Family First Chapter 14: December 29

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A/N: Do you guys know what happened?! This fic has reached over 1,000 followers. Simply incredible, you guys are ama-z-ing. Next chapter will be up on Thursday. Also a while back someone asked me if I had any recommendations for a Harry/ Malfoy Family fic. At the time I didn't. Since then I have absolutely fallen in love with a fic entitled The Beguile and Devotion of a Black Heir by Starlight Massacre. For those of you not reading it, as long as you don't mind slash (not Harry/ and of the Malfoy's), check it out. In fact, check out everything written by her, she's amazing. The story link is www. fanfiction s/ 10710981 without the spaces. It can also be found in my favorites list.

Beta'ed by Jasper's Mom

Harry was happy that it was a semi decent hour at least (or semi decent as mornings could get) when Lucius woke him up. As expected there is a quick trip to Draco's room, in which the bonds that had been released the night before were once again attached. An exceedingly proud Lucius followed both boys to breakfast.

"Not a single complaint from either of them." Lucius bragged slightly to his wife as he took his seat at the head of the table.

" I told you darling."

" That you did my love. I just wasn't expecting such quick results, we really will have to thank Severus."

"Harry had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling. If only they knew. Draco, seeing right through the half hidden smile on Harry's face, and knowing his parents would have no trouble seeing through it, sent a glare at the younger boy. He desperately hoped his parents mistook the smile as a result of the not so subtle praise that was being handed out. If his parents caught on, even if they caught on now, before they had actually done anything, both Harry and himself would be dead. Premeditation with intent his Papa called it.

Luckily, no one seemed to catch on. Anyways it would have been a shame for Draco's brilliant plot to go to waste (he had, after all, spent a whole two and a half hours on it). Breakfast went off without a hitch. Severus, Lucius and Narcissa passed the conversation around the table, while Harry and Draco tried to keep up pretenses, glaring at each other occasionally, but nothing so serious as to have one of the adults in the room correct the behavior. Eventually, after both boys were done eating, and everyone else at the table were coming to the end of their meal, the boys were given permission to leave the table.

"Lucius, Narcissa, you know those two are up to something."

"Of course... But I'm willing to let them get away with it, at least for a while." Narcissa spoke in her normally cheerful voice.

"We haven't quite decided what exactly they are up to, but as you saw, both of them are in on it. From what I made from it, it's not something either of them are worried about, so the likelihood of it being a dueling club or some other such nonsense is fairly low. "

"As Lucius said, neither of them appear to think that they are going to be in danger, or get seriously hurt, and they are so focused on their plan I do wonder if they even notice they are working together towards a common goal." Cissa practically sang the last part of the sentence.

"Severus, any advice? With you having so many children, I'm sure you've faced situations like this before."

"No, nothing quite like this Lucius. However, I do think Cissa is probably correct. They are too focused on getting one over on the adults to notice they are actually getting along. That being said, I think you're going to regret not nipping this little project in the bud."

"So you think we should put an end to it."

"I never said that Cissa. Your going to regret letting it go on, as I can guarantee that any project that has both Harry Potter, and Draco Malfoy not only interested, but so interested that they are willing to cooperate, is not good news for you. You would regret stopping it now though even more, for I fear that you would also end up stopping any chance of cooperation."

"Aah well, the sacrifices we make for our children.

"The only question is how big the sacrifice shall be."

"So-"

"Shh"

"But-"

"Shh"

"Don't shu-"

"Shh. Be silent Potter"

It took a good half an hour of walking around the grounds, Harry compliantly following behind a determined Draco. Eventually, they made it to a hollow, densely covered by trees. Draco stopped in an area that was obviously frequently used, having been cleared of snow and debris. As soon as Harry stepped into the circular area Harry could tell why the area was snow free: It had a warming spell around it. Not as strong as the ones around the pool and pitch, this one was obviously cast by someone with less experience.

"Where are we?"

"Far enough from the house and the wards not to be overheard."

"So."

"So what?"

"What's the plan?"

"All in good time Harry. Have a seat." The blond boy pointed out a chair that had been fashioned out of some local wood. Harry sat, while Draco took his own seat.

