I own nothing relating to any series, including Harry Potter and Marvel.

Rider in the Night

Chapter 3

It was the middle of the night when Narcissa awoke to silence. While not usually an issue, due to the fact Lucius lived in a separate wing with Draco, she still felt the rumble of thunder through the floor despite the fact there was no noise to accompany it.

Rising from her bed produced no noises and, as she threw open the curtains to her room, she noticed the storm outside was bad enough that she wouldn't have been surprised if it had been a hurricane. Malfoy Manor had noise dampening wards to prevent storms from being much of a bother, but nothing on the level she was experiencing. She knew for certain that even Hogwarts didn't have wards that would buffer the extreme sounds of a storm this violent.

Keeping her curtain open, as it was providing a better light than the few torches that lit themselves as soon as she rose from her bed, she moved to her dresser and knocked a hair brush onto the floor. Complete silence.

Pulling on a night robe - she disliked the way the low-ranked minions of Voldemort looked at her and the more skin she covered, the better - she grabbed her wand and carefully left her room, casting a detection charm that she had learned from her family. When the results came back as negative, she was confused. She knew for a fact that the Dark Lord had placed at least one guard at her side to threaten Lucius with.

Not that the threat had done any good. Her marriage to Lucius was purely political, and she had been forced to call Draco her own despite the fact the loathsome child was the spawn of Lucius and his mistress. As Draco was born out of wedlock she had to 'take one for the team', as Lucius had put it, and claim him as her own. Lucius cared more for knuts that had fallen into sewage than he did for her.

Their only time together had been on their wedding night, as he was required to take her virginity in order to fulfill the terms in their wedding contract, but he hadn't looked at her for those needs since. Regardless, she had to act like a concerned mother and had apparently fooled even the Dark Lord despite the anger and disgust she had towards Lucius and his spawn.

That she had recently dumped Draco's welfare off onto his godfather, Severus Snape, was a great boon to her, as it was quite clear Severus cared more for that vile thing than she did. The only reason Bellatrix hadn't killed her husband and his child after she had told her sister the truth was because the Dark Lord wouldn't allow it. Thankfully Bella hadn't told him why, as she didn't want rumors spreading about her, especially those that were easily turned against her. Though, she was almost certain Bella could ask again and the Dark Lord would allow it this time.

Of course, her nervousness was getting the best of her and making her mind wander, something her parents had tried to beat out of her. She wasn't a fighter like Bellatrix or a rebel like Andromeda, she was a woman who knew her worth and how she should be treated. Unfortunately, she had thought she had gotten it and had been tricked by sweet words and a fat wallet. Now here she was, walking through the halls of her home in the dead of night, with her heart hammering inside of her chest.

She paused at the entrance to every room and cast the detection spell, her voice still clear despite the strange silence that permeated the expansive manor. Nothing, no presence detected whatsoever, despite the fact she knew that several of the rooms housed several lower-ranked Death Eaters and those that had been broken out of prison. She didn't dare open the doors for fear of what she might find.

She couldn't, however, shake the feeling that she was being watched. Like there was someone or something watching her. Despite the fact she was starting to perspire, she shuddered as a chill ran down her spine, tying her robes tighter around herself.

Even when she cast her detection spell at the entrance to where she knew the Dark Lord was resting, which had once been Lucius' room, only to have her detection spell come back negative, which really got her heart pounding. Only to pale even more by comparison when she turned to ready herself to rush back to her room, only to see the silhouette of a person at the end of the hall, the lightning doing nothing to illuminate them.

She turned around and ran, her dignity forgotten. As she ran, she tried to apparate to no avail. She tried running for the floo, only to encounter another of the strange beings and being forced to head in another direction.

Narcissa wasn't stupid, far from it. She had the second highest grades of her graduating class, being beaten out by a Ravenclaw whose name she couldn't remember. She knew that the creatures were funneling her somewhere, but their reasons were beyond her. Sweat covered her body by the time she realized they were funneling her to the room the Dark Lord used as a throne room.

Seeing she was cornered, she lashed out with what few violent spells she knew, wishing she had taken Bellatrix up on her offer of training before she had been locked away. Nothing she knew, not even the Unforgivables did anything. They continued to surround her, pushing closer and closer until she had no option but to enter the throne room.

