Chapter 12

Standing just on the other side of the room, infront of the open window, wearing nothing but trousers zipped up but unbuttoned smoking a fag (In Britain cigarette's are called fag's) was none other than the quite relaxed but extremely pleased figure of James Potter. Harry was surprised, his father didn't smoke, Malfoy must have talked him into it. Glancing over at the bed, glaring hatefully, Harry lessened his glare upon seeing his rival sleeping peacefully on the bed covered in nothing but a sheet.

Turning his gaze back over to his father, Harry slowly entered the room before halting as he heard his father speak out a privacy and silencing charm before turning around to face him, taking a drag from his fag as he did so and exhaling the smoke moments later.

"There's no reason to hide son, I know that you are there, and I'm glad that you've come because I need to talk to you."

Undoing his Notice-Me-Not charm, Harry slowly walked over to the small duvet that Ron had laid on only five years before back in their third year when Sirius, transformed as Padfoot dragged him down the passageway and into the Shrieking Shack; causing Ron's leg to bleed from his accidental bites and sat down on it.

"I know that this is something that you won't accept immediately Harry, believe me if you were in a relationship like this I wouldn't either, but...if I saw how much that man or woman truly made you happy then I would've stepped aside and let you be with them. So why can't you do that for me? Your own father? Is it because he's your school rival or is it because he's a Malfoy and his father as well as himself was a proclaimed Death Eater?"

"I..."

"Harry, I want you to be able to tell me the truth. Honestly. Please Harry, tell my why you can't accept me being happy with Draco? Other than the fact that he's your age and in Hogwarts which he doesn't need to be but is all the same just to finish his education like the rest of you."

"Well..he...Malfoy...damn it, I don't know! I just don't like seeing you two together! It'd be as if Snape and I got together! And we're not! I'm with Ginny! I love her and she loves me!"

Taking a slow drag James contemplated what to say for but a moment before exhaling the smoke once more and speaking.

"I never said that you didn't love your girlfriend son. Is there something that you want to talk about with me about her?"

"No! No, we're fine. But you...you and Malfoy...I just...I'm sorry dad but I just can't accept that. I just can't see him changing so fast in only twenty minutes-"

"Four months."

"What?" Harry asked, not completely hearing his father's soft tone of voice.

"Harry, Draco was stuck in our world for nearly four months. Not twenty minutes. As far as he was concerned Harry, as we all were by that time came rolling around, he was well and truly stuck in our world with no way back home. Draco and I began a relationship, we got together and fell deeply in love with each other. Sirius and Remus each enjoyed his company. Especially whenever we went out to prank people. It was a hoot of a laugh. Truly it was. I had just given him that ring and a promise to one day make him mine as my husband at Christmas Hols when we discovered that he had a way to go back home after all. Remus gave him a statue figurine of Draco's animagus form, and Sirius gave him a family dagger. After receiving our gifts from him, he returned back home to your time that very night after dinner. I never saw him again until now. But, as I promised him, I never took off the necklace he gave to me. And to be honest, this necklace is what really had saved my life that night Voldemort attacked us. Why it did or what it did to me, I don't know. But I remember waking up in a muggle hospital with no memory of who I was or where I was. I lived in the muggle world for years, learning their ways, up until just some months ago when you defeated Voldemort. My memories came back to me, and as they did, so did a whole lot of things."

"Dad...Malfoy...he's...he's really different than before?" Harry asked him tentatively not sure if he truly wanted his father to answer that question or not.

Taking one last drag before tossing his fag out the window, James answered Harry honestly before shutting the window closed and making his way back over to the bed, dimissing Harry after that to climb in next to Draco and get back to sleep.

"Yes son, I really do believe that he has changed from the cruel child you knew him to be. Now then, I'm getting a little bit tired so I'm going to return back to bed. You can stay here or go but I'm going to sleep."

"I...uhh..I'll just go then. I don't want Malfoy to wake up and see me. At least...not yet."

"Harry...if there's anything that you want to talk to me about you know that you can always come to me or Sirius or Remus about it. Don't you?"

"Yeah I do. Thanks dad."

"Your welcome. Now get out of here before I report you to Minerva."

