Chapter 53
No Title

Author's Note: Sorry for the long delay. I had written four chapters on one of my home computers, but it didn't have internet. Well, it seems now I have lost that information, so I will have to start it again. This will be in Yaxley's and Draco's PoVs.(Yaxley's PoV)

Yaxley was sitting at the end of a long dining table in a fairly dark room. The room had two windows, but both had their curtains drawn. This wasn't for fear that someone could see inside the house. The Secret Keeper enchantment put an end to that long ago. Yaxley liked the dark. It made him feel better. The only light in the room was a dim ceiling light that was attached to a fan. It provided enough light for the human eye to see everything in the room. Two doors were in the room: one behind Yaxley, and one at the other end of the long table.

In front of Yaxley was a plate of sausage, eggs and toast. Next to the plate was Yaxley's wand and a folded-up newspaper. Yaxley kept eyeing the newspaper but continued to eat his breakfast. He glanced at the end of the table, and then past it. In the shadows in the corner of the room, a pale woman with dirty blonde hair, wearing a torn rag dress was standing with her back to the wall. Her eyes were glazed over, but she was staring at Yaxley.

Yaxley swallowed his eggs and cleared his throat with a cough.

"Did you make this?" he said, gesturing to his plate.

The woman nodded.

"It is good," Yaxley said, "My guests will be having breakfast soon. Make them some of this too. I think they will like it."

He picked up his wand, and gave it a slight wave. The woman walked over to the door at the end of the room and opened it. She walked through and closed it. Yaxley cleared his throat again, dropped the wand neatly by his plate and picked up the newspaper.

He unfolded the newspaper and straightened it out. At the top read "Daily Prophet". Yaxley skimmed through the front.

"Rita Skeeter has written a book on the Second War," Yaxley commented to himself, "Second War isn't over yet if you ask me."

Below the article about Rita Skeeter was a much smaller article. In bold black letters, the title read: "Students Return Home From Hogwarts For Christmas Holiday." Yaxley started to read the article. He had a lot of interest in Hogwarts as of late.

This past weekend, students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft
and Wizardry returned home from Hogwarts for their rather
lengthy Christmas holiday. They will be returning around mid-
January, though not every student will be going back. So-called
'Eighth-Years' (Returning seventh years who didn't finish their
education the previous year because of the hectic and rediculous
teachings and goings-on at the school) finished their N.E.W.Ts and
left the ancient school forever. We wish these 'Eighth Years' the best
with their future lives.
Yaxley paused. Had the boy left Hogwarts forever? Browne had failed to mention this. In fact, in the letter Browne had written him, it had been said that the Potter boy would be returning to the school, as far as Browne knew. He said the plan would only take a while longer to pan out. Was Browne lying?

Before Yaxley could ponder on this any further, the door behind him opened. Several Death Eaters, including Rowle, Avery, Mulciber, Selwyn and the rookie Mavers, walked in and sat in chairs around the table.

Yaxley picked up his wand and flicked it up and down. The dirty-blonde haired woman walked back in with a tray of plates and jugs. She served the plates to the Death Eaters.

"Wonderful!" Rowle said, as a plate was put in front of him.

Yaxley cleared his throat. Everyone looked down at him.

"Before you eat," he said, "We will have our usual meeting. Mulciber, Mavens! What can you report?"

Mulciber and Mavens looked at each other.

"Well?" Yaxley asked.

"We feel we are very close," Mulciber spoke up, quickly, "Though it has not been easy. We have been keeping an eye on the location, though we believe the target has seen us."

Mavens coughed.

"Yes?" Yaxley asked him.

"Mulciber almost messed up the plan, sir," Mavens said.

Mulciber narrowed his eyes at Mavens.

"He wanted to get closer to get a better look," Mulciber said. "He said he wanted to see if the artifacts were there. Well, we get close and the target tells us to leave. He thinks we are just a couple of beggars, but I don't know how long we can keep this up. Any more scouting might mess up the plan."

"Is this true, Mulciber?" Yaxley asked.

