~~ Chapter Nineteen: From Sweet to Sour, Part II ~~

            Three hours later, the four of them were on a train bound for London.  The trip was fairly quiet at first, with Draco and Harry talking about Quidditch between themselves and Lucius and Alina smiling shyly whenever they happened to catch the eye of the other.  After running circles around each other since meeting, they finally came clean about their feelings.  So much for the easy part – now they had to figure out just how they were going to handle this newfound affection.

            Harry and Draco's conversation about Quidditch reached its end, and for a moment, the boys were silent.  Then, Harry said, "Ducks don't have any thumbs."

            "That was random," Draco said, looking at his friend.

            "I'm serious!" Harry responded.  "You show me a duck that has thumbs and I'll stand on my head and recite the alphabet backwards."

            "Reciting the alphabet backwards is difficult enough without standing on your head," Alina commented.

            Lucius decided to attempt it.  "Z, Y, X, W, V – no, U, V… what's before V?"

            "No, you had it right the first time," Alina said.  "It's V, then U, if you're doing it backwards.  Then it's T."

            "What's before T?" asked Draco.

            "S, I think," Harry said.  "Then R, P – no, R, Q, P."

            "O, N, M," continued Lucius.  "Then… it's not J, it's not L – wait, it is L.  O, N, M, L, J… no, no, no…"

            "Isn't K between L and J?" inquired Alina.

            "Yes, it is," Draco said.  "It's L, K, J, I, H, G."

            "F, E, D, C, B, A!" Harry finished.  "Go us!"

            Harry and Draco high-fived.  Alina looked at Lucius.  "Now we have to do it all in one stretch," she said with a smile.

            "I think I've got it now," Lucius said.  "Z, Y, X, W, V, U, T, S, R, Q, P, O, N, M, L…"  He paused for a moment to remember, then continued.  " K, J, I, H, G, F, E, D, C, B, A."

            "Lucius, I'm impressed," said Alina.  "That's quite an accomplishment."

            "She called him Lucius," Harry whispered to Draco.

            "I noticed that, too," Draco whispered back.  "And he called her Alina when we got on the train.  Did we miss something?"

            "What are you two plotting over there?" asked Lucius.

            Harry and Draco looked at each other, and, stammering to find words, Harry quickly said, "Why does hair grow down and grass grow up?"

            "You're really dishing it out today, Harry," Alina noticed.  "First the duck thumbs, and now this.  Any other random comments we should be made aware of?"

            Harry shook his head.  "Nothing comes to mind, but if I think of something, I'll let you know."

            "Thank you."  Alina turned her attention to Lucius.  "Did the Ministry say at all why they wanted to see me?"

            He shook his head and replied in the negative.  "All it said was 'the presence of Professor Alina C. Terringer, Master of Musical Enchantment, is requested for confidential reasons.'"

            "What does the C stand for, Professor Terringer?" inquired Draco.

            "It's my middle name," she answered.  "Calamity."  When she noticed the surprised looks that appeared on Harry, Draco, and Lucius's faces, she laughed and said, "No, not really.  It's Christane."

            "Alina Christane Terringer," Lucius said.  "A lovely name, but unworthy of its bearer."

            Alina smiled mischievously.  "And what would you have my name be?"

            "Aphrodite."

            Lucius leaned in to kiss her, and she lifted her chin in acceptance.  Then, they remembered that Harry and Draco were sitting in front of them, and they began to move away from each other.  "Oh, go ahead," Harry said.  "We've already figured it out."

            "Can you believe it?" Draco asked as Lucius and Alina kissed.  "All that time wasted on figuring out how to set them up, and they go and do it on their own."

            A staircase ran from the street to the entrance of the main administrative building of the Ministry of Magic, and Eko Chang and Albus and Minerva Dumbledore were waiting for Lucius and his companions at the top of it.  "We're glad you could come on such short notice," Chang said as Lucius reached them.  "I promise you that this will be worth your time."

            "I believe you," Lucius replied.  What do we know about…"  He paused, glanced to the left, then to the right, and mouthed, "the Nundu?"

            Chang's face grew dark.  He looked at Alina for about ten seconds, then said, "We'll talk about that."

            "Talk about what?" inquired Draco.

            "You'll know when the time is right," Chang assured him.  He motioned toward the building.  "Come.  We have much to discuss."

            Harry and Draco were dropped off in the Ministry library (but not without protest from the two boys), and the five adults continued on to Chang's office.  As soon as the door was shut, Lucius practically pounced on Chang with his questions.  "Are you sure it was a Nundu?" he said.  "It couldn't have possibly been anything else?"

            Chang shook his head.  "I searched all our archives myself, twice.  The Nundu is the only creature the marks match."

            "How did a Nundu get here in the first place?" asked Lucius.

            "It has to be You-know-who," Minerva Dumbledore said.  "Who else is powerful enough to control a Nundu?"

