Chapter Text
"Finally, Bones! I've had it up to here with the suspense." Darcia complained as Susan entered the dorm.
Since the girls all preferred having the freedom to engage in certain activities, they mostly hung out in their dorm when outside of class. Others were beginning to make fun of the first-year Slytherin girls, calling them shut ins.
If only they knew.
There was nothing untoward happening when Susan walked in. Harry was at the desk doing Darcia's homework while she and Pansy played exploding snaps. Tracey was fully engrossed in a romance novel, and she and Pansy were playing footsies with each other while enjoying their separate tasks. Finally, Daphne was giving Harry a blowjob under the desk.
So, maybe a little bit untoward.
Susan ignored the gurgling sound as Daphne took Harry's cock down her throat. In the week they'd been roommates, all walls of propriety had been torn down, and walking in on some casual sex had become the norm between the girls.
Susan had three thick tomes hugged up to her chest. Her auntie had owled them to her, and she'd spent the better part of the morning scouring them for relevant information.
"Well?" Darcia asked as Susan dropped the books on her nightstand and sat on her bed.
The redhead grinned broadly. "I think I got something."
That was enough to draw everyone's attention. Even Daphne paused her loving worship of Harry's cock to look up at them.
There was a quick shuffling of feet as the girls all made their way to Susan's bed. Harry and Daphne trailed behind, Harry's hard cock bobbing in the air and threatening to distract Susan, who's mouth began to water as she looked at the thick piece of meat.
Darcia rolled her eyes. "Harry, come over here so I can sit on your cock while Susan explains."
"Yes, mistress." Harry nodded. Like always, Daphne looked put out that her Harry time was cut short.
They all sat in a circle. Darcia stood up from the bed and let Harry have a seat before she sat directly on his cock, hissing in pleasure as his meat filled her completely.
All the other girls looked on with lust and jealousy as she settled in, wiggling her bum and moaning lightly as Harry's shaft shifted around inside of her.
Finally, Darcia decided it was enough teasing. "Right. Now, what have you found, Bones?"
Susan shook her head to try to dispel the lustful haze that had built up around her. It didn't help that they were all naked.
"Well, I was looking through a bunch of case law books from my auntie's library. Old Wizengamot rulings and precedents and all that."
"You read that stuff?" Pansy asked incredulously.
Susan blushed. "I used to read them to pass the time when I was bored at home."
"I think that's brilliant, Miss Susan." Harry said, causing the girl to beam at him.
"You think everything they do is amazing." Pansy told Harry mockingly.
Harry turned to her. "I think you're brilliant too, Miss Pansy."
Pansy blanched, glaring at him as she blushed deeply.
Darcia felt Harry's cock twitch inside of her and she squeezed her legs together. It was taking all of her self-control not to start bouncing on his hardness, though she did wiggle around a bit.
"So, how is case-law going to help us exactly?" Tracey asked.
Susan took a deep breath. "In legal terms, Harry is nothing more than property."
"We already knew that." Darcia said.
"Let her finish, Darcia." Daphne chided.
Darcia glared at her friend, making sure to lean back onto Harry's chest and grind her pussy hard onto his shaft as the blonde watched on needily.
"So, I searched through hundreds of years of cases where a slave killed, maimed or injured someone. In each case, the slave was considered nothing more than a tool and their master was held liable."
Darcia made to interject once more but this time she got a sharp look from all of the girls, forcing her to keep quiet and let Susan continue.
"Now, usually in these cases the master would execute their slave to satisfy their debt, but obviously for our purposes, Darcia will take liability. In a completely separate thread, since Darcia is the heiress to an Ancient and Most Noble House, and because she's underage, her father has the option of shouldering responsibility for any of his heir's actions."
"I don't think Mr. Malfoy will do that." Harry said abruptly. "N-no offense, mistress, but your father-"
"Father cares about the Malfoy legacy, but he cares about his own skin much more. He would never go to Azkaban on my behalf. Certainly not for murder."
Darcia's words did nothing to dampen Susan's mood. In fact, the girl only smiled more broadly. "That's where the final piece comes in. Your father is Head of the Board of Governors. This grants him complete immunity in all cases involving the school, up to but not including murder."
"Not including murder, but including involuntary manslaughter." Daphne mused, the pieces clicking together.
"Exactly. If Harry kills or grievously injures Professor Snape, legally speaking it'll be seen as a piano falling on him."
"Hah! That'll show him." Tracey said with a grin.
"There's still a problem, Bones." Pansy cut in. "Harry's a week into his education and Snape is an adult, and I heard he's pretty good with a wand too. How exactly will Harry be able to do anything to him?"
