Thank you ALL for the reviews, I don't know how to respond to them (took me 2 months to figure out how to even post stories here) but I always read them and appreciate them, always remember that! smiles

And about the Matriarch-thingy, I know now it's supposed to be Patriarch, I just forgot to change it before I posted the chapter and don't know how to change it know, so please just look away from that little mistake. I am using the same term later, but Imean Narcissa then.

I'll post 3chapters/day until I'm out of them, after that it will probably be 1chapter/week as I have a life like everyone else but somehow I have managed to post 1 Chapter/week before even noticing I did it.

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Regret. A feeling that hit Harry hard as he opened his eyes and closed them again, all in one second. 'To bright', was the thought running through his head at that time. His thought progress took a little turn as he felt the luxurious silk sheets surrounding him, separating him from the chill that clearly lay in the room he was currently in. And that room did not belong at Privet Drive. At Grimmauld more likely but that didn't fit either. The Blacks certainly was wealthy, and could afford what Harry thought was very expensive pieces of fabric indeed, but there hadn't been anything quite like this last year. Maybe there had been years earlier perhaps.

Hogwarts was ruled out by two reasons: One, although the castle in itself was big and showed class, the inside as well, but never to that degree. Two, Dumbledore wouldn't let him live at Hogwarts over the summer-hole anyway. He would learn in due time, until then he tried to move lower under sheets. Tried, was certainly the right word. The second he moved, pain spiralled from the bottom of his leg and up towards his thigh. It was first then he noticed his leg was not in connection with the smooth silk but something was in the way. 'Ah, great! What did I do now?' He changed his mind and laid still staring, with closed eyes, at what would be the ceiling.

Around twenty minutes later a door opened nearby. And someone walked lightly inside before once again closing. The squeaks of the floor revealed it to be someone almost gliding over it. The person, as Harry thought it to be, moved towards the bed before turning away the Harry's right side. Several minutes went by and no sign of acknowledging of Harry's wake up, only the whispering sound of someone turning pages of some kind . Two minutes more and the sound stopped and the squeaking of the floor started again. This time towards the door. Desperate for some answers Harry called out to him or her. Just a simple 'Hello?!' and the sounds moved towards him once again.

"You're awake!" A soft female voice exclaimed. A feeling of Déjà vu travelled trough him. Harry felt like he had heard it before, but where and when?

"Yeah.. How long was I.. out?"

"Not long, half a day. I wasn't expecting you to wake up so soon." A touch of concern and worry trembled her voice. But he liked it, she sounded.. safe. The same kind of Déjà vu.

"Oh, well that's.. good then. What happened?"

A small tingle of a Scanning Spell and Harry knew she was checking him over. She wasn't Madame Pomfrey though, but Dumbledore surely had more Healers or Medi-witches then one?

"Well, you're fine otherwise, mostly sore I believe, and you were probably unconscious for most of it. But what can you remember?" Harry thought back to where his memory ended. Breakfast. Dursleys. Fawkes. FAWKES?!

Thinking brought back a whole blur of memories returned to him. Fawkes had come to the Dursleys, with a letter from Dumbledore, informing him about the Mass-breakout. He had.. spit? In his cousins face in shock. Uncle Vernon had been pissed and knocked him backwards against the wall he barely had time to react. He had hit him. Again and again. Black. Then he was in his bedroom being hit again. Uncle Vernon had been saying things like 'Ungrateful FREAK!', 'After I everything /I we did for you and your kind?!' and 'I should have gotten rid of you back then!'.

He had flipped from consciousness and unconsciousness. Then the woman had been there, he had heard her voice, briefly. Mere seconds. Not enough to see, his eyes had been swollen shut by his uncle's fists. And..

"Shit! Voldemort knows I'm hurt! He felt it! Tell Dumbledore Voldemort saw it all!" He flew into sitting position, regretting it but he didn't care. He had felt Voldemort's presence just like he had when they'd talked. His eyes flew open to, now getting slowly used to the light. The fact that he could see without glasses didn't even occur to him.

To his left stood a tall, lean woman. With blonde locks framing her face. She was wearing a long dark green dress that reached down to the floor with thin silver-threads sneaking it's way in to the fabric. Probably in some pattern Harry didn't have time to reflect upon now. Her face was familiar, he had seen it before. When she spoke again it was filled with amusement and her lips was formed in to a small smile. Her nose was slightly upturned just like..

"Yes, the Dark Lord did actually feel it. And bee glad of that fact, otherwise you would not have lived out the hour."

..she had just smelled something bad but without the frown. At that moment he knew exactly who she was..

"..Narcissa Malfoy." He breathed as his eyes widened in recognition.

"To your service. Now, in order to heal your eyes I had to correct them, which was probably fine anyway since you wore those awful glasses. Your green eyes will show a little more." The smile was gone and there was the cold, indifferent Malfoy mask.

