The Last Brother

AN: I know, I know, the delay thing again. This is going to sound really weird but I just couldn't bring myself to write…I got mad at myself when I saw the last time I updated and I'm really sorry!! And I got writer's block…well, here goes! Constructive criticism is welcome! R&R

Chapter 7 – Lunch and Persuasion

I let Guinevere lead my down the winding stairs. I was still feeling guilty about the whole name thing. I was silent while trying to memorise the winding paths and corridors. One would think I'd get used to living in a big place after spending ¾ of the last 5 years of my life at Hogwarts.

We finally reached the huge living room where I was standing not so long ago when I was introduced to my parents. My dad was sitting at the head and my mom at the other end. I realised that the majority of the other 10 seats were occupied. Guinevere gestured to one and I sat on it, she took a seat next to me and started chatting happily, to whom I think was her sister considering the similarity in features, in native elf.

I scanned the table and became accustomed to the elves. There were as many as Guinevere had said, to my surprise. I never knew so many elves could all fit under one roof. Then again, this roof covered like 5 floors, so it made sense.

I heard a clinking of glass that immediately silenced the entire table. I looked up to see my father standing with a glass in his hand. He raised it to me.

'A toast, to Cameron Lisvor, a new member to our family, may hope and light shine on her as she brings our broken family back together. Good luck, Cameron.'

'Good luck.' The elves and my mother said in unison, they all took a gulp of their drink.

I blushed and looked down at my empty plate. It was then that I realised how hungry I was, and just then, an entire buffet appeared in front of me. I waited for everyone to take their first helping and then greedily filled up my plate. I tried to maintain my table manners but it was hard, I hadn't eaten in hours.

It seemed like only a few seconds, but it was half an hour before anyone said anything. My mother piped up suddenly, surprising everyone.

'So, how'd your little outing go?' She asked.

'What?' I asked, I knew what she was talking about, of course, I just wondered how she found out.

'Oh, you know, earlier today, you left the house to go to one of your brothers. Did you manage to get persuade him at all?'

'I, um – ' I threw a panicky glance at Guinevere who seemed to be highly discomforted by the conversation.

'He's changed,' Guinevere said, getting the hint. 'When the Oracle gave you the prediction, it was how he would've turned out if you had raised him. He, um, is different. His mind has been warped with hurt, he was raised as a Malfoy, and suddenly he finds out that he's a Lisvor, he just can't take it in. Miss Granger…'

'Hermione,' I instructed, I couldn't help butting in.

'Sorry, Hermione did try to get him to see that he can't linger on to what he used to be, a cold heartless Malfoy, and that he has to accept the fact that he in fact a Lisvor, but it didn't really work…'

'What do you mean?' Dad asked.

'Well, he kind of stormed off, he probably still thinks that this is some sort of a sick joke or something, he just can't come to grasp with this. It'll take him some time to come around.'

I sent a grateful look to Guinevere, she was such a darling.

'How much time do you reckon it'll take?' Dad just wouldn't let it go.

'A couple of days at least,' the little elf replied.

He stood up; scraping his chair back and abruptly started pacing the room impatiently.

'Daniel? What's the matter, sweetheart?' Mum asked, she actually sounded genuinely scared.

'We can't wait for him for days.' He said roughly.

'Why not?' I asked alarmed, from what I remembered about earlier that day, what Guinevere said was an understatement, it wouldn't take him days, it would take Draco at least a week or two to see sense.

He sighed. 'Well, with Voldermort finally permanently gone and everything, the dark side has literally been thrown into chaos. They've been killing each other in pursuit to gain the position of leader of Death Eaters and the rest of Voldermort's army who are not dead…or un-dead. The sane ones who are still alive have decided to just vote. Your mother and I have still had to keep up pretences you see, so far, me and Lucius have had a tie. But not everyone has voted yet, in case of me winning, which – all modesty aside – is very possible, I will literally become the next Lord Voldermort,'

Mum gasped. 'Why haven't you told me about this earlier?' She was obviously annoyed and irritated yet very shocked and evidently horrified. What happened to Voldermort might happen to her husband, if the power goes to his head…

'I –, I didn't know it would come to this. I didn't know that it would take so long. The final votes and counting is in 3 days. I've kind of gotten it planned out; you try to persuade Jake tonight to join us, tomorrow, the four of us will try to find the other six and get them to honour their vow and come back to us, and the day after we'll all be one big happy family, like we should've been a long time ago.'

'I'm still confused, how does that help you with your…problem, you know, being the new 'Voldermort'?' I asked, curious.

'Well, Sharon and I have already joined the Order – '

'Wait, do you mean the Order of the Phoenix? It's still, you know, here? Existing?' I was actually surprised. I thought the reason for its existence was to overthrow Voldermort, and that had already happened.