            "Maybe it's someone else, who couldn't control it, and it got loose," Alina suggested.

            "That's not possible," Chang said.  "These killings were not random.  Every single one was premeditated, even the latest."

            "Su Li," Alina said.

            Chang closed his eyes and shook his head.  "No.  Su Li was not the latest."  He opened his eyes and looked at Albus Dumbledore.  "I don't think that I… that I should be the one to tell her."

            Dumbledore nodded in agreement.  "No, probably not."

            Alina's eyes narrowed suspiciously.  "What happened?  Is this why you sent for me?"

            "It is," Dumbledore confirmed.  "Whoever is controlling the Nundu has left us a trail of clues.  That trail led our tracking crew to a cottage outside of Cambridge.  In that cottage, two bodies were found.  They were killed by the Nundu, mutilated almost beyond recognition, but they were identified… as Jonathon and Rebecca Terringer."

            Alina screamed in horror, and dropped to the floor.  Lucius knelt down next to her and draped a comforting arm over her shoulders.  She buried her face in his shoulder and wept bitterly.  He helped her stand and hugged her tightly.  "Are you sure of this?" he asked Dumbledore.

            "I am sure," Dumbledore replied, his voice heavy.  "I'm so sorry, Alina."

            Alina was too distraught to reply, and continued to sob.  "What is being done to eliminate the Nundu?" said Lucius.

            "Our squads are following the trail, but they cannot keep up," Chang replied.  "The creature moves and kills swiftly."

            "You said that you're tracking it," Lucius said.  "Where is it going?"

            "East, for now," Minerva answered.  "But there's a problem.  This trail is almost too easy to follow.  It's like the Nundu is leaving us clues to find on purpose – footprints, slash marks on trees, dead vegetation… almost like it wants to be found."

            "Good.  Then we can find it, and we can kill it," Lucius declared.  "It was personal before this, but now there's all the more reason to destroy this creature.  I want it dead."

            "We're all out for blood, Lucius," Dumbledore said.  "I swear on my life, the Nundu will be eliminated, and if it is being controlled by someone, I will see them killed as well."

            "No," Lucius said.  "Death is too good.  Let them rot in Azkaban and be tortured every day, slowly and painfully.  Let them feel, for the rest of their miserable lives, the excruciating pain inflicted upon us."  He turned his eyes downward to Alina, who was still completely incoherent.  Seeing her like this, falling apart in his arms, made his heart ache, and he closed his eyes to halt the forming tears of his own.

            Dumbledore looked at Minerva, and his wife nodded her head once.  "Lucius," he said, "the Ministry has prepared rooms for Harry, Draco, Alina, and yourself.  They're located on the third floor of the north wing.  The numbers are three hundred fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen.  Alina needs to rest.  Eko must attend to other business, but Minerva and I will be here.  When the two of you feel ready, we will continue."

            Lucius nodded in acknowledgement.  "Thank you."

            It wasn't until they were inside room three hundred fourteen that Alina finally found the ability to speak.  "They're dead," she said.  "My parents… what reason would Voldemort have to kill them?"

            Lucius didn't have an answer.  In truth, the question stumped him, too.  Her parents were Muggles – relatively well-known figures within that world, but still Muggles nonetheless.  They weren't a threat to Voldemort, so why would he take the time to kill them?  There were a number of possibilities, but none of them made any sense.  It would appear that Voldemort was striking at Alina, but why?  What role did she play in this?

            Alina walked over to the window on the opposite wall.  The curtains were drawn, and she parted them with her hand and gazed down on the street below.  "When is this going to end?" she asked.  "How many more innocents will have to die before it stops?"

            He followed her to the window and slipped his arm around her slender waist.  "Narcissa, the elves, Fudge, Su Li, your parents… who's next?"

            "That's one thing I hope we never have to find out."  She looked out the window for a few more moments, then spoke again.  "Did you love your wife?"

            "I respected her."

            "That wasn't what I asked."

            Lucius sighed softly.  "How could I have loved someone I barely knew?  Now I wish that I had taken the time to get to know her, but it's too late.  All I can do is try my best to make sure I don't make that mistake again."  He turned so he was facing her, then spoke again.  "For the first time in my life, I'm starting to see things clearly.  I can't change what I've done in the past, but I can try to make amends and secure the future.  You have to trust me."

            "A leopard doesn't change its spots."

            "That's true, but the spots are only skin deep."

            An amused smile flickered on her face for an instant.  "It looks like another cliché bites the dust."

            It was almost an hour before they felt ready to Dumbledore and the others.  Arm in arm, Lucius and Alina walked through the corridors toward the Minister's office.  Suddenly, a door to another office opened, and a voice said, "Malfoy!"

            Lucius recognized the voice immediately, and he suppressed a grimace.  Arthur Weasley.  He and Alina stopped walking, and Lucius turned his head toward the direction of Arthur's office.  "What do you want, Weasley?"

