[Wednesday one-shots]: Narcissa Triumphant, Lucius/Narcissa, H/D, PG-13, 7.4/7
Chapter Three.
Part One.
Title: Narcissa Triumphant (4/11)
Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling and associates own these characters. I am writing this story for fun and not profit.
Pairing: Harry/Draco, Lucius/Narcissa
Content Notes: Angst, violence, minor character deaths, gore, torture, crack AU (Narcissa is an assassin)
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Narcissa has a war on two fronts to fight, with Voldemort and with the Ministry. But when winning such wars is necessary to avenge her family and keep them safe, her enemies are the ones who will regret their actions.
Author’s Notes: Welcome to the seventh and final fic in the Narcissa series, the AU of DH. This really won’t make any sense at all if you haven’t read the other fics in the series, so do that first.
Thank you again for all the reviews!
Chapter Four-War and Fire
“Professor Malfoy!”
“We do have to stop meeting like this, Professor Moody,” Narcissa said, shaking her head a little as she slowed in the corridor leading to the Great Hall. She hadn’t even had breakfast yet, which made this a new record for Moody cornering her. She continued to walk, forcing Moody to limp alongside her. “What is it? Did one of the detentions you gave not do what you wanted it to do? I can give you some tips on detentions that work but don’t involve-”
“You know I’m talking about the Dark magic that you used to save your home, Professor Malfoy.”
“Which isn’t illegal, the kinds of rituals that one can perform in the privacy of one’s own home, Professor Moody. Or are you saying that I should have let the home of my sons’ childhood be destroyed, and my husband die, rather than use Dark magic?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Moody turned around and managed to get in front of her, planting his wooden peg and glaring at her. “There are lines that should not be crossed!”
“I completely agree. For example, one of my lines is not waging backbiting war against students I don’t like simply because of something their family did.” Narcissa moved a step nearer, ignoring the fact that Moody didn’t shift. “What do you think of that particular line, Professor Moody?”
The man was silent, his eyes fixated on her, even the magical eye not roaming around his face the way it usually did. Then he let out an explosive snort. “Crimes need to be paid for. And sometimes the Wizengamot isn’t good about seeing justice done.”
“What crime has my son committed? When was his Wizengamot trial?”
Moody slammed his peg into the floor again. “You know as well as I do that I’m talking about your husband, madam.”
“And you intend to make my husband pay for the crimes he was acquitted of by punishing his son. And also the students in your class that you subject to war stories, regardless of whether or not they lost family members in the war, whether or not it might scar them. How considerate of you, Professor Moody.”
“Which of them complained?”
Narcissa smiled at him and stepped gracefully around him. Moody was battle-trained, but he was also hampered by his missing leg, and by the time he was stumping after her again, Narcissa had reached the stairs.
“Stop running away from me, Professor Malfoy!”
Narcissa sighed and shook her head. “When you continue to tell me it would be better if my husband had died and my home was destroyed, and when you continue to hold my son responsible for a war that ended when he was one, I see no point in continuing the conversation, Professor Moody.”
There were other people around now, watching, which was probably why Moody had made the announcement as loudly as he had. He didn’t appear to have thought she would use the same tactic on him. He scowled for a second, then stumped further along the staircase and turned in a different direction on the third floor.
Narcissa walked the rest of the way to breakfast, and maintained her secret smile, and shook her head when she caught Draco’s stare from the Slytherin table. No. She didn’t need him to go after Moody for her. Narcissa already had a plan for that in mind.
*
“Come in, Miss Bones.”
Narcissa watched in some curiosity as Susan Bones came to sit in the chair in front of her. Ever since the incident last year when her friend Hannah Abbott had “dueled” Harry and Bones had been her second, and then Amelia Bones had been murdered and Harry tried for her murder, Narcissa had expected coolness between the Bones family and the Malfoys. And Bones had indeed held herself aloof in classes this year. She’d also been one of the students listening intently to Moody’s stories of the war in Defense class, according to Draco. And why not? Her parents and brothers had died then, her aunt only recently.
