What in the bloody hell were they doing in there?

Narcissa Malfoy, sorry, Narcissa Black—well, that doesn't feel all that comforting either.

Narcissa, yes, just Narcissa.

She was sitting in a small, shockingly comfortable, chair inside the Minister of Magic's office. Narcissa became numb-fully aware of the significant amount of time she had been sitting in the chair as she began losing all feeling in her backside.

Harry and Kingsley disappeared behind a large wooden door, that led to Merlin know where—perhaps it was an office inside of an office? A rather large closet? Maybe it led to a galaxy far, far away? She could keep guessing but found it rather pointless, it didn't really matter.

If it wasn't for the fact that she could hear their voices, Narcissa would have assumed they weren't even behind the door no more, it had been quite some time.

Narcissa was growing irritated, bloody hell she was born irritated, but she was not a patient woman—especially when she had so much at risk. Actually, she had only one thing at risk—Draco, but it was the only thing that mattered.

"Mrs. Malfoy".

Narcissa looked up as Harry and Kingsley finally emerged from behind the large door, walking over towards her.

"I prefer Miss. Black—Narcissa these days if you don't mind, Minister" Narcissa informed him, a little too boldly.

"My apologizes, Narcissa," Kingsley said as he sat in the large chair behind the desk in front of her. "Harry said you have something you would like to discuss with me".

Narcissa looked at Harry who had since sat down in the chair next to hers, and she chuckled—slightly.

"I'm afraid you have misinformed, Minister," Narcissa told him. "There is nothing I would like to discuss with anyone in this bloody building—but Potter here seems to think it's a good idea".

Kingsley looked at Harry, with a slight smile on his face, but then gestured toward them both. "Carry on then".

Narcissa looked at Harry, without saying a word Harry quickly realized that if anyone was going to speak at this moment it would be him.

"Minister, what are your plans—with Draco, erm, Malfoy"? Harry asked as if they were discussing any other Draco. "He made a bold choice, nearly all the prisoners inside of Azkaban escaped and he chose to stay—regardless of any consequences, he shall receive in the death eater community. Hermione gave you his official statement, I think you should consider pardoning him of the remainder of his conviction".

Kingsley cleared his throat, Narcissa wasn't sure if it was due to the shock—or so he didn't blurt out anything in front of Draco's mother. But, he didn't look like he was the type to let anything just slip off the tongue, nor did he look like the type to care what he said—no matter who he was around, he was the Minister of Magic after-all.

"Mr. Malfoy is a convicted death eater" Kingsley stated.

"That's true" Harry interjected before Kingsley could say any more. "But, that's as far as his charges go, he is innocent on all other accounts".

"We just passed the one year anniversary of the war, we now have hundreds if not thousands of prisoners free—many death eaters we just spent the past year putting away—some more powerful than death eaters and much darker in the magic," Kingsley said. "The news hasn't broken yet, but I'm sure it will soon. The last thing we need is for Rita get a hold of a story such as the Minister of Magic releasing a Malfoy during such a fragile time, Draco comes from one of the oldest and darkest pure-blooded families around. We have worked incredibly hard this past year to earn back the respect towards the ministry of the Wizarding Community, their trust—".

"What if I were to inform you, that Draco—is not a biological Malfoy"? Harry asked. "Would that ease your mind any"?

Narcissa felt her breath get trapped in her lungs, there it was. There was no turning back now, it was out there.

"I'm sorry—excuse me"? Kingsley asked, arching an eyebrow. "What do you mean"?

Harry didn't speak, instead, he looked to Narcissa, his part was over—and as badly as she didn't want to be here she knew the rest was up to her.

"Lucius—he isn't—erm, he is Draco's stepfather or was, until I got my divorce" Narcissa explained, unaware that she even knew how to stutter until this very moment "But, he has no biological ties to Draco, they have no relation, whatsoever. I was pregnant before I got married".

"I never would have imagined that Lucius would take care of another man's child as his own" Kingsley noted.

