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August 6, 1993
"Why Professor Dumbledore?" Harry asked after a few blinks. "I don't mean to be rude, Missus Malfoy, but it's no rumour that he doesn't see eye to eye with your family. I've been told a dozen times or more, and I've seen how he speaks with Mister Malfoy."
Narcissa shrugged after a slight wrinkle of her nose at the mention of her husband and the Professor. "Lucius is passionate in his projects and political stances, as is my daughter as I'm sure you know well enough yourself. Be that as it may, I can't wholly disagree with you as we don't completely agree with all of Dumbledore's stances — one matter we do agree on is your safety and quality of life, the best of both can only be had in our home."
"It doesn't feel like it's too quick for you, any of you? I'm sorry if I'm being too hesitant. Still, I've never really gotten along with Lacerta and your husband nearly cursed me once, though only after he was assured she was safe," Harry shook his head at the memory and waited for the older woman's response, still unsure of what she hoped to gain by having Dumbledore come over and most of all, how he had agreed to this.
"As I've said, it's the least we can do for you. I'm certain there'll be a growth period as we would get familiar with one another, it's very likely to be awkward to some degree, but it's still what I personally believe is best for you, should you accept it," Narcissa motioned to the door with a smile and look at told him she was finished with their small conversation. "I'll call you when the good Headmaster makes himself known, enjoy the estate and its facilities as much as you'd like."
Harry nodded to the older woman with a small, polite smile of his own and then he left. He would hope that his exit wasn't rushed, that it didn't portray his anxiousness or other unconvincing emotions he had whilst in her presence, but he knew that wasn't the case. Narcissa was much more intimidating than her husband and daughter, but the scariest thing was how she managed that level of strength without any goons behind her.
I can't speak with Lacerta, she's gone away, Harry thought as he moved through one of the many halls of Malfoy Manor, once more on his way back to the 'wing' that had been assigned to him.
Briefly, he was tempted to do as Narcissa said and look around so that he could enjoy the various areas of her home, but he decided against such a thought not more than a few seconds after it was had. Whilst it sounded fun, potentially information-filled and like a good way to ease his boredom, it also sounded danger-filled. Try as he might the get rid of those doubts in the back of his mind at the mere mention of the Malfoy name, Harry couldn't.
Sunny appeared beside Harry.
The boy had been sitting at the desk in his main room whilst the countdown to the Headmaster's arrival went by. As soon as the tiny creature made itself known with a small wave and quiet sound, Harry had gotten to his feet.
"Professor Dumbledore is here?" Harry asked, his hand keeping the book open just enough for him not to lose his place whilst he reached for a bookmark.
"Yes Master Harry, the Professor Dumbledore is here and Mistress Narcissa has told Sunny to come for you," Sunny held out his hand with a big smile, offering to bring Harry directly to the dining room and save the walking; Harry accepted without a second thought, his brain immediately going to Dobby thanks to the energy this elf had about him…
That's a thought, Dobby. I need to ask them about him, more specifically, why they treated them as poorly as they did. It doesn't make sense, not if Narcissa is even half as polite in private as she's been with me.
Harry thought about the skinny elf for a few seconds longer, until after what felt like a milli-second at the most, he blinked and found himself with Narcissa and an older, familiar man.
"Good evening, Harry," Greeted the Professor, a familiar smile and softness in his words.
"I'm glad you've joined us, we can get to our main reason for this dinner," Narcissa said with a clap of her hands as she urged their group to the table, where they very shortly thereafter took their seats.
"There's no need to rush an evening as wonderful as this. It's not often guests and company such as this can be had," Professor Dumbledore said with a look through the nearby window, the old man making his happiness known as he gazed into the night sky.
Narcissa wasn't entirely convinced and with a glance at the Professor, she started to speak. "Thank you for your visit, Headmaster. As you're well aware with your involvement in the Ministry, my husband is especially busy and once you take into account our family business deals, it's only exacerbated. Still, with my presence alone, I wish to convince you and Harry that here will be best of all for him this summer. To do so, I've had a list of our potential activities prepared in addition to willingly allowing the pair of you the chance to explore the entirety of our home to show you that there aren't any items within our home that could be instability-causing."
