Draco packed up everything in his trunk and was out of his room in record time. Last night was a real hectic affair and fatigue was something that he was feeling but that was something a little bit of pepper up potion could cure. Blaise and Tracy were waiting outside in the common room and for the moment they were holding in all the questions they wanted to ask as per my request.

"Why is Daphne taking this long? Maybe you should check up on her." Blaise suggested to Tracy

"She didn't sleep last night and waited for Draco in the common room. I don't know when she returned back to our dorms but I know she didn't have a whiff of sleep last night." Tracy said and she cast a suspicious glance at Draco which he noticed but played it off as if he didn't notice it

Before anyone could say anything Daphne stepped out of the girl's dorms dragging her trunk behind her.

"You look like you are about to fall down and sleep on the floor Daphne!" Blaise said in surprise looking at the bloodshot eyes of the Greengrass heiress

"Here take this. It will help you with your drowsiness " Draco said as he handed over a glass vial to Daphne

"What is it?" she asked as she uncorked the screw

"It is Pepper-up potion. But don't drink too much else you will get addicted." Draco warned and Daphne took a small sip and handed back the vial to Draco

The effect was immediate as colour returned to Daphne's face quickly enough clearing up her bloodshot eyes in an instant. Draco also took a small sip from the vial and he immediately felt a rush of energy back into his body.

"Well that helped and now let's quickly make for the Great Hall." Draco said as he tapped his wand over his trunk and shrunk it to the size of a small matchbox which he safely tucked away in his pocket. His friends followed suit and together they made way for the Great Hall.

It was early morning and not everyone was there in the hall which suited the four Slytherins just fine. They quickly had their breakfast and before the hall could fill in they made their way straight for Hogsmead station. Before they border the train several owls came their way and dive-bombed them with that day's Daily Prophet.

They quickly found a compartment and warded and closed the door quickly behind them.

"Now spill…" Tracy demanded as she and Blaise took seats facing Daphne and Draco

Draco then began explaining everything that happened in Umbridge's office as well as the Department of Mysteries to his three friends.

"Don't you think that it was not a good idea to openly support Potter and oppose the Dark Lord?" Blaise asked

"I am counting on his retaliation Blaise. Besides, there was going to be a retaliation for my mother's defiance and right now I don't have to tip-toe over the issue anymore." Draco said and he adjusted himself to accommodate Daphne who latched onto his arm and decided to use that as her pillow

"Speaking of which what happened to Umbridge?" Tracy asked and they all looked to Daphne for an answer who was happy to oblige

"After Draco transfigured our resident overgrown toad into a hairpin I delivered her straight to McGonagall who was sceptical at first but a simple transfiguration solved that issue. I informed her in detail of what happened and I could see that she was almost itching to have a go at Umbridge herself. But she contacted Amelia Bones directly and had Umbridge arrested and scourged the toad's room for any and all evidence. I was asked to give a statement and I think you can also expect a visit from the Aurors." Daphne said the last part directed at Draco

"Oh, I will be happy to provide anything to ensure Umbridge get a kiss from the Dementors." Draco smirked as he imagined the terrified face of Umbridge when that was about to happen

"I think almost everyone in Hogwarts would love to see that at this point." Blaise scoffed as he thought of the enemies that Umbridge made in a single year

"Speaking of enemies you are also going to get many of them Draco." Tracy said as she pointed at the front page of the Prophet

The main headlines of the wizarding worlds prime media outlet was; YOU-KNOW-WHO BACK FROM DEAD! Accompanying the news column was a moving image of Voldemort facing off with Dumbledore along with Harry, Draco, Sirius Black and the rest of Harry's friends.

Below that main news was another one that caught Draco's interest. The caption read; DEATH EATER'S CAPTURED! The photo showed a heavily bleeding and unmasked Death Eaters who were scowling at the camera. The real kicker was that most of those captured were Death Eaters who had stayed out of prison by pleading the Imperius Curse in the last war. Most of them had relatives in Slytherin house as well which was definitely going to split the house when Hogwarts reopens after the summer holidays.

