Once the summer holidays started, Draco was a regular visitor at Voldemort's house and he spent part of every day with Hermione. Voldemort also allowed Hermione's other friends to visit, although he timed the visits so that everyone wasn't there together. Despite the situation, he was touched by the support Hermione had, and he was pleased that she'd made new friends so easily now she was a true Slytherin. Now all that was left was to wake her up so he could focus on gaining control of the wizarding world and taking out his enemies.
The start of the summer holidays also enabled Severus to lend his expertise to finding a cure for Hermione. With both Lucius and Severus working on the cure, Voldemort was able to focus on trying to work out who had sent Hermione the cursed bracelet. While he was waiting for word from Borgin, he'd been analysing the packaging hoping to get somewhere. Unfortunately, he hadn't found anything of any interest.
Thanks to the information Draco and his friends had given Severus, Voldemort knew the package had arrived via a standard post owl from the post office in Diagon Alley. However, the post office kept no records of people who used their owls so there was no way of tracing the sender through the post office. Spells had revealed no human prints on the packaging or the box the bracelet was in, indicating that whoever sent it was wearing gloves or had magically wiped away their prints. Voldemort did find evidence of a house elf touching the package, but it was his bet that whoever was behind the attack had gotten a house elf to send it so they were in the clear. Even the fake writing on the package hadn't aided them as he'd hoped, especially since he'd already worked out that it would have been easy enough for someone to sneak a letter Hermione had received from her mother at Hogwarts out of her possession for a short time. Or, of course, as he'd already theorised, someone connected to the Order had found something Hermione had left behind when her true identity had been revealed.
However, Voldemort was still convinced that the bracelet had come from someone connected with the Order, but he couldn't prove it. Of course he didn't need proof to want to take them out, but until he had more forces behind him he didn't want to start a full scale war. So far by playing things the way he had people were reluctant to fight against him, but he knew that lashing out at the Order could change all that and before he had time to gather more forces he could face serious opposition. So as hard as it was, he was going to be patient. Although the second Hermione was out of danger, he was arranging the breakout from Azkaban he'd been planning for months and pressing forward with his plans to take over the wizarding world.
Fortunately for Voldemort by the end of the first week of the summer holidays, progress was being made. He and Lucius had thought they were close to an antidote, and Severus shared their optimism. While Lucius and Severus pressed ahead with making sure all their information was correct and nothing they were going to try would hurt Hermione, Voldemort finally heard from Borgin, who informed him he had news of the bracelet. Rushing off to see the shop owner, Voldemort found Borgin in the back room of his shop where they could talk in private.
"This better not be a waste of my time," Voldemort warned, hoping Borgin hadn't summoned him to say he was no further forward.
"I know who the bracelet belongs to," Borgin replied. "Or at least I'm fairly certain who it belongs to."
"You mean you're not sure?"
"Not a hundred percent," Borgin admitted. "But that's only because the records are so old. I'd bet my reputation that the bracelet sent to your daughter is the one belonging to the Parkinson family."
"Parkinson?" Voldemort spluttered, not expecting to hear the name of someone he considered to be loyal to him. He'd been fully expecting a name associated with the Order, and he had to wonder if Borgin had gotten his information completely wrong.
"Yes, it's been in the family for decades," Borgin replied. "All the records of it are well over twenty years old, but I'm convinced it is the same one sent to your daughter."
"Do the Parkinsons still have the bracelet?"
"There's no record of it ever being sold, but I suppose they could have done so either abroad or sold to a private collector. However, once cursed items hit the market they tend to be resold several items over. I can't find any record of this bracelet ever appearing on the black market."
"So you think it's still in the Parkinsons possession?" Voldemort pressed.
"Until it was sent to your daughter," Borgin said. "Of course it could have been stolen at one point and because it was cursed, not reported to the authorities."
"I can check that out," Voldemort muttered to himself as he pulled a small bag of gold galleons out of his robes and handed them to Borgin. "Thank you for your help. I trust I don't need to remind you to keep quiet about what we've just discussed."
"Not a word will pass my lips," Borgin swore as he hid the bag of gold about his person.