"You do that, I do the same to Malfoy."

"Just go."

"Fine, fine, I'm going, I'm going."

Harry stood up and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind himself and descending the stairs to the secret passageway back into the castle before going up into the Gryffindor Tower where upon reaching his bed at last, got himself comfortable and fell asleep underneath his own warm soft blankets.

Early the next morning, as the sun rose over the horizon, James Potter laid wide awake watching with love in his eyes as Draco slept peacefully beside him. Combing his hand through Draco's hair gently, ghosting his fingertips over his smooth pale back, James then did the same across Draco's torso as he turned over onto his back in his sleep.

Eyebrows narrowed, eyes glinting brightly with confusion and anger as he took in the long pale scars that adorned his lover's chest, James clenched his hand into a fist as he cursed silently to himself that whoever did this to his love was going to pay.

Sensing Draco waking up, James calmed himself down before smiling down at Draco's own grinning face and giving him a good morning kiss.

"Morning luv, how did you sleep?" James muttered to Draco before kissing across his face and down towards his neck where he peppered it with kisses and nibbles.

"I...mmmm...I slept...oh merlin above...I slept fine. And...ugh...and you?" Draco tried to answer in-between James' kisses and nibbles steadily but fastly failing.

"I slept just fine." James replied back, breaking his kisses and leaning back onto his pillows, gently coaxing Draco across his body to cuddle up with him in a hug.

Laying there in James' arms, resting his head against his strong pectorals, was the happiest moment of Draco's life. He sighed low with happiness. Eyes closing, smile on his face, body relaxing into James'. Yes, this moment was just perfect. Up until James asked him where he got his scars.

"Draco?"

"Hmm?"

"Where did you get those scars?"

Draco froze instantly, unable to speak, think, almost even breathe as memories of his sixth year returned to the forefront of his mind. Of his scurmish in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom with Harry Potter. Breaking mirrors and a toilet as well as a sink or two before nearly casting the Cruciatus at Potter except that he had been a bit faster in casting his spell than he. To falling onto the soaking wet bathroom floor, pain riddling his body, cuts open and deep, bleeding everywhere. Feeling it hard to breathe or stay awake as he took sudden notice of his godfather kneeling above him muttering low a healing charm to help stave the blood flow and undue what curse Potter had cast upon him. Saving his life.

"Draco?"

The sound of James' voice instantly brought Draco out of his flashback. Sighing heavily, knowing that he would not like telling this twice, Draco asked for James to call forth Sirius and Remus and have them come here as well to hear the tale.

"Are you sure that you want them to hear it too?"

"I...yeah, yes, it would make me feel a lot better knowing that you three would finally know the truth about how I got them instead of hearing about it from someone else first."

"Alright then, I'll let them know that you want to talk to them asap."

"Thank you."

"Your welcome love. Now then, let's get dressed, I doubt they'll want to see us in our scivvie's when they come to hear this truth of yours."

"...yeah."

Getting up and dressing back into their clothes from yesterday, Draco watched as James sent off his Patronus Charm stag to go inform Sirius and Remus that he and Draco wanted to talk to the two of them alone as soon as possible up in the Shrieking Shack.

Sitting down on the bed, Draco glanced down at the promise ring that adorned his ring finger that James had given to him as a promise that one day he would find Draco and marry him. And he did find him...about twenty years later down the road...but marry him? Well, that didn't look to be happening anytime soon. At least...not yet.

Waiting around for Sirius and Remus to make their appearance was nerve racking but they did it. To waste time until they showed up, James talked to Draco about the muggle world and what he had to learn about doing and living with while he lost his memories. Of learning to write, drive a car, to getting a job and becoming totally dependent on himself and although he had gotten more than enough offers from both men and women of a date or just sex; he refused them all.

"You refused?! Why?"

