on the i n s i d e {amadeus/ariadne}

[izzie]

Izzie flicked her wand at the door to Malfoy Manor, wondering how the day could possibly get any more boring. She had already cleaned her room, done her nails, and gone shopping and still it was only noon. Hopefully one of her siblings would be home; then maybe she could stop being so bored. All three of them were usually good for some sort of conversation, although Izzie particularly enjoyed talking to Amadeus. Her younger brother was smart in a very practical sort of way, much like Izzie. She enjoyed his cleverness.

Shopping bags in hand, Izzie entered the mansion and headed up to her newly cleaned room. Izzie dropped the bags off at the entrance to her closet, not wanting to bother putting them away just yet. She took a seat on her bed, kicking off her heels, which instantly made her three inches shorter. At least her bed was well off the ground, so Izzie didn't feel quite so short sitting on it.

Leaning back against the stacked pillows, Izzie glanced out her window at the big tree which guarded that side of the house. She had many a time climbed down it to get out of the house, especially when she wasn't supposed to leave. It wasn't so common for her now, as her parents had recently given her much more freedom. Perhaps they had finally figured out that they couldn't control her. Izzie hoped so at least.

Izzie's thoughts flickered over to the Death Eaters, as her brain recalled that Ariadne had recently joined up. Izzie didn't envy her sister in the slightest. Ariadne would be a foot soldier, probably a good one judging by her instincts and control of magic, and Izzie couldn't picture herself doing such work. Her sister was just another Malfoy Death Eater, which was hardly surprising. Izzie doubted that Ariadne would be as cowardly as their father had been, though, so perhaps she was doing some good.

From between the mattresses, Izzie pulled out several sheets of paper, which she had taken from various sources. They were all lists, of various people in the Death Eater organization. Izzie found most amusing the one her father had created for Ariadne, which detailed Draco himself in the inner circles. It was comical to think that way, since Izzie knew for a fact that her father had no idea who actually was controlling the operation. He wasn't important enough to know.

There came footsteps from the hallway and then a knock on Izzie's door. Hastily, she shoved the papers behind her pillow, not wanting anyone else to see them. Izzie hopped off her bed, quickly checking behind her to make sure the papers were concealed well enough. She unlocked the door by hand and opened it slowly, happily surprised by who was there.

[amadeus]

Needless to say, Amadeus was bored well out of his mind. Although the manor was expansive and there were plenty things to do, it was bothersome being entirely alone. At least he had finally been able to persuade his mother into getting him a broomstick, which he had just got back from Diagon Alley with. A brand new Thunderbolt, of a sleek shiny black design with silver accenting. With it he would surely get the seeking position on the Slytherin team he had had his eye on. And with that all too annoying seventh year that last had the position graduated- it was as good as his.

He was itching to go out and fly it, but first, owing to his personality, Amadeus wanted to show it off a bit. Hopefully Ascella was around,, the other two wouldn't be as enthusiastic about it for him. His brother it seemed was never around, and Ariadne was definitely busy since she had joined up with the Death Eaters. Amadeus wondered what she was up to, she had promised to relay him information from the inside, but hadn't thus far told him anything. Amadeus had every confidence, however, that she would eventually hold true to her word.

But at the moment, Amadeus was more concerned with talking to Ascella. Figuring that she would be in her room, Amadeus walked down the hall with his new broom still in hand and paused before her door before knocking. He smiled when Ascella opened the door, glad to see that she had answered, and that she was alone. "I finally got Mum to get me a broom," said Amadeus, smiling as he showed the Thunderbolt to his sister. It had taken a fair amount of manipulation on his part, but he had done it.

[izzie]

Izzie grinned when she saw that it was Amadeus. Though she enjoyed talking to all of her siblings, Amadeus's wit was most like her own and therefore most enjoyable. Also, they rarely fought, which was a good thing for siblings. Maybe when they were little, Izzie had refused to share toys with him, but since then, she couldn't remember getting in a fight with Amadeus. Ariadne and Aries, on the other hand, she fought with much more frequently.

"Hey," Izzie said before noticing Amadeus' new broom. "Wow, nice job getting that," she commented, admiring the broom. It was a nicer model than her own, but Izzie had been a bit stubborn about getting a new broom since she liked her current one so well. Besides, she only needed it for two more years and then she doubted she'd use it too much anymore. Flying was good fun, but it wasn't exactly the best means of transportation.

"Come in for a minute," Izzie said, ushering her brother inside before shutting the door behind him. She didn't want anyone else in the household overhearing their conversations. Izzie was figuring on telling Amadeus a bit more about the Death Eaters. She knew he was interested, and while she didn't want him getting involved, she figured giving him some information to fulfill his curiosity was better than him joining up.

