Hello again, and so soon I i might add! Anyways here is chapter 4, hope you guys like it.

Chapter 4

The Hogwarts letter

Light shun through the window, bringing clarity into the previously dark room. The room itself was quite large, and was richly adorned with expensive drapes, paintings, and furniture. In the middle of the room there stood a large and beautiful four poster bed, and in front of it there was a marble fire place, which was masterfully carved. And though the fire place was not lit, it generated a homey feeling to the room.

It was quite a beautiful room, and an expensive one at that. It was also, quite tranquil, and calm; a great place for anyone to call their room, and rest. But is seems that the restful atmosphere was not enough, as the person, to which this room belonged to, began to stir on his large bed as he noticed that the sun had come up, and it was time to get on with the day. The person slowly took off the comforter, and sat up on his bed to look out the window, and it was revealed that this was no man at all, but a boy.

He was no more than eleven years of age, which was clear by the pronounced baby fat that covered most of his face, and his stature was quite small. The boy also, had jet black hair that was sticking out from all directions, giving a new definition to bed hair. The child yawned, and stretched out his arms relieving his bones, and he slowly opened his eyes, revealing bright green eyes, that almost seem unnaturally light.

Cygnus Malfoy had woken up, and he was ready to take on the day. He blinked a couple of times, trying to relieve himself from any traces of sleepiness he still had; still feeling tiered he rubbed his eyes for good measure. He then pulled of the comforter, and blankets that were still covering his lap, and stood up.

He wasn't tall, or particularly small, he was a little less bit less than average when it came to height, but it still manage to annoy him when everyone ells his age was taller than him. Cygnus looked at the window, and gave out a large yawn. He then stretched his whole body, bouncing on the tips of his feet, to ensure an optimal stretch. He continued to reach new heights as he stretched his body to the limit, until finally he heard the last of his bone give a small pop. He sighed in relief, and made his way to the bathroom, where he relieved himself, and changed into his daily clothes, which turned out to be expensive everyday robes, made of the finest quality.

Before heading out, Cygnus looked at himself in the mirror and noticed his messy hair. He didn't really mind it, but he knew that his father would not be pleased if he saw him come to breakfast in such a state. Taking a comb from the collection his mother had given him- as if he needed so many of them- Cygnus began to comb his hair into place, as he had been taught by his mother, and got all of the knots out. He reached for a container filled with gel, and he carefully applied gel only on the parts that needed it, and only put very little of it, since he wasn't a fan of slicked back hair as his brother was. In the end his hair was pushed back, and out of his face, and it was more or less tidy, giving him a natural look.

Cygnus took a few seconds to look at himself, but not nearly as long as his brother would have for sure. Happy with his appearance, knowing that it was acceptable for his father and mother, he put everything back into place, and exited the room. He then proceeded to make his way down the maze like halls, and down the stairs. He expertly navigated himself through the large manor, until he was now at the archway that would lead him to the breakfast room.

Ready to get on with the day, and bit hungry, he was in a hurry to make it to the breakfast's room- that is until he heard someone talking. Draco's voice resonate through the room, all the way to where Cygnus was standing. He couldn't really hear what is brother was saying, since it sounded like incoherent drabble to him, which meant only one thing- Draco was whining about something, but of what he could only guess. Cygnus sighed. It was too early to have to put up with Draco's nagging- scratch that, it's always a bad time to put up with Draco's nagging, no matter how early or late it might be.

Although, he didn't want to hear what Draco had to complain about this time, he really had no choice but to go inside the room, and have breakfast with his family, since his stomach had begun to growl in protest. So Cygnus quickly went through the archways, before he could change his mind.

Once inside the breakfast room, he saw the entire family seating on the medium sized round table, eating their breakfast. Well he says eating, but really Lucius was reading the current edition of the daily prophet, while Narcissa was drinking from an expensive cup, which was no doubt filled with expensive tea. And lastly, Draco who was the only one with a plate in front of him, wasn't eating from it, as he opted to push his food around instead.

