Lucius

Lucius Malfoy had to admit, there wasn't very much that could surprise or scare him, other than the Dark Lord's fury. There was something going on here. Potter had just gotten away. His Lord was sending Crucio's in every direction, screaming in fury. Suddenly, an owl swooped down and landed on the ground in front of the Dark Lord. It looked like an old owl. It seemed like it had been here a while. Lucius looked closer, it actually looked like a school owl that Draco used ever so often when his own owl was unavailable. 'Why would a Hogwarts owl be sitting here, of all places?' There was a note tied to its leg. The Dark Lord looked down in surprise. He took the note and stood there, reading it. He looked weary as he backed up and sat against the tombstone of his father. He was staring into space. Then he read the note, once again. He held it against his face, almost as if he were sniffing it. The he rubbed a hand across his head. He seemed to be in some turmoil. Once again, he looked down and appeared to read the note, again. Then he said, "Come, let us retire to the house. It's been in disrepair for a long time."

At this, Lucius stepped forward. "My lord, if it pleases you, we can retire to Malfoy Manor. Narcissa can easily have a suite made ready for you tonight. It would be a great honor to have you stay with us." He waited. The Dark Lord came to a decision. He didn't want to sleep in his father's old house. He would take the generous offer and tomorrow would be soon enough to discuss the contents of the note he still held in his hand. Tomorrow would be better anyway because Snape would be there.

The next day, he and Lucius were in the drawing room when Snape was finally able to escape from Hogwarts and join them. Voldemort stood looking out the window, deep in thought, as he motioned Lucius to fill Snape in on the situation.

"Last night, our master managed to return, obviously. Harry Potter was, somehow, able to escape. That's not what this is about, however. He received a letter last night. From a Hogwarts owl who looked like he'd been living in that graveyard for quite a very long while. Rather than trying to make do in his father's old house, I have arranged for him to stay here, however long he wants and needs to." Lucius spun in his chair to face Voldemort. The Dark Lord turned and looked at them. "Years ago, before the first war, while I was still in the planning stages of a political revolution, I used to go to the Muggle world and unwind. There was a particular bar I always frequented while there. It was located across from a hostel where I kept a room on reserve. One year, I met a young Muggle woman who was having a few problems of her own. She had a cheating husband and had just lost her third child to a miscarriage. She was in the mood to totally forget her problems, just one night, she wanted nothing more than to be a simple carefree young woman again. I gave her that one simple carefree night and it was, surprisingly, wonderful. I left her there at my hostel, the next day, she said it was fun, but now she needed to get back to real life. So I gave her a slip of paper with my name and address on it. I told her, if she ever needed anything, anything at all, to write me and I would come to her." Lucius and Snape were sitting there, open mouthed in shock.

Just then, Narcissa came to the door. "It's time to go pick up Draco from King's Cross, Lucius." She looked up and gasped at seeing the Dark Lord, realizing she'd just barged into a private meeting. "Forgive me, my Lord."

"Narcissa, dear, please join us. This situation I find myself in might require a woman's touch." Voldemort motioned her on in. Lucius quickly filled her in on the situation. "I received a letter from her. It was dated ten years ago. She needed my help. I was, as you know, unavailable. It seems her husband found out about our night of revelry and threatened to take their child and leave her. She had to promise him she would never do anything of the sort ever again. If she did, she would automatically forfeit the rights to their daughter. The thing is, though, the girl isn't HIS child. Her mother enclosed a fairly recent picture of the girl. She is my daughter and I believe all of you know her." He pulled a picture out of the pocket of his robe. He laid it on the desk, face up. Both Malfoys and Snape looked at the photo and gasped. The girl pictured was none other than the Gryffindor Princess, resident know it all, Hermione Granger.

"I very much want to get in touch with her but not like this. I want her to be able to see how alike we are. I have decided I no longer wish to kill or even fight Harry Potter. The war is officially over, for me, as of right now. I would seriously, though, like to get back into politics. Our world still needs a great many reforms. I know the child would be a great help to me. She will help change our world. But I have to figure out something I know she'll be interested in before I make contact with her." Lucius was busily writing down everything he was saying. Snape was planning to make a special schedule for Miss Granger. As the Dark Lord's daughter, she would need to be exceptional in everything. Her defense training would need to step up. She would also need to be a trained Occlumens, for that she would need him and Lucius. Narcissa was already over the moon, planning a shopping trip to fully outfit her as befitting the Dark Lord's daughter.

"I need to send her a present but she can't know it's from me or she won't accept it." Voldemort thought for a moment. "It needs to be something she'll use every day, something she wouldn't think twice about accepting."

"Draco has mentioned that she uses quite a bit of ink and seems to go through quite a few quills in a week's time. Maybe a couple bottles of ink and a set of quills?" Lucius wondered.

"The girl also goes above and beyond on her homework, it's almost always a couple of inches longer that the assignment calls for. Maybe a steady supply of parchment?" Snape suggested.

"Yes, excellent. I'll keep the girl supplied with those three necessities and I also want to give her this." He held out a bracelet. It looked like just a regular old necklace, until you realized the 'leather' was actually braided hair. "I was wearing this the night I met her mother. I wish her to have it. I want it left somewhere for her to find. There's a spell on it that will draw her to wear it. It will protect her. I may not want a war anymore but that doesn't mean it's going to be that easy to retire from being Lord Voldemort, the Dark Lord. From here on, I wish to be known by my given name once again, Tom Marvolo Riddle, Jr."

"From here on, no more attacks on Muggles, Muggleborns, or even blood traitors. That doesn't mean we let them push us around or walk all over us. If they attack us first, we WILL retaliate! We are, once again, a political group, not a terrorist group, yes?" his followers cheerfully agreed.

Lucius set to work, putting the necessary supplies on order for Hermione, making sure to order only a week's supply each time, any more than that and the girl would be suspicious. Since it was the girls own regular shop he was ordering from, he simply worded the order in such a way to have her believe the shop owners were merely showing their appreciation of her business, by keeping her a steady supply on order. Snape sent the girl a carefully worded letter to make it appear that Dumbledore had decided to train her alongside Potter. He would need to make a report in such a way that Dumbledore would believe himself to actually be the one who came up with that idea. Dumbledore would have Potter, Snape would have Hermione. Narcissa pouted when told the wardrobe would have to wait a while. But she was allowed to send the girl a scarf of pink merino wool, charmed to be stay warm or stay cool, depending on the season.

Tom Marvolo Riddle set out to destroy the horcruxes which had kept him alive for so long. The only horcux he kept, only because he loved her so much, was his familiar, a large serpent named Nagini. He started telling Nagini about his daughter. Nagini was anxious to meet 'sister.' Tom wondered how much of a shock it would be when Granger found out she wasn't a Granger, but in fact, a Riddle and had a serpent for a sister.

He cautioned Nagini that 'sister' might be afraid of her for a while. Most people were very afraid of Nagini. But she wasn't to let it bother her. It would just take 'sister' a while to adjust to having Nagini around.

Nagini went to sleep in her favorite sun spot, happy that someday soon 'sister' would be joining them.