Daddy Dearest - (No Update, Edit)

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to JKR. All situations are mine. No $$$ is being made from this fanfic.
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Chapter 98 ~ Draco's New Duties

"Lower him," Voldemort said, putting the scourge back on the rolling cart.

A deatheater turned a crank connected to the chains that held Draco a foot off the floor. The naked, bloody wizard dropped to the floor unconscious. His body was badly striped, but the Dark Lord had done nowhere near the damage he would do to Severus. Draco simply wasn't strong enough to survive the torment. And Voldemort wanted him alive.

"Clean him up a bit, Peter," Voldemort said, returning to his throne.

Peter Pettigrew walked up to the fallen wizard with a bucket of well-salted water and threw it over him. Draco screamed weakly as the water washed the excess blood away, and the salt burned his wounds.

Draco had been quite vocal while being tortured and beaten by Voldemort for his failure, which satisfied the dark wizard immensely. Voldemort looked down on the wizard, his red eyes glittering.

"You really should be killed for your idiocy, Draco. You let a personal vendetta again Severus' mudblood whore destroy what we worked so hard to build over the years. But…I was tiring of politics anyway. It is simply too much work and too little actual bloodshed. I much prefer this. You are quite lucky," the Dark Lord said.

He motioned to several deatheater females.

"Take him and tend to his wounds," he said.

The women lifted Draco from the floor gently and escorted him through a door.

Peter, standing next to the throne, bowed deeply and said, "You were most merciful, my Lord."

Voldemort looked at him.

"Mercy had nothing to do with it, Peter. Despite his showing this week, Draco is not a complete idiot. He knows how to organize. I need his talents to set up my coup. On New Year's Eve at midnight, I plan to invoke the mark and send the wizarding world into war. Wizards and witches will begin killing indiscriminately…hundreds of thousands will die in a matter of hours. Then I and my deatheaters will come and restore order, and put the wizarding world under military rule."

"Afterwards, I will execute all the unsuitables that survived…muggle-borns heading the list. I hope Dumbledore survives. I want to put him to death myself, slowly as well as that pain in my ass, Harry Potter and his family. After I have disposed of the opposition, my true rule will begin. And it will be glorious, Peter. The muggle world will be next. They cannot deal with magic. It should be an easy victory," Voldemort said in a high-pitched, rather dreamy voice.

Peter nodded enthusiastically.

"You will be Lord of the World, my Lord," the wizard said, knowing his words would please Voldemort. Peter was a master of the suck-up.

"Yes. Yes I will, Peter," the Dark Lord replied, a thin smile on his face. "All will bend their knees to my Greatness."

"That they will, my Lord. That they will," Peter simpered.

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Several hours later, Draco was brought back to the Dark Lord. He had been given healing potions and had his wounds sealed. He was still in some pain, however. The wizard was thankful he hadn't been killed.

He dropped to one knee in front of Voldemort.

"I am here, my Lord," Draco said, his eyes on the floor.

Voldemort's eyes swept over the blonde=wizard. They had given him fresh robes and his hair was neatly combed. He looked presentable enough.

"Draco, I plan to invoke my mark at midnight on New Year's Eve. We have until then to formulate a plan to place me in a position of power. I have almost five thousand original deatheaters at my disposal, though many have gone soft over the years because of the political turn my quest for power took. Only my inner circle remains in top fighting condition. Now I am back at square one and haven't much time. I need you to advise me," the wizard said, "You may rise and look at me."

Draco's mind started working the moment the Dark Lord gave the date he planned to unleash the one hundred thousand marked individuals on the wizarding world.

First my Lord, you must delegate power among the deatheaters of your inner circle. They must become secondary leaders to direct your ranks," the wizard said.

Voldemort didn't like this idea. He didn't want to give anyone power besides himself and told Draco so.

"But my Lord, although your power is great, greater than that of any other wizard in existence," the wizard said, stroking Voldemort's ego even as he disputed with him, hoping not to get crucio'd, "The fact is the mayhem will be spread all over the wizarding world, and to restore order, you will have to send deatheaters to every part of it. They will have to give the ranks directions while there, my Lord, or they will not be successful."

Voldemort looked at him, then nodded.

"But, Draco…as skilled as my inner circle is, none of them have true leadership or military experience. They are not a true army," the Dark Lord said.

Draco thought about this.

"I could find military men from the muggle world to train them, my Lord. Train them to lead and train your ranks to be more effective. They teach men to kill for pay," the wizard said.

"But what do they know about magic, Draco?" Voldemort asked. "They don't know our ways."

"These kind of men are very adaptable, my Lord. A wand is still a weapon. It is pointed just as a gun is, my Lord. They can still teach the ranks. However, you will have to make it clear to your deatheaters they are not to kill them. Training is very brutal I understand, and they psychologically browbeat men into shape as well," Draco said.

Voldemort kind of liked the sound of that.

"Very well, Draco. Your first duty will be to find muggles willing to train my ranks. You must find them within the week. If you fail me, Draco…I will not be as merciful as I was today," the Dark Lord said warningly.

