When Amelia stepped out of the office she saw Lord Peverell-Gryffindor standing in the hall waiting.
"May I have a moment of your time Madam Bones?" James asked in his most charming voice.
"Of course Lord Peverell-Gryffindor." she said as she placed her hand in the crook of his arm and let him escort her back towards her office.
"Please call me Sebastian."
"Amelia."
"Well than Amelia, I wish to apologise for how I spoke to you before I left. I know about your personal past with Sirius as well as your reputation. There is no doubt in my mind that you will do the right thing. I just wished to impress upon Fudge that his actions will have consequences with me. With him nothing is more important than his money and power so that is what I threatened. A vague threat is no one's friend after all."
Amelia let out a small chuckle. "I fully understand. How that man managed to become minister I will never understand. But he is what we have so we must deal with him. Now tell me, is there anything I could say to Sirius that might make him more willing to trust me? Something tells me he is not going to be in the best mood with any ministry officials."
"Yes. tell him that Moony wants him to come. That should get him to follow you anywhere."
"And just who is Moony?"
"His less than pleased, extremely anxious husband."
"Oh."
"Amelia, I know it is not my place to tell you how to deal with the people in your department but if I may make a suggestion. I know that it is policy that whenever someone goes to Azkaban with the intent of meeting with prisoners they are required to have a backup. I would personally suggest that you take Kingsley Shacklebolt with you. He is a good man and seems to be more honest than others in your department that I shall not mention. There is also the added bonus that Sirius was his training officer."
"I agree with you. Kingsley is a good man. I know I will be able to trust him with this. Thank you for your suggestion. Now , if there is nothing else Sebastian, I shall leave you now and get back to work. I will see you in a few days."
"Thank you amelia. I shall be seeing you."
With that the two parted company and James headed for the exit he didn't make it too far before he caught a glimpse of someone else that made him hesitate. As he watched, Lucius Malfoy arrived at the ministry.
James had never been overly fond of Malfoy, he found him to be overly pompous, even by pure blood standards, but he had been one of Sev's most trusted friends. The only reason that he hadn't been aware of their relationship at school was because he had already graduated and had the dark mark.
From reading everything that Hadrian had provided he now knew that the imperious defence was more than just a way to get out of trouble. Lucius had indeed been placed under the curse, by none other than his own father. He had been forced to take the mark and forced to do unspeakable things to protect his wife and child, and he would have to do it again if they were unable to change time.
Making a decision he headed over to the other man. There was a memory orb that was meant for him in the trunk after all
"Lord Malfoy, if I might have a moment of your time. I promise it won't take much time."
Lucius looked over at the man. This was someone he did not know but there was still something familiar about him. Looking him over he saw the posture of a born and raised pureblood. He also saw the refined clothing that spoke of both wealth and class, two things that so rarely went together these days.
"If it is quick, I don't have much time."
"Oh, it won't take long. It was suggested by Severus Snape thatI meet with you. My name is Sebastian Alexandros Peverell Gryffindor and I am Lord of the Ancient and Noble houses of Peverell and Gryffindor. I have recently come across some interesting information that affects you. I was hoping that I might be able to bring it to your manor sometime tomorrow."
Lucius examined the man in front of him. This was not somebody he wanted as an enemy, but he hadn't made it this far in life by not knowing when to be cautious. It was the mention of Severus that sealed the deal for him. Sev was one of his oldest friends, if he sent this man to him it must be important.
"I have meetings most of the day tomorrow but I can spare about 20 minutes around 3 o'clock. Floo to my home office and we can discuss this information you have."
"Thank you Lord Malfoy, i shall see you tomorrow.
Malfoy Manor, Lucius's Study - March 26, 1986
Lucius Malfoy sat in his grand study thinking. He had lived a hard life, and he knew that most considered him to be a bad man, but he wanted better for his son. Looking out the window he could see Narcissa walking around the pond in the back yard with young Draco in her arms.
He was worried about his wife. She had suffered 3 miscarriages before they managed to have Draco, and 2 since. Narcissa craved to have more children but every time it didn't happen she broke a little more. She rarely smiled anymore and he knew that Draco was starting to pick up on it. The little boy would do almost anything to see his mother smile, but it was becoming harder and harder.
Then there was this new lord. It was not all together unheard of for a new lord to take their seats. So many had died during the last war that there were dozens of empty seats in the Wizengamot. There was also the fact that he knew Severus, when Severus had never mentioned him before.
