Tiger & Dragon
By loverstouch
Disclaimer: All the characters belong to J.K Rowling. The story is based on Rowling's work, but the plot of 'Tiger & Dragon' comes from my own sick brain.
Summary: In the summer after his fifth year Harry is taken from the Dursleys to live with the Malfoys. The next day the Daily Prophet's headline read 'Boy Who Lived Died In Death Eater Attack' …
Rating: PG-13 for now
This is my first "Slash" fanfiction and the first fic I have published at all, so please go easy on me.
The story begins in the summer after Harry's fifth year, which means yes; it is post OoTP, but has nothing to do with HBP.
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I'd like to thank Draeconin for being the beta for my story. I'm really grateful for your help.
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Hope you enjoy it!
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Chapter 3 - Family history
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The next morning, Harry found a pair of jeans and a shirt on one of the armchairs. He assumed the clothing might belong to Draco, because when he put them on, Harry didn't feel like he was wearing a tent (like with Dudley's hand-me-downs), but something he might fit in after growing a few inches. You see, Harry Potter was very small for his age. With his mere 5' 6" Harry was smaller than every other boy in his year; even most of the girls were taller than him. Harry hated the fact that he would fit perfectly with the soon-to-be fourth or fifth year students, rather than with students his own age. Hermione said this might be because he had lived in the dark cupboard under the stairs for so long, which might have stunted his growth. Ron, on the other hand, said it might be a result of his scar. He believedVoldemort's curse could have damaged Harry in other ways. That it had more effects than just his visions and the scar.
Harry chuckled at the thought of his two best friends discussing his small height while examining himself in the mirror (much like a little boy wearing the clothes of his older brother).
A knock on the door interrupted Harry's train of thought.
"Come in." He wandered to the middle of the room to see who his visitor was. It was Draco.
"Good morning. Rest well?"
"Yeah, thanks. Oh, and thanks for the clothes," Harry said.
"I know they are too big for you, but all my clothes in your size were sorted out three years ago," Draco smirked.
"Ha, ha. Very funny, Malfoy." Harry glared at the blond in mock anger.
"Don't give up hope, Potter; I'm sure you will mature soon." Draco ducked a slap from Harry, laughing when the other boy stumbled slightly. "Well, even a Malfoy could be wrong He laughed even more when Harry chased after him out of the room and down to the small dinning room, where Lucius waited for them to eat breakfast.
"I've never seen someone so enthusiastic that they might haven woken every ghost of the nearby graveyard with their stamping, just to attend an ordinary meal," the older Malfoy said, when the two boys stumbled into the room.
"Sorry, Father, but I had no idea how to bring Potter down here, other than with a chase."
"You could have told me, for example, you-"
"Please, sit down and enjoy the food, both of you. Mr. Potter, we have a lot to do today. There is no time for accusations or insults of any kind."
"Of course, sir. I'm sorry."
"Take a seat, and let's eat," Mr. Malfoy said, sitting at the head of the table. "Professor Dumbledore will be here shortly."
"Professor Dumbledore?" Harry asked, confused, while sitting at Lucius right, across from Draco.
"He will explain to you what will happen after your sudden death," Draco said, smirking in his seat across from Harry.
"What?" Harry stared at Draco in shock, while Lucius glared at his son angrily.
"Very tactful, Draco."
"What?" Draco asked his father innocently. "I could have just given him the Daily Prophet, you know, so he had to figure it out all by himself."
"I might assume that it would have been less of a shock had you done it that way. Look at him." Lucius pointed at Harry, who stared with his mouth open between the two Malfoys. "He looks all pale and-"
"Dead?" Draco said, with a smirk.
"What is this all about, me being dead? What is written in the Prophet? What is going on, here?" Harry's voice rose with every question. Instead of answering his questions, Lucius handed him a copy of the Daily Prophet. Harry took it angrily, and looked at the front page. He gasped in shock at what was written there.
'Boy Who Lived' Dies In Death Eater Attack
Yes, it is true. Harry Potter, better known as 'The Boy Who Lived', died last night in an attack at his Muggle relatives' house in Surrey.
While his relatives visited family over the weekend, Harry Potter was alone at home. Shortly after midnight, the wards protecting the house announced an attack. Tragically for young Mr. Potter, help arrived too late. The Dark Mark shown above a totally destroyed house.
All hopes that the boy might have survived the attack were shattered when Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, cast an ancient spell over the dead body which identified the victim as none other then The Boy Who Lived…
Harry couldn't read one more word. He felt sick and betrayed and… relieved? Slowly he put the newspaper down and looked to the two Malfoys.
