Chapter - 1
A/N: AU post OOTP.
Disclaimers: Well you all know that Any Characters of Harry Potter Do Not belong to me. That's JKR for you.
One can never be all-knowing however much he would like to pretend. For Example it is true that Harry Potter can't even fathom to understand the web of conspiracies regarding his life but it is also true that he is not a complete moron. Some people would like to claim that he is delusional, reckless, hothead, way to prideful, and complete Gryffindor. In reality while some may have some grain of truth it can't be said that he is a complete Gryffindor. After all a thousand year old relic(Sorting Hat) can't be wrong. So to have it decided that Chosen One can be great in Slythrin there must have been some Slytherin qualities in him, however much repressed they were. But he was not ready or it can be that he didn't know his own potential to show the cunning and cleverness that a Slytherin applies to further his agenda. Well the time has come to show some Slytherin cunning for him, after all The Chosen One can't be a complete dunderhead however much Snape Would like him to be.
It was summer after fifth year and Harry was enjoying his Diagon Alley trip after mourning his dead Godfather for a month. For the last week he read Daily Prophet to get a grip on reality that was wizarding world. Well it didn't surprise him a bit that they were singing his praises claiming him The Chosen One and what not. One thing he knew without a doubt that public opinion is very easy to sway. One can make a beggar a Saint or it can make a honest person Devil reincarnate. So he came to the conclusion that if he have to live peacefully he will have to maintain a public profile that neither makes him God nor the Devil. Well it is one of the necessary skill for a celebrity like him to have which he unfortunately was not very well versed in.
So while strolling in the Diagon Alley when his eyes fell on Malfoy family or what was present in the current time seeing as dear Lucius was holidaying in Azkaban; a plan began to formulate in his mind. He followed Malfoy Jr. in Knockturn Alley to see Draco enter Borgin and Burkes. Well after listening in the conversations he had somewhat guessed that he was either a Death Eater guessing from his earlier observations at Madam Malkin's shop or at least death eater in training seeing as his father was vacationing. So when he saw that Narcissa was heading in opposite direction to keep attention away from her wayward son, Harry started following the lone female Malfoy under his very helpful Invisibility Cloak, while appreciating the view that was Narcissa Malfoy. He waited for perfect opportunity before sticking his foot in front of Lady Malfoy causing her to stumble and the like a perfect gentleman catching her to prevent her from falling in the ground face first getting a good view in her upper body.
"Thank you...POTTER" Narcissa said while looking up causing her to hiss the last word as if it were beneath her to touch him.
"You are very welcome Cissy" Harry said using the nickname that dear Bella used for her causing her eyes to flash in irritation but her whole face remained a cool mask not indicating any other sign to show that it annoyed her to no end. Well two can play that game. But you didn't give her a chance to say anything before you put first step of your plan into action "I have a proposition for you that will be mutually beneficial." You stop to gauge her reaction. After an affirmative of "Go ahead" your second step of the first Slytherin worthy that you ever made came forward.
"I know that your dear son is up to no good and is in service of your husband's Master, and I have a concrete proof of the fact so if you agree to my requests I will keep my silence and help you to keep him out of Azkaban."Now this was the crucial step of the plan; while you accused him of serving Voldemort you didn't call him Death Eater, and since her family is associated with Voldemort so deeply thus he will be in some contact with other Death Eaters and thus serving dark lord indirectly. So you keep your cool trying to not show any outward indication of the nerves that you are feeling and wait for Narcissa's reaction.
"And what is your request."She asked.
"Just that you will teach me purebloods politics, manipulation, any other skill that you are proficient in including Occlumency at the time that I set while taking an oath of silence and secrecy and not to betray me."This was the price. Now he took a great risk showing all his cards at the beginning because while she didn't deny the accusations she neither confirmed it. But it seemed like his famous potter luck once again was in favour. It seemed like with her husband's recent incarceration she was nervous and with possibility that her son can be put in Azkaban too frightened her. He was almost tempted to show pity that came out of the goodness of your heart but you refrained showing any Gryffindor haste at the moment and indeed it was very fortunate that she agreed. It also confirmed your suspicion of Draco being a Death Eater.
"And if I don't refuse."She replied.
"Well then I will have to regretfully inform DMLE about suspect with proof, and seeing as they want me in their favour they will act on my information very effectively to get into my good graces."Harry said as nonchalantly as he could.
"Very well then, I accept your terms."After both parties gave their oath they returned to their respective camp with harry promising to write Narcissa informing the time and place for their meetings.
Harry was very happy at his success after all he had gained a very good source of knowledge in Politics, which will help him to deal with wizarding population and politicians who want to manipulate him. Harry entered twin's joke shop WWW and met with other three members of Golden Trio.
It was mid-November. After boarding train for Hogwarts Harry sat in his compartment contemplating the time and place for his lessons with Narcissa. He decided that the perfect timing would be after most students went to sleep. That will be after curfew. Since Hogwarts closes after curfew he can sneak to Whomping Willow to get into shrieking shack. That will be ideal place for their meetings as Narcissa can't get into castle and he can't go very far from school. With shack's reputation it will be easy to meet there without rousing any suspicions on their parts. With that in mind he decided to send a letter with a school owl as Hedwig is way too well known.
So in their first meeting they decided that they will meet every night from 10:00 to 12:00 in Shrieking shack for their nightly meetings. Each day they will learn Pureblood customs and politics and Occlumency except at weekends when Narcissa will teach him Runes and Arithmancy to understand concepts behind Wards in which she is very proficient along with some minor Dark Arts and their Counters.
