The new face of evil - 8 years out

"Reduced it to what?" Ron asked angrily.

"Twenty-five years," Mr. Weasley told his son.

"They cut it in half just for some Muggles!" Ron exclaimed. "He's getting off way too easy. He'll only in his forties when he gets out. He'll have over half his life yet."

Harry actually sighed in relief. He had expected Sirius to say that Draco wasn't going to get much time at all. Now Harry had to keep his part of the bargain and go see Lucius Malfoy.

Hearing Ron complain brought him out of his thoughts. "Harry, can you believe that's all he got? Now do you think it was worth it?"

"Ron!" Mr. Weasley exclaimed, causing the twins to look between the two, clearly realizing they were being left out of something.

"It's just like a Malfoy to come out like this. After everything he's done, he gets half his sentence dropped for giving up a few Muggles. I can't stand this," Ron bellowed and left.

"Let's go to the office, there's some things I want to go over with you," Sirius said and Harry could tell he really wanted to talk. The two said their goodbyes and left.

"He got over twenty years, so I suppose we've got to keep our part," Sirius said sounding very unhappy.

"I guess I'll pay him a visit tonight. Ron's not taking this well," Harry added.

"He'll have to get over it. They're taking Draco straight to Azkaban. Make sure the old man knows we'll be watching and the consequences if he does something bad," Sirius said.

"Oh, I will. You know, I understand how Ron feels. Part of me is all twisted up knowing I can't take anything out personally on Draco."

"Believe me, I understand. I just think this is the best we can get right now. It will be good to have some quiet time for a while," Sirius said patting Harry on the shoulder. The two went out for a meal and then to a small Muggle pub to shoot billiards until around one in the morning.

"Well, I guess it's time," Harry said.

"Just give him back a little," Sirius added.

The two walked out of the pub and when they were alone in a dark alley, they both disappeared. Harry appeared in the corner of a dark room and was greeted with, "I still don't know how you get in here, but right now I don't care. Give me my magic."

"What about your wife?" Harry said seeing the woman lying in bed.

"She won't wake up. Muggle sleeping pills. As much as I hate Muggles, I've been forced to use some of their items over the past years. That will change as soon as you hold up your end of the bargain," Malfoy spat.

"You know that we'll be watching you closely," Harry said approaching the older man.

"I intend to be a model citizen. I've already been given some job offers, what with the commendation and everything," Malfoy said with a smug look on his face.

Harry felt his anger rise, "I'd like nothing more than to tell everyone the real reason you turned him in. If we find out you're behind any disturbances, all bets are off and we'll come for you."

"Are you going to talk all night or keep your end of the bargain?" the old wizard taunted.

Harry quickly said a spell that sent the wizard crashing into the wall and watched as he fell, seated to the ground. Harry bound him there with his arm straight out and sat down next to the wizard. Harry pulled up the sleeve on Malfoy's robe and saw the dark tattoo like mark on the man's arm. He lay his wand across the mark and onto his own arm and begin saying the spell that he had only used once before. This time, he kept close watch on the mark and the instant it became invisible, he stopped the spell, not wanting to give the man any more magic than was absolutely necessary.

Harry stood up and said the spells to release Lucius and to revive him.

Malfoy blinked a few times and pushed himself up, rubbing the back of his head. "Well? Is it over?"

Harry nodded and saw Malfoy pull up his sleeve and see that all traces of the dark mark were gone. He instantly got a broad smile and reached into the dresser drawer and pulled out a wand. The man said, "Lumos" and instantly a bright light filled the room. He cancelled the spell and turned to Harry. "I expected you to find someway out of the deal."

"If I could have thought of one, I would have. I'm warning you, it's not going to take much for me to come after you and as you've seen, I can get to you anytime and there's nothing you can do."

Malfoy laughed. "Why would I do anything? I plan on being an upstanding Ministry Official before long."

Hearing this nearly made Harry feel ill and he quickly disappeared, still hearing Malfoy laughing.

