The home was lavish. To be honest that, phrase was a bit of an understatement as the current residents had done their best to drive home the point that they had money to burn. The real point was that not only did they care little for the currency's intrinsic value, they also had the funds to waste on the immense energy needed to burn copper, silver, and gold. However, the woman that came through the floo had no eyes for her environment. No, her entire focus was on the boy, sitting impatiently waiting for news.
"Draco," Narcissa said without taking time to charm the soot off her clothing. "Are you packed?"
"Yes, mother," Draco responded, his demeanor drooping even further. "Everything is in the shrunken trunk, as you ordered."
Narcissa sighed; at least one thing was going according to plan. With a purposeful stride she hurried over to a table where a rusty wrench was waiting. Once she had the item in hand, she motioned for Draco to join her. After only a second's hesitation, the boy marched over and placed his hand on the tool and the woman promptly said, "Sunset!"
Since both of them were well acquainted with the sensations of portkey travel, they had barely reappeared before Draco asked. "Father?"
Frowning, Narcissa motioned for him to be silent. They had just alighted at the international arrivals station in France; thus, it was not the time for that particular conversation. This, of course, did nothing to improve the boy's mood. "I am sorry, Draco," Narcissa said. "It will have to wait until after we are processed. Then we shall have to find somewhere I can cast some privacy charms."
Draco's mouth formed a thin line but he nodded before following his mother over to the wizard responsible for processing travelers.
"Good afternoon," a man without the trace of an accent said from behind a counter. He was dressed in a modest blue uniform, denoting him as the proper point of contact. "I see you are arriving from England." He continued after looking down at something hidden from easy view. "May I please inquire on the nature of your visit, to our beautiful country?"
Not being circuitous, Narcissa said, "My son and I are going to be taking up residence. I am in need of asylum."
"Asylum?" The travel inspector focused his full attention on the foreign witch upon hearing that word. "That is a very serious matter. For what reason do you seek such a thing?"
Narcissa frowned. "My husband is to stand before the Wizengamot today. I fear that I may be part of the reparations."
"How very barbaric," he said with a hostile frown. "To your knowledge, the ruling has not yet been passed?"
"No, we left before it would become difficult," Narcissa said. "Will that be a problem?"
"Not at all, our ambassador will be notified. He shall keep an eye on the proceedings. Should what you fear come to pass, I see no reason why we wouldn't be able to accommodate you."
The chamber quieted instantly when Madam Marchbanks brought her gavel down. "The time for the recess has elapsed." With a metered tone the elderly witch demanded, "Does anyone know where Madam Bones has gotten off to? It is not like her to be late and her presence is required if we are to proceed."
"Yes, Madam Warlock." An auror stepped forward to be the bearer of news. "I am to inform you that during the break, new evidence has surfaced, and the director must evaluate it before being able to continue. Further charges are being put under consideration."
"As if Minister Fudge weren't already in enough hot water." Madam Marchbanks frowned. "Very well, I suppose we shall see to new business while awaiting a decision."
"Pardon me." One of the Wizengamot witches who had been ease dropping in the corridor spoke up. "I happened to overhear Harry Potter accusing Lucius Malfoy of unleashing a basilisk on the school. The evidence she is reviewing would be his memories."
Madam Marchbanks said the only possible thing one could say in response to a declaration like that. "What?"
"I overheard Mr. Potter telling Madam Bones that Mr. Malfoy let a basilisk loose on Hogwarts and tried to kill him. I have no idea if those were separate incidents, but I'm sure Madam Bones will sort it out," The Wizengamot witch recounted.
"I… I…" Madam Marchbanks fought for words before turning a furious gaze on the unfortunate auror who had been tasked with relaying the news. "Am I to understand that you have Mr. Malfoy at hand, ready to stand for the next trial?"
"Yes, Madam Warlock," the auror returned smartly. "Once Madam Bones is done re…"
"Bring him here this instance." Madam Marchbanks roughly interrupted. "The director can take all the time she likes to review the evidence. However, there is no reason not to do a concurrent inquiry."
"Very well, Madam Warlock," the auror said before rushing from the chambers, he returned a minute later with Mr. Malfoy sandwiched between himself and another auror. As they were binding him to the chair in the middle of the chamber, his lawyer made his way to stand by his client.
