Ch. 2

Sloane was up early. By the time Draco came down for breakfast, Sloane and Harry had finished their morning training and were sitting in the dining portion of the living room. Each of them had a book open and were actively taking notes.

"What's on the agenda for today, mom?" Harry asked, not noticing Draco yet.

"Well, Daniel, some of our relatives from New York will be arriving later today. They want to talk to you. I believe Zio Clive is sending Patricia and Robert." Tori said from the kitchen. "Even though your friends are visiting, I expect you to finish your lessons and homework. I saw the assignments given to you both. What are those teacher's thinking?"It was then that Draco realized that the smells of a wonderful breakfast being made were drifting from the kitchen.

"Oh!" Tori poked her head out of the kitchen. "Donna has Catherine this summer. Be sure to spend some time with her. She gets lonely because there aren't many people her age here."

Sloane giggled. "Poor Daniel. Kitten is going to hang on to you like a leech."

Harry shook his head and went back to his studies.

"So, what are you reading, Sloane?" Draco asked, sitting next to his friend.

Sloane closed his book to read the title. "Magical Creatures and Their Uses in Potions. Zio Theodore told me that it's important that I read it if I want him to train me after school."

"Train you?"

"Yes. I -" Sloane stopped and then smiled. "I want to be a Potions Master."

Next to him, Harry grinned, but didn't comment. Instead, he buried himself a little deeper in his book.

"Daniel, clean up the table. Breakfast is almost ready and I can see your friends walking over." Tori said.

"Si, Madre." Harry said and marked his page. He cleaned his area while Sloane marked his spot. The books were placed in two piles by the wall so the boys could return to their studies when they had to. Sloane set the table and Draco merely watched, not used to seeing anyone do such things. He was used to a House Elf doing everything.

"Draco, you and I are sitting on this end and I have Daniel and his friends sitting on the other end." Sloane said. "What do you want to drink?"

"Uh, what do you have?" Draco asked as he took his seat.

"Sweet tea, milk, water, coffee -" Sloane looked up at the ceiling as he thought this over. "I think that's it."

"Milk," Draco answered.

There was a tense moment when Ron entered the house and saw Draco, but one look from Tori and the redhead didn't comment. They all took their seats and Tori started passing the plate of pancakes and eggs around the table. The rest of breakfast was a casual affair. Hermione talked Harry into swimming and Sloane promised to show Draco around Blackbird Point.

Two hours later, Harry slipped away from his friends. He didn't mind swimming in a pool, but he didn't like swimming in the ocean too much. He hated seaweed. Since it didn't look like Hermione and Ron would notice if he left, he decided to find Sloane.

Sloane and Draco had finished their tour and were on the top of the large hill that Blackbird Point was built around. Blackbird Point was isolated from the rest of Florida, being almost an island a three miles out to sea. The whole place was shaped almost like a witch's hat with flat land for beaches and a huge hill in the middle. The only way back to the Muggle town on the shore was by way of a long stretch of road that vanished during high tide. It was dangerous and had it been any other place then Blackbird Point, the Muggle government would have closed off the road or built one that didn't get flooded every night.

Harry found his brother and Draco looking up at the clouds, their heads touching as they lay back. Sloane was chewing on a long blade of grass, looking for all the world as a picture of laziness.

"Hey Sloane," Harry said. He quickly sat to where he'd form a 'T' if he lay down.

"What are you doing here, Potter?" Draco sneered.

"Who?" Harry asked, feigning innocence.

Sloane smiled. "Draco, call him Daniel. He won't answer to anything else here."

Draco frowned. "Fine. What are you doing here, Daniel?"

Harry grinned. "I thought I'd come on by and bug you. Besides, I'm not much of a swimmer and tanning on the beach can get boring."

"Pull up a piece of earth, Daniel, and join us." Sloane said. Harry nodded and laid down, his head touching theirs.

There was a moment of silence before Harry said, "Say, Draco, can I ask you something?"

"What do you want, Pot - Daniel?"

"Why do you hate me so much? Is it the whole Gryffindor-Slytherian thing?" Harry asked.

Draco was silent as he thought over his answer. "Why do you want to know?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't really care that you hate me. I'm sure you feel as if you're justified, but I at least like to know why. I mean, I can even understand why -" Harry paused and Sloane could almost hear him roll his eyes before he continued, "- You-Know-Who hates me. I keep messing up his plans. Hate me all you want, Draco, but I want to understand why."

