"Time Turner," the death eater offered, clearly expecting the answer to be self explanatory.
"What's that? I've never heard of it," Peter pushed eagerly.
...
He decided to indulge Peter's curiosity, since he rarely got a chance to brag about his masterful plans. Plus he was in a damn good mood with the death of the Potter brat, and the Chief Warlock's increasingly weakening position. "A time turner is a rare and powerful magical artefact. It allows the user to spin back time, up to eight hours per day. It's a rather useful little device to have on hand," Lucius expressed with a sly smile, holding up the golden hourglass. "As far as the Minister is concerned, I'm currently sitting faithfully by his side as he talks to the German ambassadors about the upcoming Quidditch World Cup. Even Madam Bones is sitting there giving me the evil eye, thus confirming I was there. I couldn't really ask for a better alibi than having the head of law enforcement and the Minister right there with me, now could I?"
Smiling, "No, I guess you couldn't," Peter grudgingly admitted, as Lord Malfoy stuffed the time turner away.
"Do you have it?" Lucius asked eagerly, as he once again walked around the warehouse, looking for anything he might have missed.
"Of course," Peter said firmly, like he was insulted at the mere suggestion, before pulling out of his cloak a finely crafted and ornately decorated box made of ivory. He carefully opened its lid, revealing his deceased master's wand. "Do you have the gold?" Peter challenged, as Lucius sent him a warning look, causing him to look away in seeming submission.
"Of course I do, what do you take me for, a Weasley?" Lucius spat as Peter's face redden at the not so subtle insult.
"No, just wanted to make sure," Peter quickly answered, looking a bit sacred. "It just seemed like the right thing to say," causing Lucius to shake his head in amusement.
...
Kingsley couldn't help but widely grin as he and his team of well respected Aurors silently watched and listened to the unfolding exchange between Peter and Lord Malfoy. Damn, that rat could make people talk, he mentally concluded. His quiet doubts about Peter's ability to get incriminating evidence from the Malfoy Lord slipping away as he silently listen to the exchange. The DMLE certified and tamper proof recording quills were noting down each and every incriminating word the death eater spoke, digging his hole that much deeper.
Looking over his shoulder, he saw one of the Prophet reporters likewise noting down the unfolding scene gleefully. This arrest was going to make both of their careers, just like the Chief Warlock had promised it would.
He could already see his promotion; he just had to time his arrest right. He watched Peter reveal his former master's wand to Lord Malfoy. Before suddenly a terrified house elf appeared, holding a good sized wooden chest. Lord Malfoy slowly and melodramatically pulled back the lid revealing a pile of shiny gold galleons.
...
Lucius watched as Peter waved his wand over the chest filled with gold, before casting several more spells. "What are you doing Peter?!" he spat, as he held his master's wand, feeling a tad foolish for openly idolizing his master's former wand in front of the rat. He discreetly put the treasured item away, before Peter noticed his lack of proper decorum.
"Just checking the gold Lucius," Peter offered, his eyes shining with greed, a smug smile on his lips.
"You doubt my word of honour?" Lucius responded, his voice dropping to a dangerous tone.
"Of course I don't, Lucius," Peter offered quickly, trying to produce a smile, but not quite successful.
"But I know I'm a loose end, and I can link you to all of this. I know what you do with loose ends; you tie them up, neatly, and normally with someone's death." Peter expressed. "You also once happened to poison a chest full of gold during the war, if I recall. It was a rather clever ploy, and I have no desire to fall for the same tactic," he rewarded the rat animagus with an amused smile as that was quite true. "Who was it again? The Jones? Or was it the Williams brothers?" snapping his fingers in the air, as if desperately trying to recall their names. "The Gilfs?"
"It was the Gibbons brothers you idiot," Lucius spat back in annoyance, as he reigned in his temper. "However, you are right, it was one of my most ingenious schemes," he admitted proudly, enjoying the rare chance to boast of one of his most successful schemes. "Yes, the Ministry even blamed the Goblins," Peter replied with a quiet chuckle, causing him to join in. After all, Peter was right about how he tied up loose ends, as Peter would be dead by the next morning if his cleanup plan worked out.
