The Malfoy's pleasant lunch of venison pie and pumpkin soup was imprudently interrupted by Dobby the house-elf accompanying two men, one tall and black, dressed in rich purple robes, and the other, of a considerably reduced stature, was dressed in black and blue, however both were sporting silver badges with the engraved blue letters 'D.M.L.E'- Aurors. Narcissa stabbed at a piece of venison with her fork; with the Dark Lord gone, these Aurors think they have nothing to fear and they assume that they can act with such a complete lack of propriety –

'Gentlemen, to what do we owe this pleasure?' she asked, smiling courteously in the fashion her mother Druella had instilled in her since birth.

'We need you to come with us to the Ministry – and Mr Malfoy, you too. We have some questions to ask you.'

'Unfortunately that will not be possible, I am a busy man, and I ought to have received prior notice.' Lucius continued to eat as if there had been no disruption, Narcissa doing the same.

'We're not asking, Malfoy. Both of you are to come with us to the Ministry now.'

Five seconds of silence ensued, until Narcissa's cornflower blue eyes locked with Lucius's silvery grey ones, and simultaneously, they rose from their chairs.

'Dobby, fetch our cloaks.'

They followed the aurors in stony silence, Narcissa stealing worried glances at her husband, who continued to stare fixedly ahead, but gently squeezed her hand in reassurance. The quartet walked until they reached the black Ministry car parked outside the iron gates of Malfoy Manor.

Maybe they know Lucius is a Death Eater. Perhaps they found evidence of his participation in murder of those mudblood siblings and their parents? No, it was too soon; it has only been four days, the incompetence of the auror office meant that there was not enough time for them to gather sufficient evidence to arrest Lucius surely? Or maybe someone, some fool had cracked under questioning and betrayed Lucius? Narcissa inhaled deeply, she ought not to be thinking these things, it was imperative at this instant she hide her thoughts.

Lucius on the other hand, made no attempt to control his thoughts; he was furious at the fact that he and his wife had been dragged to the Ministry for no reason. He was a respected member of society and a dear friend of the Minister herself, how dare they do this to them as if they were common criminals?

The stony silence continued for the entire journey; for Lucius and Narcissa, this was a battle in itself; breaking the silence was a sign of weakness, and for the aurors, well, there was plenty of time to talk later in the interrogation room.

'Take a seat Mr and Mrs Malfoy.' The tall one said, pulling out two chair with his wand, and proceeded to sit on one of the chairs opposite them. 'My name is Kingsley Shacklebolt, and this is my partner, John Dawlish.'

The room was dark; a lone oil lamp being the only source of light. Clearly the luxury of an enchanted sky ceiling was not given to suspected criminals.

'Why are we here, Mr Shacklebolt?' Narcissa asked, one of her eyebrows raising slightly. 'If we are to be so unceremoniously removed from our home there ought to be a good reason, no?'

'It is about your sister Bellatr-'

Narcissa almost jumped out from her chair.

'-ix Lestrange. Do you know where she is?' Dawlish asked.

Lucius and Narcissa both answered in the negative.

'Have you had any contact with her for the past five days?' he asked again.

Again, Lucius and Narcissa both answered in the negative.

Shacklebolt sighed, and pulled out a file from a pocket in his robes, from which he took out two pieces of paper and laid them on the table; on one was a missing persons report, and the other, a photograph.

'Augusta Longbottom contacted me on the second of November, saying her son and daughter-in-law Frank and Alice did not come home from the Ministry party that night. As Frank and Alice were both members of the Order of the Phoenix, I thought little of their temporary disappearance, assuming they were on a secret mission.' Shacklebolt paused to point his illuminated wand at the photo. 'I was wrong. The Longbottoms were found early this morning by the Order.'

The photo was of a man and a woman – Frank and Alice presumably- their faces, hair and clothes were covered in dried blood, their eyes were rolled back, exposing the yellowish whites of their eyes, and their mouths were agape, allowing their tongues to hang out.

Narcissa stole a glance at Lucius to see if he knew anything about this, however, judging by his expression of pure shock, he obviously did not.

'They were found in a hunting lodge belonging to the Lestranges.' Shacklebolt continued, carefully looking at Narcissa and Lucius for a reaction, 'if you know anything at all, you must tell us.'

If Lucius and Narcissa were astonished by this, their still and calm faced betrayed no hint of their true emotions.

'Narcissa and I, we have not been in contact with our sister for quite some time, and I can assure you that we had no knowledge of this appalling incident.'

'Are you quite sure, Mr Malfoy, that you had no inkling of an idea they might carry out such an attack?' Dawlish interjected. 'Where were you

Lucius bristled at this obvious backhanded accusation.

'If you do not have any evidence against us, my wife and I will like to go home.'

'One more thing. Do you know where they might be hiding? Any other homes here or abroad?'

'They have a small retreat in the south of France, in Montpellier. And a holiday retreat in Devon.'

