There's Love In Information
C19: Closing the Trap
Standard Disclaimer: I don't own any of the recognizable characters.
After two more weeks of preparations and making sure Lucius would be there with his remaining forces, everyone was ready to close the trap they had set out for him.
None of them were more for this to end than Bellatrix and Hermione, who had put in a lot of work in providing the known Death Eaters in the Ministry with false information, which they knew had been passed to Malfoy due to the constant surveillance the D.M.I.I. had on him.
Of course the entire Department was both nervous and ready to put this behind them, but for the two women it had become something more. They had a wedding to plan after all, and once Lucius was tried they could put some more focus on that.
Narcissa was mostly looking forward to interrogating her former husband. After all the years of abuse she had suffered at his hands, she was positively giddy to exert some measure of payback against the bastard.
Fabian and Nymphadora were mostly just exhausted and more than ready to have this be over with, even though their work would only start once they had him in custody, nor did they expect it to be easy if he chose to take the bait.
There were innumerable back-up plans in place in the event Lucius and the Death Eaters wouldn't rise to the bait they had put out for them, and while they hoped their main plan would be enough to make them come out of hiding, they had learned that it would be better to have those back-up plans in place.
The plan as it stood had been perfected over many months, and its final iteration was that Kingsley would call a press conference for selected journalists on the six month anniversary of the end of the war, as to give the press a state of the nation. Both the Aurors and the Agents would lie in wait at specific points of entry, as well as around the Minister as not to give any Death Eaters the opportunity to do what they had planned, which was kill the Minister in a grand fashion and then take over the Ministry.
It was their hope that by letting the Minister speak so publicly in the wake of the War would be enough to flush Lucius out of hiding and into action, hopefully without causing casualties.
The added benefit of having the reporters there was that Kingsley would be able to immediately answer any questions on what had transpired and at the same time show his trust in the Auror Corps once again, thus bringing that trust into the community as well.
That was also the reason Madame Bones would have the lead over the entire operation today, since they were still meant to mostly work behind the scenes and would merely provide the additional manpower today.
It was also the reason why both Departments had gathered well before sunrise so they could make the final preparations in the Atrium itself, chief among which would be the strengthening of the anti-apparition wards and several protective wards around the podium Kingsley would give his speech on.
"Have I mentioned how much I hate not seeing the sun when I am forced to wake up." Bellatrix grumbled as she nursed her third cup of coffee.
"Yes Mom, only five times this morning. Trust me, this is way too early for all of us, and hopefully it'll also be the last time for a while. Just think of everything you and aunt Cissa will be able to do to break him once we have him in custody." Fabian said with a soft smile.
She grumbled a little at that. "How are you always able to make sense this early in the morning, you certainly didn't get that from me."
He smiled at her. "You know where I got it from Mom, and trust me that I don't like this early hour either. It's unfortunately a necessity. We're not going to have another chance at this.
"I know Fabian, but you know how I struggle with early mornings, it's even thanks to my fiancee that I'm even slightly awake at the moment. Well, her and coffee I suppose." The raven haired witch said with a soft smile.
He laughed lightly at that. "I would've expected that it would have something to do with Hermione. She's been instrumental in having you be on time most days."
She shot him a light glare. "Don't be cheeky young man. You may be my boss, but I am still your mother and have no qualms about putting you over my knee and spanking you in front of everyone."
"You should know that I don't mind that Mom. I live together with Dora, remember." He said with a smile.
"I do sweetie, and trust me that I have witnessed plenty of those moments between you two in the last few months alone, and I have no desire to know what you two get up to when really left alone, besides the nudism, I might add." Bellatrix said with a quirked eyebrow.
He smiled at that. "To be honest that is something we've talked about for a long time. We've spent so much of our lives living to what people wanted us to be, we both thought it was time for us to do something that was just for us. It's actually very liberating once we got used to it."
"Once you two stopped having sex all through the house you mean?" Bellatrix asked with a smile.
Fabian nodded and smiled at her. "Yes Mom, once we christened the entire house. We made sure that we wouldn't fall into a rut like we would have in the past. We've grown over the last month. We even went on a nice date a couple of weeks ago, one that didn't revolve around us teasing each other all day long."
Bellatrix smiled at that. "'Well, you have your romantic side from Pandora, so I'm not at all surprised that you took Dora on a date. Perhaps I should take Hermione out once we have the chance. Our usual date night is a quiet night in with a good book."
