Brothers by Birth, Enemies by Blood
Summary: There were twins, twin boys born of the same mother, but of two different fathers by the use of an ancient spell. From the start, unlike most twins, the boys hated one another, and when one is proclaimed the hero of the light, the other is reclaimed by his supposedly 'dead' father and his 'most loyal servant'. This is the story of two boys. This is the story of Levi Potter and Malum Riddle.
Prologue:
It had been a terribly cold night, that night of July 31, 1980. Lily Evans Potter, a redheaded woman of only twenty years with a fiery temper to match her flaming hair, was staring down at the two bundles of joy in her lap. It wasn't supposed to happen this way, though. You see, Lily Evans Potter was not who she appeared. She had been adopted at the mere age of three months, by the Evans family, because Rose Evans had recently suffered a miscarriage, and their darling daughter Petunia wouldn't know the difference, she was only a year old after all.
Lily had been the daughter of a prominent pureblood family, the Celsus family, until her parents, Heather and Malum Celsus were killed by the wretched members of the Light. Oh, what Dumbledore did for the 'Greater Good' was quite horrifying at times, quite horrifying in deed. Of course, when she had figured out this tidbit of information, she was halfway through her seventh year and already in a relationship with James bloody Potter.
It was around that time that another came to the knowledge of who Lily Evans really was. Tom Riddle, otherwise known as Lord Voldemort. They had met in secret, and soon, love blossomed and a relationship had grown. Of course, she had to keep up her perfectly 'Light' image, so she had continued on with the relationship with James Potter, and soon, they were married, but she and Tom were still lovers by the dark of the night.
When Lily had fallen pregnant, James had been overjoyed, but she had been sick to her stomach. She knew that the child was Tom's, and not James'. So, her lover had cast a spell to make her womb fertile enough for another child, so that people didn't get suspicious. So, later that week, Lily revealed she would be having twins, and James had been even more happy.
But now, as she saw the two boys cradled in her arms, she smiled sadly, knowing full well that she couldn't ever really be with the man she loved. Not if she valued her life, Dumbledore was dangerous. The firstborn son had raven-black hair, but it was smooth and well-kept, like his fathers. Like Tom's. The second child had a full head of messy, untamable dark red hair, and she could hear the boy's godfather, Sirius Black, shaking his head.
"Poor tyke," he said to James. "He's been cursed with your messy hair."
"What are you going to name them?" asked Remus, still caught up in the moment, looking at his black-haired godson with a smile plastered on his face.
"We agreed we would each name one," said James, before turning to the red-haired boy. "Little redhead over here will be Levi. Levi Sirius Potter." Sirius gave a little whoop of joy, and Remus rolled his eyes.
"What do you want to call our little raven haired boy?" asked James gently, cupping Lily's face in his hands and kissing her forehead softly. Lily gazed down at her firstborn, the child of which was hers and the real man she loved, and kissed his forehead gently.
"His name will be Malum," she said. "Malum Thomas." Everyone assumed that by the lack of the last name that Lily assumed they knew it was Potter, but Lily shook her head silently.
I will always love you, my little Malum, she thought. My little Malum Thomas Riddle.
.oOo. Four Years Later .oOo.
Most people say that when you're five years old, you don't understand the world enough to actually hate people. Those people had never met Malum Potter, because he was five and he hated his brother with all his might.
Lily Potter adored both of her children, but favored Malum, which pleased the raven-haired boy immensely. However Levi Potter was favored by their father, and was showered with fatherly love and bonding that Malum could only wish he had. Sure, his godfather Remus would play with him on occasions, but he was much too busy to do much with a five-year-old, spare birthdays and special occasions, and on top of that he was a werewolf and had to suffer monthly problems.
Malum was currently reading a long chapter book from perched atop a rather large apple tree, as he was rather advanced for his age, and out of the corned of his eye he could see his brother giggling madly as James Potter chased him. Both father and son were riding broomsticks, which were things that Malum loathed. He turned the page in his book, eating a bright red apple as he thought about the characters in his book, which he liked because he thought it was very much like him.
The main characters were twins, Jacob and Josh Hewman, who were the sons of a rich man in the countryside, and lived in a large manor (much like Potter manor, where the Potters had moved to after the twins were born) and led a relatively happy life. The thing was, though, that Jacob and Josh hated each other. Josh was the athletic, daring, heroic twin with a thirst for adventure, and got himself in some sticky situations, but always prevailed with the help of his friends Annabelle and Charles. Jacob, on the other hand, was smart, cunning and devious, and loved setting traps up for his brother, though none of them actually killed him.
When the boys reached the age of fifteen, the Lord of the Lands came forward to claim Jacob as his son, and Josh was filled with such a deep hatred that he tried to break into the castle under the alias of a knight to kill his brother. In the end, Jacob killed his brother, then, driven mad by the horror of the bloodstains on his hands, took the knife that had claimed Josh's life and took his own, much to the Lord's displeasure.
