Folks, there is confusion by what I mean by a Life Debt—or maybe some of you just like being "barracks lawyers." Harry owes Narcissa a Life Debt because of three things.

1) Narcissa did not create the deadly situation that both she and Harry found themselves in; Voldemort created the deadly situation. Hermione does not owe a Life Debt to Ron for rescuing her from the troll, because it was Ron shooting his mouth off, so that Hermione was crying in the lavatory, that put Hermione in danger in the first place.

2) By Narcissa saying "He is dead!" she saved Harry's life. Had she told the truth ("Somehow Potter is alive!"), Voldemort would have AK'd Harry a second time, and this time there would have been no piece of Voldemort's soul to absorb the deadly magic. If Narcissa had told the truth, Harry would have died; by lying to Voldemort, Narcissa saved Harry.

3) By Narcissa lying to Voldemort, she took a deadly risk. In canon, Voldemort had killed his own people for trivial reasons—and since he had been living at MALFOY Manor, Narcissa MALFOY would know that angering him would get her killed. If Voldemort figured out that Narcissa had lied to him, no way would she be alive, ten seconds later.

Note that Narcissa's motivation does not matter. Ultimately she saved Harry's life not for his benefit but for Draco's benefit. But this does not change the fact that she did a brave thing, and Harry owes her for it.

Chapter 2
Narcissa States Her Terms

A minute later
Minutes after Voldemort's death
Still in the Great Hall, Hogwarts SOW&W

Harry found Hermione amidst a mob of sad-looking redheads, all mourning the death of Fred Weasley. Hermione and Ron were holding hands.

Harry said, "Weasleys, my condolences for Fred's death. He was a good man, a good friend and he brought laughter to the world. I'll miss him. Hermione, can I borrow you for a few minutes?"

Hermione said, "Harry, it's 'May I borrow you for a few minutes?' Yes, you may."

Hermione left the ginger-haired throng in Harry's company. He and she definitely were not holding hands, unlike with her and Ron.

Hermione asked, "What's going on, Harry?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I got myself into a situation."

Hermione scowled when Harry led her to stand in front of the two Malfoys.

Narcissa immediately stood up. "Come, Draco. We four need to talk, in private."

"What about?" Draco snarled. "There's nothing I need to talk to Potter and the mudblood about."

Smack. Narcissa slapped her son, right there in the Great Hall for all to see. "Vanish that word from your vocabulary, my dragon, from this moment forwards. This young witch with nonmagical parents has earned my respect—do not insult her."

Harry and Hermione looked at each other, amazed.

Narcissa led the three teenagers to an empty classroom. She locked the door with a Black Family locking charm, then silenced the room to thwart eavesdroppers with a Black Family silencing charm. Then she asked Draco, Hermione and Harry to add their own silencing charms. Harry's silencing charm was in Parseltongue—Draco startled nervously, but Narcissa merely nodded.

Narcissa asked Harry to formally introduce Hermione to the older woman. Harry did so. Harry, Hermione and Draco all were startled when Narcissa curtseyed to Hermione and said, "Pleased to meet you, Miss Hermione Granger of New House Granger."

Narcissa then said, "When I woke up this morning, I never expected that I would go to bed a widow, with Harry Potter owing me and with Wizarding Britain owing Harry Potter. Why are we here? To discuss these two owings."

Narcissa then explained to Draco and Hermione what had happened earlier, after Harry had been hit by the Dark Lord's curse and both duellers had collapsed. Harry added a few sentences to Narcissa's tale, from his point of view.

Hermione threw her arms round Harry and Hermy-hugged him fiercely. "Harry, you survived the Killing Curse twice?"

Draco was grinning. "So, Potter, you owe a Life Debt to my mum? Sucks to be you, ha ha."

Narcissa said, "Actually, Draco, I've no intention to hurt Heir Potter or to ruin Heir Potter. I intend to help him to become what he should have been, the entire time."

Both Draco and Hermione stared. Harry felt confused.

Hermione said, "Please explain your last sentence, Lady Malfoy."

Narcissa said, "First of all, Miss Granger, I no longer claim the name of Malfoy. Lord Draco Malfoy will get a shock, and not a pleasant one, the first time he inspects the House Malfoy vaults." She looked at her son. "I'd bankrupt House Malfoy if I claimed my contracted Widow's Stipend. So instead, I'll return to House Black, if this is acceptable to Lord Black."