This was the just the normal every day, just the way he liked it, even though Draco seems to be more antsy than usual. And though everyone was looking away from the archway, they all quickly turned to look at him, and smile as they finally saw him- well all but his father who just nodded.

"Good morning." He greeted respectfully as ever, everyone greeted him in return, except for his dad, who pulled the paper out of his view so that he could look at Cygnus, with a discontent look.

"You are late for breakfast Cygnus." He said simply, his eyes followed him around the room, as he made his way to the empty spot beside Draco. "I am sorry father, I went to sleep late last night. I was trying to finish a book." He said apologetic, and though he knew that such an excuse was not one often believed from children his age, for Cygnus it was not odd at all.

Cygnus looked at Lucius, and saw his father narrow his eyes slightly as if he was trying to see if Cygnus was lying, but when he found no trace of it, he simply pulled the paper in front of his face to read from it once more, telling Cygnus that he was done with the conversation. "Let's not make it a usual occurrence shall we?"

Cygnus nodded, and took the largest of his napkins, he gently unfold it, and neatly placed it on his lap. "Of course, it won't happen again father." He said, with a reassuring tone. And then as if on cue, a house elf which he knew was named Dolry, appeared right beside him with his plate filled with food, on top of his small hand. The elf carefully placed Cygnus plate of food in front of him, he made a little bow, and left without a word, and with such a hurry, that it almost felt like he had never been there at all.

Cygnus frowned a little, at the elf's antics. He never liked the fact that the elves were treated so lowly, as if they were no better than trash, especially at the Malfoy manor. It was no secret that elves were treated considerably worse at their manor, and that the family made it their goal to make each and every elf's life miserable. So Cygnus had sometimes made it his duty to thank the house elves, even though both his mother, and father strongly disapproved. He didn't do it often, and he didn't always get away with it, but when he did the elves seemed to instantly brighten up. But with Dolry it was different, since the older elf was just as fanatic as his parents, and often left before Cygnus could say anything. But regardless of what the elf thought, Cygnus would always try to catch him of guard, just for the fun of it.

Not wanting to think further about the topic, Cygnus graved the cutlery, and began to eat his way through his meal. It was a silent affair, as always, since both he, and Draco knew that their parents relish quiet, and peace during breakfast time. It was an unspoken rule amongst them that breakfast time meant that no one spoke, unless they had something truly important to talk about.

But it seems that this morning was different for Draco, as he threw the unspoken rule out the window. "Do you really think they will arrive today?" he asked a bit anxious. Cygnus looked at his brother, as he finally understood why Draco was so riled up this morning.

Lucius gave out an annoyed huff, but he did not move the paper away to look at either of them. "Yes, I know they will arrive today, so stop asking." Lucius graved his cup of tea, and drank from it.

Seeing that the topic was closed, Cygnus looked down, and continued to eat, but then Draco had to disturb the peace once more. "But what is taking them so long?" Draco whined.

Lucius sighed, and put the prophet on the table a little too harshly, and Cygnus looked at Draco, as he saw him jumped a little on his seat.

Cygnus looked back at his father, and saw that he was clearly exasperated with Draco. "For the last time Draco, the letters will arrive today. So please do not ask again, and eat your food." He scolded, and turned his attention back to the prophet that was now on the table, and instead of graving it like he was before, he simply left it on the table as he read.

"Ok." Mumbled Draco, as he graved his fork, and continued to push his food around some more. Thankfully their father did not notice that Draco was disobeying him, by not eating, something he was thankful of, since he did not want to anger Lucius so early in the day.

Not wanting to be blamed for Draco's disobedience, Cygnus went back to eating everything he was served dutifully. As he ate, he thought of what Draco had said. Of course he knew that the letters Draco was speaking of, were their Hogwarts letters, which their father told them would arrive today in the morning. And though he was excited to finally go to Hogwarts-the school his parents often spoke about- he was not as excited of getting his letter, as Draco was. And truthfully he didn't understand what could be so exciting about a letter? It was not like they didn't know they were going to attend Hogwarts, since they were both quite magically adept it was obvious that they would be accepted, so why was Draco so anxious to get his?

