Here we are

Sandra stood in the main room of Malfoy manner, smiling to herself. She checked the large grandfather clock. As soon as the clock hit 11 pm, Sandra closed her eyes and concentrated. With a small pop, she disappeared, reappearing a moment later in Vincent Majere's office.

Normally of course, this would be impossible. Hogwarts is protected by hundreds of magical barriers, all meant to keep people out. Apparation was one of the first things the founders stopped when they set up the defenses in the first place. But she had a man on the inside.

Majere had disabled the protections preventing a wizard from simply willing themselves into Hogwarts, and now Sandra was here. She knew that in moments, the other Death Eaters would join her, and Vincent would reestablish the barriers. But by then the worst would already be done.

Astoria had gotten word that the protections would be turned off in Hogwarts and her presence was required. It had been years since she had stepped foot onto the grounds of her alma mater. Her children, naturally, attended the school, but the children rarely got into trouble and never the sort that required a parent's involvement. Astoria never did anything without reason, and tonight she had reason enough to do just about anything. Hurrying to her rooms, she donned a simple black cloak over silvery-white blouse and jeans she had been wearing around the manor--a Death Eater, no doubt, but a practical one at that, and even Astoria would admit that the muggles had hit on something with their comfortable clothes. She turned on the spot, after slipping on the cloak, and suddenly appeared in the headmaster's office, the cloak swirling around her ankles with glimpses of denim here and there as the dark material settled into place.

She was not the first to arrive and had not expected to be. No, the blond Sandra Archer had already appeared in the Headmaster's office. It was only appropriate that Sandra be the first to appear, given her status as the one to let everyone know of the plans. Astoria inclined her head slightly, a nod of acknowledgment.

Hello Sandra. She said simply, fingering the cuffs of her long sleeves.

Vincent had told them all at what time he would be lowering the Hogwarts defenses so they could all apparate to Hogwarts. So leaving the manor at the appropriate time, he drew his wand and apparated to the headmasters office. A second later, he found himself at the castle. Indeed, it had been a long time since he had last stepped foot at the castle. Though the headmasters office was not recognizable, it was one of the few areas of Hogwarts Draco had never been in. Nodding to Sandra, he turned and walked to stand beside Astoria. "Feels odd, being back here again huh?" he said quietly.

Remy was lucky to already be on campus when the call to the Death Eaters was sounded. They were all to report to Hogwarts Castle via apparition, because the guards against such magic had been lowered, but this would have been, for obvious reasons, impossible for Remy. Having been appointed to the Care of Magical Creatures position was beginning to have a few perks, other than exposure to the children of some of the most wealthy and influential people around. Children were direct lines to their parents, and when they weren’t, they might prove just as useful (as well as more easily manipulated).

The dark-haired professor (a title she still found amusing) took the last few steps of the spiral staircase two at a time. She had been here more than once in her days at Hogwarts, but even then she had been perfecting the art of robbing peter without paying Paul. Although there had been much speculation about Remy being involved in some less than honorable activities – and for good reason – there was never enough evidence to pin anything on her. As she reached the door she pulled it open and stepped inside to a very interesting collection of individuals.

Of course, Sandra was there, as would be expected as she was the person who had called the meeting in the first place. She was also the reason Remy had so easily gotten the job at Hogwarts. Sandra, as always, looked the part of a professional. Remy, as always, wore jeans and a plain blue V-neck shirt. Everyone coming tonight already knew what she looked like, and what to expect from her attire. Remy wasn’t one for fancy things, nor could she afford them without someone’s affection buying them for her.

The other two individuals were the interesting pair. Draco and Astoria, his lovely wife. Draco she already knew quite well, though he likely could not say the same of her. The pair of them had been quite intimate, but aside from her anatomy Draco could hardly claim to know much of anything about Remy, and most of what he did was lies.

Remy had never formally met Astoria, but she had been the other woman enough times to know that in order to avoid suspicion, one must play nice around the wife. The more a woman liked you, the less likely she was to believe you were the object of her husband’s affair.