Hermione questioned Harry the next morning. "Where were you last night? I thought you would have wanted to talk about Draco's sentence."

"Had to take care of some business. What do you think about it? Ron's upset that he dealt down to twenty-five years," Harry replied.

"I know, I saw Ron yesterday. He'd had a bit to drink and seemed to be a bit annoyed at you," Hermione said not understanding why Ron would be upset with Harry.

"He's just upset that he couldn't get his hands on Draco and hoped I could help him out. I would have liked him to get fifty years, but twenty-five is better than nothing. If he's still sane when he gets out, maybe he'll be changed."

"I just thought you both would have been much happier, I think this is great."

"You're just happy with everything right now. I mean I rarely see you anymore since you're always with Dr. Harlan."

Hermione blushed and said, "He's pretty great. I'm just amazed everything has worked out so well."

"For once I can say 'I told you so,'" Harry said. "When you first came here, you were so worried that everything would be horrible and I told you it would all be ok. Mark this down, the only time I've ever been right."

Harry went to Ginny's Saturday for the meal she promised. She had been so busy with her design business that the two hadn't spent as much time together as normal and they were both anxious for some quiet time together.

Ginny had fixed a nice light meal for the two of them which they ate with Ginny describing everything that had been happening at her office. Harry had been content to just let her talk about her work and was very proud of all she had accomplished He also had other things on his mind, and listening to her helped drive some of them back a little.

The two were sharing ice cream from a single large bowl when Ginny realized Harry had been quiet. "Have I been talking the entire night?" she asked, seeming embarrassed.

"It's been great hearing everything you're doing. I told you the Weasley's were all gifted. Every one of you has done great when you put your mind to it," Harry replied.

"It is a big change from when you first met us all those years ago," Ginny said sighing. After noticing that Harry was still quiet she asked, "Is something on your mind? You're being awful quiet."

Harry looked at her for a bit, causing Ginny to feel a bit uncomfortable. "I did want to talk to you about something," he added softly.

Ginny tried to read his face, but couldn't tell anything. "Ok, you can tell me anything."

"How do you think things have been going with us? We started off going pretty fast," Harry said a little quicker than he intended.

Ginny was a bit taken aback since this isn't what she would have expected. "I think they're going great. I told you we shouldn't worry about going to fast and just do what felt right."

Harry nodded and said, "That's kind of what I wanted to talk about." Harry took her hands causing Ginny to start thinking the worst. "I think we jumped into this really quickly and basically didn't slow down." Harry breathed deeply a few times causing Ginny to worry even more. "I want to talk to you about making a change," Harry finally got out.

Ginny tried to hold back any feelings when she said, "Harry, I think things are going great. It hasn't been too fast for me."

"I hope you still think that after this," Harry said dropping down on one knee. Ginny's mind was racing when Harry looked deep into her eyes and clearly said, "I love you very much Ginny Weasley and want to know if you would please marry me?"

Ginny could see the doubt in Harry's eyes and just this small fact made her love him even more. He truly wasn't sure that she would say yes. Ginny was sure of course and quickly pulled Harry into a tight hug and said, "Yes! Of course I'll marry you!"

Harry finally let out a large breath he had been subconsciously holding and said, "Whew! Well I guess this is for you then." Harry produced a small box that he slowly opened revealing a dainty gold band with a very large round diamond in the center. The diamond seemed to glow with a slightly bluish tint.

"Oh my gosh! This is amazing! I can't believe how big it is," she said as Harry slid the ring onto her finger.

"Remus figured out a charm for me to put on it. You know how the message spell works, right?" Ginny nodded. "Well, it won't travel very far, so your ring is charmed so that I can use the message spell no matter how far apart we are. That way if I'm ever really far away, I can still make you know how much I love you," Harry said and was immediately engulfed by a tight hug from Ginny.

Ginny had tears streaming down her cheek when she said, "Are you sure this is what you want? I just can't understand why you want to be with me." She buried her head in his shoulder again.

