All characters are property of JK Rowling and I do not make a profit from this story.
Beta: Roman's Sundial
Chapter Fifty-Seven: The Side on Which They Lie
Draco Malfoy – Present Day
January 22, 2001
It was well after midnight when Draco arrived at his destination. He lingered quietly outside of the house, debating on how he should proceed. He knew that he had no choice but to do it, but he also feared the consequences. Taking a deep breath, and fighting the urge to have his wand at the ready, Draco entered his old friends house, unarmed. He knew exactly where to go, given the number of times that he had been here in the past, and just as suspected, he found who he was looking for in the basement. "I thought you would have attacked me at the door," Draco said to his old friend.
"I knew it was you," said Vincent Crabbe, his back still to Draco.
"Oh, well, thank you for not attacking me," was all Draco could say.
"Yet," said Vincent, still not looking at him. "What do you want?"
"A favor," replied Draco.
Vincent snorted. "Like I'm going to help you."
"What happened, Crabbe?"
Vincent finally turned around and looked at him. "You're really going to ask that, Malfoy? Your family was almost killed by the Dark Lord; did you really think that I was going to allow that to happen to my family?"
"But the Dark Lord is gone now."
"He may be, but his beliefs aren't. What, did your parents only follow along because of the Dark Lord? No wonder they were almost killed."
"So what, you're supporting Grindelwald now, then?"
"Forget Grindelwald!" spat Crabbe. "True Death Eaters don't need to follow one person! The Dark Lord set us on our path and we know what we need to do. But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"
"Death Eaters are supposed to stick together, so if you're all meeting, I should have been informed!"
Vincent snorted. "You actually believe we would have brought you in? You're dating a mudblood!"
"To get information!" Draco lied.
"Whatever, Malfoy, get out of here."
"No, not until you help me."
"Don't you realize? You're a nobody now, get out!" Vincent drew his wand, but Draco was quicker.
"Expelliarmus!" Draco yelled, and he caught Vincent's wand. "You know that you could never beat me in a duel, Crabbe, and I don't recommend you trying either."
"If you do anything to me, the Death Eaters will get you."
"I am a Death Eater, Crabbe."
"Then where is your mark?"
"Did you honestly think that I would willingly go to Azkaban? I let them take it off me so that I wasn't arrested!"
"A real Death Eater would have gone proudly," Vincent yelled. "Like my father!"
"Well then, let's break your father out, shall we?"
Vincent paused momentarily. "How?" he finally asked.
"I have a plan, but I'm going to need you to do it."
"What's the catch?" Vincent asked.
"We get my father out first."
"No," Vincent said plainly. "I'm not stupid, Malfoy. You'll rescue yours and then you'll leave; I'm not doing it and leaving my father behind."
"If we follow my plan, we'll get every last Death Eater out."
"I don't trust you."
"Come on, Crabbe, when have I betrayed you?" When Vincent didn't respond, Draco continued. "You left me and Goyle to die in that Fiendfyre. Goyle hasn't figured it out yet but you know he will one day, with a little help."
"That's a lie; I had a plan for Goyle."
Draco heard the fear in Vincent's voice; clearly he didn't want Gregory to turn against him. Draco smiled. "You and I both know that you didn't, but it doesn't matter, I didn't tell Goyle, just like I didn't tell Potter or anyone at the Ministry that it was you who casted the Dark Mark in that clearing."
"How did you-?"
"Because I was there, idiot, and I heard you. But I didn't say a word, because my loyalty will always lie with the Death Eaters."
"I still don't trust you."
"Then trust this: if my father dies, I'll be sure to personally kill yours."
"You don't have the means of killing my father while he is in Azkaban!"
"THEN TELL ME HOW SOMEONE HAS THE MEANS TO KILL MINE?" Draco finally snapped. "You think I haven't figured it out, Crabbe? My mother is having my father killed; it is the only way my Ritual Knot can be completed without him. Tell me who is going to kill him, and I swear Crabbe, the Ministry will never know a single thing about you."
"And if they do?"
"Then you have the means to kill both me and my father."
"So, you would go against your mother and stop this?"
"My mother doesn't want my father dead, but she thinks that it's the only way to make this Ritual Knot happen. If I free my father, then he can do the ceremony himself, and everyone wins."
Vincent thought long and hard for quite some time, but finally, he spoke. "You need to prove you're on the right side, Malfoy."
"I already have."
