Disclaimer: I Own Nothing. Well, a couple of things, I suppose. But the closest I come to owning Harry Potter is owning the books, so find somebody else to sue.

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When Harry met Draco in the Astronomy Tower, his eyes widened in surprise. Sitting on the floor by Draco's feet was a cage with a beautiful raven in it. Draco smiled as Harry knelt down in front of the cage.

"I had difficulties deciding between this and a snake," Draco explained. "I finally picked the raven because you can train him, and he would be more useful than a snake."

"What kinds of things can ravens be trained to do?" Harry wondered, reaching a finger through the bars of the cage and stroking the bird's feathers.

"You can teach them to talk, take things to people, steal things from people... All kinds of stuff."

"Wow, that's nifty," Harry commented, standing up so that he was level with Draco. "Thank you, my darling." He gave Draco a light kiss.

"You're quite welcome. Want to give him a name?"

"Um..." Harry thought for a moment. "I'm really bad with names for pets, as you can tell by the cat." Draco chuckled. "How about...Midnight? Yeah, that's good. I like that." The bird seemed to like it as well.

"All right, now that we've gotten that settled, let's take him upstairs to your dorm, and then I need you to come to the dungeons with me."

A short while later, the two lay on Draco's bed, silent and content. Harry twirled a lock of Draco's blond hair between his fingers.

"Something's wrong," Harry said, suddenly, as he glanced at the other boy, who merely nodded. "What is it, Draco?" Draco wrapped his arms around Harry's waist, laying his head on Harry's chest.

"I didn't sleep too well last night, although I really should have..." Draco mumbled. "I had a nightmare, and um... I decided that I have something to tell you, about my...past life... Do you remember that Secret Revealing Potion we did in Dad's class a while back?" Harry nodded.

"You nearly passed out when you saw your parchment."

"I have two secrets, Harry, that I've kept from everyone for years, and I--I just can't keep them in anymore." He took a deep breath. "First off, I was given the Dark Mark at birth, as my father assumed that I would follow in his footsteps and become a Death Eater. The Mark won't be activated, I guess you could say, until I turn sixteen. That's in less than two months."

"Oh, Draco..." Harry murmured, rubbing the boy's back. "You should tell someone; besides me, I mean." Draco nodded, then continued.

"The second thing is... Harry, you-- You're not the only wizard who has survived Avada Kedavra." Harry gasped in surprise. "I, um... You never knew I had a sister, did you? I did. Her name was Athena, and she was only two years younger than me. Merlin, Harry, she was beautiful. Long blonde hair, and the brightest blue eyes you've ever seen... But she was female, and she was deemed unworthy of the Malfoy name, according to Lucius. He thought that wizards were naturally better than witches, and that females were only good for reproduction.

"When Athena got her Hogwarts letter, I was thrilled. I was so proud of her... But Lucius wasn't. He didn't want her to go to school. He didn't even want her to be alive because for some reason, he felt that she was a threat to himself, to me...

"I don't remember exactly what happened that night. Narcissa was gone; one of her various social functions, I suppose. Lucius took Athena into the dungeons and beat her up some. I stood in a corner for a minute or two, but it seemed like it was much longer than that. And I couldn't do anything.

"I didn't do anything, until he pulled out his wand. I knew something was wrong because up until then, he rarely used his wand to hurt us. As soon as he said the words, I jumped out and got between the wand and my sister. I felt the curse hit me in my chest, and I thought everything was over. I hit my head on the floor and kept fading in and out of consciousness... When I woke up, he was using the curse again on her. She died instantly.

"Why didn't I die that night, Harry? Why couldn't it have been me instead of my sister? Your mother sacrificed herself, and her love for you kept you alive. Why couldn't it be the same for me? Athena's love for me kept me alive, but my love for her killed her." Draco finally broke down in a fit of sobs. "Merlin, I killed my baby sister..."

"Draco, don't say that," Harry whispered, cradling the blond boy's upper body in his arms. Draco buried his face in Harry's chest, just letting everything out. "You tried to save her, and that's all anyone can ask for. You didn't kill her; Lucius did."

"I could have stopped him," Draco insisted. "I could have cursed him before he could hurt her. I could have provoked him and bought her some time to get away!"

"Draco," Harry said, firmly, grabbing him by his shoulders and forcing him to look into Harry's eyes. "It is not your fault. It is all Lucius's fault. You cannot blame yourself for anything." Draco buried his face in Harry's chest once more, holding onto him for dear life. "Baby, you need to tell Severus about this, at least. He can help you better than I can. I don't know what to do for you."

"I-I will," Draco sniffed. "I'll tell him... Not yet. Not today. I just, I can't, Harry. It hurt bad enough telling you. I hate to remember..."

"And with good reason," Harry assured him. He hugged Draco tightly and kissed his temple. "Just remember that I'm here for you if you need anything, all right? I'll always be here for you."

"Thank you, Harry," Draco mumbled. "Do you, um... Do you think you could...leave me alone for a while? I just--I want to be alone for a while. All right?"

"Sure, darling," Harry agreed. He bent over and gave Draco a small kiss. "Just...promise me, promise me you won't do anything stupid. Tell me I shouldn't worry about you."

"I promise, and don't worry," Draco said, softly. "I'm always fine. What would make this time any different?"

"I'll be around if you need me," Harry promised. He smoothed Draco's hair back, then left the room.