped and met his gaze nervously. Majority of the Death Eaters were trained in Occlumency, so looking him in the eye wasn’t to reveal access to their memories. It was to show, upfront, that they had nothing to hide. Whether the Dark Lord bought it or he felt it was required to delve into their mind, depended on the situation.
His gaze slid from her to her brother, Amycus, who cowered.
Next to Amycus, Rowle was the picture of resolute confidence. Back straight, hands clasped in front of him, he only faltered a little when the Dark Lord met his gaze.
And then finally, Pettigrew. He was so nervous and jittery, he nearly dropped to the Dark Lord’s feet to kiss his robes in an effort to save himself from who knew what.
“You must be wondering why I’ve called you all here,” the Dark Lord spoke, glaring at Pettigrew in disgust.
His question was greeted with silence as all six waited for him to answer. A long, dragged out moment later, he spoke again.
“You are all aware that Dolohov is away on a mission,” he said. “He… has failed to report back to me.”
“My lord, is he okay?” Rowle asked instantly. He was close friends with Dolohov.
“I haven’t heard from him in two weeks,” the Dark Lord continued, pinning Rowle with a cold look. “Have you?”
Rowle’s face paled. He shook his head.
“I would strongly advise against hiding anything from me, Rowle,” the Dark Lord said softly.
Lucius’ eyes flicked between them in interest. So this was about Dolohov’s disappearance? Why was he here then? He had no connections to Dolohov or even knew what he was away for.
“Make no mistake,” the Dark Lord added coldly, “I will find out what happened to him and if I figure out that you helped hide him, you will pay the price twice as dearly.”
Rowle’s lips pressed together in an effort to contain himself. His eyes were wide and stricken. Lucius vaguely recalls the fact that he had recently eloped. He has someone dear to him, and everyone dear to you becomes a target when you work for the Dark Lord.
He warned each of them that love is weakness—they all heed that warning until a certain someone stumbled into their life and they threw his advice out the window.
Lucius has no room to complain here. He was a teenager when he had his first meeting with the Dark Lord, they had a long conversation about how love was for fools and it was something they bonded over. A few years later, Narcissa would make a fool out of him. He hung his head in shame when he announced his wedding to the Dark Lord, but rather than sneering at him, the Dark Lord simply congratulated him and wished him a happy life.
They were constantly warned and yet they succumbed to the comfort of love and a family that wasn’t their fellow Death Eaters. They knew better, but they continuously gave the Dark Lord ammunition against them.
“I swear to you, my lord, I have not had any contact with Dolohov since he left,” Rowle said solemnly. “Should he reach out to me, I will let you know at once.”
The Dark Lord pressed his lips together in annoyance. Clearly, he had been hoping Rowle would be able to give him all the answers now.
He moved down the line and paused in front of Amycus.
“What do you know?”
Amycus took in a shuddering breath, “N-nothing, my lord… we don’t even keep track of Dolohov—”
“What he means is—” Alecto cut in, only to have the Dark Lord’s wand come out for the first time since he entered the room, and pointed right at her throat. She gulped.
“If I wanted you to speak,” he hissed coldly, “I would have asked you. How dare you speak to me out of line?”
“F-forgive me, my lord,” she whispered, blinking fast.
“Continue, Amycus,” he ordered, his eyes still on Alecto and his wand still at her throat.
Amycus was now sweating twice as much. Not only could his sister not save his skin right now, but she was also being threatened as he spoke.
“We-we didn’t… That is to say—not that we deliberately are not looking for Dolohov—but that… our focus—”
The Dark Lord sighed in annoyance. “I don’t have time for this,” he snapped, silencing Amycus and turning to Alecto.
“You have thirty seconds to explain.”
She wasted the first two just sighed in relief then she spoke quickly, “We haven’t picked up on any of Dolohov’s activity, my lord. He has not shown up at any of the Ministry of Magical Transportation logs. If he Apparates using a wand that isn’t his own, we would have no way of knowing. If he creates his own unauthorized Portkey, we also would have no way of knowing.” His wand touched under her chin and she tilted her head up as he drew it closer. “A-and what my brother meant to say was that, using Ministry resources, we don’t draw any attention to Death Eater activities,” her voice got higher and higher, “as the Dark Mark would alert us and thus, you would know if he was in the country before the Ministry does.”
He removed his wand and grunted in frustration. Breathing heavily, his red eyes swept over to Pettigrew who had been shamelessly watching with a hint of entertainment. He gasped and dropped his head again, cowering.
“Peter,” the Dark Lord said quietly. “You must have heard something, being the sewer rat you are.”
“N-n-no, my lord, I have not heard anything,” Pettigrew stammered. Lucius rolled his eyes at his blubbering. The man was not up to Death Eater standards at all. The only reason he made it here was because his Animagus form was a rat and that made him a good spy.
“No?” the Dark Lord said. “You mean to tell me you don’t skitter around eavesdropping on conversations the others have? Hoping to rat out a fellow Death Eater? Well, now is your chance to get the recognition you deserve. Tell me what you heard.”
“I-I haven’t, I-I swear to you, m-my lord!”
It was quiet for a moment. Lucius figured the Dark Lord step back, give them all a set of strict instructions and then—
“Look at me!” he shouted, startling all of them. Pettigrew shook like a leaf as he looked up to the Dark Lord’s piercing red gaze. His eyes widened when his feet were no longer on the ground and an invisible force clutched his throat and lifted him up slowly. “Bella told me she’s seen rats scurrying around Malfoy Manor.”
Lucius’ blood froze. Bellatrix spent majority of her time at his house. Not only did this mean Pettigrew spied on some of their conversations, but it shined light on why he might be here. The Dark Lord potentially believed that Lucius was withholding information too.
