As not to arouse Rabastan's suspicions, Hermione waited a full week to call a Death Eater meeting. In that time Hermione concentrated on her business and revelled in the fact Rita was no longer a thorn in her side. The reporter had been found the day after her death and the investigation concluded her death was an unfortunate accident. The official conclusion was that somehow traces of nut were in her box of chocolates, and her resulting death was a tragic accident. Everyone seemed convinced by the conclusions, and even Harry and the Order didn't suspect any involvement from The Dark Lady.
Another surprising side effect from Rita's death was that Daphne got a promotion at The Daily Prophet. Daphne was now covering smaller stories for the paper and she'd promised to ensure any time The Dark Lady was mentioned it would be in a positive light. So far she'd only written one article, but Hermione was pleased that she had another loyal supporter amongst the press.
One thing Hermione was less happy about though, was the loss of yet another Death Eater. The previous evening Blaise and Theo had paid her a visit to inform her that another killing had taken place. They also said that in their opinion the killer was Rabastan, not the Order member that had killed Marcus and a couple of others. Looking at the evidence, Draco agreed with his friends. In his opinion Rabastan had killed the Death Eater when he'd refused to join his rebellion.
On the day of the meeting, Hermione and Draco spent the afternoon preparing for the evening. Hermione wanted Draco involved in what was going to happen to Rabastan and had promised her boyfriend a chance to show everyone why he was such a top ranking Death Eater. In anticipation, Draco had been researching a few nasty spells to use on the rogue Death Eater. Hermione had also been looking up a few spells, but she'd also been speaking to Severus and ensuring he brought a little something to the meeting.
"Are you ready to go?" Hermione asked Draco, as she emerged from the bedroom in her full Dark Lady attire.
"Yeah, I'm all set." Draco replied, eagerly jumping up from the sofa.
"I take it you've got something special lined up for Rabastan." Hermione remarked at her boyfriend's eagerness.
"Oh yes, he's going to suffer." Draco grinned evilly.
"Yes, he is." Hermione agreed. After what had happened with Bellatrix there was no way she was going easy on someone else who had betrayed her, Rabastan was in for a whole world of pain.
When the couple arrived at the Manor, Hermione sent Draco into the meeting ahead of her while she had a quick word with Lucius. Lucius confirmed that Rabastan and all the Death Eaters that were part of his rebel group were present and had no idea what awaited them. He also confirmed that Severus had what she wanted, and was ready to act when she was ready for him.
"Excellent, let's get this meeting started." Hermione grinned as she led the way to the dining room.
Since the point of the meeting was secret, the long table was in the centre of the room. Instead of immediately getting Lucius to vanish the table, Hermione left it where it was. They could hold a brief meeting, before the punishments began. As she entered the room, Hermione quickly spotted Rabastan sitting at the bottom of the table. She had to hand it to the wizard, for someone who was in the middle of organising a rebellion to usurp her he looked pretty calm and collected.
As Hermione settled down at the head of the table, she noticed a space amongst her top followers. When she realised the seat belonged to Alecto Carrow, she frowned in confusion. The Carrow's were always present at her meetings and took pride in the job she'd handed them of ensuring no-one was late or missing.
"Where's Alecto?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know My Lady." Amycus replied with a frown. "I haven't seen her today."
Hermione could hear the concern in the usually stoic Death Eater's voice. Amycus was clearly worried about his sister and with everything that was going on, Hermione didn't blame him. She was worried herself as she knew Alecto wouldn't miss a meeting without a good reason. Just in case Alecto was just running late, Hermione sent a message to her via her mark. As expected she got no response and Alecto didn't suddenly appear at the Manor.
"Was there anything happening at the Ministry when you left?" She asked Blaise and Theo. "Had the Aurors received any new call-out or anything?"
"Not when we left." Blaise answered. "They were still busy working on the case from earlier in the week."
"When the meeting's over I want you to head back to work and check that there's nothing going on." Hermione told the pair. "If there's nothing happening, I want you to gather a team and search for Alecto."
"Why don't they leave now?" Parkinson asked. "Why wait around here when they could be looking for her and potentially saving her life?"
