Mal Foi, Bonne Foi

By: Aubrie1234

Like George had promised, they were over to the street first thing in the morning (but not so early as not to have breakfast). Number 54 was part of a whole street of buildings identical to Grimmauld Place, sandwiched between one another with barely any room for a yard. It was 9:31 when Draco moved up the steps to knock on the door. He was going first because, out of all of them, he was the one Alex would recognize on-sight immediately. He knocked as his friends waited on the sidewalk. The day was warm and bright, unlike the almost-sleeting conditions of a few days previous, so it was turning out to be a good day so far. Suddenly the door opened and Draco lost his breath as he saw his little brother standing in front of him, fine as ever, though his eyes looked off. Alex raised an eyebrow. Not the reaction he was expecting…

"Yes? Can I help you?"

"Uh, Alex, don't you recognize me?" Draco frowned worriedly as Alex glanced up and down.

"No. Who are you?" It felt like the ground was taken out from under him. If it was possible, he paled more than his already pale skin could handle.

"N-nevermind. Wrong house." Draco turned to leave but was stopped when Fred took the lead.

"Look, I know you might not know us, but we know you." he said. Alex narrowed his eyes. It shot shivers down Draco's spine and scared him more than the Obscurus ever did. Something was wrong. Alex blinked and then a smile crossed his face.

"Oh, right! I know you guys now! Took a minute there. Wanna come inside?" Draco grasped Fred's arm in a deathgrip. He didn't need to say anything, conveying with his eyes that this was a bad idea. Something was setting him off and, though he didn't know what it was, he knew he couldn't deal with it. Fred gave him an understanding but persistent look and ventured inside. With his grip on the redhead's arm, he was forced to follow, as did the rest of their group. After Alex closed the door, he set the bolt. This worsened Draco's nerves.

"Wait here, I'll be right back. I didn't expect company." Alex smiled before going upstairs.

"That was...disturbing." Hermione said. Even she had felt the strange chill in the air that had come from Alex's smile.

"We need to leave." Draco hissed, "Something's wrong and if we don't get out we're dead. I can't explain it but I just know."

"You're right, but we can't just leave without figuring out why Alex is here." Harry pointed out. Draco smacked his forehead. Gryffindors… Alex came back from upstairs, still smiling. Draco couldn't really explain but somehow he felt worse now. Their doom was upon them. How did no one else feel it? Maybe it was because of his close connection to Alex. But it had been dead for weeks, why was it acting up now?

"You guys like the decor?" he asked. Everybody looked away from him and, though Draco glanced away for a second he didn't take his eyes off Alex for long. His brother was planning something and it didn't set well with him.

"Who's this?" Harry pointed to one of the pictures. Draco glanced at it and frowned. It was a very recent picture of Alex with the mysterious stranger from the memories, the two of them eating ice cream in the cold near the London Eye. They looked happy together, even though Alex didn't really express it.

"My flatmate." said Alex, "Come into the living room." Ron went in first like the oblivious idiot he was while Draco went in last. He didn't dare put his back to Alex. Alex sat with them on a chair, letting them take the couch and other various chairs.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this early visit?" He was still smiling. Draco's hand trailed down to his wand.

"Like I said, we know you, but you don't know us." Fred said, "You might have amnesia or something, but we really do know you. You were part of our group and you had a family who still misses you." Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Right. So, your names?"

"I'm Goyle..." Draco glanced at Ron in surprise. He wasn't using their real names, nor did he refer to Draco as Alex's brother. Ron was still surprising him somehow. When Ron finished, Alex nodded.

"And so you want me to just come home with you, right?" Alex drawled. Draco was about to draw his wand but it was too late. There was a shout and wands were being pointed at the younger brother as he held a gun in his hands. George stared at his hand in shock, then at Alex. The blond was still holding the gun while he now had a bloody hole through the side of his hand. The pain was terrible, but not as bad as the hurt he felt that Alex still attacked him, even though the blond clearly had no idea who they were.

"Don't lie to me." Alex snapped, eyes hard as flint, "I don't know why you came in armed with only sticks but you're not doing anything." The gun was leveled at George's head, "Drop the sticks." Ron looked ready to speak a spell but Hermione made him lower his hand. Even though they could disable Alex, it wouldn't be enough to save George. Alex tilted his head, "Even though I don't know any of you, you do look familiar." Draco didn't look away. He was the only one who hadn't drawn his wand. If someone could distract Alex…

"You can't hurt all of us." said Harry.

"No, but I can kill one of you. I can tell you're not the type to let people die, so, what's it gonna be?" Alex's eyes didn't settle on anyone, flicking across all of them to keep them in sight. The pain was also starting to really set in for George, Draco could see it in his face, the way the blood dripped between his fingers as he held the wound with his other hand. But then Fred had taken out the Rubik's Cube and threw it at Alex, drawing his attention away.

