Disclaimer: Ah, here I am, writing about characters that do not belong to me. Don't sue- I fessed up.

Title: The Ties That Bind

Beta: SHADOWFAX999

Authours Note: I like Narcissa. You should too. She's CRAZY. It's fun XD

Summary/ Warning: Dom/ Sub, HGRW, PPBZ, RLSB, NLDM, TNSB, NMLM, LVBL …and of course HPSS.

Chapter 32: Family Matters

:Parseltongue:

"Conversational thoughts"

Private thoughts, shared memories

The fact that Narcissa Malfoy was sitting in their living room as comfortably as if she'd never left was not lost on Remus or Sirius. Remus wondered absently if the threatening pressure in the room was just his nerves breaking down, or the presence of the aristocratic woman sitting across from him. Not that he intended to ask. No- because he wasn't suicidal. Sirius, being the one actually related to her, was doing all the talking. Remus did not mind. Oh, no he did not.

"So, Cousin, did you just feel like coming back to the old stomping grounds for fun? Or are you here for a reason?"

Yes, Remus decided as Narcissa's silver eyes turned to ice and pinned Sirius to the chair, it was good to have the family talking between themselves. Let them forget he was ever here. Now, if only he could leave without attracting both of their attentions.

"Sometimes, Sirius, I wonder how your family put up with you and your despicable lack of manners."

"If you hadn't realised, Cissy, they didn't. I got all this because your last name was no longer 'Black', and Romy disgraced us all."

On the other hand, Remus thought- a bit desperately- perhaps someone should stop the family feud that was about to be reborn? And he was the only other person in the house. Lovely.

"Pardon me, Mrs. Malfoy," he began, cutting Sirius one of his rare (and therefore more potent) death glares. "But perhaps you didn't come here to discuss Sirius' rather startling rudeness to family?"

The gaze the woman turned on Remus could only be called approving, and Remus tensed as his blood turned to ice. Oh, no. Why couldn't Sirius just be a little more polite? Why had he spoken? Sirius could have dealt with his cousin. Right?

"Easy, Remus," Sirius said silently, "she's not going to hurt you. It's me she'd like to kill. You're just the innocent bystander who might get caught in the crossfire. You'll be fine."

"Thank you, Sirius. That helped a LOT."

"I like the way you think, Mr. Lupin." Narcissa resettled herself on the couch, and stared at the two men for a minute. Remus had to acknowledge that being the subject of that stare from Mrs. Malfoy made one want to crawl under the cushions and die a much less painful death.

Oh, he couldn't help but admit the fact that Narcissa Malfoy was one of the most beautiful- alright, the most beautiful- woman he'd seen in a long time, but some things were just too much. How was a man supposed to see the carefully coifed hair, the perfect skin, the aristocratic perfection of this woman when a mere glance had most men wishing to be hidden from her sight?

Remus couldn't even begin to imagine how Lucius Malfoy put up with his wife all the time. A single look was enough to change a man's entire perspective on life. What was it about her that could affect him like this?

"My husband informs me that I must sever all ties from my son for his safety, and publicly 'disown' him to ensure that he remains in Hogwarts." A moue of distaste found its way onto Narcissa's face, and Remus squirmed in his seat like he was a naughty child who had once again disappointed the person who had charge of him. Even though Narcissa had not directed the look to him. That any woman had such power over him was insanity. Yet, she did.

"I foolishly thought that coming here would allow me to ask your opinion of this, Sirius. Especially given that you and my son share a common predicament."

At that, even Sirius began to look like he'd been caught doing something wrong. "What are you going on about, Cissa?" he asked warily, while Remus just watched.

"What I mean to say is that you and my son share a taste in… partners…" Narcissa spoke the word carefully, as though she was deliberately trying not to hurt Remus' feelings. But, it still stung. "I have nothing against you, Remus Lupin, so stop looking like a wet cat." Absurdly, the sharp comment made him feel much better. Why did it matter what she thought? "What I am try to say is that my son… has found a- Gryffindor- of his own to keep."

She ignored Sirius' flabbergasted look and turned to Remus. "I know you know many things, Mr. Lupin." She said, and waved off his automatic response. "Nonsense. You see, when one is in a position of trust in a certain organization, or grouping, one naturally hears things that most people might not want shared. You, being the person you are, respect their wishes and keep the information close to your heart." Narcissa gave him a sharp look, and continued.

