Dear Readers,

Most of the flashbacks in this chapter are from the earlier chapters and you can skip them if you want, most are short, but some have small changes to them, but only in non-italics. There's also two flashbacks that are really important that aren't from the other chapters, so you might not wanna skip those.

Draco woke up from his dream-memory with an irritated sigh. Barely two days after what he'd done and his dreams were being haunted by guilt. Hopefully he'd get used to it soon enough and it wouldn't bother him too much.

"Hey, Malfoy, you awake?" It was Ron. Draco covered his head with the pillow.

"Go away, Weasley." He had gotten a room to himself, which was better for him, so he wondered why Ron was peeking into the room.

"Just wondering if you were awake yet, prick." Ron said.

"Leave him be." said Hermione. It seemed she was there too. Ron grumbled but left, where Hermione peeked in instead, "Sorry about him. Breakfast is ready and you might wanna head down. Ron'll eat it all up if you don't."

"Thank you, Granger." He waved a hand. As soon as Hermione was gone, Draco uncovered his head. He had to get ready first and so pulled out his clothes from yesterday. Eventually he'd have to get more clothes, he couldn't keep wearing these the whole time. As he grabbed his clothes, he noticed another set on a chair in the room a note on top. Draco paused, staring at the clothing for a moment, then slowly went over.

'Since you only had your wand on you and I have a few sets of clothes stashed here, I thought you might like to have another pair, just in case. We're about the same size, right?

' - Harry'

Draco stared at the letter, then the clothes. He blinked, then turned around and went back to his own clothes.

"Who does Potter think he is? I'm fine with these." Draco sniffed his shirt before his nose wrinkled, "Just need to be washed is all." Throwing on his clothes, Draco made sure he had everything before going downstairs. As soon as he was on the ground floor, even from the stairwell, he could smell the delicious odor. His mouth watered and he entered the room, glad to find that not all the food was gone.

"Leave some for the rest of us, why don't you?" he quipped, grabbing a seat at the table. Ron shrugged.

"Hey, you were the one still in bed." Draco rolled his eyes. Harry and Sirius were the only ones not at the table, Hermione and Ron eating while the twins were working on some sort of cube. Draco watching them work with it for a moment and wondered what they were doing.

"Another of your pranks?" he asked.

"Nope." said George, "A muggle invention."

"Ever heard of a Rubik's Cube?" asked Fred. Draco gave them a look that clearly said, 'Do you really think I would?' Fred shrugged, "Thought I might as well ask."

"What's it supposed to do, anyway?" asked Ron, curious.

"It's a toy, Ron." said Hermione, "You try to get the same colors on the same side to match them. If all the sides have the right colors then you win. Whole competitions are made around how fast you can solve a Rubik's Cube."

"We were thinking of making it into one of our jokes but with a few changes, y'know?" George explained.

"It's pretty tough on its own, though." Fred admitted.

"Never ask me to solve one." said Draco before going back to his food. Harry popped his head in.

"Hey, McGonagall answered pretty quickly, but she wants us to go to Hogwarts to do this." he said, "We'll be leaving in an hour or two, so make sure you're ready to head out." And then he left.

"Do you all really think there could be something in Alex's memories that might help us find him?" Draco asked quietly. This caused everyone to pause.

"He said that he'd noticed certain Muggles following him before he copied his memories, so there's probably something very recent that will help us." said Hermione.

"I was kinda thinking about that too. Do you think he was scared his memory was gonna be taken?" Ron asked.

"No way, Muggles don't have technology that can do that...do they?" Fred said. Everyone looked to Hermione. She shook her head.

"Not possible. Maybe there's a wizard mixed in that we don't know about?"

"Well, we'll find out soon enough." George fiddled with the Rubik's Cube. Draco hoped he was right.

One apparition later, they were on the grounds of Hogwarts. It had taken a while to fix the castle and it wasn't completely done, but school had started that year, as it had every year, and students were still going to Hogwarts. They made their way up to the Headmistress' Office, though they did get some awed and angry looks (the angry and loathing ones were mostly sent Draco's way, if not always). Once they were at the gargoyle, Harry spoke the password.

