Chapter Three: It’s Our Time to Shine

Draco woke up and doing a quick Tempus spell found out that he had been allowed to sleep in, and therefore had the manor to himself other than the House Elves. Hurrying to the study, Draco retrieved the letters he’d made the day before, and calling for Apollo sent him to see all of his friends. They needed to have an emergency meeting, and there was no time like the present to get it done.

Heading off to find something to eat, Draco entered the dining room, and was happy to see that he hadn’t missed breakfast completely. Making himself his morning cuppa, Draco then headed to the table and was happy when a full breakfast plate appeared in front of him. He was still working on his sausages and bacon and waiting for some more toast and tomatoes when Blaise and Daphne came in. Demeter, the House Elf in charge of the kitchens, happily popped in and took orders from them, and after finding out there would be more guests, advised that she would just throw together a quick buffet.

Soon all of the Thunder was seated around the table eating and chatting as they waited for Draco to inform them why they were there. The Thunder was comprised of the Slytherins in Draco’s year, most of whom he had known his whole life.

Draco was the leader of their little group, and the reason it was called the Thunder. Daphne Greengrass and Blaise Zabini served as Advisors to him. Pansy Parkinson was a budding seer, and also served as their archivist and record keeper. Theodore Nott and Millicent Bulstrode were their researchers, and Greg and Vincent were in charge of protection along with assisting wherever else they were needed.

Setting down his cup, his stomach full, Draco leaned back in his chair and cleared his throat drawing the attention of his friends. Pulling out his wand, he pointed it towards himself as his friends watched him warily. “I solemnly swear on my magic that what I am about to tell those in this room is the whole truth as I know it. I swear that this is not an attempt on my part to deceive or mislead any of them, or on the part of my father Lucius Malfoy, my mother Narcissa Malfoy nèe Black, or my Godfather Severus Snape. Should I try and lie to or mislead the group of people known as the Thunder, may magic strike me down. So, mote it be.”

“Draco!” Pansy snapped leaning forward to look around Vincent. “What are you doing?”

“It was necessary, Pansy,” Draco promised playing with his empty teacup. “There is no way any of you would believe what I am about to tell you otherwise. Hell, I am living it and I can’t believe that it’s happening.”

“What’s going on, Dray?” Blaise asked taking charge as he was prone to do, which is why he was one of the groups two advisors. Blaise was more of the war general type of advisor who helped Draco with strategy, and Daphne was the details type of advisor who worked to make sure they had all their paths covered. “Just tell us what is going on. We’ll worry about the believability later.”

“I’m… Merlin, I have no idea how to say this without sounding like a nutter!” Draco exclaimed frustrated, and Daphne, who often served as the group’s stand-in mother put a hand on his arm.

“Just say it, Dray,” she encouraged as well and taking a deep breath, Draco nodded.

“Two nights ago, I went to sleep in the flat that I owned in muggle London, not having seen my father since I knew that he and mother would survive the fallout from the second war with the Dark Lord, who is from this point forward to be known as Tammy Riddle. I was just a few months shy of my thirtieth birthday and had been working closely with several people on various items of reform. One of those people I had been working with was Hermione Granger who was the Minister of Magic, and some of the things we were working to reform was the Hogwarts curriculum, magical creature and beings’ rights, and Azkaban reform.”

Draco took a deep breath and nodded his thanks to Daphne who had refilled his teacup. “Lucius fell asleep in his favorite chair in his study one night. He then found himself in the Great Hall at Hogwarts, speaking with James Potter, who had been sent there as a representative for Merlin. Basically, Lucius and I got sent back in time to fix shite that should have never happened in the first timeline. Merlin sent back a vial of Purifying Potion for Severus to take which is going to break his ties to both Tammy and Dumbledore.

