Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Harry Potter universe.
"dialogue"
"mental dialogue"
"parsel"
"mental parsel"
AN: Well this chapter went to unexpected places. It came back around eventually though. Thanks again to everyone for the wonderful support! I should let you know that there will probably not be an update next week as I will be traveling again (tis wedding season) so don't fret and our crazy duo will be back before you know it.
Tom sat in his study waiting for Lucius to arrive. It had been a couple of weeks since that day he had foisted Nagini on Potter. Since then they had established a semi regular routine where Potter would drop by periodically, often unannounced, and they would continue their revision of the wizarding world. However, all their planning would get them nowhere if they weren't able to establish a power base. He had put off this particular meeting for too long already. They needed better insight into the current state of the ministry and the support of families that were a part of the Wizengamot if they were to progress their plans further. Lucius would be able to provide answers for both.
While he waited, he smugly looked at the lack of clutter on his desk. He had finally gotten Potter to give him a few of those enchanted folders. The organization they provided had been well worth the amusement the boy received at the idea of him utilizing muggle stationary. He had of course promptly slipped them inside a leather covering to disguise their origins which only managed to amuse the brat even more. Some days he truly wondered why he put up with Potter.
A crisp knock on his door announced the presence of the Malfoy Lord, "Enter Lucius."
The blonde entered the room with all of his usual grace. The man moved to bow when he finally caught sight of the Dark Lord. Lucius wasn't quite gaping, but it was the most undignified look Tom had probably ever seen on the other man. Tom deliberately let the silence grow to add emphasis to the other's obvious lack of decorum. He merely looked on as Lucius collected himself and completed his bow.
"My Lord, I admit, I was not expecting such a change in your appearance. I must say that while your previous visage was most wonderfully intimidating, you now possess an even greater regal demeanor. May I be the first to congratulate you on your success."
Let nobody claim that Lucius Malfoy was anything less than a superb diplomat. Tom lazily waved his hand towards the empty chair across from him, "Save yourself the platitudes Lucius, we have much business to discuss."
He caught the calculating look the blonde sent him as the man took a seat, but he made no mention of it. Instead he moved on to more pressing matters, "Tell me Lucius, what is the current state of the Ministry?" He raised a hand to stop the blonde answering, "I have read your reports. I want to know more than just the general appearance of affairs. What is actually happening within our dear government?"
The Malfoy Lord leaned back in his chair thoughtfully as he considered the question. Eventually he laced his hands together and evenly met Tom's gaze, "There is much unrest within the ministry. Scrimgeour's decrees are getting ever more extreme in his attempts to appease the public demand for action. He is pushing every ethical boundary he can short of being labeled a villain himself. Unprecedented raids against suspected dark families, allegedly random searches of civilians on the street for illicit items, the shops in Knockturn Alley are being regularly vandalized. People are being detained for even the most unsubstantiated accusations of possible dark activity.
The auror department itself is split and the rift in the ranks is becoming more apparent as the days progress. Part of the department fanatically back Rufus and are growing ever more violent under the name of ensuring peace. Another faction are working for Shacklebot and by extension Moody trying to further the goals of the Order. Whether they realize that is what they are doing or not is debatable. A third group consist of the death eaters you have had infiltrate and others who are sympathetic to the cause. In short the department is inefficient at best and self destructive at worst.
The DMLE in general is overrun with complaints from both sides ranging from grievances against the aurors treatment to petty crimes resulting from escalating tensions amongst civilians. They lack the manpower to properly handle them all and the budget has already been stretched to the limit. Many of the smaller cases are being dismissed out of hand to make room for anything brought up in Scrimgeour's anti-dark crusade.
International affairs are also tense. Most other countries are taking a wait and see approach to the local conflict. They will likely stay out of any disputes until a winner has been resolved. Then they will either try to ingratiate themselves to the victor or launch their own attacks if the remaining forces appear weak enough. Until such a time they will maintain their stance of neutrality.
