Finding Harry - Harry, Draco, PG Title: Finding Harry Author: elfflame Rating: PG Summary: Harry disappears the night of the attack on his parents' home. (Pre HBP canon) Disclaimer: This story not intended to infringe, no money is being made. The characters and places do not belong to me. I’m just borrowing them for a bit. A/N: Notes with the Prologue
As the boys left their first potions class, they were in quite high spirits. At least until they heard Weasley talking with his housemates. “That Snape. What a creep. He wouldn’t know a good student if they came up and kissed his arse.”
Draco stepped forward before Orion could stop him. “Watch yourself, Weasley. I wouldn’t talk that way about our professor if I were you.”
Ron turned, and Orion could see his ears had gone red. “Yeah, well, I noticed you and your brother got plenty of his attention. Teacher’s pet already, Malfoy?”
Orion’s voice was quiet, but it carried easily in the hall. “Watch your mouth, Weasley.”
Draco turned to his brother. “Don’t waste your breath, Orion. Weasleys aren’t taught manners like civilized people are…” And with that, Weasley jumped forward, tackling Draco around the chest. With that, both boys were on the floor, punching as hard as they could.
Orion watched this scene unfold with horror. He looked over at the Gryffindors, who had all pulled back when the Slytherins approached. Longbottom stood at the front of the crowd, wringing his hands as he watched the fight. Orion recalled the wonderful conversation he and Draco had had with the two Gryffindors less than a week ago, and quickly reached a decision. He turned to Vince and Greg, who still stood beside him, though the rest of the Slytherins had pulled back away from the fight. “Damn it, pull them apart!” When the boys hesitated, he got angry. “Now! Before a teacher shows and we all get detention!” They hurried to where the two rolled about on the floor and pulled them apart.
Draco’s lip was split, and his eye was already swelling, but still he struggled to get at the other boy. “Draco, do you want to get a detention our first week of school? Especially a week when father is coming to visit?” Then Orion turned to Weasley. “And you should learn to control your temper, Weasley. Just ‘cause you don’t like a teacher doesn’t mean that no one should.” Weasley glared at him, but didn’t respond.
“Look, I thought maybe we were getting along a bit better after the time we spent talking on Monday. I guess not, hm? Just stay out of our way, and we’ll stay out of yours. All right?”
Weasley glared for a moment longer, then nodded. Vince let go at Orion’s nod, and Weasley moved off to the center of the Gryffindor crowd who stood off on one side of the hall, facing the Slytherins who had gathered together on the other side. The Gryffindors glared at the Slytherins for a moment, but when Weasley and Longbottom began to walk up the hall towards the great hall, they turned to follow, the Slytherins forgotten for the moment.
After lunch, the rest of the day went much faster, and soon it was time to find their way once more to the room the Headmaster had set aside for the boys to talk to the students from the other houses. Draco tried to convince Orion to bring Vince and Greg, but Orion refused. “The headmaster said not to. Do you really want him to go back on his word?” Neither boy was ready for this. Neither truly believed that Orion was truly Harry Potter, but that wouldn’t stop the Headmaster from telling people he was.
“We certainly haven’t made a friend yet. If your little fight didn’t prove that to you, it certainly did to me. It’s not going to kill us, Drake. We’ll be fine.” He turned away from Draco and led the way to their meeting room.
They only had to wait for a few moments before their visitors arrived. They introduced themselves as Ernie MacMillan and Hannah Abbott. They were Hufflepuffs. The boy was complete milquetoast. He simpered at them every time he talked, trying to gain favour, obviously. The girl was even shyer than Longbottom had been. It was all Orion and Draco could do to keep the conversation going the entire hour. When the Hufflepuffs had left, they both drew a great sigh of relief. There were two who would never be on their friends list, not if they could help it.
The next morning, they awoke in the best mood they’d had since they had arrived at the school. It was the weekend, and they had a whole morning to waste however they wanted. Sure, they had homework, but that could be dealt with on Sunday afternoon, once they’d enjoyed themselves a bit.
Draco, Orion, Vince and Greg, followed quickly by Pansy, Daphne and Tracy, all spilled out on the front lawn. The boys began their favorite game. Who could tell the best tall tale and get the most people to believe it. And, if something was guessed to be false that was true, even more points were awarded. Draco, of course, was best at this, though Orion followed closely behind. Vince actually had them going when he told them about how his mother had gotten pregnant that summer, but had spelled the child to another woman so she wouldn’t have to carry it. Pansy was in tears of laughter over that one.
By lunchtime, they were all quite relaxed, and went inside to eat, but as they walked up the staircase to the main entrance, Orion and Draco’s father appeared at the top of the stairs.
“Draco, Orion. I was just speaking with your headmaster. I thought the three of us could have lunch in Hogsmeade. That is, if you’re interested, of course.”
“That would be great! Can Vince and Greg come?” Draco asked.
Lucius shot the other two boys a look. “I’m afraid not. Perhaps another time.”
Orion and Draco knew what that meant. He was brushing their friends off, but didn’t want to be obvious about it. Lucius watched the rest of their little group as they hurried around him and into the hall, then turned back to his sons. “Well, boys, shall we go?”
The boys ran back down the stairs, and Lucius followed close behind. As they walked to Hogsmeade, Draco told their father about how their first week had gone, chattering on about their teachers, and especially how great Snape was. Orion, though, said nothing. He spent the entire trip to the little town examining the man he had always known as ‘father.’
He wanted to be angry. He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs. But those weren’t things a Malfoy did. But he wasn’t exactly a Malfoy, now, was he? So, what did that make him?
Orion’s musing continued in this way until they entered the Three Broomsticks. Lucius led the boys to a private room at the back of the place, and Madam Rosmerta brought them a plate of sandwiches, a large bowl of soup, and three tankards of butterbeer.
Orion picked at his lunch as he watched Lucius and Draco chat while they ate. Lucius asked what their favourite classes were, if they’d met any new friends, and whether or not they needed their own room. “I can arrange it for you, if necessary, Draco. I mean, what’s the good of having a father who is a school governor if you get no perks?”
Draco grinned. “Nah, we’re good, father. For now anyway. But I’m sure we’ll keep it in mind, won’t we, Orion?”
Orion tried to smile but his facial muscles just wouldn’t cooperate.
Finally, after nearly an hour, he couldn’t take it any more. A sneer appeared across his face as he growled, “Are we going to talk about this, or are we just going to continue to avoid it?”
Draco and Lucius both looked at him, startled. Orion had always been the quieter of the two boys. It was Draco who was prone to outbursts. Lucius recovered quickly, though. “Well, I thought we could behave like civilized people first, and then discuss things calmly and rationally.” Lucius’s eyes were narrowed, and both boys knew what that meant. He was displeased.
But for once, Orion didn’t care. What did it matter what Lucius Malfoy thought? He wasn’t his father. “Civilized people? You mean the kind of civilized people who help kill a couple, then abduct their son? That kind of civilized people?” He stood up, and his voice, first low, began to rise as he spoke, until he was near-shouting at Lucius.
Lucius stood and towered over him. “You cannot possibly understand what happened that night, boy. I saved you. Do you honestly think you would have survived the night if I hadn’t taken you with me? Do you think my former comrades would have let you live?”
Orion barked a laugh. “Former comrades? Since when are Greg and Vince’s fathers no longer welcome in your home, Lucius? The day you disassociate yourself from the other Death Eaters is the day you fall down dead. And I’m beginning to think I might enjoy waiting for that day.”
Lucius stepped forward, his cane in his fist. Both boys recognized that as a very threatening move, but while Orion held his ground, Draco was quick to move. Between them. “Stop it!” He glared at his father.
“Get out of the way, Draco. Your brother’s far too ungrateful for the life I’ve given him …”
“And which brother is that, father? The one who you admit to having abducted, perhaps?” Draco’s hand reached for his wand. “I won’t let you hurt him. You’ve done enough already.”
Then another growl came from behind Draco. “Get out of the way, Draco. He’s right. This is between him and me. But he’s wrong about one thing. He’s had this coming. For ten years. And, as I am the Boy Who Lived, I’m probably the best one to give it to him.” Draco looked at Orion, and was horrified to see him, wand out, an almost visible halo of energy crackling around him.
“Ori, no…”
“Draco, get out of the way.”
“Ori, I can’t let you do this.”
“He helped kill my parents!”
“He’s our father, Ori.”
“He’s not my father. My father’s dead! I can’t even wish that I wasn’t his son.” Orion met Lucius’s cool blue gaze. “Because I’m not, am I, Lucius?”
Lucius looked down his nose at the boy. “No.” He broke the gaze, and laid his walking stick across the table. “No, you’re not. But I wish you were.”
The two boys gaped at him. They had never seen their father back down before in their lives.
“You were so obviously powerful. I wanted to make sure you had all the training someone with your power deserved. And you got it.” He looked back, meeting Orion’s eyes. “Are you truly so unhappy with your life?”
Orion had no answer for this. He looked away from Lucius, then took one look at Draco, then turned away entirely. Draco moved to his brother’s side. He tried to put his hand on Orion’s shoulder, but Orion shook him off. “We should get back to school. We have homework to attend to.”