“Once that happens, he is going to be our advocate. Father is going to Gringotts and will be setting up Malfoy Manor as a sanctuary. In the previous timeline, things were not good. Hermione, Susan Bones, and I believed that Magic was failing, but couldn’t get anyone to believe us. Most of those within this room, if we survived the second war, never achieved what we should have because we aligned ourselves with a barmy megalomaniac who basically turned himself into a human snake. Even the ones who fought on the correct side paid too high of a price for their victory. There is a whole generation of children whose lives were basically lost in one fashion or another because our parents and the other adults around us made horrible decisions.

“Merlin and Lady Magic have given us a chance to do things right and Lucius is determined to fight for the better this time. I have a list of all of the things that happened in the original timeline, but we need to start making some changes now. Firstly, all of you need to be prepared to seek sanctuary here and abandon your families. Those adults that wish to leave Tammy Riddle’s service will be welcome here, but anyone still bowing to kiss his disgusting feet will not.

“I will not sit back and watch us all fail a second time. We need to change our ways. We’ve all said that we don’t understand why things are they way they are, but yet no one ever does anything. Well, we are done waiting on the adults. Lucius could very well be on the up and up, and I hope he is, but I am not going to count on it. Our futures are too important. From this point out there will be no more bullying. No more just blindly repeating what our parents tell us. We will think for ourselves, and if we talk something out and cannot find a reasonable explanation for what they say then we will not do it.

“We will educate ourselves in all the things they do not want us to know. We will make amends to those in the other Houses that we have offended, and we will let ourselves be free to be friends with and love whomever we like. Apparently, my Veela traits are going to kick in when I hit 17, although with the current mess I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens sooner than expected. As many of you know Male Veela traits work somewhat differently than female traits, because male Veela are known to be more volatile and protective.

“Harry Potter is my Veela mate according to James Potter. I will be correcting things with him and Granger. Ronald Weasley is a hopeless, lazy arsed, hothead, and I will be damned if I sit by and watch her waste her life on that creatin again. Blaise, you had a crush on her your entire life. This time you’re going to man up. If your mother doesn’t like it, father is prepared to house you, support you, and take you into the House of Malfoy if needed. The same goes for the rest of you.

“We will not be their puppets any longer. We suspect that Dumbledore is potioning people with behavioral modifications. Severus is preparing cleansing potions for all of us, or at least he will once he gets done recovering from the purifying potion that Merlin made for him. You all will be visiting Gringotts. You will be having line tests and inheritance tests done and check the book of souls, and we will be encouraging as many people as we can to do the same.

“We will take back our sacred holidays and practices and we will teach the muggleborn and half bloods why we do it since no one else seems to think they need to know why it is important. Magic will NOT die on our watch. We are Slytherins, and we are going to act as Salazar Slytherin himself expected, not how those who have bastardized his teachings interpreted it.”

“Holy shite,” Vincent whispered once Draco fell silent and the others chuckled. Blaise held out a fist, which Vincent bumped with a grin.

“You ain’t kidding, Vin. Damn Dray, when you call an emergency meeting you don’t pussy foot around. I think my brain is gonna explode with all that information.”

“He’s telling the truth,” Pansy said speaking up quietly looking shaken, drawing everyone’s attention. “What he’s saying would explain some of the visions that mother and I have been having. Draco, you need to get to Potter sooner than later. I think… I think what we’ve all speculated on is the truth. He’s being abused and we need to get him out of that muggle home immediately.”

Draco nodded seriously. “That was one of the things that James Potter asked of us, and it is at the top of our to do list. We just need to get to the Book of Souls to do it. If he and I have a record there and it lists him as my Veela mate, then I have the right to check on him. If he is indeed being abused, then we also have the right to remove him from the house and there isn’t shite that Dumblewhore can do about it. It is international laws that a juvenile male Veela’s mate can be removed from any circumstance or living condition to be deemed unsafe by the Veela and his family. Our magic is too in flux because of it still developing to risk it otherwise.

“There was a male Veela in France while father and mother were in school whose parents didn’t listen to him about the threat to his mate. She was being sexually abused by an uncle who lived with them. Eventually, the Veela couldn’t stand it any longer and even though he was only 13 was pushed into his Veela maturity early because of the stress. He slaughtered every adult in her house. He was found not guilty because of the circumstances, but she could never look at him the same again, and she rejected his mating. He died before his 17^th birthday because of that rejection. He simply stopped wanting to live and his magic died because of it.

