Of Secrets and Deceptions

Chapter Twenty One: To make an apology to Neville

"Mother, have you seen… oh," Draco trailed off, catching sight of Neville hiding within the seat in front of Narcissa's desk.

"Who have I seen Draco?" Narcissa asked, a slight look of worry protruding from her eyes.

"Potter and Granger," Draco finished, his eyes now trained upon Neville who was now listening to the conversation between mother and son, at the mention of his two 'siblings'. "They are missing from the common room and I wondered if you had seen them."

"Why do you need to find them? Are you sure they aren't just having a moment of privacy?" Narcissa asked, playing her role in front of Neville.

"I wanted to ask Potter something…" Draco replied, trying to convey the truth behind his answer. Narcissa's eyes lit up on realisation and she nodded lightly in appreciation to his effort.

"No Draco I haven't seen them. Have you tri-"

"They're in the boys dorm," Neville cut in, before blushing red and turning away from the two, knowing he should not have interrupted.

"Why would they be in there?" Draco asked suspicious of their motives. His jealousy raging that his brother may be in relations with the girl whom he loved.

"Ry was upset," Neville said simply, as though it would explain it all. However to the two Malfoys outside of the Gryffindor dynamic, it explained nothing.

"And that means?" Draco asked for some form of clarification.

"It means that when Ry is upset Mia will go and comfort him because it is what she does best." Neville explained shrugging his shoulders. However this only aggravated Draco more, who was reading in to the motives of Harry and Hermione in the dorm room in a romantic based way.

However before he could even voice his opinion on what he had heard, Narcissa cut in.

"Why was Harry upset?" she asked, worry now in her voice.

"I don't know, he came in to the common room looking upset and he walked straight to the dorm rooms. We left him for a short while and when Hermione came back in I told her that he was upset and she went to comfort her brother…"

"BROTHER!" Draco shouted alarmed.

"Yes, Harry is our brother." Neville explained solemnly.

"But… but…" Draco started, unable to comprehend that Neville and Hermione may be replacing him in Harry's life; taking his place as Harry's sibling. Draco did not understand the setup of the Gryffindor house and therefore only reasoned that Harry had replaced him. As an internal war began to rage within Draco, Neville began to speak once more.

"We are a family. Gryffindor house is a family. We look after each other because most of the time, no one else will. You Slytherins may believe you have a hard time because of what represents you but those in Gryffindor house are put there for a reason. We became a family and we will always remain as one." Neville explained, noticing Draco's uneasiness. However, not wanting to give any more information to what he saw as Gryffindor secrets, he stopped himself from explaining further.

"I don't understand…" Draco admitted, now confused by what Neville had told him.

"You won't not unless it's explained and you knew everyone's backgrounds. It's complicated and the only person who could explain it would be Ry. He's… he's the Dad if the group… the patriarch…" Neville explained uncomfortably.

"I think I understand. Some of you don't have the best families so you created your own…" Draco responded, still attempting to get around it.

"Yes," Neville smiled, glad that he didn't go in to too much detail.

Narcissa smiled at the two boys, but she was still troubled about her son. He was upset and she did not know why.

"I am going to check on Harry and make sure he is ok," Narcissa announced to the two boys, "You may stay here and talk and I will be back shortly to conclude our meeting Neville."

Narcissa left, after the two boys nodded in confirmation, leaving the two boys in silence.

"So," Draco started, attempting to get rid of the weary silence that had settled in the room.

"So…" Neville responded, before both boys looked towards each other and burst in to laughter.

"You know Neville; you aren't too bad for a Gryffindor…"

"Neville?" Neville asked confused at being addressed by his first name by the Malfoy heir.

"Erm, Yeh, you can call me Draco if you like. I think that it would be better if we started to get along, you know? Considering as we are all going to be living together for the next year or two…" Draco explained awkwardly, berating himself for the slip up.

"I think it's a good idea," Neville agreed much to Draco's shock. "If we can all get on it would be much better. I know the girls are getting along well so maybe we should also…" Neville continued, thinking how he should tell Harry.

"You know, for what it's worth Neville. I am sorry."

"Sorry for what Draco?" Neville asked startled.

"For how I have treated you for the past five years. I was just jealous of the fact that you got to be Harry's friend and I didn't. It seems silly now but when I was younger, it was a blow to my ego when he turned me down."

"Turned you down?"

"Yes, before the feast, he turned my friendship down. I should have expected it because I did insult his friend, well I insulted Hagrid too when we were in Diagon Alley but well… I was just jealous of everyone after that."

"So why did you act like that to Harry?" Neville asked confused by Draco's revelation.

"I was angry. He had just told me he didn't want to be my friend and I was scared that I would never get the chance again but the anger took over and I started treating him horribly."

"Oh," Neville said, trying to process Draco's reason.

"You know, the hat told me I should have gone to Gryffindor?"

"What?" Neville asked stunned.

"Yeh, it told me I had a lot of courage to stand up to my friends and parents by asking Harry to be my friend, even at the risk of being turned down. However then it said that it was also reckless and not the Slytherin way to do it so that might be why. Then it saw my revenge plan and said well I was a Malfoy so I may as well go to Slytherin and it put me there…" Draco explained, although he did not know why he was telling Neville this. "Sometimes I think I should have let it put me in Gryffindor, just to see what would happen. Although I suppose my dad would have dragged me out of school. Well that or burnt the hat."

At this Neville burst in to tears of laughter. He could not believe what he had just heard. A Malfoy in Gryffindor; it just wasn't likely.