"Alright... You know how your grandpapa Charlus had a journal he wrote in?"

"Yeah."

"Well it's a pureblood thing. Lots of purebloods have them, but the lord of a family is required to have one."

"OK"

"You have to write about some stuff, like business transactions, and alliances, and traditions, and such. But most purebloods use it as an official account of their life. They put everything in the journals. Their thoughts, feelings, day to day actions, newspaper clippings, drawings, and so on."

"And."

"And Severus is a pureblood... Well kinda. By birth he is a half blood, but because he is the lord of a family and he lived in a pureblood home for more than two years, he is considered a pureblood. Which means..."

"...that he will have a journal with everything in it, and because he's my parent's age, he will have stuff from their childhood, all the way up till..."

"Exactly."

"He's not just going to let me look at his journal Draco."

"Of course not, Severus is a very private person. He wouldn't let anyone look in his journal."

"So how does any of this help us Draco?"

"Well Harry it's really quite simple, you know how you just asked me something?"

"Yes Draco I understand what a question is." Harry made sure to let an appropriate amount of sarcasm drip off his words."

"Yes well, were not going to do that."

"Do what?"

"There will be no question asking, just assumptions. Were going to assume that Uncle Severus would be willing to share this very important information with us. But he is clearly a very busy man, so were going to assume that it would be much better for all parties involved if we just took the liberty to look for ourselves."

"Are we also assuming that he'll have the info were looking for in his journal. I want to know about the sketches, but I also want to know about other stuff too. I want to know about what happened to all of my parent's friends, and lots of other stuff too. It's a big risk to take, just because it might be in the journal."

"But what's the likelihood that it wouldn't be in at least one of three journals from that time period?"

"One in three?"

"Yep, Uncle Sev's journal, Papa's journal, and Mother's journal. At least one of them has to have what we're looking for."

"We're going to steal three journals?"

"Steal is such a strong world, I much prefer to use the term 'borrow', don't you?"

"Borrow implies that you asked permission."

"Now you sound like my parents. Look, do you want to to find out about your parents, and the drawings or not?"

"Yeah. I'm in."

"Alright then, here's how we do it." Draco leaned in farther, and lowered his voice to a whisper.

"Ministry of Magic, Department of the Propriety of Wizardry, how can I help you?"

"Yes, I would like to report a breach in the code of the Propriety of Wizardry."

"Yes?"

"There is a wizard running around London in the nude."

"Yes, do you know the name of this wizard?" The lady on the end of... Well Harry wasn't even sure what exactly this form of communication was, something similar to a phone, just... On a parchment instead. Anyways she sounded utterly bored, as if this kind of call happened all the time.

"Yes... It's Lucius Malfoy."

"Thank you for reporting this breach in code, you have done the wizarding world a great service, I assure you this situation will be taken care of." As the glow of the parchment died down Harry swung around to see Draco collapsed on the floor with the strength of his giggles.

"Would you stop already... What if she recognized my voice."

"She didn't recognize you." Draco didn't sound very reassuring with all the giggling he was still doing. Eventually he took a long calming breath, stood up, and rearranged his clothing and hair.

"Alright, it's lunch time, and it's sure to be a very interesting meal indeed. Come along Harry, I want to see this." With that the blond boy strolled out of the room with Harry following closely behind.

Both boys sat next to one another, on the right side of Lucius, who was already seated at the table. Narcissa walked in the dining room on their heels, taking the seat on Lucius left. Severus was, as usual, the last to arrive, and took the seat next to Narcissa.

Lunch was uneventful, filled with light, mindless chatter. Harry had to kick Draco twice to stop him from breaking out into giggles whenever he looked at Lucius. Severus kept throwing both boys suspicious looks, although he never said anything.

As lunch was coming to a close, Lucius description of a particular horse he was interested in buying was cut off by the screech of a very frazzled ministry owl. The owl, which had obviously somehow made it's way into the manor, landed on Lucius shoulder, and stuck out a leg, demanding the letter their be untied.

Lucius complied, gently tugging the string loose. Once free the owl leaped off the shoulder he was perched on, and made a sudden grab for a sandwich on Narcissa Malfoy's plate. Then with it's prize in it's talons, it made it's way out of the manor, quite content with it's self.

