Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and settings belong to J.K. Rowling.
Draco entered the sitting room, already dressed in his Quidditch gear. He opened a closet to retrive his broom. "How is your homework coming?"
"Almost done," Cassius said, feeling sad that he didn't get to play in the game.
Draco nodded. "Good. I want you to work on your essay this afternoon. Understood?"
"Yeah," Cassius looked away from his brother.
Draco hesitated. He felt horrible sticking to the punishment, even if it was the right thing to do. His brother needed to learn. He heard and knock on the door and before he let Hermione in, he gave Cassius a hopeful look. "Wish me luck?" He wouldn't blame Cass if he was resentful over Draco playing but he hoped he wouldn't be.
Cassius lifted his gaze and smiled. "Good luck. I hope you kick their ar -"
"Cass," Draco shook his head, hiding a grin. "Language." He let Hermione in. "Thanks for staying with him."
"No problem," Hermione said, her bookbag over her shoulder. "I could use a quiet place to study."
Draco nodded and glanced back at Cass. "Be good."
Cassius made a face after Draco left. Be good? What was he, a five year old?
/
"So I hear you're short your star seeker."
Draco turned around to see Ron Weasley smirking at him.
"Shouldn't you be with your team? The game is about to start." Draco rolled his eyes and turned back around.
"I've heard your brother," Ron spat out the last word. "Got himself into trouble and isn't allowed to play. Big surprise there, he has always caused trouble."
Draco stiffened. He looked over at the annoying red-head. "Cass is fine. And it's none of your business. Just know one thing. You never deserved to his friend. He was always loyal to you but you didn't return it. Your jealousy was clear to the whole school, or do I need to remind you of the whole tournament fiasco? You know, when you believed he entered himself and turned your back on him? Trust me, Cassius is better off without you. Cass is the most loyal kid I know and you? You're only loyal to yourself."
Ron's face turned red with anger. He didn't say anything and scanned the stands, clearly looking for someone.
Draco slowly smiled. "Looking for Hermione? She won't be here." he said casually.
Ron's eyes narrowed. "How would you know?"
Draco adjusted his sleeves. "She's in my quarters. I'll see her after the game." He sauntered off to his teammates, grinning to himself when he heard Ron gasp.
/
"Couldn't you just go check what the score is?" Cassius begged. It was an hour into he game and he wanted to know how his team was doing. It was torture not being able to at least watch the game. He wasn't mad that Draco wouldn't let him at least watch the match, he knew he deserved to be on restriction. But that didn't mean he couldn't get updates, did it?
"No," Hermione said absently, highlighting something in her Defence book.
Cassius sighed. "Why not? Why can't you go check? Or we could both go and -"
Hermione snapped her head up. "No," she said firmly. "Draco will tell you when he gets back."
"But I want to know now!" Cassius whined.
"Cassius, honestly," Hermione said, rubbing her temples. "I really need to focus on this chapter. I have a test coming up."
"You always pass your tests, Hermione," Cassius sighed. "I doubt taking five minutes to check the score will ruin that."
"No," Hermione said, her teeth gritted. She returned to her reading, making notes and highlighting parts that she wanted to do more in depth reading on. Keeping on top of her studies as well as preparing for N.E.W.T.S was extremely stressful, even for someone who liked to study.
"You're so selfish," Cassius muttered.
Hermione ignored him and continued studying.
Cassius glared at her and pushed his essay to the side. How hard would it be for her to check the score? He just wanted to know how his team was doing. Was that too much to ask? It was bad enough that he couldn't go to the game or practices. Hermione was being completely unreasonable. He began tapping his quill against the table loudly.
Tap...tap...tap
Hermione cleared her throat.
Tap...tap...tap
"Cassius, please," Hermione sighed. "I really need to get through this chapter."
"So get through it," Cassius shrugged, continuing his tapping.
"Maybe you should go do your work in your room," Hermione suggested.
"Nah," Cassius smirked. "I'm fine here." Suddenly his quill went flying. "Hey!"
"I get it. You're mad at me. But please, Cass. I really need to finish this chapter." Hermione said. "Either do your work quietly or go to your room."
"No."
Hermione stared at him sternly.
"All this could have been avoided if you had just checked the scores," Cassius said as he grabbed another quill.
"Don't you dare start that again," Hermione warned.
Cassius looked at her as he started tapping his quill against the table. He watched Hermione close her eyes, looking like she was struggling to hold her temper. Suddenly he felt bad, Hermione was his friend and he was being a brat. He still didn't see why she couldn't check the score but he knew Hermione would be stressing with exams coming up. He stopped tapping.
Hermione opened her eyes. "Thank you," she said evenly.