"I love you Gin! I think we're perfect together and couldn't imagine being happier. Don't ever think that I wouldn't want to be with you, you're all I ever want."

She pulled back shaking her head and staring at her new ring. "When do you want to do it?"

"I want to do it a little later tonight," Harry said and after he saw the look on Ginny's eyes he added, "Oh, you meant the wedding." Ginny quickly hit him, so he continued, "We can have the wedding whenever you want. I'm ready today, tomorrow, next month or next year if you want to wait."

"I don't want to wait!" Ginny exclaimed and then thought for a second. "How about in three months? That will give mum and I enough time to arrange things."

"Three months is fine. I would suggest hiring a wedding coordinator, but I doubt your mom would go along with it. I want you to have the wedding you want, anything you want is ok with me."

"Really? You won't care what I do?"

"I trust you and as long as it makes you happy, it's what I want. Actually, I have a couple requests. I'd like to wear black and I'd like the groomsmen to wear dragon-hide boots."

Ginny laughed and said, "No problem, I wouldn't have it any other way." Ginny kissed him deeply, produced a sly smile and said, "You know, I've never made love to my fiancé before."

"Humm.. Maybe you'll let your inhibitions down a little," Harry said nibbling on her ear.

Harry started to get up but Ginny pushed him back onto the couch, smiled and stepped back. She then proceeded to do a slow, sensuous strip-tease as she had a few times before. This time when she finally got completely naked, instead of the light touches she usually applied to her own body, she really let her fingers work around and into her most private areas. She tried to keep her eyes locked into Harry's but as her own touches were pushing her further and further into her pleasure, she couldn't help but to occasionally close them and moan loudly.

Each time she re-opened her eyes, she saw the look of desire on Harry's face and this just gave her the confidence to continue. It didn't take much longer before she felt the tingling of her ecstacy begin and she closed her eyes and started to rub herself very firmly. Just when she was about to peak, she was shocked to feel something different and looked down to see the top of Harry's head as he had just locked his lips to where her fingers were already working hard. This was much more than she could handle and she had to hang onto the back of a chair to keep from falling as her body convulsed with waves of pleasure.

When he felt her settle down a bit, Harry kissed up her body, swiftly picked her up and on the way to the bedroom said, "God you're amazing."

Ginny kissed him deeply as he gently lay her on the bed before undressing and joining her. Harry made love to her and brought her to pleasure over and over that night before the two collapsed into a very peaceful sleep still tangled together.

In the morning Harry smiled at her and asked, "Are you going to lose any more inhibitions once we're married? I'm anxious to see what you come up with next."

Ginny blushed a little but said, "I think I can come up with a bit more."

The two got cleaned up and went to the Burrow to tell Mr. & Mrs. Weasley. Harry was really less worried about this than he was about telling them he originally wanted to date Ginny. Both of her parents were very happy for them and Harry had to start avoiding walking too closely to Mrs. Weasley because any time he got close she would pull him into a very tight motherly hug.

Mrs. Weasley wanted to throw them an engagement party and Ginny agreed that next Saturday would work well. Ginny wasn't going to be able to help much during the week due to work at her office, but Mrs. Weasley wanted to do everything herself anyway. After many hours with the parents, Ginny and Harry went to the castle and found Hermione there.

Instantly Ginny ran to her friend and stuck out her ring, "I'm getting married!" Ginny exclaimed as Hermione stared at the ring.

Hermione seemed awestruck and after hugging Ginny, exclaimed, "I'm so happy for you two! When is it going to be?"

"Three months!" Ginny said happily, "Assuming I can actually wait that long."

"I'm actually surprised he didn't drag you off and elope," Hermione said with a smile toward Harry.

"I would have went!" Ginny exclaimed. "But, it will be nice having a real wedding."

"You're parents would have skinned me if I didn't give you a real wedding," Harry added.

