A/N: Chapter 30 is here. Chapter 31 will be coming the following Thursday. I appreciate your constructive reviews and criticism.

My mental picture of Orion Black is portrayed by Michael Sheen, I think that would be a good choice.


Chapter 31: Father

Sirius Black sighed as he left the bed in which Lucinda was fast asleep. They were far enough from House Black in his private cottage somewhere remote in France. If it wasn't for Harry, he would've convinced Lucinda to elope with him and start fresh, here in a place far from the horrors and nightmares in Britain.

Sirius conjured a mirror and shaved his beard with his wand. This was one of the rare things he had learnt from his father. To Orion's disappointment, his favorite son, Regulus never properly learned to trim his beard using this method.

After shaving his face clean he went to the bathroom and sat on the toilet. A few minutes later his eyelids were shut as he dozed off. Once he woke up he found himself not in the bathroom but in his old room decorated with Gryffindor posters and colours back in London. Sirius jumped up as his deranged mother opened the door.

"Your father wants to see you."

She sneered at the lion on his wall and left Sirius alone.

Sirius was confused. His parents were dead. His body moved involuntarily, taking him to his father's office. Once he got there he knocked two times.

"Come in, son." said a horrifyingly familiar voice.

Despite Sirius's all effort and will, his hand grabbed the handle and pulled it down facing zero resistance.

The office was light and comfortable. The walls were covered with bookshelves and the painting on the roof was depicting a battle between Morgana Le Fay and Merlin.

"Father," said Sirius.

Orion smiled genuinely. "Please sit, Sirius."

"I'm comfortable, Father."

Orion Orion Blacks smile faltered.

"I've got good news for you."

Sirius said nothing. He just stared as his father as waited for him to speak.

"Sirius, even though you and share don't share our ideology, we're truly the same, I'm your father and you're my son. You will always be my son even if you're cast out, and that is not something far fetched considering how you behave yourself."

Sirius kept staring at his father.

"Now," said Orion as he approached his son and put his hand on the young man's shoulder. "I know you don't dislike Lucinda. That is a rare quality of her. I was talking to Abraxas and he was willing to hand his daughter over to you. All I need is your agreement to seal the deal and get you a wife you deserve."

"No!" cried Sirius and ran out of the room.

"Sirius! Son!" yelled Orion, but it was too late. Sirius was already out of the office. He was on his way to fetch his stuff when he saw his mother burning his name on the tapestry with a sick pleasure in her eyes.

Sirius felt something move him. No, it was shaking him.

"No, father," he cried.

"Sirius, wake up!"

He jumped up and realized that he was once again in the bathroom of his cottage.

"Was it nightmare again?" asked Lucinda with concerned eyes.

"Yes, the day I left."

Lucinda kissed Sirius's forehead gently and Sirius closed his eyes in relief.

"My father was right. I don't hate you." said Sirius.

"Sirius…"

"I left him alone and never met him again just to go back to his house a decade later and fall in love with the woman he had chosen for me all those years ago."

"I'm sorry, Sirius. I don't think I agree. We would have not fallen in love. We would have grown apart. Sirius, your father was a dangerous and manipulative man."

Sirius smirked bitterly, "He was a natural Occlumens just as I was. I didn't know what it was then."

"And unlike you, he used his talents in the worst ways possible," said Lucinda.

"I'm being crazy comparing myself to that man." said Sirius with a warm smile.

"Yes, you are." and then Lucinda kissed the love of her life.

*H*P*

"Come with me, Potter." said Argus Filch as he guided Harry to the DADA instructor

"Harry, would you mind … helping … me get back to… my office?" asked a very stoned Moriarty. Harry reluctantly accompanied Moriarty out.

"Ah, you're leaving, Harry?" said Slughorn quietly before they were out of the party.

"Sorry, Horace. I don't feel well. You must forgive me. Young Harry will get me to my office."

"Of course," said Slughorn with an uncomfortable smile, "I'll see you later, Harry my boy. My door is always open to you… always."

Harry nodded before dragging the dizzy Defense Instructor out. Moriarty was straddling, but once they were alone he stopped and began to walk normally.

"You're just fine, sir." Harry accused him.

"IndeedI am, what did you expect? I thought you were smart."

"Well, I don't think I am. I misjudged someone. I thought they loved me." Harry whispered pitifully.

