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Narcissa Militant	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 17885 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I am not making any money from this story.

Chapter List
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Part Three
Narcissa studied her son for a moment, then nodded. She had long since observed that most people were not at their handsomest when they were hanging upside-down in a net. She was glad of the chance to test that observation out on her son and note that he also proved her general theory.
Even if the circumstances under which he had proved it were not the best, at least they were mostly harmless.
Narcissa paced over in front of him and stopped. She had rigged this net in a dungeon corridor that led to the kitchens and which she knew from last year only Draco regularly traveled. “Draco,” she said sadly. She was still under a Disillusionment Charm, and he thrashed comically trying to find her. “Why did you not believe Harry?”
“But he put his name in the Cup!”
“I am glad to see you always ready to argue,” said Narcissa mildly, in a tone she knew conveyed the exact opposite, and watched Draco freeze. “What proof do you have that he would put his name in the Cup? It must be strong, to go against Harry’s sworn word.”
“But everyone wants to be part of the Tournament! I would have done it, if I could have got past the Age Line!”
Narcissa cocked her head. Oh, dear. Luckily, Draco had fallen silent, too, as if he had just thought about how she would take his words.
“Then it appears that I have failed lamentably in teaching at least two of my lessons,” Narcissa said in a voice that was almost a ritual chant, shaking her head so that her hair swished behind her. “Harry didn’t learn that he could write to me about anything, and I would believe him. And you didn’t learn that you shouldn’t rush into danger.”
“But, I mean—that was just Harry. He’s in danger all the time, so you’re trying to teach him not to—”
“I meant it for you, too, Draco. Or do you think I would be happy if I had to come to the school to identify my son’s mangled corpse?”
A long silence. Narcissa paced back in front of the net, and watched Draco’s face. Even though it was scarlet from all the blood rushing to his head, he looked stricken. “I—didn’t think of it that way.”
“Of course you did not. This Tournament affair seems to have a great deal of not-thinking to go around.”
Draco sighed. “All right. So—you spoke to Harry? You believe him when he says that he didn’t put his name in the Cup?”
“Of course I have, and of course I do. And I expected better of you, Draco.”
She saw him flinch and swallow, and nodded in satisfaction. If her estimate of his character was right, then she would need to give him no more scolding than that. The humiliation of being held upside-down in a net wasn’t something Draco would easily discount. And it shouldn’t take more than this to make him apologize to Harry.
“I—all right, Mother.”
“Good boy.” Narcissa unraveled the net with a spell that set him gently back on his feet instead of dropping him, and bent down to kiss his forehead. Since he was looking so contrite, she decided she could offer him a sop to ease his conscience. “Besides, the Tournament is about to become much less exciting to compete in.”
Draco stepped back and stared in her general direction with wide eyes. “You’re going to kill the competition?”
Narcissa made herself visible and shook her head. To her, it seemed obvious what the best course would be to make the Tournament less dangerous, but amusingly, it didn’t seem to have occurred to either Harry or Draco. Harry had thought she would tell him the Tasks, which wouldn’t mitigate the danger. And here Draco was thinking she would kill mere students, not a challenge to her and not the real enemies. “Of course not. I am going to do something else.”
Draco kept frowning at her. Narcissa waited a few moments to make sure that he wouldn’t suddenly come up with the answer, but when he didn’t, she smiled at him and ruffled his hair. “I expect to hear that you’ve made up with Harry.”
“Of course.”
Draco continued to watch her with concerned eyes as Narcissa waved one hand and vanished back into the shadows. She had one more person to visit before she went home and began sending owls to the professor at Beauxbatons. She would probably send them with chicken feathers tucked into the envelopes. It would make her more inclined to cooperate.
In more than one way.
*
“Severus. I am so disappointed that you’re spreading the rumors that my son would have put his own name in the Goblet.”
Once again Narcissa was in the guise of Lily’s ghost, and once again Severus jerked and turned around to stare at her. But this time, he didn’t immediately cringe as he had last time. “He is an arrogant brat,” he whispered. “I know you loved him, Lily, but even you can’t help but admit what he is.”
Loved. Interesting, Narcissa thought, that he believed maternal love died when the body did. “I see the truth. I know the truth. Harry did not put his own name in the Goblet.”
“But who would have? The other Hogwarts students all want to compete. Beauxbatons and Durmstrang want to win themselves, no one at those schools would try to increase the competition—”
Narcissa interrupted him with a cold stare. “Who has been behind most of the troubles in Harry’s life so far, Severus? And in your own for that matter,” she added. To retain a hold over Severus, she had to show some sympathy for him as well.
It was remarkable to watch how fast his face changed to the color of old cheese. “The Dark Lord?” he whispered.
“You can be taught.”
