By Friday morning Thomas was eager to return home. He had actually really enjoyed spending the week with his father but he still felt the need to go and visit Draco. While Jacques was his father and he would always love him, Thomas needed to know the truth about his real heritage.
When Thomas and Jacques arrived home Thomas was surprised to find his mother anxiously waiting by the fireplace as they stepped out of the flames and into the front room. Thomas also noticed the worried look his parents shared as his mother greeted them.
"Thomas, we need to talk." Ginny said, leading her son over to the sofa.
Ginny sat down on the sofa and pulled Thomas down next to her. Jacques then moved so he was sitting on the arm behind Ginny, his hands resting on her shoulders in support. Thomas knew immediately his parents wanted to discuss something serious and he wondered whether they were finally going to tell him the truth about his father.
"We need to talk about what you heard over the Easter holidays." Ginny said.
"How do you know, I heard?" Thomas questioned, surprised his parents already knew he was informed of the situation.
"That doesn't matter at the minute." Ginny shook her head, brushing the question off. "But I would like to know what you did you hear."
Because of Thomas's assumptions regarding his father's identity Ginny was convinced he hadn't heard enough to realise she was a murderer, but she still wanted to know how much he did actually know.
"I heard Dad shouting as I was passing the room and stopped in surprise. Before I had a chance to move I heard someone mention something about someone not knowing the truth about their father. Dad then said he had adopted me." Thomas explained.
"Oh, Thomas, I'm so sorry you had to find out like that." Ginny reached for her son's hand as she spoke. "But why didn't you come to us and ask us about what you'd heard?"
"I was going to but after that day you were so happy, much happier then you've been for years, and I didn't want to make you sad." Thomas shrugged.
"Why didn't you come to me then?" Jacques asked. "Surely you heard enough to know that even though you may not be my son biologically, I love you like my own."
"I know and that's why I didn't talk to you." Thomas looked up at his father for the first time as he tried to explain why he hadn't confided in him. "You're my Dad, nothing will ever change that, but I didn't want you thinking I didn't love you if I was asking questions about my real father."
"I would never think that Thomas." Jacques reassured his son. "After what you heard it's only natural that you'd be curious as to who your biological father is."
"I know I really should have come to you two and I'm sorry, but I managed to find out what I needed on my own." Thomas said. "Maybe you can help me with a bit more detail."
"That's something else we need to discuss." Ginny sighed, dreading what was to come. She still had no idea how to convince Thomas that Draco wasn't his father without revealing the truth. "Draco Malfoy isn't your father."
Thomas stared at his mother for several minutes before he regained his focus. "Don't be stupid, of course he is. You're forgetting I've seen him and the similarities in our appearance show we're related."
"Thomas, he's not your father." Ginny insisted. "There was a time I counted Draco as a friend but we've never been more than that. You're not Draco's son."
"Then why was he here asking about me?" Thomas demanded. "Why did he say he wanted to meet me? And more importantly how the hell do we look so similar if he's not my father?"
Thomas glared at his mother, waiting for answers. Ginny however was totally overwhelmed and couldn't think of any suitable lies to tell her son. As Ginny was floundering so much Jacques decided he would do his best to appease Thomas, he really didn't want his son finding out the truth about Lucius unless he really had to.
"Mr Malfoy and his wife were here as they realised your mother was back." Jacques said. "As she said they were friends once upon a time and they wanted to catch up, that's why they wanted to see you."
"If they're just old friends then why did you refuse?" Thomas asked. "I heard you and you were determined they wouldn't be allowed meet me."
"Your mother had a falling out with her friends and seeing them again dragged up some bad memories." Jacques said, pleased he was at least telling a partial truth. Seeing her old friends again had been hard on Ginny and had brought up ghosts that had long since been forgotten. "I didn't want her upset, so I suggested we all kept our distance."
"You know when I was finding out about Draco I looked at old pictures of his friends and mum wasn't amongst them." Thomas turned his attention back to his mother, waiting to see if she had any response for him, he didn't believe a word Jacques was saying and he wanted to know if his mother would crack and tell him the truth.
"I looked different back then, I was a lot younger." Ginny whispered. She was shocked that Thomas had been doing research on Draco, she only hoped he hadn't looked into his past too deeply and found out about Lucius.
"So were Draco and his wife and I recognised both of them immediately. So either you've changed beyond recognition or you're lying." Thomas snapped.
