Disclaimers: I don't own Harry Potter.

A big thank you to everyone who has reviewed. I really and truly appreciate all the positive feedback. Thank you!

Thank you Vaughn for being my Beta. Any mistakes left are my own.

Someone is having a bad day.

Arthur Weasley looked up from his cup of tea when the owl carrying his copy of the Daily Prophet came flying through the window. Relieving the bird of its burden, and dropping the required Knuts into the little pouch tied to a bony leg, the Weasley patriarch lost all interest in the owl as he unfolded the paper and opened it. Picking up his cup, he promptly choked on it as his glance took in the headlines.

"Arthur, dear, are you alright?" Molly asked her husband, walking over to his chair from the stove and beginning to pound on his back.

"I'm fine, dear," Arthur gasped, attempting to shift away from his wife's enthusiastic pounding.

Molly didn't hear him. Her eyes were glued to the front page of the Daily Prophet, and she gasped in outrage. Snatching the paper from her husband, she began to read the article, muttering parts of it aloud.

"How dare he?" she cried, brandishing the paper in her outrage. "How dare he! How dare Harry put the blame for what happened that summer on Percy? Yes, yes," she added irritably when her husband tried to get a word in, "Percy has sided with the Ministry, and he has said a few not so flattering things about Harry, but that doesn't give Harry the right to badmouth my boy! Percy would never do anything to harm his family, and until recently Harry Potter was family. I can't believe how badly that boy turned out, but what did you expect? With Sirius Black as his godfather? Remus is a dear, but he isn't exactly a good role model for a child to have either, and poor Harry attached himself to the two of them. He should have taken Percy as his role model instead. I should have known though, when I found out he had helped the twins with that appalling shop of theirs."

"Now, Molly, you know very well that Harry hasn't turned dark. As for Percy, he is not the model of good behaviour that you tend to paint him. He is a stuck up prick, refusing to see the evidence staring him in the face. He is blinded by ambition; it was only a matter of time before that ambition placed him in hot water," Arthur said, tired of the way his wife refused to see what Percy was really like.

"How dare you! Percy is our son!"

"Is that why you have been painting Harry Potter blacker than black? In an attempt to muddle the waters so no one in the Order would realise what type of person Percival really is? You used to adore Harry, Molly, what happened?"

"What happened? What happened? He got a student killed, Arthur! He got poor Cedric killed by You Know Who! Was I just to stand back and wait for him to get our children killed too? Just look at the mess he caused at the Department of Mysteries! He was lured into a trap, and he took. My. Children. With. Him!" Molly shrieked, getting red in the face with her fury.

Arthur shook his head sadly. "When are you going to realise that the children are growing up? When will you acknowledge that they no longer are babies, but adults with a mind of their own? Harry didn't force them to come with him to the Ministry, they chose to follow him. If you go on treating them the way you are, Percy isn't the only of our children that will turn their backs on you."

"How. Dare. You!" Molly whispered, too shocked to get her vocal cords to work properly.

"How dare I?" Arthur asked mockingly. "How dare you! For years you have placed Percy on some sort of pedestal, holding him up to the other children as a paragon of model behaviour. Just because he wasn't playing pranks on people, and because he was getting good grades, you turned a blind eye to his less pleasant qualities. Open your eyes, Molly, before it is too late. The other children never could stand their brother; did you ever consider that maybe they had a reason? Merlin knows I've done my best to treat all of my children equally, can you say the same?

"As for Harry. You agreed to take him in and treat him as one of your own. You went back on that promise, and I can't tell you how ashamed of you I am for that. I know, I should have put my foot down a long time ago, but I was weak. I wanted to keep the peace within the family, and look at us now. Bill and Charlie moved halfway across the world to get away from us. Percy is refusing to even talk to us, and I'm guessing it won't be long before the twins move away as well, considering how well they are doing with their business. You should be proud of them, and yet you belittle them at every turn. They have made something of themselves, and for some reason you refuse to see that. I can't help but wonder why. Are you jealous of them?

"I can only hope that Ron and Ginny learn to think for themselves soon, before you have poisoned their minds as well. Harry Potter is a good boy, and he has done nothing which deserves the spite you have been spewing over him lately. He is not the root of your problems. The sooner you realise this, the better."

