Warning: There is a little bold language in here, I even censored to stay safe!

-I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my beta MirandNack-

-I'd like to dedicate this chapter to notwolf-

Chapter 10

5th July, 1998

Mr. Floggs,

I am writing to inform you and, in extension, the ministry that my family and I have acquired new wands and are now available to validate and perform our summons of service adequately. I was never properly informed on who I should contact on this subject matter, so I concluded you were the best option among the many Department of Law Enforcement Officials. We await for further instruction on the details to this arrangement from you or a related party.

I also wanted to inform you that my son, Draco, received your letter with your concern regarding his testimony about the girl mentioned during his trial. Despite his better judgment, I am extending his respectful decline of your invitation to meet and provide an alibi on the situation. If you feel that this is something that needs to be strongly addressed or is in light of a potential threat of having the girl's family file charges against him, I will make sure he is aware his presence is insistent upon your request and will have him submit a meeting with you to attain to it immediately.

My regards,

Lucius A. Malfoy

.oOo.

7th July, 1998

Mr. Floggs,

I took the liberty in visiting your Wiltshire office location today. You weren't in – as I expected. Your secretary was not only rude but also unhelpful and very unwilling to answer my questions. She didn't assist me in any way on your behalf. I have already filed a formal complaint against her.

I'd naturally come and meet with you in person to retrieve the information regarding the family's summons of services myself, this cannot be done. With no permitted access to the ministry, it only adds to the difficulty to get in proper contact with you or anyone from the Law Enforcement Department. I can only assume my first letter didn't reach you for some obscure reason.

I await to hear back from you – or someone that is capable enough to handle the matter at hand – on the status update of our required services to the ministry.

My regards,

Lucius A. Malfoy

.oOo.

9th July, 1998

Kingsley Shacklebolt,

I have yet to receive word from my barrister, Mr. Glen Floggs, or any ministry official for that matter, on the status details of my family and my required service that was sentenced by you on the third of July. You stressed the importance to notify the ministry immediately upon our acquiring new wands, we have been in possession of them for a total of five days now. I was rather quick in sending an owl to Mr. Floggs on Sunday the fifth to immediately inform him of such. I assumed a response would've come just as promptly.

Deciding to take matters into my own hands, I am now writing to you directly concerned my letters are not being received. I would come to you in person, however since the ministry still has that No Public Access restriction in place, this makes it impossible.

If I may inquire to you personally: When is my family to report to the ministry to further discuss the details of their required summons of services? And when will you be requiring my presence to discuss and formally establish my temporary contract that was formulated between you, Mr. Floggs, and myself?

My regards,

Lucius A. Malfoy

.oOo.

Mid-morning of July 10th, 1998

A week nearly passed since Lucius had sent the first letter to inform his barrister they were now capable of performing magic. Each day no response came he grew even more anxious, worried that the whole thing was a sham to frame him and his family in some way. Pacing around the study, Lucius contemplated writing a second letter to Kingsley, and perhaps plan another trip to Glen's Wiltshire office and get rather nasty to that secretary until she contacted Glen for him. Sighing under his breath, he went and resumed his seat behind the large ornate desk.

He eyed the vacant frames of his late father and grandfather, briefly wondering why their extensive absence from these particular frames has continued on as long as it had.

"Father? Grand-père?" (Grandfather?) he called, looking between the two portraits in hopes at least one would arrive. Neither of them showed a hint of movement. A hand that rested on the desk curled into a tight fist.

"Grand-père?" (Grandfather?) Lucius attempted again, thinking his grandfather would be more willing to answer. Instead someone else responded, startling the blond a tad from the high-pitched, thick French accent.

"Vouldn't 'oller for zem," a witch's voice commented.

Lucius had to turn completely around in his chair to seek out the source. Grey eyes landed on a portrait identical to the ones he was gazing upon moments before, but a woman stood in its frame beside a muted blue wing-back chair, cloaked in a heavy dark grey fabric. Her blue eyes fixed upon Lucius in an almost glare that picked at the blond's nerves.

"And why is that?" he snapped back, straightening in his seat as he addressed her.