"I couldn't be happier," Hermione said and then added. "Actually, this will make my news easier." Ginny and Harry looked at her intently. "I'm going to find a place of my own."

"You don't have to do that," Harry said honestly and Ginny agreed.

"I was thinking about it anyway. Things are getting a bit more serious with Dr. Harlan and I want to try things on my own again," Hermione said looking slightly sad.

"I understand, but you know that even after we're married, you'll always be welcome here," Harry said.

"Here? What makes you think we'll be living here?" Ginny asked and Harry couldn't tell if she was serious.

"I'm sorry Gin, I never meant to just decide..."

Harry was cut off by Ginny smiling and saying, "Of course we'll live here Harry!" She kissed him and then got a strange look on her face.

"Hermione! Why don't you take my place? It's already got some security and you can live there as long as you want. Who knows, maybe you'll go straight from there to Dr. Harlan's place."

Hermione kind of blushed but said, "You'd let me live there? You know that sounds like a great idea. I can stay here until you two get married."

Now Ginny blushed and said, "Ummm... I was actually hoping to use that as an excuse and just move in here soon. That is if it's ok with Harry."

"Of course it's ok with me, I'm just worried what your parents would say," Harry added.

Ginny smiled and said, "They know we're together most of the time anyway, and giving them the extra reason of Hermione wanting to move out and take my place will help. Don't worry, I'll tell them by myself."

The three friends sat around talking about plans for the rest of the night before all turning in for the night.

The next day, Ron came over looking particularly serious. "Is anybody else around?" Ron quickly asked.

"No, it's just us. What's up?"

Ron started pacing, but finally sat down, looked at his feet and said, "I can't deal with this Malfoy thing."

Harry kind of assumed this is what was bothering his friend. "He's gone for twenty-five years, that's not bad."

Ron sighed and said, "I don't think it would have mattered if he had got the full fifty. I didn't even get to yell at him! He took my wife and daughter and I can't do anything."

"What do you want to do to him? Locked up with the dementors is pretty bad."

"Harry, I know you've done a lot for me. You've done more than I could ever repay and I appreciate that." Ron hesitated and then continued, "If there is any way you can give me a few minutes alone with him, I'll never ask for another thing. And, if you weren't dating my sister, I'd set you up with twins." Harry appreciated Ron still trying to make a small joke.

"What would you do if you had time alone with him?" Harry asked.

"I'd pummel him! I just want to hurt him so bad."

"Would you promise to not kill him?" Harry asked seriously.

Ron suddenly became very attentive. "Really? You'll help me?"

"Not unless you give me your word that you won't kill him. You have to make sure he can heal."

"I can do that. As much as I want to stomp him into the ground, I can control myself. Do you really think you can do this?"

"The dementors still owe me a favor or two, maybe I can get you a few minutes with him."

"I'll owe you big time! Anything you want," Ron offered.

"Ok, be my best man when I marry your sister," Harry said calmly.

"What? Are you seriously thinking about that?"

"I hope so, I asked her yesterday," Harry said smiling.

Ron gave him a brotherly hug and said, "As much as I don't understand it, I can tell you're really happy so that's all that matters. I couldn't be happier for you two, and I know it's a dream come true for her."

"One other thing," Harry said seriously, "no one can know about the thing with Malfoy. This is between you and me." Harry thought and then added, "Well maybe Sirius, I probably need his help to set this up."

The two friends sat around talking for a while with Ron clearly in a better mood. When Ron left, Harry went to the office and tried to recruit Sirius to help Ron out. Surprisingly, Sirius didn't have as many reservations about this as Harry did and was anxious to help.

Sirius arranged things to happen during the normal Thursday night boy's night out and accompanied Harry to the pub where they met Ron. "The dementors don't trust you to control yourself, so they will be watching to make sure neither of you kill the other one. Don't do anything to piss them off," Sirius said firmly.

Harry apparated Ron to a dimly lit, damp dungeon. "We're under Azkaban," Harry said. Ron looked nervous. "You do understand that he could get the upper hand."

