A/N - I want to thank everyone for their kind reviews in regards to this story. I know several people are eager for Ginny to face punishment for her crimes and I want to reassure them that it is coming in a future chapter. Until then I hope people enjoy this chapter.
Thomas sat in his bedroom, staring blankly ahead as he tried to comprehend what he had just heard. In the space of ten minutes his whole life had been thrown into disarray and he didn't have a clue what he was going to do about his new found knowledge.
When Thomas had headed downstairs for a drink he had noticed that the door to the front room was shut but he didn't think anything off it until he was returning to his room. As he was passing the door to the front room he suddenly heard his father raise his voice, as it was unusual for Jacques to yell Thomas stopped in surprise.
Thomas was still standing outside the door when he heard the voice of a man he didn't know saying something about someone not knowing the truth about his real father. When Jacques replied and revealed that they were talking about him Thomas felt ill as his whole world crumbled around him. In a daze Thomas listened to the rest of the conversation, only moving away from the door when he heard people approaching it.
Thomas moved into the room next to the front room and carefully peered into the hallway as his mother emerged with a couple. From the conversation he had overheard Thomas knew the mystery man wanted to meet him and when he saw him he suddenly understood why. Thomas gaped at the man with his platinum blond hair and grey eyes, both matching his own features exactly.
By the time his mother had returned to the front room and he had crept back to his bedroom Thomas was convinced he had just seen his biological father. Over the years Thomas had brushed aside the doubts and questions he had had about his different appearance to his parents. While his father was blond it wasn't anything like his own shade and his grey eyes had always been a mystery, his mother's eyes were brown while his fathers were green. However it would appear that his hair and eyes came from the mystery man he had seen earlier.
Thomas sat for hours thinking about what to do, eventually deciding to confront his parents over dinner. When dinner time arrived however he changed his mind. The second he entered the dining room it was clear to Thomas that his mother was extremely happy and seemed carefree, she was defiantly much happier than she had been over the last few years. With his mother clearly in such a good mood Thomas didn't have the heart to bring up what he had overheard.
His mother's good mood continued for the rest of the holidays and Thomas didn't want to upset her by asking about the man he had seen earlier in the holidays. Thomas thought about asking his father about what he had discovered but he also didn't want to upset him. While Jacques may not have been his biological father he had brought him up and Thomas loved him.
By the time he returned to school Thomas still hadn't confronted either of his parents but he did have another solution in mind, he would go and visit his biological father to get answers. All Thomas had to do now was identify him and find out as much about him as possible. At the minute the extent of Thomas knowledge extended to his name and the name of the woman he was with the day in question, he had heard his mother address the couple as Draco and Hermione.
Thomas was fairly certain he had never heard the name Draco before but the name Hermione seemed to ring a bell with him. Throughout the train ride to Hogwarts Thomas tried to remember where he had heard the woman's name but he couldn't place why it was familiar to him. Thomas's failure to remember where he had heard the name was bugging him, he was pretty sure that the couple were together and he had hoped that if he could find the woman he would find Draco.
Once at school Thomas started his search for a Draco. He was guessing the man was about his mother's age and in all likelihood they attended school together. Thomas started his search in the trophy room, scouring all the names on the various trophies. With years' worth of trophies to look at it took Thomas a good three days but by the end he still hadn't found a surname for the mystery man.
With his school work to think of Thomas couldn't spend all his time trying to solve the mystery so after the first week of term his search was temporarily put on hold as he had several important assignments to work on. It was nearly a month after returning to school that Thomas had a breakthrough, although it came entirely by accident.
Thomas and a few of his friends were sitting in their dorm one night eating chocolate frogs and trading cards when Thomas spotted a familiar name as he flipped through his collection of cards. Pulling the card to the top of the pile he stared at the picture, the brunette witch was younger on the card but he was in no doubt that it was the same one that had visited his house. Thomas checked the name and found the witch in question was Hermione Granger.
As Thomas read the brief writing on the card he realised why the name was so familiar to him. Hermione Granger was one of the three teenagers who had been instrumental in bringing down Lord Voldemort. Before arriving at Hogwarts Thomas knew very little of the two wizarding wars against the dark wizard and his followers but it was one of the first topics covered in History of Magic in his first year.
With his new information Thomas began his research. The first place he looked was Hogwarts: A History as there was a whole chapter dedicated to the battle that had taken place in the castle and the people involved. Skipping over all the ramblings about the battle Thomas found the profiles of the main participants. Once he found Hermione's profile he briefly read about her curricular achievements and her work before moving onto the personal information. Right at the bottom of her profile he found the information he wanted, Hermione Granger was happily married to Draco Malfoy.