"I think you should leave now," Molly said frostily. "You have said more than enough."

"You know, I don't think I have," Arthur mused, getting up from the table. "However, since I can't afford to be late, I will indeed leave. See you later, dear," he added, Apparating away and leaving his wife fuming.

"How dare he!" she snarled, throwing the paper into the fire. "How. Dare. He?" she shouted at the air, almost missing the head that had appeared in the fireplace.

"Molly, are you there?"

"Oh, hello, Hestia, what can I do for you?" Molly asked, forcing herself to calm down with some difficulty.

"I was just reading the paper, you have seen it, haven't you? I just couldn't believe it. Please tell me that Percy would never do such a thing!"

"Of course he wouldn't!" Molly snapped, her temper starting to boil once more. "I'm sorry, I just had a row with Arthur over just that subject. Percy is a good boy; he would never cause any trouble for anyone, unless they deserved it," she added, conveniently forgetting all the times he had snubbed her and given her the cold shoulder since he had started working at the Ministry.

"That is what I thought. It is appalling the way that woman Skeeter is allowed to write articles like that, not caring in the least who she is hurting in her attempts to sell papers. Well, I better get going, I just wanted to make sure for myself that the article was false," Hestia Jones said, ending the fire call.

Her call was only the first of many though, and by noon, Molly was forced to put the fire out if she was to get any work done at all that day. Relatives, friends, people she hadn't talked with in years, they all called her and wanted her input on whether Percy was guilty of aiding in the Dementors' attack or not. To her dismay, Molly was powerless in stopping the sympathy that was creeping up for Potter. Suddenly, now that the Dementors' attack had been confirmed by the Prophet, people were actually feeling sorry for Harry, or thinking he was brave for fighting off two Dementors by himself. To her utter horror, she was unable to disabuse the callers of the fact that Percy would never engage in such reprehensible behaviour.

No, her day was definitely not off to a good start, and Molly was seriously contemplating sending that Skeeter woman a Howler when a strange bird flew through the still open window, depositing its burden on the kitchen table before veering off and heading back the way it had come, not bothering to land to rest up first.

Molly stared, dumfounded, at the red envelope that was lying on the table, trembling. Gingerly she picked it up, not understanding in the least why anyone would be sending her a Howler. Before she could decide if she should open it or just banish it, the letter took matters into its own hands and sprang to life.

"HOW DARE YOU BEHAVE IN SUCH A DESPICABLE MANNER? THAT BOY THINKS THE WORLD OF YOU AND YOUR FAMILY AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY THAT KINDNESS? BY HEAPING ABUSE ON HIM FOR BEING CHOSEN BY A VEELA? BY YELLING AT HIM FOR DARING TO BE HIS OWN MAN? YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A NARROW-MINDED SIMPLETON!

"MY FAMILY AND I, SO FAR, HAVE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH HARRY POTTER, BUT REST ASSURED THAT WE WILL DO EVERYTHING IN OUR POWER TO ENSURE THAT THAT BOY KNOWS HE HAS PEOPLE HE CAN COUNT ON. REAL PEOPLE, REAL FRIENDS WHO WON'T TURN THEIR BACKS ON HIM JUST BECAUSE THEY DISAGREE WITH SOMETHING HE DOES.

"YOU WERE GIVEN A PRECIOUS GIFT, THE LOVE OF THE BOY WHO LIVED, AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY HIM? SHAME ON YOU!"

Molly could only stare as the Howler burned itself into ashes, her ears still ringing from the strident voice telling her off. Then she got angry. How dared that hussy tell her what to do? Molly didn't recognise the voice, so she had no idea who the sender was. Which would indicate that the sender of the Howler didn't know her either.

"Just you wait until it is your children that are dragged into danger, all because of a child who don't know how to stay out of other people's business. Harry had no reason getting mixed up with the Philosopher's Stone! And the Chamber of Secrets, how dare he risk his life like that?" she snorted, conveniently forgetting that Harry had been the one to save her daughter's life.

This was all Potter's fault! Percy had been right, that brat always got everyone's attention. No wonder he was as spoilt as he was. To think she had worried about him. Served him right that he had been picked by the Malfoys, he fitted right in with that Death Eater crowd! Just you wait, she – and Percy – would soon be proven right, and then they would all be sorry they hadn't listened to them!