"Incarcerous!" The ropes wrapping around Alex's body caused him to drop the gun, tying him to the chair. He didn't look very surprised. In fact, he grinned.

"That the best you can do?" Draco grit his teeth.

"Stupefy!" Alex's head was snapped back as he was knocked unconscious. Draco's grip on his wand was tight, hand shaking as he lowered it.

"Vulnera Sanentur." Hermione was already getting to trying to heal George's hand, though the spell only managed to stop the bleeding. She winced and summoned bandages to wrap around his hand, "We'll need some stronger stuff to heal this." Fred stepped up beside Draco, looking down at Alex as he scooped up the Rubik's Cube.

"...You were right." he murmured, "I thought we could get through to him, but I guess not." He shook his head.

"Don't blame yourself." said Draco, "He's not himself. And careful with that, Weasley." Draco spoke to Ron, who was picking up the gun by pinching its handle.

"Don't you think I know that? Just wondering who might've given this to him. It's a muggle weapon, ain't it?"

"Yeah. It's a gun, and it can cause a lot of death if used the wrong way." Hermione said, "Just put it down." Ron did so. Hermione was very serious, which was different from her regular serious.

"What do you think happened to him, to turn him into this?" asked Harry.

"This isn't Alex." Draco gestured to the tied-up blond, "This isn't my hippogriff-loving, sarcastic, funny little brother. This..." He swallowed, as if not wanting to say the words, "This is a stranger."

"I know that, but as much as he is a stranger, he's still your brother. Someone turned him into a stranger."

"Then anyone got any ideas of what to do next?" asked Ron, "I mean, we can't leave him like this and I don't think we should leave him with his memories."

"I've got one." Harry turned to Hermione, "Can you take memories while he's unconscious?"

"Yes, but it'll be tricky, so I'll need some time to do it."

"Good." Harry nodded, "We'll make sure no one disturbs you. When you're done, Obliviate his memory of this and we'll put him in bed." Hermione nodded and stepped forward. Harry moved to the front windows as a lookout.

"Hold it." Draco said, moving between her and Alex, "Is this safe?"

"Yes." Hermione nodded. Draco stared her hard in the eyes for a few moments then stepped back. She strode over and placed her wand on Alex's temple before whispering spells, causing a white glow to appear.

"I need a container of some sort to store the memories."

"Right." Ron moved to the kitchen to grab something. Fred sat beside George, who had been silent since his hand was shot.

"You okay?" he whispered. George shook his head, staring down at the red stain under the bandages. Fred hugged his twin gently, "At least say something."

"My hand hurts, but not as badly as Alex having no memory of us."

"Like Draco said, he's not himself. Don't think about it, don't think of it as him." Fred took George's undamaged hand and they stood up together. Ron had come back by this time and held out a cup for Hermione. Once Alex's memories were taken she wiped what he had of the past hour, instructing Ron to also grab something to cover the cup so the memories wouldn't accidentally be lost. Ron had no idea what he could use and so Harry needed to go with him and Draco switched with the glasses-wearing man, keeping an eye out. He hadn't put his wand away since knocking Alex out and he was engulfed by a flurry of emotions, grip still tight. His wand gave off a few green sparks as if understanding his constant distress over the past month and the upped amount of it from the last few minutes. Draco took a deep breath and eased his grip. He didn't need to damage his wand. The green sparks stopped and he felt only marginally better.

"Done." Hermione stepped back from Alex. She cut the ropes and helped Fred carry Alex upstairs. Upon their return she placed the gun back on the table but only after rubbing the handle with her shirt, careful not to touch it with her hands. George raised an eyebrow.

"Fingerprints." she said, "Muggles know how to find fingerprints and use them against us. No need to leave any behind." George nodded. Ron and Harry soon returned with the cup covered in plastic wrapping and they all left, hightailing it back to Grimmauld Place. Hermione wasted no time going up to her room and dragging George with her to deal with his wound, Harry also heading up to his room to perhaps send a letter to McGonagall about using the Pensieve again as the rest headed into the kitchen. The second he saw the looks on their faces Sirius frowned.

"Let me guess, did it end in a disaster?"

"Almost ended up with George dying but sure, let's go with that." said Draco, "Alex has no idea who we were, he shot George's hand, and we just had to erase his memories of the last hour. How do you think we should feel?"

"Ouch." Sirius shook his head, "Sit down and tell me everything." And so they did. Fred detailed most of the visit with input from Ron and Draco at times and the blond could tell that, as hard as it was hitting himself, it really was hitting the twins hard too.

"Fred and I, we really care for him too." George had said. Draco really hadn't believed it much at first but now he was inclined to, so maybe he owed the Weasleys more than he realized. After all, when Alex had to leave Malfoy Manor, he himself had suggested the Weasleys take in his brother. They had raised Alex in his absence, so it made sense connections had to have been made. Draco rubbed his forehead. He would have to have a long talk with Fred and George later.

