Chilly autumn #15

Chapter #15: Who are you?

Narcissa Black was currently busy, she was checking the finances of the team, it seems like the previous owner made some really bad money decisions, but above everything else, the best thing he could do was hire Harry.

The blonde couldn’t help but smirk as she thought about the said player and her former lover, she was remembering those days that they spent together as a couple, when they were hiding from the world because if the world realized what they were doing, Narcissa would surely have been executed by the dark lord or worse, he would have used her to lure Harry to him.

-      Damn Lucius, I hope you rot in hell! – Narcissa cursed her ex-husband.

It was his fault that the relationship between her and Harry had to end, she needed to find a way to remain safe from him, she was convinced that if Lucius somehow knew what she was doing behind his back with Harry, it was obvious that he was going to kill her alongside with her lover and their child.

She knew that it was already too late for her to get Harry back, he was happily married and also, he was expecting another child with the woman that he married, Narcissa knew that she should hate Fleur, but she couldn’t.

Fleur was with Harry when he most needed her and she never hesitate in helping him, she was always with him everywhere where he went, now that Narcissa was back in the real world after hiding for so many years in the muggle world, she realized that Harry was more famous than he already was on the moment that she met him.

And that fame also included his wife, she couldn’t hate the French woman, after all, she was a fan of her fashion brand, god, she was wearing clothes from the said brand right now, a tight white blouse, a short black skirt that barely reached her knees, black pantyhose and black stilettos, yes, she really loved that color related to her last name.

The blonde woman was focused on Harry, she sighed happily as she thought about him it seems that she has even forgotten that she was supposed to be working right now to sort things on the team, but she couldn’t continue working when all her thoughts are filled with images of the man that she can’t help but still love.

Seeing him interact with their daughter, the way he talked to their little one was too much for Narcissa, she started to imagine an alternate reality where she and Harry were together, happily raising their children, she sighed once again before her thoughts were interrupted by someone knocking the door of her office, and this was weird because no one was supposed to be here today, it was a day off except for her of course because she didn’t have anything else to do more than spend her whole day at her home, alone, her daughter was with her aunt Andromeda and her cousin Nymphadora in their home, Andy really loved that child.

-      Come on in – Narcissa said, she was a little worried, so, before the person outside of her office could enter inside, the blonde grabbed her wand and she was getting ready to attack the person that could enter inside in case she had to defend herself.

The conflict with Lucius and the events that led her to go into hiding has made her more protective and paranoid, it’s hard for her to trust anyone she doesn’t know previously, she knows that it’s an awful feeling, but during the years when she was hiding she was in constant vigilance, and she was being paranoid, no day passed without her thinking that Lucius was going to go after her family and her.

Little by little the door opened and then it was finally revealed, it was a blonde, pale, younger woman that she quickly recognized.

-      Greengrass? – Asked Narcissa surprised by that sight.

Of all the persons that could enter into her office, she was the last one that she expected, the girl was part of the group formed by Draco and his friends, the "wannabe death eaters" that were just a bunch of confused kids manipulated by their parents, she didn’t have anything against the girl but they weren’t acquaintances, so, this meeting was weird.

-      Hello Mrs. Mal—I mean… Mrs. Black – Said the blonde younger woman before raising her hands once she realized that the older woman was pointing at her with her wand, and then, Narcissa got on her feet and walked towards Daphne.

-      What do you need from me, Mrs. Greengrass? You know well that my son isn’t interested in you in that way, I can’t help you with that – Narcissa said calmly and the younger woman just chuckled.

-      Oh god… That idea sounds awful… But that’s not why I’m here Mrs. Black… I’m just here to continue with my job – Pansy said calmly and that made Narcissa raise her brows.

-      Your job? What are you talking about? – Narcissa didn’t trust the younger woman.

-      If you lower your wand I can explain everything to you… I’m surprised that the previous owner didn’t tell you about me – The younger woman tried to make things get calmed between her and the older woman.

Narcissa remained in silence for a few moments, she was studying the younger woman and she was trying to see if she was planning to do something against her, but the girl remained in silence with a calm attitude and that wasn’t saying anything to her, so, in the end, Narcissa lowered her wand.

-      Sit down – Narcissa told her in a neutral tone and she did as she was being told.

-      Thank you, ma’am… Or I mean… Boss? – Daphne smirked at the older woman.

-      I don’t know about that… I don’t even know what's your position in this team… And the way you're dressed, let's admit that the black gabardine that you're wearing is a little strange – Narcissa sighed before she got back to her seat – Don’t tell me that… You’re trying to resurrect Voldemort and you’re searching for his supporters to help you? – Narcissa tried to joke but the younger woman didn’t change her expression.

-      What? I don’t know what you’re talking about Mrs. Malfoy… I never supported the ideas of that monster, if for some reason you saw me with your son and his friends it was because I was pretending… I was trying to protect my sister – Clarified the younger woman and Narcissa nodded.

The older woman didn’t say anything else for a few moments, she was thinking and analyzing the younger woman's face, she knew that she was hiding something, but she decided to not think too much about it, she stared at the younger woman’s eyes for a few moments before she signalized her with her hand to continue and that’s what Daphne did.

-      Okay… First of all, there’s something that you need to know first, Mrs. Black… There’s a reason why the previous owner sold the team – Narcissa nodded – I'm not going to bore you with all the details but let’s just say that he had some problems with the law and… Someone, I don’t know who was blackmailing him to make some extra money – Narcissa wasn’t understanding – In a few words, the former owner was accused of rigging some games that seemed impossible to win, but somehow, the team managed to win them… He told me that he was innocent and he wanted to prove his innocence so, he hired me to investigate the players and see which one of them could be the one who could be rigging games with the other teams – Narcissa’s eyes widened after she heard that information.