Chantal Malfoi lifted her head upward, giving a sense to Lucius that she was sticking her nose up at him. Light strawberry-blonde hair peeked through the grey hood at the motion. She picked up the glass of wine that rested on the end table and lifted it to her lips, but didn't drink.

"Zey're far from pleased vis you and your… faults," she stated, sipping the wine in boredom before seating herself. "I don't blame zem," – she turned her head away from him, uttering under her breath and into the wine glass – "Traînant notre nom dans la boue. Pathétique. " (Dragging our name through the mud. Pathetic.)

Chantal was the sister of Brutus Malfoi. She was described in the family journals to have the appearance and grace of a cat, but bared a personality that could've rivaled Bellatrix. The sharpness of her jawline, chin, cheekbones, and nose seemed to be chiseled from marble and exaggerated the Malfoy features. This didn't hinder her beauty however; instead it gave her a vicious appearance if angered. Her long, wide eyes and manicured brows only reinforced the scathing glares she was well known for. She was tall for a woman in her era, further nurturing her intimidating appearance and personality.

Unfortunately the witch didn't live long – burned at the stake at only twenty-two after being caught using Stonehenge to draw upon the powers of nature in an attempt to raise the dead against the muggles that threatened to overrun Malfoy land. This insane effort was what made her noteworthy in Malfoy family history, despite her downfall, earning her two portraits, two full journals hand-written by Brutus himself – as well as several mentions of her scattered within his many other journals, being quite fond of his little sister – and one other from a close cousin.

Lucius slammed a fist on the desk, gesturing with his other crudely at his ancestor. "Out with you, wench!" he snarled, not wanting to hear her snide remarks or have her witness how her words actually stung like a slap to the face. She sneered back, rising gracefully in the meantime.

"Salaud," (Bastard.) Chantal hissed, glaring at each other with severe malice.

Lucius was standing now, dripping with anger and was heavily tempted to slash the portrait where she stood. "You have the audacity to…" He let out a harsh breath, cutting himself short in an attempt to rein in his fury. "Take your foulness and leave. Have the courtesy to fetch Horatio upon your departure," he growled through clenched teeth.

The witch let out a bout of mocking laughter as she walked away. "Va te faire enculer." (Go f—k yourself.)

Shaking with barely checked anger, he seated himself in hopes the room would stop spinning. Resting his fingertips over his forehead, he closed his eyes to soothe the ache behind them. 'Are they really that furious with me?'

After brooding over the question for a few minutes, he concluded Chantal wasn't going to relay his message to his grandfather, or he really did not want to be in his presence because of what she mentioned. He was very pleased his witch ancestor decided not to return, going so far as to seriously consider removing that portrait from his study if he could after experiencing her hostility. Why couldn't people treat him like the shopkeeper in Berlin had? It was like a breath of fresh air to Lucius knowing that some things he still did swayed people to his advantage, but lately this tactic was ineffective and was becoming a metaphorical pinched nerve to his ego.

Once he let his anger simmer out – a few swigs of whisky aiding this – he pulled out a fresh sheet of parchment and envelope to write a fourth letter when one of the new house elves made itself known with a fairly loud crack nearby. He barely managed to refrain from wincing at how loud the noise seemed.

The dark grey elf gave a low bow as soon as Lucius looked his way.

"Many apologies for disturbing Master Lucius, sir. Binx has visitor for yous in parlor. Spinx present with her now offering drink. Guest says it's of most urgent matters and requires yous immediately." Binx looked from the floor to his master with his pale orange eyes, awaiting a new command.

"It's about time," Lucius muttered under his breath as he rose from his seat, leaving the unused materials scattered across his desk. "Go find the others and have them meet me in the parlor immediately," he ordered Binx coldly.

Wincing slightly at the elf's departing crack, he finished off his second glass of a new brand of whisky that was given to him from a friend some time ago: Fireball Cinnamon Spice. It was a French-Canadian brew, and he quite liked the delayed yet unique aftertaste of cinnamon it left behind. Having sobered up a bit during the past week, his headaches were becoming quite the nuisance and making him easily irritated. Oddly enough, the strong liquor soothed it away more effectively then the headache remedy potions by a landslide.

