Ok ok, I know it's been forever and I would like to thank all of you who have not deleted me off you author update list, *dodges rotten fruit* hopefully I can make things up to you with this nice long dreamy chapter! I would like to beg here and now for reviews, (big puppy dog eyes) *sniff* I am now jobless and stuck in my house for a while and all I have to live for are your reviews *sniff's loudly and blows nose on sleeve* Please! I beg of you!
OH, and huge bow to Michelle, without you I would simply fly away. You are my link to reality and for that I thank you. Just so every one knows this chapter would not be here without Michelle, you owe her more reviews than me I think.
Some bad language, no slash yet, but implied, sort of. We're getting there folks!
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Dreams
Draco was lost in his thoughts the rest of the day after visiting his parents. He laughed along with Harry while Dobby tried on clothes in Madame Malkin's and was almost able to forget about his parents while in the Gryffindor's company. Almost.
Anger grew in his heart over his father's life. The man had never treated Draco as a son, just a carbon copy of himself that would never live up to it's maker. 'That's all Lucius was really, just the bastard that needed an heir' Draco thought as he sat in his room alone after dinner.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were absent from dinner earlier that evening and no one seemed to know why. Everyone had asked of course, but the werewolf didn't give any details.
"I believe they are having a discussion and will not be joining us for dinner tonight." and with that everyone let the issue alone.
Draco wondered if it had anything to do with him, 'Perhaps they have realized what a pain it will be to have me here with the trial and all.'
He had stolen the paper at breakfast and read it before the visit to St. Mungo's so no one else could, until he was sure how he felt about things. He was fairly certain that the adults already knew, but he didn't want anyone else to know, not yet.
He sat in his room later that day trying to sort things out. He was now an orphan, his parents had been deemed unfit. It was done.
'The Dark Mark found on Lucius Malfoy! Will Fudge send an incompetent man to trial?' the headlines asked.
Draco scowled, 'He should be so lucky, although, imprisonment is nothing compared to the hell he is in now'. He thought sadly of his mother. She was the one who was suffering for his fathers mistakes and Draco hated his father for it.
He was brought up to be proud of the Malfoy name, raised to be an exact duplicate of his father, just as cruel and malicious, caring for no one and until recently had done an excellent job of maintaining this belief.
But now, after opening his own eyes and stepping out of the shadows of his father, Draco began to see things his own way.
Draco found himself thinking about his future that night while every one else was asleep.
He now had his inheritance back but, how would he make it with out a family? He was almost of age yes, but at sixteen, the age when most teenagers would relish in the thought of being on their own, Draco wanted a family. Now more than ever.
He wanted the kind of happiness the Weasley's shared, the love they displayed freely for one another, and most of all, the acceptance that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley gave openly to their children.
He sat for a long time wondering if the Weasley children would ever know how much they had, how much they took for granted every day. Wanting desperately to know if he could have the family he had always wanted, Draco Malfoy fell asleep with a plan formed in his head.
The last thought to swim through his conscious mind was asking Merlin himself for a sliver of the courage Harry Potter was famous for.
~~~~~~~~
At the same time Molly and Arthur Weasley were having an emotional conversation about their recently orphaned house guest. The morning paper had announced that Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy had been deemed unfit parents and Lucius' trial had been moved up.
"Did you mean what you said to him today Arthur?"
"Yes, I did."
"Can you see past his name? Past his resemblance to Lucius and the fact he has been raised by the only man you have ever truly hated?"
Arthur paused at his wife's last question. How did she know him so well? They had been married for twenty six years and still she managed to catch him off guard with seeing straight into his soul through their bond.
"Yes Molly, I can see past his family. I respect him for the person he is and the man he is trying to become. I want to help him become the man I know he wants to be."
Molly hugged her husband tightly and sniffed, "It's settled then, we will ask him tomorrow." Arthur nodded.
"That brings me to my next topic for discussion, we will need the minister's signature for the adoption."
"Do you think he will give it?"
