Chapter Two: The Plan
"Oh, this is the life!" exclaimed Ginny as she ran over and jumped onto her enormous bed that was covered in about ten rather large, fluffy pillows.
"Oh, Ginny, have you seen the bathrooms!" exclaimed Hermione as she ran into her friend's room. "They are the most incredible bathrooms I have ever seen!"
Ginny hopped off her bed and ran to the bathroom. She gasped as she looked inside. The bathroom was huge. There was dark green marble flooring and the walls were a lighter shade of green. There was a huge Marble tub at the end of the room that had a set of steps leading up to it. Mirrors and a few paintings covered much of the wall space. A long counter with a sink that had a silver dolphin as the spout sat on the left wall. A basket full of soaps and lotions sat on the counter top.
"Oh my god!" Ginny shrieked. "Hermione, I could live in this bathroom forever!"
"I know. These rooms are incredible!"
"Do you find the rooms satisfactory?" came a voice from the doorway.
"Oh, yes, Aunt Mildred, they are absolutely gorgeous!"
"Your home is so lovely." Hermione added.
"Well, thank you, dear, I'm glad you like it."
Ginny's great-aunt Mildred was a rather elderly, but still an impressive woman of regal bearing who was possibly the only well-to-do member of the Weasley family. She had gained her wealth through marriage to a fine gentleman and had been left his entire fortune when he had died twenty-five years ago. She had entered her elderly years alone, no husband and no children. She was a rather reserved and distant woman who had grown colder with time. The only member of her family that she had ever liked was Ginny, probably due to the fact that Ginny was the only one who did not fear her, but instead showed a genuine liking for her somewhat bitter aunt. Ginny had been invited to her aunt's grand home in Kent for a stay one time, but had not seen her since she had moved to Vivino Island twelve years ago.
"I should perhaps leave you two girls to your unpacking. I shall see you for lunch at twelve."
"Thank you, Aunt Mildred."
With that, the elderly woman set on her way down the long hall and down the stairs, leaving the two young girls to settle in.
"You know," said Hermione, "this may actually turn out to be great after all. It's pretty fun having just a girls' time out. No boyfriends driving us crazy."
"Yeah, and acting overly protective and all."
"Oh, that's not too bad."
"Sure, you can afford to say that, all you have is a boyfriend acting overly protective, I, on the other hand, have a boyfriend and a brother.
"You're right, you win. Come on, let's forget those two bastards and just have some fun.
* * *
Meanwhile, in a different location, which bore a stark contrast to the heaven that Ginny and Hermione had found themselves in, stood a circle of men dressed in black robes and wearing masks. The group of Death Eaters stood in the parlor room of a long-since abandoned mansion. Rain pounded against the windows of the room and every so often a flash of lightning would appear, quickly followed by a loud clap of thunder. Now and then a cold draft would find its way into the room causing the room to be much cooler than would have been expected in the June weather.
The Death Eaters stood in silence until a man entered the room followed by another who was significantly shorter than the first. The short man had to trot to keep up with the long strides of the former.
The man stopped in the center of the room and looked around at the men for a few minutes before speaking.
"I guess you all are wondering why you were brought here tonight,"
"Uh oh." Said a certain silvery-blond haired, blue-gray eyed Death Eater. "Looks like Matthews is about to name the murderer."
"I sure hope it wasn't me." This came from a man who stood next to Draco Malfoy.
"Ten Galleons says that the Butler did it." Said Draco.
"Malfoy, Malfoy."
"Yes, yes." They said together. The man who stood next to Draco was in fact his cousin Damien Malfoy.
"Could we please stop with the jokes and get down to business?" said Matthews.
The two men simply shrugged their shoulders and Matthews began his speech. "Well, I received a message from Lord Voldemort last night. He orders that we take control of an island called Marlano. It's a small base containing only about 15 members of the order of the Phoenix. However in about a month they will be receiving a shipment of very old documents which contain some of the oldest and darkest magical scripts, potion recipes, and incantations. Our orders are to get those documents. As the time for the shipment approaches more and more aurors and members of the Order will be arriving on the island. Our job is to quietly gain control of the island, however, until the shipment arrives we are to make everyone believe that nothing has happened. We have to send messages and what-not to make things seem normal. As the aurors and members come we nock them off or capture them.
"Sounds easy." Said one of the masked Death Eaters.
"Well, the island is rigged with several protection charms that we are going to have to figure out how to get by. They have an anti-apparation charm on the island so that's out of the question and we can't just fly in there because it's take about a week and they'd see us a mile away."
"Well, then how are we going to get to the island?" asked another Death Eater.
"Well, that's a good question and I wish that I could tell you."
"Sir, sir," said a young man who stood by Matthews side.
