Title: Two Roads Diverged
Author: Beldaran1
Email: drh74@dellmail.com
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Rating: Strong R
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, no money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Also, the poetry preceding the story is from Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken.
Spoilers: HP Books 1-4
Genre: This is a Slash (this means boy/boy loving) story so be warned!!!
Summary: What if something happened that changed the course for Harry and Draco? What if there was more to the enemy than first appeared? What if there were other outside forces that were to play a part in the conflict between Light and Dark? Hmm.
Author's Notes: I just wanted to state that while there shouldn't be any spoilers from OOTP, I have read the book and some things in this story may be colored by that knowledge. However, I will attempt to post warnings where this issue may occur.
AN#2: I absolutely apologize for the lateness in getting this chapter out! I was unexpectedly call out of town, then my computer wouldn't work (turned out there had been a power surge that fried the power cord), and then my beta refused to allow me to publish this chapter until I made "necessary" changes. So, please, please, please forgive me!
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Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
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Part I: Summer of Change
Chapter 2
"Wow, I-I don't know what to say Aunt Petunia."
Harry knew he sounded like an idiot, but he truly didn't know what to say. Learning that his mother and aunt had been friends with Narcissa Malfoy was enough to send his mind reeling; finding out that his dad, his godfather Sirius, and Professor Lupin had not only been friends with Lucius Malfoy and Professor Snape, but considered each other brothers was enough to send him straight to St. Mungo's. If he hadn't of had the evidence of the pictures his aunt had shown him right there in his hands, he doubted if he would have believed something so blatantly unbelievable.
Again looking at the last picture his aunt had given him, Harry carefully rubbed his finger over the angry sad faces and could not help but want to know what had happened to destroy what should have been lifelong bonds of friendship. "What happened to them Aunt Petunia? What happened to make them turn on each other?"
Petunia sighed sadly, as she watched her nephew continue to regard that final fateful picture taken so long ago. "Evil is what happened Harry, a very evil man by the name of Tom Riddle."
Somehow, Harry was not surprised. It seemed like it always led back to Voldemort. Sometimes he wondered if the Dark Lord wasn't just a convenient bogey whose feet the world could lay all of its problems and troubles at; and then he would remember the dying screams of his parents and know that no matter how convenient, the evil that was Voldemort did indeed exist. Still, it was rather funny, in a horrible kind of way, how one man's consuming need for power and destruction could hold the world at bay.
"Harry?" Petunia spoke softly, afraid to startle her nephew who was clearly in a world of his own, "Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine." Harry finally tore his eyes away from the picture and regarded his aunt, his expression both terrible and heartbreaking.
"Tell me Aunt Petunia," Harry's green eyes continued to bore laser-like into Petunia's making her feel as if every part of her being was laid bare; the calm deadness of his voice sent chills down her spine, "Tell me everything you know."
Petunia shuddered under the weight of her nephew's eyes; eyes too old and world weary for a fourteen-year-old boy, and for a moment, she felt the chill grip of fear clutch her heart, as she knew with a certainty that could have only been prophetic that her Harry was not long for this world. "NO!" She cried out silently as sudden fury nearly overwhelmed her, "You cannot have him!"
"Aunt Petunia?"
Harry's quiet inquiry brought Petunia back to herself, and with a final shudder she shook off the awful certainty that had gripped her and resolved to anything and everything in her power to make sure Harry lived a very long life. And to start she would finish what she had promised.
Taking a deep breath to compose herself, Petunia focused on her nephew and started, "Tom Riddle truly started his ascent to power the summer before your parents started their sixth year at Hogwarts. At first, he hid his blind thirst for power behind issues that were at the heart of most wizards with regards to Muggle influence in the Wizarding world. People had very long memories, and to them it was not that long ago that Muggles were persecuting witches and wizards. Voldemort's agenda was especially attractive to most of the pure-blooded elite families who had long held themselves superior to what they deemed common wizards and witches, most particularly those of mixed heritage."
Here Petunia paused to let what she had said sink in; she could tell that her nephew's mind was furiously trying to assimilate all that he had recently learned and she did not want to overwhelm him too much. All too soon she would have to delve into things that were sure to be painful for Harry, and as much as she wished that she could continue to protect him from such knowledge; she knew that she could no longer do so.
