The Lion and Serpent
By
TheBigEmeraldPeacock
Chapter 2 – The Umbridge Negotiation
Molly's POV
Molly had watched the exchange between Narcissa Malfoy and the receptionist feeling increasing amounts of alarm and dismay. It hadn't occurred to her that the Malfoy's would receive an identical letter and they would both be dispatched at the same time; although now she thought about it, it was obvious; its not like the Malfoy's would want this anymore than the Weasleys.
The receptionist finished their conversation and Narcissa turned to face her.
At first she almost looked traumatised at the sight of Molly sitting there; knitting in lap; staring back at her.
"Mrs Weasley" Narcissa said her eyes narrowing.
"Mrs Malfoy" Molly replied in an emotionless voice.
"I suppose you're also here to halt this abortion" Narcissa said; gesturing to the letter in her hand.
"In politer terms, yes" Molly replied, slightly irritated that anyone would think being related to Ron an 'abortion'.
Narcissa didn't miss the jibe about her manners, "Just the one Weasley then? I would of thought you'd all be up in arms, wasn't that the point of breeding a battalion sized family", she retorted, smirking.
"Good parents don't make their children fight for their beliefs" Molly replied accusingly, staring directly into Narcissa's eyes.
Narcissa physically wavered at her words and looked genuinely upset at her accusation. Molly sighed, she supposed she should treat others how she would like to be treated.
"No, it's just me, I thought it best to see if I could fix this before anyone else had to find out".
She smiled at Narcissa and gestured to the chair next to her, "Would you like to wait with me?"
Narcissa nodded and sat down; careful not to crush her skirt.
"How long have you been waiting?" she asked, looking around the room.
Molly looked at the clock, "About 45 minutes, but my appointment is at 12, she's apparently very busy".
Narcissa snorted "You could have fooled me. We're the only ones here, that is unless Umbridge takes lots of meetings with thestrals".
Narcissa looked over to the doors leading of the reception area; spotting the one with 'D Umbridge' printed in gold on the frosted glass.
"Has anyone entered or left that office since you arrived" Narcissa said gesturing to the door.
"No ones past through any of the doors; its completely dead here; then again I suppose it's a new department; they're probably not completely up and running yet" Molly replied.
Narcissa huffed, "Well I'm not giving the woman the satisfaction of not only forcing our sons into matrimony, but also making me wait hours while she does paperwork".
Standing up she turned to Molly, "Are you coming? It will probably be easier if she sees neither family wants this".
"Are you really going to just walk in there?" Molly asked, standing hesitantly, "I mean what about her?" she nodded her head towards the receptionist who seemed deeply engrossed in some mundane paperwork, and was not aware of the uprising of the only other people in the room.
"She can go suck a lemon" Narcissa replied, "Anyway what's she going to do? Hit us with her Zimmer frame?"
"I don't know" Molly said, twisting her hands with worry.
Narcissa took her uncertainty as an affirmative and strode off towards Umbridge's office; Molly quickly followed, trying to pretend she couldn't hear the receptions demanding they wait until their appointment.
Umbridge's POV
Dolores was having a good morning. The Department of Wizarding Culture wasn't big, but it had the power to pass new laws quickly, and she was in charge.
Her office was large and circular, and she had decorated it just the way she liked it. Pink, lace, and kittens, wonderful.
Out of all of the new acts passed since the department's creation she was most proud of the Wizarding Heritage Preservation Act 1501; it assured the continuance of pureblood families, despite the rise in muggle pollution. It took the choice away from those who would make the wrong decision and put them back on the right path towards a brighter, purer future.
'Brighter, purer future, I should have that printed on the pamphlets' she mused, leaning back in her pink desk chair.
She sat in silence for a moment; admiring the decorative kitten plates hung around the office; however her contentment was soon broken by the sounds of raised voices in the reception area.