When Draco was silent for too long, Harry tilted his head to look at the blond. Draco was staring up at the sky, but Harry could tell that he wasn't really seeing the clouds. Instead, it seemed as if he were thinking of all the reasons why he didn't like Harry, but all of them seemed shallow now.

Draco never answered Harry's question and Harry never pushed for an answer. Instead, he seemed content to let the silence build. Harry was aware of the fact that Draco kept glancing over at him, almost as if he were reassessing his image of Harry.

Breaking the silence, Sloane said, "I have a question, Draco. What were you doing our first year in the Great Hall? Remember, when we all got detention for being out of bed?"

Draco glanced over at Harry. "I don't want to tell you."

"Come on. I promise, it won't leave this hill," Sloane said.

With a sigh, Draco said, "I was going to put sticking charms on the Gryffidor seats. Happy now?"

Sloane and Harry laughed. "We'll have to try that sometime," Sloane said. "Sounds like a great idea."

Time had slowed down as they lay there. It could have been ten minutes later, or an hour later, the boys couldn't say. They suddenly heard a little girl's voice calling for Daniel. Harry's eyes widened seconds before a dark-haired child jumped on him, straddling his stomach.

"Buon giorno Daniel!"

Sloane rolled over on to his stomach. "I think you knocked the air out of him, Kitten."

The little girl was adorable. Her long black hair was pulled up in two pigtails on either side of her head and she wore a little pair of jeans and a dark blue shirt. Her little sneakers had a picture of a Snitch on them. Catherine Jones, nicknamed Kitten, gave her cousin Sloane a wave hello before turning back to her 'favorite' cousin and 'future husband'.

"Oh, sorry, but I've got the best news!" Kitten cried, not even bothering to get off of Harry.

"What news, Kitten?" Harry wheezed.

Kitten smiled and sat up straighter as she gave her important news. "You'll never guess who I heard was here!"

"Who?"

"Harry Potter!"

Next to Harry, Draco rolled his eyes. Sloane grinned as he noticed that Harry had done the same thing at Kitten's announcement.

"Where did you hear that?" Harry asked.

Kitten smiled widely, showing that she had just lost a baby tooth. "Zia Tori has these guests at her house, from England, and one of them asked me if I had seen Harry Potter. He's running around here somewhere."

"Which guest said this?" Harry asked. He made a mental note to have a long talk with this person.

Kitten tilted her head as she thought this over. "It was the boy with red hair. I don't like him, though. He's very sulky and mistrustful."

"Well, you found Harry Potter," Draco scoffed.

Kitten clapped her hands together as she stared at Draco. "You're Harry Potter!" Kitten cried and Draco looked shocked.

Sloane burst out laughing. "No, Kitten, this is Draco Malfoy. He's here as my guest."

Kitten pouted. "But, the redheaded boy can't be Harry Potter, and the only other guest is a girl."

Sloane smiled. "I'll let you in on a secret."

"What?"

"Harry Potter is really Daniel. You see, Daniel is his secret identity here in America so that the bad guys, who are all over in England, can't find him. Think of him like Superman. In England, he's Superman, and in America, he's Clark Kent."

Kitten's dark eyes widened. "Really?"

Harry nodded. "Yes. But, you can't call me Harry while I'm here. Understand? It might tip off a very dark wizard to where I'm at."

"What dark wizard?"

"ME!" Sloane cried and picked Kitten up, swinging her around in the air. She giggled and hugged Sloane. Draco watched as the little girl took hold of Sloane's hand and Harry's hand, ready to bring her cousins to lunch.

"Say," Kitten commented, "if you're Harry Potter, then that means that you're friends with that redhead."

Harry laughed. "Yep. Ron's one of my best friends."

Kitten looked earnestly up at Harry. "You won't tell him what I said, right?"

Harry smiled. "Right. That'll be just between us."

The relatives from New York had arrived and everyone ate at picnics tables set up outside. Ron and Hermione had changed from their swimming suits to ordinary clothes. They both looked as if they had gotten a bit of sun.

"Harry, where were you?" Ron asked as soon as he saw Harry. "You just vanished on us."

"Don't call him that!" Kitten cried. The adults standing around them stopped what they were doing, watching to see what was going on.

