Disclaimer: OK, you know it, I know it, but to avoid any legal issues that might come up, I still have to do this. I do NOT own any characters or places connected with the Harry Potter books. I'd like to, yes, but they are all J.K.Rowling's creation. I DO own, however, Lady Violet (the ruler of the giants). That said, we can all move along to more pleasant things, like the actual chapter.
A/N: Yippee! I've found a new second beta! So welcome all, my new second beta *~* Dy *~*. And, of course, it's still beta-read by Luinthoron, the big brother everyone would like to have but only I (and our two little sisters and our little brother) have, too. Luinthoron, just for you, Lucius is back.
Chapter Thirteen: Preparations Again
Lucius Malfoy was, once again, standing before Lady Violet. Only that this time, he wasn't here as an envoy, he felt more like a post owl. In any other occasion he would have thought of it as a disgrace to his family, but now, it was more an honour. The Dark Lord had summoned him to the Riddle house and trusted him with this letter of greatest importance. Lucius would have preferred to remain in England, of course, preparing for the battle together with all the other Death Eaters. But then again, this vas a very important mission and he had been elected for it. And he was very proud of it. Not even mainly because of himself, but his son could be very proud of him because of this. He had been elected to deliver the summons to battle to the giants.
"Lucius, my friend," the Dark Lord had said when he had stood in front of his Lordship, "I want you to go on a little trip for me. We will attack soon and I need the giants in this battle. I will announce the details to my other loyal followers at the gathering tonight, but I need you to leave at once and take this letter to Lady Violet. You will find your instructions in this envelope," he added, giving him yet another sealed envelope, "you will have time enough to read them on your journey. Your carriage is waiting. We will be expecting you and the giants."
Lucius hadn't even had time to say good-bye to his wife. Thankfully enough, the carriage had been supplied with parchment and ink as well as an owl. He had written to Narcissa telling her not to worry and that there had been unexpected circumstances that had forced him to travel up to the north for some time. And he had written to his son telling him about his mission and it's importance. And now he was here standing before the amethyst-eyed giantess. Lady Violet looked at him with concern in her eyes. She had hoped against hope that it wouldn't come to this. But the sealed scroll in the messenger's hands really didn't hint on a visit out of friendship. No. This meant things were serious. But she had signed the alliance. She had done it for the memory of his father. And she couldn't back off now. She stood up and covered the distance between the envoy and herself with only few steps.
"So it's time, Lucius? Your Lord needs our assistance?" she asked, accepting the scroll Lucius was still holding out to her.
The question was only formal and Lucius knew it. But still, courtesy rules said that he had to answer anyway.
"Yes, my Lady," he said, "I think so. I was trusted with this letter, but I was not told, what is written in there. I can only guess."
Well, that wasn't a direct lie. Lord Voldemort hadn't told him what this letter hid. He had written it in Lucius' instructions, yes, but he hadn't told him. Lady Violet seemed to believe him, anyway. She turned and went to sit back in her chair, opening the scroll only after being in the comforting presence of her Father's old chair. The letter was just what she had expected it to be a request to send giants' troops to a wizards' war. But there was nothing she could have done to avoid this. Her Father had been allied with Lord Voldemort and if she had refused to sign the new alliance she would have dishonoured her whole clan. And if she were to back off of the contract now she would have done the same. But her giants weren't magical like the wizards. They were a terrifying force, when attacking together, that was right, but there was more to consider now. One of her giantesses had already switched sides. She had let herself be convinced the false promises Dumbledore had tried to fool her with. Or no, she had let herself be convinced by the choice of envoys Dumbledore had made. Even though Lady Violet could see Fridwulfa's motives, as one of Dumbledore's envoys had been her son, she still couldn't forgive her the betrayal. If she didn't want to fight her own son she should have said so, and she would have been left home to take care of the children of the ones fighting the war for tolerance and rights for giants. But she had left with the half-breeds, soiling the name of all giants with her betrayal. Never before had a giant broken a promise, but now, how was she to ever give the giants back the honourable name they had once had, if not by holding on to the alliance contract?
"Very well," she said to Lucius. "My army will stand ready to leave in two days. I take it; your Lord has also renewed other old allies? Our battle forces alone won't be enough to fight Dumbledore I'm afraid. Of what I've heard, he is one of the most skilled wizards these days and, as you might remember, we are not a magical folk. There are a few of us, who have this gift, as myself, as you know, but it's rare and those of us who are magical haven't received the training they should have. No wizarding school wants to accept giant children for education anymore. I have taught the few with this gift myself, but I am no master in these arts. Still, they will be able to help you, should there be need for this."