Harry blinked at the older woman's words in confusion and so he did all that he could think to do, he looked at Professor Dumbledore. The man was still gazing out of the window and into the dark, star-lit sky, but his face had grown more pensive, sterner too. Undoubtedly the man was mulling over the many possibilities and repercussions, the pros and cons, and everything else that could happen as a result of this decision.
"Harry is free to decide where he would like to stay, and an offer to be closer to his roots, to live a portion of the life he could have had his family not been taken from, is something I would encourage him to think deeply of," Professor Dumbledore looked over to Harry then, a reassuring look about the older man. "As I've said my thoughts on the matter unless the young Lady Malfoy would have anything to discuss, I believe I would like to retire to tea and biscuits as was mentioned in the invitation."
Leave it to the Headmaster, Harry thought with a near snicker escaping from him.
"My thanks for allowing Harry to stay here should he so wish to," Narcissa said with a dip of her head as she glanced over to Harry, then returned to Dumbledore. "I had planned for us to eat a meal together, but if you'd like to retire early on, we could do so… I'm certain the other topics that you mentioned are up for discussion."
Professor Dumbledore didn't answer with words, but his look of aloofness assured Harry that whatever those topics were, they most definitely were going to be discussed. There wasn't much you could get by the older man and once he was with you, he wouldn't leave until he said what he had intended to say in the first place.
When Narcissa gave him a look that wasn't all that convinced, only then did the man speak with a wink at Harry. One that Harry was certain Narcissa had read, but one that Harry doubted the older man cared about.
"Ah, you'll forgive an old man for a lack of appetite, won't you? I'm afraid the past hundred years and however many it's been before then haven't been too kind," Professor Dumbledore said with almost a grin on his face and once those words were had, Harry figured he'd get more free roam, or rather, more time in his wing.
That didn't sound entirely too fun, but it was something that he could handle well enough thanks to his Dursley time; he imagined a lot of it would be spent thinking about his decision, funnily enough. The Malfoy home was huge, boasted wonderful food and tea, had a large garden and most of all, people that didn't seem to all hate him. If he moved from a place with the Dursleys to Malfoy Manor, he went down with the occupants that hated him and everything else improved — Lucius Malfoy wasn't a real enough threat now that Harry had experience with the man and Lacerta was beatable in any school of magic.
"Thank you, Missus Malfoy, for the offer. I'll think about it and let you know what I decide in the morning if that's alright," Harry said to the older woman before he continued to speak, this time his words directed at Professor Dumbledore. "It was nice seeing you, sir."
Dumbledore waved to Harry as he made to get up from his seat while Narcissa smiled politely at him, the look just as charming and just as unconvincing as it'd been earlier. When nobody made to speak to him, he took the hint and very quickly made his escape from the two older Magicals. While he didn't dislike either of them, he had to say, they were both intimidating beyond belief.
Harry returned to the wing he was given, sat at the desk he had previously been at and when food was brought to him by Sunny — three whole platters filled to the brim with everything you could think of — he dug in all the while his brain was still focusing on the same thing it'd been doing since he returned to his room.
Do I stay with the Malfoys, or do I decide on staying with the Dursleys? What's the better choice? What's the safer choice?
Only when the food was finished, when his back was sore from sitting at the table and in a firm, old, wooden chair did he finally attempt to get any rest. He lay in the bed that the Malfoys had provided for him in their elaborate, ornate estate. He saw the written words from Narcissa that assured him he could do as he wished with the portion of the property he had control of and that he could request food, tea, and whatever else he would like whilst he was at Malfoy manor.
Finally, when his eyes and mind grew too weary, he resorted to the occasional glance at the large window he had directly to the right of his bed. It was massive, with nearly four panes making it up and allowing those inside the room to view the beautiful outdoors from a high-elevation position. As he watched the trees sway gently in the breeze and saw the dancing of thousands of leaves through the air, a sense of calmness finally came to the forefront of his mind.