Ron looked taken back. "But, that's his name!"

Kitten shook her head. "No! He's Superman!"

At this, almost all of the Mars family gathered started to laugh. Harry picked up Kitten and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He had to promise to explain it to Ron later.

After lunch, Harry and Sloane went off to talk with the New York relations. Draco was stuck watching Kitten, who had decided that she was going to marry him when she got older. Harry, when he heard this, pretended to be broken hearted as he was the object of her affections until just recently.

"Now, Daniel, we've gone through everything we have on your scar, including the theories sent to us from while Tori was in England," Patricia said. "We've come up with a few theories on what's going on."

"I only know what I've been allowed to know," Harry said. "According to Dumbledore, Voldemort transferred some of his powers to me accidentally. That's why I'm a Parselmouth. He also believes that I can feel any strong emotion that Voldemort feels and will know when he is near."

"There's more," Robert said. "We believe that your scar and shared powers causes a link between you and Voldemort. It is possible that he may be able to see your thoughts and you can see his. Since he may be better adapt to it, he might try to attack you when you are at your most defenseless - like when you're sleeping."

"Anything I can do to stop him?"

"We're looking into it. Though the only thing we can thinkof is Occulmency,Tori has informed us that she has a sinking suspicion that Dumbledore might wand to be the one to stop Voldemort from entering your mind. We can teach you Occulmency for the summer and see what happens during your school year. However, you are to report any strange dreams or feelings to Tori immediately."

"Yes, sir."

"Wow, tough break, Daniel," Sloane said as they walked back to the house. On top of his normal Mars training and homework, he now had extra lessons. His time with his friends was nearing non-existant.

On the way, they ran into Kitten, Draco, and Roger. Roger, the cousin who was the huge American Eagles fan, was talking excitedly with Draco about Quidditch. When he saw Sloane and Harry, he waved them over, telling them that he wanted to show them the newest posters he got for his room.

Draco tried to slip away, but Roger practically pulled him to his house. Harry and Sloane followed, both sighing over the thought of having to face another long rendition of every game the American Eagles had played for the past ten years.

Harry and Draco were the first to enter the room. They stopped and closed their eyes. When they opened them, the horrible scene was still in front of them. All over the room were posters of Harry and Draco playing Quidditch. A banner for Slytherian was on one wall and a banner for Gryffindor was on the other wall. There were even little cut out hearts on a few of the posters.

"This isn't even the best part," Roger said, stepping by them as if this were the most normal thing in the world. "You have got to see this!"

Roger opened a little cabinet over his bed. Normally, this cabinet held action figures from Quidditch and signed cards, but now it held two pictures of Draco and Harry, some dried flowers, a candle and sheets of parchment. Harry walked over and lifted the parchment - it was really bad poetry about how much he admired Harry and Draco.

"So, you two think I can get your autographs?" Roger asked. "Maybe a picture with the two of you?"

Draco made a struggling sound, his gaze on a poster of himself with hearts all around his face. Harry merely shook his head, shooting a glare at his own heart-filled poster.

In the doorway, Sloane suddenly burst out laughing. He was laughing so hard that he slipped to the floor, tears coming out of his eyes. There was a flash and Draco and Harry realized that Roger had taken their picture, laughing as well.

"You two should see your faces!" Sloane cried.

"What is going on?" Harry demanded.

Sloane struggled to stand. He wiped away the last of his tears and breathed a sigh of relief. "I asked Roger to help me with something. I've been sending him the Quidditch pictures that I got off of Colin Creevey. I think the shrine is a nice touch, though."

"Why thank you," said Roger. "It took me a week to write that poetry. Is it bad enough?"

"It's horrible," Sloane said. He picked up one of the poems and read, "His flying is like the angels, my warrior in green . . . .Oh, this is about Draco. Hmmm, love the touch about silky skin."

"This is just a gag?" Draco asked. When Roger nodded, Draco tore down his poster and quickly crumpled it up.

"Yea. Not bad, huh?" Roger said. "I can't wait to retell this one next family gathering. I pulled the prank of all time against the famous Harry Potter. And I've got the proof!"

Harry suddenly looked at Roger. "Wait a minute, give me that picture!" Harry lunged for the camera and Roger dodged. Laughing, Roger ran from the room. Harry started to follow, but Sloane held him back.

