Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Hogwarts, Gringotts, the Leaky Cauldron or anything else in JKR's wonderful world. Except for the little pebble just in front of the front doors of Hogwarts. I put that there. I might own that. Maybe. But probably not.


Tea and Secrets

One week after having received the invitation, at precisely 2 O'clock, Narcissa took a deep, nervous breath and stepped into the green flames of the floo. She had any number of scenarios in mind, from being met personally by Emmaline Briarly to being stunned the moment she appeared, and many others in between, of what might happen when she arrived at her destination.

Finding a smiling, sexy French maid waiting to greet her wasn't even on the list.

She blinked in surprise at the young woman before her, taking her in in a quick inspection. She was eye to eye with Narcissa, though some of that height was due to the black, high heeled sandal style shoes she wore. Round faced, with bright eyes and a brilliant smile, her black hair was up in braids pinned to her head under a black and white lace maid's cap. She wasn't supermodel thin like Daphne, but had a slightly rounded, more normal body shape.

The uniform was the classic black dress with a small white apron, very short skirt with petticoats, trimmed in white lace, the decolletage quite low with an uplift giving the girl a nice amount of cleavage. She wore thigh high black stockings on shapely legs and the outfit was accessorized by a lace edge choker on her throat, lace edged cuffs on her wrists and wide straps around her ankles.

She quickly realized the choker and cuffs, though edged with lace, were not cloth, but thick black leather, with brass rings on the inside of the wrists and ankles and on the front of the choker, or rather, collar. From the way she was standing she could see small padlocks on the inside of the cuffs on her right side.

She had no time to say anything as the young woman curtseyed. "Welcome to Briarwood, Lady Malfoy. I'm Claire and I am to take you to Lady Briarly. If you would follow me, please." Well, with that definitely British accent she could tell the girl wasn't French, despite her attire.

Narcissa didn't know what was going on, but items obviously meant to be used as restraints on the girl didn't help her nervousness at all. She didn't look like she was under the Imperious curse, bright eyed and smiling, but it was hard to tell. She flexed her forearm to make sure her wand was there, though she didn't really need it with her wandless magic. "Are you her servant?" she asked.

The girl turned back, her smile, if anything, getting wider and more … mischievous? "No, Ma'am. I'm her property. Her slave." She indicated the way. "This way, please?"

As she turned away again, Narcissa saw another small padlock at the back of her neck. As she followed her down the hall from the floo room, Narcissa asked, "Have you been with Lady Briarly for long?"

Claire looked back over her shoulder. "Oh, yes, Ma'am, for five years now."

"Have you ever thought of leaving her service?"

"Oh, no, Ma'am!" the girl exclaimed cheerfully. "The benefits are just too good."

"Benefits?"

They had reached a bend in the corridor and Claire reached out and grasped a piece of woodwork on the wall. "Yes, Ma'am. The spankings are just too delicious to give up." She said, her smile taking on a more mischievous look as she pulled, and a section of the wall opened and exposed another corridor.

Narcissa didn't know what to think about the girl. She didn't act like she was under the Imperious, and her answers were far to flippant to be under that curse if the many examples she'd seen over the years were any indication.

As for the disguised corridor, she wasn't surprised at all about that. Malfoy Manor had had one as well and she knew of other manors with them. They were used to partition off parts of the homes and provide additional privacy from company and outsiders to the family.

She waited as Claire closed the hidden door after they had passed through, and the wall once again took on the look of an ornately decorated wall. She stepped aside as the girl passed her and made to follow her when she happened to look up … and stopped dead, mouth gaping.

"Ma'am?" Claire asked, having stopped and sounding slightly concerned.

She pointed upwards. "Those are light bulbs." She stated.

Claire grinned. "Yes, Ma'am."

"Electric light bulbs." Narcissa elaborated, trying to explain her confusion.

Claire's smile broadened, obviously enjoying herself. "Yes, Ma'am."

"Lady Briarly has electricity in her home?" she questioned.

She could tell the girl was barely restraining her laughter. "Doesn't everybody, Ma'am?"

What the hell is going on? Narcissa asked herself as she looked from the girl's laughing eyes to the decorative glowing bulbs. First, a girl eagerly proclaiming her status as a slave, and seemingly enjoying it, and now a magical house wired with electricity. She'd seen the ever-burning candles providing light in the corridor on the other side of the hidden door, but at least part of the house was electrified if she could believe what she was seeing now. How? When? Why?

Again, she wondered just what she was getting into. What did Emmaline Briarly want with her and just who and what was the woman she'd thought she'd known about?

Obviously, she was a lot more than what she'd thought she knew.

"Ma'am?" Claire spoke up suddenly, interrupting her thoughts. "Lady Briarly?"

Narcissa started at the mention of who she was here to meet. "Yes. Please, lead the way." She said, recovering her wits.

Claire turned and led her down the hall to a sitting room, with a large multipaned window brightening the entire room, a large bookcase along one wall and a large, unlit, fireplace in the other. Several chairs were arranged around the room, each with a small side table beside them, as well as several divans. She noted that each table had small, shaded lamps and the sconces on the walls, which would normally have candles, all had electric lights, unlit at the time as the window provided plenty of light.

In the center of the room sat two high backed armchairs. They were angled so as not to be facing each other squarely, with another table sat between them. In one of them, reading a magazine, sat an older, salt and pepper haired woman. "Lady Malfoy, Ma'am." Claire announced. The woman looked up from her book before setting it on the table and rising with a smile. "Narcissa! How wonderful you accepted my invitation."

"Not without some trepidation, Emmaline." She replied. While not socially close, the two of them had known each other for years, enough to be on a first name basis.

