Muggles. Everywhere. Disgusting, lowly, yet dangerous. Dangerous because they were so simple and narrow minded. Because they had no tolerance for anything different. Too daft to see what was right in front of them. Droves of wizarding children and their families packed through the barrier while the muggles didn't notice a thing. Yet they were intelligent enough to create weapons of mass destruction.

Tom's lips seemed to be set into a permanent sneer as he stood waiting for the two to arrive. He was not in a good mood because he was wearing muggle clothes, a suit to be exact complete with tie. He was polyjuiced to look like a muggle and the two he was waiting for seemed to find it necessary to test his patience.

If it weren't so important he wouldn't have gone through such ridiculous lengths. Posing as a muggle. His sneer was so frightening people were giving him a wide berth as he stood there. He hadn't had time to meet with the two before they were to leave to Hogwarts forcing this plan into action because it was too risky to put any of it in a letter and his only two completely trustworthy Death Eaters were busy with more important tasks. But with every minute that ticked by with him in the muggle outfit Tom got closer and closer to killing the two heirs on the spot when they did arrive.

Taking a deep breath and willing himself to calm down, Draco made his way over to the muggle he’d been observing while teasing Potter. He looked so angry. If looks could kill, the surrounding muggles would have all keeled over and their bodies would have turned to dust already. Draco gulped.

The blonde wiped his sweating hands on his robes before approaching the man he knew to be the Dark Lord. He was so stupid. Why didn’t he think of the meeting earlier and focus a bit more on his surroundings? If he’d just put two and two together before getting into the conversation with Potter, he might not have kept the Dark Lord waiting like he had.

Oh, this was so not going to be good. At least he was still earlier than his cousin? He didn’t think the Dark Lord would see it that way, though. Oh, no, he was sure the man would simply wish to kill them both. Draco suddenly wondered if he would even get the chance to show off his captain’s position on the Quidditch field. Would he make it to the train where he could make fun of the mudblood for no reason other than her existence? He felt a lump growing in his throat, and fought to swallow it.

As he reached the disguised man, Draco bowed his head and swallowed his fear. “My Lord,” he muttered. He wasn’t sure what else to say, so he simply kept his mouth shut and his head bowed. He hoped the Dark Lord wouldn’t see it fit to kill him on the spot. He wouldn’t hold his breath, though.

Late. He was late. Late to the platform and it wasn't just his Prefect status that had him anxious. It was the fact that he could see someone whom wouldn't care about why he was late that awaited for him. Raising his head he strode purlosefully toward the man and his cousin. Stuffing his anger, hatred, and jealousy deep down. He had to make sure his mind was clear and not allow his emotions to cloud his thinking. Anxiety stayed and got comfortable with bravado.

Keeping in mind that he did not wished to be tar and feathered or crucioed, Silas had made sure his attire was appropriate. His clothes were black and made of wizard cut, yet were tailored as if he was just an eccentric muggle teenager going with a fad. This way he would not stand out in either place. Keeping in mind whom he was facing, Silas gave the same respectful quarter of a bow he'd given his mother. Knowing he should appologize for his tardiness, Silas remained silent on the matter. It would not change the fact he was late nor that he'd made the Dark Lord wait. He would likely still get reap the repercussions so he kept his silence not excusing himself. Waiting to see what was in store for him.

There was the young Malfoy heir. Baiting Potter. Both boys were completely focused on nothing but each other. That alone was enough to earn both boy's Tom's disgust. Potter had always had that in one way or another though. Tom's sneer was getting so bad his muggle face was contorting into a murderous and dark look. This was bringing him far too much attention from the muggles and it made his already bad temper soar higher. It wasn't just that the young Malfoy had apparently forgotten about their meeting but added to that was that he was already ruining Tom's plans. Tom was ready to kill the blonde and be done with it. But added to all of it was also the fact that the Lestrange boy had not shown up yet either. He knew Bella would be interested to hear of this tardiness.