"Definitely sounds like someone tampered with his memories." Sirius said, "How's George?"

"Hermione's trying to heal his hand." said Ron, "He looked pretty shaken up."

"We all did." Draco said. No one could deny that. Draco had known it was going to end badly but he hadn't known how badly and now he wished he'd convinced them to leave before they had a chance to go inside Alex's new 'home.' Seeing eyes that truly didn't know who they were stung harder than any fist.

"Then I'm guessing Harry's gonna try to ask McGonagall about the Pensieve again?" They all nodded to Sirius' question. The older man hummed, "If I were you, I'd be careful. Whoever tampered with Alex's memories erased about eighteen years worth and that's not easy to do, especially if they replaced it with another lifetime, even if Alex's new memories are fake. For all we know, this could leave Alex as very unstable."

"And if we fix it?" asked Draco, fingers tapping the wood of the table anxiously. The words 'unstable' and 'Alex' in the same sentence weren't doing wonders for his conscience, let alone his nerves.

"I don't think that'll fix the instability. He'll know who he really is again, sure, but changing so much isn't gonna do Alex any wonders. He might even get worse if we try to fix it."

"Worse than trying to kill us and acting like a stone-cold Dementor?" Fred asked. Sirius shrugged.

"I've seen my share of crazy, you know that. All I'm saying is to be very careful with Alex right now. He might not have attacked you with his Obscurus but that doesn't mean he won't be able to kill next time, just like today."

"Why didn't he use it, anyway? I mean, even if he doesn't have his memories it should still be there and he should still feel it, right?" asked Ron.

"You can't get rid of an Obscurus unless you kill the host." said Draco, "So maybe someone was able to keep it suppressed. Which should honestly be impossible but you never know with Alex, do you?" Draco rubbed his face again. Fred patted his shoulder, as if trying to comfort him. It had little effectiveness.

"People are trying to invent new spells every day." Sirius said, "You could be right."

"And I really hope I'm not." Hermione and George then walked in. The bandages were now off and all that could be seen on his hand was a small scar going up the side of it, where it had been cut by the bullet.

"Just be glad it didn't go through your hand instead of just hitting the side." she said, "I'm not sure if I'd have been able to fix that."

"Thanks, 'Mione." George sat beside Fred, taking the space in between him and Draco. Both of his brothers glanced over him, double-checking that nothing else was wrong, and then they all focused back on Sirius again.

"So we know Alex is living with the same guy from his memories and someone tampered with his personal ones." Hermione summarized, "We know where he lives just in case we ever need to get to him and maybe his new memories can give us more information on what's happening. It's the best lead we've had since this whole thing started."

"All we have to do is wait until we can get to the Pensieve." said Fred.

"I hope it doesn't take too long. I wanna know who did that to Al." George growled. It seems he had finally gotten over his shock and was going straight into anger.

"Then it looks like you just got your wish." Harry walked in holding the Pensieve, "I knew all of us wanted answers right away and so I apparated over, asking McGonagall if we could borrow it for a few minutes. She said, and I quote, 'Keep it, Mr. Potter. I have the feeling you might need it for a little longer during this adventure.'"

"Smart woman." said Sirius. Harry put the Pensieve on the table, everyone standing up. Draco, of course, wanted to go first and so voiced it. He was allowed but was quickly met with some caution as Harry poured in the memories.

"Draco, be careful." Hermione warned, "These may be fake memories but to Alex they are very real. Try not to get caught up in them." The blond gripped his wand tightly, despite knowing he wouldn't need it.

"Granger, this is my little brother. I know these aren't going to be his memories, that they aren't real. That doesn't diminish the fear of what I might find. Someone tampered with his mind and I'm determined to learn who it is."

"At least don't go alone!" Ron protested, "Like she said, they're very real to Alex. Someone's gotta keep you in place. I'll go with you." Draco blinked.

"...Thank you for the offer, Ron, but I think I can handle this myself."

"You're not getting off so easily, Malfoy." Ron grabbed his arm, firm but gentle, and gave Draco a strong look. The blond sighed in defeat, knowing the redhead's stubbornness.

"Just be careful. There's no idea what mad things they put in Alex's head." said George. The two nodded before, after a few hesitant seconds, leaning down to look into the Pensieve.

Notes:

Vulnera Sanentur is an actual spell in the HP canon, used as the counter-spell to Sectumsempra and a strong healing spell in general.

I'm sorry if it seems like there are OOC moments in this. I had the first half of it written and wrote the rest of it just now. I deliberately chose Ron and Draco instead of Draco with anyone else because of a few reasons and now they're about to see some of what we know if you've ever read the Alex Rider books. That's gonna be a fun ride.

So, I hope you guys like this long-awaited chapter! Please read & review!