"Well, he—he doesn't know" Narcissa explained as she smoothed out a small wrinkle on her robes. "No one knows—well, a few people—my sister, not Bellatrix but my other, and Sirius—he knew, then, of course, Potter here he now knows, but anyways—erm, Draco is not Lucius' son".

"I have seen Mr. Malfoy, both, there is quite a resemblance—".

Narcissa nodded. "A potion helped with that, I took all precautions to make certain that no one would ever question his relationship with Lucius—".

"If Lucius Malfoy is not his father, who is"? Kingsley questioned.

Narcissa nibbled on her bottom lip, though she wasn't sure why. It was an old habit she did when she was young, it was something her mother used to scold her about—but here she was an adult, being looked at by the Minister of Magic—with a question.

"Draco's biological father—is Remus, Remus John Lupin".

After all that Kingsley had witnessed in his life, all that he had been apart of, everything that led to where he was now, being the Minister of Magic, it was hard to stun him. Or shake him a bit, but he found these words confusing—no that wasn't the right word, baffling—maybe?

"Remus—is Draco's father"? Kingsley asked. "That can't be possible, Remus would have never stood back and allowed Lucius to raise his child as a Malfoy or—".

"He didn't know" Harry interjected. "Maybe you and I could speak—privately"?

"I think we are just fine here, Potter," Kingsley told him, before returning his gaze to Narcissa. "You mean to tell me—you expect me to believe that Draco is—he is a Lupin"?

"Believe whatever you want" Narcissa shot at him. "It makes no matter to me, nor do I or will I care what you do or do not believe, it's the truth".

Narcissa looked down and saw what she had felt, Harry patting her leg, presumably to calm her down due to her outburst, that she was now sure they could do without.

"If we can prove it—would you consider letting him go"? Harry asked. "That would make headlines, in a much more astonishing way—you would no longer be setting free the son of a death eater, but the son of a hero".

"If you can prove it, I will consider it".

"You will consider it, and then we will prove it," Narcissa told him.

Kingsley looked at the woman, taken back—to say the least. "You were in Slytherin"?

"Yes".

"The sorting hat missed that one," he said. "You should have been Gryffindor".

Narcissa looked up at him, accepting the compliment of her bravery—courage, with a small smile.

"I never even knew you and—Remus, were, anything really," Kingsley told her.

"I was supposed to marry him," Narcissa said pushing a curl back behind her ear. "He was the love of my life".

"Before we proceed—May I ask, what happened"? He asked.

"My parents, the Malfoy's—take your pick and just assume they had something to do with it because they both did," she said. "Lucius and I, it was an arranged marriage on all accounts—out of all the witches he could have wed he picked me, my father—after what Andromeda did—marrying a muggle-born, my father was thrilled that I had the chance to give our family back our good name, at least that's the way he said it".

Harry watched as Narcissa stood to her feet, slowly crossing the room, her long robe dragging across the floor as she did.

"I personally don't see anything wrong with what she did," Narcissa said as she approached the large window, looking out—out into the world, her eyes large with admiration. "She was in love—his blood status didn't matter, he made her laugh, smile—I was married for eighteen years and Lucius never made me smile, I don't even think he knows what my laugh sounds like".

"But, Remus did"?

It was the first time Kingsley saw the woman smile, it wasn't a trait he was used to her displaying, it took him by surprise but he adjusted quickly, with a smile of his own.

"Remus and I would laugh—for hours, he would chase me around the schoolyard—he taught me how to fly, y' know"? Narcissa said as she reminisced in her mind. "I was just awful at it, Jame Potter teased me for it, your dad was a real pain in the arse".

"I've been told," Harry said, with a small smile.

"Remus and I—we had a plan, we were going to run away together, once I realized that there was no other way for me to get out of this impending marriage," Narcissa said. "We were going to leave and go far, far away. We talked about living in the states, or Cuba—we had a list, we might have been on the run for the rest of our life but at least we would be together".

