A Second Chance
By S.L
Chapter Twelve: I Am Not My Brother's Keeper
Bran Potter was not having a good day. Scratch that, he was not having a good year. Currently, the worst of his problems was staring down its great ugly nose at him.
He knew that he should be listening to whatever Snape's latest rant about him was, but instead he found himself inordinately fascinated by the way his goatee was beginning to turn up on the end. Did he actually take the time to curl it himself? Bran resisted a shudder as he imagined the hygienically challenged potions master carefully curling his goatee every morning. Then, did he actually apply the slick to his greasy hair himself? Or did he just choose not to bathe? Momentarily, Bran thought about suggesting to Snape to speak with Madam Pomfrey about his habits. All students in their third year were treated to a lecture on 'their changing bodies' and the importance of daily showers and deodorant. Perhaps Snape had missed that day- certainly his slightly slimy complexion certainly suggested that.
"Are you even listening to me, Potter?" said Snape his voice rising much higher than Bran was sure was normal. He almost sounded a bit like his mum, but he wasn't sure his professor would take too kindly to the comparison.
"Er, yes, sir?" Bran said, hoping Snape wouldn't ask him to repeat any part of what he had just said as he so often did in class.
Thankfully, Snape did not feel like quizzing him further and instead sneered. Bran blinked at him, trying to figure out just how he managed to raise his lip like that, he practically had the move trademarked. "Detention, Potter," he said. "And I will be speaking to your father about remedial potions."
"Remedial what?" Bran sputtered, as the other swept away, no longer willing to waste a single moment on him. As Bran watched him leave, stopping only to take ten points from a first year Hufflepuff for chewing gum, he rather wished he had been paying attention. He had thought that Snape had only stopped him in the hall to discuss his latest prank on the Slytherins, so when had remedial potions been thrown into the mix?
Not that he needed the extra thing to tip the scales of his day, but Bran used this latest knowledge to fuel his negative mood. When he passed the unlucky Hufflepuff girl, he shot her a contemptuous look just to make himself feel better, even though he knew she had probably already received far worse from Snape.
Luckily, once he made it to the Great Hall, dinner was already being served, so it helped to put a slight jump in his step. Tonight was fish and chips since the elves hadn't much time to prepare the meal due to the overlong press conference that had been held earlier that afternoon. Not that Bran was complaining; he loved fish and chips.
"Where've you been?" Jack asked, helping himself to far more chips than Bran would have liked. To retaliate, Bran took a seat across from his friend and served himself twice as much.
"Snape," Bran answered in a growl. "Slimy git wanted to prat on about me learning to behave myself around his precious little Slytherins or he'll tattle to my dad."
Jack winced in sympathy. "Tough luck, mate. He mention anything about the rest of us?"
Bran rolled his eyes. Even though most of his tricks were carried out with a number of accomplices, his friends were only ever punished as well if a member of staff, who wasn't the Potions Master, caught them. Snape seemed to take some perverse pleasure in placing all of the blame on Bran and then blabbing to his mum or dad about it so he could be punished twice over.
"Nah, no worries about that," he said, and shoved a whole serving of fish in his mouth at once.
"If you get in trouble with dad again, you have only yourself to blame you know," said another annoying voice further down the table. Bran glared at his sister. Why couldn't he have a brother instead? There were six Weasley boys, and they were all wickedly cool, but he had lost the lottery and ended up with Mare. His life was so not fair.
To show his thanks for her opinion, Bran granted her the view of his half chewed fish in his mouth by sticking out his tongue.
"Ew, Bran, stop it!" She retaliated by throwing a roll at him, sweeping her hair over her shoulder and turning her attention back to the Head Girl.
Bran held his position for another moment, waiting to see if she turned back around so he could gross her out some more, before resuming his meal. Mare had been spending an awful lot of time with the Head Girl lately; he'd caught them in the common room on several occasions bent over several old tomes, whispering excitedly. If it was any other pair, he might have thought that they were planning something, but knowing Mare, it was probably just some archaic old text they both got off on by reading. Honestly, his sister was about as interesting as a flobberworm. Any book that was dusty and falling apart was her idea of the Holy Grail.
"So, detention then?" Jack asked, flicking some more chips on his plate, Bran narrowed his eyes at him, those were chips he could have wanted to eat, the great git.