"Sloane, how could you do this to me?" Draco asked. "I thoughtI was your friend!"

"Actually, I didn't plan on dragging you into it. I was stuck between having Harry walk in to a room covered with him or you, but when I found out that you were spending the summer with us, I told Roger to put both up." Sloane explained. "It was pretty funny, when you really think about it."

Draco nodded and watched as Sloane and Harry left. He quickly ran to catch up, keeping one eye on the brothers. Harry was so different in America then he was in England. He wasn't as guarded. Draco never realized how tense Harry was in England until he saw how relaxed he was in America.

That night, Draco had problems sleeping. He kept replaying what he had seen that day. Everything from Harry's strange question of why he hated him to at dinner when Harry had told Ron to back off his snide comments about Draco and Sloane. His mind continued to return to the question.

Why did he hate Harry? Was it because Harry had rejected his hand that first day? Was it because Harry was in Gryffindor and he was in Slytherian? Or, was it merely because Draco was jealous of the attention everyone in England seemed to pay to famous Harry Potter? Even Dumbledore seemed to turn a blind eye to all the problems that followed Harry.

Draco sat up in his bed as he realized that that was the reason why he hated Harry so much. Harry managed to escape harsh punishment. If he had pulled half the stunts that Harry had, he'd have been expelled.

However, Draco mused, did he also hate Daniel Mars? It was almost as if they were two different people. Could he have formed a friendship with Harry if he acted like Daniel all the time?

As he pondered this predicament, Draco saw Tori pass by the bedroom door and exit to the back deck. Curious, he followed her. Tori took a seat on one of the deck chairs, listening to the waves break against the beach.

"Can't sleep?" Tori asked, looking over at Draco.

"Not really. I've got a lot on my mind."

Tori smiled and pointed to a chair near her. "Want to talk about it?"

Draco shrugged, but he took the seat. Tori didn't press him, waiting for him to tell her his problems if he felt like it.

"Ms. Mars, can I ask you something?" Draco started. His voice was low and uncertain.

"Yes?"

"Do you remember my telling you that I wish you were my mother?"

Tori smiled and reached out to pat Draco's arm. "I remember. I told you that if I were then you wouldn't be you."

"I still wish it. I -" Draco stared out at the dark ocean. "I see how happy Daniel and Sloane are, at how their childhood was different from mine. I barely saw my parents growing up and I never saw any relatives. It was all so cold compared to what I've seen here."

Tori remained silent. She merely held his hand, giving him the courage to continue.

"When was the last time Daniel saw his relatives from New York?"

"This is the first time they've met. We get cards every Christmas of everyone in New York, as well as the other branches. We send out our own cards too. Once a year, the heads of each branch have a meeting, so Daniel and Sloane have met their Uncle Clive, who is the head of the New York branch."

"It was like, everyone knew each other, not like this was the first time they were meeting." Draco said. "My family was never like that."

"I'm sure there are things about your life that Daniel and Sloane wish were a part of their lives." Tori said. "I'm sure there are plenty of good things in your life."

Draco shrugged. "Like what?"

"Well, I know the boys are a bit jealous that you had a father and they didn't. Their uncles never could replace the need for a real father. Also, having a huge family could be a burden sometimes. We know each other's business and we're always around. I know that there are times I wished I came from a small family."

"You mean that?"

"Yes. And you have plenty of good qualities about you that Sloane and Daniel admire."

This got Draco's attention. "Like what?"

"Sloane admires the fact that you're a natural leader. You have a personality that makes people feel comfortable following you." Tori said. "Daniel's said that you're very good at Quidditch. You keep him on his toes."

Draco smiled. "Really? But I always loose to him."

"It's not a question of winning, but talent. You let your anger and hatred overshadow you when you play, and that leaves you open. Daniel focuses only on getting the Snitch. If you did that, I'm sure you'd win against him, and force him to become a better player in order to keep up with you."

Draco grinned. "I'll try that."

Tori laughed and gave Draco a kiss on the top of his head. "This is our little secret. You won't let him know that I handed you his kryptonite?"

"His what?"

"I'll explain it sometime. Good night, Draco." Tori stood and went back inside the house. Draco stayed outside, thinking over what had been said. He was finding less and less reasons for hating Harry Potter.

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Yay! Two chappies.

Review, please