Hey! Thanks for the comments/subscribe/favorites.
Here is a big and juicy chapter for you all! For many reasons I love this chapter and I actually had to hold off on the revelations of the past, but I love the past plot line so much I always want to put all the details on this.
Anyway, I hope you like this chapter as much as I do!
-x-
Dinner was an entire new experience for Draco, the food was really good, but the Weasley's were loud and messy and Mrs. Weasley was determined to feed him more food than his stomach would ever allow. Still, Harry was happy, the twins were fun and he was able to tease his cousin, something that made the girl Weasley realise what he was trying to do so she even helped him a bit.
The sleep arrangements were indeed a serious business and the matriarch took pride in finding beds for everyone, which meant Draco ended up sharing with Harry anyway, because "Ron would be there and she trusted him more than George".
"Mum, you do realise it feels like you're implying we have an affair on the side" said Fred and the woman got immediately embarrassed with the remark.
"I like to have them one at a time, so you might have to sign up for the waiting list" Draco joked, making the twins laugh.
But Harry had jealousy all over his face, which just made Draco laugh harder. He didn't mind at all that Harry came over to kiss him in front of Fred, which everyone noticed and Fred just laughed even more before each of them went to their own rooms.
Mrs. Weasley made a little cot, resized Draco's truck at his assigned room and, with a very meaningful warning for them to behave, she left the boys.
"Mum really wants to get rid of Fleur doesn't she?" said Weasley, turning to Harry, who nodded as he was checking some book.
"Fleur?" asked Draco confused with the statement.
"Yeah, mum hates her, she is hoping that if she keeps throwing Tonks at Bill, he will leave Fleur for her"
Draco had no doubt that Mrs. Weasley preferred Tonks, the dinner had given him the hit, but he also knew the woman was trying to get his cousin to be with Lupin in the other room, so he wasn't going to be the one to tell them Mrs. Weasley had a bit of a double standard on sleep arrangements if it pleased her. Bill certainly knew it was about Lupin, so his relationship was in no danger.
Draco opened his truck and sighed when he saw it was a mess, packing with a spell was never the best option for tidiness, but at least he was able to find his pajamas. He ignored the cot on the floor and sat on Harry's bed, to see his boyfriend lost in thought.
"What's wrong?"
"Do you… have you ever heard of a 'half blood prince'?"
"Well yeah… if you're talking about the family and not some actual prince"
"The family?" Harry asked confused.
"Prince is an old pureblood family, but you won't find them in England anymore, Richard moved to Spain with the family after they got all the money. Snape is quite sore about it"
"Snape?" Harry asked both confused and alarmed.
"He is a Prince, last of the main branch, but his grandfather refused to leave him anything, from what I know he refused to ever acknowledge Snape was part of the family, so all the inheritance went to his nephew, Richard Prince"
"Harry… you don't think…?" said Weasley a bit worried making Draco frown.
"The book is older, I just checked" said Harry cutting him off.
"What are you two talking about?" Draco asked
"A book I found, but never mind, it wasn't what I thought it could be"
Draco wanted to push, but Harry looked a bit down, so he decided to leave it for another time and just laid on the bed with him. He didn't know what a book had to do with the Princes, but knowing how much Harry was constantly seeking answers about his family, it could just be some kind of book about old pureblood families, Draco had no idea if the Potters were related to the Princes. It would be a bit hilarious if they were considering his boyfriend's relationship with Snape.
"If you get caught I will tell mum you did after I was sleeping" said Weasley looking at the bed Draco and Harry were now sharing "And if I hear or see anything I will kill you both"
"Don't worry Weasley, voyeurism is not my thing" it was kind of a lie, all things considered, but Draco knew the twins never told anyone how things began between them, so the other boy just accepted his answer and was soon sleeping.
Not that Draco and Harry did anything, it was just one lazy kiss before they both snuggle together to sleep as well. Draco only woke up in the morning with Weasley's protest over some embarrassing present Brown had sent him.
