[Narcissa series]: Narcissa Watchful, Lucius/Narcissa, H/D, PG-13, 6.7/7
Part Six.
Part One.
Title: Narcissa Watchful (7/10)
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. I am writing this story for fun and not profit.
Pairing: Established Harry/Draco and Narcissa/Lucius
Rating: PG-13
Content Notes: Angst, violence, crack, AU
Summary: Narcissa will search out the Horcruxes. She will remove the Horcrux from her foster son’s head. She will give her cousin Sirius a purpose in life. She will free her husband from his ill-thought-out allegiance to the Dark Lord. She will do something else then, because that is not enough to fill her life.
Author’s Notes: Sixth in a series of stories where Narcissa is an in-demand spy and assassin and Harry’s foster mother. Don’t read this one without reading the others first, seriously.
Thank you again for all the reviews!
Part Seven
“You wanted to see me, Mother?” Harry was leaning against the wall of her office near the door, his hands flicking restlessly as he played with the knives that hung in his belt.
Narcissa glanced at him and nodded. “You read in the Daily Prophet about the attack that Voldemort tried to blame you for last night?”
Harry snorted a little. “Read about it? I didn’t even get the chance. Seamus woke me up and insisted that I’d probably participated in it, and why was I lying around in bed instead of packing my trunk?”
“I find that I particularly dislike your Housemate Seamus.”
“Oh, don’t do anything permanent to him, please, Mother. He changes his mind about everything at the drop of a pointed hat, but he’s never moved to harm me.”
“His words cut you deeply enough.”
Harry’s eyes slid shut for a moment, and he nodded. “But not as deeply as some of the things people could be doing,” he said. “And I’d rather save my time and energy for those people. Like Umbridge.”
“Very well. Then I leave it up to you how you want to handle the publicity surrounding the attack. I, of course, will be making sure that Voldemort spends most of his time left alive suffering.”
Harry grinned at her and moved across the office to kiss her on the cheek. “I knew there was a reason that you were my favorite foster mother and assassin mentor.”
Narcissa cupped her hand around the back of his neck for a moment, marveling at how much might have been different if Draco hadn’t sullenly expressed his desire for Harry Potter to pay attention to him in his first year. “Happy hunting, son.”
Harry gave her a smile and slipped out the door.
*
Narcissa put Cadmus’s Gift into Idunna’s tea the next morning. It was pathetically easy. Despite the amount of detection charms hovering around Idunna’s person, and the gold chains braided into her hair, and the way she bragged that she was so Light that Dark magic would simply wither around her, nothing reacted as Narcissa turned the poison invisible and sent it pouring in from a distance with a modified Aguamenti Charm.
Of course, that might be because Cadmus’s Gift was a fantastically rare poison and Idunna believed that she shouldn’t have to defend herself from it at all, or didn’t know it existed. But in that case, Narcissa could only disapprove of her lack of paranoia.
It would take time for the poison to take effect. Narcissa did not care. Idunna deserved a slow death. And if she tried to harm or corner Draco again, then Narcissa could speed the process up.
Or use more than one method to hurt her. That possibility was sweet as well.
*
“Professor Malfoy, I don’t understand why you can continue to have Potter in this class! He might hurt someone!”
That was Hannah Abbott, one of the brainless girls who should be glad that Hufflepuff existed, as she wouldn’t have fit in anywhere else. Narcissa turned around politely from the front of the classroom. Harry’s shoulders had hunched momentarily before his face blanked and turned smooth, and he faced his start chart again.
Narcissa had told him that she would leave the publicity about the attack to him, but it made a difference when that negative publicity invaded her classroom.
“Perhaps, Miss Abbott,” Narcissa said politely, “you might consider that the tactic of placing a green and black lightning bolt beside a Dark Mark is a pathetically obvious one meant to stir fear and confusion? In other words, it fits exactly the dissension that Voldemort has tried to sow in the past. I don’t know why you, in particular, are falling for this distraction, but you might want to visit Madam Pomfrey to make sure that enough blood is circulating in your brain.”
Some other members of the NEWT class giggled, but Abbott only flushed heavily. “He could still be dangerous!”
Harry leaned back in his chair and exchanged an amused glance with her. Of course he was dangerous, but not in the way that Abbott was thinking of. Knowing that he could slit her throat in an instant and be out of range before the girl’s blood had sprayed the students sitting next to her calmed Narcissa.
“And so could anyone here who is a sixth-year wizard trained in some of the spells you have learned in classes. However, only one person here is currently being disruptive, Miss Abbott.”
“You’re just trying to cover for him because he’s your foster son!”
Narcissa sighed. “Detention, Miss Abbott. I believe that you may not have done your homework, and you are trying to distract me?”
As it turned out, she knew Abbott hadn’t done her homework, since she’d overheard her chattering about it with her friends as she came into the classroom. But Abbott flushed as though that was unfair, and was quiet for the rest of the class. Honestly, that was all Narcissa wanted. She highly doubted a Hufflepuff would dare confront her son.
