Chapter 10: The Big Plan
O-o-o-o-o-o-o
Hermione had spent the week preparing for her interview with Lucius, reading up on his original trial at the Ministry, reading the details in his file that put knots in her stomach. He'd killed four people that he confessed to and tortured five others. The only thing that had saved him had been the fact that he had walked away, shown remorse for his crimes, and spent a year in Azkaban as punishment before being put on house arrest indefinitely. He made her skin crawl. How could this be Draco's father?
Nevertheless, he could be an important pawn in their investigation and she had to have the mindset that the system had done its job and he was not a threat to society anymore. She had to let him put his past behind him. If she could treat someone like him with respect, maybe Draco would see that and believe that he, too, could be forgiven by society.
She apparated to Malfoy Manor that day, appearing outside the gates. She saw Draco walking down the path towards her, as he got closer she noticed a bit of a forced smile on his face.
"Afternoon," she said, looking at him questioningly.
"Afternoon, Granger," he lifted the wards and she walked in.
"Everything okay?" she asked.
"Do we have a minute to talk before the interview?" he asked, glancing over at her.
"Well I am a bit early," Hermione said, "We've got at least 10 minutes."
Before they reached the row of evergreens, he veered them off the main path towards the flower garden, which really was quite a sight in the daytime. He walked over to the fountain and she sat on the edge, waiting for him to speak.
"I wanted to apologize for the other night," he said, looking at her seriously, "I know we're working together on this case and your career is your focus and it wasn't fair of me to take that step. Besides, I'm not someone you should be associating yourself with."
Hermione stared back at him, trying to figure out which statement to tackle first, "There's no need for an apology," she said, "I hope you didn't get the idea that I was opposed in some way."
"I didn't get that impression," he gave her a half smile, "But that doesn't mean it was appropriate for me to make that assumption."
"I also fully disagree that you're not someone I should be associating myself with," she said, ready to take that statement on.
"That's something you and I will be wholeheartedly disagreeing on," he grimaced and she could tell he didn't want to dive into it any more.
"You're too hard on yourself," she said, leaving it at that.
"Maybe you don't realize that you're not hard enough on me," he countered.
"Either way, it happened and I don't regret it," Hermione said, getting back to the matter at hand, "I would even say I may have enjoyed it," she felt a blush creeping up, but she held her head high, "I do agree that professionally it may not be the best idea… but I also am not sure how much it matters if we just… keep it to ourselves and don't let it get in the way of doing our job," she said slowly.
Draco nodded, "We can just keep what happened to ourselves then and keep our relationship professional."
"Well I never said we had to keep it professional all the time," she said without thinking, "I mean when we're working on the case, of course, but I don't know, when we're not working on the case, whatever happens… you know," she drifted off, not even sure herself where she wanted this conversation to go.
"You've worked hard to get where you are Granger. I'm not going to let you lose sight of that because an overly charming, handsome man landed on your desk," he said, trying to lighten the impact.
"Keep that up and I'll be uninterested in no time," she laughed. When had his cockiness become endearing? "Look, Malfoy, we work great together. Let's just do that and whatever ever else happens is going to happen and we can just let it be that for now."
"Whatever happens, happens," he smirked at her attempt to be casual.
"I'm doing my best here," she said warily, "Right now, I see you as my partner. And I happened to enjoy snogging you, too. I'm trying not to overthink it, give me some credit here."
"Alright, alright," he conceded, holding his hand out to help her up, "I'll drop my case for now. We've got work to do today, partner."
She rolled her eyes, "You're a brat. Take me to your father."
O-o-o-o-o-o-o
Hermione and Lucius sat at the end of the dining table, Hermione had her parchment of questions in front of her, a quill to the right and rubber duckie to the left. The air felt tense, but she'd have to push through it.
"May I ask what that thing is?" Lucius asked, eyebrows raised, staring at the rubber duckie.
"It's the Ministry's new recording system," she realized entirely how ridiculous it was, "I'll just squeeze it to begin the recording and place a spell on it to hold the squeeze until we're finished. Once I let it go, the recording will be inside until I play it back in my boss's office tomorrow so we can discuss."
Lucius eyed it distastefully, "It looks like a child's toy."
"It is," she said bluntly, "But it serves its purpose and it's Ministry certified. When you're ready, Mr. Malfoy, we can begin. I'll be referring to you as Lucius for our discussion as to not confuse you with Draco," she picked up the Rubber duckie and squeezed it, waving her wand and setting it down, "Lucius, you and I are here to discuss information you may be able to provide to assist with our round up of new age Death Eaters, is that correct?"
"Yes," Lucius enunciated the word.
"Is there a reason any information given today wouldn't have been given at your trial after the Battle of Hogwarts?" She asked.
"I gave the information asked of me at the trial, but did not provide anything additional for my own safety and the safety of my family. If I had named names and someone had gone free, we'd likely all be dead by now."
