Chapter 218: A Cousin's Wedding [bonus]
Dawn had already broken by the time Orion pushed open the front door of Grimmauld Place.
He hadn't come home the night before.
The evening had been spent at the Malfoys', talking with Abraxas until the small hours. On the surface, a social call between two families. In truth, a quiet meeting of the heads of several core pure-blood families within Voldemort's camp. Comparing notes. Taking the temperature.
These gatherings never dealt in specifics. Only impressions.
Abraxas had mentioned the current climate. Said the Dark Lord's demands were growing, both in scope and in urgency. Said some families had begun grumbling in private but lacked the nerve to say it openly. Said the Lestranges were too aggressive, and that sooner or later, it would catch up with them.
Orion listened. Agreed where agreement was expected. Offered little else.
None of this was new. The signs had been there for a while, only growing harder to ignore as the months wore on.
What he'd really been doing was watching Abraxas.
Last year, Regulus had mentioned it in passing. Said the current head of the Malfoy family might not live much longer. That his death wouldn't be natural, and that when it came, it would mark the moment Voldemort stopped cooperating with the pure-blood families and began controlling them outright.