Chapter 13

The Ministry was in chaos, and had been that way ever since the re-opening of Azkaban. The freed dementors had 'kissed' over twenty-five Muggles in towns along the coast, and the wizard death toll was rising by the day. None of the escapees had been caught, and for the most part no one had any idea where they were.

"Minister!" a young secretary called, trying to get his attention. "Mr. Fudge!"

"Not now!" Cornelius snapped at him as he sifted through his daily owls. "The Bones were attacked? Oh dear…" he muttered to himself as the secretary hopped up and down in front of his desk.

"Minister!" he tried again. Fudge looked up, irritation plain on his face.

"What? I have business, so this better be important." Since the return of Voldemort the jovial man had hardened, grown very irritable and short tempered.

"It is sir, it is! A memo flew in this morning before you came, and I've been trying to get it to you ever since you-"

"Well?" the Minister prompted, starting to look back at his mail.

"Lucius Malfoy, sir!" He looked up, startled. The secretary continued. "He was attacked! Not by our side, either, it looks like You-Know-Who himself got to him! He's in a right state, sir, and he's being kept at St. Mungo's until further notice. He wanted to see you, sir; he says he has important information!" Fudge leapt to his feet, no small feat for a portly man, and fastened his cloak as he swept toward the Floo fireplaces.

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Fifteen minutes later the Minister was in the hospital, waiting to see the patient. The elder Malfoy didn't have a wand on him, and he was tied to the hospital bed as a precaution. It was unlikely that he could have physically attacked anyone in the state he was in, however; he could hardly move.

The young nurse outside nodded to Fudge, who entered Lucius' private room with a bodyguard.

"Well, Mr. Malfoy?" he asked, very curious as to what this was about.

"He, the Dark Lord, that is-" Lucius paused, gasping for breath, "he attacked me, threatened my boy, threatened Narcissa, help them…" Fudge was taken aback. He had never thought of Lucius as a family man, but here he was, trying to help them with all the strength he had.

"I assure you they will be protected. Your boy -Draco, isn't it?- is under Dumbledore's protection at Hogwarts. I'm sure he'll be fine. As for Narcissa, she herself has never been accused of any dark activity, so she will go right into Ministry protection."

"Thank you, thank you…" Lucius murmured, relaxing slightly. Fudge looked uncomfortable.

"Mr. Malfoy, there are some things I want you to know. First of all, are you aware that if you had been found under any other circumstances, you would be dead already?" Lucius nodded painfully.

"I know, Minister, and I have seen the error of my ways. Ever since he threatened what is most important to me, my family, I have seen him for what he is. I am willing to assist in the fight against the Dark Lord in any way I can." Fudge looked skeptically down at him.

It was as low as he had ever seen the elder Malfoy, at his most pathetic. Cursed gashes that healers had been unable to close criss-crossed over his body, and there was a large cut through the bloody Dark Mark on his arm. The Minister could hardly help but to believe him. Still…

"Veritaserum?" he quietly asked the nurse, who nodded and returned with a small vial of the clear liquid. Lucius accepted the potion without hesitation, which surprised everyone in the room. "Well, now. Who did this to you?" Fudge asked, now confident of perfectly honest answers.

"The Dark Lord," Lucius answered hollowly.

"Why?"

"I defied him when he threatened my family."

"Did you ever participate in Muggle killings with your free will?"

"Yes." There was a sharp intake of breath.

"Why, Mr. Malfoy?"

"The Dark Lord had threatened me and my family. I didn't want them to die."

"So this wasn't the first time your family had been threatened then?" Fudge asked, confused.

"No. But this time, I had the strength to defy him. I did." The Minister nodded.

"Were you ever under the Imperius curse?"

"Most of the time." Again the room gasped, maybe Lucius wasn't as bad as he seemed. If he was doing this for the good of his family, and under enchantment, then there were grounds to dismiss his charges.

"Really…Very interesting. Thank you, Mr. Malfoy. I'll see what I can do about clearing your record. You might need to appear again in front of the Wizengamut, but at the moment I'm fairly confident you'll get off. If only we had used Veritaserum earlier in your case, we might have saved a lot of heart ache." Cornelius tutted as he stood up. "And rest assured, your family will be well taken care of."

"Thank you, thank you…" Lucius told him before closing his eyes, seemingly completely spent. Fudge and his bodyguard left, leaving the nurse alone with him. Carefully noting that no one was in the area, the nurse tipped the rest of the vial she held onto a potted plant. Lucius opened an eye.

"Are they gone yet?" he asked in a low voice. The nurse nodded.

"What did you do with the rest of the water?" She gestured to the plant, smiling. "Very good. Your Lord will repay you well."

"I live only to serve…" she said in a small voice, grateful that her long healer's robes covered her Dark Mark.