At Thomas's tone of voice Ginny snapped her head up to look at her son. For the first time she saw part of Lucius's personality in him, normally it was just his looks that reminded her of her former lover but his tone of voice and harsh look were pure Malfoy.
"And even if you are telling the truth, which I doubt very much, there's still the fact I look so much like Draco." Thomas continued in his cold voice so reminiscent of his dead father. "You can protest all you want but I've seen enough to know I'm related to him. It doesn't matter what lies you spout, I know he's my father."
"But he's not." Ginny shook her head in despair. "I swear, Draco isn't your father."
"I don't believe you." Thomas snorted as he stood up. "If you won't tell me the truth then I'll just have to go and see him myself, maybe he'll be more honest with me."
"You can't do that." Ginny cried, jumping up and grabbing Thomas's arm. There was no way she could allow him to see Draco after the threat Hermione had made.
"Maybe we should tell the truth." Jacques said quietly, moving behind Ginny and wrapping her in his arms. "I think it's the only way." He whispered to his wife who was vehemently shaking her head.
"Please Mum, tell me the truth." Thomas pleaded, looking at his distraught mother.
Ginny slowly raised her head so she was looking at Thomas, he looked so desperate and she could see the plea in his grey eyes. "Fine, I'll tell you the truth." She whispered.
Thomas sat back down on the sofa and waited for his parents to join him. Before settling down Jacques whispered something to Ginny before the couple sat down on the sofa, Ginny huddled against her husband. For the first time Thomas wondered if he hadn't been the product of a loving relationship, he'd always assumed that his mother and Draco had been having an affair but now he was thinking there was something more sinister going on.
"The truth is when I was younger I had an affair with a married man. It went on for about two years and we loved each other, but his wife found out and we ended it." Ginny explained. "You're the result of the affair."
"That doesn't explain why I look so much like Draco." Thomas said, sounding confused. He actually believed what his mother was saying but he still felt as though she wasn't being entirely truthful. "And what about my real father, who is he? Does he know about me? Can I meet him?"
"Your father knew about you, or rather he knew I was pregnant." Ginny said quietly, memories of her last meeting with Lucius running through her mind. "He died before you were born."
"Mum, I'm sorry." Thomas immediately felt guilty for pushing his mother when she was clearly still upset over her ex's death. "But I still need to know who he was and why I look so much like Draco. It can't just be a coincidence we look so alike."
Ginny turned to look at Jacques, who nodded reassuringly at her. "The reason you look so like Draco is the fact you are related to him. He's not your father, he's your brother. Your father was Lucius Malfoy."
Ginny wasn't sure what sort of reaction she would get from Thomas but she didn't expect the disgust that washed over his face. At first she thought he was surprised by the age difference between herself and Lucius but when she reached out to him and he pulled away she realised the disgust was aimed at her.
"I know it's a shock, Thomas." Ginny said, trying to explain things to her son the best she could. "I know there was an age gap and he was married with a son older than me, but we loved each other."
"Yeah, you loved him so much you whacked him over the head and killed him." Thomas sneered. It had taken him all of two seconds to work out who his mother was once she had revealed the identity of his father, he had done enough research into Draco's past to know exactly what had happened with Lucius. "You are Ginny Weasley, the bitch that killed him aren't you?"
Ginny had paled at her son's allegations and she just stared at him, unable to find the words to defend herself. Obviously his research into Draco had resulted in him finding out about Lucius's death and from there it was easy to work out her true identity once she had revealed the truth about his true father.
"Thomas, don't talk to your mother like that." Jacques scolded his son.
"Why not?" Thomas questioned as he stood up and backed away from his parents. "It's true isn't it? She killed my father then she ran off like a coward."
"I'm sorry, it was an accident." By this point Ginny was in floods of tears as her only son rejected her. "I never meant to hurt him, please Thomas, you have to believe me."
Ginny shakily stood up and walked over to her son, who immediately shrugged her off and backed away from her. Thomas quickly retreated to the doorway while Ginny collapsed onto the floor, loud sobs wracking her small body.
"You disgust me, I want nothing more to do with you." Thomas said from the doorway. Taking one last look at his mother he turned and fled to his room, tears falling down his own face as he struggled to process the discoveries he had made.
...
Thomas stayed locked in his bedroom all morning, both his parents had tried to speak to him but he ignored them until they went away. When he refused to speak to his mother Thomas heard her run to her own bedroom and shut herself away. Jacques spent most of the morning alternating between trying to get Thomas to talk and trying to calm his wife down, eventually he decided to give Thomas some time to come round while Ginny had slipped into a fretful sleep.