"I stand corrected. You're an idiot, Harry Potter. You why we left so early? Because you had the eyes of someone who was about to do something really stupid. Fortunately, Argus was nearby to bring you to me. Now, before you make any unhinged decisions , tell me exactly what happened?"

Harry told the shocking event he had witnessed.

Moriarty took out his little skull from his pocket and looked it into its eye sockets.

"I see." He looked at Harry. "My agents tell me that the necklace was indeed procured by Mr. Malfoy."

"Why don't we go arrest him?" Harry asked desperately.

"I don't know. Maybe because Aurors would do that and we're not stupid like them. Maybe our reasons for not doing so are similar to Miss Granger's when she didn't cast a simple privacy spell. She's famous for casting it left and right, you know. " said Moriarty with a mocking tone.

"Hermione knew I was there?" asked Harry, baffled by his own lack of attention.

"That much is obvious. She followed you, Harry. I didn't risk looking into her head, but a simple observation of Severus and Draco's thoughts helped me stop you before you did anything rash." Moriarty explained.

"Well, how do I know I can trust you?" asked Harry with suspicion.

"You don't. And that, is the smartest thing you've told me tonight." Moriarty put the skull back in his pocket. "Now we go to my office where we can talk with more freedom."

He and Harry navigated their way through the Dark corridors to his office. Harry noticed that it wasn't empty.

"Allow me to introduce these men. The scrawny thin man on the left is Unspeakable Stiltskin. You two have already met. The one on the right is Unspeakable Rattenfanger." Moriarty said.

"Hello Mr Potter. It's a pleasure to see you again." said Stiltskin

"You smell bad, Jim." said Rattenfanger as his nose wrinkled.

"I think, I'm aware of that fact. let's not bring it up." Moriarty snapped, "I think Dumbledore wants to use Miss Granger to spy on Draco Malfoy."

"Is she Granger now?" Rattenfanger asked.

"I just found out that she's not a Lestrange." Moriarty said. "She the Daughter of Lucius Malfoy."

"that is also a falsehood, I know for a fact that Lucius has only one child." said Stiltskin.

"I had forgotten that you're the baby expert, Stiltskin. May I inquire why you were looking into Malfoys?" Ratenfanger asked.

"I was curious." said Stiltskin mischievously.

"You never do things because you're merely curious, Stiltskin. Is there anything that you haven't told me about Miss Granger?" asked Moriarty.

"Well, you have to promise not to get angry." said Stiltskin nervously.

"I can't make such promise. Just get on with it."

"As you probably know my private studies regards magical childbirth." Stiltskin said, "I've been looking into the children of the sacred 28."

"I'm sure you had noble reasons." said Moriarty dangerously, "About which we will certainly talk about later."

Stiltskin smiled unpleasantly and nodded.

"I'm sure Lucius Malfoy has only one sonand there are no records of a daughter. Her name is not on Malfoy tablet. Even if she were Mr Malfoy's illegitimate daughter, she would have been there."

"But she was on the Black tablet wasn't she?" Moriarty asked.

"Vivid and clear." replied Stiltskin.

"While your information is useful, you are henceforth prohibited from entering the sacred 28 chamber."

"I understand, sir." Stiltskin responded dryly.

"Was her name on any other tablet?" Moriarty asked.

"I had access to only 6 families." Stiltskin said.

"Can we get permission, Rattenfanger?" Moriarty asked.

"You definitely could. However, you're stuck here." the masculine man answered.

"I can't leave for some time before I have examined everything. Very well, that should wait."

"It might become unnecessary. I'm sure magic will reveal her true identity in time."

"That would not be good, Stiltskin. See if you can find a way to prevent that." said Moriarty agitatedly.

"What are we going to do regarding Draco Malfoy?" asked Rattenfanger. Harry nodded.

"I suppose we will see what Dumbledore will do tomorrow when Miss Granger tells him. For now, just track his purchases and communications." Moriarty instructed. "And you Mr. Potter will not say anything to anyone."

Hermione was waiting for Harry, when he came back to their common room.

"Harry, I looked everywhere for you. Where did you go?" said Hermione with genuine concern.

Harry already had his excuse.

"Uhm… Moriarty was pretty much stoned and asked me to take him to his office. Didn't see any point in coming back." replied Harry distractedly.

"Oh, then it had nothing to do with the talk Professor Snape, Draco and I had?" said Hermione sarcastically. "glad to know."

