A/N Sorry to everyone who reads this story. My laptop hates me so much that it decided it would crash and wouldn't work afterwards :/ Thankfully I am insured and so I sent it off but the idiots at PC world couldn't organise a simple fix (replace the motherboard) and so it took them 3 weeks to fix the damn thing. But it is back now and I can write and type again :D so on with the next chapter

Of Secrets and Deceptions

Chapter Thirty Five: Perfect Parents, Prefect Family?

"Harry" Narcissa began timidly, "are we alright to come in?"

"Sure I guess," Harry replied nonchalantly.

Narcissa and Lucius gave each other a look before proceeding to their son's bedside where he stared off to space in thought.

"Tom told us that you know who you really are," Lucius began and Harry, startled out of his thoughts, nodded in confirmation. "We just want you to know that we are sorry we didn't tell you sooner…"

"Then why didn't you?" Harry asked, turning to face his biological parents and looking at them with eyes of accusation. "Why didn't you tell me at any time? Why didn't you come for me when I was little?"

"Because we were scared. We didn't know where you were because Dumbledore kept it a secret. He took you from the house that you were in with the Potters that night and he hid you away. We tried everything we could. Everything…. But Dumbledore told no one where you were. We even asked McGonagall but she couldn't remember anything from that night. We suspected… we suspected that he may have wiped her memories of where you were, so that she couldn't tell anyone or come back for you.

Tom was still alive and he knew that we were loyal followers but he also knew that you were alive and because of the prophecy he was still after you. We were going to wait until your first year to approach you because we knew that we would finally be able to see you but Tom came to us just before your first. He told us that he was going to find a way to get his body back and then you were going to be his top priority. He was still insane and we were petrified that if he found out about us and you that he would use us as a means to get to you. We love you so much; we just couldn't put you in the position to choose your life or ours if he tried to make you choose. We didn't want to hurt you, I promise you that."

"But why didn't you just tell me? I would have understood," Harry asked tentatively.

"Because of your connection to Tom, sweetheart." Narcissa explained.

"You were linked to Tom, Harry." Lucius explained further, "Your bond with Tom was so strong and he could access your mind easily. If we let you know before he was sane, he could have used the information to hurt you and we couldn't allow it."

"We never forgot about you." Narcissa assured Harry, "We sent you toys and letters until you were eleven. They were always returned and so we kept them in the room we had set out for you, so you could read them. We could bring them if you like."

"We did try," Lucius broke in "Every month since that night we sent letters and toys because we couldn't come to you. At first we thought it was the wards that wouldn't let them get to you and returned them to us but… Not enough to see unless you were actually looking for it, but they had been opened. We never knew if they were read but we assume that some may have been because they were opened slightly. We suspect… We suspect it was Dumbledore but we could never be sure…"

"We do love you Harry and we want you to be part of our family."

"But you have Draco and I am sure that he's a much better son that I could be. I mean, I've never had parents before, so I'll probably screw up. I've never really had a family until I came here anyway and I wouldn't even know where to act and whatever…" Harry rambled embarrassed, looking down at his lap and fiddling with the sheets that covered his lower half.

"Oh Harry," Narcissa cried, and she came closer and embraced her son close to him in an attempt to comfort, despite Harry's embarrassment and uncomfortable stance on the whole hugging idea. "We love you and we don't want you to replace Draco; neither do we want Draco to replace you. You are both our sons and we want you both to be part of our family. You are perfect, just the way you are."

"I don't… I don't think that I could call you mum and dad… you know? I think it would be too weird right now. I mean… I only just found out and I barely know you… The only things that I know is that you gave me up to some family whom you thought would look after me, they ended up being killed and that you wanted to contact me but you never could and you had to wait until now when Tom ended up sane to be able to contact me properly again. I mean, we know nothing about each other." Harry explained in a mumble, his eyes downcast unable to meet the eyes of those who wanted him close.

"We understand Harry," Lucius explained, as Narcissa began to weep at the lost look in her son's eyes. "We want to get to know you, properly as we should have done all of these years. With us both working in Hogwarts, I am sure we can spend time together if you would like to. I know Draco would love to get to know you because he was excited when he found out he had a brother."

"How did he know?" Harry questioned.

"We told him this summer. He and his friends have been anxious to meet you properly and become friends. I know you Gryffindors are like a family but we are hoping we and the Slytherins can become part of this family also." Lucius responded.

"So Draco knew and that's why he wanted to go out last night?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Lucius clarified.

"So what happened last night? Is Draco hurt as much as me?" Harry asked hurriedly.

Lucius and Narcissa looked towards each other, silently communicating between them on what to tell their son about Draco's actions and why they came about.

"Well Harry, there was an incident with Draco… Someone altered his mind."

"Altered his what?" Harry asked confused.