Sorry if this comes up as an update - none just yet sorry - I just needed to change the International Stage Broom as fan fiction decided I was trying to write URL's and changed all my abbreviations to just 'I.'. Hopefully all fixed now!

TWENTY NINE

When one pm came around Blaise and Theo had been reluctant to let Harry go, worried about his odd reaction to what they had heard, but Harry wasn't really worried about his mysterious meeting with the Malfoys. Even if it were something malicious, they would be vastly underestimating him, expecting a mere thirteen year old. Harry was kind of out of it, once more things he thought he knew were being turned on their head and he was starting to struggle to keep up.

Harry blinked as a door appeared in front of him and he realised he'd made it through the busy pub and upstairs to the private parlours without even noticing where his feet had taken him. Taking a deep breath he pushed all the new information to the back of his mind. He would have to think on it later, because being absent minded in this meeting was not a good idea.

Harry knocked.

There had been quiet voices inside but they stopped on Harry's knock, and his curiosity was piqued. It was a little odd, this meeting, and Harry hadn't come up with even a single plausible reason Lucius might have had for asking him.

The most unexpected person opened the door.

'Good afternoon, Potter.'

Harry blinked.

'Grace?'

Harry masked his shock at the smirk working it's way across the ex-Slytherin Queen's face. There was too much of a sparkle in her eyes laughing at him, and Harry reacted on instinct.

'You have a proposition for me? Well. I could hardly say no to that.' Harry leered at her.

'Potter!' Grace's cheeks flushed slightly pink, but before anything worse could happen, a smooth voice spoke up from inside the room.

'Miss Weitts was unaware of the meeting until yesterday morning, Mr. Potter. Though I am sure she is flattered by such an offer from a thirteen year old.'

Harry laughed, and stepped into the room, bowing over Narcissa's offered hand.

'Good afternoon, Mrs. Malfoy.'

'Mr. Potter, I was sure I told you to call me Narcissa.'

Harry smiled. 'Harry then.'

Curiously Lucius wasn't actually in the room. Narcissa must have seen Harry's wandering eyes, as she coughed lightly.

'Lucius and his… friend shall be joining us in a moment, and while they are out of the room I would like to warn you that they are both rather enthusiastic, and you shouldn't let them talk you into anything without thinking it through. I shudder to think how Draco would react in such a meeting without me there to put my foot down.'

Harry took a seat, almost pouting.

'Are you trying to make me so curious on purpose?' Harry teased.

Grace took the chair next to Harry. 'I wouldn't put it past Cissy.'

Harry mentally raised his eyebrows at the nickname. He hadn't been aware that Grace had much to do with Narcissa. Certainly she had little care for Draco the previous year. The feeling of stepping into some sort of trap was starting to increase, and Harry had to stop himself from flinching when the door burst open. A tall, pale man stepped into the room.

The man was carrying an over-stuffed briefcase under one arm, while the other was held slightly out from his body. He was well built, and instead of the usual robes he was wearing tailored black pants and a light green sports jersey. An odd combination, but along with the large grin on his face, Harry found himself instantly liking him.

Then he spoke. 'Ah ha! Harry Potter, it is a pleasure to finally meet you!'

Harry winced slightly then frowned. It was odd that Lucius was bringing a boy-who-lived fan to meet him.

'Lovely to meet you Mr-...' Harry trailed off. It was rather unusual that none of the three purebloods had introduced them.

Lucius had an insufferable smirk on his face, stepping in behind the man and shutting the door.

'What?' The man paused for a moment at Harry's confusion before shooting Lucius a look. 'Why Luc you sly dog! You didn't tell him.'

'I don't know what you're talking about.' Lucius said innocently.

Harry was now inching towards his wand, however Grace cleared her throat loudly and a pointed look from both her and Narcissa had both men wincing and dropping their game.

'Right then.' the cheery man said, dropping his case on the table and unclasping it. Harry was distracted from his growing annoyance as the mess of papers burst out into neat piles on the coffee table, followed by a heavy, crested lunchbox-sized trunk that popped open to reveal a pair of omnioculars. Harry switched to magical sight and peered at the now empty briefcase, his eyebrows rising as it lit up with an excessive number of runes. Harry was rather pleased to be able to recognise a large portion of them.

'Where did you get that?' Harry asked, obviously throwing off the little gathering at his focus. Harry now realised that it magically sorted paperwork! The possibilities! He quite possibly would have killed for one of those back in his enforced Auror days.

The man gave him a rather bemused look, though shook his head at Harry fondly. 'My wife's rather nifty with Runes.'

'I can see that.' Harry nodded. He hoped it would turn out that this man would want something from him, because Harry needed to be able to bargain with him for a case.

'Right… Well. Here, take a look.'

The omnioculars were pushed into Harry's hands and the man seemed to be on the edge of his seat.

Harry looked at them a bit doubtfully. He wasn't keen on the idea of letting both his eyes be blocked off from watching the other occupants of the room. They were all looking at him so expectantly. Harry sighed mentally, and managed to prod Apep to attention under the pretence of getting comfortable to view. He also let his magic build just under his skin so that if anything did happen, the counterattack would be almost instant.

.:I shall watch:. Apep hissed quietly. Harry nodded slightly.

Warily he brought the omnioculars to his face and dialled the playback.

Harry's confusion skyrocketed. He hadn't managed to pinpoint why Lucius might have wanted to meet him, though he had had a list of options. Political manoeuvres after Harry's stunt over the holidays, having heard from Snape about being able to manipulate the mark, or maybe something about Sirius due to the Black family… quite honestly this had never even crossed his mind.

Harry peered over the omnioculars with a perplexed look. 'But this is… Quidditch?'

