Season of Change by: Elsbeth There were only a few things in Harry Potter's life that never changed, he was the son of Lily and James Potter and that he was born a male. What happens when he discovers the truth.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, all of it belong to J.K Rowling, I am just playing in her sandbox for a while.

Authors Note: AU: Its not my first fanfic but its my first Harry Potter, so I hope you enjoy it. The story starts at the end of the 5th Book.

Narcissa Malfoy nee Black closed her eyes as she stepped through the fireplace and into the foyer of 12 Grimmauld Place. For a brief moment, she feared that the old wards would be unwelcoming however; as she continued forward, she knew as the Black Family magic welcomed her home.

"Nymphadora Tonks, if you wake me up like that again you're going to learn close hand the side effects of some of the more esoteric Egyptian curses I know."

Amused at the discussion coming from the foot of the stairs, she could only smile at the raven-haired girl who had somehow changed her life from one of constant fear to hope. Strolling across the floor with catlike grace, almost in a predatory like fashion, Narcissa would have sworn her new Head of House reminded her of her older sister but the girl's smile was most definitely her father's.

Ignoring Dora's cackles behind her, Alya greeted her Aunt warmly as they entered the room. "Good morning Aunt Cissy. I heard everything went well yesterday?"

"Yes it did, thank you once again."

Alya stifled a yawn, still a little tired after being up for almost thirty hours. Everyone had agreed to postpone the meeting about the marriage contracts, for which she was eternally grateful

"Good, now let's go see if we can fix your other problem."

Now in her study, with a large mug of coffee in her hand, Alya began to read over a document her uncle had placed before her. "What's your opinion of their Business Plan?"

"If asked initially, considering the current political climate, I might have suggested that they wait; however the store is doing fairly well." Ted Tonks said.

"The twins seem to have gone through most of our initial investment already." Alya tried not to frown, as she knew absolutely nothing on the actual costs to start a business, much less in the Wizarding world.

She had at first, tried to give the gold as a gift. Either the twins took or she would have just thrown it away as it cost much more than its worth. However, the twins continue to insist that it was an investment. True they have done wonders with it, the store was impressive but it was now part of the Black portfolio, so it required a little more scrutiny.

"True, however they used it to purchase their initial supplies in a larger bulk thereby saving quite a bit later on."

Tonks leaned forward smiling. "Love that place. They always seem to be busy compared to most of the other shops on Diagon Alley. When I'm on morning patrol they normally have a small crowd waiting for them to open."

"Which shop?" Narcissa asked, curious which merchants were interested in the new Head of House Black.

"Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes" Alya reached over and signed the document. The goblins didn't seem to be interested in investing in the store, so the twins had approached her uncle looking for investors. Harry Potter would have most likely just given them the money however; Alya Black would make sure that it was a good investment for the family.

Narcissa gave a small laugh. "You're most definitely your father's daughter; I could see Sirius being the first one to invest in that business."

"Not fond of the Weasleys?" Tonks asked.

Looking up, Narcissa shrugged. "Personally, I have no real opinion. It's not as if we travel in the same social circle. Oh, I'm aware that my husband and his compatriots dislike the family due to their relationship with Dumbledore. Looking back, my parents never thought highly of the family either, because of Arthur's mother Cedrella but it would be hypocritical for me for me to hate them on that account.

"Cedrella?"

"Cedrella Weasley née Black." Andromeda replied as she entered the study. "She was disowned by Phineas Black I believe for marrying into a so called Blood traitor family. Sorry I'm late."

After taking the Black family oath, she sat down. "Capella and I moved Bella into her old room as you suggested, Alya. "

"She's not joining us today?"

"No." Ted replied. "She's currently following a lead on Marius Black's family. The goblins, although they aren't being too forthcoming with the information, believe that his line didn't actually squib out and his great-grandchildren attend Hogwarts."

"Still attempting to bring in all of us lost lambs." Andromeda said with a smile.

"That's my plan." Alya said with a wink.

"What about Pettigrew?" Dora turned to her mother.

"That's one of the many things I wanted to talk about today. I thought about turning him over to the DMLE, Dora. I imagine that Madam Bones will find his knowledge useful. Oh, how is she doing by the way? The Prophet had little on her health, other than she was still a patient at St. Mungo's."

"She is doing much better." Andromeda replied. "I imagine that she will be sent home by the end of the week."

"Bonesy always been a fighter. " Tonks said proudly.

