Long wait, I know, I'm sorry. Anyways, without further ado, the new chapter


"Serpens! Orion! Your father is here!"

Orion looked up with a grin from the chess game he was playing with Serpens. "Father is here! Let's go!" He got up quickly and pulled his brother towards the door of his room, only remembering to ask where his father was when he was standing outside his room.

"Misty!" Orion called loudly.

A small house elf immediately appeared next to the two boys. "Young Master call Misty. What can Misty do for Young Master?"

"Where's my father, Misty?"

"Guest is Young Master's father?"

"Yes"

"Young Master's father is in the potions room"

Orion nodded before starting to walk again, pulling Serpens with him. Two weeks had passed since the last time they saw their father and he was too excited, which meant the boys reached the Potions Lab in less than five minutes. They stopped right in front of the door, Orion taking a deep breath to calm himself, then pushed it open, finding their father sitting on a chair as their Aunt Narcissa was looking through the shelves of potions.

One look at Tom had Orion feelings immediately shift from excitement to concern. Tom looked downright terrible what with the bags under his eyes, even paler skin, and his disheveled hair. Shoulders sagging, he rubbed his face tiredly and let out a quiet sigh.

"Tom?" Serpens called unsurely as he entered the room. At the call of his name, Tom turned to look at his sons, forcing a tight-lipped smile to his face. The two boys glanced at each other before walking towards their father, equal looks of concern on their faces. Tom waited until they were standing right in front of him then pulled them into a tight embrace. It took only a second for the boys to register what happened and hug back.

"Your mother is doing much better, but she still has a long road ahead of her," deciding that they were old enough to know the truth, Tom pushed the boys back and answered their unspoken question. "I'm taking you home… today," Tom told them, his tone not allowing for any argument. Orion turned to look at his aunt, knowing she was probably against this. He turned his attention back to his father when he heard him speak, quickly realizing the question wasn't aimed for him.

"Narcissa told me she was taking care of your health issues. How's it going?"

"I'm alright," Serpens smiled.

From the back of the room, Narcissa rolled her eyes and interjected, "he stopped taking potions two days ago. He's no longer anemic, dehydrated, or malnourished. His insomnia is still a bit of a problem. We've been dealing with it by placing calming spells on him at night. Once he masters Occlumency, he'll be able to deal with it by himself. We've also dealt with all the remainders of the abuse left on his body. All that's left are the deep scars. Those, I can't do anything for."

Turning his gaze back to his son, Tom realized that Serpens had gained a significant amount of weight, looking much healthier than he ever had before. The boy's usually pale skin now held a soft healthy tinge of pink, and the ghosts of under eye bags was completely gone.

"That just leaves his ribs issues, correct?" Tom asked.

"Yes. He refused starting on healing them until you were able to take care of him. He said he wanted you close when he did it"

"Alright," Tom spoke, "will you bring Serpens' Skelegrow potions with Bellatrix's other potions?" Although it was phrased as a question, it was obvious this was an order.

"Wait," Orion spoke before Tom could, "what do you mean 'bring'?"

"Your aunt is coming with us to Slytherin Manor. Your mother is due for a check-up"

"Oh"

"Yes. Now go pack your belongings, only the things you absolutely can't part with. We'll have the rest owled later on"

The boys nodded, quickly leaving the lab and setting to their task. Once the boys were out of the room, Tom turned back to Narcissa, "why has Serpens really refused treating his ribs?"

"Well, it's a number of reasons. He still doesn't trust us that much, and while he doesn't completely trust you either, he feels safer with you," Narcissa paused for a moment, sighing, "he refuses to admit it, but he's also afraid of the process. The procedure would pretty much be the same as his experience in his second year due to Lockhart, and that memory is keeping him apprehensive of going through with this"

Tom furrowed his eyebrows, not liking what he heard but knowing it was the complete truth. "How long would the procedure take?"

"It's not an exact science. It depends on how his body handles it. Based on his current health and his previous response to medicines, I believe it will take approximately three nights"


"Hey, Orion?"

"Yes?"

"How are you so calm about all the changes in our lives? I mean, you've lived like a Malfoy your whole life, and suddenly Tom is here and Bellatrix is out of Azkaban and they're taking you back..."

Orion looked up from the things he was stuffing in his bag, studying his brother for a few moments before speaking, "Harry, listen, it's fine to struggle with all these changes. Your whole life has been turned upside down. You're doing great moving on and dealing with all of this, so don't compare yourself to me, because it's not the same, Harry. That's not to say that I'm not having trouble accepting all of this, but it's completely different. Our situations are completely different, Harry." Pausing to study his brother, Orion sighed. It was obvious Serpens didn't really like what he was hearing.