“We’re also working on freeing Sirius Black and getting spies within both Riddle’s camp as well as Dumblewhore’s. Father has some plans, amongst them is to get the hat checked and get Hagrid’s name cleared so that he can finish his magical education. If they can find the hat has been tampered with then some people may get resorted, but it’s… necessary.”

“You’re talking about me,” Daphne said quietly, and Draco nodded but rushed to explain.

“You deserve that inheritance if it is indeed yours, Daph. Your family has been rumored to be Gryffindor’s heirs for generations, and yet nothing comes with it. Mother believes that it’s because you aren’t being sorted correctly. She says she remembers stories from when she was little that her grandmother told her, and certain heirs had to be sorted into certain houses or they did not get their title. As much as I would hate for Slytherin House to lose you, maybe its what we need to truly unite the houses, which is something the Headmaster absolutely does not want to happen.”

“And anything that can irritate that old tosser is a good thing in my book,” Theo grumbled just finishing his breakfast. Draco watched as Theo nodded to Hebe, who was Demeter’s helper in the kitchen and had popped in to refill Theo’s coffee cup. “Millie and I should start doing some intense research then into our list of potential projects. Do you think your father will let us hang out for a few days? And if so, what should we start with?”

“I think one of the things we need to have ready for the next school year, is an introduction to the holidays and why they are important,” Daphne suggested then she looked Draco’s way. “Do you think that your father could convince the Board to make Dumbledore let us practice them on school grounds again?”

Draco nodded and then called for Apollo to bring him some parchment and a quill to take notes. “I will speak with him about it. I don’t see why he cannot. There is nothing in the charter that I am aware of that prevents it. Theo, if I can get my hands on a copy of the charter, do you think that you and Millie could go through it and look for anything that would be of interest to us?”

“Oh, that is a marvelous idea,” Millie said speaking up for the first time. She tended to be one of the quieter members of the group and quite painfully shy when it came to revealing her true nature, but when she spoke, they all tended to listen because they knew it was important. “There has to be things of interest in there that would work in our favor. Do you think though that you can really get your hands on it?”

Draco nodded and made a note underlining it several times, before responding. “It shouldn’t be a problem. Father is the Head of the Board of Governors. Therefore, he has a right to review the charter. The issue is ensuring that we get a genuine copy. I wonder if the Dverger have one? Shouldn’t something like the Hogwarts charter be public record? I wonder if there is a copy in the Black vaults. Phineas Black was a cagy sort as mother tells it, and I wouldn’t put it past him to have stashed a copy for safety’s sake. The only issue may be getting access to it… Hmm, I wonder if mother would be able to get access since she is the only Black Family member who is not either disinherited or in Azkaban, which is a sorry statement in itself.”

“I would think that she can,” Theo pondered and seemed to be contemplating something. “She might even be determined to be Head of the Family. It’s not something we have considered before but it’s certainly a possibility. A House as old as the Blacks would need to have an acting Lord or Lady. The only issue is if they limited heirs to the patriarchal line.”

Draco smirked and scribbled a note on his parchment under his label of mother. “Wouldn’t that just upset the apple cart? Mother could officially request that Sirius Black’s situation be investigated. She could disinherit Auntie Bella and reinstate Auntie Dora and her family. OH! And, because Sirius Black was Harry Potter’s Godfather legally, she would have the rights to inquire as to his wellbeing. Oh, this is too grand! So, we’d have a second legal reason to check into Potter’s living situation.

“Speaking of Potter, sort of, Blaise, would you be willing to reach out to your cousin Lee and see if he would be willing to approach the Weasley twins about a meeting for us? Father is going to try and make amends to end the Blood Feud, but I think that we need to make some reparations on our end. The twins are the ones that I trust the most, and I think it would do us all well to get them on our side. They are wicked smart. You cannot come up with the complexity of pranks that they do and not be intelligent.”

