Weasleys, Black and Brothers

„Severus? How can I help you?" Mrs. Weasley asked, surprised, as the black-haired man called her via floo.

„May I come through? I need to talk to you and your son Ronald."

Molly's eyes widened at that, wondering what her son had done to cause the stern professor to call her. Then she stepped back and agreed. „Of course!"

As soon as the man stepped out of the fireplace, the sevenfold mother asked nervously: „Do you want some tea or coffee? Do you want to eat something? You are far too thin. You should-"

„Molly," Severus interrupted the woman, friendly but clearly, "I am not one of your kids. Thank you for the offer, but no, thank you. Is your youngest son home?"

"Ron, yes, yes. I... erm... will go and see if he is awake already. Make yourself at home!" the woman said while she hurried out of the kitchen. Severus rolled his eyes at her antics and remained standing. He had no intention to stay here longer than necessary, much less to make himself at home. The Weasley household was far too chaotic for his taste.

Instead of going up, the woman screamed from the bottom of the stairs. Severus cringed at the loud voice. No, he would definitely never feel at home here.

"He will be down shortly," Molly said as she re-entered the kitchen. "Are you sure you don't want some tea while waiting?"

"Yes, I am quite sure" Severus reassured her, forcing himself not to snap at the woman.

It was obvious that the Weasley matriarch was not used to just standing still for a second. At first she looked lost, but then she busied herself with some pots she rearranged on a small shelf. Severus watched her for a while before turning around and looking out of the window. The twins Fred and George were in the garden, fooling around. Obviously, they were supposed to de-gnome it, but instead they were playing catch, throwing the poor creatures at each other.

"Mum, what do you need? I told you I wanted to sleep in," an annoyed voice called out and then some stomping noises were heard as the owner of the voice pounded down the stairs.

As the sleepy boy stepped into the kitchen, he stopped dead when his eyes caught the imposing black-clad man.

Severus fixed the boy with a disgusted look. The youngest Weasley boy was uncombed, the trousers looked like they would slide off his hips any second and the shirt was brightly orange and harshly clashing with the boy's hair colour.

"Professor Snape wants to talk to you," Ron's mother explained while she filled a cup with hot cocoa and placed a plate onto the table filled with pancakes. "Here, come and sit down."

Slowly, Ron moved to the table, his eyes never leaving his potions professor. As Molly sat down next to her son, Severus sighed and finally sat down himself, taking the place farthest away from the two.

"I'm here to inform you that you are invited to Harry's belated birthday party," the man explained his unexpected visit.

Ron's mouth fell open, with food in it and all, but before he could say anything, Severus went on, "but there are conditions for you to be allowed to attend."

At that Ron closed his mouth and frowned. Then he gulped the food down and asked, "Conditions? What is that supposed to mean? I'm his best friend. Of course I will come!"

"Are you aware where he is staying right now?" At Ron's puzzled frown Severus turned to Molly with a questioning look. "Are you?"

Molly Weasley nodded grimly. "I can put the pieces together. I still can't imagine how he managed to get through with this."

Severus's eyes turned cold. "He is a father himself, as you surely know, and he has many friends within the ministry. Besides, I can assure you that Harry is much better off now that he is away from his relatives."

Molly huffed. "Are you that sure? He is a Death Eater, for Merlin's sake," she pointed out.

Severus contradicted immediately. "He was a spy for the Order and you know it."

Molly laughed humourlessly. "Oh yeah, and he was under Imperius when he did all those cruel things, wasn't he? Hell, he even killed his own wife!"

Severus's look turned thunderous. "You have no idea what you are talking about. Narcissa Malfoy isn't dead! The Dark Lord kidnapped her when he suspected that Lucius wasn't faithful to him. Lucius was forced to do horrible things or he would have lost her. Tell me, how far would you go if Arthur got kidnapped and held prisoner by the Dark Lord?"

"You have no proof for that. He could have told us that, just to justify his actions," Mrs. Weasley pointed out.

Severus jumped out of his seat. "I see. Then I'm sorry for taking your time. I will take my leave."

"Wait!" Ron's voice suddenly interrupted the quarrelling adults. "Harry is staying with the Malfoys?" he asked with big, disbelieving eyes.

"No, Ron. You are not going!" Molly said immediately.

"Harry is my friend!" Ron argued back. "I tried to write to him all summer, as we promised to do. I don't know why he wouldn't write back, but if he is inviting me to come to his birthday party then I want to go!"

"You can't trust him any longer," Molly pointed out. "If the poor boy is staying with the Malfoys, then he is lost. Lucius will use him for his own goals."

Severus scoffed and said once more: "You have no idea at all. Harry is in no condition to be used in any way. The poor boy, as you call him, is in the middle of healing. He had broken bones and much more from those relatives of his. If his poor condition managed to make Lucius' heart go out to him, then surely you can see that Lucius is no monster. He is taking really good care of him."