"You know, I think he just might." This discussion might not be so difficult' Arthur thought as he launched into the day's discussion with the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot.
~~~~~~~
Harry spent the evening after dinner wishing he were dead. Well, maybe not dead, but anywhere but in between Hermione and Ginny pointing wands at his head. Ron was not helping matters at all.
He had studied himself in the mirror earlier that evening and liked what he saw. His appearance was much improved without the glasses hiding his eyes and Harry was grateful for the change.
In a weak moment, after Hermione caught him staring at himself in the mirror, he mentioned to her that he might like to change his hair but didn't know how. It was then that all hell broke loose.
This is how Harry found himself with six feet of red hair before Ginny rescued him and tried her hand at the spell.
"You have the spell right Hermione, but it's a little more complicated wrist movement than that." Ginny said as she ran her fingers through Harry's hair.
"Uh, girls? No offense or anything, but after what Hermione just did I think I prefer my hair the way it's always been. Thanks anyway." Harry tried to sprint to the door but Ginny was too fast for him.
"Oh no you don't mister! Now that I have you where I want you there is no escape. Sit."
Harry did as he was told only because he was now laughing embarrassedly, remembering their previous encounter after his birthday party and mostly because she was pointing her wand at him. Ron was rolling with laughter on the floor.
"Shut it you, or you're next!" Ron paled and picked himself up off the floor.
"Um Hermione?" Harry asked quietly, looking at her and Ginny behind him through the mirror.
"Yes?"
"I've just thought of something, how are we not getting in trouble for using magic outside of Hogwarts?" Hermione and Ginny started on his hair again. Harry tried not to look.
"Oh, Dumbledore didn't tell you?" Harry shook his head so she continued. " I asked the same thing after we left for Ron's meeting and Mrs. Weasley said that Dumbledore placed wards similar to Hogwarts on the house, for your Occlumency lessons."
"Sorry mate, must have slipped my mind" Ron said, Harry nodded and wondered why he hadn't thought about it during his meeting.
"Not a big deal, at least I won't have to worry about any more hearings."
Hermione and Ginny started a deep discussion about what Harry's hair should look like and he and Ron laughed at their serious expressions. Not too loudly though.
"Alright Harry, I think we've got it. Be still." Harry shut his eyes and briefly thought he would prefer another go at the dragon from the Tri-Wizard tournament.
"Capillus Incrementum"
"Ok Harry, open your eyes!" He kept them closed.
"Come on mate, it's not so bad." Ron said. Harry used his new skills to read their emotions. Ron was proud of Hermione, Hermione was proud of herself and Ginny….Harry blushed mentally at her emotions and decided that it couldn't look that bad.
He opened his eyes to see his eyes staring back at him, they seemed bigger than they normally were without his glasses. His hair was still black but with the slightest of emerald highlights. He smirked to himself, 'Girls' he thought.
His hair longer now, just touching his shoulders and looking like he just jumped off a broom, but in a good way. The back laid down for once and he suddenly thought he looked much more like Sirius than James.
"Do you like it?" Hermione was nervous behind him, she knew she may have pushed a little too far making his hair look so much like his Godfather's.
Harry felt her tension and smiled, "I love it Hermione, I look a lot like Sirius. Thanks."
Harry stood and hugged her. "Oh, and who's idea was the green?" Ginny winked at him.
"Thought so." Harry smiled and took another look at himself, this was going to take some getting used to.
"Alright Ron, you're next!" Ginny said as she Hermione and Harry chased the terrified redhead around the room.
Harry went to bed laughing at his best friend. Ron finally lost the struggle when he tripped on his own two feet and fell directly in front of his girlfriend and sister. He know had hair that hit just below his cheekbones with blonde highlights.
Harry thought the change looked good but Ron was still mad that he had been outdone by his little sister and girlfriend. Ron swore that he was going to have his mum change it but Harry caught him smiling in the mirror before bed.
Harry stored any incriminating information into his star and fell asleep happily. Today had been a good day.