"Not enough! Join me and the Death Eaters again, and prove your allegiance." Draco nodded; what other choice did he have? "Good; I'll galleon you when it is time, now get out of my house!"
Harry Potter – Present Day
February 2, 2001
"Find anything interesting?" Harry asked Hermione, as he entered his room at Grimmauld Place, where Hermione had made her temporary home.
"Sadly, not much," she said, closing the book that she was holding. "The Gaunt lineage is in none of these books," she said, indicating to the twenty or so books that were piled around her. "The only thing I have found was whatever was written in Rita's book, The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore, but you and I both know that I can't trust a word of it."
"The Gaunts are mentioned in that book?" Harry asked, surprised.
Hermione nodded. "Only briefly, though. According to Rita, Dumbledore's mother was related to them, but no other book confirms it. It's probably just Rita's usual nonsense."
"Maybe," said Harry. "But we can confirm that by speaking to Aberforth."
"He's not going to want to help, Harry. Haven't you noticed how disgruntled he gets?"
"Well, like it or not, he's the only person who can answer these questions. He's part of the Order; he'll help."
Before Hermione could say anything else, shouting was heard from below. "What's going on?" she asked.
"No, idea," replied Harry. "Stay here." Harry made his way downstairs to the kitchen, where he found Ron screaming at Kingsley, with Remus standing in between them. "What is going on?" Harry said loudly, trying to be heard over the shouting.
"This slimy git," started Ron, but Kingsley cut him off.
"Watch what you are saying towards your Minister of Magic!"
"Here, you're not the Minister, remember?" said Harry, not caring that he was being rude. "Ron, tell me what's wrong."
"This bastard heard me telling Remus that I was going up to see Hermione, and now he is demanding that I hand her over!"
"It has been ordered by the department of Law Enforcement that she be brought in!"
"What about when it was ordered for me to be brought in, Kingsley? If I recall correctly, you were helping me then."
"Harry, as the Minister, I am obligated-"
"You are obligated to leave Grimmauld Place and never come back!" Ron interrupted.
"We all know Hermione isn't here," said Remus, trying to diffuse the situation. "I'm sure what Ron had meant was that he was going to her hideout, by up, he probably meant north or something."
"No, Remus," said Harry angrily, shooting daggers with his eyes at Kingsley. "Hermione is upstairs in my room. What is it that you're going to do, Kingsley?"
"Mr. Potter, you know I have to bring her in."
"Actually, you don't have to do anything. As a member of the Order of the Phoenix, it is our job to protect those who are innocent."
"But she is not innocent!" Harry drew his wand on Kingsley. "Remember who I am, Mr. Potter!" Kingsley growled.
"A traitor!" yelled Ron.
"I've fought against the Ministry before, Kingsley, only that time you were on my side. But if I have to do it without you, I am more than willing."
"Harry, lower your wand," Remus said quietly. Harry obliged, but he kept a firm grip on it, preparing to bring it up again if he needed to. "Kingsley, nobody is handing Hermione to you or the Ministry. I understand your position and as such, if it ever comes out that Hermione was hidden here, we will be sure to note that you hadn't any idea. Harry, I assume the charms that are placed on the members will prevent the Minister from telling anyone that Hermione is here?" Harry nodded. "Well then, I believe that settles that. Good day to you, Kingsley. Come along Harry and Ron," Remus said to them. Once out of earshot from Kingsley, Remus turned to Harry and Ron and frowned. "You two need to watch yourselves. This isn't the first time that the wrong side has persuaded good Ministry officials to work with them."
"Do you think Kingsley is under the Imperius Curse?" Ron asked.
"No, I don't think so, but that doesn't mean he hasn't been influenced in other ways."
"What do we do?" Harry asked.
"Hermione is safe where she is and the charms prevent anyone from telling the Ministry about this place, so for now, we stay quiet and do nothing."
"The Ministry cannot get away with this," Harry said angrily.
"Harry, I understand your frustration, but you know first hand that if you go up against the Ministry, you will lose. You have a strong position in the Ministry right now with the Dobwig Association; use it to your advantage, but do not lose sight of what the goal is."
"What are you saying?" asked Ron.
"Find grounds to arrest Daniels, but make sure that you do it by the book; the Ministry will try and counter everything that you do."
"I'm sure Hermione can think of something," said Ron, and he turned around and made his way upstairs to start strategizing.
