A/N: Alright, I tried to fix the formatting problems and changed some things here and there. Hopefully things are better now. Thank you for the reviews letting me know!
"And Ingrid told me that she's in full support of our side."
"How could she have said anything else? Between the two of you she never had a choice."
"She always had a choice," James said, smirking.
"Oh please James, between you and the Dark Lord you're lucky she was coherent by the end of that meeting."
"Don't bother Lucius, you won't be winning this debate with him," Marvolo said as he walked into the Lucius's study.
"My Lord," the blond said, inclining his head.
"So the Finnish Minister has declared herself ours?"
"Yes, she said that after the twins had gone off."
Marvolo shuddered delicately. "I don't know how you manage will all these personal connections to people."
James snorted. "Unlike some I prefer to not curse people into submission. It leaves a wider variety of options."
Marvolo's lips thinned at the reminder that James had been the one to convince the Minister.
"You'd best leave, Lucius, he has that look," James stage whispered, and the blond glanced at Marvolo before bowing his way from the room.
Marvolo let out a breath as Lucius left and headed for the chair across from James, seating himself in it. "Now that you've chased my minion from the room, what are you going to do about the upcoming raids?"
James smiled mischievously and pulled down the collar of his shirt to reveal a fine gold chain. "I managed to acquire a time turner from Ingrid."
"Really? Well that simplifies matters. What will you be doing on Friday night?"
"Having dinner with Ingrid, of course."
"Of course," Marvolo replied, restraining himself from rolling his eyes, before he changed the subject. "How are things at the school?"
"Much the same as always, Hermione and Draco never leave my library," James said, rolling his eyes.
"And Dumbledore?"
"He has spies in the Finnish Ministry."
"Well, that's not altogether unexpected," Marvolo replied dismissively.
"No, but they will have to be dealt with. I already sent Ingrid a letter informing her." James's tone was disapproving.
"Subtly, of course."
"Yes, I specified that. Also, I've decided on how to dispose of Longbottom, so I can proceed with the training sessions with that goal in mind."
"How?" Marvolo leaned forward in interest.
"Quite by accident," James replied cryptically, eyes alight with mischief.
"James," he growled, narrowing his eyes.
James laughed. "I'll train him and then, once he reaches a certain point, we'll schedule a raid in Hogsmead. Being the hotheaded fool that he is he'll rush down there, headless of any warnings. In the thick of battle he'll be hit by a stray Avada Kadavra."
"I see, by accident indeed."
"Yes, however you cannot cast the curse."
Marvolo sighed in a put upon manner. "I know, James. You might as well have that honor, having to deal with him almost daily."
"Why thank you, My Lord," James replied, smirking.
Marvolo groaned quietly, dropping his head into one hand.
The next week passed quickly, and soon enough it was Friday night. James arrived at Malfoy Manor in a conservative black robe, the hood drawn so that his face was hidden.
"How was dinner?" Marvolo asked as James slipped into the study.
"It was rather nice. We discussed future plans and actions."
"She's still...?"
"She's still with us, of course. There was never a hint of indecision."
"No one suspected that you had anything to do with the raid?"
"Oh no, my performance was completely believable."
"Excellent. You're ready for tonight?"
James just smirked in answer.
"Alright, we'll be raiding Diagon Alley."
"An ambitious target. I see we're past the formalities." James leaned forward in his seat in anticipation.
"Yes, it's time we moved onto more eye-catching methods. And now that you've begun your sessions with Longbottom it's beneficial that we start with better targets."
James's expression grew stony at the mention of the training session. The boy was hardheaded and unyielding, constantly being confrontational.
"I take it all is not well with Longbottom?"
James sighed and lowered himself into an armchair. "He's being incredibly difficult. The boy seems to think that since he's the same age as I that he's allowed to mouth of to me and be disrespectful. By the time he left he had lost 65 points and gained himself detention for the rest of the week."
"I see. Well, as long as you manage to carry out your plan I don't see that there's a problem."
"Other than my dwindling patience?"
Marvolo smirked. "As long as you don't lose your temper I think things will work themselves out."
James snorted. "It's more annoyance than anything. He's the one getting mad. You'd think that he would get the message after losing the first couple point, but no, he just gets angrier and mouthier. Finally I got so tired of it that I just dismissed him."
"After he lost more points and earned detention."
"Of course."
"Well, let's hope that this uplifts your dismal week."
"Oh, I'm sure it will."
A knock sounded at the door and Lucius's voice drifted in. "My Lord, everyone is present."
James stood and opened the door, revealing Lucius's masked face. Marvolo walked past them, and James and Lucius fell into step behind him all the way to the meeting room. 'Everyone' was an apt term, James reflected as he surveyed the crowd gathered before him.
While Lucius broke off from them and retook his place in the crowd, James followed Marvolo up onto the dais. He smirked at the glares he felt, shrugging them off as he stood to the Dark Lord's side while the man addressed his followers.
"Tonight we will be targeting Diagon Alley. I doubt this will pose a problem to any of you. As soon as the Aurors appear I want you all to disapparate. Satisfying as it would be to fight them, that is not our goal tonight." He surveyed the gathering for any hints of hesitation or disagreement. Finding none, he continued. "As you have no doubt noticed, we have a guest tonight. He shall be afforded every courtesy," he said, stressing the word 'every'. "If I find out that one of you had done anything to the contrary the consequences will be dire."
"Melodramatic, much?" James murmured from his side, and Marvolo smirked at his words as he signalled his troops that it was time to leave.