"I already had enemies in Slytherin and that's why I even bothered to form a faction of my own. A great change is coming whether we like it or not. We can go with the flow and change what we want or be crushed under a great wave. I would like to rather snake the wave rather than fight for a lost cause." Draco said as he eyed the students rushing into the train

"Are you saying the Pureblood cause is a lost one?" Blaise asked incredulously at his friend who was a pureblood himself

"I was talking about the cause of the Dark Lord. His cause and the Pureblood cause is entirely different. The morons that follow him seems to be rather dull in the head to realize that. The Dark Lord is the greatest threat the Pureblood has ever faced in Britain. Look at how many pureblood families have been wiped out directly by his war. It is time to put down that rabid dog and in the process, I plan to weed out some undesirable elements from our society." Draco said absently forgetting for a moment that he was talking to Blaise and Tracy. But his mind quickly caught up to what he spilt and he was quick to act. His wand was immediately in his hand and he waved it before Tracy and Blaise

"Obliviate."

The memory charm quickly took effect and two glassy-eyed teens stared at Draco absently for some time. Blaise and Tracy blinked and shook their heads to clear the fogginess that was surrounding their minds. Draco shared a smile with Daphne who had watched the entire thing but she knew not to be alarmed and played it cool not to spook her friends.

"We will have to make rounds across the train before departure." Draco said to Daphne before Tracy or Blaise could say anything else

"After that, I can take a nap if you can cover for me Draco." Daphne suggested directing a pleading look to Draco

"Sure. We will be back in a jiffy." Draco said and together with Daphne he stepped out of their cabin leaving a confused Tracy and Blaise

Stepping outside of their cabin they were greeted with uneasy looks from the rest of Slytherin house. But there were more than a few respectful nods in Draco's direction by a majority of Purebloods and Halfbloods of the Slytherin house. Unlike popular belief, the entire Slytherin house never subscribed to Voldemort's lunacy. While it is true many Slytherins strongly believed in the Pureblood cause they were careful not to fall into the category of Voldemort's web. Many self-respecting purebloods disliked bowing to the Dark Lord simply because the man refused to divulge his true name and that in their eyes was the greatest insult Voldemort has done.

Besides most Purebloods could understand the action of Draco to attack Bellatrix because by definition pure blood houses are militaristic in nature. That was especially true for the sacred twenty-eight families that had formed the British wizarding world in the Dark Ages. So the concept of an eye for an eye is not lost on families with entrenched Pureblood traditions. Even then there were a few die-hard followers of Voldemort across the four houses of Hogwarts. One of those decided to stare down at Draco with what was a passable threatening stare and that lucky person was Theodore Nott.

"I see you have grown a spine to stand up to me and stare me right in my face Nott. I always pegged you as a coward but at least you can do this much. I am impressed." Draco said with a smile but the glint in his eyes was a dangerous one

"You have become a blood traitor by standing against the cause of the Dark Lord Malfoy. Your family is doomed and I will make sure that you will pay for what you did to my father." Theodore glowered

"If you consider me a blood traitor simply because I cut off Bellatrix Lestrange's wand hand for daring to attack my mother then you are really hopeless like your father. Contrary to what you believe blood traitor has a very different meaning to real Pureblood families than what you subscribe to Nott. Also, I doubt you could do anything to me considering your father was beaten by a moron like Potter. Frankly, House Nott has slipped up in terms of magical power in the last few generations." Draco smirked at the irked look on Theodore's face.

Draco raised an eyebrow when Nott's hand went for his wand but stopped short when he felt a wand being pressed to the back of his neck. Nott slowly turned around to come face to face with a group of Slytherins led by Anastasia Spooner who was holding the resident Death Eater wannabe at wand point.

"Slytherin house answers to the strongest in our house and I have proven my strength against the Death Eaters and the like of you. I value Pureblood traditions and as a member of sacred twenty-eight I vow to uphold those traditions to my last breath but I will not submit as a slave to a nameless self-styled Dark Lord. I doubt anyone that values their ancestry would follow a man that is responsible for wiping out so many Pureblood families in the history of Magical Britain." Draco delivered his short speech and anyone with a little amount of self-esteem could frankly agree with that sentiment

"Then you would rather submit to the likes of Dumbledore and his filthy muggle lovers?" Nott tried to spin the situation to his advantage

"Perhaps you didn't understand what I said, Nott. When I am faced with a muggle loving fool like Dumbledore on one hand and a psycho dark lord that has killed more pureblood families than I could possibly count, then I know who my primary enemy should be. The real question is do you see that or do you like to become a bootlicker to a monster who is merely using us Purebloods for his personal greed. Even Grindelwald at the height of his power never exterminated a Pureblood family root and stem." Draco's argument really resonated with the rest of Slytherin students who were on the fringes of this ideological battle between Draco and Nott.