“Agreed,” Daphne said with a nod. “Hasn’t Professor Snape said that if any Weasley could have been a Slytherin that it would have been those two?”

“Not to mention that they are the most likely heirs to the House of Prewitt,” Pansy pointed out making notes of her own. “I know that people always assume it will be William, but mother said once that twins run in that line, and that when available, the Head of the Family has always been shared by the twins. That is why it was such a huge blow when Fabian and Gideon were killed, because they were to have taken over the Prewitt seat and left no clear heir after their death. How is Lucius going to convince the Weasleys to end the feud though? I mean he is directly responsible for what happened to Ginevra this past year for Merlin’s sake!”

“By doing a lot of groveling, returning their ancestral home that they lost when the blood feud started, and by paying for the best mind healer that his money can buy. I am doubtful as to how successful he will be, which is why I think we need to take our own shot at it. Other than Ronald, the rest are reasonable sorts I think, and it would behoove us all to be on their good side. Bill Weasley at the very least is one of the best young curse breakers that Gringotts has, and it would be wise to have someone like that on our side instead of Dumbledore’s.”

“So basically, he’s going to throw money at it and kiss arse,” Greg mumbled selecting another breakfast pastry and putting it on his plate then selecting a second for Vincent. “Sounds about typical to me.”

“Well, he may have changed his alliances, but there are some habits that are too ingrained I am afraid,” Draco drawled, and rubbed the back of his head with a sigh. “I believe that Snape is going to take the potion either tonight before bed or in the morning. We need to be there to help him as he recovers. James told father that Severus will be quite severely ill for at least a week, and I think that it is our responsibility to assist with his care. After all, he is at least partially doing this for us. Is there anyone that doesn’t want to be involved?”

“If he’s going to be puking, count me out,” Pansy threw out with a shudder. “Unless you want me tossing my cookies right along with him.”

Draco nodded and made himself a note to exclude Pansy from the first couple of days as the others smirked. Pansy’s weak constitution when it came to things like blood and vomit were well known within the Slytherin House. “Ok, so myself and Daph at least on the first day. Anyone else want to volunteer for the first 48 hours? After that I would think he will be past the purging state, although I don’t know much about this potion. Theo and Millie, maybe you should start there and do some emergency research into this potion. I would think that our library should have something on it. In the past, Malfoys have always been strong potioners or healers.”

“Can I help?” Greg asked quietly. “Professor Snape has always been good to me, and I like healing stuff.”

Draco nodded and cocked his head as he studied Greg. “I didn’t know that. Do you want to be a healer?”

Greg blushed and hunched his shoulders. “Oh, I’m not near enough smart for that. Da always says that it’s a miracle I make it out of bed with my head attached.”

“Pish posh!” Daphne swore scowling. “I’ve seen your herbology grades. You’re nearly as good as Neville and you are decent in potions. If you want to be a healer, then we’ll work to get you up to snuff so that you have the academics to do it! Maybe we need to get you and Vincent checked to make sure nothing else is going on. Remember what Draco said. From now on we’re forging our own path, and not letting our parents wants and wills determine what we do. I for one am going to focus my attention on becoming a curse breaker, because it has always fascinated me. Vin, what about you, love?”

Vince shrugged and looked to Greg who nodded encouragingly at him. “I wanna work with animals. Ya know, like Hagrid or Charlie Weasley or even Palladium Barrows.”

“He’s read all of Palladium’s books,” Greg offered speaking up for his best friend, whom the other members of the Thunder secretly though would some day be more to him than just a friend. “He’s really good with them. He gets as good a grade in that class as I do in Herbology.”

Daphne nodded shortly then and gave Vincent an encouraging smile. “Then we’ll narrow things down for you so that you have a goal in mind. Draco, do we have to wait for… Riddle to come back for this sanctuary if needed?”

Draco considered the question conferring with both Blaise and Millie before answering. “The Sanctuary laws are most commonly used in times of war, but I don’t think that they are dependent on it. I would suggest though that you let me talk to father about the situation. Both of your fathers have generally gone along with whatever he wants. If anything, we might be able to convince them to turn over guardianship to him for training.

