Making-Moves (IV) [Chapter 173]

~~Tonks’ Residence~~

After listening to everything her daughter had to say, Andromeda didn’t know what to say. Yes, it was a boy problem, but it was nothing like she was expecting the problem to be. How was she even supposed to deal with something like this? Andromeda knew her own fair share of Curses, but she had never killed anyone.

“What do you think I should do, mom?” Tonks asked, looking frustrated. Alastor had made her swear Secrecy Oaths that would prevent her from revealing anything they discussed in meetings to anyone outside the group, but the Secrecy Oaths didn’t extend to anything she discovered herself.

“What can you tell me about the people he killed?” Andromeda asked. She didn’t miss the fact that Tonks never told her about the people Harry had supposedly killed.

“I can’t talk about them, mom, but just know that they weren’t good people” Tonks answered with a scowl and after hearing those words, Andromeda seemed to lean back on the couch with a thoughtful look on her face.

“Well, there is your answer…” Andromeda answered with a soft smile on her face, making Tonks frown unhappily.

“But that’s wrong!!” Tonks protested hotly. “That is why we have a system, don’t we? It is not okay to kill people just because they did something wrong” Tonks shook her head with a frown.

“Yes, you are right. What he did was wrong, but does that make him a monster?” Andromeda asked softly and after thinking for a bit, Tonks shook her head hesitantly. “In an ideal world, justice should have been absolute, but we don’t live in an ideal world. You have seen this yourself, how many criminals walk free just because the prosecution didn’t have enough proof” Andromeda explained softly.

“Just take Avery, for example. He should have been sentenced to life in Azkaban, but he practically walked free due to some technicality… Now, don’t blame his Pureblood status. It might have played a part, but that is not everything as the Weasleys are Pureblood too” With that, Andromeda finished her explanation, and after a few seconds of pondering, Tonks finally nodded her head in understanding.

“Thanks for the talk, mom” Tonks said before she hugged Andromeda and stood up. Thanks to the conversation with her mom, Tonks was able to understand quite a bit, but she still decided to have a chat with Harry. Tonks would admit, compared to her mother, she was pretty naive, as her mother was able to explain that the world wasn’t black and white.

There were shades of gray in between and having a chat with Harry might help her understand better…

“Anytime, Nymphadora. By the way, why don’t you stay for dinner?” Andromeda offered after separating from her daughter.

“Sure!” Tonks accepted the offer with a beaming smile on her face. It has been quite a few days since she ate anything homemade. She was a disaster in the kitchen, so she only ate takeout food…

~~Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire~~

“How may I help you, Narcissa?” Harry asked as he put down the book he was reading on the table. Narcissa awkwardly lowered her hand with a minor flush on her face. She was about to knock on the doorframe to get his attention, but apparently, he already noticed her arrival.

“I was wondering if I can host the Yule ball we host every year” Narcissa revealed somewhat nervously as she walked inside the room. Harry wordlessly offered her a seat.

“How big and extravagant this ball is going to be?” Harry asked as he leaned back in his chair and Narcissa seemed to think for a bit before answering.

“There will be at least a hundred guests” Narcissa answered. To be honest, a part of Harry wanted to deny Narcissa as he wanted nothing to do with a ball, but at the same time, a ball might be a great opportunity for him to scout his enemies… Even though he knew their faces and their names, thanks to Lucius, he was yet to meet any of them face to face. Well, except for Avery even though he was wearing a mask.

“Have you talked with Lucius about this?” Harry asked and Narcissa shook her head in denial.

“He no longer talks to me and in this house, his opinion no longer matters” Narcissa finished with a grin. Narcissa seemed to be quite pleased with the fate of her husband…

“Fine… Have your ball and don’t forget to invite the Greengrasses, I have unfinished business with them” Harry declared and a small part of Narcissa felt sorry for the Greengrasses, but that was only a small part. It was no concern of her, after all, they shouldn't have gotten involved with Harry in the first place. Well, they will learn their error pretty soon.

“Then I would need to invite a few more families of the Grey Faction, otherwise their inclusion might look out of place” Narcissa pointed out. Not that she cared about inviting a few more families… Even though she was spending the Malfoy fortune, she never considered it her money as Lucius never gave her access to his Family vaults. This was the only way she could get back at him.