"They better learn to do that quieter soon or so help me..." Lucius growled.

He never liked having to break in new house elves. In fact, he never liked house elves period. They were clumsy, loud, grossly dirty despite their master's demands to stay cleaned up, and always needed a firm hand and discipline laid upon them to obey and cooperate to satisfactory levels. Unfortunately, they had their usefulness, doing things he would never dream of lifting a finger for to do himself. These two elflings fortunately had great manners and were very efficient with their duties so far, now if they could only be quieter.

Arriving a minute or so after Binx announced the visitor in the parlor; he noticed no one else had arrived yet. Instead, he found himself looking right at the back of a ginger-haired girl he unfortunately grew to recognize during the past month: Steele, was it? He never could remember her name – she was never important enough for him to recall something as personal as that. And the fact that she was a mudblood didn't help matters.

The room was quiet aside from the thrumming of fingers against a rather thick file held in the auror's hands, a small valise resting on the floor beside her. He cleared his throat to get her attention, and the girl turned around suddenly. Green eyes cut into him, quickly examining his person before she appeared to let out a breath. Lucius could already determine she was very tense by her rigid posture alone; she did not want to be there. He shared a similar thought.

"Why, Miss...?"

"Skyler."

"Miss Skyler, that's right. This is certainly... unexpected. I suppose your presence is related to my letter to the ministry?"

Cindy inclined her head as if to nod, but didn't. "It is. All three of them in fact. I am here to represent the ministry as your parole auror, again."

Lucius clenched his teeth behind closed lips, gripping tightly on the snake head of his cane. He did not like that it was her of all people overlooking their obligatory duties. "Good, I was beginning to worry they've been lost. A letter would've been appropriate rather than this unplanned meeting, however. It violates proper procedure on the ministry's part."

Cindy's eyes seemed to flash with anger at his statement. Her free hand was in a tight fist as well while she attempted to contain herself. "Well, if you haven't noticed Mr. Malfoy, the ministry has been working night and day restoring both muggle and wizard society after a recent and disastrous war, as well as re-establish and rebuild the government simultaneously. I highly doubt sending a response letter with a date and time request to meet with you in regards to your summons of service ranks high on their list of priorities."

Her haughty attitude caught Lucius slightly off guard, forgetting this particular auror felt very self-entitled to purposely behave rudely to those she personally deemed an Undesirable. It took all the willpower he could muster to not get sharp tongued himself. The headache he had rid of earlier quickly rushed back in his efforts of restraint.

He gave a quick snap of his fingers; Spinx appeared instantly at the gesture of command. "Fetch me a drink," he snarled to the creature, whom had no time to go through her proper bow.

The little pink elf gazed at her master in confusion, somewhat startled from his tone. She gave a frantic nod and squeaked. "Yes, of course Master Lucius. Anything particular for yous, yes?"

"Something strong," he muttered quietly enough for the ginger witch to not hear – who he just now noticed kept a fair distance from him as the small room allowed. Spinx nodded and vanished.

Cindy looked away from him and to the fat yellow file tucked under her arm, giving it a tap against her side to further indicate its presence. "Now, I have details on your summons of services as well as a list of possible obligations the ministry may request of your contract as agreed between you, your barrister, and the Minister of Magic."

Lucius watched her, expecting her to continue going over whatever contents she possessed. When the silence grew longer than his patience, he waved a hand in front of him. "Go on."

She shook her head quickly, gripping the file tighter between her arm and side. "I will not disclose any details until the rest of your party is present."

He put a hand to his forehead, pondering if he heard her right. 'Did she just address my family in such a demeaning manner?'

This thought agitated him, though it could just be he was simply over thinking such a petty use of words. The haze from his earlier drinks was already affecting his state of mind and contributing to his lack of comprehending a scripted sentence after all. "You mean my family?"

"Of course. Are they on their way?"

Lucius was starting to wonder what was keeping Narcissa and Draco, or if the blasted elf had even found them yet. He decided to deflect her question, not finding a justified answer to provide her in their defense other than they were unprepared for company. This would simply not do.