"Detention," he answered, scooping up some more of the chips for himself, even though he hadn't even started on his own heaping pile. "And twenty points, but I'll earn them back in transfiguration."
He might not be good at potions, but transfiguration was his subject. That, and he rather thought that old Minnie McGonagall had a soft spot for him. Rumor was his dad was her best pupil, having managed to become an animagus during his Hogwarts days, and she had high hopes for his only son. Sadly, it was the only subject Bran really did any well in. The rest of his grades were average at best.
"Hear about your cousin yet?" Jack said, leaning conspiratorially over the table.
Bran actually put down his fork to answer, Jack looked serious. "No, should I have?"
"Dueled Malfoy earlier," Jack said grinning widely.
"No way," Bran said, a small smile spreading across his face. He hadn't thought his cousin was that cool. Actually he was beginning to suspect that Harry was somewhere more in Mare's arena. Harry was the one who hung out with the Head Girl all the time, after all. Even if he was also friends with Ron Weasley, who wasn't too bad, even if he wasn't as good as his older twin brothers. Now there was a couple of guys who knew how to have a good time.
"Yep," Jack said. "You know Henry Collins in Ravenclaw, a year under us? He saw the whole thing from the trophy room. He had detention today, from Filch. Anyways he told Carol in Hufflepuff who told Fran in…"
Bran cut him off, Jack could go on all day if need be. Sometimes he rather suspected that Jack gossiped like a girl, though he wouldn't tell his best friend that. "So what happened?"
"Dunno," Jack said shrugging. "He didn't hear what they were fighting about, but he said Harry wiped the floor with him- Malfoy ran crying back to the castle!"
At that Bran let out a loud whoop of laughter. Maybe there was hope for his cousin yet! "Cor, that's amazing, I didn't know he had it in him! Where is he?" He looked down the table to where his cousin usually took dinners with Ron's crowd a few seats away. He wasn't there; instead Ron and Neville Longbottom were taking turns flicking chips at unsuspecting Slytherins.
"Oy- Mare Bear! Seen your cousin lately?" Jack asked, interrupting whatever in-depth discussion was transpiring between his sister and the Head Girl.
Mare just shrugged and turned her back. Then, as if thinking of something else, she turned back and fixed Bran with a piercing glare. "Why?"
"Heard he beat up Malfoy today," he said, stuffing his mouth with another bit of fish, though this time he took it delicately and only had a half piece.
A look was passed between Mare and the Head Girl, who shook her head disdainfully. Bran rolled his eyes and tried to return to his dinner, he had been on the receiving end of many of the Head Girl's lectures about behavior. It was extremely unlikely that she would approve of his cousin's behavior even if he had been dueling a jerk like Malfoy.
"About Harry," the Head Girl said, and Bran quickly scrambled to remember her name in case he had to address her. He had heard it plenty of times, but he wasn't exactly in the tradition of speaking to her on a regular basis and had no real need to remember anything but to avoid her at most costs. She mostly kept to herself and unnoticed, but when she did have a reason to interfere she was bossy, loud and had a preference for long lectures about things she read in a book once. Bran harbored a suspicion that all of her life experiences were based off something she read in a book once.
The Head Girl was biting her lip almost nervously, and then she started again. "Would it be possible for you to meet your sister and I for a few minutes in the common room after dinner?"
Jack was wagging his eyebrows suggestively at Bran, so he used his spoon to flick a bit of fish at him. "Why?" he asked the girls.
"Just do it alright, Bran?" Mare snapped. Bran eyed her, she seemed a little more desperate than usual, and the look in her eyes was pleading, so he nodded reluctantly. It wasn't like they could ruin his day any more.
"So, how was your Hogsmeade date?" Jack asked, as if channeling Bran's line of thought and deciding to take it upon himself to upset his best friend more.
Bran glared at him. "Well the good news is she didn't slap me for being an hour late," which he entirely blamed Jack for, since none of his other dorm mates had woken him up in time this morning. "She only did that after yelling at me for twenty minutes, and throwing a full bottle of butterbeer- that I paid for- down my robes." He patted his chest, he still felt a bit sticky. He wasn't that great at cleaning charms.