She fell into the extravagant room, quite literally, as she opened the door, not caring as she blasted the door closed, likely damaging the frame. She didn't care about the damage she had caused, hitting the door with every locking and sealing spell she could think of. By the time she had finished, she was thoroughly tired and close to magical exhaustion.

And then she heard it. It was a cold, grating laugh that chilled her to the bone and caused another shiver to run down her spine. She turned her head to look at the source, spotting him sitting on the ruins of the throne the Dark Lord had crafted for his use. Had she not been so utterly terrified, she would have found the man alluring.

Even in the faint light of the room, she could make out the man's chiseled features and a build unlike any wizard would ever have. She was almost certain that Adonis would've been jealous of what she saw, but that wasn't what had her attention. No, it was his glowing emerald eyes, clear despite the darkness. She had only seen one other person's eyes glow like that and she couldn't help but attribute it to the terrifying presence of the Dark Lord.

"Narcissa Malfoy," the man drew out as more silent lightning flashed behind him, sending shivers down her spine. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

She trained her wand on him, unable to stop the violent shaking, even when she tried to steady it with her other arm.

"I mean you no harm, Madam Malfoy," the man said, raising his hands in a placating manner.

"Who are you?" she asked, still breathing hard. "What were those… things?"

The man raised his hand and set it on the head of a shadow creature that hadn't been there a moment prior. "These?" he said, more of a statement than a question. "Solid shadows, nothing more." He pushed it to the side, causing it to evaporate.

Narcissa narrowed her eyes at him, her anger building. "Why send them to me?" she hissed out. "You clearly wanted me here. Why?"

The man gave her an obnoxious smile that made her heart flutter slightly, "I've come for you, of course. I am in need of your services."

"Services?" She asked, irritation clear in her voice even to her. "What services? I don't run any businesses and I'm not some… whore that'd sell herself for gold."

"Your decoration skills are what I require," the man stated, the grin never fading from his face. "I'm aware that the reason Malfoy Manor looks half as good as it does is a result of your hard work… minus a few obnoxious frivolities others have thought to add, clearly." He tapped his fingers against the arm of the throne, and she suppressed a small laugh at what he was implying.

Narcissa felt confused. Proud, but confused. "How do you know about that?"

"Lucius only cares for the most expensive and lavish items, with no care for how they're arranged and Draco is too young to have a say around the household. That leaves you, Madam Malfoy, to care for the appearance of the homestead."

She bristled at the name. She might have been married to Lucius, but she had never felt like she was, beyond the socialite events, where he paraded her around. "If you wanted to meet me," she said, her wand still aimed at the man, "why not go through less dubious means? Why terrify me in order to meet me?"

"An example," the man said. "I thought it best to show you what I was capable of, in the residence of the homunculus that goes by Voldemort."

She silently swore as a shudder of fear ran down her spine.

"Ah, yes, the taboo," the man said. "My apologies. Nevertheless," he swept his arm across the room, the light in the room brightening near to the point of uncomfortableness, "If I could intrude upon your home and do as I pleased, which I have, I have proved to you that I don't fear either the law or your husband's master."

Narcissa felt her face burn as if she were a schoolgirl as she finally got a look at the man. She had already figured he was tall and had chiseled features, but she had underestimated just how handsome the man was. He wasn't bulky by any stretch of the imagination, but had a figure as good as, if not better than the muggle boxing match her sisters had taken her to watch over her last summer break from Hogwarts. A middleweight match, if she remembered right.

While not impressed by the brutality that had enthralled her sisters, the combatants themselves had been a sight to see. And had made Lucius that much more of a disappointment on their wedding night. In fact, she couldn't think of a single man that had cared to put in the effort to look so… appealing. And that was on top of the fact he had on loose, baggy clothing that tried to hide his figure, were it not for the deep V-cut on his top.

Having forgotten herself for a moment, she fidgeted under his knowing smirk. Clearing her throat, she locked eyes with him, forcing down her attraction towards him. He was an invader and the only reason she hadn't tried to kill him was due to the fact he was, clearly, monstrously powerful. She hadn't even heard of solidifying shadows before, let alone seen it before today.

