Sitting at his desk, waiting for Harry and Hermione to show up, Voldemort scanned the files he'd amassed on the Order over the last year. After his recent conversation with Ezra Greengrass and the information he'd given him, he felt it was time to take a closer look at Bill and Charlie Weasley. Voldemort was annoyed to admit it, but he'd taken his eye off the ball in regards to the Order just recently.
Only a few months ago, he was preparing to full infiltrate the Order, via Mundungus Fletcher and the Tonks family, but while he'd tasked Ezra with getting Fletcher onside, he'd failed to do anything about the Tonks family. In fact he'd still been mulling over the best approach to take with the family when they raided Order Headquarters and everything had changed. With one well timed move, the Order had lost several key members of the group, either through death, or in Sirius Black's case his fresh incarceration. Then fresh on the heels of the attack on Grimmauld Place came the dealing with Ron Weasley, which resulted in his life being ended.
Stupidly, Voldemort thought that the twin attacks would be enough to practically silence the Order. After all, they'd lost so many people it would be hard for them to continue without recruiting more people, and who in their right mind would join a band of people who were dropping like flies. He'd even thought the Weasleys had been dealt with, despite the fact only one of their number had been killed. He thought the loss of just one member of such a close knit family would be enough to end them all, but clearly he'd been wrong.
"Or maybe they're not quite as close as we thought," Voldemort muttered as he studied the files on the two eldest Weasleys and found something he'd never noticed before.
Before returning home around the time Voldemort made his presence felt at Hogwarts, both boys had worked abroad. Of course Voldemort had known that, but he was only just realising how quickly the pair left the country after finishing Hogwarts. Charlie for example had finished Hogwarts the summer before Harry and Hermione had started school, but yet by the time they went to school in September, he'd already moved to Romania. And Bill was no better, he was settled in Egypt within a few months of leaving Hogwarts. Was it a coincidence that the Weasleys two eldest children not only left the family home, but both left the country as soon as was physically possible? Was there trouble in the family that the dark knew nothing about?
Mentally reminding himself to look into a potential rift within the family, Voldemort set about finding out what sort of challenge the two eldest Weasleys could present him with. Checking their school records he found both boys were smart and had received good grades at Hogwarts, with Bill even holding the position of Head Boy. However, Voldemort decided that Bill was the bigger threat of the two as he continued to peruse the file. Bill had spent years working as a curse breaker, a job only highly intelligent and highly skilled witches and wizards could do. That wasn't to say Charlie was to be underestimated, because working with dragons wasn't exactly a job for the faint hearted. Together, Voldemort suspected they could be quite a handful.
"A handful that needs dealing with swiftly," Voldemort muttered, closing the file and sliding it into his desk drawer as someone knocked on the door. "Come in," He called.
Since he was expecting his daughter and grandson, it came as no surprise to him when Harry and Hermione poked their heads into the room. Ushering the pair into his office, he settled them in seats in front of his desk.
"Are we in trouble?" Hermione asked with a cheeky grin.
"Have you done anything to warrant being in trouble?" Voldemort retorted.
"Sadly, we've been good," Hermione said with a sigh. Even with her recent hospital visit, she was still eager to get involved in some action. She still felt she had plenty to prove as The Dark Lord's daughter.
"And that's a bad thing?" Voldemort chuckled.
"It is when you're part of this family," Harry retorted. "We want some action. A chance to prove our darkness."
"Darkness isn't just a show of strength and brutality," Voldemort said wisely. "It's being cunning and manipulating things in ways people don't even realise."
"I'd settle for some bloody deaths," Harry muttered.
"I'll see what I can do," Voldemort said in amusement. "But for today, I want to talk to the pair of you about the future. You're about to start your last year at school, and I was wondering if either of you have given any thought to your future once you graduate."
"I have," Hermione answered brightly.
"Are these the plans Draco mentioned?" Harry asked his aunt.
"More than likely," Hermione replied. "What exactly did he tell you?"
"He said something about you having plans so you wouldn't be in a battle with me to rule the world, and if I wanted more details I had to ask you. But I forgot until now."
"You want to rule the world, Harry?" Voldemort asked with a chuckle.
"I wouldn't mind," Harry answered with a smirk. "After all, someone needs to make sure things run smoothly and the Order never get a chance to wrestle back control of the wizarding world."
"So you would be interested in joining the Ministry and one day taking over as Minister?" Voldemort checked with his grandson.
"That sounds like a plan to me," Harry replied. "But where would that leave Hermione?"
"Right where I wanted to be," Hermione replied with a smile. "In fact, if you're Minister we could work perfectly together."
"Doing what?" Voldemort questioned, still none the wiser about what his daughter planned to do with her future.
"Overhauling the school system," Hermione answered. "Eventually, I was thinking I would take over as Headmistress when Severus wants to retire, but before that I've got big plans."
"Tell us about these plans, Hermione," Voldemort urged.
For the next half hour, Hermione outlined her plans for the school system in the wizarding world. First of all she wanted to open a school for younger children, so that they could get a basic education before venturing into Hogwarts. That meant that by the time they went to Hogwarts, they already had a basic knowledge of magic and the lessons for the first years would end up being far more productive than they were now. Secondly, she wanted to have muggleborns attend the earlier school to give them a taste of what to expect, then if they decided it wasn't for them, they could be obliviated and returned to the muggle world before they wasted seven years at Hogwarts. Although, Hermione also pointed out that if the muggleborns attended the earlier school, they could decide just how much magic they had and whether it was even worth them joining the wizarding world. Those found lacking, could again be returned to the muggle world where they could get on with the rest of their lives in peace.