"To be very honest Mom, I think that's Hermione's perfect date night. Perhaps take her out for dinner and then follow that up with your usual date night. I think she'd love that." He said with a soft smile.
Bellatrix nodded at that. "I might just do that, I think she might love that, since that will take the pressure off of her in terms of cooking for at least a night."
He just smiled at her as he gave his mother a hug, the two working together to bring up the wards for most of the morning.
…
By the time they were done setting up the wards and had gone over every single protocol they had in place for today, Kingsley walked into the Atrium, smiling kindly at the gathered squad of Aurors and Agents who were just now taking a little break from their work. "Good morning everyone. I trust everything is ready for the grand spectacle we're going to deliver today?" He asked in his heavy baritone.
Madame Bones and Fabian nodded at him. "As ready as we can be Minister. We've left absolutely nothing to chance and I don't think that even the Dark Lord could breach the wards we have up. All entrances and exits are secured and will be watched at all times during your press moment. The Floo system will be locked for exit once the reporters are inside and once they are the podium and press area will be warded to make sure no one will get hurt. Once the Death Eaters either apparate in or Floo in, we'll snap the trap shut and depending on how willing they are on making this a fight, we should be able to end it all pretty quickly. We'll have them all in custody before the end of your speech. We planned on leaving Lucius' interrogation until tomorrow, and get the lower ranks processed today, since they're mostly a formality at the moment. We have everything we need to convict them all from the documents and information we gathered from the Lestranges and Yaxley." Fabian explained with a soft smile.
Kingsley nodded at that. "It seems you all have truly thought of everything. I'm confident that everything will be fine this morning, but if you would excuse me, I need to get ready for my speech. It wouldn't do if I didn't look the part of Minister this morning after all."
"That is fine Minister. We'll be here when you return, there are a few last things we need to discuss." Madame Bones said with a kind smile.
Kingsley nodded and smiled before making his way to his office. "So Fabian. Do you think he'll fall for our trap? I worry it may look too obvious." Amelia asked softly.
He smiled at that. "I know he will. We've learned that in order to keep the loyalty of his men after we arrested the Lestranges he was forced to start to listen to their ideas, and the majority of his forces think this is the only real chance they will get for a successful transition. From what we gathered the majority of his forces are tired of fighting and the violence."
"I'm not surprised by that honestly. I think that is the only shared feeling we have with the remaining Death Eaters. We've fought long enough the last ten years to want to restart it again and Death Eater or not, I think everyone is just tired of it all." Madame Bones said softly.
Fabian nodded at that. "Isn't that the truth. Let's just hope that they will live up to our expectations and show up today so we can end this on our terms."
Madame Bones nodded and smiled at him. "Did we ever finish the conversation on what we would do if they didn't show up today?"
"I don't believe we have, but since we have just over an hour before we have to do the final set up, we can discuss this now. What would you suggest we do in the event they don't show up today?" He asked kindly.
"To be honest it would be best if we go and raid them immediately after Kingsley's speech if they don't take the bait. We must not give them a chance to think of other plans. We have their locations so it should be easy enough to apprehend them." Madame Bones said matter of factually.
He nodded at that. "Perhaps, but the problem there is the actual number of Death Eaters we need to arrest. We don't have the manpower to bring them all in and we can't risk any of them slipping through our figurative net. If that happens we'll be stuck in an endless loop of arrests and then a few getting away every time, and I know that is something we both want to avoid if at all possible."
She nodded at him. "Yes, we need to avoid that at all costs, although I suspect that we'll be doing clean up for a few weeks anyway. I have a feeling that a lot more supporters will come out of the woodwork once your aunt starts interrogating her former husband."
"I know, and we're prepared for that, as well as the virtual treasure trove of information we're going to get from his home. All that information alone should be enough to put them all in Azkaban for a very long time." He said softly.
"Kingsley will probably wait with that until there is an actual plan for the new prison. He feels Azkaban is one of the things that defined the old establishment. Until then we'll keep them in separately warded cells here at the Ministry. I'll make sure Lucius gets a nice little cell next to Ronald's. They can complain to each other how they were screwed over by everyone in their lives." Madame Bones said with a soft smile.
He laughed lightly at that. "It'll serve them both right. Is there any word on what Kingsley intends to do with Ron Weasley?"
"Not as of yet, but I think his trial will be held after the trials of the Death Eaters, considering he is fine where he is at the moment and not a threat to anyone while he is locked up." Madame Bones said with a soft smile.
