"A good indignation brings out all one's powers". (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
The cell door opened with a squeak and Tethering and the two aurors entered. She heard Lucius sigh quietly and release her, and she leaned back and got up. The advocatus gave her a searching look and nodded to himself as if to confirm something. Before even greeting his client he turned to the guards.
"I wish to be provided with a list of all spells this cell is impregnated with. I believe there are several irregular tristitia hexes here, aside from the magical suppression spell. Also, what do you think you are doing fitting your prisoner with a collar?" His voice sounded sharp and outraged and cut through the haze of depression and misery that blanketed her.
The aurors exchanged troubled glances. "Uh, we would have to inform our superior," the man said. "We didn't prepare the cell or secure the prisoner." Tethering whirled round to face them. His brows knit in a furious scowl. "Then do it, before I lodge a complaint about torture and the abuse of suspects!" The aurors whispered briefly. Then the woman left in a hurry.
Tethering meanwhile had walked over to Lucius and shook his hand. "Mr. Malfoy. While I am pleased to be able to finally visit, I am shocked and outraged to see you in such a state." The wizard had got up from his bunk again, weariness in every movement and greeted his advocatus. Tethering leaned in, motioning for Eleanor to join them.
"What you are experiencing is not normal," he whispered to them. "This cell has been magically prepared to drain all hope and optimism from inhabitants. You are feeling something of a reduced Dementor effect. Try to fight it. Your depression is not real and not warranted by the situation. I would suggest you work up a decent level of outrage at your treatment. Fury normally does the trick."
He stepped back a little. "Mr. Malfoy, what is the most vexatious aspect of your current situation?" he asked in a normal voice. Eleanor watched Lucius' lips compress. His features slowly sharpened in anger, and she found herself breathing harder as he seemed to regain some of his former strength and temper. Suddenly he brought his face close to them, his fists clenched at his side. "I have lice!" he hissed.
"I am the head of the house of Malfoy, and I have lice! They were in the hay-stuffed bag they call a mattress and the filthy rags they call a prison uniform. Now I can feel them crawl on me as I try to sleep, and I have no magical means to rid myself of them. Bloody vermin! I would kill for this insult, if I could."
Tethering pursed his lips at seeing his client deathly pale with a lethal light in his grey eyes. "Very good, Mr. Malfoy. If you think you are ready to give up again, think about the lice. Until we can get those spells lifted, your little companions may prove to be your best friends."
He pulled a notebook and a dictating quill out of his robes. "Now, I doubt that we have much time. So we must make haste and cover the important topics. I will need to know about your interrogation first. How were you questioned? What did you tell them? We need to get everything suppressed that does not pertain to the battle at the Ministry, otherwise we have already lost this case."
The young auror was thinking to protest at this, but Tethering silenced him quickly. "If you had followed protocol from the beginning, we would not have to do this! One more attempt to obstruct me, and I will personally take the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to court."
For the next few minutes all that could be heard was Lucius describing in terse words his time in Azkaban, his initial resistance and his final submission to drinking the Veritaserum on the fifth day without water. The quill ran rapidly over its scroll of parchment while he talked. Tethering's face looked grim, when he heard about the extent to which Lucius had been questioned.
There had been aurors with him almost without interruption, sometimes they had brought him out in the middle of the night. Some sessions had lasted minutes, some hours on end, in order to disorient him. Lucius' capture had been a horrible blow to Voldemort's operations, but Eleanor was glad to hear that the advocatus did not concern himself with that.
"We need to ensure none of this is admissible in court for your trial. I am sure it will seep out in the trials of the others eventually. But my sources tell me you will be the first to go before the wizengamot, and we can put a gag order on this. I will get the transcriptions and protocols. However, we will have to allow the portions pertaining directly to the battle at the Ministry, which means, you already confessed and we will have to plead guilty to the charges. So you will stand accused of attempted robbery, reckless endangerment of minors and of conspiracy – conspiracy being the hardest to shake. There is some precedence of capital punishment for that."
Lucius looked more spirited as he considered Tethering's summary. It seemed the lice really had helped. "Fine," he agreed, always ready to cut his losses and capitalize on the moment. "What can we get away with for a sentence?" The advocatus swallowed, looking slightly nervous all of a sudden. "Exile," he said. Lucius stared at him out of icy grey eyes. "Exile! Merlin's balls! You suggest I become a squib and live among muggles? That's rich! As a matter of fact, that's unacceptable!"