Smug in her knowledge that she was right, Molly turned to the stove to fix some lunch. However, she froze when she spotted three owls, carrying very red letters in their beaks, making their way towards the opened window. For a moment she considered closing the window, denying them access, but then she sighed. You could not stop a Howler. Resigning herself to a few unpleasant moments, she greeted the owls, who refused her offer of refreshments, gave her an evil eye before taking off, their mission accomplished.

xXx

Arthur Weasley remained at his job for as long as he could, even doing the paperwork he had been postponing for the last three months, anything to avoid going home. In the end there were no more excuses, and he Apparated home, not looking forward to the welcome his wife was sure to give him.

He was therefore utterly unprepared for Molly to throw herself around his neck and start sobbing.

"Molly? Dear? What is wrong? Is it the children…?" Arthur asked, getting worried.

"Howlers," his wife howled into his shoulder, "and fire calls. All day long. They all think Percy did it, they wouldn't listen to me. And the Howlers, I have received over two hundred of those foul things, all of them screaming at me for sending Harry that Howler," she sobbed, making it almost impossible for her husband to hear what she was saying.

He caught the jist of it though, and with a sigh, he set about calming her down. Deep within his heart though, he found next to no sympathy for her plight. In his opinion, it was about time someone stood up for Harry and told those belittling him off. He only wished he had been strong enough to step in before things had gotten so out of hand. He would have to write Harry a letter and apologise to the lad for his wife's actions. He could only hope that the youth would find it within his heart to forgive him.

HPDM

Cornelius Fudge was humming as he ate his breakfast. There had been no catastrophes, everyone was doing what they were supposed to do, and things were for once running smoothly. Hence the reason for his good mood.

He was therefore utterly unprepared for the headline blaring at him as he opened his copy of the Daily Prophet. Reading the article with growing dismay, Fudge fought the urge to bang his head against the table. What in Merlin's name had Dolores been up to during her time at Hogwarts? He had heard a rumour that she'd attempted to interrogate the Potter brat with Veritaserum, but he had disregarded that as nothing more than a rumour intent on blackening the Ministry. Dolores knew very well that such interrogations were not to be taken lightly.

Then there had been the mumbles that she'd tried to cast an Unforgivable on one of the students. Cornelius had dealt with those swiftly and brutally. This, however, he could not hush up. The public would demand an investigation, and considering that he was the one who had assigned Dolores to Hogwarts, making it very clear that she had his full support…

Gulping, Cornelius managed to make it to his feet. Stumbling slightly, he made his way to his fireplace, putting in a call to his senior solicitor. He had a feeling a simple denial would not work this time. Then he groaned; Potter had the Malfoys behind him now; if there was even an ounce of truth in Skeeter's accusations, then Cornelius was in deep trouble. Very deep trouble.

HPDM

Percy was having a good morning as well. The previous evening he had been out with his fiancée, Penelope, and they had had a grand time together.

Opening his copy of the Daily Prophet, Percy felt his good mood evaporate like dew in the morning sun. Stumbling up from the table, he left his half-eaten breakfast without a second thought and hurriedly finished dressing. The Minister would no doubt wish to speak with him; Percy only hoped he would be given the chance to give his side of the story before being dismissed from his job.

Grumbling under his breath, Percy Apparated to the Ministry, thinking dark thoughts about Harry Potter, who seemed to delight in getting Percy into sticky situations.

HPDM

Dolores Umbridge was enjoying a morning in bed when her house-elf approached with a letter in her hand.

"This better be good!" she demanded harshly, reluctantly sitting up to better be able to tower over the creature. "I gave explicit orders not to be disturbed."

"Selly is sorry, Mistress. Letter arrived for Mistress," the elf said, holding the letter with a trembling hand.

Dolores sniffed, but in the end she snatched the thing from the elf. Waving the creature from the room, she examined the seal. Seeing the personal seal of Cornelius Fudge, she broke into a big smile and eagerly tore the envelope open.

Dearest Dolores,

What have you done! I couldn't believe my eyes when I opened this morning's Daily Prophet. I can only pray to Merlin that Skeeter is wrong, and that you haven't done what I'm beginning to think that you have done. Do you realise what a spot you have placed me in? You better get to my private office as quickly as possible, we will need to some damage control on this one!