"That is for us to figure out." Darcia said, looking at Susan with newfound respect. "You've done well, Bones. You've earned this load in your pussy."
Darcia gingerly got up from Harry's lap, letting his cock slide out of her snug cunt. She already missed the feeling of being filled by him, but these were the sacrifices that had to be made to keep her followers happy.
Almost immediately after she'd rolled over in the bed, Susan had hopped on Harry's lap and impaled herself on his cock, pushing her amples chest up on the boy's face. Harry happily sucked on her breasts as Susan began to bounce on his rod.
"Daphne, what are you doing?" Darcia asked in exasperation.
Daphne was at the ready, waiting to time one of Susan's bounces so she could fit her head in under the rutting couple.
"I'm going to suck Harry's balls." She answered defensively. "My mouth helps Harry cum. Doesn't it, Harry?"
Harry had a face full of titty and so was unable to answer. Darcia was pretty sure Harry would have no trouble cumming, regardless of what Daphne did, but she decided it was too much hassle to argue with her obsessive friend.
Susan proved why she should have been sorted into Hufflepuff. Hearing the girl's argument, she leaned forward, turning her and Harry horizontal and giving Daphne plenty of access to the boy's balls.
Daphne squealed with joy, diving in to lather Harry's balls with her tongue as Susan bounced on his cock, her pussy leaving him coated in her slick juices with each bounce.
As always, that was all it took to trigger an orgy, and Darcia found herself forming a daisy chain with Pansy and Tracey. She ended up with Tracey's cunt in her mouth and Pansy eating her out.
Overall, another average night in the first year girl's dorm.
…
Narcissa shivered as she hopped off the boat.
She'd never been here. Had promised herself she would never step foot in the dreary confines of this hellscape. It had been a mantra she'd repeated to herself constantly in the aftermath of the first war, when Lucius had been at real risk of ending up behind bars.
Now, she was willingly entering this frozen tomb, not even for any personal gain, either, but for pure worry over another.
Harry.
Maybe this was what romantic love felt like?
Narcissa shrugged off those thoughts. She needed to focus on the task at hand, she needed to steel herself to face the person she had never wanted to see again.
Bellatrix.
Her sister had always been an enigma. Her and Sirius, always so volatile, always so rebellious.
Bellatrix.
The same Bellatrix who Narcissa had once looked up to, even as her parents cursed her name, even as they blamed her for corrupting Andi when she ran off with the Tonks boy.
Bella had always seemed like a rockstar to her, like a force of nature. A wildfire that burned free and uncontrolled, consuming everything in its path.
She wrapped her coat tighter around herself as they entered the dark stone hallway. The two aurors ahead of her were unaffected by the oppressive atmosphere inside the prison, but only because they seemed to already be dead inside.
Narcissa wished she could cast a warming charm on herself, but her wand had been kept on the boat. She shivered as she saw the horrible spectres floating off in the distance, a portent of impending doom.
"Apologies, Lady Malfoy." The younger auror, Bollard, broke the deathly silence. "Usually, visitations can be held on the ground floor. But, due to the nature of the prisoner, we'll have to go up to the third."
"I understand." Narcissa's voice sounded faint, almost like a wheeze.
She should have prepared better for this place.
They made their way upstairs, the hallways darkening as they passed rows upon rows of cells. The prisoners on the first floor looked at them with interest, with a spark of curiosity.
By the second, they all had faraway looks. Dead stares.
The walk up two flights of stairs wasn't overly long, but it felt like an ordeal. It felt like one of the labors of Hercules.
She was led to a heavy steel door at the end of the third level. A wizard stood guard, his face impassive as they approached.
"The visitor." Narcissa's second companion informed the guard.
The guard nodded, looking her over with a critical eye. The man waved his wand over her, a final security check to ensure she hadn't snuck anything past her auror escort.
Satisfied, the man slid the metal latch off the door, giving her another nod. "You have twenty minutes."
Narcissa stepped into the room and the door slammed shut behind her, startling her as she could hear it lock from the outside.
She was trapped in here with her .
"Cissy? I guess I shouldn't have expected anyone else."
Narcissa's heart thumped hard in her chest as she took her sister in for the first time in a decade.
It was shocking, in multiple ways. On one end, Bellatrix looked haggard and malnourished, her hair was matted and dirty and her eyes sunken in.
Yet somehow, unlike every other prisoner she'd laid eyes on in this hell, her violet eyes still held that very same fire that her sister had always had. The fire that had made her burn down their grandmother's portrait after it had scolded her for slouching, the fire that had made the girl slice Rodolphus Lestrange's nutsack off at school when her parents had hinted at a marriage contract.