"We were in the same year at Hogwarts, the three of us, and during our Seventh Year, Remus, you learned something about me that I begged you to keep a secret, did you not?"

Remus stared at her. Well, yes, of course. That was one of the reasons why he was so frightened of her. One day she might want those words to be spoken, and he wasn't sure he was strong enough to say them.

So he nodded.

Narcissa went on. "My son shares the same predicament as his father."

Remus wanted to bang his head on the table. Really? Was Draco really the Submissive one in his relationship with this unknown Gryffindor?

"Who is the Gryffindor?" Remus asked heavily, and Narcissa brightened.

"Neville Longbottom," she said, and her happy smile made Sirius cringe. He was following all this in Remus' head, and for once in his life, he had nothing to say to his perfect cousin.

"Neville is perfectly able to protect Draco from whatever may happen, Mrs. Malfoy." Remus said, adding "and since there are twelve paired students in this year, he will have the help. Merlin preserve us," Remus breathed, and closed his eyes. Of all the things he didn't want to deal with in his life, eleven homicidal teenagers was one of them. And if Narcissa pursed the train of thought he knew she was having, then she was about to bribe all of them into keeping Draco safe.

Narcissa ignored the werewolf for a moment, and nodded slowly. "Lovely," she said briskly, and nodded once more, decisively. "Thank you for your help, Mr. Lupin, Sirius," she said her cousin's name with a sneer that was happily returned, "I will of course disown Draco as soon as I return home. His father, at least, will be pleased with the outcome of this conversation."

Reaching into her purse, Narcissa pulled out a letter with the Malfoy crest on the seal. Handing it to Remus, she stood. Remus and Sirius stood hastily, and followed her to the door. "Please deliver that to Severus, Mr. Lupin, and thank you again for your help." With a quick, breathtaking smile, she added, "And do not fear me bringing my husbands associates to your little hidden house. I'll keep this meeting a secret if you will."

That being said, Narcissa Apparated gracefully away.

Remus found that he could breath again, and he staggered as he turned to Sirius. "Is she always like that?" he asked, trying to catch his breath. Sirius was still staring at the spot Narcissa had Apparated from, and nodded.

"Oh, yeah. When she and Bellatrix still used to like each other, most of us hid from the two of them. Worse than Fred and George when they're in one of their moods."

"Merlin preserve us," Remus muttered prayerfully. "And she's on our side?"

"Oh, take it easy Remmy. At least this way you'll never face her on the wrong side of the battlefield, will you?" Sirius looked amused by Remus' reaction to his cousin, and watched as the werewolf paled.

"Merlin, Circe, and Maeve. Hera, Zeus, and Apollo. Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and their goddamned donkey-" Remus started swearing, more shaken by the encounter than he'd like to admit. That the woman was family, on their side, and pretty much a good person was all taken into consideration, but yet only one thing was certain.

Narcissa Malfoy was a force to be reckoned with, and by all the gods Remus had just listed, he never wanted to be alone with her ever again. Sirius laughed, put his arm around Remus' shoulders, and steered him towards the kitchen for a good strong cup of tea.

"Easy, love," he said as he sat Remus down, "she's like that all the time. You'll get used to it. One of these days the fact that she's the most powerful- and slightly off balance- witch you'll ever meet will fade into the background, and you'll be able to see her for what she really is. An annoyance you can live without."

Remus snorted. He doubted that day would ever come.

An hour later- after Remus' cup of tea had long since disappeared- Sirius walked into the parlor with Hedwig sitting on his arm. The Snowy Owl looked displeased with her surroundings, and hooted in annoyance as Sirius set her on the artificial branch in the corner of the room.

"Right, then, Remus," Sirius said, digging out a piece of parchment, quill, and ink pot from the desk drawer, "I still haven't replied to Harry's last letter, so I'm going to write back and include all the newest things that have happened. He'll be able to give this letter-" he held up the letter his cousin had left behind with a moue of distaste- "to Snape, and I'll be able to tell him what Narcissa said at the same time."

Remus sighed. "You need to get over your unthinking reactions to Severus, dear. Harry is not going to be happy with you when he sees that you haven't come to terms with it yet."