When he woke up that next morning, a newfound sense of clarity dictating his actions, he ate his breakfast rapidly and promptly marched on over to Narcissa's office. He had made his decision and before he unmade it, he would be sure to relay it.
August 7, 1993
"Come in, Harry," Narcissa's voice called to him after a few seconds of silence.
He opened the door and took three steps in before he closed the door behind him, and when he did, he saw somebody he hadn't been expecting. Lucius Malfoy, Lacerta's father and the man who he'd only recently done over at the same time he'd helped him, was present in his wife's office. The moment was incredibly awkward on Harry's behalf and the fact that Lucius Malfoy would barely look at him for more than a second at a time didn't help.
"I believe I'll be taking my leave, wife. The time has finally come for me to speak to the creation of a deal with three of our newfound partners across the channel," Lucius said in an expeditious tone of voice as he brought up one of Narcissa's hands, kissed it, and made his way off into the direction fo the doorway where Harry was still standing.
"Come back in time for dinner, husband," Narcissa said after Lucius before he was completely gone and once he was, she turned back to Harry with as pleasant a look as she'd ever had when speaking with him. "Why don't we have breakfast — I'm not certain if you're a morning eater, My Lacerta has to or else her stomach gets upset and her mood turns rather… sour, but should you like anything to break your fast with, please, request it. Should you wish to, we could discuss your decision should it be made up as of this morning and if not, any other topics you'd prefer to discuss on account of our newfound companionship."
Harry had to blink a few times, not in confusion, but to wake himself up. It had only been ten minutes ago that he had still been sound asleep and in bed, but now, here he found himself in the kitchen of the Malfoy family home discussing his decision and afterwards, whatever else she thought that he wanted to discuss. He was thoroughly baffled at her ability to be so alert this early in the morning, that much was certain if nothing else appeared to be.
"Sure," Harry said in response to everything she had just said.
"Untalkative in the morning, that's your early-rise persona," Narcissa commented aloud to herself in amusement as she rose from her office chair and made her way towards him. "If you're not too talkative, we could wait and simply enjoy a peaceful morning brunch in the garden."
"Brunch in the garden?" Harry repeated, this time truly confused since the time was only ten in the morning and secondly, that he of all people would eat 'brunch' in a garden.
If the Dursleys could see where he was and what he would soon be doing, they would very likely change their minds in regards to the magical world. Vernon would probably sell himself to the Malfoys for the slightest taste of the life Harry could give himself should he accept their offer.
"Yes, I've found it very calming to enjoy a meal in the presence of nature and friends or family. You'd agree should you like to give it a try, I'm sure, and if you aren't then we can dine in whichever dining room you'd prefer. They hold different views, the one near the lake is my personal favourite," Narcissa said to him as she started down the hall at a fairly fast pace, forcing him to give chase and keep up with her as she moved.
It's a wonder Lacerta isn't remotely a morning person if her mum can go at this pace this early.
Harry had all he could do to keep up with the older woman and avoid the various pieces of decor scattered throughout their halls, so it was only when he sat down at the table nearly five minutes later, that he spoke; his mind was no longer groggy and far keener thanks to the trip it took just to eat in the Malfoy's home.
"I've made up my mind," He said aloud when his water was placed before him by one of the various house-elves he hadn't caught the name of.
That one small statement immediately drew Narcissa's attention and her more polite, amiable attitude turned serious as she regarded him. She was patient, there wasn't any sort of verbal rush given to him, but Harry could see that she seemed to tense just a little bit — he looked for the same or similar-enough signs in his aunt when she got particularly bothered by something he did.
"I've decided that I'd like to stay here… if the offer's still standing and if you're really, truly certain that it won't bother or hurt your family. As long as it's actually fine, I'd like to be here. It's beautiful, really, it i-..." Harry coughed when he realised he was dragging it on and he was thankful she was merciful enough now to motion for him to go continue speaking when that forced cough was finished.