"Mr. Malfoy." Madam Marchbanks said before the aurors had stepped away from their charge. "We have questions and you are going to give us answers."
"Madam Warlock." A member of the Wizengamot found his feet. "The accusations are so serious that I propose the use of veritaserum be employed for the questioning."
"Mr. Malfoy is a pureblood." Morris spoke up. "As such, he has protections against the use of veritaserum."
"Those protections do have limitations," the Wizengamot member countered, "the endangerment of so many heirs being one such limitation."
"I second the call for the inclusion of veritaserum." Dowager Longbottom called out without standing from her seat.
"We have before us a motion to recognize that the protections against the use of veritaserum do not extend to these circumstances," Madam Marchbanks intoned. "Let us vote; all those in favor please light your wands."
It was more than a little intimidating how quickly the shadows faded as Wizengamot members produced the requested illumination.
"All those against?" Madam Marchbanks asked for the sake of formality, and she received only a couple of lit wands as a result. "Abstaining?" was her next question. This time, she received double the number who voted against, in no way changing the outcome of the vote. "The matter is decided; administer the veritaserum," she commanded as Morris scowled at the turn of events.
With a small tray hovering by his side, a wizard in healer's robes approached Mr. Malfoy. Once in position, he pointed his wand at a small vial resting on the tray and proceeded to cast a few detection spells. He then nodded his head before breaking the seal on the container as well as uncorking three additional bottles of clear liquids. With practiced moves he let a drop of liquid from the first vial fall into each of the other three. In order, their contents turned a vibrant purple, bubblegum pink and a deep crimson red.
Nodding his head, once again, in approval, the wizard raised the first bottle for all to see. "I Healer Milo Yates do attest that the vessel before me contains veritaserum and nothing but veritaserum."
"You may proceed, Healer Yates," Madam Marchbanks said with narrowed eyes.
When the healer approached Mr. Malfoy, an auror cast the spells necessary to force the man's head back and mouth open. Soon, the required three drops were administered to the man who had remained quiet up until that point.
As the healer was backing away, Madam Marchbanks barked, "Detainee, what is your name."
"Lucius Malfoy," the man said in an emotionless voice.
"Are you the head of House Malfoy?"
"Yes." Lucius said just as emotionlessly.
"Are you responsible for the unleashing of a basilisk upon Hogwarts?" Marchbanks demanded.
Regardless of whatever questions were to be asked later and despite whatever accusations were to be made, it was Lucius's next word that irrevocably sealed his fate. "Yes."
Complete silence met that admission as those present internalized the significance. This gave an auror standing near Malfoy ample time to cast a spell, preemptively preventing a barrage of questions from reaching the prisoner. That is exactly what happened, as the silence did not last long before a ruckus broke out among the gallery and the seated Wizengamot members.
After supplying more than a few choice words herself, Madam Marchbanks banged her gavel for order. Reluctantly, the gathered witches and wizards returned to some semblance of respectability, allowing the auror to dispel his protections.
Taking a deep breath, Madam Marchbanks asked her next question. "How did you accomplish this atrocity?"
"I gave my master's diary to Arthur Weasley's youngest brat."
"Who is your master?" Madam Marchbanks quickly followed up.
"Lord Voldemort," Lucius said without hesitation.
"You gave a dark artifact, originating from Lord Voldemort to a school-aged child in hopes of harming that child and others?"
"Yes."
Again, there was silence before a member of the Wizengamot abruptly found his feet. "Before we continue with the questioning, I motion that we immediately make Mr. Malfoy's wife part of the reparations due House Weasley in addition to whatever else we may decide upon later."
"Surely, we can wait until after we have all the pertinent information before voting on such issues," another member objected.
"Did you not see her rushing out after the Pettigrew trial?" the first member returned. "I have a favor to return, and I'd like to do so before the recipient has a chance to flee the country."
