Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to HP. It all belongs to JK Rowling, Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Inc., Warner Bros., and any other entities involved.

There was a loud noise at the door, a figure walked through it and dropped its hood. Ginny noticed who it was, and thought excitedly: "Now things are getting interesting, I wonder who'll win this match, and Draco so detests losing."

"But I wonder why Draco was so ruthless with Moody, is not like him to be so vindictive. Scratch that, it is like him to be so, only if it suits his purposes. So I wonder, why Moody now? Hmm, Mad-Eye is a top Auror, maybe he was on the team that was sent to the Manor, and he might've pestered Draco then, or even taken something valuable from Draco's home."

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When Draco had stopped in his tirade against McGonagall and turned to the door, Dumbledore was literally at the end of his rope: "Who does this little Lord think he is? I won't be made a mockery of, you'll learn your place, young Malfoy, if it is the last thing I do!"

Later, when Albus saw the slim figure walk through the door and drop its hood, he inwardly smiled. "Another one of my special projects comes home. Lucius's demise is so fortunate for me! His wife was ever so temperamental when she was at Hogwarts, and hard to manipulate. Thankfully the Marauders were there, bless their strong Gryffindor hearts! It was easy to lead them to constantly harass Severus, thus destroying any hope of him and Narcissa coming together. No, Narcissa was just too precious, too powerful to waste on poor Severus. I needed her bloodline and Lucius' for my plan to succeed. So what if the isolation and despondency caused by the Marauders was a proximate cause of Severus joining Tom? At the end of it all I got my spy, it was worth it."

Draco was saying goodbye to Harry, thinking about the upcoming Slytherin power struggle, when he heard someone say: "Hello Headmaster, I have come as you asked me to. Hello son." He turned slowly; he'd recognize that voice everywhere. Standing there was Narcissa Malfoy.

Harry looked beyond Draco at the disturbance at the door. He saw the finely cut cloak, the slim figure slightly shorter than Draco, and sucked his breath as the hood descended and blond hair cascaded out. That hair, so similar to Draco's, made Harry want to touch it, to feel it flow against his fingers like molten gold. Narcissa's face, unlike the last time Harry had seen it, was not marred by unseemly grimaces or scowls, and it showed her perfect features.

It was easy for Harry to see that Draco got the dangerous charisma from his father, and his looks and grace from his mother.

Harry cynically reflected that Narcissa would now prove to be a liability for Draco. Her usefulness as a suspected Death Eater was at an end with Draco's defection to the Light side. The people on that side would surely distrust her no end. She would end up depending on Draco and trying to influence him.

Also, after what Draco had shown at the meeting, he'd probably be cold, diffident and sarcastic to his mother, who after all had left him alone to face Lucius's whims.

So when Harry looked up to Draco, he was very surprised to see him sporting a breathtakingly open and beautiful smile, his grey eyes dancing with mirth and twinkling, Draco said, "A pleasure to see you, Mother."

Draco walked up to his mother, softly and tenderly kissed her cheek, and hugged her. He said, "The elves have missed you Mother, and I of course."

Narcissa finally held him at arms' length, and answered, "Your relatives proved most informative, you will be interested in what they say."

Draco responded, "Then let's be on our way, Mother."

Albus interrupted, "Mr. Malfoy, I would like you to spend the rest of summer break at the Burrow."

Draco answered, "But why, Headmaster. It doesn't make sense, seeing as half the people here loathe me!"

Dumbledore responded, "I'm afraid that with your Father's demise, security at the Manor is not what I would like, you'd be at risk there. You'll be safer here."

Draco coolly replied, "I've wiped out my father's measures, now the wards respond only to me. I promise you Severus has properly taught me how to set up secure wards. I'm afraid I must decline your offer and bid you farewell."

Narcissa contributed, "Maybe the Headmaster is right, Draco, maybe you should stay here."

Ginny inwardly snorted, "So that's why the old codger called back Narcissa! To try and force Draco to do things. Pitting a Slytherin against a Slytherin, how very subtle of you, Headmaster!"

Draco almost cringed, but corrected himself in time and only presented his cool façade, "I assure both you and the Headmaster that the Manor poses no risks to me."

