The memories he held most dear

by Lin_Lemon

Summary:

Harry Potter is the son of Lily and James Potter.

Harry Potter wants to avenge his family.

Harry Potter is the Boy-Who-Lived.

Harry Potter is a pawn raised for slaughter.

Harry Potter was born on the 31st of July.

Two of these are lies. Lies not even Harry knew. Not until he met Draco Malfoy in the Astronomy Tower on a cold December night and kick-started a friendship that would reveal the decades of lies that had spun themselves over magic Britain like a spider's web.

Or

Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley choose another mystery to go after in their fifth year.

What exactly happened on the 17th of December ten years ago, and what on earth happened to Draco Malfoy's younger twin brother?

Or

I need more Harry is Dracos brother fics

Chapter 1: Silver

"You are bloody brilliant!" Hermione laughed. 

 

"Can't say Malfoy didn't have it coming," Ron said, grinning. "That's what he gets for sticking his nose in our business."

 

For weeks now, Draco Malfoy has stuck to finding out what Harry and the DA were up to, sneaking around close to the room of requirement, following them around the castle, and Harry could not have that. 

The DA can't blow its cover, not with that nasty toad Umbridge roaming the vast halls of Hogwarts. 

 

So Ron charmed Malfoy's hair red and laughed as the Slytherin table erupted in laughter, and Malfoy ran out, hiding under his hood. 

 

Sure, Ron might get more detention for it since the git is a bloody prefect, but Harry thought that was totally worth it.

 

"Ron is right, he deserved it." He was still looking at the Slytherin table from which Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini stood up abruptly and followed Malfoy. 

 

Harry had always thought Crabbe and Goyle were the ones who followed Malfoy like shadows, but the two dorks had not even looked up from their plates as they were happily shoving food into their mouths. In front of them, Daphne Greengrass and Theodore Nott looked worriedly after Parkinson and Zabini. 

 

Harry slumped further into his seat, a deep groan escaping him. "I can't decide what's more irritating, Malfoy or this blasted Yule ball the Ministry's forcing on us," he grumbled.

 

Two weeks ago, Professor Umbridge had announced that the Ministry would arrange a Yule Ball to 'make up for the ruined tournament last year'; in reality, they just wanted to accumulate favour with the future leaders of the wizarding world by spreading their propaganda. 

 

Of course, the future leaders were mainly from pureblood families, who coincidentally also belonged to those who denied Voldemort's return after the Triwizard Tournament.

 

"I don't know Harry." Hermione looked up from her book. "Don't you think it could be fun?" 

 

Harry smiled at his friend. "Socialising with people who call me a liar? No, I'd say I'm not as thrilled as you are. Especially since you will be spending the night dancing with Ron, while I hide in a corner from Skeeter."

 

Hermione crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "You are only saying that because you didn't want to look for a date." 

 

"I don't need a date. I'm not staying long anyway."

 

"Mate, I get that you don't like the attention, but at least try to enjoy it!" Ron argued. 

 

But Harry couldn't. It just fell on a shit day.

 

Every year, on December 17th, Harry felt a deep sense of loss. It wasn't just loneliness; it was as if a part of him had been torn away, leaving a void that nothing could fill. 

 

This year, it was the day of the Yule Ball. So, he tried to fill the void by laughing with his friends, dancing with Ginny, Luna, and Hermione, and joining the DA for after-celebrations in the Room of Requirements. 

 

But he couldn't stand the laughter and joy when he was the only one who felt like screaming. So he walked towards the exit, fleeing the joy radiating from everyone present. 

 

"Harry, are you alright?" Hermione asked, holding a butterbeer that Dobby had smuggled in.  

 

"Yeah, I just need to catch some air– It's a bit stuffy. That's all, really. Don't worry about me. You guys have fun, yeah?" 

 

He waved one last goodbye and ran. 

 

What for?

 

No clue.

 

He needed to leave everything behind and be lonely and alone and in silence. So he went where his instincts led him. High. To the very top of the castle. Stairs and more stairs were left behind him as he reached the top of the Astronomy tower. 

 

He was about to barge in when he noticed someone he definitely did not want to see sitting on the edge of the railing. 

 

His blonde hair reflected the moonlight, and tears streamed down his pale face. Was he crying? That couldn't be right. Malfoy didn't cry. He sneered and laughed like the right bastard he was. 

 

Yet the blonde boy was slightly shaking in the cold air of a winter night, dressed in cream-coloured robes with no coat in sight. His hand was tightly clutched around what most probably was a pendant hanging off the silver chain around his neck. 

 

Malfoy looked different, Harry decided; his shoulders were slumped, and his face was turned towards the darkness that hid the floor at the bottom of the tower. There was no sign of his usual pompous self.

 

Harry hesitated at the entrance. 

 

The blonde looked so miserable, Harry wanted to turn around and leave, but he had no other Idea where else to go. The tower was so high that most people didn't even bother to climb all the stairs, so it had become his usual hiding spot that semester, and now Malfoy had come here as well.

 

In his hesitation, Harry walked backwards, causing the stairs to creak at that exact moment. 

 

Malfoy's head spun around in a matter of seconds, and Harry met his eyes. Silver eyes filled with tears glared at him while the boy pulled out his wand. "What do you want?!" 

 

Harry held up his hands "Listen–" 

 

"Having fun spying on people?" the boy hissed in anger. "You have not seen or heard anything tonight, or I will make your life more miserable than it already is. Are we clear, Potter?"

 

"Are you–" Harry should curse the git right then and there. "Are you alright?" He didn't. Instead, he walked towards him, ignoring the warnings. "I am not here because of you, Malfoy. I just wanted to leave for a bit." 

 

Malfoy finally lowered his wand but raised an eyebrow. "Leave what?" 

 

"I don't know. Everything. Today just feels wrong." 

 

"You could say that, yeah." Malfoy turned back to stare into the landscape, and Harry took that as his sign to sit down beside him, at arm's length, of course.

 

"What about you? You don't seem to be in a jolly Christmas spirit." 

 

"It's Yule, Potter," Malfoy said. "Wizarding families don't celebrate Muggle festivities." 

 

"Sirius does." Before Harry had realised what he had just admitted, he saw Malfoy widen his eyes. 