"Come on, would I?" said Harry after Weasley's demand the twins never learned of it.
"I would" said Draco lazily as he opened his eyes.
"But you won't" said Harry giving him a meaningful look.
"You owe me a favour, Weasley" Draco said looking at the other boy with a smirk.
"No he doesn't" said Harry and Draco was manipulative enough to just kiss his boyfriend so he would forget all about it. He totally wanted to have some dirt on Weasley, even if it was a small thing.
Draco moved to look at his own presents, his mother had opted to be simple and send him sweets and a subscription to the Charms Journal, but he knew the letter with it was the real present and he would read it later when he was alone. Fred and George sent him a bag full of their products and he found he had received a greeting's card from Granger which really surprised him, just like the blue sweater with a D on.
"It's mum's, she makes them every year" said Weasley.
The thing was horrible, it was at least a size bigger and the wool wasn't of much quality even though the knitting was very well done.
"Just wear it for today, it's tradition" said Harry, his eyes pleading, and Draco couldn't say no, it was just a sweater.
The last present was from Harry and it was a vinyl with some strange illustration and the words "the wizard of oz".
"I… I asked Hermione, about the song, it's from a muggle movie, I know wizards have record players, so.." said Harry
Draco wasn't sure what to say, it was a very thoughtful present, but also something that changed everything, the ultimate proof his song was a muggle song. He took a deep breath, he supposed he should have expected it after seeing Regulus box. He shaked his head and stood to go to his truck and get Harry his own present, the only one that Draco didn't send ahead, because he was going to give it in person. Harry opened the box with care, but got confused with its content
"It's an ear cuff" Draco said and slowly moved to put it on Harry to show him how to wear it "I made it, it won't get in your way and the runes are for protection… I didn't think writing my sweetheart was very appropriate for a secret relationship" the last part he was just teasing, but Harry smiled anyway and took it off to get another look before putting it back and kissing him.
"It's beautiful" but the way he said it made Draco feel like he was calling him beautiful instead and that made a good shiver run inside him so they kissed again.
"Come on you two" said Weasley annoyed and they only separated to not aggravate him.
They went down and Lupin and his cousin were there already and nothing seemed much different than the day before, except for the girl's colorful hair. So Draco used the excuse that everyone was hugging to give her a hug and whisper in her ear.
"Did you shag?"
She let go of him and hit him.
"You're terrible, you're supposed to be nice on christmas" she said embarrassed.
"Was he nice on christmas?" Draco said quietly, but with a smirk.
She rolled her eyes in exasperation and walked away from him so she wouldn't have to look as he laughed at her. Lupin gave him a knowing look, but he did seem more amused than mad, so Draco considered it all a win.
Breakfast was almost over when Percy and the Minister showed up.
"I can't be seen here" he said and stood up to flee, but then he came back and got his plate out of the table, throwing it in the sink so no one would notice the empty place, and then he finally run up the stairs to hide.
He stayed there for a while, trying to hear anything that would alert him of trouble, but it was Mrs. Weasley sobbing that made him stand and move down as close as he dared. He was there for only a minute when his cousin showed up to tell him he could get down. He had understood the situation as soon as he saw everyone and he stopped to think about it, Percy had allowed himself to be bait so the Minister could talk to Harry, who was looking annoyed by the door. The plan was actually a good one for the Minister, but it got Draco mad, not because they were trying to get a talk with his boyfriend, but because Percy Weasley had done the lowest thing, something his own father, no matter his flaws, would ever do, which was to deliberately hurt his family.
"He doesn't deserve it" Draco suddenly said and everyone looked at him confused "your tears, he doesn't deserve it, he knew he was going to hurt you, but he did it anyway for political gain"
That made the woman cry harder but she ran to him to give him a big hug, which he wasn't expecting and didn't quite know how to react.
"You're such a nice boy" she said smiling at him.
He felt embarrassed, he wasn't used to such displays, but after the hug the woman did try to put herself together, so Draco supposed she had accepted his words.
