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Standing outside the door of the Malfoy Manor along with Scrimgeour, Percy had managed to compose himself long before he arrived and pushed away his thoughts of Penelope and his father. He was here with the Minister, here to do a job and he wasn't going to let them distract him from his work.

The door finally opened and one of Lucius Malfoy's many servants answered the door.

"Come in, gentleman. You are expected."

"Thank you." Scrimgeour responded before motioning for Percy to follow him in.

The inside of the Malfoy Manor was gigantic. The floor was made of marble and looked like a large chessboard, black squares here and there. There were many portraits and paintings on the walls, and vases sitting on the floor which he assumed were very expensive. Percy looked up to see a beautiful chandelier atop his head. The ceiling looked miles away from the floor and the staircase was long. It looked like it was never-ending.

The guests were standing around, talking amongst themselves while drinking what he guessed was wine. Percy recognized some of them from the Ministry, others he didn't know but were around his age.

He then took a second glance and realized that they were his old Slytherin classmates. None he remembered by name, nor did he care to remember. After all, all the ever did was torment him about his poor family…his house, his robes…

Percy quickly shook his head as he commanded himself to stop thinking about it.

"Percy." Scrimgeour spoke. "I'll be right over there with those gentleman."

He pointed to a small group and Percy nodded.

"Yes sir."

When the Minister walked away Percy stood around awkwardly, feeling out of place. He finally just let his feet move him forward until he down the hall until he was in another part of the Manor, were the other guests weren't.

A light in one of the rooms caught his attention as he made his way towards the half open door. Pushing it open, Percy looked around and saw that it was most likely an office. A large, probably expensive desk was in the middle, and pictures were all over the walls.

Percy took a curious step forward as something on the desk caught his eye.

When he got closer he saw that it was a dagger, a long silver dagger with a dragon's head on the end of it, a small red diamond on the handle.

He cocked his head as he lightly touched it and wondered just how much this must have cost.

Lucius Malfoy was a wizard who had always intrigued Percy long before he began working in the Ministry. Growing up, his father had never said anything good about Malfoy, but yet not even a month had passed working for Barty Crouch did he realized that Lucius was greatly respected by his mentor. Both rumor and success never seemed to be too far away from Malfoy.

"Ambitious."

Percy looked up and stepped away from the desk in horror once he heard a voice. Standing by the entrance of the office was none other than Lucius Malfoy.

"Sorry sir," he apologized while nervously smoothing out his jacket. "A light was on and just…wandered in, sorry."

"Did you just apologize for being ambitious?" Lucius smiled. "Mr. Weasley, you don't have to do that."

Lucius then walked into the room to see what Percy had been looking at.

"Ah, that dagger once belonged to my grandfather. He then gave it to my father who gave it to me. Perhaps one day I shall give it to my son. If he shapes up, that is."

"It's a very nice dagger, sir."

"Thank you."

Quickly remembering why he was here, Percy blurted out;

"Mr. Scrimgeour is talking with the other guests. I know he thanks you for the invitation."

"Yes, Rufus Scrimgeour." Lucius nodded. "I look forward to meeting him, but to be honest Mr. Weasley, it was you I was hoping to see here tonight."

Percy had to keep in jaw from dropping after hearing that.

"Me…why me?" He stammered.

"I have many contacts, Mr. Weasley. I've had my eye on you for a while now. I made a note to watch your career after Crouch spoke so highly of you once."

Percy couldn't hold back the small smile that came to his face when Lucius mentioned praise from Barty Crouch. Fudge might pretend to have been a friend of Mr. Crouch's, but Lucius Malfoy, from what Percy had seen, really had been.

"So tell me, Mr. Weasley. What does an up and coming wizard like yourself plan on doing in the next few years?"

Percy cleared his throat.

"Well…I was hoping to make a run at becoming the Minister of Magic someday. It's becoming clear to me that the government is not going where I would like it to be."

Lucius chuckled lightly.

"I understand completely Percy-may I call you Percy?" Percy nodded and he continued. "I can see why Crouch appreciated you so much. You obviously have a good eye for what's going on in the world of politics. So would you agree that what is needed right now is a new government?"

"Absolutely. I think that Scrimgeour is only going to continue Fudge's bad policies."

Wait...what was he saying? He hadn't been around Scrimgeour long enough to make that observation but Lucius was nodding in agreement and that was fueling his ego.

"Yes, now before we continue I think I should give you an explanation."

"An explanation, sir?"

"Yes. I'm sure you've read in the papers all about the incident in the Department of Mysteries a few weeks back."

Percy looked down at the floor. He had read that Lucius had been arrested, but he never went further than an outer holding cell in Azkaban before being cleared of all charges.

"Well, sir. I wasn't going to bring it up."

"I know. That's why I am."

Lucius then walked to the other side of the desk as Percy watched him carefully.

"Did you know that there were hints of The Dark Lord's return before that night?"

"No. Certainly Fudge wasn't aware of it."

"Well, he'd been told, but he brushed it off. Fudge had a fine case of denial, and it just about cost the wizarding world everything. Luckily, there was a small group of us who were following the rumors closely. We went to the Department that night on the word of a source who told us that Harry Potter was going to be meeting with an associate of the Dark Lord's.

Percy gapped at the older man after hearing that. He knew that Potter boy was nothing but trouble.

"Sure enough, Harry Potter and a few of his friends, including two of your younger siblings, I believe, arrived at the Department of Mysteries, although how they got there from Hogwarts I can't imagine. The situation was under control until they showed up. In all the confusion, I'm afraid the disguises I and my friends had taken caused us to be mistaken for followers of The Dark Lord."

Percy shook his head. Just one more example of the current incompetence in the Department of Law Enforcement. When they finally do arrest someone, it's the wrong person.

Lucius then looked over at the grandfather clock in the corner and saw just how long they had been talking.

"I almost forgot about my other guests." Lucius laughed. "Come now, let me introduce you to everyone."