"What is it?" Matthews said sounding a little annoyed.
The man handed him a piece of paper and said, "Our orders for transportation." Matthews took the paper and began to read it. "Well, it says that we shall travel to the island by means of a boat."
"Oh good!" exclaimed Damien. "That should get us there in no time."
"Um, actually it's not an enchanted boat." The young man said nervously.
"What do you mean?" Matthews asked.
"Well, it's muggle, sir."
"Muggle!?" came the exclamation from around the room. A few of them even laughed at the absurdity.
"Be serious, Simon, what would us, a group of Death Eaters be doing on a muggle boat?" came a voice from the group.
"How should I know!? All I know is that those are the orders."
"Maybe you got them mixed up."
"I didn't!"
"Now hold it you guys." Matthew said as he held up a silencing hand. "It makes sense, you know?"
"No, we don't know." came a gruff voice. "Please, Robert, explain to us why we, a group of pure-blood Death Eaters, would have to stoop so low as to make use of a muggle object?"
"Well.because.you see." Matthews stuttered.
"Because," Draco said as he saw Matthews struggling to come up with a good answer, "most likely the aurors have put up some kind of detection spell around Marlano. That way if anyone tries to approach using magic then they'll be able to detect it."
Matthews nodded and said, "Exactly."
This answer seemed to satisfy the group as no one else spoke up.
"So," came a voice after several moments of silence. "When do we set off on this grand little adventure?"
"Tomorrow morning." Matthews replied. "We depart at 0700 hours." he added, looking at the paper with their orders.
"Um, Robert, how much is that in real time?" Damien asked.
"7:00, sir." Simon responded.
"In the a.m.?!" exclaimed one of the Death Eaters.
Simon just merely nodded and the twenty Death Eaters groaned.
"Well, that wraps up business for tonight. I will see you all bright and early in the morning. Um, dismissed or whatever." Said Matthews and turned to leave the room, Simon following close behind.
All the Death Eaters began pulling off their masks and pulling their hoods down. Now that the meeting was over there was no need for them.
"Can you believe this shit?" said Marcus Flint as he walked over to Draco and Damien. Before either of them could say anything three other men came over who turned out to be Crabbe, Goyle, and Montague, who, after several years of therapy, had finally returned to his former self.
"What do you say we head out of here and grab something to eat because I'm starving?" Said Montague.The other four men nodded and promptly apparated out of the drafty old mansion.
"Oh, this is the life!" exclaimed Ginny as she ran over and jumped onto her enormous bed that was covered in about ten rather large, fluffy pillows.
"Oh, Ginny, have you seen the bathrooms!" exclaimed Hermione as she ran into her friend's room. "They are the most incredible bathrooms I have ever seen!"
Ginny hopped off her bed and ran to the bathroom. She gasped as she looked inside. The bathroom was huge. There was dark green marble flooring and the walls were a lighter shade of green. There was a huge Marble tub at the end of the room that had a set of steps leading up to it. Mirrors and a few paintings covered much of the wall space. A long counter with a sink that had a silver dolphin as the spout sat on the left wall. A basket full of soaps and lotions sat on the counter top.
"Oh my god!" Ginny shrieked. "Hermione, I could live in this bathroom forever!"
"I know. These rooms are incredible!"
"Do you find the rooms satisfactory?" came a voice from the doorway.
"Oh, yes, Aunt Mildred, they are absolutely gorgeous!"
"Your home is so lovely." Hermione added.
"Well, thank you, dear, I'm glad you like it."
Ginny's great-aunt Mildred was a rather elderly, but still an impressive woman of regal bearing who was possibly the only well-to-do member of the Weasley family. She had gained her wealth through marriage to a fine gentleman and had been left his entire fortune when he had died twenty-five years ago. She had entered her elderly years alone, no husband and no children. She was a rather reserved and distant woman who had grown colder with time. The only member of her family that she had ever liked was Ginny, probably due to the fact that Ginny was the only one who did not fear her, but instead showed a genuine liking for her somewhat bitter aunt. Ginny had been invited to her aunt's grand home in Kent for a stay one time, but had not seen her since she had moved to Vivino Island twelve years ago.
"I should perhaps leave you two girls to your unpacking. I shall see you for lunch at twelve."
"Thank you, Aunt Mildred."
With that, the elderly woman set on her way down the long hall and down the stairs, leaving the two young girls to settle in.
"You know," said Hermione, "this may actually turn out to be great after all. It's pretty fun having just a girls' time out. No boyfriends driving us crazy."
"Yeah, and acting overly protective and all."
"Oh, that's not too bad."
"Sure, you can afford to say that, all you have is a boyfriend acting overly protective, I, on the other hand, have a boyfriend and a brother.