"Thank you" said Harry as soon as he got close and gave him a quick kiss.
"I sold my body to keep me and my mother alive and that idiot has all of this and is giving it away for a bit of political gain that will probably mean nothing when this war is over" Draco said bitter and still mad.
Harry looked at him with a thoughtful expression, but he didn't say a thing and Draco didn't know what he was thinking.
"Did the Minister actually have something useful to say?" Draco asked
"No" was all the answer he got, clearly whatever happened between Harry and the Minister was not something the boy wanted to talk about.
Things slowly went back to a more cheerful mood, Mr. Weasley made the best hot chocolate in the world and people were discussing their presents pretending Percy Weasley had never been there.
"Thanks for the kit, Draco" said George, Draco had given them a small potion station, he had notice the products they sold clearly involved a lot of potion work. "It will help a lot, we were improvising a potion workshop, which actually is not safe at all"
"Yeah, now we can explode things safely" said Fred and Draco shaked his head at them, but he wasn't surprised at all.
"Did you get your ear pierced?" Asked Bill to Harry
"You better not have!" said Mrs. Weasley
"I didn't! It comes off, Draco made it" Harry said defensive as if he was getting yelled by his own mother.
"You enchanted gold?" Lupin asked impressed
"Making the runes red was actually harder" Draco said
"That is a really impressive gift" Lupin said looking between Harry's ear and Draco
"I am very impressive" he smirked.
"What did you give him, Harry?" asked Lupin
"A vinyl, it has a song in it that is… important" the boy said a bit insecure, not knowing how much to say.
"Can we hear it?" asked Tonks
Part of Draco didn't want to share it just like before, this was an important piece of him, but then it was a piece that apparently had lots of mysterious meanings and he really wanted to hear the song, the original one, hoping it would somehow tell him all he needed to know.
He got the disk from Weasley's room and Mrs. Weasley set up the record player on the table and soon "somewhere over the rainbow" was playing. It was a bit different then what he imagined, but it was just as beautiful and he liked the girl's version.
"I know this song, it's a muggle song" Said Lupin and he moved to see the disk cover.
"It's a very famous one" Said Tonks and she turned to Draco "I'm surprised it was something you were after"
"I didn't know it was a muggle song when I first heard it"
"The wizard of Oz" said Lupin amazed and a bit amused, something about it had meaning for him.
"You've seen it?" Asked Tonks curious.
"No… but James did, he was mad about it" the man said foundly.
"My dad?" asked Harry surprised, hanging on every word.
"I don't know the full story, he wanted to impress Lily by getting some "muggle knowledge" and I don't really know how but he saw the movie and thought it was the most amazing thing ever. Sirius got so sick of hearing this song he painted your dad's hair like a rainbow and told him he would only reverse it if James promised to never sing it again near him"
The ciclic things in Draco's life where there once again laughing at him, his important song lead straight to Harry, because it held meaning for both their parents.
"Where did you hear this song?" Lupin asked Draco
"My mother said Regulus sang it once" Draco said not giving many details, it was his mother's privacy too.
"He must have heard it from James, at some point I think everyone at Hogwarts was sick of hearing him sing it" the man said still amused, shaking his head with a found smile.
"Did he like other songs?" asked Harry, his voice small as it usually was when asking anything about his parents.
"Not really, your mother was the one who really loved music, she had a big collection of disks, she loved the Beatles and some other guy… something John"
"Elton John?" said Tonks
"Yes! That one and there was a new band that she got crazy about… I can't remember… but she always had music around the house, she learned the piano from a neighbour, so she sometimes created her own songs, she recorded them on these tapes... like a tape that plays music"
"Cassette tapes!" said Harry in amazement "what happened to it?"
"Should still be in the house, despite that most of the upper floor collapsed, the house is still standing, the living room should be fine, I know Dumbledore locked it, only you can get in, so I haven't been there since…"
"Oh… he didn't tell me that" Harry said quietly
"I'm sure he was planning to" Lupin said with a fake smile, he didn't want to create any issues between Harry and Dumbledore.