The door abruptly opened and a slim, platinum blonde woman strode in; her first impression was of alarm as the woman seemed to be wearing a jacket made from a barbed, poisonous green reptile skin. However she quickly gathered herself, preparing to demand why she had burst into her private office; but she was interrupted by the intruder.
"My Name is Narcissa Malfoy" the woman said, glaring down at her; "and this" she said, indicating rather unenthusiastically over her shoulder, "is Mrs Weasley".
Dolores leaned slightly in her chair, looking around Mrs Malfoy at Mrs Weasley, who was shutting her office door and looked very uncomfortable but determined.
"We are here", Mrs Malfoy continued; "to have this idiotic forced marriage between our son's dissolved", slamming a letter down on her desk.
Dolores was tempted simply to call security; however she was curious how this meeting would pan out; the Malfoy's had always been reliable financial supporters of the ministry, imprisoned or not; and it couldn't hurt to hear what they had to say.
'They're both purebloods after all', she mused.
She turned the letter around and began to read as Mrs Malfoy and Weasley took the two seats in front of her desks.
She recognised the letter immediately; it was one of the pair she had sent when she first came into work this morning.
She sighed, putting on an apologetic smile, "It was very unfortunate that your son's file was misplaced between leaving the Wizarding Records Department and arriving here. The files were dealt with by alphabetical order, so by the time the error had been brought to my attention; Mr Weasley's file was the only one remaining which was remotely compatible."
"There was really no one else? Some no name girl would be preferable to being tied to that" Mrs Malfoy waved her hand lazily towards Mrs Weasley.
"Well after observing your son last year, I thought being married to a man wouldn't create such an issue." She replied, straightening the folders on her desk.
"What? Pray tell me, did you observe", Mrs Malfoy asked, her eyes narrowing.
"Well on several occasions I had to give warnings to Draco. You see I had banned public displays of affection; quite rightly as Hogwarts is a place of learning. Catching your son in the middle of err heated assignations with his friend Blaise Zabini; I just assumed his file was out of date."
Narcissa's POV
This was not at all the day Narcissa had planned for herself when she woke up this morning. She had kicked her breakfast into a fountain after finding out her son was going to be forced to marry a man, and now the instigator of this matrimony had outed her son to his poor unsuspecting mother.
She realised she must have been silent a lot longer than was normal as both Umbridge and the Weasley woman were staring at her, concerned. She regrouped and decided to attack from a different angle.
"Be that as it may; why did you match him with the Weasley boy? He's never seemed complex enough to be anything but straight". Out of the corner of her eye she saw Mrs Weasley glaring at her.
Umbridge looked uncomfortable, "Well there were only two choices and your son", she motioned to Mrs Weasley, "Is the same age as Draco, they both play quidditch…" she trailed off lamely under the incredulous look Narcissa was throwing her.
"Putting aside your obvious stupidity for now", Narcissa drawled, "Who is the other candidate?"
Umbridge quickly shifted her files; locating the desired folder and opening it. "His name is Yaxley, 45 years old, he was only really included because he's never been married".
Narcissa almost wretched; Yaxley was a deatheater, and a very stupid and unappealing one at that.
This was getting desperate, he was even less appealing than Weasley. A brilliant idea suddenly struck her, "Could the Weasley boy marry him instead? Draco could have an extension until more candidates turn 17; even without this law, neither myself or his farther would allow him to marry outside of pureblood circles, so it's really not necessary."
The Weasley Woman looked appalled, however Umbridge seemed to be considering the offer.
She eventually adopted a stern expression, "No; as I said before Yaxley was only included because of his lack of marital status; this law was aimed at young witches and wizards; and my say goes. Your Son's must marry within 6 months, or you all will face Azkaban. Well more of it in your husbands case Mrs Malfoy. You may leave, I have work to do." Umbridge pointed to the door and then started reading through more folders.
Narcissa was stumped. It had been so long since anyone had flatly refused her anything that the whole situation seemed alien. She stared at the woman sitting across from her; the one who had just taken her son and married him to a complete stranger; the one that had just made fun of her because Lucius was in prison.