The older woman, who Narcissa knew was in her upper eighties but could have passed for someone thirty years younger, gestured for her to sit as she smiled at her. "Thinking I was luring you here to commit some dastardly deed upon your person?"

Surprised at the accuracy of her guess, Narcissa decided to reply honestly. "More likely to bring up some deep dark secret from my past with which to force me to help you insinuate yourself into Lord Potter-Black's good graces."

Lady Briarly chuckled. "Do you have deep dark secrets?" she asked. "And I wouldn't need to blackmail you; I could merely introduce myself to him and let my charm work its wonders." She looked over at Claire, standing silently waiting. "You may bring the tea now, Claire." She addressed the woman who did a small curtsey in reply and left the room.

Narcissa watched her go before turning back to the other woman. "Just why did you invite me here, Emmaline?" she asked. "After all these years of refusing every invitation we ever sent you to any number of events or get-togethers, and never receiving a single invite from you for anything, out of the blue you invite me to tea? At the Ball you said it was all about my marriage to Lucius. I've wracked my brain for hours at a time trying to think of any single time where he might have done something to make you seem to loathe him so much, and I can't think of one single thing."

Claire reentered the room with a tray with a tea service and several plates of biscuits of different kinds. Narcissa watched her as she set them on the table between the two older women. "And what about the girl?"

Emmaline poured tea into the two cups on the tray as she smiled. "My, what suspicious and aggressive language. And what about her?"

Narcissa was tempted to not take her cup, but finally decided that the older woman wouldn't do anything to her with the tea. She picked up her cup and sipped. "She told me she was your property, your slave, and seemed to enjoy it. She is also locked into shackles and a collar. Do you have her under an Imperious?" She glanced at Claire, who seemed to be smirking at her, and continued. "Do you wonder that I'm suspicious of your intentions?"

In reply, Emmaline smiled and said "Claire", snapped her fingers and pointed to the floor beside her leg. Without a word, the maid elegantly knelt down, then sat back on her heels, back straight, head down and placed the backs of her hands on her thighs.

Narcissa wondered how long she had trained to make that simple movement look so easy. She looked back at the older woman, who said, "You have my permission to use your wand on her to see if she is, indeed, Imperioused."

Narcissa's left eye quirked upward before she drew her wand and pointed at the brunette. "Finite!" she intoned.

Nothing happened. The girl didn't move. "Claire." She stated. Still nothing.

"She has been taught to respond only to me in this position." Emmaline explained, before taking another sip of her tea.

She used a complicated wand movement this time, a diagnostic spell to check for any and all potions that may be in use. The results were negative.

Wondering if, perhaps, her assumptions were wrong, that the girl was here of her own volition, she saw Emmaline's grin turn into a self-satisfied smile. "Please explain it to her, Clara."

She noted the second name as the girl relaxed, slid off her heels to rest her bum on the floor and tucked her feet under her as she raised her head, rolled her eyes, and said, "Blimey! What kind of parents nowadays name their kids with such old fashioned, fuddy-duddy names as 'Cla-a-a-arr-a-a-a!" She rocked her head side to side as she drawled out what was probably her true name with what sounded like true distaste. "Besides mine, that is." She pouted, then looked up at Narcissa and grinned. "Hello, Mrs. Malfoy. It's awfully nice to finally meet you and I'd like to thank you for your concern about me being under the Imperious, but you don't need to worry. I've been under it a couple of time and it's nice, but it lacks the special something of willingly submitting to someone you trust and respect. I mean, yes, you're a slave, but you have no choice in the matter. I'd rather take a hundred lashes willingly from Ma'am than ten under that spell." She sighed at Narcissa's look of confusion. "I guess you have to be a submissive like me to understand what it's like to give someone what they want to get what you need."

"That statement didn't make any sense at all." Narcissa told her.

Claire/Clara nodded once. "Well, you see, it's like this-I like pain…"

Emmaline snorted a laugh around the biscuit she'd just bitten into. Brushing crumbs off her robes, she grinned. "'Likes pain' she says. Stubs her toe or gets a splinter in her finger and she cries and whines for hours."

The brunette by her leg rolled her eyes. "Alright, I like erotic pain: spankings, whippings, canes, clamps and clips on my nips and bits, that sort of pain. I'm not a masochist. Punch in the face, broken fingers? Uh-uh, no thank you."

"How did you find out you liked it?" Narcissa asked, taking a sip of tea, and listening to the girl.

"I think I was twelve, thirteen years old when I had my first climax over my dad's knee." She hurried on when she saw Narcissa's furrowed brow at the circumstances. "Dad never abused me, but he had a lot of rules I had to follow, and he was a firm believer in the old saying 'spare the rod and spoil the child'. He used his hand, a belt or a cane depending on the severity of punishment, a switch sometimes. By the time I was sixteen I knew exactly what I wanted with my sex and what I had to do to get it. I don't think he ever realized just how much I wanked up in my room after he punished me, while rubbing my sore bum." She sighed heavily. "Then he decided since I was almost an adult, my punishments would be too, like loss of privileges: groundings, not go to the movies, car taken away from me, things like that. It totally sucked."

Narcissa had to laugh at the girl's woebegone expression.

"It really messed up my sex life, too." Clara continued, as she lay her arm on Emmaline's leg. Narcissa noted the older woman made no move to remove it as she sipped her tea. "I mean, I had sex, but without the pain of at least a good spanking, it just wasn't the same. I lost a couple of boyfriends when they thought I was a perv when I asked them for one. Most of the boys my age who would give me one weren't very good at it or just didn't care to do it and it wasn't like I could just ask an older man 'excuse me, Sir, but do you think your wife would mind if you hung me naked from the ceiling and whipped me with a belt for twenty or thirty minutes before shagging my brains out?'" She scrunched up her nose. "Not a good idea."