By early afternoon Thomas had made a decision, he needed to know more about his father. He was still too disgusted with his mother to even think about talking to her so the only person who could really help was Draco. Thomas dug out the address to Draco's office amongst his school work and debated how he was going to go and see his half-brother. When Thomas had initially found the address he had obviously thought he was going to see his father but in the space of one morning everything had changed and he no longer had a father to go and see.
Deciding to stick with his original plan of using the floo network to visit Draco, Thomas got ready before he crept out of his bedroom. Quietly Thomas made his way downstairs and was relieved when he stepped into the front room to find it empty, hopefully both his parents would stay out of the room while he left the house. Still being as quiet as he could Thomas grabbed some floo powder and stepped into the fire, he was hoping in all the commotion that Jacques had forgotten to lock the floo network. Luckily for Thomas the floo network was open as he disappeared in a flash of green flames as he called out the desired address.
After a minute or so Thomas emerged from the fire into large stone entrance hall. The hall was bustling with people coming and going and Thomas took a good look around. The front door stood opposite the large reception desk and on either side of reception stood two glass elevators. Next to the elevators was a large sign on the wall, listing what floors to find different things on.
Thomas rushed to the sign and immediately found Draco's office was on the top floor. Unfortunately when he tried to call for an elevator nothing happened, stepping back he waited until someone approached and they called the elevator. When he found a force field blocking him from entering Thomas started observing the other people moving around, he discovered they all wore a wristband that seemed to allow them to move freely within the building. More observation showed that some people arrived wearing the wristband's while others received them from reception.
Thomas hadn't wanted to approach reception but he realised he had little choice if he actually wanted to see Draco. Reluctantly he stepped up to reception and asked to see Draco. The witch initially refused to let him upstairs without an appointment but when he begged her she took pity on the fact he was only a child and told him she would see what she would do. After contacting Draco's office the witch on reception handed Thomas a wristband and told him someone would be waiting for him upstairs.
Thomas took one of the glass elevators up to the top floor. When it arrived and he stepped out Thomas was shocked to find Draco standing waiting for him. Draco had personally given the witch on reception permission to let Thomas up to see him as he was curious as to what his half-brother wanted, he was hoping that Ginny had at least made sure the boy knew he wasn't his father.
"Hello Thomas." Draco greeted his half-brother with a friendly smile. "It's nice to meet you."
"You, too." Thomas replied, relieved that the older man at least seemed friendly enough. "Can we talk, please?"
"Of course, come through to my office."
Draco led the way to his office, only stopping briefly to tell his secretary they weren't to be disturbed. Once in the office Draco led Thomas over to the corner were a sofa and two chairs were arranged around a coffee table. After offering Thomas refreshments, which he politely declined, the two half siblings sat down together for the first time.
"I'm sorry to just burst in on you but I found out who I really am today." Thomas explained. "I really need some answers."
"What did your mother tell you?" Draco asked. He wanted to be clear what Ginny had told Thomas so he didn't accidentally put his foot in it and reveal something he didn't know.
"Not a lot. For months I've thought you were my father but today mum told me my father was also your father." Thomas said. "Because of the research I'd done on you when I thought you were my father I immediately worked out who mum really is and what she did."
"I'm sorry, Thomas." Draco winced, thinking about how painful it must have been for him realising his mother was a killer. "That must have been an awful way to find out the truth."
"Yeah, it wasn't really the best way to find out the news." Thomas snorted.
"So your mum told you about her affair with Lucius but not about what happened after?" Draco asked.
"Yeah, I don't think she realised I knew what had happened and could work out who she really was." Thomas replied. "Why do you call your father by his first name?" The question had just sprung from what Draco had said but Thomas figured it was the perfect way to begin the conversation.
"Habit." Draco shrugged. "When he was alive we didn't always get on too well, calling him by his given name rather than father often meant I was angry with him or that he'd hurt me in some way. Even now I still refer to him by his name when I'm reminded of how much he hurt my mother and I."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be a reminder of the pain he caused." Thomas said quietly.
"You're not." Draco reassured the boy. "I'm actually really pleased to meet you, I wish it could have been easier for you but considering the circumstances I honestly don't think it was ever going to be easy for us to meet."
