A/N I am out of excuses. :) I hope you enjoy the chapter and promise to keep writing as per my muses' permission.
P.S. I'm having problems with my usual line breaks - excuse the unsightly stand-ins!
Chapter 2 Of old Acquaintances and new Enemies
The merry bell above the door jingled as he strode in then suddenly turned into a frantic scream, then a giggle, then …a burp.
He kept the distaste off his face as he crossed the empty store and entered the back room. He stopped in front if a listing wardrobe and cleared his throat.
"Draco Malfoy to see the most honorable legacy of the Marauders", he spat the ridiculous line and waited.
Suddenly there was a strange breeze on his back and he turned to meet the twin smirking faces.
"Malfoy", spoke one, he didn't know which one as they were nigh indistinguishable to him.
"What a pleasant surprise", finished the other.
Draco could not help but marvel once again at how those two could at once be so sly and cunning , yet be as brash and idiotic as the next moron from their former House.
Usually the tricksters were almost glad to see him as he always brought them something to occupy their always churning devious minds – from a project for a new spying device to information gathering and much more.
Their alliance had been quite incidental but had turned most profitable for both parties as time went by. The unlikely nature of it kept their secret even better than any subterfuge on their part.
Today, however, there was less of the usual hungry gleam in those bright blue eyes and a much more of the coldness their cheer usually hid.
It would seem his task was not going to be any easier than he had imagined.
He waited them out, well aware that all present knew his purpose in visiting.
One of the twins' nose twitched then there seemed to be some kind of silent communication between them before they stepped passed him and gestured that he follow them through the illusion of a wall.
The room beyond was full of knick-knacks and what seemed to be endless unfinished projects. This was only the second time he had been allowed into their workshop. He was also well aware that the room was so heavily warded that it could be classified as unplottable. A murder would be most easily coved if it took place there.
He didn't allow the tension he felt to show as they turned to him.
"We know why you are here", started the twin on the right, leaning in with a cold expression.
"And we sincerely hope you would not try to, pardon the pun, weasel that dead man out of what's coming his way", finished the second.
He met their eyes squarely.
"Virga would receive just punishment but there are ways to make sure it is so while we all remain both blameless and reap the rewards of a … situation well managed"
The twins' expressions didn't change much be he could feel he had their attention.
After all he had proven himself cunning enough numerous times before, and these particular Weasleys had always been an aberration in that brood. He knew their minds to be calculating enough to distance themselves from the emotional view and take advantage of an offer such as his.
He received Lady Virga in the sunroom as he enjoyed a fine cup of tea.
She was tense and seemed much more hassled then her pervious visit.
"Lord Malfoy. Are there any news regarding our agreement?" , she directly enquired, disregarding the fine bone china cup set before her.
He met her gaze coolly and sipped his own tea.
"Indeed", he said putting the cup and saucer down," There are, however, a few additional details that you need to be made aware of"
She was looking at him stonily, expecting a demand for more money perhaps.
"The heart of the matter has been resolved and you will not longer have any quarrel with the Weasley family. It would be as if it had never happened"
He could see the well veiled shock in her face. Despite his promise he knew she had expected at least some fallout for her family.
She did not relax however. The Lady Virga was truly an excellent example of premier pureblood breeding. If only her looks were more complimentary to his…
"However", he almost let out a small smirk at the heightened tension of her prim perch on her seat," I will need your brother's testimony as an uninvolved, horrified, witness to the vicious attack of Nefas Pravus against the sole Weasley female child"
Her eyes had narrowed that slightest bit, their dark color flashed with understanding of the situation.
"Would he be expected to be a witness in court?", she asked shrewdly. If he said he would have to testify before the Wizengamot there was the chance that he would be expected to take Veritaserum and implicate himself.
"I do not expect so, no", he said calmly meeting her direct stare," I believe the Wizengamot would be content to receive a written testimony, taken by a court scribe"
The court scribe's quills were enchanted to be able to sense untruth but they were much easily and inconspicuously subverted than the Veritaserum in front of a full Wizengamot.
Virga was silent for a while, most likely looking for a way out of the situation, but she rather quickly realized she was without options here. She had personally given him full control of the situation and he had used it to his advantage.
"Very well", she replied standing, as he followed," I will advise my family of this …solution", she looked at him with irritation.
He allowed himself a small smile as he bent and lightly brushed his lips over her smooth hand.
He allowed himself to enjoy the view as she left, her exquisite robes hugging the curves of her exotic body.
"Fred, George", Arthur's voice was cool but he held the door open for them and stood aside.