The conversation was interesting and clearly important for Harry, but Draco got completely distracted on the "tape that plays music", because it might be a long shot, but Regulus, who apparently learned a muggle song and decided to sing it for his mother on her wedding, had kept a thing that looked muggle and that had a strange tape on it.
"This tape thing" he said "what does it look like?"
Lupin was lost for a bit, but Harry knew the thing as well even if explaining wasn't really easy.
"It's a plastic thing with a tape inside and it plays when the tape goes from one side to another"
"Does it have two holes in the middle?" Draco asked trying to remember the thing
"Well yeah.. It's the mechanism for the tape. Why?" Harry asked confused
"I think… I think I have one of those"
"What?"
"My mother gave me a box with Regulus' things, there were some muggle clothes in it and stuff he didn't want anyone to see so it was sent to my mother after he died… it's in my truck, I will go get it!"
And he ran up the stairs to get the box, his heart beating fast just like it did when he first opened the thing, a chance to get another piece of the puzzle was just there and he really wanted it to tell him something, to ease the acheness and longing he had inside him whenever something about Regulus came up.
Draco came back with the box and took the black thing out, he pressed the buttons until he found the one that opened the thing and took out what was inside.
"It is a cassette tape!" Said Harry surprised
"And that is a player" said Tonks pointing to the black thing.
"A player?" asked Draco looking at the black thing "How do I make it work then?"
"You press the buttons on top, but it must be out of batteries 'cause it's been in the this box for many years" she said
"Batteries? What is that?"
"Here just let me see it" and reluctantly Draco gave her the player.
She opened another compartment Draco hadn't noticed before and then she made a face and put the thing down, there was something gross inside it.
"Oh this batteries went bad a long time ago" she said
"So it's broken?" asked Draco frustrated, he had been so close.
"No, we need to clean inside, it's a bit rusty… but it should work with new batteries" Tonks said with a thoughtful expression, not completely sure of her own words.
"Is it hard to find?" Draco asked even though he had no idea how he would get something muggle like that.
"It's really easy to find them actually"
"Maybe Arthur has some" said Lupin and he turned to the man.
Mr. Weasley came closer to inspect the thing.
"I think I have a box of those, lot's of sizes even" he finally said
"It needs to be this exactly size" said Tonks
It was with the excitement of a new mystery that everyone moved to search for the batteries while Tonks tried to manually clean the inside of the thing. Mr. Weasley got his box of little things and put them all over the table so everyone could help to find the batteries with the right size and after trying many combinations with the ones they found, the player actually worked. Draco put the tape back inside it and pressed the arrow button that would "set the tape on the beginning", every second feeling like an eternity.
"It stopped" Said George
"But it's not playing anything" Said Weasley
"Press the triangle" said Tonks
The player started to move the tape and in a few seconds a girls voice came out of it
It's all set, are you ready?
And a boy answered with a simple yeah.
A piano started playing and the boy started to sing.
Raise my spirits up.
Hate will never conquer love.
And I will hold your hand.
Even when life breaks apart all of our plans.
I believe now 'cause I've seen how when I'm down and out hope is still around.
So I'll listen to your wisdom.
You're my heart light in this dark night.
On the brink of love.
On the brink of love.
On the brink of love I'll wait.
Keep my heart soft.
Make me strong when all is lost.
As time fades,
give me peace over my grave.
I believe now 'cause I've seen how when I'm down and out hope is still around.
So I'll listen to your wisdom.
You're my heart light in this dark night.
On the brink of love.
On the brink of love.
On the brink of love I'll wait.
No one knew what to say, it was quite beautiful really but most of its meaning was lost for the Weasleys.
"Can you play the beginning again?" Said Lupin and he had a frown on his face.
"Why?" Asked Draco looking intensively at the man.
"The voice in the beginning..."