"Bellatrix." Narcissa acknowledged, trying to supress the tremble in her voice.
"No Bella? So you're not here to check up on your dear old sister then." Bellatrix chuckled, her laugh sounding rough and raspy, almost as if she had fallen out of practice and didn't remember how to do it properly.
"I'm here because I'm desperate. Because I hope that deep down in that twisted heart of yours, there's still a part of you that loves your godson."
Bellatrix's calm demeanor turned instantly, her eyes becoming feral, her nails digging a groove onto the wooden table she was chained to.
"HARRY? WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO WITH HARRY, NARCISSA?" Bellatrix made an attempt to stand up, but the chains around her wrists and ankle were too short, and so she slammed back onto her seat.
Narcissa had reared back, a hand to her chest as she saw her sister transform. She had thought that Bellatrix wasn't as insane as everyone said.
She had clearly been mistaken.
"I've come to care for the boy," she said firmly, regaining her courage as she thought of Harry.
"You? The wife of Lucius? Lady Malfoy? come to care for Harry?" Bellatrix spat.
The wild haired witch burst into a loud, screeching laugh. Narcissa felt a chill run through her as her sister looked more and more deranged by the second.
But she also felt anger burn in her veins at Bellatrix's words. "You're one to talk, sister ." She spoke the final word as if it was a curse. "After all you've done…no one is more at fault for the boy's misfortunes than you!"
Her words mollified Bellatrix, who calmed down enough to resemble a human more than a wild beast. "I don't disagree, sister. I've had a decade to wrangle with my failings."
"If you even have a sliver of love left for him, then please, help me understand what your master has done."
Bellatrix laughed bitterly, "My master?"
"Yes, your master. The Dark Lord. Lord Voldemort, the man you sold Lily and James to!"
"Don't you dare!" Bellatrix hissed, her violet eyes narrowed into slits. "I am many things, Narcissa, but I would never sell my best friend out, especially not to that gormless bastard."
"W-ha-" Narcissa sputtered. Bellatrix's words didn't make any sense.
On impulse, her hand shot to her sister's left arm. Bellatrix froze, but her chains prevented her from snatching it back, so she was forced to sit still as her younger sister pulled back the sleeve of her rag.
Time moved in slow motion as Narcissa revealed her sister's forearm. Bellatrix had always been so strong, but now she was frail enough that it only took a hint of pressure to twist her arm around.
Her forearm was bare. The skull and snake tattoo, the one she'd seen so many times on her husband's arm, was nowhere to be found.
A million thoughts ran through her head. For a moment, she thought it might be a glamour, but that was quickly discarded. Her sister had spent the last decade in Azkaban, no glamour charm would have survived that.
"You never betrayed them." She gasped as she looked up at her sister.
For the first time, Bellatrix's face showed the full weight of her decade in prison. She looked like a shell of a human being. "Does it matter what I did or didn't do, if the result is the same?"
"Of course it matters, Bella!" Narcissa's fist dropped sharply on the table. "What happened? Tell me."
"The mutt and I got too cute. Or maybe it was the Black madness finally creeping in on us. We made everyone think I was the secret keeper, but really, it was the rat."
"The rat?"
"Pettigrew." Bellatrix spat the name out with pure hatred.
"Pettigrew? Is that why you killed him?"
"Hah!" Bellatrix guffawed. "If only! We failed even at that. After we saw what happened at Godric's Hollow, Sirius and I went after him, hell bent on getting revenge. We underestimated him. He had the place booby trapped."
"So he killed the muggles?" Narcissa said in growing realization.
Bellatrix nodded. "The moment we got there, he spat some bullshit about how we'd betrayed James and Lily. Then Sirius…Sirius stepped on a trap and he was blown to smithereens." Bellatrix looked strained as she forced herself to continue speaking. "I saw red, Narcissa. I probably would have killed every single muggle there if he hadn't beaten me to it. He blasted them away and then cut off a piece of his finger. He turned into a rat and disappeared off into the sewers."
Narcissa was shaking, visibly shaking as the reality of the situation dawned on her.
"B-But Lucius said-"
"Are you fucking kidding me, Cissy? I never taught you to be this fucking stupid. You've been married to the idiot for how long and you believe what he says?" Bellatrix once again became the stern older sister, scolding Narcissa for crying over some worthless boy. "Lucy probably jumped for joy when I was locked up. He wouldn't do a thing that might make you consider my innocence."