Ron stared straight at Harry and said, "There's no way that will happen. I want this more than I've wanted anything, ever."

"Ok, when he gets here, I leave and will be back in exactly thirty minutes. Don't kill him! When I come back, I'll be outside. I don't want to see him," Harry said.

Just then the two heard sounds from outside the door. "What do you think you're doing? Where are you taking me?"

Just then the door opened and a pale white-haired man stumbled in with a half-shocked, half-terrified look on his face.

"Hello Malfoy," Harry said coldly.

"Potter!" Draco's eyes were looking for a way out. "This isn't like you, stacking the odds in your favor."

"This isn't Harry's business, it's mine!" Ron yelled with fire in his eyes.

"You know the deal Ron," Harry said before apparating back to the pub.

"Did he crap his pants?" Sirius asked with a gleam in his eyes.

"He didn't look happy," Harry said without enjoyment. "C'mon, let's get a private booth so Ron isn't seen when he comes back."

The two asked Tom for a private parlor and took their drinks to the room. "We can't let anyone see Ron if Malfoy gets the best of him," Harry added. The two men sat around talking with Harry glancing at his watch ever couple of minutes. Finally it had been almost exactly thirty minutes. "I should go get him. I hope they're both still alive."

Harry apparated outside of the dungeon an immediately came face-to-face with two dementors guarding the door. "" Harry thought, communicating with the dementor.

"" One of the dementors replied and then opened the door and stepped into the dungeon.

Harry immediately heard heavy breathing and after a moment, saw Ron stumbling out, clutching his side. Harry was immediately worried, but Ron looked up with one of the brightest smiles Harry could remember seeing and said, "That was the best thing ever!" Ron quickly coughed after saying this.

"You look like hell! Who won?" Harry asked going to his friend.

Ron strained and smiled brightly again and said, "Oh, I won! I spent the last ten minutes just kicking him around the room."

"Tell me where you hurt and I'll see if I can heal you. I can heal the cuts as well," Harry offered.

"Not this one!" Ron exclaimed pointing to a large gash near his left eye. "The slime ball hit me while we were still talking. I want to remember exactly the kind of person he was."

"Fine, but it will need cleaned. Let me take care of the others and your ribs. Sirius is waiting to buy you a drink."

Ron stood there and winced a few times as Harry healed all the smaller cuts and bruises. Harry cleaned the gash over Ron's eyebrow as best he could but knew there would be a scar. "What are you going to tell Parvati about that?"

Ron just smiled and said, "Bludger to the head and the medi-witch wasn't around."

After about ten minutes of work, the two were ready to return when Harry turned to the dementor and thought, ""

"" Was all the dementor said before gliding into the room where Draco was.

Harry apparated with Ron back to the private booth where Sirius was waiting. "Is that all he got out of the fight?" Sirius asked pointing to the cut near Ron's eye.

"It's the only one he wouldn't let me heal," Harry said rolling his eyes.

"Now have you got that out of your system?" Sirius asked.

"It'll have to do. I really would have killed him and not felt bad about it at all," Ron said without emotion and it kind of bothered Harry that he knew Ron wasn't lying.

"It may not have bothered you right now, but it would have in the future," Sirius added. "C'mon let me buy you a drink and you can tell us everything that happened."

Sirius ended up buying many drinks that night and he and Harry were both relieved that Ron seemed to be satisfied with his encounter with Draco and could put that chapter of his life behind him. The three stayed out until very late before stumbling back to their respective homes.

Mrs. Weasley had arranged a large engagement party for Ginny and Harry. She had invited many of their friends from school as well as friends of her and the Minister of Magic. She was obviously very excited about her only daughter getting married. When Harry arrived, there were already many people and much activity going on.

"Harry!" Ginny exclaimed when she saw him. Harry's eyes were still big looking at all the decorations around the lawn at the Burrow. There were many tables with food and drinks, and fresh flowers everywhere. "Isn't this amazing!" Ginny added.

