The girl looked at the huge mansion before her eyes. The day had come, which she always thought she would avoid, that she would rebel and come out alive, but now she was there empty-handed and even without the invisible cloak that, although it came in her trunk, something told her that it would be impossible to open, like that month before going to Hogwarts.

Suddenly they began to move towards that mansion, like that dream of a few months ago that since then had felt so real. Her legs were shaking without compassion and she even felt the possibility of falling because of their lack of response, so she tried to inhale and exhale in search of tranquility, but it was impossible. She tried to control her lungs, but they refused to return to normal breathing causing him to hyperventilate.

They continued moving slowly through the darkness until her mother stopped dead and stared straight ahead as if waiting for something to appear and she was not mistaken, because a few seconds later a high fence appeared before her eyes preventing them from passing.

"Pure blood, Druella Black," Druella said proudly.

"Pure blood, Cygnus Black," said the father in the same tone.

Then they both gave her a big poke that made her stagger so much that she almost fell. When stabilization was achieved, she understood what they wanted.

"Pure blood, Calynn Black," she said in a brittle voice.

After these words, the fence in front of the little girl and her parents magically opened and continued walking without stopping along the long path flanked by high bushes that did not allow the entry of much light so everything was too dark for the hour It really was. They walked for long minutes, which for Calynn were long hours that passed slowly through an hourglass. At that moment the thoughts flooded her mind and it was when she realized her weakness, she noticed that they had managed to control her without the need for a spell because now she followed them without questioning, without being under any kind of curse and that was when she understood it; they had frightened her from the beginning to be able to control her without problems and they had succeeded. Did she have another option? She turned back and around looking for a way out, something where she could sneak away without her parents noticing her absence, but it was a futile attempt since her surroundings were only bushes and bushes of an intense green and backward she was waiting for a dark fence which had again closed its heavy doors leaving it completely enclosed.

They walked until they glimpsed the great door that would give them passage into the interior of that mansion. Cygnus approached first very determined until he hit the great door howling in pain as he touched his face with his hands. When the pain passed, he observed that Druella looked at him in bewilderment and he looked back in the same way and then shrugged and knocked on the door. It didn't take long for them to open a little blonde girl with sapphire blue eyes.

"Hello, Dad." Hearing these words, Calynn turned instinctively while feeling a chill at the thought that it was possible for her to have a sister and she was in front of her, although it was a little impossible, but she checked with the answer of her father.

"Little daughter!" Cygnus said sweetly, entering the mansion.

She was trying to remember where she had seen that girl who became familiar when a scream from inside distracted her.

"Have mom and dad arrived yet?!" Said a shrill voice from within. "It was time! I was going to start cursing if they didn't arrive," someone finished strongly.

Cygnus entered the mansion received by a jet-haired girl who approached him and showed him her proud wand. After the little girl's father entered, it was her turn, although something forced her to retreat until Druella gave her a strong push causing her to destabilize, walked slowly and watched the vast interior of the great house; but that was not what amazed her most, but that all the people who were there looked at her in bewilderment. She continued walking along the perfect reddish carpet until she went to another door where many voices came from. Druella opened the door that apparently opened to a living room and what she saw left her stunned, so she stopped dead.

The room was filled with approximately fifty Death Eaters, all in their black robes that distinguished them from any other wizard. When all those present entered, they remained silent to observe little Black, some with disgust or disapproval. They kept walking without paying any attention to what people thought when a shout of enthusiasm startled them.

"Is she the new one ?!" Asked the same voice that had been heard from outside. "Let's see what she is made of!" A girl finished letting herself be seen and pulling her wand out of her robe.

"Bella!" Someone suppressed her, to the surprise of Calynn, her mother. "We have to leave it as well as possible for the Dark Lord" she paused a little, "then you can do whatever you want with she" she finished with malice, giving a smile to the girl who returned it, turning to see little Black with the same gesture of her mother.

Druella pushed her hard with a smile on her face that reflected the evil inside her.

They continued walking along the long path of the living room while the little girl scrutinized the faces of the other Death Eaters looking for someone familiar or someone who would help her when she observed an elegant emerald green that it came from a robe, followed it with her eyes and she found Slytherin's shield until it stopped in that person's eyes, which showed an ineffable sadness.

Seeing those eyes, the girl felt lifeless, deceived, betrayed and with a growing anger that managed to control to stay alive. He just looked at her while Lucius looked at him in bewilderment.

Had everything been simple words? How could that be what she was seeing? With so many people in the world, why him? Would he be forced or would he be able to volunteer when her friend fights against it? Was that the Severus she knew?

The little girl thought that maybe it was someone going through it to try to manipulate her, or at least that was what she wanted to believe so as not to face another crude reality like the one she had to face with her parents.