The two entered and faced their father with unusually somber faces.
Their father looked tired and worn, and the conspicuous absence of their mother in the kitchen was glaring. The house, as a whole, was silent and the atmosphere –funeral.
"Are you here to see Ginny?", Arthur's voice hitched a little on her name.
The two nodded. Their father studied their faces and for a long moment seemed to consider denying them further entrance but he then turned and silently led them further inside, up the rickety stairs.
Their sister's door was closed, the old childish sign with glittering stars the proclaimed it 'Ginny's Room!' looked absurdly out of place.
Arthur knocked on the door and opened it just an inch.
"Ginny, honey? Fred and George are here," he said in a soft voice, not entering further.
There was a rustle from inside and a croaky voice that they could not recognize bid them to come in.
They looked at each other, for the first time in a long time feeling apprehension. They didn't want to see her like this. They had read the medical files, stolen for them by a contact in St. Mungo's and the damage was extensive.
Their father gave them a hard stare then preceded them inside.
Steeling themselves they followed and had to stop inside the door.
She was burrowed in a blanket, only her patchy hair and a single eye visible. White bandages stood out against her flaming hair and pale face, covering the other eye. The healers were not yet sure if they would be able to save it.
Her one eye took them in and before they could even open their mouth a sob escaped her and her voice, croaky and unstable brought them to her side in seconds.
They wound their arms around her, holding her and each other gently, their eyes watering as well.
Ginny had always been their weakness, the family member they had had trouble leaving back when their parents had thrown them out. The only girl, so full of energy, mischievous, a brilliant witch in the making and it was all ruined because of the perverse whim of a couple of spoilt men.
Their eyes met as they ignored their father's uncomfortable glances at their joint hands.
They will go on with the plan – it was the only way they could get away with killing Virga.
And oh, they had plans for him.
Covertly George slid his wand into his hand and pointed it at his beloved sister, he closed his eyes as he started the incantation silently, knowing that Fred was mirroring his action on their father.
Albus Dumbledore looked at Arthur Weasley with a concerned face. The man was pacing and pulling at his hair.
He had flooed to his office not ten minutes earlier, frustration and grief on his face and a most disturbing revelation.
They had been taking steps against Virga ever since that …event, even he, despite the somewhat messy political ramifications had been ready to support the family when they took a stand against the Virgas.
Now it would seem his initial reticence had been well advised.
The whole thing had been a ploy, a most low attempt to discredit him and through him his affiliates.
Young Pravus had been the true perpetrator – and Albus had no trouble imagining the boy in the part of the villain – who had then cast a memory charm of the girl in such a way that it would slowly start to fail and in the most crucial moment she would retract her statement. Thus her family and any who had stood with them would take the role of accusers of the innocent pureblood. They would be cast as maliciously trying to ruin the young noble Lord and in fact against all the pureblood society. It was exactly what Voldemort had been trying to do ever since the conflict had begun.
He had been trying to cast them in the dye of traitors to their magical roots, to their society as it was. The current tensions with the muggles would only inflame the public against anyone presumed to be even perfunctorily siding with them.
This would have been an enormous blow to their agenda both in the Wizengamot as well as almost completely ruin their chances of gathering pureblood support beyond the small numbers they already had.
Albus kept his anger well hidden before Arthur left.
They would have to tread carefully in this matter. He had no doubt that this had been only the first of a series of traps that had been laid for him.
"My Lord", Snape fell to one knee and bowed his head.
"Raise", Lord Voldemort turned from his contemplation of a wall mounted map of the world and looked at his spy.
The man was as sallow and thin as ever, his black robes buttoned high under his chin.
"My Lord I bring news about the Virga debacle", the man said and kept his gaze lowered in something than on another would have been a gesture of being humbled in the presence of their Lord. In this man's case Voldemort knew it was a clever way of escaping having his mind probed without warning.
Voldemort made a gesture to go on and returned to his study of the map.
"Dumbledore had uncovered the plot to discredit him by falsely accusing the Virga son", Snape made a very small pause but Voldemort purposefully did not react, despite having no knowledge of this," They are aware that he is not the true assailant and are planning to expose the plot publicly"
Voldemort did not turn from his pursuit of the map. He would not give the double spy the pleasure of knowing he had not been informed of the circumstance.
The man had purposefully kept the name of the true perpetrator from his report, no doubt wanting to see if Voldemort would expose anything further.
Finally he turned to Snape.
"When will they make their move?", he asked
Snape seemed to bow his head lower as those red eyes fell on his form.