When the blonde finally noticed him Tom couldn't have looked more murderous if he had wanted to. He wanted to kill him and his fingers were on his wand, unforgiveable on his sneering lips when the Lestrange boy showed up. Tom's attention was unfortunately interrupted so fast he lost his chance to follow through with his action to kill the blonde since the interruption was enough to restore sense to his thought. Tom could not kill the boy at the moment with so many witnesses about. It did not mean he forgot. "You are lucky your cousin has such impeccable timing Draco." The undercurrent of fury in his tone would scare even the famous Dumbledore and his flashing eyes turned onto the dark haired wizard. Tom looked him over briefly and gave a very creepy smile that was even more terrifying than his murderous look. Even on a muggle face. "As for you. I am sure your mother will be interested to hear of your tardiness." Tom paused to let that sink in before hitting with the second blow. "And your clothes." His murderous glare returned like it had never gone and he snapped harshly at them both. "Follow me."

Tom did not wait to make sure they followed. They would be fools not to. He led the way to a small room off the platform which he had already made secure from muggles and prying eyes and ears. "No one will hear the screaming in here I assure you."

Draco could have kissed his cousin for showing up at the moment that he had. That thought scared him even more than the look on the Dark Lord’s face as he assessed the two boys. Obviously, he was unhappy with both of them, so at least the blonde wasn’t alone in his doom. Somehow, sharing in the Dark Lord’s loathing was reassuring. At least a tiny bit. At least he wasn’t going to die alone.

He followed at the terrifying man’s heel, feeling much like a loyal hound being led to his own execution. There was no joy at being tortured by this man as there was at being held at Bella’s wand. She was a dark creature of elegance and beauty to be observed and appreciated even as she tore the screams from his lungs. This man was just a sadistic horror who happened to rule Draco’s fate. He was simply to be feared, and Draco was doing a lot of that right now.

The threat of a silent room only increased his terror as he gulped down the lump that was forming in his throat. He had a feeling he didn’t want to know what he was in for when the Dark Lord decided they were safe from prying muggle eyes. He entered the room, despite the feeling that that was utterly the wrong thing to do, and knew somehow that his cousin had come along as well. The boy surely wasn’t stupid enough not to, after all. The door clicked audibly and Draco realized they were alone. There was no one to save the two boys from their birth right now.

He shot Silas a look that exposed the sudden panic he was feeling. What had they gotten themselves into?

Silas had nearly forgot how to breathe as the anger eminating from the Dark Lord was just about palpable. When those eerie eyes focused on him, there was nothing he could do. It felt as if his lungs were starving for air but refused to so much as quiver while under that stare. It was a relief when the gaze was broken by the man turning his back. It took all the teenager had to get himself to move. His body felt strained as if he'd been holding a considerable weight for quite awhile.

A tiny lick of anger had uncurled at the man at the comment about his clothes. They were wizarding attire, just not the traditional robes that were acceptable. So he had followed his mothers orders, to a certain degree. If she had accidentally left leeway for Silas to expose, it was not his fault. He was smart enough to know not to bring up the Dark Lord suit. There was anger and fear at the using of the woman as a threat since it was very effective.

Just as quickly as he felt it, it was smothered by undiluted fear, apprehension, and suspicion. It felt as if he were walking to the exicutioner's block as he followed his cousin. The sensation grew as his eyes darted about upon that statement. Sulas didn't doubt that they would be screaming and was morbidly curious as to what would be the cause. And as long as his cousin went first.

Glancing over he was reassured that he was not alone in his unease and fear. Draco reflected what he himself felt. No doubt the blond was also dreaded the fact that they were trapped. There was at least one boon to the place that had been chosen. The only one who would see their fear and pain would be the sadistic man causing it.

The twin looks of terror on both heir's faces were priceless to someone like the Dark Lord who prided himself on striking fear into those with a fee choice words or even just a look. Tom was especially great at this and it stroked his ego. He enjoyed being feared. It gave him a power over others and forced them into submission.