Narcissa smiled at the thought. Not a good idea at all.

Clara went on with her tale. "Anyway, for the next five years I just sort of looked for someone who could give me what I wanted, in a safe and sane sort of way because I didn't want to get hooked up with a nutter who was going to make me look like ground beef." Narcissa could definitely believe that.

"There was more I was looking for as well. You see, I didn't just want to be whipped or spanked just for the pain. I wanted to feel I had earned it, like it was something of a reward for something I did. I wanted to serve whoever was dominating me, to be controlled by them and receive a reward for my obedience." She shrugged and grinned. "I guess it goes back to my dad and having to be naughty to get a spanking. So, on my twenty-first birthday I went to a place I'd heard about called Cuffs."

"Cuffs?" Narcissa had no idea what that was.

"It's a club I own in London." Emmaline stated as she reached out and stroked the hair of the girl sitting beside her. She smiled as she leaned into the caress. "It's for people in the scene and we have a strict minimum age requirement which is why this one," she stroked Clara's head, who smile at the touch, "had to wait till she was twenty-one."

"I've never heard of it." She stated.

Emmaline smiled. "That's probably because it's mainly for non-magical people. Some magicals know about it, such as some of my friend's, but mostly, non."

She had to think that over. "You own a non-magical business?"

"I own several." The other woman replied. "I'm also invested in several more, as well as several magical ones. I, for one, don't spurn the non-magical world. As you seem to have discovered, there's too much going on there to ignore the possibilities."

She turned her gaze back to the younger woman, who, by this time had lain her head on her arm on Emmaline's leg, obviously enjoying the petting she was receiving. "You're non-magical?"

The girl grinned back at her. "Uh, huh. Not a lick of magic."

She looked back to Emmaline. "Your house? It's electrified."

That woman smiled back at her. "Only this portion of it. Wouldn't do to invite non-magical guests over and then need to explain why I have candles, gas lights, no telly or air conditioning. The other section is all magical for entertaining in that world. I really much prefer electric lights over gas or candles, however. They're much brighter and don't flicker."

Narcissa considered what she was hearing. Emmaline Briarly obviously had both feet planted firmly in both worlds and was enjoying the fruits of both. She was the kind of person Harry needed on his side and with her history of progressive attempts at reform, not to mention the secrets she undoubtedly had on so many people, would make an ideal ally, if she could be persuaded to cooperate with him.

Some of her lifestyle habits would need to be kept private, however she thought as she observed the two of them. "So, how did the two of you meet? You mentioned going to Cuffs."

"Yeah, I'd been there a few times, meeting people like me, seeing how they interacted with others, learning a lot more about being a submissive, the rules of the scene and getting together with some doms to see if they were what I was looking for. I hadn't given much thought to a mistress as I didn't swing that way at the time." She looked over her shoulder at Emmaline, then turned back to Narcissa and grinned. "Then, one night, Ma'am walked in the door, and I knew she was the one. She was so regal, so commanding, it was like everyone there bowed to her simply because of her presence. She was so in control of everything I felt like I just had to throw myself to the floor at her feet and beg and plead for her to enslave me."

"You did throw yourself to the floor at my feet and beg and plead for me to enslave you." Emmaline stated, with a roll of her eyes. Then she lifted her gaze from the girl back to Narcissa. "The little pest," Clara grinned widely and seemed to preen at the description of her, "followed me around everywhere I went for the next hour, until I'd finally had enough and told her if she wanted to be my submissive, she'd have to endure whatever I did to her for the rest of the night, then kiss my feet and beg me to do it all again."

Narcissa's eye crooked upward at what sounded like an ordeal to come as Clara took up the tale again. "She had me crawl back to one of the club's playrooms through the crowd, stripped me naked, hung me from the ceiling by my wrists and put a spreader bar between my ankles. Then she proceeded to use all sorts of toys on me: a spanker, flogger, a crop, cane and a singletail whip. From my knees to my shoulders, front and back, even my boobies, nips and bits." Her face dissolved into a look of ecstasy. "It was wonderful!" She exclaimed. "I had three of the best climaxes of my life that night! When she finally let me down, I not only kissed her feet and begged for more, but I also thanked her over and over and promised her if she let me serve her, she could do any of that to me anytime she liked."

She again looked over her shoulder up at the other woman and smiled. Narcissa could see the genuine affection between the two as Emmaline smiled back at her. The girl turned back. "She led me out of the club on a leash, still naked, to her car. I was so happy I had pleased Ma'am; I didn't care about everybody seeing me like that." She laughed. "I had to lay across her lap on the way here because my bum hurt too much to sit on it."

Narcissa was surprised. "You drive, as well?"

"Oh, no!" The other woman said. "I have another sub who works for me, a young wizard." She grinned wickedly. "He surrendered both of his wands to me about eight years ago." She gave Narcissa a moment to consider that statement before she went on. "I brought this one home and performed some aftercare, soothing her bottom and making certain the bruising wasn't too bad, then put her to bed. The next morning, we sat…"

"I knelt!" the girl piped in, grinning. "It still hurt to sit!" Narcissa decided the aftereffects weren't nearly as welcome as getting them was. She finally relaxed about her worry of what was going on.

Emmaline ignored the interruption and continued speaking. "…had breakfast and talked about what each of us wanted, limits, terms of service, safe words and once we had everything worked out, we wrote up a contract."

Narcissa perked up at the concept. "A contract?"

