``too messed up <Cora/Death Eaters>

[gooddontalwayswin]

Bella slipped on her mask as she entered the forest, away of all the crazy sounds around the place. As it was now May, she hated every bit of the Death Eater band she had joined, from the torturing sprees to evil laughing to Isabelle Rivera herself. And yet Bella found that she couldn't stop. She would be killed if she even attempted it. And there was still a strange fascination with the band of mostly men she had come to be acquainted with. Like their motivation, which Bella never seemed to truly figure out.

Today they were to meet her in the forest and discuss things that were to happen next weekend. Bella had no idea what this was supposed to mean, but she could guess. And none of the guesses were pretty. At all. "Get over here," barked a rough voice as she approached the clearing where they were supposed to meet. Bella obliged and joined the group, feeling rather uncomfortable as both the shortest and today's only girl.

"Alright, we've got orders from Isabelle on this one," said the man that was in charge of their group and whose name Bella had never known and might never know. "We're to go hunt down..." Just as Bella was starting to think she was in way over her head the man stopped and looked around. "Who's there!" he barked. Bella felt sorry for whoever might be among the trees.

[girlingreen]

Cora had been walking through the forest, which was not unusual for the young girl as she suffered some insomnia, and had happened upon a band of Death Eaters. While this might seem rather unfortunate, to Cora it was a bit of a blessing. She had secretly been wanting to join for a while now. Cora couldn't fully support them from within Hogwarts' walls, but she wanted to do something to help them. After all, wasn't that what her father had taught her? She couldn't exactly remember anymore, but she was pretty sure. Then, according to the man who had killed him, her father had betrayed the same group. Cora would make sure not to do that.

"Coraline Ressel," she said, stepping into the clearing at the sound of the loud voice. Now that she saw them, the girl was intimidated. Who wouldn't be? Still, Cora had enough sense to drop the Eliza part of her name, not wanting anyone snickering at her for her long first name. Curse her dead mother for giving her such a ridiculous name. Cora would have been much easier to deal with. "I've come to help you," she added, in a slightly lower tone, but still loud enough to be heard. She was willing to be their spy at Hogwarts, even if it meant doing their dirty work. It was unlikely that someone else had already filled the job.

[gooddontalwayswin]

Bella's eyes widened in surprise upon seeing the Veela girl, Cora, stepping into the clearing. Sure they were in the same house, but Bella had never really spoken to her, partly because Cora was a fourth year and partly because she was always wrapped up in some boy or another and not so friendly to other girls. The idiot girl now probably thought she could be a Hogwarts spy for the Death Eaters. Little did she know that the position was already filled and didn't have the glory that the other girl probably thought.

"And how are we supposed to believe you?" the man who's name Bella still didn't know replied in a demanding tone. Bella thought she saw the other girl cringe slightly. For a moment, Bella pitied her. It seemed much better to have connections to the Death Eaters and be forced in rather than having to approach them and try to get in. The pity seemed to overwhelm Bella until she spoke. "I can vouch for her," she said to the man, who whipped around to face her. "Her name is Eliza-Coraline Ressel. She's a Slytherin fourth year and has few friends. She's a part-veela and her intentions are merely to help us." The man stared at Bella's masked face for a moment, then nodded. "Get over here," he barked to Cora.

[girlingreen]

Cora was astonished that someone had vouched for her, mostly because she didn't think anyone from Hogwarts would be involved with the Death Eaters. She was even more astonished to find that it was a girl's voice, sounding strangely familiar. Probably a Slytherin like herself, most likely older since Cora herself was pretty young to be a Death Eater. But the girl's voice had been pretty young, like Cora's.

Cora blushed slightly as the girl revealed quite a bit about her to these strangers. But she did as she was told and came over to the group. The leader looked her over for a moment. "So you want to join us?" he asked. Cora paused. Did she? It wouldn't mean hurting her family, would it? No, surely Bradly and Dean posed no threat to these people. "Yes," Cora said at last. "Come back next weekend and we'll bring our leader with us. She'll determine if you are worthy." Cora nodded, glad that they hadn't branded her right there. But she also wasn't exactly looking forward to meeting their leader. She had heard that the leader was a vampire.

[gooddontalwayswin]

How stupid was this girl? Bella found herself asking this question over and over in her mind. Meeting Isabelle was generally not something a sane person looked forward to. This girl had to be out of her mind. Or completely clueless. Bella felt sorry for her again, but this time said nothing. She didn't want anything else on her today. As for why the man didn't call Isabelle right then, Bella knew why. He still wanted to start hunting that person down. Bella didn't see that happening anytime soon. "Are we still going?" one of the other men asked impatiently. "I suppose not," the leader replied after a moment. "Everyone get moving." Bella grabbed Cora's arm and starting heading toward the exit of the woods. "You're an idiot, you know that right?" she asked her once they were out of hearing range.

[gaspevil]

"I am certain that I am acquainted with the fact," said Isabelle, jumping down from the high branch on the tree and landing lightly on her feet like a cat. She had been up there, invisible, for the duration of the meeting. She examined the girl and had to hold back a laugh, she was what? Fourteen, fifteen? True she knew that Bellatrix was fourteen, but she was a Malfoy, destined for this path. "You think that you have what it takes to join us?" Isabelle said, looking directly at the blonde girl, burgundy eyes unblinking.