Narcissa smiled a bit less warmly than before, and replied, "Then I am sure you will have no reservations to inviting your friends to stay at the Manor. Wouldn't you like young Mr. Weasley and Miss Weasley, Mr. Potter and Miss Granger to spend time with you?"

Ginny thought wryly, "Narcissa wins the game! Now Draco will have to either admit that there are Dark Arts artifacts at the Manor that make it unsafe and be forced to come here, or put his friends at risk. Very cunning, Mrs. Malfoy!"

Draco coolly drawled, "I've disabled some of father's Dark devices, the rest I gave to the investigating Aurors. So it is safe at home. Will you bunch of Gryffindors please join me?" Draco beamed at them. They were flabbergasted at the invitation and quickly accepted, with Molly putting on some reservations.

Narcissa looked collected, though to Ginny's prying eyes, she seemed somewhat surprised at her son's rejoinder.

Then Draco turned to Narcissa and said, "But that means that I will have to entertain at the Manor, won't you join me and be the hostess, Mother?"

Narcissa forced a small smile and nodded. Ginny was innerly chortling, "I guess you lost the war, Mrs. Malfoy, though it was a good try."

Narcissa said, "You will have to lend me Anubis to send a letter to Wiesbaden, Draco."

Draco replied, "Anubis is yours to command, mother."

Draco neared Narcissa, and then, to the astonishment of everyone, got down on his knees and held his mother's hands, gently grazing his lips against the back of her right hand.

At that moment, they looked exactly like an early Renaissance painting of a Scandinavian Madonna and her kneeling Son.

Then Draco spoke passionately, "Everything I am is yours to command, my Lady Narcissa Black Malfoy. My honor, my property, my magic, my very soul is yours. Do with them as you will." A golden light surrounded Draco's hands, which were entwined with Narcissa's.

It was then that Ginny finally recognized the ancient ritual, it was a Liege Bond. The ritual was very powerful and old, and it was sparingly used, generally to form and renew alliances. It did exactly what the words promised. The person receiving the pledge could virtually do as they pleased. That is to say, Narcissa could now get all the Malfoy fortune and lands, even Draco's magic or his very soul. Some scholars even suggested that the ritual eventually had to do with the creation of the Dementors and their soul-stealing Kiss. Voldemort would've loved to use it to bind his Death Eaters to him, except for a small fact: it could only be performed by Pureblood witches or wizards.

Ginny was dizzy. She had seen Draco engaged in a battle of magic, will and wits with his father, never wavering an inch, resolutely facing down an evil man. She was now seeing Draco's utter surrender, showing complete faith and devotion, and the contrast was absolutely staggering. Maybe at the heart of Slytherin there was more than cunning, maybe there was love.

The ritual could be answered in two ways: accepting what the other person had to offer, and effectively becoming his or her master, or pledging one's goods and powers to the other participant, thus making an unbreakable alliance.

Ginny eagerly awaited Narcissa's words.

Narcissa recited softly, "Your honor, your property, your magic, your very soul, they are mine."

"Receive them back freely, my honor I bind to yours, my property I add to yours, my magic seek yours, my soul pledge I to thee." "Forever will our paths join."

The light holding Draco's and Narcissa's hands became more intense. Narcissa tried to keep her face impassive, as befits a Black and Malfoy, but her façade cracked for an instant and a tear made its lonely way down her cheek.

Narcissa continued, "You are truly the long-sought Heir of Malfoy and Black, Lord Draco Sergius Malfoy." The light dimmed and died, and Narcissa finished softly, almost whispering, "But more importantly, you are my son and my solace."

Ginny looked on as Draco got off the floor and hugged Narcissa, a pleased expression on his eyes. She was always exceptionally observant concerning Draco, and noticed a new signet ring on his hand, other than the Malfoy one.

Ginny ruefully thought that in a typically dramatic way, Draco had changed everyone's prejudices concerning Narcissa. The Light side could no longer ostracize her, for if they did, they would surely alienate Draco. If the Dark side had a small hope of changing Draco's mind, they would have to work through his mother, they could not ignore her. Of course, this meant that Narcissa may still be able to influence some Death Eater's wives, but at a heavy cost, for by being so openly important to Draco, she had become a prime target.