"Why not start with me and brief them once they arrive?" He gestured to one of the few chairs and sofa in the room, silently inviting her to sit. Hoping she would start with his more private and sensitive information regarding his contract while they were alone.

"No offense, Mr. Malfoy, but time is of the essence. I do not wish to waste it briefing others on something I can go over with an entire party present once and have any of your questions addressed at the end. Now, please summon the rest of your family. There is a lot to go over and very little time to do it in," Cindy remarked firmly, raising a wrist to examine her small wrist watch resting there to reinforce her statement.

Lucius stared at the ginger, astonished by the woman's blatant rudeness to dismiss him in his own home. 'And this is the uncultured filth that so many defend. Sickening.'

Spinx arrived halfway through the ginger's rant and handed off the tumbler filled with a reddish-brown liquid to her master.

"Does Master Malfoy wish Spinx to fetch Young Master and the Mistress?" Spinx glanced at Cindy warily before turning her attention back to Lucius, hoping her unavoidable eavesdropping would be useful to help her master. Smoothing out the clean yellow tea cloth she wore toga-style, she waited for instruction.

Lucius looked to the elf, scandalized by her request. Did everyone think he was so daft that he forgot how to handle proper custom to everyday matters?

"No," he snapped, raising his cane at the elf before registering he'd done so. The elf flinched, shrinking back at the gesture. Cindy raised a brow at the scene unfolding before her, but said nothing as Lucius recovered his composure in time before she could draw any conclusions.

"Binx is. Go prepare some tea, appetizers, and," He looked to Cindy, "Anything for you, Miss Skyler?"

She shook her head stiffly before nodding toward the untouched glass beside her resting on an end table. "The water your elf already provided me is fine."

Spinx gave a shaky bow and removed herself without hesitation. Binx scampered in seconds later with Narcissa and Draco in tow before hastily exiting after receiving a harsh glare from Lucius, a sign he was displeased with how long the elf took to get them. Draco brushed past Lucius's gaze without even acknowledging his presence and froze once noticing who their guest was. He reanimated himself after a moment to take a seat – in an inappropriate plopping fashion – on a chair closest to the entryway yet the farthest from Cindy. He folded his hands in his lap and started tapping a thumb against the back of his hand while leaning – or rather hunched – over them, not bothering to extend a greeting to the witch.

Lucius looked to the floor to substitute shaking his head in disapproval, slightly appalled by his son's inappropriate actions. He could at least pretend to be courteous to the auror as he had been doing for the past five minutes. The ginger was in control of their last obligation to the ministry, much to his chagrin, before being completely released of their daunting hold over them after all. She had sway over them, they couldn't risk upsetting her. Biting his tongue on the matter, he decided to give his attention to his wife who stood beside him.

"Narcissa, Draco, thank you for joining me and our guest," Lucius announced, discretely placing his barely sipped whisky on a table beside the sofa.

Despite his efforts of concealing the liquor, Narcissa leaned into him and uttered in his ear, "Isn't it a little early to be drinking already, Lucius?"

He responded just as quietly. "This woman is intolerable to handle otherwise. It will be my only one, I promise."

Narcissa let out a rather loaded sigh. "From the way your breath smells it seems you have had quite a few already." On that note she forced a kind fake smile and took a few steps forward to greet Cindy. "Hello, Miss Skyler. I apologize for the extensive wait. Your presence is quite unexpected."

Lucius gave a quick roll of his eyes, once again finding Narcissa's off putting attitude about his intake of liquor a bit dramatic. He was in control of himself, being careful with his consumption, and he was most certainly not an alcoholic – he knew she thought this. He had to force back a scoff at how angry this made him feel.

'Has everyone lost basic common sense today?' Perhaps this day was simply a very morbid, yet very realistic, nightmare.

Watching his wife place herself in front of the sofa, she didn't yet seat herself. Instead, she exchanged a brief shake of hands with the auror who appeared to physically relax at the presence of Narcissa. He was quite surprised she recalled such a forgettable name, though she had always been good with names.

