"Did you have something to add, Lucius?"

The pale man tapped his cane ponderously against the floor. "If it's not too much trouble, Augustus?"

Rookwood was currently an Unspeakable at the ministry, department head and looking to rise in the ministry. While he was theoretically the head of their little group, it was understood that Bellatrix was the driving force. She cultivated the members, eased them into the meetings, and drove the ideas, as well as backing those she particularly liked quite vocally.

"Please." The other man swept an open hand in welcome.

"Well." Lucius was sprawled in his chair, but slowly unfolded and rose to his full height. "We have spoken of the proper place for mudbloods, as a servile force beneath a pure class. And we have talked about sterilizing those muggles who produce mudbloods once we've tracked them down, lest they force more upon us."

The men- for Bella was the only woman currently among them- nodded and murmured agreement. Her eyes were practically glowing with delight; they'd spoken about his ideas before this little presentation.

"But what should happen if we sterilize the mudbloods as well? Are we to go back to the lowly jobs that cannot be done by house elves, but are so beneath us?" He turned in a slow circle, considering each member in turn. Here they were, scions of the 28, all of them holding the majority of the power and wealth among Wizarding Britain. "No, we need to ensure the continuance only of the mudbloods most suited for service."

"You can't be saying we allow them to breed, Lu."

"Ah, Antonin," he purred. "Dear old friend. Of course they should breed; but only in so far as we control it. We breed the most servile mudbloods with one another as we do house elves or crups. Eventually they will all know their place and retain it on instinct."

"And what about those deviants who produce halfbloods?" said the ancient Lord Black.

His lips curled into a cruel smile. "Any child born of a mudblood mother will be classified as such. And any child found to have a mudblood father will also be declared when found. We fine the families to poverty for denying the liege family of the mudblood a servant. No one will dare. Only special dispensation will be given if a mudblood child can be proven more than fifty percent wizarding stock."

Enlightenment widened Rodolphus' eyes. "We'd be breeding them into a controlled population."

"That is the idea, yes," Lucius crooned. "What do you think, honorable leaders of wizarding kind? Shall we endeavor to push through these changes for our society?"

There was blanket agreement as the idea took hold; they would be lords once more in more in the true meaning of the word, owed allegiance and service of a lower class that would amount to serfs. Who among them would not desire such?

The meeting broke up soon thereafter, the men drifting away in small groups to discuss other business. Bellatrix sashayed to him, her husband sipping wine and chattering with his brother, hardly turning an eye to watch his wife.

"So, Lucius, you've thought on this quite a bit more since we last talked, haven't you?" She pouted those generous burgundy lips at him, just hinting at a smile. "What else have you decided?"

Lucius chuckled. She was a shameless woman, something repulsive in a partner, but refreshing in certain other respects. What a man she would have made. "Not much more than that, I fear."

She trailed the edge of her wine goblet under her fat bottom lip. "You haven't found the perfect stud for your mudblood yet?"

He considered her, brow raised and fingers drumming against the arm of his seat. "What mischief are you suggesting now, Bella?"

The woman leaned against the scrolling elegance of the chair's arm. "Such interesting details, fifty one percent? More than half. Essentially getting rid of the idea of halfbloods entirely, but still allowing for the weaknesses of men."

The shapely line of her cleavage was at the level of his eye, no doubt intentional. Bellatrix was half mad in her zealotry, and a creature of her appetites, but she was also intelligent and viciously predatory. Too many had underestimated her and paid the price. "And women. How is your niece?"

At mention of the metamorphmagus halfblood, she hissed. "Not nice, brother of mine. Not nice at all."

He hummed. "If she breeds with a pureblood, perhaps her child can be added into the Black family line. Is that not glad tidings? Your cousin does not seem the sort to breed well."

Regulus Black should have been wed and expecting an heir at this point at the least. But the man had managed to avoid marriage, his mother doting on her only heir (after having disowned the other for his blood traitor ways).

"It doesn't seem likely," the witch responded coolly. "But we are not discussing my family; lucy, we are discussing yours. "

He rolled his jaw. "Hermione is my ward, not my family."