There was a moment of silence and stillness, and Harry looked back through the eyepiece.

Two players, one in light green and one in scarlet, were running manoeuvres around a stadium Harry hadn't been to before. They were clearly both Seekers, though the recording was from a distance where Harry couldn't see enough to recognise them. Suddenly they both went into a steep dive, still twisting around each other. Harry winced, and a moment later his silent prediction came true and the player in green caught the tip of his broom on the scarlet player's robe. The duo's dive spiralled out of control. Before they hit the ground the stadium's training charms kicked in and their descent slowed dramatically. The green wizard still crashed, but the scarlet wizard only just managed to pull up and Harry finally got a look at his face.

'Is that Jaspar Maddox?' Harry said slowly, dropping the omnioculars again. The man grinned and Harry suddenly noticed that both his jersey and the trunk had the Caerphilly Catapults crest on them.

'… What is this?' Harry asked carefully. He was half referring to the omnioculars, and half the meeting. It was rare for training recordings to be shown outside contracted staff, but what was really baffling Harry was Lucius' involvement.

'That,' the man jerked his finger at the omnioculars, 'is Maddox failing the stunt you pulled off in the middle of a Class Three Quidditch Weather.' The man's enthusiasm was building. 'That is our star Seeker's ninth attempt, and the best he managed that afternoon.' The man took a deep breath, his arms waving around enthusiastically 'That right there, is why we want you for our team!'

Harry blinked, opened his mouth, shut it, then blinked again.

'I'm sorry… did you just offer me a National League Quidditch position?' Harry couldn't keep the incredulity out of his voice. His brain was actually melting.

Lucius was smirking and Harry could practically feel Grace vibrating with restrained excitement the next seat over.

The man's grin, if possible, grew larger. 'Yes.'

Harry felt a huge wave of absolute joy wash over him, though he tried to keep it internal. He could not believe this. He had joked about taking up Quidditch with Hermione, but the thought that a thirteen year old would actually get an offer was… well… Not to mention with the Catapults, who were in Harry's top three favourite teams! This was… Harry suddenly realised the man was talking at him.

'…-and he's been thinking about retiring, so you would probably only be the reserve for the one season, maybe even-'

'Whoa! Wait.' Harry held up his hands. making the man stop. Harry had a million thoughts running, trying to figure out timetables and possibilities, but he needed to calm down and actually think. He refused to remain the Gryffindor that ran into things blind. Harry took a calming breath.

'First things first. Your name?'

The man blinked with wide eyes, then laughed. 'Oh, sorry. I got a bit carried away. I'm Leopold Rhydderch, the Caerphilly Catapults' promotional manager and talent scout… though I suspect you should just jump right in there and call me Rhy, most of the team does.'

Harry tried to find the slightly pushy statement rude, but Rhy was one of those congenial smiley people that you just couldn't help but like.

Harry narrowed his eyes slightly, 'Were you a Hufflepuff?'

Rhy blinked, then nodded. 'It shows right?'

Harry glanced at Lucius, who seemed to be enjoying the turnabout of Harry floundering far too much.

'Suspiciously so.' Harry half-joked. Rhy was being introduced by Lucius Malfoy.

They all chuckled and Rhy winked. Harry quirked an eyebrow, but then refocused.

'Riiight… so next point. A Reserve?' Again, Harry sounded rather sceptical. It wasn't unheard of to skip a training team and win a spot on the reserves, but it definitely wasn't usual.

Rhy quirked a grin. 'Maddox told me he wouldn't fly with anyone else.'

Harry tried desperately, but couldn't help but flush slightly. This was incredibly flattering. The Reserves held quite close relationships with the starters, and were somewhat like apprentices.

'Oh-' Harry just barely held back the wow. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Lucius smirk again, but hell, Harry would have like to see Lucius hold his mask in this position (offered to a thirteen year old!).

Harry really couldn't believe this was actually happening. He had received quite a few offers (even for starter spots) in the future, but by then he was no longer capable of flying on a team, so he had been bitter. Eventually he had given a media release asking not to send offers. But he'd been an adult then, and at least some of that had been his fame, and some due to his drunken flight with Krum at the convention. It wasn't that his fame didn't count here (because he was sure that it would always be a consideration for any job offer) but Harry was (as far as they knew) thirteen. Had he mentioned that? Thirteen! Krum got spotted at twelve and only after thrusting himself into every Quidditch camp available for his age.

'Don't blush so hard Potter, I can feel the room heating.' Grace teased from beside him, bringing Harry back from his day dreams. He sent her a glare, but was secretly grateful.

'Does it matter I'm underage?' Harry asked next.

'We would have to get permission from your magical guardian, but otherwise not by much.'

Harry felt his dreams shatter and the outstanding mood he had been building crash. Oh. Right. The war.

For a moment there he had totally forgotten that he had yet to deal with Voldemort, and Dumbledore was still alive and meddling. He had forgotten that he wasn't independent and had a multitude of things to do and a growing list of tasks and diminishing time to complete them. For the first time in a (surprisingly) long time, Harry felt like whining about being the Boy-Who-Lived.

'Well fuck!'

The swear had slipped out before he could help it, but he couldn't even find it in him to care about Narcissa's disappointed hum or Grace's frown.

'Language, Potter.' Lucius drawled.

Harry grimaced, then blurted out 'Albus Dumbledore is my current magical guardian.'

There was a slight pause where Grace looked rather shocked, and the two Malfoy's winced, but Rhy seemed rather oblivious.

'Well that should be fine. It's a bit unusual, but-'

'He won't be supportive, Rhydderch.' Lucius butted in, causing Rhy to trail off and frown.