Finishing with his meal, Cygnus reached for a peeled orange, placed it on his plate, and happily ate the fruit. His father often said that eating fruit with their every meal was important, and his mom had always told him that it would help him grow- so naturally Cygnus always ate his fruits every meal.

The whole family continued to eat in relative peace, until he heard another pop, and Cygnus looked up at the elf Dolry who was now standing beside Lucius. The older elf bowed deeply, and handed him various letters from the ministry. As always Lucius did not even acknowledge the elf, and simply graved the letter from the table and sorted through them.

Dolry then slowly made his way to Narcissa, and carefully handed her a few letters. "Come on! Could you hurry up." Whined Draco from where he sat beside him. Narcissa looked at Draco, and glared at him disappointedly. "Patience Draco." She scolded, and Cygnus look at Draco as slouch back on his seat, and pouted from frustration. Cygnus wanted to make a funny comment about Draco's appearance, but he knew that in the state that he was in, Draco wouldn't take it well, so he stayed quiet.

Dolry, continued to hand mail to their mother. And after and only after their mom had all her letter, did Dolry make his way to Draco. His brother's attitude changed exponentially, as he straightened up, and smiled triumphantly as he saw that it was now his turn to receive his mail. Dolry carefully gave Draco a letter that had the Hogwarts crest on it, and Draco not wasting time snatched it, and tore it open impatiently.

Cygnus sighed, at his brother's impatient nature, and turned to look at Dolry as he handed him his letter. "Thank you Dolry." He said before the elf could make his hasty retreat. Cygnus looked at the elf in amusement as he looked at him uncomfortable. "Thank you sir, your gratitude is much appreciated." The older house elf murmured, before disappearing.

Cygnus smiled, and placed his letter beside his plate- not even looking down at it, opting to open it later on. Draco on the other hand, was already reading through his letter out loud, announcing that he was indeed going to Hogwarts. Cygnus rolled his eyes, amused, and happy that his brother was so excited by a simple letter.

"Dear Mr. Malfoy,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July."

Lucius finally looked up from his letters, and gave Draco a small smile. "Congratulations Draco, you have just reached a milestone in your life." Lucius commented, and he then looked at Cygnus. "And you too Cygnus, congratulations." Lucius looked back to his own letters. Cygnus nodded his gratitude, and from the corner of his eye he could see Draco preening, clearly adoring the fact that their father congratulated them. Cygnus smirked once more at his brother's excitement.

"Hey Cyg, why haven't you opened your letter?" Draco asked, as he tried to reach for Cygnus letter, but before he could snatch it, Cygnus graved it and placed in inside his pocket. "Because I don't feel like it." He said looking at Draco, slightly annoyed.

Draco gave him a confounded expression, as if he didn't understand why someone wouldn't want to open their Hogwarts letter. "Father, Cygnus doesn't want to open his letter." Draco turned to Lucius.

Lucius on the other hand did not look away from the letter he was reading, and simply raised an eyebrow. "Mind your own business Draco, and eat your food."

"But I just want to see what Cyg's letter says." He complained, and Lucius gave him another annoyed look. "I don't want to hear it."

Draco huffed slightly annoyed, and looked down at his own plate clearly annoyed that he had not seen Cygnus's letter. "I don't know why you are complaining dear, since Cygnus's and you letters are both the exact same." Narcissa said, trying to lift up her son's spirits.

Draco pouted, and mumbled, and from where Cygnus sat he was able to hear that he said 'just want to make sure, is all.' Cygnus sighed, as he kind of wanted to open the damn letter, and show it to Draco so he could see that they were the same, but he didn't since he would open it on his own time.