In fact, when he regarded her a second time for longer than a split second on account of his embarrassment, he saw a look of surprise and happiness. He couldn't be sure the emotions were particularly good for him, but at the very least, he was certain that they seemed real enough and if Professor Dumbledore believed the Malfoys why shouldn't Harry?
Sure, Harry knew the Headmaster may have gambled with his well-being a time or two, but it was never anything that truly would have left Harry out in the open or dead as a result.
"I'm very thankful for the chance you're giving us and I'm very aware of the risk you believe you're taking. I'll personally strive to see that we meet your expectations as a family of prestige and just as equally, I'll see to it that you're given an upbringing that would make any in our nation's history, jealous," Narcissa stood up from her seat and moved to the kitchen counter, summoning a nearby quill and parchment. When she saw his look, she spoke as to what she was doing. "Your decision needs to be relayed to the Headmaster, the second parchment is me recalling Lacerta and should she wish it, Pansy can return with her. She'll need to be made aware of your choice and the responsibilities and expectations I have for her."
Harry nodded a few times at the older woman's words and watched on in silence as she wrote with a speed and precision that he had never seen in his entire life. It was incredibly impressive and five minutes later, when the food was just being brought out by the house elves, he wasn't the only one eating. It almost felt like family.
Almost.
After his morning breakfast at which he gave his answer to Narcissa, Harry would go on to spend much of the day with the older woman or her favourite house-elf, Sunny. Between the two of them, Harry was given a very long run down in regards to what he could do whilst staying with them in regards to nearly anything he could think about; if he wanted to head out and shop, he could do so as long as somebody knew the details of where he was headed and for how long he would be gone. With that alone, he was infinitely more free with the Malfoys than the Dursleys… that thought didn't make any sense even now, days after it had all truly started.
"My thanks for waiting for me, Harry," Narcissa said as she exited the loo and made her way over to him at the same time Sunny appeared so that he could hand something to the lady of the home.
"Thanks for letting me stay with you — I don't think I actually said that until now, but I'm glad. If I end up causing any problems with your family though, I'd like to leave," Harry wanted to be as polite as possible and at the same time, leave a small out for himself if everything went tits up, to steal one of Ron's phrases that the other bloke would never say in front of his parents.
"I doubt you'll cause more than a headache and Lucius' constitution could use the benefits that living with you would bring. Perhaps he'll eventually come to see you as the male heir I never gave him, perhaps not, but it's about time we aligned ourselves correctly," Narcissa stopped at that final remark and tore into the letter she had been given. Once she had read it through and then peered at it again for half as long, she looked over to Harry. "The luck my daughter claims you possess has made itself known once more, Harry."
He looked at the older woman and bit his tongue in regards to the supposed luck that he possessed. "What's happened?"
"My Lacerta is returning home far earlier than I expected her to after the letter I sent her and that silly best friend of hers, Pansy, is unable to join her in said return. You'll be granted more time together in the hopes of a newfound relationship forming between the two of you and short of that, an understanding. So long as you give it a chance, she'll do the same," Narcissa nodded for Harry to follow after her after they changed their course and made toward the room with the Floo in it. "With her presence coming very soon, it'd seem that you no longer need to spend your next week with an old woman."
"You're much younger than my aunt, at least you look like you are," Harry said without really thinking about it as he glanced at Narcissa and compared the image that she was to one of Petunia; the contest was anything but and the decision was made in a second if that.
Narcissa gave him one of her charming smiles that made him feel nervous despite the fond appearance. "Such a charmer, it's a shame my daughter didn't mention that when she chose to talk about you."
"What'd she say?" Harry asked, his interest piqued since it looked like Narcissa was willing to discuss those words, but unfortunately for Harry, he wouldn't be given the chance to learn of Lacerta's words in regard to his person.
In fact, when they turned to enter the room, he was confronted by the very girl he had just asked about. There she was — Lacerta — standing in the doorway in the same clothes she'd been wearing earlier while she brushed at her shoulders as if there was anything wrong with them. It didn't even take one glance for Harry to know there wasn't even one wrinkle or speck of dust, Lacerta was simply a perfectionist, as Narcissa seemed to be as he spent his time with her.