Cassius knew he should apologize but he was miffed with her so he just went back to his essay.
A little while later, Hermione glanced up at him. "How are you doing on your essay? Do you need any help?"
"No. I wouldn't want to take you from your precious studies," Cassius muttered, not looking at her.
Hermione sighed and went back to her own work.
Almost an hour later Draco returned, his eyes bright. "Slytherin won!" he crowed.
"We did? Brilliant!" Cassius jumped up. "Tell me everything."
"I will but I want to get changed first," Draco said, propping his broom against the wall. He looked at Hermione. "How did everything go?"
Hermione hesitated for a moment and then gave him a fake smile. "Just fine. I should go, I need to go to the library."
Draco nodded slowly. "Thank you for staying with him." he said, feeling like he was missing something. "You okay?"
"Just stressed," Hermione said as she gathered her books. "Studying, you know."
"Uh huh," Draco glanced at his brother and narrowed his eyes at the guilty look on Cass's face. "Wait, Hermione." he said before facing his brother. "What happened? Why is she upset?"
Cassius was going to say he didn't know but that would be a lie and he didn't want a trip over of his brother's knee. He bit his lip and looked down.
"Cass?" Draco folded his arms. "Tell me, now. Or I'll extend your grounding."
Cassius's eyes flew to Draco's. "No, don't do that," he pleaded.
"Then start talking."
"I was being a brat to Hermione," Cassius admitted. He looked at his friend. "I'm sorry." he said sincerely.
Hermione relaxed and smiled genuinely at him. "It's okay." she told him. "I guess I could have taken the time to check. I just was so focused and I didn't want to break momentum."
"Check what?" Draco asked with a frown, looking from Hermione to Cassius.
"I wanted her to check the score, so I could know how Slytherin was doing," Cassius said, feeling like a total prat. He had acted like some little kid.
"And when she said no?" Draco wanted the whole story. He wasn't going to let his brother be a total brat, especially as Hermione had been doing them a favor.
"I kind of whined and then started tapping my quill loudly so that she couldn't concentrate," Cassius mumbled.
"Apologize." Draco ordered.
"He already did," Hermione said softly.
"Then he can do it again."
"I'm sorry, Hermione," Cassius said quickly. His face fell when Draco pointed to the corner. With a sigh, he went and stood where his brother indicated. It wasn't worth arguing about, he would just make Draco more angry.
Draco walked Hermione to the door. "I'm really sorry he was disrespectful to you," he said. "If he does it again, just send him to the corner."
Hermione laughed. "I don't think so. I couldn't even get him to go his room." She froze as Draco's eyes darkened. "Please, he apologized. Just let it go." she said, not wanting her friend in more trouble. She accepted her part in their disagreement, she could have quickly checked the score.
"I can't let bad behavior go," Draco said, irritated at his brother. "I'm really sorry he was such a headache."
"He wasn't. The exams are a headache," Hermione joked as she left. "Congratulations on your win!"
Draco broke into a smile as he watched her walk away. She would be the only Gryffindor who would congratulate him, that was for sure. He shut the door and walked back into the sitting room. "I'm going to shower and change. You stand there and you better not move. After, we'll have a talk." he said as he walked by his brother.
Ten minutes later, Draco re-emerged, his hair still slightly damp. He went into the kitchen and poured two cups of juice, setting them on the table. He glanced at Cassius's essay, at least it looked like he had put some real work into it. "Okay, Cass. Come in here." he called.
Cassius ambled over, his eyes downcast. He sat down and finally looked up when Draco pushed one of the glasses towards him. "Thanks," he said softly.
Draco sat down, taking a sip of juice. "Cass, why were you not allowed at the game?"
"I'm on restriction," Cassius answered.
"Right. And Hermione stayed here with you because she is a good friend to us both. Correct?"
"Yes," Cassius said softly.
"So, you're being punished and you still throw a tantrum which hurt your friend's feelings." Draco stared at him.
"I didn't throw a tantrum!" Cassius protested weakly.
"No? You whined, tapped your quill even when she asked you to stop and refused to go to your room when she told you to. Am I wrong?" Draco raised an eyebrow.
"No," Cassius muttered, feeling his face heat up with embarrassment. "I apologized to her!"
"As you should have," Draco said sternly. "You were in the wrong. It wasn't her job to keep you updated on the game. You were supposed to be working, not thinking about Quidditch. You are being punished, Cassius."
"I just wanted to know -"
"I don't care. If I have someone watch you, I better never hear about you giving them attitude and misbehaving," Draco scolded. "You know better than to act like that."
"I'm sorry," Cassius gazed at his juice. "Are you mad at me?" he asked softly.
Draco almost smiled at the childlike question. "Well, I'm not exactly pleased with you right now. But no, I'm not mad."