Severus shook his head and clutched his left arm for a second. Then he said, “But which of the Dark Lord’s servants would have access to the castle?”
“Remember that the protections here could hardly keep out someone with a Dark Mark, Severus,” Narcissa said, in the low, illusory voice that she had chosen to project as Lily Potter’s. “The Headmaster had to adjust the protections so that you could teach here, didn’t he?”
Severus nodded absently. Then he said, “But which?”
“He used a spell that obscured the matter even from my sight. But you are an experienced spy, Severus. Surely you can find out?”
His face formed quickly into strong lines, and he nodded. “I will do this for you, Lily. And I cannot—” He hesitated. “I can’t suddenly tell my Slytherins that I believe Potter didn’t put his name in the Goblet. But I can stop spreading the rumors myself, and stop tormenting him.”
“Thank you, Severus.” Narcissa bowed her head. She would not blame Severus for the actions of others. If they proved troublesome enough to Harry in themselves, she would handle them. “I will leave you to it, then, and—and thank you.” All it took was a slight break in those words and a certain hesitation right afterwards to convince Severus she was the spirit of his dead love.
Severus looked up at her with eyes shining in devotion. It was a disturbing sight. Narcissa wondered absently if that was among the reasons that Lily had ended up marrying Harry’s father.
“I promise, Lily. I will do as you ask. I have never had anyone to live for other than you…”
And on and on he went. Narcissa had to float there, smiling absently, acting as though this declaration was for her. She was glad when she could finally nod and say, “Then show that devotion to my son, Severus. Farewell,” and seem to float through the wall.
Severus took several loud, deep breaths behind her. Narcissa left him to his private mourning rituals. Honestly, mourning had never been of any interest to her.
*
Dragons.
Narcissa leaned back from the Beauxbatons professor’s letter and tapped her wand against her lips. Lucius looked in at the study door, but shrank back when he saw her with her wand out.
“What is it, Lucius?” Narcissa kept her voice soft and friendly. She preferred that her husband not be too afraid of her. He might simply run to the Dark Lord if he was, as a threat he could understand and perhaps counter.
“No—nothing important.” Lucius dropped his gaze before her impatient stare. She as well as he knew that he wouldn’t have bothered her for something unimportant. Lucius cleared his throat uneasily. “My—Dark Mark is so black now that I can see it shining through white shirts.”
“Well, make sure to wear darker shirts and robes,” Narcissa said, but she stood and beckoned him. Lucius held his arm out to her with a little sigh. Narcissa hid her smile. Honestly, while she still couldn’t believe Lucius had chosen an insane monster to follow, it surprised her less that he had become a follower. He needed someone to take care of him and show him the right way.
Narcissa peered at the Dark Mark, careful not to touch it. Yes, the flesh was raised and shiny and a dark, sickening purple, much different than the flat bruise-like mark it had turned into during the years of the Dark Lord’s absence. She nodded. “From now on, I want you to wear a bandage above it when you’re at home.”
“So he can’t extend his influence outside the Mark,” Lucius murmured, and relaxed with a sigh that ruffled the lace collar of his robes. “Thank you, Narcissa.”
“I’ll also need you to handle the affairs of the business and any letters from Draco or Harry for the next week,” Narcissa went on briskly, stepping away from her husband to go to the desk and make sure papers were in order. “You know where to put the official requests for assassinations. I’ll be traveling and moving quickly by Apparition and International Floo. Owls would have a hard time catching up with me.”
“Why are you going?” Lucius said, and at least he didn’t whimper when he said it.
“To make sure that the First Task can’t hurt Harry, of course,” Narcissa said, and went to pack practical outdoor robes and cloaks. She knew the dragons hadn’t been moved to Hogwarts yet. That made her job harder, because she had no way of determining for sure what kinds of dragons would be used in the First Task.
But someone who wants an easy job should not have become a mother.
*
Narcissa sat calmly in the stands built for the First Task, in the section reserved for close friends and family of the Champions. Draco was fretting next to her, his eyes locked on the Forbidden Forest where the dragons had been placed.
“His Gryffindor friends are still giving Harry a hard time.”
Narcissa sighed a little. “There’s less I can do about that.” She knew at least the Longbottom boy and the Granger girl believed Harry, and honestly, if his only loss was the Weasley boy, Narcissa would count it a small one.
The Champions walked into the tent that would hold them until they were all ready, separately, to face their dragons. A few other people entered it, like Ludo Bagman. Narcissa had to smile when she realized none of those people were Dragon-Keepers. And, in fact, the Dragon-Keepers still outside the Forbidden Forest were getting summoned into it in large clumps, via whispers and shouts and waving arms.
Draco noticed in enough time that Narcissa didn’t have to feel ashamed of her teaching, and he frowned. “What did you do to the Dragon-Keepers, Mother?” he murmured.