"Yes, sir," Mulciber said, quietly, staring at his food.

"Fine," Yaxley said, "You will not return to the target for a couple of days. Let the post-Christmas rush 

settle down. The next time I ask you to go, it will not be a scouting trip, if you get my gist."

Mavens sneered.

"Yes, sir," he said.

"Yes, sir," Mulciber said, quietly.

"Good?" Yaxley said.

Yaxley looked around at the other Death Eaters. Most of them were looking hungrily at their breakfast.

"Well," Yaxley said, "If that is all…"

"Sir?" Selwyn spoke up.

"Yes, Selwyn?" Yaxley said.

"If you don't mind me asking, sir," Selwyn said, "What is the progress with the Malfoys? We all know we can't rely on the boy. He does not hold the information we need. We don't need him. It has to be Lucius Malfoy who helps us."

"This is true," Yaxley said, "We do need Lucius Malfoy's information."

"I say we torture him!" Selwyn said.

"You have a taste for blood, I see," Yaxley said.

"Don't we all!" Selwyn said, "After you have some, you want more."

"We are not wolves!" Yaxley roared, standing up, "Or vampires. Nor do I want to be! So stop acting like it!"

Selwyn frowned.

"Still," Yaxley said, "Torturing the man might do some good."

"W-we don't even have to torture him, sir," Selwyn stuttered, fearful of another outrage, "I-I mean, we could. But we could also attack him mentally. We all know he cares about his family."

"I see where you are taking this," Yaxley said, "All right. You guys enjoy your breakfast. I am going to the cellar."

"Do you need some assistance?" Selwyn asked.

"I believe Greyback is all the assistance I will need," Yaxley said.

He grabbed the newspaper and left before anyone else could say anything.

--

Yaxley walked down the stairs to the basement of the house. He went to the first door on his right and opened it. He walked into the narrow hallway to the end of it where another door was seen.

On the other side of the door was the wine cellar, where Draco, and his parents, Lucius and Narcissa, were caged like animals, guarded twenty-four hours a day by a Death Eater. At this moment, Fenrir Greyback was guarding them.

Ever since Greyback helped to thwart the Malfoys escape plan, Yaxley saw him in a whole new light. Sure, he was a vicious uncontrollable werewolf who could betray everyone at a moment's notice. But he was a great asset until that time would come.

Yaxley opened the door and walked into the cellar. He immediately glanced over at the cage on his left, where Lucius Malfoy was laying on his cot, looking bored at the current situation, and his wife, Narcissa, was sitting in the corner, staring at the other cage. The cage at the other end of the cellar held Draco. Yaxley had decided to move Draco to the other cage, knowing that if the boy wanted to say anything to his parents, he would have to speak up, and vice-versa, and the guard would be able to hear it.

Fenrir Greyback was sitting on a chair in the middle of the room. Yaxley walked over to him and threw the newspaper into his lap.

"Finally!" Greyback snarled, picking up the paper, "I've been bored down here! Where is breakfast!"

"You'll get it," Yaxley said.

Greyback growled silently, and thumbed through the pages.

"Wonder if there is anymore about the hoax about us attacking on Christmas," Greyback said, "I don't know why we didn't attack! Could have broke this monotony and boredom!"

"We are not ready!" Yaxley said, "How many times do I have to tell you?"

"Well, we need to be ready," Greyback said, "Minstry of Magic is laughing at us."

"Have these guys said anything?" Yaxley asked.

"Loads," Greyback said, "Nothing important. Most of it is cry-baby trash!"

Yaxley sighed and walked over to Lucius and Narcissa's cage.

"What do you have against us, Lucius?" Yaxley asked, "Against the Death Eaters."

"For one thing, you have imprisoned us," Lucius said, simply.

"We freed you from Azkaban," Yaxley said.

"Out of one cage, and in to another!" Lucius said.

"It's for your safety," Yaxley said, "Greyback would rip you apart."



"Is that a joke?" Lucius asked, "Being funny with me?"

