Chapter 33: Then what happened?

"Needless to say, Bella and I did not find Pettigrew's worthless carcass at Malfoy Manor," finished Narcissa. "We went to the Dark Lord's house and reported to him as soon as we finished sweeping the grounds."

X X X

Bella and Narcissa 'Side-Along Apparated' to the manor house and went silently in the door and made their way up the stairs to the parlor. As Narcissa knocked on the door, she straightened up and lifted her chin, while Bella made a futile effort to make her hair a bit more presentable.

"Enter," came the command from within.

Opening the door, Narcissa walked into the room, but stopped, with her hand on the knob, her mouth dropping open as her eyes swept around the room, surveying the damaged furniture and smashed chandelier. Voldemort was seated in his giant wing chair before the fire, watching the two Witches and they approached him and fell to their knees, heads bowed.

"Well?"

"We searched the house and grounds, Master. He was not there," Bella answered, nose to the floor.

"No matter. We will find him. . .Narcissa?"

"Yes, my Lord?" Cissa answered, raising her head a little, but still not looking at Voldemort directly.

"Had you seen or heard from Wormtail at all yesterday?"

"No, Master. Lucius left after dinner, to come here, and the next person I saw in my house was Bella, when she woke me this morning." Cissa answered, her voice trembling. "But we checked the house and grounds, thoroughly, in case he had arrived un-noticed by me and hidden himself."

"I see," came the quiet response. "I'm sorry to say, that was probably the last you, and Bella, will see of your husbands for quite some time. I have received word from one of my sources in the Ministry, that all of my Death Eaters are now in Azkaban; their trials will be scheduled shortly. Seems the Minister for Magic is in a bit of a pickle, and will, in all probability, be forced to resign this morning. So, something good did came of our little fiasco, eh Bella?"

"Yes, Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Bella's screams echoed around the room and Voldemort finally had a way to vent his anger at the failure of his plan. Narcissa could do nothing but remain on her knees, head bowed, until the Dark Lord was finished with her sister. She focused her mind solely on Lucius and Draco, in case the Dark Lord decided to see what, if anything, she knew about the nights events. She made her thoughts a mixture of anxiety and anger, berating Lucius for not completing his mission and worse, being captured. After, what seemed to be an excessively long time, Bella ceased screaming and collapsed on the floor, panting for breath. Voldemort remained silent, watching the women before him with a smirk on his face.

"Now, about your husbands . . . I will get them out of that so called prison," Cissa looked up, hope in her eyes, then just as quickly, dropped her gaze, as Voldemort continued. "But, not for a while . . . let those fools think they have weakened me by capturing a few of my followers. There are more in reserve, just waiting for word from me, to do my bidding."

Bella was struggling to right herself, but Cissa knew better than to reach over and assist her. When Bella was finally upright and kneeling, the Dark Lord stood and walked over to the long trail of ash that had been his pet, Nagini.

"If Wormtail is alive, I want him found. If he killed Nagini, he will die. If he is already dead, I want to know at whose hand. Perhaps there was a raid by the Aurors and he's also been taken prisoner. Narcissa?"

"Yes, my Lord?" came the whispered answer.

"If and when you are allowed to see and talk to Lucius, tell him I wish for him to find out if Wormtail is being held by the Ministry . . .if so, I doubt if they'll parade him around in public . . . as he was already declared dead." Voldemort stood there, with a smirk on his face, which for him was a smile, and then threw back his head and laughed, startling the two women. "It's embarrassing enough that they have to admit they were wrong about me . . . can't have another 'dead' Wizard showing up?!"

"No, my Lord," answered Bella, smiling up at her Master.

"SILENCE!" he bellowed, as, with a flick of his hand, Bella flew across the room to crash into a pile of chairs.

Silence hung over the room for a few moments, then Voldemort returned to his chair and sat down, frown on his forehead, contemplating what best to do.

"Narcissa, I want you to return home . . . the Ministry is sure to send a delegation to your house, to not only inform you of your husband's arrest, but they'll no doubt search the building, for what," Voldemort shrugged his shoulders. "Merlin only knows. Let them; act the dutiful, concerned wife, demand to see Lucius. If you are granted that request, instruct Lucius as I told you."

"Yes, Master."

"Bella, you will stay here."

"Yes, Master," groaned Bella, as she returned to her sister's side and collapsed to the floor.

"Narcissa, you and Draco will have to replace Lucius in my ranks . . . Bring Draco to me as soon as he returns from school. It's time he took the Mark."

Narcissa gasped, but controlled herself, nodded and replied. "He will be honored, Lord Voldemort."

"Go now, before those fools arrive and find you missing from your home . . .can't have them suspecting you of being involved in last night's disaster, can we?"

Narcissa rose, bowed and turning, strode out of the room, neither looking at or acknowledging her sister.