"You're mom did all of this?" Harry asked stunned.

"She wanted to do more, but I made her stop," Ginny replied.

Harry looked worried and asked, "How did she take the news about you moving in?"

Ginny chuckled and said, "Well differently than I expected. She said she understood and all of that, but she also said that she's still going to send me any owl's to my place until after we're married and she's not going to tell anyone until we're married as well."

"So, she's pretending that you're still living at your place, but spending every night at mine?"

"Something like that, you know she's so old fashioned. But, you can help me move my stuff over tomorrow, that's all I care about."

Harry heard a familiar voice calling his name and turned to see Katie Bell, "Ready for your pictures?"

Harry greeted her and then asked confused, "Who said anything about pictures?"

Mrs. Weasley had just come over and said, "Harry! It's your engagement, there has to be pictures."

Ginny grabbed his hand and said, "C'mon we'll get this part over with and then you can have fun."

The two followed Katie down by the lake where another set of decorations had been setup specifically for photographs. Katie spent almost an hour taking pictures in various poses. Quite a few had been taken with Mr. & Mrs. Weasley in them as well. When Ginny was alone in the pictures with her parents, it made Harry feel good to see how happy they all were. He flashed back and thanked the stars that he was lucky enough to meet Ron on the train that first day.

When Katie was done with the private pictures, Ginny leaned into Harry and whispered, "I talked to her about coming over and doing some special pictures of us together." She raised her eyebrow at Harry.

Harry's eyes got huge and he said, "You did not!"

Ginny nodded to confirm that she indeed had, and added, "She's already seen you naked, so it's not a big deal. And, I don't intend for them to be on Witches Weekly or anything, they'll just be for us."

Harry shook his head and said, "I don't know what's gotten into you Miss Weasley."

Ginny kissed him and said, "You better get used to calling me Mrs. Potter because in less than three months, that's what I'll be."

Harry kissed her deeply and said, "We should have just ran off so I could call you that now."

The two were still in a deep kiss when they heard, "That's still a disturbing sight," coming from Ron who was standing with Parvati watching the couple.

The party was grand and Harry thought it was really enjoyable seeing so many people that he hadn't in quite some time. Mrs. Weasley had done an amazing job with the party and Harry could tell she was extremely proud of her daughter.

Late that afternoon, when the engagement party was winding down, Ron, Parvati, Ginny, Harry and Hermione were sitting outside of the Burrow relishing in how good things were at the time. "If we would have just won the Cup, I couldn't imagine things any better," Ron said with a large smile.

"You know, I agree. I can't believe how much things have changed since last year," Hermione added.

"I can't believe I'm going to me Mrs. Harry Potter!" Ginny said happily, leaning over to give Harry a kiss.

"I'm just happy we're all doing well and back together. I don't want anything to happen that keeps us apart again," Harry said looking at Hermione.

"Nothing will happen. And without some psycho trying to take out personal grudges against us, we can all relax," Hermione said with a sigh.

"At least for twenty-five years!" Ron added downing the last bit of his drink.

The friends sat around talking, content in the fact that their lives were going to be much less complicated for them all.

In a far corner of an unused Ministry building, Lucius Malfoy deliberately walks to a meeting with a man he has never met, but has heard a great deal about. An owl had delivered a long note to the Malfoy Manor a few hours ago. This note had listed off all of the unreported activities of Draco Malfoy, and even the involvement of Lucius in some of the operations. The note contained no threat or attempt at blackmail. At the end of the long string of documented illegal activities it simply said, "We can do better. Meet with me." Then it gave the location of the office Lucius was approaching.

Lucius had intended to lay low for a while, content in having his magic back. But, with some in the Ministry accepting him back so warmly, and now this opportunity presenting itself, he couldn't keep the old desires down. Entering the office, Lucius saw a cloaked and hooded figure standing alone. "You're note was intriguing," Malfoy let slide from his mouth.