With his decision made, and since Draco has given up on his letter, they both went back to eating- which Draco was finally actually eating. And finally, they all peace, until they had all finished their food, and their plates were taken away by Dolry. It was then that Draco spoke up once more. "So what house do you think you'll be placed in Cyg?" asked Draco.

Cygnus looked at his brother, as he thought about his answer. He hadn't really thought about which house he would be placed in, since he didn't really have a preference, and would be overall happy to be in any house really. The way he saw it every house had its strength, and weaknesses, so not one house was better than the rest. "I'm not sure really, I don't really have a preference." He confessed, and Draco looked at him slightly shocked, as if Cygnus's had gone insane. Cygnus raised an eyebrow, and Draco seemed to gather himself, and cleared his throat.

"Well I guess that is alright, so long as that house is not Gryffindor of course." Draco answered, and gave him a haughty smirk. "Of course I will be placed in Slytherin just like you father, and mom." Draco turned to look at their parents as he spoke, and Cygnus could see a glint of pride on Lucius eyes.

"Slytherin would be lucky to have you both, as it's students. And I would be happy to see you both sorted into my old house." Lucius declared, as he took a sip of his tea.

Draco turned to face him, and beamed at him. "It would be nice to have you in Slytherin Cyg." Said his brother, almost with a pleading tone, as if Cygnus could really make a choice on what house he got sorted into. Cygnus sighed in defeat. "Well if it's to look after your troublesome self, then I guess I would go. If only to watch over you." He admitted, and Draco seemed to light up at the idea.

Cygnus smiled at his older brother's reaction, and he watched amused as Draco turned to face their parents. "Do you hear that father? Cygnus could be sorted into Slytherin!"

Lucius raised an eyebrow, and smirked. "I have no doubt about that." Draco smiled back, at Lucius.

Being on a role, and as if he wanted to take advantage of his father's good mood, Draco continued to speak. "Father, since we got our letter, could we go to Diagon alley to buy our school stuff?"

Hearing the name of the famous alley, Cygnus quickly turned to face their parents, as Draco pleaded with Lucius. He too wanted to go to the alley, to buy his school stuff, and to buy some new books. But his hopes were shattered, after he saw his father make the usual face he made when he was about to say no to them. "Absolutely not. Today is the gala held by the minister, and it is imperative that we all attend." Lucius declared.

Draco, whined, and turned to face Cygnus, who was making a puking gesture with his hand, telling him exactly what he thought of going to the gala. Draco chuckled, and Cygnus followed suit, until Lucius turned to face them, and they both looked at him as if nothing had happened. Clearly not trusting them, Lucius narrowed his eyes at them.

"We could all go tomorrow, since our schedule is free." Added their mother, before their father could figure out what they were doing. Their father suspecting face was forgotten, as Draco's spirt seemed to lift, and he looked at Cygnus happily.

"Yes, yes- but first let us worry about this gala, then we can think of what we will do tomorrow." Lucius said offhandedly, and both Cygnus, and Draco looked at each other triumphantly. It was not often that their father would take them to Diagon alley, and it was even rarer for him to come along, seeing as he was always busy.

Cygnus chuckled, as he saw Draco practically jumping on his seat from excitement, the fact that they still had to go to the gala had long been forgotten. "Well, since we can't go today, could Cygnus and I go play quidditch later today?" asked Draco hopefully, and Cygnus turned to look at their mother with a hopeful look of his own.

Naturally Narcissa's face had completely changed to one of disgust, as it always did when quidditch was brought up. "No quidditch today. I will not have both of you look like trolls, before you have to get changed for the gala."

Draco, and Cygnus groaned in annoyance, but neither of their parents said anything else on the matter. Instead, Lucius gathered his letters, and swiftly stood up. "It is getting late, and you Cygnus have training to attend to, as well as Draco." Said Lucius, while he looked down at them.

Draco gave out an annoyed huff, and Cygnus simply nodded, and stood up. "Yes, I will be heading there now." Answered Cygnus, and nodded at his father as a way to express his farewell, in return Lucius also, nodded, and they both headed out the room.

