A/N: this is my first fanfic. The way I envision Narcissa is similar to the description of the books, young looking and gorgeous. In my imagination she looks like a blonde Natalie Dormer. Enjoy!
I do not own any Harry Potter content or characters, they belong to the Queen JKR. Long live the Queen!
"Sign here. And now state here what your name will be from now on. You may keep your married name or go back to your maiden name". Narcissa didn't need to think about this. She had already made a decision. On the designated space, she wrote "Narcissa Black".
After the Battle of Hogwarts all three members of the Malfoy family had been put to trial. Narcissa and her son Draco were acquitted, but Lucius Malfoy had been involved willingly with the Dark Lord for a very long time, even though now he regretted it deeply.
After being sentenced to 20 years in Azkaban, barely avoiding the Dementor's kiss, he decided to do what he could to make it up to his family for involving them in this rotted mess. His title as head of the family and guardian of the Malfoy fortune was passed to his son Draco, and then he offered Narcissa a divorce and the return of the Black dowry as her own personal fortune in an attempt to free them both of the shadow that he had cast over them.
Narcissa thought about it for a few weeks. She was very angry at Lucius for putting her son at risk, and she wanted to feel free form his influence, but she had been a perfect Pureblood wife and mother for too long. It was a scary prospect to not be that anymore. Who was she if she was not the Malfoy matriarch? She pondered the question over and over again, until she started to see an answer. The reconciliation with her sister Andromeda was key to help Narcissa find her way back to herself. She started to remember who she was before becoming Mrs Lucius Malfoy. She was a happy, funny, kind girl. She was a very good student back when she attended Hogwards, in fact she mused to herself that Draco's academic abilities were actually inherited from her and not from his father. Andromeda happily reminded her of her academic achievements, the sweetness of her character and the long list of suitors that she had back then, and how many of those men, if available now, would happily give away their wands for a chance to marry her. With her perfect mane of light blond hair, her fair, flawless complexion and her petite and tight body, Narcissa was often confused for a Veela, and looked easily half her age.
So she decided to go ahead with the divorce and become once again Narcissa Black.
Her son had been nothing but supportive. He was holding a heavy grudge towards his father for giving him up to the cause of a madman, and wanted nothing but for his mother to be happy again. Although Narcissa thought that by now she should be waiting for her own grandchildren, Draco wasted no time in assuring her that he was not going to rush into marriage, and he will certainly not be going to uphold the marriage contract that his father had stipulated for him when he was a baby. This was a new world, a new order, and he was done with pureblood customs.
Narcissa had laughed her pants off when Draco suggested that instead of prematurely aging in a rocking chair, maybe she should take a leaf from the Muggle book and turn herself into a "career girl". After all, she had started very young, married out of Hogwarts at 17, she was barely 18 when Draco was born, and now she was still a young looking, stunningly beautiful woman. Gorgeous and newly single, the world was her oyster.
He even suggested that she should talk with his new friend, a Miss Hermione Granger, who was leading the charge for the reconciliation between the old pureblood families and the new generation of muggleborns.
After laughing at the suggestion of becoming a career girl for a bit longer, she decided to owl miss Granger and invited her for tea at her new place, a posh country house outside of London.
Hermione flooed to the country estate at the accorded time, full of curiosity, as Narcissa had requested her presence to ask her for some personal advice. What could a recent graduate from Hogwarts, and a muggleborn at that, offer to the imposing pureblood beauty?
With a little bit of embarrassment, hidden behind her perfect posture, Narcissa explain her situation to Hermione: that her son had suggested that she found a career, maybe something with muggle influences. Not because she needed the money, but to help her find herself. Hermione looked confused for a minute, and then it hit her: Narcissa looked like she just walked out of Vogue, the muggle high fashion magazine. Before explaining her idea, Hermione asked a few questions: where did she get her amazing clothes, how did she managed to make them fit perfectly every single time; how could she walk on those skyscraper stiletto shoes and look as comfortable as walking in flats. Narcissa shrugged a little and explained who her designers were, how to perform charms to fit clothes perfectly and how to enchant shoes to maintain perfect balance and comfort. Hermione smiled widely and said "how about becoming a personal stylist for the wizarding world stars?". Narcissa looked confused. Hermione explained that not everyone had her sense of style, and definitely not everyone knew how to perform fitting charms and how hair and makeup charms were a daily nightmare for the common witch, as you needed to know exactly how you wanted to look before performing them, or the result can be a fashion disaster.