Harry sighed and drew up his Slytherin mask to avoid more external flinching.

'Actually, as flattering as this is… and it is enormously flattering, I don't think I could say yes anyway.' Harry's heart ached, but it wasn't really the most feasible idea, no matter how much his heart had sung at the thought. But he was already pushing the healthy amount of time-turner use, and still had to figure out how to (subtly) break into Gringotts, and put the wards back on the Gaunt shack. At some point soonish he would have to face Voldemort's main soul again, not to mention skirting the ministry and trying to sort out Sirius… Oh yeah, and he had a family to track down and destroy… sorry, deal with.

Harry was broken out of his thoughts by Grace lightly tugging his sleeve. 'Excuse us for a moment.' She threw a rather intriguing obscuring ward up, then a silencing bubble.

'Potter, look. You should take this.' She held up her hands to hold back his interruption. 'No listen. I know you are some sort of crazy genius, and the amount of magical power you hold is frankly frightening at times, but this is a chance to be widely popular.'

'Yes, because that's my main goal in life.' Harry drawled.

Grace frowned. 'You hardly ever flaunt your Boy-Who-Lived title, which would have gained you respect in your climb to King. But you can't say you aren't interested in influence, because you have apparently taken over King with an absurd amount of style and ease, which we shall be talking about later, by the way. So be famous for something you've consciously done. Gain public influence. Damn it Potter, to be a Lord you should be scrambling for any political power you can get your hands on. It's embarrassing the rest of us to watch you pass something this difficult off as if it were as natural as breathing!'

Harry frowned. He didn't want to be a Lord… he just didn't want to have to bow down to either of the current ones. Besides- 'Quidditch isn't political power.' Harry pointed out.

Grace took a deep breath then stilled suddenly, catching Harry's direct gaze. 'You owe me two favours Potter.'

Harry stiffened, and his magic flared slightly in anger. She had healed Neville after the Acromantula incident, but if she thought he would just roll over on something so influential for his future, favour or not-

Grace flinched slightly at his angry power, and quickly held up two hands. 'Whoa! Don't panic. I won't make you decide, but I am calling in one favour. I want you to think about this. Really consider it.'

While they had been chatting Narcissa had called a Malfoy House Elf for tea service, and Harry was momentarily confused about where Dobby was, before remembering he'd managed to trick Draco into freeing him by using him as a clothes hanger. Once he dragged his focus off the calmer elf, he managed to catch the startled looks on the three adults.

Harry immediately drew in his magic, shooting Grace another annoyed look, and reaching for a cup and saucer as if his Aura hadn't just been thick with malice.

'Shall we just look at the draft contract?' Rhy asked with a simple smile. 'We could find a way to work around Dumbledore and you'll hurt my feelings if you turn us down before even considering the options.' Rhy managed to draw up a kicked-puppy look.

Harry shot him a half-hearted glare. 'Hufflepuff my arse. That is all Slytherin, and it won't work.'

Rhy switched to a slight smirk. 'There's no harm in just looking, right?'

A contract was slid across the coffee table to Harry. Harry hesitated for a second, then reached out and took it. After all he was right. There wasn't any harm in looking.

The document wasn't nearly as complicated as Harry expected, and he assumed that this was the player summary not the legal document. It started off with several long paragraphs stating why Caerphilly Catapults were the premium team choice, but Harry skimmed over those to the information points.

There would be practices four nights a week, and extra individual training. They would provide a port-key and a- Harry laughed, then looked up.

'I'm already using a time-turner.'

For the first time in this meeting Harry got that thrill of satisfaction at breaking Slytherin masks.

'I be your pardon?' Lucius demanded.

Harry shrugged slightly. 'That's another thing. I am currently studying all the available courses Hogwarts offers and I'm not sure that my timetable would allow for these commitments.'

Rhy leant forward. 'We are willing to negotiate on practices somewhat. Frankly your natural talent is… something else, and as a seeker you have a more limited role within the rest of the team.'

Harry raised his eyebrows and Rhy grinned. 'Not to mention you clearly understand how to run interference elsewhere anyway.'

'It would be more difficult against League Seekers.' Harry hedged. 'Should I choose to play I couldn't just leave them unguarded like I do with the other houses.'

'Of course not, but you have instinctual understanding of the possibilities, which is usually something covered in training. So like I said, we are willing to negotiate on timetabling.'

'Hmm.' Harry returned to the contract, however was quickly interrupted.

'I'm sorry no, we cannot just skim over this.' Grace jumped in. 'What do you mean you're already using a time-turner!?'

'I had thought that just a myth,' Narcissa agreed, before shooting the two men a chiding look. 'Harry has every right to concentrate on his schooling over sport. I will not have you boys pressuring him into anything.'

Harry had an odd moment of amusement flare, before returning to the contract while Lucius spluttered. Harry skipped over the information on pay, as he would have a law wizard look at that sort of thing, though it looked more than reasonable, and focused on the benefits. Namely that they were offering him a International Stage Broom. He wasn't sure how to feel about such an idea.

'The I. S. Broom , is it compulsory?'

While Harry had been reading the adults had been having a quiet squabble, something which amused Harry greatly, so they startled slightly when he spoke.

'Compulsory?' Rhy asked, confused. 'I saw your broom destroyed in that last match, and if you're worried about the Nimbus Charms I can assure you that what happened to your 2001 was highly irregular.'

Harry squinted at Rhy slightly. 'Have you been talking to Dorian Peneus?'

Rhy grinned. 'He was in our office when he got your letter, rather amusing to see him so shocked. I had already seen you fly, so not such a killer surprise.'

