DISCLAIMER: Nothing is mine. Shame.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This was written in response to the Draco's Detour challenge on Page of Peril and thus is out of date as far as HBP goes, so no spoilers.

Someone asked what the pairings would be. I'm not telling, but this will have slash (background pairing) – I can't quite decide if I want it to be Draco/Harry or Draco/Pansy for the main pairing.

Anyway, on to chapter two

Chapter Two: NARCISSA

"Are we doing something about father?"

Narcissa watched her son's face as she answered, trying not to smile, albeit sadly, at her son's continued belief that everything in both their lives revolved around Lucius.

'What would he say,' she thought to herself, 'if I turned the car around and headed for Azkaban? Would his image of the all powerful Lucius finally dwindle when faced with the man his father had become?'

She'd never loved Lucius, and she guessed that her son knew that, but they'd lived a peaceful, almost happy co-existence until the whole Dark Lord thing started again. Lucius wasn't a good man, but he was an attractive one: he had the power to draw people to him, to make them love him, and whether deliberately or no, he had worked his way into her affections with his charm, his humour and his love for their son. For love she knew it was, though sometimes he was hard on the boy.

As she had been, she reminded herself sternly. Her heart had broken when she saw her poor battered son walk off the Hogwarts Express, head held high despite his injuries. She supposed he remembered the year before, when his father had curtly told him that a real man didn't allow things like that to happen, that a real man attacked first. Because Draco hadn't seen Lucius' first reaction. She had. She seen the pain and love in his eyes as he looked at his son, and she had seen it disappear, masked by the words and actions of a faithful Death Eater.

She felt herself becoming increasingly tense as she headed towards the muggle settlement that was her destination. She had found her cousin the most boring, mundane house possible, a house that did not stand out, a house that caused no one to notice it as long as it continued to blend in with its surroundings.

Climbing out of the car, she went round and held the door open for her son, who seemed unable to tear himself away from his disdainful assessment of the house before him.

"Come on Draco," she hurried him along, going ahead of him and into the house, turning to hurry him along with a look.

As she open the door she rolled her eyes at Sirius decoration of the house. 'He always had a turn for the dramatic,' she reminded herself in an attempt to prepare herself for the encounter between her cousin and her son.

"Narcissa?" 'Well who else would it be' she indulged herself with the sarcastic response before responding that they were coming.

"Follow me," she commanded Draco, leading the way up the most mundane colour scheme she had ever seen before ending up in the master bedroom looking at the Azkaban escapee at his very worst.

'Oh for God's sake Sirius' she wanted to shake him. He was always such a bloody attention seeking show off and it had always gotten him into trouble.

Draco, however, was entranced, and she almost felt sorry for him when Sirius moved, shattering the carefully prepared illusions.

"Narcissa, I see you made good on your threat and brought your offspring with you. See how pleased I am." Git.

"It is time he learns what family loyalty really means," Narcissa replied coolly, allowing her son a few moments to process all he was seeing. Despite herself she felt a welling of pride that it was someone from her family who showed him the true glory of their gift. That it was a Black that made him stop and marvel at all that magic could do. A Black that bought magic out of the mundane and into the extraordinary.

This momentary pride was done away with by the usual exasperation she felt when dealing with her cousin as she watched him approach her son with the teasing taunt "But what'll blow your mind is wondering which is the illusion."

"Sirius," his she snapped angrily, "don't confuse the boy."

She could see her son was on the verge of a major fit at being called a boy on top of everything else so she continued speaking. "Draco, this is my cousin Sirius Delanus Black, Sirius this is my son Draco Augustus Malfoy, Malfoy heir and the last descendant of the Black line."

The Black line. Even today after over 20 years of marriage to a Malfoy Narcissa still felt the pride and power in her heritage that had been one of the main reasons she had been chose as a perfect wife for Lucius. The Black line was as old as the Malfoy one, and while they may have stepped back from the lime-light that did nothing to diminish the status and regard her family was held in in the wizarding world. A political match on so many levels, Lucius' conviction that she would be a loyal wife made him forget the loyalty she still owed to her family.

And it was that loyalty that bought her here today, watching her son offer his hand to her cousin, clearly on autopilot.

'Oh dear, he seems to be in shock,' she raised an amused eyebrow at the proceedings, relieved when Draco shook his head, retracted his outstretched had and asked in his normal, haughty tones, "aren't you supposed to be dead?"

"Rumours of my death were greatly exaggerated," he began before Narcissa cut him off.

"That was your father's intention Draco, but he is still my cousin, and the patriarch of the Black family and as such I could not allow your father's plans to go unmolested."

"You went against father? And now you want me to follow you blindly?"

"Well you should be good at that," Sirius smirked, "you being Lucius' lapdog and all that."

"Sirius," Narcissa snapped as Draco bristled further, "don't antagonise my son. Draco, if you have any sense of self preservation you will be following me from now on, and as a good Slytherin I'm sure you'll know what to do." Instead of replying he shocked her by turning on his heel and storming off downstairs.

"Quite the charmer you're raising Narcissa," Sirius smirked again as his cousin followed her son downstairs.

She found Draco sulking in the lounge, staring out at the small garden through the patio doors.

"You can't just push me around this, telling me what to think all the time," he burst out without looking at her.

"Draco, until you are an adult you will be guided by your parents in all important matters, and since your father has removed himself from the situation I will be the one to guide you."

"That is hardly a sufficient explanation mother."

