Present-day.
"I regret to inform you," Narcissa scoffed as she looked at the parchment in her hand. "Regret?! My son is cursed to sleep and paired with a mud-blood and that daft old fool regrets!?"
"Dear perhaps you should retire to your chambers," Lucius said as he took the note from his wife. "I'll send Kiki up with some tea." He offered.
Narcissa looked at her husband and nodded. Turning to the desk in the room she bowed to the Dark Lord then nodded to her sister as she left her husband's study.
"What say you of this?" Voldemort asked after the elf had been dispatched to make tea.
"Draco would never betray you, my Lord," the blond spoke as he read the letter from Dumbledore again.
His master had freed him from Azkaban only to allow him to watch as his son not only took the mark but was given the most difficult of tasks. He knew the Dark Lord hoped that his son would fail, making sure that he would watch as Draco was tortured. It was the punishment he knew he deserved. After all, he had not only failed to retrieve the prophecy but had been beaten by a fifth-year student and captured by the DMLE, while the wizarding world now knew that the Dark Lord was indeed back swung public option back in the favor of the light.
"Not on his own but Fable magic has a way of enticing its victims. And I fear that he is to week willed to ignore its call," Voldemort hissed as he stroked his familiar's head as Nagini hissed in agreement.
"I could go and end the mud-blood, that should end this," Bellatrix offered excitedly swishing her wand in the air as she mentally ran through her most favorite of curses for just such an occasion.
"No Bella, I fear that anything you do to the retched creature will befall Draco at this moment," Lucius spoke quickly. "But I am sure Draco will do what he must." Glaring as Bellatrix cackled at him.
"Your son is as strong-willed as a pigmy puff, Cissa had to go to Severus to make sure he does what the Dark Lord has ordered of him this year," the woman scoffed as she glared at her brother-in-law.
She had never like Lucius, he was too slimy for her and that was before he had betrayed their master after his temporary defeat. She would have gladly slit his and every other death eater throat that had claim the imperious after her Lord's temporary fall, but her master was smart. He knew that so many gruesome and well-deserved demises at this time would only raise suspicions. But she was still working on her plans on how each deserved to be punished if her Lord would allow her to assist him in this.
"Perhaps I should make provisions elsewhere," the dark lord mussed Nagini hissing in agreement as she slithered around his chair.
"My Lord please, allow Draco to prove himself to you," Lucius insisted.
"Very well," Voldemort said nodding his head. "But if once he wakes, if the mud-blood wakes with him, they both will be sacrificed."
"As you will my Lord," Lucius said with a bow.
"Aww, Luci you don't seem so broken up about this. After all, he is you, son, the scion to all of this," Bellatrix said waving her hand around the room.
"I can all ways have another Heir. My only request is we don't tell my wife of this, she is rather attached to the boy, and if things progress that way it will be hard for her to understand,"
"Cissy is rather sentimental about these things. We can always tell her that the Potter boy or Dumbledore killed him!" Bellatrix offer in excitement as she danced around thinking of the blood shed to come.
"I'll allow it just as long as she becomes pregnant again, after all, you promised me not only your loyalty but that of your son's," Voldemort spoke.
"I'll have the elves begin placing the necessary fertility potions in her food at once my Lord," the Malfoy spoke firmly as he turned to leave his study.
"And Lucius," Voldemort said stopping the blond in his tracks as he turned to his master "it should be mentioned that if Draco is as weak-willed as I believe him to be… in order for you to redeem yourself it must be by your wand that he is ended by," the dark lord called out.
"It would be an honor, my Lord," the man said with a bow before leaving.
Several stories up Narcissa was sitting in her parlor crying. The grand piano that sat in the center was charmed to play as she sat in the far-left corner. The little charmed statue in her hand repeating every word that was said in her husband's study. It was a bit of magic that had been with the estate for some time, her mother-in-law had shown it to her after Lucius took over the business. It was meant to make sure her husband didn't do anything foolish with their money. But now this may have just saved her son's life.
"Mistress, your tea," the little house elf said after she had silently popped into the salon.
"Kiki, I order you to tell me if my Husband put anything in this!" Narcissa demanded as the elf trembled.
"Kiki was ordered not to say," the little thing shook as she gazed up into her mistresses' eyes.
"Kiki from now on you are the only one to handle my food and drink, if anyone puts anything in it you are too but in on the silver and green china," the woman said firmly. "And if anyone asks you are to tell them that I am thinking about redoing the dining room and I want them to match the plates!" Narcissa ordered as she stood placing the statue on the mantle as she walked to the doors that led out the veranda which looked out over the gardens and enacting the wards.
"Mistress where are you going?" Kiki questioned as she placed the tea set down on the table and wrinkled her bandaged hands in her filthy pillow case.
"Out, No one is allowed in here!" Narcissa ordered as she changed to spell on the piano to play Wagner as loud as it possibly could. Before she apparated out.
Kingsley Shacklebolt grunted as he pushed the door to his apartment open. He'd spent the better part of the day turning down requests to bring in muggle-borns for questioning. And after the dressing down Umbridge had tried to give him, he had been sent home for the day as he needed to quote figure out where his loyalties should lie.
"Whoever let that bint Umbridge keep her position after the disaster of last year is an idiot!" he shouted into the dark room.
"I quite agree," a strange voice answered as Kingsley whipped around pointing his wand at where the voice came from as the lights came on.
"Narcissa Malfoy… what are you doing here?" he asked as he looked over the pureblood witch.
"Let's just say I am here to help both you and myself," she said hauntingly raising one perfectly shaped eyebrow at the man.
"Cut to the chase before I arrest you for trespassing and breaking and entering!" Kinsley growled as he kept his wand trained at the witch.
