Chapter Text
Auror Bailey led Narcissa and Hermione towards the Great Hall as Auror Scott brought up the rear. Despite Hermione’s delay tactics, they were walking in right behind Minerva. Hermione looked up at the head table, trying to ignore the whispers and saw that Fleur and Harry had just taken their seats. Returning her attention to Narcissa, she smirked when she saw how flush she still was and said, “I hope you’re ready for today. I forgot to mention earlier that I have another meeting with the Headmistress this afternoon, but that shouldn’t take too long. Would you be interested in looking over my Animagus Potion research notes? The potion should be just about finished.”
By now they were seated beside Harry and Fleur, and as Narcissa poured herself another cup of coffee as she asked, “Did you brew it yourself? I mean no disrespect, but most people who attempt their transformation tend to have a Potion Master brew it for them as a way to limit complications.”
Harry interrupted them as he chuckled, “You should tell her about the time you brewed polyjuice in the girls lav during Second year.”
Narcissa almost dropped her very full mug hearing this. She ended up opening and closing her mouth several times as her voice escaped her. “Now that is truly an amazing event. You will simply have to tell me that story over drinks this evening. I’m sorry, but I feel I must ask, why did you gain your Mastery in Transfiguration? You could have turned the potion society upside down with that type of talent.”
“I would like to remind you Professor Black that it is clearly frowned upon to poche one’s protégé.” Minerva chimed in with a tugging at the corner of her mouth. “Especially mine…,” she added with an additional twinkle.
Narcissa simply replied with a laugh and returned her attention to Hermione, who was guarding her fresh fruit carefully. “If you two are finished,” Hermione said with her voice full of mirth, “I’m sure my potion is spot on if you are too busy.” She leaned over and continued, “And for the record, I have thought about gaining another mastery in either Potions or Charms.”
Narcissa’s eyes instantly darkened as a seductive and suggestive smirk danced across her delicate features. “Perhaps later we can discuss the possibility of exploring the unknown.” She moved her hidden hand over and lightly stroked her young lover’s thigh with her thumb.
Finding herself incredibly turned on and flush due to her arousal, Hermione tried to change the subject by looking back to her guard and asked, “Has my mail already been diverted?”
Scottie suddenly appeared out of nowhere and handed over the morning edition of the Prophet. “It has, and I have two additional Auror’s working on it as we speak. I spoke with the Minister earlier, and we have added them to your team. They specialize in curse breaking, and I can have them meet us in your office before your first class so that you can be properly introduced. I should warn you though, they will most likely act like crazed fan girls. When we asked for volunteer’s, they jumped at the opportunity to help protect the Brightest Witch of her age.” Seeing her closest friend’s shoulders shake from barely contained laughter, she added, “I wouldn’t be laughing if I were you Professor Potter. They nearly fainted at the prospect of getting to know the Boy Who Conquered.”
Harry’s head dropped onto the table with a loud thud, and it was Hermione’s turn to laugh. By this time, the entire student body was present and watched once again as the two professors acted as if they were students themselves, and as the Headmistress dressed them up and down despite wanting to laugh herself. When Hermione was getting ready to unfold the paper, Minerva said, “I would suggest reading that somewhere private Professor.” The last thing she needed was to have to deal with an angry witch who was incredibly powerful and tended to have surges full of accidental magic when upset.
Glancing down at his own copy of the Prophet, Harry’s eyes narrowed at the headline, “Brains of the Trio breaks another heart.” By Rita bloody Skeeter. Underneath that seemed to be another article announcing their press conference for this weekend. His eyes were blazing with fury when he looked at Hermione, he saw her questioning glaze just as she was about to unfold her own paper to see what lies were printed. Without second thought, he muttered, “Accio Hermione’s Prophet,” and jumped to his feet. “I believe the Headmistress is right about this Hermione. Why don’t we adjourn to an unused classroom to read this aloud… ALL of us.”