With a brief nod, Voldemort swept out of the dark arts shop and headed home. Hardly able to believe what he'd just been informed, he went straight to where Severus and Lucius were working and told them everything Borgin had told him. Lucius knew Parkinson better than him, and he wanted his opinion on whether or not the man could betray him in such a way.
"I don't believe it," Lucius hissed when Voldemort told him what he'd discovered.
"So you think there's another explanation?" Voldemort questioned. "You don't believe Parkinson is behind this?"
"I mean, I don't believe he would be so stupid," Lucius clarified. "I hate to say this, My Lord, but I think this is my fault."
"Your fault?" Voldemort frowned, not sure what Lucius meant as he was certain that he wasn't taking responsibility for cursing Hermione. "How can this by your fault?"
"For years, Parkinson and I have talked about Draco and Pansy marrying," Lucius explained. "We never made it official, and we hadn't spoken to Draco and Pansy about the issue, but it was an idea that had been floating around for years. Over Christmas I informed him that there would be no marriage between our children."
"Because of Hermione," Voldemort whispered, recalling how by Christmas, Draco had been totally smitten by his daughter.
"Yes," Lucius replied with a nod. "Parkinson wasn't happy, but as I pointed out we'd never made an official agreement and any agreement we did make would always have been with the consent of our children. I knew once Draco got involved with Hermione that he would never consent to a union with Pansy. I assumed Parkinson would have realised the same thing."
"But he didn't," Voldemort deduced. "He thought you should force Draco to marry his daughter."
"Exactly," Lucius said. "I told him in no uncertain terms that there would be no marriage between our children and I honestly thought that was the end of it."
"But Hermione has now been targeted twice since that conversation," Voldemort mused. "And we know the bracelet is a Parkinson family heirloom."
"Do we really think Parkinson is behind this attack, and the first poisoning incident?" Severus asked sceptically.
"You don't?" Voldemort asked.
"I don't know, it seems a bit reckless to me," Severus confessed. "I can certainly understand that he would be angry at the thought of his daughter not marrying into one of the richest and most influential families in our world, but is having his daughter become a Malfoy really worth killing over? And let's not forget, he hasn't just targeted any witch, he's targeted the daughter of The Dark Lord. I'm sorry, but I don't think clearing the way for Pansy to marry Draco is a big enough reward to take such a risk."
"He's right," Voldemort said with a nod as he turned to Lucius. "No offence Lucius, but joining your family isn't a good enough reason to try and kill my daughter."
"I agree," Lucius said. "It's madness to target Hermione. But can we ignore the connection? I told an angry Parkinson that our children would never be married, and weeks later Hermione was poisoned. Then when that failed she was sent a cursed bracelet belonging to his family. Either he's the one behind this, or someone is doing a hell of a good job at setting him up."
"And we need to find out which," Voldemort said decisively. "We need to confront the Parkinsons, but first we need some precautions in place. If they are responsible for what's happened to my daughter, they won't get away with it."
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Twenty four hours after learning that the bracelet that had cursed Hermione belonged to the Parkinsons, Voldemort paid an unannounced visit to their house with Lucius in tow. The two wizards arrived at the house without prior warning and ordered Parkinson to gather his wife and daughter. Once the three Parkinsons were gathered in their spacious living room, Voldemort removed their wands from them and while he stood in front of the trio, Lucius took up a position beside the door.
"What is going on?" Parkinson demanded, looking between Voldemort and Lucius and realising that for some reason he, his wife and daughter were trapped in their own home.
"I wish to discuss a delicate matter with you," Voldemort replied. "If you can give me a reasonable explanation, I will return your wands to you and your family and let you go about your day. However, if I am not satisfied with the answers you give me, you, your wife and daughter will be coming with me."
"I have no idea what is going on, but I can assure you we've done nothing wrong," Parkinson insisted, glancing over at Lucius and wondering if the blond wizard was just stirring up trouble for him as things hadn't been very good between them since Lucius had abandoned their plans to marry their children to one another.
"I should hope not," Voldemort replied as he pulled a black box out of his robes and laid it on the table. He then flipped open the lid, revealing the bracelet that had cursed his daughter. "Do any of you recognise it?"
