Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Freedom Bound in Chains	By : TaintedSensibly Category: Harry Potter AU/AR > Slash - Male/Male Views: 58477 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 13
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Harry Potter characters. I did not make money from this story.

Chapter List
- 45
- 46
- 47
Occlumency and Invitations
The boys had returned and the manor felt alive again. Lucius could only imagine what an entire month’s absence would feel like. So much had changed in just three days. The most important was that Lucius had met with the Occlumens Lord Greengrass had recommended, and the man’s identity had shaken Lucius to his very core.
When he’d brought his revelation to Narcissa, she had taken him into her arms and they had spoken for long hours about the Dark Lord, the war (past and possible future), their son, and Potter. She was still not convinced the Dark Lord would return, but Lucius knew in his bones Voldemort was not gone forever.
However, she had managed to calm his fears and persuade him that Draco and Potter were a good pair. They would be strong together, and their bond should not be underestimated. In the end, he had promised to actively try to bridge the gap that existed between himself and their son.
Lucius gazed at Draco as they ate a delicious dinner of lamb with a balsamic reduction. (Even the elves were happy with the boys’ return.) Draco’s attention was on Narcissa as she discussed the upcoming ball she had scheduled in a fortnight. It served the duel purpose of celebrating Potter’s birthday and introducing the boys to polite society.
“Do we really need to invite that many people?” Draco was asking, his brows lowered in a doubtful frown.
Narcissa smiled cheerfully. “Of course, darling. We do not want to incite bad feelings by making someone feel left out. Honestly, this is a rather modest number. I have only invited the children of your generation and their immediate family. Most likely their parents will attend and perhaps a few Family Heads as well.” She daintily cut another piece from her meat and set her knife aside before lifting the morsel to her lips. She waited to chew and swallow before continuing. “You may need these connections later, Draco. Do not worry. You will be expected to spend most of your time with the children. The boring politics will be left to Lucius and I.” She shot him a meaningful look, adding, “For now.”
Draco rolled his eyes.
Lucius would have been severely punished for such an impolite gesture during dinner, especially if it had been a response to his parent’s instruction, but it was one of the few childish mannerisms Draco had, and Lucius was loathe to eradicate it.
Taking a quick sip of his wine to wet his throat, Lucius set the glass aside, saying, “Draco. I’d like to speak with you in my office after dinner.”
Meeting his eyes with a perfectly bored expression, Draco asked, “What about?”
It had taken Lucius into his teens to manage that look without merely looking dumb and yet Draco had perfected it. “The Occlumens Lord Greengrass had recommended.”
Draco hooked his pale hair behind one ear, lips turning down into a frown.
“Harry can help me write invitations. Depending on the family’s status and alliances, each one has to be worded a special way. It would be a good skill for him to have later,” Narcissa offered, hope shinning in her eyes.
Draco sighed and looked to Harry, who looked back at him trustingly. “Fine,” he relented. He didn’t think this wizard would help with the flashbacks any more than Greengrass, but it was worth trying. He refused to be defenseless when Harry needed him again.
“I’ll do my best, Draco,” the brunet promised, green eyes earnest behind his glasses - determination love - humming through the bond.
Draco smiled and ran his hand through Harry’s hair. Harry leaned into his touch, eyes closing happily. “I know you will,” he said softly. “Finish eating first.”
Harry obediently returned to his plate.
…
Lucius led Draco into his office. An absentminded gesture ignited the lamps along the walls, creating an intimate atmosphere. The bookshelf was lined with leather-bound tomes of different sizes and colors. Shelving displayed gold, silver, and wooden artifacts and devices. The window behind his desk looked out over the wooded expanse along the north of the property.
He sat down behind his desk and watched as Draco had to do a small hop to sit in the padded chair across from him. Lucius stood and came around the desk, conjuring a second chair and setting it at an angle to Draco’s. He would not make progress with the boy if he took an authoritative stance.
Draco watched this with a small smile, amusement shading his expression.
Lucius ignored that. “The man Lord Greengrass recommended has a natural gift at Occlumency, but circumstances required him to hone that skill into a Mastery Lord Greengrass has not seen before or since. In fact, it was Dumbledore who brought the man to Lord Greengrass’s attention.”
“Who?” Draco asked impatiently. His foot bounced, reminding Lucius of the tail of a temperamental cat. “Why not say his name?”