"Which was a good thing as it was touch and go for a while. Alya, although I never mentioned our involvement, Charlotte wanted to thank you personally for the other night. I'm not sure if you're aware but the Bones and Abbott's families have always been quite close."

Since Healer Abbot had planned to help them if there were injuries when they raided Snape's home, it wasn't too far of a stretch that the sudden intelligence on Death Eater's movement that night came from her House. Alya just hoped that it wasn't too well known.

"How are their family wards?" She asked now somewhat concerned.

"You think they are in danger?"

Alya bit her lip for a moment thinking. "If their relationship is common knowledge, especially with Susan staying at their home, it might be wise for them to look over their defenses."

"Do you still want to meet with them, Alya? If you're willing, maybe you can look over their wards?" Ted said.

"What an excellent idea, maybe an informal dinner between both our families." Andromeda said approvingly. "Plus, it would be good for you to interact with some more people your age, Alya. You spend too much time either in the library or studying for your Owls."

"But the tests are only a few weeks away-"The raven-haired beauty couldn't help but roll her eyes at the amused smiles around the room. "Fine, I'd be happy to. Oh, Aunt Cissy, you are invited as well."

"Me?" Narcissa looked surprised.

Andromeda smiled at her sister. "Of course."

Finally, with everything else out of the way, Ted placed a large parchment in front of his Head of House.

Looking at the document for a moment, Alya began to speak in a very formal voice. "Narcissa Malfoy nee Black, it has come to our attention that the marriage contract between Lucius, son of Abraxas Malfoy and the House Black may no longer be valid. Do you wish to proceed?"

"Yes Milady." Narcissa spoke in the same formal tone. "In addition, recent events brought on by a lack of judgment by the head of House Malfoy have in fact reflected poorly on House Black."

Alya nodded, understanding that even if the marriage contact was found to be valid, that Narcissa was looking to divorce herself from Lucius Malfoy. Divorce wasn't a common occurrence in the wizarding world, mainly due to its cost as House Black would have to pay a penalty to House Malfoy, however, from reading the document last night, Alya didn't think that was going to be an issue.

Spinning the document around, so the others could read it, Ted said. "There are two points in which we can go at this, Narcissa. First of all, for some reason they never removed the criminal clause. Therefore, with your husband currently in Azkaban, it would be a legitimate reason to void the contract. Secondly, according to Black family law, your father did not ask for the current Head of House, Orion Black's signature on the document."

"Impossible" Narcissa sat forward. "Why would he do that? Without Uncle Orion's signature, father knew that it was not considered valid as family tradition superseded ministry law in cases of marriage contracts."

Alya looked down not wanting to meet either of her Aunt's eyes. "My father once mentioned it once in passing, but I my grandfather's journals confirm it. Uncle Cygnus had plans to make himself the Head of House Black soon after the marriage."

The room was oppressively silent for a moment before Andromeda whispered fiercely. "That fucker."

Tonks looked at her mother as if she grew another head but not before Narcissa growled. "Lucius must have known as well. Do it."

Alya raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Get me out of that damnable contract."

Nodding, Alya raised her wand and irrevocably broke the marriage contract between House Malfoy and House Black. "Narcissa Black, welcome back to the family."

Narcissa took a deep breath then grinned evilly. "It's a shame that Lucius doesn't have the coin to pay back the dowry plus whatever penalties the goblins will add for breaking the contract." She then looked concerned for a moment. "Lucius will lose almost everything, correct?"

"When your son became Alya's ward, all his financials became available to us. So yes, with the recent large sums withdrawn from the Malfoy vaults, he will have problems returning the dowry in the next 72 hours. I imagine that the goblins will most likely be selling off House Malfoy possession soon after that." Ted explained.

"Good and my son?"

"Well taken care of Aunt Cissy, I promise Draco will not go without." Although if given her druthers, she wouldn't mind dropping her cousin off in the center of the English Channel.

"Thank you, Alya."

"Mom, if grandfather was capable of being part of the death of his own brother, what did he do to Aunt Bella?" Tonks asked.

As all four women looked at Ted, he closed his eyes sadly. "I spent all day confirming this with the Black account manager. Apparently, Bellatrix violated several goblin laws, which we will go over later. I would expect some hefty fines; however, they will be paid out of the Lestrange family vault. Read the contract first. It's very enlightening."