Emmaline chuckled. "Not a magical one, obviously." she stated as she lazily massaged Clara's scalp. The young woman seemed to enjoy the feeling, leaning into the older woman's leg with a contented smile. "Not even legally binding. It does, however, define her status, not only as my submissive, but as my domestic servant. It describes her duties and responsibilities as well as what activities she will accept and to what extent, both sexual and non. It also outlines what behaviors I expect from her and what punishments and rewards I may administer. She receives a salary, from which she pays taxes and health costs, room and board and is free to walk away from here whenever she wants, no questions asked."

"It sounds like a business contract." Narcissa commented.

"It's to protect both of us in event of any disagreement." Emmaline agreed with a nod.

"A little outdated, now, though." Clara said from her position on the floor. "We've expanded my limits quite a bit beyond what's in the contract and done a lot of things I originally said no to."

She considered the statement. "And you're fine with that?"

Clara's smile widened. "Oh, sure! A lot of them sounded really scary when Ma'am first brought them up, but over time, we've eased into a lot of them, and I've liked them a lot. But there are still things on my 'No, No, No!' list I don't even think about doing."

"Most of those things I have no interest in, either." Commented the older woman. "As for her assertion of being my property and slave, she's not. She's my submissive, as stated in the contract. A slave has no choice in the matter of how they are treated."

"Sub, slave, po-tay-to, po-tah-to." The girl sing-songed as she rocked her head back and forth. "The old lady can say whatever she wants, but I know what I am."

"Clara." Emmaline said. For the first time Narcissa noted a hinted of exasperation in her voice.

"It's old age, is what it is." Clara was grinning wickedly as she talked and after how respectfully she had treated her previously, Narcissa wondered why all of a sudden, she was mocking her. "Senility, don't you know?
Why, sometimes she even forgets which of us is supposed to spank the other."

"Clara!" Emmaline's sharp remark was tinted with warning this time, her face showing a trace of anger.

The younger woman either didn't notice or didn't care. "If it wasn't for me, the old biddy would probably put her bra on backwards in the morning and not even notice!" she announced airily.

"Claire!" Emmaline snapped out angrily and in one quick movement the girl was back up on her knees, back straight, head down, hands on thighs. "What's that old saying?" the woman in the chair commented, Narcissa wasn't certain as to which of them. "Good help is so hard to find."

Narcissa noticed the girl suddenly look up at her, without moving her head, and smiled slyly at her and she realized she had done what she had to get exactly this result. From her position, she knew Emmaline couldn't see her expression.

That self-satisfied look vanished completely at the elder woman's next words. "Perhaps some time in the Bag is in order."

Claire's eyes took on a sudden fearful look as she dropped them back down and her smile vanished.

"The Bag?" Narcissa questioned.

Emmaline directed a cruel smile down at the girl at her feet. "Yes. Imagine, if you will, a balloon made of burlap: itchy, scratchy, irritating burlap. Imagine it as a garment, tight to the shoulders and through the crotch, with littler burlap balloons for the upper arms and legs. Imagine the person wearing it being naked inside it. Now, imagine it deflated, hanging on their body as they work, how it would feel."

Narcissa took a last sip of her tea. "Sounds very uncomfortable, but I would think it very unsatisfying for you." She stated casually. "Couldn't you just tie her down on her bed and cane her bum until she's just on the edge of climax… and keep her there?" She'd spent months in a house with a sadistic, psychopathic madman; she'd learned a thing or two about punishments.

Claire's expression had gone from excited at her suggestion to pouting at the prospect of denial in a split second, even as Emmaline smiled widely. "Why Narcissa, how delightfully cruel. Whatever gave you the idea?"

She leaned back in her chair and smiled wryly. "A day of teasing Lord Potter-Black." She said, remembering a night on a yacht, tied spread eagle to a bed as Harry kept her so agonizingly close to a climax without letting her have it. Cruel, cruel torture indeed.

Emmaline laughed heartily. "Oh, Narcissa! You really must tell me the story someday!" She calmed and leaned back herself. "And here, the reports I had were that you weren't submissive at all."

What? What reports? "I haven't a clue what you're talking about." she replied, trying to think of any circumstances where … and something clicked. "You sent those three women to me in Knockturn."

"I only sent two." Was the other woman's reply. "Friends who I asked to help find out if you would be amenable to a position such as Claire's, only not so public."

"You bitch!" She declared. Emmaline smirked back at her. "What were you going to do, keep me as a groveling little shag toy whenever you got the itch?"

That got a chuckle from the other woman. "I won't say the idea didn't cross my mind, because I have fantasized about you in just that way from time to time over the years, but be honest, isn't that basically what all those invitations were for? To parade me around in front of all the others as if to say, 'look who I have that you haven't ever'. At least with me it would have been private. I am discrete, you know."

She sat glaring at her, drumming her fingers on the arm of the chair. She had to admit, it would have been a coup to have the reclusive Lady Briarly at one of her events, something not many others could say. Bragging rights in the upper class were very much sought after and her relationship with the other woman hadn't been close enough to deny it. "Who was the other woman if not yours?"

"I really have no idea, and why would you think she was one of mine in the first place?"

"She was very submissive." She replied. "Wanted to call me Mistress, to be told exactly how to please me and to be spanked as a bad slave afterwards. She also showed up wearing nothing but shoes and stockings under her cloak."

That raised the other woman's eyebrows. "Oh my! Quite a daring, and dangerous, thing to do in Knockturn. But, no, she was not one of mine, nor have I ever heard of her doing such a thing with anyone else, either."

"Just how would you know if she had?"