It should be noted that the goblins are taking a similar approach. They will be looking for every opportunity to gain ground over the wizarding populace during the turmoil. Should they deem it profitable, we could easily have a goblin rebellion on our hands in the aftermath of this war.
The obliviators are working overtime. Between wizards fleeing into the muggle world in hopes to weather the storm and our own overzealous colleagues looking for a bit of sport, the muggles are starting to notice. I have heard that they are being told the strange happenings are a series of terrorist attacks. However, I cannot say how long this excuse will hold up. They may be merely muggles, but even they have limits on gullibility."
Tom mulled over the information Lucius had provided. Everything was about as he had predicted. The ministry was falling apart at the seams and was only just barely holding onto the veneer or functionality. It was simply a matter of time before something finally gave.
While he would be more than happy to see the current system collapse in upon itself, they couldn't risk exposing themselves to the muggles. Many people seemed to forget that the primary function of the ministry was to prevent just such an event. In fact it was that endeavor that had led to the initial establishment of a Ministry of Magic. Over time this goal had suffered as new functions were integrated into the ministry and the position of minister gained more power. He would wager that today, even amongst ministry workers, there were a startling amount of people who were ignorant of this main purpose.
Tom studied the blonde across from him. Lucius looked as composed and immaculate as ever. Tom however knew that the Malfoy Lord must be under a great deal of stress. He had not said as much, but it was little secret that after his stint in Azkaban the man had not recovered in the public eye. He was still technically a wanted fugitive. However, he had enough aurors and ministry personnel in pocket to divert any close scrutiny and the growing discord in the DLME could only work in his favor. That the man was still so well informed of internal happenings spoke much of his skill.
He refocused his attention to the conversation at hand, "Would you agree with me Lucius that the current state of affairs could be considered untenable?"
That calculating look returned, "Yes my Lord. Should the situation maintain course, I would give the ministry another year before they start cutting out the smaller departments and two before it will be rendered largely obsolete altogether. However, Scrimgeour is likely to attempt something drastic before it comes to that. There are rumors of him looking to form something along the lines of a specialized task force that would answer directly to him. It would, of course, comprise of his most avid supporters. It is also likely that he will grant them special privilege to use the unforgivables."
"I see. So dear Rufus is looking to return to old methods then."
The unforgivables had been sanctioned for use against his death eaters towards the end of his last campaign in the 70's. Rufus Scrimgeour had always been willing to go to questionable lengths in his pursuit of justice and it seemed the intervening years had not changed him much. However it would not matter, if all went according to plan then Scrimgeour would not remain in power much longer.
Throughout his explanation, he noted that Lucius had been eyeing him discreetly, taking in the changes. Tom knew it was only a matter of time before the blonde's curiosity got the better of him. The man was far to used to always being in the know. Likely, the only thing preventing him from speaking was his equally strong sense of self preservation. Perhaps it was time to reestablish Lucius' loyalties. He would wait until the other gave in to his desire for knowledge. It wouldn't do for the blonde to believe he had the upper hand after all. Luckily, one benefit of the return of his soul was the patience it had granted him. He could wait.
The silence lengthened and grew heavy. Each man seemingly occupied in their own thoughts. Tom was going over a mental list of interview topics he would ensure that Potter covered for his return to the public eye when the Malfoy Lord finally succumbed to his curiosity.
"Forgive my impertinence my Lord, but may I enquire as to why you have chosen to regain your former appearance? It must have been a truly remarkable piece of magic that only one of your genius and skill could accomplish."
Tom did not immediately respond. Instead he leveled an unreadable stare at the other and waited until the man's resolve slowly withered beneath his scrutiny. Once he saw the faintest glimmer of fear creep into Lucius' expression, he answered, "I have taken many steps over the years to ensure my immortality Lucius. My resurrection five years ago has proven that those steps were not in vain. However, it was brought to my attention recently that certain measures I attempted in my youth, when I did not have full access to the information I now know, had some adverse side effects. I merely sought to remedy the situation."
