Viper

April 23,1990. 9 years old.

“Do you know who I am?” The man with the snake-like eyes asked the little girl in front of him.

She turned away from her building blocks and let her head tilt back as she took in the tall man before her and nodded. A silence grew between the people in the room who waited for her response. But she had shifted her gaze away from him and back onto what she was doing.

“Who am I?” He asked again with an authority filled voice.

She took a deep breath before answering. “You’re Lord Voldemort. The Dark Lord. You are in charge of the people with the marks on their arms.” Her eyes looked down to her feet. “The same one I will wear when I am of age.” She spoke softly.

Voldemort was taken back by this child’s boldness. Her determination was evident in her words. She spoke proudly and bravely to the terrifying man. Never had a child been so upfront with him. So, curious for more information, he nodded his head as a sign for the young child to proceed. She looked at him sceptically before continuing. “You were once my age. A young boy. You’re also the heir of Salazar Slytherin and last living member of the Gaunt family.”

The slits that were his pupils seemed to enlarge as he took in her words. He let out a sentence that was almost hiss-like. “Ahh,” He hissed. “So young with such a sharp mind. Definitely a Slytherin.” He turned to the girl’s parents and looked at them with surprise. “You did well with this one, Rosier.” He nodded to her father signalling for the child’s parents to leave the room. Her parents sceptical followed out the room and when they were gone, The Dark Lord turned his head back towards the girl and the corners of his nonexistent lips curved upward. “You will indeed prove most useful to me.” He spoke.

At the sound of his words the young girl felt her cheeks heat up and a feverish feeling took over. This was the first time she had met him. Growing up the girl was always told tales of The Dark Lord. She was an atheist, but her parents made it seem like there was a god in the sky and that God was him. Except he was not in the sky, he was here in the Malfoy Manor drawing room looking at the future death eater. She turned around and looked at Lord Voldemort and couldn't help the next sentence that flew out of her mouth. “You’re the only one who's ever told me that.” She sighed and looked down.

The place where his eyebrows should have been raised as he tilted his head to the side. “Surely not, your parents have done an excellent job at raising you...” He took a quick pause before continuing. “To know when to respect and honour your superiors at such a young age is rare. I’m sure your talents don’t go unnoticed.”

She looked out into the direction of the window where her father was now standing with her mother. She shook her head. “Respect isn't my talent.” She said, ``I am going to serve you, naturally I must know information about the man I am going to serve.” She looked down at her feet once again. Afraid of what he would think of her. “But you're the only one who seems to acknowledge I even have talent.” The girl had taken it upon her to learn all about him. She wanted to be a faithful servant, a faithful heir to her parents, and faithful to her ancestors who served before her. She held a great deal of respect towards him.

The Dark Lord tsked his tongue once again noting that the girl in front caught him by surprise. “So talented yet so insecure.” He said with annoyance. His gaze drifted from the brown haired girl and his eyes fell upon the notepad containing unfinished drawings she had left open. He raised his brow bone and squinted his eyes. “You like snakes?”

Her brown eyes followed his blue ones onto her notepad and she nodded. The corners of her lips curved upward in a tiny smile as she thought to herself that he must be pleased with her. She knew he loved snakes as he was a Slytherin himself.

The man got up from the crouched position he was in, straightened his robes. He debated asking her but soon decided to proceed with his question. “Would you like to see one?”

Her eyes lit up as she looked up at him. She couldn’t contain her excitement. Snakes were her favourite animal. She felt connected to them ever since she was born. Her parents would joke at the obvious future Slytherin that it would be a shame if after all this time loving green and snakes she got sorted into Gryffindor. The girl would get upset and look at her parents and shake her head. “I'd rather die than be a Gryffindor. I am a Slytherin and I know it.”

She glanced back into the window nearby and saw that her parents’ dread-filled faces hadn’t changed. This didn’t bother her at all as she answered his question. “Yes please.”

Pleased by her response, the man nodded and said, “Follow me.”

They started walking down the hallways of Malfoy Manor. They were spending the winter holidays there. The Dark Lord led the bright girl to a room where a big snake was coiled up. She immediately halted, but then resumed her slowed walk as she was unsure how to approach a snake of that size. She heard him whisper in a tone that was far too familiar to her ears for it to go unheard. As she got closer she tugged gently on his robes in order to get his attention. “She wont eat me will she?” She asked innocently, tiny hands grabbing onto black fabric.

He turned his head to look down at the hands that had gently grabbed his robes. She immediately dropped his robes when she looked into his eyes and noticed the twisted expression on his face. His expression faltered to a happy facade and his non-existent lips curved upward as he let out a small, cold laugh. “No my child, she will not. She does not feast on children.”

Her eyebrow raised as she tried to hide the embarrassment. “Then what does she eat?”