 

"Sirius Black?!" he wondered. "You are in contact with serial killer Sirius Black? Have you gone mental, Potter? Of course you have, why am I even asking? News flash, he betrayed your parents, Potter!" 

 

Harry bit his tongue to avoid screaming at the boy that Sirius is innocent. "I asked you something first." 

 

Malfoy was suddenly overcome by visible sadness again. His eyes began to tear up, and he avoided Harry's gaze. "Today is my birthday," he whispered. 

 

Harry blinked away the confusion. "No," he began. "Your birthday is the fifth of June. You make such a big fuss about it every year that even we have noticed."

 

"It's a lie." A bitter laugh escaped Malfoy's mouth. "Everything is a lie", he said as tears rolled down his face. 

 

"Then if today is your birthday, why are you so sad? Shouldn't you be demanding a feast in your honour like you do on your fake one?" Harry wondered. 

 

"There is nothing to celebrate today." Malfoy, who had not once throughout the whole conversation taken his hand off the necklace he was holding on to, eyed Harry thoroughly before he took off the chain and handed him the necklace. "Lose it and I'll kill you." 

 

The cold silver chain shimmered in the moonlight as Harry carefully took it. The pendant hanging from it, which was the thing Malfoy had been clutching the whole time, was a translucent stone that shimmered white like fairy dust. It had the form of a waterdrop cut in half and lay softly surrounded by the silver casing. 

 

"It's beautiful." 

 

"It's a moondrop diamond." Malfoy smiled at it. At least he stopped crying. "It was a gift from the Goblin nation to my grandfather." 

 

On the backside of it, to his surprise, Harry found the constellation of the lion carefully engraved into the silver and the word Leo right below it. "Really, Malfoy? Leo the Lion?"

 

"What, you have a problem with that?" 

 

"No, it's actually my favourite constellation!" Harry laughed. "But I'm in Gryffindor. I just find it ironic that the prince of Slytherin has a necklace with our sacred animal on it."

 

"That one is not mine." Malfoy wrapped his arms around himself, and the tears that had just stopped began to fall again. "It's my– Mine was stolen– Ten years ago."

 

Now it was Harry's turn to raise an eyebrow. "So what? Yours said Draco on the backside?" 

 

"So what if it did, Potter?!" Malfoy snapped his head around angrily. But Harry, for the first time, didn't want to yell or curse at him, because in Malfoy's eyes, Harry saw pain. So much pain. Harry wanted to curse himself and his stupid need to save people.

 

"Then now I know what to look out for, and if I find it, I'll bring it to you. No matter where you are." He gave back the necklace to a silently crying Malfoy. "I promise." 

 

They sat there like that. In silence, at arm's length at the top of Hogwarts until the moon was going down and the sun's golden glow was initiating the day. 

 

"So," Malfoy spoke up after an eternity. "Sirius Black?" 

 

"Uh, right, uh, so…" Harry stuttered. "He did not betray my parents. Pettigrew was the actual secret keeper, and he was a Death Eater, but I guess your father might've told you that bit. Sirius escaped Azkaban to kill the rat. Failed. And is now hiding from the Ministry together with Buckbeak. Oh, and he is my Godfather and I'll visit him over Yule." 

 

Malfoy's eyes widened with every sentence until– "Your Godfather?– You took the bloody bird?!"

 

"Really? That's what you choose to focus on?" Harry rolled his eyes. "I couldn't just let your father and the Ministry kill him." 

 

"That beast almost killed me!" 

 

"Buckbeak barely scratched you."

 

"He could've gone for my head!" 

 

"He didn't touch."

 

"Potter!" 

 

"Wha–" Harry turned around to yell at Malfoy just to find him lying on his back on the floor while his feet dangled off the edge. He was covering his face with his hands, and a muffled laugh could be heard. "Malfoy, are you laughing?!" 

 

The boy widened his arms on the floor and grinned. "This whole night was so ridiculous!" 

 

"I think the most ridiculous thing is you lying on the actual floor. Did you hit your head?" 

 

"Please, you just see what you want to. I climbed a tree last year, and you were there with me. Did you think that was the only time I did that? Just so I could piss you off?" 

 

"Yes?" Harry said. "I mean, you've been way more bearable tonight than the past four years. I don't think I've ever seen you actually laugh and not laugh at someone."

 

"Well, Potter," Malfoy said while standing up. "Not everything is as it seems. It would do you well to actually see the world and not just look at it." He reached out a hand. "Come on, or we'll be late for breakfast."

 

--------------------------------

When he walked to his table, he was greeted by a hug from Hermione. "Where have you been, Ron told me you weren't here when he came back last night. The whole tower was looking for you!" 

 

Ron just handed him a plate with tackle tart. "Saved this for you." 

 

"Thanks, mate," Harry said. "Look, sorry I just disappeared. I just went to the Astronomy tower." 

 

"It was yesterday then. You know. That day." Hermione asked. 

 

Harry nodded. 

 

He had told them in the summer that once a year, he felt like his world was ripped away from him. They had never specified the date, just that they shouldn't wonder if he disappeared. 

 

Because with every passing year, it grew more painful. Not physical pain. He knew physical pain. It was gut-wrenching loneliness, longing for something he couldn't even remember. Something he doesn't know. Like he is missing something. 

 

The void that nothing could fill and the pain that nothing could stop.

 

That had been his 17th of December. Ever since he could remember.

 

"So, you're okay now?" Ron asked. 

 

"Yeah, I'm okay now," Harry said while taking another spoonful of tart. 

 

"And you're sure this isn't a you know who thing? You know, like the nightmares?" Hermione whispered worriedly.

 

He shook his head. "No, this is different. It's not painful in the way the visions are." 

 

"Good. And you are sure you want me to go to Sirius' place with you?" 

 

"Wouldn't have it any other way, Hermione." He smiled at his friend. Tomorrow morning, both of them would leave for Grimmauld Place, since Hermione's parents had to go for a family emergency. 

 

"Potter," a voice said beside him. He turned to see a girl in Slytherin robes holding a small green packet with a golden bow. "What–" Harry was cut off by her sharp, chocolate brown eyes glaring down at him. "Only Morgana knows why he did this," she muttered. 

 

"Draco wanted me to give this to you," she shoved the packet in his hand. "Looked for it like a madman."

 

"And why are you giving me this?" Harry raised his eyebrows.

