A/N: /Parseltounge/
The Rivalry:
Lucius walked slowly up the stairs dreading the upcoming talk with his son. For the past two days, punishment had been the main theme of their conversations, and Lucius didn't like it one bit. This wasn't how their relationship usually worked. Draco had his faults and to be honest most of them were because Lucius was so lax with his rules and punishments, but the boy knew the importance of family and knew how Lucius felt about respect.
When Lucius finally reached the door, he walked in not bothering to knock or asking for his son's permission. He was surprised to see Draco still sleeping with his finger curled around his small nose and tear stains littering his pink cheeks.
The sight made his heart melt and he felt all of his anger fade away. Maybe Cissy was right and just this once he should let the boy's disrespect go. Moving Potter into the house was a lot for the kid to accept and no matter how much he hated to admit it, Draco was one very spoiled little boy. Going from being an only child with two parents and an Uncle who doted on him regularly, to sharing them with a child who was both emotionally and physically abused was going to be a hard adjustment. That wasn't even taking into account the fact that Harry Potter was Draco's archenemy.
Lucius had to smile at that. Preteens and their petty fights were fascinating. He still didn't know what their fight was about. What great insult had Harry Potter laid upon Draco to make the boy hate him so much? Did the boy steal Draco's love interest? No, they just finished their first year and girls were still the enemy. Lucius would bet all the galleons in his vault that this had something to do with Potter's fame. Maybe that should be the topic of their conversation this afternoon and not the swearing.
"How long have you been watching me?" Draco asked angrily but with no real heat behind the words.
"Just a few minutes," Lucius said running his fingers through his son's blond hair, "I hear you gave your Mother some problems."
"Papa, she used the magic hairbrush and I apologized profusely. I promise I won't ever do it again," Draco said quickly sending his father his best puppy eyes. Lucius had to fight a smile at the use of Papa, a term his son had determined he was much too old to use when he received his Hogwarts letter.
"She told me that, so I'll let her punishment stand, this once, but heed my warning Draco Lucius, if you ever use that kind of language again you will not only have a bum warming of epic proportions, but you will stand in the corner of my study for thirty minutes every night for a week with a bar of soap in your mouth for a minimum of five minutes. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir," Draco said breathing a sigh of relief.
"Come here Dragon, I want to talk about something with you," Lucius said softly walking across the room and siting on a chair so he could cuddle with his child.
"Yes Father," Draco said, climbing out of his bed and snuggling into his Father's warmth.
"What did Harry do to deserve your wrath?"
"He refused to take my hand when I offered it in friendship," Draco said as if this was the biggest slight in the world.
"Do you have any idea why?" Lucius asked. The second he felt his son squirm, he added. "I promise I will not be angry or punish you."
"I was rude to a couple of people he was talking to."
Lucius shook his head in understanding before asking,
"What did you learn about Harry this year?"
"He protects his friends. He's really loyal like a Hufflepuff that way. You know Gryffindor's usually have the loyalty of a rock," Draco said with a touch of awe, making Lucius laugh.
"What else happened this year that increased your hated of the boy?"
"You promise you won't get mad?" Draco said looking up into his father's gray eyes for reassurance.
"I'm sure your Uncle Sev took care of most of your misdeeds and going away to school allows you to get away with others. So as long as they weren't too dangerous, you're off the hook," Lucius said looking into the little boy's eyes that were so like his own with a smile.
"After Longbottom fell off his broom during our first flying lesson, I took his remembrall. I was going to hide it on the Castle's roof, but Potter followed me on his broom. Well, we weren't supposed to fly so I threw the stupid thing but Saint Potter caught it and instead of being punished like he was supposed to, McGonagall put him on the Gryffindor Quidditch team."
"What happened to you?"
"Uncle Sev took me into his quarters and gave me a smacking on my bare bum," Draco said in outrage.
"I can see how you would think that was unfair, but…"
"It wasn't fair Father, and that's just the beginning! Did you know that Potter snuck a dragon out of the castle? The second I found out, like a good student should, I told McGonagall but she didn't believe me, even after she caught them out of bed. Do you know what the worst part was? She took points away from me for being out of bed after curfew and she took me to Uncle Sev! I bet you can guess what Uncle Sev did," Draco said with a pout.
"Well if I know my brother, he gave you another smacking for being out of bed after hours, but I bet he believed you when you told him about the dragon."
"Yeah, but he said he should have given me the paddle for putting myself in danger, so I was glad I waited until he was done smacking me before telling him," Draco said giving his father a small smile.
"Sev told me Harry saved your life during a detention. Is that true?"
"Yeah, he pushed me out of the way when this creature came after us in the forbidden forest during detention, so I could get away. If it wasn't for a centaur, I think he might have died."