"Felix the Cat." he said, and the gargoyle moved to let them pass.

"Really?" said Hermione, "Of all the things that could be the password, she chose that old cartoon?" Harry shrugged.

"Hey, Dumbledore loved sweets. It's McGonagall's choice of what the password should be. Now let's go, we don't wanna keep her waiting." They traveled up the stairs and into the Headmistress' Office, most of them greeting the woman like old friends. Draco stood there awkwardly, wondering when they would be able to use the pensieve. The sooner they'd be able to find Alex the better.

"It's nice to see you all again." she said, "Even you, Mr. Malfoy." Draco flinched.

"Can we please get on with this?" he pleaded, "I don't want to sound mean, Headmistress, but being here is making me uncomfortable." McGonagall nodded and gestured.

"Mr. Potter, I believe you already know where it is?"

"Yes ma'am." Harry opened one of the curio cabinets to the right and inside was what seemed to be a thin, disc-like bowl, "Draco, the memories?" Draco took the vial from a pocket and handed it over to Harry. The blond watched the mist fall from the bottle and into the bowl, where it hit some sort of surface and rippled like water.

"Should we all go in?" asked Ron, "Or just some of us?"

"We should all go in, just in case someone misses something." said Fred.

"Well, don't come crying to me if you get spooked." Harry took the pensieve from where it rested and put it on one of the tables in the room so they could gather around it better, "Now, you just have to put your face in it and you can see the memories. Because Alex probably put all his memories in here, we have to sort through them to get answers."

"First we should find one that makes sure these are Alex's memories." Hermione turned to Draco, "I hate to put you on the spot, but is there a memory only you and Alex know?" Draco bit his lip.

"There are a few, but there's one I know for certain is just the two of us. You have to promise not to tell anyone about it, though. It's… it's a very personal memory."

"Don't worry about us, Malfoy." said Fred.

"We kept the secret for years." added George.

"Speaking of which, we might wanna put another Fidelius Charm of Alex, just in case."

"He's around Muggles now, y'know? Never can be too careful."

"We'll deal with that later." said Harry, "Is everyone ready?" They all nodded, and he instructed them to put their faces into the pensieve, one by one. Draco was first, as he would give the groundwork of what memories they would be seeing. Hesitantly, Draco put his face to the liquid, which sucked him in as if he was apparating. All he could see were murky surroundings for a moment, and then it all became clear. It was like a blue-tinted version of black-and-white, but he was definitely in the Manor again. Slowly the others joined him and, though a few brought out their wands, Harry told them there was no need.

"Nothing hurts you here. You're basically a ghost, nothing touches you."

"So what are we looking for?" asked Ron. Draco gave a small swallow, making it past the lump in his throat.

"Crying." He started walking down the hall, trying to hear any sound of the crying he knew so well, and when he came across it, he put his hand to the wall. It passed through, to which he followed it, coming out into the remains of what had been a converted meeting room, early in his life. He was surprised that Alex remembered it so well after so long. And there he was crying his heart out. His little brother, back in an 11-year-old mind and body. It made his heart pang, what he was seeing.

"What...are we looking at?"

"This is the night after Alex had the Obscurus the first time. We were both eleven." Draco murmured, "After I got him out of his shock, he wouldn't stop crying all day. He came up here to be alone, but I couldn't leave him like that." Just as Draco said those words, the door opened behind him and in came his 11-year-old self. Without his hair being gelled and combed back, the boy looked as if he was as innocent as could be.

"Alex?" he asked. There were sniffs from his brother.

"Go away." he whimpered.

"Alex, it's okay." Draco entered the room and sat beside Alex, who was sitting against one of the remaining walls. The explosion had taken out much of the roof but parts still stood. They could also see a lot of the sky, since the roof was gone. Past!Draco went on, "None of this is your fault."

"Of course it is!" snapped Past!Alex, "Dad's gonna punish me for this as soon as you're back to Hogwarts."

"He won't. I'll make sure of it."