 

"Because Draco dearest had to leave in the early morning, and as his best friend, it fell upon me to play messenger," Parkinson waved her hand boredly. "He told me to tell you to be careful when you open it. There is a letter at the bottom. Happy Yule, Potter and company." With that, she left. 

 

"What was that?" Ron asked. "Why would Malfoy get you a gift? It's a prank for sure!" 

 

"Might be," Harry said as he pulled out the letter. 

 

 

Potter, 

 

I got this after our last match. 

I didn't get to use it since I got stuck doing homework. 

Unlike you. 

Go do your homework. 

I don't know how you manage to do this poorly at school with Granger around.

 

It's a gift, so don't think about giving it back.

 

Be careful when you open it, and don't open it in the great hall, you impulsive dunderhead. 

Don't say I didn't warn you. 

 

Thank you.

 

Happy Yule,

Heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Malfoy

Draco S. Malfoy

 

 

"Here, take this," he said, giving Hermione the letter and turning to open the packet. He carefully opened the lid to take a peek, but decided to just open it when nothing happened. 

 

"He has a point, Harry. You should do better in school." Hermione said when she handed the letter to Ron. 

 

Inside the box was a red satin coffin with a golden clasp keeping it shut. Harry turned it in his hand to find a way to open it. 

 

"That Malfoy, even the box looks expensive, the git," Ron said while reading the letter. "Harry, mate, are you sure you want to open it? He was pretty straightforward about what not to do." 

 

"It's Malfoy, he might be lying anyway," Harry said when he found the button at the bottom of the clasp that opened the box. "Got it!" 

 

The moment the box opened, something golden flew out of it. Harry looked up to see the golden snitch hovering above his head. 

 

Oh no. 

 

In the blink of an eye, the snitch went flying through the great hall. Harry, of course, ran after it.

 

Just as he was about to catch it, a black sleeve got in his way. 

 

"I remember I told you to not open it here." Pansy Parkinson scolded.

 

"It's always the Griffindors, don't you know?" Theodore Nott had not even stood up from his seat while he handed Harry the golden snitch. 

 

"How did you catch it? That was amazing!" Harry laughed as he took the snitch. 

 

Daphne Greengrass came up behind her friend. "Theo could give Draco Dearest a run for his money when it comes to Quidditch." 

 

"Could. But I don't. Quidditch is so vulgar," he explained, shrugging his shoulders. "I just play Seekers games with Draco when he wants to train. So… Draco really gave it to him?" Nott asked, turning to Parkinson. 

 

The girl sighed. "Yes." 

 

"He was looking for it all over the dorm," Goyle said, and Crabbe nodded along.

 

"Why are all of you acting like it's such a bad thing?"

 

"I mean," Blaise Zabini spoke up. "It's not like you are friends. Why did he suddenly decide to give you a Yule gift?" 

 

Harry thought about it for a while. About Malfoy and their conversation last night. It had been, oddly enough, fun to talk to the posh prince of Slytherin. "I–" 

 

"Harry!" Hermione came running, followed by Neville, Ginny and Luna. She grabbed his arm in an attempt to pull him away. "Professor Umbridge will be here soon. She can't find out about the snitch fiasco! Let's go!" 

 

"Yeah, wait," Harry turned towards the group of Slytherins who were eyeing him skeptically. "I will try to be his friend. If he stops being a bully to my friends, that is."

 

"You don't know him." Daphne hissed.

 

"I know he was crying." Several of them froze on the spot. Namely Greengrass, Parkinson, Nott and Zabini.  "and I know I wanted him to smile." Harry continued. "Messing with him is no fun when he is upset." 

 

Greengrass stood up. Her glare was as cold as ice as she faced Harry. A finger to the chest, stabbing him. "If you ever, ever, try to hurt Draco by feigning to be his friend, I will personally make sure that the Potter name and its fortune end with you. He has been through enough as it is, and I will not stand for some wannabe hero to make it worse. Are we clear?" 

 

Hermione stepped in between them, frowning at the blonde girl in front of her. "Harry would never do that!" 

 

"Are we clear?" Greengrass repeated, not paying Hermione a split second of attention. Instead, her ice blue eyes were glued to Harry.  

 

"Crystal", Harry said. 

 

"I don't believe it," Hermione rambled as she pulled Harry away from the Slytherin table. "As if you would ever do that! Why do you even want to befriend him?! He's a right asshole!" 

 

"I don't know…" Harry said. "Misery seeks company, I guess."

 

"Malfoy? Miserable? You're kidding?"

 

"We talked a lot last night. He's not that bad when he's not trying to be…"

 

Hermione squinted her eyes at him as if looking for a lie. "You mean every time he's been a bully, he's been acting?"

 

Harry just shrugged. "I don't know. That's what I want to find out. But I am sure he's hiding something. Something big." 

 

"Wait until I tell Ron about this, he's going to go mental!" 

 

Chapter 2: Black

A nightmare. It had to be. 

 

But what if it wasn't!

 

“Harry!” 

 

He had to do something. 

 

“Harry, what's wrong?!” Ron was shaking him by the shoulder.

 

“Your dad, he's in danger!” Harry snapped up to look at his friend standing above him. “I had a Vision… I- A snake was attacking him! He’s hurt!” 

 

“What?…” Ron said, unsure. “Harry, it's probably just another nightmare…” 

 

Harry grabbed his arm and pulled him downstairs. “Not this one… I was the bloody snake…I saw it!” 

 

While they were running for the headmaster's office, they bumped into Parkinson and Nott laughing and tumbling around the castle.

 

“Potter?” Nott wondered. “What are you doing out at this time?” 

 

“Us? What are you two doing out at this hour?!” Ron countered. 

 

“Prefect Duty.”

 

“Drinking.” 

 

“Theo!” Parkinson screeched. “You can't just tell them that!” 

 

“So Potter,” Nott ignored his friend. “What are you up to this time?” 

 

“I need to see the Headmaster.” Harry glared. Could they stop wasting his time? 

 

The Slytherins eyed him up and down. “I could take five points from Gryffindor for being awfully boring,” Parkinson tapped her Prefect Badge lazily. “But I won't. The password is Lemon Drop.” 

 

Harry froze. He had not once thought of the password. “Thank you.” 

 

—-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

He could not close one eye that night. 

 

“Do you remember what position you watched this attack happen from?”

