Granger's parents looked exactly as he remembered them but as to their character Lucius was quite surprised. They had set up shop in one of the empty rooms, caring to people's teeth all through the morning and late into the afternoon. Granger herself was there to help, Potter and the Weasley boy at her side. Both kids decided who would be seen and when.

Apparently, the Grangers had been offering their Muggle expertise for a few years and were quite popular among those who had no other option for help. They didn't charge any money and Papa Odie supplied Magical remedies to those who preferred it. He was set up at a table to the side, labeling Potions bottles as quickly as Severus filled them. Someone's child was in Odie's lap, drawing little pictures on the labels as they came within her reach. Thus, there were Potions floating around with flowers, smiley faces, and horses that didn't look anything like a real horse.

Arthur Weasley was thoroughly engrossed in the goings on of the two Muggles. He was plainly in the way but the Grangers simply bore him with a kind smile and set him to stapling papers. He took to the task with glee and ended up playing with the stapler for half an hour even after everything had stapled.

Fenrir wasn't able to see Mr. Granger until just before dinner. His wife had already packed up her stuff and left with the two Gryffindors for the dining room. Lucius had decided to accompany him. He was curious as to what Granger was about to do to Fenrir's teeth and he was also curious as to what kind of Muggle Granger was.

Marty had told them that the Granger parents were proud to have a witch for a daughter and supported her Magical education wholeheartedly. Apparently, there hadn't been any reservations at all about sending her to Hogwarts, something that he was told was unusual. Furthermore, Granger himself seemed to be completely at ease with the odd happenings of the Magical community around him. Lucius mentioned that to him as he used a nasty looking metal pick to poke at Fenrir's gums.

The werewolf was gripping the handles of the modified reclining chair he was using so hard that Lucius was certain the chair would be ruined by the end of Granger's work.

"You get used to it after a while," Granger said in response to Lucius's off hand comment. "Hermione was doing wierd stuff for years before she got her letter. When it showed up it was like everything made sense again. And she was so excited, too."

"You didn't question it at all?" he asked. Granger shook his head.

"There was nothing to question," he said, and narrowed his eyes in concentration as he prodded around Fenrir's back molars. "She's a witch. That's all there is to that. She's talented at that too. It would have been wrong to keep her from Hogwarts." On that Lucius agreed.

It was plain to everyone who knew her that Granger would have been wasted in the Muggle world. She was too good at what she did. She had already managed to fix the bag Severus had handed to her and he had seen her go through at least four large of tomes in the short amount of time they'd been there.

"Is there a particular reason you're in here?" Granger asked, trying not to be rude but ending up rude nonetheless.

"Fenrir bites," Lucius replied not wanting to admit that he had been curious. Fenrir gave him an annoyed look but didn't seem fit to comment. "Don't want you to lose a finger. Your daughter would do something horrible to me." Granger snorted.

"I've been bitten before," he said, choosing another tool from his tray. Lucius tried not to look at it. He was almost completely sure that he had seen Travers use similar tools to torture people. "It's part of the job."

"You've never been bitten by an Alpha werewolf," Lucius said and Granger actually froze. It wasn't because he didn't want to work on a werewolf; he had been doing that all day. It was because Fenrir was eyeing him with a look that even Lucius couldn't identify. It was almost an assessing look.

"True," Granger finally said, pulling himself together. Then he changed the subject. "Hermione told me how you four came to be here. Did you really fall for Harry's Benadryl trick?" Lucius rolled his shoulders uncomfortably. He didn't really want to answer that question. It was still deeply embarrassing.

But Granger already knew. There was really nothing left to hide.

"Yes," he finally said. And then the Muggle's words caught up to him. "Wait, has he done things like that before?"

"Sure," Granger shrugged. "Once or twice at Hogwarts I think. Comes in handy, the Benadryl trick." Lucius and Fenrir exchanged a gaping look. Was Potter really running around dosing people into a medicated sleep? And for what purpose? Lucius found himself wanting to know the answer to that question.

