Hey everyone,
New challenge here and this one too comes from DZ2's forum – seriously people, go check that forum out, it has so much to offer. I personally really love this challenge, unfortunately is my interest in this category at the current moment very low, so I will just keep it to this simple starter chapter until, perhaps, later.
Enjoy the challenge,
Venquine1990
Challenge #17
White Lady
Unknown POV
The night my Husband came back from meeting with that murderer was the night he changed for good. He had been pretending the entire time that he enjoyed watching his master torture and play with an innocent 14 year old, but in reality – as he later told me – he could only see our own son in poor Harry James Potter.
And the fact that this one event can change my husband so drastically and make him a silent supporter of the boy is exactly what I have been needing as ultimate motivation since, many years ago I heard where exactly old Dumbledore deemed worthy for the grandson of my great-aunt Dorea to live after he lost his parents.
By now I am dressed in what, after some silent observation, I discovered is fashion for Muggle women my age to wear and while my platinum blonde hair and my sophisticated make-up still makes me stand out, do I have my wand hidden from view along with some Aurors that support neither Fudge nor Dumbledore.
The most prominent of them has to be my own little niece Nymphadora Tonks and while I feel amazed that my disgraced sister kept tradition when naming her daughter, do I feel confident that my upcoming actions might salvage the bond that was broken between us so long ago, a thought that strengthens my determination.
Another good thing about Nymphadora being here is the fact that she actually knows where my estranged cousin, Sirius Black, is hiding and when I told her that I plan to make Harry happy and give him peace, did she tell me that we could shoot two pixies with one Stunner spell before revealing me this amazing news.
The fact that she knows this thanks to Dumbledore, but that she is willing to go against his orders to make her cousin and his godson happy make me very proud of the woman my sister raised and strengthens my need to see this mission be completed, but when I enter the neighborhood where Harry lives, am I shocked.
One house build right next to the other, all of them having the same stone structure, having the same kind of flowers, the same bushes, the same colored tiled roof, the windows placed in the same locations. The only things that sets one house apart from the other is the window decoration and the numbers of the houses.
"How is any aspiring wizard supposed to grow a healthy imagination in an environment as dull and plain as this?" I hear one of the Aurors escorting me whisper to the other, who responds: "Perhaps Potter turned mad of this dull place and got an overload instead, making him think what he does about You-Know-Who."
And while this reminds me that I need to see the Potter solicitor, perhaps have him cooperate with the one working for the Black Family, and have him/them solve the issue of my cousin being slandered by a public newspaper, do I feel my inner Slytherin rear up, making me turn to the men behind me and calmly ask them:
"Do you understand now? Why my husband has finally seen fit to take my side of the family seriously and to take care of my cousin as he and I have been taking care of young Draco?" And while I can tell by Nymphadora's face that she doesn't believe my little white lie, do the other two men nod, all of them smiling at me.
I nod back and turn back to look at the dull, extremely similar looking houses, my eyes finally finding the number four being made of metal and hung up against a simple grey-iron mailbox and I nod once before I say: "Let us move out. The Heir of the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter awaits our presence."
The three Aurors behind me nod and we resume our pace, me silently keeping one thought to myself: "Even if he doesn't quite know it yet." And while I know that, at this very moment Lucius is taking Draco somewhere alone and explaining him what happened and what we have planned, do I enter the front porch of number four.
The door itself looks just as plain as the rest of the neighborhood and while part of me feels as if it's just dying out in a place as uneventful as this and while I feel sure that people like my cousin Sirius and my sister Bellatrix will probably go even more mad here than they ever could at Azkaban prison, do I knock trice.
Small sounds from inside can be heard through the wooden door and while making sure that my sophisticated looks are clear, that my jewelry is clear in vision and that I look every bit the wife of a high diplomat, does a young man with more fat than Crabbe and Goyle together open the door, his look disgusting me as he stares.
"Greetings." I say shortly, trying to stay polite, but the fat boy just opens his mouth halfway, his eyes still raking over my form and the way that those beady little buds of light keep stalling at my chest and hip area makes me feel riled up and with a little more strength do I ask: "Shouldn't a guest be invited in upon greeting?"