He only nodded at that as Kingsley came back in his full ceremonial robes, looking more like the Minister for Magic than he had in months, since he usually went for a more professional look as to show everyone that times were changing and with them the Ministry too.
…
When the reporters had all entered through the Floo, as per Kingsley's instructions, The Aurors locked off the ability to use them to leave for the time being, while at the same time Fabian and the rest of the Agents took up their positions around the dais where Kingsley would hold his speech, all of them paired off and out of sight.
The Aurors were also paired off and posted near the entry points of the hall, since the Aurors would take point in today's operation, and the D.M.I.I. would mostly be tasked with the protection of Kingsley and the reporters.
"Do we really have to protect them all? Because we know Rita Skeeter is going to twist what happens today, especially if she sees your mother here with us." Hermione asked softly.
Fabian smiled at her. "There is no way even she can turn this around, since our wards include a charm that renders her usual quill useless. Kingsley is usually okay with her twisting words, but I doubt he will be today, especially if it pans out the way we hope."
"I'm sure it will. My father is a lot of things, most of them bad, but one positive thing is that he is predictable. He'll not be able to pass on this opportunity we've presented, nor will he suspect it to be a set up. The timing we've chosen is near perfect." Draco said with a soft smile.
Fabian nodded and smiled at that. "That was our hope when we started planning this. Kingsley informed us pretty early on that he planned to do a state of the nation soon and we planned around his date for that, it was merely a question of how we were going to plan it all in the short period of time we had for it. All now hinges on the execution of said plan."
They all smiled at that. "We'll do everything in our power to make it happen, Fabian. I just hope the Aurors remember that we will need Lucius for interrogation."
"They do, Madame Bones was very adamant about the fact that she will not tolerate any mistakes today." Fabian said softly as they watched Kingsley make his way to the podium.
Kingsley took a moment to look at both Fabian and Amelia before he started. "Good morning to you all. I have asked you to come here today, as the prime reporters in Magical Britain to report on the state of our community after the end of the War. Over the last months we have worked tirelessly on bringing the Death Eaters and their supporters to justice, and have been moderately successful since most of the inner circle is still at large, but let me tell you all now that we're closing in on them with every passing day thanks to a new Department in the Ministry and the information they have provided to aid in their capture. Unfortunately I cannot disclose who have been captured through these means as we do not want the remaining Death Eaters to find out we are investigating them." He explained in his usual heavy baritone.
This caused a bit of a mutter among the gathered reporters, but of course it was Rita Skeeter who asked the first question. "And what if I may ask is the exact purpose of this new Department, Minister?" She asked in her overly sweet tone.
"The sole purpose of this Department is to gather information on the remaining Death Eaters as of this moment, in the future they will be charged with protecting our interests by gathering information on people they deem a threat to the safety of our community so a rise of another Dark Lord will be prevented. All of this information will then be passed on to the Aurors so they can take appropriate action, and as such the Auror Corps itself has also gone through somewhat of a transformation." He said with a kind smile.
Just as the next reporter wanted to ask his question, six figures in dark robes apparated into the hall, which set off the wards that had been set up around the dais, forming a protective shield around Kingsley and the reporters, as well as the wards that prevented anyone from leaving the Atrium.
Of course this caused an immediate ruckus in the hall as Aurors moved to block off the Floo systems.
"This farce has gone on for long enough. We shall be taking control of things around here, so if you do not wish to be slain where you stand for treason, you will not retaliate in any way." Lucius Malfoy said in his usual haughty tone, although his appearance belied his facade more than anything else could've done. He looked tired and scruffy, almost as if he'd been living out in the woods for several months.
"Mr Malfoy, if this is what I think it is, I can assure you that I have no intention of stepping down from the office I was legally elected to. I give you one opportunity to lay down your wands and surrender peacefully." Kingsley said with a smile, keeping to the script that had been written for him.
Lucius merely smirked at him as he started flinging spells towards Kingsley, becoming enraged when the spells harmlessly dissipated against the shield. "How is this possible?"
Fabian and the rest of the Agents knew that this was their moment as they stepped into view, with Draco, Fabian and Bellatrix at the front. "This is our trap you have so foolishly walked into, father."
"You are no son of mine, boy. And I will make sure that traitorous family you've chosen to align yourself with will pay for this." Lucius spat harshly before he was bound along with his co-conspirators by the Aurors and Narcissa, who had a pleased smile on her face for being able to do that to her former husband.
"You always did talk too much Lucius. It has always made you blind to what was happening behind your back." Narcissa said as she made sure he wasn't going anywhere as well as taking his wand.