Lupin looked both confused and hopeful and as full of longing to figure it out as Draco had been, so he nodded and reached for the player, but the tape had not been stopped so after some silence, something else started, the girl was talking.
I suppose I should say sorry, but God…
I always knew you both were idiots, but you just broke all the records of biggest idiot in the world! He was going to leave everything for you and you knew that!
...
I understand your reasons, I really do… which is why that is not why I'm mad, I'm mad because you didn't even give him a choice, no matter how much of a stupid one it was going to be, you had no right…
It hurts because you did everything yourself and then pretended it never happened… But it did happen! and I remember and I will always remember! Every second of it! But it feels like a burden because he looks at me and there is nothing there… and I don't know what to say…
I really hope you don't live to regret it, Regulus… But I'm only human and I'm done holding back… It's why I'm giving you the original copy… you're the one who needs a reminder… either you come back or I'm moving forward and I'm not going to apologise for it.
…
And although it all made little sense, that had been exactly what Draco had been looking for, even if it was an angry and hurt message, it was a little piece of Regulus' story.
"That's Lily" said Lupin completely in shock
"My mum?" asked Harry surprised
"Are you sure?" Said Mrs. Weasley
"Bloody Hell" whispered Weasley as he looked at Harry
Draco had never seen Lily Potter, nor could he recognise her voice, but he was pretty sure the girl in the recording was the girl in the pictures, so he took the two of them out and put it on the table.
"Is that her?"
One look was all it took for Lupin, his eyes were as big as possible and he stuttered not being able to form words. Harry wasn't much better and his hands reached for the picture of Lily dancing with the man.
"Is this...?"
"Lily's parents, your grandparent" said Lupin and Harry couldn't keep his eyes away from the picture.
"Why don't they move?" asked Weasley looking over Harry's shoulder
"It's a muggle picture" Said Draco when he noticed Harry just couldn't.
"I never knew… Lily and Regulus never even talked with each other… Not that we knew of..." said Lupin still trying to understand.
"Maybe it was a secret affair?" asked Tonks but without much conviction.
"That is not what it sounded on the tape" said the girl Weasley
"They weren't" Said Draco "Regulus was in love with a man"
"Sounded more like she was helping them" said Bill "Maybe it was a friend of hers? She sounded mad they broke up"
"Oh my..." said Lupin, his face showing something that had suddenly made sense inside him "Lily's only detention… she cursed Regulus in the corridor, James said she even slapped him across the face in front of the teachers… we thought he had said something really hurtful, but then she never did that with anyone else..."
"But they were friends… before" Said Harry looking at the other picture where Regulus and Lily looked so happy together.
"I suppose… not that we ever noticed and I probably spent more time studying with Regulus than I ever did with Sirius" Said Lupin
"You?" Draco asked surprised, his mind going to all sorts of places.
"For a while, yeah… it was James' idea, he tried to make Sirius and Regulus talk, he was an only child, always wanted siblings… he couldn't understand why Sirius would turn away from his own brother, so he tried to talk to Regulus, helped him in the library a few times hoping Sirius would do it too, but eventually he gave up… Sirius would always say the only brother he needed was James…"
"I thought Sirius stopped talking to him right after he was sorted to Slytherin" Said Draco
"It wasn't instantaneous… but their relationship took a big hit after Regulus was sorted to Slytherin… things deteriorated really fast after that…"
"But since he was in Slytherin..." Said Weasley "how did she become friends with him?" he asked pointing to the pictures.
"Lily had a friend in Slytherin when she first came to school" Said Lupin a bit hesitant.
"She did?" asked Harry completely surprised and Draco was actually just as surprised, she was a muggle-born and would not have connections with most of the families that were usually in the house of snakes.
"Yeah… they… knew each other as kids… it didn't end well, I think she tried more than she should have… but then… she liked him more than he ever liked her" and Lupin seemed a bit angry, whoever it was, he didn't want to say, but he did not like him "maybe that is how she connected with Regulus, I don't really know who he hanged out with, I only ever saw him with Lestrange and a girl… don't remember who she was… or Narcisa when she was still there… we stopped talking over the years… I don't think I was still talking to Regulus when this pictures were taken"
"Do you have any idea who he was dating?" Draco asked looking at any reaction the man would give, but the man looked as lost as Draco felt.