"Look, You're right, I suspected you at first, but then I realised that you didn't use a privacy spell, like you always do."

"So you figured out that I knew you were there? I knew you would." Hermione smiled proudly.

"To be honest I didn't figure it out at first." Harry admitted ashamed of his thoughtlessness. " Moriarty pointed out that fact."

"How did he know?" Hermione asked anxiously.

"Hermione, he is the natural Legilimens. Just a little look into the minds of Snape and Malfoy made everything clear. Also, he stopped me from doing anything stupid."

"Was he really stoned?" Hermione asked.

"No, of course not. He just used it as an excuse to get me out of there. I met two of his colleagues." Harry sat next to Hermione. "Do you want to hear to rest? Cast a privacy spell."

Harry told her about Moriarty's interest in her parentage. He told her about Stiltskin and Rettenfanger, too.

"Umm, they have funny names. I'm pretty sure I've heard the name Rattenfanger. Harry, you told me that Voldemort is from Gaunts. How come Stiltskin didn't see my name there?"

"Oh I forgot to tell you. He only had access to six tablets. That tablet must have been hidden from him."

"Harry, sooner or later they're going to find out. Then it will be out." said Hermione with immense desperation. "There is no way I can look into Nevill's eyes anymore."

"I don't think they would announce it to anyone. After all, this is the Department of Mysteries we are talking about. They're not in the business of announcing anything, Hermione." Harry assured her. He didn't dare mention that magic itself somehow could expose her true identity.

"I should go sleep. I have to meet Dumbledore tomorrow and tell him all about Draco." Hermione was about to go to her dormitory but Harry grabbed her hand.

"Hermione, you didn't tell me anything about what he's going to do." Harry reminded her.

She hesitated for a second and then nodded.

"Do you remember cabinet on the first floor?"

"Yeah, Fred and George put Montague in it." Harry said.

"He spent a couple of weeks in there. To our perspective at least. Time works differently when you're traveling interdimensionally. He wasn't harmed, but he couldn't get out. Inquisitorial Squad found him. You see, the cabinet has a twin in Borgin and Burkes. The problem is, the one in Hogwarts doesn't work properly. If you get in, you are stuck. You can get neither here nor there. Draco wants to fix that. When he's finished, a bunch of Death Eaters are going to invade Hogwarts. In summer Narcissa told me about Draco's mission. She begged me to do it instead of him."

"What is it?"

"Voldemort wants him to kill Dumbledore." Hermione said grimly.

"That's insane. We should tell someone." exclaimed Harry.

"Ah, that's exactly what I did. I came to you guys much earlier than a month and broke the law by making an illegal portkey to inform Dumbledore. He asked me to help Draco in order to capture the Death Eaters who would certainly be sent as backup." she said bitterly. " I'm really skeptical about that plan."

"But it might actually work." said Harry excitedly, "Moriarty's here. Isn't he the best defense teacher we have ever had? I know no one with more versatile knowledge of Dark arts and the means to prevent them. Dumbledore is here, too."

"Harry, Dumbledore is their target. I don't believe it's a wise decision. Dumbledore is too careless when it comes to safety of students and himself. When Death Eaters come, they come to kill. I'm not sure they'll spare innocent people."

Harry knew what she was talking about. Death Eaters weren't exactly known for their mercy. They couldn't care less about innocent lives.

"I don't like how things are going on," Hermione continued, "I feel that Dumbledore is pushing me into their circle."

"He wouldn't do that." Harry disagreed.

"Well, we will have to see." she said as she left him to get some sleep.

"Hey, before you go. I need to ask you something." said Harry.

"What?" said Hermione tiredly.

"Keep an eye on Filxh."

*H*R*

Hermione spent the morning talking to Dumbledore, trying to convince him to take a different approach fruitlessly.

"With all due respect, Professor, I think this might be the stupidest thing that you have asked me to do." Hermione said frostily.

"Even more than spending your summer with your mother?" said Dumbledore, smiling kindly.

"What's next? Are you going to ask me to kill you?" Hermione asked indignantly.

"All I ask is for you to trust me."

"Should I seriously help him fix it?" Hermione asked desperately.

"Of course. We don't want Draco to be desperate enough to do something stupid again, do we?" Dumbledore asked.

"I'm sure he's going to try some other things."

"I hope not." Dumbledore said nervously.