Jack however, did not empathize with him, he laughed into his pumpkin juice, nearly choking before he put down the potentially lethal glass. "Told you Claire was high maintenance, all Ravenclaws are. You should go for a nice Gryffindor girl."
"Oh?" Bran said, raising his eyebrows. "Which girl should that be, the one with the mustache or the one with a lazy eye?"
In unison the boys glanced down the table to where the girls of their year were sitting. It was a well-known fact that the Gryffindor sixth year girls were not the best of the bunch.
"What about Lindsey Perks?" Jack said and then both boys sighed in unison. While the girls in their year weren't much to look at (and most actually avoided looking at them), the girls a year below them were to die for.
They both shook their heads to rid themselves of their daydreams and exchanged a look with one another, neither quite willing to continue with their previous thoughts in the middle of the Great Hall for the sake of decency.
"Anyways," Jack said, his voice quite higher than normal. "Finish your potions essay yet?"
Bran groaned at another reminder of why his day was so horrible. Now all he needed was a row with his mum, and a fight with a Slytherin to make the day complete.
Fortunately, his mum must have been occupied with something else and Bran didn't run into any Slytherins on his way to Gryffindor tower, so he was saved at least that small burden. Though as he eyed the Head Girl and his sister sitting by the fire and waiting for him to join them he rather thought he would prefer an exchange with his bad tempered mum instead.
"So what do you want?" He said, throwing himself on the couch and running a hand through his hair.
The girls exchanged a look. "My brother, as polite as always," Mare said to the other, giving him a nasty look which he replied to by sticking out his tongue.
The Head Girl ignored them and arranged her notes about her, flipping open a text on the table. Briefly Bran wondered why she was hanging out with someone as young as his sister, they were years apart, surely she had friends her own age?
"We have reason to believe," the Head Girl said after another moment's hesitation. "That Harry Potter is not your cousin." Bran blinked at her not sure he heard right. "He's your brother."
Both girls stared at him, waiting for a reaction. He just blinked again and waited for the Head Girl to continue, waiting for the punch line. She really wasn't very good at this whole practical joke thing.
"Bran," Mare said after another moment went by and it was clear he was not going to respond. "She's not kidding. We've been looking into it for a while now, and we're pretty positive that Harry's our brother."
This time Bran let out the beginning of a laugh that sounded forced even to him. "Real funny, Mare, but listen, if that's all, I've got an essay I've got to finish for Snape." He started to rise from his chair but was pushed down rather forcefully by the Head Girl. He looked at her with new respect; she was stronger than she looked.
"I don't think you understand," she said vehemently, eyes hardening. "Don't you want to hear what we've found out?" Mare nodded to emphasize the other girl's words.
"What you've found out?" Bran repeated. "You haven't found anything out, it's not true." He looked pointedly at his sister. "Don't you think you and I would have noticed if we had a brother? Don't you think Mum and Dad would have mentioned something?"
Mare colored at the reminder of their parents. "I think they don't want to tell us, but I don't know why yet. I was actually hoping you could find that part out."
"Me?" He declared incredulously, drawing the attention of several second years who were playing chess not to far off. He glared at them, but decided to lower his voice anyways, he didn't want anyone but himself thinking his sister was crazy, and he certainly didn't want any of her strange rumors getting around the school. Harry, his brother? Honestly, Mum would flip if she heard it.
"I'm serious, Bran," Mare said, cheeks still reddening. "You're better at that whole sneaky thing than I am, and Hermione doesn't have the excuse to go up and ask them about it."
Bran glanced at the Head Girl, trying to fix her name in his mind so he wouldn't forget it. "I think the both of you are ridiculous."
This riled up the Head Girl, Hermione, Bran reminded himself. She blew up into her fringe and then dove for some of her notes. "Look here, Mare mentioned to me that your mum was muggle-born and that she insisted on having her children registered properly in the Muggle world as well as the magical."
Bran nodded, his mum had all of their birth certificates, Muggle and magical, as well as IDs, passports, and all sorts of other nonsense bits of paper he barely understood. Dad thought she was nutters, and privately Bran agreed, but Mum had insisted.
"I did a bit of digging and had my parents mail me this." She passed the piece of official parchment to Bran. It was a copy of a page from a newspaper, announcing the birth of the newborn Harry James Potter to Lily Evans-Potter and James Potter, dated for 1980. Bran blinked at it, not quite knowing what else he was supposed to do.