Unfortunately Lucius Malfoy was not quite as content. In fact he was quite upset with the letter that unfolded it's self and began to lecture him.

"Lucius Malfoy,

You have been witnessed committing a breach of the code of the Propriety of Wizardry. The code you have violated is Section 31, article 5 clause S: proper clothing in the muggle world. You have violated this code by not wearing any clothing in muggle London. Please note that a breach in this code could result in a fine, or worse yet, discovery of the wizarding world by muggles. Kindly stop this behavior at once.

Kind regards,

Marslie Macccoon

Department of the Propriety of Wizardry"

The letter fell to the table in an utterly silent room.

"What have you been doing in London Lucius... You know your father would be quite upset if he herd this news, quite upset indeed." Severus' sarcastic drawl cut across the room, and Narcissa lost her battle. She snorted. Then the snort turned into a giggle, and then a full out, roaring laugh. She tried to force out some words, clearly directed at Lucius, but failed. Draco, after hearing his mother, was no longer able to hold back and started laughing, followed by Harry, and then Severus. In fact the only one not laughing was Lucius.

"Yes well, as we are all clearly done with lunch, I'll be heading to the ministry to sort out this little incident." With that he sent a suspicious look towards Harry and Draco, but then slid it across Narcissa, and then stared at Severus for a moment.

"This is a very peculiar situation, wouldn't you say Severus?"

"Very peculiar indeed Lucius."

Lucius swung out of the room, his robes billowing almost exactly as Severus' did. Yes, very peculiar indeed.

"Come on, he's not going to be gone all day."

"How do you know, does this happen often?"

"Of course not Potter, but when Papa goes to sort something out it gets sorted out fast!"

"Well where does he keep it."

"In his study, top center drawer in the desk."

"OK. I'll keep an eye out, and you go get it."

"No way, you go get it. Anyway, what are you gonna do if someone comes up and asks what you're doing. You couldn't come up with a good lie to save your life. I'll keep a watch out, you go get it."

"Only if you get the next one."

"Fine, now go on."

Harry pulled the door open just enough so he could slip through, and closed it right behind him. For a moment he just looked around the room. He had never been in the study without Lucius present, and it seemed to lose something without the man present. Dumbledore's office, regardless of whether the man was in it or not, seemed to hold all sorts of interesting objects and trinkets. The room held a magic of it's own. The study on the other hand was just that without Lucius there. It was just a room of books chairs and tables. Harry walked over to the desk and pulled open the drawer in a sudden rush to get this whole thing over with. Then he paused, half expecting an alarm to go off, or for Lucius himself to rush into the room and demand an explanation. When none of those things happened, he hesitantly grabbed the leather covered book that he had identified as he journal as soon as he had laid eyes on it. Then, just as he had come into the room, he took one last look around the room, opened the door a crack, and slipped out.

"Got it?"

Harry held up the journal as proof.

"Don't just fling it around, put it in your shirt or something... Hide it. Do you have any idea how much trouble we'll be in if we get caught with that?"

Harry obediently stuffed the diary under his shirt. They made their way into Draco's bedroom, lifted the mattress, and gently placed the journal down, before laying the mattress on top. Part one successfully completed.

The other acquisitions luckily went over just as smoothly. Draco, true to his word, retrieved his mother's journal from her study while she was busy talking to a friend. Severus' journal was by far the most difficult to retrieve. As Draco had pointed out earlier, Severus was a private man, and the journal was well hidden. Not only that, but the hiding space was well guarded, by Severus himself. Naturally, Draco's plan accounted for this.

"Your absolutely barking."

"It's the only way."

"The hell it is!"

"It is. Papa's still at the ministry, and Mum is at Lady Mardain's. Uncle Sev is the only adult here."

"He would just as well let me die before he decided to help me."

"Oh, don't be dramatic Potter. Of course he wouldn't let you die. Anyways" Draco added as an afterthought. "you won't die."

"Fine." Harry looked at the bottle he held in his hand, and then at Draco. "Why does it have to be me that takes the potion?"

"Because, you would never find Uncle Sev's journal in a million years. I have a much better chance of finding it."