"Doesn't that make up for anything?"
Draco shrugged a bit.
"Potter also won the House Cup by breaking the rules and going after the Philosopher's Stone and defeating you know who again. If I did that Uncle Sev would've killed me and never would've let Dumbledore give us the extra points. McGonagall just sat there and clapped her hands, like she was all proud that he almost killed himself. Doesn't she care about her stupid lions at all?"
"What are Gryffindor's known for?"
"Stupidity and bravery?" Draco said with a smile.
"I would've gone with bravery and I would advise against calling Harry stupid," Lucius said, giving his son a hard look.
"Yes sir," Draco said still smiling.
"Remembering that, why would McGonagall show pride in what Harry had done?"
"Because it was brave, but it was also stupid."
"I would go with ill advised and we're going to hope Harry doesn't do something like that again."
"Or Uncle Sev will give him a smacking to remember," Draco said smiling.
"And I might add a few swats as the Head of the Family."
"Poor Potter, he has no idea what he's in for," Draco said shaking his head.
"Yes, all the events you described would've ended up with trouble from both Uncle Sev and myself with the exception of the flying incident. I might have grounded him from the first game or two, but I would've let him play on the house team."
Draco smiled at his Father's statement and thought maybe having Potter as a member of the family would keep him from getting away with everything, but he was still worried that he would lose the love of his parents and uncle to the famous boy who lived. Who would want plain Draco Malfoy when they could have famous Harry Potter?
The two sat in silence for a few minutes before Lucius said,
"You know he won't take us away from you, right?"
"Even Uncle Sev?" Draco asked softly. The fear in Draco's voice made Lucius' heart hurt.
"Even Uncle Sev. I honestly think Harry Potter's going to make this family stronger. Now will you please just give him a chance?"
"Ok, but I'm still kicking his bum on the Quidditch Pitch."
"I'm sure you will," Lucius said smiling as a thought around that crossed his mind. Maybe pitting the boys against Sev and himself would be a great team building exercise. "Now get changed so we can get down to the pitch."
Draco grabbed his clothes and ran towards his bathroom. After contemplating for a few seconds, Lucius sent a silent spell towards his son and smiled when he heard his son yelp.
"What was that for?" Draco whined at the sharp pain.
"Take a seat and find out."
"But Father, Mother used the magic hairbrush," Draco reminded his Father as if the man was daft.
"Just sit down Dragon."
Draco sat down slowly and smiled brightly the second his bum touched the seat.
"You healed me. You never heal me after a smacking," Draco said in awe.
"Wouldn't want Harry to have an unfair advantage," Lucius said smiling and wasn't surprised when he had his arms full of one extremely happy twelve-year old little boy.
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Albus Dumbledore stormed around his office, mumbling darkly as his plans were falling apart. Where was that wretched little boy? He should've been able to find him by now. He finally stopped and screamed,
"DOBBY!"
When Dobby popped in he continued screaming,
"Where's Potter?"
"Dobby knows not," Dobby said earning a blow that knocked him into the wall.
"DON'T LIE TO ME! You're his house-elf, so you should know where he's at all times, and you will tell me this instant!
"I's sorry but magic be hiding him."
"From you!"
"Yes Headmaster," Dobby said cowering.
"Iron your hands and you better find the child soon or you will lose your head!" Dumbledore bellowed sending the elf away.
Once the elf was gone, he tried the tracking spell again, swearing when he came up empty. He looked at the map again and realized that someone else was missing. Could they be together and if so, why?
Dumbledore threw floo powder in the fireplace and said harshly,
"Malfoy Manor."
Narcissa was not surprised when the headmaster walked through her floo. The man rarely announced his arrival.
"Headmaster, what a happy surprise," She said smiling politely.
"Is Severus here?"
"No. He hasn't returned yet. From what I understand he is on a mission for you."
"So he hasn't found young Harry then."
"I didn't realize Harry Potter was missing," Narcissa said smoothly taking a sip of tea.
"Severus didn't tell your husband?"
"If he did, Lucius didn't share that information with me. Would you care for some tea?" Narcissa said gesturing to the tea set in front of her.
"No thank you. If you hear from Severus, please ask him to contact me."
"Of course. Enjoy the rest of your day," Narcissa said smiling brightly.
"You too my dear," Dumbledore said before returning to the floo.
Narcissa sat in the study for the longest fifteen minutes of her life. She didn't dare leave in case the Headmaster left a trace on her. After performing every counter curse she knew and having not one, but three house-elves check her for charms, she walked towards the Quidditch Pitch.
The sight before her eyes brought a smile to her lips. It appeared that the boys were playing against their fathers and if she was reading the score board correctly, they were beating them soundly.