"Why are you bothering with this stuff anyways?" Bran shouted, suddenly angry though he didn't know why. He tossed the notice back to Hermione and crossed his arms across his chest.
Hermione and Mare exchanged another long look that made Bran want to throw something at them.
"Well, we've both been talking to Harry about several things, and I noticed that there was something- off about his stories," Hermione said slowly.
"Especially the bits about where he's been all these years and why we didn't know we had a cousin and all that," Mare added. "So Hermione and I decided that we would both speak with him separately and see if his story added up," she tilted her head. "Well, for the most part it did,"
"So what's the problem?" Bran snapped.
His sister glared at him. "I said, for the most part. There were still a few noticeable slip-ups, so I decided to research the family tree to see where exactly Harry came in, and… Bran, our uncle died when he was a kid, he never could have been old enough to have children."
"I don't understand," Bran repeated, though a realization was starting to sneak in.
"Neither did we," Hermione said. "It doesn't make sense why your parents would accept him if they didn't at least know where he came from, and then he slipped up."
"How?" Bran asked.
"He called Dad, Dad," Mare said. "He didn't mean to, I know it, and I don't even think he realized he slipped up. We were talking one night at dinner, and I asked him what he was up to later that night and he said he was hanging out with Dad until curfew."
"And that got me thinking," Hermione said. "I had already looked into your family tree, but I hadn't looked at your immediate family, only your grandparents and uncles, really."
"So, I asked Hermione to help me out looking into our family, and that's when I mentioned how Mum had us documented in the Muggle world."
"I owled my parents and had them do a little investigating," Hermione said, "and that is what they returned with. Though as far as we can find, there isn't any documentation in the magical world about Harry at all, until we found this," by now Hermione was outright smiling.
Bran accepted the next piece of parchment she handed him. It was another birth certificate, for Harry James Potter, but a magical one. The date was the same. "How'd you get this?" He asked. "They don't release it unless you're family."
"That was me," Mare squeaked. "They won't give it out if you're just a sibling, so I forged Mum's signature and asked for it to be delivered to the house. Over the last Hogsmeade trip I nipped back and picked it up."
Bran stared at his sister with renewed respect. That was probably the most devious thing she had ever done in her whole life, he never would have expected it.
"But St. Mungo's also mailed this," she added, voice now becoming serious. She passed over another parchment. It was a death certificate, for only a year after the date the birth certificate read.
Without realizing what he was doing, Bran raised a hand to cover his mouth and rub at his chin. "So, Harry is really our brother?" He said in a strained voice. He was immediately taken aback by his own words, it sounded so much different when he spoke the thought aloud than it did in his head. "And the government thinks he died before either one of us were born?"
The girls nodded, their looks pensive, they were still waiting for some kind of response.
"How come Mum and Dad never told us?" He asked, this time addressing his sister only. They weren't exactly the closest of siblings, but he knew she was relating to him just as strongly on this point. Their parents had kept the fact that they had a brother from them their entire lives.
"I don't think they knew he was still alive," Hermione said, interrupting his next thought. "Whatever happened to produce that death certificate," she motioned to the parchment Bran still held, "they believed it. I don't know where he's really been all these years, but there isn't any other mention of him existing anywhere for as far as I can tell," Mare nodded, to agree with Hermione. "I think they really are meeting him for the first time, only as their nephew, but as their son."
"Why do you think that?" Bran said, feeling himself becoming angry again. "Why don't you think they haven't just hidden him away our whole lives, lying to us?"
Mare placed her hand on his arm, calming him down. "Stop it, Bran, we know because we wrote Uncle Remus."
"Remus?" He asked, forcing himself to cool off, there was no sense yelling at his sister about something that affected her just as much.
"Actually," Mare shifted uncomfortably. "I wrote a letter and forged Dad's signature. I didn't think that Uncle Remus would respond to my questions if Mum and dad don't want us knowing anything about it."
"You did what?" Bran asked, though this time a smile accompanied his explanation. Maybe there was hope for his sister yet! "Did you have the owl return the mail to the house that time, too?"
