They entered a room on the other side of the hallway. It contained a large fireplace, a massive desk, and a lectern. The walls were filled with bookshelves. Mr. Malfoy took a seat behind the desk while his wife stood next to him. She smiled at Harry. Malfoy motioned for Harry and his son to take the chairs in front of the desk. Both Harry and Draco did so tensely.

"Both of you probably have many questions," said Malfoy. "Maybe it's best if I start at the beginning."

Mr. Malfoy leaned back in his chair and scrutinized them. His wife settled her hand on his shoulder to give it an encouraging squeeze. Malfoy briefly looked up to her and smiled. Then, he returned his attention to Harry and Draco and began to talk with a calm, almost indifferent voice.

"I only found it necessary to defy the Dark Lord a few times in my life. The first time, I killed my mentor, his old potions master, Neleus Snape. He forgave me, for I brought him Severus instead. And Severus was more talented than his father could have ever hoped to be.

"The second time was when Narcissa got pregnant. You don't know about this, but you weren't our first child, Draco. Before you, we had a daughter, Livia. She was three years older than you."

Draco stared at his father in surprise. Mrs. Malfoy seemed somber.

"The Dark Lord permits his followers a single child. But we weren't satisfied with having a daughter. We wanted a son - an heir to carry the Malfoy name. We paid dearly for our arrogance. When we found out that Narcissa was pregnant, He ordered us to terminate it. But we already knew that the child was male. I refused, so he punished me… and killed Livia."

Mrs. Malfoy pressed her lips together. Mr. Malfoy brushed her hand in a calming gesture while his face stayed stone cold.

"At that point, it was still early in the pregnancy. Later on, however, we found out that Narcissa wasn't carrying a single child, but two. Imagine the horror. We knew he would never tolerate a third defiance… Still, we decided to keep the children.

"We thought long and hard about how to protect both of our children's lives. Of course we knew that we couldn't keep both of them. This was one of the few times I wished my lord would fall…"

For a moment, Mr. Malfoy eyed the table before looking back up, dispassionate as before.

"Finally, I made a deal with the dark elves. They were to take the first child as soon as it was born, and give it to a pureblooded couple on the enemy side. A potion from the dark elves would ensure that the child would look as if it was their own. They'd never know of the swap and no one would ever know who received our child. Your brother, Draco, was born two days before you, on July 31st. Once you followed, we had already given Tigris away."

Draco's face was full of shock and disbelief. Harry felt much the same. A part of him knew where this story would go, but he didn't want to hear it. Still he felt compelled to listen to the older Malfoy.

"Roughly a year later, the Dark Lord fell. At first, we doubted that he was truly gone. Your mother's sister, Bellatrix, was obsessed with the idea of finding him, but failed. She, her husband, and her brother in law ended up in Azkaban.

"Two years went by without any sign of him. The Dark Mark faded from our arms. That's when we began to believe. And that's also the time when Narcissa asked me to look for our lost twin. In the end, I obliged and went to the dark elves. But even they had suffered losses during the war and my former contact was no longer alive. Those who had been tasked with the job had vanished without a trace. They promised us to look… but the years passed and we buried our hopes. We forgot about it… until I received a message, two weeks ago. They had found the Elf who performed the swap… and thus the foster parents of our son. I wasn't sure what to do with that information. After all, he'd be all grown up now… fifteen years… he would see them as his parents… Since the potion lasts a lifetime, there was no reason to interfere. On top of that, the Dark Lord had returned, furious with those who had never looked for him… horrible timing… I was tempted to never open the parchment. But in the end, curiosity won. I wanted to know where my son was, whether he was doing well… so I did it. Imagine how I felt when I read the name of the couple…"

Malfoy's voice had grown faint until this sentence. Now, he looked up, his eyes boring into Harry. Then, he said what Harry had been dreading since the start of the story.

"Lily and James Potter."

Draco weakly shook his head as if to disagree. Harry himself felt as if something heavy had dropped onto him.

"I was beside myself with anger. I wished I had never investigated it or made this decision in the first place. He summoned me that night. It was the only thing able to calm me down.