That had, of course, mostly been a ploy to bring Peneus and Greengrass together, and Harry was far more concerned with having his Aura read than any particular branding issues. After getting such good results switching to a Neutral Aura at Theo's suggestion, Harry had researched a bit. International Stage Brooms were slightly different to those on the regular market.

A standard broom was tuned to neutral - hence what Theo suggested about the neutral trick. A standard Firebolt would adjust slightly towards light or dark depending on the core of the bonded rider. So if a rider had a medium light aura then after bonding his neutral broom would have shifted to just light of neutral. So then if someone else rode it, the broom would be slightly less responsive to a neutral or dark rider, but it was only minimal. Just enough for the regular wizard to notice that riding a broom belonging to someone else was not as fluid as riding their own.

The International Stage Brooms, however were made specially for each rider (signed with a name plate usually) and were tuned EXACTLY to the riders alignment. So if a star league player a had a medium-light Aura, then his I. S. Broom would have the exact same medium-light alignment. So if someone with an even slightly more light aura rode it, the I. S. Broom would feel clunky and won't respond so well. And a dark inclined rider would feel like he was riding a school broom.

If they wanted to make Harry a I. S. Broom, it was possible to make an alignment adjustable broom, one that would shift to anything Harry wanted (light, dark, neutral) as he did, and probably allowing for some amazing handling, but they would have to do an alignment reading. The spell wouldn't register Harry, which would alert the ministry to his aura shifting ability, and would cause all sorts of ministry regulations and registrations. Not to mention how excitable the Unspeakables would get.

'It's kind of a deal-breaker.' Harry admitted. There was no way Harry was getting involved in that mess.

Rhy looked stunned, and Lucius was frowning.

'A rather curious response, Potter, considering most your age would kill for the opportunity.'

Harry just shrugged and didn't elaborate.

At his age auras hadn't always settled properly, and had a tendency to flare between light and dark throughout puberty somewhat regardless. Emotions shifted them, especially for a grey or neutral wizard. So it was unlikely for anyone to pick up on Harry being a shifter, even when he flared the Darkest of Dark one day, and Lightest of Light the next. Even Flamel, who had managed to discover Harry's Noir persona had automatically assumed Harry was using some device to maintain a steady Dark Aura as Noir. Shifters were so rare that it just didn't cross people's minds. But the alignment spell they used for I. S. Brooms would highlight the issue for all to see.

'You… You don't want a I. S. Broom?' Rhy said, sounding stunned.

Harry shrugged. 'I'm willing to admit I'm a bit strange, and I would be perfectly happy to ride whichever brand the team was supporting, even if I had already been considering buying myself a distinctly Firebolt shaped Yule gift.'

'Your alignment doesn't go on record, nor is it publicly available knowledge.' Lucius suddenly spoke up, sounded smug. Harry was only too willing to let him think this was because of worrying over having a Dark enough Aura to effect the Dark mark.

'Still…' Harry said, purposely sounding unsure and holding back his own smirk as Lucius' smugness increased.

Rhy blinked. 'I'm sure that would be fine, if a bit unorthodox.'

Harry nodded, then put down the contract, still within reach.

'Then of course, we have the elephant in the room.'

Harry received four blank looks, and had to restrain a sigh. 'Right, I guess that's a muggle saying then.' Lucius winced, but Harry ignored it.

'Harry Potter! Dark Lord defeater and Boy-Who-Lived-to-have-too-many-titles.' Harry drawled, raising an eyebrow.

Narcissa snorted, then immediately looked modified at having done so. Harry sent her a grin.

'Ah yes…' Rhy winced. 'That.'

'As flattering as it would be, and supposed Hufflepuff or not, it is a little unbelievable to think that it is just my flying ability Caerphilly Catapults are interested in.'

Rhy frowned, then sighed. 'Well to tell the honest truth your name was what brought me to the Hogwarts matches at first.'

Harry nodded, completely unfazed.

'Luc here was at a shareholders meeting and invited all of us to come and watch his son play. It happens with most of the board members who have relatives on school or low-league teams and is usually a waste of time. But he mentioned you were also playing and I was curious.'

'Point twelve,' Harry indicated the contract 'states that the Caerphilly Catapults have full access to player branding… which in my case would be rather a lot of power to simply sign over.'

'Surely yours wouldn't be the only team interested in Harry here.' Grace added in, backing Harry up. That was probably true, however of the top ten ranked teams only Caerphilly and the Hollyhead Harpies (an all-female team) had weak seekers.

Rhy nodded. 'The Potter name would be worth huge amounts, yes, but as a minor, Caerphilly is able to sign you under a pseudonym.'

'I-… what?' Harry was completely startled.

Saying his name was worth huge amounts was a gross understatement, and he had been under the impression that this meeting was just about hoping to exploit a naive thirteen year old. Dumbledore had put a lot of work into assuring that Harry wasn't publicly available in his original timeline. The backlash after the second war was intense and it hadn't just been about winning again. Harry was then of age, so photographs and personal information had become free game. Even the Prophet's fifth year smear campaign had been limited by Harry's underage status. Post-war Harry had put his name on a (previously not selling) WWW product and it had sold out in two hours, and continued to do so six times before settling in to being a regular on-demand product. The Promotional opportunities of a thirteen year old Quidditch player would be astronomical.

Bur Rhy shrugged with an open grin. 'Honestly, you're just that good. We'd happily sign you under the name V-Voldemort if we had to.' he stuttered slightly on the name, but that only emphasised the point more.

'Really?' Harry's mouth got the better of him, and he went rather red and tried to lessen the damage of his wide-eyes look. 'Don't answer that… Right. Er…'

'You don't have to answer today.' Rhy jumped in. 'Quidditch Season doesn't start until late March, and most of the focus is on the International teams this year anyway.'