The name Malfoy also seemed familiar to Thomas but yet again he couldn't place how. The fact he couldn't remember what context he had heard the name wasn't bothering to Thomas as he knew exactly how he was going to find the information he desired. One of the features in the library was a research corner with old editions of newspapers and magazines, all you needed was the full name of the witch or wizard you were researching and you were supplied with articles about them.
Thomas waited until a Sunday afternoon before heading into the quiet corner of the library, he knew on a Sunday he would be able to read for hours without being disturbed. Once he gave the name of the wizard he was researching Thomas found himself was a stack of magazines and newspapers. Settling down in the comfy chair in the corner Thomas picked up the first article and began reading.
Thomas was shocked and disturbed when the first article he picked up described Draco's trial for being a Death Eater during the war. The more Thomas read however he understood how little choice the blond man had in the matter, he was also impressed with his efforts to make up for his actions after the war. Thomas spent quite a while reading about Draco's business and the success he had made of himself.
When Thomas began reading about Draco and Hermione's relationship he was surprised to find they had been together years before he was born, they even got married mere weeks before his birth. Thomas had been assuming their relationship had begun after either his birth or conception, he hadn't expected to find he was the product of an affair. Thomas was disgusted with Draco for cheating on a woman he looked to adore and he was equally appalled with his mother for sleeping with a man who was clearly in a serious relationship with someone else.
As he continued reading Thomas discovered that Draco and his wife had had a daughter less than eighteen months after his birth, they also had a son three years later. Thomas couldn't find a lot of pictures of Draco and Hermione's children but the few he did find he spent ages scrutinising them, examining his half- brother and sister. Thomas could find very little similarity with the girl, Lyra, but he was very aware how much he looked like the little boy, Scorpius.
After reading about Draco's business and family Thomas started looking into his friends. Thomas was looking for any sign of his mother, the way she addressed both Draco and Hermione implied she was once friendly with them both. Thomas found plenty of information about Draco's group of friends but his mother never appeared with the group.
As he was reading about Draco's friends he found an article about one of the friends going to prison for covering up Draco's father's murder. Intrigued Thomas had found several other articles relating to the murder and read them with interest. As Thomas read about Lucius Malfoy's affair with a younger woman he couldn't help but compare Draco to his father, hopefully he would avoid following in their footsteps as a cheat.
After reading well into the evening Thomas eventually packed up and thought about everything he had learnt. Reading the articles he had come to the conclusion that on a whole Draco was a good man and had worked hard to make up for his past mistakes, he ran a successful business and loved his wife and children very much. What Thomas was struggling to understand however was why he had ever cheated, it was obvious how much he loved his wife. So what had made him cheat on her months before their wedding?
As well as spending time wondering over Draco's infidelity Thomas thought about his half siblings. Growing up he'd always wanted siblings but his parents had never seemed interested in adding to the family. As Thomas though about what Lyra and Scorpius were like he realised that Lyra had most likely started school that year.
With the knowledge that Lyra was most likely at Hogwarts Thomas began to take notice of the first years. He started with Slytherin as he had read many times that all Malfoy's had been sorted into Slytherin, he figured his omission was due to the fact he didn't have the family name. Thomas spent nearly a week trying to find Lyra in Slytherin and had just moved onto Ravenclaw when he found her.
Like the information regarding Hermione, Thomas discovered Lyra's identity by accident. Thomas was sitting in the Gryffindor common read doing his homework when two girls entered through the portrait hole. The girls sat down on a sofa nearby so when the blonde girl called her friend Lyra, Thomas's head shot up. The minute Thomas saw Lyra he could immediately see the resemblance to her mother, he was actually surprised he hadn't noticed her when his search was just beginning.
Once he knew who Lyra was he studied her for weeks, watching how she spoke and interacted with people. Thomas soon discovered that Lyra was very bright and exceptionally warm and friendly, she also had a slight bossy streak and hated to be corrected. Several times Thomas had decided to speak to Lyra but he always chickened out at the last minute.
It was the last week of term before Thomas finally plucked up the courage to speak to the girl he thought was his half-sister. He was walking by the lake when he came across Lyra sitting on the grass throwing small pebbles into the water.
"Hi, can I sit down?" Thomas asked, shuffling his feet nervously.