Draco bowed to the red-eyed wizard, wincing against the pain.

"I will not fail you in this, my Lord. I promise you this on my life," the wizard said.

"Your life will be exactly what I require if you do, Draco," the Dark Lord replied. "You may go."

Draco bowed again and disapparated to his Manor. He had to make preparations. He was going to America. Para-military groups abounded there, as well as mercenaries. He was sure he could hire the best there was.

Draco knew the Dark Lord expected him to finance this endeavor as well. He would have to go to Gringotts and exchange galleons for dollars. A large amount of them.

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Hermione disillusioned and put a silencing spell on herself before she disapparated from Severus' bedroom, overnight bag in tow. She barely managed to make it out of his rooms, the Potions Master was so intent on getting one parting fuck. He had trapped her against the bedroom wall several times, coming very close to molesting her. Hermione finally had to stomp on his foot to make him stop. Severus had glared at her and stormed from the room rather than strike her. He had been furious.

He'd get over it.

When she arrived at her house, she found piles and piles of flowers and thank yous on the sidewalk outside of the dump illusion. But no one was around. Hermione smiled then entered her house, setting her bag down, removing the disillusionment spell and letting out a contented sigh. She was home…in her element again. It felt good.

But she wouldn't be here more than a night. It wouldn't take much to close up the house and she intended to leave it disillusioned. A thief couldn't rob what he couldn't see after all.

Wow. She was going to be back at Hogwarts. True she had been there for the past week, but she couldn't leave the Potions Master's rooms. But now she could. And she could see Mathias more often as well. She missed her son greatly, and could feel him slowly pulling away from her. Well, that's what it felt like. She knew in her heart he was just growing up and becoming independent.

Hermione was also mad at Severus, which was part of the reason she wouldn't sleep with him before she left Hogwarts. While preparing for their guests to arrive, she questioned him about what happened the night before. Severus wouldn't tell her what Mathias wanted to talk to him about. She accused the wizard of keeping secrets from her.

"Hermione," Severus had responded, "If Mathias wanted you to know that, don't you believe he would have talked to you, rather than me? You are asking me to break my son's trust. And that I will not do," he said evenly. "I value his trust much too much. He needs to feel he can talk to me and it won't go any further."

Hermione knew the Potions Master was right, but became sulky anyway. In all probability, her anger was what prompted her to leave today, rather than tomorrow. In effect, the witch was punishing the wizard. It wasn't fair, but it was her prerogative. She could say no if she wanted to.

Hermione walked to her bedroom and set her overnight bag on the bed, opened it, and put away her things. She stripped down to her bra and knickers and climbed into the bed to catch up on some sleep. She would get up late in the night and do what she needed to do…which basically was clean out the cooler and reduce what she needed to take to Hogwarts with her. She would ward the house securely when she left.

She was ready to start work immediately.

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"Mum's what?" Mathias asked his father incredulously as they sat in his Head of House office.

"She is going to be staying at Hogwarts," Severus replied, amused at his son's consternation.

Mathias clapped his hand over his face.

"Oh no. Not mum," he sighed. He looked between his fingers at his father before he lowered his hand and sighed again.

Severus smirked.

"You don't seem over enthusiastic about your mother staying here," he said to his son.

"I'm not. You know how nosey she can be, dad. She'll be swooping down on me every five minutes," the boy complained, scowling.

Severus chuckled.

"I highly doubt that, Mathias. Your mother will be quite focused. More than likely she won't have time for either one of us," Severus said soberly. His dark eyes narrowed as he thought about the witch stomping on his foot.

"You really think so?" Mathias said, sounding hopeful.

"I'm sure of it," Severus muttered.

"Excellent!" Mathias said, grinning broadly.

Severus looked at his son with irritation.

"Don't you have something to do Mathias?" the Potions Master asked the young wizard. He was in a terrible mood now and wanted to be left alone.

"Well, I was hoping to go to Order Headquarters tonight to get in some ROR training," the boy replied. He and Andreas had talked Tonks into letting them have unsupervised time in the ROR room if they finished their workouts early.

Tonks agreed to this, because the boys worked hard and took their lessons seriously. They had become very good fighters in a short time. They were entitled to explore the ROR scenarios further. It wouldn't hurt them in any case.

She just hoped they weren't fucking golems down there.

Severus looked at Mathias with a bit of aggravation…but he had a responsibility to the boy. No need acting selfishly because he was angry with the boy's mother.

"Fine. You and Andreas go get ready, and I'll take you," the Potions Master said.

"Thanks dad," Mathias said rising and quickly exiting his office.

Severus watched him go, then sighed.

This night wasn't going at all like he wanted.

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A/N: So Draco's on his way to get some para-military dudes to train up the deatheaters. Hermione is moving into Hogwarts tomorrow, and Andreas and Mathias are working on their Voldemort-killing skills. Poor Severus. Well it can't always go his way. Please review.