Chapter 5

It was the day before Christmas Vacation and Theo found himself packing his trunk. He was still amazed at all that had happened since he had started school. His father always went out of his way to help him with potions. Not that he needed help. But it was nice. He was pretty sure Dumbledore and his father knew that Severus was in fact his father. But neither of them had said anything. He was also amazed to find himself opening up to Draco, Vincent, and Greg. People thought that they were just the muscle of the group, but they were actually intelligent. I mean they got into Hogwarts, so they had to have some intelligence. But people see what they want to see. They don't like to talk much. Mostly grunt a response, but they are loyal and when they do talk, they amaze you. Vincent excels in Charms, while Greg excels in Transfiguration. Draco is good in potions. While Theo was good in potions himself, he excelled in Defense. He was always caught reading some kind of Defense book. His book was filled with notes from his practices. He was working on a way to make up some spells. Between the four of them, they had most of the subjects covered. People were starting to call them the Slytherin Quartet. They were always seen together.

He was packed and ready to go tomorrow. Draco invited him and the boys to his house for Christmas, and he surprised himself by accepting.

The next morning everyone piled onto the train. The train ride seemed like it was faster than the way to the school. He followed Draco off the train onto the platform and seen a blond couple standing off to the side. The stood like they were royalty, and people around them acted like they were too.

"Draco, darling, it's so good that you are coming home to Christmas. I'm glad you invited your friends. It gets so lonely in that huge manor, just the two of us."

Draco had two twin circles of pink on his cheeks. Vincent and Greg looked like they were trying not to laugh. Theo looked the other way. He never had that. He never had a mother to smother him. Yes, he had an aunt, but she was the physical sort. She told him she was proud of him and that his mother would be proud but she never hugged him.

"Draco, why don't you introduce your friend. I know Vincent and Gregory, but who's this?" Draco's father said.

Theo looked up. Draco hesitated for a minute. They discussed this moment in depth. Draco wasn't sure where his parents loyalties lie. He had heard them talking while he grew up and the conversations he heard always contradicted themselves. They talked about serving the Dark Lord, but then they talked about how happy they were that they were dead. They also talked about Dumbledore. So this was the moment.

"Father, this is Theo. Theo my father." Theo fought a grin.

"That explains so much, Draco. Please don't spare me, I can take what ever they dish out. I have before." Theo then turned to Draco's father and extended his hand.

"Mr. Malfoy, I'm Theo. I'm in Slytherin House with your son. The reason he seems like he is about to wet himself is because the rest of the world knows me as Harry Potter." Mr. Malfoy's lips turned up and he gripped Theo's hand.

"So the world knows you as Harry Potter. Who are you really?" He asked.

It was Theo's turn to smirk. "I am a Slytherin at heart. My birth name was Melanthios Kleon. My mother and her husband told everyone that my name was Harry Potter for safety reasons. So, you may call me Theo. Pleased to meet you, Mr. Malfoy and Mrs. Malfoy. I have heard a great deal about you."

"Not all good, probably." Mrs. Malfoy said as she led them through the barrier.

"You can't always believe what you hear, Mrs. Malfoy. Nor can you believe everything that you see. There are rumors and such circulating about me, and some of them aren't even remotely true."

"But there are some that are true." Draco piped in. He was relieved that the introduction went well.

Theo smirked at him. "Of course. There is always some truth behind rumors. They had to start somewhere. The fact that I took down that troll was true, but the rumor that I killed it with my bare hands is not."

"Of course, you would have to have super human strength to do that." Draco said as they grabbed the port-key saving Theo from commenting. He was relieved that no one noticed how pale he was. But he was wrong. Draco's father noticed.

Lucius narrowed his eyes. There was something off about Draco's friend. Him being a Veela could sense that there was something different about him. There was also the fact that he looked nothing like James Potter. If his memory was correct, he looked almost identical to a good friend of his at the same age.

When they arrived he instructed Draco to show his friends their rooms and almost dragged his wife to the study. He left her standing in the middle of the room and went straight to the bookshelf and pulled out one of his old year books.

He turned to the third year and seen his picture along with his wife. He turned to the front of the book and found the first years. He went through the names: There was Sirius Black, Cissy's innocent cousin; Remus Lupin, the werewolf; Peter Pettigrew, the rat; James Potter, Lucius looked closer. There was nothing about young Theo that looked remotely like Potter.

"Luke, what are you doing?" Cissy said.

"Come here. Look at this. This is James Potter from his first year. Young Theo looks nothing like him."

"Maybe he took after his mother."

"No. Here's her picture. He has her eyes, sort of. They are green, but a darker green. They share the same nose and that's it. Now look." He turned to the S's. She looked.

"That's Severus. Lucius Abraxes Malfoy, what are you trying to say?"

"Look. The same straight hair, same arched eyebrows, same slanted eyes and high cheekbones. Merlin, Cissy, their identical except their nose. Can't you see it? I can't believe no one ever seen it before. Severus has him in his house. In his classes. He has to know. There is no way he can't know. He loved her Cissy. You know that."

"I know more than anyone, Lucius. She was my best friend. She should have been Slytherin. Her blood status was the only thing that kept her from being one. I also know that one minute she was madly in love with Severus and a month later she was married to Potter. No one knows what happened. The only two people that might have known are dead."

"I know, Cissy. Let's see how Severus acts on Christmas day. We'll ask him then."

Christmas day arrived and Theo and the boys were sitting staring at the tree waiting for the company to arrive. Theo had presents before, but they were in private and only from his aunt.

The guests arrived and Theo was surprised to see his father there. Vincent and Greg's parents were also there. Then it was time to unwrap gifts. Theo had only gotten the boys something and his aunt. He had already sent his aunt her present. He had gotten her a necklace that was handcrafted with a lily and a petunia intertwined. He had it engraved on the back saying :Sisters forever. In life and death. He was sure she would like it.