Abbott did dare to come up to her at the conclusion of class, her face set in that classically stubborn Hufflepuff expression. “I’m just concerned about having a student in class who could threaten us, Professor Malfoy.”
“And as I said before, anyone could do that,” Narcissa said, moving the homework she had received into a neat stack. “If you are seriously concerned, however, then you could appeal to the Board of Governors.”
Bones, another Hufflepuff girl hovering behind Abbott, opened her mouth, but Abbott seemed determined to carry out her suicidal impulses today. “But your husband is on the Board of Governors! That’s not fair, either!”
“Then complain to the Headmistress.”
“But she was Potter’s Head of House!”
“If every recourse to justice is unjust,” Narcissa told her softly, “then perhaps you should think about the justice of your complaint.”
Bones tugged on Abbott’s arm. It didn’t work. Abbott lifted her nose and said, “I don’t feel safe in a classroom with Potter. What happened if I stopped attending class?”
“You would receive a failing mark in NEWT Astronomy, Miss Abbott.”
Abbott only stared at her with her lips slightly parted. Narcissa looked back, more than a little bored. Honestly, the girl was probably used to professors catering to her because was a Hufflepuff, or pure-blood, or a pretty girl, or something of that kind. She hadn’t yet realized that she held no power in Narcissa’s classroom.
“I’m going to talk to the Headmistress,” Abbott finally said, and swept out of the classroom looking as if the world had tilted beneath her feet and she didn’t understand it. Susan Bones sighed and followed her, after giving a slightly apologetic look towards Harry, Narcissa was interested to note.
“You’ve had trouble with them?” Narcissa asked, when she and Harry were the only ones left.
Harry shrugged and gathered up the satchel. He was training with new weapons today, Narcissa noted, given the careful way he moved so as not to disturb or reveal the blades under his clothing. “Not lately. That group of Hufflepuffs thought I was evil for a while because I can speak Parseltongue.”
Narcissa nodded understandingly. Well, as long as Harry was not losing dear friends and none of them made a physical move to harm him, Narcissa would tolerate their childishness. “Get on now, dear. You’ve already lost enough sleep to these late classes as it is.”
Harry smiled at her and left, the sound of his footsteps melting into silence on the stairs of the Astronomy Tower far faster than the other students’. Narcissa turned and faced one of the great open arched windows of the classroom.
She had researched in the tome she remembered and other books until she was sure that this form of sympathetic magic would work. It helped that Voldemort had stolen her blood, specifically; if he had taken the blood from several people, or even from other members of the Black or Malfoy family, the magic she used now would have affected them as well. But she could use the individual link and subdue the effects when they tried to come for her.
Narcissa picked up the small cauldron that had sat behind the desk, out of sight of the students, and carried it to the window. Unlike a potion, it had no liquid base at the moment. It was simply a collection of ingredients: the caps of amanita mushrooms, shredded leaves of belladonna, the swim bladder of a blowfish, the legs of a brown recluse spider, the stinger of a tarantula hawk wasp, the shell of a cone snail, the wing feathers of a blue-capped ifrit, the flayed skin of a poison dart frog, the fangs of a black mamba, the tail of a water shrew, and a dollop of cholera-infested water. Narcissa aligned the cauldron so that the starlight that came through the nearest window was falling on it and picked up a knife.
Her research into Astronomy would stand her in good stead after all. Sooner or later, Voldemort would be touched by the starlight.
“Lord Voldemort, Tom Marvolo Riddle, Jr.,” Narcissa said, speaking carefully. The ritual required true names, but it was impossible to tell at this point which one he thought was more real or really his. “By the connection of our blood, I curse you. Cursed to you be flesh of fungus, plant, fish, arachnid, insect, mollusc, bird, amphibian, reptile, and mammal. Cursed to you be the water. By the blood we share, suffer my curse.”
She cut her finger, and the blood spread carefully down the silver knife and began to drip off the edge. Narcissa positioned the blade so that every ingredient received a portion of her blood. When the glimmering water had become infested with it, the whole cauldron began to glow.
Narcissa stepped back and healed her hand. The cauldron shone more and more brilliantly, with a mingled red and silver light that reminded Narcissa of some of the moon-runes that Lucius’s ancestors had used in the warding of Malfoy Manor. Then the light narrowed into a single point and sped rapidly away up the beam of starlight.
Narcissa braced herself, and stepped into the path of the starlight.
Her blood curled in radiant pain and heat through her body immediately. Narcissa sank to her knees, her arms clenched around her stomach, convinced she would vomit blood any second. But the discipline held, and she reached back along the connections that tied her to Lucius and Draco, to Sirius, even to her imprisoned sister and her discarded one, bracing herself, drawing on their love or their memories of love and kinship.
The pain gripped her stomach once more. Then it dissipated, and Narcissa stood slowly, wiping the back of her mouth where a small red trickle had leaked.
