A Scoundrel’s Staycation (Harry Potter AU)(MoD!Harry)

A/N: Getting to the bottom of things!

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Alright… hold on just a second. Narcissa stands before him wearing quite the revealing night gown, her words hanging in the air. She's propositioned him to get her with child… to knock her up. And obviously, Harry assumes at first glance that that's part of the trap. She's just trying to get him to let his guard down so that Bellatrix can swoop in and get him, likely in the middle of coitus.

… There's just one problem with that idea. Harry can't detect a single hint of deceit in Narcissa's body language or tone. He can tell that she's a bit reluctant. He can tell that she'd prefer not to have to resort to seducing him to get what she wants.

But he can also tell that she's determined to make this work. He can tell that she's willing to do anything to gain control over the full breadth of House Malfoy's holdings, including having a son with him so that she can act as House Regent to said son until he comes of age.

It's not a bad plan, admittedly. It's just that… Harry had been so certain when he came here today that he was springing a trap. Instead, he'd walked into yet another sexual encounter where a witch was offering him her body.

… He needs to be sure. Holding up a hand to tell Narcissa to wait, Harry calls upon his magic. Narcissa makes a noise in the back of her throat as his eyes begin to glow, her brow furrowing when Harry stands up and begins to look around the room. Though of course, he's not looking around just the room… he's looking around the entire mansion.

After all, he'd only really assessed the place from the outside looking in. There was still every possibility that there might be more to be found now that he was within the wards. And it is a big mansion… there was a chance that Narcissa might not even know she was setting a trap for him, but that Bellatrix was still lying in wait.

Except… no. The harder Harry looks, the more he can't find anything. Even when he turns his gaze upon Narcissa to assess her properly, he finds no curses, no alarm spells, nothing that might have been cast upon her without her knowledge.

As far as he can tell through his senses, both magical and otherwise… it's just the two of them in the mansion aside from House Malfoy's house elves. Just the two of them and nobody else. No trap is waiting to catch him off guard. What he sees… is what he gets.

"What are you doing? What are you searching for?"

Finally, Narcissa gets fed up with Harry's silent act. Crossing her arms over her bust, she glowers at him questioningly. Turning his attention back on to her, Harry pulls back his magic, letting the glow in his eyes fade away as he regards the half-naked older witch for a long moment.

"… Did you know that your sister Bellatrix Lestrange was still alive?"

He's watching carefully as he throws that in her face, because her reaction will tell him everything he needs to know. And there, underneath the wide eyed shock she exhibits… he catches a flicker of something. Its still surprise, but it's a different kind of surprise.

"What? What are you talking about?! Bella died in Azkaban!"

She almost sounds like she believes it, but unlike before… there's the undercurrent of deception Harry had originally expected. He can't help but be a little relieved. For a second there he really hadn't known what to believe or what was going on but now that Narcissa is lying straight to his face and he can tell as much, he's feeling more assured of himself.

"Please don't lie to me, Lady Malfoy. If you wish to strike a deal with me, you should start by telling me the truth. What do you know about your sister's escape from Azkaban?"

"Nothing… I don't even know that she did escape from Azkaban! What are you even-?!"

"Did you know that she likely played a part in the deaths of your husband and son?"

That causes Narcissa to go absolutely still.

"… what?"

Her voice is small now. Harry is once again reminded of a simple truth that all Narcissa Malfoys he's met so far seem to share. They don't always love their husbands… but they do always love their sons. Draco Malfoy is the apple of every Narcissa's eye in Harry's experience.

"Since I've arrived in Magical Britain, there have been three attempts on my life. The first came shortly after my image appeared for the first time in the Daily Prophet. The second came in the midst of the Wizengamot Meeting, though I didn't raise a fuss. The third, meanwhile, happened just two nights ago, when your sister Bellatrix snuck into the place I was staying and tried to kill me with the Killing Curse."

Harry tilts his head at Narcissa, arching a brow.

"It seems to me that whoever is behind the so-called 'curse' that has killed off pretty much every wizard in the British Isles wants me dead quite badly. And Bellatrix is working with them."

Narcissa looks blindsided, like she doesn't know what to believe. Swallowing hard, she slowly shakes her head.

"But… she couldn't have killed Lucius or… or Draco. She was still locked up when they died. She only… she only got out afterwards."

Harry remains quiet, merely looking at Narcissa silently until she ultimately realizes she's effectively said too much not to explain now. Flushing, the older witch bites her lower lip for a moment before finally elaborating.

"It was… a week after I was told she died in Azkaban alongside Sirius, our cousin. She appeared to me, late at night, here in the mansion. She told me… she told me she would look after me. That everything was going to be alright. And then she vanished and I haven't seen her since. That was years ago…"

Hm. Not much of a lead, in the end. But it is confirmation of things Harry had already heavily suspected if not known outright. The deaths had started long before Bellatrix was broken out of Azkaban. There was someone else holding Bellatrix's leash, someone else who was the true mastermind behind this operation?

But who? It wasn't Voldemort, he knew that much. And yet, who else could command Bellatrix? Who else could wrangle the insane woman to do their bidding?