Ginny would have preferred to be left alone and unimportant, but for Draco and Narcissa, being Malfoys, that was simply not an option.

In Ginny's opinion, influenced by Ron's rabid chess playing, Draco had single-handedly elevated his mother from being a pawn to becoming a queen. "But of course, only the Headmaster is so calculating as to treat us as pawns, right? Draco wouldn't do that. Yeah…."

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Arthur Weasley broke the quiet when he said, "Wait, before my family goes to Malfoy Manor, I'd like to make sure that Mrs. Malfoy is not a Death Eater. Can I see her arms?"

Narcissa looked reluctant to do so, but Draco, with a murderous glare directed at the elder Weasley that would surely have set the man on fire if Draco had had the power of his namesakes, retorted, "By all means. Let him look, Mother, and see what family means."

Narcissa showed the unblemished, alabaster skin of her forearms. Ginny thought she could detect a faint smirk on Narcissa's face as Mr. Weasley looked, and then reluctantly went to the other side of the table.

Draco looked thunderously first at Mr. Weasley and then at Dumbledore. He sneered and said, "Before you cast aspersion on others, you should examine yourselves. There is someone in this room who is surely a staunch Voldemort follower."

The conversations and mutterings stopped and everyone looked at Draco. He started pacing in front of the table and talking, his tone rising steadily: "Let's examine in more detail the events surrounding the Triwizard Tournament. Hasn't anyone ever wondered how it could be that fake Moody could so flawlessly supplant Moody for almost a year? How in hell did he manage to drink from that flask, every hour on the hour, months on end? How come a top Auror such as Moody could be captured, and then held captive for so many months? How convenient it was that the Minister of Magic decided to Kiss Crouch! Well, really inconvenient for all except for one person, one Moody."

The murmurs were getting louder, when Draco shouted: "Silence!" "Let me tell you something. After the ferret incident, a group of Slytherins and I decided to get Moody's flask, empty it and fill it with a purgative, and see what he would do. Do you know what happened? Fake Moody fell beautifully for the plan, drank the contents when he should, and spent the rest of the afternoon going to the bathroom. We watched him eagerly for several hours, and he didn't change into Crouch, he remained Moody, this m…"

Charlie cried, "Fucking Ferret, why didn't you tell us sooner? Why wait until today? We could've helped so many…"

Draco roared, "Major Weasel, shut your trap!! Moody, or fake-fake-Moody or whoever, remained true to his 'Constant Vigilance' crap, he noticed us, questioned us and ultimately obliviated us."

Draco continued in a calmer tone, "Earlier today, when Fawkes examined me for Dumbledore, he cried a Phoenix Tear which went to my hand, when it contacted my body all Obliviates I've endured started to disappear." Draco stared pitilessly at Dumbledore.

Albus said weakly, "But when we rescued him from the trunk, he was emaciated."

Draco replied, "That can be faked with a spell. This was carefully planned so Moody would function well as a sleeper. The Minister of Magic unnecessarily Kissed Crouch. I suspect he may have been under Imperius. I suggest you do a Priori Incantatem on Moody's wand to see if he has cast it recently. It seems like a modus operandi."

Molly sobbed and cried, "He tricked us, he tricked us."

Ginny went to her mother and hugged her, and asked her why she was upset. Molly answered, "Ginny, when you didn't show up, we were very worried. Harry wanted to go and search for you, he thought he saw Malfoy, Lucius I mean, taking you, but he was not sure."

"Even so he wanted to go, and your brothers were ready too. They decided to let Dumbledore know and called him. He insisted they tell him their plans, and came over here. Moody was with him."

"When they heard Harry's plans, they started to tear them apart. Not forthrightly, but mentioning flaws; saying how similar it was with Harry's rescue of Sirius at the Department of Mysteries. As you can imagine, Harry was floored when they identified similarities, and was very afraid he'd get someone killed."

"Ron kept insisting they go rescue you, though, until Moody went to the kitchen and remarked that the clock hand that shows your position did not show you in danger. In fact, the hand pointed to 'Sleeping.' By that moment, we were all very discouraged. Finally they left, after they got Harry to promise that he would wait 24 hours to look for you."

tbc