But the young woman who sat down in front of her now and smoothed her skirt across her knees was a calm-looking one. If she was acting, she was an actress Narcissa would have liked to have the training of. “I wanted to ask you some questions about what Professor Moody was saying this morning, Professor Malfoy.”
“All right, Miss Bones. Keep in mind that I may not answer them.”
Bones bit her lip and nodded. “All right,” she echoed. “Is it-it’s true that you held off a werewolf army that was trying to destroy your home and kill Mr. Malfoy?”
“I did indeed, Miss Bones. Using some of the private rituals that the Ministry does classify as Dark.”
“Oh. And-it’s true that your husband was acquitted by the Wizengamot for being accused of being a Death Eater?”
“It is.” Narcissa saw no reason to deny the truth. That was the matter of public trial records that Bones could look up in any case, and Narcissa would only look stupid if she tried to deny it.
“But he still did some awful things. Even though he was under the Imperius Curse.”
“Yes. I will not lie. To an extent, no remorse can make up for the losses that some of the people he attacked suffered.”
Bones closed her eyes. Narcissa waited, not sure what was coming next. It was probably something about Draco or Harry, but then again, Moody hadn’t included specific accusations about them this morning. Their behavior in his classes, pretending not to notice the insults and forcing their classmates or Moody to say something definitive and actionable, was working well.
“Can I-how do I report a professor to the Ministry for improper teaching, Professor Malfoy? Because all Professor Moody tells us is war stories, and he tries to make us hate each other! It’s not fair.”
Narcissa smiled at her. To think she should find an ally when she hadn’t been looking for her. Then again, Narcissa had often found that the universe showered gifts on the deserving.
“In fact, Miss Bones,” she said, reaching down and drawing out a piece of parchment that she’d started that morning, “I was preparing to file an official complaint myself. But it would help if it came with corroborating evidence from a student in Professor Moody’s Defense class, so that it doesn’t simply look like the report of a disgruntled parent.”
Bones gave a grim smile. “I’m perfectly happy to help you, Professor Malfoy. I can’t stand unfairness.” She hesitated, then added, “And the way they tried Harry for my aunt’s…death was unfair, too.”
“I am glad that you think so, Miss Bones.”
“Is there any way to make them realize that?”
“Oh, they will,” Narcissa said softly as she watched Bones begin to write down her own observations and specific examples. “They may not realize it yet, but they will soon.”
*
“Cissy! Cissy!”
Narcissa sighed and sat up, rubbing her eyes. “Sirius, do you realize that I teach until midnight and that you’ve Flooed me at five in the morning?” she murmured, but smiled when she saw the way her cousin’s head wobbled in the fire. It meant he was trying to bounce up and down even though he was also kneeling to thrust his head into the hearth.
“You obviously fell asleep at your desk marking. It’s not like I interrupted good sleep,” Sirius said, and then beamed at her. “You’ll never guess what I found!”
“A way to become a mature, responsible adult?”
“You’re my conscience, I don’t need one,” said Sirius brightly. “No. I found what I’m sure is another of Voldemort’s Horcruxes! There was something about a locket, right? You were looking for one? A locket that used to belong to Salazar Slytherin?”
Narcissa caught her breath and managed not to hiss. Here she had been trying to think of a way to search for it when it had probably been stolen from Hezpibah Smith, and Sirius had had it all along. “Where did you retrieve it from?”
“The cabinet upstairs.”
Narcissa stared at him. Sirius laughed. “It’s a rare day when I can make you speechless!” he said, and the flames wavered so hard that they almost went out. Sirius managed to hold still enough for long enough that they didn’t. “It turns out that Regulus somehow discovered where it was. Something about Voldemort using Kreacher to hide it, and then Regulus went to destroy it, and he put a copy where the real locket was, and he died from some kind of poison there, but he gave the real Horcrux to Kreacher to take back and hide somewhere, and Kreacher tried to destroy it, but he couldn’t, and-”
“Calm down.” Narcissa said that sternly enough that Sirius finally did flash her a sheepish smile and stop talking. “Are you sure that this isn’t some kind of trick? Kreacher has been less than amenable in the past. Could he have created a trap for you? Perhaps something that would poison you as he claimed Regulus was poisoned?”