"Do stand down Nott. You are terribly out of support from Slytherin house in this matter." Anastasia said and to emphasis that point several more wands joined in support for Draco pointing at Nott who was pale white by this turn of events

"Don't be so confused Nott. Unlike you, I don't ask other people to fight for me for no reason. I fight my own battles and that's why if you see my dear aunt Bella and the Lestrange brothers pass on a message from me. Tell them that house Malfoy now has a lord who will not take personal attacks in stride. Tell them that there exists a blood feud between House Malfoy and Lestrange that will only be resolved when I exterminate them root and stem. Tell them they have angered a dragon and they will reap fire and blood for touching my mother." Draco issued his threat and walked around Nott. The Slytherins parted way to allow Draco to walk out of the compartment who was closely followed by Daphne. The train has also started moving by the time the conversation ended.

After the Daphne was sure that they had moved out of the earshot of anyone else Daphne turned to Draco and pulled his arm stopping him in his tracks.

"What is it, Daphne?" Draco asked confused

"How can you declare a blood feud? You have to be seventeen for the Ministry to accept you as an adult and that means you could only take lordship after becoming a legal adult." Daphne asked in her confusion

"While it's true that our ministry recognizes adulthood at age seventeen my circumstances are a bit different. As the last male heir of House Malfoy, I can take lordship of my house after taking an OWL's exam. It is a special provision included for lordly houses that forms the sacred twenty-eight." Draco informed her and frankly, this was the first time she was hearing it. Then again there was hardly any cases of early inheritance to her knowledge in the last few years.

"Don't overthink it Daphs. Let's just finish the regular rounds and then you can take that nap. You should be really exhausted after last night." Draco smirked as a cute blush formed on her cheeks as her mind went back to last night when Draco had fucked her brains out till morning. Suppressing a shudder at the thought of what happened last night Daphne quickly joined Draco on making rounds around their assigned compartments.

After fifteen minutes of patrolling they came across the Trolley witch who was pushing around the trolley filled with Pumpkin pasties, chocolate frogs and many other edible items.

"Anything from the trolley dears?" the witch asked as she came to a stop. Daphne just shook her head while Draco ordered four chocolate frogs four pumpkin pasties. After paying the witch they returned back to their cabin and joined up with Blaise and Tracy who were startled out of their make-out session.

Daphne and Draco didn't tease them especially considering what they themselves do during their alone time. After sharing the chocolate frogs and Pumpkin pasties the four friends engaged in small talk about the coming Quidditch season. Halfway into their conversation, Daphne had fallen asleep on Draco's lap and Tracy was applying nail polish. Their conversation was interrupted by a knock on the glass door which was surprisingly by Harry who was with Neville and Hermione. The glass door opened and Harry was faced with three incredulous looks from the Slytherins.

"Can I talk to you for a minute in private?" Harry asked looking at Draco who exchanged a look with his two other friends but in the end nodded.

Draco flicked his wand and conjured up a pillow that he used to carefully support Daphne's head and extracted himself without waking her up. Draco led the three Gryffindors to a vacant cabin and placed a Notice-me-Not ward at the entrance.

"I just wanted to thank you for helping us with Umbridge and the Department of Mysteries." Harry said looking uncomfortable

"Alright." Draco said and seeing as there was nothing further he asked, "Is that it?"