“Do whatever you must” Harry declared without missing a beat, but Narcissa seemed to have something else to talk about. After hesitating for the next few seconds, she finally spoke up.

“Harry, I believe Severus suspects something. He is trying really hard to meet us. He had been sending me messages through Draco” Narcissa revealed and Harry rapped his fingers on the table while pondering how to deal with the issue. “Fine, invite him for dinner or something in the next couple of days and I will deal with him” Harry decided to nip the problem in the bud.

According to his mom, Severus was most definitely a Death Eater, but according to Dumbledore, the man was a spy… Now, it wasn’t like he didn’t believe his mother, but there was a small chance that Severus might have been a spy for real, or something might have happened which made him change sides… Not that Harry was planning to spare the man in any case.

Though he wanted to know where his allegiance truly lay before killing the man. Severus Snape carried the Dark Mark and he would die… There would be no exceptions to that. He would destroy everything Voldemort ever stood for…

Narcissa opened her mouth to say something, but she stopped. For the next few seconds, she seemed to hesitate, but she finally gathered her courage and started to speak. “Can you… Can you spare him? He is my friend” Narcissa asked hesitantly and there was clear fear in his eyes. Now, Harry could have lied, but Harry decided not to.

“I am sorry, Narcissa, I can not do that… He is a Death Eater and his fate was sealed the moment he chose to take the Dark Mark” Harry answered and Narcissa grimaced at his words.

“But he was a spy!” Narcissa tried to defend her friend, but Harry simply waved his hand dismissively.

“So?” Harry asked indifferently. “He works for the other Warlord… Big deal! If killing him would mean hurting Dumbledore, then I would kill him just for that” Harry stated firmly and Narcissa decided to drop the issue. Yes, Severus was a friend, but there was no way she was going to lose her own life for his poor choices. This was how it worked in the Slytherin House.

Meanwhile, Harry was wondering how Severus managed to slip into Narcissa’s heart in the first place. The woman dared to risk her own life in an attempt to protect him, but Harry knew Narcissa well enough to know that Narcissa considered anyone who wasn’t a Pureblood to be beneath her station. Even now, Narcissa only feared him and respected him for the raw power he possessed, nothing more, and as long as she didn’t insult his mother openly, she could think whatever she could.

Thankfully for Narcissa, she no longer insulted his mother even inside her Mind. As long as Lily Potter was concerned she was the most honorable and respectable Muggleborn in her Mind and Harry didn’t mind someone calling her a Muggleborn, after all, it was the truth. Unable to hold back his curiosity, Harry decided to take a look inside her Mind and her thoughts almost made him smile…

Narcissa was most definitely a better snake than her husband…

At first, Narcissa only reached out to Severus because he was extremely good at Potions and Dark Arts. She was planning to use him for his talents and then she managed to discover that Severus was the son of Eileen Prince. This led Narcissa to deepen her friendship with Severus in case he managed to become the Lord of the said Family as Eileen was the only daughter of the Family and Lord Prince never disowned her even after she ran away with a Muggle.

While she was disappointed that he didn’t manage to become the Lord of the Prince Family after the death of the rest of the members, he was able to become the youngest Potion Master in existence, which was quite a huge achievement in itself. Now, Narcissa knew that her dear husband was going to kick the bucket and after that, she was going to have access to the remaining Malfoy fortune. With that fortune, she wanted to open a Potion factory with Severus working for her.

That was the only reason why Narcissa wanted him to spare Severus… There was nothing more to that…

“Then can I withdraw one hundred thousand gold from the Malfoy vault?” Narcissa asked. This was her next plan in case she failed to get him to spare Severus.

“What are you planning to do with that kind of gold?” Harry asked curiously. He could have read her Mind, but decided not to.

“I want to start a business venture” Narcissa answered primly.

“Alright, you will have the gold” Harry decided to give her the gold since it was her gold, to begin with. As long as she wasn’t hiring mercs with that gold to create problems for him, he didn’t care what she did with the gold.

“Thank you, Harry” With that, Narcissa finally excused herself from the room…