At least he is wise enough to know the work of my hands when he sees it. “What makes you think I did something to the Dragon-Keepers, darling?”
“They’re running around like a bunch of Hufflepuffs after an escaped Flobberworm.”
Narcissa chuckled. As long as Draco could recognize there might be danger in Hufflepuff when it was needed, then she didn’t mind the occasional disparaging remark he made towards them. “It wasn’t them.”
“Then what—” And Draco’s mouth sagged and he stared at her.
Narcissa winked, at the same moment as a group of Dragon-Keepers came marching out of the Forest like a funeral cortege and made for the Champions’ tent. They proceeded to drag Bagman out and have an intensely whispered discussion, accompanied by more flailing arms. Draco didn’t notice. He was too busy staring at her.
The waving and whispering had progressed to shouting, and Delacour, the Beauxbatons Champion, went so far as to stick her head out of the tent and frown. The Dragon-Keepers and Bagman didn’t notice. By now, Bagman had joined in the arm-waving, as if it were the obscure Muggle ceremony Narcissa remembered reading about them doing before games.
“Mother, you didn’t have. You couldn’t.”
“Oh, of course I couldn’t kill them, Draco. They’re innocent in and of themselves. But I couldn’t allow them to be used as weapons to hurt Harry, either.”
“But you couldn’t—wait, that week you were gone. What did you do?”
Narcissa sat and smiled.
By now, everyone in the stands was craning their necks to figure out what all the fuss on the Dragon-Keepers’ side was about. Bagman made a motion of despair and came trooping to stand in front of the audience, his face so hangdog that Narcissa would have felt sorry for him if he wasn’t one of the people putting Harry in danger. As it was, she knew exactly how she would kill him if she got the chance.
“It, um,” said Bagman. Then he cleared his throat and cast the Sonorus Charm a second time, since his voice had been almost entirely overwhelmed by the crowd’s shouts and questions. “It appears that the dragons we intended to use for the First Task are, um, asleep. Yes, asleep and cannot be awakened.” He glanced around as though someone would appear from the side and rescue him. But no one did, and the shouts increased, so Bagman had to continue. “The Dragon-Keepers have tried every method they can think of to awaken them. It—well, it didn’t work. So. Um. We have no First Task. The Champions will be returned to the school until—”
This time the jeers and outright screams were so loud there was no point in Bagman continuing. He finally threw his hands up and returned to the tent. This time, Narcissa saw Harry peeking out. He looked at her, and Narcissa tipped her head and smiled.
“But they were awake when they got here,” Draco said, his voice low. “Or someone would have noticed before now. And dragons aren’t really vulnerable to sleep spells, anyway. What did you do, Mother?”
“Dragons aren’t vulnerable to sleep spells or most Stunners,” Narcissa agreed. “Which is why the Dragon-Keepers always have to Stun them working together. But they are vulnerable to contingency spells. I placed one on the gates of each large dragon sanctuary, so the dragons would become affected by them as they passed through. If the dragons came close to a large enough crowd of children and teenagers, they would go to sleep. They’ll wake and be fine once they’re taken away from Hogwarts.”
Draco blinked. Then he said, “You went to every dragon sanctuary? Every big one in the world, I mean?”
“Hence why I was gone for a week,” Narcissa reminded him dryly. “Yes. It would have been easier if I could have waited or if I knew for certain which kinds of dragons were being used, of course. But if I had put them to sleep too early, I chanced Bagman and Crouch and the rest coming up with a new Task I couldn’t prevent. And not even the one I learned about the Task from could tell me which sorts of dragons they would choose. They may have left the choice entirely to chance, at the last minute. I would have.”
Draco only looked at her. And looked. And looked some more. Narcissa began to raise her eyebrows. Not speaking was one thing, even being startled, but he was beginning to look like a gormless fool.
Draco removed his eyes from hers and cleared his throat. “Sorry, Mother. I simply—how in the world did you come up with a plan?”
“That is one of the advantages of the discipline,” said Narcissa, smiling at Harry again as he caught her eye and then moved towards the school. “Accepting defeat is impossible. Therefore, one finds something that is not defeat.”
Draco followed her gaze, and for a moment, his eyes softened. Narcissa sat back smugly.
Then Draco looked at her and asked, “And what about the other Tasks that they intend to have the Champions face?”
“I shall handle them, too.”
This time, Draco heard the implied of course floating in the air. And he smiled the way she had always meant him to smile. “I have every faith that you will, Mother.”
*
SickPuppy: Yes. Narcissa knows all about what makes people tick. In all sorts of ways. :)
Harry and Draco have reconciled, although since Narcissa was busy subduing dragons and we missed it on-screen.
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Narcissa Militant