They apparated into Diagon Alley just as the Ministry was closing for the night, so as to make sure that he street would be full of people. Marvolo and James took up positions at opposite sides of the Alley to keep watch as much as to keep people from escaping. When it first became apparent that a disapparation ward was in place there were those who were foolish enough to try and fight them. That is, until it became undoubtedly clear that the two of them had no qualms using illegal curses. Then people steered clear of the two of them and congregated in the middle, however that made them easy targets for the Death Eaters.
Unnoticed though it was, the only people that actually suffered were Ministry workers because they were easily identifiable among the crowd due to their color coordinated robes. The general public was not harmed since there was nothing to indicate them as being on one side or the other, whereas the Ministry had assumed a 'light' stance in the current power struggle.
It wasn't long before aurors appeared to control the situation, and James watched from the shadows as the Death Eaters disapparated from the scene. Once he was the only one left he disabled the ward and apparated back to Malfoy Manor scarcely an hour since he'd left.
"All went well then, James?" Narcissa asked as she took his cloak from him and draping over the back of the divan.
"Rather. Marvolo and I observed and herded people back into the fray, and even then there were few willing to approach us after the first few minutes."
"He's downplaying it, I saw one off-duty Auror trying to duel with you around the halfway point," Lucius interjected as he entered the room, already free of his Death Eater uniform.
"Trying to being the operative words."
"James just kept deflecting his spells like they were nothing. The poor man just got more and more upset until finally James shot him down. What did you use on him anyway, James?"
"A decay curse. I found it in one of Marvolo's books, it starts in the speech center of the brain and branches outward." James voice was flat with disinterest.
"Don't bother Lucius, things like that don't even register to him. He can talk about tactics and the importance of certain acquisitions in terms of raids and people, but when it comes to actually taking part he has no interest for all his proficiency with spells." Marvolo walked in and smirked at James who simply shrugged in response.
"I already know what I'm capable of, what's the point of mindlessly torturing people to prove it to others? If my opponent is foolish enough to not know my strength then it's their loss."
Lucius sighed and shook his head. "Part of the fun of a such a raid is discussing the aftermath."
"And I'll leave that to those that enjoy it while I sit here and drink my tea," James said as a tea set appeared on the table.
Lucius sighed and turned to Marvolo. "Was it to your satisfaction, My Lord?"
"Yes, I am in agreement with James on that point. You all followed your orders and therefore the outcome was as expected. People will now think twice about their safety and be unwilling to travel to public places due to the ease with which we trapped those in Diagon."
"And of course no one will realize until later, if they notice at all, that the only people who were attacked were those obviously with the Ministry," James chimed in.
"Exactly, and when we send a tip to the Prophet stating such, it will be pointed out that the Dark Lord does not engage in indiscriminate carnage."
"Unlike those Light fools who raid anyone who they think might have an inclination towards the Dark Arts."
"Alright, that's enough debriefing for the night. Lucius, Narcissa, I'm sorry to ask this, but I need to speak to Marvolo," James cut in on the exchange.
Lucius looked a bit startled before he regained his composure. "Of course James, I must go see that everyone has dispersed in any case."
"What was that all about?" Marvolo asked irately as the door closed behind the Malfoys.
"I wanted to tell you about Longbottom."
"And Lucius could not have stayed?"
"I don't think he'd wish to hear of Miss Granger's closer associations with Draco."
Marvolo eyed him suspiciously, not believing him at all. "James..."
"I don't think he can keep it a secret that I'm dispatching the boy. Suspecting it and knowing the truth of the matter are different things entirely. I simply don't want him to inadvertently put himself in a compromising position, especially with that old fool around."
The Dark Lord sighed. "Alright, tell me of the boy. You did not go into detail earlier."
"Surprisingly, he is actually proficient in the spells I've tested him in so far. I did, however, expect at least that much since he taught them to others a few years ago."
"What now then?"
"Now I shall start him on some evasion measures, and by that I mean training him in how to actually duel. While he has been able to make do so far, I think it is time he has some actual training in the matter. That gathering they held during his second year is simply not sufficient."
"You're actually going to train him?" Marvolo asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Unfortunately. I am going to have to tone down my own skill to teach him. However, if things go well I will only have to instruct him rather than demonstrate. And by Severus's account he's very difficult to teach."
"Yes, well, Severus and the boy rather dislike each other. I would be worried if any working relationship between the two was well-mannered."
James chuckled. "Well, he's certainly no fan of mine at this point, so I'm rather certain things will be similarly complicated. Which actually works in my favor, because even the old fool cannot blame me for his obvious animosity."
"Are you sure about that?"
"I will make it undeniably clear to Albus that the boy has been completely unprovoked and that in actuality I treat all my students will similar disdain. That is, with the obvious exceptions of Draco and Miss Granger, which also works to my benefit since Hermione is one of Longbottom's closest friends."
"And what of the fact that you are reportedly sleeping with them both?"
"He won't broach the subject. As he has yet to vocalize or indicate anything about these rumors I am confident that he does not believe them, and therefore the topic will never be brought up in relevance to anything."
"Alright, I simply meant to be sure you had everything covered."
"Worried about me?" James asked playfully.
"Not in the least, for if I needed to be worried about you then you wouldn't be worth my time."
"Such heartfelt words," was the sarcastic reply.
"Always. Now, when do you need to be back at Hogwarts?"
"Oh, not until tomorrow. Why, did you have something in mind?" James asked innocently.
Marvolo smirked. "Oh yes, I have some activities that will keep us quite nicely occupied."
A/N: Hopefully this chapter was a little quicker in coming out, I certainly found it easier to write than the last one. As things are, I still don't have a computer, just onenote on my iPod. Therefore I can't make any promises about the next chapter either, although hopefully I will have it out soon enough. As always, thank you for all the reviews!