"Are you going to tell me about the game?" Cassius asked hopefully.
"Do you deserve for me to?" Draco raised an eyebrow.
Cassius's face fell. "No."
"Hmm. Well, I deserve to brag," Draco drawled lazily. "Especially as I bested Weasley with all the goals I got past him. He couldn't manage to block me once. I heard his captain yelling at him after the game. It was brilliant."
Cassius grinned, imagining how angry Ron would have gotten at being bested by Draco. "I wish I could have seen it."
"Maybe I'll pensive it for you," Draco said with a smile.
Cassius stared at him for a moment, eyes wide.
"What? Do you not know what a pensive is?" Draco asked. "It's -"
"Trust me, I know what is is," Cassius rolled his eyes. "Fifth year I looked into Uncle Sev's and he caught me."
"I didn't know that," Draco put down his glass. "I imagine he wasn't happy about it." he said carefully.
"No. I thought he was going to hit me or something," Cassius said, shaking his head. "I don't blame him. I shouldn't have done it but I thought there would be information about Voldemort in there."
"I'm sorry he scared you so badly," Draco frowned.
"It's in the past. He was mad that Harry Potter had scene his private memories," Cassius smiled sadly. "I was just thinking, maybe I could see some memories of when I was a baby? I know you only had a month with me but -"
"Cub, that's a great idea," Draco said warmly. "I should have thought of it sooner. I'm sorry I didn't. I'll borrow a pensive and do that. Okay?"
"Okay," Cassius said happily.
/
The next evening after borrowing a pensive from Snape, Draco entered it with Cassius, smiling at the memory of him holding his brother for the first time. "Look how little you were."
"Mother, can I hold him?" Child Draco asked eagerly.
"Yes but you have to be very careful," Narcissa said with a smile.
Cassius's heart clenched at the sight of his parents. Before it would have been his nightmare and now, all he felt was a sense of longing. His mother didn't look cold or aloof, she looked beautiful and kind and loving.
"Gently," Lucius cautioned as his wife placed Cassius into Draco's arms. "Hold him like...yes, just like that. You're a natural." he chuckled.
Cassius couldn't believe this was Lucius Malfoy. He looked happy and proud as he watched Draco hold him. He stood closer, watching his baby self look up into his big brother's eyes. He heard child Draco talk to the baby.
"Hi cub. I'm your big brother Draco, and I'll always take care of you. Always."
Draco put his arm around Cassius, pulling him close. If only he could have protected Cass from being taken by Twitchy. The image changed and they were standing in the nursery, Narcissa rocking a fussy Cassius.
"Hush, my little snakeling," Narcissa whispered. "It's all right." She looked up when child Draco entered. "Sorry dragon, did he wake you?"
"Is he okay?" Child Draco asked, looking worried.
Narcissa laughed softly. "Yes, he's fine."
"Is he hungry?"
"No, I just fed him and changed him too," Narcissa assured child Draco. "Sometimes babies just need to cry."
"Oh," Child Draco stood next to his mother and peered at his brother. "Hey, cub." he said, taking one tiny hand into his. "You need to sleep. It's good for you."
"Overprotective and bossy even as a five year old," Cassius teased. "Hey!" he said as Draco pretended to put him in a headlock.
"That way you can grow up big and strong, like Father and me," Child Draco was saying, stroking his brother's cheek softly.
Narcissa laughed. "I'm strong." she said playfully.
Child Draco smiled at her. "And smart and strong, like Mother."
Narcissa looked down at her baby in surprise. "Well, it appears you have the magic touch. Cassius is asleep!"
Child Draco beamed.
Cassius grinned and leaned back into Draco, who wrapped his arms around him. The image changed and they were sitting in the living room, Snape was there as well.
"He's already getting bigger," Snape said, waving a toy snake in front of Cassius. "Even after just a few weeks."
"Soon he'll be flying a broom," Lucius chuckled, looking down lovingly at the baby in his arms.
"I'll teach him," Child Draco said, sitting next to his father.
"You? Then what will I do?" Lucius asked in a playful huff.
"Um, you can pay for the brooms," Child Draco said.
Snape laughed.
Cassius realized he and Draco were back in their quarters and he was laughing and crying. He wrapped his arms around Draco's waist. "Thank you," he sniffed.
"You're welcome, cub," Draco held one arm around his shoulders, the other running fingers through his hair. "They loved you so much."
Cassius nodded and more tears fell, for all the years he had lost with his parents and growing up without his brother. He could see that they had really loved him and he broke into sobs for all that he had missed. Draco hugged him tight, kissing the top of his head. And Cassius was just so grateful that he at least had his brother now.
TBC: