Deconstruction

Chapter Fifteen: Revealed

Many Ministry employees were dressed in their best finery as they prepared for what would be one of the most important nights in Ministry history. Among the attendees was Arthur, he was supposed to be one of the people meeting with the important foreign leaders. With so much going on, security was high as Kingsley along with other Aurors worked around the clock to ensure the safety of everyone involved.

They were prepared for Death Eaters, but not for something else entirely. Something was coming that they had no idea would strike. The target was none of the foreign leaders at all. Kingsley hadn't seen any of the drawings that were recovered from Oliver's flat, so there was no way he would have noticed anyone. Arthur was in another place entire.

The press was there in full force with different newspapers and magazines from all over the world. They were carefully screened and kept at bay. One reporter managed to slip by quite easily. All he needed was a press pass and he was allowed inside. After all, there were several reporters from the Daily Prophet.

Everything was going as planned from one end at least.

Tonks awoke again at another place. She was getting pretty tired of waking up in strange places. She had no idea where she was, yet it seemed strangely familiar. They were underground again. The man who had first abducted her was nearby. She thought of the person who tried to save her.

"You did something to Percy, didn't you? Just like what you did to him," she whispered. Had she been braver she would have said it more loudly. The person turned and looked at her. "Why did you take me here? Why didn't you leave me at that other place? What do you need me for?"

"Leverage," replied the man plainly. "You don't know who am I, do you?" When she didn't indicate any sort of response other than just staring at him, he answered for her, "You wouldn't know me because of your mother. She was the one who abandoned her heritage and left her family to marry your father."

"What you believe in is wrong," said Tonks in a soft voice. She gave a soft laugh of mockery. "You are so eager to tell me what you've done. To tell me how clever you've been because there's no one else to tell it to is there? The other person you could tell it to is nothing more, but a puppet. He's just shell that does as you tell him."

"You're the clever one indeed," he said caressing her cheek. "You're so much like her that I hate you. Yet you are different enough for me to love you."

That last part frightened Tonks more than anything else he had said. There was a sinister edge to his sadness that she didn't wish to explore. She didn't want him touching her either, but with partial spell to bind her arms and legs, she had little choice. "My sweet Bella," he murmured.

Tonks' eyes widened as she tried to pull her head back. She wasn't Bella. She couldn't be Bella. She knew who she was, then this person must be—

"Why aren't you with the other Death Eaters?" she asked. She had been too focused on his face to look at his hand. His left hand was caressing her cheek, and she saw the top of a Dark Mark. "You're Lestrange," she managed to whisper. "Why are you doing this? Did Voldemort send you?"

Lestrange laughed at this. It was a long, throaty laugh. He withdrew his hand and said, "No, my dear. You are making the assumption that I would stay loyal to the Dark Lord after he left me to rot in Azkaban. After he coveted my wife. You are awfully brave to actually say his name, too. Very brave and perhaps foolish. No, my goals are loftier than his. His are more baseless, plainer."

"He wants to rid the world of Muggles and anyone who carries Muggle blood as well as their supporters," whispered Tonks. "What is it you want more than that? He already wants to rule the world. What do you want?"

"I want to be a god," he whispered. "I learned while I was in Azkaban. The thought of what I would do when I got out was what kept me sane. I decided to go beyond the flesh and beyond the hate. The world will be cleansed by Voldemort, but even with his new body he will not live long enough to enjoy it."

"And you think you can become a god?"

"What got me into Azkaban was following the whims of my wife," he admitted. "I have learned not to follow anyone. I found that if I want power, I must control all aspects. When I escaped from Azkaban, I did not follow my wife back to Voldemort despite his summons. When I served him, I was his chief torturer. It was my duty to extract information by whatever means necessary."

Tonks' brain had warmed up enough to recall the case that would eventually lead to his arrest and imprisonment. "The Longbottoms. You picked the wrong people to mess with," she whispered.

"I do not care what the prophecies say about Harry Potter and Voldemort. Those things are now beyond my concern. What I have learned in Azkaban is that the best way to control people is over time. My methods before were too crude. They were good enough to subdue, but if one goes too far, the mind will break before you can bend it."

Tonks shuddered at what Kingsley had told her about Frank and Alice Longbottoms how they had been tortured to the point where their minds were gone. They were little more but ghostly shells that were alive, but not quite. She felt the bile rise in her throat as she looked away, breathing heavily.

"I had to see if my new view on the world would work," continued Lestrange. "That was when I decided to find my son. Using ancient magics, I was able to find him because of our link by blood. To my utter surprise, he was working for the Ministry undercover in a newspaper. Another part of the Ministry was opened to me. There is a group of wizards and witches who monitor what goes on the Ministry to safeguard it against itself. They are the fact behind rumors. They cover up what the rest of the world shouldn't know."

"Unfortunately, he wasn't alone. He was part of a small group." Lestrange shook his head. "Even though I had taken great strides to make sure that he would grow in an environment that made him more willing to accept my ideals, he was influenced by the two of them. I had to take control of him, make him understand that we are the elite that the world is meant for us."

"Your own son?" whispered Tonks. "You're not a father. You're just a monster." She remembered the look of helplessness in the younger man's eyes when the spell had been lifted briefly. "Who are you to decide who lives or who dies? What gives you the right?" Her voice had gotten louder, more forceful with each word as she glared at him.

He laughed again as he traced his finger along her forearm. "You sound just like he did when we first met. Did you know he tried to subdue me and bring me back to the Ministry to face my crimes again? I couldn't let him do that. I had to take control of him then. I also had to make sure that I still had some control over him even without the spell. I used his own conscience as a weapon against him."

"Under my control, I sent him to kill his friend, but she had escaped the first attempt. She thought that she could seek refuge in the Muggle world. What a fool she was. I expected that from a Mudblood witch."

Penelope Clearwater. Tonks' eyes widened as she realized who he was talking about. "Alistair Xavier. He's your son. You made him into a killing machine. What did you do to Percy Weasley?"

"You keep asking that question," whispered Lestrange. "You must really have strong feelings for him, don't you?" She wanted to pull her arm away, but she couldn't. "I knew that he would come after Alistair. I knew from the start that he wouldn't stop. He's too much like his father. A fool. An embarrassment to everything that we purebloods represent."

You see I also did some experiments on the mind. It is a fascinating thing, the mind. It can be so complex, yet so fragile at the same time. I was able to extract the memories that Alistair had of killing their mutual friend. After Alistair lured Weasley into a trap, it was hard to break him at first. His will was so much stronger than anyone in his group. It took nearly a Dementor's Kiss to render him malleable enough. I took the memories that Alistair, and had placed them into Weasley's mind. After that, I used the Imperius Curse and a memory charm."

Tonks' brain was already full of fear and confusion as well as disgust. She couldn't help, but ask, "Why would you use a memory charm if the point was that you wanted Percy to have Alistair's memories of killing Penelope Clearwater?"

"There's the real genius in that," said Lestrange as he seemed to glow a little bit. "I gave Weasley an incomplete memory charm. One that would wear off over time. I made sure the memories that I had given him were in first person. From the eyes of the killer. The Imperius Charm was simply used to send him back to his home so that he would awaken there. You see the ultimate battleground is all in his head."

Tonks knew the conclusion and wouldn't give Lestrange the satisfaction of telling her, so she continued for him, "As the memory charm faded, the memories would slowly pour in. And since he didn't report the murder to the Ministry, he would start to think that he was the one who did it. He couldn't reach Alistair in time. But, why? Why would you do something so drastic to anyone? He probably thought he was going mad. He tried to destroy himself in the process."

"My first plan was working out wonderfully after I had him. I was able to extract information from Weasley about the former Minister. But that group within the Ministry decided to allow Fudge to continue because the agents were still working behind the scenes and keeping everything in order. They knew that shifting the leadership during that delicate time wasn't a good idea. They knew that keeping everything stable would keep the populace stable. I was going to use that to my advantage. My plan was to rule the Ministry through Fudge." Lestrange sighed. It was one of disappointment. "Oh well, not everything goes as planned I'm afraid."

"Percy went to go see that psychiatrist after he tried to kill himself. She was able to help him unlock what you have done to him. He knew that the only way to stop you would be to expose Fudge for what he was and force the changes in the Ministry to happen." Tonks couldn't believe that so many smaller actions could affect things on such a grand scale.

"I will have my revenge for his meddling," said Lestrange angrily. "Weasley will wish that I had killed him in the first place. I managed to find him by sending Alistair after him. I tried to keep up what I had started. His will had to be broken. And if I couldn't do that. Well, at least I could destroy his reputation."

"He probably already wishes you had killed him," said Tonks sadly. "But you're wrong. You're a sick bastard. It isn't enough that you kill him. You wanted to destroy him by destroy his mind. You think by him being mentally ill that you're any better. Azkaban already made you go mad. You're just too deep to realize it."

Lestrange raised his hand as if to strike her. Tonks could take that, but what he did was even worse than that. He grabbed her by the jaw and forced her to face him. He pressed his lips against hers. She was so unprepared for it that she didn't have time to clench her jaw as she had done before. His tongue had slipped into her mouth, almost gagging her. She wanted to scream. His teeth bit her bottom lip, drawing blood. She could feel his other hand on another part of her body. After what felt like more than an eternity, he pulled away from her and left her. She tasted the bitterness of her own blood as he licked his teeth.

She closed her eyes. Tonks was forced to wonder what he meant by using her as leverage as she began to recognize her surroundings.

He walked right into the Ministry as he had done many times before through another entrance. He didn't take the guest entrance because he knew that security would be heavy there. There were a few exceptions. He wasn't wearing his glasses nor was he visible to anyone. One didn't need an invisibility cloak to go about unnoticed. He was able to do a lot without a wand, which was a testimony to his will. As he slipped past so many people, he kept his eyes open for an opening.

The opening ceremonies were just beginning and he knew that he would be somewhere in the crowd, blending in. The Minister stood up to make his announcement. "I would like to welcome each and everyone of you to the Ministry of Magic of Great Britain. So many of you have come in good faith. I know that recent events within this Ministry have been brought to light and I know that my predecessor was unwilling to talk to all of you about the threat that looms above us."

He listened to each of those words. Lofty ones, but they didn't mean a thing at the moment unless he could do something about it. He had spent the day listening and keeping out of sight. As soon as he was able to summarize the schedule of events over the next few days. The following day was a meeting that was to take place in front of other Ministry members in the courtroom that he had once been in as a court scribe.

The air seemed colder than before. He moved through the shadows swiftly. After the courtroom had been swept, the Aurors moved on to actually guarding the guests and other attendants. It was time to set up the barrier to keep anyone from entering until he was done. He was sure that someone would come along later on with the ability to clear the barrier.

He was wearing an employee cloak and put up the hood. It wasn't just any employee cloak. He had worn a different one before, but the one he was currently wearing was the proper one, the one that he should have been wearing all along, for the first time. It was the uniform of an Auror. He walked about virtually unnoticed by the other Aurors without saying a word. Under the hood, his face was hidden and shaded.

He didn't come unprepared. He had stopped along the way and made contact with one of the suppliers to his group at Knockturn Alley. No one would have suspected that their lot would go down there for supplies. He didn't bother to get a wand of any sort because he didn't want to be seen in any reputable part of Diagon Alley. He had to think back to his training and keep his mind in order and focused.

He couldn't deny that he was trained well. He had been taught to look at things from a strategic point of view, very much like a chessboard. He had spent only a year's worth training for it, but he was smart enough as was Penelope who had trained him. She was even more of a background person than he was. She would hang back and report for the group.

Carefully, he placed the talismans in place. He waited again until he could sense him. The door to the courtroom opened and closed by some invisible hand. Percy took the last talisman and blocked the last path out; trapping himself along with whomever was within the barrier. Without so much as taking a deep breath, he walked to the courtroom door and opened it. He closed it behind him.

He watched as Alistair went about the room and as he pulled down his hood, Alistair pivoted around. If he was surprised, he didn't show it. "I was wondering when you'd decide to show yourself, Weasley."

"Your visit to my cell was enough of an invitation," countered Percy.

Alistair had his hands behind his back, without a doubt his wand was tucked into his sleeve. "It's been so long since we've seen each other face to face like this."

Percy's footsteps seemed to echo as he stepped forward. "You killed Penny," he said in a harsh, angry whisper. "Why?"

"What does it matter, Weasley? I see you've come here without a wand. You're confident that you've got enough ability to work without a wand?" asked Alistair. "You're more of an idiot than I gave you credit for."

"I don't need a wand to stop you."

"Let's see about that. You always thought you were so much better than either me or Penelope. You're so much superior just because your line is a good line. You think you're indestructible. Let's just see about that."

With a flick of his wrist, Alistair's wand appeared trained on Percy's chest. A blast of energy came from it. It was a standard Auror spell. Percy was able to physically dodge it. There wasn't much he could do, but he could feel the magic in the air thicken again. He was told that he could use the magic that surrounded the area. There simply wasn't enough power to do any large spells yet, but there was just enough to do some defensive magic.

Alistair threw another blast at him. "Impedimenta!" roared Percy, blocking the spell.

"You won't be able to keep it up for long. All you can do is block without a wand! You won't be able to focus a counterattack!" shouted Alistair.

That was true. There were those who were born with the ability to do a focused attack with or without willing it exactly, which was what happened to the Boy Who Lived during his third year. However, for someone like Percy it took a while and sheer strength of will combined with enough residual magic in the air. However, Alistair knew that as well and wasn't using enough power in his spells to give Percy that chance.

Percy almost regretted not having his wand, but he had a plan. He had to make sure that he could actually use it. The only way to do that was to make sure that Alistair put enough magic in the air. "You're probably right about that," retorted Percy. "But, you're forgetting one thing. We're in the Ministry. We're on my ground!" He touched his fingers to the ground and sent tremors that knocked Alistair off his feet.

The tremors were also felt in other parts of the Ministry. The Aurors felt it first and looked at each other. "It's coming from the courtrooms!" shouted Kingsley. "Teams Alpha and Beta go to the main gathering and fortify that area. Team Gamma, you're with me. The rest of your stand your ground."

They ran as fast as they could and were about ready to enter the area, but as soon as they hit the barrier, they were thrown off their feet. Kingsley recovered quickly and went to the barrier. He touched his wand against it and felt a jolt. The other Aurors stood up and groaned. "What is this?" he asked out loud. "Someone's put up a barrier."

"What's going on in there?" said another one of the Aurors. "This wasn't part of the security plan."

The sound of a powerful blast and wood being smashed seemed to echo. "What do you we do about this breech, Kingsley?"

Kingsley tapped his wand against the barrier again and felt that jolt. He gave a ragged sigh. "They won't be able to hear anything. Make sure that that no one else comes down this part of the Ministry. Get someone in here who can take down this barrier."

"Who?"

"Arthur Weasley. He might be able to break this down. Be discreet." That Auror ran off as soon as he got the order. Kingsley had a sinking feeling that seemed to overwhelm him at the moment. He wasn't the only one.

Percy knew the significance of the room they were in. It was kind of ironic that it was the largest courtroom out of all of the others. It wasn't a wonder that it was the room that Lestrange was going to use the room to carry out his plan. It was the same courtroom that Lestrange along with his wife and others were sentence to Azkaban.

"You're nothing more but your father's puppet!" shouted Percy. "This is the same place where your parents were revealed to the world, Ali! You can't let him manipulate you like that. For God's sake, fight back! I know you're in there somewhere."

The blasts were destroying the gallery area as he used that section to duck and dodge in. He thought back to his dream and remembered what Ali had told him. That was Ali's hidden ability that only a few people knew about. If Ali appeared in the dream without being able to move his lips that could only mean that he wasn't in control of his own body.

"You don't know anything! My father loves me!" roared Alistair. "You're lying to me! He would never do that to me!"

Percy swallowed. He pressed his body against one of the pillars. "You know I'm not lying, Ali. I'm your friend. I wouldn't lie to you," he said as calmly as he could manage. "I know you know the truth."

There was a long pause. Percy almost stopped breathing for that moment. Was he getting through? It was too easy. He had to take that chance no matter what. There was a chance that he could save Alistair. There wasn't anything he could for Penelope, but she would have wanted him to try to save Ali. So, he emerged from his hiding place, holding his hands up.

Alistair was worse for wear as he paced back and forth, shaking his head. He pivoted when he saw Percy coming at him. "I know that you don't want to hurt me or anyone. We've both worked too hard in the Game to stop now. If you really wanted to kill me, you would have done so already. You can't do it because it's not in you. Just give me your wand."

"Crucio" screamed Alistair.

An overwhelming sensation of pain filled Percy as he fell back. He couldn't think of anything else to block it as his body felt like it was going to be ripped apart. He couldn't even hear himself screaming in agony. There were tears pouring from his eyes.

The spell stopped, leaving Percy in a much weaken state than he was before. He knew that Alistair was hovering near him. Before he could focus his senses again, there came a spell that he couldn't hear. It started to slice through his body, cutting him from the inside and drawing blood to the surface. The cuts weren't deep, but enough to cause a great amount of pain.

Percy opened his eyes and saw that Alistair was just standing over him. They stared straight into each other's eyes. Percy could see his reflection in Alistair's which were vacant except for a small glimmer that remained. That was where the real Alistair. Percy kept his eyes open and kept them on Alistair's. Sometimes a wizard could predict the next move better that way in a duel rather than keeping an eye on the wand.

He knew what was going to happen next. He didn't even think about it. He just closed his eyes at that moment. He said in a soft voice, "I forgive you." That was all that he could manage.

"Avada Kedavra!"

AN: Lestrange isn't going to win Father of The Year by no means. He hasn't got a chance at Uncle of the Year either. He's just evil and downright creepy. All that touching. Ew. Hell, I was disgusted and I wrote it. I took breaks in between parts of it. This might not end the way that anyone expects.

kirikarin. livejournal. com

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. This story belongs to me and cannot be posted anywhere else without my permission.