"No," Hermione answered. "I had to come up with a bit of spell work for that. If Remus had responded and sent an owl to Professor Potter it would have gone directly to Professor Potter, we're sure. Remus would have been suspicious if we asked for the letter to be delivered to Hogsmeade. So I charmed the owl we used to bring the letter back to us."
Bran gaped at her. Now that was a fancy bit of wand work. "You tampered with the owl?" He laughed loudly. "Merlin that's big time illegal! I can't believe you did that!"
Lips twitching, Hermione sent him what must have been her best impersonation of McGonagall. "I don't need a reminder of my law breaking thank you, I felt it needed to be done. So do you want to see what the return letter was, or not?"
Rather than waste his breath congratulating her, Bran accepted the letter Remus sent and scanned it quickly.
Prongs
Afraid I really can't help you there, mate. You're the only one out of our lot who ever even got around to having children, or who was even daft enough to become a teacher, so you're the one with all the experience. I think he'll come around though, at least I know he wants to. He's made the effort to connect with Sirius and I at least, and I know the only reason he even came here was to get to know you and Lily. Just give him time, he's never had parents before, I'm sure he doesn't know what to do with them now that he's got them. As far as I'm concerned it's a damned miracle you even have the opportunity to get to know Harry, and if I were you I'd take advantage of that. You know how to reach me if there's anything else to say. I'll be leaving the country for a week or two, but I'll be back in time for our next meeting. Send Lily and the children my love.
Moony
Bran stared at the letter long after he had finished with it, trying to arrange all the facts in his head. Damn, there really wasn't any denying it, Harry was his brother, and for whatever reason he wasn't as dead as his parents had thought he had been. But why then had they never mentioned him before? Not even Uncle Sirius had ever said anything, and he was the one who usually slipped up around them.
"So, now what?" He said, feeling deflated. He really didn't know what he was supposed to do about this situation. Was he supposed to march up to his parents and demand the truth? Should he seek out Harry and tell him he knew? Merlin, Harry was his brother! That brought on a whole new spin to things, didn't it, and all this time he just thought he was someone who would only be visiting for a few months before going back off where he came from. He had a brother.
"I don't know," Mare said helplessly. "Hermione and I have been talking about it, and we rather thought that you might know what to do."
"Me?" Bran said weakly.
The girls nodded at him.
Twenty minutes later, and Bran had somehow found himself walking up to his dad's office. At first he had point-blank refused to take any action by himself, at least not before he had a chance to think about the circumstances. Then, he found out how very persuasive two very loud, very smart, very annoying girls could be. Only after Hermione had threatened that she knew about a great deal more pranks that he had pulled, but had decided not to punish him for, did he comply. Though the argument did leave him irritated, he had thought that he had been quite clever around the Head Girl, and here she had known about some of his more devious misdemeanors all along.
Harry was his brother. It seemed like such an alien idea. True, he had always wanted a brother, but when he had been thinking that, he meant that he had wanted to grow up with a brother. He had hardly been expecting to have him thrown into his life at this age. Blimey, not only did he have a brother, he had an older brother. Harry was a full four years older than him.
Bran sighed and rubbed at his temples. To think, this morning he had only had plans to enjoy his date, run amuck in Hogsmeade, and spend the rest of the day hanging out with his friends. This weekend had not gone at all as planned.
He approached the door to the defense classroom with a certain amount of trepidation. What was he going to say? 'Hey Dad, sorry to bother you, but I know Harry's my brother. Why've you been lying all these years?' Somehow, he doubted that the direct approach would be particularly effective.
Swallowing a breath, he opened the door and stepped in. He was met with the sound of shouting. More specifically; his mum shouting.
"I don't know what you were thinking!" Mum was screaming. Bran winced, he recognized that tone all too well, and she was only beginning to rip into her victim.
Not wanting to interrupt and have the anger directed at him, but not willing to miss whatever was going on, Bran crept up towards the door to his dad's office.
"I assure you I was thinking about a great deal of things at the time," Harry said next, and even Bran could tell his voice was strained.
"Do you have any idea what Lucius Malfoy is capable of?" Dad shouted.
There was an eerie silence. "Yes," was Harry's low answer.
Bran decided that there this was probably going to be a great deal more interesting than he had suspected, and chose a hiding spot beneath Dad's desk so he wouldn't be spotted if the argument carried out into the classroom.