He didn't show any of this on his face or in any physical way. On the outside he was every bit as furious looking as he had been when the two boys had first approached him. He gave an irritated flick of his wand and the door closed and locked on its own. It was Tom's dearest wish to crucial both boys right then and there but he had to restrain himself for the time being. It would do no good for anyone to have even the slightest indication that the two were contacting him. Especially the meddling old fool of a Headmaster.

This did nothing to improve his current mood and he glared ever more harshly and sneered ferociously as he looked down his temporary muggle nose at them. While he enjoyed the fear he had no time for it now and it displeased him even more because he could not curse them for it. "Wipe those looks of fear off your faces you sniveling fools!" His words came hissed through gritted teeth from the strain of having to restrain himself from torturing them. Tom may have had his sanity returned but his love of torture was still there.

"I lack the time to torture you both now but don't make the mistake of thinking you will go unpunished." He hissed at them. "I enjoy an audience anyway." His sneer pulled into the faintest form of a smirk witch was scarier by far even on the borrowed muggle face when added to his dark look of doom. "You will listen and not ask questions. I am not to be questioned or tested." Tom continued as if their responses were unnecessary. He knew neither would question him after that. "You will leave Harry Potter alone." He gave the Malfoy boy a particularly nasty look. "I do not care who, what, when, where, or why. Act like he does not exist but keep a close eye on him. I want to receive weekly reports on his movements. I do not need to explain what will happen should you not follow these instructions. It is imperative they be followed and between the two of you I have been assured this much can be trusted to you. I assume I do not need to express the need for discretion?"

It wasn’t often that the blonde felt sheer terror grip his heart. Fact was, he’d only felt it a few times in his life. Once when he was young and his mother had been deathly ill, once when he realized his father might never come home, and again now, when he realized he was locking in a room with the man who had single-handedly killed the most wizards of anyone possibly even in history. It was hard to say what the man was going to do to the two boys, but Draco somehow knew it wouldn’t be good, and he was utterly terrified.

Draco tried to calm his nerves as the Dark Lord spoke to them, but all he could think of was the torture that was to come. Maybe the man would wait for now. Maybe he would save their torture for another time. A less time-sensitive day. A less public place. Maybe he would simply yell at the boys, call them failures, perhaps even deny Draco the dark mark, and that would be it.

Or maybe he would forbid the blonde from messing with his number one nemesis. That would work too. Draco groaned out loud, then inwardly swore at himself for not keeping it in. Why the hell would he make such a disapproving noise at an order from his Lord? He desperately coughed to try and cover it up, but he knew that it was obvious. He’d just groaned at a direct order and he was sure the man before him would not simply pretend not to have heard it.

He sighed. “Yes, my Lord. Whatever you wish will be.” He bowed, dropping to one knee before the man. He’d said their punishment would come eventually, which meant Draco might have just doomed himself to an even greater torture. Fantastic. “Weekly reports will be owled to the manor.” He stopped talking and stared at the ground, hoping that the man who never saw such a thing as mercy would somehow find just that in his blackened heart.

Just like with his mother, Silas felt anger towards the man but he stifled it since he had no wish to be crucioed by the sadistic man. Devoiding his face of all emotion, the teen felt surprise. There were many things he would have associated in connection with the Dark Lord. Fear, terror, embarassment, hatred, even suspicion and apprehension. Never would he have thought he would be surprised. It was a relief as well to know that he would not be twitiching on the ground or harmed any other way. He was not a masochist nor did he really like the fact that the man was delaying the punishment. Telling them that they would in fact be punished but later, was psychological torture in itself. The fear of not knowing what exactly it was going to be but knowing you were going to endure some kind of pain was at times worse then the actual punishment. That was how Silas felt about it.

Glancing over at Draco, he wondered how the blond would deal with that new order. It was mainly directed toward the Malfoy heir as Silas had no dealings with the older students for the most part. He knew that would change now that he'd received his prefect badge, but it would only be in meetings or during their patrol shifts. And the Dark Lord wanted them to be subtle in their spying on the Potter? He supposed that if he wanted Draco could be subtle...maybe.