"Mum, please, I want to see Harry. I'm his best friend! He needs me!" Ron pleaded.

Molly sighed. "Fine. If you must."

Severus glared at Molly for a long time but finally he pulled out an envelope and handed it over to Ron. Before he let go of the invitation, he said: "The conditions are as followed: No bad-mouthing of the Malfoys, and no quarrelling with Harry or the others at the party. Harry has been through a lot and right now he isn't completely stable, neither emotionally nor magically."

"Okay," Ron nodded and tried to pull the envelope out of the professor's grip. "I promise!" he added with a serious face.

"That means you need to behave yourself even towards Draco Malfoy!" Severus pointed out once more.

The red-haired boy nodded once more. "I will, as long as he is behaving, too."

Severus finally let go of the envelope and turned around. "I will pick you up in two days. Be ready at ten o'clock. I fear you will not be able to sleep in on Saturday!"

"Yes, sir!" Ron agreed and in the next moment the professor was gone.

-xox-

Lucius pulled his cloak closer around himself, but it did nothing to keep the cold away that crept into his bones. No cloak would be able to keep that sort of cold away. He sighed and kept his gaze locked on the head of the man in front of him. They walked along endless corridors and Lucius had to admit that he wouldn't be able to find his way out again on his own.

He fought hard to keep the despair at bay, at the same time he felt relieved that he wasn't forced to stay here for longer than necessary. He didn't want to imagine being imprisoned in such an ungodly place.

"Cell 405, Sirius Black. You have a maximum of ten minutes, Sir!" the prison guard informed Lucius as he opened the door to Sirius' cell. "Knock three times if you need to leave earlier."

"Thank you!" Lucius answered and then gulped as the door snapped closed behind him.

The small cell was poorly lit and the air was damp and smelly. There was just a single beam of light coming from a small window, or rather a tiny hole, far above the ground that stood in total contrast to the darkness of the room. Lucius squinted his eyes but he had a hard time making out the form of the man on the cot at the far end of the cell.

"Lucius Malfoy," a slow hoarse voice whispered suddenly. "How... unexpected. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Lucius shuddered at the sound of the voice. He noticed slow movements as the man on the cot tried to sit up. Then he straighten his shoulders and explained. "I'm here on behalf of Harry Potter."

He had debated with himself to say Harry Malfoy, but finally decided against that. He had no intention to enrage the man unnecessarily.

"Harry?" The voice suddenly sounded sad and broken. "Is he okay?"

Lucius thought hard on how to reply. Harry was okay, more or less, but on the other hand he was everything but okay. And as far as Lucius was aware, this man before him was partly to blame for Harry's misery.

"His parents got killed. How do you expect that he is fairing?"

"I will kill him," Sirius whispered to himself but Lucius heard him nonetheless and gulped nervously. His hand went to his wand just in case.

"Where...? … Who took him in?" Sirius asked.

"Albus Dumbledore put him in the care of Lily's sister," Lucius said.

"NO!" the man roared, horrified, and before Lucius could react, he was forcefully pushed against the wall. Two dirty hands grabbed the front of his cloak and an equally dirty face stared up at him.

"You need to get him out of there. Petunia is the vilest and most unreasonable muggle woman I have ever had the displeasure to meet."

Lucius sneered while shuddering in discomfort. "Keep your dirty hands to yourself, will you?"

Sirius's eyes widened in shock and he stepped back immediately. "I'm sorry. I... I just... I'm sorry." The shabby man tried to smooth the wrinkles in Mr. Malfoy's robe but Lucius battered the dirty hands away.

He pulled out his wand and cast a cleaning charm on himself and, after some consideration, on Sirius Black, too. Then he pulled himself up to his full height and said, "Rest assured, Harry is no longer staying with his muggle relatives!"

"Thank Merlin!" Sirius whispered, relieved.

Lucius frowned at the black-haired man. He had to admit that for someone who had already been staying in here for nearly eleven years, the man was more coherent than he had thought.

"Harry asked about you. He wants to know the truth about what happened that night on Halloween. He wrote a letter to you and I agreed to play owl for him. Will you be able to answer his letter?"

"Yes, yes of course!" Sirius said with tears in his eyes. "Does he know that I'm innocent?"

"Are you?" Lucius answered the question with a counter question.

"Yes. Hell, yes. Peter was the secret keeper. This rat. I will kill him as soon as I get the chance," the shabby man promised.

"It was my belief that Peter Pettigrew was already dead," Lucius said with an arched eyebrow, wondering what the man was on about.

"Oh no. The rat just vanished. Transformed and vanished. I wonder where he is hiding. He cut off his own finger, you have to know. If you ever see a rat with a missing finger, that will be Peter. You should also tell Harry."