'The World Cup. Right. It's going to be here, isn't it?' Harry nodded.

'It's looking that way. Either us or Norway, and with the easy win Fudge is looking to have at the upcoming January elections due to this latest scuffle there isn't likely to be much to distract from our bid.'

Harry raised an eyebrow. He hadn't realised that England hadn't won the placement yet, forgetting it was a shorter process than in the muggle world.

'Ah yes, Fudge's take on the Azkaban issue has worked spectacularly for boosting the polls.' Lucius interrupted, sending Harry a heavy glare, to which Harry responded with a all-too-inocent-to-be-believed face.

'You don't say.'

Lucius grumbled, and Harry smirked. 'Oh come on, it's not like you didn't want him voted back in too.'

Grace let out a startled noise, her attention focusing double on Harry, but Rhy interrupted.

'Anyway, politics aside,' (causing Lucius to huff) 'local Quidditch won't be so drastic. And if I'm being honest, eventually, once you hit seventeen, you being 'Harry Potter' would become public knowledge automatically, which would benefit the team enormously then regardless if you were still with us or not. But for now you can play anonymously, and find your feet before every move you make is religiously critiqued. Even if you left us or Quidditch then, we still wouldn't work at a loss.'

Harry could see the fairness of that. He had forgotten that minors were allowed to play under glamour. Krum was only just suffering the backlash of hitting seventeen and having his young age revealed recently. It did take a large proportion of Harry's hesitation away, though with Lucius in the know if when Voldemort returned he wanted to simply turn the snitch into a portkey for a chance of Harry being the first to catch it there would be little to stop him.

Harry flicked his wand out and cast a silent tempus.

'You would have to set your law wizards on Dumbledore.' Harry stated. 'And I'm not agreeing to anything today.'

'Naturally.' Rhy said. He tapped one of the piles of parchment with his wand, and it was wrapped in brown paper and tied with a light green and scarlet striped string. 'Take the holidays to have a think, get some legal advice, and work yourself out. But know that we want you for our team. If you talk to anyone else keep in contact with me, my card's on top there, we're happy to negotiate. Oh, and you won't mind if I send you some promotional goodies?'

Harry raised an eyebrow, but the side of his lips betrayed him into a grin. 'Only if you get your wife to send me one of those briefcases.'

Rhy let out a startled laugh, then smirked. 'Excellent.' He got to his feet and Harry following suit. 'It's been a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Potter.'

'The pleasures mutual then.' Harry nodded.

'I look forward to hearing a positive response.' Rhy winked, reaching across and shaking Harry's hand.

'We'll see.' said Harry.

'I shall take my leave as well, Potter, though I think Narcissa and Miss Weitts here have plans to ambush the meeting.' Lucius added, standing. 'I wish you luck with them. Come along Rhydderch, I believe you said you were heading to the ministry now?'

'Indeed.' Rhy followed him to the door, both men turning and bowing to the ladies before disappearing behind the door.

They sat in silence for a long while as Harry sipped on his tea and tried to fully process his day so far. Grace was going over Harry's contract, her eyes flicking up to Harry every now and then. Eventually Narcissa put down her own tea and leant forward.

'Well, Harry, I think you handled that quite well. I'm starting to think that I wasted my time demanding Lucius let me and miss Weitts come for support.'

Harry broke out of his trance and smiled, though underneath he was a bit sceptical. 'I appreciate the effort regardless, Narcissa.'

Narcissa smiled, but then the smile faded slightly.

'How has your term been so far?'

Harry didn't let his surprise show. 'Quite well. Busy.'

'You're really doing all the subjects, Potter?' Grace spoke up.

Harry nodded. 'Yes.'

'Outrageous.' Grace muttered.

Harry laughed. 'I'm still topping everything but Herbology too.'

'Smug doesn't suit you.' Grace added.

Harry quirked a lip. 'Perhaps with a hat?'

Narcissa let out a little tinkering laugh as Grace choked on her tea. 'I have no doubt that you could manage that as well, Harry.' She paused. 'I should admit, ensuring you weren't persuaded into signing anything without thought was only part of the reason I had Lucius call the meeting.'

Harry sat forward slightly.

Narcissa paused again for a moment, before choosing her words carefully. 'You seemed to take a lot of interest in the Blacks.'

Harry was far less surprised at this point of the meeting, but had been still undecided on how to proceed. Narcissa could be a great boon in helping Sirius, but Harry was neck deep in secrets that could all lead to another on this issue, and was rather wary of Narcissa, perhaps even more than Lucius. Harry frowned and took another sip of his tea taking the time to run over possibilities. There were just as many pros as cons, but really, it came down to the issue that Harry had been procrastinating for far too long.

'Yes.' Harry may be a Slytherin now, but he still had that bit of Gryffindor, and it was time to be Slytherin about the bravery and use it to his advantage. 'I have discovered that he wasn't my parents secret keeper at all, which rather puts the whole Pettigrew issue in a new light.'

Narcissa reeled back slightly, but quickly composed herself. 'We have been taking lunch with Audrey Parkinson, I went to school with her. Her husband is a-'

'Law wizard.' Harry finished, not needing the full explanation. 'He was the defendant for those recent potion smuggling trials. I amm aware of his work.'

Narcissa and Grace exchanged looks, but Harry just ignored it.

'Indeed.' Narcissa continued. 'Lord Parkinson set me to look in the ministry archives, and you were right! Sirius never did receive a trial. It's outrageous!' Her eyes were flashing, and if she hadn't been the perfect pureblood wife Harry suspected Narcissa would be in a full rage. 'He was the Black Head! Not only that but if he is a traitor to the light, shouldn't they have wanted to get information on what else he might know?'