His train of thought was interrupted as Lord Peverell Gryffindor stepped out of the green flames. "Ahh, Lord Malfoy. A pleasure to see you again.
"The pleasure is all mine."Glancing out the window James saw Narcissa and smiled. "And there is your lovely wife. I hope it is not too far for me to request that she be involved in this meeting. The information that I have will affect the both of you."
When he saw Lucius hesitate, clearly wanting to protect his wife he continued. "You have nothing to fear from me Lord Malfoy. This truly is just about information. Besides, if Sev thought that I had done anything to threaten your family, his beloved godson in particular, he would have my head on a platter for you by the end of the day."
Lucius smiled at this. Severus was indeed rather protective of his godson. Agreeing he sent an elf to go get Narcissa.
Once she joined them James introduced himself and kissed the air above her hand as was tradition.
"Lord Peverell Gryffindor, it is a pleasure to meet you. You are most welcome in our home." Narcissa said in her perfectly cultured, cool voice.
"Please, call me Sebastian."
"Narcissa, than"
"And you should call me Lucius, we will be working in the Wizengamot together after all. Now you mentioned some important information that involves us." Lucius was concerned that this might be some kind of shake down, using evidence from his past.
James could see that Lucius was weary but there really was no need for it. "I should tell you first that I was never supposed to be the one to bring this information to you. Originally Sev was planning to be our messenger but a controlling old man is making it particularly difficult for him to leave the school at the moment."
Lucius nodded at this, he knew just how controlling Dumbledore was, especially when it involved Severus.
Seeing that the other two knew who he was referencing he continued. "This information originates from deep within the ministry. To be more specific it is from the Time Chamber in the Department of Mysteries, where time turners are made and stored."
Lucius became very interested at this point. It was almost impossible to get any information out of that particular department. "I'm sure that if there was any information that I needed from there Fudge would have passed it on."
"Actually he wouldn't have known. It is a little known fact, but although unspeakables work out of the ministry building, they are not actually classified as ministry employees. They are only sworn to serve magic, not the government, so they almost never pass on information to the minister unless it pertains to something the ministry is doing."
Lucius found this rather interesting. Fudge did so love to brag about all the top secret information he had access to in the DOM due to his power and position. It would seem the little creatine was just running his mouth, like usual
"So what in the time chamber involves us, neither of us have ever even been in the DOM?" Although Narcissa found it interesting she would rather be with her son.
James took a sip of the tea that he had been given by the elf that had originally brought Narcissa. "One of my contacts got in touch with me last week. They had recently come into possession of a trunk that originated in the time chamber, it was covered in time crystals. What should be of interest to you was what was inside. The trunk was filled with documents, memory vials, and messenger orbs. When it was tested, all of it dated to 20 years from now."
"What information from 20 years ago should interest us?" Lucius asked.
"You misunderstand me Lucius. The contents were not from 20 years ago, but 20 years in the future."
Narcissa gasped and Lucius gaped in a very undignified manner. Pulling himself together Lucius asked, "so you think we were involved in sending ourselves something from the future."
"No. i am sorry to tell you that according to what we have found in the trunk both of you had been killed. According to what we have learned there is a second war growing, and it will then be followed by another. Our society wi;; be decimated. No, the reason I am here is because one of the message orbs was addressed to the two of you. The rest of us have received these orbs and have been given tasks in the hopes of avoiding the death of our nation."
Reaching into his robe pocket James pulled out the orb that was addressed to Lucius and Narcissa. Both stared at the tag that had been stuck to it for a second before Lucius reached out and took it. The tag read:
To: Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy
From: Draco Malfoy (Age 27)
"Now that that is done I must be off. I have to prepare for a very important meeting tomorrow."
"You… You don't want to know what it says?" Narcissa stammered.
"Good Merlin no. I have enough to do with my own message. No, I am more than willing to pass off the responsibility for that one to you. I will let you know, the rest of us have all used secretary wards when we have listened to ours. The kind of information on them is not something that we want getting out."
With that, James quickly flood away.
Later that evening, after Draco had been put to bed, Lucius and Narcissa met in his office. Putting up the strongest wards they could, they activated the orb.
Narcissa gasped and felt tears form in her eyes as she saw the man her little boy would grow up to be. He was handsome. Then she noticed the pain that was evident in his eyes.
Lucius looked at his son with pride and love. Then the image started to speak.