"I actually thought he and Lestrange would be a thing… but then I thought James and Alice would get together too"
"Alice?" Harry asked surprised and confused.
"Alice Longbottom, Neville's mother, she was really good friends with Lily, but it was James she was closer to, Frank was always jealous, he didn't really get on with James for years"
"Neville never mentioned that" Harry said sounding a bit hurt.
"I don't think he knows, Alice's parents died before… the only family he knows is Frank's… and much like no one wanted to drop on you that a man in Azkaban was your godfather, I think they must have thought that telling Neville that a dead man was his would only be a burden"
"My dad was Neville's godfather?" Harry asked surprised.
"Yes, he was"
Draco was surprisingly invested in the conversation, curious about the past much like Harry. He was even more surprised however when he realised he too had not idea who his godfather was. It was very traditional to have one, so he supposed he must have, but whoever it was, his parents never talked about it. It was scary to realise how many people died in the first war.
"Do you think that influenced on them being targeted?" Bill Weasley asked.
"I don't think so, but I do think it's what saved Neville's life"
"What do you mean?" Harry asked and Draco was confused too until he remembered who had saved Neville Longbottom that night.
"They say Rabastan Lestrange locked the nursery that night… and he was… somewhat friends with your father when we were in school" Lupin said a bit nervous.
"Madame Pomfrey said he helped my dad after… the 'prank' with Snape" Harry said, uncomfortable with calling 'almost killing someone' a prank "but she didn't know if they were actual friends"
"Oh… yeah… there was that too yes… they were friends before too… they lasted more than I expected as friends, but then James pretty much saved his school grades… also Sirius used to think Lestrange fancied James"
"And did he?" Draco asked, interested to see someone else's perspective.
"I have no idea, as I said, I thought he liked Regulus, I never understood where his relationship with Crouch Jr. came from… I know James hated Crouch…"
"Why?" Draco asked, he knew his own parents hated the man, but he knew very little about him.
"He knew Crouch Jr. was a Death Eater before anyone even suspected him and however he found that out, he also found out something else he really got mad about. James didn't know if his father was in with him or not, he was trying to figure out so he could out them, but since Crouch Sr. was head of Law Enforcement those days, he didn't get much support on his suspicious, it only made James more unpopular within the auror department"
"The aurors didn't like my dad?" Harry asked confused
"A lot of them were jealous of James, of how smart he was, and some of them resented him because of the pranks we did at school" Lupin said, but to Draco it sounded more like an excuse.
"What did Sirius think of all this?" George asked.
"I did hear from Lily that Sirius got into a fight with James about it, but it probably wasn't that bad, she was laughing when she told me about it. Sirius and Lestrange might not be blood related, but Sirius got as mad talking about Lestrange as he did talking about his brother, Lene used to say it was like he was a child with his hands on his ears when someone mentioned Regulus around him"
And Draco couldn't help but to snort in disgust, no wonder his mother held so little respect for him.
"I know you disapprove of Sirius and he wasn't kind to you when you met him, but if all of this proves something, it's that we don't know everything. Sirius had his ghosts, things that I think he only ever told James… and to get away from it he sacrificed other… things…" Lupin said looking completely heart broken, but just a second later he remembered there were others around and immediately completed his line of through "like his relationship with Regulus"
"Sacrificed? you people think he was a hero for fighting against it all, but what he did was run away, we were the ones who stayed and endured all the mess he left behind" Draco said getting mad, he was still paying in fact, fulfilling Sirius' spot with the Dark Lord.