Finally, Harry returned his attention to his aunt, and at his nod of assent Petunia continued, "Among those elite pure-blooded families that supported Voldemort were the Malfoys and the Blacks. But while this caused some tension amongst us, it was not enough in and of itself to destroy our friendship; that didn't happen until the Muggle killings and atrocities that were committed in the name of Voldemort began to pile up."
"The Blacks?" Harry couldn't help but interrupt as confusion and doubt swept through him, "But…but…Sirius hated Voldemort and everything he stood for, he would never have sided with that monster!"
"Oh Harry," Petunia sighed sadly, "It was all so complicated back then, before Riddle showed what a monster he truly was. Sirius, Narcissa, Lucius, and even James, they all felt rather strongly about maintaining the purity of the bloodlines. Severus and Remus also agreed to an extent with some of Tom Riddle's agenda. And yes Harry, Lily too felt that Muggles shouldn't have too much influence in the Wizard world. The problem was that it soon became evident that all Voldemort really cared about was power and how many Muggles he could torture and kill."
"No." Harry whimpered softly. There was simply no way at all that his parents, that Sirius, could have possibly supported any part of Voldemort or his heinous acts. "It's not true," he hissed fervently, "You're wrong, they would never- It's not true!"
"Harry, Harry!" Petunia reached out and grasped her nephew by his arms, his eyes had gone wide with horror, and he was shaking so badly she was afraid that he was going to hurt himself, "Calm down Harry! Let me finish, please. It is not what you think! Your parents, Sirius and Remus, Nari, they abhorred Voldemort and were horrified by the atrocities that he committed. While they may have agreed with some of the same issues, as did many in the Wizarding community, they never supported Voldemort."
Slowly his aunt's words started to penetrate the incredulous horror that had gripped him, and Harry felt a relief that shook him to his bones. Taking a deep shuddering breath he managed to gradually bring himself back under control. "I'm sorry Aunt Petunia." Harry apologized softly, "I'm okay now. It's just, for a moment there, it was all too much."
"It's alright Harry," Petunia released her hold on her nephew and smiled softly at him, "This is all a lot to take in and you have nothing to apologize for, indeed you're taking this better than I had expected."
"Well," Harry snorted, "I've had a lot of practice these last few years in rolling with the punches."
"Yes," Petunia smiled wryly at her nephew, "I guess you have."
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"So," Draco mused softly over the last bit of information his mum had given him, "while you all agreed to some extent with the main issues Riddle had put forth, you were divided over his methods; and this is what ultimately tore you apart?" He finished off in a question, not quite sure he had fully grasped everything.
"Yes, to a degree you are correct." Narcissa said solemnly, knowing that it was not so simple as her son's summation, "The boys would get into ever more loud passionate debates over the political issues, and then the disappearances and open violence began to increase and it was no longer about politics; it was about stopping a madman."
Narcissa paused a moment as she reflected back on those dark desperate times before continuing, "Those who supported Voldemort joined him for a share in the power he offered and they reveled in the Muggle killings and cruelties. It all became so black and white, there was no middle ground; either you were for Voldemort or you opposed him and rallied behind Albus Dumbledore. Therefore, in the end, it did not matter whether or not you agreed or disagreed with some of Voldemort's agenda, you were either for or against; and your father was wholeheartedly for Voldemort. He and Severus joined his Death Eaters the very night we graduated from Hogwarts, while Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus all joined in with Dumbledore's group to fight against Voldemort."
"And you Mum, what did you do?" Draco questioned his mum with a barely contained intensity. It felt as though every part of his being hinged on what Narcissa was about to say; everything she had ever told him, all the values she had instilled in him would either be reinforced or shattered beyond all repair.
"I- I married your father," Narcissa stuttered slightly as she had not anticipated Draco asking her that question. "I- I pretended for a while that I could stay out of it all, but when it became apparent that I would no longer be allowed to bury my head in the sand, I finally had to make a decision as to which side I would support." Here, she took a fortifying breath and looking her son straight in the eyes, she continued, "In the end I became a spy."