"You can tell him. Here. That's his letter." Lucius handed over Harry's letter and a small graphite pen.

Hastily, Sirius opened the letter. His eyes wandered over the written lines and his eyes filled with tears once again. "I'm so sorry, pup. I should have stayed with you," he whispered to himself once more.

As he finished reading the letter he turned the page and wrote back. His handwriting was horrible, but he hoped Harry would be able to decipher it.

Lucius watched the man with disgust and pity. If it was true that Sirius Black was innocent, then it must be horrible what this man was going through. He considered demanding a hearing. That would be a big thing. Eleven years innocently imprisoned. What a scandal!

A sharp knock against the iron door made both inhabitants of the cell jump. "Time's up!"

Sirius hastily signed the letter and gave it back to Lucius who let it vanish into his cloak.

"I hope dearly you have been truthful, or I will make your life even more miserable," Lucius threatened.

But Sirius didn't take any offence. Instead he asked: "Please, take good care of Harry. I know what happened to your wife. I know you are a good man. Take care of Harry for me. The boy means a lot to me!"

As the door opened, the black-haired man stepped back into the shadow of the far corner.

"I will!" Lucius promised and then left the cell, deep in thought. This visit didn't go as expected.

-xox-

Draco stood at the side of the pond skimming some stones. He knew that it was not fair of him to avoid Harry like he had been doing the last few days. He didn't even understand why he was doing it. He was glad that he had a brother now and as long as Harry had been physically ill, he had felt the need to protect him. But then he noticed that his new brother was taking much more than Draco was ready to share. First his dad and now Severus.

Every morning Harry was with Draco's godfather. In the afternoon he often spend time with Draco's dad to learn history of magic. Harry's birthday party would be in two days and Draco didn't even know what he should give Harry. On top of that, he would have to play nice with Weasley and Granger, because Harry was a ticking time bomb right now. Every moment his magic could burst out of him.

Okay, he didn't envy him for that, and he could see that Harry hated his loss of control. It must be frustrating for his adopted brother. But then, it only showed how powerful Harry already was. He made a stuffed cat come to life, for heaven's sake. This was so unfair. Harry grew up among muggles, had a muggleborn mother. He'd known of the magical world just for a year now. How could he be so much more powerful that Draco, who grew up with magic and who was a pureboold through and through?

Draco know how to handle a weak Harry, but it was becoming obvious that Harry was anything but weak. At least in power. Emotionally, he was unstable, but surely this would change with time.

Yes, Draco was jealous of his brother. He feared his father and Severus would love Harry more than him. He was nothing compared to Harry.

The next stone Draco threw bounced over the water's surface at least eight times before it finally sank to the bottom of the pond.

"Wow. Can you teach me how to do this?" a shy voice asked him suddenly.

Draco sighed and slowly turned his head to look at the green-eyed boy next to him. "What do you want?" Draco asked, a little annoyed.

At first, Harry grew silent, but then he whispered: "I want my brother back."

Draco rolled his eyes, turned away and skimmed the next stone over the water.

"What am I doing wrong? What can I change?" Harry asked once more.

Draco ignored the questions and skimmed some more stones. Finally, he glanced at Harry and replied: "You aren't doing anything wrong. It's just... A lot has changed since you got here. I need to come to terms with it."

"I'm not the brother you wished for, am I?" Harry asked in a sad voice, "I'm more a freak than I ever have been." Harry sank down to the grass and pulled his legs up to hug his knees to his chest. Then he scoffed to himself. "Even Severus thinks that. I mean, Melinda is nice and all, but I'm not sure if she will be able to help me. This accidental magic got even worse rather than better."

Draco paused and slowly turned towards Harry. With a confused frown he asked: "Who is Melinda?"

"My shrink," Harry answered with a shrug of his shoulder.

"Your... what?" asked Draco, horrified. "What are you talking about?"

Harry looked up to the blond boy and explained: "Severus got me a mind healer. I'm seeing her twice a week. Today was my second meeting."

"I didn't know that. Is it because your break-down a few days ago?"

"Yeah," Harry whispered and shuddered as he remembered that incident. "I was about to cut myself to numb the pain inside me, but then I saw Mr. Paw. I remembered when you gave him to me and all the things you did and said to me and I realised that at least for you and your dad, I wasn't just the dirt under the carpet. With you I got the feeling of acceptance and lo... love. I hugged Mr. Paw and I concentrated on the new feelings I learned thanks to you and I wished dearly that it all was true. That this all was real. And then Mr. Paw was alive. I believe I freaked Severus out."

Draco huffed and then sat down next to Harry. "Not only him, I can assure you!"

Harry nodded to himself, biting on his bottom lip. "I'm sorry that I'm so much trouble. It's just... I still can't believe that the Dursleys got money for my care. I... I don't want to believe it and I definitely don't want to see them at the hearing. What if my magic breaks out again and I do something freakish?"

