LUNACY ll Mattheo Riddle x Reader

68. ᴛʀɪᴘʟᴇ ʟɪꜰᴇ

"Dismissed, Dolores. Do you need me to spell it out for you?"

The toad-faced woman flares her nostrils indignantly. "This is an outrage! You have no authority- You cannot- No viable reason to-"

"Is that right?" I drawl, leaning back on my chair and kicking my feet up on her desk to add to the drama of things. "First, the Ministry break-in last year while this half of the building was under your charge. Then the allegations against your subordinates, claiming that they've got mud in their blood when their family lines can be traced up generations. Was it a coincidence, Umbridge, that you put the Changs on trial right after they spoke up against your new decrees? Lacking on your job, abusing your status of power, and not to mention lying about your ancestry?"

"Lying about- How dare you!" she shrieks. "I am descended from the noble Selwyn line, one of the Sacred Twenty-"

"Yes, the Sacred Twenty-Eight, believe me, I know. The Malfoy name is at the top of the list, because my lineage goes back hundreds of years- Unlike yours, which I've been told was cut short once your Squib brother was born. And would I be right in saying you're the offspring of some Muggle woman and a former maintenance worker here at the Ministry?"

"GET OUT!" Umbridge screams at the top of her lungs. "I am the Director of the Muggle-Born Registration Commission, former Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic, and I will not be told what to do by some- Some-"

"Some heiress to a centuries-accumulated fortune? A future lady of a noble house? A member of the Dark Lord's inner circle?" I raise an eyebrow at her. "I thought you power-hungry folk knew how to flatter your betters. Clearly you're not of a stable enough mind for that. Members of the Augurey will be escorting you out. If you ever show your face here again, I'll be sure to remind the Minister, over our weekly dinners of course, just how suspicious it is that you tried so hard to cover up your bloodline. Who's to say you're not Muggle-born yourself?"

She's forced out of the room wide-eyed and gaping. I take a glance at my wristwatch and prepare to leave myself.

The lift is teeming with all manners of people. Office workers, Ministry affiliates, members of the Augurey with gleaming badges on their chests. And a certain young wizard who I happen to know was hired as a trainee for the Magical Law Department earlier this year.

It happens in the briefest of moments. As Ernie Macmillan moves his hand to tuck his handkerchief into his pocket, I move mine upwards to check my wristwatch. Our fingers meet and the exchange is made. Two envelopes that have had Shrinking Charms placed on them, for the purposes of being extra discreet. He leaves the lift on the next level, while I take it all the way up to the Atrium.

"Have you put more thought into my proposal, Miss Malfoy?" Yaxley comes striding forward as though he's been waiting in the Atrium all day, waiting for me to make my appearance.

"I have, and I've come to the conclusion that it's less of a proposal and more of you helping yourself, like you've always done," I reply sweetly. " The result of this plan will benefit us both, so I don't see why you think you have any right asking something of me in return."

"You want full rights to the Malfoy family fortune. I'm head of Magical Law Enforcement, not to mention the man who holds the Minister's puppet strings," he lowers his voice at the later part. "It's a matter of personal satisfaction that I want to see your father realizing you've stolen his entire fortune out from under his nose. Your own reasons, which you're still refusing to divulge to me, carries more weight than that, I'm sure. You need me a lot more than I need you, so just agree to the terms."

"What, accept your help only to have you steal back the rights once you've got my name in your family tree? I'm not breaking off my engagement with the Berkshires just to have you double cross me."