"I'm meeting him today to see the cabinet." Hermione finally admitted defeat.

"Thank you, Hermione."

She left the office and went to the room requirement, where Draco was waiting for him.

"Crabbe and Goyle usually stand guards." Draco explained.

"Of course, they do. Do you use Polyjuice potion?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah I nick that from Slughorn." Draco said shamelessly.

"As long as you're careful, it's OK." she said as she began inspecting the cabinet. The cabinet seemed a bit worn out and old. She was surprised when she saw three tiny crows on the handle. They were miniscule and Draco probably had not noticed them, but Hermione had and she knew this was a mark of Blacks.

"Well, this is going to take time. What have you done to the Rune Board?"

"Tried to carve the symbols, again." was his nervous response.

"We need to make a new one."

She picked up the heavily damaged rune-board.

"What?" Draco screamed.

"It's damaged beyond repair. And it's lost most of the magic stored in it. Fixing a new one is going to take a few months, so be patient. For now, let's make sure that the structure of the cabinet is sound so when I mount it back the whole thing won't break apart."

"That could happen?" Draco asked.

"Yes, it's very probable if we don't check." Hermione shrunk the board to the size of a coin. "Draco promise me you won't do anything hasty."

"Okay." he responded after a brief pause.

"I have to go now." said Hermione as she moved towards the door. "I'm already late for Transfiguration."

"You're invited to Malfoy manor to spend Christmas. Your mother asked." called Draco behind her.

Hermione left without an answer, leaving Draco behind to wonder if she had agreed or not.

*H*R*

For Harry this was the first time he was riding the Hogwarts Express on Christmas.

Hermione was moody all the way, but she wouldn't say why. Neville who couldn't take it anymore asked her if something was wrong.

"Do you really want to know?" she responded venomously. "Mummy has invited me over for Christmas."

Hermione gritted her teeth forcefully. The childish way she pronounced the word mummy made Neville and Ginny shudder.

Draco made their mood by coming over to tell Hermione that she could go to Weasley's after three day.

"Did I tell you I was going to the manor, so that you felt obliged to inform me of this fact?" Hermione barked at him.

"She's as bad as your aunt, Draco." said Goyle.

Hermione raised her wand to curse him but then paused and a mischievous grin formed on her lips. Harry and Ron sat back stoically and Draco jumped aside. Hermione moved her wand slickly and a blue light covered Goyle slightly.

"I'm done." said Hermione sweetly. Crookshanks purred as she patted her head.

"What did you do?" Draco asked nervously.

"Nothing, Drakey." said Hermione insincerely.

"I cannot have him die on me." Draco bellowed.

"Relax he won't die." Hermione said. "Here Greg, why don't you try this chocolate frog?"

Goyle took the chocolate suspiciously and inspected it a bit. Then to their amazement he ate it. He frowned and kept chewing. He seemed concerned after a few seconds.

"I doesn't taste like anything." He told Draco thickly.

"You should be able to taste things in… uhm … two weeks." said Hermione with joy.

Goyle looked at her like he couldn't understand what she was saying. Malfoy gulped sourly. "Any counter hexes?" He asked.

"No, cousin dearest. It will wear off in time." Hermione responded cruelly.

"I think he'll learn his lesson." said her cousin as he dragged Crabbe and Goyle away.

"That was evil, Hermione." Ginny said carefully. "It's Christmas after all. I mean, Goyles are famous for their food in Christmas parties."

Neville was snickering silently. Harry had a reprimanding look and Ron was just happy nothing bad had happened.

At the station Molly, Arthur and Weasley twins were waiting for them. Molly hugged them one by one. She even hugged Hermione, albeit she was a bit hesitant.

"Mum you should hear what Hermine did to Goyle." they heard Ginny tell her mother.

As Ginny narrated what had happened on the train, Hermione and Harry looked over to Draco who was standing in front of her pale mother. Narcissa seemed sick and tired. Next to her stood a middle aged man. He had curly black hair and pale blue eyes, like Hermione's. He seemed strangely familiar.

"Oh shit, Hermione. I think your dad is here." Harry whispered.

Ginny who was curious tried to see what they were looking at. The moment she saw the man she froze.

"Harry!" she said, her voice shaking horribly.

"I know Ginn. Just don't say anything." Harry instructed firmly.

"I should go. He's here for me." Hermione said.