~~~~~~
Harry was holding someone's hand, he heard shouting in the distance. 'is this a nighmare?' he thought to himself, he heard the shouting but it sounded panicked and excited, not terrified. These were not the screams he was used to hearing and assumed that this must be some kind of dream.
The shouting was closer and he squeezed the hand for comfort, someone squeezed back and kissed his forehead. The emotions in the room were vivid, real, excited and nervous.
A grunt came from his mouth and a woman's voice sounded ahead of him.
"Ok, now bear down and push." He felt himself push with all his strength.
"Push through the pressure, push hard" Harry did as he was told, and soon felt an enormous release. He heard gasps and he squeezed harder on the hand in his own.
"She's fine" Harry heard the woman's voice again but the pressure was back so soon and he felt thoroughly exhausted.
"There's the other, push…………..come on push harder!" Harry felt a hand on his chest and strength invaded his body. He pushed with all he had and felt the same sense of release as before.
Harry was aware of several people around him, loving and happy emotions filled the room as two pillows were pushed into his outstretched arms.
He looked down to see not pillows but infants. He gasped out loud.
Are these my children? He thought to himself as a voice sounded in his ear.
"They are beautiful" Harry looked into the eyes of the person beside him, the person who had been holding his hand. His breath caught in his throat but the dream changed too quickly to confirm who he saw.
Harry sat in a garden, he was at peace, love surrounded his existence as he watched two small children play. His attention was drawn first to a young boy around five years old.
He had short black hair that stood up on end and made Harry think he stuck his finger in an electrical outlet. The boy turned his small broom to chase a golden snitch. He watched with excitement as the boy raced the other child to the edge of the trees and back before snatching the ball from beneath the girl's broom.
Harry focused his attention on the little girl. She was furious. She made to jump off her broom but was not close enough to the ground and landed in the mud on all fours.
Laughter filled his ears as the girl pulled herself from the mud and walked toward Harry.
"Daddy get it off me!" the little girl shrieked. Her shoulder length white-blonde hair was now dripping with mud and as she got closer Harry could see her eyes. Large sparkling emeralds. 'my mother's eyes' Harry thought 'this is my child and the other is her twin.'
Harry released a hand as the person to his left stood. He watched as the blue robed figure knelt in front of the girl.
"Lily, don't give me that face, Sirius won fair and square." The man reached out his arms as Lily threw herself in them pouting. Harry's attention was brought back to where he was sitting as someone jerked on his sleeve.
"Dad look! Did you see me? I got it right from underneath her nose!" Harry stared in amazement. He felt as though he were staring at a mirror image of himself except for the eyes. They were large yet calculating, brimming with excitement and shining an amazing silver-blue that melted his heart.
Harry turned for answers but only found confusion. The man sitting beside him, rocking Lily, had mud in his white-blonde hair and the same eyes as the boy called Sirius. His breath caught in his lungs as he stared into those beautiful silver-blue eyes and all the world stood still.
Love engulfed him and his mind seemed to melt. Harry felt like he was floating, the dream had seemed to last a lifetime and he did not want to wake up.
But he did.
~~~~~~~
Harry woke panting into the moonlit room.
"What the-" Harry half shouted.
"Harry, are you alright? Did someone get hurt?" Ron's worried face appeared at his side.
"No Ron, I'm ok. Go back to sleep."
"Was it another nightmare?"
"Uh, yeah, kinda. I'm going to get some water." Harry said as he got out of bed and strode to the door, passing the water pitcher on the dresser.
He walked straight upstairs and unlocked the middle dresser drawer. He didn't even think about why he felt the need to save the dream. 'It was only a dream right?' Harry concentrated on all the details he could and stored them in the star. Surprisingly, he was able to recall all the dream and even the emotions that came with them.
Harry sighed as he rolled the star in his hands. Why had he felt the need to protect it? The damn thing unnerved him to no end. He stood and deposited the star back in the drawer before going back to his bedroom for more sleep, making a mental note to ask Dumbledore about it.