Shacklebolt sighed, looking at his interrogates' stony faces, they were not going to get any more information from them today.

'You may go. Thank you for your time.'

As Narcissa and Lucius were making their way from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to the Atrium, Narcissa caught sight of a woman, or rather, her headdress of a stuffed vulture. She was in her late sixties, and visibly distressed, however, it was difficult to see which emotion dominated; sadness or anger. Narcissa nudged her husband, and nodded in the direction of the woman.

'If I'm not mistaken, that is Augusta Longbottom, is it not?'

'She must have found out about her son and daughter,' Lucius muttered.

They snuck quietly past Mrs Longbottom, her rage would certainly have turned from her present victim to them; the family of those who orphaned her grandchild, if she had seen them, behind them they heard her voice steadily grow louder and shakier.

'They were your responsibility Crouch! You should have looked after them! Why did you not listen when I told you? You should've searched for them on that day! They are dead because of your, your complete and utter incompetence – how dare you make excuses for yourself? Thought they were on a secret mission for the Order did you? Bartemius Crouch, if you do not find the monsters who did this, Merlin help me, you will regret being born!'

Lucius grabbed Narcissa's arm and they hastily made for the lift, eager to be far away from Augusta Longbottom's fury.

With a small pop, Narcissa and Lucius appeared outside the gates of their Manor, and they hurried through the iron gates towards the Manor; they had been away for almost two hours, and although Dobby was a more than adequate babysitter, Draco must be wondering where his mother was. There was no need for Narcissa to worry, as Draco's chuckles was heard all the way from the vestibule. A mass of ebony black curls conjuring green dragon shaped clouds for a laughing Draco greeted Narcissa and Lucius as they entered the drawing room.

'Bella?'

Bellatrix Lestrange turned around to face her sister, a large smirk spread across her face.

'You shouldn't leave Draco here alone, you know, when we arrived he was crying. Honestly, how can you call yourselves parents?'

'What in Merlin's name are you doing here? You need to leave.'

'It's wonderful to see you too, dear sister,' Bella's voice saturated with sarcasm.

'We are serious, Bella.' Lucius interjected. 'We were just called to the Ministry because of you and Rodolphus. Why would you do that? Why would you kill two of the most popular Aurors – the whole Department of Magical Law Enforcement is looking for you!'

'Look, Lucius, we didn't kill them, when we left they were very much alive,' Bella hissed. 'All we wanted was to retrieve some information from them, about the Dark Lord. Rodolphus, Rabastan, me and the Crouch kid, we abducted the Longbottoms and we took them to our hunting lodge. We were using the Cruciatus curse on them but they told us nothing. But then,' Bella's eyes widened, and lowering her voice, she said, 'they stopped. Just…nothing. It was as if the Cruciatus curse did not affect them anymore. It was as if they became unconscious, we waited a long while but they wouldn't wake up. Then the damned Order came.'

'Rodolphus, Rabastan and Crouch, where are they now?' Narcissa asked.

Bella turned her head toward the window, looking out at the wide expanse of forest on the Malfoy estate, where a tiny lone cabin stood.

'Merlin! You hid them here? Are you absolutely insane? This is the first place the Ministry will look!'

'Cissy! Please! We won't stay long – Rabs, he was injured when we were escaping, that half breed Lupin – all we need are some healing potions and food, then we will go.'

There was a few seconds of stillness before Narcissa nodded and headed for the pantry. When Narcissa was far away enough, Bellatrix beckoned Lucius to come closer;

'I fear we have a traitor in our midst, as for me, my money is on Snape.'

'Absurd. You know how loyal Snape is to us, he was the one who told the Dark Lord the prophecy.' Lucius refused to believe his friend was anything less than loyal; after all, he was Draco's godfather, he would never betray them like this.

'He spies on the Order pretending to be spying on us – who knows which side he's really on.'

'How can you be certain it was a tip off? To be sure, they did find you rather quickly, but perhaps the Order got lucky. It is not as if you or Rod were ever discreet with your previous escapades.'

As this moment Narcissa returned, holding a box with an assortment of breads, hard cheeses, pickles and dried meats.

'Here. These should last you a week or so. Dobby is preparing the potions, they will be ready shortly.'

Placing the box on the floor, Narcissa rushed towards her sister and hugged her tightly, Bellatrix stunned by the sudden sentimental act, chortled and half-heartedly tried to push Narcissa away.

'It's not like I shall be gone forever, we'll go into hiding for a few months, but the Dark Lord will be back soon, and we along with him. Don't try to contact me, don't put yourself in danger.'

With the all-purpose healing potions prepared, Bellatrix sauntered out, having placed the potions and the box of food in her small black purse. Narcissa hoped this was not the last time she sees her sister alive; everyone knew that under Crouch, aurors were instructed to 'kill rather than capture,' and the Unforgiveable Curses were encouraged. For Lucius, he comprehended the fact that this was just the beginning of a long series of questionings and accusations.