He had just opened his last gift when a black hawk owl flew through the window and landed in his lap. She had a black box with small holes in the top of it. Theo took it and stared at it for a minute.

"Well whose it from?" Draco said. Theo looked up surprised. Everyone was staring at him. He looked at the letter attached to the top and took it off.

"It's from my aunt."

He opened the letter and read it.

Theo,

Happy Christmas. I'm glad you are spending Christmas with a nice family. I remember a Narcissa. Your mother spoke highly of her. She was your godfather's cousin. I believe your mother and her were best friends.

Theo stopped reading and looked up at Mrs. Malfoy. "You knew my mother?"

She looked started but nodded. Theo nodded and kept reading.

Anyway, my gift is something special. I spent along time trying to think of a perfect gift. I know I haven't always been the best aunt. And I would like to say I'm sorry. I know you don't like to get close to anyone, so my gift to you is a friend. With your gift, you'll always have a non judgmental companion to talk to. I got it in Diagon Alley. I was told she is highly poisonous and her venom is extremely valuable. Treat her well.

Love,

Aunt Petunia

Theo sat there for a minute in shock. He now knew what she got him. If she was poisonous he had to talk to her before she seen him. But in front of all the people? He looked back at the letter and seen a P.S.

P.S. I realize that you will probably be in front of people and don't like to show your gift, so I told the snake not to bite the person that will open the box. She knows that you are her master. She also knows that you can't talk to her in front of people. The man I asked about Parseltongue said not much was known about it, but the snakes can understand human language fine. Especially from magical people. He told her not to bite anyone till she gets permission from her master.

Theo nodded to himself and grinned. Everyone watched as he set the letter down and reached for the box. He carefully lifted the lid and made a ssshhing sound that sounded like he was comforting it, but in reality he was letting the snake know that he was a speaker.

He pulled the lid off and stuck his hand in the box and she slithered up his arm. Theo heard gasps from around the room. She slid up his arm and wrapped around his neck.

"Your my master. The lady told me about you. I didn't understand much, but she told me not to bite you. She put your scent in my box so I would get used to you."

Theo nodded slightly and ran his fingers down her body. Not noticing his father's narrowed eyes.

"She's beautiful." He whispered.

"She's...she's..she's...." Draco stuttered.

Theo looked at him and smirked "A Black Mamba. I know. She is one of the most deadly snakes in Africa. They can reach speeds of up to 12 mph on land. They reach up to 9 feet in length and only the King Cobra is longer. They can also strike their prey up to 12 times injecting their venom each time. I know, Draco. But she is just a baby. I have always been interested in snakes. I accidentally set one loose on my cousin once."

Mr. Malfoy choked, "You set a snake loose on your cousin?"

Theo nodded and grinned. One of his true grins. "It was a 10 foot boa constrictor. We were at the zoo. I was watching it and my cousin pushed me. I was mad so I made the glass disappear. My cousin fell in. and the snake got away. The glass reappeared and my cousin was stuck in the enclosure. It was rather funny."

Draco shook his head and laughed. "Only you could magically set a snake loose on your cousin. How old were you?"

"I was seven."

Now it was Snapes turn to choke, "You magically did that at the age of seven?"

Theo nodded. "My aunt told me that I was a wizard for the first time I think when I was about five. It was kinda hard not to notice something when I kept on getting sent to the principles office for turning my teacher's hair blue."

The boys started laughing.

Theo was on a roll. He had never let anyone in and he enjoyed them knowing about him. He decided that it was Christmas and he would let loose a little. He leaned back and put his hands behind his head and grinned.

"Lets see. When I was 3 I kept on stealing my cousins milk. But he was on the other side of the room. So you would see a glass of milk floating across the room. At five I turned my teachers hair blue. She was mean and kept on telling me I was wrong when my grades were the highest. When I was seven it was the snake. Hhhmmm. Oh, when I was 9, my cousin was chasing me and I accidentally apperated on the roof of the school. That was fun to explain. My aunt spent almost two hours trying to convince the principle that I climbed up there. At 10 I shattered all the kitchen windows because I was mad at my uncles sister. I think that was it."

They were all gaping at him.

"I think the most exciting thing I did was turn my stuffed pig toy into a stuffed dragon." Draco said.

Theo shook his head and looked at Draco. "My aunt was the only one that was nice to me. My uncle hated me and ignored me most of the time. My cousin's favorite past time was beating me up. My uncle's sister would constantly put my dead mother down and tell me my father was a drunk and a dead beat. Accidental magic happens under stress. Mostly when your mad or scared."

Lucius took the cue and took Severus into his study. He poured them both a Brandy and sat down and looked at him.

"I know what you want to talk to me about. Dumbledore figured it out in October. You can be sure he is not going back to those people no matter what the old man says."

"Severus, how could you not have known? The dates don't add up. He would have been born two months early if he was Potter's."

"I know, Lucius. I did the math when I seen him for the first time. My only excuse was that I wasn't myself. My mother had made me join the Dark Lord and then Lily seen the mark. She freaked and ran away. Three weeks later she was married to Potter. Then she had Theo. Then she was dead. Merlin, Lucius, it was me that got her killed. I heard the prophecy. I told him. Then I begged for her life. He remembers. He remembers her getting killed. He remembers the Dark Lord turning his wand on him. He was a baby and he remembers. What is he going to think of me when he learns that it was me that sentenced his mother to death?"

"I would want to know why?"

Lucius and Severus whipped their heads around to see Theo standing in the doorway with his snake wrapped around his arm. Lucius excused himself leaving Severus and Theo to hash things out in private.