"I understand, I just want to give a reason on record for the lapse in information. Are there any exonerated Death Eaters that you believe were wrongfully let go?"
"Yes," Lucius looked uncomfortable, but definitive, "Rowle was fully exonerated in the trials, but I watched him murder three people that he blamed on someone else who took the fall for it in his own trial. There was never any regret when he murdered. I believe he is still a threat to the wizarding world. Yaxley, similarly got off by blaming his murders on someone already in Azkaban. I'd heard of him killing seven, but only witnessed one. And Parkinson was exonerated for being merely associated with the wrong people, but he was as bad as the rest of us. He killed two that I was present for and I watched him torture another Death Eater for an hour when he saw them waiver in their loyalty. He was rewarded generously for that."
Hermione's eyes were wide taking in the new information, "We'll need to know all the names," she said, "Who took the fall for whom in which murders."
Lucius pulled a piece of parchment out of his pocket and slid it across the table to her, "If I'm going to talk to the Ministry, I'm going to let out everything I've been holding in," Lucius said directly.
Hermione nodded, skimming the parchment that had everything they needed before continuing with her questions, "Why did you renounce the Dark Arts? I've read your file. I know your numbers."
Lucius momentarily looked down at the table, collecting himself again, "I did it for my family. I never wanted this life for my son or for my wife. And I never wanted the price that came with it."
"Do you regret the people you killed?"
"Every day," Lucius said, a dark look in his eyes, "I will never pretend that the dark arts doesn't fascinate me. It does. And power does. But not for the price of family. And not for the price of someone's life. There is a stark difference between idealizing power and using that power to rule over others. By the time I realized that difference, it felt far too late for me and I thought my only option to save my family was to be as loyal a servant to the Dark Lord as one could be.
"I did the things he told me to do without question, but also with never ending regret. When Draco became involved in his sixth year I was tormented knowing he'd be joining the life I wished I could escape. When we walked away from the Battle of Hogwarts, I thought we would all be killed, but the light side won, and we were tried and exonerated for the split second decision we made to leave. My wife made it for us when she misidentified Harry Potter as being dead, knowing full well he was alive, but trading his life, for Draco's life that Potter had spared. I am forever grateful to her for that decision."
"And to Harry?" Hermione couldn't help herself but ask.
"As much as it pains me to admit," Lucius looked annoyed, but continued, "I am indebted to Potter for saving my son's life."
"Did you ever tell Draco that you didn't want him to join the Death Eaters?"
"On the contrary, I told him he had to. For us. And he did."
"And he was tasked with killing Dumbledore, which he didn't. Why couldn't you have said no to other things, like Draco did."
"Draco got away with that because he was young and new. They tortured Narcissa for his weakness. They tortured her in front of him for half an hour. He knew at that point he had to do what he was told in the future. Everything that happened in the war felt like there was no other choice for us," Lucius saw a look of confusion on Hermione's face and shook his head, all too aware of the time she had been spending with his son, "If you think Draco is completely innocent in the war, you clearly haven't taken time to read his file. We all walked away from that life, but we all have our scars."
Hermione wanted to press him, but felt in her gut that it wasn't a conversation she'd like to have recorded, so she continued down her questions, "If you had to take a guess as to who the leader is now, who would you point to?" She asked.
He thought for a moment, "I don't think any of them are strong enough to lead a new era of Death Eaters. I think it's someone new."
"Is there anything else you can tell us that you think would be helpful?"
"One more thing," Lucius looked hesitant, but continued, "The Dark Lord had written plans. Once he had defeated Harry Potter, he had steps he planned to take to rule over the Muggles. I don't think those plans were ever recovered by the Ministry, but I don't know who would have had the access to take them."
"Where was the last place you remember them residing?"
"Malfoy Manor," he gave her a grim smile, "Most of the activities during the war happened here because we had the largest space. That's why we have so many charms protecting the house now. I looked high and low for them when we returned so I could hand them over to the Ministry as a peace offering, but they were gone. It didn't look good for us, so I never mentioned them, hoping whoever took them would destroy them."
Hermione looked at him for an extra moment, taking in the impact of what it could mean. On that note, the interview concluded and Hermione removed the charm from the rubber duckie, placing it in a box and back into her briefcase.
"Thank you for your time, Mr. Malfoy. We know this wasn't easy for you, but I think the information you provided gives us a big leg up on the opposition," Hermione said, standing.
"I don't like to say things that may put my family in danger. But it's information you need to keep my son safe and out of Azkaban."
Hermione opened the door back to the entrance way and saw Draco in the sitting room across from them. He met her in the hall and they walked towards Draco's den, Lucius eying them as they went.
Hermione told Draco the highlights, the names he'd given and the plans.
"Mr. Parkinson was as bad as the rest of them?" Draco said, surprised.
"That's what your father said," she nodded.