It had been a full week for Arthur Weasley, giving lie to the allegation that the trip was a vacation - at least for him, that is. Truthfully, there were so many more important things they could have spent their windfall of galleons on, if not for one thing. Ginny. She had been under the influence of a dark object for an unconscionable amount of time, doing who knew what kind of harm. Despite the assurances of the headmaster, Arthur was not about to let that go untreated. Unfortunately, the bill that would have incurred at St. Mungo's would have funded the Wizengamot for a month, but as luck would have it, his eldest, Bill, had a solution. Rather, he had connections. He worked with people whose jobs were dealing with dark magics, and they were all more than willing to lend a hand, pro bono; even a blind man could see the benefits for wizardkind. The catch was that Arthur had to bring his daughter to see them. Compared to St. Mungo's charges, the extended sabbatical for the entire family was a bargain.
So, Arthur had spent his days consulting with the experts to whom Bill introduced him. The father was relieved that he had brought his daughter as these experts worked their magic, cleansing his daughter of the residual effects brought about by her ordeal. As knowledgeable as Dumbledore may have been, it was better to enlist the help of specialists.
Then, there was the issue concerning his youngest son. Who knew that the head of the local law enforcement was a wealthy individual who, for some reason, felt obligated to provide service to his country? The man had more than his fair share of wives and thus more than his fair share of children. Which, in retrospect, might be the real reason he felt the need to get out of the house and contribute to society instead of playing the role of the idle rich. Then again. the gaggle of mothers-in-law might have had some bearing.
With a gleeful smile, the man had invited the Weasley family to be his guests for the remainder of the vacation. It soon became apparent that he was overjoyed by the prospect of having a pair of his daughters become the responsibility of another. Clearly, this had been a problem at which he was more than willing to throw a substantial amount of money. While Arthur couldn't fathom being so heartless toward any of his own children, he had to admit that it was working out to Ron's advantage. Truthfully, Arthur wasn't sure how he would have handled the good fortune of having more than one wife, let alone the number that the man boasted; Molly was more than enough all by herself.
Arthur was therefore distracted when he entered the room where his family was awaiting their late lunch as well as plans for some sightseeing. After looking around, he was forced to blink a few times to verify that he wasn't seeing double. Carefully he counted. Good, there was only one Molly; he hadn't jinxed himself - likewise, only one Ginny.
He turned to Percy. "Where's your doppleganger?" he asked distractedly.
"I don't have one, father."
"And yours?" Arthur asked his youngest son.
"There is only one of me," Ron huffed.
"Good." Arthur waved his hand at the rest of the room. "Um… what's with?"
"Father," Percy said. "You know Ronald has been engaged to twins, and Fred and George are Fred and George."
"And the last two?" Arthur asked.
"Harry sent his twins to join us for the rest of our vacation," Molly said with a sour look on her face. "From what I gather, the boy has been up to some mischief, having been left unattended by everyone with a lick of a sense of responsibility."
"Harry has twins?" Arthur asked, dumbfounded.
"Hello." A pair of girls waved at him with smirks on their faces.
"He also sent enough galleons to cover their expenses," one of his twins said, and Arthur realized that that description had lost any pretense of being remotely definitive so settled on Fred or George.
"Well, this is unexpected," Arthur commented as Bill entered the room behind him.
"Father, I…" Bill started before catching sight of the occupants of the room. Frowning he took out his wand in preparation of casting some detection charms.
"Yes," Ginny giggled, watching her eldest brother. "There are three sets of twins in the room."
"Oh," Bill said sheepishly, putting his wand away.
"I would like my tea now." Arthur said, making his way toward the table. "I hope everyone is looking forward to an afternoon of exploring the pyramids."
"Yes, father," came the chorused reply as the man joined his family for lunch.
"Hopefully that's all of the surprises for today." Bill said as he also sat down.
"Something tells me you just jinxed us." Ginny said as she watched Ron sit down between his twin fiancées with a bewildered look on his face. He was distracted enough that the food in front of him failed to garner his immediate attention.
"Fair enough." Bill chuckled. "The pyramids hold plenty of surprises for those not familiar with them."
"I can't wait," Percy said pompously. "This promises to be educational." As he was speaking, a pair of owls flew in and found his father. Casually, putting down his teacup, Arthur retrieved the Daily Prophet from one owl before taking what looked like an official letter from the other.
"They do know you are on vacation?" Molly sniffed as she eyed the envelope.