The boy's eyes look back at me and then, while I can just make clear a small head with messy black hair and a pair of shocked emerald green eyes that are peaking around what looks to be the kitchen door, does the boy then really disgust me as he says: "You're hot." To which I instantly retort: "And married, thank you."
And while I see the boy behind him slap himself on the forehead, obviously having heard my comment and understood why I responded like that, does the boy in front of him seem to finally realize what is going on, the look of disappointment flashing across his face before he asks me with a fake air of confusion:
"So what brings – someone like you to my home?" And while I don't even want to know what he really wanted to say, does one of the men behind me decide that he has had enough as he steps forward and say: "Lady Malfoy is here to speak with the guardians of Heir Potter about a transfer of guardianship. Now let us in, already."
And to my astonishment does it seem as if the lad before me only then notices the 3 people standing behind me before he asks: "Lady? Heir? What the bloody hell are you all talk –wait, you're one of THEM?" He then asks me, his fear almost clear from his tone alone and before I know what happens, is the door closed in my face.
Wondering what on earth could have caused such a reaction, do I take a look behind me, the three Aurors behind me looking as baffled as I feel before the door is opened again and the young black-haired man I saw earlier comes out, sighing and whispering: "We better get going before Big D goes squealing to his mummy."
And while I suddenly wonder what kind of bond there could be between the young Potter Heir and his mundane relatives, does Tonks then prove me why she was sorted into Huffelpuff as she bounds over and says: "Wotcher Harry." Making my cousin raise his eyebrow at her before she giggles and moves closer as she whispers:
"I'm pulling Snuffel out of the doghouse later to bring him over, got it?" And it seems that Harry does get her little hint as he looks shocked and then looks back before he gives her and the rest of us the head motion indicating: "Let's get going." To which we all nod and while silent communication takes place between the 2 men, do we leave.
Then, while Harry and Tonks take the front lead, Tonks seeming to have some problems keeping her footing even on this even ground with dull and boring gardens neatly cut to the sides, does Harry whisper: "You know Snuffel?" Tonks nods and whispers back: "I work with Old Goat Face – or at least, I did."
And while Harry looks at me do we then both see how our joined cousin sends a disgusted look at the house that we left and where suddenly a high-pitched shriek is heard from, shocking most of us and making Harry wince and say: "Come on, before she sees us and calls me back." And we all hasten our pace to get away from the house.
We pass a few more streets and alleys, Harry leading us through a small tunnel that leads out into a playground filled with dead and yellow turned grass, bushes that have more thorns and branches than any real leafs and a some toy equipment that looks either badly used and broken or never used and never cleaned either.
Hoping with all that I am that my little nephew wasn't responsible for the damage, do I still dread the idea of him living in an environment where the attention to playgrounds and fun activities is obviously at an all-time low before Harry says: "I think we'll be safe here. Dudley hasn't been here since he almost broke that seesaw."
And while the fact that the boy feels safe somewhere other than in his own home worries me, do I nod nonetheless, the seesaw he motions for indeed showing a small bend on one side and with a crack in the top of the pipe-structure. Harry then jumps over the fence and Tonks joyfully joins him while the others and I pass the gate.
Harry moves himself over to the swing where he leans himself against one of the upturned bars holding the structure together and when I have seated myself, do I suddenly notice how we are missing one person, making me realize he must have taken different orders when silently conversing with his partner earlier.
"You're here because of what happened to your son on the train, aren't you Mrs. Malfoy?" Harry then asks, his bluntness slightly startling me, but I keep my cool and say: "No Heir Potter, I am not. I am here, because your grandmother was my great-aunt and I feel I should take responsibility seeing the events of last June."
And while I can now clearly see how there are heavy bags underneath the boy's eyes, how his eyes have a look in them that is not quite sharp, but not really vague and dull either and how his cloths are beyond obviously second hand, does his next question feel like a slap in the face as he asks: "You're here to finish what he tried?"