“It would be something like in the old days where Lords send their heirs off to other families for training and such. If he could get them to agree to do that, then I think that would be the best plan. I am fairly sure that it can be done in a way that they can’t just change their mind without good reason. We’ll have the solicitors come up with some kind of legal document or something for them to sign.”

“That would be bloody marvelous,” Vincent threw out looking more relaxed about the whole situation. “I might need to use the Sanctuary Laws though. Father has a very definite idea of what his plans are for me, and I don’t see him going along with leaving the Dark Lord’s side. He loves telling me stories about torturing and killing the muggles and that he can’t wait for us to do it together. I just, I don’t want to do that Dray.”

Draco nodded and for a moment felt ill as he remembered what had happened to his friend in the previous timeline. Vincent had always been softer than his father liked and had to work at being the bully that his father expected. After a while he had been basically brainwashed into becoming the boy who tried to kill them all with fiendfyre. If Draco was successful in changing nothing else in this timeline, he was determined that both Greg and Vin would have better lives this time around. Starting with the freedom to be together as they should.

Making a note to himself, Draco set himself a reminder to talk to his father about going to the Book of Souls right away. He also thought that it would be a good idea to have him speak with Goyle’s mother, who was a Malfoy and therefore still had to answer to her Head of Family. If he could get her to agree to turn over guardianship of Gregory to father, and then Vin was found to be Greg’s Soul Mate, there wasn’t anything that Vincent’s father could do about Vin coming to live with them as well.

There were a lot of If’s in his plan, but he thought that it was doable and mentally bumped up the Book of Souls higher on his to-do list. They might even have to do it while Snape was recovering from the Purifying Potion. After making his note, Draco showed first Daphne and then Blaise, both who nodded their agreement that it was a good idea. Satisfied that he had a plan in place, Draco moved on to anything that they hadn’t covered.

“We need a justification to bring in a curse breaker to Hogwarts to see about clearing the curse on the DADA position. In the original timeline, Remus Lupin was our DADA professor this year, and frankly the only competent one we had until sixth year when Snape took over the position. If we can clear the curse, then we could keep the best person to prepare us all, Slytherins and non-Slytherins alike for what is coming.”

“Isn’t the ever-shifting list of professors enough though?” Blaise asked drawing their attention. “I mean, surely it is not natural for there to be something happen every blooming year that causes us to lose that the professor for that position!  Why did we lose Lupin in the original timeline?”

“He’s a werewolf,” Draco shared quietly knowing the secret wouldn’t be shared beyond those in the room. It was one of the foundations in the Thunder’s code. “There was an incident toward the end of the year when Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew both appeared on school grounds and distracted him enough that he forgot to take his wolfsbane potion. Because of it he transformed and could have attacked someone if his wolf wasn’t distracted by Black.”

“He must not have fully accepted his wolf then,” Vin shared quietly. “If he had then that wouldn’t be an issue. He’d still want to change, but he and his wolf would be in harmony, and those around him would not be in danger unless they threatened himself, his pack, or a cub in his vicinity.”

Draco nodded and smiled at his friend who didn’t normally speak any more than Millie. “That is exactly it, Vin. Mother is going to talk to Sterling Barrows about mentoring Lupin, but I think we need to make some contingent plans for just in case. We need to keep him on at Hogwarts.”

“I think that if we could get one of the other board members to bring up the idea, that the rest of them would go for it,” Pansy offered with a frown. “Someone like Augusta Longbottom or another board member that Dumbledore trusts.”

Draco nodded and made yet another note under his mother’s name. This sounded like something for her to do. While his father was the one on the board, it wasn’t uncommon for his mother to… help things along on occasion. Shooting a drying spell at his notes, Draco told himself that he was going to get some notebooks and muggle ink pens for everyone. He then sent for Apollo and asked for him to let his parents and Uncle Snape know that they needed to have a meeting when they all were back in residence.