"I'm sure it isn't anything that will disrupt our little holiday," Arthur said as he broke the wax seal.
"They did send it international post." Bill said. "Whatever it is, it should be important - most likely time sensitive as well."
"Worse case," Arthur said, withdrawing the parchment to read, "I'll handle it on my own while the rest of the family continues as planned." He started to read and it wasn't long before his eyes widened. With a snap of his neck, he looked up at Molly then back down at the letter. "Are they trying to get me killed?"
The rest of the people in the room looked at the man in stunned silence as he started to sweat.
"Well?" Molly asked with some worry in her voice.
Arthur looked at her, absently rubbing his forehead with a hand. "Bill," he said after a few seconds. "It has come time for you to shoulder some of the duties expected of my eldest. As such I pass these awarded reparations unto you."
"What?" Bill blinked in surprise. "Reparations?"
"It would seem that, under veritaserum, Lucius Malfoy has admitted to giving Ginny the diary. They are still questioning him but have already made an award to the family." Arthur returned his attention to the notice. "This is an invite for me to portkey home at their expense and get my own questions in."
"You can't pass that up," Percy practically growled. "He has to pay for what he did to my sister."
"Wait a sec," Bill said, holding out his hand for the letter. "What have they already awarded us and why isn't it going to Ginny?"
"No, I'm sure that wouldn't be appropriate," Arthur replied, surrendering the letter to his son.
"Not appropriate?" Bill said just before it was his turn for his eyes to widen in realization. He looked down and quickly read before saying. "Nope! Nope! Nope! Definitely Nope!"
"Bill," Arthur started.
"Dad, I move around too much to keep a woman." Bill interrupted. "It's not practical for me on any level."
"But." Arthur tried again.
"No, Father," Bill said firmly. "It would be best to pass this on to Percy."
"Penelope would kill me." Percy shook his head as he passed the letter to a twin.
"You're not even dating her yet." George spoke up as he took the letter.
"And if I accept this, I never will," Percy said.
"Well, Fred… George… It looks like it'll fall to you," Bill said with a smug smile.
The Weasley twins traded a look before George said. "As much as we relish the idea of being able to ask Draco 'Who's your daddy?'; neither of us relish the idea of interacting with that woman."
"We'll pass our claim on to Ron," Fred added.
As one, the room turned and looked at the already uncomfortable young man who hadn't yet gotten used to the concept of having a pair of twins for fiancées.
Blinking as she left the pensive alongside Mr. Potter and his ladies, Amelia looked around her office, her second in command, Scrimgeour, was also waiting on her.
"Well?" Scrimgeour asked, noticing that his boss looked shaken.
"That was very disturbing as well as very informative." Amelia shuddered. "We are going to need to get a frankly, gigantic snake rendered for Mr. Potter here. We shall be adding to the list of charges against Dumbledore; he never sought medical attention for a minor under his care when not doing so was clearly criminal negligence. We now know the dark lord's real name and I have a long meeting with the Unspeakables in my immediate future."
"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to make your job harder." Harry Potter apologized as the younger blond and brown haired girls both latched onto one of his arms with tears in their eyes.
"It is not your fault," Nymphadora Black said, obviously straining against the urge to join the hug pile. "There is plenty of blame to be spread around, and none of it falls on you."
Scrimgeour gave a low whistle before saying. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to be rude here. While a serious conversation needs to be had about what you have all just witnessed, the Wizengamot has decided to question Lucius Malfoy under the effects of the truth serum. They are pulling his brain out through his ears as we speak."
"What?" Amelia said already marching for the door, she was trailed by everyone else in the room, "Why aren't you in the chambers taking notes?"
"I've just found out a few seconds before you emerged. It is nothing more than a case of good timing." Scrimgeour shrugged and followed his boss. "If you hadn't exited when you had, I would have left a message before rushing up myself. This is something I wouldn't miss for the world. It has the potential of putting a lot of upstanding individuals in Azkaban."
"I think most of those individuals are already in a potion-induced slumber." Amelia said.
"I admit to imagining the looks on their faces when they wake up only to find out that they are to be food for the dementors." Scrimgeour smirked.