The wizard's voice really carried now, and Eleanor, who was not surprised at the reaction watched her former student cringe in the corner by the door. Lucius wasn't finished yet. "Tethering, what the hell kind of potion did you drink before you came here?"
The advocatus took a step back, but before he could answer, Eleanor moved between the two men putting a hand on Lucius arm. "You need to consider more here," she said quietly, so the young auror wouldn't hear her. "We have three of seven judges under our control, so the sentencing should be a realistic goal. You haven't seen what's going on outside. People are crazy with fear at the reemergence of the Dark Lord. There have been numerous raids and unlawful arrests of innocent people.
This morning's paper carried a story about the killing of a wizard who was a suspected Death Eater by a mob. He didn't even bear the mark when they examined the man later. We are fighting very hard right now not to get you executed or locked up in here forever.
Do you think we'd let it rest after that? All I want right now is for you to get out of here and to safety. Tethering and I can work on the inside, and when the uproar dies down we will contest the judgment. There will be a backlash at the liberties the Ministry is taking with the law right now. But it won't help us if you are dead or back in here and they have thrown away the key. What shape do you think you will be in after a few months like this in Azkaban?"
Lucius stared at her. She saw his jaws work as he fought down his anger and disappointment. "I know you are doing what you can," he finally gritted out then turned away for a moment to collect himself. "The shame and humiliation of it, though. A Malfoy sentenced to live among muggles. How can I do that to my family, my ancestors, my son?"
Eleanor shook her head. There he stood, just recently exposed as a Death Eater and follower of Voldemort, and now a common prisoner, and he took it all in his stride, without a shred of embarrassment. But the thought of living as a muggle seemed to be more debasement than he could bear. She touched him again.
"You are a Slytherin, Lucius, you are a survivor," she reminded him. "You may have to live among muggles for a while, but you are not one of them. Think of a snake hiding in tall grasses to wait for the right time to strike. Why do you think the Malfoys chose the serpent as their emblem?"
Slowly the blond wizard turned back to her. His face showed little expression, but she read resolve instead of fury in his pale eyes. "A snake in the grass, eh?" He briefly touched her cheek. "Tethering, you are lucky you brought her with you. Let's talk about my defense."
They had been discussing their strategy for a few minutes when suddenly the cell door burst open, and as the advocatus and the witch looked back they saw the tall figure of an auror outlined against the pale torch-light of the hallway. "What is the meaning of this?" the man roared. Eleanor could not recall ever having seen a more remarkably disfigured person. His face showed a spectacular assortment of scars, half his nose was missing and while one of his eyes fixed on them with an angry glare, the other one, of a striking blue color, roved around the cell like a chameleon's.
Tethering approached the man calmly. "Ah, Alastor Moody," he said coolly. "I see they are running short on aurors. Now they are even reactivating the retired ones…"
"Tethering!" The auror literally spat out the name. "You have no right to be sneaking in here. This time you won't be cutting plush little deals for your Death Eater clients. You and your associates are the kind of filthy vermin that makes money off keeping us from ridding the world of Voldemort. You disgust me!"
The advocatus held out the permit. "I hope you can still read," he smirked. "Signed by the Unspeakable Soren. We have every right to be here. You, on the other hand had no right interrogating my client under Veritaserum without me present and about anything but the battle at the Ministry. You still have no right to keep him under these conditions, either. And the authorities will hear about this. Now kindly step outside, see that this cell is de-hexed, get a key for that iron collar and let me do my job. Always remember: innocent until proven guilty."
The auror turned dark crimson at those words. "Innocent," he shouted. "Have you seen the interrogation protocols? Have you seen what this man has confessed to, the cursing, the torturing, the killing?" Eleanor watched as the advocatus merely shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid I am solely interested in the current case. My client's private life is of no concern to me." He turned his back on Auror Moody and continued to confer with Lucius.
"Get them out of here," commanded the auror and the two younger guards approached cautiously. Eleanor decided to intervene, to buy Tethering more time as he was whispering to his client. "Sir, we really have a permit to be here, and the advocatus is within his legal rights." She felt she was half-choking on her words, knowing that they only got Soren's signature, because Lucius had set young Asphodela on him, and they had blackmailed the Unspeakable with the incriminating evidence.