"You will have lots of male clients too. If you can get a regular guy to look anywhere close to what your son Draco looks like, it will be a major hit!" Her enthusiasm was contagious, so Narcissa thought this could really be a good option.
She didn't have time to prepare a business plan. Two days later Hermione owl her saying that she had a client for her already lined up. Ginevra Weasley was a chaser for the Hollyhead Harpies, and she will be doing a photoshoot for Wizard Sports Illustrated, a magazine famous for the beautiful models they put on the cover. Ginny was offered the cover and the team accepted for her, so she was freaking out of her head. She was sure she will make a fool of herself, so the team offered to pay for a stylist of her choice. When she floo called Hermione crying, her friend simply said "no worries, I got this". A couple of days later the three women were on Diagon alley, shopping the stores for a mix of sporty and posh to create the perfect look. When the magazine hit the stands, showing a stunning Ginny Weasley hanging herself upside down on her latest model broom, with perfect flowing hair, flawless make up, wearing a sexyfied version of her Harpies uniform and 8-inch stiletto heels, the world went crazy. Ginny was flooded with fan mail and marriage proposals from all over the world, and Narcissa was an instant hit. Photoshoots, private style sessions for the rich and famous and more work that she could handle made Narcissa feel elated and reborn.
Funny enough, Hermione Granger found herself moonlighting as a promoter for BlackStyle, Narcissa's business brand, since Narcissa made a chore of keeping her looking like model; because of her job at the Department of International Magical Cooperation, Hermione had a lot of exposure and when people asked about her style, she will put them in contact with her new friend, the Queen of Posh. Who was she to reject free designer clothes after all.
It was through Hermione that the best assignment of her career came by. The ministry was spending time and money in creating a new image to overcome the shadow of the war, and the new generation of ministry employees had a lot to offer both in the brains and in the looks departments.
It started as a joke. When Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Minister of Magic, asked various Department representatives for suggestions of how to do some good publicity for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to make them look approachable and appeal to the public, Hermione chuckled and said that in the Muggle world firefighters had a tradition of making calendars showing the members of a squad shirtless and sometimes holding puppies or kittens. When everyone was done laughing, Shaklebolt walked straight to the office of Deputy Chief Auror Harry James Potter, and told him in so many words that him and his merry men were required to do a sexy photoshoot for publicity purposes to increase the appealing of the DMLE in the eyes of the public. He will sell the idea to Witch Weekly, and most likely they will ask Harry to be Centerfold. With a satisfied smile (and making an effort to withhold a cackle) the Minister turn on his heel and left the office, while Harry watch him go with his jaw hanging to his chest and a look of horror in his eyes.
Five minutes later Hermione received a memo howler that unwrapped itself and screamed in Harry's panicked voice "My office, now. This is a disaster"
When she walked into Harry's office, she found him breathing on a paper bag, disheveled and apparently having a panic attack. Before she could say anything he yelled "he wants us butt naked in some stupid magazine. He's lost his marbles. Help me please".
When she was done laughing she explained to Harry about the firefighter's calendars, and that only make him rage. "so this was your idea? You got us into this mess, you fix it!". She calmed her giggles and said "don't worry, I got this".
That weekend she met with Narcissa and explained the auror's conundrum. After they were done laughing the stylist said "well, what the Minister wants, the Minister gets. Do you by any chance have samples of those firefighters' pictures?"
Always prepared, Hermione pull a dozen calendars and magazines from her beaded miniature bag and displayed them over the coffee table. They both went into a fit of giggles again. "oh my," said Narcissa, "this job keeps getting better and better. But I think we don't need our aurors to be showed naked as meat for the market. We can do sexy and tasteful, just enough skin to entice the readers without losing their sense of authority".
Hermione added "it should not be that difficult because there will be only the younger ones, and two of them already have a lot of style, Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott probably won't need a lot of work. I'm more concerned about the Deputy Chief. The Chosen One has no idea how to choose his clothes", Hermione said with a giggle.
"Oh don't you worry about him, replied Narcissa. Mr Potter may not know how to dress but he is definitely model material. A few magic touches and he will be the most eligible bachelor in wizarding Britain".
"Well he already is top three" said Hermione. "He keeps falling on the charts below Draco and Blaise because he can't dress to save his life. Maybe this is the push that he needs to put himself out there again".
Narcissa let out a sigh "All that rogue handsome appeal and no one to enjoy it. What a waste. Don't worry my dear, when I'm done with him he will look like a god. Let's hope that his newfound sex appeal doesn't go to his head".
The women laugh a bit more, and continued to have a pleasant afternoon, appraising the virtues of the unwilling models-to-be.