She smiled coldly. Voldemort had no other blood relatives within the same generation, the one before, or the one after that could help him bear the curse. The whole of it would therefore fall on him.
And unable to eat or drink anything, he would slowly starve to death. Narcissa did not think it would be as quick as a death of starvation or thirst usually was, of course. Voldemort’s unnatural body did not take as much sustenance or possibly the same kind as other human beings did.
But even if he fed on the venom of his snake, which Narcissa thought a strong possibility, it would be closed to him now, with the flesh of reptiles cursed to poison him.
Narcissa chuckled, and enjoyed the slight, distant vibration of agony and rage in her mind as the curse began to affect Voldemort.
*
“I have discovered a way to destroy the Horcrux without turning to Dark Arts.”
Narcissa turned to face Idunna. The woman acted as if their altercation over Draco had never taken place, simply walking into her classroom to make the announcement. “What method is that?”
“To surround it with purity.” Idunna took a seat without asking for permission, her eyes narrowed on Narcissa, probably looking for some sign of shadows in her face. “Purified water, fire born of Light magic, and earth blessed by the touch of a unicorn’s hoof.”
“You will not use the element of air?”
“It is too chancy. Three elements will form a triangle, which is a more stable and useful magical symbol than a square.”
Narcissa thought of telling her that she had been thinking in terms of a circle, not a square, but then shrugged off the thought. All that mattered was that Idunna had found something she thought might work. Narcissa pretended to an expression of polite interest, while silently plotting on how to claim the Horcrux back and destroy it with Fiendfyre if this didn’t work. “Will you need me for anything?”
“I want you to purify the water.”
“Why, when my magic is Dark and you suspect me of being influenced by the Horcrux?”
“To show that Light witches and wizards can forgive.” Idunna gave her a smile so condescending that Narcissa was a little surprised it didn’t slide and drip off her face. “I forgive you for interfering with my attempts to secure safety for the students of Hogwarts. If you wish to keep your son safe at the expense of others, I suspect that I cannot fight you.”
“I want my son and the other students safe.”
Idunna shrugged, making the chimes in her hair tinkle softly. “They cannot be if he has been dabbling in Dark magic. And your foster son, as well. Have you considered educating them at home? So that other students need not be exposed to them?”
Narcissa smiled as she remembered what the Cadmus’s Gift potion would do once it had some time to work on Idunna. “I never considered such a thing. All children deserve the right to come to Hogwarts.”
“Including Muggleborns?”
“One of my sons counts a Muggleborn among his dearest friends. Of course I believe they should have the right to an equal education.”
Idunna blinked. “But such is not the typical position of Dark wizards and witches. I believe that Voldemort has also opposed the right of Muggleborns to live in our world.”
“Yes, and I am not him.”
“But you are influenced by a Horcrux.” Idunna turned and studied her from another angle, as if the literal position of her head was all that was needed for Narcissa to make sense. “It would seem that you should have adopted some of his attitudes and perspectives.”
“That is not one of them.”
Idunna continued to stare at her in silence, apparently having no conception of manners. Narcissa wondered idly whether Light wizards and witches got lessons in self-righteousness instead. “You make very little sense,” Idunna said, as if to herself.
“I hope that I make sense where I am concerned,” Narcissa said, and no more. “Will you show me the spells that you want me to use to purify the water, so that I can make sure I match the Light standard for the ritual? I would not want to make a hash of it by purifying the water in a Dark way.”
Whatever lessons Light wizards and witches received in place of manners, sarcasm was not part of them. Idunna said absently, “Yes, I will show you the spells.” She stood and rested her hands on the back of her chair. “I wonder if I was mistaken about the Horcrux’s influence over you.”
Narcissa widened her eyes. “I am sure that you would not be wrong about such a thing.”
“I wonder if perhaps the influence has emerged in your children, instead of in you directly.”
“You have been to the Headmistress and asked her about the permission required from parents to cast certain spells on the children?”
“I have. And it does seem that the school has rules, which I suppose I should have known you would know, since your husband is on the Board of Governors. But if I see that such a rule is getting in the way of saving and serving other children, you already know what I will do.”
“You might find yourself in trouble with the Headmistress if you do.”
“I serve the higher good.”
Which is probably just another term for the greater good that Minerva found in Dumbledore’s notes, Narcissa thought. But she had already taken her revenge, and it would be interesting if there was a way to destroy Horcruxes that did not involve the risks of basilisk venom, Fiendfyre, or the ritual that she and Sirius had done to help Harry.
“Very well. Please show me the Light spells that you would like me to use.”
Idunna conjured water into a glass that she just happened to be carrying in her pocket, and began showing Narcissa the spells that seemed to lift any impurities off the water like a skim or mist, and then burned them away. It was an interesting spell that Narcissa was glad to have learned, not least for the way that it taught her about the way Idunna thought. Of course she would believe that she could burn through the Darkness if she saw it happening with situations like this.
But that would do nothing to protect her from Narcissa.
Part Eight.
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