Harry asked, "Why are you looking at me?"

Narcissa answered, "Because you're Lord Black—or shall be, as soon as you claim the Black lordship."

Hermione asked, "Does this also mean that Harry is Lord Potter when he claims it, besides being Lord Black when he claims it?"

Narcissa answered, "Correct, Miss Granger."

Draco muttered, "Ten points to Gryffindor."

Harry said, "To get the conversation back on track—what did you mean, Miss Black, that you intend to help me become what I should have been the entire time? What should I have been?"

"Back in '91, Heir Potter, I thought you were merely a quite thoughtless and cruel child, after the way you insulted Draco on the firstie train—"

Harry and Hermione exchanged confused looks. Harry said, "When did I do that? I didn't throw my arms round Draco and call him my 'best mate,' but I didn't insult him."

Draco snapped, "When you refused to shake my hand, Potter, that was an insult! If I'd known more spells then, I would've challenged you to a wizard's duel."

"Wait, wait," Harry said. "Draco, you offered me your friendship, right after you'd insulted Ron Weasley, whom I'd started to be friends with, and this was a month after you'd talked like a snooty berk in Madam Malkin's. Shaking your hand would've said I want to be your friend, when I was thinking the opposite: 'No way, not happening.' "

Narcissa said, "Heir Potter, if you'd indeed decided not to be friends with Draco, you should've said, 'I feel that I can't be what you want in a friend, so I must decline your offer of friendship,' then shaken his hand to mean No hard feelings. Politeness and tact are necessities in a society where everyone who's eleven and older carries a deadly weapon."

Harry stared at the floor. "Draco, I apologise for unknowingly insulting you. That was never my intention."

Narcissa said, "But this goes back to a point I keep trying to make. House Potter is Ancient and Noble; Houses Potter, Longbottom and Black are the three oldest Houses in Wizarding Britain. Heir Potter, how could you make an error in manners that an Elder House"—a comparatively young House—"heir knows not to make?"

Harry snapped, "Because I was never taught the knowledge and traditions of Ancient and Noble House Potter! I was raised by my mother's Muggle sister and her husband. They told me nothing about my mother, nothing about my father, and nothing about House Potter. Bugger-all, I never was told I was a wizard till the day before I met Draco in Madam Malkin's!"

Draco stared at Harry in shock.

Harry continued, "And nobody, absolutely nobody—no professor, no student and neither Weasley parent—has ever sat me down and told me, 'This is what you need to know in this world to prevent angering someone enough that he curses you.' Merlin, I'm sure Hermione knows more etiquette stuff than I do."

"I do," Hermione agreed. "Even though I don't know much."

Harry grinned at her. "Right, you can teach only an OWL-level class in Wizarding Etiquette, not a NEWT-level class."

Narcissa asked, "Heir Potter, Sirius never taught you anything about wizarding etiquette, or about House Potter? He never took you to Potter Manor and let you talk to the portraits?"

Harry blurted, "I own a Potter Manor?" Hermione hugged him.

Harry then answered Narcissa: "No, Sirius never taught me any of that, because anytime we were together, there were a hundred and eleven crises going on that were more urgent."

Narcissa said, "I can't imagine what it must have been like to be Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived."

Hermione nodded. "His life was no Welcoming Feast, whatever you might think."

Draco said, "What does any of this have to do with Potter owing Mother a Life Debt?"

Narcissa replied, "Because, my dragon, Heir Potter didn't merely defeat the Dark Lord in a duel to the death. Heir Potter discredited the Dark Lord. This halfblood boy, aided by a mudblood—apologies, Miss Granger—and a blood-traitor, defeated an army of Purebloods. Pureblood snobbery says such a thing can't happen, yet Heir Potter is stronger magically than you Purebloods in his year, and Miss Granger learns more spells, faster, than all you Purebloods in her year."

Hermione grinned at Draco.

Draco said, "How can you say such a thing, Mother? That Potter and Granger are better than us?"

"How can I say this, Draco? By reading your letters, going back seven years. The truth is clear, to anyone who looks at these two with an open mind. Which I must say, your father didn't. And till today, I didn't look clearly at these two either. We Purebloods were wrong, wrong, wrong. But Draco, Heir Potter and Miss Granger will shape our world for the next hundred years—it's a fact. Unless I ruin things; I'm crushed by the responsibility I feel now."