"Wow, Pansy never gave me the impression that he was in as far as my father and I never saw any of it."
"Maybe she just wanted to think it wasn't true."
They spent the afternoon going through some of their old files with their new information, seeing if any of it fit with some big plan of attack.
Hermione was laying on the couch, Rowle's file in front of her face when she felt Draco standing over her. She lowered the file and smiled at him.
"It's 8pm," Draco said, "I asked Marty to bring up some wine," she sat up and he handed her a glass.
"Alright, we can be off the clock," she sighed, setting the file back with the others and taking a sip, "Maybe next time you could just go grab it, give Marty a break."
He sat down next to her, "That's her job," Draco laughed, but saw her pursed lips looking back at him, "Fine, next time I'll grab the damn wine," he rolled his eyes at her, leaning back in the corner and ushering her over. She looked at him hesitantly.
"Professional time is over and official personal time has begun. I don't bite unless you want me to," he said smoothly as his lip curled up.
"So tactful," she said sarcastically, moving closer to him, still not totally sure how to be… romantic with Draco Malfoy.
When she was close enough, he pulled her to him so they were laying back side by side, stretched out on the couch, "You're going to have to get comfortable being close to me if you were planning on snogging me again."
Hermione gave him a look, "This is all still very new to me," she said.
"Which part," he asked, "Myself? Or the romance?"
She didn't break eye contact, "Both," she said honestly.
He turned her head slightly to the side and whispered huskily in her ear, "I enjoy the prospect of that very much."
She felt chills go up her arms again and she closed her eyes, shaking her head with a small laugh. Why did he always make her feel like that? She turned to face him again, he was grinning, "Tell me something I don't know about you," she said, trying to relax into him.
He leaned his head back, "Most of the things about me that you don't know, you wouldn't' want to," he said evasively.
"Tell me something I would want to know. Tell me your favorite place in the whole world."
"In the whole world?" Draco thought hard, "Alright. There's a lake in Germany. It connects Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It's quiet there in the winter and we have a house on the lake that overlooks the mountains in this small wizarding community. We used to go there when I was young to take a break from the Manor. My mother and I would go on our own a lot, when my father was busy with work. I just remember it feeling so far away from our life and feeling like I could be whoever I wanted there. I didn't have to be Draco Malfoy, King of Slytherin."
"You didn't hate it though, did you? Ruling Slytherin?"
"Of course not," Draco's eyes were light right now, his arm draped over her casually, "I loved it when I was at Hogwarts. But sometimes I needed a break to just go be on my own, away from Crabbe and Goyle, or with my family, away from the darkness of the Manor."
"There are two sides to every stone, aren't there," she commented, looking up at him.
"If you take the time to stop and flip it over, yes, I like to think there are."
They lay there talking for a while that evening, enjoying a few glasses of wine, some light (and not so light) kissing, and a comfortable evening embracing whatever this feeling was and letting themselves be taken down a new path, wherever it may lead.
O-o-o-o-o-o-o
Hermione sat in Alden's office the next day, replaying her conversation with Lucius. As his last statement ended, the rubber duckie gave a dull squeak and Alden clasped his hands on the table, still staring at it.
"We need to bring them all in," he looked up at her, "Everyone Lucius mentioned. It's more than enough."
"What did you think about the last thing he said?" Hermione asked, "About the plans."
"I think it's what we're looking for. And it begs the question of how far they've gotten on taking those steps. It's big. Let's start with the new leads. Rowle first since his name has come up the most. Great work, Granger. To both you and Draco. I'm sure his help solidified Lucius' interview with us."
"Sir…" Hermione paused, thinking back to the recording, "What did he mean when he said I should read Draco's file?"
Alden surveyed her cautiously, as though she'd just asked a question he was really hoping she wouldn't ask, and then looked over at his drawer, "Granger, you've been working well together with Mr. Malfoy, I'm not sure if this is the right time to have you read through it."
"I'd like to see it," she pushed back, "There are clearly things that I don't know."
Alden walked over and grabbed the file out of the drawer, holding it in his hands hesitantly, "There's a reason I've been telling you not to get personally involved with Draco," he said gently, handing the file over, "But every time I doubt you, and doubt him, you show up with more information and names and I haven't had the heart to give this back. There's a part of me that wants to keep telling you not to get involved and a part of me that hopes you continue to fight for him. But I guess you need the whole story to make that call."
Hermione took the file, feeling her stomach clench, and she stood up, "Thank you, Mr. Northcott. I'm going to head home for the evening and take this with me."
He nodded solemnly, "See you tomorrow, Granger. I'll be here if you want to discuss, or we don't have to if you want to digest first."
She left the Ministry, apparating back to her apartment and sitting down on her couch, Draco's file still in her hands. She stared at it for a moment before she finally set it down on the table and flipped it open. Her eyes scanned the summary of charges and her heart felt like it stopped dead in her chest.
O-o-o-o-o-o-o