Narcissa’s mind was leaping between ideas even as she spoke. It was true that Regulus had disappeared abruptly, and no one knew why. And it was true that Kreacher had been loyal to Regulus and would have obeyed him in any way possible, even by leaving him to die and accepting a locket that turned out to be indestructible.
“You ought to come here and feel this fucking thing for yourself, Cissy,” Sirius said. The smile faded from his face for the first time all conversation. “It feels-dirty.”
Narcissa decided. As exhausted as she was, a Horcrux was important, and she was the only one who might be able to tell the difference between a regular Dark artifact and an actual Horcrux. “I’m on my way over. Make sure that you’re only touching the locket with silk or salt, not-”
“Not my bare hand. Honestly, Cissy, I know better than that.”
Sirius’s face disappeared from the fire. Narcissa shook her head in amusement and stood, tossing her hair behind her shoulder, then strode to the hearth. A simple handful of Floo powder took her through to Grimmauld Place, and the minute she felt her skin trying to crawl off her bones, she knew Sirius was right.
She turned around to find Sirius holding out a piece of silk with the locket on it. Narcissa examined it carefully. Yes, the locket with a gaudy serpent, or S, on the front made of emeralds looked exactly like the description she’d got from Burke’s mind when she visited his shop several months ago. And the locket rattled when she stared at it, as if it knew that she wanted to destroy it.
“We can do it now?” Sirius was practically hopping up and down.
“If you don’t mind me casting Fiendfyre in your gardens,” Narcissa said, and drew her wand.
Sirius drew back with a gasp, but then he swallowed and forced himself to shrug and smile. “That’ll do it? I’m sure the garden’s had worse things than Fiendfyre cast in it.” He turned to lead the way out.
Kreacher appeared in front of them the next moment, wringing his ears. Narcissa froze Sirius with a look when he started to say something. She would rather hear the story from the elf’s mouth. “Yes, Kreacher?”
“That is Master Regulus’s locket.” Kreacher never glanced at either of them, which was highly unusual when he was in front of wizards. All his attention was locked on the Horcrux, as if he thought that he might have to snatch it from them.
“Yes, it is.” Narcissa kept her voice quiet and gentle. “Can you tell me how you came to have it?”
“I told you that, Cissy!”
“Your account was enthusiastic but not very coherent. Be quiet, Sirius.”
Kreacher twitched his ears and stared a little harder at Narcissa. Then he nodded. “Master Regulus be lending me to bad wizard when he goes to cave.” His voice dropped, to the point that Narcissa knelt down to hear him. “I was being on the verge of dying, but Master Regulus, he said, return. So I returned. Master Regulus was angry, so angry! He truly cared about poor Kreacher.” The tears that ran down Kreacher’s face wore paths in the grime.
Narcissa felt her own face tighten. I know that Sirius doesn’t care for this elf, but if nothing else, he should have made sure that Kreacher had a clean place to sleep and clothes to wear. It’s disgraceful to have one that looks like this.
“Master Regulus, he asked questions, yes, he did. And he be figuring out that bad wizard hid a powerful artifact in the cave. And he took me back, and he drank the poison himself, and he replaced the locket. Kreacher didn’t want to be leaving Master Regulus, no, he didn’t.” Kreacher’s hands rose and pulled at his ears as if he was going to yank them off his head, but it seemed to be an absent gesture, done for the sake of doing it more than because Kreacher really wanted to punish himself. “But Master Regulus, he gave poor Kreacher no choice. Kreacher has been trying to destroy the locket for years, because that is what Master Regulus would have wanted.” He began to blubber, and now snot was running down his face as well as tears. Narcissa still didn’t move away. “But Kreacher could never destroy it. Mistress Narcissa is going to destroy it?”