Once that was done, he called for Hades and advised him that they would be having guests for an undetermined amount of time and to prepare some rooms. Once the Malfoy Steward House Elf popped out, Draco asked who would like to stay. Blaise immediately requested permission to stay. His mother was in another courting phase, and he was not in the mood to spend time with a new potential dead ex-step-father. Given that this one didn’t like children, he didn’t think his mother would object and borrowed Archimedes, Draco’s Eagle Owl, to send her a request to stay.

Greg and Vincent also wanted to stay. Any time that they could get away from their fathers was only better for them. Draco couldn’t help looking at them concerned, the past seemed to be heavy on his mind especially where Vincent was concerned. Daphne said that she couldn’t stay right now but did want to come back later in the summer and spend time there.

Her family had a trip planned to Greece and she didn’t want to miss it. It would also give her a chance to feel out her parents to see if there was any wiggle in their previous stance on the war. Draco doubted it as Lord Greengrass was one of the Dark Lord’s staunchest followers in the previous war, but understood her need to try. Daph had a younger sister, Astoria, whom she was extremely fond of, and her protection would have to be built into their plans. Until Riddle returned though both of the Greengrass sisters were safe at home with their parents, who adored both of the girls.

Likewise, Pansy wanted to return home, but said that she would visit regularly as they did not have any summer trips planned. She and her mother were extremely close, and it was her father who was the avid follower of Riddles. Unlike Lucius and Narcissa though, the marriage between Pansy’s parents was not a love match and the pair detested each other. Pansy’s mother did not think selling themselves to the Dark Lord was the way to go, and very much objected to Pansy being asked to join the cause. Pansy’s mother and Draco’s mother had been lifelong best friends, and therefore the Parkinson family matron knew that she had a safe harbor with Narcissa if needed.

Deciding that they had accomplished enough for the day, Draco proposed that they go outside for a 4 on 4 pickup quidditch game with a keeper, seeker, chaser, and one beater on each team. The others, all quidditch fanatics, readily agreed, and they hurried outside for some fun. Late in the afternoon, once Pansy and Daphne had each gone home, and the rest were making floo calls home to see if they could get permission to spend the summer, Draco hurried through the manor toward his father’s study where he had been summoned for a meeting.

Entering the room, the first thing Draco noticed was that they had an unexpected guest. Nodding to Professor Lupin, but not letting on that he knew the man until he heard otherwise, Draco greeted his parents and then took the remaining empty seat, happily getting some berry water from Hera who seemed to be attending them today. “What have you been doing this morning, my Dragon?” His mother asked, and Draco studied her carefully before answering thinking she looked paler than normal.

“The Thunder and I met to decide where we should start with our plot for world domination,” Draco informed and then leaning back in his chair sipped on his cool drink as the adults reacted. Lupin’s eyes widened somewhat alarmingly but seemed to relax when he saw Uncle Severus nod proudly. Both Lucius and his mother looked as if they expected nothing different.

“And how did that go?” Lucius asked, and Draco immediately launched into a summary of the meeting, asking his noted questions, and taking some notes on their responses.

“I think that it would be wise to have as many of your friends stay here as possible, Draco,” Lucius agreed upon hearing the request that several of the Thunder members had made to stay there that summer. “I believe that you are correct in that Daphne should be good for the moment, and Pansy’s mother most definitely knows she has a place here if needed. I would also agree that Greg and Vincent are in the most danger, although Theodore’s father is questionable. I would not be opposed to seeing that boy out of that house sooner rather than later. I am not sure his living situation is much better than yours was the first time or Potter’s is now.”

Draco nodded couldn’t help but glance at Lupin and back to his father in question, receiving a nod and a reassuring smile in return. “Professor Lupin has been filled in on everything and has agreed to join our side. Both he and Severus have noted some nausea and head pains today that we believe are the result of them fighting Dumbledore’s potions and spells. Your mother had a meeting today that resulted in us finding out that there were much more serious consequences to fighting these things than we believed.”