"And yet" and Lupin's voice was calm and a bit sad "he felt so guilty over Regulus death that he went and talked to your mother and agreed to do something for her, something I never knew what it was until he threw it at you on that cave… so I thought there was only one possible thing he could be doing in secret with the Malfoys. And for that he spent twelve years in Azkaban, because then Dumbledore came to ask me, I said that I thought he did it"
Draco saw Harry's surprised face with the corner of his eyes, but he kept staring at Lupin, the two of them not wanting to be the first to look away.
"Everyone is the hero of their own story" said Tonks in a sad voice and everyone was silent for a while, the scene that had started with a beautiful love song had turned as heavy as Regulus' life ended.
"I think… we can spent a lifetime trying to find out where it went wrong" Said Mr. Weasley getting closer and putting his hand on Draco's shoulder "or we can follow the very good advice Lily just gave us and move on, but remembering, the good and the bad, so maybe this time we can do it better"
It was frustrating and not the answer Draco really wanted, but Mr. Weasley was right, in the end Sirius and Regulus had made their choices and there was nothing Draco could do about it except not follow after them, in fact, it was what his mother had wanted when she gave him the box.
"Thanks for the help with the player" he said looking at everyone, he would have never heard the tape without their help and everyone put effort in doing that for him and he was really thankful for it "mind if I keep the batteries?"
"Not at all" said Mr. Weasley with a smile.
Draco nodded and put the player back on the box, but when he moved to collect the picture he saw Harry's longing and his silent plea to keep them.
"You can keep that one" he said pointing to the one with Lily and her parents "But I… wanted to keep this one" because the other one had Regulus in it, smiling and free.
Harry smiled grateful looking again at the picture that was now his, a piece of his own history had also been discovered here.
"I wonder who was it" Said Harry "the person my mum was defending, the one Regulus loved"
"I think my mother knows, but she never admitted to it, so I don't think she will tell, neither will Rabastan and he must know. The box doesn't have much really, it was a secret relationship, so they left nothing that would lead others to them"
There wasn't much anyone could say about the subject, so slowly everyone turned things around to return to a more cheerful Christmas spirit. Mrs. Weasley started to give kitchen chores for everyone so they would help set up lunch, Draco, Lupin and Tonks were guests and were allowed not to help, but Harry had already been adopted and was doing chores like the rest of the family.
With nothing to do and not wanting to talk with Lupin at the moment, Draco went to Weasley's room to put the disk and the box back on his truck and take a moment to breathe on his own. Not long after he got there however the door opened and he turned expecting to see Harry, but instead his cousin was there.
"Are you alright?" she asked cautiously.
"I'm fine"
"Look… I don't know anything about Regulus, but I did notice he is important for you, so I'm sorry if we ruined your discovery moment"
Draco looked at her with new eyes, he knew she wasn't dumb, she was an auror after all, but he didn't thought she was that kind of perceptive.
"It's ok, I would never know the girl in the pictures and in the recording was Lily Potter, so I'm glad too" and she nodded.
"When my mother went away to marry my father, she never looked back, but she never said anything bad about her family nor did she had any resentment, she grew up with them and knew exactly what they valued and why they were mad, she said she agreed with everything they said, but she still did it anyway because she wanted to. After the war, I don't know if you remember, we actually went to see our grandparents a few times before they died, they never allowed my father into their house, but they were very proud of my ability. So… there is a lot of grey area in our family that most people just don't understand and in a time like this, were everyone tells you to pick a side, they tend to forget that people are not exactly black and white"
Draco nodded, he had known his grandparents used to talk with Andromeda, he did have a vague memory of it and his mother never said much about her sister in general, only Bellatrix said a thing or two about her anger, but people would lash out on Sirius way more than Andromeda, because she didn't run from responsibilities that caused harm to the family.
"I just don't want them trying to convince me to like Sirius, because where I'm standing he did more shit then good" he said a bit tired, he had no energy to feel irritated.