“Yes,” Narcissa said quietly. She glanced at Sirius, who was watching her dumbstruck. At least that meant that he wasn’t making a move to interfere, either. “I am going to use Fiendfyre on it, Kreacher. I never met the Dark artifact yet that Fiendfyre couldn’t destroy.”
Kreacher flung his arms around her neck and cried unabashedly. Narcissa patted his back and made a mental note to thoroughly wash her neck and clothes later. “Mistress Narcissa is such a good, kind mistress,” he sobbed. “Master Regulus would have liked to be here to see her destroy it, yes, he would.”
“I don’t understand any of this,” Sirius interrupted loudly. “Why would Regulus want to destroy a Horcrux? Why would he give up his own life to do it? He was a Death Eater!”
Kreacher glared at Sirius, which at least meant Narcissa could cast the first of the cleaning spells. “Master Regulus was a good, kind wizard!” he declared, with a stamp of his begrimed foot. “He is understanding Kreacher, and he is never wanting to serve bad wizard! He only be doing it because Mistress and Master said he should!”
“You mean my parents?”
“Mistress and Master,” Kreacher repeated, and Narcissa was sure that he was talking about Walburga and Orion. “But Master Regulus, he wanted to be proud, he wanted to make Master and Mistress proud, but he did not want to be torturing people. So he decided to turn on bad wizard and destroy him.” He drooped abruptly. “But Kreacher never succeeded in destroying the locket.”
“We are going to do it now,” Narcissa told him. “Do you want to come along?”
“Cissy!”
Narcissa turned, and made Sirius shrink back a little with the way she looked at him. It wasn’t his fault, truly. He had never been the one to make Regulus think that he had to follow Voldemort, and just because he had run away didn’t mean that Walburga and Orion had been harder on Regulus; they probably would have been that way anyway. But at the moment, Narcissa didn’t want to hear his excuses.
“Right.” Sirius cleared his throat and fell in behind her.
*
Narcissa placed the locket on the ground in the back garden of Grimmauld Place and moved carefully away from it. It seemed to shimmer and twist for a minute, as though the soul-shard inside it knew exactly what was coming.
“Yes, you might,” Narcissa breathed, and cast the incantation for Fiendfyre.
It came roaring out of her wand, leaping and twisting around itself, flames colliding and soaring upwards until the sheer heat of it made her face feel as if it was going to melt. It crept towards her and tugged at her feet with one squid-coil. Fiendfyre always wanted to get out of control and devour the one who had dared to call it.
Narcissa spurned it with a tap of her foot and sent it at the locket.
The locket did open before the Fiendfyre got there, and Narcissa caught a glimpse of Lucius with his face twisted to resemble a corpse’s, before it became Harry with a knife in his hand and the expression of a maniac in his eyes. The fire ate the locket before it had time to change into a representation of Draco, who Narcissa assumed would come next. She shook her head as she heard the high, thin scream.
I hope that was enough of a memorial to you, Regulus. I hope that you can feel Voldemort dying.
She controlled the Fiendfyre with a twist of her wand-it tried some nonsense, of course, but Narcissa simply shut that down-and faced Sirius again. His mouth was open, and he was looking back and forth between her and the charred patch of grass as if she had done something astounding.
“What?” Narcissa asked him.
Sirius swallowed. “I used to think that you didn’t succumb to the allure of Dark magic because you’re just so good at it, but-you just don’t care about it, do you? You don’t find it tempting.”
“No,” Narcissa said. “My temptations lie in things I can do myself, and not in what someone or something else might offer me.” She glanced at Kreacher, and found him standing with his hands clasped before his chest and his gaze fixed on the place the locket had been.
“And I do like to give other people some of what they want,” she added. “You really should order him to wash himself, Sirius.” And she went into the house.
Chapter Five.
This entry was originally posted at https://lomonaaeren.dreamwidth.org/1027078.html. Comment wherever you like.