'Of course, we've got plenty of new members; I've been in it for a while myself. But once our family is united you can join too, the Dark Side has been considerably weakened. There are no more than 60 or so Death Eaters left. If the entire Order rose up against them, we'd be unbeatable. We could literally end the evil time for good. No more havoc, no more loosing loved ones,' Dad glanced at mum. She looked away and sniffed.

'So you see, we have a three day deadline or we're all dead. If they ever found out about you…well, avoiding gory details, they'd kill us. No one ever knew about the two of you, your other six brothers have a reputation. Your youngest oldest brother, Joey, started killing, cursing and flying at the age of – can you believe it? – Twelve and a half. We tried to be proud and everything of him, but inside, I felt like I was loosing my son, he was turning evil, he was becoming less of a Lisvor and more of a Death Eater…' He looked into space as he spoke.

He checked his watch is one swift movement that I didn't really believe he did it. 'Finish up,' He ordered. 'You must locate your brother using that extraordinary duck of yours, and persuade him to come home, or, as I pointed out earlier, we're dead.'

I stuff the last spoon of soup into my mouth and let Guinevere lead me back to my room without another word. I felt like protesting but he looked pretty serious so I decided against it.

Once I was in my room and the door was safely closed, I blew up at the poor elf.

'Does that old crackpot actually expect me to persuade Draco Malfoy to accept the fact that he is my twin brother and he is not really the evil, cold person he grew up to be? I already tried today, remember? Guess what? It did NOT go well, he's probably even madder at me than before! If that was possible…I just don't see how I can try to convince him anymore than I already have without screwing it up even more.'

'I understand, but you know him best, you went to school with him for 7 years, you know his strengths and weaknesses. If anyone could make him join us, you could. You're the person who he's closest with in our entire family. You're his twin for heaven's sake! He knows deep down that he can't avoid this for much longer. Please, just give it one more shot.'

I was silent for a few seconds. 'Fine, how?'

'The same way you did this afternoon. With him,' She pointed at Bob who was staring eagerly at us.

I walked to Bob and picked him up. 'You heard her, take me to Jake Lisvor.'

'Sorry, darling. I'm so afraid that's not possible.' Now he had a posh British accent. It was already bugging me.

'What do you mean?' I demanded.

'Remember how you found out about this? You had to ask me a question, dear, now you have to ask me another question relating to Jake. It's the only possible way sweetie, sorry.' He kind of reminded of my female art teacher back when I was in a Muggle primary school.

'Urgh, okay then, be like that. Where is Jake Lisvor?'

'Grab on,' I clutched onto Bob. 'He's on a swing in the same park that he was in for quite a few hours. He's just thinking…thinking…thinking…' Suddenly I felt myself whirling around in circles, I felt myself being lifted up in the air and someone clutching onto my overlarge shirt, I was completely defying gravity. I looked around to see strands of colour swirling around me, my head was throbbing and I knew I would get a migraine if I did this for much longer.

Finally I stopped spinning and felt the ground beneath me once again. I turned to see a terrified looking Guinevere.

'Guinevere! What do you think you are doing here?' I snapped.

'I just – um I…I wanted to come along. I am known for being very persuasive.' She answered.

'You shouldn't be here, you're not meant to–'

Suddenly she looked up at me. Her already huge chocolate eyes widened. She gazed at me for a few seconds. I suddenly realised what she meant when she said that she was persuasive.

'Well, okay. But try not to draw any attention. He doesn't really like elves. He grew up a Malfoy and he will always be one at heart, he was raised to loathe and despise elves.'

'Sure, whatever you say Hermione.' She chirped and smiled satisfactorily.

Still holding onto Bob and with Guinevere by my side, I advanced the lonely blonde boy sitting on the unmoving swing.

'Um, hi.' I said nervously.

Jake looked up and groaned. 'What are you doing here? Haven't you already realised that I am NOT coming with you? My place is with the Malfoys, not the Lisvors.'

'Then what are you doing here?' I was already getting irritated; he could at least let me speak.

'I,' He paused. 'I was just trying to figure a few things out,'

'Like?'

'Like why my parents won't let me into Malfoy Manor.'

I sighed. 'You're not supposed to go back. Haven't you ever heard of the saying 'the past is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift, that's why they call it the present'?'

'What's that got to do with now?'

'What part of 'the past is history' do you not understand?'

'Are you telling me that you didn't feel anything when your parents told you that you weren't their child? That you weren't sad at all that your life has been a lie and you were never who you thought you were? Are you honestly telling me that you are just going to forget where you came from? Are you going to forget the people who raised you when you weren't theirs to raise?' He yelled.