Cornelius Fudge

Minister of Magic.

Dolores stared stupidly at the letter. What could have happened to put dear Cornelius in such a tizzy? Shouting for her house-elf, she climbed out of her bed with some difficulty; those blasted Centaurs had really done a number on her. Grumbling about stupid half-bloods and how she was going to kill every last one of those disgusting things, she made her way into the shower to start a new day. Best not to keep Cornelius waiting, the man always got so impatient when you did that.

HPDM

"You wanted to see me, Cornelius, dear?" Dolores asked in her little girl voice as she stepped inside the Minister's private office.

"Don't you 'dear' me, Dolores Umbridge!" Cornelius snapped, having worked himself into a frenzy. His interview with Weatherby had not gone well, and the advice he had received from his solicitors was even worse.

"Cornelius?" Dolores asked, faltering slightly. The Minister had never addressed her in such a manner before.

"Have you read this morning's paper?" Cornelius asked, brandishing the paper in question at her.

"No, I didn't have time, I came here as quickly as I could," Dolores simpered, giving the agitated Minister her best girlish smile. For once, it failed to impress.

"Then I suggest you read it," Fudge snarled, throwing it at her.

Dolores caught it awkwardly, crumbling it even more in the process. Opening it to the front page, she gasped in outrage at the headline. "How dare that woman meddle in things that don't concern her?" she gaped, scanning the article quickly.

"Did you send those Dementors after Potter?" Cornelius asked in a tight voice.

"What? Why would you think that, Cornelius? You know Skeeter, always eager to bend the truth to make a sell." Dolores giggled lightly, not about to admit to anything.

"Did you send those Dementors?" Cornelius asked once more, determined not to get sidetracked.

"Now, Cornelius, why would I…?"

"Dolores! Just answer the bloody question! Did. You. Send. Those. Blasted. Dementors?" Cornelius roared, slamming his fist down on the top of his desk.

Dolores blinked. "What makes you think I had anything to do with that unfortunate incident?" she eventually sniffed. "What makes you think…"

"Because while he there," Fudge pointed a finger at Percy, "might have been able to access the file containing Potter's address, he did not hold the authority needed to give orders to the Dementors. You, however, do."

"Oh, very well," Dolores sighed, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "Yes, I did give the orders to send a couple of Dementors to Surrey. I thought you would be happy, not yelling at me like this," she added with a pout.

Fudge just stared at her, along with the three solicitors and Percy.

"You thought I would be pleased that you sent Dementors after a fourteen year old boy?" he asked, just to make sure he had understood her correctly.

"Come now, Cornelius," Dolores scoffed. "You spent weeks moaning and complaining about Potter and Dumbledore, how they were conspiring to get you out of office. I figured that with the boy kissed, or at least incapacitated, he would cease to be a threat to you. It worked wonders too, didn't it? The public ate it up, believing every word the Daily Prophet printed about him being insane, not to mention an attention seeker, and a spoiled brat," Dolores added with a shrug, not seeing the problem.

Fudge groaned, sinking into his chair, burying his head in his hands. Percy had grown pale and looked like he was about to be sick.

"But," the redhead stuttered, "you said… Did you really try to question Harry Potter using an entire bottle of Veritaserum? And did you truly attempt to put him under the Cruciatus Curse? And did-" Percy was forced to break off and moisturise a suddenly bone dry mouth. "Did you really use a Blood Quill on him?"

Dolores sneered at him, transforming her already unattractive face to something truly appalling. "I don't have to explain myself to you, you little toad," she snapped.

"No, but you will explain yourself to me!" Cornelius thundered, lifting his head from his hands and giving her a penetrating stare.

"Cornelius, dear-"

"Weasley, call in the Aurors," Fudge ordered, so upset that he for once remembered the name of his Undersecretary.

"Yes, Sir," Percy murmured, scurrying towards the door and the guard posted there.

"Cornelius!" Dolores cried out in protest, beginning to get slightly nervous.

"Tell me the truth, Dolores!" Fudge ordered, sending a signal to Percy to start taking notes.

"Very well," Dolores pouted, huffing a sigh and folding her arms across her ample bosom, looking like a five year old about to throw a tantrum. "Yes, I tried to interrogate the brat with Veritaserum. He knew more than he was letting on, I'm sure of it! The fact that he somehow managed to sidestep the effect of the truth potion only proves it!

