Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Voldemort's full name comes from Nemesis' fic 'I am Lord Voldemort'.

Bearer of the Skull, Servant of the Darkness

By Silver Sailor Ganymede

Darkness… fear… hatred… awe. I could sense all those things as I stood there, in the cold, dank, darkness of the graveyard. We stood in silence, all of us, our night-coloured robes billowing about us. I did not know whom I was with, as the others wore skull-like masks: I, however, did not. My face was unmasked and the hood of my robes was down. I shivered in those thin robes as the icy wind bit into my skin like a thousand knives.

Suddenly the cold, darkness and silence seemed to increase by tenfold. I looked ahead and saw why; he had come. The man whom I was soon to pledge my soul to had arrived. My 'Master'… the Dark Lord whose name we do not speak… he had arrived to claim my soul.

The others fell to their knees, prostrate, and crawled like a bunch of snivelling dogs to their master. And that is what we Death Eaters are really, just a bunch of snivelling mutts who live in fear of their cruel master. You see the Dark Lord is our master and the master of many more. He is a master of puppets, the one who controls us as though we are mere marionettes: and we are just that, really, his servants, his puppets… his marionettes. We must serve him mindlessly, must never question his beliefs. I didn't believe I should act like then and I still do not believe it know. But I digress.

While the others had bowed to our Master and crawled to him like the petrified dogs they are, I had stood, unmoving and staring.

He dismissed the last of them and fixed his glaring fiery gaze on me. It was the first time I had truly seen him, and he was, there's no other way to describe him… no it: My Master is a monster. His skin was – and still is bleached whiter than that of any vampire, his teeth are now snake-like fangs. His hair had disappeared long ago in one of his past horrific transformations. But the worst things about him were his eyes. It is said among the Vampyr that the eyes are the windows to the soul, and if that is so, then it – my Master – has no soul. Its eyes were red… like hate…like blood… like the fires of Hell. Its pupils were like a cat's and were blacker than death itself. But its eyes… they blazed with some kind of sadistic rage: and they were not empty; they were worse than that… they were broken. It had used Horcruxes to immortalise itself, I knew it had!

My Master raised a skeletal claw and beckoned me towards him. I did so; I don't think I had any choice in the matter; Master is a master of wandless, wordless magic, especially the Unforgivable Curses.

I stood there, trembling despite myself… and then it spoke.

"So, Draconis Malfoy", Master hissed. "You have decided to join us then, have you?"
I had not decided to join the ranks of snivelling Death Eaters; I had been summoned: but of course I did not say that nor think it; the Dark Lord is an exceptionally skilled Legilimens.

He continued and said, "so, Malfoy, Severus assures me that you are willing to serve me, to carry out my mission."

I nodded, knowing that to refuse the Dark Lord was to welcome death… and there's nothing worse than death, is there?

"You accept? I thought you would: Lucius taught you our ways well, just as Abraxas taught him well. Well, Draconis, you will be a useful addition to our ranks: I can only hope that you, unlike your Father and Grandfather, have more sense than to get yourself captured and killed.

"But now we must turn our attention to more important things. If you truly wish to serve me well, to carry out the mission of which Severus has informed you, then bow down to me now. Bow down now as you always will and submit to my will. Bow down now to me, your master, and you shall be led to the truth.

"Swear now your loyalty to me, Draconis Malfoy, son of Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black. Swear now your loyalty to our cause, our rise to power, the death of the unworthy."
He grabbed my arm in his right hand and traced a knife along it with his left. I did not flinch, I knew what was coming for Father had told me.

"Do you swear your loyalty to me, Malfoy?"

I nodded and replied, "I, Draconis Lucius Malfoy, son of Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black, swear my loyalty to you, my lord and master. From this time forth I shall serve you and no others shall bend my will. I, Draconis Lucius Malfoy, present myself to you as you loyal servant."

I hated the fact that I was hearing myself speak those words, but it had to be done. He had said that both Father and Mother would die at his hand if I disobeyed him, and that I too should meet the same fate.

"Then know that I, Lord Voldemort Salamair Slytherin, accept your vow. Now you are to obey me and me alone: I am your Master now."
He took the knife away from my arm and placed it back into his robes. He held a claw-like finger over my bleeding left arm and muttered 'Morsmordre'. It hurt… it hurt so much. It was as though I was having one hundred Cruciatus Curses placed on me at once. But still I did not flinch, still I did not cry; I had to show my Master that I was not weak like my Father. I looked down and saw the Dark Mark on my arm, its black form in stark contrast to my pale skin.

I stood, still clutching my burning arm, and I, like so many others before me, bowed, cowering, at the feet of the Dark Lord. And since that fateful night I, Draco Malfoy, have been a bearer of the skull that is the Dark Mark, nothing more than a servant of the Darkness.