Draco then listened to his mother tell her story of her meeting with the Barrows brothers as well as Professor McGonagall and her partner from America who seemed to be an ex MACUSA Head Auror. Once she was done, Lucius launched into a summary of his meeting with Amelia Bones as well as Dowager Lady Longbottom, and Draco found himself fascinated how with both his parents, he seemed to be on the same mental path as them.

When Lucius was done talking about his meeting and agreeing to do the things Draco needed him to do, Severus summarized his meeting with Lupin and advised that he was officially staying with them for the summer. Draco immediately asked if, once he was recovered from his cleansing, if he’d be willing to oversee them getting Vincent and Gregory up to snuff now that they would, hopefully, be out of their parents’ reaches and could be whomever they wanted to be.

“Anyone can make a monster,” Lupin said gravely, “but you need to be a strong and supportive person to help a child become something other than what you see for them. While I don’t have children myself, it seems to me that not all parents are up to that task. They’d rather push their expectations onto their children instead of letting their children let them know what their expectations for themselves is.”

“Agreed,” Severus joined with a sharp nod. “It’s utterly horrifying the number of parents who think I am deliberately holding their children back assuming that because they had an aptitude for potions that their children must as well and therefore, I am doing something wrong. Now, I do understand that my… teaching method does not work for everyone, and I am going to see what I can do about that, but not every child has the ability to be a potions master, no matter how their parents performed in the subject.”

“So, if I am understanding things correctly,” Draco interjected, deciding to change the subject before the adults got sidetracked onto a rant. “We have converted Professor Lupin, whom we have active plans to fix the curse on the DADA position so that we don’t lose him, and we are going to come up with something to ensure that he doesn’t miss a dosage this time around. In addition to that, he is going to be meeting with Sterling Barrows to see about accepting his wolf.

“We have converted Professor McGonagall who has agreed to become our spy within Dumbledore’s camp. Amelia Bones is reviewing the situation with Sirius Black and Rabastan Lestrange so that we can see if Rabastan can be our spy within the Death Eaters. We have plans for two different paths to make amends with the Weasleys both with the adults and the children. We have two different legal justifications to check on Harry Potter and remove him from his living situation if needed once Professor McGonagall is recovered.

“Father is going to make arrangements for the Thunder as a whole to go down and check the Book of Souls within the next couple of days, and Professor Lupin will be the one to be taking care of Uncle Snape while we are gone. Theo and Millie have permission to run amuck in the Malfoy Library to get whatever information we need, and we’re going to get two copies of the Hogwarts Charter. One that father has because he is the Head of the Board of Governors and one that is on file at the Ministry of Magic and available to the public as a matter of law.

“Mother is going to go to Gringotts as soon as possible once Uncle Snape is recovered so that she can see about getting into the Black Family Vaults and if about taking up the Head of the House of Black. Father is going to keep working with Madame Bones to do his best to nail Dumbledore to the wall, and Professors Snape and Lupin are going to visit the other professors they deem safe to see about getting them cleansed as well. Did I miss anything? What are we doing about Pettigrew? Should we not be recovering him from the Weasley’s ASAP?”

Both Severus and Lucius swore and looked at each other making it obvious that they hadn’t considered that. Draco though had been mulling the idea and decided to share his thoughts. “What if I include Percy Weasley in my meeting and ask that he bring Scabbers? Maybe we can have another adult present, say one of the Barrows brothers if they would be willing? That way they can immediately hit Scabbers with the Animagus reveal spell to see if he is indeed Pettigrew. What we would do with him from there though, I have no idea.”

Lucius nodded stroking his chin. “I do like where you are going with that Draco. Let me think on it and possibly run it by Madame Bones to get her thoughts. It is definitely a good start to a plan. I will let you know when I have more. I think we have all made a good start of things today, and just need to continue working. For now, let’s head to dinner before Demeter gets angry at us for making her dinner go cold.”

Nodding, Draco got up and followed the adults out of the room feeling lighter than he had in years. It seemed like just maybe this jaunt back in time would be worth it. Maybe, just maybe, things would work out in their favor this time around.