[amadeus]

Amadeus couldn't help but mirror Ascella's grin, it was nice to see one of his siblings impressed with what he had managed to get for himself. People didn't realize how downright manipulative he could be, much less appreciate the skill that was needed to actually get what he wanted. Especially when it came to their mother, who had always been extremely protective of him- likely because he was the youngest of their brood. For the longest time he hadn't minded being babied, but now Amadeus was feeling a bit too old for it. He was thirteen, not three.

"Thanks," said Amadeus, "it wasn't easy convincing Mum to get me one, I've been trying for ages, but I knew she'd see it my way eventually." He smirked mischeviously, it had taken longer than he had expected, but he had gotten his way, and he was happy about it. It made him feel especially accomplished, rather than just the instant gratification that he usually got. It was similar to the feeling to finally reach an itchy spot in an odd place on one's back. Amadeus stepped into Ascella's room as she ushered him inside.

Her room, like his own, looked very clean. Amadeus liked to have his things neat, he wasn't obsessive-compulsive about them, but he liked coming back to a clean space- and being able to find where he had put all of his things. Amadeus adjusted his grip on his broom so the word Thunderbolt in elegant silver script could be more easily seen. If there was one thing Amadeus was looking forward to about going back to school, it would definitely be showing off his brand new broom.

[izzie]

Izzie smirked when Amadeus mentioned how eventually persuaded their mother to let him get a broom of his own. Of course, Izzie had let Amadeus fly around on her broom before, but eventually Astoria had to relent to her son. The Malfoys were notorious for getting their way and Amadeus was especially good at it. Being the baby had it's advantages, Izzie supposed, even if he was treated like a little kid sometimes.

"I knew you would," Izzie said, proud that Amadeus was following in her footsteps by getting what he wanted. "She couldn't have said no to you forever." Izzie took a seat on her bed again, sliding her pillow off of the papers she had hidden. Amadeus could be trusted with this sort of information. "So before we go out to test that thing, which we definitely should, I have something I think you'd be interested to read." Izzie grinned mischievously at her brother, stepping over to him to hand him the papers.

"They're lists, obviously," she said once she had given the papers to him. "That top one is the way Dad thinks it is amongst the ranks. The others ones are pieces of how it really is. It's hard to get everything perfect, of course." Izzie was somewhat hoping that Amadeus would help her make sense of it all. With all the pages, it was a bit confusing to envision the entire system, but she had a lot of it figured out thus far.

[amadeus]

Amadeus beamed at his sister when she said that she knew he would be able to talk their mother into buying him a broom. Now he was one step closer to going out for Quidditch. There was no mistake about it that Amadeus had talent, though he assumed that he would be a little rusty- after all, second years no longer had to take flying so he hadn't gotten much practice. Though in the past few weeks he had borrowed Ariadne's broom, without asking, to fly around their grounds. He loved that they lived nowhere near muggles for that very reason, they could fly as high as they wanted.

Amadeus' grin only widened when Ascella handed him a thin stack of papers that was beneath her pillow, saying the top one was Draco's description of the ranks of the Death Eaters, while the others were a more realistic depiction. "How did you get them?" Amadeus asked in awe, laying the Thunderbolt on Ascella's bed so he could better look at the papers. He snorted when he noticed their father had listed himself practically in the inner circle, he had always had an inflated sense of self-importance.

He flipped the page to look at the others, smirking again when he saw Draco listed in a more realistic place. He then frowned a bit, the system seemed to have quite a bit more thought in it than what there appeared to be at first glance. "Don't take their rankings lightly, do they?" said Amadeus, squinting a bit as if that would make the papers easier to understand. The fact that he was literally holding a piece of the Death Eaters made him excited, Amadeus wanted nothing more than to join, though his father had insisted he was much too young.

[izzie]

Izzie smiled at Amadeus' obvious delight to be seeing the lists. Truthfully, she had compiled some of it herself, but she had taken large pieces from the desks of high ranking people in the Death Eaters. Izzie liked to have things organized, so she figured this would be a good way to keep track of all the people that she should try not to offend. Unfortunately, it was a lot of people, due to the connections that some of the lower ranks had with the upper ranks.

"Well, I made some of it myself," Izzie said truthfully. "But a lot of the pieces I took from other lists that people had made. I've spoken to a couple people who are amongst the inner ranks." Izzie watched her brother as he turned past Draco's page to a more realistic view of the Death Eaters. It wasn't always clear to see who was in charge, but Izzie figured it was something.

"Yeah, it seems that if you have family amongst the middle or upper ranks that makes you a special class of some sort," she commented to her brother. "It makes things a bit more complicated. Generally, I just think of the people in the old families as likely to have higher ranks. Not necessarily inner circle, obviously, but they're pretty important." Izzie was glad that she didn't have to deal with quite so many people on a regular basis, as she would probably find it somewhat overwhelming. Besides, she preferred to work on her own anyway.