"Harry, listen, my whole life, I've known that Uncle Lucius and Aunt Narcissa are not my parents. I've known that my parents are Bellatrix Black and Tom Riddle since I was four. I've known that my mother is in Azkaban since I was seven. I've known that my father is the Dark Lord since I was nine, after I perfected my Occlumency. I grew up being trained to one day join my father's side as a prince. I've grown up despising Dumbledore and the Order for what they did to my family. I've grown up believing in the Dark, in the Death Eaters. I've grown up as a prince. This is the difference between you and I. You grew up having no idea that magic exists, abused when you showed signs of power that wizarding parents would have been extremely proud of. You were treated as a house elf and when you found out about Wizardkind, you were pushed into being the Light's hero. You received no training whatsoever for it, just to hone your "Gryffindor Courage". You were manipulated by the old coot. Your whole life, you were told that your parents are James and Lily Potter. You were told that they were two of the Light's greatest heroes. You were told that you are "just like Potter" all the time. You were told that the Light is the only right choice. Merlin, you weren't even allowed to join your rightful house at Hogwarts because it was "dark"! You were basically made to hero worship Dumbledore and his band of imbeciles. That's why this is hard for you. This is why you're having trouble accommodating. It's understandable. Father doesn't expect you to just start acting like me. That's why he doesn't say anything when you call him by his name. He's giving you the time you need. And you shouldn't feel bad about needing it, because anyone in your place would react the same way. It's natural. Your whole life, everything you ever believed in, was turned upside down. You just need to let yourself heal and accept these changes"

Serpens stared at his brother, who had returned to packing. He didn't know how to react or what to say. He hadn't taken these factors into consideration when he thought about everything, only focusing on the pain he was feeling and how Orion seemed to not be affected. He was happy for his brother, didn't want him to go through the same pain, but also a little envious that he was dealing with everything so well.

Orion finished packing then, closing his bag and placing it over his shoulder. He moved next to his brother, squeezing his shoulder comfortingly, "you'll be alright."

With that, Orion walked out of the room, heading towards Draco's quarters and leaving Serpens to think about he had said.


"I'm going home"

Draco looked up from his homework, a sad look crossing his features for a brief moment before he replaced it with a fake confused look. "I thought this was your home," he joked, a hint of the sadness escaping into his voice.

"You know what I mean. Malfoy Manor might be my childhood home, but my real home is Slytherin Manor, with my parents," Orion replied, knowing how his cousin actually felt.

"I know. It's just a bit sad to see you go. We grew up here, together, as brothers"

"And we'll always be like brothers. Just because I'm going to live in another manor doesn't mean we'll lose that bond. Salazar knows you won't let me"

"Yeah, but I guess you also have Serpens now"

"Merlin's wrinkly arse, Draco! Don't tell me you're jealous of Serpens!"

"I'm not! I'm just..." Draco murmured the rest under his breath.

"What was that? Speak up, Draco. You're a Malfoy for Merlin's sake. Act like one!"

Draco glared at Orion, "I said, I'm just worried that you won't need me since you have your real older brother now"

Orion rolled his eyes, "Serpens won't replace you. He's my older brother, we're bound to have a strong bond, but just because I'll be close to him doesn't mean I won't be close to you anymore"

Draco nodded, silently getting up from his seat and approaching Orion. He pulled the younger boy into a hug, "we'll finally have some peace and quiet in this house"

"Hey!" Orion pulled out of the hug, "I'll have you know that I'm not that noisy!"

Draco raised a knowing eyebrow, "Orion Black? Not noisy? In which universe is this? Because it surely isn't in ours"

Orion rolled his eyes, punching Draco's arm playfully.

"Ow! What did you do that for?!" Draco whined.

"You deserved it"

"No, I didn't! You're just being abusive!"

"Yes, you did. Anyways, I'm the son of the Dark Lord, I'm violent, not abusive"

"To-may-to to-mah-to"

"And this is how I know our conversation is over and I win, as always"

The two teenagers stared at each other then, before breaking into equal grins.

"I'm going to miss you"

"I'm going to miss you too, Draco"


"Draco?"

"I didn't think you'd seek me out, considering you completely ignored me for the past two weeks," Draco said, not looking up from his work.

"Listen, I'm sorry. It's just… I know we used to hate each other..."

"I didn't hate you," Draco interrupted.

"What?"

"I didn't hate you, Harry. You hurt my ego. I was bitter and angry, but I didn't hate you"

"Oh," Speechless, Serpens was entirely speechless just then and didn't quite know what quite what to do.

"I don't think you came here to say goodbye. If you're searching for Orion, he's already gone to Uncle Tom"

"I... didn't come for that, actually"

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I... I actually came here to say I'm sorry. I know I was a bit mean to you. Can we just... start over?"

Draco smiled slightly, "I believe I was mean as well. Yeah. I guess we can start over. We're cousins now, after all"

Draco held out his hand, and this time, Serpens shook it.


Alright, just one question this time,

What would you like to see happen?

That's it, reviews always welcome