Emmaline gave her a smug little smile. "Well, as you yourself said, 'a man will tell things to a woman he's just had sex with that you couldn't force out of him with the torture curse otherwise, even if she's a total stranger'. Most of those women are gossips; it's one of the few entertainments they can afford sometimes. Those words are oft times heard and spread. I would imagine an incident like that would be one of those things talked about…unless you didn't."

"No, I didn't." she replied. When did I say that and to who? Wait! "You know Clarisse?" How would a high-born Lady meet someone like Clarisse, much less enter into some kind of agreement with her?

"Well, I would hope so." Emmaline replied with a smug smile. "She is my sister, after all." As Narcissa gaped at her in shocked surprise, after all, she'd never heard the other woman even had a sibling, the other woman continued on. "She asked me to ask you, if you would, please tell Lord Potter-Black he is the first man in many years to make her wet her knickers and if he ever wants to have her in any type of sexual manner he merely needs to state where and when he wants her."

She smirked at Narcissa's expression of stunned shock. The two of them were nothing alike, Emmaline small and feminine, Clarisse big and… not masculine but not feminine either. They had no facial characteristics in common. In no way did they look like siblings. "What? How?"

Emmaline chuckled at her confusion. "Father had a dalliance outside of marriage and sixteen years later the result of that little indiscretion walked in the front door and announced her mother had passed, and she was here to find her father. He heard her story and acknowledged her as his daughter, but she didn't want to endure the rubbish her birth would cause her in our society, so she hid herself from it and made a life of her own apart from it. She's my half-sister, but I love her as if we'd grown up together."

"She's here?"

"Oh, yes. Up in her chambers sleeping. She'll be up and about in an hour or so."

"So, she's the source of all the little secrets you keep."

Emmaline smiled slyly. "I have many sources, but she, by far, produces the juiciest pieces of gossip for me."

"Why does she do it? What she does, I mean."

The smile slipped from the woman, to be replaced by a pensieve look. She sighed. "I'm afraid that is her story to tell."

"And her hatred of Cobblepott?"

"A part of it."

She sat quietly as she gathered her thoughts, the older woman quietly letting her do so as she sipped her tea. Well! That certainly explains how Emmaline has all that dirt on so many of our world's upright citizens. What I heard in just a year as a whore and from what Clarisse has been passing along, I can see or guess at a lot of the goings on in all levels of our society…a different thought came to her. Her eyes flicked up to meet Emmaline's. "By any chance, would Rosamunde Westhaven happen to be one of your close, personal friends?"

"Ah! Such a wonderful young woman! She possesses such a sharp mind, filled with such wonderful ideas, attitudes and opinions. She's also very good at puzzles. She can take a group of seemingly unrelated facts and arrive at a conclusion as to what is going on amongst certain people and be right most of the time. An absolute delight to have around. She's also very good at keeping secrets. As are you."

She looked at the woman, wondering what she was getting at. "Secrets have a value all their own." She replied. "You just need to know when to use them to get the most value from them."

Emmaline grinned. "Such as where you were last summer and fall?"

She grinned back at her. "Harry didn't want anyone to know who I was with." She explained.

"Oh, I knew who you were with, I just didn't know where you were." At Narcissa's surprised look, she went on. "Come now, you didn't think I was at the ball because I liked being around those stuffy, look-down-their-noses, old bigots, did you? I don't know how he did it, but I figured Lord Potter had the Shadow Man pick you up for some reason, and I had a list of reasons. I also figured he was either planning to slip back into society unobtrusively with as little fanfare as possible, or make as big a splash as possible, and what bigger splash could he make than at the premier event of the year, where the cream of the crop of society was assembled all in one place." She grinned ever wider. "I can't decide which I enjoyed more, the looks on everyone's faces when the two of you stepped out of that floo together, or your little scene in the bathroom." She sighed dramatically. "Poor Priscilla. She's such a naïve little thing." She laughed suddenly. "She does have a nice left hook, however."

She can't possibly have known where I was! "I don't believe you about knowing who I was with."

Emmaline didn't seem to take offense at her statement. "Security cameras are such wonderful things when it comes to prosecuting shoplifters or letting me know who likes my merchandise." The woman smirked. "That blue one you picked was absolutely beautiful and would go well with many different outfits, and I bet the black one makes you look sexy as hell. Have you worn either one yet?"

Narcissa stared at her in bewilderment. Then it struck her. "You own Aunt Em's!"

Again, the smile was smug. "One of my better, and more profitable, investments." She answered. "I figured why not make my hobby a business and share it with my friends? You can even get a discount when you get a membership at Cuffs. The manager is one of my submissives, a witch, and she recognized you and good Mister Potter, and I must say, some of your actions gave me quite a clue as to what sort of relationship the two of you had."

She couldn't believe it. What with the British and French secret services, Emmaline and her friends, was there anyone who didn't know where'd she'd been last summer? "I'm employed as his teacher for all the duties of a Lord that he never received growing up."

"Uh-huh! Riiiiigghht!" came the drawling reply, along with a leering smile. Looking down at the still kneeling maid, she could see Claire also had a disbelieving smirk at her explanation as well.

Well, it's true since Harry met Daphne! She thought to herself. "Be that as it may, I would like to know why you have such a loathing for Lucius."

The mirth the older woman had been displaying vanished in a moment. "My…loathing… for your husband," she said tightly, "goes back to just before the two of you married, right after graduation I believe." She straightened in her chair, fingers laced together and resting in her lap. "However, I need to give you some background to help you more easily understand. You see, I was very much like this one," she placed her hand on Claire's head and gave a stroke, "for a very long time."