But that idea did not last long in the mind when the child could only whisper an apology.

She stared at him while shaking her head and the tears she had held so much, avoiding showing weakness, left treacherously without avoiding it.

She turned away to avoid that pleading look that only angered her more than she already was.

The denial of the boy's identity was repeated as a consolation of an unexpected reality that affected the core of her heart, despite everything that had happened, despite all her suffering, there was his best friend being part of that evil.

She was trying to forget that for the moment while wiping away tears when parents and daughter stopped, opened their eyes and observed that they were facing a man with his back to her.

"We brought her to you, my lord," Cygnus said in a trembling voice.

The man turned slowly until she saw his emaciated and pale face, where blue eyes shone that frightened anyone who saw him. He looked at the girl from head to toe, could not suppress a grimace of disgust at the sight of Gryffindor's coat embroidered on the robe, although he then guided his eyes to the girl's eyes and then spoke.

"She is perfect, the Dark Mark will be impeccable on her," the man said as he pulled out his wand and the little girl's parents rolled up the tunic on her left arm. She began to shake more without having any control over her body, she wanted to let go of the man's grip. She turned desperately looking for Severus, but he was gone and everyone present looked at her attentively with smiles on their faces that reflected the good show she was giving them.

The man took her wrist harder than the girl imagined, perhaps thinking that she would resist, but it was not so, she had nowhere to escape. She brought her left arm toward him, pointed his wand at the perfect skin that was about to be marked, waited a few seconds and mentioned with emotion and seriousness:

"Morsmordre!"

Calynn was horrified, a black line began its journey through the thin layer of skin, which caused an unbearable burning. She screamed with all her breath causing some thunderous laughs from the Death Eaters around her as she tried to remove her wrist from the man's hand, but squeezed it even harder to prevent her from moving like her parents, who held her tightly.

The mark was drawing on her veins, who showed an accelerated pulse that increased more and more like the volume of teasing in the room. The great figure continued to form on her small arm that would never be naked until the mark was completed with a great end of a snake moving. Immediately, the man set fire to the wand and with it he highlighted the edge of the mark until he completed the entire perimeter of it, leaving it really like a scar, forever.

When he finished burning the mark, the man quickly released the girl, pushing her back as she fell to the floor in tears, holding her forearm that was quite hot, still recovering from what had just happened. She kept sobbing in front of all the Death Eaters who died of laughter while the girl felt unable to do anything.

The pale man approached to Calynn's parents quickly with an annoyed gesture.

"Did you really think that I, the darkest wizard, would train a girl like this? It wouldn't last two seconds under my Cruciatus," he said arrogantly, waiting for a good response from both parents. "What happened this time, Cygnus? Did you really prepare her for this?"

"There were some difficulties, my lord," the man confessed as the complete burning ceased.

"These difficulties make me change plans. I need someone to do the initiation," said the man, so that most of the Death Eaters then raised their hands. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, dear followers, but we need someone who is more experienced than her, but not so much to leave her without strength to defend herself. How about, I don't know, Severus," the man finished calling the boy who was looking away but who smiled at his name.

Druella tried to mention something, but was interrupted by the man who was angry with the parents of the child, who only had their head down as a bow.

"Severus," he called insistently as the boy hesitated to take the first step until he dared. The boy walked quickly without seeing the girl in the eyes, why him again? Did that man know they were friends? Questions like those were on Calynn's mind as she watched Severus fearfully approach his leader.

The black-haired boy arrived in front of everyone, the pale man nodded that made all the Death Eaters form a circle as they drew their frightening wands. When all the Death Eaters took their places, the man continued.

"Partially you'll know the Cruciatus curse, isn't it, Severus?" The man spoke slowly with the wand between the fingertips.

"Yes, my lord," Severus replied as firmly as possible.

"And you will know that this word means torture," the man continued, avoiding to the point.

"Yes, my lord," Severus said again.

"Well, then you have the task that Cygnus and Druella couldn't do," the man ordered denigrating the girl's parents. "Although, I doubt that someone like you can conjure a good Cruciatus," the Death Eater leader scoffed as all the magicians who formed the circle imitated him and Severus was filled with anger. "But we don't have anyone else, so do it, torture her," ordered the man mercilessly sending over Severus.

The boy looked at the girl with those jet eyes that were characteristic of him, but that cold and dry look with which he often looked at her had completely changed to one of regret and compassion without being able to avoid a touch of anger produced thanks for the teasing of his leader. He rolled up the left sleeve of an evil Slytherin's robe, revealing the skull with a snake that moved excitedly with a mischievous smile that motivated him to move to the dark side. She turned back to Severus and noticed that he was holding his wand, fearful, little Black got up to try to defend himself or dodge the spells that one of his best friends could cast against her.

