What if Lucius had died in the first war?
There seems to be a general consensus that Draco got most of his poor traits from his father and most of his good traits from his mother. So I wonder, what would have happened had Lucius been killed in the prior to 1981 and Draco had been raised solely by Narcissa?
Narcissa is fiercely loyal, especially towards her family, especially towards her son. She would (and does!) protect him at all costs as we see in both HBP and DH. So imagine how she would have reacted had she not had the (sometimes conflicting) loyalty to her husband or at least no reason to follow his idol.
Because had Lucius died in the first war, killed in action in a raid or something, the Dark Lord would have most likely brushed his sacrifice off saying something like he was not strong enough. After her husbandās death and that disrespect, Narcissa would most definitely have turned on the Dark Lord. Even if she still hated muggleborns, even if she still believed in pureblood supremacy, you can bet that she would be against the Dark Lord. When Bellatrixās ideals were a threat to Dracoās life, Narcissa threatened her right back and hexed her for being in the way. If she would turn on family, just think what she would do to the man who took her husband away from her.
She would have gone straight to the Order of the Phoenix, plying her way with all the information she had learned from Lucius, all the tidbits she had overheard while eavesdropping in her own home. Imagine Siriusā shock when he walks into the Order meeting and finds he ex-cousin (re-cousin?) sitting primly on Dumbledoreās right hand bouncing baby Draco on her knee, the Black mask of indifference firmly set on her face. That meeting runs long. Narcissa has more information about the Death Eaters organization than the Dark Lord ever intended anyone to have, especially an unMarked woman. Safe houses, hierarchies, inner circle members, spies, double agents, dark creatures who have been bullied or enticed into fighting, corrupted Ministry employees, intended targets, she tells them everything. But only after acquiring the vow of every single person in the room that they will protect her and Draco. She forces Dumbledore to make an Unbreakable Vow.
She had skillfully rid the Manor of the Dark Lordāan apparently weak woman, openly mourning her husband is poor companyābut she still knows well enough to act meek when Death Eaters come by the Manor. They continue to drop hints at tea, make pointed insinuations at dinners and introduce her to theĀ āparticular friendsā at the occasional ball she deigns to attend. Through this, she maintains the Orderās dependence on her, feeding them each bit of information she gets; new targets (the Potters go into hiding), new members (Wormtail is outed before he has opportunity to do harm), relocated safe houses (after the the Hogsmeade location raid student recruitment for the Death Eaters dropped dramatically).
Regulus comes to the Manor one afternoon on the pretense of a family dinner and tells her that he knows she is the one feeding the Order information. She has her wand digging into his throat before he can sayĀ āBludgerā. Instead of threatening her, he begs her to take him with her; he has crucial information about how to defeat the Dark Lord. At the next meeting, Sirius walks in and chokes on air when he sees his brother sitting on Narcissaās right playing peek-a-boo with Draco.
Draco and Harry are not enemies at Hogwarts. They meet as toddlers at Siriusā post war celebration. Narcissa allows the friendship because while Lily might be a muggleborn, she was also instrumental in the Dark Lordās death and besides, James isĀ a pureblood, even if his line has always been rather liberal. Harry isnāt scared off when the Sorting Hat tells him that he would do well in Slytherin because even though Ron said, āthereās not a witch or wizard that went bad that wasnāt in Slytherin,ā Harry knows that Reg and Cissy (āRegulusĀ and Narcissa, Harry, please. I donāt care what Sirius says, heās an idiot!ā) were in Slytherin House and theyāre both heros. Draco isnāt surrounded by poisonous frienemies or bulking lackeys because his longtime friend Harry is there with him and when some of the other Slytherins prove less than kind, Harry and Draco leave them in the dirt (quite literally, maybe Uncle Moony shouldnātĀ have taught them that spell so young) and find worthy friends from other houses. The Dark Lord doesnāt return, most everyone lives and all because Narcissa does revenge better than anyone.
theartofmadeline
germansingergirl
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