"As for the Cruciatus, yes, I tried to use it on the little freak. If it wasn't for that friend of his, I would have succeeded and then I would finally know where Black was hiding, not to mention I would have had Dumbledore's secret weapon in my hands."

Cornelius could only stare at one of his most trusted people in horror. She had been prepared to use the Unforgivables on Potter? What else was she capable of? "What about the Blood Quill?" he managed to ask, not sure if he wanted to know the truth or not.

"Oh, I used that all right," Dolores stated smugly, a satisfied gleam in her eyes. "It was an old family heirloom, and it was ever so much fun giving Potter detentions on the flimsiest of reasons and then watching him use the thing, scarring himself for life. Oh, I don't think I will ever forget that sight," she sighed lustfully.

"Aurors, arrest that woman for the use of the Unforgivables, and for the use of an illegal torture device," Fudge said hollowly, not able to grasp the enormity of what he had been told.

"Cornelius! How dare you do this to me! I did this for you! You are the one who wanted the boy neutralised!" Dolores screeched, refusing to follow the two Aurors that were trying to lead her away.

"I would never have authorised the use of a Blood Quill," Cornelius said sadly, "and I think you know that. You have not helped me, in fact, bloody hell, woman, you have put me in a most awkward spot. You better pray that I will manage to salvage this mess, or you will live to regret it, mark my words!

"Weatherby! Prepare a press release, a special edition for tonight. The British people need to know that this unfortunate business is being investigated thoroughly."

"Yes, Sir," Percy mumbled, already trying out several phrases in his mind, looking for the best angle to minimize the damage to both his and Fudge's careers.

"You will regret this, Cornelius! I will never forgive you for this!" Dolores screamed as she was forcibly towed from the office. She continued to heap abuse on Fudge's head, and then at the Aurors leading her away, and it was with a sigh of relief that a third Auror hit her with a Silencing Charm.

Fudge turned to his three solicitors, and his heart sank as he watched them confer among themselves. The way they were shooting him glances and were shaking their heads did not bode well for him and his career.

Unable to sit still, Cornelius jumped to his feet and began pacing, trying to think of something, anything, to do to save himself. Unfortunately, nothing came to mind. He would place the entire blame on Dolores, of course, but since he had praised her with such ringing endorsement, her actions would still reflect back on him, painting him in a very bleak light.

A sound made him look up. The sight meeting his eyes caused him to pale drastically and sink into the nearest piece of furniture. The air was thick with owls, and they all were carrying large red envelopes.

For a moment, time seemed to be frozen. Then the screaming began.

HPDM

Percy had been working diligently on the press release for about half an hour when suddenly an owl flew over his head, dropping a Howler onto his desk.

The redhead watched the thing for several tense moments, but in the end he sighed and opened the envelope, bracing himself for his mother's strident voice. To his shock, it wasn't his mother who had sent him the Howler; however, it was much worse. It was Penelope.

"PERCIVAL IGNATIUS WEASLEY!

"HOW COULD YOU? HOW COULD YOU DO SOMETHING SO DESPICABLE AS AIDING THAT TOAD UMBRIDGE IN PERSECUTING HARRY POTTER? I KNOW THAT, FOR SOME REASON, YOU ARE NOT FOND OF THE BOY, BUT THIS IS LOW EVEN FOR YOU!

"I JUST COULD NOT BELIEVE IT WHEN I READ THIS MORNING'S PAPER, BUT LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING, PERCIVAL WEASLEY: WE. ARE. THROUGH! I REFUSE TO SPEND MY LIFE WITH SOMEONE SO NARROW MINDED AND SHORT SIGHTED. I ACTUALLY THOUGHT YOU HAD A FUTURE AHEAD OF YOU. APPARENTLY, I WAS WRONG.

"YOU BETTER APOLOGISE TO HARRY FOR YOUR PART IN THIS FIASCO, OR MY FAMILY AND I WILL DO EVERYTHING WITHIN OUR POWER TO MAKE YOUR LIFE MISERABLE!"