            Arthur stepped into the hall.  "I need a word with you."  He saw Alina, and added, "Alone, if that's all right."

            "Very well."  Lucius looked at Alina.  "Can you find your way all right?"

            She nodded.  "Yes."

            "Go on ahead.  I won't be long."  He kissed her on the cheek, then followed Arthur inside his office.  He closed the door behind him.  "Make this quick, Weasley."

            Alina watched the door close behind Lucius, then turned around to continue on to the Minister's office.  She stopped, though, when she saw someone walking toward her.  "Hello, Professor McGonagall," she said.

            "Good evening, Professor Terringer," Minerva Dumbledore replied, walking up to her, "but my last name is no longer McGonagall.  Albus and I were married last night."

            "Well, congratulations, Professor Dumbledore," Alina said, making sure she got the name right this time.

            A small smile appeared on Minerva's face.  "Thank you.  Where is Malfoy?"

            Alina gestured toward Arthur's office with her hand.  "He's speaking to Mr. Weasley."

            The smile vanished, and was replaced by a look of concern.  "Oh, dear."

            "This won't take long," Arthur said, walking over to his seat behind his desk.  "Have a seat."

            Lucius sat down in a chair in front of the desk.  "What do you want, Weasley?"

            "I hear you've taken Harry Potter in for the time being," Arthur said.  "Is this true?"

            "It is," Lucius confirmed with a nod.  "Why do you ask?"

            "You can't honestly think that I can relax knowing that boy is with you," Arthur replied.  "Why'd you do it, Malfoy?  What sort of trap are you setting this time?"

            Lucius had no patience with this man, but he fought hard to maintain his composure as he spoke a reply.  "We took Harry in when the school closed so he wouldn't have to stay with Muggles.  He and Draco are friends."

            "This has to be the first time I've ever seen you perform an act of kindness."

            "If you're trying to get my vote for Minister, Weasley, you can just forget about it."

            Arthur almost laughed.  "You think that's what this is about?  I'm voting for Chang, and if you want what's best for the Ministry, you'll vote for Chang, too.  I was merely pointing out that there are some who believe this gesture was not made with honorable intentions."

            Lucius was starting to see where this was going.  "You think I'm going to kill Harry, don't you?"

            "I was thinking more along the line of handing him over to Voldemort."

            "Voldemort betrayed me," Lucius spat.  "He killed my family.  If I had been there, he would have killed me, too.  I am his enemy forever."

            "Whatever you say."  Arthur folded his hands on his desk and leaned forward in his chair.  "It's just awfully convenient that you weren't at Malfoy Manor at the time of the attack."

            "You know I was on official business for the Ministry of Magic," Lucius said.  "You think I had a hand in the attacks, don't you?  Why would I kill my own family?"

            "To make it look like you are the victim here."

            "I am the victim here!" he nearly yelled.  He took several deep breaths to calm himself, then spoke again, this time in a tone of voice that was considerably softer.  "I had no part in these murders.  Besides, it was a Nundu that killed them.  Not even Dumbledore is powerful enough to control a Nundu.  How could I?"

            "Point taken, but be careful, Malfoy.  There's a cell in Azkaban with your name on it, and people who will not rest until you are locked up in it.  I'm telling you this for your own good."  Arthur glanced toward the door briefly, then said, "I see you've wasted no time in beginning your search for a Narcissa replacement.  Who's the new girl?"

            "She is not a Narcissa replacement," Lucius responded, "and her name is Alina Terringer.  She's a teacher at Hogwarts."

            "What, Draco isn't getting good marks in her class, so you think you can sweet-talk her into-"

            "That's enough," Lucius interrupted.  "That accusation is completely absurd, and I will hear no more of it."

            "My children have told me about her," Arthur continued.  "Her entire lineage is Muggles.  Isn't there some sort of Malfoy creed that prohibits fraternization with Muggles?"

            "You're a pureblood, too, Weasley, although I forget it sometimes."  He stood up.  "This conversation is over, and I am leaving.  Good-bye."

            The first thing Lucius saw after exiting Arthur Weasley's office was Alina Terringer, and his heart nearly stopped beating.  She looked angry.  To the side was Minerva Dumbledore, who was fighting to keep a neutral expression.  His stomach tied itself into a knot as he put the pieces in this puzzle together.  "You heard that, didn't you?" he asked softly.

            Alina nodded and glared at him.  "Every word.  Thanks for sticking up for me, Lucius."

            She started walking away at a rapid pace, and he had to run to catch up with her.  "Alina, wait," he said, grabbing on to her arm to stop her.  "I can explain."

            Alina jerked her arm away.  "No," she said, and resumed walking.  "I've heard enough."

            Lucius watched her go, and fought the urge to chase after her.  He could hear Minerva walking toward him, and when the footsteps stopped, he knew she was standing next to him.  "Go ahead," he said.  "You can say it."

            She did.  "You've really done it this time, Malfoy."