But, Malum noted that the story wasn't exactly like he and his brother. After all, if Malum were to ever kill Levi, he would enjoy it very, very much.
"Malum!" a soft, melodious voice called, causing Malum to look up from his book, placing a leaf in-between the pages where he had left and storing it in the hole in the tree where he stored only his most favorite books. The small, pale boy, threw his apple core on the ground so the seeds could grow into yet another apple tree. He was in the middle of the Potter's apple orchard, in the tree he had claimed as his own, because only he had the talent to climb it. He had always liked calling trees.
Malum jumped off of the high branch he was sitting on, grabbing onto the branch of the tree in front of his, before swinging down and landing before bolting off in the direction of the large, posh house on the hill.
"Coming, mother!" he called out, and soon, he was swept into a crushing hug, dark red hair cascading over him as his mother swept him up.
"How has your birthday been so far?" she asked him, putting him back on the ground.
"It's been alright," he admitted, smiling. "Levi and father are playing outside, and I got a chance to read my book." Lily smiled, looking at her son, who had grown to look so much like his real father. If Tom could only see him now. But he would, soon enough, that very night to be exact.
"I have something for you," said Lily, pulling a package out from behind her back.
"Really?" asked Malum. "What is it?" He carefully opened the package and pulled out a big book, a scrapbook. He opened it and found pictures of himself and his twin throughout the five years they had been in existence, and many blank pages towards the back for him to fill out with his own pictures.
Malum giggled as he saw a picture of himself pulling Levi's hair at only five months old. They really had always hated each other.
"Thanks, mom," he said happily. Lily suddenly grew serious, and looked down at Malum.
"Malum, sweetie, you know I love you, right?" she asked, and Malum grew suspicious.
"Yes..." he said slowly, clutching the scrapbook towards his chest.
"Well, I have a secret to tell you," she said, leaning towards him. "James Potter isn't your daddy. He's Levi's daddy, but not yours. Your father's name is Lord Voldemort, or Tom Riddle, and he's going to come take you later tonight. I've already sent your bags ahead, so all you need to do is wait at your apple tree for them to arrive. But I will always love you, my sweet little Malum. And if you ever want to see me, just have your father floo me." Malum nodded, hugging his mother for a long moment before going back to his apple tree, tucking the scrapbook safely away with 'Brothers by Birth, Enemies by Blood'.
Hours passed, and Malum sat, calculating his current position. He was, in muggle terms, a genius. No other five year olds would be able to do what he had accomplished, and his mother had always prided in that. Anger prickled over Malum's skin when he thought of his mother. He loved her, obviously, but he was angry that she had to send him away. He was excited to meet his father, but he didn't understand why she had to stay with that fool James Potter. It just wasn't fair, that Levi got both parents while he only got one.
When the darkness of night trickled over Potter Manor, James and Levi finally went inside, probably to sneak in some more of the large birthday cake the twins had shared. Moments later, Potter Manor was under attack. Malum picked the two books out of the hole and walked towards the shadowy figure that was approaching him.
"What is your name, child?" asked the woman, who had wild black curls atop her head, she was very pretty, with heavy lidded eyes and a narrow face.
"My name is Malum Thomas," he paused, thinking for a moment. "Riddle. Malum Thomas Riddle." The woman nodded, smiling warmly at the boy.
"My name is Bellatrix," she said, holding a hand out to him, which he took happily. "I will be taking you to your father's manor, he will be arriving shortly."
"Ok." Malum shot one look back at his home for five years, and for a moment he thought he could see his mother looking back at him sadly from the window of the great house. But with a pop the world he had known was no more.
.oOo.
"All has gone according to plan," said a tall, pale man with neatly groomed raven black hair and warm brown eyes. James Potter was downstairs, stunned, and he was up in the room with Lily Potter and Levi Potter, the latter of who was clutching his head, wailing as the scar on his forehead bled. There was a silencing charm around the two people, so the boy could not hear.
"You will modify his memory?" asked Lily, her red hair falling over her shoulders neatly.
"Yes," he conceded, looking at Lily hungrily, as if for the last time. He pulled her closer and captured her lips in a soft, sweet kiss. "The old fool Dumbledore will leave you alone now, now that he thinks he has the child of the prophecy."
"And he doesn't?" asked Lily, raising an eyebrow mischievously.
"No, the son of Potter is weak, he could never beat me," said the man. He pointed his wand at the youngest Potter, muttering 'Obliviate' before turning back to Lily.
"This is where I leave you," he said, kissing her forehead.
"I love you," whispered Lily.
"I love you too," he whispered back, giving her one last kiss on the lips.
"Take good care of Malum," she whispered as he turned towards her. The man gave a little salute and pointed his wand at Lily.
"Goodbye, Tom."
"Stupefy!" There was a flash of red light and Lily Evans Potter fell down, stunned. Tom Riddle shook his head an apparated out of the Manor. The plan was being set into action.