Hello, this is my first fanfiction, I'm so nervous.
The main pairings are: HarryxTom and HarryxDraco.
PLEASE NOTE: the characters may be OOC at times, but this is intentional. For example: Tom, Draco and Harry are of a young age in this chapter, so they are going show some mannerism of being children, Draco is a prominent example of this, Marvolo is an anomaly and Harry is...
Also, this is just the prologue, so yes it is short and may be quick paced and you may even despise it altogether, but I can sincerely tell you, the other chapters WILL be better and more detailed, this chapter is just a filler/background information so you don't get confused later on.
well, I hope you like it and happy reading.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything, nor am I making profit from this.
Prologue
Marvolo couldn't comprehend why his mother bothered with his birthday anymore; he wasn't particularly fond of them.
Every year it was the same tedious procedure, there would be an excess of opulent displays from fireworks to presents, and his seventh birthday had been no different.
Due to his position as the Black heir he had to act accordingly, which entailed that he had an obligation to advertise himself at such trivial functions and politely mingle with the masses gathered, smile and endure the clingy, snotty brats that kissed the very ground he walked on, and receive occasional glares from his younger cousin, Draco.
Currently, he was leisurely reading one of his ancestral tomes, on the most effective ways of torture and how to execute the spells required without a wand.
Last week, he had managed to skin all twenty of Neville Longbottoms's Toads simultaneously, with just a click of his fingers, when the vermin dared to soil Black manor with his presence.
Suddenly, the door of his room slammed open, "aunt Bella is calling you, cousin," Draco announced rudely, he spat the word cousin as if it were something muggle.
"Most people knock," he responded calmly, rising from his chair with grace and taking long elegant strides towards the door, pausing a inch from Draco's face, "then again, you've always behaved in such an unrefined way, worse than muggles, that's a hard feat to accomplish. Aunt Cissa must be so proud, her only pureblood son behaves in a manner lower than dirt," he gave his cousin a brief smirk, before proceeding to the main hall, where his mother usually was around noon.
He heard quick, heavy footfalls behind him, and Draco's pesky shouting, "how dare you!?"
Draco had now caught up with him, "at least I have a father! Where's yours? That's right, he died before he could see how much of a disgrace y –"
"SHUT UP!" He threw Draco across the hall with a jerk of his hand.
Unfortunately, or rather fortunately for Draco, he couldn't harm the blonde for obvious reasons, such as: risking the Malfoys cutting off their investments with the Blacks, upsetting his mother and aunt Cissa and despite being incredibly annoying, Draco was a pureblood, and also his younger cousin – he wouldn't harm his family.
Marvolo held out his hand to Draco, who pulled himself up and dusted off his robes, "We should really go see what aunt Bella wanted before she destroys something," he said sniffing while avoiding Marvolo's eyes; it was the closest thing Marvolo would get for an apology.
"You're quite right, we're late enough as it is," and they continued to the main hall.
"There you are Marvolo sweetheart, come over here, you too Draco," his mother waved them over, a mischievous look on her pretty face.
Placing one elegant hand on his shoulder and the other on Draco's, his mother directed them towards the fireplace, and handed him floo powder, he glanced up at her, silently asking what their destination was.
" 's hospital," she replied and together the three of them arrived in a room furnished with excessive white. He abhorred that colour, the colour of innocence.
He cast a brief glance towards Draco to see if he knew the reason why they were here, if his puzzled expression was anything to go by, it seemed he didn't know either.
"What is the purpose of our visit, mother?"
She smiled down at him fondly, "our blood traitor relative, my cousin and your uncle: Sirius Black is on his deathbed – finally – and he's made a will that we've come to collect our rightful share of. Look, there he is, isn't he absolutely loathsome?" She pointed to the lone body in one of the beds at the end of the room.
They were now standing adjacent along the length of his blood traitor uncle's bed. It was his first time seeing the man, he wasn't on the Black family tree - with good reason - and his mother had successfully kept him away from scum like Sirius Black and his mud blood and muggle loving friends.
Sirius Black was a slender man, with pale skin and high cheek bones, dark, wavy shoulder length hair; and dark stubble dusted his jaw, with an equally dark moustache resting above his thin, chapped puce lips.