Narcissa managed to show only a bare amount of the surprise she felt at that statement. This strong willed, domineering woman had once been a willing slave? She found that very hard to believe.

"My then-betrothed introduced me to the scene, as it is referred to now, before we were married. Back then it was a dark secret, something only revealed to others whom you had the deepest trust in, for obvious reasons. He was gentle at first, drawing out my submissiveness, showing me the pleasures of obedience, and even pain. Unlike this one, however," another caressing stroke of the girl's bowed head, "I didn't crave pain, but I came to accept it as penance for my disobedience, with quiet reassurance from my love that he would never exceed my limits, a promise he kept until the day he died. He always told me what my punishment was to be and gave me the chance to deny it, and on the rare occasion, I did. I was always allowed to propose a lesser punishment, or more of another in its place if I thought his would be too much, within reason." She smiled slightly. "It was a punishment after all."

The smile became mischievous. "Sometimes I disobeyed in small ways just so he could punish me. He did enjoy it so and, in a way, so did I."

Narcissa saw a faraway look in the older woman's eyes, as if remembering, before she once again focused on her. "He placed his collar around my throat on our wedding night, and I became his in every way. He broadened my horizons gradually over the years, from flipping up my robes and taking me while I was tied over a fence rail, to having me suck him off while in a little alcove just around the corner from a ballroom filled with people who could have found us at any moment."

"He introduced me to leather and how it could be used in so many different ways, from being locked into a pair of leather knickers holding two toys that vibrated within me…"

At Narcissa's raised eyebrow she laughed. "Yes, I am aware of Rose's penchant for the material, and those two vibrators, but for her it is merely a fetish that she uses for her own enjoyment and preparation for good times in bed with her husband. She has many leather articles of regular clothing that she wears and is not the least interested in many of the things Claire and I, and many of my friends, participate in. She does look marvelous, though, in a full body black leather cat suit and stiletto heeled boots."

Narcissa considered that mental picture. I'm going to have to ask her about that! That might be something to surprise Harry in some night. She thought. Then she remembered Daphne. She sighed. Oh well.

"But back to my story. I spent many hours over the years bound in one way or another for his enjoyment and our pleasure, teased and tormented almost to insanity before he would grant me release. I loved him and every minute of my life with him… and then that damned horse had to be spooked by a rabbit of all things and threw him off to land on his head! I was inconsolable for months; never left the house and stayed in my chambers in a perpetual pity party before Clarisse finally got fed up with the whole thing and dragged me out into the muggle world and got me falling down drunk."

Narcissa chuckled at the idea of the woman before her being totally smashed … then remembered being the same way for different reasons with Emma. She laughed out loud at the similarities.

Emmaline went on with her tale. "I sobbed in my ale for hours as I told her everything, how I loved him, missed him, wanted to kill him myself for riding such a skittery horse. I was downright pitiful." She gave Narcissa a wan smile. "It was what I needed though. I got on with my life and began building a retail empire on both sides of the Statute."

"It was about five years later when I met the next love of my life… Estelle. She was brash, blonde, beautiful, and bi-sexual and I fell in love with her almost at first sight. Definitely by the second. We got on beautifully, many of the same interests, ideals, pet peeves. I soon noticed she took charge of virtually our entire relationship and the first time she kissed me I begged her to tie me to the bed and take me, use me in any way she desired. She lit up with the most beautiful smile and did just that. I spent the next three days in her flat, naked and at her complete command. Her dominance over me was different from my husband's, but as a woman that was to be expected and I didn't care at all. For the first time in years, I felt completely happy and in love. She told me she felt the same way."

"I eventually told her I was a witch and warned her of the Statute, but it didn't make any difference to her. She just said that such a powerful person should know how to top. Two days later she showed up with a young man and she began to train me in how to be a dominatrix." She laughed at her memories. "I was terrible at first and the young man, he was an acquaintance of hers and one of her subs, was so frustrated by the time we finished that night. She just laughed and sent him home, then took me to bed. The next week she brought an older woman and again we worked on my dominating skills. Being a submissive myself I did to her what I liked, while staying within her limits, and things went much better. I found out I liked being in charge, in control. I started experimenting, learning what I liked to do, what the subs liked and how to give them what they wanted as well. I became pretty damn good at it if I do say so myself."

She got a pensive look with a bit of a smile. "Estelle never let me top her, but I didn't care. I was more than ready to do whatever she told me to."

"We'd been together a few years when we started talking about how it would be nice to have a place where we and our friends could get together and socialize, show off our subs and in some cases outright slaves, and demonstrate to each other how to do things we liked safely and in a sane way. And so, Cuffs was born. We drew up a charter saying what the club was for and a basic set of rules of what was allowed and what wasn't. All of our advertising is by word of mouth and over the years it's gone from a weekends only social club to seven days a week."

Her happy smile of remembrance suddenly changed to a scowl and Narcissa knew her questions were about to be answered.

"Then, one night, we were at the club taking care of some bills and correspondence. She finished first and said she'd meet me out in the club. But when I finally went looking for her, she was gone. I couldn't find her anywhere. I began asking around and someone said they'd seen her with a young man and then they'd told me they had seen her groveling at his feet, licking and kissing his boots and begging him to take her and use her in any way he saw fit. I knew right then whoever it was, he had to be magical because Estelle didn't have a single fiber of submissiveness in her body. He had to have used the Imperius on her because she would never have debased herself like that willingly, in front of witnesses. He commanded her to follow him, and she crawled out the door on her belly. She was never seen again."

Narcissa could hear the sense of loss in Emmaline's voice… and the carefully controlled rage. She didn't need to even guess who the young man was.