"Fine." Harry huffed out the word again, clearly unhappy with this result.

Draco meanwhile sat the small potion onto the dining room table. Harry sat in the chair as directed, and Draco carefully tipped over the potion.

Harry felt the potion soak into the sleeve of his robe, and then into his skin, all the while resisting the impulse to jerk his arm away. Suddenly he knew it was too late. At this point it wouldn't matter if he jerked his arm out of the puddle of potion or not, because he was already swelling, and swelling some more. Then he started to rise out of his seat, as the potion took effect and he began to float as if he were a human balloon.

"Dandy! Get Uncle Sev. Quick!" Draco directed the house elf that had appeared.

It only took a few seconds before the sound of rushing footsteps could be heard, and only a few seconds after that before Severus in the flesh and blood appeared. He took stock of the situation for a few moments before he turned to Draco.

"What were you two dunderheads doing."

"We were just messing around Uncle Sev!"

"Messing around?"

"Yes sir... Can you help him."

"Of course I can although whether I should or not is another question entirely. Oh well. Potter" He turned a bit, and tilted his head back so he could see the boy currently stuck on the ceiling. "I am going to toss a rope up, catch onto it with one hand. You won't be able to reach the other around your body to get it. Then I want you to hold on. I have an antidote in my kit upstairs. I will be taking you with me, as to ensure you do no more damage to yourself."

"Yes sir." Harry followed Severus' instructions, while Draco followed his own instructions. Down the hall, and down the stairs, into the potions lab.

Harry was sitting on his bed when Draco opened the door (without knocking).

"Did you get it?"

Draco smiled, but otherwise didn't respond. Instead, he turned around, preforming a locking spell on the door. Not that Lucius, Narcissa or Severus wouldn't be able to unlock it, but still, it was the principle of the thing.

"Alright," Draco smiled, setting the final journals onto the bed where both of the others were laying. "what do you want to look for first."

"Lets see if we can find anything about the sketches first."

"That will be in Sev's journal." Draco scooted the journal on the left side of the bed in between them. The black leather gave way to a sliver basilisk guarding a dragon."

"A basilisk?" Harry questioned with a hint of incredibility in his voice.

"When the Founders first finished Hogwarts... Well, Hogwarts wasn't actually finished yet, but when they first started accepting students, and before the sorting hat was created, each student had to pass a test of sorts to enter into a specific house. Some say that the first to pass Slytherin's test was a muggle born, others say a foreign wizard, but at any rate, Cadmus took the last name Prince, the first, and the basilisk guarding a dragon as his coat of arms."

Draco who had been slowly leafing through the pages as he explained, suddenly came to a stop. In the bottom corner of the fifth page in the journal there was a small sketch. Similar to the one in his photo album, it was of a girl, drawn in pencil, except for her hair, which was colored a vivid shad of red. She stood in midair, her hair coming up about her head, as a swing stood in mid-motion. The page was only filled with a few lines of writing. Draco read aloud.

"The Evans family, consisting of the widowed mother Iris, and her two daughters Petunia, and Lily have moved into number 7 Weavers Lane (two lanes past Spinners End). Iris has taken a job at the local cotton mill. Petunia is unpleasant. Lily is a witch."

Harry grabbed the book from Draco, and preceded to flip through the next few pages. They were filled with Lily. Sketches, paintings, and even the occasional photo. There were of course other things in the journal, potion recipes, stories of Snape's childhood, and as time went on, stories of Hogwarts. Finally he came upon a sketch. His mother stood in a white ballgown, lightly bejeweled in crystals and emeralds. Her hair was half pulled back, and flowing around her shoulders. It was the photo Harry had in his photo album. It was Lily, right before she went down to the ball. From the sketch Harry could tell that the artist... Severus, was clearly not an invited guest, rather someone who Lily hadn't even noticed. Under the sketch stood three simple words: 'I love her'.

"Maybe he meant as a friend." Draco offered

"Yeah, maybe." Harry didn't argue.

"So what do you want to look for next?"

"I want to know what happened to Dad's friends. Lets see if we can find where they are today, or if anything happened to them." Harry forced himself to stop focusing on the words he had just read.