“Now, I know Narcissa well enough to know not a single pest lives in her house as long as she does,” he continued. “So tell me what you heard.”
Don’t tell him, don’t tell him, don’t tell him—
“N-nothing about Dolohov, I-I swear!” Pettigrew choked out.
Lucius closed his eyes. Pettigrew knew better than to rat him out. Why throw Lucius under the bus if he could instead bribe him?
And just like that, Pettigrew was released and the Dark Lord moved down the line to stand in front of Lucius. Lucius held his gaze confidently.
“What were you talking about, Lucius?”
There was no point in lying, you couldn’t lie to the Dark Lord and he had already admitted it before.
“My wife and her sister were discussing Draco’s family.”
“What were you discussing that Peter would keep secret from me?”
Lucius’ eyes flicked to Pettigrew for a moment. The rat was going to pay for spying on him. Lucius didn’t need to be bribed by him at all.
“He must have heard our discussion about keeping Scorpius’ birth… away from the public’s knowledge. And the Death Eaters’. As for why he wouldn’t tell you anyway, I assume it was because he hoped he could blackmail me with the information.”
One look at Pettigrew and it was clear this was true. The Dark Lord didn’t care about Scorpius Malfoy's birth, but he cared that one of his spies heard information and deliberately kept it from him so he could blackmail another Death Eater.
“Crucio!”
The corner of Lucius’ lip tugged upward. It was always fun seeing Pettigrew being put in his place. Especially when he thought he could one-up a man like Lucius.
When the Dark Lord finished taking his frustration of Dolohov’s mysterious disappearance out on Pettigrew, he blinked to clear his eyes and mind of the darkness.
“All of you are to keep your eyes and ears open. Any whisper of Dolohov’s whereabouts and I want to hear about it immediately. Am I understood?”
Murmurs of ‘yes, my lord’ sounded but the Dark Lord was not appeased. He was getting increasingly agitated.
“Rowle, go to Norway and find Dolohov,” he ordered. “I need him back in a week.”
Rowle’s eyes widened but he nodded, and excused himself to get on with his search. He would need Merlin to find a missing Death Eater and bring him back to England within a week.
“Augustus, you’re taking up Dolohov’s research. He might not turn up any time soon, but I need answers before the month is over.”
The end of the month was in only two weeks—what was happening that was so important?
“Lucius,” the Dark Lord turned to him and pinned him under his hard gaze. “Ask around discreetly. Find out anything you can that can assist Rowle in his search.”
Lucius nodded.
The Dark Lord let out a heavy sigh, before turning sharply and walked out of the room at a brisk pace. The four left standing shared an uneasy look.
***
Lucius was good at gathering information, he knew just the right people to ask and just the right questions to ask to narrow down the search. It took the full week for Rowle to find Dolohov and another three days for them to return to England, despite the Dark Lord’s haste.
The Dark Lord paced the main hall of his Manor on the third day, fuming at how long it was taking for them to come back. He made countless threats on both Dolohov and Rowle’s lives, promising to make them pay dearly for it.
When Rowle finally stumbled into the Manor, no one expected him to look so shaken and haggard. Dolohov, on the other hand, well by the looks of him, it was clear why he hadn’t reported back in nearly a month.
If he wasn’t practically on his deathbed, the Dark Lord would have definitely Crucio’ed him because as it stood—Dolohov came back emptied-handed.
The Dark Lord waited until he was recovered and coherent to admit that he failed his assignment. Then he tortured him in a room full of Death Eaters.
His punishment was simply cut in half when Rowle vouched for him that the tribe he was assigned to negotiate with were vicious and unrelenting.
Lucius learned a lot that day. Apparently in northern Norway, there was a tribe of witches and wizards who did not wish to be found by the rest of the wizarding world and had Dolohov tied to a stake to bleed dry until Rowle rescued him.
It was silent for a long moment when Rowle finished speaking while the Dark Lord took in how disastrous of a failure this mission was.
Annoyed, he stood up from his throne and paced. His hand raised up and then flexed angrily before fisting as other thoughts occured to him and he yelled, “Fuck!”
No one dared approach him. Lucius was not optimistic enough to offer they find a different solution to whatever his issue was.
His snake was not afraid though. She went up to him and hissed, only to be shouted at by the Dark Lord in Parseltongue. She said some other words before slithering out of the room and the Dark Lord returned to his chair, sighing deeply as he rubbed his forehead.
Bellatrix stepped up. All eyes turned on her. If anyone could speak more candidly to him, it was her. She was his second in command, after all.
“My lord?” she tried. He made no response except glaring holes at the ground. “Perhaps… Rookwood could find a solution that doesn’t involve the tribe?”
All eyes turned to Rookwood, who looked equal parts horrified and murderous that Bellatrix would volunteer him. He already had dark circles under his eyes from overworking to find whatever it was the Dark Lord needed him to find.
The Dark Lord raised his head from his hand but didn’t meet anyone’s eyes. He steepled his fingers, his jaw clenched.
“Perhaps, but not before Friday,” he said.
Friday—the end of the month. What was happening on Friday?
“And—if I may—what is happening this Friday, exactly?” she muttered, her voice getting higher towards the end.
They waited with bated breath for what would happen next.
The Dark Lord stood and walked down the steps of the platform, standing next to Bellatrix as he glared at her. Then his gaze flicked to all the others, who immediately looked down.
“Someone very important is arriving on Friday,” he answered. “Someone I wouldn’t want to… disappoint.”
Lucius’ eyes widened and he gulped in fear.
Being higher up in the Dark Lord’s ranks had it’s perks and he was comfortable in his position. But only when he was dealing with him.
Dealing with someone even the Dark Lord wouldn’t dream of disappointing… someone who required something from them that nearly got Dolohov exsanguinated?
Merlin help them all.