Harry was rather impressed with Narcissa's passion, though it shouldn't have surprised him so much, after all she blatantly lied to Voldemort's face to protect her son. A true family Lady. Harry bit his lip for a moment. The strangely open display of emotions caught both Grace and Narcissa's attention immediately.

The problem was, if Narcissa got caught up in all of this it would eventually come to the point where the Potter's status (alive) would come to be known. Narcissa was a Slytherin Queen. She worked best when she could plan many steps ahead and at the moment that could blindside her. Harry needed help from someone. Narcissa was probably his best shot. Despite grand plans, Harry knew very little about the workings of the legal system. He had researched as much as he could, but there was only so much you could learn from books. Narcissa, on the other hand, had been the driving force behind getting Lucius off scott free after being caught red handed in the last war. Harry had spoken in trials after the second war but other than that he had very little to do with the human legal system. He had been named Friend to the Goblin Nation (he suspected this was because after proving he could break in again after the war they thought it best to keep their friends close and their enemies closer). Regardless of why he was named Friend, he had been treated to the benefits and it only took a few cases of the Goblins annihilating the opposition before everyone stopped any legal action against Harry Potter. Unfortunately Harry wasn't a Friend in this timeline, so it wasn't possible to simply shove all his issues at the Goblins and hoped they would solve themselves.

Then there was the fact that until Harry actually managed to catch Sirius, they would each be working blind to each others plans (although the timeline seemed determined to stop Harry's interference, so he could guess at Sirius'). Even when Harry managed to catch Sirius, there was still a chance that he would refuse to work with a Malfoy… or a Slytherin Harry. Harry winced.

It all came down to trust.

Did Harry trust Narcissa to care about Sirius Black enough to work around all the issues? and would Sirius love Harry enough to look past social barriers?

Harry licked his lips. 'What if Sirius is innocent of everything?' It came out in a hushed tone, but Narcissa and Grace had remained still since seeing Harry conflicted enough to openly display worry.

'Do you have proof?' Narcissa said rather sharply.

Harry winced. 'Yes, but it's more complicated than that.'

Grace spoke up. 'Complicated how? And if Black didn't do it, then who did?'

'Lupin!?' Narcissa said suddenly, rather stunned.

Harry frowned for a moment, before realising that Narcissa went to school with the Marauders and thought Peter and James were dead.

'No. Pettigrew.' Harry couldn't quite bring himself to sneer the name, which both Grace and Narcissa caught, exchanging looks again. Harry made a mental note to find out how the two suddenly knew each other so well.

'You are making very little sense, Harry. Pettigrew is dead.' Grace was starting to sound impatient.

'No. No he's not.'

'Peter Pettigrew was a follower of the Dark Lord?' Narcissa said, sounding very sceptical. 'He could barely hold his wand straight.'

Harry kept his Slytherin mask up, and pondered things for a moment, before eventually shaking his head. He was being stupid. They didn't need to know everything now. Harry would just have to manipulate them into the right path until he had enough backing to spill everything.

'I have proof. But it's not legal, and I can't discuss my source. Forget it for now. The main concern is getting Sirius a trial instead of the kiss. Fudge said he retracted the order, but that's hardly proof he will give a fair trial.'

Both Narcissa and Grace exchanged looks again, and Harry realised with a start that they had been carefully manipulating him into feeling pressured in to telling everything. He felt a spike of rage at almost slipping up, but held his glare behind his mask.

'It would be much easier if we knew what we were up against. These things have a way of getting out eventually, and you should never put off what will only benefit your enemies if played later.'

Harry's rage increased for a second, before he registered the parallel statement, and wondered if perhaps at least Narcissa might have caught Harry quoting muggle philosophy over the break. Then he shrugged it off.

'There is a high probability that both Dumbledore and Fudge are not going to want Sirius to go to trial. Are you interested in assuring pureblood rights, or not? Because the focus is going to be on manipulating those circumstances.'

The two women looked startled for a moment, before tilting their chins in eerie unison. But then, Harry had just challenged Slytherin Queen's on their ability to manipulate, and semi-calling them out on doing so to him.

'There isn't a kiss-on-sight order out for Sirius anymore. Amelia Bones put her foot down, it seems. Then Fudge has been distracted by all this fuss with Lockhart and the vampires, not to mention the elections are coming up. So far he has been quite successful in playing off the breakout as nothing but a small error. I'm sure you've seen the papers.'

Harry took a moment to assess Narcissa. It sounded as if she were unaware of Harry's involvement, but he wasn't about to let assumptions let him be tricked twice in one meeting. He also had very little idea what she was talking about with the vampires and made a note to scour the newspapers from the last month… or annoy Blaise into telling him. Maybe Snape might know too, Harry had been working on the assumption that Lockhart was leashed by Snape Blackmailing him, and promised himself to look in to it.

'Of course.'

Narcissa seemed to realise that Harry had closed off on her and paused for a moment, before continuing.

'You are the Black Heir, yes?' She demanded.

'Yes.'

'Then do you have access to Sirius' bank vault? It is traditional to keep journals in there.'

Like Harry would let Narcissa Malfoy read Sirius' journals… if Sirius was even remotely inclined to follow traditions in the first place to keep any, which Harry doubted. It didn't matter anyway.

'No. I only get access when I come of age, or if Sirius died.'

Narcissa huffed. 'So we have no witnesses, no paper trail, you won't share the proof you do have, and you're saying that the man responsible is one who is widely believed to be dead?'

'In a nutshell.' Harry agreed.

Narcissa sighed.