With that the Howler burst into ashes, leaving Percy pale and shaken. How could his life fall apart so quickly? Taking several deep breaths to steady himself, he began to shake with anger. Apologise to Potter? Not likely! This was all Harry's fault! He was nothing but a spoilt little boy who was forever seeking attention! It was sickening how everyone was forever falling over themselves to give into that child's smallest whim, while other more deserving, not to mention hard working, students were completely overlooked and pushed aside! No, if Penelope chose to side with the likes of Harry Potter, then he was better off without her!

Snorting in annoyance, Percy returned to working on his press release. He didn't get very far though, before several owls came through the delivery chute, each of them with a Howler clamped in their beaks. Slowly Percy leaned forward until his forehead was resting against the table top, and as the first Howler sprang to life, he began banging his head against the desk, whishing he had never heard of Harry Potter.

HPDM

Narcissa smiled smugly when the wards told her that her husband had returned home. She knew the Dark Lord would be able to talk some sense into her wayward spouse. To think the man had the nerve to ignore her! Her!

The smile transformed into a smirk as she made her way to Lucius' private study. Walking through the door, she was a little surprised to see him with what looked like a small army of house-elves, but she merely shrugged it aside. House-elves were of no concern to her.

"Lucius, darling, it so good to see you again," she said, gliding towards him. "Does this mean that you will be accompanying me to the Ministry party after all?" she added, secure in the knowledge that he would, already planning what dress robes to get and what type of jewellery she would need to go with it.

"Hello, Narcissa, my darling wife," Lucius said with a heavy dose of irony. Dismissing the elves, he turned to look at the woman who had made his life miserable for so long. To his great satisfaction, he found that he felt nothing. Not even the smallest urge to make her happy, or to fulfil her whims. Shaking his head, he chuckled, this would be easier than he'd thought.

"Lucius?" Narcissa asked, sensing that something was off with her husband's behaviour.

"Narcissa, Narcissa, Narcissa," Lucius said, still chuckling and shaking his head. "How aptly named you were. Do you ever think of anyone but yourself? No matter, the Dark Lord and I had a most interesting chat today, and oddly enough, you popped up in our conversation. Apparently, I've been 'neglecting' you. A more ludicrous statement I've never heard, considering that I haven't even been gone for two weeks. We've been apart for longer times than that in the past."

Narcissa snorted. "Perhaps so," she said with an elegant wave of her hand, "but you have never refused to accompany me to a party before."

It was Lucius' turn to snort. "All you are interested in is getting new clothes, jewellery, and lording over all those pathetic women who are as obsessed as you are with parties and their social standing.

"Never mind that. As it happens, the Dark Lord and I talked about a few other things as well," Lucius said, smoothly changing the topic, not interested in getting into a screaming match with his wife just yet. "A certain potion was mentioned."

Narcissa looked unimpressed. "Unless it was a pregnancy potion, I don't see how it concerns me," she stated, giving him a dark look. He wasn't about to bring that nonsense up again, was he?

Lucius laughed. "No, it wasn't a pregnancy potion, you are quite safe on that front, Narcissa, darling."

"Then what potion was it?" Narcissa asked impatiently, wanting to get back to talk about the party.

"Black Truth," Lucius said with a smug smirk, leaning back in his chair to be able to fully take in the expressions on his wife's face.

"Black Truth?" Narcissa asked, striving for nonchalance and disinterest but not quite managing it. "What of it?" she added, wondering just what he knew.

"Apparently, Harry found and talked to the creator of that potion this summer. You will never guess who that was."

"Who?" Narcissa asked, beginning to get nervous. This could spell catastrophe for her. Blast that boy to the deepest hell!

"You are not to touch the boy, Narcissa. He is Draco's mate and the union has the Dark Lord's full support," Lucius said with a warning glare.

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of interfering, dear," Narcissa said sugar sweetly.

"I'm sure you wouldn't," Lucius snorted, not believing her for a moment. "But that is neither here nor there. Back to the Black Truth. It has come to my attention that it was one of your ancestors who invented the thing. One Horatio Black? You realise what this means, don't you?"

"Means?" Narcissa echoed with a frown.

"Yes, means. One of my ancestors swore an oath of revenge on the creator of that blasted potion."

"What does that have to do with me? I wasn't even born when that thing was made," Narcissa scoffed, feeling a cold fist grip her heart. She wasn't as ignorant as she pretended to be. She was, after all, a Black. The Black family was famous for their willingness to go that extra mile to get revenge for the smallest slight.