"I wouldn't want to give them indigestion." Amelia grimaced at the thought of abusing poor helpless dementors, "Just speculating on the list of offenses these individuals participated in, I shall be requesting the veil for each and every one of them. Hopefully, without Dumbledore's ethos for giving second chances to unrepentant murderers, there will be a chance that they will be held responsible for their crimes. Because not a one of them actually stood trial before the Ministry declared them innocent via the imperious curse, they can be brought before the Wizengamot for all they've done once we get Lucius to admit he bribed his way out of a sentence."
"That is assuming we can get there and get a word in edgewise," Scrimgeour said.
"There are more than a few old families that will throw a fit if their Heads of House are convicted," Andromeda Tonks said.
"They barely had the votes last time," Amelia replied. "With the accusation of bribes, the Minister being on trial for accepting similar bribes, and no overly influential busybodies demanding leniency… well, the climate is completely different. That and you holding the Black and Potter votes guarantee that they will not have an easy out this time around."
"That's all well and good," Mrs. Potter said. "But what about what we just witnessed? Harry needs to see a healer at the very least."
"He has seen one since then," Andromeda Tonks said soothingly. "While I won't minimize the experience, we have pressing matters to attend to. Once that is taken care of, do not think that certain individuals shall be avoiding punishment. One way or another, we shall have our due."
"Lucius isn't going to be around long enough for you to get your due from him." Amelia shook her head, "At most you'll get financial compensation and if his luck holds, Mr. Potter shall be having yet another woman added to his collection."
"I realize that." Andromeda Tonks said. "I was thinking along the lines of Lockhart and of course, Dumbledore. There is absolutely no reason his phoenix shouldn't have dragged the old man along when it came to help Harry in the chamber. I suspect that was deliberate."
"I already plan on nailing that man to a wall inside Azkaban." Amelia said. "The only question is whether it will be inside or outside a cell where a dementor could stumble across him."
"Wait!" Mr. Potter spoke up with an alarmed note in his voice. "Backup. What's this about another woman?"
"Mr. Malfoy's wife is about to become your possession." Nymphadora Black said dejectedly.
Harry stood still for a few seconds before hurrying to catch up with the others who had not stopped. "No." he firmly said. "As much as I'd like to tell Draco that I buggered his mother… just no."
Andromeda curiously looked at the boy. "I'm surprised you know what that means."
"Dora and I covered a lot of ground in our recent talks." He responded with a shrug.
"I want details." Mrs. Potter chimed in.
"I want a demonstration." The Lovegood girl dreamily added,
"I want a dark hole to climb into." Nymphadora Black blushed.
While two individuals were settling into a Malfoy owned property in France another was coming home after a long day in the field. Being a bachelor with no real inclination of maintaining a household, he had elected to stay at the compound provided by his employers. That is, he had a room in a large rustic building that was heavily warded against dragons as said building was built close to the habitats of said creatures. They weren't fortunate enough to have a house elf but they did have a dedicated older witch who cooked and cleaned for them.
It was that witch who met the young wizard at the door when he entered. "Welcome back." She said with a toothless smile when she saw her quarry. "A letter has arrived for you. It looked important, so here you go." With that she tossed a sealed envelope in his general direction.
Proving that he had been a seeker in school, the wizard caught the projectile and returned a smile. "Thank you, Safta." He said. "What's for dinner?"
"You will have to wait and see. But first take a shower." The old woman said as she turned to walk deeper into the building. "Just like everyone else."
The man chuckled good naturedly as he watched her walk away, then he turned his attention upon the missive he held. A combination of a smile and scowl appeared on his face when he saw that his name was scrawled on it in his father's neat handwriting. It really was a shame that he couldn't join the rest of his family in Egypt, but he couldn't afford to take the time off of work. It was an almost physical blow that he was missing out on the valuable time with them. What's more, this letter would probably tell him exactly what he was being left out of. From what he read between the lines; he was positive that the trip wasn't entirely for enjoyment.
He really wished he was there to help and have his say in whatever matters were being covered. Instead, he was hundreds of miles away, only receiving news that could be safely sent in a letter. He would have preferred to have been present, just in case any major family decisions were being made.
With a sigh, Charlie Weasley opened the envelope and read what it contained.
"Are they kidding me!" He yelled, realizing he was going to need a bigger room.