Chapter One: In Which Everyone Attends a Wedding and a Weasley Meets a Malfoy
Discordia Malfoy was standing in the same room with her cousin's soon-to-be wife staring at herself in the hideous dress that the soon-to-be wife picked out for her. Discordia actually did not have anything against Astoria Greengrass except for her lacking taste in bridesmaid dresses. The dress was a pale pink color that went just below Discordia's knees, had a darker pink ribbon that tied around her waist, spaghetti straps, and a completely straight chest line. It seriously was one of the most bloody distasteful things she'd ever seen. Even Duellona, Discordia's sister, had better sense than to pick this Merlin-awful thing and Duellona loved everything pink.
As Discordia continued her internal rant about the offending bridesmaid dress, Daphne, Astoria's sister, joined them in the room to begin putting on her dress as well. This was one of the biggest social events in the wizarding world, and she was going to look like Gilderoy Lockhart's robes.
"You're late!" Astoria screeched at her older sister. Duellona looked at Discordia and let out a small snicker. Duellona had gotten married a year earlier, and Discordia did not dare to be late to it.
"I know. I'm sorry. I got caught up with Blaise," Daphne apologized. Astoria let out a sigh. Her sister's unspoken words were that Blaise and Daphne were still enjoying each other's first year of marriage bliss.
"Well just hurry up! I refuse to be late to my own wedding!" Astoria whined as she finished lacing up the corset bodice to her immaculately perfect wedding gown. If Discordia had been the type to think about marriage and weddings, then she would have been jealous, but as it were she just was happy that her cousin was getting married. It made her parents stop thinking about her doing so for awhile. It's not that Vesperus and Adorabella Malfoy were in a rush to send their youngest child out into some unsuspecting wizard's life, but they were upset that Discordia seemed to not want to be with anyone.
"Maybe it has something to do with Merlin-awful bridesmaid dresses," she grumbled to herself before making sure that Astoria hadn't heard her. That would be all she would need, a lecture from her aunt Narcissa about propriety and being a well-respected pureblood. Once upon a time Discordia agreed with these beliefs, but after seeing what the war in Britain did to her cousin, and the non-judgmental ways in Greece, she didn't care anymore about being pureblooded. It wasn't to say that she didn't believe she was better than everyone else, because let's face it, she was. She just didn't think how your blood was made up had anything to do with it.
"Discordia, it's time for us to go downstairs," Duellona said as she pushed her younger sister in line in front of her.
The wedding had been a short-lived event. The bride was gorgeous, the groom was gorgeous and Discordia was unsure about the lot of four redheads and a couple others at a table in the back of the reception.
"Staring at the Weasleys, I thought my younger cousin had better taste than that," Draco drawled disapprovingly. Discordia would have looked up startled if she didn't have such a large control over displaying her emotions. Instead she looked over to where her cousin had originally been standing next to his new wife and saw that his in-laws had joined her in conversation. Discordia knew Draco's feelings on the Greengrasses and knew why he had come over to drive her nutters instead.
"If you don't like them so much, then why are they at your wedding? And, I'm not that much younger than you. It's only eight days!" She huffed and he let out a condescending chuckle.
"They're here because the youngest of the redheaded oaf brothers, his saint of a best friend known to the rest of the world as Harry Potter, and his bushy-headed, know-it-all wife saved my arse from going to Azkaban after the war. And, I know eight days isn't that much older, but it has always been my pleasure to rub it in your face because it is so little an amount," he answered. Discordia sighed knowing he would forever hold those eight days over her head. Also, she knew him well enough to know that even though he said all those things about the others his tone of voice said he respected them a great deal.
"Well cousin, you have so many nice things to say about people," she retorted, pushing a strand of her pin-straight chestnut brown hair out of her face.
"Shove it," he answered, but with a smirk. Discordia laughed. She knew that smirk. It was the Malfoy smirk and it came naturally with the cold gray eyes that all but her sister had inherited. Instead, Duellona had their mother's pale, sky blue eyes. Those doubled with her father's jet-black hair made Duellona a sight to behold. Discordia had remembered the following of wizards that Duellona had during her years at their school. It had been a tragedy to the male population when Duellona married Loukas last year.
"Oh please, you like them because you're indebted to them and secretly you wish you had what they do. Let's see if I can get this right. The redheads once upon a time were blood traitors and knowing my dear uncle Lucius, he taught you to hate them. So, you being the idolizing son you were, you did. And, when they didn't care because they knew they grew up with people who loved them while you grew up with material items, you attacked Potter every chance you got. I just don't know how the brunette wife fits into it."
"Muggle-born that helped Potter and Weasley in all of their amazing adventures," he said with just a little bit of harshness.
