Mysterious Girl.
The dark wizard, Lord Voldemort, looked around the room he was standing in, bristling with anger. Within the last couple of hours, everything that could have gone wrong, had gone wrong. Just a few hours ago, Voldemort had been relatively happy. Everything had been running to plan, and he'd envisioned getting the upper hand in the battle against the light.
Earlier that evening he'd sent a trusted group of Death Eaters to the Ministry to get their hands on the prophecy that had been made about Voldemort and Harry Potter so many years ago. He'd then used his connection with Harry's mind to convince the teenager that his precious godfather was in trouble. Predictably, Harry had gone running to the Ministry as Voldemort had wanted, and that was where everything had gone wrong.
Rather than leave the Death Eaters to do their job, and trust that they would use Harry to get access to the prophecy, which was what they'd planned, Voldemort hadn't been able to resist joining in the fun. In a rash move, Voldemort had headed to the Ministry only to find the place in chaos. His Death Eaters were engaged in a battle with several Order members and a group of school children, but by a stroke of luck, Bellatrix Lestrange had inadvertently led Harry away from the main fracas just as Voldemort had arrived at the Ministry. Voldemort had instantly entered into a battle with Harry, but things had taken a complicated turn when Albus Dumbledore arrived and usurped Harry from the battle.
Voldemort had been more than happy to battle Dumbledore, but he'd always known that defeating the older wizard was going to take longer than he'd had available. In the end he'd been forced to retreat, but not before he'd been seen by the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, and several other Ministry officials. Now the Ministry would no longer deny he was back, and the Order just might get the support they'd been sorely lacking over the last year.
Voldemort had left the Ministry fuming at the fact his cover had been blown, but that was nothing compared to his anger when he arrived back at the house he was using as his base to find that Bellatrix was the only one of his Death Eaters to have returned from the Ministry. Every other person he'd sent to the Ministry had failed miserably, and quite likely were all in custody.
"There has to be someone else," Voldemort said for at least the third time. "Someone else had to have escaped along with you, Bella."
"They didn't," Bellatrix replied with an unconcerned shrug. Personally she thought it was great that she was the only Death Eater to return from the mission as it proved that she was the best.
"Not even Lucius?" Voldemort questioned, hardly able to believe Lucius Malfoy had been caught. Lucius was a slippery bugger, and Voldemort honestly didn't think getting caught was in his nature.
"Not even Lucius," Bellatrix replied with relish. Her brother-in-law was a source of annoyance for Bellatrix, and she was more than happy to see his perfection tainted.
Voldemort arched an eyebrow at Bellatrix's obvious glee at the thought of Lucius getting caught. The Dark Lord was aware that the pair riled each other up, and quite honestly he encouraged it as he felt it kept them both on their toes, and kept them both at the top of their game. However, deep down he knew that as important as Bellatrix was to him, she would never top Lucius in his estimation. Lucius was his right hand man, and the most trusted of all his Death Eaters. Which of course made it all the more frustrating that Lucius seemed to have gotten himself caught.
"Don't look so glum, you've still got me," Bellatrix trilled happily. "I'm more than capable of filling the hole my incompetent brother-in-law has left. And I can do far more for you than he can," she added in a seductive purr.
"I do have to concur with that," a smooth voice called from the doorway.
Voldemort and Bellatrix both whirled round to find a slightly dishevelled Lucius Malfoy leaning against the door frame. A small trickle of blood was running from his hairline, and his clothing was rumpled, but he didn't look to be in bad shape. He even still had hold of his distinctive cane, which held his wand. However, there was no sign of the prophecy he'd been sent to retrieve.
"Quite honestly My Lord, there are things Bella can do for you that I have no desire to do," he continued with a smirk, aware that his sister-in-law wasn't at all happy with his sudden reappearance.
"I'm glad to hear that, Lucius," Voldemort remarked with a slight smirk of his own. "You and Bella have very different talents, and very different ways of pleasing me. Not that I'm sure you will be pleasing me this evening, Lucius. You're late and empty handed."
"I'm sorry My Lord, we ran into a spot of trouble," Lucius replied with a deferential nod. "I'm sure Bellatrix explained that Potter wasn't alone at the Ministry."
"I understand he brought along some friends," Voldemort said, not yet letting on that he knew exactly what sort of mess the mission had descended into. "But surely you weren't troubled by a few teenagers, Lucius?"
