Protection: The Sword and the Shield

Acknowledge

...... Nott Manor, Flintshire, England

Narcissa Malfoy sat in the office of Alvin Nott. He had left her there to stew and she knew it. She was desperate and the Notts were really the only option she had left for herself. After she had accidentally killed Rabastan Lestrange and Severus had escaped she had ran before Rodolphus' anger could be turned toward her. Until Bellatrix returned she would not have been safe from the man.

She had arrived home at the same time as the special edition of the Daily Prophet. Her son was rightfully angry at the death of his aunt but it had only confused her. Nothing about the story made sense, from what she knew. But she would not be able to tell anyone that.

What she had known was that her life was forfeit. Her sister was dead and both Severus and the last remaining Lestrange brother had cause to kill her and neither had to worry about Bellatrix's revenge, if they succeeded, any longer. Her son despite his high opinion of himself could not protect her.

With the angry looks her son kept sending her she didn't feel very safe in her own home anyway and had left. Desperate, she had come to see Alvin Nott. He had harbored a crush on her for years and despite the fact that she truly loved Lucius, she could no longer live as a commoner, jumping at shadows.

She believed that she deserved to live in comfort and with Lucius locked up, her sister dead, two men likely out to kill her, and her own son disgusted with her she had finally run out of options. It did not matter what Sirius had done, she was still a Black. She frowned at the missing connection to the family magic that reminded her that Sirius' decision was indeed real and final.

With no leverage and feeling desperate she had gone against type and been relatively honest with Lord Nott. She had offered to divorce her husband and become a concubine to him. He had left her to "consider her offer" but she was confident the man would succumb to his desire for her body. It was her greatest weapon and one that had never failed her before.

She was so sure that she had already started to plan how she would supplant the existing Lady Nott when the Lord arrived with a sinister smile on his face. Her plotting fled her mind as her fear spiked. Something about the man in front of her was triggering all her danger signals. She was afraid for her life when she saw him. Perhaps he had contacted Rodolphus or Severus and would turn her over to them.

When the man put a newspaper in front of her, she realized that there were things, in fact, worse than death. It was a copy of the Wizarding Daily and on the front cover was an article accusing her of having an affair with Severus Snape. Her first instinct was to be angry at the rumor mongering but the moving censored picture of her in mid coitus that graced the front page showed that the article was no empty accusation.

"If you tap it with a wand that doesn't have the magical trace on it, the censoring goes away" Alvin said with a chuckle and demonstrated with his own wand. As her and Severus' bodies became exposed she went white hot with anger. "How dare they do this to me?" she screeched. She was halfway to the door when Alvin's voice stopped her. "What exactly do you plan to do?"

His question froze her. She had no power or money or connections. There was a time that even with her sister in jail, the mere existence of the woman could be used by Narcissa to get what she wanted, but her sister was dead. Decapitated by the Longbottom heir in the middle of the Grimmauld Commons. She didn't even know how her sister ended up there and now she was the laughing stock of the wizarding world, as well.

She turned back to Nott and shivered at the look on his face. She expected to see desire or lust as he would undoubtedly want his turn with her in exchange for the protection she was seeking. It had been part of her plan anyway so she was surprised that he looked at her with a wicked grin but one that held no desire. It scared her as she was not used to men looking at her with absolutely no desire.