And while it doesn't take a genius to know who the boy means with the term he, do I shake my head and say: "Again wrong, Heir Potter. My husband came back from that event a changed man and his first demand of me when he felt himself and strong again was that I would do everything in my power – to protect you."
Harry keeps his stance against the pole and his arms crossed, his raised eyebrows and the look in his eyes sharpening with shock being the only indication that my words have any reaction from him before he says: "My apologies, Lady Malfoy, but after the events of my second year, do I highly doubt your husband wishes for my safety."
And while again cursing Lucius for what he caused the Weasley family – even if Molly and I will never see eye to eye on how you should raise a child – do I nod in understanding and say: "There is something you should know, Heir Potter. Something that revolves around the events transpiring in the last War."
And while Nymphadora takes this as her cue and says softly: "Come on, this better be held between family only." The male Auror nodding in understanding as she leads him away, do Harry's eyes and raised eyebrow follow them until they are on a bench on the other side of the playground before his inquisitive eyes return to me.
"In the last war, Heir Potter, did He have one vital rule to his Death Eaters. If you capture a family for me, bring me the parents and leave the child in the dungeons. As far as Lucius knew were those children meant to be kept there to be raised as the next Dark Army. What happened to them after the war is unclear even to us these days."
"Why?" Harry asks and I answer: "Because it was Unspeakables that found the dungeons. Lucius feigned to have been under the Imperius because he couldn't imagine me raising Draco by myself, but it would be foolish of him to admit that he knew where the dungeons were if the Imperius being broken made him have amnesia, no?"
The boy's lips turn to a grimace, proving me that he doesn't approve of my husband having gotten away with his crimes, but he nods nonetheless and asks: "So what does this have to do with June?" I sigh and say: "Heir Potter – Harry – when Lucius was there in June, he saw something that shocked him greatly, to the core even."
Curiosity is now strong on the visage of my cousin and I say: "He saw talent, Harry. Practiced talent and not just coming from you with how you battled him, Lucius saw practiced talent in the way He tortured and tried to kill you, proving that he had done so before, which couldn't be possibly as you were supposedly his first underage target."
"Only I wasn't." Harry then growls and I nod before I say: "Exactly and that made Lucius finally learn what the Unspeakables discovered when they found all those poor children. Voldemort ordered his Death Eaters to leave the kids in the dungeons, because he had young recruits, all of which had a strong prospect of having children.
And most of them did. The Notts, the Crabbes, the Goyles, the Malfoys, just to name a few. Voldemort was a lot, Harry, but he wasn't stupid and he already predicted that if his followers saw him hurt, torture or otherwise maim a child –." And finally do I see the warded stance of my cousin weaken as he says:
"That they would renegade, which is what your husband did when he saw me under Voldemort's torture curse." I nod and say: "That really shook him, Harry. To see you hurt like that and to see the body of that other young man, who had obviously been recently murdered. Lucius needed two days to recover from all of that."
By now, while a shudder of emotions I can't quite understand flows through the young man's form before he sighs and asks: "Did he ever tell you?" I feel a little confused and Harry goes on: "Draco. Did he ever tell you why my friends and I attacked him like that? Did he ever confess about the things he said that made us curse him?"
I shake my head, part of me feeling dreadful about this change of topic while another wonders what this could have to do with why my husband changed sides and Harry sighs and says: "We did it, because he mocked Cedric. He mocked him, he mocked me and he mocked the fact that I had survived while Cedric had been murdered.
He even went so far as to threaten my friends, saying that because I had chosen the wrong company to hang out with, that my friends would be the first to die now that he was back. Called them Muggle-Lovers and Mudbloods and then mocked Cedric's death to top it all off. That's why we cursed him and I just don't regret it, sorry."
The boy ends, his voice sounding highly self-defensive, but I do not feel like blaming or being angry with him as the fiery rage that burns within me makes me want to lash out at the one responsible; my over-confident and highly arrogant son, who seems to think that killing others is something he can just go ahead and joke about.
Feeling certain that Lucius and I will be having words with Draco about this later, do I take a deep breath and say: "I understand, Heir Potter, and you can be assured that neither Lucius nor I knew about this nor did we approve of it. I also already have a punishment in my head, but that will have to be discussed later.