"We had the kids under control," Lucius snarled, his annoyance clear for Voldemort to hear. "But then a fraction of the Order turned up and things turned serious."
"It wasn't that bad, I managed to dispatch my cousin with ease," Bellatrix said with a causal shrug.
Voldemort turned back to Bellatrix. "You got Black?" he asked. Now that was something he hadn't known, although it did explain why Potter was chasing after her.
"I did, My Lord," Bellatrix confirmed with a sly smile.
"Nicely done Bella, that should rattle Potter," Voldemort said, flashing Bellatrix a quick smirk before refocusing on Lucius. "And what of you, Lucius? Do you bring me any good news?"
"I don't have the prophecy itself," Lucius answered, knowing exactly what Voldemort wanted. "I regret to inform you that it broke."
"So we have no way of knowing what exactly it said," Voldemort hissed angrily.
"When it broke, it played itself," Lucius answered. "I was right there when it shattered. I can't remember everything, but we can re-look at my memories to get the complete thing."
"At least that's something," Voldemort muttered. "And what of the others? Where are they?"
"I'm afraid they were all caught, My Lord," Lucius answered regretfully.
"And just how did you avoid capture?" Bellatrix asked suspiciously. She knew Voldemort had a high opinion of her brother-in-law, but Bellatrix thought he was an average wizard at best.
"What do you think I am, Bella, an amateur?" Lucius asked with a smug chuckle. "I was never in any danger of being caught."
"Really, because things did not look rosy when I left," Bellatrix retorted.
"You mean when you ran away?" Lucius shot back.
"I didn't run away, I lured Potter away from the fighting and towards The Dark Lord," Bellatrix argued.
"You didn't know The Dark Lord was going to turn up, that wasn't part of the plan," Lucius retorted. "I only knew it was happening because of what the Order were saying. Face it Bella, you were running away."
"Enough," Voldemort interrupted sternly as Bellatrix opened her mouth to argue. "It doesn't matter why Bella ran. She did and she did manage to lure Potter to me. If only Dumbledore hadn't shown up, I might have been able to deal with him as well. But now my return will become public knowledge, and we will have to deal with that. I expect you have an alibi for this evening, Lucius?"
"Of course," Lucius replied with a nod of his head. "I was home all evening with Narcissa and a couple of friends."
"And what about everyone else involved?" Bellatrix asked. "What if they talk?"
"They won't, not if they know what's good for them," Voldemort replied in a low hiss. "Bella, you can leave us now. I wish to speak to Lucius in private."
"If it's to discuss our next move, I can help," Bellatrix offered, desperate to prove herself and become as invaluable as Lucius was.
"I'm sure you can, and I will be interested in what you have to say, but not now Bella," Voldemort said firmly. "We'll talk later. For now, I wish to speak to Lucius."
With an annoyed huff, Bellatrix flounced out of the room, giving her brother-in-law a dirty look as she passed him. Once he was sure Bellatrix had truly left the house and wasn't just lurking around to eavesdrop, a move he wouldn't put past his top female Death Eater, Voldemort poured both himself and Lucius a glass of firewhisky and invited Lucius to take a seat in front of the fire.
"Now I'll have the truth," he said, settling down in the chair opposite Lucius.
"The truth?" Lucius questioned.
"As to how you really got away from the Ministry," Voldemort said. "I've known you long enough to know when you're not telling the truth, Lucius. You just didn't want to lose face in front of Bella by telling me the truth. Isn't that so?"
"It is," Lucius admitted with a grimace. "I'm ashamed to say the Order managed to overpower me. I was with the others, waiting to be arrested."
"So how are you here, Lucius?" Voldemort asked warily. If he hadn't trusted Lucius so much, he would have thought the blond wizard was part of a trap to catch him, but he didn't believe Lucius would betray him, which meant there had to be another explanation.
"Something very strange happened," Lucius confessed, a confused frown gracing his features. "You caused quite a scene in the atrium, and once we'd been rounded up the Order were pretty distracted. During the distraction, I found my cane slipped back into my possession. The person who handed me my cane also loosened my restraints and said I should leave as quietly as possible. I followed their advice, and slipped away before they even had a chance to miss me."
"Someone in the Order helped you?" Voldemort queried. His only connection with the Order was Severus Snape, and he was betting that Severus had been nowhere near the Ministry this evening.
