Warning: Rated M for a reason. Will contain slash, incest, violence, and mature themes.
Main pairing is Tom Riddle / Harry Potter
If there is any butchered sentences or misspelled/misused words please tell me.
Trail of Ashes
Chapter 2
A piercing scream ripped through the small section of the Malfoy wards. The silencing charms and special privacy spells were the only reason that the usual guards and staff did not rush into immediately sedate an out of control patient as they did often in the public sections of St. Mungos. Warden Davis was in the bathroom in two seconds flat, wand out and casting calming spells on Aethonan before he had even fully assessed what had caused the boy's panic. Taking in the boy's panicked expression and the full length mirror, Davis calmly directed the boy out of the bathroom and onto the cushy brown sofa.
Harry's breaths were slowly returning to normal as the spells did their work. His mind which had been too shocked by the site of his own appearance couldn't seem to function enough to ask any questions. He sat there calmly next to the stern looking man for awhile, neither saying a word, but both waiting for something to change or the other to speak. Gradually, his brain catching up, questions began flooding through, all seemingly equally important and none quite making it past his lips.
Why did he not look like himself? Was he crazy? Had he somehow stolen some other child's body through his freakish abilities? Was he being punished somehow? Was this a result of these 'spells' and waving sticks that seemed commonplace here? Once the flood began it raged out of control, whirling in a massive storm in young Harry's tired brain.
Slowly normalcy resumed and the young boy's mouth finally began catching up to the rest of him. The blonde (who should have been brunette) began shooting off questions faster than Davis could actually answer.
"Breath there little one, take a deep breath and talk to me at a pace I can understand." Davis smiled a little, glad to see the boy calming down, but still the anxiousness that had settled in his stomach the moment Lowsley had entered his office had not left only grown since coming to see young Malfoy.
"I-i'm confused... I don't look like myself! I'm shorter! I've gotten shorter!"
Davis' lip twitched at the indignation in the boy's voice and the fixation of his height, only a child would put aside all confusion and hysterics to ask why they had gotten shorter.
"I'm sorry Mr. Malfoy, I'm afraid I don't quite understand. You see in comparison to your height when you were given over to me for care, two years ago, you have grown only taller. Please explain to me what exactly you were expecting when you looked in the mirror."
Davis frowned slightly when the young blonde only mumbled, "Sorry, I didn't catch what you said, can you repeat it."
"My name is Harry."
Thrown off by the admission, and the strange name Davis' frown only deepened.
"Okay then Harry, please tell me what you think you should look like."
"I should be a couple inches taller at least! I know I'm short for my age but not that short! My hair isn't supposed to be blonde, its black and messy and Aunt Petunia always compares it to a bird's nest. My eyes are green not blue! And I wear glasses because I have trouble seeing things far away from me but for some reason I don't need them now? Oh! And I should have a scar right here," Harry brushed his bangs to the side pointing above his right eye, "that Aunt Petunia says I got in a car crash when my parents..." Trailing off when he caught the dumbfounded expression that had overtaken the Warden's face, Harry shifted uncomfortably. Fidgeting under the gaze and knowing that finally he had been revealed as a freak and would be rejected and returned to his relatives the young boy felt the burn of unshed tears in his eyes.
"Well it seems this is the source of our confusion young Harry. I have some ideas on how this could have happened but for now I will let it rest. From the sounds of it you believe you were living with your Aunt before? Can you talk to me a little about that, and perhaps how you said you received a scar to your forehead?"
Knowing that the secret was out, and that either way Harry was going to be shoved back to his relatives and likely blamed for this Strange Incident, the young neglected boy told Warden Davis everything. From the cupboard to the last Strange Thing he could remember being beaten for; the hideous hair cut that had miraculously grown back to the hand me down clothes and aspersions on his parents for being drunks. He told him anything he wanted in hopes that Davis would take pity on him and put him anywhere but back with his aunt and uncle.
When everything was let out, Davis led Harry back to the bed calmly informing him that he should get some rest. Panic filled the young child who had been through to much for his age and he pleaded not to be taken back, to please let him stay. With a pained look Warden Davis took out his wand and silently cast a sleeping charm that would help the young boy go to sleep and keep him that way for a couple hours at least.
The last thing Harry saw before unconsciousness took him was the Warden leaving, and a pained feeling twisted in his chest at the thought of being alone.
Harry was eating the next time he saw Warden Davis, it had been several days since his story and for the young blonde, they had not been easy ones. Upon Harry's initial awakening he had expected to already be in the Dursley's care but was surprised to find himself in the same room he had woken to the first time. He had waited for hours staring at the curtain expecting someone to come round and cart him off to his relatives any second but no one did. Eventually someone did come around the curtain but it was not to cart him off. The homely woman from the day before had brought more food, and seeing the cold tray untouched had immediately set off about health and nutrition and promptly forced Harry to eat the newly brought meal.
Harry learned that the woman's name was Jennifer Bell and she worshiped the ground Lady Malfoy walked upon. She only ever had good things to say to him and still seemed under the impression that he was indeed Aethonan Malfoy. He supposed that Warden Davis had not informed his staff about the freak posing as a Malfoy but this seemed counter-intuitive to the young boy who felt as if he should have been thrown out the moment he had awoken.
On that particular day Mrs. Bell was once again telling "Young Master Malfoy" the sorrows of Lady Malfoy. "Oh the poor dear is so emotional! I know Warden Davis has his reasons, but I do so wish he'd at least let Lady Malfoy visit! You must miss your family so much and to see Lady Malfoy's kind heart so distraught at being barred visitation of her precious child is so heartbreaking! Why even Lord Malfoy who I had once thought was cold as ice looks distraught these days. To keep a family such as yours apart young Master Malfoy, the Warden must have a will of stone because I know I'd never be able to look the beautiful, kind hearted Lady Malfoy in the face and tell her that her son is awake after two years and say no, you can't visit him. Oh the tragedy! My poor heart can't take it!"