Hermione said, "So you're saying that Harry, after defeating Voldemort in a duel, is now 'the Leader of the Light.' With all the fame, admiration and trust that Professor Dumbledore once had."

Harry said, "Actually, at the end there, Dumbledore—"

"Professor Dumbledore—"

"Dammit, Hermione, he sentenced me to live ten years in a cupboard under the stairs! In a house where I was beaten, and where I was starved!"

Narcissa and Draco both looked shocked at Harry's words.

Harry's rant continued: "And whenever I begged Dumbledore not to send me back there each summer, he ignored me and sent me back to the place where I begged not to be sent! Just like Riddle!"

Narcissa looked confused. "Who, or what, is 'Riddle'?"

Harry replied tiredly, "Tom Marvolo Riddle. The son of Merope Gaunt, an ugly and magically weak witch who love-potioned a handsome Muggle aristocrat, Tom Riddle. Merope let the love potion run out, Tom Riddle the elder abandoned her after she'd gotten pregnant and she died in childbirth in an orphanage. Tom Marvolo Riddle grew up in that orphanage, till Assistant Headmaster Albus Dumbledore brought Riddle his Hogwarts letter. During Riddle's seven years at Hogwarts, Dumbledore made Riddle return to the orphanage every summer. Here's a fun fact: At Hogwarts, Tom Marvolo Riddle invented an anagram of his name, namely, 'I am Lord Voldemort.' "

Hermione gave Harry another Hermy-hug.

Draco was staring. "The Dark Lord's father was a Muggle? No, you're lying!"

"Sorry, Malfoy, but it's all true. A lot of what I told you, Tom Marvolo Riddle's shade told me himself in the Chamber of Secrets. I wound up having to kill that version of Voldemort too."

Then Harry looked at Hermione. "Anyway, Obsessive Control Freak Dumbledore, when he died, was no longer 'of the Light.' He was just as much an impostor 'Leader of the Light' as the son of a Muggle, Tom Marvolo Riddle, was an impostor Pureblood."

Hermione huffed. "You shouldn't disrespect Professor Dumbledore. He was a great wizard."

Harry snapped, "And because you believed that, you wrote me no letters between fourth and fifth year, right after I'd seen Cedric Diggory die and I needed your words."

Then Harry looked at Narcissa. "Anyway, we're off-topic. We're here so you can claim my Life Debt and tell me I must give you all the money in my vault, or marry you, or something, or else I lose my magic."

Narcissa said, "If I wanted to use your Life Debt to get rich, I'd command you to give me all the money in the Dark Lord's vaults. He commanded many, many Death Eaters, including Lucius, to give him tonnes of coinage in tribute. And all the money that belonged to the Dark Lord this morning? It now belongs to you, Heir Potter, by Right of Conquest—"

"Holy shit," said Draco.

"—but I've already decided my role in your future, and it's not as your wife. But Heir Potter, listen to me carefully: Playtime is over. Now you need a wife."

Harry replied to Narcissa with a shrug. "If you say so. I suppose I can hold a raffle—winning girl marries me and no girl gets charged a dowry, if I'm as rich as you figure."

Draco and Hermione looked at Harry in confusion. After some silence, Narcissa asked, "You've no interest in marrying Miss Granger?"

Harry shrugged. "Doesn't matter. She's in love with Ron, and no way would I stab my best mate in the back like that."

Hermione said, "You think I fancy Ron?"

"Hello? Remember how you lost the plot when you caught Ron snogging Lavender?"

Draco perked up, hearing this.

Harry continued, "Didn't you cry and cry after Ron left the tent? Did I, or didn't I, see you kiss Ron a little while ago? Okay, I get it—I'm broody, I have a temper, I'm stupid and I'm a danger magnet. So if nobody wants just Harry, why not let some lucky girl marry Harry Potter the celebrity?"

Hermione said, "I kissed Ron because he said something nice about house-elves. It was sweet of him, and Ron is never sweet."

Harry shrugged. "Here's what I know, Hermione: You lost your cool when Ron kissed Lavender—but when I acted like a fool near Cho Chang, this didn't seem to bother you. You've kissed Ron, but you've never shown any interest in kissing me."