“Severus Snape,” Lucius answered. “And I suppose because I am still impressed by the conspiracy.”
“Yeah?” Draco leaned over the armrest furthest from Lucius, his chin resting on his folded arms. He felt - anxiety fear - seep from Harry, but it wasn’t more than he normally felt when he tried new things and fretted over getting in trouble for doing bad. Draco would wait to see if it got worse before going after him. “What’s his story?”
Lucius pressed his fingertips together, steepled in front of his lips. “Severus has a convoluted history. I remember he had an enormous axe to grind against Dumbledore and Gryffindors in general when he became a Death Eater.”
Draco sat up, eyes brightening as he stared at Lucius unblinking.
Lucius hesitated, but then he began speaking, determined. “I spent the first two years after Hogwarts building my connections in the Ministry and growing my businesses. I courted Narcissa during her last year at Hogwarts and we married in ’73 after her graduation. By that point, the Dark Lord had been recruiting me for several months. His ideals were seductive, and he offered me power as his right hand. I accepted the Mark and became a Death Eater,” he admitted quietly.
Draco leaned forward as Lucius unbuttoned this cufflink and rolled his right sleeve up. A faint shadow of a skull with a snake hanging from its mouth could bee seen. Without asking, Draco ran his fingertips lightly over the Mark.
Lucius held his breath, but there was no reaction. He quickly rolled his sleeve down again, avoiding Draco’s piercing gaze. “We worked in secret, recruiting those we felt would benefit the cause. Severus was brought to my attention in ’77. I’d been a seventh year when he’d entered Hogwarts, so we did not know each other well. The Dark Lord had discovered Severus’s genius with potions and asked me to recruit him.” He sent Draco a wry smile. “It did not take much. I had Severus wrapped around my finger after a few conversations and a handful of letters. He took the Mark almost immediately after graduating.”
Draco tilted his head curiously, knowing something troubled Lucius about all of this. “So what happened?”
Lucius sighed. He stood and went to the cupboard with the brandy and sniffers. He poured a generous amount and brought it back to his chair. He swirled the amber liquid thoughtfully as he continued, “At some point between his enlistment and the night Potter destroyed the Dark Lord, Severus had a change of heart without my even suspecting.”
“Change of heart?” Draco frowned.
Lucius nodded, taking a big sip of his drink. “He went to Dumbledore and sought freedom from the Dark Lord.”
Draco narrowed his eyes and leaned over the arm of the chair again. “Interesting.”
“Very,” Lucius agreed. He watched Draco thoughtfully for a moment, wondering what he was thinking. “Apparently Dumbledore could not free Severus from the Mark, but he did offer protection after the war and arranged for Lord Greengrass to teach Severus in secret. Occlumency gave Severus some protection from the Dark Lord finding out about his change of heart. His efforts were clearly successful or he’d have been murdered as a traitor long ago.”
“Why’d he tell you all this?” Draco asked, brows lowered in a deep v. “Just because Lord Greengrass said you needed him to teach me? He just gave up his secret?”
“He did not tell me all,” Lucius answered wryly, but he slowly mirrored Draco’s frown. “I suppose he must be confident that I must take a neutral stance now that you are inseparably bound to Potter.” He rubbed his lips, grey eyes thoughtful. “It does throw into question how loyal he is to Dumbledore. He currently serves as the Potions Professor at Hogwarts and has since the end of the war. However, this could just be Dumbledore wanting to keep close tabs on a man who bears the Mark. Severus’s hatred was very real when I recruited him. I refuse to believe otherwise, and he is still a very isolated man with no friends or family to speak of. That does not exactly suggest he is Dumbledore’s man.”
Draco cocked an eyebrow, chin still propped on his arms. “And you want him to teach me?”
Lucius met his eyes, trying to convey how serious he was. “He is the very best, and Malfoys only make use of the best. Better yet, no one knows of his skill. He even swore me to secrecy, excluding yourself and Narcissa. If he becomes your tutor, all will assume he is teaching you potions. Occlumency would be a valuable ace up your sleeve.”
“What is that? Occlu-many?”
“Occlumency,” Lucius corrected, very careful not to smile. He’d learned Draco was very sensitive when it came to being seen as stupid. “It is a Mind Art. I do not have the skill, but books say that it allows a wizard to organize their thoughts and guard them from mental intrusion. In essence, it is a magic that gives a wizard conscious control over their mind.”