X X X

The delegation that did, in fact, arrive at Malfoy Manor later that morning was headed by Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"May I speak to you in private, Madam Malfoy?" Kingsley inquired, as the other Aurors spread out on either side of him.

"I assume this is not a social visit. Very well, follow me," replied Narcissa, as she turned and led the way into the sunlit front parlor.

Kingsley nodded to the other Aurors who started quietly searching through the manor. Closing the door, Kingsley cast a 'Silencing' spell on the room and then turned to Narcissa, who let out a sigh and gave a wan smile.

"Well, that was an interesting night," Kingsley smiled.

"I'm thankful I got the little bit of sleep I did, before Bella arrived," nodded Cissa.

"How did that go?" inquired the Auror, as he took a seat on the sofa.

"He's not sure if Pettigrew killed Nagini and then ran or if there was a raid by your department and he was captured; either way, Wormtail will never be forgiven . . . or live, if he's unfortunate enough to be in the Dark Lord's presence again," reported Cissa, as she sank onto her favorite armchair

"Well, Lucius and the others will be standing trial soon and after that all settles down, Sirius and Peter will have their 'Day in Court' before the Wizengamot to prove Black's innocence. He's very willing to take the blame for the snake's death; Voldemort will know Peter wasn't to blame. However, keeping you and Minerva out of the whole story will be a bit tricky, but Harry is going to invoke the "Wizard's Debt' Peter owes him and that should keep him silent about you two."

"If he's desperate enough, he might not honor that debt," Narcissa responded. "Maybe a touch of 'Memory Modification' might not be a bad idea . . . not as rule bending as an 'Imperious Curse'," Narcissa suggested with a giggle.

"You are in more jeopardy than Minerva, Narcissa. It's imperative Voldemort never finds out of your involvement, or our whole plan will start collapsing," Kingsley reminded her.

"Well, the Dark Lord already gave me instructions; if I'm allowed to talk to Lucius, he is to try and find out if Pettigrew is, indeed, being held by the Ministry," Cissa told him. "So, for now I'm going to just let things unfold with the trial and see what happens. I don't know when he'll want me to come back to his headquarters, but he might very well move here, as soon as he hears that your minions are finished checking for whatever wild goose chase you set them on this morning," Narcissa nodded toward the parlor door. "If not immediately, he'll definitely do so when he hears that Sirius was able to invade his manor with ease. Then I'll fully expect him to invite himself to be my houseguest."

"Yes, he can't feel too secure, right now, in his choice of hideout," agreed the Auror, as he stood to leave. "Well, I suppose the house has been searched sufficiently by now, Narcissa, so I'll take my leave."

"And I'll take a trip to Hogwarts to inform Draco of what's happened with his father," replied the blond woman, as she stood and led the way back to the front hall where the group of Aurors were waiting.

"Thank you for your co-operation, Madam Malfoy. We'll keep you informed of any developments about the trial." Kingsley bowed, as the members of his squad exited the manor.

Narcissa stood there, head held high, silent, until Kingsley reached the door, where he turned and winked at her, which caused her to burst into giggles, which she suppressed by clamping her hand over her mouth.

X X X

Narcissa returned to her seat after finishing her part of the story, receiving a kiss on the cheek from Lucius. Albus stood and faced the four actors, with a piece of parchment in his hand.

"As you can tell, we all planned how we would tell you this story, who would tell what part and in what order. That being said . . . it's my turn!" The headmaster put the parchment down on the table and stepped forward to begin. "During the Spring, we gathered all of the Horcruxes that were in places to which we had easy access; the Room of Requirement for Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem and the Gaunt house, or what was left of it, for the ring with the 'Resurrection Stone'. We had the Slytherin locket, Tom's diary and, of course, Harry. Which left the Hufflepuff cup, but we had to bide our time on that one, as we couldn't start destroying them until we had all of them in our possession. We were confident that once Sirius and Peter made their appearance at the Ministry, Tom would assume Nagini was killed as she posed a threat , not because of her role as a Horcrux," Dumbledore explained.

"So, everything was going along as it should, until after the trials?" Tom asked.

"Indeed, Draco and Narcissa went to Knockturn Alley and Draco was shown the 'Vanishing Cabinet' and given his instructions," nodded Albus.

"Did you get the 'Mark'? " Emma inquired, her voice barely above a whisper. In answer, Draco just nodded, then hung his head when he saw tears in her eyes.

"Okay, so then Sirius and Peter got center stage, right?" Dan was rubbing his hands together, eager to hear that part of the story.

"That happened, oddly enough, on Harry's birthday, that summer," replied Albus, even as he turned and motioned for Sirius to come forward.

"Thank you Albus . . . well, this was a bit tricky, being a wanted murderer but marching right into the Ministry wasn't exactly high on anyone's list of things they would have expected me to do, either! Sirius grinned and then started pacing back and forth, as he told his tale of the trial.