Harry didn't hear the door open or footsteps but he did catch the small noise made when Davis cleared his throat. Turning, he saw Davis standing there with the two most beautiful people Harry had ever seen. The woman who looked to be in her thirties had the most beautiful honey blonde hair that curled and framed her face perfectly. Her dark brown eyes were crinkled slightly in a polite smile, that graced her bow shaped lips perfectly. Her slender frame was fragile in comparison to the broad man on her left. His face unlike the woman's seemed more timeless, older and younger at the same time. The straight perfect hair reminded Harry of his own, now platinum blonde and the grey eyes seemed familiar, his frame however did not bring about the same feelings of familiarity, but spoke of grace and silent strength. They were the most perfect people Harry had ever laid eyes on.
"Oh! Lord and Lady Malfoy! What an honor!"
At Mrs. Bell's exclamation it dawned on Harry that these were the people whose son he looked like. A feeling of want and loneliness curled its way up his stomach and into his throat. Nausea briefly burned through the butterflies, his eyes suddenly more glossy than usual. The young neglected boy swore he'd never felt such a burning need for parents in his entire short life as he did looking upon this perfect couple.
"Mrs. Bell if I could..." Warden Davis motioned for her to follow him out. An 'o' look overtook her features and with a longing glance at Lady Malfoy followed Davis out of the room. The trio left in the room fell into awkward silence, Harry's eyes darting around the room looking at anything but the couple standing before him. Finally after what seemed hours but was only seconds Davis came back around the curtain.
"Here my Lady let me conjure you a seat," and with a swish of his wand a comfy looking blue and silver chair sat itself next to Harry's bed. Harry jumped and stared at the chair in wonder, both excited and confused by the Strange Things happening around him and yet certainly not caused by him.
"So magic is real then?" Harry couldn't help but ask. He felt like he was slowly going crazy; with his change in appearance and people waving sticks in weird dresses... Magic was the only explanation that his young mind could imagine that didn't leave him asylum and even that was pushing it.
Lost in his own thoughts about magic and avoiding the gazes of the adults, he missed the pained expression the Malfoy couple shared between them.
Gracefully the Lady Malfoy walked over and sat in the chair a mask of calm and serenity on her face, her husband following her and conjuring his own green and silver chair beside the first.
Lord Malfoy cleared his throat, drawing the attention of the others. "Mr. Davis has told us that you would like to go by Harry, is that correct?"
Fidgeting again under their gazes, he nodded, "My name is Harry."
The couple glanced at each other, a silent conversation passing between them before Lady Malfoy turned back to him.
"Well, Harry, that's what we came to talk about. You see, when you came here to St. Mungos you were in an accident involving a very dangerous magical artifact that put you into a catatonic state before falling into a coma. You were in that state for almost two years until you awoke about a week ago. So perhaps you can see why we are confused, because to us you appear as our son who we would very much love to be reunited with."
The small boy curled a little into himself at that feeling very confused and lost. He wanted so badly to be this couple's son but Harry knew he couldn't be. They wouldn't want him so much if they understood that he was just a body stealing freak.
Seeing that the young boy was not responding as they had hoped, Carina decided to try a different approach. "Mr. Davis has told us a bit of your story, but why don't you explain it to us... Harry." A slight pained look overtook her face briefly at calling her son such a name, Lord Malfoy grabbed her hand in a show of comfort and understanding.
It took all of Harry's willpower to muster the courage to ruin his chance at being apart of this beautiful family, but slowly but surely Harry told them about his life with his aunt, uncle, and cousin. He didn't look directly at them, afraid of their reactions, so he missed the pained expressions and loathing the couple briefly displayed at the abuse and neglect he had experienced at his so called 'family.'
When he finished, he sat silently and waited. Now they knew just how much of a freak he was, and soon they would hate him just like the Dursleys.
"I have a theory about that."
Glancing up in surprise, Harry looked at Warden Davis, who he had forgotten during his talk with the Malfoys.
"Would you mind if explained a bit more about the accident?" Davis asked, and when confirming that no, they would not the Warden nodded resolved to help the broken family before him. Sitting at the edge of the bed he turned to the pale Aethonan and began to explain what had happened.
"The Malfoys are a very influential and rich family, they are one of the most powerful pureblood families left in Britain and they have many enemies. You and your brother are the heirs to this fortune, and as such you are often targets of revenge and hate for those who disagree with your family politics or are just jealous of the Malfoy wealth. It was one such incident that led to your extended stay here in St. Mungos. In reality we don't believe you were actually the sole target in the attack but both you and your brother. We assume they were attempting to take out the Malfoy heirs and leave the house in ruin, but that matters little at this point. You, young Harry, were the victim of an artifact that was supposed to kill you. You were very lucky to survive it, but other than the death was supposed to be prolonged and painful for both the victim and the family, little is known about what happens once the magic of the artifact has been activated. I believe that what happened was a form of what the attacker would think as poetic justice, by making you live the painful experience of a muggleborn and then dieing at the hands of a disgusting muggle."
"Muggle?" Harry asked confused. He understood that the Malfoy was some important family, and that Aethonan Malfoy had been attacked because of it but the rest just confused him.
"A muggle is a non-magical person Harry. What you were, is considered a Muggle-born, someone who is magical born from non-magical people. There are some people who believe that muggles are equal to wizards, what we all are Harry, and they don't like families like the Malfoys. But what you must understand is that you aren't Harry, you are Aethonan, a wizard whose blood is pure and who will never be at the mercy of Muggles again."