He said this casually, wary of Draco sensing his manipulation. As expected, Draco sat up, expression interested. Control was something Draco prized. It was obvious after spending any amount of time with the boy. Suggesting Occlumency would give Draco even more was a sure way to get the boy invested.
“I will not be allowed to be present during your lessons with Severus. If you choose to take them, that is,” he added. “Severus assures me that he can show you techniques to prevent what happened at the Ministry.”
“When can he come?” Draco asked, sitting straight, eyes direct, decision made.
Lucius settled back into his chair and sipped his brandy. “It is summer. He is free from Hogwarts, so I am sure he can work around whatever schedule you would feel comfortable with.”
“Tomorrow,” Draco insisted firmly. “And then we’ll see after that if he can help.”
“Very well.”
Standing, Lucius went around his desk, pulled out parchment and a quill. He sat and quickly wrote the letter of acceptance and requesting Severus’s presence the next day. He handed the letter to Draco, allowing the boy to read it. It took Draco a few minutes. Likely he struggled with Lucius’s elevated vocabulary, but he didn’t offer to help. Draco was fiercely independent. Too much so.
Eventually, Draco handed the letter back with a nod, turned, and left the office without another word.
Lucius sighed. He supposed he couldn’t expect Draco to trust him right away, but he hoped his son could sense the change in him. The boy’s disdainful words from before haunted him. “You may not be an enemy, but you certainly aren’t an ally.” Lucius was determined to prove otherwise.
…
Narcissa sat at her desk in the sunroom. She had summoned Harry’s chair so that he sat right next to her. She even lengthened the legs so that he could easily watch what she was writing. Three different types of parchment were spread out before her. The first was of the highest quality and very expensive, the edges brushed with fourteen karat gold. The middle was very fine parchment but had no gold. The third was nice but more common.
“You want to show that we are powerful and should be respected, but you do not want to appear as if you are bragging,” she explained to the attentive child beside her. “Bragging creates bad feelings in others. It could encourage them to plot against you. However, those with very nice things like we have will not see the very fine parchment as bragging. It will be common to them and expected. The parchment will say to them, we are superior together.”
Harry frowned and looked up at her anxiously. “But how do you know who will like it and who will think you’re bragging?”
“Simple.” Narcissa gently tapped his nose with a smile. “I pay attention. It is my job to be interested in the people who make up our world. You never know what detail will be of use later.” Her hands set out the quills and inks she would use, arranging everything in neat piles and sections as she spoke. “I go to lunches and dinners. I attend parties. I talk to other people, but most importantly, I listen. Therefore I know what I need to know.”
Harry’s eyes were wide with - admiration. “Wow.”
“You will do the same,” she assured him and ignored the immediate doubt that darkened the child’s expression. She was used to that by now. Harry never believed he could do anything new. Draco would tell him he could, so Harry would, but he never believed he could until it was already done. “Now, the words we write will be just as important as what paper and ink we choose. We must make them all sound mostly the same, so that if they get compared we cannot be seen as favoring or trapping anyone. Additionally, we have to consider their political alliances.”
“Dark, Neutral, Light,” Harry recited from an earlier lesson.
Narcissa smiled warmly. “Very good, Harry. Yes. Those are the three political sides. Now, traditionally the Malfoys favor the Dark, and so our social circle is usually made up of those who also favor the Dark. But!” She gently stroked his hair. “Your addition has opened new doors for our family. We can now reach out to Neutral and Light bloodlines.” She lifted her finger, making his attention sharpen. “What did I tell you about bloodlines?”
“That Purebloods have magical history, and history means culture. If we want to protect magic, we need to protect our culture,” Harry recited.
“Yes. That’s it exactly,” Narcissa praised, making the little boy blush. “At the beginning of the century, there were only twenty-eight sacred lines left in the United Kingdom. Only twenty-three of those bloodlines still exist today, and only sixteen of those have produced children in your generation.”
Harry’s eyes went wide in - upset worry.
Blue eyes boring into Harry, she took his hands and said very seriously. “It’s important, Harry, that we protect those bloodlines and our pure magical culture. Many times these families are pulled in different directions or chose actions that will end the bloodline, and it is my job and your job to try and hold the web together.”
“I-I can’t do that!” Harry stuttered - horrified.