"Alright. Which journal do you want?"

"I'll take you're Dad's, you take this one." Harry pushed the Prince Journal towards Draco.

Harry quickly flicked through the journal, keeping an eye on the dates. He hoped that there would be some little blurb on James Potters best friends from some article on that Halloween night.

The night it's self contained nothing from Lucius, but on the next page was a newspaper article. Harry began to read.

The Traitor, The Dead, and Those Left Behind:

The Behind the Scenes Story of Just What Happened Last Night

By: Amus Arringold

As I am sure most of the readers already know, last night He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was vanquished. There are many different accounts of exactly what happened in the dead of night at Godric's Hollow. As such, I feel it my duty to inform you all of exactly what happened, not only last night, but the whole story leading up to last night, and what is happening now, at this very moment.

I shall start several years ago, when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named could indeed be named. This was a time when war was on the wind, but not yet in the air. It was at this time that young James Potter, the son of Charlus Potter, was attending Hogwarts. James, a charismatic, clever boy made many friends. Sirius Black was the lad's first friend. A son of the predominate line of the House of Black, and at the time, heir apparent, it was quite a shock when the boy was placed into Gryffindor house. While in Gryffindor, the two young men quickly made friends with two other lads. Remus Lupin, a half blood born of a muggle mother and a muggle born father, and Peter Pettigrew, from the last remaining line of Pettigrew, an old line that has fallen in recent years. These four boys were the closest of friends, inseparable, many said. If only they had known what was to come.

Like many a young lad, James also fell in love in Hogwarts. Lily Evans, was a muggle born, and quite the stunning, brilliant young witch. So brilliant in fact, that not long ago she was selected to be an apprentice of Gringotts. James meanwhile had started on the path of becoming an auror. Mad Eye Moody described him as one of the most talented recruits on the force. Soon the charming young couple had started a life together, as well as a family.

Harry James Potter was born on July 31st and as expected, James good friend, and by then, partner in the aurors, Sirius Black, was named Godfather. Unfortunately though, this was not a good time to have a family. By this time the war that had been in the wind for so long had now fully blown in, and now, the Potter's, high profile targets were in grave danger.

I suspect no one will ever know quite for sure why He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named chose to go after Godric's Hollow last night. Both James and Sirius Black had attacked and arrested several high profile Death Eaters. Lily Potter had also gone toe to toe with several Death Eaters. What we do know however is that they did take steps to protect themselves. They had enacted a Fidelius spell around their place of residence (if you are not familiar with the fidelius spell reference Spellcasting with a Protective Purpose by Martha Patron) naming the secret keeper as Sirius Black, Jame's closest and oldest friend. Unfortunately, despite being the best of mates, James friends had fallen under the spell of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Sirius Black had betrayed his friends and his godson, sharing their location with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, leaving the young family as good as dead. No one will ever know for sure what exactly happened inside the Potter home that night, and I shan't spread rumors nor add to the speculation. It suffices to say if you are curious about the devastation that took place, simply look at the Potter's home. The sheer devastation, the stench of dark magic, and the feeling of the light magic combating it is simply overpowering.

Despite killing his best friend as surly as if he had held his wand up and cursed the Potter's himself, Mr. Black was not yet finished adding to his death toll. When Peter Pettigrew, traumatized over the death's of his friends, confronted Black, he not only killed Mr. Pettigrew, but blew up the entire street, killing twelve muggles including two children. Of course, that's not surprising considering were dealing with someone who was willing to turn his own best friend and godson in to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

The traitor, Sirius Black, the dead, James and Lily Potter, as well as Peter Pettigrew. Which only leaves those who are left behind. Remus Lupin, the last of the four friends who were so close in Hogwarts. He has not been seen in public since the tragedy, and has not responded to request for interviews. And of course, the Potter's young son, Harry. The boy that many are calling the savior, is a child whom is just over a year old. He has lost both of his parents, as well as his godfather, whom is currently sitting in a cell in Azkaban. Finally there is everyone else in the wizarding world. The war that once faced us daily is now gone, and we celebrate that. Our community celebrates that. But tonight, as you go out to the parties and feast, do remember what we as a community, and the Potters and Pettigrews in particular, have given up.

