InsaneJournal

Who: Lucius & Narcissa Malfoy and Hallam Selwyn
What: Pre-dinner discussion
Where: Malfoy Manor
When: Early evening, Tuesday February 10. (Backdated)
Rating: G
Status: Complete

Ten minutes before Hallam was scheduled to arrive, Narcissa sent Dobby to the front gate with strict instructions to make the proper gesture to allow Hallam pass through them. She waited in the good parlor--the one they used for favored guests--with Lucius, idly sipping on a glass of wine. The setting sun shone through the windows, bathing everything in a golden light that would soon fade. Narcissa light the candles with a wave of her wand and settled back in her chair to wait.

No night was quite as calming as one where he could feel the plotting in the air. For all the charm and grace Hallam could possess towards the wrong sort of people, he was still loyal to the ideals of the Death Eaters. A pure wizarding world could not be achieved without a little bit of fun from those who sit in the shadows waiting.

Dressed in the latest styles from Twilfitt and Tattings, Hallam approached the Malfoy grounds. His robes billowing behind him in the sweep of wind from apparating before the gates. His long stride taking him through the metal gates as the house elf gave him entrance and to the front door quickly. Hallam waited with his hands folded behind his back for the rodent looking creature to open the door. If the thing was his property it would have been beaten for the mere fact that he had to wait at all.

When Hallam finally entered the parlor where the pair sat, he smiled. “Thank you for having me, Lucius. Narcissa. I hope I can be of some service to your plans.”

“Hal!” Narcissa took him by the shoulders and kissed the air on both sides of his cheeks. “Thank you again for the lovely present. Would you like some wine?”

“Nice to see you, Hallam.” Lucius shook his hand and gestured to the chairs. “Please, have a seat. How’s business?”

Hallam smiled, greeting each in turn. "Business is doing well, we are about to go into Fashion week, which overlaps with the ridiculous muggle version as if their designs are something of wonder." He waved his hand in dismissal. All the best designers were witches and wizards.

The lanky figure that Hallam held kept an air of grace in every movement. When he took the offered seat, he lounged ever so slightly, giving him a natural lazy cat-like look to him. He merely needed a mouse to play with. But that was why he got along with the Malfoys so well.

"How is business with you?"

Narcissa sat next to Lucius on the couch after handing Hallam a glass of wine and tucked her legs beneath her. It was a casual pose, but Halam was a close enough friend that she didn’t feel compelled to maintain any formality. “I have been using WICCA to implement some very long-term plans. The other members are quite tedious, but I believe it will be worth it in the end.”

Lucius smiled as she spoke, brushing her cheek fondly. “Yes, Narcissa’s been taking one for the team in that regard. You can’t imagine the inanities she has to put up with.” He sipped his own glass of wine, then went on, “Business is good, my friend, but there’s business and then there’s…business. You’ve surely noticed that the old crowd is drawing together again.”

"Surely the old crowd is not going to all join WICCA?" Hallam teased playfully. He would not always be the strict man he could appear to be. His expressions could easily flow from apathetic and cold to kind and warm depending who he was around. The younger death eater had a knack for people.

Glass in hand, the wine swirled against the sides. Hallam leaned forward and smiled. "But yes, I have noticed that we have been around more... More vocal as it were."

Narcissa laughed. “No, the old crowd isn’t going to join WICCA. Though, if Marcelia is willing, I would appreciate a friendly face at those meetings.” She waved that off and slid her hand into Lucius’s. Tonight was for much more pleasant matters. “We invited you tonight because we have been more vocal, but horribly disorganized. People are being left off wards”--and that still irritated her--”and no one seems to know what anyone else is planning.”

"To be honest, without our former leader, it's a bit of a free-for-all. We all need an easier way to discuss things without fear of... unfriendly eyes, or else I fear we're all just going to keep stumbling around stepping on each other's toes." Lucius frowned. "Already I wonder how much of what has happened lately was done by our friends of old, and how much was done by this Lady Noir and whoever she might have at her disposal."

Hallam grinned a little brighter at the mention of his wife's name. She may not have been some goody goody with a love for equality, like some people thought was what made a good person, but she was the light in Hallam's life. "I will extend the invitation to her. I am sure she would indulge your need to have someone of more respectability at your side amongst those daft people."

Moving the conversation along to the real reason he was present at their house that night, Hallam nodded to their concerns. A slow sip of his wine and he was taken by interest in what they may be proposing. "And how many of those that are following her are friends of old," he added. "You both know that all you need is to ask. I would like to see old friends again have a more singular goal rather than the mess it has been. And if anyone is leaving people off of wards, we could always remind them that we are all here with a similar goal."

Narcissa nodded her thanks to Hallam when he said he’d extend her invite to Marcelia. A true friend at those meetings would go a long way to making them more bearable. When he mentioned reminding people to include everyone on their wards, though, she frowned. “I don’t think a reminder will suffice, and it might upset the wrong people. Our old friends have pure motives, but they are… easily excitable. They might get offended and do something rash. That would be unfortunate.”

“What we’re envisioning,” Lucius went on, “is something like the warded networks they have in place for Hogwarts and St. Mungo’s, but on a smaller scale. Wards are, unfortunately, not either of our specialties, but I’m fairly sure it can be done. The trick is having someone trustworthy to do it. It would be ideal if you think it’s within your scope.”

Eyebrows raised for a moment as Hallam pressed his lips together. He carefully considered the extent of his warding ability to what they were asking. The warding of houses, small entries over public networks, those were easy. Hallam's interest in potions and poisons had only been matched by his ability to conjure wards; as his ability in potions had not been as successful as his natural talent in wards.

Finally, Hallam nodded in interest. "And you think this will help bring some of our old friends back on point?"

“It will make it easier for us to communicate with each other and coordinate things. We don’t talk to each other right now, or share what we’ve done. If we could be certain the information was secure, we could coordinate or share information about the opposition. We could arrange alibis, that sort of thing.” Granted, it would only do so much to rein in someone like Alecto, but it would be a start.

“There are already conversations happening, but they’re scattered, between two or three people at a time, and everyone’s rehashing and revisiting every time it starts up again. If we had some sort of network, it would be clear what everyone already knows and what information still needs to be shared.” That was honestly what Lucius abhorred about the whole matter--the untidiness of it all. How on earth were they meant to sort out the future of wizardkind if they couldn’t even sort out themselves?

"I understand." Hallam set his glass down on the nearby end table. "I agree this would be better for all of us, and I know I am capable of making a stable and exclusive network for us. Though it may take me a bit of time to make sure there are not loopholes through it. I do not do rushed magic."

Hallam folded his hands on his lap. The purists, and specifically the ex-Death Eaters, needed to rise again to take back their society from the muggle loving filth. This Lady Noir seemed to have the right idea, even if it had been done already, but when important names such as his family and the Malfoys were left unaware then matters had to be taken into proper hands.

“We wouldn’t have asked you if you did, Hal.” The care Hallam took with casting magic was as much a factor as his loyalties and his skill with wards. This was not something they could afford to have go wrong. If it did, they’d all end up in Azkaban--or worse--and the wizarding world would be overrun by filthy mudbloods and muggle lovers. Just the thought was enough to send a chill down Narcissa’s spine. She leaned against Lucius for comfort.

Lucius put an arm around her automatically. “Excellent. Take as much time as you need, of course. We’ll all rest easier for it.” Just then Dobby came in to inform them dinner was served. “Let’s retire to the dining room, and you can catch us up on what you and Marcelia have been up to.”