Narcissa had never been this much busy in her entire life. Not even when she was planning Bellatrix's wedding or her own for the matter was she this much busy. The fault lay with her son and the new trade deal that was signed with the American company. The deal with the company was to create a new company under the combined ownership of House Malfoy and the investors of Fusion. The fact of the matter is that an outside company will not be allowed to hold a monopoly on any trade in the British Wizarding World. So there was a need for a local sponsor and with House Malfoy's aid, the company namely the 'Fusion' will be the sole producer of Crystal Vision Screens in Britain.
That doesn't mean everything was going smooth. At the moment the company was planning to start a production facility in Britain as that would let them evade excess tax that otherwise they incur if they are merely exporting the finished product to Britain. This means that the new company needed a modestly skilled workforce which Britain alone lacked. That led her to seek out new recruits from Bauxbatons and Hogwarts with more skill in charms. In fact, she had already sent Fleur to France to oversee the recruitment drive. It was surely going to be a heavy investment but the sheer political power that can be wielded by controlling a media outlet is not something to scoff at especially after the Malfoy's lost controlling shares of the Prophet. At that time after Lucius's death, it was a necessary move to secure allies against all the enemies that Lucius has made in his time. But that doesn't mean she liked it and this was a way to reclaim that power and outmanoeuvre the many of their political opponents and allies.
Her musings were cut short when her wards alerted that someone had taken the lift to the top floor which was where her office was.
'Now that is strange. I was sure I had no appointments today and I had instructed the staff not to allow anyone to access me at this time.' She thought and she prepared to greet whoever that comes her way
The door opened and the first person she saw was Avery followed by a woman she didn't recognise.
"Mr Avery, I don't remember we had an appointment today." Narcissa subtlety palmed her wand knowing that she was in the wrong crowd so to speak
"Oh, don't worry Cissy. We won't take much of your time." The witch close to Avery said with a cackle
Narcissa could recognise that cackle and mad expression anywhere. This was most certainly her sister but how? The answer came quickly into her mind, Polyjuice!
XXXXX
Draco was attending the class of Umbridge with the rest of his year mates of Slytherin and Gryffindor houses. It was not much of a class as it was a reading session of a very boring book by a very dumb author. The last week has been pretty much a hectic one. Dumbledore has fled the castle taking the bullet for Harry and that was all Umbridge wanted. With a vacant Headmaster's post she was catapulted to the position. This along with the fact that the pink toad was the defence professor put a sour taste in any self-respecting student. Anyway, with Dumbledore gone the pink demon had a free hand in torturing muggleborns and Half-bloods alike. The OWLs exams were scheduled to be conducted next week so much of the fifth years had mellowed down to prepare for the exams. Even the resident delinquent Potter and his cronies have been laying low since his prime backer is on the run.
A knock on the closed door of the class broke the serene silence and Umbridge glided to the door. She carefully opened the door and was engaged in a whispered conversation with someone. After some time the door fully opened to show Professor Snape at the other side of the door.
"Mr Malfoy you may pack your bag and leave with professor Snape. Something has come up and it needs your immediate presence." Umbridge said in her usual sickly sweet voice but there was a frown on her face
A murmur spread throughout the class but Draco paid it no mind and immediately exited the class with Snape.
"Has anything happened?" Draco asked his godfather as they walked through the hallways
"There has been an attack on your Mall in Diagon Alley and Narcissa was injured. We are going to St Mungo's via floo." Snape said as they went straight to his own personal quarters
"What! But how did this happen? Who attacked her?"
"I don't know. I immediately rushed to inform you once I was informed by St Mungo's." Snape said as he marched straight into his room followed by Draco. Snape waved his wand igniting the fireplace and handed over the floo powder to Draco.
In a flash of flame, Draco exited the fireplace of St Mungo's main lobby. He was closely followed by Snape and together they found a staff and was led straight to a room. Draco immediately rushed to Narcissa's side with obvious concern paying no mind to other occupants of the room.
Draco's eyes raked over her right hand which was covered with bandages.