“Good evening,” Remy greeted the room collectively, then individually, “Sandra, Draco. And you must be Astoria,” Remy purred, spreading a pleasant smile across her lips, as she crossed the room and extended a hand to the woman she was addressing.

“I’ve heard such wonderful things about you,” Remy added, her eyes darting quickly to Draco and giving him a small smile before turning her charms back onto Astoria. Remy knew that by doing this she would be making Draco uncomfortable, but she wasn’t all that concerned with his comfort, but rather with her own ability to keep her claws dug firmly into a man with such power and prestige.

Narcissa had been aware of the plans to infiltrate Hogwarts and she decided to tag along even if she wasn’t exactly interested. Any attempt to antagonise Majere would have her there in a blink of an eye. She’d been elsewhere, deciding not to go back to Malfoy Manor. Lucius could come and go as much as he wanted but Narcissa was the sick of the squatting Death Eaters. She’d considered buying her own home and living there but that would attract too much attention to herself and she didn’t want to do that. She just wanted to observe and get on with it all. She’d sooner cut off both of her legs and eat them than listen to a thing Sandra Archer said. She’d chosen to be elsewhere during the insufferable woman’s ‘rise to power’. Narcissa would have preferred Voldemort at the reigns as he’d be able to keep everything level. This glamorisation of their cause was too much.

So, at 11pm, Narcissa left the café she was sitting in and Apparated to Hogwarts. She’d left a few Muggle coins on the saucer of the coffee cup as well as a tip but she wasn’t even sure she’d put the right amount down. She’d been far too distracted. Narcissa was worried about James and what destruction they would evidently end up doing on the school. Once the Death Eaters were in it was hard to get them out. Malfoy Manor being the prime example of course.

Narcissa appeared in the office and waited a few moments for her vision to settle. She looked around, noting the appearance of Sandra. She then saw her son and daughter-in-law. Narcissa had also arrived there to hear the words that Devaul had managed to let loose from her mouth. Narcissa narrowed her eyes at the girl and moved across the room to stand behind her children. She kept her eyes on Remy and said coolly, “Remember your place, Miss Devaul.”

Astoria seemed yet to register all that Remy had said before their meeting was interrupted by a woman Remy had no difficulty recognizing. The blonde hair and the bird-like appearance could only belong to a Malfoy, Narcissa Malfoy in fact. The blonde woman looked none too pleased to see Remy conversing with her son and his pale waif of a wife, though Remy was not overly concerned with this. She was able to divert her gaze from Astoria to meet Narcissa’s eyes, which were narrowed in a protective nature which clearly read, “Back off.”

From experience, Remy knew that mothers had a tendency to over romanticize the marriages of their children, and Narcissa would have every reason in the world to preserve the image of her son. The Malfoy family was nothing without its appearances, and though Narcissa would have no way of knowing what Remy was up to, women tended to have a better idea of Remy’s motivations than men did. Women were naturally more suspicious than men and they were much less easily distracted by Remy’s usual… tactics. Without incriminating evidence, though, Narcissa’s protective stance was based on nothing more than a gut feeling, which was easily brushed aside by someone so practiced as Remy.

“Of course,” Remy replied easily as though she had not heard the threat in Narcissa's voice, taking a step back from the “happy couple”. Remy knew which battles were worth fighting, and this one certainly wasn’t. The reason Remy was so successful in her other woman enterprise was because she was discreet; rich and powerful men had little to lose aside from their image, and it was that they protected, rather than their marriage or the feelings of their wives. She was more than capable of hiding her secret from Narcissa, no matter what her instincts or rumors had told her. High society might gobble up rumor as fast as the street urchins did, but no matter where you fell in the social hierarchy, rumors were nothing more than words scattered on the wind.