[amadeus]

Amadeus' pale grey eyes flickered quickly over the lists so he could go back and read them again, only that time more slowly to try and make more sense of it. It was certainly a lot more complicated than what he had initially expected. He looked up from the lists, however, when Ascella explained how she had compiled it, somewhat confirming his thoughts that she too was some way connected to the Death Eaters. Though surely she hadn't been allowed to actually join, she was still only sixteen, after all. And Draco had made it quite clear that none of them were joining until they were of age.

"Lucky," said Amadeus, smiling, he wished that he himself could be that well connected, though wasn't sure how he could do that at his age. Everyone thought him too young, incapable. This, unfortunately was not something he would be able to manipulate his way out of, the only thing that would allow him to advance was time. And that he could not speed up. "Then shouldn't this guy be more up here?" Amadeus said after a moment, pointing at a name toward the middle of the list and then to a higher up spot, "his name is directly tied to Black since the name died out."

Quite unfortunate in Amadeus' opinion, the Black family (other than the all too-annoying Sirius) had been some of the greatest purebloods the world had ever seen- there were still relatives to the family, himself included, but it had gone extinct in the male line. Of course, Amadeus knew that he didn't even know the beginnings of pureblood names that were connected, but he had taken to studying the family tree when he got exceptionally bored.

[izzie]

Izzie looked at the ground for a moment, sure her brother was watching her. Amadeus was very curious about all things concerning the Death Eaters, so surely he would be wondering how she had obtained this information. Izzie kept thinking he was about to ask, but so far, he hadn't done so. She still wasn't sure what exactly she would tell him, so perhaps it was best that he hadn't asked yet.

Izzie glanced at the name that Amadeus mentioned, smiling when she realized that her brother was right. She hadn't picked up on the name that was closely related to the Blacks. It really was a shame that the family name had died out, but at least there were still relatives around. The Malfoys were even descendents of the Blacks, since Izzie's grandmother, Narcissa, had been a Black.

"You're quite right," Izzie said, sliding her wand out of the pocket. She quickly made the change that Amadeus had suggested before storing it away again. "Good catch," she said with a smile toward her brother. Izzie supposed she should probably study the family tree a bit more, then she would know all the powerhouse pure-blooded families. They were all over the Death Eaters, it was only a matter of time before they took over entirely in her opinion.

[amadeus]

Amadeus felt pleased with himself when Izzie made the correction that he had suggested. He was by no means an expert on tracing family lineage, though it always made him feel proud when it looked like he knew what he was talking about. But truth be told family trees he found were the more interesting parts of history, and they often didn't do anything with them. But Amadeus did know that in the upcoming year he would be studying the Goblin Rebellions in history, surely Professor Dibbleton couldn't make even that boring. History did, though tend to bore him greatly.

He continued to scan the papers, finding only a few more familiar names, likely ones they were distantly related to in some way. He didn't spot any more errors, however, and so handed the papers back to his sister, still incredulous that she had even been able to get them in the first place.Thrilled as he was to have gotten that little piece of knowledge, Amadeus craved to know more still about the Death Eaters, though he supposed it would have to do for then, those papers alone might be evidence enough to send several people to Azkaban.

He hadn't exactly thought on it before, but there was risk of imprisonment upon joining the Death Eaters. And some of the things that they did... Amadeus wasn't sure if he could ever kill anyone, regardless of whether or not they deserved it. Though that alone wasn't enough to deter him from joining, he would likely be able to bribe or bully someone else into doing that for him once he got to that point. "I still can't believe you managed to get your hands on that," said Amadeus, smirking.

[izzie]

Izzie smiled as she took the papers back from Amadeus, carefully stuffing them between her mattresses once more. The hiding place was so obvious that it was hardly the first place that someone would look. But Izzie kept everything more important than these papers in better spots, usually not at Malfoy Manor. She didn't like the idea of her father's friends finding things around the house.

Izzie watched her brother closely, trying to figure out what he was thinking. She hoped that she had fulfilled some of Amadeus' curiosity, though she knew she couldn't really fulfill it all. He would have to join to get the full experience. There was a part of her that didn't want Amadeus to join. Amadeus seemed to smart for things like that, and too innocent to be involved in killing other people. Frankly, she wasn't sure if he had the stomach for it. Besides, she was too protective of him to want him risking his life anyway. So Izzie was glad that Draco wouldn't let his kids join until they were seventeen. At least that kept Amadeus out of harm's way for a little while longer.