"It is all you will be getting. As much as I may have accepted your father's politics, I do not embrace them, and by attacking my family he is also attacking me. And you." She could see him contemplating her words and could see some level of acceptance. "Trust me darling, it is time to try things my way."

"Fine," he nodded his agreement, but his lips were drawn together in a stubbornly defiant line. Wisely she held her tongue and went back upstairs to her cousin.

Sirius surveyed the two Malfoy's thoughtfully but when he spoke it was on safer ground. "Do we have a plan?"

"I think it is best to take this matter to Professor Dumbledore and we can take his guidance from there."

"You would," muttered Sirius at the same time as Draco exclaimed at the suggestion, outraged by this further betrayal.

"Dumbledore mother, that old fool?" He turned then to Sirius, curiosity replacing his anger, "Why would you say that?"

"Always the teachers pet, my cousin."

"But mother was a Slytherin, wasn't she?"

Laughing at the sudden suspicion on the young boy's face Sirius nodded, "but why should that prevent her from being Dumbledore's favourite."

"The old fool only favours Gryffindors like his previous Golden Boy."

"Are you really that naïve? Dumbledore is no fool, whatever your father thinks. He may be protective of Harry, for obvious reasons, but he is excessively fond of anyone who can give him a run for his money."

"What my cousin is saying, is that Professor Dumbledore has a fondness for people who don't just take his manipulations but rather play him at his own game, and who better than a Slytherin for casual counter-manipulation?"

"You've confused him again Narcissa," Sirius looked on the boy with amused contemplation and his cousin rolled her eyes at him in frustration.

Her cousin truly did drive her round the bend, but he was technically the head of the family and thus the conduit though which the Black magic flowed. It was old wizarding lore that the head of any family was the linchpin of the family's magic, and acting against the linchpin would weaken the structure as a whole. While there was strong suspicion that this long held belief was nothing more than a fabrication intended to keep impatient heirs in line, none of the main pureblood families had ever been brave enough, or foolish enough to test the suspicion out. As such, when she had learned of her husband's plans, Narcissa had felt obliged to move against him.

Added to this was the fact that any idiot could see that Voldemort, while gaining in power, was unlikely to succeed against the combined forces of Albus Dumbledore and a grown Harry Potter. Having seen the boy at the Quidditch World Cup she had been shaken by the sheer power she could feel rolling off the boy, and wondered how her husband could fail to see it.

"I have sent an owl to Professor Dumbledore requesting an interview with him, telling him I am in possession of something he will be interested in seeing."

"Am I a possession now Narcissa, a bargaining tool in your latest round of games?"

"Were you ever in any doubt? Dumbledore will call me to him by return owl and offer me tea laced with veritaserum, upon which I will reveal to him my motives for the meeting."

"And then?"

"He will be all eagerness to see you, of course, as well as being suitably impressed by my deceptions."

"And are we expecting kick off any time soon, or am I to spend even more time here, alone?"

"I could stay with him mother," Draco offered before his mother could speak, and the starts of both adults suggested they had all but forgotten his presence.

"And what would you do Draco?"

"Talk to him, I suspect there is a lot he could tell me," Narcissa didn't quite like the calculating look on her sons face and wondered what exactly it meant.

"I'm not sure that's a great idea Draco, Sirius has the tendency to be rather a bad influence."

"You are married to a man who lists killing people amongst his hobbies and you call me the bad influence?" Narcissa caught the teasing smile on her cousin's face even if Draco didn't and she replied in the same vein.

"Politics is one thing, Sirius, but poor table manners and a fondness for vulgarities is quite another."

"Indeed, though I must question your priorities when you consider the greater faux pas to be the use of the wrong fork rather than an unsightly tattoo."

Rather than responding, Narcissa simply raised an amused eyebrow and quit the field, "I believe I have an owl to post, try not to corrupt my son in the few minutes it take for me to send off my letter."

Leaving her son to Sirius' care, she headed out to the back garden and called her owl to her, giving him the letter she had written earlier that morning. "Fly fast, pet, for I fancy this is the parting of the ways."

She watched as the owl flew off into the distance, enjoying the warmth of the evening's sun, before heading upstairs to see what state her son was in.

Pausing at the top of the stairs she was surprised to hear conversation between the two men, seemingly led by her son.

"And that's why Potter was so cut up at the end of term, because he though his Godfather was dead?"

"He was?"

"Oh he was trying to hide it in his usual 'brave little hero' manner, but any idiot could see he was grieving. Surely this doesn't come as a surprise to you?"

Draco, it seemed, was once again on his favourite topic of conversation, though it was following a different vein to the one's she and Lucius were subjected to every summer and she was slightly taken aback by just how much attention her son appeared to give his rival.

"We didn't part on the best of terms, and well, Harry was a little disappointed in me. He stumbled across, or should that be into Snape's pensive and found out some things he didn't like about how his father and I treated Snape."

Narcissa joined them with a quiet, "he should talk to Draco, they could share stories about their disappointing fathers."

"Excuse me, standing right here, and I'm not so sure he is that disappointing."

"Your father idolises a man who was defeated by a one year old, darling, so I don't think we should be revering him now, should we?"

"Well maybe we don't know the whole story."

"Dark Lords shouldn't need giving the benefit of the doubt Draco, so let's just accept my word on this one shall we? There's a good boy."

Fortunately they were interrupted here when Dumbledore apparated into the room.

END CHAPTER TWO

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