Cindy gave a faint smile in return. "Yes, as I was telling Mr. Malfoy, the ministry has been very busy and unable to send out proper letters to those who need to have their summons of services assigned and gone over."

Spinx returned with the tea, appropriate condiments, correct number of crockery, and suitable appetizers for the time of day, placing the tray on the coffee table before miraculously disapparating quietly.

Narcissa motioned for Cindy to the seat beside the fireplace. "Would you like to sit down?"

"I'd prefer to stand, thank you." Cindy responded, positioning herself at the head of the large coffee table.

She placed the large file upon it before looking to Lucius expectantly who still stood by the parlor's entryway. Begrudgingly, he went to place himself behind the sofa and near his wife, not wishing to seat himself when the auror didn't want to be respectful enough to do so herself. In his mind, it gave the illusion she wanted to feel superior to remain standing while those she addressed comfortably sat – a very rude and demeaning gesture. He did not like it. She could at least act like a civil equal to them like his family is doing, albeit reluctantly. He was not going to give her that satisfaction, ignoring Narcissa's curious glance at him.

Cindy cleared her throat and started removing a bunch of parchment from the file, speaking as she did this. "If there are no further delays, I will go over the details of what service the ministry has assigned you and when you'll start, their rules and guidelines, and other information. First off, I need to validate you've all obtained wands."

The grueling task in listening to the witch seemed to go on for ages. Despite his best efforts, Lucius found it difficult to pay attention finding his mind wandering over mundane details. He noticed that Narcissa had polish on her nails – a soft pink color that sparkled when the light caught it.

'When did she start doing that again?' he wondered, trying to think if she had them done while they were in Berlin, or during the trials.

It had been some time he was certain, knowing she had lost a few of her usual habitual luxuries after several months of Voldemort returning, the growing strain of stress during Lucius' constant absence slowly taking its toll. A repetitive motion in the corner of his eye pulled him away from examining his wife. Draco continued to sit in a hunched-over manner, yet was quietly tapping his fingers on the arm of the chair while absentmindedly nibbling on a thumbnail. He knew he broke that disgusting habit of Draco's when he was nine, why was he doing it now?

Lucius' thoughts lingered on his son for a while, dreadfully mulling over the situation from over a week ago and how Draco had handled himself during it. He tried to figure out why he'd challenge authority instead of taking on the responsible obligation to further secure his freedom by heeding the details in that letter. This was what ultimately caused the scene between them, he knew. Everything that happened after that was a blur, only remembering growing very still and silent from something Draco said that caught him facing an internal battle. He shuddered internally recalling the icy feeling of his insides colliding with a slow but agonizing rage that formed in the silence. He would have to speak to his son soon in regards to this.

After about twenty minutes of Cindy explaining even the miniscule details of the guidelines while Lucius wondered when and why his family started picking up old habits, she finally closed the file in front of her.

"I will be the one you will report to every day until you log the required hours appointed to you. Your hours are only valid if I sign off on them. If I do not find your efforts in contributing satisfactory, you will not receive any hours for that day. If you are late, I get to determine your punishment which includes, but is not limited to additional hours added, alternative services requested of you that will be completed on your personal time and not contribute to your assigned hours, or simply be sent home and be marked as 'no shows' on your respective attendances, which you already know can be unfavorable on your behalf."

The ginger took the smallest sip of her water Lucius had ever seen, he was pretty sure she didn't even drink but simply wet her lips. She then grabbed her valise and placed it on top of the coffee table, shoving the file out of the way in the meantime. Lucius slightly leaned over the sofa in an attempt to peer inside, but was unable to get a proper view without moving. She pulled out an awful looking purple tea cozy and two much smaller files along with it. The silence became awkward as she chose not to explain what she was doing. She closed the valise with a slight slam and pulled out the parchment from one of the files, reading from it in a monotonous voice.

"You will be repairing Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with other volunteers and... war fugitives," the auror stated, seeming to hiss the last part at them, "You are expected to report to me at seven am sharp at the school grounds tomorrow morning." She held up the tea cozy in her opposite hand.

