A/N-I Do Not Own Harry Potter.
Chapter 11
Narcissa Black was a very happy woman. She was currently lying, nude, on a private beach working on her tan. Lord Black had been very accommodating to her. She smiled thinking back to her meeting with the young lord.
Flashback
Narcissa Malfoy walked into Gringotts bank, two days after Sirius' will reading. Harry had sent a letter to her the very evening of the will reading to meet today. Realizing that she had to prove to Harry that she was not her husband or son, she had opted for simple, yet still formal looking, robes rather than her most expensive clothing. She also made sure that her son was currently occupied. In other words, she told him he had the manor to himself all day.
She had already packed everything she wanted from the manor and had brought it with her in a shrunken trunk. Even if Harry denied her a divorce, she had no intentions of returning to the manor. She wondered when her idiot of a son would realize that she wasn't returning, probably when he realized that he had to pay for something on his own as Lucius was currently sitting in Azkaban.
Narcissa walked up to the counter. The goblin teller sneered at her as he asked, "How may I help you?"
"I am here for a meeting with Lord Black," Narcissa answered.
The goblin summoned another over to led her away.
Narcissa followed the new goblin to a small room. Harry was waiting inside along with one blue cloaked figure. Narcissa was positive that this was one of the proxy's Potter and Granger sent to the will reading. This one was shorter than the figure that dueled her son, so she figured it wasn't the same person, but his counterpart instead. A pure red phoenix was perched on a chair besides Harry. Ragnok was also present.
Narcissa inclined her head respectfully. "Thank you for seeing me Lord Black." She then turned and inclined her head to the goblin. "Ragnok."
Harry gestured to a seat across from them. "Please have a seat Mrs. Malfoy."
"Please, call me Narcissa, I have no desire to carry the name of a man I despise," She said as she sat down.
Harry smiled. "I'll admit I was surprised when I heard of your request. And I am willing to grant it under certain conditions."
"Which are?"
"You will swear an unbreakable vow to never betray me, serve Voldemort, or knowingly contact any deatheater."
Narcissa swallowed. "And what will happen to me then?"
"That depends on you," Harry said honestly. "First I must ask you if you want Draco in your life?"
Narcissa shook her head. "I may of given birth to him, but he is not my son. He is a younger clone of his father, albeit a more idiotic one. He consistently ignores my council only focusing on what Lucius says to him."
"In that case, you will be provided for and taken care of. I have already discussed the matter with Ragnok, and, as was written into your betrothal contract, you will claim half of Lucius vaults. However, Ragnok and I have agreed, that in light of Lucius being in Azkaban, everything Lucius own, currently residing in Gringotts, is yours, minus any and all dark artifacts, do with as you please." Harry slid over a single sheet of parchment. "If you sign this your divorce will be legal and Gringotts will transfer all of Lucius' belongings to your name."
Narcissa read through the contract in front of her with a practiced eye. She may have simply been a trophy wife for Lucius, even now at thirty-nine years old she still turned men's heads, that did not mean she was an idiot. She had been top of her class, and was well versed in politics.
She smiled as she signed the contract.
Harry took the contract and signed it after her, handing it to Ragnok.
Harry looked at her. "Due to the fact that I am sure Lucius will eventually escape Azkaban, I believe that it would be safer for you to leave Britain for a while. I am willing to offer for use, the Black Mediterranean Villa in France. It has a private beach and is warded so that you will not be disturbed. I hear the shopping nearby is also very nice."
"You are to kind Lord Black."
Harry smiled. "Just know that you may have a guest or two stopping by. I assure you that none of them will harm you, but just so you know that it is a possibility."
End Flashback
Narcissa had gladly taken Harry up on the offer to use the Villa. And these past weeks were the best she could remember. She had been shopping in Paris earlier in the week and picked out a thank you gift for the Harry. She hoped that he would enjoy it.
Rather than spend all of Lucius considerable money, she had invested some of it with the help of Ragnok. As a favor to Harry he had agreed to help Narcissa increase her worth, something that almost no wizards asked the goblins to do, believing themselves superior to the shorter creatures. She quickly learned that by accepting Ragnok's help, she had earned some respect for herself amongst the Goblin nation.
Narcissa took a sip of the wine she had next to her. All she needed to do now was find a new husband who actually could satisfy her, unlike her previous husband with his barley there dick and premature ejaculation. Every orgasm she ever had was self induced.