"He could have you killed," Mum screamed, voice rising an octave. "Do you know how hard we've had to work to keep our family off of the Death Eater's radar, ever since… ever since…" To Bran's surprise his mum's voice cracked, and he could hear the plain sounds of his dad trying to comfort her.
"It was not my intention," Harry said, sounding tired. "Well, I can't honestly say that. I mean it wasn't my intention to draw attention to the family, but I can't say that I didn't mean to draw attention to myself."
Even Bran was gaping through the pause that followed. Why on earth would someone, anyone want to draw the attention of a Death Eater?
"Do you want to die? Is that it?" Mum screeched. "Listen to that James, our son wants to get himself killed by Voldemort and his minions. If we're real lucky we'll be able to attend his funeral for a second time!"
So much for any doubt about who Harry Potter was, Bran thought. His mum had confirmed everything with that outburst.
"I'm not trying to get myself killed!" Harry roared. It was the first time he had actually raised his voice. "I'm trying to help. Don't you people get it?"
"Tell me what is there to get?" Dad cried, getting back into the argument. "You told off a known Death Eater, to his face, dueled his son, insulted his family, admitted you knew he was a Death Eater, and did absolutely nothing to deny any assumptions he already had about your identity!"
"I had a purpose!" Harry yelled back, and there was the sound of something scraping across the floor. "I know what I'm doing!"
"Enlighten the class, Harry," Lily hissed. "Tell us, what the bloody hell do you think you're doing then?"
"Did it ever occur to you that I want Voldemort to think I'm really who I am, that I don't want him to think I'm some illegitimate nephew of yours? I'm not drawing attention to the family, I'm focusing attention on me! Haven't you noticed that there haven't been any attacks lately? Because I've been doing my homework, I've been reading the old Daily Prophets, I know that things have been unusually quiet since I've been here! Didn't you hear Malfoy? He knew who I was before I said anything!"
"What?" Lily screamed. "You're an even bigger idiot that I took you for!"
"What do you think you're playing at, Harry!" James roared. "This isn't a game! This is a war. I know this isn't something you're used to, but these are our lives you're messing with. If you get yourself killed…"
"You don't think I know that? You don't think I know what will happen if I'm killed?" Harry yelled back, voice cracking only slightly. "I'm not as ignorant as you lot all think I am. In fact, in this matter, I like to think I know more than you! For the last time, I know what I'm doing! I know what men like Voldemort and Lucius Malfoy are capable of more than any of you! And you are right, this is war, and the whole lot of you have been fighting like your hands are tied behind your backs and you're stuck in the dark without your wands!"
Harry paused to let out a string of curses that made Bran look up in surprise, there were a few in there he didn't know, he'd have to remember them for later. "You're right, this isn't a game. Which is why I refuse to sit back and watch it play out. I can help, I have knowledge, I have experience and if you aren't willing to listen to it then I can only thank the founders that Dumbledore is. But even if he weren't, I would fight anyway. I will always fight. I thought I could deny it, I thought I could sit back, but I… I can't." He ended, as if surprised by his own words.
"Harry," Mum said, sounding suddenly deflated. "We're trying to look out for you. You are very young, you don't know the severity of the things you're talking about."
Another long silence followed and Bran squirmed in his hiding place, readjusting his legs so they wouldn't fall asleep on him.
"No offense, Mum, but I've managed to look after myself for the past twenty years. I think I know how to manage by now, and if you don't trust me, then… well I tried."
Even Bran knew Harry had gone too far with that statement. A long silence followed the statement, and Bran was sure that the silent gasps were his mum's sobs. Then the door opened, and Harry came into view with both hands shoved forcefully into his pockets. The door fell shut behind him, and no one attempted to reopen it. After a pause, Harry shook his head, strode across the room and out into the hallway.
Bran held his breath in his hiding place, and silently counted to twenty. After that it wasn't likely that his parents would be in any mood to talk. Now, his mum's muffled cries and his dad's soothing tones were all he could hear through the office door. Hoping they would be occupied for a time, Bran snuck out from under the desk and all but ran from the room. Maybe if he was lucky he could catch Harry in the common room before he headed off to bed.
His heart was pounding, and he felt a headache coming on from all he had heard tonight. He wished he didn't feel like he was in way over his head, but Mare and Hermione had been right, there was definitely something dodgy about Harry.