He gave the man a considering look, "You have served me many years Lucius and have made many sacrifices in pursuit of our common goals. Do not think you efforts have gone unnoticed. However it is also true that you have failed me multiple times costing us dearly. Fortunately for you, the damage done from both the incident with the diary and your failure to collect the prophecy has been largely mitigated through the efforts of a new ally."
Lucius raised a brow, "A new ally my Lord?"
As if summoned by the god of chaos himself, Potter chose that moment to unceremoniously barge into his study. He was looking down at some papers he was holding and had not noticed the Malfoy Lord sitting before him. Tom wished he was surprised at the boy's uncanny timing, but he had long since accepted that Potter had the oddest luck of anyone he had ever encountered.
Potter started rambling without looking up, "Hey, so I was going through some old research and I might have stumbled across a solution for that problem we were having regarding how to physically bring the merpeople to meetings regard-" He stopped dead when he glanced up and saw an equally stunned Lucius not five feet away.
For a heartbeat, the two just stared at each other in shock. Then it was Lucius that moved first. In an admittedly impressive burst of speed, the aristocrat was up with his wand drawn and a slightly crazed glint in his eye. He drawled with all the ice of the Arctic laced in his voice, "Potter. What are you doing here? Surely you do not believe that you can just walk in here unopposed and finish what you started 19 years ago?"
Tom blinked at the sudden burst of irrationality Lucius was displaying. Did the man truly believe his wards would allow in anybody he had not given explicit permission to enter? Perhaps his stay in Azkaban had had some lingering effects they weren't previously aware of. Then again Potter did have a way of driving even the sanest of men to their wits end. He could forgive Lucius the implied slight against his security in light of that fact.
He watched the altercation, curious of how Potter would handle the situation. If it wasn't for the sharpening of the boy's gaze, he would say that Potter wasn't at all concerned about the threat that faced him. The boy wonder didn't draw his wand. Instead he merely raised an eyebrow and casually leaned over to look behind Lucius and at him.
"To-" Harry cut himself off again at the warning glare that he was receiving. Perhaps he should be considerate and avoid using the man's given name in front of the death eaters. They had never really discussed how he would act when presented with death eaters. It probably hadn't occurred to either of them that he would meet any outside of Snape. At least not this soon. Ah well, he could be nice. This time.
"Voldemort, would you be so kind as to call off the minion? If he keeps scowling at me like that, he's going to get premature wrinkles on that pretty face of his." That somehow hadn't come out as polite as he intended. Then again he had never liked Lucius Malfoy and probably never would. The man was just so...well a lot of things. Everything about him managed to rub Harry the wrong way really. He wondered what Draco was doing these days. He hadn't heard much about his old rival since after Draco had graduated Hogwarts.
Lucius sneered at him, "You think you are so clever boy. You might have cost me my house elf and my freedom, but now that you have conveniently shown yourself once again I will take great delight in seeing you suffer."
Well that was a bit of a grudge he's holding onto. Granted, Harry had tricked the man into freeing Dobby and then said elf had kind of blasted him down the stairs, but that had been seven years ago already. He flat out refused to take the blame for the man getting himself arrested though. It wasn't like he had asked the man to set a trap for him and then botch it up.
"I also freed that Hippogriff you were trying to have killed in my third year. We had a good laugh over that one." Well, he hadn't exactly meant to say that either. It was just so hard to refrain from goading the man. He made it far too easy really. He sidestepped what looked to be a rather nasty curse and heard it impact the wall behind him. Okay that probably hadn't been his best idea. Malfoy was looking rather angry now.
He ducked behind a chair just in case Lucius decided to fire another spell and chanced a glance at Tom. He immediately realized that the man was not going to intervene. If anything he looked amused at Harry's predicament. Well if that's how it was going to be, then Harry was not above making sure the Dark Lord regretted that choice. Harry thought a moment, eyeing the blonde who still had his wand drawn and pointed at him. He then had a, in his opinion, brilliant idea and felt a wide grin spread across his face. He took extra glee in the sudden wariness he saw enter Tom's eyes.
