Nothing was going well lately, nothing at all. Everything was shit, actually. Absolute, utter shit. Not that he'd admit such a thing, not under threat of Cruciatus, not when it would come at the cost of his own dignity.
Lucius Malfoy's beautiful manor was overrun by unruly guests who did not appreciate the delicate summer air (his beloved peacocks had been hunted down for sport!) and there was a suffocating tension that clung to the halls as he came downstairs to breakfast to find Barty Crouch Jr shoving food down his throat with no regard for manners or silverware. Narcissa gave him a look over her tea. Lucius could only shrug in response. He had already tried to reason with their guest but to say he had gotten peculiar after his house arrest was an understatement.
Barty Jr and Snr had arrived back in early June, the former grinning ear to ear and the latter in such a stunned daze he could barely walk.
Without any fanfare, and without any acknowledgment that everyone had thought he was dead, Barty Jr had announced, "Guess who I ran into?"
Their Lord had returned from isolation, more of a shade than man, surviving out of the back of Crouch Snr's head. And he had been absolutely furious with the lot of them. (Mostly with Lucius, honestly. Again, everything was not going well!)
"Good morning," Lucius said, sliding into his chair and plating some toast and eggs. One of the elves popped in with a fresh cup of Turkish coffee and the morning paper. "Any news from our Lord?" He asked as he looked over the Prophet, nothing but more dribble on Black. The man had been the media's darling for months upon his announcement to sue the Ministry for his false imprisonment.
"He's still holed up at the Riddle House. Gotta tell ya' Luce, he is fuckin' pissed about our dead Azkaban buddies. Do ya' reckon it was Black who did 'em in?" Barty cackled nonsensically. Lucius could only feign disappointment his Lord was no longer taking up primary residence at his manor. A good roommate Voldemort was not. He was not a conversationalist, preferring to share his thoughts through more violent methods.
Hopefully Barty would join their Lord soon, he hoped, as the man went straight for the delicate china pitcher of juice and began to chug straight from it. Bulbous Crabbe and Amadeus Goyle at least knew how to use a spoon though their conversational skills were nonexistent. Soon, soon, soon it would become unsafe to host everyone at his manor and he would be free from these idiots.
"I do not think anyone can speculate what my cousin is willing and capable of doing. I just received a letter from the goblins informing me that he had resumed his place as Lord Black and had listed Potter as his heir." Narcissa said in an even, calm tone. That specific tone was one he recognized, and meant she was full of contempt for the man, and Lucius could only agree.
On the subject of Black, Lucius was highly skeptical. Black had vehemently denied the murders of his Azkaban cellmates time and time again. But he was the only possible explanation. A former auror, falsely imprisoned with the most feared and despised Death Eaters? There was no evidence on who else could have done such a thing. Zero clues. It was infuriating, and likely the reason why their Lord had holed away to crucio some muggles in peace. They had lost the majority of their army. Rebuilding while in hiding was proving difficult.
"Clearly he is no longer a pawn of Dumbledore and the Ministry," he noted. "But he is still Light-aligned. Considering our Lord attacked the Potters, there will be no convincing him to join our side."
"Whether he killed Bella or not, I think the Dark Lord is gonna kill him anyway," Barty said, finishing up his meal with a burp and wiping the jam off his face with a silk hand towel. "Speakin' of. I'd better get started on my errands."
"I have much to accomplish today as well," Lucius said. "I have a meeting with Fudge. This Tournament is turning into quite the international scandal," he complained mildly to his wife. "I am doubtful Fudge will be able to survive this and that Umbridge incident at the same time."
"What a shame," she said, giving him a quick delighted smile at the thought over her teacup. "I thought everything with the Tournament had finally been settled?"
"Fudge is desperately trying to salvage his career with its success. He's been branding himself rather heavily as the harbinger of a new prosperous era. He was focused solely on improving Hogwarts until that nasty scandal." He huffed out a laugh. "But now with the Tournament, the International Confederation is wondering if safety was ever Fudge's priority at all."
They both laughed at the thought. Fudge had cared only about student safety because there had been threats to sue the Ministry for incompetence. The second an inkling of prestige or power crossed the man's gaze he would throw every student into a pit of fire to secure his legitimacy.
"Well, love. All these distractions will make it easy to keep word of our activities from reaching the Minister's ears. And when he crumbles under the pressure, you will be there to take his place."
Lucius stood and planted an indulgent kiss on her forehead.
"Right you are, my dear. I rejoice in knowing this is all temporary. Soon our Lord will lead us into a new era. We will show the world how poorly he can handle a crisis."
They bid farewell and he carried off to the edge of the grounds where the apparition point was.
.....
Join my p@treon and read ahead by more than 60+ chapters.
Link : [email protected]/InfinityWeaver
Free members can read the next two chapters for free on my p@treon