He did indeed have training to attend to, training that he didn't particularly enjoy, but something that was important to him nevertheless. And his father also, saw it as a great importance for Cygnus to attend training, more so than Draco. Of course that was not because he cared for one, more than the other, he knew it was this way because his father simply expected more from him- much more, as he had often told him.

Cygnus made a turn down a hallway. He didn't mind the added pressure his parents had placed on him, since he too wanted to prove himself, and become more powerful. He wanted to make himself more useful, and prove himself worthy, this was a feeling that had manifested in him after that day, the day when-.

"Hey Cyg, fancy a race to the quidditch pitch?" Draco lunged himself at Cygnus, and placed one arm over his shoulder in a brotherly manner. Caught off guard, Cygnus couldn't help but smirked, and looked at his brother who was also, smiling at him. "Sorry Draco, but I gotta get changed. I have duelling class this morning."

Draco sighed, and pulled his arm off of Cygnus, and looked at him annoyed. Cygnus gave him an apologetic look, and shrugged. "You are always busy for everything! Is there not a moment when you are not busy?" asked Draco exasperatedly.

Cygnus placed his hand on his chin as if he was thinking about it, and tapped his foot. "Well let's see, duelling classes in the morning, then culture, and politics classes, and after that I have Hogwarts curriculum classes, and-" Draco waved his hands in front of Cygnus, gesturing for him to stop talking. "Alright I get it, you don't have to remind me."

Cygnus shrugged, and continued to walk to the direction he was heading, leaving Draco behind. "You know if you continued training so much, you won't ever have fun. And with school starting soon, you will definitely be too busy to do anything fun!" Shouted Draco, from where Cygnus had left him at.

Cygnus turned his head to look at Draco, and smirked. "It's not all about having fun Draco." He said simply, and Draco gave him a disapproving face, clearly not agreeing with what he was saying.

Cygnus turned away from Draco, and made his way to his room to get changed. Once inside his room, he locked the door behind him, and made sure it was indeed locked, by jiggling the door handle around. Happy that the door was locked, and that Draco wouldn't be barging in unannounced as he always did. Cygnus made his way to his desk which was filled with numerous stack of books, he pulled the chair out, and sat upon it. And as he sat he looked at the window in front of him, and noticed that the once sunny atmosphere was gone, and that the clouds turned grey, and it looked like it was about rain. It was a good thing he had chosen to go to his room instead of running to the quidditch pitch. Good thing he had gotten out of running in the rain by lying to Draco, not completely of course, since he had training to do, though it was still a while longer until he was required to be there. Of course Draco didn't know that, as he had accepted the lie too easily.

He didn't like lying to Draco, who was still gullible despite how cunning he thought he was. But Cygnus had no choice, he had to make an excuse to go to his room, so that he could finally read his Hogwarts letter in peace, something that he wouldn't be able to do if Draco was present.

Cygnus sighed, at the mere thought of how annoying Draco could get about his letter. He then reached for the inside of his pocket, felling the letter, he graved it and pulled it out. Cygnus looked down at the letter, and saw that he had pulled it out with the side that had the Hogwarts crest side up.

He was thankful that he had taken it out on the side that had the crest on it, and slightly frightful as he looked down at the letter. And though he knew he needed to turn it the other way around, he didn't want to do that, he wasn't ready to face what he would see. Cygnus continued to look at the letter, and his grip on the paper tightened, making indentations on it.

He could do this, he kept telling himself, it was no big deal, he would only be seeing a name is all, surely he had done more frightful things in his life- like that time he had dueled Regulus, and Yaxley at the same time. This compared to that was nothing, it didn't even compare, so why was he hesitating?

Cygnus growled in frustration, threw the bloody letter on the desk, and stood up to pace around his room. He paced, and paced, all the while looking at the letter with dread as if it would burst into flames, and destroy everything. He knew he was being an idiot for fearing a letter, but no matter how unreasonable it was, he couldn't force himself to go an open it.