Narcissa said, "And yet I hear from everyone who has children in Hogwarts, that you two are the Romeo and Juliet of the school."

Hermione waved Narcissa's words away. "Harry James Potter, I would've snogged you mightily after we'd flown on Buckbeak's back, if you'd made any sort of move, do you hear me?"

Draco said, "I was right, Mother! It was Potter and Granger who helped that hippogriff escape."

Harry snarled at Hermione: "If you wanted to snog me in third year, why did you date Ron in sixth year?"

Narcissa spoke before Hermione did: "You thought Heir Potter wasn't interested in you like that. Right, Miss Granger?"

"No, Miss Black, I didn't. For the Yule Ball, did he ask the bushy-haired, know-it-all bookworm to be his date? No, he didn't. Actually, he did ask me—after Viktor Krum asked me first."

Narcissa asked, "Miss Granger, are you in love with Heir Potter?"

Hermione glared. "I'll not answer that question in front of your son. His mockeries are cruel."

Narcissa sighed, then asked, "Heir Potter, are you in love with Miss Granger?"

Draco said, "I'm in love with Astoria Greengrass. Does anyone care?"

Harry replied, "I don't know what love is. But I know a day when Hermione is next to me is a day when I'm much happier."

Hearing Harry's words, Hermione smiled. And Narcissa blinked.

When Sirius Black had been a Hogwarts student, Narcissa had been a prefect, then a young wife. Narcissa had been scornful of her cousin Sirius, whom she had seen as nothing more than a prankster and a "womaniser wizard."

Then in 1981, when Narcissa had been the mother of a toddler, a young witch named Marlene McKinnon had been murdered by Death Eaters. Afterwards Sirius, by all the gossip that Narcissa had heard, had become an emotional wreck.

When Narcissa had run into Sirius in Diagon Alley, Sirius had confided to her, "I didn't realise I was in love with Marlene until she died, then it was too late to tell her."

Narcissa at the time had been scornful of Sirius's words—How can somebody be in love and not realise it?

But whilst Narcissa usually was unsympathetic to her cousin, she did pity Sirius because he came from a home where he was shown no love. However, Narcissa in 1981 had not made the connexion between Sirius's unloving childhood and him claiming to be unable to recognise love when he felt it.

Meanwhile, now Narcissa realised that Harry Potter's small size for his age, his clothes that were too big for him and that were worn out, and what he had just yelled at Hermione Granger, all meant that Harry Potter came from a home that was at least as unloving as Sirius's.

Now in this empty classroom, Narcissa could not dismiss this question from her mind: Is Harry Potter a boy who has grown up without love, and so doesn't recognise what he feels for Hermione Granger as love?

Narcissa said to Harry and the two others in the empty classroom, "I've heard enough."

Narcissa drew her wand, which she pointed at the ceiling. Speaking formally, she said, "Harken, O Harry James Potter, as I call for payment for your Life Debt to me—"

Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and squeezed it hard.

Narcissa's terms were as shocking as they were simple.

First, Harry was required to claim the Lordship for House Potter, House Black, House Slytherin, and any other House that he was Head of, either by inheritance or by Right of Conquest.

Harry, as Lord Black, would reclaim Narcissa into the Black family and would declare her to be under Black family protection.

Harry was required to marry Hermione as Lady Potter, or else forfeit his magic. Narcissa gave Harry the choice of marrying only one witch, Hermione, and calling her "Lady Potter-Black-Whatever-Whatever," or else marrying a different witch for each House that Harry was Head of.

However, Lord Harry Potter and Narcissa Black would enter into a Line Continuation contract, which said that every child whom concubine Narcissa bore after today would be a legitimate child of House Black. Furthermore, if Narcissa gave Harry a son before Lady Black birthed a son, Narcissa's son would become the Black Heir.

The last term of Narcissa's Life Debt repayment was that whilst Narcissa would be Harry's concubine, never a wife, Harry always would carefully listen to Narcissa's advice and he would discuss Narcissa's advice with Hermione (so long as both women were alive).

Harry would not be magically compelled to meet the stated terms, but he would lose his magic if Narcissa declared to Magic that Harry had not fulfilled the terms in a timely manner.

"...So mote it be," Narcissa said. Light flashed, and Harry felt something change in his magical core.

