N WHICH JOSH TELLS HARRY A NOT SO PLEASANT LITTLE STORY
Okay, think rationally Harry, Harry Potter told himself, if 'Mione is really related to Malfoy and they really have a younger brother then that would be…
"Josh! Oh sorry, didn't mean to bump into you mate," Ron said as he helped the young boy up from his extremely uncomfortable position on the stone floor.
"Now Harry, we still need to figure out who this 'Aquilis' Malfoy keeps going on about is – or if he exists at all,"
Harry was about to say that he had a theory when the pale eleven year old interrupted him.
"Aquilis is me," he said. "And he's as real as me as well. But I don't know how you found out unless my sister told you. All great. I've said too much haven't I?"
Harry grabbed the young boys arm as he was about to dash away.
"No, you didn't say too much. Malfoy made quite a scene out of it in the hallway. But I think you have some explaining to do considering your sister doesn't seem to be in the mood," the elder boy said in a reassuring tone. "Now how 'bout we go into my prefects dorm?"
The young boy stood and stared into the elder's eyes. Harry shuddered but didn't pull away from his gaze. He'd seen Hermione do this to some people. It must be a 'Malfoy' thing. They instantly didn't trust the person if they didn't keep the gaze. Heck, he'll never get used to Hermione being a Malfoy.
He knows her well, Josh thought, otherwise he would've pulled away by now. She does this too. He seems really worried about her. But you can never trust too many people. I don't know why Merloyn's not interested in this one though. Well, whatever she thinks I trust him more than Weasley..
"Okay," Josh finally said freeing Harry from the eye lock. "But I can't say I trust Weasley too much."
Ron looked offended.
"It's okay Ron," Harry said. "I'll go with Josh and you go find 'Mione okay?"
"Okay Harry," Ron finally agreed. "But you have to promise you'll at least give me a brief on what he said."
Harry looked down at the kid who was now giving him an 'you better not or the deal's off' look.
"Sorry mate. But I can't promise you anything." Harry answered. Why did the kid have to have such powerful glares. By now he was pretty sure Hermione was quite capable of them too.
The boys headed for the prefects dormitory and finally sat down on Harry's bed.
"This isn't too hard for you is it?" Harry asked. "I mean 'Mione looked like she was gonna burst into tears at the mention of your childhood."
"Don't worry 'bout it," Josh said. "You need to know. Merloyn might not like it but you need to know."
"I just still can't believe the two of you are related to Malfoy. Well, no offence but you looked so much like Malfoy I could accept you being related but 'Mione?"
"Yeah I know, but she doesn't really look like that," the small boy said and by the tone of his voice Harry decided to drop the 'Then what does she look like?' question.
"I just have to ask. How did you get here? I mean like why run away? Malfoy's always going on about how his father's the best and all that."
"Okay if you really want to know, but be prepared this is not a pleasant story:
Father used to always whip us and starve us. He also made us go to a Dark Arts institution. Draco and Merloyn can both apparate and use pretty powerful Dark Arts charms. She was the one father and his helpers mainly focused on though. She had it worst off than any of us. She was their 'future tool'. Their 'killing machine'. They made her go through all these hand-to-hand combat courses and every time she did something wrong she was whipped. Then when she was ten she just figured she'd had enough. She tried running away tonnes of times but this time she was determined. She asked Draco if he wanted to come and he agreed. So the two of them planned while I kept watch on father. Every now and again I'd help with tactics. One day after Draco got whipped for asking father about muggles we decided that that was it. We couldn't wait any longer. We had to escape that night. But when we did go our brother sold us to father. We were both whipped twenty times each. He'd been bribed with power. Father promised him that he'd be the most powerful Death Eater ever. But then the next week we tried again. This time we kept Draco out of it. But Uncle Proterro caught us and Merloyn had to. .Merloyn had to……"
The boy couldn't finish. He had burst into tears and now had his back to Harry. He could tell that he was ashamed to cry in front of a complete stranger. Let alone his sister's friend. He did the one thing his instinct told him to do. He grabbed the boys arm and squeezed it reassuringly. Josh looked up to be greeted by Harry' smile. He smiled back and began to wipe away his tears.