"Technically she isn't part of the Order," Lucius answered. "I was helped by Potter's mudblood. The Granger girl."
"Potter's mudblood friend helped you escape?" Voldemort questioned, disbelief written all over his face.
"She did," Lucius confirmed, looking just as disbelieving as Voldemort and the actual incident had happened to him.
"Why?"
"I have no idea, My Lord," Lucius confessed. "I just took advantage of the situation and slipped away. I figured I was more help to you here than in Azkaban."
"You did the right thing, Lucius," Voldemort said with a nod. "Now all we have to do is work out why the Granger girl was helping you. It can't have anything to do with your son, can it?"
"Draco?" Lucius questioned. "No, they despite each other. I don't know why she helped me, but it wasn't anything to do with Draco, I would swear to that."
"Let's try and find out the truth," Voldemort ordered. "I want to know everything there is to know about the Granger girl. I want to know if her help was genuine, or if she's playing a game with us. And Lucius, for now let's just keep this between the two of us. As far as everyone else in concerned, you engineered your own escape."
"Of course," Lucius replied, more than happy to hide the fact he'd been saved by a teenage girl. "And what happens if she is playing a game? Or being used by the Order to try and gain our trust?"
"Then she's going to regret it," Voldemort said darkly, his red eyes flashing angrily as he silently vowed to get to the truth about why Harry Potter's mudblood best friend would help one of his most dangerous Death Eaters.
The students involved in events at the Ministry of Magic were whisked back to Hogwarts almost as soon as Voldemort fled, and ensconced in the hospital wing. The six students were all kept in the hospital wing overnight, and slowly discharged the following day. The last student to be discharged was Ron Weasley, but his two best friends, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger had waited for him before they also left the hospital wing.
"I can't wait to see how different people act now they know the truth," Harry remarked as the trio headed down to the ground floor of the castle, hoping that they wouldn't be too late to grab some lunch.
All year, Harry had been painted as a liar as the Ministry refused to believe that Voldemort had returned. Even some of his friends hadn't believed him, and he'd been mocked constantly be the students that weren't his friend, especially the Slytherins led by his arch-enemy, Draco Malfoy.
"Sod that, I can't wait to see how cocky Malfoy is now his precious father has been arrested and exposed for the scum-bag he is," Ron added.
They'd been informed by Dumbledore that all the Death Eaters, bar Bellatrix who had escaped, had been rounded up by the Ministry. And rather happily that included Lucius Malfoy, who was usually so good at talking his way out of trouble. But there was no way even a snake like Lucius could wriggle out of being arrested at the Ministry while in full Death Eater garb.
Harry heartily agreed with Ron and expressed his desire to see the smug Slytherin brought down a peg or two. To be honest given the fact he'd just lost his godfather the previous evening, it was the thought of seeing the likes of the Malfoys brought to their knees that was keeping him from falling apart. As much as he wanted to mourn for Sirius, he just wasn't going to give the likes of Draco Malfoy the satisfaction of seeing how his heart had been broken.
"It looks like we're going to get to see Malfoy's reaction sooner rather than later," Ron said, nudging Harry and gesturing to the staircase below where Draco was standing talking with his best friend, Blaise Zabini. "Oi, Malfoy," he called, barrelling down the stairs with Harry at his heels.
"Boys," Hermione muttered with a roll of her eyes, although she hurried after the pair so she wouldn't miss anything.
"What do you want, Weaselbee?" Draco drawled in a bored voice. "We heard you lot were in the hospital wing. Personally, I was hoping a few of you wouldn't come back out."
"It's funny you should mention people not coming out of places, because it's going to be a long time before your sodding father sees the light of day again," Harry sneered.
"What are you rambling about now, Potter?" Draco questioned with a confused frown.
"Don't you know yet?" Ron laughed. "Hasn't Mummy wrote to you and told you what's going on?"
"And what is going on?" Blaise asked.
"Surely you know about what happened last night at the Ministry," Harry said. He hadn't seen the papers, but Dumbledore had implied certain aspects of the evening had made it into the papers.
"Yeah, we all know about that," Draco admitted with a sigh. "Turns out you're not the liar we all thought you were, Potter."
"Is that an apology?" Harry asked in amazement.
"Hell no," Draco snorted. "I still think you're bat-shit crazy. But I am willing to admit I was wrong about you lying. The Dark Lord obviously is back."