Draco was spitting mad when Narcissa stopped speaking. "Mother, you could've demanded a Gringotts vault as big as the Great Hall, and demanded that Potter fill it with galleons. Instead, you told him, 'Make me your whore'!"

"No, my dragon, I told Heir Potter, 'Make me your concubine.' There's a big difference."

"I stand corrected," Draco said sarcastically. "But why not order Potter to make you his wife, in addition to Granger? Or even instead of Granger?"

"Draco, use the brain you have. If I become a wife of Heir Potter, or the wife of Heir Potter, what will people think? That I Imperiused him, or I potioned him. If people think this, nobody will listen to Heir Potter. His influence on Wizarding Britain will be erased, and nothing will stop us from sliding into another blood-purity war, then another after that. Magicals, however, will listen to Heir Potter if they believe he's taking advice both from the smartest Muggle-born witch in Wizarding Britain and from Lucius Malfoy's widow, but he's drawing his own conclusions."

Hermione said, "But this is assuming that the advice I give Harry isn't always 'ignore what Narcissa just said.' Listen, witch, Harry has to obey your commands that call on his Life Debt or else he forfeits his magic, but he has no reason to trust you. And neither do I trust you. Before our life together begins, I demand an oath from you."

Draco snarled, "You're saying my mother isn't trustworthy, Granger?"

Hermione laughed scornfully. "She's your mother and Lucius Malfoy's widow. Does that answer your question?"

Narcissa calmly asked Harry, "What oath do you require from me?"

He replied, "You swear on your magic and your life that you won't betray my trust. Also, whenever I ask you a question, you swear on your magic and your life that you won't pull a Dumbledore on me. Hermione, help me with the wording?"

Hermione said to Narcissa, "When Harry asks you a question, you won't refuse to answer, you won't give a knowingly false answer, and you won't give a partial answer with intent to mislead or evade. You will tell Harry as much as you know, and with guesses and opinions labelled as such."

Narcissa pointed her wand at the classroom's ceiling, then swore on her magic and her life, everything that Harry and Hermione had demanded be in her oath. As she said "So mote it be," Draco was staring at his mother in horror—if she pulled any kind of trickery on Harry Potter, her own oath would cost her everything.

Narcissa stowed her wand back in her wand holster whilst she asked, "Is there anything else we need to discuss?"

Harry said, "Yes, Narcissa, there definitely is. You've commanded me to take you as a concubine, Hermione as my wife, and to become Lord Potter—why? What is your ambition here? What do you get from all this?"

"Let me start with two selfish reasons why I claimed the Life Debt as I did. If I'm your concubine, I'm hoping you'll speak up for Draco and me so we don't go to Azkaban. For a number of reasons, I expect never to marry again, but I still want to birth and to raise children. But more importantly, even with this Dark Lord dead, nothing has changed. Purebloods, even my own son, still believe a lie, and Purebloods still have the power to force their wrong beliefs on the rest of Wizarding Britain. Another Dark Lord rising is only a matter of time; another war is only a matter of time."

Hermione said, "Actually, if there is another Blood War, I don't think the Muggle-borns will be meek little lambs next time. Ask a Muggle librarian about the phrase 'Never again,' Narcissa."

Narcissa continued, "Heir Potter, you alone can change our fates, you alone can prevent disaster—but only if you don't make ignorant blunders. You need a smart and learned Muggle-born advisor, and who better than Miss Granger? You also need a Pureblood advisor, and I can't think of any Pureblood woman who knows, better than me, how Wizarding Britain truly works."

Then Narcissa's voice became a purr: "Not to mention, who better than you, Harry Potter the green-eyed hero, to sweep the cobwebs from my uterus?"

As Hermione choked, Narcissa calmly asked, "Any other questions?"

Hermione asked her, "A minute ago, you made Harry have to marry me. But what if he asks me to marry him and I say no? It would be cruel to Harry, to make him marry me when he doesn't love me."

Harry shrugged—though inside, his heart was crushed. "If you won't marry me, Hermione, maybe I'll lose my magic. No big deal, I was a Muggle for eleven years, so I can go back to that, no problem. Or maybe if you won't marry me, I'll die. No biggie, I never expected to outlive Tom Riddle anyway. If you marry me but want to see Ron on the side, I won't stop you."

Hermione stared at Harry in horror. He could not guess why.