Hermione also explained how she wanted to transform Hogwarts. She wanted to hire more staff, especially some younger ones, and have more than one professor for each subject. As Hermione rightly pointed out, it was a hell of a lot they were asking for the current staff to teach seven years' worth of children all by themselves. Hermione also felt that the added staff could prove useful for students who were struggling in certain subjects. With more staff, the students could get the support they needed, as opposed to the current system where they either had to struggle on or hope that the professor they needed help from was kind enough to spare them some of their precious time.
"It sounds like you've really given this some thought," Voldemort said once Hermione had finished speaking.
"I have," Hermione confirmed. "And I really think it has potential. Please let me explore this."
"If that's what you want to do, go for it," Voldemort said. "I won't stand in your way."
"Thank you," Hermione gushed, grinning excitedly at her father. "And I just so happen to have a few people in mind to join the Hogwarts staff."
"Like who?" Harry asked.
"Neville for a start," Hermione answered.
"The Longbottom boy?" Voldemort queried. "What are you trying to do, keep him sweet so he won't fight against us?"
"We've already told you, Neville won't fight against us," Harry told his grandfather. "He and his gran are staying neutral. They'll only fight if we target them."
"Which we will not be doing," Hermione said sternly. "This has nothing to do with keeping Neville sweet, it's something I feel he'll be good at. He's a natural herbologist, and when he gets talking about plants he forgets his shyness and he glows. He'll be a good teacher."
"It's your call, Hermione," Voldemort said.
Before the conversation could go any further there was another knock on the door and Beth poked her head into the office.
"Greyback in here to see you," She told her husband.
"Send him in," Voldemort said.
A couple of minutes later, Greyback sauntered into the office, a brown backpack slung over his shoulder. When he saw Harry and Hermione sitting with Voldemort he faltered slightly and some of his confidence seemed to leave him.
"Greyback," Voldemort greeted, unsure of why the werewolf seemed hesitant of his daughter and grandson.
"My Lord," Greyback returned, inclining his head in Voldemort's direction.
"I didn't expect to see you today," Voldemort remarked. "The full moon isn't until next week."
"This isn't about Draco," Greyback replied. "Of course, I'll be around next week and we can discuss the best course of action to help him with the change. This is about the other task you gave me."
"You've got some news?" Voldemort questioned eagerly.
"I've got more than news," Greyback replied. "But perhaps your daughter and grandson might like to leave the room."
"We're not going anywhere," Hermione insisted. "If you've got news about Lupin we want to hear it."
"My Lord?" Greyback questioned Voldemort.
"Let them stay," Voldemort said with a dismissive wave of his hand. Both Harry and Hermione were old enough to make their own minds up and if they wanted to stay and find out what was going on, he wasn't going to make them leave.
"As you wish," Greyback replied with a shrug as he removed the backpack from his shoulder and rested it on Voldemort's desk. In one swift movement, he tipped the bag upside down and its bloody contents rolled out with a slight pop.
"Is that what I think it is?" Harry questioned quietly as he took in the sight of his grandfather's desk. When Greyback had tipped the bag over, Remus Lupin's decapitated head had fallen out and his eyes were staring blankly up at Harry.
"It is," Greyback replied, taking hold of Lupin's hair and holding his head up like a trophy. "One dead werewolf."
"Did he suffer?" Voldemort asked, taking no notice of the few drops of blood that were congealing on his desk.
"He did," Greyback replied with a vicious grin. "He was suffering right up until I slit his throat."
"Thank you, Greyback," Voldemort said. "I trust you've gotten rid of the body?"
"Burnt to a crisp," Greyback answered. "I don't know if you wanted the head, but I thought it would prove handy to show you I've done as you asked."
"And you have done," Voldemort replied. "You may dispose of the head as well, please."
"Of course," Greyback replied as he shoved the head back into his bag and slung it back over his shoulder. "Oh, and I've heard rumours that two Weasleys have been sniffing around asking questions about Lupin. I think they were trying to find him."
"I'm sure they were," Voldemort said. "And have they heard any whispers about you being back?"
"Quite possibly," Greyback admitted. "I have to admit, I don't keep the lowest of profiles. If they don't already know I'm back, they will soon."
"Good," Voldemort replied with a slow smirk. "Let then worry about what you're doing. You never know, you might get to taste weasel before all this is over, Greyback."
"Something to look forward to," Greyback replied, flashing his sharp, white teeth.
Voldemort thanked Greyback once more, and making plans for the werewolf to visit Draco in a few days, Greyback left the house. Once Greyback was gone, Voldemort turned back to his daughter and grandson and checked they were okay with what they'd just seen. Of course they were both fine, if anything they just wished they'd been the ones to hurt Lupin after what he'd done to Draco. Although, at least now he'd been dealt with and Remus Lupin would no longer be a thorn in their side. Now they just had to deal with Bill and Charlie Weasley and nothing or no-one would trouble the dark again as they finalised their assent to power and domination in the wizarding world.