Lucius nodded, picked up his cane, and placed several galleons on the table. “Come along, boys.” The walk back to the school was much quieter than the walk to Hogsmeade had been. The boys separated from Lucius at the steps and ran back to their dorm without another word to him.
Lucius sighed. He supposed he’d truly messed things up. But what was he supposed to have done? Told the boy from the beginning, but sworn him to secrecy? It would never have worked. Dumbledore would have found out far too soon. At least this way, Orion had a home with them, and eventually he would see that.
As Lucius turned to leave for home, however, Severus Snape appeared behind him. “Lucius. We need to talk.”
Lucius stiffened. “Do we, Severus? Whatever about?” he quirked an eyebrow at the man.
“Your son.”
“My son? Which one?”
“Orion.” The scowl on Severus’s face told him this was more than a simple request.
Lucius drew himself up and glowered at the Potions Master. “I see. And where will we be having this…talk?”
“My office, Lucius. And I refuse to take no for an answer. If I don’t get answers from you, I will get them from your sons, Lucius. So, which do you prefer?”
“I don’t seem to have been given a choice, do I?” he growled. He stepped towards Severus. “But just because I don’t want you to harm my sons. You do, Snape, and you’ll answer to me.” With that, he walked past the man and headed towards the dungeons, towards the room he knew Snape used as his office.
Snape followed closely behind, and once they were in his office, he locked and warded the door, so that no one could eavesdrop on them. Then he turned back to Lucius. Now that the man was here, he was uncertain how to begin. Perhaps it would be best to start with the hard questions. “What is wrong with Orion?”
Lucius smirked. “Wrong? Is there something wrong with my son, Snape? You should be careful, old friend. After all, if anything were to happen to either of my sons while they were under your care, you would be the one held accountable.”
Snape tried desperately to keep the growl from his voice, and tried again. “Your son collapsed on Wednesday, after receiving this,” he tossed the letter Orion had received from Lucius at him, “from you. What, exactly, is it that you told him that is the truth, Lucius? You’ve been hiding a secret about that boy for some time now. I always thought your relationship with the boy was a bit odd. If I find out that you’ve hurt the boy…or worse…”
Lucius laughed lightly, and tossed the letter on Snape’s desk. “Calm yourself. You’ll give yourself a coronary. I have never hit either of my sons, nor have I touched them in any…unsavoury way.”
Snape glared at him. “But?”
There was a cold glint in Lucius’s eye, but nothing would make Snape back down now. This boy was in his charge. How was he supposed to guide the boy if he didn’t know what was going on with him?
Snape watched as Lucius visibly steeled himself before speaking. This was definitely something he was not going to enjoy hearing. “Orion is not my son.”
Snape did not know whether to laugh or call him a liar.
Lucius turned away from him. “I…took him from his parent’s home the night they were killed. He’s never known any home but ours. Narcissa doesn’t even know. I charmed her memory so she would think the boys were twins. There are only four months between them. No one really questioned it.”
Snape was horrified. “You took the boy during one of your Death Eater raids? Did you want to get caught? What if the Dark Lord had found out?”
Lucius laughed a mirthless laugh. “Do you truly think me a fool, Severus?” He looked at Snape, and Snape was horrified at just how cold the man’s eyes could get. “Whose son do you think I would waste my life on? Come now,” he purred, “why would Lucius Malfoy do such a completely ludicrous thing?”
Snape examined the man while he thought. Lucius was never a man to make a simple mistake. So why would he risk the Dark Lord’s wrath? Unless…Snape had not been there the night the Potters had been killed, but many of the Death Eaters had. Had Lucius been there? Could he possibly have taken… “Harry Potter?” Snape whispered, horrified.
The self-deprecating smile Lucius wore horrified Snape almost as much as his discovery. “I see your brains haven’t completely decayed since you left school. I trust you to keep this to yourself. Dumbledore has promised me that the boy will stay with us, as he is happy and healthy. That it will be the boy’s choice to release his identity to the world at large. Can I count on you?”
“I will speak of it to no one but Dumbledore, the boys, or yourself.” He pulled himself straight. “But you can’t really expect this secret to stay secret for long, Lucius.”
“Perhaps not, Snape, but if I discover that the leak came from Slytherin house, you will be the first I will seek out and destroy.”
Snape narrowed his eyes. “You…actually care for the boy? But…he’s…a Potter.”
Lucius moved until his face was inches from Snape’s. “No, he’s a Malfoy, and has been since he was one year old, Snape. And don’t you forget it. If I hear any complaints from the boys about how you treat my sons, you will regret that, too.” With that, he walked to the door. “Good evening, Snape,” he tossed over his shoulder. Then the door was open and he was gone, leaving a horrified and confused Potions Master behind him.