"No! I just have a request." Harry said quickly

"Oh! Do go on…" Draco gestured with his hand

"I am sure you saw the prophecy orb that had Harry's name on it right? We would appreciate it if you don't mention it to anyone else." Hermione cut straight to the matter and Neville nodding along with every word

"I don't know why you even bothered. The entire wizarding population is going to figure that out when they realize where exactly we fought the Death Eaters last night." Draco said with a shake of his head

"That will only be baseless speculations. With the Prophet under a lot of scrutiny, I am sure many wizards and witches will doubt what they say ever again. We would appreciate it if you don't confirm what they may speculate about." Hermione reasoned

"Alright. Say that I comply with your request Potter what do I get out of this?" Draco asked as an idea quickly came to his mind that would solve a small dilemma that he was having

"You want something in return for keeping the secret of the Prophecy orb?" Hermione asked incredulously

"Don't worry. It is a simple thing I am asking. I will even pay you for your services per hour if you want." Draco said as he turned his attention on to Harry who was looking at him in suspicion

"What do you want, Draco? Harry asked before Hermione could say anything

"I just need you to advertise a product that I will be introducing into the market this summer. I am willing to pay you for your services provided it is a reasonable amount. What do you say?" Draco asked as he kicked back and relaxed into his seat looking at the internal battle that was going inside Harry's mind

"How will we know that you won't just break your promise after Harry does his part?" Hermione asked as she pinned Draco with a stare trying to find out what his play was

"We can draw up a magical contract via a third party like Gringotts. You won't have to worry whether I will break my word and I won't have to worry you won't do the same." Draco suggested

"I don't exactly like to do advertisements." Harry grumbled

"Then don't ask me for promises and bother someone else." Draco said without budging

"That's not really fair." Hermione said as she glared at Draco

"Life is not fair, Granger. You are asking me to keep his secret without nothing to compensate for my discretion. He is not my friend neither is he my family and yet you are asking me for a favour! If someone is being unfair then it's you three. I didn't even ask him to do the ad for free now do I? Take the deal or let's end our discussion here." Draco said and he stood up to leave the cabin

"No, wait!" Harry stood up looking extremely reluctant but in the end, he sighed and agreed to the deal.

"Don't look so downtrodden Potter. I will contact you within two weeks and you can meet me in Diagon Alley to conclude our business." Draco said as he patted Harry on his back and left the cabin

A few hours later the train slowed down and arrived at King's Cross Station. As usual, the station was crowded with parents but this time there was a sort of urgency that was never seen before. The news of Voldemort's return has probably pushed the parents into a frenzy and Draco was sure that a lot of them are going to escape the country as soon as possible.

Draco stood by Daphne's side until they found Damien Greengrass who was waiting by the lobby. Lord Greengrass greeted his daughter with a smile but his smile was a little forced when his eyes fell on Draco.

"We will have to talk about certain things. When will you be available Draco?" Damien asked as he let go of Daphne

"Perhaps tomorrow at Malfoy manor say 10 in the morning. Will that be fine?" Draco proposed already expecting something along those lines

"Yes, 10 will be fine. See you tomorrow Draco." Damien apparated away with Daphne

Draco didn't dally around at the station and apparated away outside the wards of Malfoy Manor. He felt a tingling sensation at the back of his mind as he entered the wards. The family magics of House Malfoy was calling to him recognizing him as the current lord of house Malfoy.

As he stepped into the manor he was greeted by an empty hallway. He climbed the stairs over to the first floor of the manor and walked into Narcissa's room. There he was greeted by Fleur who was watching over a sleeping Narcissa who was still recovering from Bellatrix's attack.

"How is she doing?" Draco asked as he and Fleur stepped out of the room not to wake up Narcissa from her slumber

"Her skin has regenerated fast but she still feels the burning sensation of the spell. The healing salves can only do so much considering that she was subjected to a dark spell. It will take a long time for her hand to be normal again." Fleur said sadly

"Don't worry about that. I have a plan to neutralize the corruptive influence of Dark magic from her hand." Draco said as he was in the process of constructing a cleansing ritual for Narcissa. He had already identified the ingredients that would be needed and now all that was left for the runic array to be prepared.