"Do you have the Dark Mark, Narcissa?"

The question throws Narcissa for a loop, making her jerk back in shock.

"What? No, I… I never…"

He believes her. It's common in most worlds Harry has experienced for Narcissa Malfoy to only find herself forced to take the Dark Mark during Voldemort's Second Rise… if one even happens. It's only then that he enforces absolute loyalty not just among his followers, but also their spouses. And so Lucius is usually forced to feed his wife and son to his master to placate Voldemort and keep him happy if the latter winds up managing to resurrect.

Furthermore, Harry can actually see Narcissa's arms right now through the sheer night gown she's wearing. Neither is adorned with a Dark Mark, not even a faded one.

That's annoying, because now Harry suddenly wants to find someone who bears Voldemort's Dark Mark, just so he can see how faded or not faded it truly is. How 'dealt with' is the Dark Lord really? In what state does he exist at this point? Something tells Harry that despite Death's words, the answers to those questions might just be what he needs in order to get to the bottom of this mystery.

Of course, there's another extremely obvious route to take towards finding answers as well.

"Who is Lady Slytherin, exactly."

Again, Narcissa blinks, looking caught off guard by the question. Her brow furrows and she slowly shakes her head.

"I don't know. Nobody knows."

Seriously?

"And you let her take a seat in the Wizengamot anyways? A complete non-entity, someone who hides their identity from literally everyone? Does that not seem suspicious to you?"

Narcissa flushes, embarrassed and quickly growing defensive.

"It's not that simple. Having the Heir to a Founder in the Wizengamot provides us with a much needed claim to legitimacy. It provides a bit more stability in an increasingly unstable situation. Otherwise, all those witches out there might decide not to listen to us or the Ministry anymore. And then there would be bedlam!"

Harry can't help but deadpan at that. At the same time though, her argument does make a strange sort of sense. There's only so much a mono-gender culture can do to keep itself from falling apart, and he can already see the cracks in the Magical World widening just in the short time he's been here.

It's entirely possible that Lady Slytherin's mere existence has been enough of a band aid on the problem to get them another year or two of civilization before anarchy reigns supreme, but Harry is far more inclined to believe that it's women like Amelia Bones heading the Ministry of Magic in actuality. The Wizengamot hasn't exactly provoked inspiration in him from what he's seen so far, after all.

"What's with all these questions, anyways? I asked you here today for one reason and one reason only… and you have yet to tell me whether you can help me or not."

Harry stares at Narcissa for a long moment. She truly has a one track mind if all she can think about is whether or not he's willing to impregnate her. Although, it's entirely possible that she's disassociating a fair amount and trying just not to think about everything else he's brought up so far.

Well that's too damn bad.

"In case it wasn't obvious yet, I am trying to get to the bottom of this mystery. A mystery that involves the death of nearly every man in Magical Britain. A mystery that involves your sister as well."

When Narcissa just scowls, Harry rolls his eyes.

"You realize that if I give you what you want and don't solve things, they're just going to kill your son after he's born anyways, right? If they don't just kill you before he's born first."

Narcissa looks taken aback by the very idea. But of course she does. After all…

"Bellatrix would n-never harm me or my blood!"

"Bellatrix isn't in charge. You said it yourself; Lucius and Draco died before Bellatrix was freed from Azkaban. Whoever is behind all of this, whoever has recruited your sister… they don't discriminate. They don't play favorites. And they're not going to let Bellatrix do so either."

Twitching, Narcissa grimaces, clearly not happy about what she's hearing. But then, of course she wasn't. It took a lot for a woman like Narcissa Malfoy to find the courage to stand up against tyranny, against evil. Without the proper motivation, she tended to fold quite easily, preferring to be a coward above all else.

Luckily for Harry, he knew exactly what Narcissa's proper motivation was.

"Do you want your son to not only be born but be able to grow up and survive his adolescence? Do you want to survive your own pregnancy?"

Gritting her teeth, Narcissa growls.

"O-Of course I do!"

"Then you'll have to help me figure out who your sister is working for, Narcissa. And we'll likely have to figure out who the hell Lady Slytherin is as well, if the two individuals aren't one in the same."

For a long moment, Narcissa looks torn. Finally though, she seems to latch onto the one ray of sunlight in everything he's just said.

"Does that mean you'll give me what I want? You'll let me bear your child and give him the name Malfoy once he's born?"

Harry sighs.

"Yes. I'm willing to do that for you."

He definitely hadn't come here today intending on doing such a thing. But… well, dark times made for strange bedfellows, right? And more than that, he knew Narcissa was a good mother if nothing else.

Perking up, Narcissa licks her lips, suddenly looking like a particularly hungry predator as she stares at him.

"Now then?"

She really did have a one track mind, didn't she? The only question became, did Harry want to make her work for it and earn it… or did he want to get this out of the way now so she could focus on the task at hand… and have something to potentially lose if they failed?

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The Vote:

[X] Knock Narcissa up now to give her something to 'fight for' - 82%

[ ] Make her wait for a while to give her something to 'hunger for' - 18%

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