Voldemort watched all three Parkinsons for their reaction to the bracelet, and it was instantly obvious that both Parkinson and his wife recognised the item. Although it was Pansy's reaction that intrigued him the most as she didn't even look at what was in the box before going deathly pale and lowering her head so he couldn't see her face.
"Is this the item that cursed your daughter?" Parkinson asked rather than admitting ownership of the bracelet.
"It is," Voldemort confirmed. "And I have it on good authority it belongs to this family."
"It can't be," Mrs Parkinson muttered. "It looks like the one we own, but it can't be the same one."
"And where is the bracelet you own?" Voldemort asked.
"In the attic," Parkinson answered. "It hasn't been touched for years."
"I want to see it," Voldemort demanded. "Send an elf to fetch it."
Voldemort watched in silence as Parkinson summoned one of his house elves and instructed it to go and retrieve the cursed bracelet that was kept locked in the attic. Throughout the entire thing, Pansy kept her head down, but Voldemort could see her hands shaking slightly. Given the reaction of her parents, he was starting to think that they were innocent in trying to harm Hermione, but Pansy was certainly acting suspiciously. But could a young girl really be responsible for trying to kill his daughter?
When the house elf didn't return within a few minutes, Voldemort noticed both Parkinson and his wife exchanging nervous looks. By the time the elf did return, nearly fifteen minutes later, they were both sweating profusely and they were horrified to learn that the bracelet wasn't in the safe resting place they believed it to be.
"A break-in perhaps?" Voldemort suggested sceptically. "Or should we be looking closer to home. What do you say, Pansy?"
"Don't be so ridiculous, my daughter had nothing to do with this," Parkinson insisted even as Pansy slowly raised her head to reveal her terrified expression.
"I think she has everything to do with this," Voldemort growled. "I will get the truth one way or another, so I suggest you just be honest with me," he advised the teenager.
"I'm sorry," Pansy whispered. She'd gone over things a million times since Hermione had been cursed, and she'd found no way out, so all she could do was admit the truth and throw herself on Voldemort's mercy.
"Sorry! Sorry doesn't cut it," Voldemort snarled angrily. "My daughter is lying at home in a coma. She might never wake up. I should kill you now."
"No," Pansy cried. "Please don't. I was stupid, and I know I shouldn't have done it. Please don't kill me."
"Give me a reason not to," Voldemort demanded.
"The poisoning," Pansy said hurriedly. "I know who did it."
"You didn't?" Voldemort asked.
"No," Pansy replied, choosing not to disclose her part in the first plan to kill Hermione. "But I know who did do it. I overheard them talking about it, and how annoyed they were when it failed."
"Who?" Voldemort asked in a low, deadly voice. "Who tried to kill my daughter?"
"Potter and Weasley," Pansy answered, praying that dropping Harry and Ron in it would help her in some small way. "They tried to kill Hermione."
"So when they failed, you thought you would give it a try?" Voldemort snorted.
"I'm sorry, I was hurt and wasn't thinking clearly," Pansy said. "I wanted Draco and she took him from me. I just wanted to get her back."
"I really hope it was worth it," Voldemort said with an evil cackle. "Because sending that bracelet is going to be the worst mistake of your life."
"Please don't kill my daughter, I beg of you," Parkinson pleaded, falling to his knees in front of Voldemort. "Take my life instead. I'm begging you as one father to another, don't kill my child."
"I've decided to leave the decision on what happens to Pansy to my daughter," Voldemort declared. "Once she's awake, Hermione can decide what happens to her. But in the meantime the three of you will come with me. I've got a small house prepared for you, where you will stay until Hermione is awake and ready to deal with the girl who tried to kill her. The house is a virtual prison, and there will be no escape. I suggest you come quietly, or else I will lose my temper and kill the three of you without a second thought."
Knowing when they were beaten a devastated Parkinson family handed themselves over to The Dark Lord. Voldemort and Lucius escorted the family to the small house they would be calling home for the foreseeable future, before leaving them in their prison and returning to Hermione. The Parkinsons could wait for their punishment, right now waking Hermione was their priority.