The other man shifted in his seat. "Yeah, whatever. I'll try." Remus shook his head. Sometimes his mate was the most stubborn male alive when it came to changing his opinions.

They sat in silence while Sirius wrote out the letter- when he was finished, Remus grabbed it and added his own paragraph at the end. Hedwig glared at Sirius as the man tied the missive to her leg, the expression obviously telling him that she had not been pleased waiting a whole week for a reply. Remus chuckled as the owl nipped him before flying off, and snorted as Sirius cried out.

"You deserved it, Siri. You know how she hates waiting."

"Whatever," Sirius replied testily, trying to bend his neck in a way it had not been made to bend to see where Hedwig had gotten him, "damn bird."

Harry glanced up tiredly as the sun peeked through the one open spot in his shades. He sat up with a groan, and was pondering reaching out to shut the damn thing when an arm wrapped around his waist and dragged in back down to the mattress. A whispered 'Nox' was breathed into his ear, and the room went dead black.

Harry snuggled into the warmth holding him down, chuckling to himself. He always managed to forget that- as a Wizard- he could do simple things like that without even moving. A rustling from the other side of the room caught his attention before he fell back asleep, however, and with a frown he sat up again.

A sigh came from the man still snuggled into the blankets, but Severus sat up as well. "Obviously I am not going to get any more sleep."

Harry chuckled as Hedwig landed on his upright knee, and pulled his familiar into his side, taking the missive from her and patting her downy feathers.

"Nope. I think this may be from Sirius," Harry replied, hand busy digging in the drawer of the nightstand for the bag of owl treats. Finding it with a triumphant grin, he dug out a handful and handed them to the patiently waiting owl. With a hoot of thanks, she took the offering and flew to her perch to enjoy them.

"Why is he interrupting us?" Severus asked, dismayed. Harry laughed.

"I'd sent him a letter like, a week ago, and I'm hoping that this will be the response." Neither mentioned the happenings of the past week. They didn't need to- it was still there, still fresh in their minds. Severus harrumphed.

"It had better be important," but Harry had already ripped open the envelope and pulled out the sheets of paper. His brow raised at the sight of another envelope inside the first, and it rose even higher when he saw it was addressed to Severus. Without a word he handed it over.

Severus frowned at the handwriting- that was not Sirius or Remus' writing- it was far to elegant. But he recognized it….

'Dear Severus,

It delights me to know that you will be there to protect my son while I and my husband deal with a few political necessities. Of course, we do expect to be in constant contact with him through you. Thank you again for your help, and please feel free to visit any time. You know how Lucius loves it when you call on us.

Best Regards,

Narcissa.'

He snorted at the letter, and turned towards Harry. The other man looked shell-shocked, and glanced up at from his own letter to look at Severus in confusion. "How can Narcissa enter the Black Mansion?"

Severus shrugged. "It's not very widely known- she was included in her fathers Will as co-inheritor of 12 Grimmauld Place, along with Sirius. The rumour that she supports is that Sirius cast a spell to keep anyone with Black Blood from entering the premises- other than himself, of course- but really it only keeps everyone other than her out." Severus shrugged. "It's been useful sometimes. Though more of a pain, normally."

"Woooow…" Harry breathed, wide-eyed. "Does Dumbledore know?"

Severus snorted. "Of course not. We are not fools. It's bad enough that he is the Secret Keeper for the damnable place."

"Right." Harry glanced at Hedwig, who had her head hidden under a wing, and back to Severus. "Um… can we go somewhere else?"

Severus cocked his head. "Of course. Where do you wish to go?"

Harry blushed. "Back to your rooms."

The older man nodded his head slowly. "By all means." He frowned as he rolled out of the bed. That Harry had blushed before asking the question meant that there were still many things for them to work out before their relationship was fully restored. But at least Harry seemed to want to try to fix everything right away.

And here you go- a little short, and un'beta'd because I didn't want you to wait any longer, but ShadowFax is going to get it today and hopefully send it back to me. I'll repost the beta'd version. Sorry for the shortness, I hope the next installation will be a little longer, but my damnable Muse seems to want to visit me in starts and spurts (and not the fun kind :( ) so you're just going to have to suffer with me.

Love

Netrixie

----EDIT----

This is now BETA'D. Thank ShadowFax999