 

He did. Harry was inside the snake's head. He had been the blasted snake. 

 

How did Dumbledore know to ask that question? What did he know? 

 

Dumbledore had practically forced Harry to reveal to everyone in the room that he was seeing things he shouldn't. That he might be connected to Voldemort in more ways than they could fathom. The slight hesitation in Ron's voice when he thanked Harry for saving his father was proof enough for Harry to realise that they were beginning to doubt him. In that moment, Harry felt three things. 

 

The guilt of thinking that maybe he could've stopped the attack if he had just tried harder— that Arthur Weasley wouldn't be at St Mungo's if he had managed to stop the snake, or himself. 

 

A blazing pain from his scar, which made him want to scream.

 

And an overwhelming urge to set Dumbledore's robes on fire and kill him, just like he had just tried to do to Mr. Weasley.

 

But that had not been him. 

 

It wasn't. 

 

It couldn't. 

 

He wasn't a snake. 

 

And the snake did not speak. It hissed, but Harry couldn't understand it. It felt like a poor imitation of Parseltongue. That’s why he thought it must have been a nightmare.

 

Harry, in his desperation, took to walking around Grimmauld Place. It was even creepier and dustier in the middle of the night. After finding a Library he had not seen before, the way to a hidden garden and an old study, he walked into an empty room. 

 

When he held the glowing wand against the wall, he saw a tree pattern with pictures of people and their names underneath. 

 

He found the old grandmaster Phinneas Black on it and walked further into the room. Down the tree was Walburga, and then Sirius and Regulus. Close to Sirius and Regulus was a name he did not expect to find there. Narcissa Malfoy and under her…

 

Draco Sirius Malfoy

Born 17th of December 1980

 

and 

 

Leo Regulus Malfoy

Born 17th of December 1980

 

A Brother.

 

Draco Malfoy has a brother. And for whatever reason, he and his brother shared the same names as Sirius and Regulus did. 

 

“Who is there?!” Sirius' wand shone with a Lumos right in Harry's face. 

 

“Ugh, Sirius, get your wand out of my face!” Harry complained 

 

“Harry! You should've said something!” Sirius turned on the light in the room with a swing of his wand and grinned at him. “I see you have found my deranged family's family tree.” 

 

“I couldn't sleep—walked around a bit,” Harry explained. “I see that you’ve been burned off?”

 

“Curtsy of my mother,” Sirius shrugged. “She burned me off when I ran away from home at 16.” 

 

Harry tilted his head. “Where did you go?” 

 

“Your dads.”

 

Harry sank his face to the floor at the mention of his parents. 

 

He didn't know his parents, didn't remember them. Hell, he barely remembered his childhood, if at all! But they seemed like honest and great people. He was reminded of that again and again by everyone. War heroes Lily and James Potter. They wouldn't have even dared to think of killing Dumbledore. And here was Harry… your resident snake-vision-having-almost-killer…they would have hated him. That, he was sure of.

 

“Hey,” Sirius put a hand on Harry's shoulder. “Hey, Harry, look at me. What's wrong?” 

 

Harry looked at Sirius's worried face. He will hate me. But it's Sirius. Sirius would never hate him.

 

So he told him. 

 

By the end of his rambles, Sirius had pulled him into a hug.

 

“You’re not bad, Harry. You're human. We are not inherently light or dark. Good or bad. It's our choices that make us who we are. And you always choose to help. You're a good person,” he whispered. “Okay?” 

 

“Yeah.” 

 

“Good.”

 

“Sirius,” Harry looked his godfather in the eye. “What happened to Regulus?” 

 

Sirius froze. The grip on Harry's arm that steadied him loosened. The man's silver eyes began to glaze over with tears and distant memories. “I can't remember.” 

 

“Why?” 

 

Sirius smiled sadly. “I guess that's what happens when you spend too much time in Azkaban.”

 

“Then why do the Malfoy brothers share the same names as you and your brother?”

 

Suddenly, Sirius looked really confused. “Draco Malfoy has a brother?” 

 

“Yes, look,” Harry pulled his godfather toward the Malfoy brothers and pointed. 

 

“That’s… curious,” Sirius ran his finger over the names. “I wonder what drove Narcissa to do that…” 

 

“You didn't know?” Harry asked him as Sirius went down the stairs to the kitchen for a cup of tea.

 

“I tend to avoid places my mother loved,” he laughed. 

 

“I promised Malfoy to find something,” Harry whispered, stirring his tea. “A necklace… his brother's necklace.”

 

“You think you'll find it?” Sirius raised an eyebrow. 

 

“At least now I know where to start.”

 

“Well then, I am glad Molly didn't throw away anything last summer!” Sirius laughed and cheered with his teacup as if it were a glass of firewhiskey. 

 

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

The days after that were quiet. The Weasleys had left for the burrow first thing in the morning and had taken to visiting Mr Weasley every day. 

 

That was until Hermione and Professor Lupin arrived.

 

Professor Lupin had taken to sorting the kitchen. Sirius happily bought more food for him to store, while he himself was sitting beside the werewolf, watching. 

 

Hermione, on the other hand, caught wind of Harry's mission to sort out the cellar with all its artefacts and books, and she excitedly came along even after being told that he was looking for Malfoy's necklace.  

 

They had sorted through two rooms, day after day, when Hermione had another brilliant idea. 

 

“So, what if it's in the jewellery box of Sirius Mother?”

 

“Why would she have that?” 

 

“Why wouldn't she?” 

 

And just like that, Harry ended up on his way up the stairs and to talk to Walburga Black. 

 

“Uhmmm- Lady Black?”

 

“Who dares to interrupt my slumber! All of you filthy bloodtraitors sulling the halls of my ancestors!”

 

Harry had the urge to turn around and leave the old woman complaining in her portrait all by herself, but he decided against it. “I'm looking for something, a necklace, I want to give it back to Draco Malfoy!” he said.

 

The woman who looked so similar to Sirius stopped her screeches. “How do you know about the necklaces?”

 

“Draco showed me,” He decided to play nice by using Malfoy's first name. “The one that belonged to Leo…” 

 

“My sweet Leo,” she whispered.

 

“You know him?” 

 

Walburga looked him up and down, sighing. “My brother died when Narcissa was very young, just barely four years old. Druella was grieving, and her sisters were not home. So I took Narcissa under my wing. She grew up here.”