"Ah! So you hit the trifecta of everything you were taught to hate. Poor blood traitors that are more loved than you, a half-blood who was more famous than you, and a Muggle-born who's smarter than you. I'm seriously glad that Father fell in love with Greece and we could get over this blood rubbish quicker than you. That war was stupid! You do realize that Voldemort was a half-blood don't you?"
"Yes, Discordia, we were aware of that," he drawled in annoyance. He forgot how infuriating she could be. He was glad she lived on the other side of the continent. "When will you be returning to Greece?" He asked hoping she'd say tomorrow.
"Never," she answered. She looked up to see her cousin's perfect face staring at her in astonishment.
"Why the bloody hell not?" He asked a little louder than he intended.
"Because I've asked Aunt Narcissa if I could stay here until I find somewhere to live. I've been assigned as an ambassador for the Greek Ministry of Magic to your Ministry."
"That's bloody great; you're an awful pain in the arse, Discordia. I liked you better miles away."
"I know, love. Hence why I asked your mother to stay in your part of the manor," she answered with a Malfoy smirk and an evil snicker.
Draco frowned. It's not that he didn't love the evil midget witch he called his cousin, but the two could only be together for so long before they were throwing hexes at one another in his mother's rose garden. They were too much alike in their worse traits to get along for longer than three hours. It was one of the reasons that out of his three paternal cousins, she was his favorite.
"Don't worry. We're grown up now; I mean you're married so we have matured beyond the garden duels." She said reasonably. He nodded. "Now get back over to you're wife. You've spent plenty of time hassling me over nothing just to avoid idle chatter with her parents."
George Weasley had no idea what had possessed him to attend the ferret's wedding with his brothers and sister, but here he was at the reception. He drank a flute of champagne that came by on a tray that a house elf carried. George was pretty sure that somewhere Fred was laughing at him for following Ron, Percy, Ginny, Harry, and Hermione to this stuffy event. George frowned at the thought of his lost twin. He was sure that no matter how much time had passed, he would never get over the loss of Fred. He looked over to the main table that the wedding party was supposed to be seated at. However, none of them were there. Instead, he watched as Malfoy approached the brunette from the bridesmaids over by the table that housed the cake.
"Oi, Ron! Who's that with Malfoy?" George asked his brother. She was definitely gorgeous, even in that rubbish bridesmaid dress.
"Oh, that's one of Malfoy's cousins. Apparently Lucius had a brother that no one knew about because he moved to Greece right after his graduation from Hogwarts. He's that large bloke over there with the black hair," Ron answered in between bites. George looked to the table that Malfoy's parents were sitting at and noted the wizard that Ron described. The man was Lucius's opposite in every way, but the steely gray eyes. He had a bit of a tan, most likely from the Greek weather, and black hair that was even darker than Harry's. George took in his wife too. She had long hair with tiny curls in the same color as her daughter's but she had pale blue eyes rather than the icy gray ones.
George looked back to the woman with Malfoy and watched as she laughed at him. Well, at least she's laughing at him. That is definitely a good sign. George thought to himself. He watched as she gave her cousin a smirk and an even scarier snicker and thought, Never mind that last thought. She's probably even more evil than him, somebody to stay away from for sure. He took one last look at her before turning his attention to Ginny's discussion about how her Quidditch team had a bigger chance at the Cup this year. George just grinned knowing that if he disagreed with his younger sister than she would probably hit him with a bat bogey hex and he would be embarrassed for the evening. Ginevra Molly Weasley Potter was not a person to argue with unless you felt like having uncontrollable flying bogeys on your face for the next four hours.
"Well I think we've been here long enough to be polite, don't you?" Harry asked them.
"Yes, I think it would be best if we left now," Percy agreed, and if Fred had been there George would have helped to make fun of Percy's proper tone. George sighed again in depression. When was he going to get over this empty feeling? Never. He answered for himself as he followed the rest to the Apparition point set up outside Malfoy Manor.
Discordia was happy to return to her own clothing. She tossed the offending bridesmaid dress into a rubbish bin and sighed at the loss of a hundred galleons she had spent on the thing. If it had been for anyone else, but her favorite cousin, then she would not have worn it, but since it was Draco's wedding she had made an exception. She found her trunk in her room at her uncle's Manor, and began rummaging through it for her pajamas. She found the pajamas she had been looking for and hurriedly put them on. Tomorrow was her first day at her new ambassador job and she refused to not get sleep or be late. Malfoys never looked sleep-deprived, never overslept, and most definitely were never late. Discordia may have been raised on a different set of Malfoy values in Greece, but the basic ones between both the brothers' families were very much the same.