"This is your portkey. It only has a five minute window so it will be active at six fifty-five am and will reset daily. Again, do not be late," she added coldly before dropping the portkey on top of the large file.

Draco let out a loud groan. Lucius shot a glare at Cindy. Narcissa and Cindy looked Draco's way but his face was obscured with his hands. Fingers entwined in the light blond hair, elbows dug into his knees; clearly he was upset about what Cindy had just said. Narcissa half-rose in her seat to go to him but decided against it for now. Instead she subtly fiddled with her ring while her hands lay in her lap, watching her son intently.

"Tomorrow?" Lucius jeered, not taking his eyes off the auror.

Cindy raised a brow, he was unsure if it was out of curiosity or amusement. "Yes."

"That is preposterous!" Lucius snapped, "The ministry is required to provide at least a seventy-two hour notice in advance for summons of service, you are giving us barely twenty. Not only is that highly illegal but not even remotely considered a proper length of time to be called anything, much less a professional notification."

Lucius was seething, not even trying to hide his scathing glare from the auror, who glowered in return. Narcissa pursed her lips, not liking where the conversation was going.

"We will make do with the limited time, Lucius." She uttered just loud enough for him to hear. He stifled a sigh.

"I am impressed you are aware with ministry rules, Mr. Malfoy," Cindy stated, though Lucius could hear the sarcasm edging her tone of voice, "But as I have stated twice before the ministry has been very overwhelmed with post-war affairs. Reconstructing and modifying rules in order to get several summonses of services off the ground quickly took a lot of tiresome effort. Certain measures had to be taken, and considering many of those who were given such a… privilege in exchange for amnesty, they still wished to take precautions to ensure the proper needs were met while eliminating potential threats to grant everyone's… safety during the assignments in their respective stations of service."

She was good at saying a lot but providing little to no information along with it, a trait Lucius was very familiar with. She looked away as soon as she finished speaking, leaving him to continue glaring at her with disdain. His grip on his cane was firm, ready to unsheathe his wand if need be. Cindy laid the thin file on top of the tea cozy and kept the last one tucked under an arm.

She scanned the room while crisply asking. "Any other questions or concerns?"

Draco dropped his hands and met the gingers dark green eyes as they passed over him, returning her gaze with a steely look of his own. "Yeah, is it possible to change the location of the summons?"

Lucius gave the faintest of smiles at his son's question, not thinking of asking it himself. He would much rather be in Diagon Alley or a small wizard residence than the school. Well aware the structure was heavily damaged and that the rebuilding process was in motion as soon as the war ended, it was still going to take them the entire summer to restore it to its original and immaculate condition, or at least enough to safely open it to students in the fall. Nonetheless, he would rather not be in the one place where most of the wizarding world was going to be located, eager to rebuild the precious castle. The less congested the better, at least for now.

He was eager to see what Cindy had to say, knowing that the person receiving the summons did have a choice on where they wished to fulfill their duty. The auror was finally backed into a corner.

Cindy gave a smug smirk at the question, Lucius did not expect that. "Under normal circumstances a request could be placed on where you would like to be stationed, unfortunately the amount of willing volunteers has taken a lot of the rebuilding locations into their own hands and have given the ministry few options left to assign for summons. So, unfortunately no."

Draco leaned back in his chair, letting out a disappointing sigh. Lucius was beyond irate at this point, this woman was severely asking for it. He was almost certain she was making up these "rules" as she would happily exercise her power over them – he seriously wouldn't put it past her to do so. He had his wand unsheathed and gripped tightly in his hand, cane held in his other, both hidden behind the sofa.

He didn't even hear what Cindy said next as he pondered how he was going to expel his wrath. 'A quick and discreet confundus charm would set things right.'

Narciss a was standing before he realized what was going on, shaking Cindy's hand before collecting the two files and tea cozy from the table. Draco was nowhere to be seen.

"... We will see you tomorrow. Have a pleasant afternoon, Miss Skyler," his wife said, taking the files, giving him a inquisitive glance as she passed him. Lucius came to his senses and re-sheathed his wand, readying to leave as well.