"When I asked what he looked like, they said he was tall and slender, wearing a cape or robe like outer garment, with long blonde, almost white hair and carrying a black cane with a bird headed silver handle."

Narcissa closed her eyes, trying to suppress the oppressive weight in her chest. She would have tried to believe the man had been Lucius' father, Abraxas, but she had never known him to be slender. The description fit Lucius to a tee, however.

She opened her eyes again as Emmaline went on. "I knew who it had to be, but I had nothing but the word of non-magicals to back that up with, and you are well aware how that would have gone over with the magical authorities. I've had my sources keeping an eye on him for years, but the bastard was too clever, and I've never been able to get anything on him I could take in front of the 'Mot against him."

Narcissa remembered the story Ellie Anders had told her about the death of the girl at his hands, a pureblood, so she had no doubt he wouldn't have killed a muggle woman to satisfy his desires. She didn't even want to think about the way he might have done so.

Emmaline wasn't finished, however. "I watched him for years," she nearly growled, "learned what he liked, who he saw, what he did. But none of what he did in public, as it were, was anything more than what others did, and the women all agreed to what he wanted. He was particularly tight-lipped about other activities he might have had but I could never get any evidence about what he did in the shadows, out of sight. Through both wars, and the peace between, I watched closely but he covered his tracks to well." She suddenly smiled, a tight, cruel tightening of her lips. "Then along comes your good Mister Potter and suddenly Lucius Malfoy is nothing more than a condemned prisoner, guarded by monsters, a fitting end for a monster such as he. I hope you don't mind, but I was pleased he was given life in Azkaban instead of the Veil or the Kiss. I greet each morning with thanks that he is suffering in that place. Maybe not for Estelle and others ignored by our society, but he suffers just the same and I hope he does so for a very long time!"

Narcissa could certainly understand her feelings about that. She was glad he was out of her life as well, even if it had left her homeless, destitute, and unprotected. But it left her with more questions.

"Well, I'm glad you've cleared that up for me, Emmaline, but I have to ask: why? Why invite me here, share your life story, your lifestyle, after all these years of ignoring me? Why have you shared all these secrets: Claire, Clarisse, Estelle, your involvement in the muggle world, with me when we barely know each other?"

The older woman regarded her as she renewed her tea. "Claire, go to the other side of the house and stay there till I call for you." She spoke suddenly, not even looking at the subject of her attention.

With the same grace as she'd shown getting down on her knees, the girl rose to her feet. "Yes, Ma'am." She replied, before leaving the room.

Narcissa raised an inquiring brow at her host as the tapping of the young woman's heels echoed down the hall.

Emmaline smiled slightly. "It's really quite simple, Dear. It's all about trust."

"Trust?"

"Yes. I entrust my secrets to you, trusting that you won't reveal them, and in return you entrust certain secrets with me, knowing I won't reveal them."

Narcissa leaned back in her chair, wondering where this was going, but having an idea. "Just what kind of secrets would you be looking for?"

The older woman set her cup down and leaned back in her chair as well. "I would like to know what you and Lord Potter-Black are up to."

She didn't know? With her network? Narcissa was genuinely surprised. Her left eyebrow quirked upwards as did her lip as she smirked. "What makes you think we're up to anything?"

Emmaline laughed. "Oh, Narcissa! How could I not think it? From one of the biggest splashes in our society in years, showing up at the ball with you on his arm, to the bills and laws he's been introducing in the 'Mot, to his run-ins with little Billy Acton, which I absolutely love hearing about, he has to be up to something, have some goal in mind. Then there are his meetings with various shop owners, after which each and every one begins selling non-magical wares, and making profits off of them, some more, some less."

She smiled slyly. "Then there is you. Once a staunch, have nothing to do with muggles pureblood, now you openly associate with them, as friends and business associates. And what businesses! You've renovated a whore house of all things, started the magical world's first fast food place and then there's your involvement in whatever you're building at Hogsmeade."

"That doesn't even include the petty little revenge schemes you have going on." She continued. "Your subtle insults of certain people at your dinner parties, the little verbal war with Edna Winston, and Esmerelda Bulstrode is absolutely seething that she can't get Lord Potter-Black to decide whether or not to accept a marriage contract for her daughter, though the daughter doesn't seem overly distraught about it." She cocked her head slightly. "Does he even read her letters?"

Narcissa smirked back at her. "I read him the amusing bits in some of them before replying to her." Emmaline chuckled as Narcissa continued with her own observations. "But I would have thought you would have just asked Rose since she appears to be in your little circle."

The other woman lowered her tea saucer to her lap and set her cup on it with an exasperated sigh. "I did, but the woman has an over developed sense of ethics and refused to tell me. Said she'd given her word to you not to tell."

She smiled slightly at the thought the woman expected others to keep her secrets but was a little upset when they also kept their own. Still, she was gratified that Rosie had done so. Harry had since given her permission to tell others she trusted to keep their plans safe, so she regarded the woman sitting across from her. Emmaline had shown her ability to keep secrets time and again but there was the question of why she wanted to know. If she wanted to help, it would be a good thing. She held a seat in the 'Mot, even if she used a proxy to sit it, which would come in handy. If she felt it was a threat however, who knew what kind of leverage she could bring to bear to block anything Harry wanted to do.

She also knew a lot about the non-magical world and didn't seem to have any problems living and working in it, along with muggles and muggleborn. If she could be persuaded to aid Harry in his plans, she'd be a tremendous asset. If she had likeminded friends, even better. She had voted for progressive laws and bill over the years. Perhaps they had too.

She took a sip of her tea, regarding the other woman as much as she was her.

