Chapter Seven

The dark, dank room was filled with black robed individuals. These men and women stood waiting expectantly, their intimidating silver masks covering their faces. The room where they waited was obviously underground, the stone walls dripped with moisture and moss grew in certain places on them. Everything was wet, the air musty and old.

Three figures stood in front of the rest, but all faced the same direction. The low murmur that filled the room was silenced immediately as the air began to crackle and a few moments later, their master, Lord Voldemort himself, appeared in front of them. All bowed down low as he took his place standing before them.

Lord Voldemort seemed to blend in perfectly with the damp, depressing setting surrounding him, his pale skin, sunken features and red slit eyes were not out of place here. Even though there was no breeze his gossamer robes still seemed to float out around him. His animal companion, Nagini, hung gracefully from his shoulders.

"My Lord." Lucius stepped forward and bowed low. Bellatrix and her husband Rodolphus followed close behind.

"Ah, Lucius, good to see you still intact after our last encounter." Voldemort remarked dryly.

"You as well, my Lord." Lucius bowed again. "You must forgive me, my Lord, there is no way the boy should have been able to-"

Voldemort held up his hand and Lucius fell silent. "Come now, Lucius," he grinned, stroking Nagini's head with the knuckle of his finger, "how I could ever expect you to predict the return of Harry Potter is just absurd." The amusement in Voldemort's voice dropped. "I do, however, hold you directly responsible for allowing your daughter to escape! You know how important she is to my plan! You remember our agreement, don't you Lucius, why she was conceived in the first place?"

"Y-yes, of course, my Lord, but-"

"Crucio!" Voldemort screamed, pointing his yew wand towards Lucius.

Lucius screamed once quickly and fell to his knees. He breathed deeply to regain control of himself and quickly righted. "I'm sorry, my Lord, please forgive me." His voice was shaky with pain.

Bellatrix and Rodolphus chuckled behind him. Lucius could picture the look on Bellatrix's face, a sadistic grin most likely covering his sister in-law's face.

"I thought you might enjoy that, Bellatrix." Voldemort spoke to his closest female servant.

"Always, my Lord." She breathed seductively back at him.

"Back to the point at hand, Lucius. How do you intend to retrieve your daughter? The date is drawing near."

"Not to worry, my Lord." Lucius grinned up at him. "It so happens that she can be tracked. She carries a stuffed dragon with her at all times, I have never seen her without it in recent years. I placed a tracking device on it after my wife's unfortunate departure." Lucius' lip curled up in a malicious smile. "Just in case the little brat tried to run away. Fortunately, Bellatrix has been an excellent replacement mother for the child and we had not run into that scenario."

"Sweet child." Bellatrix cooed disturbingly. "Not very obedient, but that can be remedied in time."

Voldemort joined in chuckling with his three closest Eaters. "Ah, but Bellatrix," Voldemort's cool voice trickled over them, "when all goes according to plan, there will be no need."

"The tracking signal had not moved for days, my Lord. On your command we are ready to move out and retrieve her. Wormtail's loss has not affected our efficiency or strength."

"I could have told you that, Lucius." He chuckled to himself. "Where is she located? Who is she with?"

"A house just outside muggle London. It is not warded or guarded, I've had men scouting it just this morning. I wanted to wait on your orders before moving in. As for who is with her, who got her out, it's difficult to say. Taking Harry's actions and demeanour at the manor into account, I'm not sure he would have stayed to help her." Lucius could see that Voldemort required a better explanation than that. "I think, my Lord, that my son may have returned. As we were leaving the manor I felt a pull on the wards, the family wards. There is nobody else it could have been."

This information brought a grin to Voldemort's face. "Well, it seems that young Draco has returned to us after all these years. He and I need to have a little chat, I think, after the stunt he pulled."

Lucius' face paled slightly. "Of course, my Lord, he deserves nothing less."

"You are truly a great father Lucius, for recognizing your children's many uses to me over the years. It's only a shame that the Malfoy name will soon be no more, you will have no more children to carry on your noble family."

"I suppose every great family comes to an end at one time or another, my Lord." A slight sadness passed over Lucius' face.

"What about Harry Potter, my Lord?" Bellatrix spoke up.

Voldemort clenched his jaw, not noticeable to any but those closest to him. "Harry Potter is a nuisance, he always has been and always will be. Now that we are once again extremely aware of his presence, I will be conducting more raids than ever, in an attempt to flush him out. He's become reckless, as was shown the other night. His anger will make him easy to lure." Voldemort spoke confidently, but underneath, a small flicker of what some would call worry was beginning to pop up. He had seen into the boy's eyes and found nothing, nothing left of the cocky teenager he had last fought against. This Harry was different. He didn't know what to expect.

"Yes." Lucius agreed. "Once he's out of the way, your plans for my daughter will commence once again. The public is throwing their support behind the Ministry now more than ever, and with the upcoming ritual the few who still oppose your rule will be swayed."

"Good. We shall act this afternoon. Myself, Lucius, Bellatrix and Rodolphus will go to this residence and retrieve the girl. Lucius, gather another half dozen men for further support to guard the outside of the house. No surprises this time."

"Of course, my Lord."

"Now, let's go over the plans for the ritual once again."

Once the plans had been discussed, every detail planned to perfection, Voldemort addressed his followers one last time. "The time is almost here, my loyal companions, my rule is almost secured." The mass of Death Eaters bowed to him one last time before he disapparated with a crack.

Most of the Death Eaters followed, leaving only the three most loyal. "Bella, once we retrieve my daughter, you'll be in charge of her once again."

"Always a pleasure, Lucius. Like I said, she was such a sweet girl." She smiled unnervingly. "We'll see you this afternoon Lucius." She kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Come, Rodolphus, we need to find something to do until this afternoon." She pulled excitedly on his hand and they began to run, laughing maniacally as they did, disappearing with the familiar crack of apparition.

Lucius found himself standing alone in the damp, dark underground cavern. The cold began to seep into his bones and he felt a chill run up his spine. The cold wasn't the only thing that sent a chill through him, though, there was something troubling him, something he hadn't dare bring up before the Dark Lord. His son was back, for what reason he did not know, but it couldn't just be a coincidence that he showed up on the same night that Harry Potter mysteriously appeared again, especially when it had been Draco that helped Potter escape in the first place. He had a strange feeling that if Draco was with Antigone and the stuffed dragon, that the Potter boy would be there too.

A pang of something Lucius couldn't identify surged through him when he thought of himself being the very last of the Malfoy line, once this plan had been carried out. Regret perhaps. Regret that he hadn't been a good enough father, regret that he couldn't lead his only son down the proper path. If only he had been harder on Draco, more vigilant in his early education, perhaps he wouldn't have failed in his task to kill Dumbledore, perhaps he wouldn't have deserted his Master's cause. Perhaps he wouldn't have made the ultimate betrayal and saved the Golden Boy, Potter. If only he had been a better father, he wouldn't have to be present at the death of his family tree. But, if doing this, allowing his proud family to turn to ash, would help his Master succeed in his ultimate goal, then there was nothing he wouldn't do to help.

It sure was a pity.

Lucius shook his head and sighed. It was just one of those things that had to be done, he supposed. He cast a quick spell to make sure the traced dragon was still in the same location. It was. He apparated away, the last of the light flickering out in the cavern, plunging it into complete darkness, the only thing left was the steady sound of dripping as the water seeped through the stone walls.