"I don't get why my sister's not interested," he said to the elder boy before leaving.
Okay, think rationally Harry, Harry Potter told himself, if 'Mione is really related to Malfoy and they really have a younger brother then that would be…
"Josh! Oh sorry, didn't mean to bump into you mate," Ron said as he helped the young boy up from his extremely uncomfortable position on the stone floor.
"Now Harry, we still need to figure out who this 'Aquilis' Malfoy keeps going on about is – or if he exists at all,"
Harry was about to say that he had a theory when the pale eleven year old interrupted him.
"Aquilis is me," he said. "And he's as real as me as well. But I don't know how you found out unless my sister told you. All great. I've said too much haven't I?"
Harry grabbed the young boys arm as he was about to dash away.
"No, you didn't say too much. Malfoy made quite a scene out of it in the hallway. But I think you have some explaining to do considering your sister doesn't seem to be in the mood," the elder boy said in a reassuring tone. "Now how 'bout we go into my prefects dorm?"
The young boy stood and stared into the elder's eyes. Harry shuddered but didn't pull away from his gaze. He'd seen Hermione do this to some people. It must be a 'Malfoy' thing. They instantly didn't trust the person if they didn't keep the gaze. Heck, he'll never get used to Hermione being a Malfoy.
He knows her well, Josh thought, otherwise he would've pulled away by now. She does this too. He seems really worried about her. But you can never trust too many people. I don't know why Merloyn's not interested in this one though. Well, whatever she thinks I trust him more than Weasley..
"Okay," Josh finally said freeing Harry from the eye lock. "But I can't say I trust Weasley too much."
Ron looked offended.
"It's okay Ron," Harry said. "I'll go with Josh and you go find 'Mione okay?"
"Okay Harry," Ron finally agreed. "But you have to promise you'll at least give me a brief on what he said."
Harry looked down at the kid who was now giving him an 'you better not or the deal's off' look.
"Sorry mate. But I can't promise you anything." Harry answered. Why did the kid have to have such powerful glares. By now he was pretty sure Hermione was quite capable of them too.
The boys headed for the prefects dormitory and finally sat down on Harry's bed.
"This isn't too hard for you is it?" Harry asked. "I mean 'Mione looked like she was gonna burst into tears at the mention of your childhood."
"Don't worry 'bout it," Josh said. "You need to know. Merloyn might not like it but you need to know."
"I just still can't believe the two of you are related to Malfoy. Well, no offence but you looked so much like Malfoy I could accept you being related but 'Mione?"
"Yeah I know, but she doesn't really look like that," the small boy said and by the tone of his voice Harry decided to drop the 'Then what does she look like?' question.
"I just have to ask. How did you get here? I mean like why run away? Malfoy's always going on about how his father's the best and all that."
"Okay if you really want to know, but be prepared this is not a pleasant story:
Father used to always whip us and starve us. He also made us go to a Dark Arts institution. Draco and Merloyn can both apparate and use pretty powerful Dark Arts charms. She was the one father and his helpers mainly focused on though. She had it worst off than any of us. She was their 'future tool'. Their 'killing machine'. They made her go through all these hand-to-hand combat courses and every time she did something wrong she was whipped. Then when she was ten she just figured she'd had enough. She tried running away tonnes of times but this time she was determined. She asked Draco if he wanted to come and he agreed. So the two of them planned while I kept watch on father. Every now and again I'd help with tactics. One day after Draco got whipped for asking father about muggles we decided that that was it. We couldn't wait any longer. We had to escape that night. But when we did go our brother sold us to father. We were both whipped twenty times each. He'd been bribed with power. Father promised him that he'd be the most powerful Death Eater ever. But then the next week we tried again. This time we kept Draco out of it. But Uncle Proterro caught us and Merloyn had to. .Merloyn had to……"
The boy couldn't finish. He had burst into tears and now had his back to Harry. He could tell that he was ashamed to cry in front of a complete stranger. Let alone his sister's friend. He did the one thing his instinct told him to do. He grabbed the boys arm and squeezed it reassuringly. Josh looked up to be greeted by Harry' smile. He smiled back and began to wipe away his tears.
"I don't get why my sister's not interested," he said to the elder boy before leaving.