Second to arrive, barring the presence of the being that had called this meeting, of course. Lucius gave a curt nod to Helena as he settled into his seat, back straight as he pressed his shoulders to the leather cushions. He folded his hands in his lap, half-masted his eyelids, and froze the door with a detached, solitary sort of stare. The only being welcomed by that stare was Avery, who sat beside him.

And thus he watched as the stragglers straggled in, noting the person who scolded Leathen for taking the table as an ottoman. A measuring look quirked one thin brow at Rabastan; but then it was gone, his expression as stoic as Scrimgeours. Dayana entered, last of his department to arrive, and Lucius gave her a steady glance of consideration. The halfblood secretary. What enrichment could a secretary provide for a mind fresh from school? With the restrictions placed on his own position, it couldnt be much. Lucius was the ambassador to the French magical government, and thus hed been told to keep the more tense matters out of the eyes of his intern. But his intern was to be Charles Montague, and Malfoy would do no such thing. At first, he might well keep the more sensitive documents hidden, but when summer neared its end the boy was to go with him to France.

One can hardly hide the truth when it is staring him in the face.