"I hoped you would find it as such," the hooded figure said. "You've obviously realized that I was the one who really directed Draco's operations." The hooded figure paused and when Lucius didn't say anything, continued, "Your son was very good, but had some weaknesses. He relied on Muggles too much."

Lucius almost growled and said, "Yes, they will be the downfall of us yet."

The hooded figure laughed, "Don't worry about them, we won't rely on them. We will use them where necessary since they are expendable. Second, Draco didn't follow the plans. He always added his own...embellishments to our well-coordinated operations and that caused many of them to fail. But, his biggest weakness was his unrelenting vendetta on Potter, Granger, and Ron Weasley. Draco placed the highest value on hurting those three, even higher than successfully completing the operation. That was his undoing."

"Yes, I told him that on many occasions. His obsession with Potter drove everything he did. I admit that I would like nothing better for Potter to be gone from this existence as well," Malfoy coldly said.

The hooded wizard laughed again, "Believe me, Harry Potter's time will come, as will the other's who betrayed me. Potter has never used a spell against me but has caused me great harm on multiple occasions. However, my focus is not Potter, my focus is power. If I have to befriend Harry Potter for a time to gain the power, I will. But have faith, when the time is right, Potter and the others will pay for everything they've done.

"How do you expect to get this power with him and his godfather out there watching all the time?" Malfoy asked.

"Easy, I will act like I play by the rules. Their weakness is that they always do the right thing and that means we have a huge advantage. I am offering you a partnership. You have old connections in the Ministry, and I have some newer ones. Now that you have been warmly welcomed back, between the two of us, we can move to control key departments. Once we have a majority of support, we will move to replace the Minister and then take that position as well. Then, slowly we will control how things really get done. Once we are firmly seated in power, we will take our revenge on Potter and the other's who have betrayed us," the hooded wizard said in a cold dark voice.

"And what about the other operations? They were very profitable even with my son's failures," Lucius asked.

"Oh, they will continue. They will be quieter and we will focus on making money, not on the destruction and terror that your son prized. These will be profitable times for us as we continue to go after the real prize," the wizard said and the stepped closer to Lucius. "I take it from your comments that you approve with this plan."

Lucius laughed coldly, "I had already begun within my own circles. My son told me a lot about your style and I approved from the beginning. As long as I see progress toward controlling the Ministry, I approve."

"I must say I was surprised when you turned Draco in. At first, I thought they had convinced you to support their side, but once I saw that you left out the really useful information about our operations, I knew there must have been another reason. Care to share it?" the wizard asked.

"Power, plain and simple. I have been lacking power for many years, and I was given the opportunity to get it back. I feel like I've been reborn and this time, nothing will stop me from getting to my goal. Fortunately, we have the same desires. And, this time we don't have someone blinded by revenge to guide us. I am content to wait to get my revenge, but I will have it," Malfoy said.

"Good. I'll be in touch Lucius. You can use the same technique your son did to contact me, but until the goal is at hand, you will not know who I am," the wizard said.

"That's acceptable. This has been a very stimulating discussion," Malfoy said before turning and leaving.

The wizard stood there for a few minutes and then walked out of the office and headed toward more often used sections of the building. He removed his cloak before stepping through a door into a common hallway with other witches and wizards, and once through, he blended in with other employees. Just before he stepped through the exit door he heard, "Ah, there you are. I wanted to have a word with you before you left."

The wizard turned around and came face to face with the Minister of Education. "I just wanted to tell you how impressed everyone has been with your work lately. You have really come into your own within the Ministry."

The wizard extended his hand and said, "Thank you sir, I think I've finally realized my true calling."

The Minister said, "I agree. Now, keep your focus and I'm sure we can do great things together. Goodnight Mr. Weasley."

Percy Weasley shook Mr. Gallah's hand and said, "Great things indeed sir, thank you," and with that he turned and stepped through the exit with an evil smirk on his face.

The End