With the same inconspicuous smile as she had practiced and employed thousands of times, Remy continued her retreat from the Malfoy family, taking a chair near the far wall of the room. She collapsed into it, not overtly concerned with grace, and placed the bottom of one foot on the seat of the chair, placing a hand on top of her jean-covered knee and examining the undersides of her fingernails for dirt as she waited for the rest of the Death Eater clan to decide to grace them with their presence. Being the Care of Magical Creatures professor had its perks, but at times it reminded her just a bit too much of the farm where she had grown up. Some dirt you just can’t wash off.

Astoria had had no time to respond to Remy Devaul's comments before Narcissa appeared and spoke instead. She had been impatient and had appeared at Hogwarts before making sure any of her family would be there as well. She felt a sense of relief wash over her at first the appearance of Draco and then Narcissa. She reached a hand out and grasped Draco's briefly, turning to flash a small smile of greeting at her mother-in-law. Before she let go of her husband's hand she looked to where Remy had sat, and finally addressed the woman who was being so sugary sweet to a near stranger.

" I can't say I've heard anything about you, Miss Devaul." she said, keeping her voice level and her facial expression neutral, "I'll be sure to know more if we meet again." She finally let go of Draco's hand with a final squeeze, making mental note to ask later what interest Remy might have in their family that made the woman pay such attention to herself.

Vincent Majere made no reaction of surprise that five death eaters had suddenly appeared at his office while he was gone. He had taken off the apparation boundaries for the Headmasters office before going downstairs to check and make sure that no one passed through to his office tonight. Even though he and Sandra had discussed the plan to get into Hogwarts only vaguely, the basic idea was that Vincent would allow Death Eaters to take important ranks at Hogwarts, and allow Sandra to control the castle, in exchange for protection against the Order and Ministry, who were now threatening his job at the ministry.

He looked around the room, recognizing everyone. Sandra was there of course, along with Remy Devaul. The other three were members of the Malfoy Family. Clearly, some of the Death Eaters hadn't arrived yet, though Vincent only detected that Bellatrix Lestrange was not here. Though that was just as well, as she didn't exactly have a great reputation. None of the people in the room was a known Death Eater, the Malfoys were regarded with suspicion of course, but no one had any proof they were Death Eaters.

"Is that all, or should I wait a little longer?" Vincent asked Sandra, not bothering to welcome any of them. "The barriers should not be taken off for a long period of time."

*I'm just going to godmod everyone in here. Sorry, but I gave you guys plenty of time/warning*

Sandra watched calmly as Astoria, Draco, and Narcissa popped into the room, and nodded with satisfaction as Remy came in through the door. She had known that Devaul would be at least the third one here and her guess had proved correct, something that never failed to satisfy Sandra. The older death Eater held a single finger up to Vincent when he came in, a clear signal he should wait for just another moment.

Within seconds there were several pops, and the previously spacious office became much more cramped as people appeared out of thin air. She turned back to Vincent and nodded, the unspoken command being to reactivate the wards. It would be disastrous if the teachers or the students realized something was wrong with the defenses of the castle. She yanked out her wand and cut down sharply, and suddenly the quiet murmuring in the office silenced. Still smiling, she threw open her arms in a theatrical gesture.

"Ladies and Gentlemen..." She said, drawing her voice out like an old ringleader. "I give you Hogwarts." She walked over the the doorway and touched it affectionately, looking out over her assembled followers. "This is the lifeblood of the magical community. Every wizard in Britain who wants a half decent education for their child sends them here...and now we control that."

"Unfortunately, we cannot be as...open as we'd like to be about the school's new management. The Order has temporary control of the ministry, and to provoke them would not end well. We must be subtle if this gambit is to succeed. Vincent and I are working on getting Death Eaters into places of power over the children...so if any of you have ever had any desire to teach, now is the perfect time. We will twist these young witches and wizards around our fingers...without the ministry knowing a thing. Now. Any questions?"

Thomas listened closely to Sandra, narrowing his eyes when he said they would be unable to be so open about them having taken Hogwarts. "So our goal is to take power over these children?" Thomas muttered, a little irritated. He knew it was probably the smart thing to do, but it was far to subtle for his liking. He'd much rather they would just declare rule over the campus! After all, the Order would eventually find out.. He wanted some action.