"What Lord Potter-Black is trying to do is change the magical world, to bring it into the twenty-first century and equal to the non-magical one while preserving as many of the magical ways and traditions that he can that make us magical."

Emmaline smiled as she once again rested her saucer in her lap and leaned back in her chair. "Oh, thank God!" she exclaimed.

Narcissa raised an eyebrow. "God?"

"Oh, yes." The other woman replied. "Merlin was a great and powerful man, but he wasn't divine." She smiled. "My family has always been religious. I attend a little country church just down the road and we have a carry-in dinner every month. You should come and bring Lord Potter-Black and Mrs. Granger. The food is delicious and some of the recipes have been in the families for hundreds of years. I also have a picnic here on the grounds every summer, withs games and food and entertainment. I think you'd enjoy it."

She smiled. "Perhaps we will." She said. "Now, why were you so thankful for what I said?"

"Because I'm hoping Lord Potter-Black would like to make an alliance with me and my group."

She raised an eyebrow. "An alliance?" She had hoped for such a thing but had expected to have to bring it up herself. For Emmaline to suggest it had taken her by surprise.

"Yes." The other woman nodded. "We're a small group, but we have four votes in the 'Mot. Only noble houses but nowadays four votes can go a long way." She explained. "We've tried over the years to make many of the changes your Harry is putting forward, but we've never had such a leader nor a platform to draw others to our point of view. We represent all the major groups, two Light, a Gray and a Dark."

"A Dark sided Lord wants to vote with progressives?"

Emmaline chuckled. "He may be Dark but he's not stupid." She stated. "He's familiar with the non-magical world, as we all are, and he's well aware of how far they have advanced. They outpace us in some things, are equal in many of them and lag behind us in others, but there is a big difference in our worlds: they study everything they can, and we just go along with what we already know. They spend billions of galleons every year on research in thousands of various areas just to learn about something, most of it government supplied. I doubt if the Ministry spends even a few thousand a year on anything. If something new is discovered in our world it will be by some private person spending his own money."

She set her tea down on the table and lay her hands on the arms of her chair. "They're going to find us, Narcissa, somehow, someway." She stated solemnly. "Probably sooner rather than later, and when they do, it's going to turn our entire way of life upside down. If Potter-Black is working to a plan to modernize us, we want to help. I personally think our world is far too old fashioned, especially a lot of our laws regarding muggleborn and half-bloods and other races, to survive that meeting in any meaningful way and the purebloods willful ignorance of the non-magical world isn't going to help. That wanker Acton certainly isn't helping, either. If he gets his way all that will happen is everyone just buries their head even further in the sand. As I said earlier, I've enjoyed the tales of his and Potter's meetings. Any time Billy gets publicly humiliated by anyone is one I wish I was at. By any chance would he have any plans for Billy's removal?"

"I'm afraid you would have to ask him." She replied honestly. Harry had told her a lot of what he planned to do, but she knew he hadn't told him everything. "I know he's said he doesn't plan to kill anyone if he can help it, but other than that, I can only say he does plan to break him and his hold on the Dark side of the political scene."

Emmaline snorted quietly. "Good. With him out of the way that'll throw that whole side into a political meltdown while everyone else tries to climb to the top of the heap as the top dog. He's already shaken up the Light side. I know of several cliques there that are showing cracks in their foundations. I know a few things that can help that along, as well as others." She grinned wickedly as Narcissa thought she undoubtedly did.

"He's also a surprisingly good orator and people are listening to him and liking what they hear. There's also that whole 'Boy-Who-Lived/Man-Who-Conquered' thing helping. He's going to have to be careful about those tax reforms, however. There's nothing like having to give your money to the government to bring the entire spectrum together against you."

She suddenly looked pensive before going on. "You might want to tell him there's something going on with Acton and his gang, though."

She cocked her head at the other woman. "Oh? What kind of something?"

"I don't know, yet." Was the reply. "But I'm hearing from a lot of my sources the dark houses are expecting to make significant gains in the 'Mot sometime in the future, but I haven't heard how or how soon. For once the cagey bastards are keeping their mouths shut about what they're up to, or what they're doing, just not what they expect to get out of it." she scowled. "It's irritating as hell when they do that."

Part of Clarisse's reports had mentioned something along the same lines, but she hadn't realized it was so widespread, so she hadn't mentioned anything to Harry. "Your friend doesn't know?"

A shake of the head. "No. While he agrees with much of their agenda, he can't stand most of the others. His interactions with them are as few and far between as he can make them." She smiled. "As a matter of fact, he prefers the company of Muggleborn and Muggles over many of them. Says it's most refreshing to have an intelligent conversation from time to time."

Narcissa chuckled. "It certainly seems that way sometimes, doesn't it?" She set her cup on the table. "If I were to invite a group over for a dinner party at Lord Potter-Black's, and that invitation had your name on it, would you finally accept?" she asked plaintively.

Emmaline smiled back at her. "You know? I think I might."

"Then why don't you help me with the guest list?"

"I'd be happy to."

The two of them grinned at each other.


A/N: Sorry this took so long but besides my usual procrastination real life rose up and bitch slapped me. Public Service Announcement: If you have ever had Chicken pox, think really hard about talking to your doctor about getting a vaccine for shingles. Believe me, you do not want to get shingles. I had heard about the painful, itchy, burning sores, but the chest pains that sent me to the Emergency room thinking I was having a heart attack were something new. Yes, I was told, shingles can give you symptoms that make you think you're having a heart attack. Fortunately, I had caught them early enough that a series of meds had me over them in a little over a week. So remember: Chickenpox, shingles, vaccine. Just saying. Thank you for your time.