Wand-Leader & The Spy

10- A Bloody Evening

London, Ministry of Magic, August 27th, 1999, 16.55 hours

"You called, sir?" Daphne Greengrass asked, standing in the doorway to his office.

"Yes, I did," Lucius Malfoy, Minister for Magic, said to his secretary, holding up a scroll of parchment. "Please send copies of this to all Department Heads. It's a memo about the recent changes to our security procedures."

"Of course, sir." The young witch approached his desk, and bowed, as she took the scroll.

"After you've done that, you can go home, dear." Lucius smiled at her.

The girl looked surprised. "Are you certain, sir? You generally work late on Fridays."

Lucius didn't frown, even though he found it annoying that the dumb witch had managed to remember this habit of his, and today of all days, instead of his other habits and preferences. "I'm certain. Your parents would not be pleased with me if I keep you up too late." And he'd rather not deal with rumours of him and the blonde having an affair. Narcissa wasn't as smart or talented as she thought, but she had the excessive pride of the Blacks in spades, and knew far too many dark curses.

"Thank you, sir!" The witch beamed at him. "We've got a family dinner this evening. Astoria's back from her trip to Scandinavia."

"Oh? It's a most fortunate timing then," Lucius said, faking surprise. He had known the date the girl's sister would return, of course. It wouldn't do to have a family member survive the attack of the Dark Lord, and in a few days it would be too late - Astoria would be at Hogwarts for her final year, safe from attacks.

"Oh, yes! She visited Oslo and Stockholm, and even Lapland." Greengrass smiled widely. "My parents didn't want to let her go alone, before her graduation, but she wheedled and pleaded all during the Yuletide holiday until they caved in."

Lucius smiled while the twit talked about meaningless drivel he had absolutely no interest in. It helped that she'd be dead soon. To think that Crispin Greengrass might have expected Draco to marry this girl! As if he'd let such witch pollute the Malfoy bloodline!

When the girl started to mention Astoria's friends from school - something about a Naturalist club, Lucius coughed, and rustled a few sheets of parchments.

"Oh, I'm sorry… here you give me the rest of the evening off, and I'm holding you up!" Greengrass blushed, fittingly embarrassed.

He smiled gently, hiding his scorn. "Do not dwell on it, dear. Family is important."

She bowed, and left his office.

He sighed when the door had closed behind her. He'd be able to hire a smarter secretary soon. Parkinson would be a good choice. She and Draco might even get over their unfortunate animosity if they had to interact regularly.

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London, Diagon Alley, August 27th, 1999, 19.45 hours

If a Wand wanted to go dancing, there wasn't much of a selection of venues in Wizarding Britain. The clubs that featured 'traditional wizard dancing' didn't admit muggleborns as a rule. Most of them didn't allow half-bloods inside either. That meant that the few locations where half-bloods and muggleborns could dance were always packed. Like 'Ebenezer's', a pub with a dance floor situated in a side alley of Diagon Alley. Hermione would be meeting Antoine there, according to the note an owl had dropped off in the afternoon.

Hermione spotted him outside the pub at once. Her friend was leaning against the wall, watching the people outside, both the guests taking a break, and the passersby. The witch was struck with how similar to a Wand he was acting, tense and observant. It shouldn't be a surprise, she thought, seeing as he had lived through a war. When he saw her, he pushed off the wall and met her halfway.