Severus raised his wand higher than he allowed himself and spoke those words that Calynn had never thought he would hear coming out of his mouth and less against her in a gathering of followers of the Dark Lord.

"Cru ... Crucio!" The boy stammered as a red lightning bolt came out of his wand and hit the girl in the chest. She was prepared to feel that unbearable pain sensation everywhere like those summer nights, but just threw her on the floor without any pain.

The room was filled with even louder laughter including that of their leader who laughed at Severus.

"Is that the best you can give?" The man scoffed. "Druella, give her wand to your daughter, after all, she is barely in first grade, what can she do? Levitate a feather?" The leader mocked again until a voice interrupted them.

"My lord..." whispered Druella innocently, but at the same time fearful, her leader just looked at her annoyed. "Would you allow me to read Calynn's thoughts?" The woman whispered sweetly.

"I will do that, unless she dies in the attempt," he continued mocking and then pointed at Calynn with his wand while she tried to close her mind, but with so many revelations it was impossible, and without saying a word, man invaded his thoughts left and right without the girl could avoid it. They were like this for a few seconds, seeing things that, to their good luck, were not important.

From one moment to another they returned to reality and she noticed that she still could not control any of that spell since she had been just as weak as before.

"Now is the time, my loyal followers, to start planning our attack," he said before pausing. "And Severus, practice that curse."

After that, all adult Death Eaters, including the girl's parents, but not before giving her wand, passed through a door to a dining room and closed it with a rumble.

As soon as the huge gray doors closed, the girl ran against Severus with the wand in her hand trying to remember some spell, but it was impossible. He stopped to start ranting while he indicated that she should shut up, but why should she? What did he expect after these revelations? A welcome with open arms?

"You're a liar! All this time I thought you were..." Calynn began yelling at him until he covered her mouth with his hands. The girl tried to remove them until he nodded pointing around him and it was when she realized that they were not alone. In the room were children of different ages between eleven and sixteen who looked curious, some carried the Slytherin shield proudly in their robes while others carried other non-Hogwarts shields. Suddenly Severus took her tightly from the left wrist while the girl made a grimace of pain that he didn't care because he directed her toward the door of the room leaving all the young Death Eaters more than confused, they knew that the boy had an order to fulfill.

They literally left the room running as if someone were chasing them and they passed the entrance door in the same way until they stopped to take a breath in front of the long foggy road that she had walked a moment ago.

She was about to start his speech against him about everything that had happened in the last hour but he indicated silence. For a strange reason, the girl trusted again and fell silent.

Severus took his wand, but walked away quickly indicating that he had no intention of attacking it. She noted that he began to conjure spells around them, forming a kind of invisible sphere. When he finished, he put away his wand and returned to where little Black was.

"Now do it. Tell me everything you want to tell me." The girl was going to start complaining to him about everything that happened when he spoke again. "After all, they have already called me strange so many times that I have become accustomed."

With those words, the girl doubted how to start talking and decided to start quietly by asking all the questions that were asked in the mind.

"Why, Severus? Give me a good reason." She began courageously waiting for a good response. "I bet you're not a volunteer, right?"

"Before anything else, I ask you to keep calm and not take it so badly because nobody knows the whole story," he clarified seriously to what the girl accepted. "I am a volunteer."

Little Black's world stopped when she heard those words. How was he capable of something like that? At least he could have talked to her parents or at least inform her of what was happening, who her sisters could be, what an initiation consisted of; so many things that could have saved her from that fate she had just lived, but like all Death Eaters, he had to be faithful to his leader who is more important than the life of one of his best friends. How did he want him not to take it wrong? She tried to contain an impulse to ask for a good reason, but it was not necessary as he continued speaking in the absence of an answer from little Black.

"Forgive me," he murmured sadly. "Then I will tell you my reasons."

"Why not now? We are alone," the girl suggested, finding that they were really alone in that garden.

"I can't, not until you learn to close your mind," the boy said.

"But for that a lot is missing," she said incredulously.

"I hope it is soon, you are one of the few people with whom I can deal with serious matters without being the other's mockery," Severus confessed with a smile.

"Me? But you have Lily, Lucius or you could even get to know James and Sirius better," she said without believing she was a person Severus could trust, although deep down she knew James and Sirius would never be.

"All are very immature," Severus said. "We are different, do not you notice? We have experienced different and cruel situations that others have not even observed, we are different," a satisfied Severus concluded.

Those words put the girl to think, would that be the cause of Severus' coldness and seriousness? Is that why Severus is so introverted and observant? She didn't know what to answer until something came to mind.