"You know as well as I do, that it's too late for that." Amycus hissed at the older wizard. "Alecto's dead, she has to be. If she was alive she would be here, or would have sent word."
"I'm sorry Amycus." Hermione said to the wizard. "We will find her, and I promise we will find the person responsible and make sure they pay for what they're doing."
"I know, you will." Amycus nodded. "Thank you."
"Since we're on the topic of Death Eaters being killed, I might as well skip to the point of this evening's gathering." Hermione announced. "Everyone stand up and move away from the table."
While everyone was backing up from the table, Hermione shot a silent spell at the dining room doors, making escape impossible. Once everyone was clear of the table, Lucius brandished his wand and the table and chairs vanished. Another flick of his wand brought back seven chairs, six of them in a line and one of them facing the other six.
"Rabastan, would you care for a seat?" Hermione called, standing behind the lone chair.
Rabastan paled as Hermione singled him out, and his head spun around wildly as he searched for an escape route. None was forthcoming however as Hermione pulled out her wand and cast the imperius curse upon him. She then ordered him to sit down, and the wizard was left with no choice but to obey The Dark Lady. The second he was seated Hermione magically restrained him, and dropped the imperius curse.
"Oh Rabastan, it looks like someone's being naughty." Hermione tutted. "I thought the treatment your sister-in-law received would have made you think twice about betraying me."
"I don't know what you're going on about. I haven't betrayed anyone." Rabastan argued.
"I would say holding secret meetings to usurp me was betraying me." Hermione retorted. "Not to mention killing three of my Death Eaters."
"How do you know?" Rabastan spat. It was clear that somehow The Dark Lady knew everything, so he saw no point in trying to deny it.
"Some people are loyal to me." Hermione answered. "You really should have been more careful about who you approached, Rabastan. One of them proved themselves to be very loyal indeed."
"I don't think so." Rabastan laughed. "They all showed up to my meeting and they all pledged their loyalty to me."
"No, they didn't." Hermione said, before turning her back on Rabastan and looking around at her other Death Eaters. "I will give everyone who was at Rabastan's meeting a chance to come forward now. Anyone who steps forward voluntarily will be saved a lot of pain and suffering."
Hermione waited for a response and for a while she thought no-one was going to take up her offer. Eventually two Death Eaters slowly emerged from the crowds. Hermione knew they were the two wizards who were friendly with Marcus and according to Draco were the most reluctant to join Rabastan. Pointing to the seats she waited until they were sitting down, before magically restraining them.
"Is that all?" Hermione called. When she got no response, she nodded to Draco and his friends and they slipped into the crowds. When they emerged they were accompanied by the four other Death Eaters that had been at the meeting. "You four really should have come forward sooner." She said as the men were placed on the seats and she restrained them.
Once the men were all stuck in their chairs, Hermione turned her attention back to Rabastan. Calling for Severus, she ordered him to administer Rabastan with veritiserum. Rabastan put up a fight, but Severus was good enough to force him to drink a healthy dose of the truth serum.
"Now Rabastan, I don't care why you decided to rebel, or why you thought you could get away with it." Hermione began. "What I want to know, is how many Death Eaters you've killed. Tell me, now."
"Three." Rabastan answered, although everyone could see he didn't want to admit it.
"Why?"
"They refused to join me. They wouldn't even hear me out. I knew I had to kill them to stop them from telling on me."
"Have you approached anyone since your first meeting?" Hermione questioned. Since it was a week since the meeting she wanted to ensure she had all the traitors caught.
"Only the coward I had to kill the other day." Rabastan sneered.
"Am I missing anyone else who agreed to join you?" Hermione checked, just in case he'd approached someone who hadn't attended the first meeting.
"Yes, you are." Rabastan smirked, although he didn't elaborate.
"Who?"
Rabastan tried not to answer, but the veritiserum was too strong and before he knew it he was blurting out the name of the other person at the meeting. "Adrian Pucey."
Hermione nodded, before turning her back on Rabastan and facing her Death Eaters again. "Adrian is the loyal Death Eater that informed me of this treachery." She announced, glaring at the six Death Eaters sitting in front of her. "Anyone of you six could have come to me, and then you wouldn't be sitting here about to lose your life."