"All part of the grand plan," he admitted with a sly smile, the fond memories of war flowing back from his youth. "You have to remember that at the time the Ministry was trying get another loan from the little beasts. This murder soured that and ensured the Ministry remained woefully underfunded to successfully fight a war with us. They couldn't even afford good body armor for their aurors!"
"Who is this guy?" Adam spat, asking the group of them in disbelief at hearing the confession.
"A cold hearted killer," Kingsley spat, reminding the group just what type of man Lord Malfoy was. "But be quiet, focus on what they're saying." The Auror ranks quieted, eagerly listening to even more crimes the death eater was unwittingly confessing to. "If we pull this off, it will be promotions all around," he encouraged.
'I'm so going get a promotion,' he told himself, as Peter continued to play his part, easily drawing out even more crimes that they could use against the man, as Peter secured the chest of they would spring their trap. He just hoped that the reporters with them caught Malfoy's shocked expression on camera, as Lord Malfoy's world came crashing down around him.
...
( Warehouse Roof )
Rita was having such a wonderful day, as she passionately recorded each and every word of the unfolding meeting, excitement and energy flowing through her veins as her cameraman next to her discreetly took incriminating pictures of Lord Malfoy and Pettigrew together. Pictures which would soon fill the many pages of the Daily Prophet.
This was every reporter's dream come true, a groundbreaking story, just there, ripe for the picking. She relished the thought of how much misery she was about to cause that insufferable prick Malfoy who had gotten away with everything for years.
Damn, she was going to get a bonus for sure. She just couldn't wait to tear into the almighty Lord Malfoy with glee, as she was already planning her article.
Her orders from her vengeful Lord were simple and to the point: her master wanted Lord Malfoy utterly destroyed, his family name discredited, his ancestral legacy tainted for all time, his status and position dismantled.
In short, her young master wanted the Malfoy name and family influence to be ruined forever.
At first, she had considered it a rather tall order, but after all the dirt the self important pureblood was letting slip through his careless lips, anything seemed possible now. Maybe even the dementor's kiss for the man.
For years she had not been able to truly touch the Malfoys, only being able to strike out at them with carefully worded gossip pieces due to their friendly nature with her boss and the regular extravagant gifts he received from them. That would all be changing now with this damning evidence. She just couldn't wait to bring them low.
To make things even better, her Lord had even given her permission to attack Lady Malfoy's character as well. Oh, how she hated that arrogant bitch, who seemed to have a permanent cock stuck up her ass. For years she had been protected, but now she was exposed to the world without a powerful patron to protect her. And now it was Rita's job to bring her low. It was times like these when she remembered why she so loved her job.
Then she also had the chance to do exclusive 'interview' pieces with Harry once his return to life came out, causing her to almost purr in excitement. She could write dozens of sob stories from it, painting her Lord as an innocent heir, a war orphan caught in the crossfire of these games of power. It wouldn't take much effort at all to turn the lad into a national sob story, one of woe and heartache, of an orphan simply trying to make a life for himself.
All the ground work had already been laid over the past year, by herself in fact, with carefully scripted character articles. First, with the stories of him freeing his wrongfully imprisoned godfather, followed by him and his godfather making donations to Hogwarts' Quidditch teams out of a sense of fair play, and finally to him being a calm and respectful heir at the Ministry's New Year's ball.
Of course, her Lord was far from the innocent she wrote him as; she knew that first hand, after she had been forcefully manipulated into servitude. However, it really hadn't been as bad as she had expected. She had only been given a few general rules on her conduct, but he had otherwise left most of her freedoms intact as long as she did what she did best. He even generously compensated her when she did a particularly good job and had helped revamp her image with a new wardrobe. The uptick in the respect she was shown after that move proved that it had been a great idea.
That was fine with her, after all she enjoyed her job, especially at moments like this as she eagerly listened to Lord Malfoy and Peter talk about the cursed diary he had given Ginny Weasley.
"I love my job," she muttered, as her cameraman looked over to her, his eyes lingering on her body, as she pressed herself close to the roof, ignoring his primal stare, as she carefully watched through the window. "Hayden, focus, you can check me out later. And if you get some particularly nice shots, I might just reward you." She purred sensually.
"Yes Ma'am," Hayden eagerly replied, focusing back on the job at hand.
'Idiot,' she mentally muttered, but feeling rather horny all the same.
...
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