They heard two hard taps on the door. The signal from the guard that they had five minutes left.
"Cissy, what is it? The thing you said about Harry, what's wrong?"
"You can help me with that later, Bella, when I get you out of here." Narcissa assured her sister.
Bellatrix let out a short, barking laughter. "Please! Too many people have a vested interest in keeping me here, your husband being one of them. I'm not going anywhere."
Narcissa did something she had never done before. She jumped from her side and wrapped her sister up in a hug.
Bellatrix's whole body stiffened as her younger sister held her.
"I will get you out of here, Bella. The Black sisters have been apart for far too long."
Narcissa pulled back just as the door was opening. "Then, when you're free, we're going to help your godson."
Narcissa stepped out of the door as two guards entered, wands held aloft as they began the process of transporting Bellatrix to her cell.
For the first time since she'd been thrown into this prison, Bellatrix felt hope.
She wasn't sure if that was a good thing.
…
The second week of class continued on much like the first. The girls struggled to figure out a way to get rid of Snape, so Harry was forced to wait outside during potions lessons.
True to her word, Daphne found an empty classroom and set up a cauldron where the girls would go through that day's potion with Harry. It actually gave them a much better understanding of the course than Snape's deficient teaching methods.
Today was a special day. They were about to have their first flying lesson.
Darcia had been insufferable, talking everyone's ear off about how amazing she was on a broom, telling tall tales about her escapades, including one story about how she just barely evaded a muggle helicopter. Harry just smiled next to her, happy to see his mistress so full of life.
Finally, it was time. They had their flying lesson with the Gryffindors. Being paired with the lions was always a tense affair, especially since the Weasley boy seemed to be especially hostile to Darcia.
"Up!" Darcia said with supreme confidence, and her broom flew to her hand instantly, as she knew it would.
Harry's also did the same. Harry was a decent flyer, in Darcia's estimation. Not better than her, obviously. He hadn't beaten her to the snitch in years! Well, Darcia explicitly forbidding him from catching it over her or beating her in races might have played a factor in that, but she was still way better!
Their classmates had had varying degrees of success with summoning their brooms. Daphne, Susan and Tracey's brooms complied on their third try. Pansy's barely moved, though the bored expression on the girl's face showed that she wasn't trying too hard.
On the Gryffindor side, Weasley and Finnegan were the only successes, with Longbottom in particular looking distressed as he continued to call on his broom only for it to roll over.
Eventually, those who failed just picked up their brooms. Madame Hooch went around, adjusting people's stances and grips.
"What do you mean I've been doing it wrong?" Darcia whined as Hooch told her to adjust her stance.
"Exactly what I said, Ms. Malfoy."
Darcia heard snickers all around her, including from the girls. The Malfoy heiress flushed a deep red and did what she always did in these situations: make something up.
"I'll have you know I was using a special mediterranean grip! It's all the rage in Italy, it just hasn't gotten to England yet."
"Mediterranean grip? I've never heard of it." Zabini interjected. Everyone around them laughed and Darcia glowered.
Mercifully, Hooch just continued down the line with her adjustments and didn't let her continue digging her own grave.
"Now, on my whistle, you will all kick off the ground and hover for a few seconds, understood?"
Hooch received a smattering of shaky nods before she put the whistle to her mouth.
Before she could blow, Longbottom rose in the air, clearly not in control of the broom as it moved jerkily about.
"Idiot boy! Get down from there!" The instructor yelled as Neville lurched all over, a terrified expression on his face.
"There's only one way down for him." Tracey whispered to the group.
And just as she said it, Longbottom fell from his broom. Everyone winced when they heard a sickening crunch after his arm and shoulder impacted the ground.
Longbottom cried openly as he rolled around on the floor. Madame Hooch levitated the boy, instructing them all to stay put while she took him to the hospital wing.
"That was the most pathetic thing I've ever seen." Darcia drawled loudly, succeeding in her aim to irritate the Gryffindors.
"You're one to talk, Malfoy, with your made up Italian grip." Weasley accused.
Darcia's cheeks flushed. Catching a glint of something on the grass, she quickly swiped her hand and grabbed onto a small glass ball.
"Isn't this Longbottom's stupid little toy?"
"That's his remembrall, Malfoy! Give it back!" Patil yelled.
Darcia smirked.
Behind her, her friends groaned. They all knew that when Darcia got swept up in her arrogance, stupidity was bound to follow.
For his part Harry just observed quietly. If his mistress got into any type of a scuffle, he needed to be there to protect her.