The six Death Eaters all paled as Hermione faced them with her wand in her hands. Hermione taunted them for a minute, walking up and down in front of them as she lectured them about their lack of loyalty.
"Now two of you had the decency to come forward quickly, meaning your deaths will be quick." Hermione announced. "As for the rest of you, you'll suffer first."
With a quick flick of her wrist, Hermione dispatched the first Death Eater, before turning to the second one and ending his life. She then turned to the other four, with an evil smirk on her face. One by one she cast the Cruciatius curse on them, holding it until they screamed in agony. Hermione gave the four Death Eaters a moment to recover, before she ruthlessly dispatched them.
"Now Rabastan, it's your turn." Hermione declared with glee. "Get up."
When he didn't obey, Hermione gestured for Draco to move him. Draco stepped forward and hauled Rabastan off the chair and threw him onto the floor. Once the chair was empty, Hermione walked over and settled herself down.
"Have fun, Draco." Hermione told her boyfriend.
"I will." Draco grinned at Hermione before, turning to Rabastan and smirking down at the older wizard. "Sectumsempra!" He cried.
Hermione had never heard of the curse her boyfriend had cast, so she leant forward to see what happened. When the curse hit Rabastan, he screamed in pain and Hermione saw deep cuts covering his body. The cuts were so severe that Hermione thought Rabastan was going to die from his wounds, but before she could intervene and stop Draco, her boyfriend cast a few healing spells on the dying Death Eater. The curses were enough to ensure Rabastan wouldn't die from his injuries, but Draco wasn't finished yet. Raising his wand again, he cast the Cruciatius curse on Rabastan. The previous spell only increased the pain Rabastan felt and a few of the healed wounds re-opened and there was soon a pool of blood around the Death Eater.
"That's enough Draco." Hermione called, ending the torment her boyfriend was inflicting on Rabastan.
Instantly Draco stopped the torture and stepped back so he was standing next to his father. Hermione looked down at Rabastan, checking he had survived. Satisfied he was still breathing, Hermione turned to Lucius.
"Lucius, do you want to finish him off?" She asked.
"With pleasure." Lucius smirked, stepping forward so he was standing next to Rabastan. "As if I would ever side with you." He sneered at the wizard as he kicked at him so he was facing upwards. "My loyalty is with The Dark Lady, and everyone should remember that. Goodbye Rabastan."
With a dramatic flourish Lucius pulled out his wand and aimed it at Rabastan. Smirking evilly at the injured man, he threw the killing curse at him to end his life. Once Rabastan was dead, he nodded at Hermione and stepped back into his place amongst the other Death Eaters.
Hermione took a minute to let what had happened sink in before she spoke and dismissed the Death Eaters. By using Draco and Lucius to help her deal with the threat, she was hoping that everyone would see that she wasn't running things alone. If anyone wanted to take her on, they would have to deal with both Draco and Lucius as well and after that display she knew both wizards had just shown exactly what they were capable of.
"I take it you're pleased with how things went." Lucius remarked, once the Death Eaters had left.
"I am." Hermione nodded. "Thank you for your help, Lucius."
"I was happy to be of assistance." Lucius replied. "It's important that everyone knows I'm on your side, and I won't be swayed to go against you."
"I appreciate your support." Hermione smiled at Lucius, before turning to her boyfriend. "And you were brilliant. Where did you find that spell you used?"
"Severus gave it to me." Draco answered. "It's one of his own inventions."
"Impressive." Hermione mused, wondering what other spells her former Potions Professor had invented and if any of them could be of use to her in the future.
"Well, I need to get cleaned up in here." Lucius said, interrupting the couple.
"I'll help you." Draco offered. "With all of us pitching in, we can be cleaned up in no time."
Draco was right and in less than an hour the dining room was spotless and back to normal, leaving Draco free to go and find his friends and join in the search for Alecto. Hermione fully expected them to find her body, and she vowed that finding whoever was killing her Death Eaters would be her priority from now on.