"You are right, my Lady, as always," Lucius answered. "We have the Dementors on our side, as well as an army of werewolves. We have vampires on our side, as well. Oh, and not to forget the new addition to our allies, the Veelas."
He noticed Lady Violet crumpling her nose, but did not let himself be bothered by that. Women didn't like Veelas; there was no way around this. Lucius strongly suspected that it had something to do with the effect they had on men. But just because of this influence on the male behaviour, they were such an effective addition to Lord Voldemort's troops. Wizards of the Resistance and the Ministry - they had to be counted separately - would be no problem because of this. But the witches that fought in the war were another matter. But then again, there weren't as many witches fighting, as there were wizards and once the wizards were taken care of, Lord Voldemort's foes would have lost almost two thirds of their battle forces.
"Veelas are hardly a respectable battle unit," Lady Violet countered. "They are too unpredictable, too unstable and…"
"Totally capable to take on most of our opponents by themselves," Lucius cut her off. "Most of our opponents are wizards, my Lady. They are men. And you should know how well Veelas can handle men!"
Lady Violet was giving Lucius a death glare now. She wasn't used to being interrupted while talking. As the ruler of giants, the giantess was accustomed to being treated with the greatest respect. Even the Dark Lord had always showed deepest respect towards the giantess and her father. Lucius, too, realised his mistake now.
"My Lady, please forgive me this outburst. We all have been under much pressure during these times and I am inconsolable about having let it show in front of you. It won't happen again, my Lady," he quickly added with a deep bow.
Lady Violet, although a little shocked about the way she had just been talked to, calmed down evidently. "Times of war tend to have this effect on humans," she said. "You, my friend, have seen more of it lately than my people and I. It would be unwise of me to presume that it hasn't affected you at all. I will forgive you your rudeness this time. It would, as you might suppose yourself, of course, be wiser to not let your temper slip like this again." There was a threatening tune in her voice, even though her face retained the look of kindness that had been there always. "Now that that's told, would you please bring my knowledge of this war up to date?"
Something was coming. Something big. Dumbledore knew it. The Death Eaters had been too quiet lately. This could only mean that they were preparing for something. Even the Minister seemed to have noticed. He had summoned Dumbledore to the Ministry this very evening for counselling. Last time this had happened before this war broke free. Before Riddle… no, there was nothing of Tom Riddle left in the beast that was now known as Voldemort… before his resurrection. The two men had talked for hours in a sealed cabinet, but Dumbledore still hadn't agreed to help Minister Fudge. They hadn't agreed on one particular topic, one thing that was more important than anything else for some of Dumbledore's people, the topic of Sirius Black. And in this matter, Dumbledore was not willing to give up his demands. Sirius had to be pardoned. No, Sirius' name had to be cleared. The Ministry had to apologise and announce that the one who had betrayed the Potters and killed all those people hadn't been Sirius, that it had been Peter Pettigrew instead. Well, the only witnesses who had seen Pettigrew alive had been Remus, Harry, Ron and Hermione. Remus was a werewolf, as unreliable as a witness could be. The fact that he had recently suffered from amnesia didn't add to his reliability either. Harry was a parseltongue, which meant, that his testimony couldn't be trusted, too. And he was a child, as were Ronald and Hermione. Minister Fudge just couldn't see that they could be trusted not to lie in manners of this importance. He just repeated what he had heard from Snape on the night of Sirius' escape - they were just brainwashed children. There was no way Dumbledore hadn't tried convincing the Minister about Sirius' innocence, but he had no real evidence and Cornelius just wouldn't listen to him. This had been a lost battle from the beginning on.
He was back at Hogwarts now sitting in his office with a large cup of hot cocoa in his hands. Fawkes eyed him with concern. The intelligent bird realised well enough that the old man's mind was troubled. Even though Dumbledore never showed it to other humans, he was very worried. Fawkes was the only one who saw Professor Dumbledore without his mask of carefree happiness. The bird lifted its head and produced a long trilling sound. The old man smiled and looked up to the bird. It always did this. It was magical, of course, but so were the cheering charms. And he really preferred the bird's song. He knew the bird cared deeply for him and let it cheer him up when it wanted. As the things were lately, the cheering effect wouldn't last for long, anyway.
He apparated into a completely dark room and was surprised to find no lighting at all, to tell the least. As long as he remembered, there had always been a fire lit in the fireplace when he came here. But as for now, it was filled with darkness so deep that he couldn't even see his own hand before his eyes. And what made him even more curious was the fact that he didn't sense any other presence in the room. Wondering what his Lord was up to now, Arthur disapparated from the old room in the Riddle house again. There was something telling him that there was something strange going on.