"A spy!" Draco gasped; this was the last thing he had expected his mum to say, "you- you became a spy?" He shook slightly as the shock nearly overwhelmed him; it was simply beyond the pale that his mum, his mum for Merlin's sake, would be a spy for- but wait, she had not said for whom she spied. "For which side Mum- for which side did you spy?"
"I," Narcissa swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, for she feared her son's reaction to what she was about to say, "I knew that no matter what, I was going to be betraying someone that I loved your father or my Lil. I- I just could not abide by that monster Voldemort, I knew first hand the pain and misery he wrecked, the lives he destroyed. I tried to talk Lucius around, to make him see, but he was in too deep and thought I was being silly and foolish." Narcissa clenched her fists and her eyes flashed hotly in remembered rage and despair at being so summarily dismissed, she struggled to keep the lingering bitterness out of her voice, "And so I went to Albus Dumbledore and offered to confer whatever information I could obtain from your father about Voldemort's movements."
Draco sat stunned, the implications of what his mum told him sinking in, a small part of him was appalled that Narcissa would so betray Lucius; but the greater part of him was relieved beyond all measure that she had chosen to oppose the Dark Lord. He only wished that his father too had fought against Voldemort and that his mum had not needed to take such action.
"Wait," Draco jerked his attention back to Narcissa, "Wait a minute, wasn't father under the Imperius Curse?" His voice took on a fervent, almost pleading quality, he did not want to think, to believe, "He- he was forced into serving Voldemort. Father told me himself that he was tricked and later put under Imperio, that a Malfoy would never serve a madman!"
"Draco," Narcissa sighed unhappily, she did not want to shatter anymore of her son's illusions; he had so few left when it came to Lucius, but she could no longer allow him to believe a lie that could very well cost him his life, or worse. "Lucius, your father, was never under the Imperius Curse, he willingly served the Dark Lord."
"No Mum, please," Draco's voice shook slightly, all the horrible things people had whispered about his father when they didn't think he could hear them, all the times the bloody Golden Trio had denounced his father as a vile Death Eater; they couldn't possibly be true, they couldn't be right.
Yes, his father was a rather cold and distant person, and to those he perceived as being below him he could be down right cruel. However, this did not make him a bad man, an evil man, a- a murderer. Lucius had been forced to do those awful heinous things, to commit such monstrous crimes, hadn't he? Draco swallowed convulsively, feeling suddenly nauseous, he struggled not to vomit; he could not bare the thought that his father might be as bad as Voldemort, or worse. "But Mum would not lie about something as important as this." The thought pierced his mind, and with sudden clarity, he knew that what she spoke was true, his father had been a willing participant.
"He's evil isn't he Mum," Draco said stoically, his voice dead of all emotion, "Father is just as evil as that monstrous bastard."
"I," Narcissa paused a moment, wanting to get this right, wanting to provide her little Dragon with some hope, "I've often wondered that myself love, whether or not Lucius was evil. Your father is such a complicated man, capable of such wondrous acts of love and kindness, and yet just as equally capable of committing sadistic and cruel crimes. I have come to believe that, just as there is in all of us, there is a horrible darkness in your father, which under different circumstances may have never seen the light of day. Unfortunately, your father found favor in Tom Riddle who was quick to take notice of the dark side of Lucius' nature, and Riddle wasted no time in nurturing and feeding that darkness. He enticed Lucius by teaching him the darkest of the Dark Arts, by giving him more and more power, and ultimately granting your father entrance into Riddle's inner circle. The deeper that Lucius was drawn in, the darker he became; until I could barely recognize him as the man I married, the man I loved."
"No Draco, I don't believe that your father is an evil man," Narcissa said forcefully, "I believe he is a lost man, lost in the grips of a powerful evil, and I hold onto the hope that he will one day find his way free and come back to me; come back to us."
"I-," Draco started to say but was interrupted as a small popping sound announced the arrival of one of the house elves.
"Pleased to be excusing me Mistress Malfoy," the little elf squeaked, "buts the Master says Young Master has to be seeing him now. He is ready to be seeing him in the study."
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"I owe you a grave apology Harry."