"You know… the problem with the dead is that we tend to overlook the bad part of them, especially if we feel guilty or feel we owed them something. Harry doesn't know, but Remus and Sirius weren't in good terms even before the Potters died, so when Sirius was still here, he and Remus had horrible fights whenever they talked about the non-nostalgic stuff, Dung and I actually had to separate them once because Remus broke his nose with a punch and then he cried half of the night on my shoulder. But now Sirius is just a frozen memory, so… just respect the fact they love him more and they too will respect that you love Regulus more"
Draco was surprised by that little bit of information, but then he had no idea what kind of relationship Lupin had with Sirius in the past, most of the time it seemed like the only person with whom Sirius had actually connected had been James Potter. He was still lost in thoughts when his cousin suddenly gave him a hug, she didn't say anything, just hugged him and since he had not seen his family this christmas he hugged her back as he would have hugged his mother, glad that someone else fully understood him in that moment.
They went back down together and no one commented on it, conversation went on to more simple topics like school assignments and Weasley's new girl and his sister's many boyfriends. Lunch was as good as dinner had been and everyone was being silly, it was a completely different thing than what Draco had ever lived through, but he enjoyed it a bit.
He still had a few hours before he had to leave or as his cousin said "his carriage became a pumpkin" whatever that meant, so he and Harry went outside for a bit, no one commented and no one followed, they knew the boys wanted to have a private moment. They walked far enough so no one would see them but without leaving the protections around the property.
They kissed and enjoyed being close, but Draco could feel Harry wanted to talk about earlier.
"Come on, what is on your mind?" he asked
"It's just… I'm happy to know more about my parent, but I don't know… feels a bit frustrating not to know everything"
"Yeah… but maybe when this war is over for good, my mother might tell us something"
"It would be great" said Harry, but with little enthusiasm "do you think this has to do with the bond? Regulus is way more important for you and my mum's protection runs on my blood, maybe it's about them"
Draco had not even thought about the bond, he had a lot of personal interest in Regulus' story and that was what he was focussed, but now that he heard it, he thought it made a lot of sense actually.
"It could be! This actually feels more likely than anything before"
"Maybe when it is all over we can look into it"
"Yeah..."
Draco looked at Harry, his face was still deep into thought, which was a bit frustrating, worrying about the bond now would not take them anywhere, they knew what it was doing, the plan was to wait to find out later, so they should stick to it.
"The song..." started Harry "it was really nice"
"Yeah, it was" said Draco confused with what the boy was trying to say
"Regulus really loved someone, but he walked away anyway" said Harry without looking at him.
"Ah… so that is what this is about"
"Yes, Regulus made his choices, some of them hard ones, but it wasn't like he was planning to do it since the beginning, I suppose lots of hard choices are things you have to make on the spot" said Draco, every since he found out about the bond, he had been improvising.
"I wouldn't leave you" Harry said and looked Draco in the eye, a challenge and a plea all in one.
"Yes you would, if it was important you would" Draco said "Regulus left his love to keep his family alive and to fight, which is not much different than what you do at least once a year"
Harry tried to reply, but in the end he could only admit that Draco did have a point. Never mind that he was going to leave Draco when he found out about Dumbledore, Draco knew that even if they were a normal couple, Harry's self-sacrificing nature would make him leave him to "keep him safe" or some other stupid thing like that.
"We don't know what happened then, the only thing we can do now is make decisions we both can live with and at the end of this war, if we're still alive, we can see if we still feel the same way. Since dying before that happens is an option, I intend to live now as much as I can" Draco said with as much honest as he could.
They looked each other in the eye and this time Harry understood, his expression turned as determined as Draco's and he nodded. They were alive and together right now, so they should enjoy it.
-x-
The song in this chapter is "Brink of Love" by Vian Izak. He is an amazing artist and his songs have been this story's soundtrack since the beginning. In fact I actually struggled with what song I was going to use here, both "World of Trouble" and "The Navigator" had been candidates until I reached the conclusion "Brink of Love" was more Regulus and a melody I thought more appropriate.
I 100% suggest you guys go hear these songs, you can find him on Youtube, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music… just choose your favorite platform and research his name.