~~~~~
In the morning light though, Harry was not so confident in revealing what he saw. In the dream it all felt so right, but now, in reality, it just seemed so wrong. Only a ghost of the dream remained in his memory and it plagued his thoughts. He found himself annoyed the he could not recall the details clearly.
He was in another world altogether as everyone came down for breakfast the next morning.
"Morning Harry, ah so that was what all the commotion was about last night?" Harry paled but then came back to reality as he saw Remus looking at his hair.
"Oh yeah, wait till you see Ron, he and Malfoy could be brothers."
"Not funny Harry," Ron mumbled from the doorway, "at least mine doesn't have green streaks in it."
Remus inched closer to Harry's hair. "Deep green with glitter?" he asked as Harry's hand flew up to his hair and pulled a lock in front of his eyes for inspection. It had definite sparkle to it.
"Ginny is so dead." He said aloud but noticed that the sparkle didn't really offend him.
"Pouf." Ron whispered as he walked by. Harry threw his sausage at him.
"Lockhart." After a look of utter horror, Ron began throwing all his food at Harry.
"You would think you could at least try to act your age." Hermione and Ginny smirked from the doorway and made their way to the table. Ginny sat down first, directly in front of Harry and was not quick enough to dodge the half eaten toast with marmalade that splattered on her nose.
"Glitter? Green wasn't enough you had to put glitter in my hair?"
"You liked it last night?"
"I didn't notice the glitter."
"Then what are you so mad about? Hmm?"
"Never mind."
"Hermione? Did you give me blonde highlights for a reason?"
"What do you mean Ron?" He glanced at Harry and threw bacon at the smirking face.
"Never mind."
Remus cleared his throat as a warning when Mr. & Mrs. Weasley walked in.
"What is this mess?" Mrs. Weasley rounded on them. The teenagers exchanged guilty looks and Hermione quickly cleaned it with a wave of her wand.
"Molly and I would like to see you all in the drawing room in about an hour alright?"
Ginny turned to her mother, "Is something wrong Mum?"
"No dear, we just have a few announcements to make. Your brothers should be here in a little while, please show them in. We'll be upstairs." They left the room full of curious teenagers and made their way upstairs to Draco's room.
Arthur knocked on the door.
"Yes?"
"Draco are you dressed?"
Draco opened the door quickly. "Yes sir."
"No need for the 'sir' son, can we come in?"
"Sure, there is actually something I need to ask you."
"What would that be dear?" Molly asked as she conjured three chairs for them to sit in.
Draco looked at them for a moment before he inhaled deeply, trying to absorb courage from the air, Slytherins were definitely not good at asking for help.
Draco remained standing as he began, "First, I would like to say thank you for making me welcome in your home. I don't know why you offered in the first place but I am grateful all the same."
"You are quite welcome Draco." Molly said and they both smiled warmly at him. 'This may be easier than I thought.'
"Secondly, thank you for making the effort to see me as a person and not as Lucius' son. That means more to me than you will ever know."
Arthur felt a lump rise in his throat as Draco took the seat opposite them.
"Your welcome Draco, I am very proud of you for having such an open mind and forming your own opinions of us. What did you need to ask us?" Draco simply nodded at Arthur's response, he did not know how to respond to a compliment like that.
"I did not choose to become a Death eater's son, to have a mother that was never truly happy, or to be treated like my feelings did not matter. You have shown me the true meaning of family, what it's like to have a father who cares about whether or not I'm happy and a mother who loves her children and is not afraid to show it.
I realize that this was meant as a summer arrangement, but I was wondering if I could continue living with your family until graduation?"
The question was asked quietly, with nervous anticipation and a great fear of rejection.
Arthur pulled Draco into a tight hug and Molly enveloped them both. All three were crying by the time they let go.
"You have to know that this is the exact question we came in here to ask you?" Draco looked at them in disbelief. Molly nodded her head and smiled into her handkerchief, her eyes were full of happiness and pride.
"Really?"
