A.N Oh my gosh-squeal- You guys are the most supportive lot I've ever met! I LOVE you guys- no, seriously, I do. I'm glad you guys liked my Narcissa. I'm so happy that people are actually reading this, I could cry... but I won't, not now at least, because I'm in the middle of class and I have a chapter to write for you guys. Reviews just, I dunno, make me want to update faster for some reason. -shrug- ONWARD (to victory)!

FYI: This chapter is on the first of August. Keep that in mind.

Chapter 4- Not So Alone

Harry had already been awake (but still laying in bed) for awhile when someone knocked on his door. "Who is it?" he called.

"Me," Narcissa called back. "I brought you breakfast. Could you open the door?"

"Just a second!" Harry answered as he leapt out of bed and hurried into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Then he opened the door.

Narcissa walked in and set the tray down on Harry's desk It had a plate of pancakes with maple syrup on it and a glass of juice. "I hope you like them with chocolate chips," Narcissa said, gesturing to the pancakes.

Harry nodded eagerly, sat down at the desk and moved the tray to his lap so that he could eat while facing Narcissa. "Cook with a lot of chocolate, don't you?"

"Medicine for the soul," Narcissa answered. With a flick of her wand the curtains opened and a chair appeared for Narcissa to sit in. "Go ahead and eat. I'll explain about your mother."

Harry didn't need to be told twice. He cut into the steaming pancakes immediately.

"I take it you do want to see her then?" Narcissa asked. Harry nodded enthusiastically. "And you want to know how that's possible?"

Harry swallowed his bite. "Yeah, Hey, these are really good!"

Narcissa smiled. "I'm glad you think so. Now, here's the deal. After a person dies and their soul moves on, there's a 'probation period' of fifteen years that that soul must wait before it can even think about coming into any sort of contact with the living."

"So I can't see Sirius?" Harry interrupted.

"Um, no. I'm afraid not."

"But I can see my father too, right?"

"Well..." Narcissa hesitated. "No. Contact with the living is a privilege given for good behavior. Your father was a bit... rambunctious after dying, so he has to wait a bit longer than your more peaceful mother."

"So how does it work?" Harry asked.

"Well," Narcissa started. "It's an intricate spell, that, among other things, requires a circle of salt to confine the summoned soul and a possession of the deceased that you are summoning. The possession is to anchor the soul here for a brief amount of time."

"How brief?"

"Five to ten minutes tops. But anyway, since you and her are related, you could just use some of your blood if you so choose. There's a catch though," Narcissa said.

Harry hesitated. "Catch?" he asked, setting the empty tray aside.

"Several actually," Narcissa admitted. "The first is, it can only be done on a new moon. The second is, only the summoner can see and hear the spirit and third, the longer the spirit is anchored, the more energy is drained from the the summoner. You try and hold on too long and you may just find yourself joining your dearly departed."

"Sounds dangerous," said Harry.

"Very," Narcissa agreed. "Do you still want to try it?"

"Absolutely," Harry replied. "When?"

"Next new moon is the fifth."


Harry decided, after an hour's worth of locking himself on his room, that sulking did not particulary suit him. So he decided to explore a bit.

He hadn't gotten very far down the hall when he came across something most unexpected- or someone rather. Actually, two someones is more accurate, though the second individual wasn't immediately visible.

The boy stopped a good ten or twenty feet from Harry. He was roughly Harry's age and had short raven black hair and piercing blue eyes. "What are you, hired help?" he asked, his already intense dislike for Harry showing on his otherwise handsome face.

The girl marched up from behind her brother and pushed him aside as she headed straight towards Harry. "Don't be daft Jon," she told him loftily. She stopped right in front of Harry and stared deeply into his emerald green eyes. "You must be Harry Potter," she said, extending her manicured hand toward him. "I'm Jordan, that airhead is Jonathan, and my other brother, who is currently MIA, is Jesse. Me an' Jon are twins. Jesse's older."

"Nice to meet you," Harry murmured as he shook the confident girl's hand. He had been a little thrown off, not by Jordan's boldness, but by her eyes. They were a deep shade of violet that went nicely with her long jet black hair.

"Don't be stupid," Jon told his sister. "That's not Harry Potter. Why would he be here?"

"Is so," Jordan insisted. "He's definately got Lily's eyes. You've seen Auntie's pictures too. It is so him. Besides," she reached out and held Harry's bangs out of the way, "see the scar?"

"Auntie?" Harry asked suddenly.

"Oh, yes," Jordan said. "Narcissa is our aunt."

"Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange are our parents," said someone from behind Harry. Harry whirled around. Behind him stood a tall man. His waist-length black hair was tied back and his longish bangs fell in front of his violet eyes. In one hand he held a book, in the other he held reading glasses. "We're staying here while they're in Azkaban."

"Not that Jesse needs to," Jordan said hurridly. "He's 21, after all. He just likes the enourmous library and Auntie's cooking. Plus, he's a bit of a scatterbrain," she added in a whisper.

"I got lost on the way to the library again," said Jesses distractedly.

"Case in point," Jordan whispered. To Jon she said, "show Jesse to the library, would ya? I'm gonna give Harry the grand tour!" When Jon muttered under his breath, she added, "Unless you'd rather trade...?" Jon shook his head and escorted his directionally-challenged brother away.

"And off we go!" said Jordan enthusiastically.

-tbc-