Harry looked up tears streaming down his face. Draco's face looked a bit shocked and surprising enough, sympathetic.

Just as the blond haired boy opened his mouth to say something (he was unsure of exactly what he was going to say) to Harry, their was a quick knock on the door followed almost immediately by it being thrown open.

Lucius Malfoy stood, a look of controlled fury on his face. He walked into the room silent, except for the heels of his boots clicking against the floor. He opened his mouth to speak, and for the first time got a good look at the boy's faces. Draco looked upset, but Harry, Harry was devastated, sadness mixed with fury with tears streaming down his face. Lucius was almost scared to look at the journals. Severus' was opened to a sketch, Narcissa's was still closed, and his own was opened to a clipping from the Daily Prophet, from the first of November.

"Harry" Lucius scolded gently. He had two upset boys on his hands, scoldings and whatnot could wait.

"Draco, come here." Draco obeyed, standing and walking over to stand directly in front of his father. Everything is going to be fine now that his Papa was here, he could fix anything. Lucius reached out, drawing his son against him in a tight embrace.

"Everything is going to be fine. I want you to go lay down on the couch in my office. Myself and Harry will be in in a bit. Nap if you can."

"OK Papa... Harry will be alright, right."

"Yes Dragon, he will be fine."

"Alright."

Draco left, leaving Lucius alone with Harry, who had not moved since Lucius walked into the room. Lucius decided he was going to have to do something he had not done since Draco was a toddler. He sat on the floor, pulling Harry to his chest, and started to rock. For the first five minutes or so, he was quite sure that it wasn't going to work, but quite suddenly Harry jerked his head into Lucius chest, hiding from the world, and finally, finally began to sob.

Lucius didn't try to shush him. It all needed to come out, and anyway, their was no words to be said. It was tragic, horribly so, and Harry needed to grieve for it. Eventually the tears slowed and stopped. Lucius wasn't sure how long it had been, it had been forever and not long enough. Harry spoke first.

"He was their friend."

"He was."

"They trusted him."

"They did."

"He betrayed them."

"He did."

"I would never betray my friends." Harry looked up, eyes shining.

"I know Harry." Harry fell silent, so Lucius decided to take charge of the conversation.

"I can't tell you why Sirius Black did what he did, no one can, I suspect that after all of this time in Azkaban not even the man himself could tell you why. I can tell you that I'm sorry that you found out about it this way."

"It's not your fault, you told me that you would tell me later. I snooped, my own fault."

"Perhaps I should have done more to keep the information hidden. You are right about one thing Harry, I did tell you no, and you did snoop. I'm sorry that that ended the way it did. But, as you come to know me, one thing you will find is that I mean what I say."

"I'm in trouble."

"I'm afraid so. I'm quite sure that you know what you did, so with no need to lecture, why not just get it over with?"

"I guess I don't have much of a choice."

"Not really, no."

"Alright." With that, Lucius stood from the floor, taking a seat on the bed. He crooked his finger at Harry, beckoning him to stand up. Once Harry stood beside him, Lucius quickly pulled the boy over his lap. He wanted this over as quickly as Harry. Luckily for both, it was. Harry, still emotionally raw, broke down into tears quickly, and Lucius pulled him into his arms shortly after. This time he did whisper comforts and forgiveness into Harry's ear. Eventually, as before the tears slowed into nothingness."

"Alright my child, I need to deal with Draco. I want you to lay down for a bit of a nap. Once you get up come find me." Lucius tucked the child in, made his way out of the room.

"Don't be to hard on him."

"Of course not, after all, he wasn't the one who told the ministry that I was running around naked in London." Harry shot him a small smile, which Lucius returned before leaving the room.

Dealing with Draco went much the same way dealing with Harry had. Draco lay sleeping on his couch, and as Lucius looked at the boy, tear tracks streaking his face, he was quite sure he could get away with napping for a few hours. Just then a quiet knock came on his door. Severus poked his head into the door, smirk firmly in place.

"I told you so." Severus drawled out before his head once again disappearing and the door once again closed.

Yes, a nap was definitely in order.

So, what did you think, Read and Review.