Not a sychophant like his cousin or mother, Silas once again gave the same quarter bow he had before in acknowledgement. Not feeling the need to repeat that they would send reports to the Dark Lord, because if they didn't, both boys knew that they would receive no mercy. "We'll be as subtle as black ice, won't we cousin?"

It couldn't have been put in simpler terms but there were times when his idea of simple was not the same as someone else's. His eyes narrowed to thin slits on the Malfoy heir when he had the nerve to groan. He stepped right up to the boy until he was pushing into the boy's personal space and in his anger his magic seemed to swirl around him like an invisible blanket making the air thick and making it hard to breathe. "My apologies young Malfoy. Is this task considered beneath you?" He mocked in a soft and deadly hiss.

Tom began to circle the two boys slowly making it clear that where one failed both would be punished. This was to enforce the fact that in his ranks when you failed it wasn't always yourself who paid the price. "You are lucky to be getting a task and not a death certificate young Malfoy. I could always rectify that if you prefer the other option however." By this point he had finished his circle and stopped directly in front of the blonde. Time was satisfied with the Lestrange boy for now. "Or maybe this task is too mundane for someone as great as a Malfoy?" A horrid smirk crossed Tom's face and his spirit lifted a little as he settled on a form of punishment that would satisfy him for the time being.

"Well we can't have the son of the great Lucius Malfoy feeling so unimportant can we?" His mocking continued as he backed away with gleaming eyes that did not bode well for the two teens. "Then let's just add a bit more to your task shall we? In addition to leaving Potter alone and reporting his moves you will also find a way that will allow me repeated entrance into the castle. By Halloween." Tom backed up a few paces. "Fail and you will cease to exist." He turned on the spot and apparated away leaving a thunderous silence in his wake.

The whole time the Dark Lord baited him, Draco kept his mouth shut and looked down at his feet. He would not make the man take back his word and send a cruciatus curse flying at him before he made it to Hogwarts. No matter how much he wanted to punch the man in his currently muggle face, which had a nose for once which was subsequently tempting to break, Draco would not give in to the temptation. He would not hit the man he called his Master.

He would glare at the floor until the infuriating wizard stopped lecturing him and disappeared with a pop. As soon as the man was gone, Draco raised his gaze and turned to stare at his cousin. “Well, that was pleasant.” His voice was slightly hoarse after the long silence, but the slight shake that it held was purely from fear. “How the hell are we going to survive past October?”

It would really suck if the Ravenclaw didn’t have an idea, since Draco couldn’t really think of anything off the bat. Maybe there would be something useful at Knockturn somewhere, but he didn’t exactly have time for that, now did he? He was heading to Hogwarts in a matter of minutes now. Nothing like a last minute task from hell. He couldn’t help feeling a bit… guilty for getting his cousin in this mess. If he’d just been able to hold back that groan, they would have managed to avoid the ridiculous chore of getting the Dark Lord into the castle!

“Hey, um…” he muttered, feeling awkward at even thinking about apologizing. It wasn’t something Malfoys did. And yet. “Sorry.” He looked away from the other boy, embarrassed and slightly ashamed. Admitting when he was wrong was something a Malfoy did do, and Draco was very wrong here. Risking another’s life by our own foolish behavior would never not be wrong, and Draco would never forgive himself if his aunt lost her son because of his stupidity.

There was never a time more than now, that Silas was very greatful that he was not in fact his cousin. At times he had envied the blond and even outride resented and hated him. Now, he felt a bit of relief and a sick sense of satisfaction that it was he and not Silas that had the Dark Lord's attention. There was no accompanied guilt at that thought or feeling. It was after all the blond's ambition to get in the man's inner circle. Or at least the outer fringes of it. Or so it appeared to Silas whom was glad to sit this out. Until he'd of course met all the players and could then determin what he wanted his fate to be.