"Fleur I want your focus on our new business deal. Have you contacted the Americans?" Draco asked

"They are ready to hold their end of the deal. They have already supplied the methodology and a list of supplies that we need. In fact, we have already started production with promising results but the real problem will be on maintaining the services promised by CVS (Cristal Vision Screens). We need wizards that monitor network reach, network traffic, magical shielding for secure data transfer and many others. It is going to take time to train wizards and witches in such areas as most of the spells are charms and fairly new ones at that." Fleur explained

"I will contact Peter and see if he can arrange some specialists to lead our network analysis team." Draco said as he didn't want any more delays with Voldemort in the open

"What about our own media outlet?" Draco asked

"That is coming along nicely. As per your request, I have only contacted muggleborns for this project and you were right in saying that they would be more attracted to the idea and more knowledgeable in the field." Fleur commented

"Good. I will have to thank Peter for his services in securing most of the equipment and spells for us to start the media channel." Draco mused

Everything was falling into place and it was only a matter of time before he was able to secure his hold on the British wizarding world.

XXXXXX

Voldemort screamed in rage as he blasted the chandelier of Nott manor from the ceiling in his rage. His anger had not subsided since his stalemate with Dumbledore and the burns he suffered from his attempt to possess Harry Potter. Just thinking about that brat made his skin crawl as the brat was a living insult to his power. There was also the fact that he was insulted by a Malfoy straight to his face. Then he learned the Malfoy brat had actually taken the wand arm of Bella and that was the final straw.

In his rage, he had even put Pettigrew under the Cruciatus curse when the rat had entered his chambers with his squeaky voice. Frankly, he was itching to do something and the failure of his Death Eaters had shown that he could not depend on them for anything.

"Why are you here Wormtail?" Voldemort finally asked as he seated himself on his throne that he had painstakingly conjured up with Nagini by his side. The rage that he was feeling had yet to be subdued but he could at least entertain himself by watching a twitching Wormtail who struggled to stand on his knees

"My Lord, Evan Rosier has arrived from his mission." Wormtail managed to stutter out fearful to even look into the red eyes of Voldemort

"Let him in and do walk on your knees Wormtail." Voldemort sneered and he smiled cruelly as his servant stumbled out of the room on his knees. It was really satisfying when full-grown wizards debased themselves like this before him and in these trying times it has certain entertainment value for him

"My Lord." Rosier bowed low before the dark lord

"At ease Evan. Have you completed the mission." Voldemort asked as his hand glided through the black scales of his familiar

"Indeed my lord. The traitor Karkaroff is dead and the dark mark is right above his home. The fool thought he could hide under the cover of Alps but he forgot my lord has loyal followers at every corner of the world." Rosier said with a respectful bow

Voldemort observed Evan closely for he was someone of special interest for him. Evan was someone that lacked the charisma for a leader like Lucius Malfoy or Thaddeus Nott but he more than makes it up by being a very good soldier. Evan Rosier handled all the assassinations of high profile enemies that Voldemort had and the Dark Lord liked him for his extreme precision and dedication in his work. Voldemort especially liked him because unlike most of his followers Evan joined the Death Eaters not because of being a blood purist but rather out of respect for Voldemort's power and ambition.

"Have you come to know of what transpired in the Department of Mysteries?" Voldemort asked

"Indeed my lord." Evan answered

"What are your thoughts on it, Evan? You may speak freely." Voldemort waited for his trusted Death Eater's answer

"Your Death Eaters are terribly out of shape to pursue a war similar to last time my lord. They have dwindled and wasted themselves in your absence and it will take time to build up the dull ones into sharp instruments of war for your use." Evan answered truthfully

"I am inclined to agree, Evan. Last time I put too much trust in Lucius and Thaddeus and that was my mistake. Now, Lucius's son has defied me to my face and Nott has proven himself to be incapable of even defeating a few teenagers who have not even completed their OWLs. It seems a complete restructure of my Death Eaters is needed. What say you, Evan?" Voldemort asked

"Your will shall be done, my lord." Evan bowed

"Indeed it shall. I want you to train a team that you handpick from my Death Eaters. When you are satisfied with their training I want you to lead them to destroy everything that Malfoy brat has built up. I will not be insulted by the son of a traitorous snake. You may leave." Voldemort dismissed Evan Rosier from his presence and he reclined back into his throne as he began to pet his loyal snake.

"There is still much to be done Nagini but in the end, the world will tremble before my might. Not the famed Boy-Who-Lived or that muggle loving fool Dumbledore will stand against me. It is time that the old fool is removed from the board." Voldemort hissed to Nagini in Parseltongue