"You want it? You'll have to come get it." Darcia began to rise up in the air, riding her broom with supreme confidence as she held Neville's remembrall up like a prize.
"Why is she so fucking stupid sometimes?" Daphne hissed.
Darcia was high above them, looking down upon her classmates with a superior smirk.
"What? Are none of you Gryffindors brave enough to come up here and take the crybaby's little toy?"
"Is she always like this?" Susan asked the others.
"Only in public. She has a real need for attention." Pansy responded.
Darcia was twirling around on her broom, taunting the Gryffindors, making sure to always hold the remembrall out like a captured battle standard.
"Ron! Don't!"
The Granger girl's voice carried very well. Darcia stopped her maneuvers and turned to face Ron Weasley, who was sitting a bit awkwardly on his broom, but had a look of determination on his face.
"Give it back, Malfoy!" The boy yelled.
Darcia laughed. "You'll have to catch it, Weasel."
She turned and threw the ball as far as it could go.
Ron shot off after it, leaning forward on his broom to eke as much speed as he could out of the school broom.
But, well, Ron had never been great at going fast, or going forward, and the school brooms were even worse than the ones at the Burrow.
Just as he zipped by Darcia, Ron's broom flew up from under him, causing the boy to fall off it and directly onto the blonde girl.
"Are you trying to kill me?!" Darcia screamed in terror as Weasley's weight threw off her balance, knocking her off her broom and leaving them both in a freefall.
They fell from a decent height, and all they could hope was that the fall wouldn't be enough to kill them as their classmates screamed in terror.
Darcia squeezed her eyes shut as she saw the ground rapidly coming up to meet her. But the ground never came. Instead, she felt a sharp tug at her robe as she was lifted up onto a broom.
She buried her head into the chest of her savior, an all too familiar scent wafting into her nose. Darcia lifted her head to see a pair of emerald green eyes and a head of unruly hair as her slave expertly guided his broom with only one hand.
"H-Harry?"
"Don't worry, mistress, you're safe now."
Harry circled down until their feet touched the grass. Darcia was shaking as she refused to let go of her embrace.
A few feet away, the Gryffindors had formed a circle, and Ron could be heard moaning in pain.
"I hope you're happy, Malfoy!" Patil glared as Darcia tried to shoot her an uncaring look. But the truth was, this whole situation had shaken her up. It was supposed to be a spot of fun, she hadn't meant for it to go off the rails like that.
It seemed that Weasley wasn't as hurt as she initially thought. The boy was looking at her with pure hatred as he held his ankle, which was definitely twisted, but there didn't seem to be further damage.
"I can't believe it! You saved her? Do you like being her slave? You're fucking pathetic, Potter!"
Everyone gasped as Darcia realized that Weasley was glaring at Harry and not her.
Harry looked impassive as Ron got up on shaky legs. "All this time we all pitied you cause the Malfoys tricked you. But I bet you wanted to be their slave. Nice hero you turned out to be!" Ron spat on the floor.
"Ron-" Hermione made to put her hand on the boy's shoulder to calm him down. The Slytherins had now closed rank around Harry, but even the Gryffindors, who a minute ago were ready to murder Darcia, looked at Ron with trepidation.
Ron now turned to face Darcia, "I challenge you to a wizard's duel, tonight at midnight, in the trophy room!"
Everyone gasped. Daphne opened her mouth to stop Darcia from making a mistake, but Darcia had the fastest mouth in the west.
"I accept! Harry'l be my second."
Ron snorted. "I'm sure he will." He quickly looked around at his housemates, all of whom jumped back when they realized his intentions.
"Dean, you'll be mine."
"Why me?" The boy whined, clearly not wanting any part of this.
The students broke rank as they heard footsteps. Madame Hooch was finally back from the Hospital Wing, and they were all supposed to carry on like nothing had happened.
Later on, as the Slytherins trudged back up to the castle, Darcia couldn't help but notice that everyone was in a dour mood.
"What?" She asked after catching Daphne scowl for the fourth time.
"Seriously? You're asking? After all the bullshit you pulled?"
"Bullshit? Come on, it was just a spot of fun. Weasley was the one who made it worse."
The girls shook their heads while Harry remained quiet.
"Oh come off it! It wasn't even that bad a fall! Weasley only had a sprained ankle."
"That's because Harry cast a cushioning charm on the ground before he went up to save you." Susan said coldly.
"What?" Darcia's eyes widened in shock as she looked over to her slave, who was staring down at his feet.
"You saved Weasley?" She asked him.
Harry looked up tentatively. "I…I didn't want you to get in trouble for hurting him."