Hermione was ready to storm out when Narcissa caught her arm and said, “Take a deep breath Hermione. We all know that you would feel terrible if you lost your temper in front of the entire population of Hogwarts.”
Looking back over her shoulder, Narcissa saw that not only Fleur and Harry were following, but the guards were as well. Catching Scottie’s eye, the blonde Auror said, “We have already redirected your mail as well Narcissa. I’m sorry if this is a violation of your privacy, but we wanted to take as many precautions as possible.”
Even though her appearance remained unruffled, Narcissa was concerned to learn of this. She knew that a great many people would be upset with their relationship, and thought that she was simply using the younger witch to improve her status within their world. Trying to clear the lump from her throat, Narcissa replied, “Thank you Janet,” all the while trying to keep her tone strong and confident.
Hermione’s head snapped up the moment Narcissa spoke, hearing just how worried she actually was and then began to pull her towards the closet room. Once inside, Hermione pulled her to the side to let the others in and said, “I won’t let anything happen to you. I should have squashed that damn beetle when I had the chance.”
Hearing the tail end of that, Harry laughed, “Perhaps we should remind her of the recent changes to the laws regarding unregistered Animagi.”
Getting ready to explode, Hermione began to pace, muttering, “should have kept her in that damn jar,” along with several rather creative ideas as to how she should torture the beetle. Every so often, she would stop and look up to search for Narcissa. The moment she made eye contact, she would continue with her muttering and pacing. Narcissa looked to Harry with a raised brow, and he said, “Someone trapped a certain beetle in a jar at the end of our Fourth year for a few months. When set free, Hermione extracted some type of agreement from her. We should probably wheel her in before she decides to extract blood, or have you use such a beetle chopped up in a potion.”
When Hermione crossed in front of Narcissa one last time, the Potion Mistress stepped out and wrapped her lover up tightly and said, “Perhaps we should read the article before you create new potion ingredients for me darling.” Looking over to Harry, she gave him a nod as she readjusted her hold on Hermione.
With a loud gulp, Harry read, “Brains of the Trio breaks another Heart. By Rita Skeeter.
It would appear that the “Golden Girl” is at it again. Those who were at the Three Broomsticks yesterday afternoon were treated to quite the display. Our Muggleborn “Heroine” ended up in a heated discussion with her former lover, Alexis Porto. You would recall their torrid love affair from previous articles, they are archived in our older editions, that the two were in a relationship that broke the heart of Pureblood Ronald Weasley, and member of fame Trio.
Yours truly managed to catch up with the distraught witch as she was drowning away her sorrows at the Leaky Cauldron. In an attempt to sit down, I was told, “I have made the worst mistake anyone could make. When I tried to apologize, I was accosted by none other than Harry Potter and Fleur Delacour. When they had me distracted, some other witch was draped all over her and even stole her away by apparating her out of there.
Who is this mysterious witch you may ask? Why it is none other than the Pureblood Queen herself, and ex-wife to the Dark Lord’s inner circle member Narcissa Black, formerly Malfoy. That’s right folks, the Gryffindor Princess has managed to snag her claws into the hard fallen elitist. Or was it the other way around? Is the Pureblood only using the Muggleborn as a way to catapult her own reputation? I for one wouldn’t be surprised if Lady Black is the next witch to be left broken hearted.
Perhaps someone from the DMLE should make sure a certain “Golden Girl” has not potioned a certain Pureblood, and check on one of the Hero’s of our world for certain curses. Is the Brains of the Trio simply reverting to her old ways? I for one can remember the two hearts that were broken during the Tri-Wizarding Tournament all those years ago. Is this Muggleborn up to no good? Or did she simply hide something from us all? Have no fear my loyal readers, this reporter will get to the bottom of this.”
The room was eerily silent as they waited for Hermione to explode. As Harry, Fleur, and her guard all palmed their wands, Narcissa tightened her hold on a certain firecracker. When it appeared that Hermione wasn’t going to say anything, Narcissa cautiously called, “Hermione?”