"Does Draco know that? Or my sister, for that matter."

"You have a point, Bella, or are you trying to rile me up?"

A finger slid up the thick black material covering his bicep. "Your breeding program. You were inspired by something, I assume, and I had thought perhaps it was your mudblood that had such notions swirling in your head. Despite her little infraction during my visit, she is a well-trained little thing, isn't she?" He tipped his in acknowledgement. "No doubt you wondered how other mudbloods might be made as docile, and came to the conclusion all good breeders of livestock inevitably do: blood. We recognize it in every other creature, why not mudbloods."

"And you've agreed," he drawled.

"Thus, as originator of this idea, I thought you might also start in your own home. So who are you considering?"

Lucius considered his reply; he had glanced through prospective partners for the girl, but there was a disappointing dearth of potential. Those who were not married away were either too rebellious, as was the case with a musician roughly a decade older than his mudblood, or too stupid and lacking in any possibly redeeming traits, such as the boys currently at school with his son.

It seemed Draco had chosen well all those years ago; Malfoys should have only the best, and his son had procured for the family the best mudblood.

"We shall have to decide who has rights to mudblood progeny," Lucius mused. "The mother's guardians or the father's. They are not heirs, as such, but still…"

Bella was staring into him with those liquid black eyes. "Worried about losing your girl?"

"She is the best among the low born," Lucius huffed. "And if she is well-bred, her child will be the same. I would not leave my house with a less than stellar asset."

Her fingers played at the ends of his hair where it rested against his shoulders. "Then do not look only at mudbloods. More than fifty one percent was the agreed upon amount. Halfbloods, bloodtraitors willing to sell off one of their little leeches? The Weasleys have a palatable enough boy. He's at the Ministry now as some errand boy, but more than happy to scurry after his betters."

His nose wrinkled in disgust. "A Weasley . Honestly, Bellatrix, are you trying to make me sick? No, that one is a freak mutation from their ill reputed bloodline. I want to improve the quality of my stock, not riddle it with muggle obsession."

A laugh like the sweet melody of church bells rang over him. "She's not a bad looking little thing, for what she is," the woman remarked, gazing over Lucius' head in thought. "I wonder if I could convince Sirius to give her a shag or two, he's the freak in our family. And you can't complain about the Black breeding stock."

"One of the Sacred Twenty-Eight?" This was proving to be quite the mental exercise. "You would sully your line?"

She scoffed, affronted. "Not at all! Perhaps a private breeding could be arranged. Unless a permanent partnership is arranged, why shouldn't those responsible for their mudbloods have the ability to breed them privately. Only those involved in the act need be privy to the details."

"But a pureblood." He tapped his cane on the floor. "Merlin forbid that child does the same."

"You did say we should breed them like crups, did you not?" Her red tongue slipped across her lips to lick away the remnants of a sip of wine. "Keep the pedigree locked away, let no one know the secret of producing high quality mudbloods."

"You would know," he murmured, glancing askance at her.

A wicked smile unfurled across her face as she leaned down to whisper in his ear. "But I know how to keep a secret. Haven't I proven that, darling?"

Lucius' nostrils flared at the reminder. It had been a moment of weakness, passion overwhelming reason as the two had fought with tongues first through words and progressed to sharing breath. Bella was beautiful and Lucius was hardly expected to stay faithful in sexual relations; only familial loyalty mattered. He would never sire a bastard who could argue the legitimacy of Draco's claim, nor ever fail to provide for Narcissa. Still, it had left a bad taste in his mouth, coupling with Bellatrix. Since confirming his attraction, she had done her best to weaponize her luscious body.

He favored her with the fullness of his attention. Bellatrix' eyes flitted between his own and his mouth, simmering with violent, succulent promises. "After all, Malfoys deserve only the best."

Notes:

I'm sure you can see where I'm going... there's reason for the tags. If there are any tags you think I should add along the way, feel free to drop a comment…. Also, we are all caught up to AO3