Darcia was at a loss. They continued to walk in silence. Susan and Daphne cuddled up to Harry's side, and Darcia just let them, her head a swirl of thoughts and emotions.
…
"I messed up, huh?"
"You did. But there's no going back now." Pansy told her as they got ready to sneak out of the common room.
"You know, it'd be less dangerous if some of us stayed back." Susan suggested. Six first years would be a very easy quarry for Filch.
"You can stay back if you want. I'm going." Daphne said with determination.
None of the girls were going to be the one to stay behind, and so the entire group made their way out into the dungeons and up towards the trophy room.
"Fucking Weasley. Trophy room is all the way up on the sixth floor!" Darcia whined.
"Kinda clever of him. It's close to his Common Room. Makes us walk a ways and potentially get caught." Tracey mused.
"Please." Darcia scoffed. "As if Weasley thought that much into it."
"You never know." Daphne said with a tinge of amusement.
"The only thing Weasley puts his mind to is devouring his next meal." Darcia insisted.
"I don't know, Mistress. I heard he's very good at chess." Harry said.
"What is this? The Weasley defense league?"
"More like the get back at Darcia for being a prat club." Pansy said, causing the other girls to giggle as Darcia grumbled.
Their trip up to the sixth floor was uneventful, only bumping into a few ghosts that didn't seem to care much about students walking around past curfew.
When they made it to the trophy room, Weasley, Granger and Longbottom were there to greet them.
"Didn't think you snakes would show." Ron said with a frown. Hermione and Neville were clearly not very enthused to be here.
"Where's your second?" Susan asked.
Ron's face reddened. "Dean…err…couldn't make it. But… Neville's my second now!"
The pudgy boy's face turned ashen white. "B-B-But I'm only here because I got locked out of-"
Ron wrapped a forceful arm around the other boy's shoulder, shooting him a glare that shut him up instantly.
"What are you doing here, Granger?" Daphne asked.
Hermione turned her nose up. "I couldn't believe that you would all be irresponsible enough to break the rules. I came here to stop all this."
"But, you're already breaking the rules by being here." Harry pointed out in a friendly tone.
Hermione blustered at his words, but before she could come up with a retort, Darcia spoke up.
"Let's get this over with. I'll be merciful and dispatch you quickly, Weasley. I need my beauty sleep."
"Yeah, you definitely need it." Ron snorted.
Darcia looked murderous, but Tracey let out a little laugh. "See? He's at least a little bit clever."
Ron and Darcia stepped up to the middle of the trophy room.
"I think you're supposed to bow, then you can start." Susan helpfully supplied after noticing the two of them had no clue on how to proceed.
"Of course, I knew that." Darcia said as she gave Ron the quickest bow imaginable. Ron returned it in kind and then the two flicked their wands up, settling into crouched stances.
The duel was on.
"Aren't you going to do something?" Hermione asked.
The duel had been on for ten seconds, and it had consisted of Ron and Darcia circling each other, shooting ever more murderous looks and growls, but no actual spells.
"Dont you not know any magic? They've taught us some spells." Tracey shouted.
"I don't think she can win a duel by changing the color of his shirt." Daphne reminded her.
Daphne's words did give Harry an idea. They had learned another charm during classes this past week.
"Mistress! Light your wand!"
Both Ron and Darcia looked confused for a moment, before what Harry was trying to say dawned on them.
" Lumos!" They both yelled, pointing their wands at each other's faces.
They got hit with simultaneous blasts of bright light, causing them to hiss and drop their wands on the floor at the same time.
The duel was over. It was a tie.
"That was it? That was pathetic." Pansy jeered, arms crossed.
"I'd like to see you do better, Pansy." Darcia growled at her, her face flush with embarrassment as she bent over to pick up her wand.
"I can hear them, Mrs. Norris! I think we've got quite a few this time!"
Filch's voice sent a chill through all of them as the nine first years all forgot house rivalries under mortal peril.
"We need to leave. Now." Harry grabbed Darcia and Daphne by the hand, nodding towards the other girls as they made their way to the exit.
"Oh god, we're gonna get in so much trouble." Hermione was beginning to panic, and Harry let go of Daphne's hand for a moment just to give the girl a reassuring squeeze.
"We're going to be fine, we just need to stay calm." He told her firmly before Daphne snatched his hand back into hers.
Hermione was blushing heavily, but she was no longer panicking as the large group of first years made their way through the hallways, Filch's footsteps hot on their heels.
"We should split up, there's too many of us right now." Tracey insisted.
"I don't even know where we are." Longbottom said with his trembling voice.