The next morning, Discordia woke up in plenty of time to bathe, pick out the perfect robes, and Floo to the Ministry before her designated starting time. She started with her outfit, and chose a set of royal blue robes with the Greek Ministry's logo on them and entered the lavatory that was connected to her suite. She didn't waste too much time in the shower. She washed her hair, body, and then exited the shower to brush her teeth. Once she had done all this, she used a simple drying charm and watched as the board-straight hair fell to just below her shoulders and she proceeded to put on an elegant black skirt, blue button-up blouse, and her robes before leaving her room and heading to the parlor that housed the fireplace connected to the Floo network.
"Good morning Discordia," Narcissa greeted as Discordia approached the front parlor.
"Good morning Aunt Narcissa," she replied. She really wanted to be twenty minutes early for work, but would never dare to be rude to her aunt. Malfoys are never rude.
"Did you want breakfast before you go into work? I could have Tipper bring you something to eat from the kitchen," she offered.
"No, thank you, I am just going to go in early. I want the Greek Ministry to know that I am taking this promotion seriously," Discordia thanked her.
"That's very smart of you dear. Well if you need anything to take with you, don't hesitate to ask Tipper. And don't worry about how long you'll be staying. You know this house is big enough for four families," Narcissa mused before leaving her young niece to do something for the day.
Discordia bid her politely to have a nice day, and entered the parlor. She took a bit of the Floo powder in a container on the mantle and stepped into the fireplace.
"Ministry of Magic!" Discordia shouted and the green flames enveloped her and she went whirling to her destination. Once she stepped out of the Ministry's fireplace she dusted off her robes and proceeded to a desk with a frazzled looking young witch behind it.
"Hello, my name is Discordia Malfoy, and I am the new ambassador from the Greek Ministry," Discordia started to inform the woman, "I have a meeting with Minister Shacklebolt."
"One moment, I have to let him know that you are here," she answered a bit harried. Discordia had a feeling that this woman might have just recently started this job. She seemed overwhelmed by the duties that she had undertaken. Discordia watched as the woman wrote something onto a piece of parchment and handed it to a small owl. The owl flitted away with it to somewhere in the vast building that was the British Ministry's home. Discordia waited about ten minutes before the owl returned. The woman retrieved the parchment from the owl, fed it a treat, and it returned to its small station behind her blonde hair on a perch.
"Minister Shacklebolt will see you now. Just proceed down this corridor and take the lifts. It is the level listed as Minister of Magic," she told Discordia. Discordia thanked her and then followed her directions. It took only a few minutes to get to the Minister's office, and once she was there she announced herself to the young man that was the Minister's office assistant. He looked up at her with appreciative eyes, and excused himself for a moment to let Shacklebolt know that she was there.
"Ah, Miss Malfoy, it is a pleasure to have you joining our Ministry team," Kingsley Shacklebolt greeted her as he came out from his office with the assistant. He held out a hand for her to shake. She took it gracefully, but firmly.
"It is a pleasure to be working with the British Ministry, sir. I've been told you run a tight ship over here," she answered with approval.
He nodded, "Yes, well not too long ago, I'm sure you know it wasn't the case. We started by renovating the Ministry itself. We have moved some departments around, and whatnot. Only levels eight, nine, and ten have not been changed. I have a good team of Aurors revolutionizing the place. Harry Potter has taken over as the Head of the Auror Department and along with his second-in-command, Ron Weasley; they have been cleaning up our world of Death Eaters. We have had fewer disturbances and more clean-ups than even before Voldemort's time. I'm very pleased with how it is going, and I am pleased to see that the Greek Ministry is looking to us for advice on reformation," he explained.
"Yes, well ever since your survival of the war and your clean-ups as you call them, the Greek Ministry has been looking to you as a role model. Our own bout with Dark Arts has required us to learn more about changing the wizarding world in our country. Hence, why you have me," she answered smiling up at him. She really was excited to be doing this job. She would attend raids and other Ministry happens, document them, and then report the proceedings to the Greek Ministry so that they are able to use them for her home country. Greece had been having trouble for a long time, and with British Ministry gaining so much recognition for its change, the country decided this was the best place to learn.
Shacklebolt gestured her to the door, "Alright, well let me take you straight to your office. You will be located on level two. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement which includes the Auror Department and The Department of International Magical Cooperation are located on this level. One set of corridors belong to them, and another set belongs to ambassadors and other travelling Ministry officials. Your office will be down the latter, but close enough to the Aurors to learn about their duties to report to your own Ministry. I want your time here to be effective and educational so that relations between here and Greece remain strong."
Discordia listened as he explained different things about the Aurors and directed her to her office. She noted the different lifts they took and the corridors they walked down. It would not do for her to be lost in this underground maze.
"This room is your office," he began to tell her. He opened a glass door with her name on it. Inside, there was a fifteen by fifteen foot room with a mahogany desk in the middle, filing cabinets along one wall, bookshelves built into the other wall, and an assortment of chairs and couches. Discordia was very pleased and surprised by this because she was expecting a much smaller working area.
