Lucius sat in his library, filing through every daily prophet from the past 5 years. He needed information to structure his plan around.
He wanted to appear a genuinely changed man, someone the Ministry could trust again.
Of course, before this whole fiasco they feared more than trusted, so any trust would be an improvement. He was looking for any articles detailing or hinting at things the Ministry expected from citizens. Most of it had to do with muggles, so he would probably have to read that bloody book.
He came up with an extensive list of small things he could do to increase his likability among other wizards. Being polite, showing up at events, donating, all of it was important.
He would have to transition into it slowly, spending more time in public places just doing his work, maybe meeting with respectable members of society. He looked down at the pile of articles he cut out of the paper, and began writing down the key points. He decided to visit the ministry the next day and spend time observing the personality traits of those he was trying to fit in with.
He could pretend he was going to meet with the minister to thank him for letting him off of house arrest.
He dressed in his usual overly formal attire as he made his way to the Ministry that morning. He smiled at the woman working at the front desk on his way up to the Minister's office. It was the small signals that were important. She looked appropriately shocked.
"Ah Lucius, I was hoping you would be coming by sometime soon. How is freedom treating you so far?"Shacklebolt greeted him.
He wasn't actually free, but he wasn't going to bring that up.
"Well, Minister, very well. Thank you again, very much." Buttering him up slowly.
"I heard something interesting yesterday Lucius. You took a trip into Diagon Alley and stopped at the book store?" It was a rumor circulating through the offices, but Kingsley also knew because he had a tracking spell set on him.
"Yes I decided to take a look at what literature was like these days. I actually picked up a very interesting book on muggle relations, written by some of your own I assume?" That was the kicker. He could see the shock across Shacklebolt's face.
"Well, we have a department that checks over those things before they publish. I'm glad to see you are interested, Lucius."
"Indeed, I am ready to start making some big steps towards changing my ways. Speaking of my old ways, I was hoping to start back into some of my event planning if you needed my assistance. I've always had a knack for social gatherings and I feel like I need to get back in with the community." This was his biggest step. Maybe he brought it up too fast, but he really needed to rebuild his reputation at the top of the social ladder.
"Well actually, now that you bring it up, we have been trying to organize some events to showcase various aspects of muggle culture… you know, art and the like. I can put you in contact with our muggle education department and you can start to set something up if you wish. We can even have it count as the tolerance and education portion of your probation."
He thought about it. This was combining two crucial elements in his plan. All he needed to do was pretend to care about muggles enough to fool this education department, and with his charm he was sure that was a task he could handle.
If they were anything like the other Ministry departments, he would hardly need to lift a finger.
"Of course. It sounds like something I would be very interested in learning more about. I can offer the Manor as a venue if you would like." He needed to get back into the social scene, throwing extravagant parties the way he used to. He wanted to show them he had been down, but he certainly wasn't out.
They were making it all much too easy, practically spoon feeding him power. Lucius couldn't help but smile as the Minister led him down the hall towards the lift.
Hermione got up the next morning feeling very unwilling to leave her bed. It felt like a hangover, but she hadn't been drinking the night before. She wasn't even awake that late.
Ginny and Harry sent her an owl around 11 to inform her of their engagement, as she requested, but she only stuck her head in the fireplace to congratulate them for a few minutes. As happy as she was for them, she became increasingly unhappy for herself.
It was a hangover of despair.
She prepared to make her usual bare-minimum effort to look good that morning, but something changed her mind. She had been looking like a sad old maid for weeks on end, and maybe a change would boost her confidence a bit. She decided to wear some of her nicer work clothes, and fix herself up a bit more than usual.
Looking in the mirror, she already felt ten times better. She headed in to start her endless pamphlet making.
A note arrived from the Minister not long after she started. He rarely had anything important for her to do, but she was always willing for a change. This note said he was sending down someone to help her plan the events they had been talking about.