Lyra looked up to see who had spoken to her, her eyes widening as she saw who it actually was. After speaking with her family over Christmas Lyra had tried to forget all about Thomas, however every time she happened to catch a glimpse of him all her old worries about his relationship to her father resurfaced.
"Sure." Lyra replied hesitantly.
Thomas settled down next to Lyra and for a few minutes the pair sat in silence, neither knowing what to say. Eventually Thomas turned and stuck out his hand.
"I'm Thomas."
"Lyra." Lyra replied, shaking the hand offered to her.
"I know who you are." Thomas said.
"How?" Lyra asked. She hadn't paid Thomas much attention since Christmas break but she could have sworn that he still hadn't looked in her direction.
"I've been watching you." Thomas admitted, looking towards the lake.
"Why?" Lyra demanded.
"Because I think we're related." Thomas said quietly.
"We're not." Lyra said.
Thomas whipped his head round at Lyra's confident tone of voice. "How do you know we're not? You're not blind, surely you can see the family resemblance to your father."
"Coincidence." Lyra said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I had noticed the resemblance but my dad says it's just a coincidence."
"I suppose it was also a coincidence that your parents were at my house over the Easter holidays talking about how my father adopted me." Thomas retaliated, annoyed that Draco had dismissed him when asked about his existence.
"Mum and dad were at your house?" Lyra asked sounding upset. When Draco had dismissed Thomas's looks as a coincidence Lyra had believed her father but obviously he had lied.
"Yes." Thomas nodded. "I didn't mean to be so harsh, I'm sorry. I know this is hard to accept, I've been struggling for the last few months."
"What am I accepting, that our parents know each other?" Lyra asked harshly, fighting back the tears that were threating to fall.
"You know what I'm saying." Thomas sighed. "Don't pretend to be stupid, Lyra, I know you're not. I also know you understand exactly what's happening."
"It's not true." Lyra shouted, scrambling to her feet. "You're a liar."
Before Thomas could react Lyra had turned and was running towards the school. Thomas quickly got to his feet and took off after her, reaching her just before she reached the front doors.
"I'm not the liar." Thomas cried grabbing hold of Lyra's arm, stopping her from entering the building. "We both know I'm your brother."
"No you're not." Lyra sobbed, her tears falling freely. "Let go of me." She said, trying to pull her arm out of Thomas's grip.
"What's going on here?" The sudden appearance of a voice behind Lyra attracted the pair's attention. "Lyra are you okay?"
"No he won't let go of me." Lyra said, once again trying to pull away from Thomas.
"Let her go, now." Patrick Finnegan demanded as he reached his friends side.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." Thomas muttered letting go of Lyra who immediately rushed at Patrick and started sobbing into his chest.
"I think you should leave now." Patrick glared at Thomas as he hugged his oldest friend. Lyra rarely cried so he knew she was extremely upset by whatever had happened.
"Sorry." Thomas said once again before rushing into the school.
Once in the hallway Thomas stopped and turned back to the open front doors. Carefully he approached the doors and snuck his head out. Looking around he spotted Lyra and the boy who had interrupted them heading for the lake. Thomas stood in the shadows of the doorway for several minutes as he watched Lyra and the boy talking. Lyra was obviously still upset as the boy kept his arm wrapped around her and was clearly trying to console her.
Feeling bad he had upset Lyra, Thomas slowly made his way back to Gryffindor Tower. He still wanted to meet Draco only now he had a suspicion that if he ever found out how badly he had hurt his daughter the meeting could be a disaster. Thomas hoped an apology to Lyra would make sure she didn't mention their talk to Draco, that way he might have a chance to get the answers he desired easier.
An hour later when Lyra returned to Gryffindor Tower she was still accompanied by the boy from earlier and when Thomas tried to approach her the boy whisked her away, glaring in his direction. For the remainder of the term Thomas failed to get anywhere near to Lyra so he could apologise. Every time he spotted her she was with Patrick, Thomas had learnt his name after asking a first year, and Patrick wouldn't let Thomas get near to Lyra.
Thomas was disappointed that he still hadn't managed to apologise to Lyra before The Hogwarts Express arrived back in London. As Thomas was greeted by Jacques upon his arrival he spotted Lyra and her family out of the corner of his eye. As the Malfoy's apparated away, Thomas prayed that Lyra didn't mention their conversation to Draco. Thomas was already making plans to visit Draco as soon as possible, he just hoped he got there before Lyra mentioned the horrible way in which he had upset her.