"Time!" She said using the sonorous charm to ensure the four heard her.
Draco flew down and said,
"Come on Mum, Harry and I got Dad and Uncle Sev by the…" Draco stopped quickly realizing whom he was talking to the second Harry shoved him slightly. "I mean where trouncing them good."
"Go for a walk boys, I need to talk to your fathers for a few minutes," Narcissa said choosing to ignore her son's lack of propriety.
"Come on Harry, I'll show you my second favorite place in the world," Draco said.
"What's going on?" Lucius asked after pulling his wife in for a kiss.
"We just had an unexpected visitor."
"Dumbledore," Severus snapped angrily clenching his fists.
"Nothing to panic about," Lucius said trying to calm his brother down.
"Nothing to panic about? The bastard stole my son and gave him to those abusive muggles!"
"Sev, calm down," Narcissa said touching her brother-in-law's arm.
"You need to report back before he goes to Hermione's house," Lucius stated calmly.
"What about Harry?"
"We can take care of Harry. He'll send you out again anyway, so just come back here after you go to Hermione's," Narcissa said.
"Fine. Where did the boys run off to?" Severus asked when he realized they were no longer in the air.
"My guess is that Draco wanted to show off his collection of snakes," Lucius said smiling.
"Better go before Draco decides to stop playing nice and sets his runespoor on Harry," Severus teased.
"I'm going to get the elves to start supper, you see to the boys," Narcissa said as she turned towards the house, happy that the boys had enjoyed the afternoon and hoped that things would go well once Severus returned to Hogwarts.
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"Do you like snakes?" Draco asked as they walked down a small winding path. He had to admit that playing Quidditch with Harry against his Father and Uncle had been extremely fun, maybe Father was right and they could be friends.
"Yeah, I kinda set a boa constrictor on my cousin once," Harry said laughing.
"How did you do that?" Draco asked raising one eyebrow.
"We went to the zoo for his birthday..."
"What's a zoo?"
"A place where muggles go and see animals that are in cages. This snake really hated being in his cage, so I freed him using accidental magic," Harry said with a shrug
"My snakes love where they're at."
"That's cool," Harry said thinking that as a wizard Draco should know because the snake would tell him if they didn't.
The second they walked in the snakes paid attention.
"/Hesss here again. Pompous little peacock/." A three-headed snake said angrily.
Harry giggled.
"What are you laughing at Potter?"
"Didn't you hear what that three headed snake said about you?"
"You're crazy my runespoor didn't say anything."
"/Why doesn't he understand you/," Harry asked.
"/You're a sssspeaker/," the ashwinder accused.
"/Yes. Isn't everyone/?" Harry asked the thin gray snake with glowing red eyes.
"/No hatchling. Few speak/," said a snake with wings, two legs and was almost fifteen feet in length. Harry quickly looked at the nameplate that said occamy.
"Potter, cut it out. You're getting them upset," Draco snapped.
"I'm just talking to them."
"What?" Draco practically screeched.
"I'm talking to them."
"Wait, you're a Parselmouth?" Draco asked in awe.
"If that means I can talk to snakes, than yeah I guess I am. I bet loads of wizards are," Harry said with a shrug.
"I only know of two," Draco said as if this was common knowledge.
"Well you must not know that many people," Harry said sharply, feeling defensive.
"Potter, I only know of two in history. Their names are Salazar Slytherin and the Dark Lord," Draco said as if speaking to a toddler.
"You're just trying to scare me. There are tons of people who can talk to snakes. People in India charm them, so…"
"No they use music to calm them, that's different," Draco said with his usual air of superiority.
Harry decided to ignore Draco and turned his attention to the different varieties of snakes around the terrarium. There were so many that he hadn't seen before.
Draco watched as Harry walked around and hissed softly to his beloved snakes. He felt his anger towards the Gryffindor growing once again. Why did Potter always have to win? He was the Boy that Lived, he was the one with all the fame, he was the one that was taking his Uncle Sev away, and now he was the one who could talk to his snakes. They were his snakes, Potter shouldn't be able to talk to them, he should! It wasn't fair! He had only two choices fists or words. If his words were mean enough, maybe Potter would throw the first punch and he could avoid punishment while Potter would end up over Uncle Sev's knee. Now that would be justice. A smile graced Draco's lips as he said,
"Hey scar head."
Harry looked angrily over at Draco waiting for the boy to continue. He knew Draco was jealous and should just ignore anything the kid said, but had a feeling the next words out of his mouth were going to be fighting words.
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The second they turned the corner, Lucius and Severus knew something was wrong. The lights in the terrarium were glowing different colors and that could only mean one thing. Accidental magic.