Sitting around the desk, the group went line by line. For the most part, it was a typical marriage contract until they came toward the end. Like Narcissa's dowry, the gold given to the Lestrange was obscene however, Bellatrix Black insisted on her own concessions."

"Oh Trixie." Andromeda whispered. "Why would she do that?"

"Always our protector." Narcissa closed her eyes, now remembering how angry her father had been at Bellatrix's wedding. She didn't understand it, but she did now. As she had already done growing up, Bellatrix made sure that both sisters were safe.

"According to this, grandfather couldn't annul your marriage." Tonks ran her hand lightly over the document. "And neither, the Black or Lestrange families or their allies could directly harm members of our family unless in self defense; you too Aunt Cissy."

"So that's why we have always been safe." Andromeda looked at her husband who simply nodded.

"Although with your father planning to become the next Head of House, it would then be easy for him to amend those contracts, even removing the concessions that Aunt Bella had demanded."

"Thankfully, that never happened."

"But there had to be more, from what you have been telling me, Aunt Bella wouldn't have suddenly gone out murdering Muggleborn."

"No your right, Dora, the marriage contract alone would not have made Bellatrix as malleable as they needed her to be." Ted Tonks pulled out a rolled up parchment out of a Muggle looking briefcase.

"Abd-sihr" Alya growled as she rolled open the document. It took only a few moments to everyone's horror that the document had been written in blood on tanned human flesh.

"Wait-what Alya, slow down we don't understand what you're saying." Tonks interrupted Alya's rant, which for some reason was totally in Arabic.

"Did you recognize this?" Alya turned to her uncle.

With a distasteful look on his face, Ted explained. "No, I had never seen one until yesterday; although I had heard about them while studying wizardry law. Most countries have banned the use of such items for centuries."

"What is it?" Andromeda asked.

"It's a slave contract, a magical binding chattel document. Ancient magical societies often used them after capturing a witch or wizard during time of war. "

Tonks looked confused. "I would have thought they would have used an unbreakable vow."

"Except a slave or say a witch married to someone she hated might prefer death instead. The Abd-sihr more or less overwrote their personalities, creating one more accommodating to their masters."

Alya didn't know exactly how she knew all of this; however, that was not the part that was horrifying. Somehow, she understood exactly how such contracts were constructed and used to bind ancient magicals to their masters.

"Oh Bella." Andromeda shook her head, tears now streaming down her eyes. "I thought she had gone back on her promises, to make our future better. I'm sorry that I have hated you all these years."

"Familia primum, familia semper" Narcissa wiped the tears from her face. "She always promised to look after us."

"Do you think she knew what she was signing?" Tonks asked horrified at what the document implied.

"Doubtful although she probably wasn't given much of a choice." Alya frowned. "Her magic must have been fighting it the whole time. Aunt Andi, you did say she was a master Occlumenist?"

"Yes."

"A small part of her must have always been fighting it." Narcissa said amazed.

"No wonder she's insane." Tonks said sadly remembering what she thought of her aunt before.

"Still, even if I void her marriage contract right now, she is still magically bound to her husband." Alya growled. "And I doubt the goblins would involve themselves with this mess."

Ted nodded. "You're right, although there they also discovered a number of items stored in Bellatrix's vault that violated a number of goblin laws, enough for House Lestrange to be almost declared enemies of the goblin nation. After paying the fines and then the cost to destroy the items, it's doubtful they will have a lot of gold left in the vault."

"We'll take the rest soon enough, as it's doubtful they will be able to return the dowry."

"Do you think you can do something about this-abomination?" Andromeda asked her Head of House. "Please, Alya."

"If we do, and break the marriage contract, the two of you will no longer be safe." Even as Alya spoke, she knew what her Aunt would say.

"I don't care what it costs, please, Milady." Andromeda pleaded.

"Maybe Dumbledore-"Tonks started then stopped herself as Alya gave her a look of disgust.

"I have no desire to place the fate of my Aunt in the hands of Dumbledore, sorry Dora. Anyway, I can't do it by myself but I might know who might be able to help."

Eventually Alya knew should would need to speak to someone about how she had gained this knowledge but right now Alya had more important matters such as a chattel document to destroy.

Authors Notes: A special thanks to djkauf for a little elvish editing. If you like the story please leave a Kudos, if you have the time I would love to hear from you. My Muse mugged me with this one, pretty much forced me to write it at pen-point :) Thanks to all for reading! - Elsbeth

PS Dont worry my other stories haven't been dropped, just taking a break