"What happened? Who did this to you?" Draco asked as he shook with anger
"Mr Malfoy I don't think this is the place for a boy like you to…" one of the Aurors started to say
"Shut the fuck up!" Draco shouted and the room shook as a strong pulse of magical aura pressed into the room
"I am speaking to my mother and I will hear her out. If you have some problem with how things are going you can get the fuck out of this room." With that said to a stunned group of Aurors Draco turned his attention to his mother
"What happened? Who is responsible for this?" Draco asked once again looking at his mother
"It was Avery and my sister Bellatrix who was under Polyjuice potion. They attacked me in the office because I refused to join their merry band of psychopaths." Narcissa managed to wheeze out
"We have confirmed Avery was there as he was fried alive by a ward that was around the Mall. I suspect when he tried to escape he thought to create some panic in the crowd. He definitely cast a Reducto at the big chandelier of the mall and was promptly killed by the lightning attack that came from the object." Kingsley said from the side with a poker face but his eyes were dancing in mirth at the fate that had befallen the Death Eater
"What about Bellatrix Lestrange?" Draco asked with gritted teeth
"We don't know whether it was Bellatrix Lestrange that attacked Lady Malfoy. We only have Lady Malfoy's word and we can't confirm her identity. As for the female assailant's whereabouts, so far we have no idea." Kingsley was the one to answer that as well
Draco was silent for some time as his mind went through different scenarios and finally, he reached a decision.
"I am taking my mother home. I can hire a personal healer to treat her injuries." Draco said as he summoned Twinky the house-elf
"Now wait just a minute. You can't do that. There is still the case of Mr Avery's death inside the mall." Aurora Dawlish spoke up
"Investigating this your job and if you are thinking to pin the blame on my mother for defending herself then Auror Dawlish I suggest you take it up with your superiors. We can have along drawn-out conversation in courts where my lawyers will be dismantling your entire little paper dragon of a case to shreds. In the meantime I will be relocating my mother to a secure place where she will not be available for other assassins to kill her." Draco said and watched Twinky disappear with Narcissa. Then he turned on the Aurors once more
"Do pass on my heartfelt condolences to Avery's family but tell them to brace themselves. They attacked my mother and now they are going to know what I am capable of." Draco said as he turned on his heel and walked out of the room leaving a very startled crowd.
By the time the Aurors or Snape could recover from the shock Draco had already left the hospital via floo and Narcissa was nowhere to be seen. This left Snape to deal with the mess with Aurors and the hospital staff that were screaming bloody murder for kidnapping their patient from the hospital
Draco exited the floo network at Diagon Alley and promptly transfigured his robs into casual ones. With that done he walked straight to Gringotts bank to prepare for the downfall of House Avery.
XXXXX
Severus Snape was not having a good day but that was his life as he had to deal with dunderheads each and every day. But today was turning out to be at the top ten list of his bad days. He didn't fancy himself to be held responsible for emotional outbursts of a hormonal teenager and he certainly didn't appreciate the Aurors insinuating that Narcissa will be held accountable for the foolish actions of Avery.
After placating the Aurors and the hospital staff he immediately floo-called Malfoy manor from Hogwarts. Narcissa was the one that answered the call and she let him through the wards into the manor.
The first thing he noticed was that Draco was by Narcissa's side with several parchments in his hand.
"That was foolish of you Draco. I thought that you had some more tact instead you publically threatened house Avery in front of Aurors no less. When did you start behaving like a Griffindor?" Severus questioned in a clipped tone
"Oh, I am not going to attack house Avery personally and in a physical way. I mean to destroy them and turn them into paupers." Draco said as he waved several parchments in his hand
"What do you mean?" Severus asked
"My father had extensive business dealings with several pureblood families and chief among them were the 'Imperuised Death Eaters'. Dear Mr Avery was one of such client and father helped him out with several loans with low-interest rates than what Gringotts offered. In return, father had major shares in the business enterprises that house Avery was engaged in along with a binding magical contract that specified the shares owned by Avery family can be only sold to House Malfoy." Draco said with a smirk
"I see, you are planning to call in all your debts owed by house Avery and leave them to dry." Severus mused thinking that it was a good plan
"Yes and that will force them to sell their own shares to someone else to ensure the gold flow. But the contract forbids them from selling to outsiders which means they will have to sell them to house Malfoy and sadly for them I will not be in the mood for buying. I might be persuaded however if they sign a binding magical contract that states that Avery family will not pursue any legal action by themselves or by any proxy. With the unstable political climate in the Ministry I don't want to take any chances." Draco explained as he arranged the stacks of parchments in order and presented them to Narcissa. Without any protest she pressed her signet ring at the bottom of each parchment. The coat of arms of house Malfoy magically appeared wherever she pressed her ring sealing the contracts.
