The Beauty of the Beast [Dramione]

The Ministry

Hello again, and onto the Third Chapter. This is from Draco's POV, and it takes place a while after the last chapter. The 4th chapter will skip back to Hermione's POV, and will tell her story from where it had left off in the 2nd chapter. Savvy? You guys are smart, you'll be able to keep up.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Harry Potter!

Draco Malfoy stared at the lift's doors closing in front of him, assuming a perfectly calm and composed persona on the outside, not letting his usual irritable mood show. He pushed the glowing button labeling level 4 on the lift's wall of the Ministry of Magic. The Minister's Office, currently held by the incompetent idiot Voldemort had appointed, Pius. No one else had stepped up to take the job, and so day after day, Draco was forced to keep his anger in check as the Ministry's upkeep slowly disintegrated into ruin. Draco had to speak to the minister now about the addition of more dungeons in the very basement of the Ministry.

It had been nearly five months after The Battle of Hogwarts, and regaining power had not been easy. After Voldemort's death, Bellatrix had been appointed unanimous leader, though some painful persuasion was needed. She recalled the Death Eaters back from Hogwarts; after Potter had disappeared with the mudblood Granger, there was no real use fighting a bunch of under-age school boys and girls other than to make a point. Instead, they targeted the Ministry. Taking over London and the surrounding areas had been easy. All members of the Order were busy rebuilding the damage done at the school and burying their dead, not thinking that the Death Eaters would be capable to taking down the ministry after Voldemort's death.

Stupid sentimental fools. They don't realize the danger that they're in. Draco thought bitterly. They've sacrificed their way of life to bury a few dead mudbloods.

The lift's doors opened, and in walked two more men.

One was a feeble old man who had worked at the ministry previous to the takeover, but had been pardoned on account of his pledging to the Dark Lord's forces and his renouncement of his former beliefs. He had still gotten off easier than most, though his arms still showed the signs of the muggle torture that Bellatrix had ordered upon him. Other's were cruciated until they went insane, and then locked away in the very confines of Azkaban. Some were killed quickly and mercifully, and some were made prisoners of work camps where they died of exhaustion or starvation after a few weeks. Draco looked coldly at the old man, who looked down, quaking in fear and nervously fidgeting.

The other man in the lift was a snatcher, Silas by name, a great ugly brute who would go seek out muggles and mudbloods in hiding. Silas nodded at Draco, who regarded him with a cold indifference, and did not nod back.

Being Bellatrix's nephew, he was given an extremely high position in the Death Eater's ranks and felt no need to acknowledge anyone with a lower position. The others understood and respected that, staying out of his way, his reputation preceded him; a ruthless, cold-blooded killer.

The lift stopped with a soft jolt, and Draco strided out onto the level with a quick gait, headed towards a pair of oaken doors at the end of a long hallway. Reaching them, he knocked two short raps, then, waiting for no invitation, strode in, shutting the doors behind him.

A large chair faced the fire with the back towards Draco. "Good afternoon, Minister. Or should I say evening? It is rather late, isn't it." His cold tone could have frozen the very air in the room. The chair slowly swiveled around to let Draco look upon the man in it. "I'm afraid the minister is a bit, how shall I say, indisposed at the moment. He won't be back for a rather long time, I should think. Have a seat, Mr. Malfoy."

The man gestured into the seat opposite him. Draco allowed a slight smirk to play across his face, until it diminished back into its familiar stone mask. "And they gave you the spot then, did they Crouch? Don't you think that is unwise, with your condition and all." The scorn in Draco's voice was clearly noticeable. Barty Crouch Jr. had been released from Azkaban when the Death Eater's had taken over. "I wished to speak to Pius, not to you, you miserable creature. Where's Bellatrix?"