From his position behind the chair he called out, "Nimsey."
Tom's eyes widened, "Pott-" He was abruptly cut off by the sound of the elf popping into the room.
Everybody's attention was drawn to the small being now standing in the middle of the room.
"What can Nimsey be doing for Mister Harry Sir?"
Quickly, before Tom could get a word out, Harry pointed at the scorch mark Malfoy's stray curse had left on the wall, "Nimsey, Mr. Malfoy has come unhinged and is carelessly throwing dangerous curses around. Even worse he is causing damage to the house and ruining your hard work to keep it clean. I need your help to stop him and make sure he doesn't do it again."
The little elf turned a very impressive glare on the blonde. Harry had to wonder if she had learned that from Tom. The next thing he knew Malfoy was disarmed, stuck to a chair across the room, and silenced. Harry watched on in awe as Nimsey started to scold the dignified man as if he was nothing more than a misbehaving toddler. It was a beautiful sight. He would remember this moment forever.
He was vaguely aware of Tom trying to get his attention, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the surreal scene before him. He jumped slightly when he felt a stinging hex hit his arm and finally turned towards the other man. Though not so much that he couldn't still watch the dressing down of Lucius Malfoy.
Tom shot him unimpressed glare number six for a few moments. Then he let out a quiet, resigned sigh and relaxed into a somewhat tired look, "Was that really necessary Potter?"
Harry hummed, "Probably not, but it's certainly entertaining. I had no idea Nimsey would handle it like that though." He looked at Tom out of the corner or his eye, "Is that behavior typical of Malfoy? I was under the impression he was generally more controlled in his actions. He's a git and I don't like him, but I never thought he was one to jump to conclusions and act so impulsively."
"He is not. In fact, before your arrival he was perfectly fine. He is obviously under greater stress than I had initially thought. Although, I am of the personal opinion that you drive everyone you meet to madness."
He saw Tom look to where Nimsey was still chastising Malfoy, "However, you will both have to put aside your grudges against the other. We need him to further our agenda and I will not tolerate either of you jeopardizing our plan over petty grievances."
Harry really wondered what Tom would consider a major grievance if a stay in Azkaban and the political fallout that resulted was considered petty. He didn't get the chance to ask however as Nimsey had apparently finished. She popped out of the room, leaving a ruffled and sullen looking blonde behind.
No one spoke. With as much dignity as possible, Malfoy stood, silently straightened his clothes and smoothed his appearance. He walked back over to the desk and reclaimed his previous seat, "My Lord I apologize for my lack of composure just now. I acted rashly and I assure you it will not happen again." He clenched his jaw a moment and then forcibly relaxed, "Might I enquire as to what Harry Potter is doing here?" He somehow made the name sound like he was speaking of something especially foul. It seemed that Malfoy was still a bit upset over what had just transpired.
Harry threw the man a cheeky smile and took the other chair at Tom's desk for himself. He expertly ignored the warning look Tom was giving him and answered, "You weren't wrong you know, I am here planning to kill Voldemort." He pointed at Tom and merrily continued, "And he's helping me do it."
Tom pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to will the growing migraine away. After his little bombshell, Potter had finally shut up long enough for him to briefly explain his intention to switch stratagems. He had told Lucius how he now planned to take England from within, instead of through more forceful means, using Potter's fame as a starting point. Unsurprisingly, Lucius had been very receptive to this change in methods as he had been playing the political game for quite some time. The trouble came when the Malfoy Lord had asked about his plans once he had control.
For the sake of his remaining sanity, he had decided to forgo any discussion of blood status until a later date. One in which he could ensure the brat's absence. Instead, he had pulled out some of their plans for the curriculum of Hogwarts as the man had once been on the board of governors. He was now starting to believe that he had made a terrible mistake.
"We are not changing the way students are sorted you incompetent ingrate! It is tradition!" Lucius had long since forgone any semblance of maintaining appearances by this point and was agitatedly pacing as he waved around some papers.