The irritable witch blew out of Narcissa’s arms as she said, “Classes are set to begin shortly, and I have a few things to review.” The fiery witch quickly flew out of the room and was followed by Bailey, leaving an anxious Narcissa while Fleur was holding Harry back.
Scottie stepped forward and said, “Rachel and I will look after her, and send you a message if she does something we aren’t prepared for.” Walking towards the door, she paused when she was passing Narcissa to say, “We have her back. If you need anything, let the castle know. I’m sure she has her ways to pass along the message.”
Her words did little to comfort Narcissa who primly replied, “Thank you Janet. Hermione is going to try and throw herself into her work, and you should both know that she may try to distract you with her mind.” Waiting for the Auror to be well on her way, she turned her attention towards a clearly worried wizard. “You have to let her have her space Harry. Perhaps she needs normalcy. You can’t always be there to fight her battles. I’m just as worried about her as you are.”
Narcissa slipped out of the unused classroom, leaving a worried Harry and Fleur behind. She had forgotten entirely what had played out in the Prophet during the Tri-Wizard Tournament. She was already prepared for others to question her motives but thought Hermione would be safe. After all, she was the one who was married to a death eater, and who’s crazed sister was the Dark Lords right hand. Just like the rest of the wizarding world, she had suffered, if not more than most. She lost one sister when she was still at Hogwarts- disowned for following her heart, and she lost the other sister to the Dark Arts and then later to Azkaban. Then they tried to take her son, and even though he survived the war, he was lost to her anyway. That is what hurts the most. Thankfully Minerva stepped in; otherwise she would have succumbed to the infamous Black family curse of insanity. Giving herself a mental shake, she made her way down to the dungeons to prepare for her first class of the day. It wouldn’t be wise to allow her mind to dawdle before classes began, mainly since her first class consisted of Third Year Gryffindors and Slytherins. Thankfully today would be a bit of a review for all of her classes, and hopefully would be able to avoid any explosions.
Quickly making it to her classroom with twenty minutes before the bell, she noticed two students waiting by the door. Having no problem seeing the green and silver, and the other’s red and gold, she waited until she was closer to them to say, “Good Morning Miss Zabini. How wonderful to see you two supporting inter-house unity.” Turing to the lone lion, she added, “And I can only assume that you must be Miss Frasier. Since you are both early, you are more than welcome to come in while I finish setting up for the period.” With a wave of her empty hand, the door quickly swung open. Watching the two witches out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that they began to separate and head to opposite sides of the room. Continuing towards her desk she said, “You two will be partners for the year. We shall be switching things up for at least the first half of the year.”
The two Third Years exchanged a nervous look as they settled in the front of the room. Getting ready to open their books, they saw their Potion Professor performing some marvelous wandless magic as she began to organize everything. Shifting uncomfortably in their chairs, they tried to return their attention to their books but found themselves unable to focus due to this fantastic display. They were hesitant and nervous about this upcoming year and what would happen as the mixed houses. This was the one class that maintained the divide. When the rest of the class began to trickle in, they saw the wonder on their year mates faces.
“Choose a workbench with someone of the opposite house. We will be tacking the divide this year, and this is your only opportunity.” Narcissa said while looking over her shoulder. Noticing a few students from both houses look as if they were going to test her, she turned and said, “If you do not decide for yourselves, then I will pair you. Do not even think of disobeying me. I’m sure someone could fill you in as to exactly who I am.” The remaining students scrambled to find a seat, and just as the last student was taking their place, Narcissa flicked her hand and slammed the door close.
“Now then class, I am Professor Black and would like to welcome all of you back for another year. Since this is a potion lab, I will warn all of you that I will not tolerate any nonsense, foolishness, or sabotage. Messing with one’s potions could be deadly, and I will not allow for such mishaps. I have decided to have a little review today. We shall be brewing the Wiggenweld Potion. Who can tell me when such a draft would be used?” Seeing a hand shoot up from the first table, she added, “Yes Miss Frasier?”