"Why would you be on the run"? Harry asked.

"Such a silly boy," Narcissa said. "My parents and Lucius were both part of the Dark Lord's inner circle, the Malfoy's they were closer though, Abraxas was much more significant to Tom than Lucius ever was, he only ever had the status he did because of his father".

Narcissa turned around, holding clutching her robe tightly in her firsts.

"You didn't betray the Dark Lord and get away with it, and a betrayal to Lucius—Abraxas, was a betrayal to him," Narcissa said looking down at her feet. "They would have had Remus killed, and possibly me".

Kingsley asked "possibly"?

Narcissa nodded. "My father was doing anything and everything within his reach to give our family name meaning again, after Sirius and my sister, it was almost destroyed—at least that's the way he saw it," she said. "But, to this day I wonder if we had left, ran away—and been caught, if he would have stood up for me or not, I think it all would have come down to what Lucius wanted, I don't think he would have wanted to marry a witch who had given herself to some half-blood".

Narcissa smoothed out her robes, and took a deep breath, as she relived some of the darkest times in her life.

"Clearly—you had," Kingsley said. "Or we wouldn't be having this conversation—correct"?

"Yes," Narcissa said. "Long before I met Lucius, or was ever under the pretense that we would be married, the night I found out about Remus' lycanthropy gene, he thought I would never love him again, so I did, I needed him to know that it changed nothing, least of all my feelings for him".

Narcissa gulped, she had never shared this part of her life with anybody, least of all the minister of magic and Harry Potter, but here she was.

She had to remind herself that there was a reason, Draco, he was the reason she was pouring out her deepest and darkest secrets.

"We were going to run away, and be together—forever," Narcissa told them.

"But, you never did"? Kingsley asked. "What happened"?

Narcissa smiled. "Draco—Draco happened," she said. "I found out about my pregnancy three days before Remus and I planned to leave, it changed everything. I don't come from a family that will sit and be mad—angry, but eventually get over it, they would either shut you out or get their vengeance, but it wasn't just my family, it was the Malfoy's as well. If we ran—and we were caught it was hard enough to think what they would do to Remus, but to my baby, my unborn child, how could I risk that"?

Kingsley looked down. "You couldn't".

"I showed up on Sirius doorstep, I spent the night at his flat—crying, all night before I finally told him everything," she said. "He sent for my sister, the good one, and together we came up with a plan, the hardest part was saying goodbye to Remus, I had to hurt the only person in the world that never hurt me, and Sirius was stern when he told me—I had to break his heart, shatter it so that he wouldn't come after me because he knew me so well and he would know that something was off. So, I did—I told him I couldn't imagine marrying a half-blood, that I didn't want to one-day birth some half-werewolf freak, he cried, and I left—he doesn't know but I spent an hour outside his flat crying myself. It was the hardest thing I have ever endured".

Narcissa grasps her stomach, as her insides turned at the memory, and his heartbreak—his face haunted her mind.

"The second part of my cousin's plan included pushing up the wedding, as soon as possible" Narcissa told them. "So, I did—I told my parents I had a sudden change of heart and that I wished to wed Lucius immediately, of course, they worried that I would change my mind again so they happily obliged. My wedding was the following weekend, the pregnancy was easy to hide—he just though Draco was born a few weeks earlier when actually he a week or so late, it was crucial times so not many went to healers and most women gave birth inside their home, myself included".

"You mentioned a potion"? Kingsley asked.

Narcissa nodded. "Lily Potter made it".

"My mother"? Harry asked.

"Yes, she was the brightest witch of her year after all," Narcissa said. "It was half poly juice potion, half against potion, and something else—just enough that it would only change certain features, his eyes, for example, they were brown, so was his hair, and his nose was much smaller, he looked so much like Remus, we couldn't risk anyone asking any questions—so your mother fashioned a potion that gave him Lucius features, permanently".

"It's non-reversible"? Kingsley asked.