He merely glared at her as the Aurors secured their prisoners before leading them away from the Atrium, at which point Kingsley turned back to the reporters and the shield dissipated. "I am sorry for this deception, but this was indeed a carefully laid trap to capture the remaining inner circle of the Death Eater movement. This has been planned for many months by the new Department as well as the Auror office and they came to the conclusion this would be the easiest way to draw them all out at once. If you have any questions about this particular event, a statement will be sent to your offices in the next couple of days. I am still available to answer any other questions."
"Minister, in light of this, has everything you have told us so far also been a lie?" One of the Daily Prophet reporters asked.
Kingsley merely smiled at him. "Not at all, everything I have said not related to this event has been the truth. As a community we're still rebuilding and the Ministry is no different in this. I also realize it will take a long time to reverse so many years of habitual behaviors and revise the old laws that have kept people back in the past. What I can say is that we can look to the future with a very positive attitude."
There was a mutter of consent and a scratching of quills as both the Aurors and Agents took their leave to begin the preparations on interrogating Lucius Malfoy.
…
Later that afternoon once they were sure that Lucius and his co-conspirators were securely locked away in the deepest dungeons of the Ministry and both Departments had returned to their office spaces, Fabian turned to his team. "I must say, that was easier than I had expected it to be, but in the same breath I must say I am very proud of everyone for how you've handled everything today, and in light of that and the way too early morning we've had, everyone can take the rest of the day off, and we'll start fresh tomorrow."
They all smiled at that. "I think that's the best idea I've heard all day." Bellatrix said with an overly dramatic wave of her arms.
"Don't be dramatic love, it wasn't that early even for the Department's standards." Hermione said with a soft smile.
Bellatrix shot her lover a glare. "For you perhaps, but I think we've established that I am very much not a morning person."
Hermione only smiled and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Come on then, we'll get you home so you can take a nap. We'll see you guys tomorrow." She said as she hooked her arm through Bellatrix' and then made her way to the Floo together with her lover.
Narcissa sighed softly at her sister's retreating form. "I swear Bellatrix gets more impossible with every passing day. I would think she'd be used to mornings by now."
Andromeda smiled at her baby sister. "Cissy, you know part of that is just to get a reaction from you. No one in our family is a morning person. We just know how to handle it better than Bella does."
Narcissa just smiled at that. "I suppose you're right, shall we go too then?"
Andromeda nodded and smiled as she too hooked her arm through that of her sister, the two witches making their way to the Floo too.
"Fabian, could we talk to you and Dora before we go home?" Fleur asked softly.
He nodded and motioned for them to follow him to the office, the two blondes following their bosses before taking a seat. "I'm all ears Fleur, what can we do for you?"
"It's about Gabrielle. I received a letter from her that she has graduated and that she is very excited to come and see me, and I was hoping we could schedule an interview for her while she's here." Fleur explained with a soft smile.
He smiled at her. "Of course we can, although I hope you know it is just a formality at this point. With Lucius and the remaining Death Eaters in custody, I have a feeling we'll have plenty of use for her talents in potions, since there will a lot of long days in our future with the information we're going to collect from Lucius' home and any other places he might reveal to us during interrogation, and of course more hands mean lighter work too."
Fleur smiled at that. "Thank you Fabian, and I'll tell her exactly that, but I was hoping I could also get your help on pranking her a little bit. It's something Gabby and I do."
Both Nymphadora and Fabian smiled at that. "What exactly do you have in mind Fleur?" He asked with a soft smile.
The blonde grinned at them. "Could you two go for a very stern and serious interview, be all professional with her, it'll make her nervous and that will make sure she's honest in her answers."
"We can do that, but I do have to ask. Why would you want to make your sister feel that nervous about a job interview?" Nymphadora asked with a soft smile.
Fleur smiled at that. "Because she got into my head and made me nervous before my own interview before I knew who was heading the Department. So it's just equal payback. It's a sister thing."
"We wouldn't know, would we Lu? We've always been very united in our mischief." Fabian said with a wink to his sister.
Luna smiled at him. "Indeed we have, although most of our mischief was usually very much inspired by your girlfriend."
He smiled and nodded as he wrapped an arm around Dora's waist. "Well that's mostly true. Although I can say that our best prank was one we came up with all on our own."
Luna smiled at that. "It certainly was, although our mothers didn't find it particularly funny."
"Oh la la. Now you've made me curious, my love." Fleur said with a bright smile.