Draco gasped; he seemed to have met the man somewhere else before it seemed, "aunt Bella, what's wrong with him?" Draco asked, his voice sounded off...
Mother just laughed, "he's in a coma, one from which luckily, the chances of him waking up are very low." Marvolo noted the minute widening of his cousin's silver eyes. How interesting...
"I don't understand, if he's in a coma, how will he hand us the will?" he voiced his thoughts aloud. Just as he had finished speaking, an old man, with long greying hair and a matching beard entered the room – Marvolo already hated him.
He had a suspicious twinkle in his eye and a false smile on his face, and his robes were even worse, they were an eye gouging magenta, he looked like a mad goat that had drunk polyjuice potion and got stuck in between goat and human. Merlin, he was repulsive and made Marvolo cringe away from him and take a step closer to his mother.
Speaking of his mother, her beautiful face was wearing an expression of disgust and immense hate, "what do you want?" She shot icily, her chin raised and back stiff.
The man chuckled, it sounded like some animal choking, "I merely came here to bring you the will, and I will gladly hand it over to you, if you agree to the terms of your cousin's will."
"Well? Read out the terms old man, we haven't got all day," his mother huffed, crossing her arms together.
"There is only one, very simple term which you must agree to via unbreakable vow," the goat began slowly, so slowly that his mother had to scream, "spit it out!"
"You must agree to become the guardian of your cousin Sirius Black's only godson, in return you get to own anything and everything your cousin owns, do you agree?"
He heard more than saw his mothers jaw clench, "and who, is his godson?"
The crazy old man smiled down at thin air and said, "It's alright Harry."
A frail looking boy appeared out of thin air; in his hands he held a velvet cloak.
An invisibility cloak apparently, Marvolo concluded.
"Potter!?" Draco exclaimed, and moved around the bed to grab the other boy's upper arms, intently peering at his face.
Outwardly, Marvolo's face didn't betray any of his inner reactions, the most prominent one right now being shock.
There was a softness is his cousin's eyes and a tender expression on his face, "what's wrong? What's happened? Why are you crying?" Draco asked, his brows furrowing and bought his head to the same level as the shorter boy's, Draco wiped away his tears with his thumbs.
How peculiar, Draco had never behaved that way towards him, or anyone else for that matter, Marvolo was almost a bit...envious.
Almost.
He would have been, had he not possessed everything, Marvolo knew just how handsome he was and often used his good looks to get what he wanted, he was a child genius and he was from the noble house of Black, the oldest and most powerful pureblood family, so he wasn't jealous, not even a bit.
Though out of curiosity, he took a closer look at the boy, and promptly tried to suppress a gasp.
The smaller boy was beautiful.
He was the most beautiful thing Marvolo had ever beheld; he was even better looking than Marvolo himself.
He had milky white, porcelain skin that glowed like a renaissance painting and contrasted and complimented his straight, thick, unruly raven locks that sat on his head like a halo. He had the most perfect, straight, dainty nose and pert red lips, but the most captivating feature on his face, were his almond shaped emerald eyes. They were so vivid, and Marvolo could clearly make out the different hues of green, ranging from jade, sea green and aquamarine, there were also hints and specks of silver and ultramarine around his pupils.
"Draco, don't be rude, introduce your cute little friend to us, won't you," his mother cooed mockingly and the effect on Draco was instant, he bristled and yelled, "he's not my friend! He's my rival! I hate him the most!" Brusquely, he pushed the other boy away and resumed his place next to Marvolo.
Without warning, Marvolo chuckled, "honestly, you're so childish dear cousin," he paused, "I hate him the most," he imitated and erupted into a fit of laughter, his mother joining in as Draco went beet red and scowled.
"So who is this, I've never seen or heard of him before," this time his mother addressed the weird old man.
From the corner of his eyes, he could see Draco's eyes were glued to 'his rival' as he so eloquently put it and there was genuine worry etched onto his face.
"This is Harry Potter, son of the deceased James Potter and Lily Evans," instead of looking at the old man, Marvolo was observing Draco's reactions, the way he discreetly bit the corner of his bottom lip, the slight furrowing of his brows and his eyes had... tears pooling in them.
"A half blood!? You expect me to soil the noble and most ancient house of Black by adopting that filthy creature!" his mother shrieked, making Draco flinch and open his mouth in protest, then quickly close it again.
An idea formed in his brilliant mind, "mother, the will only states that you have to agree to be the guardian, as in provide a home, and basic necessities for the child, it does not state that you need to adopt him as a relative. He could have any status as long as we have ownership over him; say like a...personal servant?" He whispered in her ear.
She beamed at him and kissed his temple, "my amazing child, what a mind you have," she then straightened up and faced the old goat, "I accept."
"Brilliant, now Harry, remember what I told you," the old man gently pushed the half blood towards them. Draco clenched his fists, probably to restrain himself from reaching out towards the pitiful boy. Later, he would make his cousin wash his hands, since a scourgify wouldn't be enough to erase the filth of the half blood.
His mother held one end of the will in one hand, and the half blood held the other end with his smaller one, "Do you...accept the terms of the will?" The half blood whispered with a trembling lower lip and glassy eyes. Disgusting.
"I do," his mother replied with confidence.
The thin tongue of flame that was entwined around their hands and the will dissolved, "it is done," was all the old man said before apparating away.
The three of them and the half blood flooed back to Black manor shortly after.
"Don't touch anything, don't sit anywhere and don't speak until you're given permission, just stand where you are," his mother said, distancing herself from the half blood and taking a seat on one of the plush green chairs.
"So, Draco dear, how do you know this half blood?"
Draco was pointedly avoiding looking at anyone or anything but the floor and through gritted teeth, he replied, "father often held business meetings with his relatives, so we've met quite a number of times."
"That's the difference between the Malfoys and the Blacks; we don't sully ourselves with such vile creatures, while your father has no qualms about rolling around in their foul presence." The half blood seemed indifferent to his mother talking about his kind. Draco, however, looked livid.
"And you're not so different from your father Draco, if you think a half blood should be considered a rival, you should know you were born better than him. But I'm sure it's not your fault Draco, the half blood probably brainwashed you into thinking that you were equals, a mistake that I'll rectify," his mother then threw a disgusted sneer at the half blood before turning her gaze to him and grinning.
"Since it was Marvolo's ingenious idea and since he is practically Lord Black now, I think it fair if the half blood is my son's servant exclusively, I already have many house elves at my disposal, what say you Marvolo?"
"Thank you, mother," he replied, enjoying the horrified expression that contorted Draco's face.
"Well half blood? Thank my son for being generous enough to suffer your presence."
Meekly, the half blood looked at him with those lovely big eyes of his (he was almost forgiven for being of dirty blood, due his appealing appearance) and muttered a quiet, "thank you."
"I'll leave you to do with him as you please, I'm retiring to my room for now," his mother yawned and departed.
Draco was now seated next to Marvolo in his room, studying Potter stoically.
It was unfair.
Potter was HIS rival, why couldn't he be Draco's servant; they had know each other longer, hated each other longer and Draco and Potter were both six while Marvolo was seven.
He knew he was being childish, but that's just what he was, a mere child, both him and Potter, Marvolo was the anomaly here and was a genius in both intelligence and magical prowess, therefore he had never behaved like all the normal children.
It was partly his cousin's fault that Draco had to act mature and know bigger words.
His father always criticizes him for not being on par with Marvolo and he and auntie Bella are always drilling him with the importance of blood purity.
He was furious when aunt Bellatrix bad mouthed his father and even Potter.
No matter how much Draco loved to hate Potter, even he could admit that his rival didn't deserve the way his aunt and cousin treated him, like he was a muggle. Yes, Potter was a half blood, but Draco hadn't blamed him, it was his Gryffindor father's fault for marrying a mud blood, Potter didn't choose his parents. If Potter had chosen who his parents were, the least they would have done was look after the boy instead of leaving him on his own with a godfather who was always drunk.
When he had heard of Potter's parents deaths he wasn't saddened by their deaths, but by the fact that Potter had once confided in Draco, during his weaker moments, that he wanted his parents to acknowledge him, to love him. Now Potter had no chance, now he had no one...
Except Draco.
Silently, Draco made a pledge to always hate Potter, and it would be worth it since Potter made his bland life interesting, entertaining, he made Draco feel like he was worth something, and he didn't compare Draco to Marvolo nor preach about how Draco should behave.
Yet, there was something puzzling him.