"I suppose not." Thomas said, thinking that Draco had a point. Whenever they had met it would mean he had discovered the truth about his parentage while Draco would be faced with the product of his father's betrayal.
"Do you want me to tell you about him?" Draco asked. "I'm not going to lie and tell you he was a good, kind man, because he wasn't. But he also wasn't as bad as people like to think, I don't think he's even as bad as I sometimes think he was."
Thomas accepted Draco's offer and for the next hour Draco proceeded to tell Thomas about their father. Draco tried his best to be as truthful as possible, he made sure Thomas knew both the bad and good things about Lucius. By the time he had finished speaking Draco himself was feeling slightly overwhelmed and he realised he missed his father a lot, they may have argued and were angry at each other when Lucius had died but they were still family and despite everything Draco had loved his father.
"What about him and my mum?" Thomas asked. "She said they loved each other. Did they?"
"Honestly, I don't know. We didn't find out about the affair until after everything had happened." Draco said. "From everything I've heard and from talking to your mother recently I think she definitely loved Lucius."
"Did he love her?"
Draco sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "They were together for two years, so there was some real feelings present. I can't say for sure if father loved her but I have a suspicion he did."
"You don't like that." Thomas noted, watching Draco's reaction carefully.
"No, I don't." Draco said truthfully. "It's nothing against you or your mother but I always thought my parents were happy and loved each other. It was quite a shock to discover father had been cheating for so long. What he did broke my mother's heart and I can't accept what he did just because he was supposedly in love with your mother."
"What about what my mother did?" Thomas asked. "She killed our father. Why haven't you gotten her arrested?"
"Do you want her to be arrested?" Draco asked, wondering what Thomas thought of Ginny's actions.
"I don't know." Thomas whispered, his head drooping as he thought about his mother. "What she did was terrible and I don't know if I can ever forgive her for that."
Draco looked at Thomas, knowing he had made the right decision not to turn Ginny into the authorities. While Thomas may be upset with what Ginny had done it was clear he loved her very much and would be devastated if she was sent to Azkaban.
"You're the reason I haven't told anyone about your mother." Draco said, moving to sit beside his half-brother. "Despite the fact I'm still upset at what she did, I'm more concerned about you. You don't deserve to be stuck in the middle of this and you don't deserve to lose your mother."
"What if she deserves to be punished, though?" Thomas asked, looking up at Draco. "She killed a man and just walked away. Surely that deserves punishment?"
"It does." Draco nodded. "But do you deserve punishing for who your parents are? Sending your mother to prison won't bring father back but it will lose you someone you love for a long time."
"Am I really worth letting her escaping justice?" Thomas asked, amazed that Draco was more concerned with his happiness than seeing justice being served.
"I think so." Draco replied. "But if you think different we can do something about it. I just want you to think before you do anything, Thomas. If you tell anyone what your mother did you'll have to live with that for the rest of your life."
"I know." Thomas sighed. "I don't want to see her hurt but at the same time she killed someone and that deserves some sort of punishment."
"If it means anything I'm sure the guilt she feels must be crippling. She not only killed the father of her child but she killed the man she loved, that has to hurt and be extremely painful to live with." Draco said. He wasn't sure why he was defending Ginny but he did know he wanted Thomas to be aware of what would happen if he decided his mother needed to be punished.
"Maybe she does feel guilty." Thomas said. "But what if she doesn't? What if she's just relieved to have gotten away scot free?"
"Then I suppose you should talk to her." Draco suggested. "Maybe then you can get the full picture before making any firm decisions."
"Would you come with me?" Thomas asked. "I don't want to face her alone. I don't even know if I want anything more to do with her."
"Of course, I'll come with you." Draco said. "You're family, Thomas, and I want you to know that I'll always be here for you."
"Thanks, I appreciate it." Thomas smiled. "Does this mean we can get to know each other and be proper brothers?"
"If that's what you want, then definitely." Draco said, trying to control the huge grin that threated to spill out at Thomas's question.
"I think I'll like having a big brother." Thomas said.
"I think I'll like having a little brother." Draco said as he got up. "Give me ten minutes to finish off here and speak to Hermione, then I'll take you home and we can speak to your mother."
"Thanks, Draco." Thomas said with a smile.
Draco smiled back before he tided his desk and went to speak to his secretary. When he returned to the office he quickly made a floo call home before grabbing his jacket. Turning back to Thomas he then apparated them to Thomas's house where they were planning on speaking with Ginny.