"I'm not sure," Narcissa said. "I can't exactly owl Lily and ask her, can I"?

"No, you can't," Kingsley said.

"I have a thought" Harry announced. "An idea—how we could prove that Draco is who she says he is".

"What's that"? Kingsley asked him.

"A blood spell, Teddy is his biological half brother, if they have a blood connection it will fall in together".

"Two reasons why that won't work" Kingsley began.

"They have more than just Remus' blood in common, his grandmother is my sister" Narcissa announced walking over before glancing down at Kingsley, who looked stunned. "Well, that's what you were going to say, yes"?

Kingsley still bewildered, nodded—slowly. "Yes," he said, his word falling out in three syllables.

"And he probably doesn't feel comfortable waltzing you on to my sister's door demanding the blood of a young wizard—do you, Mr. Kingsley"?

Harry slightly chucked at the minister's feedback to her second statement, as he continued to fight the urge to stare at Narcissa.

"I have an idea," Narcissa said. "There is one other person who might have known".

"Might have"? Harry asked. "You don't know for sure"?

"No".

"Mrs. Malfoy—Miss. Black" Harry said, earning a worse and worse look with each name. "Narcissa—it seems to me that you didn't go around exposing this secret to just anyone, and I doubt Sirus, or Andromeda, went around telling anyone either".

"Right you are, Mr. Potter".

"Then how could someone—anyone else know"?

"Magical Wizards and Witches are enrolled in school by birth—correct"? Narcissa asked, to which both the wizards in the room with her nodded. "My husband, ex-husband," she said, correcting herself enjoying the feel of the word on her tongue. "He wanted Draco to go to Durmstrang Institute, when he was born he was enrolled into Hogwarts, if we wanted him to go to Durmstrang Institute—which Lucius did, all his information would be available to the headmaster at Durmstrang Institute, I couldn't have that. Dumbledore thought—he more than likely had access to that information".

"What information"? Harry asked.

"Oh, bloody hell, Potter" Narcissa said lifting her robes and walking across the room. "His files, with his real name and biological parents—".

"A birth certificate"? Harry asked.

"Whatever you want to call it," Narcissa said. "Draco was born Draco John Lupin, that's his given name, but he went by Draco Malfoy, when he was born Dumbledore would have had that in position, Sirius said he could be trusted not to say anything—he never even asked, but I assume he had to know".

Kingsley nodded. "He would have, yes".

"But, like you pointed out—you can't go up and ask my mother for the potion," Harry said.

"Well, you're mother isn't hanging on a wall inside of Hogwarts" Narcissa pointed out.

"And even if we couldn't talk to Dumbledore, that information—the headmistress would still have access to that" Kingsley said. "It's the same for young wizards who are given up for adoption, their biological parents are on their Wizarding certificate, not adopted".

"That settles it then—let's go," Harry said.

"That settles nothing," Narcissa said. "It only proves what I'm saying is the truth—there is no point for any of this if you aren't going to free Draco".

Harry looked down, she wasn't speaking to him, but Kingsley.

"He never killed Dumbledore, Snape did and he still has a plaque honoring him at Hogwarts," Narcissa said. "He hasn't made many great choices—".

"He hasn't made any" Kingsley told her.

"But, he is just a boy—a boy who was so eager to please his father, he just acted as he expected Lucius wanted him, too—he did as he expected Lucius wanted him, too. I'm not making excuses for him—".

"It sounds like you are," Kingsley told her. "But, you're right—he is just a boy".

"So, you'll let him go"?

Kingsley nodded. "I will grant Draco his freedom, but I have to do announcing to the world he is, who his real father is".

"Then I have to ask you for a favor".

"You're running high on favors today, Miss. Narcissa".

"What if I had a way—for you to tell the world who he is all the while clearing my name, and his, so that I can walk go to Diagon alley without being harassed or forced out of stores—so that I can live a normal life as well".

Kingsley leaned forward. "Carry on".