It was very eye opening experience for Harry because while he was not stupid he was very lazy and didn't take his studies very seriously in last five years. But with Voldemort on rise and Dumbledore only giving lessons in Voldemort's past(which while necessary was not too useful now) made him think his priorities. While he was not a genius he can still learn and learn he did. After two months he can understand the basics of Runes and Arithmancy. But his main progress was in Occlumency and Dark Arts which slightly unnerved him. It seemed that Snape forgot to give any instruction aside from "Clear your mind" and he was too lazy to search library to find "clear your mind". But with Narcissa it was easier as she was an excellent instructor. So his Occlumency progressed further and with right mind set he improved his class performance. One thing that bothered him still was that even though he knew that Draco is a Death Eater he couldn't seem to find his task that he was assigned by his master. Well he will find in the future. He refused the Christmas Invitation by Weasleys this year because he was hoping to continue his lesson with Narcissa. Also if he was to be honest with himself he was getting attracted to Draco's mother with each passing day that they spent together. He knew that wizards aged slowly than normal people but still she was very gorgeous even after giving birth to a son of his age.
All these things aside, he finally found the reason behind Slughorn's return. It seemed that Voldemort was favourite of Slughorn in his school days and Dumbledore wanted some special memory pertaining Tom Riddle from Slughorn. But since he was not able to obtain it himself, he gave the responsibility of obtaining memory to Harry. He decided that if till Christmas he is unable to obtain memory he will try liquid luck that he won in the potions class. Now another matter came forward. It seemed that Hermione and Ron were fighting again. He just couldn't understand that why they can't confess their feelings to each other and be done with it. Also it seemed that Ginny was flaunting her relationship with Dean in front of him; the girl has no shame. Well he neither has the time nor patience to be in any romantic relationship with a girl let alone with youngest Weasley, so her efforts to make him jealous were for nought. It seemed that between classes, Quidditch, extra lessons with Dumbledore and Narcissa he has little time to anything else and he still couldn't find the task that Draco is supposed to carry out.
It was the first day of second term. Students were returning today. He spent this Christmas at Hogwarts which upset Weasleys, but he was busy and since his bestfriends were unable to do something worthwhile due to their Lover's quarrel he was unable to include them into his plans.
It seemed his plan for tutoring from Narcissa was bearing their fruit since his occlumency was getting better with every day and he was getting some idea how the pureblood society worked. It seemed Potters were purebloods with very high influence and money, but with his mother being a muggleborn the reputation took a great blow in pureblood circles which further diminished with him raised with muggles and being largely ignorant of any customs and traditions of wizarding world, and since Dumbledore didn't deem it worth to educate him in the cultural education it was a miracle that he had garnered respect from some purebloods. It was probably his fame that made him even slightly respected, which took a large hit last year.
Also with good control over his mental facilities he seemed to excel in studies, not so much as to be too noticeable to others but at least it cured him from his self depreciation tendency. He was not aware that he had any other vault of importance except his Trust Vault. It seemed that the family vaults are used to store history of families, along with other family relics, large amount of money, and books on family magic. It seemed his adopted family and friends forgot to mention any of these things, and Dumbledore was being Dumbledore, keeping information from him. Well at least he was allowed to go to Gringotts earlier to visit his vault on Christmas on the suggestion of Narcissa to get some books on family politics, family history and magic along with getting a statement of his account's holdings.
It was a very informative experience for him. It seemed that his family was firmly on light side for past three hundred years, but before that they were mostly neutral. Also it seemed that early generation of Potters was battle crazy since most family magic contained Battle Magic, along with Transfiguration. It seemed that early Potters retained the like of thrill of battle to some extent and adapted more accepted form to duels using unconventional Transfiguration. With his Grandmother being a Black (Dorea) some dark arts was introduced, and his mother added some Potions and Charms. Since the family considered any other things except their natural power beneath them due to their Gryffindor tendencies there was not much in the field of Rituals but there were two books on minor light ritual that while useful were not much to affect any noticeable changes in person.
With this in mind he resolved to grab one book on Rituals, one on family's perspective on wizarding politics, one on families recent history going back to merely two hundred years, one on Battle Magic for Beginners and one on Basic Transfiguration. It was enough for now along with tutoring with Narcissa and school classes. He went back to the goblins and requests an audit on his family's holdings. It seemed that his account while stagnant in his absence was not greatly affected. He resolved to comeback after some time to discuss his account's management and to visit Black Family Vault. It seemed that with some black blood from his Grandmother and with Sirius declaring him his heir he was considered black enough to access black family Vault.
Narcissa sat contemplating the event of past months or so. It appeared that in her state of panic concerning the safety of her son and with her husband being locked up in Azkaban a boy got the upper hand over her. She was very surprised that he had the audacity to approach her let alone blackmail her. She wouldn't have agreed to tutor him but the boy showed cunning of a Slytherin. She couldn't believe that this was the same boy whom her son described as foolhardy, full of Gryffindor pride. It seemed that while an amateur the boy had the qualities to make decent leader. With gryffindor courage and slytherin planning and cunningness Harry Potter could achieve something worthwhile. And if last four month's teaching was any indication then the boy was intelligent. It seemed that Hogwarts education system has fallen too much. Well at least she had something interesting to do other than sit idly at manor or going to the Death Eater Meetings in the absence of her husband.
A/N: it is a time travel fic. which will become clear as it progresses more.