"Hello mum," Lacerta said despite her eyes staying solely on Harry, her tone not nearly as acidic as he had thought it would be. "My trip with Pansy was meant to last far longer, as you agreed to when I mentioned it near the end of term."
Narcissa didn't so much as blink in response to her daughter's words as the younger girl's voice turned accusatory. "I do remember the deal that we made, but unless I'm mistaken, that was before your vanishing in Hogwarts, wasn't it? When one's child goes missing, especially when they only have but one, they tend to get more nervous about that child's safety — Pansy is welcome to visit us, but with Harry now truly staying with us and our plans moving forward, your safety is only guaranteed while you're within the walls of our home."
Lacerta snorted. "Nobody would try anything, not with you and father alive."
"You don't know the quality of some of your father's lesser… acquaintances, he did his best at keeping them away from our home or proper areas of interest," Narcissa said in a tone that was a mixture of condescending and annoyance, though neither emotion felt like they were truly directed at Lacerta.
"I'm here, so I suppose it doesn't truly matter. I suppose father got his wish for Hogwarts too? You wouldn't have agreed to Dumbledore's requests if he didn't allow your primary request," Lacerta said as a disapproving glance was very quickly given by Narcissa before it eventually turned unimpressed.
Narcissa turned to Harry once a second had gone by after Lacerta had spoken. "We wished to ensure the safety of our daughter and you, together, with this 'primary' request as my daughter called it. I had hoped she could be trusted to stay silent when told such things, but that isn't the case — regardless, before you get second thoughts or nervous ones in their place, the request was the presence of an Auror Squad. Not only that, but Lucius also intended to invest and build upon Hogsmeade in the hopes that the village could become a sort of guard post for Hogwarts."
Harry couldn't believe Lucius was willingly sinking money into Hogsmeade since it would more than likely result in a loss of funds for him. Not only would they lose thousands of Galleons just for ensuring what they referred to as the safety of Hogwarts, but they would have to lose more beyond that to get people to move to the newly expanded village.
"I heard Hogsmeade was once the largest magical community in all of Europe, in the times of Hogwarts' founders and that such a state persisted for centuries after. You never mention such golden days, mother, so I don't imagine they existed in your time," Lacerta said as Harry tried and failed to think of a question to ask.
"Hogsmeade was over thrice as populous in 'my' time than it is in yours," Narcissa said through vaguely-narrowed eyes in the direction of Lacerta, undoubtedly the 'time' comment annoying the older woman to some degree. "War can do much and more to any settlement, and unfortunately for Hogsmeade, its position near one of our most vital pieces of infrastructure puts it on the map of every group with hostile intent."
While all of that registered on Harry's mind, what he focused on beyond all else was just how large and prosperous Hogsmeade had been only slightly more than a decade ago. It was absolutely absurd to think about.
"S—" Lacerta attempted, only for Narcissa to speak at the same time, but louder and without stopping; even Lacerta seemed to recognise when Narcissa was especially dominating in social situations.
"Further questions can wait until tomorrow. There's still much more left to accomplish today and whilst I would enjoy seeing the two of you bond as enjoyable as I'm sure it would be, I'll have to leave such an important oversight job to Sunny," Narcissa smiled when the elf appeared between the two youths and with a wave to all three, she took her leave from the group. "Do enjoy the day, my darlings. The house is yours."
Silence. One very loud silence went on for half a minute, maybe more, before somebody made their move.
Lacerta turned to Harry, gave him a once over from head to toe and then met his eyes with her own once more. "You're going to need to take much better care of yourself, visually speaking, now that you're living with us, Potter. I would recommend you visit the place that I attend…"
When Lacerta said that and Harry took in how refined everything was about her; from thin eyebrows that all the other girls spoke of to her hair, which looked to be done up whenever he saw it. Suffice to say he wasn't very fond of the idea of going through all of that work, he preferred how he currently was far more.
"... if not mine, then perhaps another establishment would work for you," Lacerta said, the girl seeming closer to him than she previously had in the brief time he'd escaped to his mind. "Crabbe and Goyle visit a place that's quite deep in Knockturn Alley, enough so that my parents don't allow me to visit it."