Lucius smiled a truly feral smile. "I have petitioned the Dark Lord, and he agrees with me, that I am within my right to demand retribution from the Black family. Your punishment, well, part of it anyway, has been decided. You will be banished to a remote little estate that has been in the family for generations. I suggest you go and pack, and pack for a warm climate, dear."

Narcissa gasped. "You can't do this!"

"I can and I will. You should have thought of this before you went whining to the Dark Lord, Narcissa, he doesn't like it when domestic disputes get brought to his attention. Now run along and pack."

"How long will I be away?" Narcissa asked with forced meekness, determined to get back at her husband as quickly as possible.

"Don't worry, dear, it is just for a month or two. Take heart, it could have been much, much worse," Lucius warned. Dismissing her from his mind, he turned his attention to the various documents scattered on his desk.

Narcissa watched for a few moments, waiting for, she wasn't sure what, but in the end she went and packed as ordered. She would make him pay for this though. She couldn't believe the lengths he would go to just to get out of attending a party! Grumbling to herself, she made her way to her bedroom. Oh, Lucius would pay for doing this to her!

Lucius watched her leave from the corner of his eye, biting back a chuckle. Who would have thought getting Harry Potter as part of the family would be so much fun?

"We is done as Master wished," a voice said, causing Lucius to start and look down to his left.

"Good. Everything of value has been removed? And you have made certain that neither of them can leave nor have contact with the outside world?"

"All is removed and special wards has been put up," the house-elf promised, giving her Master a wolfish grin, which Lucius returned. He knew none of his elves had ever cared for Narcissa, and by the looks of it, they were not above getting some payback for all the misery she had caused them.

"Thank you. Please take this note to Lord Voldemort, and bring Bellatrix to the hideout as soon as he says she is ready to go."

Messy bowed, and taking the note, she popped away.

Grinning, Lucius made himself comfortable, and began to read the missives Fudge had sent to him that Narcissa hadn't bothered to send along to Hogwarts. He would have to have a talk to the house-elves about setting up some sort of communications system since he had no intention of leaving the school anytime soon.

HPDM

Narcissa picked herself up from the floor, ready to scream bloody murder. It was humiliating enough that she had to hold on to a house-elf of all things to get to wherever she was going, but the blasted thing had had the gall to drop her midair!

"Very graceful, 'Cissa, what will you do for an encore?"

The blood freezing in her veins, Narcissa turned to look at the person who had spoken. When she came face to face with her sister, she did scream bloody murder.

"What are you doing here!" she shrieked once she could talk again.

"I accidentally made the Dark Lord unhappy with me, and he figured I could do with a vacation. What about you?" Bellatrix asked calmly.

"Lucius refused to take me to a party, and concocted some lame story of owing Horatio Black payback for some potion or other," Narcissa said with disdain, looking around her new 'home'.

Bellatrix paled. "Was the potion called Black Truth?" she asked with a trembling voice.

"I believe so, yes. What's the matter with you?"

"Narcissa Belladonna Black, you are an imbecile! Mother was right about you, she always said your lack of appreciation for the family history would be your downfall!"

"So what?"

"So what? Due to the happenings of 1022, the Malfoy family swore an oath to get revenge on the family that had created the Black Truth! Do you honestly believe that banishing you to this place for a few months will satisfy an Oath of Vengeance sworn by a Malfoy? Then you don't know the Malfoy family at all, despite being married to one of them for almost twenty years!"

Narcissa snorted. "Lucius won't be able to do anything to me. I'm his mate."

"No, you're not!" Bellatrix stated bluntly. "We all know Severus Snape is Lucius' true mate. With him spending so much time at Hogwarts, aren't you afraid your iron grip on your husband will loosen? A year ago, hell, six months ago, would he have been able to deny you anything?" she added in a taunting voice, happy to see the righteous look on her sister's face slip a few notches.

"He wouldn't dare!" Narcissa cried angrily. "Besides, the Dark Lord won't let him."