 

“You raised her? Together with Sirius and Regulus?!” Harry wondered, not recalling Sirius having mentioned the lady of House Malfoy once. 

 

“Her first wand, her first ball, her first year at Hogwarts. Orion and I were the ones who had to approve of Lucius, and Orion was the one who brought her to the Altar. I held her hand throughout her life. Narcissa is my daughter.” 

 

“So what of Leo…” 

 

“He was taken…” A painted tear fell from her silver eyes onto her rose cheek. “On the night of his fifth birthday, right after the celebrations. We looked everywhere and right when I thought I had a lead…I was assassinated.” 

 

“What about Regulus?” 

 

“That silly child bit off more than he could chew. Never asked for help. He went on a quest and never came back.” Walburga looked close to sobbing, her eyebrows scrunched up while she blinked away the tears that had formed while she thought of her late son. "He was presumed dead one year later when his name turned grey on the tapestry."

 

“And Sirius?” 

 

“Changed. They did something to him. In Azakaban or earlier because that man out there is not my son.” 

 

Harry raised an eyebrow. “You blasted him off your family tree, tough…” 

 

“I was angry when he left us to live with the Potters! I did that in a fit of rage, which admittedly was uncouth of me, but I asked him for forgiveness right after. I begged him to come home, and he did as soon as he finished his last year at Hogwarts. He learned to be a Lord from his Grandfather, learned our family magics and our traditions. We accepted that he was different. That stubborn boy would never agree with the pureblood ideologies of the past. It was his time to turn over a new leaf for our house, and we embraced that. We even accepted his romance with that wolf-boy.”

 

“Professor Lupin?!” Harry spoke up in his surprise. “Sirius dated Remus Lupin??”

 

“Yes. Although I must admit that I am surprised he became a professor. That boy was truly bright. I had assumed he became an unspeakable.” 

 

“Sirius doesn't seem to remember any of that…” Harry murmured. “Neither does Professor Lupin.” 

 

“Tell you what, Harry Potter, if you keep the blood traitors away from my portrait and my floor, I will tell you what I know.” 

 

“If you're not against Moony, then are you referring to the Weasleys?”

 

Walburga scrunched up her nose. “Their head of house betrayed the House of Malfoy a few centuries ago, and recently the House of Black and Rosier. Keep those traitors away from my quarters.” 

 

He thought about it. Keeping the Weasleys away from her wouldn't be an issue. They're busy anyway. “Fine, deal.” 

 

“Good,” she wiped her tears and stood up straight. “I do not have Draco's necklace.” Harry's shoulders slumped at that. “But I found a lead. Ten years ago, at the Wizarding Hotel in Edinburgh, a trustworthy wizard had claimed to have seen a big one-eyed man travelling with a black haired, silver-eyed boy. He described the child as having been wearing an expensive-looking silver chain.” 

 

“Edinburgh?” 

 

“That’s all I know.”

 

“Okay,” Harry decided. “Okay, yeah, that's enough. I will find it, and maybe Leo with it!”

 

“One last favour, Harry,” Walburga smiled at him. “If you go to the door to the right beside my chambers and say Toujours Magie, it should open to my dressing room. On the vanity, you will find my jewellery box. Make sure Narcissa gets it, please.”

 

“Mrs Malfoy? When am I supposed to give-”

 

Suddenly, the sound of breaking glass filled the house. 

 

Harry ran down to where he knew the others were. What he came to find would break Walburga's heart. 

 

Narcissa Malfoy was standing right outside the floo, Sirius's wand by her neck as tears rolled down her cheeks. 

 

Professor Lupin was standing far behind Sirius and hiding Hermione behind him. 

 

“How did you get in?” Sirius barked.

 

Narcissa wiped away her tears as she replied. “I am cued to the wards, Sirius, I lived here!” 

 

“Why would a Death Eater's wife live here?!” 

 

“A Death Eaters– What in Merlin's name are you talking about?!” Her soft face twisted in frustration. “I came here because someone told me you are alive, and I wanted to see you! You did not come to greet me after all!” 

 

“Why would I–”

 

Harry stopped Sirius before he said something he would regret later. "She's your sister! Just like my dad was your brother. Sworn siblings and all, you grew up together.” 

 

“Harry?” Sirius lowered his wand and turned to him. “What on earth are you talking about?!”

 

Narcissa's eyes widened in horror. “You don't remember.” 

 

“Mrs Malfoy, if I may interrupt, would you like to discuss this over a cup of tea?” Hermione peeked behind Professor Lupin, still somewhat hiding but visible.

 

“A cup of tea sounds lovely, Miss Granger,” Narcissa smiled at her. 

 

“Great, then I can give you something! I trust you won't kill each other in the minutes that I'm gone.”  With that, he turned around to run for the dressing room. 

 

After saying the password, he entered a dusty, dimly lit room with dozens of old-fashioned shoes and dresses. On the vanity, he found, as promised, a jewellery box filled to the brim with the most diverse accessories. Just beside it, Harry saw an old and dusty photo. It had dried tears on it.

 

Mrs Malfoy was sitting on the sofa with a cup of tea in one hand and a plate in the other while she smiled at Lord Malfoy, who had just choked on his. 

Beside him, a calm and younger-looking Professor Lupin was dressed in his usual wool jumper. Under it, an ironed shirt peeked out. He looked more put together than he did now, but still had his nose in a book at all times.

On the other side of the table, on a second sofa, Regulus Black was playing with a Black haired toddler, while Walburga was shaking her head while watching Sirius, who had just thrown a miniature Draco Malfoy into the air.

 

Harry could only assume Orion Black took the picture. 

 

They were a family. A real family. 

And someone took that away from them. 

 

He ran back down with his findings and gave the box to Mrs Malfoy. “Walburga wanted you to have that.” 

 

Harry put down the picture in the middle of the table. “And I found this right beside it.” 

 

Hermione leaned forward and clasped her hands in joy. “There is our proof! This is fantastic!” 

 

Sirius sighed and put his glass of Firewhiskey down. “So Remus and I were a couple, which neither of us remembers. Narcissa is basically my sister, Draco has a twin brother, I am the godfather to both of them, and Moony and I don't remember any of that. Did I miss anything?” 