"Who are you? You're not Mrs. Malfoy," said Moody, looking her over with a sneer. "Why are you here?" She drew herself up. "I'm of Mr. Malfoy's acquaintance. I am helping the advocatus with information." Moody leaned in on her. "I wouldn't boast about that, if I were you," he growled at her. "You'll find these days acquaintance with the Malfoys doesn't quite cut it the way it used to."
Eleanor knew she was merely stalling, but took a step forward and stared the auror squarely in the face. "Are you threatening me, sir? I am not a Death Eater," she said with forced calm. She pulled her sleeve back from her left forearm. "I don't much care for your attitude." The auror snorted at her. "Nor do I care for yours. You don't have to be a Death Eater to do the Dark Lord's work. Now get out, both of you, before I have you forcibly removed."
Eleanor felt a light tap on her shoulder. It was Tethering. "We are done," he told her quietly then added in a louder tone for the benefit of the aurors. "We are not leaving until my client's conditions match legal regulations." He folded his arms across his chest and stood next to Lucius, who had watched the exchange with cool amusement. Eleanor joined him, finding that the aggression and defiance that swept the room was infinitely preferable to the black and sticky morass of despair that had her in its grip only a little while earlier. A sideways glance at her lover showed her that he seemed more energized as well.
"Fine," growled Moody. "Have it your way. Brannock, Murnwort, seize them and walk them to the courtyard. Now!"
The male auror strode up to Tethering who started to protest loudly, and just then Eleanor felt Lucius move towards her so their bodies touched. He leaned in on her. "Thank you, Eleanor," he said quietly. Then she felt a hard object being pressed into her hand. "See if you can talk to my son. Give him this. Tell him to remember that he's a Malfoy, tell him to be brave and to be careful. Tell him…" She felt the hands of the female auror touch her. "Professor?" "…tell him – I love him."
She allowed herself to be moved from the cell, but looked behind her to see Lucius stand forward as far as his collar would allow him. He carried himself upright and with pride. "I will," she called back at him. "I won't give up."
Eleanor blinked in the sudden sunlight as she stepped into the busy side-street outside the Ministry of Magic. Beside her Advocatus Tethering moved out of the way of a bicycle courier who was coming at them at breakneck speed. "Well, that was fun," he declared with a grin and cracked his knuckles. She stared at him in surprise.
They had just reapparated at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and handed in their Azkaban portkey. Earlier the two aurors under the command of Alastor Moody had marched them back into the central courtyard of the prison and had made them return to London. All the while Tethering had quoted procedure at them and protested loudly, and by the time they had reached the open, a whole throng of guards and curious aurors had followed them, while locked-up prisoners had banged on the insides of their cell doors. Auror Moody had looked as if he was suffering from an imminent aneurism, and she had anticipated getting hexed at any moment.
"I don't know about you," continued the Advocatus, "but I need chocolate, lots of it. Best thing in the world to get over a tristitia spell." Eleanor considered. They still had a lot to talk about, so she nodded. "Sure, where to?" she asked. Tethering pulled out his wand. "Silver Teapot, in Diagon Alley." He had barely spoken the words, when he had already disapparated.
She caught up with him outside the small café and they picked a table facing the street. As she settled in and studied the menu, she remembered another warm and sunny summer day when she had first met Lucius Malfoy in this very spot six years ago. She had been in better company then, sitting with Professors McGonagal and Sprout, not with a seedy, dubious lawyer, who thought nothing of bribery and employed a vampire.
A few minutes later a buxom witch in poison-green robes walked over to them, and greeted Tethering. "Marcellus, how are you? Haven't seen you in ages! How's business?" The advocatus grinned at her. "Oh, Matilda, it's picking up, I tell you. Nothing like some good Death Eater raids to get us going. Anyway, here's a client right now. Professor Eleanor Sartorius – Matilda Figgs, owner of the Silver Teapot. Eleanor, allow me to order for both of us. The item is not on the menu, but you'll love it. Matilda, we'll need two of your excellent Dementor Specials."
The witch shook her head. "Been in Azkaban again," she said. "I thought it was better now that the Dementors had left." Tethering shook his head. "They still have some of the cells hexed. Keep buying chocolate, Matilda."