"So you break into my home, terrify me and prove you aren't afraid, like a fool, all to hire me to be your interior decorator?" She asked, anger evident in her voice. "Why would you think I'd be willing to work for you after that?"

"Because I can give you what you want," the man said, his voice dripping with confidence. "A life without Lucius and Draco, where you aren't conscripted into a life of hate and violence. A life where you can talk to your sisters without fear of one attacking the other."

"How do you plan to do that?" Narcissa asked, lowering her wand slightly but still keeping it trained on the man.

"Easy," the man said. "You want to see your sisters, as does Andromeda, and Bellatrix is drawn to power like a moth to a flame. Once I show her there's none stronger than I, she will listen to me."

Narcissa scoffed, "I find that hard to believe. Clearly you've never been on the wrong side of the Dark Lord's wand."

The man grinned, "Oh, but I have. Several times, in fact. And yet here I stand, unscathed. Perhaps I should show you why that is."

Narcissa opened her mouth to decline, ready to demand the man to leave her home, when it felt like the weight of the world was set onto her shoulders. She stumbled in place, falling to her knees with no time to cast a cushioning charm. Though it was in her hand, her wand was forgotten as she felt as if she was crushed under the monumental pressure.

And then, as suddenly as it had started, the pressure vanished. After catching her breath, which took a few moments, she carefully cast some spells to clean herself up. While she hadn't had an accident on herself, it was a close thing.

"I presume," the man said, "that was enough proof of my word?"

She nodded once, not trusting her voice. While Voldemort's power was like a lake of fire and Dumbledore's a frozen tundra, neither of them had the weight behind them the stranger had. And, with how easily the man before her had pulled his power back in, she wouldn't have been surprised if that was only a fraction of his power.

"Why me?" she asked after a moment, the man having given her a chance to calm herself. "You could hire anyone you wanted that worked in the business, but you want me, who hasn't considered the idea of working since I've been married. Why?"

The man was silent for a moment, watching her before he answered. "There are a number of reasons," he said slowly. "I suppose the main reason would be that I plan to end Voldemort's continued existence. His presence on this plane is an insult and his attempts to those I care about will no longer be tolerated. There are innocents, like yourself, or those that may be redeemed that I will not risk harming if possible."

"And the other reasons?" she asked.

"With you by my side," he said, "I draw hefty financial support away from both powers that seek to rule, namely in the form of the Black family."

"Is that all?" Narcissa asked, somewhat disappointed. People had been going after her and her family for decades, long before she found herself married to Lucius.

"No," he stated before he started to walk towards her. "I want you, more than you know. I want to give you the life you so clearly deserve. If that means I must seduce you and your sisters, so be it."

Narcissa's breath hitched as he walked ever closer, backing up until her back was against the door she had, just moments ago, been in a rush to get through. Her heart beat with excitement, betraying herself.

"I care not for riches," the man said as he walked ever closer. "Nor do I care for the family name itself. I have enough of both, more than can be used in any number of lifetimes. I don't need power, clearly, but the chance to deprive my enemies of it is as good a reason as any."

"Y-you might have me and Bellatrix convinced," she said, stuttering slightly, internally wincing as she gave away the fact she was willing to join him, "but how would you convince Andromeda?"

He stopped just inches from her, placing one hand on the wall beside her head. "That will be the easiest part of them all. And my name, dear Narcissa," he spoke, gently grabbing her chin to raise her head up, forcing her to look him in the eye, which had her blushing like a madwoman, "is Harold Peverell."

Narcissa closed her eyes as Harold leaned in and placed a ghost of a kiss on her lips before he pulled away with a hearty laugh.

"I look forward to meeting you properly, my dear," he stated. "I shall arrive tomorrow, with far less… unconventional methods, and I swear you shall never have to see either Draco or Lucius ever again."

Before she could say a word about her annoyance towards him for leaving her with just the whisper of a kiss, he vanished, and the lights with him, leaving her alone in the dark throne room with just the occasional flash of thunder.

Huffing in frustration, Narcissa turned and left the room, making her way back to her room. While still wondering why she seemed to be alone in the manor, it held no traction in her mind. No, she needed to work out the need she felt before she could consider much else.

