Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I wish I did. Despite that, I hope you enjoy my spin on it.

Chapter 3:

Harry and Narcissa stood in large courtyard. Cobblestones lied beneath their feet and to either side vast flowerbeds prospered. The manor itself was nice creamy white, with a rich red roof and windows on all sides. The cobblestones grew into stairs that climbed their way towards large double doors that were the same red as the roof. As they made their way up the stairs the doors opened for them. In the doorway stood three house elves. They were well kept, for what Harry had seen of the servant race.

"My lord," the middle elf chirped. "It is our honor to welcome you home. It has been some time."

Harry just stood, dumbfounded. "Thank you. Very much. Um… what are your names exactly?"

"Tippy," said the left, a girl.

"Nobby," said the middle, a boy.

"Linni," the right was another girl.

"It's very nice to meet you. I'm Harry. This is Narcissa."

Tippy seeming very happy said, "Oh we know who you are, my Lord. We have been waiting. Waiting a very long time. You have grown an awful lot master Harry. We are very happy to have you back."

Following a fairly painful bout of screaming, that came from the elves, regarding the possibility of setting them free, they insisted on giving Harry and Narcissa a tour. Harry really didn't understand what they had gotten so upset about. He offered them escape from the bond that held them. Apparently though the bond was required for house elves to some degree. He made a mental note to ask Dobby how he managed without it the next time he saw the spunky elf.

They showed them the ballroom first; after all, it was directly in front of the entrance. Lavish chandeliers hung from the ceiling and the walls seemed to glow under their light. The room easily fit a large procession. The elves then escorted them through a variety of tearooms and studies on the ground floor until they came to a massive library. Shelves climbed three stories, and while it wasn't as deep as the Hogwarts library it certainly rivaled its size. They moved on towards a kitchen, dining room and parlor area before they were taken upstairs.

The top floor housed primarily bedrooms and bathrooms except for the area directly above the ballroom. A recreational room of sorts occupied that space. According to Nobby the room had been seriously charmed and warded to endure heavy spell fire, and it was equipped with training dummies and targets. He would definitely make use of this room when he could.

Harry chose the bedroom that use to belong to his grandparents. After all it was the largest with a king size bed and a master bathroom attached. Reaching into his pockets he pulled out his shrunken possessions. "Mrs. Malfoy would you mind enlarging this for me?" His voice was shaky. He didn't know exactly how to act with Narcissa; she made him uncomfortable in more ways than one. He would have to get over that.

Before she had a chance to respond though Linni, with a snap of her fingers, had the trunks back to their original size.

"My lord, I would kindly remind you that I am, thankfully, no longer a Malfoy. If you must be so formal then I insist you call me Ms. Black. However I would prefer you call me Narcissa, or even Cissa I suppose. We are family now."

"Um… alright Cissy. I am sorry. That will take some getting use to. No more of this my lord stuff though. At least not here. Here I am just Harry, please?"

"As you wish, Harry. If I may also remind you that as an emancipated lord, you are removed from the restrictions of underage magic, and were fully capable of doing that yourself." Narcissa gave him a smile that was surprisingly… warm. The remark wasn't the least bit condescending, merely direct, and outright. She picked the room across the hall from him and then the elves showed them the final piece of the house.

Behind the manor a beautiful patio area framed a large pool, and off to the side of that a professional quidditch pitch stood, well-groomed and appearing ready for use. Both made Harry extremely excited. The thing that caught his eye the most, though, was a beautiful forest beyond both. Something about the forest called to him. He could feel something deep inside of him urging him towards it. For a brief second he even thought he could hear a soft singing coming from the trees. He didn't know for how long he had been staring out into the trees before Tippy started, excitedly asking if the pair would like dinner.

"What are master's favorite's? I am sure we could have them! Tippy would be so happy to prepare dinner for Master Harry."

Harry smiled at the small elf and couldn't help being reminded of Dobby. "Anything you would like to make me, Tippy, I am sure will be fine."

"How about for you, my lady?"

"Whatever you make young Harry will be fine for me. Thank you, Tippy."

The elf popped away cheerfully. "Will the two of you give us a bit of time alone?" Harry asked the other two. "I would like to have a word with… Cissa." Nobby and Linni nodded their heads and popped away soon after. Harry and Narcissa made their way into one of the small sitting rooms before they said much.

"What is it you want to discuss Harry?" Her tone conveyed concern masked by a stiffness that could come only from years of forced politeness.

"Bloody hell, Narcissa!" She was visibly taken aback. "Lighten up. I am 15. The same age as your son. You don't need to be so damn polite."