"Mother, Father. I can only hope that this reaches you. As it is right now none of us really know if this will work, but we had to try.
But, first things first. I need to say something to you, something that I wish I had said more before I lost you. Mother, Father, I love you both so much. I owe you so much for everything you did for me. No matter what has happened or will happen, I will always love you.
Now… Father, I know about how you were forced to join the death eaters. I know what happened. What you need to know is that when I was 14 he returned. The information that we have provided will help stop this, but just be ready.
You were once again forced to his service under the threats to mother and me. When I was 16 Aunt Bellatrix brought me before him. You and mother were being held across the room from me. He explained to me just what he would do to you and how he would give mother to McNair as a personal toy if I refused to join. I of course agreed and was branded.
Like you, I was then forced to do unspeakable things. But there is hope. When i was 17 Hadrian Potter defeated him once more.
We thought that was the end, but I wasn't. In revenge for the atrocities committed on that monster's orders we became hunted. The ministry, led by Dumbledore and his little pets, declared that simply being born with a dark core was outlawed. They started to round us up, every man, woman, and child that they could get their hands on.
That was how I lost both of you. I was lucky. Hadrian, who is a good friend, had broken into the compound in an attempt to rescue the infant daughter of a friend and released as many of us as he could. He then helped to smuggle us out of the country, i will admit, most did not survive, i lost a great many friends to the purges.
I need your help to make sure that this doesn't happen again. Luckily what I need you to do is fairly simple in comparison to what some of the others will have to do. It will actually probably not take more than a few hours, if that.
Father, the Dark Lord gave you a diary shortly before his defeat. This diary carries the darkest of black magic and must be destroyed to stop him. You must get the diary, make sure to use dragon hide gloves when handling it as I do not want you to risk yourself. Take the diary to Gringotts. Go to one of the guards across the hall from where the carts are and tell them that you have been sent by Hadrian and need to see chief Ragnock. They will know who he is. That is all. Ragnock is also involved in this and will know what to do by now.
Mother. I know how much family means to you and I am sorry to have to tell you this, your sisters are lost to us, there is nothing we can do. They are both set in their ways to ever change. Bellatrix is so infatuated with the Dark Lord that she will willingly hand her own flesh and blood over to him. Andromeda has become so bitter in her loathing of the Black family and everything that it stood for that she will be one of the biggest advocates for the destruction of dark magic. She supported your execution and would have supported mine if I had not escaped.
What I need you to do is go to the ministry and claim conservatorship over Bellatrix, this will give you control of not only their personal vaults but the entire Lestrange fortune and Wizengamot seat. It will be easy as she is clearly crazy. It is just a few basic forms. Once that is done like father, you need to go to Ragnock at the bank. Have him go down to her personal vault with you. Inside there is a gold chalice that is imbued with the same magic as the diary. Let him deal with it.
I would also request that you donate the Lestrange fortune to charity. So much of that money came from doing awful things there is no way it isn't cursed. Give it to charities for children and 's.
One last thing. Mother, I know you have always wanted more children and that the healers as 's always tell you to just get pregnant and wait and see, that will never work. What you need to know is that muggles have also struggled with infertility but they actually decided to do something about it. There are things known as fertility clinics in the muggle world that are completely focused on helping women get pregnant and give birth safely. One of my friends that escaped the compound with me struggled as you have. Within two years of starting their treatments she had a magically powerful, healthy baby boy.
I will warn you, some of their techniques may seem barbaric, but they actually work. I don't mean to pressure you but it might be worth a try.
Oh, and another thing. We should have a house elf named Dobby. He is extremely odd and no matter what you do you will never be able to get him to behave properly. Give him to Hadrian Potter. I know it sounds odd, but those two just work together.
With that said, I love you and I hope that this may help save us all. Goodbye."
With that the orb went dark and the room silent. Both Lucius and Narcissa had tears running down their faces. Their son had suffered so much and was so strong. They knew that they would do anything he asked if it meant that they might be able to lessen the pain in his eyes, even if just a little.
Lucius went over to his liquor cabinet and got himself a glass of scotch before going to sit in his chair and stare blankly at the wall for a bit.
Narcissa quickly fled the room. She ran through the manor until she reached her son's room. Going in she laid down on the bed and cuddled him protectively in her arms and let herself cry for a bit.
Draco was a little confused at being woken up by his crying mother but just decided to hug her back and go back to sleep.