"Enough of this!" Yaxley said, "I need information!"

"Why would I give anything to you?" Lucius asked, "Me and my family are basically dead anyway. You can't let us go. We all know that."

"Yaxley, you are walking in circles," Greyback said, "You aren't going to get anywhere with these guys. Kill them. Best thing to do in my opinion."

"No," Yaxley said.

"And why not?!" Greyback said, "You killed Dawlish! You couldn't get any information out of him in the end."

"Well, I don't see you helping!" Yaxley said.

"Lucius is not going to give us information!" Greyback said, "He is not a Death Eater anymore. He will not betray the Ministry! They forgave him and his family for his treachery. Yeah, I know about that. It's what I hear down here."

"The Ministry?" Draco asked, "You want to invade the Ministry again. Is that your plan?"

Yaxley turned around and looked at Draco.

"Weren't you already inside there once?" Draco asked, "Wow, I thought you would have known how to get past the security."

"They would have changed it, of course!" Yaxley said.

"Maybe," Draco shrugged, "Maybe not. You say they were expecting an attack on Christmas?"

"Draco, what are you doing?" Lucius asked.

Draco ignored him.

"Yeah, they were," Yaxley said, "So?"

"So, the Ministry will be on red alert," Draco said, "At least…"

"Until they decide that it was a hoax and no one is going to attack," Yaxley said.

"Even a kid could have figured that one out," Draco said.

"Why are you giving me this information?" Yaxley asked.

"I gave it to you in exchange for something," Draco said.

"What?" Yaxley asked.


"Peace," Draco said, "I don't want any guards present in the room anymore. They can be outside in the hallway. It's quite annoying when you want to get some privacy and they are watching you."

Yaxley paused.

"Done," he said, "But I will be back later."

"I look forward to it," Draco said.

"Come, Greyback," Yaxley said, "Breakfast is ready."

Greyback paused.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"You heard me," Yaxley said.

Yaxley walked toward the door and Greyback followed him out.
--

(Draco's PoV)

Draco watched the cellar door as it shut. After a moment, his father spoke up.

"Draco, what are you doing?" Lucius asked, "We can't give them information."

"We need to," Draco said.

"No, we don't," Lucius said.

"Draco, your father's right," Narcissa said.

"No, I am right!" Draco said, louder than he intended.

He paused and looked at the door. He listened for any sounds of movement. When he heard none, he looked back at his father.

"Don't you see, Father?" he asked, "If they attack the Ministry, they will surely bring most of their forces here at these headquarters. They are already running low. When they go, we need to figure out how to get out of here. It will take them some time to get into the Ministry. You already know how to get in. So we can get in and warn the Ministry."

Lucius paused. He looked at his wife.

"Well?" Draco asked.

"It might work," Lucius said.

"But we can't get out of here," Narcissa said, "We might be killed."

"We will be killed if we don't get out of here," Draco said.

"He's right, Narcissa," Lucius said, turning back to Draco, "All right… how do we get out of here?"

"Wordless magic," Draco said, grinning.

"You know we were never good at that," Lucius said, "It is one of our well-kept secrets."

"I've been working on it at night," Draco said, "Ever since I was moved over here. It will take a few more days."

"All right," Lucius said, "For now, we need to act like nothing has happened. This might work. Just… you know, keep practicing. Keep us updated. We are counting on you."

"I know," Draco said.

Draco sighed. He had kinda lied to his parents. It was true, he had been working on it. But he didn't know if it would take a few more days. He wished he would have listened to the lessons about this when he was at school. The professors were right, as much as Draco hated it. He did need to know about it in the future.

He laid down in bed and stared at the piece of paper he was practicing with. At the moment, he wanted to focus on wordless summoning. He concentrated, and the piece of paper moved slightly, then all of a sudden it floated over to him and into his hand. He smiled. This might just work…

--
Chapter finished! I know, this was really short. But that is all I wanted for the chapter.

I've decided to go a different way with this story then I intended to. Hope you liked it!