Apparently it worked. Shocked by his blatancy Cissy let out a large breath and visibly relaxed. She pulled her hair from the bun that held it and let her long blonde mane flow down her shoulders. "I am sorry, Harry. It's hard you know?" Harry couldn't believe how different the woman in front of him now was from the other just moments before. "You have to understand. It's been years since I have been anything other than Lucius's pureblood prize wife. All I have known is parties, galas and playing host to the pureblood elites. Sirius granted me a gift. One I thought he would deny. I am grateful, to him, and to you."

"That is exactly what I wanted to talk about. Why did he do it? Why did you want out?"

"My marriage had never been good. Especially not during the first war, and even worse for the last year. Lucius is a fool that bowed down to a madman, and I was forced to endure the repercussions. My aunt and uncle, the ones that had arranged the marriage, never would have agreed to the annulment, but I always had hope that Sirius would. I had to beg Andromeda to give him my request when he broke out of Azkaban. Thank merlin she agreed."

"Why was this a part of the agreement? You staying here, with the new Lord Black, with me?"

"I think Sirius saw it coming. In some sick way he knew he wouldn't survive this war. He may not have trusted me as much as I would have liked, but I think he trusted me more than he did Dumbledore in the end. You just inherited two lordships. The implications of that are far reaching, and the knowledge of those implications you are sorely lacking. Wizarding politics have been my life for 20 years. Who better to teach you?"

"And you are okay with this?"

"Absolutely."

With that their conversation had come to an end and just in time. Tippy popped into the sitting room to usher the pair towards dinner.

The food was the best that Harry could remember having. Tippy prepared a feast, the majority of which would likely go to waste, but it did not seem like the elf cared much. It had been a long time since she last cooked for the family she cared about and she was ecstatic. The other elves expressed a similar feeling, joy at once again having a lord in the house of Potter.

Table talk that evening went fairly smoothly. They discussed school briefly and what Harry wanted to be when he was older. They discussed what Narcissa herself wished she could have done before being pawned away as a Lucius's trophy. Narcissa criticized his study of divination and barely deemed care of magical creatures acceptable, but he could not fault her for that. Divination had been a joke ever since he started taking it, and while he loved Hagrid dearly his teaching methods were often eccentric. Cissa told Harry that despite his distaste for her earlier disposition, he would undoubtedly have to learn to project the same façade. He would soon be thrust onto the political stage and would need to know how to navigate it.

"Master Harry, sir," Nobby came back in near the end of the meal. "A blubbering white owl has founds its way into the house. It doesn't appear to be carrying any mail from what I can see. We tried to get it to stay still, but that blasted owl is feisty, and keeps pecking at our heads anytime we get near it."

"Thanks goodness Hedwig found her way here." The elf did not seem amused with Harry's enthusiasm.

"If you could, Master Harry, come get the bird? It is causing Linny and Tippy a great deal of trouble."

"Oh of course!" Harry walked quickly into the room Nobby showed him to. The sight he found made him laugh hysterically. The two elves were bouncing around the room trying to catch Hedwig while the beautiful snowy owl toyed with them just out of reach. "Hedwig, please leave Tippy and Linni alone?" Upon hearing his voice the owl flew towards him and landed on his shoulder. "Thank yo—OW!" Hedwig pecked at the side of his head. "What was that for?" The owl just puffed up her chest. It was almost as if she was telling him he should know exactly what it was for. "I am sorry, girl. Finding this place must not have been easy… But I knew you could do it." Another puff. He knew that would work. Compliments, Hedwig loved them. In many ways the messenger had an ego the size of Draco, but at least hers seemed to be for a good reason.

Following the altercation Harry resigned to his room for the night, bringing his owl with him. He had no intention of going to bed anytime soon, but there were several things he wanted to do in private. He settled into his room; it appeared the elves had unpacked most of his belongings. He grabbed a few pieces of parchment, and sat down in his bed to write a few letters.

He started with one to Hermione. He didn't know where to start or how much to divulge. He wanted to trust her, so badly, but how could he know where she stood? He didn't end up saying anything of much consequence. He told her he was safe. Hopefully that would stop her from Harry's insistence on security. He told her how much he regretted being unable to speak with her at the will reading, and he asked to meet with her, if she could manage to get away from the Weasley's.

He then started writing one for Remus. Moony was one of the last connections he had to his parents and one of the few people left that Harry felt truly cared about him. Harry asked if he had moved into number 12 yet. He also invited Remus over for an afternoon, if he felt up to it. He had a much easier time writing the letter to his former professor than he did the one to Hermione.

It was late by the time he finished working on both of them. "Hedwig, would you mind taking these for me in the morning?" The owl hooted what sounded like an affirmation." Be careful with the one to Hermione though. Try not to let anyone see you; they all know you too well." He put out the lights and climbed back into bed for the evening. Despite his exhaustion sleep escaped him for some time. His thoughts of all that happened that day raced through his mind, but eventually he drifted off into a soft slumber.

A/N: Don't forget to tell me what you think! I always appreciate feedback.