Chrysalis

Chapter 13

About halfway through the month, shortly after the full moon, a visitor from the Ministry came for the day. Because Lucius had failed his first test, he was now on probation by the Ministry, and given how he had tried to manipulate their new program, it was unlikely that even a single misstep would be ignored.

Harry had warned Draco they would be receiving a Ministry employee who would evaluate whether Lucius would be allowed to continue in the program. Still, even knowing it would happen didn't make it any easier to deal with her when she arrived. Lucius had been sulking in a corner when she'd knocked on the front door, so Draco had gone to answer the door, leaving Lupin and Harry to deal with Lucius.

When he saw the woman, his heart dropped. He'd known that they would send her at some random time, so as to catch them unawares, but Lucius hadn't been too horrific of late. If only she'd come just a day earlier. Lucius had spent the entire day before reading, and had caused almost no problems whatsoever. Why couldn't she have seen him that way?

The woman was dressed in a Muggle skirt-suit, and had silvering brown hair that she'd drawn back into a bun. Her face was pinched, and Draco could tell that she'd heard the shouting going on in the living room already. "Hello," he said, sticking out his hand.

She nodded to him. "You are which Malfoy?" she asked imperiously, ignoring his hand.

"Draco," he replied, scowling. No, this was definitely not going to be good.

"And the other—Lucius, I believe? Is inside with your guardians?" Draco nodded. Like she didn't know who they were. Like Lucius Malfoy wasn't the most well-known Death Eater left alive. He stood aside and let her enter, wincing as Lucius's voice rose in volume.

"I refuse, Lupin, and that should be that! I don't care what you think!" his high voice squeaked from the living room.

The woman's lips thinned, and Draco watched as she wrote something in a notebook she was carrying. She entered the living room, and Draco followed quickly after, horrified at the scene that met them.

Lucius was now standing in the centre of the room, glowering at both Harry and Lupin. Harry was glaring back, but Lupin had on his usual calm mask. "And I don't particularly care how you feel about it, Lucius. If you can't cooperate..."

The woman cleared her throat, and all three of them jumped at the sound, turning to look at her. "Mister Potter and Mister Lupin?" They both nodded, and she turned to Lucius. "And you must be Lucius Malfoy." She looked back towards the two grown men. "I've been sent to see how your household is..." she looked around the room, which, while not the war zone it had been before, was still far from clean, made a sniffing sound, and turned back to them, "...getting on. You don't seem to be faring too well, though, do you?"

Lucius narrowed his eyes at the woman. "And what is it to you?" he asked snidely.

The smile she gave him chilled Draco, and when she spoke, her voice was like shards of ice. "It is my job to make sure that you and your son are at least trying to conform to the rules, since Mister Potter insisted that he be allowed an exception. Particularly since you do not seem to be doing quite as well as your son when it comes to the tests the Ministry is giving you." She stepped closer to where Lucius stood, his jaw clenched in what Draco recognized as helpless rage. "You, Mister Malfoy, are on a one-track road, and it will be my pleasure to see you sent back to Azkaban to live out the remainder of your natural life there. All one hundred years of it," she smiled.

Harry was quick to interrupt her smug statement. "I hope you realize that adjustment takes a while, Miss...?" His voice was tight, and Draco knew that he wasn't really any more pleased with Lucius than he was with the woman, but it made him feel better, knowing that at least he was willing to stick up for Lucius.