Maybe she'd just seduce any men she could, not tie herself down again. Hmm, just some more things to ponder.
She sighed. This was the life, and it was infinitely better than anything Lucius had given her.
Draco Malfoy was pissed. His mother had disappeared. Potter was the new Lord Black instead of him. His Father was still in Prison. And he had spent all the money in his trust vault on new robes and it hadn't refilled. And he still had to buy his school supplies.
To top it off, all of the food had been eaten, and the house-elves weren't buying more.
And he was hungry.
The Serpent Court was gathered together in the newly remodeled Chamber of Secrets. Harry and Hermione had changed the place from a dark, damp, gloomy cavern, into an elegant, beautiful, dry complex. Each member of the court had an office for whatever they wished. A massive underground greenhouse had been put in place awaiting plants. They had a fully stocked potions lab. A game room complete with billiard tables, ping-pong tables, a large chess set, and other games was awaiting Lily and Hermione to finish figuring out how to get muggle electronics to work in a magically enhanced environment.
A massive Library awaited to be filled. And there was even an indoor pool and hot tub. Harry had also insisted on adding a dueling chamber and workout room. Finishing off the new chamber where enough bedrooms for everyone, and spare rooms to be converted at a future date, along with a massive conference room for meetings.
The first words out of Fred and George's mouth where "Wicked."
"I'm glad you guys like it," Harry said. "We've spent the whole summer working on it."
"Me and Harry already have our room picked out," Hermione added. "Each room has it's own bathroom, complete with tub and shower. You're all free to have a room here to stay in whenever you wish. And each of you has your very own office to do whatever you wish in."
Harry smiled at an awestruck Neville. "Come on Nev, I'll show you the greenhouse so you can start ordering plants."
Harry and Neville went off together discussing useful plants.
Fred and George went to check out the game room.
Ginny and Luna left to pick out a room for themselves. As did Remus and Tonks.
Hermione and Lily headed of to unload a trunk or ten of books they wanted to put in the library.
Later that night, everyone was gathered together around the round table in the conference room. Harry stood up to address everyone. A dictation quill was poised to record the meeting. "Welcome to the first official meeting of the Serpent Court. We will now take roll. King!" Harry said.
"Empress," Hermione continued.
"Fire Flower." Lily.
"Moony." Remus.
"Chameleon." Tonks.
"Explosion." George.
"Venom." Fred
"Inferno." Ginny
"Shadow Tusk." Luna.
"Golden Horn." Neville.
"First task," Harry continued once everyone had said their name, "what abilities, if any, do we have in human form?"
"You and I can petrify others with our gaze and I have gained the ability to speak Parseltongue, which you already could do," Hermione stated.
"All I have are my heightened sense of smell and hearing," Remus said.
"Metamorphmagus," Tonks said. She was unable to become a magical animagus due to the fact she was already a wolf animagus.
George spoke next. "Tough skin. Only the most powerful spells will effect me."
"I can produce webbing and have a venomous bite." Fred continued.
"My eyesight is incredibly sharp and I can breathe fire," Ginny shrugged.
Luna giggled. "I can turn invisible at will." She whispered in Ginny's ear. "It was quite fun when you where in the shower earlier."
Ginny blushed but smirked at Luna and whispered back. "I'll get you back for that later."
"I'm a lot stronger than I look," Neville said. "I'm able to lift five times my weight easily."
"I'm able to transport myself and others via phoenix flame," Lily finished.
"I now turn this meeting over to Empress." Harry said as he sat down and Hermione stood up.
"As I'm sure you all know, tomorrow Me, King, Inferno, Shadow Tusk, and Golden Horn Return to Hogwarts," Hermione stated. Everyone around the table nodded. "King and I, and probably Inferno as well, will no doubt have to deal with Dumbledore, Snape, and Ronald Weasley. Fire Flower, I know your view on the subject, but we've decided not to attack any of them without provocation. It would no doubt draw to much attention."
"When then?" Lily asked. "Two of them have ruined my life, and the life of my son. And I want revenge."
"We don't know. But as long as we are actually in Hogwarts, it is something we cannot risk. Moony, Chameleon, anything new to report about the Order?"
Remus shook his head. "No. Dumbledore's main focus is finding Harry. Snape has nothing new to report on Voldemort."
"What about the Ministry?"
"Heads up their asses as usual," Tonks said. "However Dolores Umbridge was found dead in her home. She was apparently killed by bleeding out due to overuse of a blood quill. 'I Will Not Torture Students' was engraved on her hand. She had to have been at it for a long time. An anti-clotting curse was detected on her hand."
Almost everyone around the table smirked at this news. Luna had done a wonderful job.
"Explosion, Venom, how is progress on our business front?"
George shrugged. "We've found a suitable building...."
"...To open an apothecary," Fred finished.
"It's got enough space for the actual store."
"The basement will be easily expanded to make a green house."
"We just need to figure out...."
"....How to get rare material we can't grow or produce ourselves."
"In the meantime..."
"...The joke shop is running well."
"The Court currently own one fourth of the business."
"Which gives us an income of fourteen thousand galleons a month."
"Plus whatever the goblins have given us from the vaults of convicted death eaters."
"Which come to around..."
"Seventy-two thousand galleons total in our vault."
"Along with various...."
"....Artifacts and items that still need to be gone through."
"Thank you," Hermione said. She turned to Neville. "Golden Horn, how long will it take to prepare both the greenhouse here, and in the apothecary?"
"It'll take at least a year for most of the plants to mature properly to the point they can harvested. And some of the bigger and rarer plants will take up to five years," Neville answered.
"Then come speak to me after the meeting. I'll charm your ring so it'll also work as a portkey to the Apothecary's greenhouse so you can also get started working on the greenhouse there. You have access to the vault so that you may purchase the plants and materials necessary."
Hermione than addressed everyone. "Chameleon, Moony, Explosion, and Venom, All of you are to continue with your current duties and to keep us informed of any news. Fire Flower, you will keep an eye on our enemies, but do not move against any of them, no matter how much you wish to, unless they are an immediate threat to us. Golden Horn, you will set up and care for the greenhouses. Feel free to ask any of us for help should you need it. King and I, along with help from Inferno and Shadow Tusk, will work on keeping the headmaster off of our trail. Any questions?"
"What's the plan with Voldemort?" Ginny asked.
Harry answered instead of Hermione. "We attack when we can. Bide our time when we can't"
Remus and Tonks returned to Grimmauld Place just in time for the Order meeting.
Nothing new was reported. Dumbledore went over security for the Hogwarts express tomorrow. And what to do should Harry fail to appear at Hogwarts.
All in all, it was a very boring meeting.
After the Order meeting, Albus Dumbledore sat alone in his office, contemplating what he would have to do with Harry. He doubted Harry would have changed much over the summer, and he hoped that he could easily guide the boy back to where he was needed.
Perhaps he'd have Severus continue occlumency lessons to weaken the boys mental shields against Voldemort. How else was he going to get the boy to martyr himself?
Ragnok sat comfortably in his office thinking about Lord Potter-Black. Their relationship had turned out to be quite lucrative. The hide and venom he and Ms. Granger had brought at their initial meeting had turned a lovely profit. The acromantula silk they brought when they met the former Mrs. Malfoy had also turned a profit, not to mention the thirty percent commission he got on Ms. Blacks investments, which he had personally handled to make the most profit.
The entertainment the two humans provided was also excellent. He still smiled at the look om Dumbledore's face when he was kicked out of the former Lord Black's will reading. And the duel afterward with young Malfoy was priceless, despite the lack of bloodshed. Unfortunately, and he knew that Harry had also been disappointed, as soon as Malfoy forfeited the duel had to stop.
Harry had confided in him later that he really wanted to see just how much damage that wolf could cause, but his honor wouldn't allow him to allow the wolf to continue in a regulated duel. Ragnok had laughed when he stated that if the duel weren't regulated, he would have let the wolf tear Malfoy's throat out.
That was another thing he liked about both Harry and Hermione. They both had honor, and showed him and his kin respect.
The only thing bugging him was the will of Harry's parents. The only one he had been able to find was the one he claimed to be a fake. And what troubled the old goblin was that he believed them. But he wasn't able to find another will. Maybe he'd have to interrogate the goblin that filed it.
Ronald Weasley couldn't wait until tomorrow. For once he was eager to go to school. He had everything he needed to seduce Hermione. He also had the first few doses of love potion his mother had given him to slip into Ginny's drink.
The plan was perfect. Ginny would fall in love with and marry Harry. Then the family would have access to the Potter and Black fortunes. And Hermione would help him pass school so he could get a decent job after his quidditch career was over, and give him practice so that when he married a hot girl, he'd have enough experience to please her.
All in all, it was a very good plan if he said so himself.