Disliking being circled like a vulture, Silas knew better then to let his disquiet show. To keep a bit of his dignity and not betray himself he'd copied his cousin to an extent and tucked his head down. It would look like a show of submission and who was Silas to dispute that since in truth it was exactly that. There wasn't anyway that either him or Draco would be able to take on the sadistic man. Not even if they worked jointly would they likely succeed. He was impressed however at Draco's control. Of course he would have to have some of those qualities to have ruled the Slytherins of his year. Just because his name was Malfoy would not have them obediantly towing the line.

Feeling the blood drain from his face, Silas couln't help his quick look at Draco as if seeking something; be it comfort, mutual fear and apprehension, Silas wasn't sure. All he knew was that he felt a sudden dread as his insides twisted. Swallowing thickly he wondered just how they were going to accomplish this new challenge set to them. This was no paltry thing to be asked. They would have to be doing something under Dumbledore and all the professors' nose. Mind racing quickly, Silas tried to formulate anything, even a rudimentary outline of how they could go about this.

Letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding, Silas almost slumped in relief feeling as if he could finally breathe. "Very carefully," he replied.

Taken aback at his cousin's appology, Silas would have liked to have it as blackmail material but at the moment he could not afford to alieniate Draco. They were in this together for good or ill. Thinking about their encounter he pretended to not acknowledge that the blond had appologized. It was his way of letting his cousin keep his dignity and really, if either one could blame anyone for their predicimant it was their parents and the mad man that they followed. It was a bit much for anyone really and a wonder that either one of them wasn't more damaged then they were.

"Obviously aside from punishing us, he's testing us. Slytherin house is known for it's cunning and ambition. Ravenclaw for their wit, knowledge, and that we aren't hemmed in by the traditional thinking. Perhaps..." Silas pondered. "This could be an audition or assessment of our skills. Or he's just waiting to see if we'll kill each other before he gets the chance to."

“Right.” That made sense. Draco was sure the Dark Lord knew they wouldn’t resort to killing each other. Surely he knew they weren’t that dense. It would be foolish for them to fight against each other when they had such a task before them. “We’ll work together and prove our worth. Picking on you is fun, sure, but blood is thicker than water, right? We’re family, which means we should be damned strong together.”

Draco felt his lips curl in a familiar smirk. Yes, he was sure the two boys could come up with a great plan. They were both quite intelligent, and with his cunning and the Ravenclaw’s wit, they would be sure to come up with the best way possible of getting the Dark Lord into Hogwarts. No one would ever find out. “For now, let’s get to the train. If we miss it there’ll be hell to pay. We have a meeting to attend to.” He flashed his cousin a grin, wondering if the boy knew Draco had seen the shiny new badge yet.

It seemed the two were destined to spend more time together this year, and oddly enough the blonde found himself almost happy about it. Perhaps he shouldn’t work so hard to despise his cousin. Perhaps they should have united sooner to take over the wretched school. He noted, also, that the boy didn’t say anything about his apology. A small favor that Draco would keep in mind in the future. Perhaps he had misjudged his cousin out of childish jealousy.

“You coming?” he asked, stalking to the door and opening it, emerging into the sea of muggles as if nothing out of the ordinary had even happened. Draco had a train to catch.

Curious and intrigued, Silas stared at his cousin making sure nothing he was thinking or feeling showed. Maybe when he was younger he would have believed and returned Draco's sentiments. Hadn't he yearned for what Draco had? That was before so many things though. One of which was that he realized that he would take recognition in place of affection. That he didn't want something as flimsy as love. Something he apparently shared with his mother. However, Draco was a curious person and a bit more hypocritical than him it seemed.

However, his cousin was smarter then he let on. And if he was stuck with something as monumental as this, he couldn't have really asked for anyone else. At least he and his cousin were similar in some regards. And as the other had pointed out, they were family. And both had a mutual incentive to make sure they succeeded. It was a shame really that the blond had used the previous years he could have gained influence with the other students, alienating them with his squabbles with Potter.

Rather then make a retort, Silas nodded shooting his cousin one more curious look. Following after the blond he realized he shouldn't be surprised that Draco knew about his Prefect Badge. There was no such thing as secrets really. Not when someone was determined enough.