"Are you insane?" said Ginny. She won't take her eyes off the man.

"What are you talking about, children?" asked Molly Weasley.

"Uhm Mrs. Weasley my aunt has invited me for three days. I'll be coming to you later." Hermione tried to say as normally as she could.

"But Hermione…" Mrs. Weasley said.

"Of course, dear. Good luck. See you in three days." said Mr. Weasley ignorantly.

Hermione walked to Narcissa waving her hand. When she was close enough she hugged her. It felt unnatural but she knew she had to do it.

"Hermione love, this is …"

"Mr. Riddle, and we have already met." Hermione said as she shook Voldemort's hand.

"Nice to see you again, Miss Granger." Voldemort responded.

Harry from distance squinted his eyes. Now that he could see Voldemort's original face next to Hermione he could see the similarities. Hermione had his jawline and eyes. Even from a distance it was obvious that the man was closely related to Hermione.

"Is that Hermione's uncle or something?" asked George.

"Don't be silly, George." Ginny snapped at him.

"It's time we left, everyone." said Mr. Weasley. "It's not safe to stay here."

Voldemort sighed when Harry and Weasleys disappeared. "Pity."

"Hermione dear, take my hand." Narcissa stretched her hand.

"No, Narcissa. You take Draco. I'll help Hermione." said Voldemort firmly.

Without any arguments, Narcissa snatched her son's hand and they popped out of existence.

"So… can you disapparate?" Voldemort asked thinly.

"No, sir."

"Then you're about to be surprised." Voldemort said. "I want you to imagine my office, every little detail that you can remember. Then imagine it's coming to you, as if this place is fading away and the office is replacing it. It's not hard, trust me. Let your magic do the rest."

Hermione allowed her magic to run through her as she focused on the picture of Voldemort's office. She imagined not only the pictures but smells and sounds, too. Slowly the reality around her faded and she was in Voldemort's office. The only consistency was Voldemort himself who had tagged along by gripping her hand.

"See?" Voldemort said with a bright smile.

"What was that?" Hermione asked.

"This is my method of traveling. You're the first who has learnt to do it properly." Voldemort said. He waved his wand and the snake like features replaced the handsome face.

"Which face of yours is the real one?" Hermione asked.

"Which one do you think? To me they're both equally real."

"I didn't know you cared so much to come for me personally." she said.

"I wanted to talk to you, Miss Granger." Voldemort said calmly. "I also wanted to teach you a few things. For now go see your mother and father. They have been waiting for you in the dining room."

Hermione reluctantly left the office to the dining room. Hermione saw her mother before she saw Hermione. Bellatrix was sitting on a sofa. Rodolphus had crouched down next to her and Lucius Malfoy was standing like a hollow shadow.

"Hello." Hermione greeted them.

"Uh Hermione. Welcome home." Lucius said weakly.

"Hello, daughter." said Bellatrix without looking at her.

"You-Know-Who said you wanted to see me." Hermione said.

"You should call him Dark Lord, dear." said Rodolphus with a friendly tone.

"I'd rather avoid that title. It's too dramatic. I shall call him V then." Hermione suggested."

Lucius paled but Bellatrix just shook her head.

"Do as you wish." she said. "Our lord wouldn't mind."

"Even if I called him turnip?" Hermione asked.

Draco who had just entered snorted with laughter but was silenced by Bellatrix's harsh look.

"I don't wish to be called turnip. Just like you don't wish to be called Lestrange." said Voldemort's voice behind her.

"Shall we have something, Lucius? Your children have come a long way. They must be hungry."

Dinner was accompanied by soft music playing from an unknown source. The food was exquisite. Roast beef here tasted even better than Hogwarts.

"So, Draco how is school?" Voldemort asked.

Draco looked sharply at his mother and then looked at his master.

"It's fine, master."

"Really? You seem to have it easy."

"I don't know about Draco, but this year has been the most challenging so far," said Hermione.

"Ah, tell me about it, young Malfoy." Voldemort told Hermione.

"This year we've been studying Alchemy and the Defense teacher is extremely demanding."

"Yes, Severus told me about him, he's teaching Alchemy these days in addition to Defense." Voldemort pointed his wand at Hermione. "But he doesn't teach you defense."

"Oh no. That's Professor Moriarty." Hermione answered as if she was talking to anyone but the most dangerous man in Britain. She felt Narcissa shake next to her.