She was angry at the way she had been treated; but she was livid on behalf of her son.
She slowly stood; the tension in the room was like a standing on thin ice, any sudden movements and it would shatter. To her left Mrs Weasley stood; she looked frightened at the lack of any expression on Narcissa's face.
It was the oddest sensation, like her head was filled with white noise. There were no thoughts, just actions. She silently crossed the office and picked up a decorative plate from one of many small lace covered tables littering the room. For a moment she simply studied the mewling kitten in the centre of the ceramic; she then turned swiftly and threw it at Umbridge.
Molly's POV
Umbridge was lucky; the plate spun past her ear at lightning speed and smashed through the window, falling to the atrium below. By the time Umbridge had managed to work out what was going on, Narcissa had grabbed a second plate and flung it at her head.
Molly was in utter shock; standing frozen she watched as Mrs Malfoy grabbed plates, lamps, a signed picture of the minister, and a set of silver candle sticks; and hurled them all at Umbridge, who was now hiding behind her desk.
Eventually Umbridge remembered she had a wand and cast a translucent shield bubble around the desk, just as Narcissa discovered she could lift and throw the large carriage clock on the mantle piece. It hit the magical dome and disintegrated with an electrical crackle.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" Umbridge screeched, from inside the shield charm, "I'VE CALLED SECURITY, THEY'LL BE HERE ANY SECOND".
Narcissa was panting; glaring daggers at Umbridge. She turned to Molly and gave her a slightly unhinged smirk, "Well you heard her, smash something before they get here".
Molly stood still, simply staring at Narcissa, unable to move.
"Now!" Narcissa exclaimed exasperatedly, as if destroying the office was the most logical action at this moment.
Molly shuffled over to the nearest table and nudged a teapot over the edge. It landed on the rug and didn't even smash.
Narcissa sighed, "You're really not into this are you?"
Molly shook her head; glad that Narcissa seemed to be calming down.
The thundering of footsteps could be heard outside and suddenly the door flew open.
"Expeliamus!" Both Molly's and Narcissa's wands zoomed out of their bags and across the room to be caught by the burly security guard standing in the doorway.
He pocketed them and quickly entered, followed by a second guard who walked over to Molly and held her upper arm in a firm grip; across the room the first guard restrained Narcissa in the same fashion.
Umbridge now deemed it safe enough to lower the shield charm. Her hair stuck out in all directions and she was covered in fragments of plate. She looked shell shocked more then anything.
She straightened her pink tweed skirt suit and then turned to the first guard and said, in a controlled voice "Please escort Mrs Malfoy and Mrs Weasley out of the Ministry, make sure that they leave."
She then turned away and started casting repairo spells at the broken objects around the room.
The guards walked them from the room towards the waiting elevator. In all honesty Molly was shocked they hadn't been arrested.
'We burst into her office, practically assaulted her and destroyed most of her decorations. Well I suppose I was only an accomplice, but still'.
She bit her nail replaying the events of the meeting before the abuse and destruction of property; it seemed they were stuck, there was no hope from the beginning that they could prevent this.
Narcissa seemed to be thinking the same thing because she suddenly said, "I don't think there is anyway around this".
She glanced back at the security guards, "You can let go of us now. What are you afraid of? Being hit with a handbag?" She looked down at Molly's carpet bag and her eyebrows raised, "I take that back, her hand bags' big enough to sit in. What on earth do you keep in there?" she asked.
Molly patted the bag fondly, "Oh you know, a bit of everything really".
Narcissa hummed distractedly, routing around in her clutch bag, "Well all this seems to hold is my check book, a handkerchief, and a 5cl Firewhiskey miniture. You don't have a pen and parchment, do you?" she looked at Molly expectantly while unscrewing the small bottle and downing the amber contents.
Before Molly could answer the elevator doors opened and they exited into the main atrium. The guards released them, handed back their wands and walked back into the Ministry.