Narcissa quickly soothed him, knowing Draco would come if she upset Harry. She did not want to lose the hard earned trust he’d given her by letting her be alone with Harry. “Don’t fret so. We aren’t alone. There are people like me in every family who also help hold the web together, and if you really can’t do it, then you can simply help me. Alright?”
Harry relaxed. He could do that. “Yes, Narcissa.”
She smiled at him again. “Then let’s continue.”
Harry sat attentively and did his best to remember what she was telling him. He felt his nerves rise as she said more and more names, and he went to get scrap paper to take notes, blushing in shame that he needed it.
Narcissa praised him, saying, “Good idea, Harry.”
He carefully wrote the names of the families they were inviting, all of which were from the sacred bloodlines. Harry carefully counted ten. Plus Malfoy, and that was eleven, but hadn’t Narcissa said there were sixteen scared bloodlines left?
“Sixteen minus eleven is… five missing?” he asked after consulting his fingers for a few minutes.
Narcissa nodded. “Yes. Longbottom, Weasley, and Shacklebolt have feuds with our family. Even with your addition, inviting them would be seen as an insult and may start an unnecessary fight. As for Selwyn, their son graduated Hogwarts this year and is no longer a child. He would not be considered your peer. It would be inappropriate to invite him. Same for Travers, except his daughter is still an infant.”
Harry’s head spun with confusion, but he perked up, noticing the name she was writing on the last invitation. He smiled excitedly. “Dora’s invited?”
Narcissa concealed a grimace. “Yes. Andromeda is your other guardian, and her daughter is a minor. It would be rude not to invite her. I am also inviting close personal friends of our family, the Crabbes and Goyles. They should be in your year at Hogwarts. That’s a total of thirteen families invited to our ball. That is a lucky number.” Satisfied, she looked down at him. “You will have good fortune this year. Now, let’s add symbols so you remember the alliance of each family. We’ll put stars by the Dark families, suns by the Light families, and clouds by the Neutral, okay?”
Harry obediently went down his list drawing the three symbols. Stars went next to: Flint, Carrow, Nott, Parkinson, Rowle, Yaxley, Crabbe, and Goyle. Clouds went next to: Bulstrode, Greengrass, and Macmillan. Suns went next to: Abbott and Tonks.
Harry stared down at his messy handwriting. After a few moments, he looked up at Narcissa upset. “I don’t think I understand it very well.”
Draco appeared in the doorway and strode to Harry’s side. Narcissa tried to hide her surprise when he grabbed Harry by the hair and firmly tilted his head back. He read over Harry’s shoulder, keeping the boy’s neck extended, displaying the black collar against Harry’s pale throat.
She knew Draco would never put Harry into distress without reason or truly hurt him, not if they were true Dominus et Delicae like she believed, but she couldn’t help searching Harry’s face for evidence of fear or pain. Of course, there was none; Harry looked relaxed and peaceful. If she had to name it, maybe he looked relieved?
Eventually Draco released Harry’s hair. “Explain it to me. We’ll work it out together.”
Narcissa sat patiently, listening as Harry haltingly went through the invitations and the politics she had begun teaching him. He looked to her often, clearly nervous to get it wrong, but she only assisted when Draco gave her a nod to do so. Otherwise, Harry struggled through the information with Draco asking questions.
She was impressed with the strategy. It was painful to listen to at first. Harry was clearly stressed, but as the minutes passed and he got further into it, his voice picked up confidence and understanding. Soon both boys had a good grasp of which families were important, which had been invited, which hadn’t, and the whys of all of it.
“It’s late,” Narcissa interrupted softly. “We can pick this up tomorrow.” She didn’t want them to get run down again.
Draco ran his hand gently over Harry’s hair and softly squeezed the back of the boy's neck. “Come on, Harry. Time for bed.”
Harry stood and gave Narcissa a sleepy smile. “Goodnight, Narcissa. Thank you for teaching me.”
He thanked her after every lesson, and she could see that he was truly grateful. She inclined her head, feeling her heart constrict. She wished she could pull the sweet boy into a hug, but Draco’s watchful presence stopped her. “You are very welcome, Harry. Sweet dreams,” she said instead, her voice soft and full of affection.
Harry smiled sweetly as Draco took hold of his hand and led him from the room.
Chapter end.
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Freedom Bound in Chains