Tom saw Potter throw his hands up in the air in frustration, "I didn't say we were changing it. Just that students should be sorted three times over the years. It's ridiculous to sort young children by personality traits and practically tell them they will have to follow those traits the rest of their lives or be ridiculed." The boy was shooting daggers at the other, "Not everybody is a pompous peacock who is so caught up on keeping to tradition. Some people prefer things that don't permanently harm the psyche's of small children. Just be glad I didn't suggest abolishing the house system altogether."
Lucius use sneered at Potter and tapped the papers in his hands pointedly, "What's this about mandatory introductory muggle studies classes for all wizard raised students? Trying to force the muggles on us you cretin?"
Potter just rolled his eyes, "If you had bothered to read the whole thing you would realize that all that class is for is to teach wizard raised students how to properly blend in should they ever have to interact with the muggle world. The current muggles studies class is so horribly out of date, it's just lucky that most muggles mistake wizards they see as homeless crazies. If you had kept on reading, assuming you actually can read and aren't just slowly sounding out words in your head, then you would see a class on wizarding life for all the muggle raised students. It's a half year class, I think they will live through the injustice of being exposed to other cultures."
The pair had been at this for over an hour now. Every point listed was being contested and bickered over. They somehow managed to argue even when they agreed with each other. He wasn't sure when they had started interjecting insults every other sentence, but a few of them had been rather impressive. Tom had considered just leaving the room, but he was afraid that without his presence the two would finally come to blows and kill each other. Then he would be the one left to deal with the carnage and a distraught house elf.
He felt his eye twitch and decided enough was enough. He pointedly glared at the two and slowly started to spread his magic out into the room. Practically speaking, doing this didn't actually achieve anything. It didn't make spell casting any easier and you couldn't overwhelm another person and bend them to your will. From a technical perspective, it was much like the shift in atmospheric pressure proceeding a thunderstorm, it made the air feel heavy. What it was however, was wonderfully intimidating. Not many people realized that this was little more than a parlor trick. They just assumed that it was a natural byproduct of being a powerful wizard and never thought to explore further. In this case, it was enough to silently catch the attention of the other two in the room and simultaneously announce his displeasure.
Notice they did. They both trailed off from whatever argument they were engaged in. Lucius paused mid step and paled, while Potter shifted in his seat to face him and raised an eyebrow. He waited for Lucius to be seated, then in a too calm voice he spoke, "While I am overjoyed to see the two of you working together so splendidly, I am afraid these are issues that will have to wait for another time. Before we convene for the evening there is one last matter I would like to discuss."
He shot a look at Potter demanding he stay silent, then turned to look at Lucius, "Lucius I mentioned earlier that your services have not gone unnoticed. I would like to discuss how we are going to revoke your fugitive status and reestablish the credibility of the Malfoy name. As you are no doubt aware, the current plan to do away with Voldemort will leave any known followers in a rather difficult position."
Potter looked like he had just eaten something disagreeable, but did not interrupt. Lucius on the other hand looked a mixture of disbelieving and relieved, "What is it you suggest my Lord?"
"I suggest you turn yourself over to the Order of the Phoenix. You are to essentially tell them the truth, that you feared for your and your families safety in the face of my rage. You will tell them that you will turn traitor and spy for them in return for their protection of your wife and son. We will orchestrate raids for you to inform them of and when the war is settled, we will be able to laud your courage and how you did the right thing in the end. I am sure that you are more than capable of taking advantage of such an opportunity."
He was met with two looks of shock. Apparently Lucius had not yet realized how much he was letting his expression slip this evening. Potter opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again. He looked somewhat pensive before finally coming out with, "That could work."
Lucius sneered at the boy, "Save your comments you reprobate. I do not need your help."
Potter gained a slightly amused look, "Oh? Then how do you plan to make contact with the Order? You can't exactly walk up to Shacklebot or Moody and it would look too suspicious if you went through Snape. Moody already distrusts him and if Voldemort doesn't know of his duplicity then why should you?"