"We need to talk", Molly said, gesturing over to the fountain in the centre of the atrium. Narcissa followed without complaint slapping the empty firewhiskey bottle into the hand of a passing intern; the crowds had mostly cleared now and the splashing from the jets of water would prevent anyone listening in. They both sat down on the flat stone edge of the outer pool.
"I think it best if I just come right out and ask", Molly said, looking determined, "Is this his doing?"
Narcissa's POV
Narcissa narrowed her eyes, she knew exactly what the Weasley woman was asking but she wasn't it was wise to even discuss such things with someone so close to Dumbledore.
She sighed 'I suppose we're actually more welcome on Dumbledore's side than the dark lord's'.
"No, at least I don't think so, he kicked Lucius out so we're not really in his confidence anymore", She whispered.
Molly initial look of relief turned quickly to surprise, "You mean he's no longer a member? I didn't think he let people just leave?"
Narcissa snorted "I don't think being beaten half to death by your own prison guards and having a tattoo ripped magically from under your skin, is exactly 'just leaving'".
Molly looked horrified and seemed to be on the verge of apologising for asking, however Narcissa cut her off, "You're right though, Lucius is lucky to be alive and hopefully he will learn not to put his family second behind power".
They both dropped into a thoughtful silence. Eventually Mrs Weasley spoke, "Is there anyway to find out if this is his doing?"
"Yes" Narcissa answered, "That's why I asked you for a pen and parchment earlier; I need to contact somebody who will know".
"Oh yes, of course" Molly said, quickly rummaging around in her ridiculous handbag. Eventually she pulled out a small box and magically enlarged it with her wand;
Narcissa recognised it as a writing box; she had once had one just like it. "Where did you get this?" she asked opening it and realising it was identical to hers.
"It was a birthday present from my younger brother Fabien", a sad look passed across Molly's face as she remembered her dead brother.
Narcissa looked down at the box in her lap; it had been so long ago but she had once received an identical present from the same boy. It had been when she turned 16 and her parents began selecting suitable candidates for her to marry; not that anyone would believe it but the Weasley woman's brother Fabien Prewett had been one of the selected.
The Prewett's weren't rich, but they were an old family and Fabien was in her year at Hogwarts. They had only met on a few occasions but she remembered he was quite shy and he had given her the writing box as a Christmas present. He had never really talked much and so she assumed he wasn't interested, however now that she thought about it he may just have been nervous, the writing box wasn't exactly a cheap present.
However he had missed his chance; Lucius had strolled into her life, dazzled her parents with his family's money and within a year they were married. A cut and dry Pureblood arrangement.
She ran her fingers across the intricate patterns embossed on the lid and smiled fondly; it was nice to remember the past once every so often; so much had happened since then.
She realised Molly was staring at her with a curious expression on her face; and quickly adopted the emotionless Malfoy façade.
She opened the box pulled out a self-inking quill and parchment. "Could you give me a minute alone while I write this?" she still didn't trust the Weasley woman's discretion not to go blabbing to Dumbledore who she was writing to.
Molly seemed to understand and reluctantly stood and began slowly walking around the fountain; gazing up at the golden figures.
Narcissa began to write; it had been obvious since she had first received the letter who the correct person to consult was. Bella may have been her elder sister; but she worshiped the dark lord too much and would only see it as an opportunity to please him, even if it meant putting Draco at risk. No, Severus was who she needed; he had always been an excellent god farther to her son and had his best interests at heart.
Of course Narcissa had never really been sure where his allegiances lay, however she supposed the Malfoy family were now in the same situation, standing on the line between two cultures. At any rate he could find out whether this was some plan; and if necessary downplay the Weasley boy's relationship with Potter so it didn't interest the dark lord.
She quickly outlined the events of the morning and her concerns about the dark lord; she then sealed the letter and wrote his home address on the reverse side. She flagged down a passing secretary and asked her if she could take the letter to the mail room. The secretary agreed and walked off into the Ministry just as Molly arrived back having circled the fountain.