"Afterwards, I was devastated. My son was the boy who overcame my Lord more than once. The hope of the wizarding world… our biggest enemy. I didn't know what to do. But then I spoke to Narcissa. She convinced me to find out more about him. After all, she said, he was just a boy, who had happened to grow up under Dumbledore's tutelage… We asked Severus about him. He didn't know much. But he shared a shocking detail: The child was being raised by Muggles. From then on, Narcissa insisted that we check in on him. She wouldn't let it rest after that. In the end, I relented.

"I used my contacts in the ministry to find out the names of the relatives. Our shared blood allowed us to break through the shields easily. What we found was appalling. After we saw those muggles, we knew that our son couldn't stay there, no matter the consequences. And that's why we brought you here, Harry. Even if that's not your actual name. You're Tigris. Our son."

There was a moment of silence. Then, Draco jumped to his feet.

"You're saying that he's my BROTHER?" he hissed. "My twin? What's more, my OLDER twin?"

His cheeks were pink with fury.

"That's correct," said Narcissa Malfoy calmly.

"I don't believe you!" spat Draco.

With that, he stormed from the room, slamming the door shut behind him. Both adults finished.

Lucius Malfoy rose halfway from his armchair before falling back with a sigh. He shot Harry a glance.

"Your brother obviously didn't take the news very well. What about you?"

Harry stared at him.

"You claim to be my father? Why would I believe you?"

"Good question."

Malfoy placed a vial on the table between them.

"The potion responsible for your appearance is the Cyfnewid'Rhieni draught of the dark elves. There aren't many outsiders who know of its existence. None but them know how to brew it. Did no one ever tell you stories of the Elves as a child?" Malfoy laughed without humor. "I suppose not. Back in the day, people used to tell their naughty children 'You are not my child, but a changeling'. There are fairy tales about Elves stealing children from their cribs and leaving one of their own behind.

"Except, those aren't mere fairy tales. The dark elves were exiled from our realm a long time ago because foolish wizards feared them. Elves are dark creatures with their own set of laws and magic. Us wizards may have cast them out, but their interest in our world never waned. That's why they'll leave one of their children to be raised by wizards from time to time, so that it may return to them with new knowledge.

"The actual fairy tales are the stories about humans being raised by Elves. Dark elves despise humans for their banishment. They simply need the blood of the human child to brew their potion. That's one of the reasons why you won't find a comparable potion in the wizarding world.

"This serum here is called Resacro. It's a potent remedy against disguising potions. The only one that can cancel out this particular draught. If this is your true appearance, then it won't have any effect. But if it is an illusion, then it will reveal your true form."

Harry stared at the vial filled with a murky blue liquid. He still felt like he was trapped in an absurd nightmare from which he'd wake at any moment. Nothing made sense. His eyes followed Malfoy's hand, as he took the vial and drank a sip of the potion.

"As you can see, it doesn't have any effect for me." He sat the vial down in front of Harry. "But before we do this, I'll have to take care of something else."

Malfoy stood. Harry involuntarily scooted back in his chair.

"Your scar is a direct connection to the Dark Lord, am I correct?"

Harry nodded hesitantly, unsure where the man was going with this.

"Now, we can't have that, as I'm sure you understand. He could discover that you're still alive."

"And what do you want to do about it?" asked Harry nervously?

"Remove it, of course."

Malfoy stepped around the table and towards Harry.

"Dumbledore said that's impossible." Harry resisted the urge to jump to his feet and put as much distance between them as possible.

Malfoy laughed haughtily and waved Narcissa over. "That old fool doesn't know everything. Granted, this is dark magic. But dark magic is also what created it in the first place. Just sit still and wait until we're done."

He raised his wand at Harry, who flinched back. Malfoy grabbed Harry's chin and turned his head to the side so that he was facing the scar.

"Stay still or I'll make sure you will."

Harry clenched his fists and froze. Lucius Malfoy had sounded casual, as if he was talking about the weather. This didn't fool Harry into forgetting that the man was still pointing a wand at him, while he himself didn't have anything to fight back with. Narcissa rolled up her sleeves.

Harry tensed, as Malfoy took a dagger off the table, but he merely used it to cut across Narcissa's arm. She didn't flinch. Malfoy dipped a finger into the wound and brushed the blood across the scar on Harry's forehead. Harry shuddered, but didn't draw back. Malfoy pointed his wand at him.

