Bellatrix was woken suddenly by an intense pain in her arm.

The pain was in the exact spot where her Dark Mark was located.

Bellatrix's eyes flew open. It was not the usual type of pain, a slight burning sensation, which came from being Summoned by her lord and master. No, this pain truly hurt. She felt as if something had been ripped right out of her chest, even though the pain was in her arm and not her chest.

In a frenzied state of panic, Bellatrix rolled up the left sleeve of her nightdress. She looked down at her Mark.

It was still there, but she could barely see it.

Bellatrix could not make any sense out of it. Since the moment that she had first received the Mark, it had always been a dark, sharp black. But now it was almost invisible.

Had something happened to the Dark Lord? But no, that couldn't be possible. The Dark Lord was the most powerful wizard alive. He was more than a man. He was a god. There was no way that anything horrible could have possibly happened to him.

Bellatrix slid off her bed and dashed out her bedroom, not caring at all that her movements completely lacked the dignity and grace that was expected out of a proper Pureblood lady.

In the hallway, she nearly ran into her husband Rodolphus Lestrange, who had just come running out of his bedroom. His eyes were just as wide and frantic as hers.

Rodolphus flung his left forearm right under Bellatrix's nose. His Mark was also greatly faded.

Something was definitely wrong.

"Let me see your arm," Rodolphus whispered.

Bellatrix showed her husband her left foreman.

"What is going on?" Rodolphus asked, his voice reflecting the same panic that Bellatrix was feeling.

"How am I supposed to know?" Bellatrix snapped.

"Do you think this has happened to everyone else?" Rodolphus asked next, not at all fazed by his wife's sharp tone of voice.

"What happens to one Mark happens to all the Marks," Bellatrix spoke. "Something has happened to the Dark Lord."

Bellatrix then touched her Dark Mark. Nothing happened. She didn't feel the sensation of her lord and master responding to her call like she usually would.

Bellatrix touched her Dark Mark again, this time more frantically. Still, nothing happened.

Rodolphus was also touching his Dark Mark, but like his wife, he also was not receiving any results.

"What are we going to do?" Rodolphus asked.

"We are going to find the Dark Lord," Bellatrix answered, struggling to keep her voice calm.

The Mark was still there. It was greatly faded, but it was still there. That meant that the Dark Lord had to be out there somewhere.

That meant that the Dark Lord had to be all right. Because there was no way that the Dark Lord could not be all right.

Bellatrix could not imagine the Dark Lord not being all right. It just wasn't possible.

It couldn't be possible.

Barty Crouch Jr. was woken suddenly by an intense pain in his arm.

The pain was in the exact spot where his Dark Mark was located.

He released a cry of pain before he could help himself.

Barty then shakily rolled up the left sleeve of his pajamas.

His Mark was still there, but it was barely visible.

Barty touched his Mark. There was no response.

He touched his Mark again. There was still no response.

"Master," Barty breathed in horror. "Why aren't you answering me?"

Even though Barty had not really been expecting his master to come at this calling, the young man was still tortured when he didn't appear.

Barty felt tears beginning to form in his eyes. Something was definitely wrong. Something horrible had happened to his master, no, his father.

There was suddenly a gentle knock on his bedroom door.

"Barty," came his mother's concerned voice from the opposite side.

"I'm fine, Mother," Barty called back. "I just had a bad dream."

More like a nightmare, he thought. An unimaginable, unbearable nightmare.

"Is there anything I can get you?" his mother asked gently.

My father, Barty thought. You could get me my father.

Oh, his sweet, naive mother. She knew nothing about what her perfect son had been up to under the tutelage of the Dark Lord.

"No, I don't need anything," Barty called back. "Go back to bed."

"All right, sweetie," his mother responded. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Barty returned.

Barty then heard the sounds of his mother's footsteps walking away from his door.

Barty looked back down at his left forearm. How could his Mark have faded so suddenly and so quickly? It made no sense.

"Where are you, Master?" Barty moaned. "Where are you?"

Lucius was lying beside his wife in their bed, but neither of them were sleeping.

It was not often that Lucius was home at night. And on the few occasions when he was actually home, it was not unusual for him to suddenly be Summoned by the Dark Lord.

It was hard, therefore, for either of the two Malfoys to sleep. They both knew that Lucius could be called away at a moment's notice, which would then leave Narcissa worrying and wondering if her husband would come back to her alive and healthy.

Lucius also found it hard to sleep because of how the Dark Lord had been acting recently. If it had been anyone but the Dark Lord, Lucius would have said that he was afraid of something. But that was impossible. The Dark Lord was above weak emotions such as fear.

At the same time, though, there was no denying that the Dark Lord had lately been more quick-tempered and less forgiving than was usual, even for him.

And Lucius knew that anger and fear were often tied together.

Lucius suddenly felt an intense pain in his arm.

The pain was in the exact spot where his Dark Mark was located.

Lucius hissed slightly, more out of shock than out of actual pain, as he was no stranger to both giving and receiving pain.

Lucius was still loud enough, however, for his wife to hear him.

"What's wrong, Lucius?" Narcissa asked in concern, grabbing for his hand.

It was his left hand, as that was the hand closest to her.

It was also the hand that went with the arm that bore the Dark Mark.

"My arm," Lucius gasped.

Narcissa released her grip on her husband's hand.

Lucius lifted up his arm as he rolled up his sleeve.

His Dark Mark was still there, but it was barely noticeable.

Narcissa's eyes went wide. She had seen that Mark on her husband's arm many times, and she knew that it was a dark, sharp black and clearly visible.

"Lucius," Narcissa breathed, not knowing what else to say.

"Something has happened to the Dark Lord," Lucius said calmly, even though he was inwardly trembling.

He touched his Mark hesitantly, not really expecting anything to happen. And indeed, nothing happened.

Lucius allowed his arm to fall down on the bed.

"How can that be possible?" Narcissa asked.

She, along with most people (both Death Eaters and those on the other side) saw the Dark Lord as being beyond human, as being invincible.

"I don't know," Lucius responded, "but I do know that the Dark Lord has been worried about something recently."

Narcissa nodded her head. Lucius had talked to her before about this.

Lucius slid off the bed and reached for the robes that he had laid out to wear in the morning.

"You better get dressed," he told his wife. "I expect the others will start showing up soon, looking for answers."

Narcissa nodded her head.

All over Britain, the rest of the Death Eaters were waking up suddenly, all of them feeling an intense pain in their arms where their Dark Marks were located.

They were all shocked and horrified when they saw how severely and how quickly their Marks had faded.

Had the impossible happened? Had something happened to the Dark Lord?

And if something had, what did that mean for them?