Luna smiled and gave her girlfriend a kiss. "Well, I suppose since Fabian is here to verify I can tell you. We were both about six years old when we came up with the brilliant idea to play a little trick on our mothers. We made two in hindsight awful looking dolls to put in our beds so we could go out and stargaze. We even managed to charm them like they were breathing, only when they caught us sneaking back in the following morning had they realized they had been duped. They grounded us for a month and forbade us ever trying something like that again. I think it's the only time I've seen my mother angry at the both of us."
"That doesn't sound like a prank. That was needlessly worrying your mothers. I hope you both apologized to them?" Fleur asked softly.
Fabian and Luna nodded at that. "Of course we did, just as soon as we realized how worried they were. We didn't realize back then what our little prank would do, we just wanted to watch the stars together." Luna said softly.
"They also understood why we did this, since we were kind of obsessed with Astronomy by that point in our lives, but that didn't lessen the worry they felt when they saw us sneak back into the house at the crack of dawn." Fabian said with a soft smile.
Fleur giggled at that. "You two were very mischievous in your youth, more so than my darling mate told me, but I think I will interrogate her about that in a more private setting. We'll see you tomorrow."
Fabian and Dora nodded as the two blondes took their leave. "So love, now that we're alone, we can finally wind down a bit. Want to go for lunch before we go home? I know this place that has the most amazing Shepherd's Pie."
"I would love to baby. I think we've earned a bit of a treat after today." He said softly before kissing her.
…
The following morning once everyone was in Fabian once again took center stage to address his Agents. "Right, good morning everyone. As you know today is a very important day for a multitude of reasons. Last night a select team of Aurors have cleansed Malfoy Manor of every trap they could find so we can do our job of gathering information on what exactly he planned to do. Madame Bones selected them herself so I have faith that they did their job well. Since it is a lot of mansion we have to cover, we will go in with a sizable team too, basically everyone besides myself, Narcissa and Bellatrix. Myself mostly because I have a ton of paperwork to do because of the arrests, and Kingsley requires a report as soon as possible and I really need to get started on that. Dora will be in charge of the goings on at the Mansion, so I'll leave it to her to explain the tactics for that. Narcissa and Bellatrix will in the meantime start the interrogation of Lucius Malfoy and I'm pretty sure we're going to get plenty of information from him too, which unfortunately will create more work, but I promise that it will be worth it in the end. Dora, would you mind telling your plan for the Mansion?"
She smiled at him. "Of course not love, it's actually quite easy. From what I've read in the report of the Aurors, everything is nice and consolidated to a few rooms, but of course we'll do a few sweeps of the entire Mansion to make sure nothing is missed, which we will make sure of with Draco's help, since he knows the Mansion better than anyone besides his parents. All information will immediately be forwarded by Floo which for this occasion will be directly connected to that of the Department. Everything else we find that will even remotely help us get him convicted quicker will follow the same route. We leave in an hour."
They all nodded and went to prepare, while Narcissa and Bellatrix walked up to Fabian. "Do you know when Lucius will be brought here, Fabian?" Narcissa asked kindly.
He nodded and smiled at her. "He'll be brought here in twenty minutes. I expect this interrogation to take up most of the day, so I hope you're prepared for that."
"We are sweetheart. Lucius doesn't have the mental capacity to go against both of us. He has always feared me, and Narcissa knows exactly where to poke and prod to get information from him. There is no way on this side of hell he will not give up everything he knows. If necessary I will channel my inner bitch and cow him into telling us everything." Bellatrix said with a soft smile.
He smiled at that. "That might just work, but do remember that he has nothing to lose, so he might want to prolong this for as long as he can. Every minute he's alive is a minute gained in his eyes."
"We're prepared for that too Fabian, trust me that by the end of the day, he will have given up all of his secrets. His mind was never the strongest, which is why he feared the Dark Lord so much." Narcissa said with a soft smile.
He nodded and smiled at them. "There are no two women I trust more to interrogate him than you and my mother. Together you two have a way of making people wanting to tell the truth. It has certainly helped over the course of the years in getting me to be honest."
They smiled at that. "You were easy sweetie. You had a healthy fear of your aunt and you never could lie to me because of the way you were conceived."
He blushed slightly at that as the Floo lit up and Lucius was brought in, which made everyone school their features. "Good luck you two. I'll be in my office if you would need something, although I doubt it. I know you two can crack him."
Bellatrix and Narcissa nodded and gave him a quick smile before making their way to the Aurors to relieve them of their blonde burden, who even now had a smirk of superiority on his face.