“The Wiggenweld Potion is a healing potion with the power to awaken a person from a magically-induced sleep, which gives it the ability to reverse the effects of potions like the Sleeping Draught and Draught of Living Death.”
“Correct Miss Frasier, five points to Gryffindor,” Narcissa replied. “I have already set all the ingredients up on your work stations, and recommend you all turn to page twenty-seven to review the steps before starting our work. I have also left a copy on the board. Remember, the art of Potion Making begins with understanding what you are trying to achieve.” Narcissa watched her class closely, quickly picking out who would need help, and who would cause trouble. To prevent any of that from happening, she began her slow and commanding weave through the desks and around the room. After finishing her first lap, she saw two students sharing a book and openly discussing what to do next. Coming up from behind, Narcissa said, “Ten points each for working together. With that out of the way, what seems to be the problem?”
“We were discussing the first steps, and noticed that the instructions on the board do not match with what is in our textbooks.” The young Slytherin replied.
“Oh, how so?” Narcissa asked, doing her best to keep her lips from twitching.
“Our books tell us to add ten drops of salamander blood, while the board does not specify.”
Unable to hold back any longer, Narcissa’s lips formed an encouraging smile as her eyes twinkled. “Five points to Slytherin dear for catching that. What is your instinct telling you to do? I have had the opportunity to review both of your records and spoke to the other professors, all of which tell me that you two are bright and brimming with potential.”
Both students blushed and bristled slightly from their new Professors praise. The two exchanged a quick look before the Slytherin said, “To follow what you put on the board, and thus the stalemate.”
“In this instance, you are both correct,” Narcissa smirked. Leaning down slightly, she lowered her voice and continued, “Keep that to yourselves though, the required amount is the same. I suggest you both start with the brewing, and I’ll be back to check on your progress.” Giving one last encouraging nod, the Potion Mistress swept away to check on the rest of the class. Overall, the class was a success, with only having to stop two potential explosions. Despite all of this, the Potion Mistress couldn’t shake the feeling of unrest that seemed to be taking root within the pit of her stomach. What bothered her the most was the fact that she couldn’t do a damn thing to shake this feeling of foreboding.
Trusting her instincts, Narcissa warded not only the potion lab but also the hallway leading up to it. As she was setting up for her Sixth Year NEWT’s class, she felt her ward flare with alarm. With a sharp flick, she set everything in place and quickly disillusioned herself. Positioning herself just behind her door, she promptly grabbed the extendable ear she had in place. The beauty of this particular Weasley item was that no one would suspect her to have such a thing.
Just as she had herself in place, she felt another ward trigger as someone approached the door. Soon it going off again and again as her students began to arrive.
“Do you really think Professor Black is under the influence of a potion? I mean, you read the Prophet this morning. Supposedly Professor Granger has done this before. Besides, if anyone were capable of something like that, it would be the Brightest Witch of her age.”
“Now you’re the delirious one. There is no way Professor Granger did anything of the sort. They should be investigating Professor Black. After all, look at her family tree. She was married to a Death Eater, and her own sister was not just Voldemort’s right hand, but also utterly unhinged. You know she has practiced the Dark arts. Magic of that nature taints your soul.”
“Will you both drop this already. First off, Professor Granger would never do that, and that article was clearly all lies. Second, do you really think Old McGonagall would even hire someone who would not only be teaching us but also be in such close contact with the Golden Professor and the Professor who Conquered? I would also guard your words, the walls have ears. Remember, we are at Hogwarts after all.”
Unable to help herself, Narcissa smirked at that last statement. Hiding her secret weapon, she glanced over her shoulder one last time before brushing her already impeccable robes. Unfortunately, the feeling of unrest was still lodged deep within. The door slammed open, startling the students as their Ice Queen of a Professor beckoned them forward. Granted gossiping was a daily part of life to a student, they were about to find out what would happen when she was involved. This was setting out to be a very trying day, and her students were about to see just what happens when someone has the balls to piss off Narcissa Black.