As luck would have it, Bran need not have hurried, as he ended up running into Harry just down the hall. The older boy was leaning against a window, staring out at the grounds, and cleaning his glasses off on his shirt.
"Hey, Harry," Bran said, trying not to sound out of breath. He wasn't sure how he was going to handle this conversation, and now that he knew Harry was his brother, suddenly things felt very different.
Harry replaced his glasses and gave him a strained smile. "Hey, I was just on my way back to the tower, care to walk with me?" he said.
"Er- sure," Bran agreed, for lack of anything else to say, and set a slow pace back upstairs. "I heard about your duel with Malfoy," he said after a moment, trying not to sound as serious as he felt.
Harry turned to him sharply. "How did you hear about that?"
"Oh, it's all over school by now, a student was watching from a window," Bran said while Harry rolled his eyes. "Pretty brilliant if you ask me."
A bitter laugh escaped Harry's lips. "Uncle James and Aunt Lily didn't seem to think so."
Now that Bran knew the truth about Harry, hearing him call Mum and Dad 'aunt' and 'uncle' sounded foreign. Of course if he had come out and called them Mum and Dad it might have sounded strange too. Again he wondered why Harry was going along with the lie, when obviously he knew who he really was. Mum had referred to him as her son, and Harry hadn't denied it. Were he and Mare the only ones being deceived by this?
"They don't approve of much," Bran admitted, unsure of what else he could say. He certainly heard how his parents felt about the matter. "Even though I know the things I do aren't half as bad as what Dad used to do when he was at Hogwarts. Still, I never dueled another student before."
This got another laugh from Harry. "They're right though, I shouldn't have allowed myself to lose control like that. I know better."
Bran turned and narrowed his eyes at Harry. That definitely didn't sound like the same tune he had been singing back in his dad's office.
"Well," Harry continued, unaware of Bran's scrutiny. "I shouldn't have acted so rashly, at least, not without a little more planning. Though I still stand by my actions as good. I think I've managed to arrange things quite accordingly."
"What were you planning?" Bran asked. It was the first time he had heard of the duel being planned, and he hadn't said anything of the like back in Dad's office. Though there had been a bit of yelling about something Harry said to Malfoy senior, and Voldemort and all that. How was it all connected? Perhaps things were a bit more complicated than he had suspected.
Harry shrugged, apparently reluctant to answer. "I didn't really plan anything, that's the problem. The opportunity just sort of presented itself, and I just tried to arrange things accordingly. I mean Draco, Lucius, Dumbledore and Rita Skeeter all gathered together like that… I just acted on impulse. Really, I was just lucky to get everyone to work along with my intentions."
"Rita Skeeter the reporter?" Bran asked. "What's she got to do with anything?"
"Hopefully everything," Harry said with a knowing smile. "If she took the bait that is, which knowing her, she did, but we won't know for a few days. Even then, whatever she writes will only be intended for one person."
"Who's that?" said Bran.
Harry tapped the side of his nose with a smile. "It's a secret for now. If everything works according to plan, then no one will ever notice I had anything to do with it at all."
Bran shook his head. This line of questioning wasn't doing him any good. He really just didn't understand what all of this was about. What with Dumbledore, Death Eaters, reporters, his parents, and a long lost brother? None of it made any sense.
"Out of bed after curfew?" said a voice that Bran had hoped he was done with for today. "Twenty points from Gryffindor- each."
An excuse on his lips, Bran prepared to defend them, but Harry beat him to it.
"Take it up with Dumbledore, Snape," Harry ordered. "I am out of the tower on his orders tonight, and Bran is only accompanying me."
Hoping Harry wasn't bluffing, Bran crossed his arms over his chest and nodded.
Snape ignored him, glaring at Harry only. The pair seemed to be sizing each other up. "Doing business with Dumbledore already are we, Potter? That's interesting news. You're becoming a little too comfortable with your position if you ask me."
"It's not my position I'd be worrying about if I were you, Snape," Harry retorted.
To Bran's disgust, Snape actually smiled at Harry, somehow making the expression look foreign and grotesque. "What a clever little boy you think you are. I daresay you know nothing about my position. If you did you would know better than to wander dark corridors alone."