"Yes, so I guess you will allow us to adopt you then?"
"I believe that would be acceptable." Draco said and they all laughed at his Malfoy mannerism.
"You know, you could have saved me a lot of grief if you had asked me first." Draco said with amusement in his eyes.
Arthur chuckled again, "We'll make a Gryffindor out of you yet!"
Draco stared back in mock horror as they descended the stairs. Molly turned to him on the stairs, finally trusting her voice enough to speak.
"We have asked all the others to wait for us in the drawing room, if it's alright we will make the announcement now as we have another to make that involves the entire family."
Draco nodded, 'What on earth could be more interesting than adopting a Malfoy?' he wondered as he made his way through the entry way.
Twenty minutes later twelve people sat in complete silence for an uncomfortably long time. Surprisingly Harry was the one to break the silence.
"Congratulations Draco, I'm really happy for you." Harry offered a genuine smile until they made eye contact and he felt the air flee from his lungs. Draco's eyes, his son's eyes, the man who made him feel such love. Man? Draco?
'Holy shit, what did I just think?' Harry panicked slightly and broke the eye contact. Both men tried desperately to ignore the dizzy feeling in their stomachs as others stood and made their way to Draco.
Once Harry had broke the ice, the other Weasley children, including Hermione and Remus, congratulated him to no end. Harry noted that all the emotions in the room were very happy, even the ones coming from Bill and Charlie, they were happy Draco could have a chance at a family.
After every one had settled down, and Harry had returned from the bathroom to calm himself after the eye contact thing, Draco took a seat beside Ginny and Arthur cleared his throat.
"I do have another announcement to make, as of Friday Cornelius Fudge was relieved of his duty as the Minister of Magic." He paused and raised his hand for silence as everyone in the room had cheered and applauded.
"After an offer from the Wizengamot, and a lot of discussion with your mother, I have decided to accept the position of Minister of Magic." He sat and waited for the information to sink in. Hermione was the first to speak.
"Have they already voted sir?"
"Yes they have and my term starts Monday. I will most likely stay Minister until the war is over, after that I am not sure that I will remain in the position."
The day went on like this, everyone questioning everything, people talking seriously and some laughing loudly. Harry found himself sitting on the stairs drinking water and thinking about his dream. After the eye contact thing with Malfoy, Harry had deposited the memory back into his mind.
The other person, his partner? Confused him too much. He could not wrap his mind around the concept of two men having children. 'What else could it have meant?' He was definitely not ready to imagine himself being in that kind of relationship with another man. Or could he?
Deciding that was a topic for another, less confusing day, he thought about the children in the dream. He found that knowing they might exist one day, that maybe it wasn't just a dream, empowered him with more than hate to rid the world of Voldermort, it gave him hope.
~~~~~~
Lunch time came and went and no one noticed until Mrs. Weasley came bustling through the hall. Dobby and Winky had already prepared the meal and Harry couldn't help but notice her relief.
He wondered where they would live now that Mr. Weasley was to be Minister of Magic. Would he still be a member of the Order? 'Of course, that's why he's taking the job.'
Harry was pulled from his thoughts as Mrs. Weasley called for everyone to eat.
~~~~~~
After everyone left that night and the house finally quieted down, Harry found himself sitting on the floor in front of the dresser in Buckbeak's room. Thinking.
Last week had been a blur and Harry could only assume it was shock that kept him from firing any and every question he could think of at Dumbledore. Now though, the shock was wearing off and worry was setting in.
Harry wondered how much information was still being kept from him. He worried about his friends, about school, his summer lessons and strangely enough, he found himself worrying about the Slytherin's reaction to Draco's adoption.
How would they react? Would Malfoy tell anyone? 'Surely not, but what if someone found out?' 'Would he change his name to Weasley?' 'Draco Weasley? What is this world coming to? '
Harry went to bed that night mentally exhausted.
~~~~~~
"Anyone want a game of chess?"
"You're on Malfoy!" Ron said as everyone else sat staring at the parchment in their hands.