Earlier today when he had seen Potter crying, he felt a foreign emotion tighten his chest and make his throat feel scratchy. Usually, he would love to see him cry, maybe Draco felt weird because he wasn't the one to make his rival cry, yeah that explained it, and he would make sure he was the only one who made Potter cry, simple.
"What's your name half blood?" Marvolo asked sharply, with an aura of superiority.
"Harry Potter," his rival replied dejectedly, his emerald eyes were void of their usual fire.
"Not anymore. Discard the memory of your previous self; erase Harry Potter the half blood. You are now my personal servant hence you require a better name, one that reflects well on me. From now on you are Nero, the skilled servant of Lord Marvolo Black."
His older cousin had a knack for theatrics and being a pompous ass (more than Draco) and wasn't afraid to flaunt said skill daily.
Before Draco could open his mouth to protest on how the name didn't suit his rival, Potter beat him to it, "No! I'm Harry, and I'm not your servant!"
"You ungrateful son of a mud blood! This is my home! You WILL do as I say or suffer the consequences!" Marvolo stood up and towered over Harry threateningly, no one had ever said 'no' to Marvolo.
"No I won't! You can't hurt me; you made an unbreakable vow to –"
Marvolo violently backhanded Harry's cheek, the impact making the younger boy stumble to the floor, "you stupid half blood, I never made the vow, my mother did! And the will has many loop holes, for one it didn't state specifically how we should treat you." To prove his point Marvolo threw a spell at harry, Draco had no idea which one, since Marvolo merely flicked his hand, but he was sure it was quite painful judging from the way Harry was writhing and screaming on the ground.
"Stop it! You'll kill him. Please!" Draco begged, the painful twisting in his chest returned with a fierce vengeance.
"Tch. Reduced to begging for a half blood Draco?" Marvolo narrowed his eyes but thankfully ended the spell.
Unexpectedly, his cousin settled on the floor, placing Harry's head on his lap, one of his hand threaded through Potter's messy hair, and the other caressed his cheek, "if you don't want to experience that again, or something even worse, then you will agree to my terms and seal the deal with an unbreakable vow, do you agree?"
Harry shook his head slightly.
Bellatrix was going over the list of valuable properties and items her blood traitor cousin possessed, when there was a single knock on the door, "enter."
She grinned from ear to ear; it was Marvolo, her smile withered when she noticed the second arrival: the half blood, "has he been troubling you, Marvolo?"
Her son smiled angelically; however, he had a wicked gleam in his eye, he was planning something, she was sure of it, "no mother, I came to ask you to be the bonder for our vow."
Immediately, she was tense, "what?"
"We came to an agreement that will benefit us both..."
"Alright," she agreed only because she had faith in Marvolo, he wouldn't put himself at risk, he knew what he was doing.
Draco stood by idly, watching the proceeding of the vow.
"Will you agree to obey each and every one of my commands to the best of your ability, to pledge yourself to me as my sole servant?" Marvolo began.
"Y-yes."
It was disgusting; Marvolo was so casually degrading his rival.
"Should I be in any form of danger, will you risk yourself for me? Will you protect me with your life, and refrain yourself from harming me?"
That wasn't what they had previously agreed upon, Marvolo was cheating!
Too late, the words slipped from Harry's confused mouth, "I will."
Draco blinked and it was over, "wait! What about Harry's part, you promised not to harm him!"
"I never remember making such a promise; the deal was that if the half blood agreed to my terms under the unbreakable vow, I wouldn't harm him again...today."
Draco felt nauseous.
"But..." Harry began weakly, his whole form shaking.
"From now on, your name is Nero, understand?" Marvolo said looking smug.
"I... Yes."
"And also, you will call me either: my Lord, Lord Marvolo, Lord Black or master, do you understand, Nero?"
"I do...my lord."
Draco despised Marvolo.
He apparated back to his small cottage in Godric's Hallow, a sinister smile pulling on his aged skin.
They believed him so easily, he thought as he stood in front of a mirror.
Slowly, the wrinkled face of Albus Dumbledore transformed, his true appearance smirked back at him.
The mirror now reflected the handsome face of Abraxas Malfoy.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story, I appreciate it.
Let me know what you thought in the reviews.
p.s - sorry for any spelling mistakes made.