"You're right, you win. Come on, let's forget those two bastards and just have some fun.
* * *
Meanwhile, in a different location, which bore a stark contrast to the heaven that Ginny and Hermione had found themselves in, stood a circle of men dressed in black robes and wearing masks. The group of Death Eaters stood in the parlor room of a long-since abandoned mansion. Rain pounded against the windows of the room and every so often a flash of lightning would appear, quickly followed by a loud clap of thunder. Now and then a cold draft would find its way into the room causing the room to be much cooler than would have been expected in the June weather.
The Death Eaters stood in silence until a man entered the room followed by another who was significantly shorter than the first. The short man had to trot to keep up with the long strides of the former.
The man stopped in the center of the room and looked around at the men for a few minutes before speaking.
"I guess you all are wondering why you were brought here tonight,"
"Uh oh." Said a certain silvery-blond haired, blue-gray eyed Death Eater. "Looks like Matthews is about to name the murderer."
"I sure hope it wasn't me." This came from a man who stood next to Draco Malfoy.
"Ten Galleons says that the Butler did it." Said Draco.
"Malfoy, Malfoy."
"Yes, yes." They said together. The man who stood next to Draco was in fact his cousin Damien Malfoy.
"Could we please stop with the jokes and get down to business?" said Matthews.
The two men simply shrugged their shoulders and Matthews began his speech. "Well, I received a message from Lord Voldemort last night. He orders that we take control of an island called Marlano. It's a small base containing only about 15 members of the order of the Phoenix. However in about a month they will be receiving a shipment of very old documents which contain some of the oldest and darkest magical scripts, potion recipes, and incantations. Our orders are to get those documents. As the time for the shipment approaches more and more aurors and members of the Order will be arriving on the island. Our job is to quietly gain control of the island, however, until the shipment arrives we are to make everyone believe that nothing has happened. We have to send messages and what-not to make things seem normal. As the aurors and members come we nock them off or capture them.
"Sounds easy." Said one of the masked Death Eaters.
"Well, the island is rigged with several protection charms that we are going to have to figure out how to get by. They have an anti-apparation charm on the island so that's out of the question and we can't just fly in there because it's take about a week and they'd see us a mile away."
"Well, then how are we going to get to the island?" asked another Death Eater.
"Well, that's a good question and I wish that I could tell you."
"Sir, sir," said a young man who stood by Matthews side.
"What is it?" Matthews said sounding a little annoyed.
The man handed him a piece of paper and said, "Our orders for transportation." Matthews took the paper and began to read it. "Well, it says that we shall travel to the island by means of a boat."
"Oh good!" exclaimed Damien. "That should get us there in no time."
"Um, actually it's not an enchanted boat." The young man said nervously.
"What do you mean?" Matthews asked.
"Well, it's muggle, sir."
"Muggle!?" came the exclamation from around the room. A few of them even laughed at the absurdity.
"Be serious, Simon, what would us, a group of Death Eaters be doing on a muggle boat?" came a voice from the group.
"How should I know!? All I know is that those are the orders."
"Maybe you got them mixed up."
"I didn't!"
"Now hold it you guys." Matthew said as he held up a silencing hand. "It makes sense, you know?"
"No, we don't know." came a gruff voice. "Please, Robert, explain to us why we, a group of pure-blood Death Eaters, would have to stoop so low as to make use of a muggle object?"
"Well.because.you see." Matthews stuttered.
"Because," Draco said as he saw Matthews struggling to come up with a good answer, "most likely the aurors have put up some kind of detection spell around Marlano. That way if anyone tries to approach using magic then they'll be able to detect it."
Matthews nodded and said, "Exactly."
This answer seemed to satisfy the group as no one else spoke up.
"So," came a voice after several moments of silence. "When do we set off on this grand little adventure?"
"Tomorrow morning." Matthews replied. "We depart at 0700 hours." he added, looking at the paper with their orders.
"Um, Robert, how much is that in real time?" Damien asked.
"7:00, sir." Simon responded.
"In the a.m.?!" exclaimed one of the Death Eaters.
Simon just merely nodded and the twenty Death Eaters groaned.
"Well, that wraps up business for tonight. I will see you all bright and early in the morning. Um, dismissed or whatever." Said Matthews and turned to leave the room, Simon following close behind.
All the Death Eaters began pulling off their masks and pulling their hoods down. Now that the meeting was over there was no need for them.
"Can you believe this shit?" said Marcus Flint as he walked over to Draco and Damien. Before either of them could say anything three other men came over who turned out to be Crabbe, Goyle, and Montague, who, after several years of therapy, had finally returned to his former self.
"What do you say we head out of here and grab something to eat because I'm starving?" Said Montague.The other four men nodded and promptly apparated out of the drafty old mansion.