"And how will you do that?"

"Father listens to me. If I wanted him to, he'd put a hippogriff on trial!" Everyone winced.

"Really?"

"Shut up, Potter. There was no way I would've known."

"They're not bad beasts, they're actually really cool. How many times do I have to tell you that?" Past!Alex shook his head, "But it won't save me. I'm worse than a hundred hippogriffs combined!"

"You're not." protested Past!Draco, "You just made a bad choice. You thought Father was in danger and you defended him."

"I also destroyed half the manor."

"No one will be mad at you, Alex." Past!Draco assured, "And if they do, I'll stop them!"

"How?" Past!Alex sniffed. Past!Draco looked guilty, glancing away.

"After Father told me what happened, after all the crying you've done today, I thought about it and I realized that, as your big brother, I'm supposed to protect you. And I will do that as much as I can for as long as I can. No one will hurt you as long as I live."

"That's a big boast for a guy who's only friends are his lackeys."

"Crabbe and Goyle aren't lackeys!"

"Big, dumb, and full of beetle dung, I'm pretty sure they're lackeys. If not, then I don't know what they are!"

"Alex!" But by now Past!Alex was actually smiling. Past!Draco, realizing this, smiled back. Past!Alex's jabs at his 'friends,' even if it was a little hurtful, had cheered the younger up, "Why don't we just stay here and watch the stars for the rest of the night? Until we have to go to bed, at least."

"Sleep is for wimps." said Past!Alex. Past!Draco laughed and Draco couldn't help but smile. It may have been a touchy memory but it was one of the happiest he had ever seen Alex.

"After this, he fell asleep on my shoulder. I didn't move, I wanted him to stay content, and so I fell asleep too. In the morning a blanket was over us and I knew that one of our parents had done it, maybe even the house elves. That was the first step towards learning more about Alex's Obscurus." Draco's smile dropped, "Does this prove that these are his memories now?"

"Yes, we can certainly move on." said Hermione, "Can you try going to his most recent ones?"

"I'll do my best." Draco had concentrated on this memory when he'd dived in and now concentrated on the 20th of December, hoping that was enough of a frame to get started. As they sped ahead, small pieces of memories would play out, showing memories only Alex had or ones he shared with them.

"You told me it somehow has his memory in it?"

"From what I've figured out, yes. If he can grow in power enough, he won't be just a memory anymore and we will have Lord Voldemort back."

"Good luck, then." The man gave him a nod before turning away and disappearing...

"...and so they let me go with you, as long as I stopped playing that 'horrid Muggle music' and running through the halls." Alex was explaining as he and Draco were walking the path to the Shrieking Shack.

"What were you playing?"

"Green Day's 1,000 Hours. I can sing a bit of it if you want."

"No way, you have a horrible singing voice!"

"Says you!" And so the brothers playfully sent insults at one another, until the conversation turned to something neither had particularly wanted to talk about: the Buckbeak case.

"Why did you do it?" Alex asked, confusing Draco by giving no context.

"What do you mean?"

"Complaining to Father about…"

"What happened?" asked Draco, crouching next to him. He went to touch Alex but the look in his brother's eyes stopped him. There was terror and pain in those eyes, so much of it that Draco knew something had happened to set him off. Alex didn't speak for a moment, but when he did, it was little more than a croak.

"Death Eaters. Crucio, whatever the hell that curse was. It hurt so much." He shivered, "Where's Mum and Dad?"

"Somewhere. C'mon, we've got to go." He helped Alex to his feet and they joined the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione in the safety of the forest. They stayed together in the space, waiting for the commotion to cease, and the trio explained to George, Fred, and Ginny what an Obscurus was and in turn the twins confessed what Crucio was, since none of the other kids had heard of it before.

"It's one of the three Unforgivable Curses." said Fred.

"They're called 'unforgivable' because…"

"Where all the explosions come from?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"As long as you don't touch anything, you'll be fine." Fred assured, though he did give his brother a small questioning look.