In all honesty, she wouldn't have been surprised if the entire situation was just a dream, but she was certain she had never seen Harold before and was curious as to how she had dreamt him up. Not that she was going to complain about having someone to fantasize about.

As she got back into her room, she grabbed her Witch's Little Helper and laid down in bed. She would have her elf clean the room in the morning, she was just going to enjoy herself for the night.

~Z~

Harry stretched as he woke, careful not to wake his two companions as his eyes opened. He sat up, carefully adjusting Bellatrix and Narcissa so as to not disturb them. Though he didn't require sleep, that didn't mean he didn't enjoy it. Resting was one of the few truly peaceful moments in his pseudo-life.

That wasn't to say he didn't enjoy the sex, he really enjoyed that. Hell, Bellatrix hadn't even waited for them to get out of Malfoy Manor to start and Narcissa had walked in on the two of them, and joined. While getting them together was an end goal, he hadn't expected it to happen so quickly and definitely not for their first time sleeping together.

It had started with a small-scale party, though it was more of a gathering of blood purists and like-minded Nobles, and Harry had come disguised as Harold Peverell, complete with enough of a makeover to render himself unidentifiable as the son of James and Lily Potter. He did so by covering his face in a patchwork of scars and broken and rehealed bones that disfigured him enough so that, while he was still handsome, he barely looked like either of his parents.

Narcissa had recognized him, of course. If his arrival hadn't told her who he was, his eyes certainly did. Besides the basic introductions to the Lord and Lady of the house, Harry had to socialize and 'prove his worth' to the Dark Lord. Which he didn't do but also didn't go out of his way to intentionally antagonize the madman so he could achieve his goal.

After roughly two hours, he was able to leave the party, following Bellatrix to the bathroom, where he cornered her and pressured her much like he had Narcissa. He did also let her use the bathroom beforehand so there wasn't an accident like when he first arrived.

Bellatrix had then dragged him to another room and they were already half naked when Narcissa joined them. They spent an hour or so - it was hard to keep track of time with his attention divided between them - before he Stepped to his manor with them and spent the following several hours making sure they got everything they deserved. It was a bit past dawn when they had wrapped things up and the both of them were asleep, and it was close to two in the afternoon now.

That he had worked to repair a lot of the damage to Bellatrix's mind and body over the night was just a benefit for her, and not one that either of the sisters had seemingly noticed yet.

He climbed out of bed carefully, smirking as he watched the sisters cuddle together like they were both cuddling a stuffed animal, and put on a pair of loose gray pants and nothing else.

He started to walk around his manor, admiring his handiwork. It was a near perfect recreation of Potter Manor, mostly modernized but lacking a majority of the furniture and magic that once filled it. No doubt the girls would question him on it later, and it wasn't like he was going to hide it, but he wasn't going to answer them until he got Andromeda in the house with them. And maybe Neville too, but he wasn't sure if he'd have the same reaction towards Bellatrix as his own Neville. So maybe not.

Potter Manor was already a masterwork of a home. The only reason the wards had fallen was because they were underpowered, and that was because a number of Potters had married out of the family or died in the World Wars over the past century. They couldn't be as lucky as Hogwarts to be situated on top of a ley line after all. Or, in this world, a Sanctum Sanctorum.

Not that he had to worry about that, as he personally charged the wards around his home.

"So much to do," Harry muttered to himself. "I've got gods to meet, a family to bring together, a cosmic being to talk to and so many people to kill." He ran his hands through his hair, pausing as he noticed his appearance on a reflective surface, removing the damage he had added, returning to his normal handsome self.

"Maybe I should try what Death does. I'd have more time on my hands if I was in several places at once. It'd be better than shifting through time. Being non-linear is… annoying." Harry sighed and made his way towards the kitchen. Cooking would be a good way to start, even if only to see if it would give him a headache.

It was twenty minutes later that he realized his experiment flopped. Multitasking was one thing but having several versions of him working on different snacks and meals was just more of the same.

It wasn't quite a 'hive-mind' thing and it wasn't a separate version of himself, he was consciously controlling each body. They were all him and he was all of them. There was no headache, as each one was capable of acting on their own if he wanted, though he would always be aware of what each one did regardless. Still, it was weird seeing himself working on the batter for muffins while he was also working on getting the blueberries ready and seeing the opposite while doing the opposite.