They'd run down quite a few sets of stairs. Harry had been leading them down to the dungeons and the Gryffindors had followed instead of just finding their way back up to their common room.
"Blimey, is this a damn trap? Did you slimy snakes set all of this up?" Ron growled as they continued to twist and turn down unfamiliar corridors.
"Please, Weasley. If anything this is your fault. You challenged me so loudly Filch probably heard it on the other side of the castle. He didn't need to be tipped off."
"Let's go in here." Susan said hurriedly as Filch's footsteps came closer and closer to them. Soon, he'd be able to spot them.
She tried opening a door but it wouldn't budge. Hermione stepped up, casting a quick alohomora before the nine of them piled in.
They slammed the door shut and then heard Filch's footsteps pass by mere moments later.
"They were just here! But they couldn't have gone in through there… come Mrs. Norris, we'll sniff them out."
"Can you guys spread out? I'm suffocating here." Pansy hissed. They were all still piled up near the door.
"And what's that stench? Did you fart Weasley?" Darcia added.
The people near the back, Neville, Tracey and Hermione, were awfully quiet.
"What's going on back there?" Daphne snapped her head back and her eyes widened instantly.
A giant, three headed dog was bearing down on them. The middle head's rancid breath was blowing hot on their faces. As everyone turned fully, frozen in fear, all three heads began a low grumble, a grumble that was growing into a growl.
"Let's get the hell out of here!"
As quickly as they had spilled in, they spilled out of the room, slipping and skating on the floor as they ran for their lives.
"Why the hell is that monster in the school? My father will hear about this!" Darcia yelled as they all sprinted the way they had come.
"Aha! We're back on the scent!" Filch's voice came from behind them.
"Goddamit Darcia, now he's back on us!" Tracey huffed.
Making an executive decision, Darcia looked over her shoulder. "Longbottom, your shoe's untied!"
Neville's eyes widened, and his head immediately went down to his feet, which were clad in slippers. The boy, already uncoordinated, couldn't recover and ended up stumbling onto the floor, tumbling and rolling to a stop.
"Neville!" Ron and Hermione called back.
"Leave him! Get back to your common rooms or else his sacrifice will be in vain!"
It must have been the heat of the moment that made them listen to Darcia's words, because Ron and Hermione shot up the stairs while the Slytherins ran down, finally splitting up and leaving Longbottom to his fate.
...
The next morning, everyone except for Harry was still a bit cross with Darcia. Over at the Gryffindor table, Weasley and Granger were both shooting her periodic glares. Longbottom was off near the end of the table by himself. He'd been docked fifty points for being out past curfew, another fifty for being in the forbidden corridor and fifty for making Filch run. Needless to say, the house of lions was already out of the running for the House Cup, and the students were none too happy.
As Darcia looked at the house clad in crimson, she got a sudden bout of inspiration.
"I have an idea!"
"I think we're going to have a moratorium on any of your ideas, Darcia. Maybe we can reconsider by third year." Daphne grumbled as she ate her toast.
"Can you guys drop it already? Besides, it's related to out Snape problem."
"Spit it out." Pansy said.
"Weasley's older brothers, the twins. They're the resident pranksters, right? Maybe we should go ask them."
"And have two fresh witnesses when they investigate the death of a professor?" Susan asked, the other girls backing up her sentiment with nods.
Darcia rolled her eyes. "Are we not Slytherins? We'll be subtle."
…
"You want us to help you…get rid of someone?" Fred, or George, said incredulously.
Darcia nodded while the girls groaned behind her. "Yes. I just want someone gone."
"You know we just do pranks, right?" The other twin told her. "And even on that front we don't do them on commission. Though…that might be worth looking into, dear brother of mine."
The other brother stroked his chin. "Quite so. Could help us build a nice little nest egg. What do you girls think? Would you pay a galleon for a custom prank?"
The twins took the Slytherin's absolute silence to be a negative.
"Alright! Alright! How about twenty eight sickles?"
"Isn't that just one sickle short of a Galleon?" Harry asked the boys.
"That's what makes it so brilliant! It's basically a galleon but it doesn't sound so daunting! Make more sales that way!"
"We should definitely talk strategy, Georgie."
"Can you two help us or not?" Darcia stomped her foot on the ground, much to the twin's amusement.
"Do you mean if we can help you murder another student?"
"I never said that!" Darcia glanced around in a panic, wary of eavesdroppers."And it's not a student."
"Darcia, we should just cut our losses and leave before we all get expelled." Susan hissed into the girl's ear.
"Sent to Azkaban more like." Daphne quipped.