"You, know him Lucius, don't you?"

"Not much … My Lord." Lucius said startled by Voldemort's attention.

"He's not close to Minister's, father." Hermione said politely.

Lucius's breath quickened.

"Your father is bit anxious today." Voldemort stated.

"Obviously, wouldn't you be if you and your entire family were to be wiped out if your child failed to do one tiny mission." Hermione said staring directly at him.

"Very funny, girl." Voldemort snarled. "I've not threatened your entire family, Lucius. Just Narcissa as a motivational factor for Draco."

"Why not threaten him with his sister." said Hermione boldly.

"Huh… Then he'd barely do a thing. You're not that important to Draco."

Voldemort knew how to play this game.

"Where is Severus anyway?" Voldemort asked.

"He will be here tomorrow, my Lord." said Bellatrix.

"Good. Make sure he enjoys his time here, Narcissa."

Lucius looked even more ill while Narcissa nodded obediently.

"I'll be back in two hours. Be ready to be trained, Miss Malfoy." Voldemort said before he disapparated.

"Hermione dear, you go get some sleep." Narcissa said kindly.

"Wow, wait up. I want to talk to my daughter." Bellatrix protested loudly. "Let's go to your room."

Hermione's room was given to her during summer. It hadn't been touched since she had left.

"Are you helping Draco?" she asked the moment Hermione put a ward on the door.

"Yes."

"You foolish girl. What if Dumbledore found out?" Her mother shrieked. "You should tell him to ask for Snape's help."

"Believe me, Professor Snape has offered. Draco is too stubborn."

"Ah, and he trusts you?"

"I'm not a Death Eater who wants to take his glory. I simply pity him as my poor brother, who is going to get himself killed." Hermione hissed.

"How much time do you need?" Bellatrix asked.

"About five months, maybe a bit less."

"You might be trying his patience by asking that much time." Bellatrix warned.

"Draco's mission is all risk. Even if we succeed you have to fight Dumbledore himself." Hermione said.

"Don't pretend to care for me. I know you don't like what we do here. I can take care of myself."

"I do care. Do you… care for me?" Hermione asked.

"I …perhaps I don't." Bellatrix said with a broken expression.

*H*P*

Burrow exploded when Harry and Ginny told them who the man with Narcissa had been. Lupin went mad over allowing such thing happen. Arthur Weasley blamed himself for letting Hermione go. Molly cried none-stop until Dumbledore arrived to save Harry from the mayhem.

"Everyone, calm down, Hermione is safe." he said. "I'm sorry for not telling you earlier, but Hermione had already spent most of her summer with her mother."

"What mother?" Lupin asked inclining to refuse the reality.

"Her biological mother." Dumbledore said calmly. "With my permission. And you should know that Sirius and Harry were aware of that fact at the time."

"I'm killing Sirius when he comes." Lupin said.

"Well, I allowed this to happen, Remus. How about trying to kill me first?" Dumbledore's fingers fumbled with Deluminator.

"So Hermione is going to spend three days of Christmas with Death Eaters and then she's coming here?" Fred said. "That's weird."

"Mr. Weasley. I managed to get Hermione by promising her mother that she would get to see her. In return she's promised that Hermione will never become a Death Eater. "

Molly Weasley smiled. "So she can't force her to join them."

"She can't let her join, Molly. I was careful when I made the deal." Dumbledore told her proudly.

There was a flare of fire and a man came out of the fireplace.

"Hey everyone, we're back! What's going on here?" asked Sirius Black worriedly. He was followed by a beaming Lucinda.

"Hi, everyone, Where is Hermione?" asked Lucinda as her smile faded.

"Miss Lestrange is with her parents, Lucinda." responded Dumbledore.

Lucinda stepped forward with a smile.

"Could you repeat that once more?" she said sweetly.

"She's with her…"

Lucinda slapped Dumbledore so hard that he comically fell on the ground, rubbing his inflamed cheek.

"How could you?" she shrieked.

"How could any of you let it happen?" she looked at everyone accusingly.

"Hermione has already spent the summer there." said Ron trying do defend his parents who Lucinda was piercing with her gaze.

That was a mistake. Lucinda furiously drew her wand and aimed it at Dumbledore. She would have cut him badly hadn't Sirius caught her in time.

"Control yourself, love." Sirius begged his future wife.