Monday morning came and mayhem followed. Order members came by and offered congratulations to Mrs. Weasley on both Mr. Weasley's new position and the adoption of a new son.
~~flash back~~
Draco decided he didn't want to hide his new family from anyone. He thought about taking the Weasley name but decided against it. Draco wanted to return his name to that which it had once been, proud.
So, instead the adoption papers named him Draco Weasley Malfoy. Forever removing 'Lucius' from his name, Draco was truly grateful.
~~end~~~
Draco was relieved as he made his way to the chess board with his brother. Everyone else seemed to wrapped up in Hogwarts letters and Owl results to notice their departure.
"Feels strange doesn't it?"
"What?" Draco asked Ron as they started moving pieces into position.
"Us, being brothers now." Ron said as he mentally prepared to start the game. Draco smirked, today was starting out to be a good day.
"Yes well, you didn't have to change your hair just to make me feel at home you know?" Draco gave his traditional smirk and Ron sneered in an uncannily Malfoy way. The game was on.
On the other side of the room Mrs. Weasley watched her sons interaction and smiled, they had made the right decision. 'Now only if we could adopt Harry, everyone would be family' she thought as her eye's rested on Hermione. 'Just have to wait on Ron for that' she smiled.
"I can't believe I'm going to get into Newt Potions, Snape will probably shit himself."
"Harry!" Hermione hit his arm at the profanity. Ginny giggled.
"Sorry, so how did you guys do?" Hermione beamed as she started telling him about her grades, perfect of course, but Mrs. Weasley's voice cut through their converstaion.
"Ron, Harry, Draco, there are two more letters here." They all stopped what they were doing to read the letters handed to them. Harry slit the Hogwarts seal and noticed that this envelope was fairly heavy and addressed to him and Ron.
To Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley,
Mr. Potter, it is my privilege to inform you that as of Monday August 3rd at 9:45 am the Minister of Magic has lifted your Quidditch ban. Since the Gryffindor team is now in need of a Captain I am appointing you to the position.
I also realize how much strain this position can put on you time wise and have therefore appointed Mr. Weasley as your Co-Captain. No doubt you will do an excellent job with this position on your own, but I feel that your time will be better spent on some occasions in study.
Best regards,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress of Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Harry tilted the envelope and two badges fell out. Ron, who was reading the letter over his shoulder, jumped three feet in the air and started yelling like a wild monkey. Harry laughed and pinned the Co-captain's badge to his best friend once he had calmed down.
He looked at his badge for a while before he noticed Draco frowning at his letter.
"Something wrong Draco?"
"Oh, uh" Draco stammered as he snapped out of his thoughts. "Just wondering how the Slytherin team will react when they find out I am their new Captain."
"Really? Congratulations Draco!" Ginny said as she gave him a quick hug and then turned her attention to Ron and Harry.
"You too guys." She said as she and Hermione said their congrats.
"Well, what does everyone want?" Confused expressions met Mrs. Weasley's demanding question. "For your grades and team captaincies?"
Realization dawned on the Weasley children and all of Tuesday was spent trying to decide what gift they would pick in Diagon Alley on Wednesday.
Harry would not be going, because of his lessons among other things, but told Hermione what he wanted and gave her the key to his Gringotts Vault. Hermione shot him a reproachful look before nodding and retreating to her room that night for bed.
'It's about time I start acting like his equal.' Harry thought to himself as he prepared for his lesson the next day.
~~~~~~
Any body like? Huh? Just so everyone knows, I have now idea how many people even read this story unless you review. That being said, if you don't want to tell me how wonderful I am just put a big "Yes I'm reading" in that review space and I will be forever in your debt.
To Ravenfrog: thank you for your review, and I am now completely enthralled with the Slytherin idea thank you.
To Rachy (): thank you for your review and yes, now that I think about, it I prefer Ginny with any one but Neville, thanks.
To Jolene, legiongrey2000, Kitten, thank you so much for your support, hope you liked it!