“Blood traitors, muggle-borns, people who dare defy me.” He let out an evil laugh which startled the young girl. “She feasts on the people who dare defy my authority and my powers as The Dark Lord.” He repeated.

At the sound of his words she flinched out of a feeling which was unknown to her. As she gets older she would familiarise with this feeling, but it did not change the fact that she had flinched out of surprise. It also did not change the fact that he seemed to take notice of her body stiffening up and as a result poked her on the back and pushed her forward. “Go approach her,” he commanded.

She did as she was told and before she knew it there were mere inches between the snake and her as they stood face to face. She raised her hand in between the both of them to show she is not hostile and started to think of a way to speak.

“Such obedience. Doesn't even think twice.” The Dark Lord muttered to himself. But of course his comment didn’t go unnoticed. She let the words sink in and felt her cheeks heat up. She was unsure if it was from nerves or from contentment she felt at being appreciated. She switched her attention back onto the snake quickly.

The snake looked at her up and down and hissed. She opened her mouth and spoke in a language she was born familiar with and let the words spill out until the snake in front of her calmed. She was taken by surprise when she heard a small gasp behind her as the snake lowered herself to allow the young girl to pet her. “You can talk to snakes, child?” His voice contained anger and surprise. It was a deep tone which had doubt behind it. Something which was a first for a man who was so sure of everything.

She shifted her gaze from the snake and nodded her head with an unfazed expression. “Yes. Can everyone?”

Lord Voldemort’s eyes squinted as he shook his head, “No.” He answered coldly, “Only very strong wizards can talk to snakes. It makes you special.”

The grey eyed girl looked at the snake in front of her and smiled. She quickly looked back up at the Dark Lord. “Can my parents talk to snakes?” She asked with a tone of child-like curiosity in her words.

The Dark Lord shook his head and answered her question with an abrupt and short “no.”
She had never told anyone she could talk to snakes because the young girl had assumed everyone could. This curiosity of her special talent made her eyes widen with surprise. “So I possess more powers then my parents? I’m more powerful?” A smirk spread across her face. Eager was her tone, with power behind her words. A truly exceptional young mind.

No child had been ever able to make an impression on the snake man and yet this one kept proving him wrong again and again. This sparked a flicker of anger as his instincts told him she was a threat. It was all simply because this child was different. So he looked into her big grey eyes and couldn’t help suppress the flash of anger that appeared on his pale facial features. He quickly covered his rage by putting on a “mask” of serenity. He tilted his head to the side and with a tone of annoyance and abruptly asked; “How old are you child?”

Brown eyes looked up at the man. “Nine.” She answered confidently. “I'll be ten in June.”

The snake man in front of her let out a sound of satisfaction and signalled for her to follow him back into the drawing room. She turned her head and bid goodbye to the snake named Nagini. She was reaching out to pet her head when he caught her gaze lingering towards Nagini and tugged at her arm. Disappointment flashed across her small face as she quickly dropped her hand and walked toward him. She nodded to the snake like children would when they saw something that they liked in a window of a store. Her thoughts were disrupted by the man's deep timbre. “Come now, Young Viper. We have things to discuss”

Her tiny hand reached out and grabbed onto one of his long slender fingers. She immediately shuddered as a coldness engulfed her hand. “Was he always this cold?” They walked through the dark, dimly lit hall as he led her back to the drawing room. Her parents were standing with horrified expressions on their faces next to the Malfoy’s who looked equally frightened.

The small whimpers coming from behind Lucius Malfoy’s legs was where their young son was hidden. The child’s parents scanned young Malfoy and then their daughter. Baffled by the differences between them. Surprised that only one of the two was frightened. As Rosier’s eyes landed on their daughter their mouths gaped open and eyebrows raised. Their expression seemed to falter to one with authority. Quick eyes scanned her up and down trying to point out any signs of harm. There was nothing. Their squinted x-ray eyes relaxed but a thought crossed their mind. Why was their daughter holding the Dark Lord’s hand, and why in Merlin's name was she standing bravely with a defiant look in her eyes?

The Dark Lord didn’t need to give a sign in order for Abel Rosier to understand what he was supposed to do. Rosier shook his head and snapped out of the bombardment of thoughts regarding his daughter's behaviour. After quickly scanning his child’s small body once more, he told himself she was okay and he took it upon himself to speak. He cleared his throat. His voice faltered as he let out his first word. “Children.” He choked out. His voice fixed itself as he regained his composure. “Out now. The grownups have talking to do.”

At the sound of his sentence, a blonde head carefully peaked out behind his fathers legs. He slowly walked away from his father but as soon as he caught sight of the young girl he broke into a run. He grabbed her frail hand and pulled her toward the door. Desperate to get out of there as soon as possible.