"...Alright." The teen's dark feeling increased as he agreed. But the brothers wouldn't put him in danger, right? There hadn't been a false sense of trust and security, he was sure. He was just as good as sensing that kind of thing as he was at masking his feelings. As it was, he followed Fred and George into the Burrow and up to their room, entering it with a keen wariness and a healthy dose of caution. There were all sorts of lab things and joke boxes around, evidence of their efforts to make magical pranks.

"We've been making these a while, 'specially thanks to Harry's loan, and we're thinking of starting up the business as soon as we get out of school." said Fred.

"Just remember not to touch anything." George added. They then ducked under some of the clutter in the room to find something for him. He glanced around, honestly wondering what kind of things they'd made just over the summer alone. Spotting a long box, he bit his lip. They'd told him not to touch anything and his own sense of caution was strong but was quickly being overridden by curiosity. He picked it up and examined it, finding it to be shaped similar to a telescope, and so put it up to his eye. He couldn't see anything at the other end. Briefly he considered putting it down but his curiosity was too strong, and so he pulled it a little, squeezing it in the process. The squeezing activated the mechanism inside, where a tiny punching glove popped out and poked him in the eye. It hurt and surprised him enough to the point that his Obscurus bubbled up, hissing at the threat. He tried to tamp down on it, knowing there was nothing to be afraid of, but the creature had grown since the last time it had appeared, it wanted to get out and was clawing its way to the surface. He held his head, a headache beginning to form from fighting it.

"Al-?"

"Outside. NOW." The twins realized what was going on and…

Draco was interrupted by that scene and turned on the twins.

"You nearly made him transform because of your boxing telescope punching him in the eye?!"

"Hey, at least it helped us figure out that he could learn to control it!" protested George. This didn't calm Draco and Harry had to hold him back from attacking the twins.

"Let's just keep going! You can kill them later, alright?" Draco growled but backed down.

"Fine." he snapped, concentrating again on the memory he thought would help.

"What happens to him if you die?"

"He goes under the ownership of any surviving Black, including Bellatrix." Alex frowned.

"That would probably be the end of us all if that happened, huh?"

"Definitely, which is why I can't let him leave but I also can't free him." Alex gave a slow nod.

"So, where's my room?"

"Upstairs, first door on the left." Sirius headed into the kitchen, "Want anything to eat?"

"Not now, thanks." Alex made his way up the stairs and Sirius watched him leave, but not for long.

"Wait!"

"Yeah?" Alex glanced down at him.

"Just make sure you don't go into my mother's bedroom, okay?"

"Why?"

"You know Buckbeak?" Alex frowned.

"The hippogriff that Hagrid used to train?"

"That's right." Sirius nodded, "He didn't die…"

It was then that things began to change slightly, to something none of them had ever seen before. Draco knew they weren't far enough yet, but there was something about this memory that was giving him pause.

"Are we there yet?" asked Ron, looking around at the neighborhood.

"Not yet, but there's something… I can't put my finger on it..." Draco frowned, trying to figure out what it was about this memory that was making him pause.

"There's Alex, down the street." Fred pointed, "Do you think this is after he disappeared the first time?"

"Probably, but what's he doing here?"

"Well, this is certainly a part of London." Hermione was checking out the street sign, "We're in the middle of Old Church Street, in Chelsea, London."

"Old Church-?" Draco smacked his forehead, "Of course this is where he would go!"

"Malfoy?"

"He came to see his muggle friend, Tom Harris." Draco went up to 213 and waited beside the gate, knowing exactly where Alex was going despite never having been here before, "When he wasn't in the Wizarding World, he went to school at a place called Brookland and made friends with Tom. Alex always wanted us to meet, but that just wasn't possible." Draco shook his head, "Why did he come here? Was he trying to expose us?"

"Go easy on him, I'm sure he has a reason!" protested Fred.

"Let's just watch." said Harry. Alex continued to the house, going through the gate and up the stairs before knocking on the door. Only a few moments later was it opened by a dark-haired boy they assumed was Tom. Tom stared in astonishment at Alex, having squeaked at the sight of the blond, and Alex grinned back.

"Miss me?"