"Thank you. This was more than I was expecting," she told him as she entered.
"It's the regulation office for your department. I'm going to let you get settled, and in about an hour I'll have Ron Weasley take you to the Auror Department to get acquainted with it. Welcome to the British Ministry of Magic Miss Malfoy," he said one final time before leaving her alone with the office. Immediately, she began to adjust the room to fit her. She changed the colors on the couches to a brilliant blue color, made the puffy chairs ebony, and the filing cabinets black. She charmed the desk into a black marble with a bit of blue in it. She wanted this office to represent her while she was in it. She decided she'd bring her office items from the Manor tomorrow. Ugh, that's right! I have to make sure I put some time in to look for somewhere to live too. I know that Aunt Narcissa doesn't mind me living in the Manor, but I would like to be able to take care of myself. She thought to herself, and made a small note on a piece of parchment to ask about the best way to find somewhere to live.
She had just finished with the last of her redecorating and cleaning when there was a knock at her door.
"Enter," she announced to the unknown visitor. Discordia watched as the door opened and a tall man with vibrant orange hair entered her office.
"Hello, I'm Ron Weasley. I'm the second-in-command in the Auror Department and Minister Shacklebolt asked me to give you a tour of the Department along with information on some of our proceedings," he introduced himself. He held out a slightly larger than normal hand and Discordia took it. She was surprised by how tall the man at Draco's wedding was up close.
"I'm Discordia Malfoy. I'm here as an ambassador for the Greek Ministry. It's a pleasure to meet you," she answered. Her father had taught her that no matter what, Malfoys were always polite. She took that statement to heart as she introduced herself to Ron Weasley, one of her cousin's former archenemies.
"Right, well let's get you acquainted with the Auror Department," he answered as he held her office door open for her. She held in a laugh. He was different from what Draco had told her. He was a gentleman and not an oaf at all. Discordia wondered if it was because he grew and matured or if Draco was just exaggerating as she knew him to do so.
Ron had walked her down two corridors before stepping outside of a wooden door marked Auror Department. They entered and Discordia noted that it was a lobby-type area with various couches for waiting. Ron approached a graying man in black robes behind a desk, but in front of another larger door.
"Hello Devon, I'd like you to meet Discordia Malfoy. She's with us from the Greek Ministry. She will be given access to the Auror Department by the Minister," Ron greeted and explained.
"Ah, yes, Minister Shacklebolt did mention something about a representative of Greece being allowed entry," the older man said before using a spell to open the door behind him. Ron nodded his head to the man, and Discordia followed him through the door. She noticed that there were about fifteen or so offices on either side of the hallway they entered. Each office was about ten by ten feet, and had a name on a plate next to the door. At the end of the hall, she saw two larger offices. One had a black marble plate with the name Harry Potter inscribed in gold, and the other had a black marble plate with the name Ronald Weasley inscribed in silver. Ron led her to the door with Harry Potter's name on it. She thought it a bit comical that she would be meeting two out of three of Draco's trifecta of enemies in one day.
"Oi! Harry, this is Discordia Malfoy. You know the witch from Greece that will be learning about our Department?" Ron asked. He dropped a little bit of his formality with his long-time friend, Discordia observed.
"Hello Miss Malfoy, welcome to our department. If you need anything, then you can come straight to me," Harry said to her warily. He still wasn't sure how he felt about a Malfoy being granted to see his department.
"Thank you. I promise I'll try to stay out of your way as much as possible. I'm only here to see how you do things so efficiently over here. I'm trying to help our Ministry gain more control over the country," she responded. She was a bit hesitant because she could hear the strain in his voice. It probably came from knowing that she was cousins with Draco Malfoy. A name that was not synonymous with law-abiding and Dark Arts free.
Harry nodded and gestured for her to sit. He figured he should get the background portion of her wandering about finished.
Discordia had about an hour until it was time for her to go home for the day by the time Harry had finished explaining some of the Auror information to her. He had given her two very large files about how he was starting to overhaul the Auror Department. She accepted them graciously even though the two of them had been trying to sum the other up the entire meeting. She carried them back to her own office, and put one on her desk for reading tomorrow, and the other in one of the recently changed black filing cabinets. She looked down at the note she had left herself about finding somewhere to stay besides the Manor. It took two minutes for Discordia to make the decision to pen Ron Weasley a note asking about how to find vacancies in London. She was glad she had done so, because he had wrote her back that he would accompany her to Diagon Alley once he was finished. He would take her to talk to Gringott's about available homes and flats. He said he had to stop in on his brother's joke shop that evening and taking her to Gringott's would not be a problem.