The proprietor of the Silver Teapot left with their order, and Tethering leaned back watching the passers-by. He seemed very relaxed and at ease, and Eleanor decided that his belligerence at the prison had most likely been an act. "So, what's the deal with Desdemona?" she asked, just to make conversation.
Tethering cast a sharp glance in her direction, then shrugged his shoulders. "She was one of the most celebrated muggle courtesans in 1750s London. Belisarius met her at a ball he was attending, and got quite infatuated with her. She became his mistress, and after a few years, as he realized how quickly she aged, he asked a vampire acquaintance to turn her. Now it's most likely she'll outlive him. Well, outexist him, after all she's legally dead, of course."
Eleanor considered. "No problems with the Ministry about employing a vampire?" she asked. "Don't see why," replied the advocatus. "We've had her way before there even were rules regarding vampires. And if someone wanted to make an issue out of it, Mr. Malfoy isn't the only wizard with a little black book…" She forced a smile. "I should have guessed," she said.
Just then Matilda Figgs came back with a huge enchanted tray floating before her and started putting plates and cups in front of them. Soon Eleanor was staring at an enormous piece of seven-layered dark chocolate cake with chocolate icing, chocolate sprinkles and chocolate sauce, a bowl of chocolate ice cream and a pint-sized mug steaming with hot chocolate milk. The older witch patted her on the shoulder. "There, there, luv, that'll have you sorted in no time. And if you need more, just let me know."
Eleanor stared at her food in disbelief. This would feed five house-elves for two years. Reluctantly she picked up a spoon to try the ice cream. Tethering had already sunk his fork into the cake and started shoveling chocolate in his face. For the next twenty minutes he was completely oblivious to any attempts at conversation.
Eleanor watched in amazement as he actually managed to put away the entire Dementor Special, while she had to admit to defeat half-way through her cake. Still, she realized that she felt much better than before and wished she'd had the foresight to take some chocolate to Azkaban with her. It would have done Lucius some good.
Eventually Tethering leaned back and stretched his legs. "Ah, perfect," he sighed and closed his eyes. Eleanor pushed back her plate. "So, you mentioned some good and some bad news, when we apparated in Azkaban," she said. "What else is going on?" The advocatus briefly opened one eye.
"Well, the trial is set for the 25th of June. That's in about a week. We'll definitely get Mr. Malfoy's confessions suppressed, because we have the leverage we need. We also definitely have three of the judges committed to voting for exile. The public interrogator assigned to the case is a rather uncharismatic and pedantic bore who won't do much to sway opinion. We can walk all over him. All that is very reassuring, but here's the problem: Albus Dumbledore just got himself reinstated as chief of the wizengamot for this case. I guess Fudge felt he owed him."
She considered. "We need Dumbledore on our side," she said. "He'll be able to make this case go the way he wants, no matter how much blackmail we have going for us. He just has that kind of authority." Tethering finally opened both eyes and looked at her. "You may have noticed, he is not mentioned in Mr. Malfoy's book," he told her. "I don't see why he would want to support us. In fact he's probably our greatest obstacle to getting what we want." Eleanor pursed her lips. "I'll handle Dumbledore," she promised the advocatus.
The wizard snorted. "Yeah, famous last words. Last time I heard that, Mr. Malfoy had just got the guy suspended from his post as headmaster and was boasting to me. A few days later Malfoy was himself dismissed from the board of governors in disgrace. I tell you, you don't want to mess with the man."
Eleanor nodded. "I won't mess with him, and I won't try and threaten him. But I have something that he might want very much. I could sell it to him for the price of exile." Tethering shrugged his shoulders. "Suit yourself," he said. "If nothing else, it'll be amusing."
Just then Matilda Figgs reappeared with the bill. Tethering closed his eyes again. "You'll get that, right?" he asked. Eleanor sighed and pulled a galleon and several sickles from her belt-purse. "Naturally," she said. "I would not expect anything else from a self-respecting advocatus." She paid the witch and got ready to leave. The lawyer hadn't moved at all. "Let me know of your progress with Dumbledore," he said, eyes still shut. "I'll owl you if anything else happens."
Eleanor gathered her robes, got up and slowly walked down the street to Eeylops Owl Emporium. They had a small postal service on the side, and she needed to send a message to Wiltshire, and another one to Scotland.