"Alex!" Tom took the other into a hug, "Oh man, where have you been?!"

"Glad to see you too." Alex hugged him back, smile dropping, "Hey, do you mind if I stay with you for a while?"

"No, why?" Tom frowned, "Run away from home?" Alex shrugged noncommittally.

"Something like that. Promise you won't out me?"

"Sure, but I thought we wouldn't be able to see each other again?"

"Look," Alex began pushing Tom back into the house, glancing over his shoulder, "I'll explain more once we're inside." The door shut and then the scene began to change again. They knew there was no point in staying there and tried to move on, but when they came to the memory at the Manor, with Alex under Voldemort's control, Draco knew they couldn't move on, not from this.

"M-my Lord?"

"Lucius, Narcissa, please understand that I don't blame you for trying to keep him a secret. But after I learned that I couldn't find more information on him, I got rid of the Fidelius Charm. Now he can help us." With a wave of his wand, Voldemort summoned a bubble-like orb from another room, holding none other than Alex. Lucius grit his teeth as Narcissa gasped, the Death Eaters around them murmuring to each other. Alex seemed to be unhurt for the most part and was kicking at the shield, trying to make his way out. He locked eyes with his parents and Lucius could see nothing but a frightened, angry, sad look of betrayal. Lucius so badly wanted to tell him that he hadn't been given away but there was nothing the man could do.

"My Lord," Narcissa spoke up, "are you certain it has to be him?" Lucius gave her a look, not wanting her to anger the Dark Lord or worse.

"Unless he angers me, no harm will come to your son." Voldemort said. That did little to reassure the Malfoys, "Now, Lucius, I'd like you to prove your worth to me."

"My Lord?"

"Use Imperius on your son." Lucius' eyes widened. He couldn't do that! Yet, as he glanced at his son, he knew he had no choice. Either he would die, Alex would be hurt, or Alex would be controlled by someone else. Possibly all three. Voldemort raised his wand.

"If you won't do it, perhaps I should give you an incentive."

"My Lord-!"

"Crucio!" Alex screamed as the curse hit him through the bubble. The Malfoys hopped to their feet as Alex switched forms over and over, still screaming the whole time. Death Eaters moved away, frightened by the strange and dangerous creature. Voldemort asked, "Well, Lucius?"

"I will, just please-!" He could say no more. Voldemort waved his wand, stopping both Crucio and the bubble surrounding Alex. The blond teen landed on the ground with a thump. He moaned for a moment, but tried to get to his feet as he summoned his Obscurus.

"Imperius!" The yellow mist wafted up Alex's nose just in time. The Obscurus stopped just centimeters from several Death Eaters, including the Malfoys themselves. It floated in the air, sluggish under the effects of the spell. As Alex was affected, it affected the parasite as well. Quite a few breathed sighs of relief as Voldemort nodded.

"Good. And if you can't keep him under control..."

Draco took a heavy seat in one of the chairs, using his willpower to make the memory not change. He stared at the dreamy look on Alex's face. He had been told what had happened at the Manor a little bit, but he never imagined it had turned out like this.

"...I can't believe him." George snarled.

"If he wasn't dead, I'd kill Voldemort myself." Fred agreed.

"But at least it was Mr. Malfoy and not someone else." Hermione pointed out, "Draco?"

"At least." Draco repeated, voice low.

"We should keep moving." said Ron, "We're almost there, right?" Draco nodded.