"Voldemort wouldn't have much say in the matter, now would he? Not if the ties to you are starting to disintegrate. And with the two of us stuck here, Lucius will be free to seek Severus' company to his heart's content. Very clever of him, and with getting Voldemort's permission, there isn't much our Lord can do, is there?" Bellatrix asked, beginning to admire the excellent way Lucius had handled things. "I wouldn't be too surprised, sister dear, if you were served with divorce papers the moment your confinement here is over."

"He can't!" Narcissa stated hotly, though she was beginning to get worried.

"He can. Veela law, my dear. Any Veela not bonded with his or her true mate can get a divorce once their true mate is found."

"But he is bound to me, his father made sure of that."

Bellatrix shrugged her shoulders; this exile was turning out to be fun! "That forced bond was based on Lucius' desire to protect his child. Draco is sixteen now, in the process of wooing his own mate. He isn't a child anymore. You should have used the time to bind him tighter to you, and not relying solely on his bond to Draco."

Narcissa looked for something to throw at her infuriatingly smug sister. Not finding anything, she stamped her foot and swept out of the room, intent to get a hold of one of her lovers.

xXx

Half an hour later, Narcissa collapsed on her bed, sobbing in frustration. Lucius Malfoy had, for the first time since their marriage, managed to outsmart her. There was no valuable objects in the house for her to throw, so there was no point in throwing a tantrum, leaving her without her usual mean of venting her emotions.

The house was not hooked up to the Floo system, so she couldn't use that to contact any of her lovers. The wards around the place prevented her from Apparating, and there was no bird of any kind, so she couldn't even send a letter.

To add insult to injury, she was trapped on a tropical island! Lucius knew very well that she burned easy, making it practically impossible for her to venture outside due to the strong sun. Something Bellatrix was only too happy to gloat about, spending several hours outside, enjoying the fresh air and the warm water of the ocean.

At least he had given her the aid of a house-elf, so she wouldn't have to clean or cook. Unfortunately, he had given the thing strict orders of what it was allowed to do, so it too was refusing to help her, and when she tried to make it change its mind with a bout of the Cruciatus Curse, it had the nerve to take her wand from her!

Slowly it began to sink in. She was trapped on a tropical island she could not enjoy, with her insufferable sister, with the bare minimum of furniture, and with only Muggle books to read. She didn't even have any chocolates or other sweets to dull the boredom with – she wasn't counting the tins filled with Lemon Drops, she wasn't that desperate!

At this rate, she would be insane, if not dead, by the end of the week! How was she supposed to last an entire month! Oh, she was so going to get Lucius for doing this to her!

HPDM

Albus Dumbledore walked into his office with a tired sigh and collapsed into his chair. Fawkes trilled a few notes and flew over to land on his bonded's arm, rubbing his head against Albus' cheek.

"This has not been a good day," the aged wizard said with another tired sigh. "In fact, it has been a lousy few days. I have handled the situation with Harry totally wrong. I had no idea he held so much hostility towards me. I just don't understand. I apologised to him. I have done my best to show that I support him and believe in him. I have told him how important he is to this war; what more does he want from me?

"And then there is the kidnapping. We were fortunate it was just some dotty old woman, and not Tom. We will have to be careful from now on though, in case this gave him ideas. Whatever Tom is, he isn't stupid. In fact, apart from Hermione Granger, and possibly Minerva, I don't think I have ever taught a more clever and intelligent student. Too bad his ambition took him on such a dark and dangerous path."

Leaning back in his chair, absentmindedly stroking his pet's warm feathers, Albus lost himself in memories of days gone by.

The hoot of an owl brought him back to the present. Looking up, he noted yet another owl, with a red letter in its beak. Accepting the Howler, he waited until the bird had left before flicking it into the fireplace. It immediately sprang to life, spewing forth its message. Fortunately, the strong wards Filius had helped him put up several years ago prevented him from hearing what the sender had to say.

Sitting back in his chair once more, Albus found himself both grateful and curious that Molly hadn't contacted him to shout at him for allowing Percy to be dragged into this mess. As if he had any control over what her son was doing. No, young Percival had made his choice, and would now have to live with it. As they all had to do.

Giving Fawkes a final pat, Albus climbed to his feet and made his way to his bedroom. Maybe things would look a bit brighter after a good night's sleep. And maybe, just maybe, he would get some inspiration on how to deal with Harry.

Next Time:
The boys have a quiet afternoon,
and the first DA-meeting is taking place.
Until Then…