 

“Wait. Wait. No. Go back to the beginning. What do you mean, you and Professor Lupin don't remember?” 

 

“Harry,” the werewolf warned.

 

Oh shit. He forgot again. “Yeah…sorry, Uncle Moony, won't happen again.”

 

“That sounds about right.” Moony smiled. “And yes, I don't remember any of this either.”

 

“Then it wasn't Azkaban.” Hermione caught on. “Someone deliberately changed your memories!” 

 

Mrs Malfoy put down her empty cup of tea. “Why would anyone do that?” 

 

“Well, that's what we need to find out, isn't it?” Sirius grinned with a mad glint in his eye. 

 

“Are we sure it wasn't Voldemort?” Harry asked, looking at the blonde woman. 

 

She shook her head. “He wouldn't do this. I can't tell you more, but I swear it wasn't him.” 

 

“I do not see why we shouldn't believe you when we have been very clearly fucked over by someone else.” 

 

“Moony!” Sirius laughed. 

 

“One more thing,” Harry told them all he had heard from Walburga.

Chapter 3: Green

The last day of Yule was one day away. 

 

Yet the mood at Grimmauld Place screamed of a deranged Sherlock Holmes and a Mad Watson losing their absolute shit over a case they can't solve. 

 

They had not celebrated with the Weasleys this year. Instead, Hermione, Moony and Cissa, as she demanded to be called by Hermione and Harry, took to sorting books, artefacts and spells that helped with memory loss, counters for obliviate and so on. They had not yet found anything that brought back the missing memories, but on the good side, Cissa seemed to have taken a liking to Hermione. 

 

Sirius and he decided to pay a visit to the Scottish highlands after the man at the counter of the Edinburgh hotel had said that the grey-haired wizard took a child to the highlands to visit a familiar. What they found was that they had taken the train up to Hogsmeade. 

 

Leo Regulus Malfoy had been taken to Hogsmeade. 

 

But nobody there would answer his questions, especially not with a scary-looking, growling Padfoot beside him.

 

When they got back to Grimmauld Place, they found that Cissa had taken to showing Hermione how to properly behave as a lady of the house black. Whatever that was supposed to mean. She even gifted Hermione a pair of diamond earrings she had gotten from Walburga for her debut. 

 

The whole evening, all of them spent trading findings and gossip, until Narcissa was getting ready to leave. 

 

"Wait," Harry called after her, running with a white box wrapped in a silver bow. "It's for Malfoy– Draco, I mean." 

 

"A gift?" Narcissa raised an eyebrow. 

 

"It's custom-made. Took up all my allowance, and I'm talking about the one Sirius gives me," Harry laughed. Cissa nodded along knowingly. The Black Family was beyond wealthy, only rivalled by the Malfoys and the founding families of Hogwarts, so at the beginning of the fifth year, Sirius decided to give each Harry and Hermione an allowance. Ron declined Sirius's offer, not wanting to disrespect his parents and his siblings. 

 

"Silver is the Malfoy Family's colour, right?"

 

"It is." 

 

"Then tell him not to open this in closed spaces," he said as he handed the box to her.

 

She took a look at his hand, and her face darkened. 

 

No, no, no, no, no! He had been hiding his scar so well. He even glamoured it every day just to be sure. She can't know.

 

"Harry, what is that on your hand?" She asked. 

 

"Nothing, Cissa. I promise." He lied. Harry had worked too hard at hiding his injuries for someone to notice that he was too weak to oppose Umbridge.

 

"You know that you can come to Sirius, Lupin, and me when something is wrong, yes?" 

 

"Yes."

 

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"Hermione, do not take out those books when professors are close by, I mean it," Moony repeated for the third time since they were waiting for the Hogwarts Express. 

 

"Of course not." She said, patting her trunk, which was full of books she had taken from Grimmauld Place. "I abide by rules. You should be more worried about Harry!"

 

"Oy, don't push this on me, they haven't given me anything illegal!"

 

Padfoot barked beside him. "See, Snuffles agrees!" Harry laughed. 

 

" Snuffles is also being accused of being a Serial Killer. I wouldn't take his word for it," a woman said. They turned around to find Narcissa, followed by Draco Malfoy and his father. 

 

"Cissa!" Hermione lit up and ran towards the woman. 

 

Narcissa embraced her while she shook her head. "What did we say about running, dear?"

 

"Oh, right, no running, sorry." 

 

Malfoy came beside him with a dumbfounded face as he looked at his mother and the Muggleborn girl. "How did that happen? It's been only two weeks."

 

"I think Narcissa believes Sirius will take Hermione as his Ward, besides Harry, of course," Moony explained.

 

Malfoy looked her up and down. "I guess she is better dressed than usual– are those diamond earrings?!" 

 

Harry smirked at the boy. "Your mother actually gave her those." 

 

"Don't ever tell Daphne that!" The blonde hid his face. "She's been dying for Mother to like her." 

 

"You are close?" Harry asked, amused. 

 

"She's my fiancée!"

 

"Oh," Harry laughed. "Yeah, I can see how that might be a problem." 

 

"How is he supposed to have a ward when he is a criminal?" Malfoy wondered, looking at the black dog.

 

"I will get him out." Lord Malfoy spoke up. "As soon as I find that rat, of course." 

 

Harry blinked at the Lord. "You don't know where he is?! Don't you both work for the same Lord?!"

 

"I don't see how that is any of your business, Potter, but I assure you we do not." Lucius Malfoy had the guts to say that after the night of the tournament!

 

"What of the Graveyard? You were there!"

 

"I don't have to explain myself to a child." 

 

"Lucius!" Cissa scolded as she walked over to Harry. "I am sorry he is in a bad mood today. We will get Sirius a trial and make him a free man before the Easter Holidays. You have my word." She looked at Moony in her last sentence. 

 

With that, the adults began their own conversation and left Hermione, Malfoy and him to their own devices. 

 

"So did you like your gift?" Malfoy asked. 

 

"It's great, thank you, Malfoy." 

 

"The only great thing was how he ignored your note and opened it in the middle of the great hall," Hermione said while sitting down on her trunk and pulling out a book. 

 

"I would complain, but I ignored his warning as well. The snitch flew right into my father's tea. I was forbidden from playing Quidditch the whole week." 

 

"Draco!" Blaise Zabini called. "Great, I found you! Come on!" Just like that, Malfoy had been pulled away from the group, and his parents left after him. 