I thought about what he said for a few seconds, he made a good point. 'Of course I was sad, and I did feel like I've been lied to my whole life. I will never forget them, but they were never my parents, or at least, not my real parents. And Lucius and Narcissa were never yours either. They accepted you into their family out of the goodness of their hearts, and for that you will always feel like they are your true family, you will always be grateful to them. Technically, you could call them your family. But they aren't really; Sharon and Daniel are your parents. Your place is with the Lisvors, not the Malfoys.'

He looked away and sniffed. I took one step closer to him and rested a hand on his shoulder. To my surprise, he didn't try to shake my hand off.

'Listen, if you were really meant to stay with the Malfoys your entire life, they would let you back in. But they too know that you're destiny is with the Lisvors. You're one of us. No matter how much you beg or plead, they aren't going to take you back.'

'Why not? Do you know how many times Narcissa has said that she loves me? Or that she would never do anything to harm me? When people say things like that, it is obviously coming from their heart. Feelings like that don't just disappear, if she still loves me, why won't she let me stay with her?'

'Would you rather you live in the Malfoy Manor and Lucius and Narcissa die or you join us and then they can try to get over you while you're not constantly begging them to accept back into their family?'

He suddenly looked up at me. 'What are you talking about?'

'Well, I kind of figured it out…you're right, feelings as strong as those don't just go away. They still love you, even that cold, heartless Lucius,' Jake twitched. 'Sorry, you know what I mean.' He nodded. 'They will always love you, it's inevitable. You've been their only child for over a decade an a half. You share a bond, but they are literally banned from keeping you as their child now that you know that they are not you're real parents.'

'You mean - ?'

I nodded. 'They've made an Unbreakable Vow,'

He gazed up at the slowly darkening night sky. 'How do you know?'

'I told you, I figured it out. Can you think of a better explanation as to why two people who love you so much won't let you take a step into their house? No? Didn't think so. They're hearts are being eaten up as much as yours. They have to go through the same pain of losing a family member. Caroline – my Muggle mother – was bawling her eyes out when I left. Even my dad, who never cries, had a few tears sliding down his face. Don't you think that seeing you now will cause even more problems for Narcissa especially? By tomorrow morning when she wakes up, if she ever goes to sleep, her eyes will still be red and puffy. You know what a delicate and sensitive woman she is, hell, half the wizarding world knows about her emotional issues.'

Jake glared at me. My face turned red when I realised what I had said. 'Sorry, I just, you know, trying to get my point across.' His face softened and he looked to his feet. 'Think about it, watching you beg her to take you in will only bring her more heartache. Do you want to see her suffer more? For your mother's sake, please let it go. Even I'm still having a hard time knowing that I'm never going to see Caroline or Toby again, at least, not nearly as much as I used to. But we need to move on, for our family.'

I looked at him for a few seconds and then I felt a tug on my shirt. It was then that I remembered that Bob and Guinevere were there too. I'd completely forgotten about them, I didn't acknowledge their presence once during our talk.

'What is it?' I whispered, trying not to interrupt Jake's trail of thought.

Guinevere pointed to the far end of the park. I saw what she was gesturing to and I gasped. Two dark, hooded, cloaked figures were rapidly yet gracefully approaching the 3 and a half of us. They had a wand in one hand and it was pointing to us, the other hand was hidden in their black robes.

'Death Eaters. Mierda.' I said under my breath.

'What?' Jake asked, looking up.

Realising I spoke in a different language, I quickly replied. 'Oh, back at my Muggle School I was known for my gift of tongues, I could pick up any language within a few weeks. I'm fluent in over 6 different tongues.' Over-sharing.

'Oh.' He looked back down.

'Um, not to interrupt you or anything, but you kind of need to make up your mind in about 7 seconds,'

'Why?' he suddenly looked very alarmed.

'That's why.' I pointed to the Death Eaters who were only a few paces away with wands at the ready.

'Oh god.' He got up suddenly and pulled out his wand. I stopped him.

'There's no point. They're two fully grown Death Eaters. We're practically children to them. You need to make up your mind now, or we're dead. No pressure.'

He sighed. 'Okay, let's get the hell out of here.'

'Thanks Jake. Come on Bob, take us home.'

'Ah ah ah, you know the rules darling.' He tutted.

'Urgh. Of course, um…where is Sharon right now?'

'Well, I was hoping for more of a challenge, but anyway, what to do with uncreative minds? Sharon is in her bedroom on the third floor of the Lisvor Mansion.'

'You might want to hold on…tight.' I could tell that my voice was a little more exaggerated than was intended.

I felt a pair of hands clutch onto my shoulders and another smaller pair of hands grab onto my pants just before the swirling nauseous feeling returned as Bob transported us back home. I heard someone's low and husky voice swear and couldn't help but feel a little triumphant, I did the impossible, I persuaded a Malfoy to let go of the past.

While I was engulfed by multi-colours, it was then that I realised that in order to get anywhere with him I had to stop thinking of him as a Malfoy and start accepting that he is in fact my brother.