It was still a bit confusing and many questions needed to be asked, but if a player was doing that, her team was in danger, everyone's jobs were in danger if the league knows about this, the team could be sanctioned and even make it disappear, hundreds of years of history will go to waste just because someone is playing his cards against his own team.

-      This is strange… The owner was being blackmailed but he was investigating his players and in the end, he sold the team and ran away? And why did he hire you? No offense to you Daphne but… You don’t seem someone that could be in the Auror forces investigating this – Narcissa was feeling more and more confused as questions started to get out of her mouth.

-      I’m independent Mrs. Black, I completed my training in the Auror academy but… That wasn’t enough for me, I wanted to make death eaters pay for what they had done but the Aurors have so many rules… You can’t even touch a criminal without being accused of excess of force – Sighed the younger woman – A corrupt Auror was blackmailing my boss… He didn’t care about the corruption, the officer wanted to get money and at the same time benefit his favorite team by damaging the best one in the league – Explained Daphne -  The demands from the officer got more and more excessive as time passed by and as much as I begged my former boss to tell me the name of the officer, he told me that he didn’t want to put me in danger… It’s over for that officer now though, he can’t touch you but still… I want to do my job and find the person that has been affecting this great team – Daphne slammed her hands on the desk and that startled the older woman who thought about what Daphne just said to her.

-      Daphne… I wasn’t born yesterday… Tell me the real reason why you’re doing this – Narcissa was concerned but curious at the same time.

And for the first time in her years as a private investigator, Daphne was surprised with the power of the deduction that Narcissa possessed, she blushed and tried to get calm once again.

-      I do it for the money – She confessed but Narcissa didn’t stop staring at her – Fine… I’m a great fan of the team too... And I’m also doing it for someone – She blushed at the thought.

That caught Narcissa by surprise, the younger woman was blushing and that was interesting, however, Narcissa didn’t focus too much on Daphne's reactions, she had things to worry about, she wanted to uncover the things that someone in her team was doing on the dark, that person needed to caught as soon as possible.

-      Okay Daphne… Tell me the way you used to work with the previous owner – Narcissa accepted, she wanted to find out what was going on.

-      Okay… I always make regular investigations on the players and the whole staff of the team, it doesn’t matter how small the position that person holds, I investigated them and I used to give new information to the owner every month – Narcissa nodded at Daphne’s words.

-      That’s interesting… I guess it’s time for you to give me the information that you got? – Narcissa wanted to see already, curiosity was killing her.

-      Uh… I can’t do that Mrs. Black… Not before I get paid, though – Daphne said and Narcissa remained in silence.

-      Oh… So you get paid each time you investigate… That makes sense – Narcissa remained in silence for a while before she took a feather to write a quantity on a check – So… How much does the information costs? – Asked The older woman.

-      One thousand galleons – Daphne said calmly and Narcissa nodded.

It didn’t take too long for the older woman to write the quantity, she even put some extra on it, she wanted to motivate the girl to work faster to find out who was behind this fraud.

-      Thank you Mrs. Black – Daphne said before she used her wand and took a collar that she had on her neck.

She placed the collar on Narcissa’s desk and with her wand, she suddenly transfigurated the thing into a book, there it was all the information that she has found.

-      This is it? The information of all my players? – Asked Narcissa with a serious expression.

-      Everyone except Harry… Sorry ma’am I can’t give you that information… - Daphne blushed after she remembered something that she saw while she was spying on the man who conquered.

She saw him while she was in her animagus form, he was having sex with his wife, his sister in law and his mother-in-law, they were in a three-way relationship, that was something that she didn’t want to know.

-      Wait… Why? – Now Narcissa was getting annoyed, she paid for all the information, not for just some information.

-      Because it’s not him Mrs. Black… It’s obvious, Harry doesn’t have any need to do something like that, he’s rich… He doesn’t need it – Daphne tried to defend him.

Narcissa, on the other hand, remained in silence, she was trying to find a way to get Harry’s information from the younger woman, she was thinking of many ways to approach this, and then, an idea came into her head.

-      You’re right Daphne… I guess it was too much for me to think that Harry could do something like that, it’s just that… I wanted to be sure you know? I know Harry too well… That's why I must insist on getting that information… Sadly as the owner of the team, I can’t have any preference for any of my players, do you understand that, right? – Asked Narcissa with a serious expression and Daphne couldn’t help but nod – It won’t be fair for the rest of the team if somehow they discover that someone has been investigating them and yet Harry was the one who I decided to not investigate… People will start to talk and then there are going to be rumors and you know what’s next… Dating scandals – Narcissa said in a dramatic tone that was worrying Daphne – The team that you say love will be affected Daphne… the tabloids will talk about Harry dating his older boss while at the same time being married to Fleur – Narcissa said again trying to suppress her fake tears.

And the thought of affecting her team seemed bad for Daphne, there were some details that she didn’t want to reveal to the older blonde, so, she nodded at her, she decided to give her the last details from Harry but not the dirty stuff.

-      Thank you… But before you do it… I want you to make a magic oath – Narcissa’s words surprised Daphne – I want you to promise me that you’re going to give me all the information, all the details no matter what, do you understand? – Asked Narcissa and Daphne gulped.

The younger blonde knew that it was something that she could regret, the other option that she had is giving Narcissa back her money but she needed the money, so, with the thought of helping the team and get some money at the same time, she accepted Narcissa’s request, and the older blonde smiled triumphantly but deep inside her head, Narcissa was already thinking of Harry’s life outside the job, to know what he does outside work was going to be interesting for the older woman.