"As far as I could gather they wish for the Weasley girl to have a few more days of recovery before she may be forced into the public view, though I doubt they would allow her to be very publically present."
So they were cautious, wary of another trap. Dumbledore knew patience but the old man also would not stay idle. Wheels were turning even as they spoke.
"Very well. Now tell me of the progress of your other tasks"
He would not give a sign he was at all surprised before Snape. However, as soon as he was gone there would be a Malfoy to take his place.
This whole plan stank of that brat's machinations. He would have to make sure he was not having thoughts above his station.
The games his followers played with each other were their own responsibility, until they weren't.
He could feel the muggles' shock, the awe and greed filling them as they looked upon the result of the latest tightly controlled experiment he'd been allowed to prove his claims.
The rotted bodies crumbled into the black pools of their congealed blood as the man in the middle of the runic symbol swayed on his feet, staring at his gently smoking hands.
The man was not harmed however – something that could not be said of the targets arrayed around the whole gruesome ritual site.
They were charred beyond recognition, some still smoldering, some little more than piles of cinder and ash.
The power of Fire had been bent to this muggle's will for the measly price of a few undead and some of his own blood.
His shackles clinked together as he took the minimal step they allowed him in the isolated viewing room. He pressed closer to the miniature blast window so he could see the officials in their own bunker on the other side of the site.
He could taste it – success.
The muggle guards fought to hide their shudders as they dragged the prisoner out to meet the 'brass'.
There was just something abnormal, corrupted, in that boy's face. The truly evil grin that had overtaken the handsome features helped not a bit to put them at ease.
He was allowed a better cell – almost a room, with a bathroom that was at least separated from his sleeping space.
Viper lied down and stretched on the mediocre mattress. He felt the muscles of his back and shoulders release tension from being forcefully bent in the damned shackles all day.
He folded a hand behind his head and held the other over his bare stomach. His skin was soft and tightly stretched over the muscles underneath, mottled with remnants of old bruises. It felt so strange to run his fingers over the dips and valleys on his body.
His time on Earth had been so consumed by his mission that this forced idleness while the muggles got their act together had driven him to new and exciting ways to alleviate his boredom.
The strengthening of his memories brought remembrance of his time with Sow, seemingly so long ago. He was the one and only other person, whose hand had travelled this same path over his skin and many more besides.
But…the body Sow had known was so different from this muscled form, with its long limbs and hidden power that Sow could have only dreamt about.
At last he could see. His life, such as it had been, had been ruled by Her divine will. She had wormed inside his soul before it was even fully formed and changed him in those small but so very significant ways.
She had accelerated those human sides of him that enhanced his mortality – the hate, the lust, and the needs inside his heart, multiplied and brought on the surface. Taking his darkness, that seed that another had sown in the fertile soil of his spirit; she had created him in her image.
And he had flourished! When he had been inside her embrace, out of this realm, he had forgotten, but once back he could put his immature memories in context.
He had grown with Her and he understood his purpose now.
Then there was Sow - the one person his adolescent needs and wants had wrapped around, tightening like a noose until Sow had felt the only way out had been death – Viper's.
He wondered if Sow had been confused by the magic that had taken Viper's focused possessiveness and transferred it into lust then implanted it inside its target. Growing up he hadn't been able to understand how different Sow was from the average human, how broken and twisted the young man had been. He must have been to do what he did, to take in this babe off the street and have him raised into that life.
He wondered if that had made Sow into the perfect receptacle for Her magics. Yet, his humanity must have been intact enough that he had felt the pressure and confusion under the weight of them, unknowing the true source. He had been a good choice, despite the flaws of his humanity and Viper still remembered him with a twinge in his chest.
He had taught him much of what she needed him to know to do Her bidding – in lust and anguish.
Since he had been back he sometimes wondered about the fate of Sow's soul as he had not been in Her domain. Perhaps his wrongdoings had been forgiven under Her power?
Still, he would have liked to have had some time with him. Would have liked to dive inside that soul and rip and shred like his had been by Her. He would have liked to wrap himself in its remains and keep it with him always – a memento of a time well passed. He had nothing else left.
Now he would have to content with bringing a world to its knees all by his lonesome.
The agent in charge of surveillance wished he could look away as their prisoner put on a show of lustful decadence as he brought himself pleasure. The young man seemed to hold nothing back, despite the fact that he must know he was under observation.
The agent considered himself rather firmly heterosexual, which is why as the figure stretched and twisted on his monitor his need to not be watching grew.