"What if Voldemort does something to her, Sirius? What he hurts her. My flesh and blood, Sirius!" Lucinda screamed her final sentence.

Lucinda looked at Harry's cringed face, desperately.

"Aren't you worried that he might use Hermione against you?"

She looked into his eyes. Harry felt her Legilimency cut through his carefully constructed shields. He closed his eyes to stop her, alas it was a futile effort. Hermione and everything he knew about her came into display. Lucinda saw everything and Harry could feel her utter bafflement. Something in Harry's mind moved. With a force he had never seen in himself, he pushed Lucinda out so forcefully that she fell on the ground next to Dumbledore. Harry opened his eyes to see Lucinda shaking on the ground wordlessly. The force within him subsided immediately.

Sirius bent over and pulled Lucinda into a fierce hug. Awe was still evident in her face.

"I think you all need some rest before we do any talking." said Arthur.

"I agree," said Sirius. "Why don't we construct a temporary room there."

Sirius pointed at a wall.

Arthur immediately agreed. They took Lucinda who was hiccuping hysterically away from Dumbledore and Harry.

After a couple of hours peace came back to burrow.

"Professor, did Hermione tell you what happened last night?" asked Harry as he sat in front of Dumbledore.

Sirius and Remus who were sitting at his sides were intrigued.

"Yes, Harry. Hermione told me everything. I was already aware of Draco's mission thanks to Severus, but even he didn't know what Draco had planned."

"Did she tell you that professor Moriarty's aware of his plans?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore suddenly sat straight. "No it didn't occur to her to tell me. How did he find out."

"He looked into Professor Snape's mind." Harry explained.

"That's impossible, Severus is the best Occlumens I know?" Lupin said.

"That's not true, Remus. Miss Lestrange is the best you know. She is even better than Sirius. Professor Moriarty, however, is better than us all combined. He has been doing this for a long time. His Legilimency is far more refined than Voldemort's or Lucinda's. By the way he is the Head Director of the Department of Mysteries. That should give us some clue about how powerful he is."

"What is Draco planning to do?" said Sirius.

"Back in summer, Draco was given a task by Lord Voldemort. Augustus Rookwood and Rodolphus Lestrange strongly disagreed with it, but Draco eventually had to accept. He is tasked with killing me." Dumbledore explained somberly. "Severus knew this much. Draco never told anyone what his plans were. As you have probably heard from Arthur and Sirius, Harry and his friends followed Draco to Borgin and Burkes where he talked to Borgin about something he needed. Arthur suspected illegal dealings and had a surprise raid at Malfoy's Manor. There was nothing to be found of course. Voldemort had already made sure we wouldn't find anything in there. When Hermione came to Hogwarts, she told me about her theory. She believed that Draco would use the Vanishing Cabinet on the first floor to smuggle Death Eaters into Hogwarts. Her theory was confirmed when the Vanishing Cabinet was secretly removed to an unknown location."

Dumbledore waved his wand and drinks appeared out of thin air for everyone.

"But there was a problem which Draco had to resolve. You see, the cabinet was broken. Its functionality was unreliable as Mr. Montague can testify. There are no instructions on how to fix it because it's quite unique and its maker is unknown. As a result, Draco failed to fix the cabinet and that meant his mother could die, so he took an alternative approach. He tried to foolishly send me a cursed object. Poor Katie Bell was almost killed in the process. Hermione stepped up and offered Draco her help to stop his other possible, dangerous attempts."

"Hold on. She's helping him smuggle Death Eaters into school?" Lupin asked incredulously.

"She is simply helping her brother to stop his mother's murder."

Harry heard a snort behind himself. He turned his neck to see Lucinda standing behind him.

She moved her wand softly and a beautiful sofa appeared next to Harry. She sat next to him and grabbed his hand in hers.

"I'm sorry for invading your mind." she said.

"It's fine. Sorry for throwing you out so harshly." Harry responded.

"So Hermione is playing Death Eater. Dangerous game, even for her." Lucinda said.

"I'm afraid we have little choice here. We have to find a way to get Lucius and Narcissa out so when Draco fails no one gets killed."

"How did Hermione know about Draco's mission?" asked Lucinda.

"Narcissa went to Severus for help and when he refused to kill me for Draco, she came to the only person who could help his son." Dumbledore explained.

"His sister." said Sirius.

To Harry's horror Lucinda smirked.

"Exactly, Sirius." she said sarcastically.