Even Bran saw Snape make the slight movement with his wand hand that changed his stature from passive to all too aggressive.
"Perhaps," Harry agreed. "But I can assure you that I will know more soon. For now I have decided to set my sights a bit higher than your position. I suppose Lucius Malfoy has filled you in by now."
At the mention of his status Snape's face froze in disgust. "Watch your back, Potter," Snape growled. "You won't have one for long." Then his gaze fell down to Bran and he smirked. "And I will be speaking to the Headmaster and I will bring up the arrangements for your- remedial classes."
Then without another glance Snape swept past them back towards his dungeon domain.
Harry continued on, without a word, expression unwavering. Bran resolved to wait for Harry to bring up whatever just happened, before he did.
"Bran, have you ever heard of Legilimency?" Harry said.
"Umm…" Bran wracked his brain, but he couldn't think of ever hearing about it. "No?"
"I didn't really expect you too, it's not something they teach at Hogwarts," there was a huge smile on Harry's face. "It basically means you can read someone's mind."
"Wicked," Bran said, looking up at Harry. "Can you do that?"
Harry made a face. "Never was any good at it. I learned a little though, but not nearly enough to be well practiced. The point is that Voldemort is a very accomplished Legilimens, and I think Snape running into us tonight could help me very much indeed."
Now Bran really felt confused. Mind reading? What on earth would Harry and Snape arguing do to interest Voldemort?
"So, Snape's got you in remedial potions?"
Bran blinked at his choice of questions. Out of everything that had just transpired and that's what Harry felt the need to comment on? "Yeah, I'm rubbish at Potions, but I don't think I'm that bad. Snape is just being a jerk."
"You're a sixth year right, Bran?" Harry asked.
"Yeah."
"Then I think I have a book that would help you," he said.
"Thanks," said Bran, then he waited another beat before saying, "So what was that about?"
"Death Eater banter," Harry said with a shrug. "They all think they are so clever with their so called subtle warnings. Apparently, he felt the need to remind me that he's watching me, that he knows about me, and that he wants to kill me." Surprisingly, Harry snorted. "Look, I'm sorry about all that," Harry said with a sigh. "Things are just really complicated for me right now, I'm just trying to figure things out."
"Er- right," Bran said, feeling guilty. He still wanted to ask Harry about being his brother, but now really didn't seem like a good time. Especially with everything he now had to think about.
They had just reached the portrait hole and stepped into the common room. By that time Mare and Hermione looked up as they came in, Bran shook his head to their unanswered question. He'd tell them what happened as soon as Harry went up to bed.
"Hey, Hermione," Harry said as he caught sight of the Head Girl looking in their direction, effectively solving Bran's problem. "I've got to speak with you for a moment. I have a favor to ask you. I'll talk to you later, Bran," Harry said and then hurried off to join Hermione.
Trying not to seem too interested in why Harry wanted Hermione, he joined his sister while the other girl walked away.
"What happened?" Mare hissed as soon as Bran was near enough to hear her whisper.
Trying not to leave anything out Bran sat down and told his sister everything that had happened since he left the common room. Mare listened intently only speaking up to say, "Mum'll kill you," when he mentioned remedial potions. By the time he finished they were both staring into the fire, deep in thought.
"Why don't Mum and Dad trust us?" She said finally. "They never say anything to us about the war, or Harry, or the Order, or… anything."
"I'll be of age soon," Bran said softly. "Maybe they'll tell me more then."
Mare snorted. "Dad won't let you join the Order though. Look at Fred and George Weasley. They've been out of Hogwarts for a year and a half now and they only just joined the Order.
"Yeah, but from the sound of things," Bran said. "They still talk with Harry about things more than they do us."
"Not by choice though," Mare added. "Harry's forcing them to talk to him. He's got Dumbledore on his side. "Then as if suddenly annoyed she let out a long breath. "How did he get Dumbledore on his side anyways?"
"Where has he been all these years?" Bran added.
"Do you think we should talk to him?" Mare asked, turning her uncertain face back to Bran.
"Should we?" Bran repeated.
Then Mare did something she hadn't done in years, since they were children, and leaned against Bran, her head resting on his shoulders. "I love you, Bran," she whispered.
Bran wrapped his arms around his sister and he stared absently back into the fire. "I love you, Mare."