Now, I have an important question I need to ask you." The boy nods at me, the way his body turned stiff and guarded when I called him Heir Potter worrying me and I ask: "Do you trust me?" The boy looks confused, but I keep looking at him and when he shrugs, do I nod to accept this as an answer and say: "Then close your eyes."
For a moment the boy looks at me warily and with lidded eyes of distrust, but I keep my calm and keep my hands where he can see them lying on my lap, the boy sighing silently before he closes his eyes and I say: "I'm just going to ask you a few questions and I simply want an answer as soon as I finish asking, understand?"
And the way his body relaxes makes me know that he recognizes a method like this before he nods and I ask: "What is your favorite dessert?" Deciding to start small and feeling pleased when he answers: "Treacle. Anything treacle." I nod and decide to remember this for later before I go on a little more difficult and ask:
"What class comes easiest to you?" And the boy answers: "Defense and Ancient Runes, though I don't take that. I just like to read Hermione's textbooks when she's busy studying for another subject." And while part of me feels delighted with this sneaky little answer, do I decide to get to the whole reason of my visit and ask:
"Do you feel safe here?" And the answer is exactly the one I expected ever since I heard where Harry had been placed, yet that I had constantly waved away with the thought that Dumbledore knew Lily Potter better than I and that I had been slightly dreading since starting to put this plan into action. Harry answers: "No."
And there we go.
At this point have Tonks and the other Auror returned and has the third one finished raiding #4 of all of Harry's possessions, including the ones we know he often hides under the loose floorboard in his room. The third Auror is now approaching the group and the other two have heard Harry's answers to Narcissa's questions.
Of course, this will cause a reaction from all three of them and Narcissa will offer Harry to come live with her and Lucius, who will indeed agree with his wife that their son should be punished for what he said on the train, but like I wrote at first meeting between Tonks and Harry; Harry won't be going there alone.
Now here is the challenge:
All that Narcissa would need to see was Harry's wounded state and she'd be mothering him to full health…and not in an overbearing way like a certain redhead he knew either. She'd help him become strong and give him the freedoms that these Muggles never did: she'd also make sure that this friendship between Harry and Draco stuck around for a good long while.
Not even Dumbledore would be able to separate Harry from Draco or vice-versa by the time Narcissa Malfoy was done making Harry feel safe, strong and secure.
So, this one's going to sound a bit weird, but I hope you give it a chance;
DZ2's 'White Lady' Challenge
Plot: Harry's announcement in the Third Task changed the world, but amongst the faithful, there was one willing to do anything to save his family; so, to help save his family, he now asks a neutral party to do her part for their son...by helping the enemy!
Rules: Light or Grey Harry
At some point after the Third Task, but BEFORE the Dementor attack, Narcissa Malfoy must remove Harry from the Dursleys
Under the care of the Malfoy Elders, Harry and Draco repair their estranged relationship and become friends
IF the story starts at the Third Task, Lucius CANNOT be in the graveyard unless it's to help Harry
Narcissa helps Harry become more of a warrior instead of relying on sheer dumb luck
Lucius guides Harry through his more-noble side of life as Lord Potter and any other titles owned by Harry
Draco helps Harry regain confidence with his friends and peers at Hogwarts outside of Gryffindor
When the Order learn of Harry's relocation, Sirius cannot oppose them, but others can
At some point in 5th year, Lucius uses his influences to clear Sirius' name
Narcissa goes to war with Umbridge when she learns what she's doing to Harry
Guidelines: Lord-Harry
The friendship between Harry and Draco causes the end of the Golden Trio
Lucius arranges a resort for Harry
Narcissa gets Andromeda and even Bellatrix involved in helping Harry become a real warrior and Lord
All pairings are welcome
The Dementor attack still happening, but Harry isn't there
Slash
Harry discovers some form of unique magic
Lucius or Narcissa discover and help Harry become the TRUE Master of Death
Forbidden: Lucius serving Voldemort
Harry allied with the Order or Voldemort
Draco against Harry
Sirius dying
Harry being attacked by the Dementors
Other than that, it's up to you...