"Well, at the time, I didn't know anybody. I couldn't be too careful. I guess my years as an Auror taught me to be cautious of everyone that I didn't know. And it did come in handy when after I left my job one night, closing up, someone thought that it would funny if they mugged me. Took my money or watch. They were wrong. Apparently my skills as an Auror and as a requirement to become one back then was to learn muggle defense, I was able to appropriately protect myself and scare off my would-be attacker. After that, even though their offers were nice, I just...it felt wrong to me. For some reason, I had been having dreams about you, only back then I didn't know that it was you, seeing this blonde man and myself hugging, laughing, and kissing. Holding hands and having sex. I somehow knew you. Deep down, somewhere I knew that I knew you and that you knew me, so...I tried to find you. Only when I didn't or couldn't, I decided that maybe you were just a figment of my own imagination. Until I got back memories back when Harry killed Voldemort. It was like...a door had been opened and I suddenly remembered everything. Who I was, where I lived, who you were and what you meant to me. Everything. After I came back here, I found Harry and got the chance to get to know him. But through him, I also got to know this younger and more sly and wicked version of you. Up until you returned from your trip in the past."

"I see. Well, was living amongst the muggles hard, even though you didn't really know anybody?"

"Yes, in the beginning it was, but as time passed it got easier. Anything else?"

"How about we get to the story of how Draco got his scars? Not that I am not enjoying your story James, but we've heard that damn thing a hundred times, even I could tell it to Remus in my sleep." Sirius spoke out into the room, startling both Draco and James to his and Remus' presence, at the door way.

"Right, well, come on in and have a seat." said James as he waved them over before turning his attention back onto his young lover and continuing to say, carding a hand through his hair as he did so, speaking softly so that he knew that he had all the time in the world and that they weren't going to go anywhere until he was finished.

"Draco, take all the time that you need, we're not going to go anywhere until you are through. Alright?"

Draco nodded his head silently. Understanding what his lover was saying. Taking in a deep breath to ready himself to at last tell the tale of how he got his scars, thinking it best to start at the beginning, he did just that. With the night he had been assigned to kill Dumbledore as his initiation into the ranks of the Death Eaters. Bearing the Dark Mark on his left inner forearm like all the others.

"Alright, I think I better start at the beginning. Well, my father had been arrested and put in Azkaban. Mother hardly left the manor or associated with anybody else except for aunt Bella. Voldemort and the other Death Eaters made our Manor their home base for quite sometime. Mostly during my six and what would have been my seventh year at Hogwarts. During the summer just before my sixth year I took my father's place as a Death Eater to uphold the family name and got the Dark Mark. Then, he gave me my assignment. I was to somehow let the Death Eaters into the school and find a way to kill the Headmaster or else my family and I were going to be killed. I didn't want anything to happen to them, or to myself, I didn't want to die yet. I was only sixteen years old. Three years younger than cousin Regulus when he had been killed and I didn't want to die so early in my life, like I knew that Regulus didn't want in his but somehow got it anyway, so I accepted the mission. It took me all my sixth year to find a way to make it possible but towards the end I did it. It was only a few months before the school was to come to a close on my sixth year when...when I...I made a mistake. Another of many soon piling up.

My first mistake had been trying to get Professor Slughorn a bottle of Dumbledore's finest ale or gin to give to him as a present. I had poisoned it. It surely would have killed him almost instantly at his age. But that failed. Instead I almost killed Potter's best friend, Weasley, but he survived. Slughorn had a beazor and Weasley was going to be fine. Then...sometime later, around the Christmas Hols, I sent a package to Katie Bell to give to Dumbledore with a cursed necklace inside of it; but that too eventually failed. Drastically. Apparently word spread back to me that she had touched the necklace, she was hurt but was soon going to be okay. Failure on top of failure. I began to panic. I was going to die. He would have me killed if I didn't find a way to complete my mission. I couldn't trust uncle Severus to help me, he was already risking enough as it was, I knew all about his secret.

That he was a spy for Dumbledore fooling Voldemort fooling Dumbledore, only doing this for himself in the end, being...what would you call it...a triple agent? Well, I couldn't risk him getting caught up in my mess any worse than he already was. He had taken two Unbreakable Vows. One to my mother to complete my mission for me should I be unable to carry it out and one to Dumbledore to kill him if I am unable too. Thus, completing my mission for me and saving his own life either way. Well, it wasn't too long after Katie touched the necklace that she returned, well but a bit disoriented. I panicked when I saw her. I ran off towards Moaning Myrtle's bathroom without a second thought, never knowing that I had been followed, until it was too late.