"Sanguis genetricis, pontem extingue!"

Narcissa also painted blood across his forehead and repeated the spell.

Malfoy added a third layer of blood, and both of them spoke together: "Pontem extinctum es! Arvadek adava, arvadek adava, arvadek adava!"

A blinding pain shot through Harry's head and he gasped. His hand jerked to his forehead, finding it wet. This wasn't Narcissa's blood but his own. Narcissa smiled at him and cast a spell. Harry felt a faint prickling. When he touched his forehead again, there was nothing left.

Mr. Malfoy grinned and held out a mirror for him. Harry stared at his reflection, sporting an unblemished forehead. It was odd. This scar had haunted him for so long, defined who he was, cursed him… through it, he had seen Voldemort's thoughts. Harry had accepted that it was his curse - his destiny.

Now, it was gone. Just like that. He returned the mirror, feeling odd. Everything Mr. Malfoy had said and done swirled around in his head, leaving him confused. The older Malfoy pressed the vial with the potion into his hand.

"Maybe, it's for the best if you return to your room for now. You have a lot to think about."

Harry nodded slowly and got up. Narcissa suddenly stepped up to him, pulling him into a hug.

"I'm so happy to have you back, Tigris. I promise, we'll make up the time that you had to spend with those awful muggles."

When Harry didn't react, she stepped back and scrutinized him. Harry met her eyes impassively and backed up.

"Good night Mr. Malfoy, Mrs. Malfoy."

Narcissa's smile faltered a little. "Good night, Tigris."

Mr. Malfoy only nodded. Harry turned around and left the room. To his surprise, he was able to find his room without the help of a house-elf. He set the vial down on his table and collapsed onto the bed, staring up at the canopy. It didn't make any sense… couldn't make any sense…

He lay awake like this for a while until sleep overcame him.

Lucius noticed Narcissa's defeated posture and put an arm around her.

"Give him time, Cis. We can't expect him to start calling us Mother and Father all of a sudden."

"I know," she whispered. "Still…"

Her voice was shaking. "Shouldn't he be happy, after he was forced to live with those disgusting muggles? We are offering him a home, a family… You'd think that this is what he always wanted."

Lucius sighed. He loved Narcissa, but sometimes… "Think about it, Cissy. Remember who he is. He was raised to hate us. That's not going to change in one evening. He'll understand what he is and how much he means to us. But he's going to need time."

"And what if there isn't enough time?" she whispered tonelessly.

Lucius felt a sting in his chest, but banished it from his consciousness. "I'll give him as much time as possible. If that isn't enough…well, we'll cross that bridge if we get to it."

She embraced him, hiding her face in his chest. "All of this is so awful."

Lucius brushed over her long hair. "You convinced me that this was the right decision, Cis…"

She sobbed. "I know, Lucius. Because it is. He is our son. I don't care what he was - he's a Malfoy, our flesh and blood, and he has a right to his legacy. We can't cast him out. But this is all so messy."

Lucius stared at the wooden door that his son had just disappeared through. He still looked so damn much like a Potter. The glasses, the disheveled brown hair… the green eyes, probably from his mudblood mother. SHE IS NOT HIS MOTHER, he reminded himself.

Every single time he had met the boy, he had shown all the signs of being a foolish Gryffindor. That useless, misplaced courage, the need to meddle with everything. His behavior today had surprised Lucius, but then again, it was probably just the shock. Lucius couldn't imagine how he was supposed to teach the boy some common sense. But Narcissa was correct. He had a right to his legacy…. He briefly kissed her forehead.

"I know, darling, I know…"

Harry woke later that night, when his door opened. Someone entered his room and walked up to his bed. He pretended to be asleep, so the person retreated.

"Hello, Father." Suddenly, Draco Malfoy's sarcastic voice reached him from the hallway. "Are you looking after your precious son?"

"Be quiet. He's sleeping," answered Lucius Malfoy calmly. "We need to talk."

"Really?" Draco's voice had turned cold, indifferent. "Take the other one. I'll need something to remember."

"As you wish."

The door closed, and silence fell. Harry went back to sleep.