'But you need to open it. Or are you so weak that you can't even open your own letter?' He thought to himself, and Cygnus sighed, and went to seat by the desk once more. He reached out to the letter, not wanting to think about it lest his weakness get to him. Cygnus quickly turned the letter the right away up. Of course he didn't see anything, as he had looked away when he turned it. And once more he hated this reaction, that was so weak. 'Just look at the bloody letter will ya?' he yelled at himself.

Cygnus tightened his grip on the letter, and slowly turned his head towards it. Cygnus took a deep breath, and finally looked down at the letter. As he had suspected, just by glancing at it he wanted to let go of it.

At the outside of the letter there laid written in fine lettering:

Mr. H. Potter

Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire, England.

Cygnus stared at the name, as his hands had begun to shake. This letter was addressed to the boy-who-lived Harry, James Potter, the one who conquered the Dark lord at the battle of Godric Hollow, the boy hero. Not to Cygnus Malfoy, and yet he knew that he and Harry were one and the same person.

His hands began to tremble, as he had many emotions passing through him. Betrayal, hatred, frustration, and understanding, but he found that none of those emotions were directed at the Malfoy's, who he saw as his real family. No, never to them, he was angry at the man, and woman that were his 'real' parents, the two people in the world that were supposed to care for him, but didn't even make an effort to look for him?

Cygnus's glared at the letter angrily, feeling hatred for the Potters. Of course he had known for a while who he really was, his father Lucius had made sure to tell him early on. And though he always knew, a small part of him always hoped that it wasn't true, that he was just Cygnus Malfoy, the son of Regulus Black. And it wasn't so hard to hope, since Lucius had never given him any proof that he was indeed Harry Potter, and being the academic that he was, he always required proof before believe in something.

But all his hopes had been shattered now, as the proof was glaring at him in the face. He really was Harry, James Potter, the boy-who-lived and the so called saviour of the wizarding world.

Cygnus growled at the letter once more, and with all his strength he threw the damn thing as far away as possible. He watched in satisfaction as the letter hit the wall, and fell limply on the floor.

This was the reason why he didn't want to open his letter, and though this new found knowledge meant nothing- he was still angered by it. The knowledge that he was really Harry Potter meant nothing, he was Cygnus Malfoy son of Lucius, and Narcissa Malfoy, and younger brother of Draco Malfoy, the most annoying kid he'd ever known- and nobody certainly not a letter could tell him otherwise.

He was simply Cygnus Malfoy, he was not the saviour of the masses, not the iconic figure that everyone looked up to in their times of need, and he was definitely not the hero of the wizarding world. He would never be that person, and for all he cared and knew- Harry Potter had died that fateful day at Godric Hollow, and it will remain that way.

Cygnus was pulled out of his train of thoughts as he heard the sharp, and loud sound of lighting as it struck near the manor. Cygnus turned to look at the window, and saw that it was now raining horribly, and that everything had turned dark.

I know that this seems a bit of large jump from depressing death, and choosing the fate of the wizarding world, to a happy everyday life of the Malfoy's. But honestly, I love making such contrast elements in my writing, and truthfully it does not boad well to just be depressing all the time.

Also, to those that hate this bratty Draco (I sure do, and hate to depicting him like this) he won't say like that forever. I mean I have to keep Draco in character, and let's be real he was a really, and is a really bratty and annoying kid all through the series (but for some reason we all just seem to love him).

Also, as you can tell Cygnus maybe a different person than Harry Potter, but if you read close enough the similarities are still there. And these similarities between Harry Potter, and Cygnus Malfoy will become more obvious, as well as their differences, the more the fic progresses. So no Cygnus will not be a hard-core follower of the dark, but that doesn't mean that he will be a follower of the light either.

And finally XD. I know that this chapter has probably given everyone a lot of questions, I know- but trust me, all your questions will be answered as the story progresses, just be patient.

Hope you liked this chapter, and please review, and I'll see you next chap