I...I cried for my weakness, my failure, for the relief that Katie was going to be alright. When I looked up into the mirror, I saw him standing there some ways behind me. We dueled right there in the bathroom. Destroying a sink or two, a toilet, and a few mirrors. I was just about to cast the Cruciatus curse on him when he struck me with one that I had never heard of before...but someone else did. I fell back, cuts open deeply on my front, bleeding heavily onto the soaking wet bathroom floor. I truly believed that I was going to die. Right there and right then. Until I saw uncle Sev kneeling over me muttering the counter to the curse. I woke up later that night with the very culprit who cursed me. Madame Pomphrey was able to heal me as much as she could, but these three scars were forever going to be there. He apologized to me, saying how he didn't know what that would do and that if he did he never would have used it on me, but...in the end; no matter how much apologizing he did it would never change the fact that he still cursed me with it regardless he knew what it did or not."

"Who Draco? Who cursed you with that horrible thing? And how did Snape know the counter?" Sirius questioned, intrigued with Draco's story, curious to know as much as Remus and James was as to just whom cursed Draco with that curse leaving him to be scarred for life.

"Uncle Sev knew it because he created it. And...as for who used it on me...well. You won't believe me. Not unless you see it from my own memory."

"Draco, we're not here to judge you, please Dragon...tell us. Who cursed you with this horrible spell?" Remus gently coaxed out, praying that his ploy worked and that they would finally discover the identity of the man that did this to their friend.

"I...I just...you won't believe me! No one ever does! No one believes me except for uncle Sev. He was there for the finale. He told me that he created that curse and wrote it down in his old potions textbook along with his notes on changing the potions to better their potency."

"I remember hearing about that, Hermione mentioned in passing as she had a question about their defense class that year that Severus was teaching, that Harry had gotten stuck with an old potions book that had been written in all over. She said that the book had the writing, This Book is the Property of the Half-Blood Prince, on the inside of it."

"That...that's the book. Uncle Sev blew up a storm when he discovered that Potter had it this whole time. I remember now because I could hear him screaming out at Potter that he was going to get detentions for the rest of the year with Filch for what he had done to me."

"Draco..." Remus muttered out, his voice echoing in the silence of the strangely quiet room.

"I...I can't believe it. All this time Harry had foregone answering our questions about your scars, looking as if he had done something very bad but refused to talk about it with me. I just...all this time...Harry was the one who did that to you and he didn't get properly punished for it?!" Sirius practically shouted out at the end, angered at the injustice of it all, flashbacking to his own non-punishment for nearly causing Severus' death with his own 'special' prank on a full moon night back in their sixth year.

"I'm sorry cousin." Draco uttered, head facing down, feeling like it was his fault that Sirius was angry at his own godson for what he was only trying to do to protect his family the only way that he knew how; only to get cursed and scarred for it for life.

"It's not your fault cousin, it's all that scaly bastard Voldemort's and Snivellus' of course, for creating that damn curse in the first place!"

Lifting his head to see that Sirius truly didn't fault him for doing what he had thought was the only way to save his family, Draco gave him a teary smile before thanking him. Pleased that he wasn't angry with him. And glancing over at Remus, relieved that he wasn't either. However, Draco instantly lost his smile as he gazed upon his lover, seeing an expression of cold anger on his serious face.

"J-James?" Draco stuttered out nervously, face paling and breath hitching as he watched James silently stand up and walk out of the room, fists clenched at his sides; conveying his true emotions that weren't seen in his eyes.

Tears falling down his face, Draco sniffled and wiped away at his eyes, before sobbing into Remus' shoulder as he gently combed his hand through his hair to try and calm him down.

"Shhh...it's alright Draco. Sirius, go with James and make sure that he doesn't do something stupid. It's okay Draco, everything is going to be alright, James doesn't hate you or see this as your fault okay?"

"I-I know that Moony, but...but he...he looked so...serious. So not him. It scared me. That's not my James. I want my James back."

"I know Dragon, I know, don't worry, Padfoot will bring him back safely. I promise."