"Anyway," Granger went on without preamble. "I've been hearing about this whole Dark Lord problem." At this he gave Lucius a very intense look and had Lucius not still had a shred of his pride he would have looked away. "Hermione says he's bad news."

He snorted at the understatement.

"The Dark Lord is unlike anything you'll ever see."

"Oh I doubt that," Granger said and Lucius was quite certain that the man didn't understand due to his being a Muggle and therefore ultimately ignorant of the threat to their world. "People like him are all the same in the end. Nothing's ever really new."

"It will be difficult to fight him," Lucius said, not wishing to delve into a debate with a Muggle. "The Muggle world will find itself in great danger soon." Fenrir growled a little in warning, apparently thinking that Lucius was telling too much to a Muggle he had no business telling anything to. If Hermione Granger wanted her parents to know what was happening in the Wizarding World she would tell them. And that was that.

"My people will be alright," Granger said and Lucius was vividly reminded of the conversation he'd had with Potter and the other little boy at Willow Point. About the weapons Muggles had at their disposal. "I think we can manage a devil with a stick. We'll stumble and fall a bit but there are plenty of wizards and witches we can rely on to keep everyone safe."

Lucius nodded. Granger was not wrong on that point.

He was not wrong at all.

Thankfully, the sudden awkward silence was broken by Potter, who walked noisily into the room.

"How're things out there Harry?" Granger asked, smiling at the boy pleasantly.

"Alright," Potter said. "I thought I would check to make sure you weren't being eaten or tortured or something, being in here alone with a Malfoy and Greyback."

"Where are Ron and Hermione?" Granger asked, ignoring most of that insult.

"I don't think you want to know," Potter said with a look on his face that said quite plainly that he didn't want to know.

"What do you mean?" Lucius asked.

"Well, Ron wanted Hermione to help him with his essay," Potter began and Granger nodded. "But she wouldn't do it unless he painted her toes. So now he's painting her toes pink and she's naming every goblin rebellion that's ever happened."

Granger laughed so hard that he to stop working for a moment in case he accidently cut Fenrir's gums. The werewolf gave a muted laugh finding some amusement in the two teenagers. Potter had an odd look on his face.

"I love it," Granger said. "She's good isn't she?"

"I guess," Potter replied. He spotted the confused look on Lucius's face and elaborated even though Lucius didn't care enough to want him to elaborate. "Hermione and Ron are going to get married one day. But they don't know it yet so don't say anything."

Granger had a soft smile on his face as if the entire situation was adorable to him. And perhaps it was. Lucius just shook his head.

"What are you planning to do about my trial?" Potter asked suddenly. Lucius felt the good mood disappear in a flash.

"Talking to the Minister directly would be fruitless," Lucius told him honestly. "He's set against you and Dumbledore. Has been ever since Sirius Black disappeared under his nose."

"So what's the best thing to do?" Potter asked.

"The jury," Granger mumbled and Lucius looked around at him in surprise.

"More or less," he agreed. "This trial won't have a jury, just the Wizengamot-all of whom can be swayed with one price or another."

"Is it really that easy to bribe people in the Ministry?" Potter asked looking mildly surprised at the thought that his government could be so flawed. Lucius had known and used this to his advantage for a while now.

"It isn't bribing," he said. "It's something much more subtle. I'll be there, the day of your trial. It shouldn't take more than few to convince and you'll have a majority in your favor. A lot of the Wizengamot are still leaning towards Dumbledore and almost all of them will take your history into account. It's rather difficult to be the one who threw the Boy-Who-Lived out of Hogwarts. That can work in your favor."

Potter looked him up and down, searching for something to poke a hole in but the Gryffindor wasn't experienced enough to find a flaw.

"But what about Fudge?" he persisted. "How do I get him to leave me alone?"