"What?" Harry looked up from the glass of lemonade he had been contemplating as if it held all the answers of the universe, his mind was in an endless whirl as all manner of thoughts tumbled about trying to reshape his worldview. "Apologize for what Aunt Petunia?"
"I have treated you terribly since the day you were entrusted into my care." Petunia's voice trembled with remorse and she felt tears well up in her eyes, "I have cruelly neglected you and shown you not an ounce of love or kindness even though my heart has always been full of love for you. It pains me- no it shames me to admit that I have let fear guide my hand, and by so doing I may have ensured that you lived, but I have also robbed you of the happy childhood you deserved."
"It's-," Harry stopped abruptly. He was going to say that it was okay that his aunt had treated him so hatefully, but it was not okay. His childhood had been miserable and lonely, and an apology would not be enough to erase the bitterness of the past. "But," his conscious was swift to point out, "It is a start. It could be a good beginning to healing old wounds and moving on to something better." Yes, he could accept his aunt's apology and let the healing begin, or he could hold onto bitter hurt feelings and continue to let the wounds fester.
"I don't condone the way you have treated me Aunt Petunia," Harry spoke firmly, sure of the choice he had made, "but I do accept your apology."
With those words, Petunia could no longer hold back the tears that had been threatening, and she began to weep softly in relief, "Thank you Harry. I- I don't deserve your forgiveness, but I am grateful and I will spend everyday for the rest of my life earning it."
Harry hesitated for a moment, unsure if he should do what his gut was insisting he must, and then he reached out and gently pulled his aunt into his arms and held her as she continued to weep. It was not long before he felt his own tears join those of Petunia's, and together they wept for lost childhoods, lost friendships, and lost love ones. And for the first time since that awful day when Cedric was slain in front of him and Voldemort returned, Harry felt a small spark of hope.
"Harry?" Petunia inquired softly, loath to disrupt this special moment she was sharing with her nephew.
"Yes Aunt Petunia." Harry answered just as quietly, he too not wanting this peaceful moment to end.
"Would you please call me Aunt Tuni, I have always hated the name Petunia." Petunia's voice held a slight petulance that, try though she might, she couldn't quite keep out.
"I- I think I'd like that Aunt Tuni." Harry smiled affectionately.
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"You wanted to see me Father?"
Draco stood respectfully just inside the door to his father's study, he schooled his features into a closed impenetrable mask and waited for Lucius to acknowledge his presence. If truth be told, Draco was finding it hard not to furiously question his father on his allegiances, but he knew from past experience that Lucius Malfoy did not take kindly to questioning of any sort. So, instead, he waited patiently for his father to finish whatever business he was about and get on with the annual year-end dressing down.
"Well boy," Lucius barked abruptly, turning icy silver eyes on his son, "Don't just stand there like a house elf, sit!"
"Yes Father," Draco said smoothly. After waiting a fraction of a second, to show Lucius he was perfectly content with standing, Draco casually made is way across the room to sit in one of the dark plush chairs facing his father's desk.
Lucius frowned slightly, taking notice of his son's impertinence, and the perpetual chill in the room dropped another notch. "I will let it slide, for now," Lucius thought dispassionately, "But the boy had better straighten up soon, for my Lord Voldemort will not take such insolence lightly." Besides, he had many plans for his son and only heir, and chief amongst them was to properly groom Draco to one day take his place at the Dark Lord's right hand.
Draco forced himself not to squirm, to not show an ounce of weakness, as he returned his father's cold stare with a haughty one of his own. At the brief flash of annoyance in Lucius' eyes, he just managed not to let loose the smirk playing at the edge of his mouth. "Two hits in less than ten minutes," he scoffed silently, "Father must really be off his game to give so much away."
"I have been reviewing your scores," Lucius finally broke off the silent battle of wills and looked down at Draco's fourth year marks, "Once again it would seem that you have failed miserably to finish above that mudblood. What have you to say for yourself boy?"
"Well," Draco drawled slowly, "I did finish tops in potions. And honestly Father, the mudblood is part of that bloody Golden Trio of Gryffindor, all of the professors practically worship them. Except for Professor Snape of course."
"Yes, I am aware of how that fool Dumbledore has them all coddling those troublemaking brats." Lucius silently fumed, it galled him that all of his efforts to curb such blatant favoritism had been met with resistance, "Still, that does not account for your continued appalling play against Gryffindor in quidditch. You have yet to beat Potter."
