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"You blokes won't like what I've been hearing over the network during the night," Lucius commented dryly as Tom and Harry popped in at about
the same time a few weeks later. "Oh, Harry, nice to see you back. How was the honeymoon?"
"Best ever," he said with a satisfied grin. "Has either of you started in the floo as soon as you arrived? That was a bit of fun."
"I hope you didn't stay there," said Lucius with a distasteful grimace. "Nasty place. You'd get powder in who knows what orifice."
Tom chuckled at this, but then got right to business. "What is it we're not going to like, Lucius?" he wanted to know.
"Well, the long and the short of it is, Dolores is planning an attack on the Ministry within the week," he said. "I've cross-checked this
several times. It would appear they've got an ace in the hole, but I'll be damned if I can discover who it is."
"Well, we can at least be sure it isn't any of us," Harry pointed out. "Tom and I have both been busy shagging our wives all weekend, and I'm
quite certain you found a good way to spend your time as well."
"Oh, yes, Cissy was very amenable to the idea of a weekend alone," Lucius answered drolly. "Since Draco and Tory's baby was born, we haven't
had much time for anything of the sort. It's nice of those two to decide to visit her family for a change."
"Maybe you should ask Draco and Tory to get their own place," Harry suggested. "It's not as though he can't afford it."
"No, dear boy, the manor is his as much as it is mine," Lucius said. "We shall simply have to endure. And with such a lovely grandson, it's
no real chore at all."
"I never thought I would see the day when Lucius Malfoy was a proud grandpa," Harry chuckled. "But then again, I never thought I'd see the
day when we were talking about that grandchild while we were working together at the Ministry, either."
"Enough nostalgia, gentlemen," Tom broke into their conversation. "We need to figure out who the bad guys have in their pocket."
"That's just the thing," Lucius said. "Ever since I caught wind of it, I've been chasing that rumor like there's no tomorrow. No one has so
much as hinted at anything other than that someone they're calling 'the contact' will be helping them get inside. I think perhaps very few
of them have even been told who that contact is."
"That would be very wise," Tom pointed out. "If Dolores believes there are spies in her own camp, she's not likely to simply go about bandied
the name of her contact so her plans can be ruined. And every great leader is sure to have spies in their camp. It's inevitable."
"Yes, just like Severus was in yours for the longest time," Harry said, and then remembered that this Tom had never met Severus Snape."
"What, you mean that potions professor?" Tom asked. "Knowing me I probably knew he was a spy and didn't care. I would find it quite useful
to have spies in my camp, so I could leak faulty information whenever I so desired."
"Yes, I happen to know that Voldemort was well aware of Severus's duplicity," Lucius commented. "He found it to be an entertaining diversion,
allowing the man to believe that he remained clueless after so many years. I mean, really, how could a man as smart as you remain ignorant
that long?"
Tom grinned wryly. "I don't think I could," he admitted. "But then again, who knows how much of my intelligence the copy retained?"
"I would venture to guess it was a fairly good amount," Harry pointed out. "Voldemort was no fool by any means."
"Foolish enough to get himself killed, wasn't he?" Tom scoffed.
"I think he may very well have hoped for it, Tom," Harry pointed out. "Sometimes I believe I never would have been a true match for him. I
believe he knew he had stretched his soul too thin, and needed to be killed to put it back together again."
"That's so odd to think on, isn't it?"
"What's that, Tom?" Harry asked curiously.
"That he was a mere copy to begin with, only in possession of a copied soul," he said. "Does that mean that he, too, was a horcrux of sorts? I've
wondered about that all this time."
"It's almost like I was telling you about, remember, when we first met?" said Harry with a smirk. "You've got a split personality, for sure."
"No, Ginny's idea sounded closer," Tom said thoughtfully. "I was curious after you were all talking about bipolar disorder, so I decided to do
a bit of research. Euphoric highs where you believe yourself invincible, lows so low you think of doing yourself in—and then of course, there
were a few other symptoms as well."
"Like what?" he asked.
"Strange sexual situations, for one," Tom said with a smirk. "I've had a few interesting occasions—including when I met my wife, for that matter."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, to tell the truth, Harry, I met her in a mirror," he chuckled. "You can't get much stranger than that, can you?"
"Not unless you count starting in the floo," said Harry with a grin.
"You blokes better have a look at this," Lucius said as he held the mirror up for them to see. "That looks suspiciously like an army gathering,
if you ask me."
After watching the witches and wizards continually popping into Goyle manor for over a minute, Tom shook his head in agreement. He said, "We may
not know where they'll strike, but we can at least tell Kingsley there's trouble. Harry, where's your little Auror friends at the moment?"
"I'll call them in immediately," Harry said, and sent a Patronus straight away. Soon their own small army began to form as more and more Aurors
showed up in answer to calls from their fellow Ministry workers.
Kingsley popped in after a time, and stepped up to the three men in the middle of it all. "What's all this about, gentlemen? I set you to watch
the pure-bloods, not wage war with them."
"Oh, believe me, Minister, it's completely the other way around," Lucius told him. "Our little bird tells us that we're about to have some
company."
"Tell me more."
"Sir, you may want to sit down for this one," Harry said. "It's a long story, and we have little time to tell it."
"Tonight, we will make history," Dolores told her followers as she stood on a makeshift stage so they all could see her. "For too long the
Ministry has kept true witches and wizards from enjoying their talents to the full. We have been made to restrict ourselves for the sake
of the Muggles, and they have allowed our blood to mingle with theirs, making filthy Mudbloods at every turn. I begin to think, my friends,
that there are more Mudbloods than there are pure. A disgusting, vile state of affairs which we will rectify just as soon as we have properly
seized control. Our contact is most anxious to open the way, for he understands the need to purge our world of the filth that has infested it
once and for all."
"Hear, hear!" the crowd shouted in unison.
"All is in readiness," Dolores continued. "All we need do now is travel to our predetermined site and wait for the signal."
So saying, a large volume of individual popping sounds occurred, and when the noise died down it was because nobody was left. Tom looked
grimly at Kingsley, who had been seated beside him watching the mirror.
"Well, they're on their way," he said. "Now all we need to do is figure out who is supposed to be letting them in, and stop them if we can."
"No, no, I've got a better idea," Kingsley said. "Let them come in, let them think we don't know they're here. When they're all inside,
we'll be able to capture the lot of them and put an end to all their scheming."
"Great minds really do think alike," Tom said with a smirk. "But let's not tell the others. At least, not until the interlopers have made
it inside."
"Yes, I like that idea, too," Kingsley agreed, Then to everyone in the room he added, "Stay sharp, everyone. They're on their way."
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