"You knew about this." It wasn't a question, and he didn't wait for one of them to speak. "You knew about the attack on me. That's the reason why you took me away from there. That's the reason why you put Uncle Vernon under the Imperius Curse, to get him out of there. That explains the transfigured frog. You saved my life. Why?" He stared in disbelief from Draco, to Lucius, and back to Draco. "Why did you do that for me? You hate me. And you even wanted to kill me a few months ago. You support Voldemort, why-"
"We don't." Draco interrupted sternly.
"What?" Harry asked confused.
"We don't serve Voldemort. I never had, and Father-"
"He lost my support when he killed my father last summer."
"Your father?"
"You must know, Mr. Potter, that our family is a very proud, pureblood family."
Harry wanted to comment that Draco had, more than once, shown how high his opinion of his family was, but the look on both Malfoy's faces kept him quiet, and he let Lucius explain.
"We hate Muggles," Mr Malfoy continued. "That's no secret. But there is a big difference between hating them and killing them, which my father and I had to learn the hard way. When we first heard about this guy who fought for better rights for pureblood families, we were quite interested in his arguments. He promised us so much, and there was nothing wrong with it, so my father joined him. I was still in school, so I couldn't help in their organisation. The first few years were actually very interesting. My father told me about all the things they achieved by confronting those in authority with the information they had, and coercing those authorities into meeting their demands. That's the reason why I joined Voldemort as well. Not long after that, some of the promises the Ministry had made were broken, and everything changed. Father refused to torture and kill people. He wanted to leave Voldemort, but there is no way to 'just leave'. He tortured him. Then he let him go."
"He let him go. With all the information he had?" Harry asked, surprised.
"No, of course not. He Obliviated him. Every single thought about Voldemort and his machinations were erased from my father's mind."
"I don't understand that. I've never heard about someone leaving Voldemort for good. I know about someone who left him, but he is still in mortal danger because the Dark Lord wants him dead. Why did he let your father go, really?" Harry asked, suspiciously.
"There was an agreement between the Dark Lord and myself," Lucius said. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, he spoke again. "Father didn't know about it. Voldemort promised me that he would let my father go and would never chase after him, if I did anything he said."
"And you agreed to that?" Harry asked carefully. There was so much understanding for Lucius' action, that Harry feared it might all be a lie. He feared that the sympathy he felt for this man right now might shatter with one wrong word. But he was tired of being betrayed, of losing people to the dark side. He wanted this to be true. He wanted to go through with this entire 'being dead' thing, not caring what might happen, not fearing to fail, not being watched every single step, not being expected to save everyone.
There was a long pause until Lucius spoke again.
"I loved my father dearly. There was never any doubt about my decision. I'd have done anything to protect him." There was another uncomfortable silence in which Lucius tried to regain his strength. Harry had noticed the tears forming in Lucius' eyes, and had politely turned to take a sip of his tea. He saw Draco's hand on his father's in silent comfort, and for the first time since he knew Draco and his father, he didn't think about them as arrogant prigs, but as a loving family. Just when Harry decided to leave so that the two Malfoys could have some privacy, Draco spoke. His voice was slightly shaking, something Harry felt very uneasy about.
"After Voldemort's return, grandfather accidentally learned about his assistance in the Dark Lord's work. Father told me about it, and he overheard our conversation. He demanded to know what this was all about, and after a very long argument, father told him everything."
"Even about the agreement?" Harry asked, suspecting where this lead to.
"Even about the agreement. He was angry; really angry. He disowned father, and then went to Voldemort to take him to task."
"That was foolish."
"No, that was love," Lucius said, startling Harry.
"Love?"
"He did this so I wasn't bound to the agreement with Voldemort any longer. After my father died, I apparated with his body back to the manor and contacted Dumbledore."
"Did you-"
"Yes, I worked as a spy, and still do."
"That wasn't what I wanted to ask," Harry said in a hushed voice. "Did you have the opportunity to settle your argument with your father…before he…"
"Yes, I did," Lucius said with a small smile. "He knew why I did what I did, and I knew why he did what he did."
"I never knew your father, but if he is the person you described him to be, then his death is a great loss, especially for your family."
"Thank you." The two Malfoys nodded appreciatively, then there was another silence, but this time it wasn't uncomfortable.
A pop! broke the silence, and Dimply announced the arrival of Albus Dumbledore.
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A/N – That's it for now. What do you think?