"Why are you telling me all this? Shouldn't you talk to this mind healer of yours?" Draco asked. He didn't feel up to dealing with Harry's problems right now.

Harry turned away and blinked rapidly, trying his best to hide the hurt these words had caused and to hold back the tears that threatened to fall. "Yeah. You are probably right. I'm sorry I bothered you." Harry tried to gulp down the lump in his throat and stood. "Thank you for listening nonetheless."

Then Harry turned and walked away.

Draco knew he had said something wrong the moment Harry turned away. He had seen the pain in the green eyes but had found himself unable to apologize. He watched the other boy retreating before his guilty conscience finally kicked in. Swearing and muttering to himself, he jumped to his feet and ran after his brother.

"Harry! Harry, wait. I'm sorry!"

But Harry went on. He even fastened his steps. He didn't want Draco to see the tears that now ran freely down his cheeks.

Finally, Draco caught up to him. "Harry, wait!" he said once more and placed a hand on Harry's upper arm.

Harry stopped but didn't look at his brother. "Look, Draco. I'm sorry I'm such a nuisance. I don't know what to do. I don't know what you are expecting from me but it's obvious I'm doing something wrong. I'm not brother material."

Draco scoffed at that. "And I am? Do you really believe I, of all people, know how to be a brother? I don't know what to do either. One second I want to protect you, the next second I'm too overwhelmed with feelings I never had before. A brother is something completely different from a friend. We live together now and we share everything I used to have for myself alone.

"I know you have problems and I don't envy you for them, but I have problems myself, okay? I try my best to accept the new situation, but like you, I need time to adjust. Things have changed very fast, don't you agree?"

Harry looked at Draco with a new understanding. "Yeah. Things have changed fast, indeed."

"I'm sorry if my previous words hurt you. I was just not ready to listen to you," Draco apologised.

"It's okay. You don't have to. I just wanted to know what I can change. I like you as a brother and I missed you the last few days. In my eyes, you have been great at this brother thing," Harry reassured.

"You are a hopelessly over-emotional Gryffindor, you know that? Just because I need time to myself doesn't mean I don't like you anymore. We are brothers, now. Nothing will ever change that. But that doesn't mean that I have to spend my whole day with you."

"Of course not," Harry agreed, "I'm sorry if I'm too … erm … clingy. I guess deep down I'm still worried that you will turn into a Dudley one day."

"What's a dudley?" Draco asked, wrinkling his nose.

"Dudley is my cousin. He and his friends loved to play a game called 'Harry hunting' and-"

"You are comparing me with your muggle cousin?" Draco shrieked.

"No. No. You are misunderstanding me. I-"

Draco interrupted Harry once more to point out: "I will never hurt you on purpose!"

"I know. I mean... " Harry sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, ruffling it in the process. "I didn't mean to say that I believe that one day, you will play Harry hunting, too. But … you see … this first week. You got me in trouble on purpose. You knew it would get me in trouble with your dad. So … I just don't want that to happen ever again and I dearly hope you will tell me if I do something wrong before you get all Slytherin on me, okay?"

Draco closed his eyes while he gritted his teeth. He hated any reminder of this dreadful first week of Harry's stay at the Malfoys. He had been a right git, but that was before Draco started to see Harry as a brother. Before he started to get friendly feelings towards this new family addition.

"I see you are still blaming me for that," Draco finally said, suppressing the hurt in his voice. "Well, I promise you, I will never ever do that to you again."

Harry frowned. "I'm not blaming you any longer. It's just something I experienced and I fear, if I annoy you too much, you could-"

"No. Damn you, Harry. No! I can not!", Draco yelled. "I can't ever do that again, because you are my brother now. Don't you see? That first week, you were not my brother, but my enemy! I have changed! I accepted you as part of the family. My family. I keep good care of what is mine! I don't have to like you day and night, but I will never hurt you on purpose! But then again; I'm new to this brother thing. I may make mistakes."

Harry was startled by Draco's outburst, but also touched. Then he nodded and said in a low voice: "I may make mistakes myself. I'm sorry if I brought back bad memories."

Draco huffed. "I'm not proud of what happened that first week. And if you don't want to make me feel guilty all over again, please do not mention it again."

"I didn't mean to make you feel guilty," Harry reassured.

Draco nodded, but then went on: "And I don't like that you still fear I could turn back into that monster."

Harry hung his head. As if he could switch off his worries like that. But then he looked up and tentatively smiled at Draco. "I understand now that my fear is unfounded. I believe you. You have changed."

"Fine. Are you okay now?" Draco asked, wondering if Harry truly mean it.

Harry shrugged a shoulder. Would he ever be okay? "I'm better now, thank you." At least that wasn't a lie.

"Well then, come on. I'm sure dinner will be ready soon."