Narcissa handed her the writing box, which she shrank and placed back in her handbag. There followed a prone silence, while Narcissa pulled on her gloves and Molly stared at her with a questioning look.
"I will write you when I know" she said, straightening her skirt, "Which I expect will be tomorrow morning".
'Severus always did work fast when it was important' she thought.
"Until then neither of us should tell anyone; I'm supposing you didn't tell your husband as he would have come with you to see Umbridge?"
Molly nodded, "The letter arrived after he left for work".
"If I were you I wouldn't worry him, until we know all the facts". She gave Molly one last appraising look and walked off towards the floo.
Ron's POV
Ron awoke to the sound of people eating breakfast. He slowly opened his eyes and tried to sit up, however a hand rested on his shoulder keeping him flat.
"Careful Ronald, you'll upset the teapot", said Fred, his face appearing above Ron's.
"I suppose we should allow him to join us now he's decided to grace us with his presence" said George, somewhere off to his right.
Ron became aware that there were items resting on his chest and legs; there were some clinking noises as the objects closet to his head were removed; then finally Fred told him he could sit up. Ron lifted himself and looked around; on either side of his bed sat Fred and George and at the foot was Ginny.
"What are you doing here?" he asked rubbing his eyes.
"Well", George began, "Myself and my brilliant other half", he gestured to Fred, who pretended to blush, "Came here for breakfast and discovered a communication from dear mother, detailing her absence. We of course then took it upon ourselves to make our defenceless younger siblings some much needed nutritional items."
"Which", Fred continued, "We decided to serve to you in bed as you were still asleep".
At this point Ron looked down to discover that his duvet had been replaced with a chequered table cloth, and several plates, cups, and saucers were positioned all over his body.
"Breakfast is on you, so to speak", Fred said, smirking.
"You couldn't just wake me, like a normal person would" Ron said exasperated.
"You wound us Ronald, we were just trying to be nice by bringing you breakfast", Fred said, in mock distress.
"We were even thoughtful enough to cover your 'morning excitement' with the bacon platter", George said, gesturing to Ron's crotch, "Well actually that was more to save Ginny from mental scarring".
Ron blanched while Fred, George and Ginny howled with laughter.
Quickly changing the subject he asked, "Where is mum then?"
Ginny wiped her eyes, still grinning, "She said she had to go to Diagon Alley to get some cleaning stuff. She should be back soon, it's almost 11."
"She says she was only going for cleaning supplies, but I see through her ploy. I bet you good money that she's at our flat right now removing anything even remotely fun." said Fred.
"What you call fun, others call highly flammable", Ginny said rolling her eyes.
"Highly flammable?" George said, pretending to be offended, "Still speaking of things getting hotter; When did you fill out so nicely Ronald?" he gestured to Ron's bare chest.
"Of all the rotten luck; we finally move out; and the minute we're gone Ron finally becomes interesting" Fred said, stroking Ron's beet red cheek in a suggestive fashion.
"Bugger off" Ron mumbled, grabbing a slice of toast and stuffing it into his mouth.
"No need to worry Ron; I'm in a long term relationship with the most perfect being known to mankind, truly a work art. With all the grace and natural poise of an airborne swan; and the best part is he look's just like me" George said, wriggling his eyebrows at Fred, who transfigured his fork into a hand fan, and began wafting himself as if overcome with passion at his twin's words.
Ron could never tell whether they were actually joking about this or not; they could be very secretive when they wanted to be.
Before he could ask anything else however, the sound of someone entering the backdoor were heard through his open bedroom door.
"Mother!" the twin's screamed repeatedly in mock excitement, bolting down the stairs. Ginny stood, accioed the breakfast things onto a tray and left, leaving Ron to collapse back onto his pillows, groaning at the effort of entertaining the twin's for even 5 minutes.