"Twinky deliver these parchments to a goblin by the name of Wickedtooth. Tell him to enact the plan today itself." Draco ordered and the elf popped away carrying the parchments
"Severus, the Dark Lord was making his move, wasn't he? He is not happy that house Malfoy is staying on the side-lines of this war isn't he?" Narcissa asked catching the attention of Draco and Severus
"What makes you think that?" Severus asked after he schools his face devoid of any emotions
"Bellatrix was screaming that at the top of her lungs when we exchanged spells. It was by luck that I had the presence of mind to activate the wards early into the fight." Narcissa said with a shudder
"If the Dark Lord really wants me to take a side then he will have to wait till the OWLs are over. I will be able to take the lordship of House Malfoy in the absence of my father after I have passed the OWLs. Any decisions will only come after that." Draco said as he stared hard at his godfather who inclined his head realising that Draco's words were for Voldemort
"Perhaps you should speak with Dumbledore and seek his protection." Severus said uncomfortable and was the recipient of two incredulous looks
"We rather take our chances on our own Severus. I don't fancy being protected like the Longbottoms and Potters." Narcissa scoffed at the mere mention of Dumbledore and protection in the same sentence
"I have seen how our esteemed former headmaster protected Harry Potter, uncle Severus. I will take a pass on your advice and as my mother said we will take our chances without Dumbledore's aid." Draco said with a snort and then turned his attention to his mother
"I have contacted Emilia Winters and she will be your personal healer. She should be coming over before sunset and take over as your personal healer. Fleur should be arriving tomorrow and that will ensure you will not be alone. I must return to Hogwarts as the OWLs are next week." Draco said as he squeezed Narcissa's good hand comfortingly
"You should not stay on my behalf and do well in your OWLs. If there is something else I will have Twinky by my side and as you said Fleur will be back tomorrow." Narcissus wanted to say more but Severus was watching and she didn't want to expose the nature of her relationship with Draco
Draco nodded at Narcissa subtly to show that he understood her predicament. With a small kiss to her cheek, he stood up from Narcissa's bedside and left with Severus back to Hogwarts.
XXXXX
The news of Narcissa Malfoy getting attacked became widespread only when the Prophet reported the incident on the next day. Thankfully with the close proximity of OWLs and NEWTs, much of the fifth years and seventh year's were busy preparing for the exams. This left Draco to evade all the questioning glances of his year mates at the very least. That doesn't mean he was actively avoiding them and locked himself in the Slytherin dorms. It was quite the opposite and was in fact engaged in many other activities with his new recruits.
There was one thing that really affected Draco and it was Voldemort's arrogance to attack Narcissa. That cannot be left unanswered and Draco was concocting a plan to shatter Voldemort. He just needed a little help from someone else to have the plan a proper success but thankfully that person was right under his thrall. That's why Draco was waiting for that person in an abandoned classroom looking at the Marauders map tracking the footprints of his guest.
The classroom door opened slightly and Draco smirked at his guest.
"Come on in Susan. We have much to discuss and you don't mind helping me out do you?" Draco asked as he eyed the redhead witch like a shark.
He was going to make sure that Voldemort will get a humiliating end for daring to touch Narcissa. He was going to make sure that the name Voldemort will be spoken not with awe and fear but with revulsion. Most of all he was going to ensure that he delivers Bellatrix in a matchbox to that snake faced freak.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Sorry for the long delay. Hopefully, I will not suffer from a writer's block again but then again I might have jinxed it.
Draco is now rapidly changing his plans because of Voldemort. His original plan was to stay on the sidelines but fate has other plans it seems. Draco by his nature is a possessive individual and an attack against Narcissa is something that he will not forgive.
The next chapter we will see a part of Draco's plan unfold.