A/N: Sorry it took that long again. I'll try to hurry up with the next chapters. There aren't that many left, you know…
As for now - please, review!
--Altair
A/N: Yippee! I've found a new second beta! So welcome all, my new second beta *~* Dy *~*. And, of course, it's still beta-read by Luinthoron, the big brother everyone would like to have but only I (and our two little sisters and our little brother) have, too. Luinthoron, just for you, Lucius is back.
Chapter Thirteen: Preparations Again
Lucius Malfoy was, once again, standing before Lady Violet. Only that this time, he wasn't here as an envoy, he felt more like a post owl. In any other occasion he would have thought of it as a disgrace to his family, but now, it was more an honour. The Dark Lord had summoned him to the Riddle house and trusted him with this letter of greatest importance. Lucius would have preferred to remain in England, of course, preparing for the battle together with all the other Death Eaters. But then again, this vas a very important mission and he had been elected for it. And he was very proud of it. Not even mainly because of himself, but his son could be very proud of him because of this. He had been elected to deliver the summons to battle to the giants.
"Lucius, my friend," the Dark Lord had said when he had stood in front of his Lordship, "I want you to go on a little trip for me. We will attack soon and I need the giants in this battle. I will announce the details to my other loyal followers at the gathering tonight, but I need you to leave at once and take this letter to Lady Violet. You will find your instructions in this envelope," he added, giving him yet another sealed envelope, "you will have time enough to read them on your journey. Your carriage is waiting. We will be expecting you and the giants."
Lucius hadn't even had time to say good-bye to his wife. Thankfully enough, the carriage had been supplied with parchment and ink as well as an owl. He had written to Narcissa telling her not to worry and that there had been unexpected circumstances that had forced him to travel up to the north for some time. And he had written to his son telling him about his mission and it's importance. And now he was here standing before the amethyst-eyed giantess. Lady Violet looked at him with concern in her eyes. She had hoped against hope that it wouldn't come to this. But the sealed scroll in the messenger's hands really didn't hint on a visit out of friendship. No. This meant things were serious. But she had signed the alliance. She had done it for the memory of his father. And she couldn't back off now. She stood up and covered the distance between the envoy and herself with only few steps.
"So it's time, Lucius? Your Lord needs our assistance?" she asked, accepting the scroll Lucius was still holding out to her.
The question was only formal and Lucius knew it. But still, courtesy rules said that he had to answer anyway.
"Yes, my Lady," he said, "I think so. I was trusted with this letter, but I was not told, what is written in there. I can only guess."
Well, that wasn't a direct lie. Lord Voldemort hadn't told him what this letter hid. He had written it in Lucius' instructions, yes, but he hadn't told him. Lady Violet seemed to believe him, anyway. She turned and went to sit back in her chair, opening the scroll only after being in the comforting presence of her Father's old chair. The letter was just what she had expected it to be a request to send giants' troops to a wizards' war. But there was nothing she could have done to avoid this. Her Father had been allied with Lord Voldemort and if she had refused to sign the new alliance she would have dishonoured her whole clan. And if she were to back off of the contract now she would have done the same. But her giants weren't magical like the wizards. They were a terrifying force, when attacking together, that was right, but there was more to consider now. One of her giantesses had already switched sides. She had let herself be convinced the false promises Dumbledore had tried to fool her with. Or no, she had let herself be convinced by the choice of envoys Dumbledore had made. Even though Lady Violet could see Fridwulfa's motives, as one of Dumbledore's envoys had been her son, she still couldn't forgive her the betrayal. If she didn't want to fight her own son she should have said so, and she would have been left home to take care of the children of the ones fighting the war for tolerance and rights for giants. But she had left with the half-breeds, soiling the name of all giants with her betrayal. Never before had a giant broken a promise, but now, how was she to ever give the giants back the honourable name they had once had, if not by holding on to the alliance contract?
"Very well," she said to Lucius. "My army will stand ready to leave in two days. I take it; your Lord has also renewed other old allies? Our battle forces alone won't be enough to fight Dumbledore I'm afraid. Of what I've heard, he is one of the most skilled wizards these days and, as you might remember, we are not a magical folk. There are a few of us, who have this gift, as myself, as you know, but it's rare and those of us who are magical haven't received the training they should have. No wizarding school wants to accept giant children for education anymore. I have taught the few with this gift myself, but I am no master in these arts. Still, they will be able to help you, should there be need for this."
"You are right, my Lady, as always," Lucius answered. "We have the Dementors on our side, as well as an army of werewolves. We have vampires on our side, as well. Oh, and not to forget the new addition to our allies, the Veelas."