"You won't," Lucius replied. "The Dark Lord won't hide in the shadows forever. In fact, I think it should only be another few months before he moves into the open. Just give that part a little time." Fudge would undoubtedly go down in history for being the most idiotic Minister of Magic that they had ever had. Lucius thought it was a fair representation considering how easily swayed he was by shiny gifts and silky words.

"I see the problem," Granger suddenly said and for a moment Lucius thought he was talking about the Ministry of Magic, a subject he had no business discussing no matter how talented his Muggleborn was. Granger was, however, talking about something in Fenrir's mouth.

"Nasty cavity you've got there," he said and reached into his portable set of drawers to pull out a bottle of liquid and a syringe. Fenrir's eyes went comically wide.

"What are you doing?" he asked, and Lucius was amused to note that he sounded frightened.

"Oh don't worry," Granger replied happily as if nothing was odd about the situation. Lucius found it laughable, watching a Muggle make a powerful werewolf cower with nothing but a needle. "Just something to numb your gums. Makes everything more bearable is all." And he plunged the needle into Fenrir's gum before the wolf could react.

There was a horrible tearing sound as Fenrir's nails dug so far down into the arms of the chair that it shredded. His hands clenched and he jerked which effectively tore the arms from the body of the chair. Granger raised his eyebrows in surprise and flung himself backwards as the flailing werwolf flung the broken parts of the chair away from him and tried to force back the feral part of him. His eyes were flashing bright gold, a sure sign that he was losing control.

"Stupefy!" Lucius shouted, casting the spell quickly and without warning. Fenrir fell back into the chair with a slump, unconscious.

"Well, that's new," Granger said, taking a deep breath. "Never had someone rip a chair apart over a needle."

"Fenrir doesn't like needles," Lucius said.

"No, really?" Potter asked sarcastically. "I thought he was trying to do a weird version of the Dougie."

"The what?" Lucius asked.

"It's a dance move," Granger replied and motioned for Potter to help him straighten Fenrir. Then Granger went back to work as if nothing had happened. Lucius winced at the sound some of the tools made, especially at what Potter called the drill.

Lucius was extremely glad that Fenrir had already been knocked out. The whining sound of that drill would have driven him mad. And he doubted anyone short of Papa Odie himself would have been able to help the rampaging werewolf then.

00000

Lucius had a terrible case of insomnia that night. He didn't even attempt to sleep after he and Odie had taken a still unconscious werewolf to bed. They had thought it better for everyone if they just let Fenrir be until the next morning. Around one in the morning, as he sat in the circle of chairs around the fire pit that they had taken to since that first day he heard mumbling from around the corner.

Getting up and stuffing his cold hands into the pocket of his jacket he followed the sound. Peeking around the corner he saw Granger, Weasley, and Potter whispering in hushed tones. Straining his ears, he managed to catch pieces of the conversation.

"Hermione, you said you were going to release her when we got off the Express," Weasley was saying.

"I was planning on it," she replied. "But I had a bad feeling about it."

"Well, you can't keep her in there forever," Potter replied and looked at whatever Granger had in her hands. Lucius peered harder and saw that it was a jar with twigs and some old blades of grass. A beetle was inside, pressed against the glass, and utterly still.

"Yeah," Granger said. "But what can we do, now?"

"We have to let her go," Potter said. "We can't hold someone hostage, no matter how horrible they are."

"That's not what you told Malfoy though, is it?" Weasley asked.

"That's different Ron," Granger said. "This is Rita Skeeter we're talking about."

Lucius had the sudden, horrible realization that it was Rita Skeeter in that jar. Nobody had heard from in her at least a month. Everyone that thought she was off working a story somewhere and would return with some award winning scandal when she saw fit. Lucius stepped out from around the corner and he watched Granger go pale at the sight of him. The other two whipped around to face him as well.

"So it wasn't just me you kidnapped," he said smoothly. "Did you get Skeeter with the Benadryl as well?"

"No," Granger said. Weasley shook his head at her, trying to tell her to remain quiet. Granger ignored him. "I caught her spying on Harry. She's an unregistered Animagus."