 

Luckily. Because a minute later, the Weasley siblings came running. 

 

"Harry mate, am I mad or were you just standing with Malfoy and Malfoy senior?" 

 

"You're not mad. Come on, let's go get a cabin before they're full" 

 

—---------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Just after the feast, when everyone was supposed to go to their rooms, Harry was approached by none other than Snape. 

 

"What do you want?"

 

"I want nothing from you," he snarled. "But it seems that the headmaster wishes for you to learn the art of Occlumency. The art of hiding your mind, memories and thoughts from intruders. And it seems he wants me to teach you." 

 

"Why?" Harry asked. "It's not like anything happened during the holidays." 

 

"As you might recall, before the holidays, you had a vision that might have been the Dark Lord rummaging around in your mind. I'd recommend protecting yourself from that unless you, of course, want to become a madman. I am sure you will be very helpful like that. "

 

"So you would what? Invade my mind while I learn to protect myself?" 

 

"Exactly. Lessons are every Friday at six in the evening. We start today. If anyone asks, I am tutoring you in Potions. Merlin knows you need it." 

 

Harry followed the flow of Gryffindors to the dorm and grabbed Hermione and Ron to the side. They used the map to avoid the teachers and filch and made it to the Astronomy Tower. 

 

"Absolutely not!" Hermione decided after he had explained what Snape had said. 

 

"I think it's a great Idea! That way you can spy on him, but he can't spy on you!" Ron beamed. 

 

"Great, even the two of you can't decide…" Harry groaned. 

 

"If you want my opinion, I think it's a shit Idea." Harry turned his head and saw Malfoy walking towards them. The boy let himself down at the same place as last time. His arms wide as he lay on the floor, looking at the stars. 

 

"What are you even doing here?!" Ron asked. 

 

"This is my spot," Malfoy dismissively raised an arm. "Tell them, Potter. You stole it."

 

Harry sighed but raised his hands. "He is right. He was here before me." 

 

"Perfect, now back to Occlumency lessons." Malfoy played with the chain of his necklace. "Do you trust him? Enough to tell him your darkest secrets?" 

 

"No." 

 

"Then don't let him teach you." 

 

"While I agree with Malfoy, Harry might be in danger if he doesn't learn it," Hermione argued. 

 

"Do you trust my mother?" Malfoy asked. 

 

"Yes." Both Hermione and he said while Ron looked at the pair, baffled. 

 

"Then she could teach you-" 

 

"No. No, I can't have her know…things." Harry decided. He tried his best to stop his shivers when he thought about what he had to hide. Malfoy sat up and looked at him. 

 

"Then I could teach you." 

 

Harry looked to the blonde boy to his left in surprise. "Why?" 

 

"Don't get me wrong, I would much rather not roam around in your head, but if he can, then that's even worse." Malfoy stood up to face him. "You hold my family's secrets now. I need you to keep them."

 

"Okay," Harry pondered his options.  I trust you, Draco." 

 

Draco's silver eyes widened in surprise. "You are an enigma I do not understand." 

 

"I try my best." Harry shrugged and sat down on the floor. Draco sat down in front of him.

 

Ron blinked heavily when Hermione joined them. "What are my eyes seeing? Malfoy is sitting on the floor?" 

 

Draco snapped his hand to get Harry's attention. "Do you trust them?" 

 

"With my life." The answer was instant. 

 

"Good, they may stay. Now there are two methods I know how to teach you. First: I will attack you, with your consent, and you will try to hide your memories from me. After a while, you need to feel my magic in your mind simultaneously. When you find me, you try to push me out by force. It is an attack, and it will hurt, but it's the most effective. The second is that you willingly show me your memories one after the other, and I attack them one after the other while you try to hide them. It's like a game of tag, and my family used it to teach the children." 

 

"The first," Harry said with no hesitation. If it's the most effective, it's the fastest and quickest way he can stop this. 

 

"Understood. The most I will see is flashes of your memories unless you concentrate on one."

 

Harry nodded and instantly felt a sharp pain in his head. 

 

A few harmless memories came first. 

 

Him playing by himself in the Garden as a child. 

 

Him reading a book in his room. 

 

Him looking at Dudley opened gifts. 

 

Him accidentally burning himself on the stove. 

 

Him letting the plate fall to the floor. 

 

Him getting locked up in his cupboard. 

 

Him crying. 

 

Him getting slashed with Vernons belt. 

 

Him getting hit with a Pan by aunt petunia. 

 

Him almost freezing to death when they didn't let him sleep inside that winter. 

 

Him in the hospital because of pneumonia. 

 

Him getting beaten for getting sick right after. 

 

Then he finally felt the magic brush through his mind and pushed it out. 

 

When he came to, he saw Malfoy looking at him in shock as tears ran down his face. "I'm sorry," he whispered. 

 

"I don't want your pity, Draco," Harry growled while wiping the tears from his own eyes. He didn't even notice he was crying.

 

"I'm sorry, Harry, I didn't know. I'm sorry, I would never have treated you like that had I known. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry- I" Draco broke down crying, repeating the words over and over again when Harry pulled him into a hug. 

 

He brushed over his blonde hair. "It's not your fault." 

 

"You were so small– why did they do that? You didn't deserve that– you did nothing wrong! Why would they–"

 

"So he saw the abuse?" Ron asked. 

 

Harry nodded while still holding the crying boy. "A bit of it, yes."

 

"How can that leave you so unfazed?!" Draco cried while glaring at Ron.

 

"Oh, believe me, I cried every summer I wasn't allowed to take him home with me, since I found his scars in the first year," Ron explained. 

 

"We help him. Smuggle him stuff every now and then until Dumbledore lets him leave. It's all we can do." 

 

Draco sat upright and wiped his tears while new ones dropped. "It's not all I can do. Come on, take that bloody Invisibility cloak and follow me." 

 

"How do you-" Ron paled- 

 

"You're not as sneaky as you think, Weasley."

 

Somehow, they ended up in the empty Slytherin common room. 

 

Zabini, Nott, Greengrass, Parkinson, Crabbe, Goyle, Ron, Hermione, and he were sitting around the fireplace in front of which Draco was standing in his proper pureblood manner. 