He noticed Lady Violet crumpling her nose, but did not let himself be bothered by that. Women didn't like Veelas; there was no way around this. Lucius strongly suspected that it had something to do with the effect they had on men. But just because of this influence on the male behaviour, they were such an effective addition to Lord Voldemort's troops. Wizards of the Resistance and the Ministry - they had to be counted separately - would be no problem because of this. But the witches that fought in the war were another matter. But then again, there weren't as many witches fighting, as there were wizards and once the wizards were taken care of, Lord Voldemort's foes would have lost almost two thirds of their battle forces.
"Veelas are hardly a respectable battle unit," Lady Violet countered. "They are too unpredictable, too unstable and…"
"Totally capable to take on most of our opponents by themselves," Lucius cut her off. "Most of our opponents are wizards, my Lady. They are men. And you should know how well Veelas can handle men!"
Lady Violet was giving Lucius a death glare now. She wasn't used to being interrupted while talking. As the ruler of giants, the giantess was accustomed to being treated with the greatest respect. Even the Dark Lord had always showed deepest respect towards the giantess and her father. Lucius, too, realised his mistake now.
"My Lady, please forgive me this outburst. We all have been under much pressure during these times and I am inconsolable about having let it show in front of you. It won't happen again, my Lady," he quickly added with a deep bow.
Lady Violet, although a little shocked about the way she had just been talked to, calmed down evidently. "Times of war tend to have this effect on humans," she said. "You, my friend, have seen more of it lately than my people and I. It would be unwise of me to presume that it hasn't affected you at all. I will forgive you your rudeness this time. It would, as you might suppose yourself, of course, be wiser to not let your temper slip like this again." There was a threatening tune in her voice, even though her face retained the look of kindness that had been there always. "Now that that's told, would you please bring my knowledge of this war up to date?"
Something was coming. Something big. Dumbledore knew it. The Death Eaters had been too quiet lately. This could only mean that they were preparing for something. Even the Minister seemed to have noticed. He had summoned Dumbledore to the Ministry this very evening for counselling. Last time this had happened before this war broke free. Before Riddle… no, there was nothing of Tom Riddle left in the beast that was now known as Voldemort… before his resurrection. The two men had talked for hours in a sealed cabinet, but Dumbledore still hadn't agreed to help Minister Fudge. They hadn't agreed on one particular topic, one thing that was more important than anything else for some of Dumbledore's people, the topic of Sirius Black. And in this matter, Dumbledore was not willing to give up his demands. Sirius had to be pardoned. No, Sirius' name had to be cleared. The Ministry had to apologise and announce that the one who had betrayed the Potters and killed all those people hadn't been Sirius, that it had been Peter Pettigrew instead. Well, the only witnesses who had seen Pettigrew alive had been Remus, Harry, Ron and Hermione. Remus was a werewolf, as unreliable as a witness could be. The fact that he had recently suffered from amnesia didn't add to his reliability either. Harry was a parseltongue, which meant, that his testimony couldn't be trusted, too. And he was a child, as were Ronald and Hermione. Minister Fudge just couldn't see that they could be trusted not to lie in manners of this importance. He just repeated what he had heard from Snape on the night of Sirius' escape - they were just brainwashed children. There was no way Dumbledore hadn't tried convincing the Minister about Sirius' innocence, but he had no real evidence and Cornelius just wouldn't listen to him. This had been a lost battle from the beginning on.
He was back at Hogwarts now sitting in his office with a large cup of hot cocoa in his hands. Fawkes eyed him with concern. The intelligent bird realised well enough that the old man's mind was troubled. Even though Dumbledore never showed it to other humans, he was very worried. Fawkes was the only one who saw Professor Dumbledore without his mask of carefree happiness. The bird lifted its head and produced a long trilling sound. The old man smiled and looked up to the bird. It always did this. It was magical, of course, but so were the cheering charms. And he really preferred the bird's song. He knew the bird cared deeply for him and let it cheer him up when it wanted. As the things were lately, the cheering effect wouldn't last for long, anyway.
He apparated into a completely dark room and was surprised to find no lighting at all, to tell the least. As long as he remembered, there had always been a fire lit in the fireplace when he came here. But as for now, it was filled with darkness so deep that he couldn't even see his own hand before his eyes. And what made him even more curious was the fact that he didn't sense any other presence in the room. Wondering what his Lord was up to now, Arthur disapparated from the old room in the Riddle house again. There was something telling him that there was something strange going on.
A/N: Sorry it took that long again. I'll try to hurry up with the next chapters. There aren't that many left, you know…
As for now - please, review!
--Altair