He sincerely wished his desire not to witness any more of the erotic view was in no way connected to the glowing tightness of his trousers.
It was another two weeks before Viper was allowed to move around the compound more freely, albeit with a 24/7 shadow of two armed agents.
He spent most of his days on the newly designated 'M Testing Grounds" and to his unending amusement his guards could now almost completely ignore the screams and various wet ripping sounds of dead and live flesh alike.
The first few days he'd played a little game with them without their knowledge. He'd seen their barely controlled expressions the first time he'd carelessly tore into a freshly dead body so he'd done his level best to make it as revolting as possible. There were bits flying, he brutally ripped it limb from limb with his bare hands, he'd scooped out the intestine and deposited it almost at their feet with a good heave. The still warm pink and grayish matter had slid like wet earthworms over one of the agent's feet but to Viper's disappointment the man had not thrown up, even if it had been a close thing.
His work was progressing and they'd began fine tuning the sacrifice needed for specific magical feats with the volunteers.
He was confident that in another week or so the muggles would have walked far enough in Her shadow that they would be able to continue their research without him.
He could already feel the oily shadows, unseen to their mortal eyes clinging to everyone in the facility and spreading outwards like the blast wave of a nuclear explosion.
He grinned as he dislocated a finger on a volunteer and had her reciting the chants through gritted teeth.
The woman soon forgot the pain as her had became the centre of a miniature windstorm. As if in a trance she raised her arm and made a whipping motion at the target a hundred meters away.
The mannequin sagged sadly on its stand as if sliced with an enormous sword, nearly cleaved in half.
Viper looked into her pale eyes and saw the shadow run across them as her face turned unguarded exposing her awed and lustful high.
Yes, power would corrupt them nicely.
He kneeled and wondered if he would ever stand again. Bowed low in supplication and barely upright with the aftershocks of the Cruciatus he wondered if it had been worth it.
"Are we clear on these matters, young Malfoy?" , the sinister hiss of his master came from too close behind his ear and he nearly jumped but managed to hold himself in place.
"Yes, Master", he spoke through his unwieldy lips
"We shall see", the Dark Lord was walking away, and he involuntarily relaxed a little," You should be grateful that your foolish actions have presented me with an unique opportunity that I wish to exploit. Tell me – how did you manage to gain access to the Weasley home?"
The redheaded clan's shack was one of the so called Light's strongholds, warded by a slew of talented wizards and witches over the years. It was nigh impossible to enter without an invitation and a Malfoy would not get one if the whole clan was on fire and they the only salvation.
The sentiment was, of course, returned.
He considered his position, his agreement with the twins and how long he had kept his contact secret then dared a small look at his Lord from under his pale lashes.
Voldemort was standing tall and imposing, idly twirling his bone-pale wand in his hand. He knew. He knew Draco's secret and this was another test that would spell his doom if he failed, he was sure.
Resigned he bowed lower and started explaining.
That sneaky little snake. Voldemort looked down on the young man and considered his form as he spilled his complicated plots and longtime secret contact with the black sheep of the Weasley clan.
While he disliked things being kept from him he had to admit the boy had been extremely cunning in acquiring such contacts. Unfortunately if he had known of this earlier it would had been extremely valuable information.
It was obvious that the Malfoy would have to keep breathing but maybe he needed another reminded that secrets were not to be kept from his Master?
Yes, an entertaining day or two in the dungeons would be a nice change of pace and at the same time merciful enough considering the alternative.
He would have to have the Healer ready to mostly heal the young Lord as he would be needed in the Wizegamot in three days and he would have an image to present.
Three days later a slightly pale but otherwise poised Lord Malfoy strolled into the Wizagamot chamber and took his seat among his peers, nodding politely to Greengrass and Nott and sparing a glacial incline to Pravus. He could see the deviant return his arctic greeting with the barest hint of a smirk and he turned his attention to his immediate surroundings as someone tried to engage him in conversation.
He spoke automatically on a topic he'd discussed to death time and again and wondered if the Dark Lord had seen fit to inform Pravus of the goings on?
The call to order brought his back to the present and he focused his attention on the newly minted Chief of the Wizegamot as he presented the first article of discussion.
"I now call this Wizegamot meeting to session! First point of today's agenda is discussion of the new policy on 'Magical Family and Child Rearing"
In the end it didn't matter what happened with Pravus – it was mostly out of his hands now. But this, this seemingly innocuous bill could be the beginning of the end.
A/N Reviews feed the muses! Tell me what you think, what you feel - give me that feedback!