Gellert Grindelwald – Present Day
February 9, 2018
"You summoned for me?" asked Pius Thicknesse, as he entered the room.
"Ah, yes, Pius, I need to see your Dark Mark please," Grindelwald said to him.
"My Dark Mark, master? Why?"
"I am trying to see if it has any correlation to the Deathly Hallows."
"The Hallows, how?"
"Riddle was interested in them too, wasn't he? I need to know everything that I can about them and rule out anything that doesn't apply. Now, let's see."
"I, uh, can't show you," Pius stammered, looking at his feet.
"Why not?" asked Grindelwald, approaching his recruit.
"We got rid of them, see, to protect us from being sent to Azkaban…"
"We?" Grindelwald repeated. He grabbed Pius' arm and pressed down on where his Dark Mark should have been.
"Oww!" bellowed Pius.
"You've removed it," said Grindelwald, staring at his arm. "But you didn't do a very good job, did you?" asked Grindelwald. Where the Mark used to be was nothing but raw skin that looked like it was burnt at some point. "Why is it hurting?" he asked him.
"It was done recently," said Pius, wincing.
"Liar! Do not lie to me, Pius!"
"Okay!" screamed Pius, as Gellert pushed harder on his arm. "We removed it and replaced it with an invisible one, so that we can still be contacted."
Gellert studied the arm for quite some time. "The Death Eaters are still assembled?" Pius nodded. "Who leads them now?"
"Nobody," answered Pius. "It's a group thing, now. We just carry on with what we used to do when the Dark Lord was around."
"Who was the one to remove the mark and put in a new one?"
"A nurse was presented to us, under the Imperius Curse, Master."
"Someone had to have come up with the formula for the new one."
"Yes, well, she isn't a Death Eater, but she is the wife of one. She got the formula from a contact she said, and it worked."
Grindelwald lost interest in the new mark. His focus, instead, was elsewhere. "So, the Death Eaters do not answer to anyone," he said, more to himself. "Pius, I require a meeting with these Death Eater friends of yours."
"I beg your pardon, Master, but I can assure you that they will not agree; they do not want a new master."
Gellert smiled. "And I do not need a group of Death Eaters permanently. I simply wish to negotiate some terms. Can you tell them, Pius?"
"Sure," said Pius.
"Very good, then I look forward to this meeting. Oh and Pius, you will never lie to me again."
"Of course, master."
Narcissa Malfoy – The Past
December 24, 1999
Narcissa's shoes echoed down the empty corridor that lead to Healer Martus' office. She had assumed that the hospital would have been crowded, regardless of the late hour, but Healer Martus had assured her that it would be empty and he made good on his word. Still, she kept her hood up for good measure.
"Madam Malfoy," he said quietly, nodding to her.
"I trust everything is in order?" she asked him.
"As planned," he responded. "Your Imperius Charm better not be faulty."
"I do not question your work, Healer Martus; do not question mine."
"She is not the best as I have warned," Healer Martus continued.
"But she is capable?"
He nodded. "She is the nurse who has assisted me in every Dark Mark removal. Other than an actual Healer, she is the next best thing."
"Very well." Narcissa handed him a pouch.
"It feels light," he frowned.
"That's twenty-five galleons in there," she told him. "You'll receive another twenty-five when the nurse arrives, and the final twenty-five when all the work is completed."
"That wasn't the agreement."
"The agreement was that I would pay you seventy-five galleons, nothing more. Are you not confident in this plan?"
"I am most confident."
"Well, then I suggest you stop worrying about your money. Happy Christmas, Healer Martus." With that said, Narcissa turned and slipped away before anyone could notice her.
Author's notes: Hello hello! So I decided to read my fic the other day from this site and I noticed so many errors! It's frustrating because on the edited copy that my beta and I have worked on, there aren't the same errors.. (things like spacing and what not) It really frustrated me so I am working on fixing that, but between doing that and my work and mommy duties, there doesn't leave much time to type! So I'll work on both so that you all keep getting your chapters, but I can amend all the BS that's happening on here as well!
So this chapter.. I thought the name of the chapter to be quite fitting as we are trying to determine where many characters heads are at, such as Malfoy and Kingsley. Coming up, we are going to have some Death Eater interaction as we need to learn what's going on with them, as well as what Grindelwald wants with them. XxBloodheiRxX, you are going to get your wish and see some Nott and Blaise interaction!
Keep on reviewing - see you all soon!