"I know Father," Draco inwardly cursed the natural inborn talent that allowed Potter to fly like an eagle on his broom, "I believe, with a bit more practice, that I will be able to beat Potter to the snitch next year."
"Be that as it may," Lucius calmly picked up his wand, from where he had laid it on his desk, and began to fiddle with it idly; the silent threat implied, "I will not tolerate another loss. Are we clear?"
"Yes Father." Draco swallowed nervously and dragged his eyes away from his father's wand. "Game, Set, Match…Lucius."
"Good." Lucius smiled coldly, "Now that is settled, we can get on to other business." Lucius' smile turned razor sharp, and an unholy glee blazed in his eyes as he continued, "These are great momentous times we are now living in Draco, but rest assured my son, I shall have you properly prepared to take your rightful place as my heir."
"Yes Father." Draco was not at all pleased with where this was all heading, he did not want to follow in his father's footsteps, especially if those footsteps led to the feet of Voldemort.
"Come Draco," Lucius rose swiftly from his seat and strode purposefully around his desk, "There is someone important I want you to meet."
"Yes Father," Draco answered politely, a ball of dread forming in his stomach as he rose to follow his father.
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Harry's mind was in a complete tailspin as he tried to come to grips with all of the knowledge he had gained this afternoon. As he absentmindedly washed the dishes and handed them to his aunt to rinse and dry, he continued to find it hard not to believe this all was not some kind of strange dream from which he would eventually awaken. From the revelations about his parents to the newfound peace he had gained with his aunt, Harry was having a hard time assimilating it all. Still, there were questions that nagged him, more that he wanted to know, but he supposed that he had the remainder of summer break to find out all that he could.
"Aunt Tuni?" Harry broke the quiet that had settled over the kitchen, as one particular question kept nagging him, "May I ask you something?"
"Of course Harry, you may ask me anything." Petunia smiled, happy just to spend a quiet late afternoon with her nephew doing nothing more taxing than washing a few dishes.
"Why now," Harry inquired softly, "why tell me all this about my parents and everything now?"
"Well," Petunia frowned thoughtfully, "now that Voldemort has returned, Nari and I felt that it was imperative that you and Draco know the truth; so that you both may begin to prepare for what you must face."
"Malf-," Harry started to exclaim, but stopped abruptly as an intense pain, centered behind his scar, shot through him, and crying out he grabbed his head.
"Harry!" Petunia screamed. She dropped the dishcloth she had just been using and rushed over to her nephew who was doubled over in pain and clutching his head. "Harry, what is it, can you tell me what's wrong?"
From a great distance, Harry could hear his aunt calling to him, but it was washed out in the sea of red-hot anger and murderous rage in which he was drowning. He struggled, trying to pull himself out of the poisonous miasma, but the harder he struggled the further he sank, until he felt himself ripped away from his consciousness and held in another's.
Shuddering, Harry now found himself looking through foreign eyes tinged in red, and he gasped in fear and shock.
Petunia barely managed to catch her nephew as his legs suddenly gave and he slumped to the floor. She didn't know what to do, didn't know what was causing his affliction; all she knew was that Harry was in terrible pain and his screams were making her want to scream as well. Albus! She needed to get a hold of Albus, he would know what was wrong, he would be able to help Harry.
Petunia reached over and yanked open the bottom cupboard, pulling out the neatly folded pile of dishcloths that she kept there, she placed them beneath her nephew's thrashing head. Trembling, she smoothed back the sweat soaked hair on his forehead and started to get up, when Harry suddenly gasped, "Malfoy!" and went limp.
To Be Continued…..
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Well, that's it for now. I would like to apologize profusely for the wordiness of this chapter! There was so much I felt needed to be said to lay the groundwork for future chapters, and I'm afraid that it may have all gotten a bit away from me. However, I promise there will be some action in the upcoming chapters.
With that said, here's a sneak peek at what's coming up: Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape…oh my! A new prophecy! Draco, Voldemort, and Harry…oh no!
Let me know what you think…love it…hate it…please leave feedback!
Thank You.