Just thinking about it was hurting his head, so he decided not to.

As he went off to do some of the things he needed to do, he also turned to look at the uninvited guest that had appeared and stole a cup of coffee. Though saying she was a guest was wrong, considering who she was.

The woman was taller than he was, probably six and a half feet tall, give or take a couple inches, and built better than a model. She had slightly wavy auburn hair that reached her mid-back, lightly tanned skin and bright, grass-green eyes and wore a loose, jalapeno-colored dress that exposed a healthy amount of cleavage, and slit down the sides starting at her hips, leaving her long legs exposed.

Like with Death, the woman exuded power, though on a lesser scale than his sleeping counterpart.

"I would say it's rude to intrude," Harry said as he placed a blueberry muffin in front of the woman, "but I seem to be the intruder in this case."

The woman remained silent as she grabbed the muffin and took a bite out of it, wiping a bit of crumb off the corner of her mouth. As soon as she finished her bite, she spoke, her voice reminding him of a few times he had met a few versions of his mother, "You have a magnificent home, Harry."

"You know me?" he asked, genuinely curious. He hadn't expected her to know him by his name, though he did expect her to know what he was.

"I do," she agreed, a faint smile on her face. "Perhaps you were not born in this reality, but I would recognize a child of mine regardless."

Harry smiled and offered a slight bow, "A pleasure to meet you, Lady Gaea."

"And you as well, Master Death," Gaea said, reaching forward to pat his head. "I welcome you to this reality."

"Mind if I ask what you're doing here?" Harry asked just before he took a bite of his own muffin.

"Is there a reason I should not greet you, uninvited though I am?"

Harry merely took a sip of his coffee.

"Smart child," she said, her tone calm, neither aggravated nor bemused. "I wish to enter a pact with you, or perhaps several."

"I'm willing to listen but make no immediate promises," he stated, watching her carefully. Worst case scenario, he could shove his house into a pocket dimension.

Gaea watched him for a moment before bowing her head slightly, "That is acceptable. The first would be-" She poked the muffin, "the use of less processed materials to craft your goods. More organic materials, the humans would say."

Harry smirked. It was Gaea, of course she would ask about that. "I'll take it into consideration. I suppose I could get a house elf and start a garden. I'll need a few greenhouses too." He glanced at the embodiment of Earth, "And perhaps some assistance ensuring that I have enough materials growing for however many people I have within my home."

Gaea raised a brow at him, "Are you not capable of doing so yourself?"

He shrugged, "I am, but some guidance would be appreciated."

Gaea pursed her lips and bowed her head slightly, "Until you are comfortable with managing it on your own."

He hummed. "Alright, I suppose I did ask for guidance, so that's fair. What else would you like to make a deal for?"

"There are… problems occurring," she said hesitantly. "Some yet to begin and others have been ongoing for generations. The worst is the reckless poisoning of my land. If you are willing-..."

Harry raised a hand, halting her speech before he began talking, "So you want to point me at a person or group and get rid of them. I'll accept on a case-by-case basis. I plan on being here for a while, so long as I'm still welcomed, so I'll take care of some problems."

"I suppose that would be for the best, else my children would not be able to grow," Gaea agreed.

"Anything else you need me to do?" Harry asked, setting his now empty cup down.

"Yes," she practically growled out, hands cracking the stone countertop as her anger became palpable. "The Roxxon Energy Corporation. They are, as of this moment, the largest noticeable threat to my realm."

Harry chuckled, "You don't start small, do you? Give me a week to make some plans and I'll get on it. Anything else?"

"No," she said. "Perhaps something more personal in time, but nothing else for now."

"You're free to visit any time, of course," Harry said. "But I would like a bit of- and she's gone. At least she took the muffin."

He sighed as he began to clean the mess that had been made and repair the damage that had been caused. "Two cosmic entities within three days," he said with a slight chuckle. "I was right, this world is interesting."

Author's Note

I intended more for this chapter but I had written two sections and didn't think introducing what would turn out to be important characters towards the end of the chapter would be the right move, so I apologize for that. I will start with the proper introduction of Marvel in the next chapter.