The twins looked rather thoughtful now. "Not a student, you say? That really only leaves the staff."
"And Filch."
"Is it Filch?"
Darcia groaned. "It doesn't matter. Forget I even asked!" She turned to leave.
"Wait, hold on!"
"What?" She snapped.
One of the twins stepped up, his voice lowering to a whisper. "We can't help you with your problem. But there's someone who can."
"Who?"
"Some call her the shadow ruler-"
"Some say not a single drop of firewhisky moves in this castle without her knowing."
"Others say even Dumbledore himself must consult with her before making any decisions."
The twins stopped themselves, sharing a suspicious look.
"That last one might not be true."
"Either way. If you want something done below board in this school, it goes through her."
"Can you just spit it out already? Who is this person?" Tracey asked in exasperation.
"We don't know. No one knows." Fred said.
"We can get you in contact with her, though. We all just call her Boss Lady."
"Word of warning, she's kinda scary."
Darcia gave her friends a winning grin. She knew they'd find someone who could help.
Harry and the girls did not share her enthusiasm, for some reason.
…
Andi lived in a hovel.
There was no other way around it. She could dress it up as best she could, and it was clear Andromeda kept her home as neat as possible.
But it was still nothing more than a rundown shack in the middle of the woods.
Andromeda herself still looked quite stunning. Narcissa figured she looked close to what Bella would have looked like if she'd never gone to Azkaban.
No. What Bella would look like once they sprung her.
This meeting had actually been a bit more uncomfortable than the one with Bellatrix. Narcissa had been surprised when her sister answered her owl on the first try, but Andi kept rejecting every invite to Malfoy Manor, insisting Narcissa visit her.
Narcissa now understood why.
After Ted Tonks died, Andromeda was a woman left with very few options.
She'd been raised in the Black family, so she had no knowledge of the muggle world, and Ted hadn't taught her much in their three short years of marriage. They hadn't seen a need to teach Andi how to survive in the muggle world. They were fine, after all.
Then Ted had been killed in a Death Eater raid. Their mother had acted magnanimously, in her own mind, and offered to forgive Andromeda, as long as she cast away her half-blood daughter.
Andi had refused, and Druella had gone scorched earth. She had black-listed Andromeda from all avenues of gainful employment in respectable society. Even those who weren't aligned with The Dark Lord feared the repercussions of hiring someone who'd been blacklisted, and the few who would have hired Andi were too busy dying to the Dark Lord and his forces.
Andromeda had scraped by. She'd started a mail order potions business in the continent. Being across the channel, her deliveries took longer than her competitors that were actually in the continent, and so she had to cut her prices to try and stay afloat.
It had been a vicious cycle. She couldn't afford ingredients and so had to grow her own on the fallow lands around her home.
Somehow, she had kept her head above water, and had even been able to send Nymphadora to Hogwarts, if not always with the best supplies. She'd had to give her daughter her own wand, simply making due without one while Nymphadora was at school. That was until Nym's third year, when her daughter had somehow scrounged up enough money to buy her own wand.
Narcissa had not kept up with her sister. She knew nothing of her conditions.
She felt a weight in the pit of her stomach. More so than with Bellatrix, she felt like a terrible sister. A terrible person.
"What do you want me to do? Not much I can help you with, I'm afraid." Andromeda said in a tired voice.
Narcissa had told Andi of their sister's innocence. Andromeda was apathetic, to say the least.
She'd come to ask for help, but it was clear she needed to make amends with her sister.
"Andi, I'm going to try to set Bella free, and when I do, I want both of us to welcome her home. I want us to be sisters again, to be a family."
"Why the sudden change of heart? Lucius cut your allowance so now you're throwing a tantrum?" Andromeda asked bitterly.
Narcissa winced. "I deserve that. I haven't been the best sister… to either of you. But I want to make it up to you Andi-"
"I don't want your charity, Malfoy." Andromeda hissed.
"Andi, please. I…I want to make a change in my life. I've come to care for someone, and it's given me a change of perspective."
Andromeda blinked. "So you've taken a lover?"
"Not a lover…someone whom I love." It felt cathartic to say those words.
Andromeda's expression looked tortured. "You don't know how much I've yearned for that. Ever since Ted…"
Narcissa put a hand over her sister's own. Andromeda froze, glaring at their touching hands, but she didn't pull it away.
"You can still have that, Andi. You've suffered enough, it is time for us to reunite, for me to make up for all the neglect. It is time for the House of Black to rise once again."
"Are you saying what I think you are?"
Narcissa nodded. "We must go see grandfather."