'There isn't much we can do without Black.' said Grace. 'We've already got the Royals talking about a lack of trial, but-'

'Royals?' Harry inquired at the same time Narcissa hissed 'Weitts!', doubling Harry's interest.

Grace was undaunted by Narcissa's chiding.

'Face it, Cissy, I'm afraid that Draco is going to follow in his father's and grandfather's footsteps, not yours.'

Narcissa looked indignant for a moment, before sighing. 'The Royals are the secret society of past Kings and Queens of Slytherin. You are not meant to know about it until you have served at least one full year as King.'

Grace shrugged in a distinctly snobbish way. 'I will be quite happy to rescind my membership should Harry not prove to last the distance.'

Harry sat in careful silence as there was a beat of animosity in the air as two Queens glared at each other. A moment later the atmosphere broke, and as one they turned back to Harry.

Narcissa was still rather frosty. 'When you are feeling more inclined to sharing, tap this with your wand and I shall be on high alert.' She reached into a pocket and pulled out a fancy silver card.

It seemed that the distinctly useless meeting had been deemed over by Narcissa, as she stood. Harry followed suit, but had to check one last thing.

'Narcissa?'

Yes, Harry?'

Harry hesitated for just a second, but pushed on. 'If I happened across Sirius Black, could I send him to you for safe hiding? Or would Lucius not allow a ex-Order of the Phoenix member in his house?'

Narcissa's face, to Harry's surprise, softened. 'If you happened across him…' she raised one eyebrow. 'Sirius is family. If he chose to come to me he would be most welcome. Lucius will make do.'

Narcissa left by floo, and after a moment Harry and Grace left too, heading down into Hogsmeade. Grace offering to walk Harry back to the Hogwarts gates. They walked in amiable companionship through Hogsmeade and past the carriages making idle chit chat. They gained quite a few speculating looks from the Slytherins as they recognised Grace Weitts, their ex-Queen. Harry ignored them all until they were out of the town and alone on the path back to the school.

'Why did you come today?' Harry asked, startling Grace slightly as they had been discussing how to best approach Grace's Charms Master to move quickly through her apprenticeship, and Harry gave no bridging topic.

'Firstly, a proper Slytherin does not let opportunities like watching the cusp of a new age slip by.'

'My signing up for National Quidditch is hardly the cusp of a new age.' Harry deadpanned.

'No.' Grace agreed easily. 'But your existence is, and like any good Slytherin I intend to worm my way into your good graces while you are still building your power. Much easier than when a Lord is already established.'

Harry stopped walking and turned to face her. 'Why do you think I am trying to become a Lord.'

Grace said nothing, but a surprisingly attractive girly smile crept across her mask.

'The Dark Lord and Lord Dumbledore are very much alive. There can only be one Lord of each affiliation at a time.'

Grace's smile grew into a sly smirk. 'You are forgetting something important, Harry, but I am not going to tell you what it is.'

Harry huffed, but had studied Grace enough the previous two years to know she was rather stubborn. 'Why else did you come then?'

Grace laughed. 'You really are something else. I almost wish you had been in my year at school so we could have done proper battle.'

Harry raised an eyebrow. 'Almost?'

Grace smirked. 'I am too attached to my title, thank you. I came today to watch you again. There have been rumours about Slytherin's new King.'

'Rumours?'

Grace's laugh turned slightly incredulous. 'You sound so surprised. You have studied the previous Royals, Harry. Don't tell me you haven't.'

Harry inclined his head, seeing no reason to hide it.

'Tell me, has there been any other Royals that weren't pure?'

'One.' Harry stated.

'And what became of him?' Grace pushed.

'I wasn't aware that was widely known.' Harry drawled carefully.

'My uncle went to school with him, and did contracted ward work for the Dark Order in the early days. He made a comment on it at a family dinner once. I've made it my business to know what effects you.' Grace paused at Harry's incredulous look. 'People are interested in you Harry. Not to mention the similarities are astounding. I notice you've moved to the centre of the table.'

'You've noticed?' Harry half-teased.

Grace elegantly shrugged. 'Rhea noticed. I told her too.'

'The centre of the table allows far better control of the rest of the house.'

'But you were aware that you aren't the first to sit there?'

Harry's eyes met Graces and held them for a moment. 'Yes.'

They were silent for a minute, and Harry turned some of what she said over in his mind. 'People are interested in me?' Harry tasted the words carefully as they rolled off his tongue. He didn't know what to think about that.

'It may have taken about the usual amount of time for you to win over Slytherin, but you have done it with indifference and a sort of lazy grace that has everyone questioning whether you even meant it to happen, or if you carefully plotted every minute out in fine detail. They don't even know you're a Parseltongue yet!'

'My year does. And Flint knows I have an... affinity for snakes.'

'The whole house knows you have an affinity for snakes after that duel, but that isn't the same thing as knowing you can speak to them. Although it does clear up a few things on your year mates, if they know. I assume that it has something to do with the train?'

Harry glanced up at her. 'The train?' he said innocently.

'I doubt even the Dark Lord could have told a dementor to back off at age thirteen.'

Harry glanced over Grace's shoulder to where the Dementors were floating in the distance around Hogwarts gate. 'I suspect that had one tried to kiss him at age thirteen, Tom Riddle would have found some way to dispense of the thing.'

Grace made a startled noise, but otherwise didn't comment. Harry's focus shifted from the floating dementors to a carriage coming through the gates he'd been mindlessly staring at. Grace caught the shift and glanced over her shoulder. They both stepped to the side of the path.

'I would like to visit you again in Hogsmeade, Harry.' Grace added. 'Like I said, I plan to worm my way into your inner circle now while it's easy, and you receive benefits from the blatant display of who my heir is in-house.'

