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"Hell is empty and all the devils are here."
― William Shakespeare
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The old man felt his feet touch the ground. His black robes still swirling around, he took a deep breath, sucking in the stale air. He sighed. Destination, determination, deliberation. Then he shook his head, laughing. 'The three D's'.

Even back in the days textbook writers thought all those dunderheads would remember things easier by choosing words beginning with the same letter. Pathetic.

Though he was one of the view who were able to resist the more than embarrassing habit of vomiting after each apparition, he had to admit that after all those years he had forgotten about the slight feeling of dizziness that came along with this certain way of transportation.

Well, I've got enough time now to get used to it again, he supposed and brushed of the last remains of dirt from his robes and out of his grey hair – why in the name of Merlin do they always have to hold their meetings in dirty and dark forests?

He took of his cloak and put it over a nearby chair as he walked further into the room. His so called destination had been a small apartment in Diagon Alley, which he assumed must have cost quite a fortune some time ago. But, war and time apparently didn't only take their tolls on people.

It did indeed look like the placed had not been used in many years, judging by the layers of dust on tables, chairs and unbelievable small bookshelves. Ridiculous pictures of fat cats were hung up on the walls, which were painted in the same bright pink color as the carpet on the floor.

It wasn't his taste at all, but the stupid woman told him herself – in her annoying high pitched voice – that she had barely ever used it and would probably never come back.

The man smiled. She didn't even realize what a mistake it was to tell me about this place. The pink-loving woman would never suspect him to take over her little home for the time being. Actually no one ever will. Of course, it would probably take him some time to get used to all the pink – and the annoying creatures in the pictures - but besides that, it was a real improvement.

Especially in comparison to the bloody forest and his earlier establishments - where everyone expects me to be.

The old man walked across the room and opened another – pink – door and stepped happily into the next chamber. With a wave of his right hand, the fire in the chimney lit on and the room lightened up.

"I do apologize for my tardiness, my friend, but I never expected this little come-together to last so long," he explained, sat down on another – pink – chair and looked at the brown-greyish haired man sitting on the opposite end.

He waved his hand again and a candle appeared on the table, the light reflecting in the other man's eyes.

"Ah, yes, that's better. Every table looks so much nicer with a beautiful little candle on it – even a pink one – what do you think?" He asked.

The other man nodded in agreement.

Apparently pleased with his previous work, the old wizard made another movement with his hand – though this time it was his left – and a bottle of wine accompanied by two fitting glasses came flying out of a nearby shelf and floated to both men at the table.

He poured the same amount of the red liquid into both glasses, placed one of them in front of his guest and began to drink the other one himself.

When the old man looked up from his now empty glass, he noticed that the other man didn't even try to touch his drink. Instead his face showed a rather longing expression.

"Oh, I forgot. I couldn't believe it when I first heard the news, but now I see it for myself. Yes, you quit drinking after you were forced into – what did they call it again? – early retirement, didn't you?" He nodded again.

"What a shame. The wine is really good. But I assume you already know that. You were the one who gave it to our dearest pink-loving lady in the first place. You really did make an impression on her! She wouldn't stop telling me about you and how much she adored you…"

Now the slightly younger man slowly closed his eyes, groaning. Despite the age difference between the two, the younger man had almost the same amount of wrinkles on his face. And even though the old man's dark hair was coloured grey by now, the younger one's was already streaked.

"Yes, I know exactly how you feel. It is quite tiring listening to her. I still don't quite understand how you managed to have this kind of working relationship with her for so many years." The old man spoke, shaking his head. "But on the other hand, you've known our 'little Miss Pinkie' since your own years at Hogwarts, haven't you?"

The old wizard poured himself another glass of wine.

"But let's get to the important things. I am sure you are quite interested in the outcome of our little meeting earlier."

Though it wasn't really a question, he received a nod in agreement again.

Smiling, the old wizard continued. "Well, it was less difficult than I expected. Fascinating, really, how easy it is to manipulate people when you know their weakness. The information you gave me were most appreciated. I suspected them to be at odds with each other, but I was not aware of the pure hate and outrageous jealousy our dear Pinkie has against her target. So I made sure she had enough 'backup' which should give her a feeling of safety."

The other man looked confused.

"Don't give me that look. You were the one who told me that our 'Pinkie' wanted to eliminate her 'persona non grata' years ago, but all her attempts were unsuccessful! You also mentioned that she was too much of a coward to confront her on her own."

He continued when he saw the confirming, but hesitant nod. "Therefore I gathered a few people who were rater – what's the best way to call it? – yes, surprised to see me again. And after a persuading speech and some demonstrations of my quite professional and advanced magical abilities, they agreed instantly and offered their assistance."

The eyes of his guest went wide.

The old wizard grinned. "Oh yes, I am sure you ask yourself now why I would do such things. Helping a woman gain followers who – except a few of them – only play along because of me?" His grinned even wider now. "Well, you assume correct. I want her to end up fighting alone and of course, loose in the process! Like I said to our little Miss Pinkie before, I have my own purposes for her target and I need the witch alive."

His dark, almost black eyes began to sparkle with excitement when he saw that his guest looked more and more confused with each passing minute.

"Yes, but why giving her a cursed and consequently deadly knife then, you might ask?" He continued after the confirming nod. "Well, the answer is quite simple. This whole plan has only one purpose: Time. I have to admit, that I am not in quite the shape I once was. This knife never misses its target. It won't kill her, but a lot of damage will be done and the recovery will take some time. Until then I will - hopefully - have prepared all I need to act on my actual plan to get what I want."

Laughing, he was getting up and walking to the door. Before he reached it he turned around to face his guest once more.

"Once again, I thank you for your cooperation. And please, you should consider yourself happy! Even though it was a rather one- sided conversation on my part, I really enjoyed it! And contrary to most people who have a little chat with me, you are still alive, Cornelius!"

This said, the old wizard vanished into the dark, leaving nothing but a slightly bleeding and half unconscious Cornelius Fudge behind; tied and gagged up on his chair at the end of the pink table.


A.N.: Hi! I honestly don't know what to say!

It's just lovely how many more followers this story got since I updated the last chapter!

Thank you so much! I still hope that you don't have too much trouble reading it, considering my use of grammar and spelling etc...

I also spent most of my day trying to write this next chappie, but I don't really know if it's good or not. (it's a little dark and all...) It might also be a little confusing, but I didn't want to give to much away to keep it interesting...

As alway, I hope you enjoy reading it, and tell me what you think! :)

All the best, Lexi