He remembered her from Hogwarts, though many had figured that she was just another pure blood house wife. Kingsley knew that this witch held the highest grades in Charms and Defense Against the Dark arts for their year. Add into effect that it was obvious that nothing happened in Slytherin without Narcissa's knowledge and or approval else there were dire consequences. There was no way he would let her prim and proper face fool him.
"I know you're a part of the Order of the Phoenix and I have information that you desperately need," Narcissa replied cool, running her hand along the mantle, snarling at the dust she found there.
"Why?" the Auror asked, his obvious curiosity nearly caused him to drop his guard.
"My son," she began and the man cut her off with a huff.
"Last I hear your son was in a coma thanks to Fable magic," Kingsley said with a laugh dropping his arm but not putting away his wand.
"Yes, and when or whether he and the mud-blood wake up is the issue at hand," she said whipping around to glare at the man.
"Miss Granger is like a daughter to me," Kinsley growled as he sat down across from the woman who simply raised an eyebrow at the statement.
"Then you really should listen to what I have to say," she spoke sternly as she lowered herself into a chair across from the wizard.
"What do you want exactly?" he asked never bothering to hide the annoyance in his voice.
"At the end of this, Draco and I will face no charges for anything we do, and you will leave us with at least one vault each full to get by with," Narcissa stated firmly.
"And Lucius?" the Auror asked raising a single eyebrow at her.
"You can feed him to the dementors and his carcass to infrinus for all I care," she hissed in a vicious tone while she examined her nails.
"What happened?" he asked as the woman across from him scoffed. "I have to know, the Order has to know,"
"You cannot tell that retched Dumbledore. That man is a menace." the growl in her voice startled him.
He knew that the Malfoys had been gunning to get rid of the headmaster since the end of the first war but Dumbledore had too much clout for that to actually happen. But Narcissa gave him the distinct feeling that this new vendetta was more personal than anything else.
"You have my word, but I must tell someone… how about the Bill and Charlie Weasley. Unlike their parents I know they won't go to him with this," It wasn't that he didn't trust Arthur and Molly it was that they were like Hagrid. Blinded by the headmaster's good deeds that they ignored his more unsavory practices.
Kingsley had been running several sections of the order behind the headmaster's back simply because he knew that the elder man liked things done his way. No matter how many lives were lost or ruined because of it. If he was honest with himself, he always had doubts about the tale Dumbledore spewed about that Halloween night in 1981; but he had never been able to work up enough support or clout himself to challenge the headmaster on it in the wizgamont chambers.
He had planned to talk to both Sirius and Remus about it but he could never pin them down alone to do it. Add into the fact that Dumbledore kept Harry Potter on the shortest leash possible, he knew it would take a miracle ordained by Hecate herself for him to find out the truth.
Nodding her head Narcissa sighed in relief. "Umbridge is working for the Dark Lord she was ordered to bring in all muggle-borns and charge them with anything that would ger their wands taken and magic bound." She smiled as she watched the man in front of her curse.
"Is that all?" he asked once he finally got himself composed again.
"There is a vanishing cabinet in Broden and Burkes. Draco was ordered to get it working again. Its mate is in the room of requirement in the school. My son was ordered by the Dark Lord to kill Dumbledore and at the end of the year and to let death eaters into the school," she said looking down in shame before continuing. "So that the school could be cleansed,"
"Has he done anything towards that goal?" Kingsley asked as he stood looking through his various cabinets looking for his communication mirror.
"No, he was put down a week before he was going to start. But you can't just take the cabinet, the only ones who know about it are myself, Draco, Bella, and the Dark Lord." Narcissa insisted. "They would know I have turned if the cabinet is suddenly confiscated."
"No, but I can authorize a raid to all of Knock turn alley and anything can happen in a raid," Kingsley said cryptically as a near predatory smile graced his companion's lips. "Do you have any proof that the toady is working for the dark lord?"
Shaking her head, she sighed. "No, she is unbranded for that purpose but I do know how she is communicating with him,"
"How?" Kingsley asked as a near-feral grin fell across the woman's face.
"She has this little Broach,"
"Unhand me you Ruffian," Delores Umbridge shouted as the Aurors locked the cuffs around her wrists.
The Office of the Minister for magic was crowded as they were having their monthly interdepartmental meeting. Maybe it was petty to do this now, but Kingsley figured the more public this spectacle was the better, add in that he had invited a few of his friends from the ICW in the war mage department to act as extra security. Lest the little toady slipped free again.
"Delores Umbridge you are under arrest for consorting with Voldemort, also known as the Dark Lord also known as Tom Malvolo Riddle," Kingsley said with a smile as he watched the toad-like witch pale and gasps filled around the room as the other workers began talking amongst themselves.
"I… I've done no such thing!" she insisted as she continued to struggle as the Aurors clamped the manacles on her wrist.
"Really? Because this broach has his magic signature on it," the Auror said with the broach she had previously been wearing in his hand as he slid it into an evidence bag, smiling as he watched her struggle.
"I…I….I got that at a store, just like that," Delores offered.
"Yeah, and you weren't aware that the spells that monitored your every moment was recast just yesterday? One that had to be done in person," one of the war mages said who was helping hold her back said as the fight seemed to go out of the woman in an instant.
"Mud-bloods will be the end of our society! I… I had to do something," she ranted.
"It's people like you who will be the end of our society," Kingsley said as the auroras pulled the woman away. "And don't worry you're not going to Azkaban. After all that prison isn't safe anymore. But don't worry the ICW had agreed to house all the prisoners who have ties to Voldemort until we end this war once again," he shouted at her retreating figure. Smiling that now his desk will be a lot clearer.