Harry very quickly shook his head at such an offer. It didn't sound good to him, not in the slightest. Then again, if he had to do much of the stuff that Lacerta did, a good majority of it didn't sound all that good.
"If you'd prefer not to change anything, I suppose that's fine," Lacerta finally said as she glanced around the room, almost stopping on every object even vaguely note-worthy before her attention went back to him. "Well, Potter? What is it that we'll be doing? This silence is insufferable."
It's your home, Harry wanted to say, but he didn't. "Your mum said you're allowed to study outside of Hogwarts unlike the Muggleborn or Half-Blood students who live in the Muggle world?"
Lacerta nodded, her arms crossing in front of her as she looked at him like he'd grown a third eye somewhere on his forehead. "Yes, obviously. We're naturally more powerful due to the purity of our blood, hence the reason we need to learn control and management of our magic sooner and of better quality than the others. I'm sure… with you having the Potter blood running through your veins that you'll need to do the same."
To Harry, those latter words felt like they were something Lacerta thought he needed to hear now that they were living together. As for Harry, he didn't believe those words in the slightest. Hermione and a lot of other people had said there's no real credence behind the blood statuses. Even if he didn't buy it, he wouldn't say as much to Lacerta. It wouldn't help them try to build that bond Narcissa had talked about.
"We could go and study if you'd want to. I'd like the chance to learn outside of Hogwarts, especially when it comes to Potions," Harry huffed at the mention of his least favourite class; he had wanted to do so much about it when he'd first heard of the subject, but with Snape, it wasn't possible.
"You'll need to purchase a custom set of potions equipment before we return to Hogwarts if we're to work together," Lacerta said in response. "You don't own one as far as I know and while it's not mentioned in Hogwarts, it's something you would notice if you looked beyond your red and gold. We'll get you one made to your specifications and until then, you can use my intermediate set — I'll teach you what I know, starting with the very basics that you never truly grasped."
Harry wasn't too fond of how she was making him sound, but even then, he didn't do anything negative in reaction. If she wanted to speak down to him, she could do so, he wouldn't get annoyed in response and really, he doubted she was doing it on purpose in the first place.
"Alright," he said when he recognised her meaningful gaze, one that showed she was waiting for him to say anything in response to what she had stated. "We'll go and learn the basics of potions together."
I hope you teach better than Professor Snape does.
Two hours later and finally taking a break, Harry had to say that Lacerta at the very least knew what she was talking about. He wouldn't call her a master of Potioneering, not when all they had gone over were the things you did in year one, but he'd have to admit that she knew everything from year one like it was written on a piece of parchment and on the table before them.
I wonder what she's doing now, Harry thought as he walked along the halls of Malfoy Manor by his lonesome. It didn't take her any time to clean anything up, so she isn't still in the potion room, but what else could she really be doing here that isn't this way?
Harry could've sworn everything that kept somebody away from boredom was towards the centre of the house, where the rest of the recreational or business-oriented rooms were. Then again, he had only been in the house for less than twenty-four hours, so he wasn't an expert by any means.
I'll have to be smart, I know I will. The Malfoys have seemed nice and Lacerta… I may have saved her, but people don't change just like that. I remember how she was, I won't forget it.
With a shake of his head, Harry continued his silent journey until he made it back to the wing that was now well and truly his so long as he stayed with the Malfoys. It was massive and he reckoned he'd get to know a lot of the rooms before too much longer, but for now, he retreated back to the bedroom he had occupied the previous night.
There was much to think about, far too much and whilst for a change, that was better than having spells flung at him, Harry wasn't nearly as confident in his ability at dealing with people. At the time, he had done what any wizard would have done — he saved a… pretty witch and because of that, they'd made some huge 'switch' in regards to their side.
Still, if Professor Dumbledore trusts them…
Harry huffed and started back towards Lacerta, he wanted one more conversation with her, and this one wouldn't be stopped. Not whilst he had a firm hold of his courage and an extra helping of boldness.