Lucius' eyes widened, "Severus has truly turned traitor then?"
Tom wished Potter had not brought it up, but he realized the necessity that Lucius was in the know regarding this, "The issue has been addressed, much like yourself, Severus had his own grievances with the way things were previously handled. If he wishes to tell you more, he will. Rest assured he and I have come to a compromise on the matter. However, this does lend credence to Potter's comment." Red eyes met green, "How would you suggest that Lucius proceed?"
Potter got that look again. He was starting to really dread that look. It was the one the brat always got right before he said something that he knew the other person would hate and that Potter was looking forward to the reaction.
"You, dear Lucius Malfoy, get to go play suck up to the ever delightful Weasley Twins."
It was all Harry could do not to cackle aloud. The expression on Malfoy's face was almost as lovely as watching him cut down to size by Nimsey. He scored double points because Tom was back to staring at the ceiling as if he was begging the gods for mercy. The best part was that he was completely serious.
Since nobody else seemed capable of speech he continued, "The Weasley twins are in the most accessible non-ministry position with their shop. Bill might be another option, but he's more difficult to track down. The real reason to use the twins though is that we can tell them I sent you and they won't go spreading around that somebody has had contact with me."
Something must have clicked for Tom, "They are one of your outside contacts."
Harry nodded, "Yes, we've been using the Weasley Wizard Wheezes mail order forms to send coded messages. They have been sending us supplies and research disguised as normal wares. I'll be able to pass a letter along with Lucius that should at least get them to hear him out."
Malfoy still looked a bit ill at the idea of dealing with Weasley's, especially the twins, but he slowly nodded and agreed to the plan. Harry wasn't going to mention that he was going to tell the twins that he thought Lucius' hair would be most fetching if it happened to turn periwinkle blue.
He pulled out an order form, he always kept a few handy, and started to fill it out. When he was finished he handed it to the blonde, "There you go. One glowing letter of recommendation. Don't worry I made sure to leave out the whole being a giant prat bit. I'm sure they'll work that out for themselves soon enough though."
Malfoy accepted the form and delicately held it by a corner like it was diseased. He stared at it a moment and must have gathered his resolve as he carefully folded it and tucked it away in his robes. Harry dearly wished he could be there to witness that little chat.
Lucius had left shortly after he had received the letter with only a few more words from Tom promising another meeting at a later date. Apparently he had interrupted before they got to certain topics and following events, Malfoy house elf debacle number two, had prevented them from ever getting back around to them.
The pair sat in silence for a awhile. Neither seemed terribly motivated to move or talk. Finally Tom let out a weary sigh, and Harry thought he looked bizarrely human with that action, "Must you antagonize him so much? You take far too much humor from causing chaos."
Harry thought about how best to explain it, "You might not remember it seeing as you were still suffering from not having enough soul, but when I first contacted you I told you I was tired." He met the other's eyes evenly, "That hasn't changed. Most of the time I would like nothing more than to hide away somewhere nobody can reach me and just stay there."
Harry waved his arm around encompassing the room, "All of this has been so surreal. I mean I'm Harry Potter and your the Dark Lord Voldemort, we've been trying to kill each other for years. Yet here we are, working together. And you know what, we make a pretty good team." He looked up at the ceiling not really seeing it, "Sometimes though it's difficult to take everything completely seriously. Everything is just so strange and truthfully I am very much out of my depth and so very tired. I kind of threw it all in on this one and I don't really have anything left to lose."
Harry looked back at those red eyes, "I promise not to let things get out of hand so just let me have my fun where I can find it. Malfoy has too much self preservation to let something like my goading stop him and it helps me accept working with somebody I have despised for so long."
Tom just looked at him for a moment longer. Assessing red eyes finally closed in weary resignation, "Fine Potter just make sure you don't land us in any trouble you cannot fix again. I am not so foolish to think we can avoid it altogether with you around."
Harry couldn't help the startled laugh that escaped him, "Don't worry I'll be sure to do my best."
"Yes, that is what I am afraid of."