"Ah yes, it wasn't an easy task," Izzie replied, smirking along with her brother. She had undertaken quite the task, trying to get this sort of information. The Death Eaters were very secretive about their ranks, after all. No one person truly knew everyone that was a part of the organization. And it was better that way, in Izzie's opinion. Then the Order and the Ministry couldn't link people together so easily. Still, she wanted to know who she was working with.

[amadeus]

Amadeus smiled a bit when he witnessed Izzie stuffing the papers under her pillow, a hiding place much too obvious for anyone to really look for them. Of course, a house elf might stumble across them by accident while making the bed, but they were forbidden to say anything that might make the family look bad. Useful that was, the house elves were essentially the best confidants someone could ask for. He wondered if they even could disobey orders. "How did you get them?" asked Amadeus, finally getting around to what he had thought when she showed him the papers in the first place.

Surely they weren't things that Draco would leave laying around, and as he understood it the Death Eaters were a secretive bunch. To even begin to know any of those things Ascella would have to have joined, wouldn't she? Was there some other way that she was connected? Amadeus wasn't even sure if that were possible, surely the leader of the movement would be more black-and-white about that. Either you were with them or against them, not merely a supporter or someone who did favours without officially being a member of their ranks.

Perhaps now he was being too curious for his own good, though as her brother Amadeus felt he deserved to know how Izzie had managed to get her hands on documents that seemed like they would be highly confidential. He kept his gaze fixed on his older sister, awaiting what would undoubtedly a complex answer to his rather prying question.

[izzie]

Izzie slid the top mattress slightly so that the papers couldn't be seen, even if one was looking for them. The only way they could be discovered were if someone was moving the mattress. And she wasn't too terribly worried about that. A house elf was the only likely being to do even that, and they couldn't tell anyone anyway. Still, the papers would hopefully not be found at all.

Izzie looked at her brother for a moment before sighing slightly. She had known the question would come, of course. Amadeus' curiosity had to be satisfied. She just wasn't sure what exactly she was supposed to tell her brother. Certainly not everything. But something at least. She had to explain herself. "I haven't joined, if that's what you're wondering," Izzie said, interlocking her fingers a bit nervously.

"But I work for them," she added, eying Amadeus to see how he would take this. "Specifically one of the members of the inner circle. But I've met a few others. That's why I have their lists." Izzie knew there were at least two more members of the inner circle, which meant there were many more Death Eaters, but she thought she had at least the majority of them recorded. It hadn't been easy to get the lists- actually it had involved a bit of thievery- but Izzie was glad she had done it.

[amadeus]

There was a different sort of look in Amadeus' eyes than what was usually there, it was analytical in a way, he could tell that he had made Izzie a bit nervous. She might have gotten away with him not inquiring if he were a year or two younger, but in the past few years Amadeus' social skills had only gotten sharper. He needed to adjust to stay a step ahead of his peers so he could continue getting them to do things for him, granted that meant maturing very quickly- Amadeus didn't feel as if he were thirteen, it was almost frustrating to him that he wasn't older than that.

Amadeus was almost relieved in a way when Izzie said that she had not joined the Death Eaters, if she had he might be needing to have a more serious talk with Draco. He wasn't afraid to be manipulative with his father, but genuine conversation about something like not treating his children equally was a whole other subject. Amadeus was just glad that Izzie was being honest with him, he had thus far yet to see anything that would make him think that his sister was lying to him.

Though he was not quite sure what to think about his sister working for one of the higher-ranking Death Eaters. It seemed like tricky business to him, like the kind of thing where if one thing was let slip then Izzie could find herself in more trouble than what she could deal with. Unsure of what to say, he kept quiet a moment, frowning slightly until he found words. "I take it that Father has no idea?" asked Amadeus, knowing full well how oblivious their father could be.

[izzie]

Isabel watched her brother carefully, knowing his mind had to be going about a mile a minute. Amadeus was capable of thinking very cleverly and very quickly, which Izzie supposed served him well. But she also thought she caught a bit of worry cross his face. Perhaps he was right; she was in deep. But there was no backing away from the Death Eaters, and Izzie had duties to fulfill now.

Izzie shook her head when Amadeus asked if Draco knew about it. Izzie would carefully keep her father, and probably the rest of the Malfoy family, in the dark about the whole affair. She certainly didn't need people knowing about her dealings with the Death Eaters, and if anyone found out her actual job, she'd be as good as dead. But in private matters such as these, Izzie was confident that she could rely upon Amadeus to keep quiet.

"Of course," Izzie said simply. "Nor does anyone else." She felt a small hint of pride that the stuff she was dealing in was so top secret, but Izzie was also nervous about it. The water was muddy where she was and she wasn't quite sure how everything was going to work out. She figured she had better do her jobs as best she could at least.