"You.. saved me?" Harry said in disbelief. It couldn't believe it, he must still be dreaming or something. Waking up and finding yourself healed by a Death Eaters-wife, or maybe a Death Eater herself? His thoughts were interrupted though.

"I can see your thoughts forming. You will learn to hide that. But yes, I am Marked. But it wasn't me who saved you. Healed you yes, but had you not had your connection you would be dead. Lord Voldemort saved your life. Your house has been monitored and so far no attempts to save you has been done by the Order."

"I can't believe it." She raised an eye-brow at him and looked him right into her eyes. Hers were blue.

"And yet here you are. Get some rest, sleep trough the night and you can talk to him, and Miss Weasley in the morning. If your feeling any pain, you have Pain-Relieving Potion in the vial beside you. Good night." And Harry watched her go though the dark woodened door. At his left there was a vial of red potion. He didn't dare drink it even though both his head and leg ached. The rest of his body was just sore. It was all manageable and he fell backwards in to a mountain of soft pillows once again.

As he shut his eyes, millions of thoughts were running amok in his head and it was a miracle he even fell asleep at all. What had just happened was to bizarre and unreal to be true. Soon he would wake up and everything would be back to normal. He hoped.

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Narcissa Malfoy walked the dark halls of Riddle Manor. The deep green on the walls and the almost black polished wooden floor kept the darkness there. There were lanterns within a few metres of each other. There were originally made for electricity like muggles used. But now magical fire burned in them at all waken hours. The old floor squeaked a little as she walked on it and somewhere in front of her another person walked. She could not see him or her yet though.

As they neared each other it was clear that it was the Dark Lord. Since Severus had brewed some kind of potion, that Narcissa didn't feel the need to know the name of, he had restored the handsome appearance he wore before his demise.

"Good morning, my Lord." She greeted him with a small smile. He stopped walking and turned towards her and returned her smile, at least a little.

"Good morning, Cissa. I trust you are on your way to check on our guest?"

"Yes, I let him sleep last night and he should be awake. Is there something you want me to tell him?" Voldemort was quiet for awhile, concentrating on something, before answering.

"Yes, he is asleep and I don't want to disturb him. Tell him that me and Ginevra will visit him later."

Narcissa nodded and turned to walk towards Harry's room once again as Voldemort interrupted her.

"Cissa, I appreciate what you did, and you have more then earned answers." She turned towards him and smiled.

"My Lord, I am in no need of answers. I know this was not something you did only for the sake of the cause, so I won't ask any." Confusion slowly turned in to his blue eyes as he took in her words.

"I am afraid you have lost me. What do you mean, not for the cause?" He asked a few seconds later. Narcissa chuckled a bit.

"I am a mother, it's my job to know how Draco feels about certain things. That has taught me to really look into someone's behaviour because he hides well. I can't help to notice others too." Voldemort looked deep in to her eyes as he comprehended what she had said. But it was true, had there not been some kind of feelings involved, the situation had been handled very differently.

For example, the Dark Lord would have chosen around five-six Death Eaters to just pick up Harry, torture the relatives for doing what they did, and bring Harry still injured to the Manor.

Of course, the feelings could just be the family bond he has to Ginevra, who cares for Harry herself. But Narcissa didn't think so. And was she right, this was not some kind of feelings Voldemort had ever had, and he would be blind for it for a long time. Maybe to long.

Harry was attractive. He looked almost exactly like James, and James had been one of the most gorgeous boys in school. And someone would surely catch Harry's attention soon, he was sixteen and famous on top of that good looks after all. And he had his mothers gorgeous eyes.

She turned her attention back to Voldemort as he gave her a curt nod before walking away. She looked at his back walking away before she too moved towards the other end of the hall.

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A few minutes later Narcissa could be found in a large armchair next to Harry's bed. Her legs crossed in elegance. She had her eyes fastened at Harry's sleeping form. He looked exactly like James with his green eyes closed. He showed no trace of what was Lily Evans, at least not any visible ones.

The sight of the teen woke questions she hadn't thought of for years. Whatever happened to Lily Evans? Something had happened. Many would probably say the changes happened when she started dating James. But Narcissa, being one of Lily's closest friends, knew better. Something had happened earlier. These were questions she didn't have the answer to, and probably never would.

But her curiosity got the better of her. So many things could have played a part, but did they? Severus? The death of her parents? James? The war? She sighed deeply. She knew her thoughts would only go in circles, back to where they started.

Lily had been a secretive woman, never told people more then she felt they needed to know. The only person Narcissa knew she had really opened up to so far was Severus. Her first, and best, magical friend. She had even met him long before she even knew what she was. If Narcissa's memory were correct, Severus had been the one to inform Lily about her magic after noticing her doing advanced wandless magic, accidently.

What happened to Lily Evans before her death was a secret she took with her in the grave.