She waited a moment, but before the girl could respond, turned her gaze to Bellatrix. "You may leave, Bellatrix, and help the others, no doubt those fools will need someone with brains to accomplish this most simple of tasks. Eliza-Coraline, you stay here." said Isabelle, eyes snapping back to the aspiring Death Eater. They could always use more, but there was something about this girl. Isabelle began to sift through her mind as she waited for a reply to her previously asked question.

[gooddontalwayswin]

Bella nodded to Isabelle and darted off after the other Death Eaters. This was bound to be difficult, she had heard rumors from some of the men that they were going after a couple of Aurors tonight. Aurors always put up a good fight, and tonight Bella doubted they were looking for a capture. Hopefully they wouldn't make her kill anyone. Bella didn't know if she had the guts to do it.

[girlingreen]

Cora watched as Bellatrix Malfoy ran off with the other Death Eaters, surprised at who had been behind the mask that had helped her. Bellatrix was even younger than herself and also in Slytherin. That meant that the Death Eaters already had a Hogwarts spy. Cora saw her plans going down the drain in her mind and thought of Bradly and Dean. What would they think of her now? They would probably be ashamed, especially after their father had died because he betrayed the Death Eaters. Cora felt that she was in too deep now, though. She was going to be a Death Eater, and she was not going to betray them.

"Yes, I believe I have what it takes to join," Cora said, looking up at Isabelle. She found that the eyes she met were hard to look into, but Cora bore the gaze for now. She felt like her mind was being invaded, as well, and figured that Isabelle was a telepathic. That didn't make Cora feel too good, but she continued to look into the woman's eyes. She was starting to get the feeling that the vampire rumors were true.

[gaspevil]

"Very well," said Isabelle, now letting off of Eliza-Coraline's mind for a moment. She was not certain how the girl would do, there did not seem to be enough intent of harm for her to do terribly well. But perhaps with a bit of conditioning, she might be able to force her kindness away for the most part. And Eliza-Coraline was intelligent, they did require people with brains these days, half her followers were complete idiots. "Go up to the Ravenclaw tower, the brass knocker will ask you a question, you're smart enough to get it on your own. Bring Dean here, do not tell him where you are bringing him. You will find me to be quite impatient, you have ten minutes starting now." Isabelle instructed.

[girlingreen]

Cora's body froze at the mention of Dean. It was certainly not a pleasant thought to have to bring him down to see Isabelle. Cora supposed she would have to pray that he wasn't hurt. She nodded to Isabelle, managing to keep her composure, and ran back off toward the castle. Cora ran a hand through her long Veela-hair upon reaching the doors and then tugged the heavy things open. She wondered what sort of question the Ravenclaw brass knocker would ask her and hoped that it wasn't too terribly difficult.

She ran up the stairs, making sure that her footsteps were light, however. It wasn't long before she was on the sixth floor, where the entrance to the tower was. Checking her new watch, Cora noted that she still had eight minutes left. She found the brass knocker and awaited the question. "Which came first; the phoenix or the flame?" it said in an odd voice. Cora bit her lip. That was certainly a tough one. But a phoenix and a flame were sort of like a circle, weren't they. And circles didn't have beginnings. "Circles don't have beginnings," she told the knocker. The door swung open, much to Cora's relief. She ran up to the boy's tower and located her brother. "Dean, Dean, wake up," she hissed, shaking him.

[littlebit]

"Cora, what the hell?" Dean whispered as he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Something would have had to be wrong, or else Cora wouldn't risk sneaking into the Ravenclaw tower when it could bring severe costs. He jumped out of bed in his pajamas and put his feet into his slippers, no trace of sleepiness left. "What's going on?" hissed Dean.

[girlingreen]

Cora gulped slightly at the sound of her brother's near panic. Dean was usually calm, so this was definitely not what the young girl needed at the moment. She thought briefly of telling him, but then realized that Isabelle, as a telepathic, would know. "Dean, I need you to come with me," she said in a low voice so she wouldn't wake up his housemates. There was something strange in Cora's voice, something that she had never heard in it before. Cora was begging.

[littlebit]

"Yeah, sure," said Dean, slipping on his robes over his pajama pants and bare chest and hastily tying the sash. He led the way from the dorms to the common room, which was entirely deserted because of the late hour. Once Cora had joined him, he raised his eyebrows. "Cora, what is all this about?" Dean asked, no longer feeling he needed to whisper, but he certainly was not shouting. His sister was scaring him.

[girlingreen]

Cora remained silent for a moment as they exited the Ravenclaw dorms together. She led the way down the stairs, going as fast as she could while still making very little noise. "I can't tell you," she replied, her voice hitting a note of panic. If she were to be entirely truthful, Cora would admit that she was scared as well. But she had to join the Death Eaters. It was part of who she was. Cora just didn't want to see Dean get hurt. She wasn't sure that she could bear it.

[littlebit]

Dean raised his eyebrows, he could just tell that something wasn't right with his sister. Sure, they hadn't always gotten along as best as siblings should, but Dean trusted her. "All right," he said, slipping his wand into his pocket. He was skeptical, and was beginning to wonder if this was just someone that had taken Polyjuice potion with one of his sister's hairs in it.