"Clearly," he said. He peered at the jar closely. Around the beetle's eyes were markings that he knew would be her glasses once she was human again. "How long do you plan on keeping her in that jar?"

"Not long," Granger replied confidently and Lucius looked at her with a look that said quite plainly that he thought she didn't know what she was doing.

"And when you do let her go," he continued, "how do you plan on keeping her quiet?"

"She'll be ruined if she talks," Granger said.

"Not if she strikes a deal," he continued and looked at Potter. "Do you really think Minister Fudge is going to care about an Unregistered Animagus when she tells him that she can prove Harry Potter kidnapped and helped hold her hostage?"

The looks the three kids' faces said quite clearly that they had not thought such a thing through.

"We'll figure it out," said Potter defiantly. Lucius hummed. He didn't believe that in the slightest. As resourceful and spirited as these kids may be they were still inexperienced when it came to handling what they were trying to handle. Lucius on the other hand was quite adept at covering any crimes.

"Give her here," he said and held out his hands for the jar. The three Gryffindors gaped at him.

"Are you bonkers?" Weasley asked. "We're not giving you anything!"

"Well you clearly can't keep her in the jar and you don't know what to do with her," he said. "I on the other hand, know exactly what to do."

"You can't kill Rita Skeeter!" Potter exclaimed and Granger clutched the jar to her as if it contained something she actually cared about. Weasley looked horrified.

"Don't be ridiculous," he said, rolling his eyes. "A simple threat, perhaps a broken bone will do just fine." Now all three of them were staring at him in horror. "Or you continue keeping her hostage until such time she escapes and all three of you end up in Azkaban."

The passed glances between them, a silent conversation passing between them. Weasley shook his head, then Potter blinked twice, and then Granger gave an odd roll of her head. Finally, Potter turned back to him.

Lucius had put his hands back into his pockets.

"We'll think about it," he said, and the three of them turned their backs and went to their own rooms.

Interesting, he thought.

Every time he turned around there was more to find out about these people.

00000

"Seriously?" Fenrir asked.

It was the next morning, barely dawn, and Lucius had been waiting patiently for Fenrir to wake up so that he could tell him everything he'd learned about the Gryffindors and the bug in the jar.

"They've been keeping her in a jar?"

"Yes, " Lucius replied. "Makes you think we got the easy deal, doesn't it?"

"Yes, it does," Fenrir said and ran a hand through his already frazzled hair. "I find it hard to believe that Rita Skeeter got herself outwitted by a fourteen-year-old little girl."

"She's smart," Lucius mumbled. "And she's Muggleborn. Dangerous combination when you find it." Fenrir nodded in agreement. That was true enough. Granger was living proof of that.

"What should we do?" Fenrir asked. "Is it really any of our business what they put Rita Skeeter through?"

"Rita Skeeter could be useful," he replied, thinking hard. "She still has tremendous sway with the papers and media. I would rather be in control of that jar than a bunch of misfits who don't know what they're doing."

"Perhaps," Fenrir said. "Unless they hand over that jar to Papa Odie."

"Then we'll just have to convince them that we can handle it better," he said. "Or at least that we deserve the chance to try. Granger likes you doesn't she?" Fenrir shrugged.

"She doesn't flee at the sight of me or flinch away when I stand close," he said. Lucius knew that the way Granger treated Fenrir-with respect-would always be something he would appreciate. He was rarely treated with respect and so it meant something profound when he was.

"Keep on her good side," he said. "She doesn't know you well and there's not much history between you. She may give you the jar before she gives it to me."

"Alright," Fenrir agreed shortly and then got up and prepared for the day. Lucius did as well.

Today was the day that Potter had his Ministry hearing. He had exactly six hours to convince a few select people that the boy shouldn't be expelled from Hogwarts. He pulled on the best clothes he was able to find and followed the road Papa Odie had pointed out to him. It wound through the woods and took him several minutes to reach the end of Odie's property line.

The second he was beyond the wards, he Apparated.