"What are you doing here?.. If I may ask." Harry's sleepy voice snapped her back to reality. The infamous Slytherin-Mask was in place within seconds as she turned her attention solemnly to Harry.

"I was checking up on you. How are you feeling?" She started running the mandatory scans to check his health as he looked at her in shock. She could understand his confusion.

The scans showed nothing out of the ordinary, just small residue from the heavy beating the teen had received less then twenty-four hours ago.

As she met the emerald green of his eyes he apparently remembered the question she had asked him.

"Um.. M'fine, a bit sore and tired s'all." To prove his point a heavy yawn followed that statement. Narcissa smiled and ordered breakfast from Dippy, her personal House-elf. She herself had already eaten but ordered some tea to keep him company while he ate without embarrassing him.

The breakfast was embarrassing enough as it was. Firstly, Harry had been very suspicious to eat what he was served but she had urged him to do so, promising there was not an inkling to poison in neither food or drink. When Harry's stomach had grumbled a bit out of hunger he had blushed violent red before taking a small bite of toast. Apparently he didn't find any poison or the like and ate more. They had eaten and drunk in silence and Dippy returned in time to put the dishes away. The silence was still there. Narcissa believed the initial shock of the events of yesterday was starting to wear of.

A few more minutes went by before Harry broke the awkward silence.

"Were you ordered to be.. nice to me?" She turned towards him and spoke in a soft and even tone.

"I was ordered to heal. As for me being 'nice' as you put it, there is a different reason." Harry gave her a look that clearly said 'Well, what is it?' but caution stopped him from asking. The way he gave away emotions and thoughts were something he needed to train away. Otherwise Dumbledore would easily find out. And Narcissa had a feeling Harry knew about the cause, the real one.

As for the her reason, Harry needed to know.

"I knew your mother. We were friends in school, same year also." His snapped back to look at her, she didn't even know he had turned away. What had made her turn her defences down? And didn't he know about her mother? It was common knowledge that she and Lily hung out together in school.

"You, of all people, were friend with a Gryffindor?" THAT, made Narcissa almost furious, her face didn't show it but her eyes surely did because Harry backed off a little. Taking a deep breath she explained.

"Lily Evans was a lot of things, but Gryffindor she was not. She was a Slytherin, and an honoured and respected one or that. She led them as you Draco leads them now."

"A Slytherin? But.. I mean.. they.." Narcissa interrupted the ramblings of the confused teen.

"Harry, how much do you know about your mother? I have the feeling you don't know even the basics."

"No, I don't recon I do. Now that I think about it, no one said she was a Gryffindor per se, I just assumed.." Narcissa felt some kind of pity towards him, the way he had probably pictured his mother had just been smashed in thousands of peaces. But why hadn't anyone told him? Was it intentional of their part, to keep his Slytherin side hidden?

"Was she a Death Eater?" The whisper was so low she almost didn't hear it.

"No.." He breathed a sigh of relief. "..she never made it that far." She said softly. The insecurity not showing. This was exactly what she had been thinking of before, Lily's wish to become a Death Eater that suddenly wasn't there anymore.

"What do you mean she never made that far?"

"When we were thirteen, we found out about the cause. Of course, many of us already knew. Lily didn't know the full story but had her own theories that I guess was confirmed in third year. To take the Dark Mark was her goal, along with many others, myself included. She believed passionately for what the Dark Lord was fighting for. But when the time came for her to actually take it, she backed out with an excuse.

"Many was shocked to see her turn away, but believed she only wanted to make sure she mature enough to serve the Dark Lord."

He was silent a long time before asking her to leave him to his thoughts. She did so after relaying the message from Voldemort. He only nodded and she left him to work trough his thoughts. Gods only knew he needed it.

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When Narcissa Malfoy closed the heavy door behind her, Harry broke right out crying. It finally hit him he would never really know his parents. He could hear stories after stories about his father from Remus Lupin, but if his mother were a Slytherin, chances were Remus didn't know before they started going out.

He missed them so much even though he often didn't show it. He missed them. He had almost been without them but seeing Hermione or Ron with their complete sets of whole families he couldn't help but feel jealous. What had made it all much worse was the thoughts and ideas he had had running through his head in last few days. What would they think? Would they blame him for siding with Voldemort, the Dark Lord, who had killed them? Only to get to Harry.

So far it was only ideas, options if you will but he wanted to know more.

It wasn't only his mother and father he thought of, but Sirius too. What they would think. Thoughts like these ran through his brain before he remembered Narcissa's words about his mother. He mentally smacked himself for so easily forgetting something so important. His mother had wanted to be a Death Eater, but something had changed. Would she forgive him if he went through with his 'options'?

As he rolled out of bed to take a shower before Tom and Ginny came, he silently prayed to his mother for understanding.

"Mum, please forgive if I go through with this. I'll always love you.."

But Lily Evans-Potter didn't hear him, though someone else did..

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Love you all

-Iiv