"As if you didn't know," Ron sneered in derision. "You've probably even met him."
"You flatter me Weasley. I'm not that lucky. Maybe one day I'll get to meet him," Draco retorted with a shrug.
"Well I hope you're not relying on your father to get you an introduction," Harry chuckled. "After last night, I doubt he'll be in Voldemort's good books."
"Last night?" Draco frowned. "What does last night have to do with anything?"
"I hate to be the one to tell you, Malfoy," Harry began, before a smirk appeared on his lips. "Oh, who am I kidding, I love being the one to tell you. Your lowlife father was at the Ministry last night, and even as we speak he's rotting away in Azkaban."
"I think someone has fed you the wrong information, Potter, my father is at home at the manor," Draco replied with a smug smirk.
"We were there, Malfoy," Ron argued. "We saw your father, and we know that everyone involved was arrested."
"Then how do you explain this?" Draco asked, pulling a neatly folded piece of parchment from his trouser pocket. "A letter from my father."
"It was clearly sent before his arrest last night," Ron protested.
"How slow do you think our owls are, Weasley?" Draco scoffed. "We can afford owls who can deliver mail at a decent speed. Your family owl might be so past it that it takes him a week to deliver the mail, but Malfoy owls deliver their letters the day they were sent. My father wrote this letter early this morning."
"You can't know that," Harry argued feebly as he trued to work out what the hell was going on.
"I do, because father always dates his letters," Draco retorted. "Which means that he's at home at the manor, not in Azkaban. So if I were you, I'd be careful about what you say. Father would take you maligning his character very seriously, and I'm sure if he wanted he could take legal action against you. Not that he would get a knut from Weasley, but you're worth a few galleons, aren't you Potter? And wouldn't it be dreadful if you lost your inheritance because you couldn't keep your mouth shut."
"Are you threatening us, Malfoy?" Harry growled, glaring at the blond wizard with his infuriating smirk.
"Just giving you a bit of friendly advice," Draco retorted with a shrug. "Stop spreading your lies about my father, or else you will regret it."
Giving Harry and Ron one final warning glare, Draco turned and carried on his way with Blaise. As the two Slytherins headed towards the dungeons, the sound of their laughter drifted back up the stairs to where the three Gryffindors were still standing.
"What happened?" Harry asked, turning to Ron and Hermione. "Lucius was there, we saw him."
"Damn right we did," Ron agreed with a nod of his head. "And I could have sworn I saw him tied up with the others. So how did he escape?"
"Beats me," Hermione offered with a shrug, feeling as though it was time for her to say something. "But I do think we need to be very careful with what we say."
"Why?" Ron questioned with a frown. "We all know Malfoy's father was there last night."
"But can we prove it?" Hermione questioned. "Lucius clearly got away somehow, so do you honestly think he won't have a cast-iron alibi in place?"
"Hermione's right," Harry said slowly. "We need to be careful. Lucius has proved more than once just how much power he can wield with the Ministry. We may know the truth about him, but yet again he's slithered his way out of trouble."
"I'd still like to know how he escaped," Ron muttered.
"You and me both," Harry remarked with a sigh.
As the two boys began to theorise on how Lucius had escaped, Hermione quietly fell into step behind them. However, what neither of the boys could see was the smug smirk on her lips, and they certainly couldn't read her thoughts as she congratulated herself on her decision to help Lucius escape from the Ministry.
Freeing Lucius hadn't been a plan, but in all the chaos at the Ministry, Hermione had spotted her opportunity. Not to help keep Lucius out of Azkaban, but to grab his attention. Or rather to grab his attention and the attention of the wizard known as Lord Voldemort. Given what she'd done, Hermione knew there was no way the two wizards in question would just brush off her actions. They would want answers, and those answers would eventually lead them back to her, and who she truly was.
Now all Hermione had to do was wait and sooner or later The Dark Lord would come to her and she could tell him the truth. The truth about her parentage, or rather the truth about who her father was. Because her father wasn't a muggle dentist, he was a wizard. Her father was Lord Voldemort herself, and finally Hermione had been given the chance to make contact with him. After all, what better way was there to alert her father to her presence than to save one of his most valued Death Eaters. Saving Lucius would lead her father to her, and hopefully prove that she could be trusted and could be very useful to the dark. In fact, she could be just what Voldemort needed to win the war and defeat his enemies once and for all.