 

"I need a favour. Or two. Theo, Vince and Greg, I need you to convince your parents to help my father find the rat Peter Pettigrew. And from all of you, I need to ask your parents to help my father get Sirius Black proven as Innocent." 

 

"Any reason for this sudden decision?" Theo asked. 

 

"I can't disclose that." Draco shook his head. 

 

"Draco," Harry called. "Do you trust them?" 

 

Draco nodded. "With my life."

 

"Good, then let's make this quick. I get abused at home, and if Sirius gets freed, I get to live with him since he is my very innocent godfather." 

 

"You get abused?!" Daphne schreckte. 

 

"It's not that-" 

 

"It's bad," Draco said. 

 

"You have been living there since you were a toddler. One year old. You're fifteen now." Zabini calculated the years. "It's not nothing, Potter."

 

Harry shrugged. "I can't remember the first five years of my life anyway, so it doesn't matter."

 

They froze. All Slytherins present froze. Again. Then they looked at Draco, who was looking at Harry with that sadness that made Harry's gut twist. 

 

"Harry, it's getting late," Hermione said, understanding the sudden shift in the atmosphere, standing up and pulling him with her. "Maybe we should go. Goodnight, everyone!"

 

 

Ron followed after them. "Mione, you can't just make us leave when those guys suddenly looked so tense!" he whispered when they stood outside the dorm. The gate was locked behind them. 

 

"Here," Harry gave the Marauders Map to his friends. "I'm going back in."

 

"Don't do anything stupid." Hermione nodded. "Come on, Ron, Harry will tell us what happened later." 

 

He stood there, outside of the Slytherin common room, contemplating using the password, but decided against it. He hissed the word 'open ' at the gate in Parseltongue, hoping it would open. Unsurprisingly, it did. Salazar Slytherin was truly way too arrogant.

 

The discussion was still going on. Parkinson, Crabbe and Goyle had apparently left, though. 

 

"Draco, you can't just assume things; anyone could lose a part of their memory," Nott argued.

 

"But exactly five years?" Draco wondered. 

 

"Children often don't remember their early childhood," Greengrass concluded.

 

"You don't find a sudden cut of five years suspicious?" Zabini asked. 

 

"It's not just that," Draco said so quietly as if it was only supposed to be heard by himself. "Their mannerisms are so similar. The way they squint their eyes, the way they hold a Quill, the talent on the broom. Don't mix the food up, but eat it one by one. There is not enough treacle tart or pumpkin juice. Never eat peas. We even have the same damn allergy!" Tears were now falling again as Draco slapped Notts' hand away. "How can you tell me it's all a coincidence?!"

 

Harry couldn't help but think that the two of them were more different than Draco thought. 

 

Draco always seemed to be on top of everything. He sneered down at the world that he thought below him– at least that's how he appeared. Yet from Harry's observations over the day, Draco seemed ambitious, cunning, but overall very kindhearted. He lets down his guard when he feels safe; he feels free to scream, to laugh, to cry. 

 

Harry had no guard. Instead, he hid his emotions under lock and key in a fucking bunker. More than anything, he was afraid. Afraid that someone would see his feelings as a weakness. Because he was Harry Potter, he had to be strong. Defeat Voldemort. There was no time for weakness. So he smiled and he laughed and he kept the key close so no one could break in.

 

He didn't believe that he could be Draco's brother. They were opposites in every way.

 

"You have not once felt your bond, throughout all the years. Leo is dead." Greengrass said. 

 

"He might not be," Zabini mumbled absentmindedly. "But we can be sure it's not Potter. He has a curse scar. Got it as a toddler. Those can't be glamoured on." 

 

Greengrass continued their almost perfect speech. "Draco, you might be projecting Leo onto him. You need to accept that Leo Malfoy has died. All of us did."

 

"No, No, No," Draco cried, shaking his head and keeping his eyes shut as if to drown out the world around him.  When he opened them again– just for a split second, just one blink, and Harry would've missed it, it looked like his silver eyes lit up in a familiar blood red. It might be his imagination. "No, I know he's alive." 

 

"Oh fuck it…" As if it were instinct, Harry rushed from under the invisibility cloak to pull Draco behind him, shielding him from the harsh opinions of his friends. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" He snapped at the group. "How can you say that to him?"

 

"Harry?" Draco asked, meeting Harry's eyes. "How did you get in?" 

 

"Parseltounge. Are you okay?" 

 

Draco shrugged while his eyes were still glassy. "Been better." 

 

"We have a lead," Harry decided to tell them. "A one-eyed man accompanied by a black haired child with silver eyes appeared in Edinburgh ten years ago. It was the lead Walburga was following before she got killed. Sirius and I managed to follow it up to the Scottish highlands. Hogsmeade, to be exact. After that, no one was willing to even say a word about it."

 

"See," Greengrass put a hand on Draco's shoulder. "Even Potter can't find him. Leo-" 

 

"Is alive." Harry interrupted Greengrass. "He is noted on the Black family tree. He can't be dead." He continued, choosing to ignore Greengrass fidgeting with her emerald earring. "Albeit that I don't see how that is any of your business."

 

"Oh?" Nott suddenly spun his head and narrowed his steel blue eyes. "But it's your business, yes? Since you and Draco are such good friends?!"

 

"At least I am trying to cheer him up. What's so special about you three anyway? What gives you the right to say stuff like that about his brother?" Harry rolled his eyes.

 

"They're my childhood friends." Draco laughed while wiping his last tears away with a handkerchief. "Mine and Leos."

 

"Well, congratulations, guys, you are shit childhood friends", Harry said deadpan. 

 

The angry look he received from Greengrass and the disappointment noticeable in Nott's body language were enough to let him know that he had hit the bullseye – the guts it takes. Seriously . Believing your childhood friend to be dead is one thing, but trying to convince his literal twin brother of it is simply foul.

 

"Go to bed, Potter. Circe knows you need it," Zabini lazily waved his hand. "Never heard of beauty sleep?" 

 

"No, but I am sure you are not the right person to ask, Zabini." 

 

"Ouch, that's vile, Harry ." Zabini teased while he sat back down. 

 

"It's what you get for years of bullying, Blaise ," Harry said. The other boy just leaned back in his seat, laughing, and put his arm on the armrest of the green sofa as he raised an eyebrow. "I'll have a go at all of you if you try me." Harry decided.