"It was a relief finally having this all sorted out. You may use the fireplace behind you. The floo powder is on the mantle in the silver cup." Lucius gave a curt nod, turning to leave before Cindy spoke up.

"Mr. Malfoy, you and I aren't finished just yet. This is a request the ministry wanted to discuss with you in person. The details are enclosed." Cindy dropped the remaining file on the table before rummaging in her valise once more.

Lucius rolled his eyes and turned to approach the ginger, swiping up the file. 'At least she was considerate enough to mention this in private…'

His worst concern having this witch involved with the contract was he did not trust her – not that his trust was much better with the others involved. Knowing her type, she would use it as a form of blackmail against him at any given time. For all he knew, she would happily divulge the information with a drop of the hat if he breathed funny in her presence. He did not like how much power she had over him, all because of this contract he wished to not have it made known to his family. Skimming its contents quickly, feeling his anger rekindle at the large numbers he spotted among the writing.

"This is outrageous! Rob a man blind and happily walk away don't you?" Lucius snapped, shooting daggers at Cindy, having no more self-control to hold his tongue any longer even with the influence she had over him.

Cindy seemed to find his statement threatening as he soon found her wand pointing in his direction. His eyes narrowed at the drastic measure she took. "I was not the one who wrote the letter, Malfoy," she stated firmly. Eyes glinting, "Now, if you will hand me your wand."

Lucius put a hand up to show he meant no ill harm, or at least convince her he didn't. "Why do you need it?"

"If you properly read the letter, it states that the ministry has decided that possession of your wand is now considered a privilege and that monitoring its usage is a necessity in order to ensure maximum safety during your binding contract to them. Now, your wand."

He now understood her wand being pointed at him; it was her way of being cautious. He let out a disagreeing huff, giving the snake head a slight twist before removing the precious wand from it. He held it for a moment, contemplating the Confundus Charm once more, but decided he shouldn't – once again – put his family in jeopardy. He handed her the elm wand handle first and she took it quickly, putting her wand back in her coat before pulling out a small red band from the valise. Lucius, unfortunately, knew what it was. The ministry was developing them before it was infiltrated by Voldemort, he was not aware they were nearly ready to be distributed.

Cindy proceeded to slide the red band over the wand up to the base of the handle, where he watched it flatten itself to become flush with the wood. Before handing his wand back, she retrieved her own. "This is a restriction band. It will not only record the spells used by you, but it will also restrict the strength of certain spells that would be considered harmful.

"And, if an unforgivable curse is attempted, it will immediately apply enough force to effectively snap the wand while simultaneously sending a signal to the auror office with your location for immediate arrest. I wouldn't tamper with it either; it has been known to be quite unpredictable."

She raised her wand steadily back at him, offering his wand handle first to him. Lucius took it and eyed the hideous red band that now wrapped around the dark, polished wood.

Grumbling to himself, he was quickly tired of her wand pointing at him, sheathing the wand with no further delay. Not wanting to give her any excuse to have it linger on him. At least the band didn't affect the smooth motion of it clicking back into place; this brought little relief to the blond. She lowered her wand as soon as he did this, closing her valise and taking it by the handle.

"Why only my wand and not my family's?" he couldn't help but ask.

"The ministry did not request to have theirs monitored." Cindy moved the few paces it took to the large fireplace, locating the floo powder and taking a small handful. "If you have any additional questions or concerns about your service please contact me regarding your summons, or your barrister regarding your contract. Otherwise, I will see you tomorrow. Good day."

She said all this while stepping into the fireplace, not giving Lucius time to further question her before she announced her destination and was consumed by green flame. He let out a snarl, slamming a hand hard against the back of the sofa, swearing so loud it would've made his mother turn in her grave. How dare they assign that wretched scum to them? How dare she be so inconsiderate, rude, and dismissive of their needs? He paced the parlor for several minutes, deciding to take it to his office to avoid is family witnessing his unchecked rage and receive an unintentional verbal lashing for asking questions.

Remembering he had to deal with a certain elf's lack of swiftness to call upon the rest of his family, Lucius gave a snap of his fingers, yelling. "Binx!"