To Harry's surprise the carriage started to slow down as it approached them. Harry shot Grace one final private look.

'You aren't being particularly Slytherin-subtle about it, are you?'

'I suspect you are more than a simple Slytherin, Harry.'

The carriage didn't just slow down, but came to a full stop in front of Harry and Grace. They exchanged a quick glance, before the cover of the carriage was pulled back revealing a very convenient group of people. Harry had to struggle not to smirk.

'Minister! What a pleasure!'

Grace's head snapped to Harry at his distinctly smarmy suck-up voice. Hers wasn't the only one as next to the minister Snape's glare drilled into Harry. Harry ignored them both, focusing on Fudge.

'Harry! Merry Christmas. Heading back to the castle early today?' Fudge beamed, leaning forward in his seat.

'Oh, yes. I have just finished my Christmas shopping and Miss Weitts here helped me pick some things for my female friends.'

'Miss Weitts? As in Lord Jaspark Weitts daughter. I say Harry, you have most marvellous friends. I hear you are progressing typically fast through your apprenticeship, Miss Weitts.'

Grace pulled her eyes away from Harry and managed to pull a smile. 'Yes Minister. I am expecting to pass with high honours by next winter.'

Internally Harry was laughing with glee, as Fudge's eyes lit up. The Weitts were a powerful family, and all of their members were highly skilled in their chosen fields. Having a Weitts on your side was always beneficial.

'We were just discussing memory charms.' Harry announced. He felt Grace twitch beside him, but she didn't say anything.

'Is it true you used to be the Junior Minister in the Department of Magical Catastrophes?' Harry asked.

Fudge swelled up with pride. 'I was Head of Department by the time I finished there.'

'Wow.' Harry said with fake awe. He then blatantly paused and chewed on his lip and pushed his hands down in his pockets as if with worry. Behind Fudge's back Snape's eyes narrowed and his head tilted to one side, before he focused on Fudge with a contemplating look that didn't bode well for their Minister.

'What is it, Harry?' Fudge asked, easily reading the signs of hesitance Harry was displaying.

'Its just-… no it's nothing. You probably don't even remember…'

To Harry's satisfaction Fudge puffed up again, and leaned forward.

'If it's something I can help you with, I'll do my best, Harry.'

Harry was starting to get annoyed at his name being tagged on to the end of each utterance, but hid it well. 'It's just, what with Black chasing me, I've been thinking… Sir, do you remember the day you caught Black?'

The switch to such a serious topic clearly threw Fudge, but Grace came through for Harry.

'I have been telling Harry about pensieves and memory collecting.'

'Wha-'

'I am interested in the department, Minister, and I am also interested in how the traitor managed to pull that day off.' Harry carefully didn't mention which person he thought of as traitor.

'Oh, I don't think you want to see that, Harry, it was rather gruesome.'

Fudge winced and looked away and Harry took the opportunity to send a pointed look at Snape. Snape's lip curled up in a sneer for a moment, before a resigned look crossed his face.

'Minister Fudge, Mr. Potter is quite the academic and I am confident he would not only benefit from learning the harsh realities of such an important job early in his career choices, but would also like to honour Pettigrew's finest hour.'

Fudge looked torn, but all three of them were looking at him expectantly. Well, Harry and Grace were, Snape was glaring, but that was fairly standard.

Harry produced a security memory vial from one of his many pockets. He had bought several over the summer holidays in case Sirius needed them.

Fudge startled at the crimson glass vial. 'That's a certified vial Harry!'

Harry ignored the shock with ease, simply nodding with a smile. 'I wouldn't use a mere plain vial for the Minister.' Harry said in his best suck-up voice. Fudge looked conflicted for a moment, but Harry's flattery and pleading look and the complete lack of support from his companion had Fudge folding. He took the vial and drew his wand, carefully extracting the memory and placing in the vial. The vial glowed a deeper red for a moment before sealing.

Harry had to hold in a cackle.

'Thank you, Minister. This means a lot to me.'

'Just be very careful with that Harry. Perhaps you oughtn't view it on your own.'

Harry could tell Fudge was already having second thoughts, so he quickly jumped in. 'I don't have my own penseive, so I would have to borrow professor Dumbledore's or Professor Snape's. I'm sure they would be glad to accompany me.

Fudge looked marginally more appeased.

'Just think, Harry, I can't imagine many people get personal christmas presents from the Minister of Magic.' Grace said with a sly smile, boosting Fudge'e ego. Harry could have kissed her for it. Fudge swelled up with pride again and with minimal effort they said their goodbye's and thank-yous and Fudge and Snape's carriage continued on it's way to Hogsmeade. As soon as the carriage was far enough away (and Harry could no longer feel Snape's questioning glare) Harry burst into a rather evil sounding laughter.

'You sound like a demon.' Grace commented, looking highly amused.

Harry tucked the vial into his breast pocket with a grin.

'Why did we just manipulate the minister into giving us a copy of a memory that will hold up in court?' Grace asked.

Harry smirked. 'Don't you think it's odd, Grace, that Peter Pettigrew was in the centre of an explosion and all that was left were his clothes and a single finger?'

Grace looked slightly startled for a moment, before the expression was hidden.

'After this afternoon I wasn't sure that you were still interested in helping Black at all, if it meant spilling your secrets.'

Harry snorted. 'I will hold my secrets until the most opportune time to use them, and nothing you and Narcissa can conspire together will be able to change my mind.'

'You have an awful lot of secrets, Harry Potter.' Grace stated, looking mildly remorseful.

Harry smiled and offered her his arm for the rest of the walk. 'Well, I am a Slytherin.'