Of course, 'they' actually meant 'she', since no one had even seemed interested in her art show idea at the time. She was glad they were finally taking her contributions seriously. She pulled out the little portfolio she had put together when she presented the idea, and started going over it.
Work might actually be fun for once.
There was a knock on her door not long after the note arrived.
"Come in!" She called as she continued readying her notes. The door opened wide as her new partner in this undertaking stepped in.
"Good morning. Lucius Malfoy, I'm sure you've heard of me. I'm here by request of the Minister to…" He stopped mid-sentance.
Hermione's heart stopped as she looked into the cold grey eyes of Lucius Malfoy.
The very surprised eyes of a man she hoped she would never see again.
Was it not just the day before she assured herself he would be locked up forever? Now here he was, standing in her office looking a bit too smug.
Why would Shacklebolt ever think it was a good idea to let him help with muggle events? He was EVIL! Was she the only person in this building who wasn't completely thick?
There was no way their ridiculous plan to change him actually worked. She helped with all these muggle-relations campaigns, but she never actually thought they would change any Death Eater opinions. This was just another one of his scams.
"You can't be serious Malfoy." She rolled her eyes and went back to her notes. It was unprofessional, but she was already in a horrible mood. She didn't need the nauseous feeling that accompanied being polite to scum.
He wasn't going away. He didn't look insulted either… a bit confused, actually. He watched her for a few minutes as she returned to her paperwork, still clinging to the now thin chance he would leave.
Instead he sat down in her tiny little guest chair. He looked ridiculous, such a tall man sitting in the plastic chair no one ever actually used. She didn't have appointments; it was mostly for show.
"Well, Miss Granger" she was disgusted by the way he rolled her name off his tongue, "it seems you weren't informed as to why I would be coming. I have been hired on by the Minister to assist in planning and executing events meant to educate the wizarding public in muggle culture." He was good. If she didn't know better, she would say there wasn't even disgust in his voice when he used the word 'muggle'.
She supposed she could no longer ignore him. He was at least putting on the disguise of professionalism, and she would be damned if Lucius Malfoy outdid her in politeness. That would certainly get around the office.
"Ah yes, I believe I received the memo Mr. Malfoy. I've just been so incredibly busy with the pro-muggle campaign gaining so much popularity. I must have forgot you would be stopping by." She smiled sweetly. That would show him for bringing his haughty attitude into her office.
"Well thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule. I suppose you haven't come up with any ideas, since your other work is so terribly important." He smiled right back.
He had her now, the bastard. She had well-formed ideas ready to go, and he knew it. Unless she admitted to her lies, she would have to listen to whatever horrible plans he came up with.
"I can easily prepare a few event outlines for you to look over by next week, Mr. Malfoy. Perhaps there is a day you would prefer to meet and start organizing?" She was ready to work on them now, and had been hoping for a break from her other work, but the less time she had to think about Lucius Malfoy the better.
"That is quite a bit of time to leave me with nothing to do Miss Granger, are you sure we cannot move that up a bit? I am certain you would have time to prepare something for say, tomorrow afternoon?" He grinned at her again, as if he knew she had been lying. He knew she would not be able to say no to a direct challenge.
"I can certainly pull some material together. I will be in my office all afternoon, unless you have a specific time?" He had better not be expecting her to be able to meet him at the drop of a hat.
"Actually I was hoping we could meet over a late lunch. Somewhere in Diagon Alley perhaps? I haven't been able to get out much lately and I noticed a few new places have opened up."
Oh he was clever, playing the guilt card to get her out in public. Of course he hadn't been out.
She really didn't want to be seen with him outside her office, but it could be worse than a business lunch in an empty café. At least he would be forced to be civil.
"Certainly. Why don't we say 2 p.m. at the Boggart's Closet? That should give us plenty of time to go over everything." She chose a place that was not too busy, but had enough patrons that they still had witnesses.
He agreed to meet her there and left the office with a gleam in his eye that made Hermione very uncomfortable.