"What about Lily? She lived with me for a whole month, she changed since then. Even if she doesn't have a mark like us, she lived it because there is no need to have scars to indicate that you have lived experiences," Little Black said somewhat afflicted.

The boy blushed at the redhead's name and then responded.

"Lily, she can't know," Severus stammered more than anything, speaking to himself.

"What can't she know?" Calynn asked, quite confused and slightly upset at the thought that she wanted the redhead to hide this.

"About what I really am," he confessed, taking his left arm. "Not now. Please don't mention this to Lilianne."

"Are you asking me to lie to my best friend?" She asked even more annoyed and confused.

"Please, she will reject me if she finds out," Severus pleaded somewhat embarrassingly.

"And how will I know you're not going to say anything about me and my parents?" Asked the girl quite defiantly.

"Because I have a plan. I will not say anything about you to anyone except Lily, who already knows, and you will not say anything about me to anyone. Do you agree?" Severus mentioned trying to sound safe.

"It seems like a good idea, but what will happen if either one tells the other's secret?" Calynn asked out of curiosity.

"The other will have the opportunity to tell the other secret," Snape explained without a doubt.

Before Calynn accepted the deal, she thought about what this could possibly lead to as the revelation of both secrets or even the breaking of some friendships, but in the end she accepted without knowing the reason as she fell back into his arms, letting himself be manipulated with his cold voice, again making the same mistake that she had not even realized, which the little girl never believed capable. That was still present in the little girl's thoughts.

She was so focused on the conversation that for a moment she imagined that she was in Hogwarts, in the peaceful lands she visited so much; that only castle that made her forget about her true present and what had not yet begun, the only place that didn't show the situation she was in and what she was meant to be, and the only space that made her forget that past gloomy that showed her eyes, her thoughts and that made her live the perfect present she would never have.

"Good, but for now they've sent me to do the initiation," said Severus' cold voice, pulling her out of her reverie as he pulled out his wand to which the little girl responded with a total departure from Severus quickly. "Seriously? After everything we talked about? I want to take advantage of the excuse of initiation to show you some defense spells, but without going overboard," the boy explained.

Severus pointed at Calynn with his wand while the little girl's heart was about to leave and exclaimed.

"Expelliarmus!"

A ray of bluish light came out of the boy's wand while she prepared for the unknown, but very afraid with the wand in her hands. Seconds later, she was surprised to see that the only thing that spell had caused her was to remove the wand that flew through the air, but there was no pain, tears or screams; just a wand lying on the fresh grass. The little girl looked at Severus and smiled because a joy reigned in her, because for the first time someone had cast a spell that would not cause her pain or that would make her wreak havoc. She smiled back and just stared for a moment without saying anything, but interpreting those looks better than anyone.

"That is a spell to disarm your opponent of anything," the boy began to explain after a moment. "It is very useful in duels because you can leave your opponent without a wand and thus take advantage of that opportunity."

Severus continued to explain a few spells to his friend until he said it was time to move on to the torturing spells.

"What do you say?" The girl asked between confused and fearful.

"I need those inside the mansion to hear that I really took care of the initiation, but I just need you to feign the pain, I wouldn't be able to throw you a Cruciatus," the boy confessed. "As soon as I remove the protection spells, I will begin to cast the curse, but not towards you. I hope that later we can talk and I want you to understand that if for the next time you come and you don't know how to close your mind I will really throw you a Cruciatus," said the boy winking, "good luck," the boy concluded, heading towards an invisible wall and starting to conjuring up some spells until he turned a whole turn, turned to little Black and looked at her as he had never done; a murderous look that penetrated any person causing an intense chill that, although she knew that no torture spell would cast, he frightened her too much.

The boy raised his wand and for a moment the girl thought he had cheated on her, that he would really torture her, that everything they talked about before had been pure words, but apparently Severus noticed the girl's insecure face and lowered her wand to his side stand.

"Crucio!" Severus said, sure of himself and without hesitation, while the spell was going to stop at the fresh grass burning heavily and Calynn faked those cries of pain that had accompanied her so much in recent months.

They were pretending, in a very convincing way, until they reached the door of the mansion and entered while Severus pointed to the little Black with the wand, although luckily for both of them there was no one until they crossed the large jet door that gave towards the hall where only the young Death Eaters of no more than sixteen years were. Everyone turned to see them, some with pride and others with malice to see that Severus held the little girl tightly.

"It was time you arrived, Severus. I want to see my sister's resistance and prove that she deserves that honor!" Shouted a malicious voice that Severus had wished not to recognize, that characteristic tone that caused him to wish to forget it. That voice was of Bellatrix Black.