"Almost there." He didn't get up from his seat as the memory passed and was lucky to still be sitting in a seat when it settled into the memory he wanted. On the table in front of him was a newspaper someone was reading, giving the date, and he knew they were on the 20th of December, in Diagon Alley. They looked out of the window of the shop they were in and found Alex on the other side of the street, inside another shop. It seemed he was getting presents for Christmas. Draco couldn't help but smile as he saw the snake figurehead of his father's wand being put back on it. After the Battle of Hogwarts, Alex had somehow understood that the Elder Wand was not just powerful for dueling, it could also fix things as well, so he'd asked if Harry could try fixing his father's wand. Draco could remember, clear as day, when Alex had gifted the wand back to Lucius. Never had Draco seen his father sob so happily and hug Alex so tightly. When asked how he did it, all Alex gave was a sly grin and said, "A magician never reveals his secrets." Draco had jabbed him in the side for that and wondered at the time how Alex had done it before the blond had explained to him that evening about Harry's involvement. That made the lighter blond realize he'd never thanked Harry for his help in fixing his father's wand. Before Draco could turn his head away, however, Alex exited the store and began moving down the street. The group left the shop and followed Alex down, keeping an eye out for pursuers. It was Diagon Alley, so of course witches and wizards were going every which way, but then Alex went into the Leaky Cauldron and out onto the London streets. Because of his lack of control over any type of magic, Alex had never learned to apparate but knew how to get home well enough. It had always worried his parents and brother about how he'd get home and just be on his own, even with his Obscurus, yet Alex managed. But now, it seemed, their fears were justified.

Suddenly, in the middle of the sidewalk, Alex came to a stop. As the Muggles went around him, going about their business, Alex looked around. He may have been more Muggle-oriented than most pureblood wizards but how was he supposed to know to be discreet at the moment? He'd gotten a feeling of some sort and was searching for the source of it. And when his eyes landed on the source of the feeling, the memory dimmed until the group could barely see anything, just Alex, themselves, and the mysterious person. It was a man, dark brown hair, green eyes, around the same age as Alex, possibly older. They locked eyes for a moment and then the memory went back to normal. Alex turned and got into the first taxi he could find. The mysterious man watched him leave, and then the group was sent out of the memory. Draco stumbled back as he got to grips with being in McGonagall's office again, but now he felt good. They had some sort of lead to Alex, where he could be. There hadn't been any names, but they knew the face of the man they were looking for, not just Alex.

"Well?" asked McGonagall as they all came to their senses.

"I think we've got somebody to find, at least." said Ron.

"Thank you for all your help, Professor." said Hermione as Harry retrieved the memories, putting them back in the vial and handing it to Draco.

"It was no trouble at all. And even though Alex is grown now, if he ever has a chance to be a normal wizard, he's welcome to come to Hogwarts."

"That's… That's a very nice offer. Thank you, Professor." Draco said, blushing. He was astonished that McGonagall would give Alex such a chance but wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth, and the Muggles said, "I'll tell him when we find him."

"I hope you do, Mr. Malfoy." They gave their goodbyes before they began leaving the castle, heading out front to apparate back to Grimmauld Place.

"You know what I just realized?" Harry mused as they descended the stairs.

"What, Potter?"

"That last memory we saw, it was tampered with." He met Draco's eyes, "Either Alex or someone else messed with that memory to make sure we knew we were looking at the right guy. Either this'll get us into trouble or we're one step closer to finding Alex."

"Maybe both." added Ron, "And it's a wonder how we haven't heard anything about an Obscurus yet. You'd think, if he was in trouble, he'd send it out to find us."

"You saw what Voldemort did, though." Fred pointed out.

"He could be held hostage in another bubble and we wouldn't know it." added George, "Managed it for several months, who's to say the guy hasn't been using it for a few weeks?"

"Yeah, but what about the Obscurus?" Ron argued, "If I was holding Alex captive like Voldemort, I'd be trying to use the Obscurus for my own needs, too."

"Unless they can't use it for some reason." Hermione said, "Like if they're Muggles. Alex might purposefully not be using the Obscurus so as not to attract attention."

"Or..." Draco bit his lip, "Maybe he just can't bring it out."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"During the Battle of Hogwarts, when he was with me near the end, after all the defending and transforming he'd done, he couldn't draw it up. The Obscurus just wouldn't come out. It probably would have if he was in grave danger, but because he was so tired it wouldn't come out at his command. Maybe they're purposefully making him tired so he can't use it." This left them all in silence for a moment.

"You've got a point." Harry conceded, "A bad one, but a possible one."

"Anything's possible with Alex." George said.

"Let's just hope we can find him in time." said Fred. Draco couldn't agree more.