Disclaimer: J.K. wouldn't give it to me believe me I tried but she's a stubborn one.

It was late and Harry knew he should be sleeping but he couldn't clear his mind long enough to fall asleep. He kept thinking back on the past day, which had started out great but ended so sorrowfully. Every time he closed his eyes his mind brought him back to Nathan screaming at their father and their father leaving.

His fists curled in anger as he thought of his mother. He knew she had probably cried until ten minutes before her classes started again. He wanted nothing more than to go shake the answers out of Nathan. The only thing stopping him from doing it was the fact that Nathan weighed about two stones more than he did.

He gave up trying to sleep and sat up in bed. Hoping that he could find peace after he expressed himself somehow he walked over to his desk and opened the top left draw. Inside it was a finely crafted leather bound journal with the date from his last birthday written in gold script. It was a tradition his mother had started. Every year since they had been able to write they had received journals on their birthdays. His mother had told them it was something that had been done in her family for more than a thousand years and that we were keeping family traditions alive.

He took the book and laid it down on the table. The draw was connected with a charm to his trunk so that whichever room he was in he could write about his day. He grabbed a quill from his ink well and started to write.

He'd been writing for about fifteen minutes when he heard a door open behind him. He stopped writing but didn't turn around. Both of his parents had already checked on him and there was only one other person in their quarters. Plus the door that was opened wasn't the regular door. It was the door that connected his room to Nathans.

With the way they had grown up it was easier for them to just connect their rooms. The twin's rooms were the same way.

The door closed and he put his quill down. "You're supposed to be thinking about what you've done." Harry said with gritted teeth.

"I wanted to explain some things to you," Nathan said quietly. "About why I've been such a shitty brother to you lately."

Harry turned in his chair and looked at Nate. He was dressed in a pair of flannel pajama pants with a matching shirt, he was clean, and his eyes were red. What was most noticeable was the large bruise on his cheek from where his mother had struck him. Besides looking sleep deprived Harry thought it looked like he'd been crying.

"And, why have you been such a jerk lately?" Harry asked slightly angrily but more curiously. He was kind of hoping that everyone could just put this whole ordeal behind them and then get back to their lives pretending like the last two months hadn't happened.

Nathan looked around for a second before sitting down on Harry's bed. "Come sit over here it's a long story." He said while getting comfortable.

Harry stood up and climbed into his bed making sure to cover his feet and throw Nate a pillow.

"Thanks." Nate said as he lay down on the fluffy pillow. "I guess the best place to start is the beginning. I had been in Italy visiting with Leone a charms master who could do the most amazing things with shield charms. I have to show you some of the things he showed me by the way." He added detouring from his story. Harry smiled and was glad to be seeing the Nathan he knew again. He had missed him.

"Anyway, I finished with the lesson early," Harry rolled his eyes. Nathan was always done everything before everyone else. "And I didn't want to go back to the house with Leone so I decided to explore the nearby village. It was almost completely muggle; I think there was a young magical couple who lived on the out skirts of the village. Any way I was doing some sightseeing, I learned the history of the town, had breakfast at a local pub. You know the usual stuff.

"Then by chance I walk into this pawn shop. I figured I'd see if they had anything interesting. I thought that maybe I could find something to bring home and show to everybody. I found this journal and I thought it was weird because it looked just like the ones we've always used." Nathan stopped talking and lay down completely on the bed so that he was lying parallel to Harry.

"I bought it on a whim and brought it back to the house I was staying at with Leone. I forgot about for a while, then one day I was cleaning my room and I noticed it sitting in the bottom of my desk. I was bored and it was something unexplored.

"To my complete and utter surprise I found out the book was magical and that it was locked closed. I didn't know who it belonged to at the time so I tried everything to open it. No unlocking spells would work and I didn't know what else to do so I tried to open I like mine. I just reached out with my magic and it...fell open.

"I was kind of surprised because that's not supposed to happen. People have very unique magical signatures. But I figured I had to be someone from our family because families are known for having similar signatures." Nathan explained and Harry nodded soaking in all of the information.

"I uh, read the journal and I learned so many things most I wished I didn't. It was our dads from when he was a teenager. I learned that he really wasn't that nice of a person. He was arrogant and he thought he deserved more than everyone else because he was smarter or more powerful." Harry blinked at the description. If anyone else had told him that about his father he would have called them crazy. But Harry knew that Nathan would never lie to him.

"I was kind of shocked. I had always thought that dad had always been the way he was now. But reading some of the things he wrote, it was like seeing clearly for the first time. Or at least that's what I thought at the time.

"Then the summer after his sixth year he met the eight teen year old Gellert. He was young, handsome, smart, but more importantly he was powerful. Dad worshiped this guy. He would write page after page about the conversations they had had. Dad had even written some of their plans down."

"What were their plans?" Harry asked completely absorbed in the story of his father's misguided youth.

Nate gave a short laugh. Not a happy laugh like Harry was used to seeing him but more of a dark chuckle. "You don't see it yet, do you?" he asked then before Harry could answer he started talking again. "Their plan was for the perfect world, a utopia, if you will. A perfect world that had no room for squibs or muggles. Gellert was Grindlewald Harry, our dad helped plan the genocide of millions of people."

Harry's brain stopped working at that moment. He knew his father wasn't perfect and he had known from earlier today that he had some dark secrets in his past. But this was the one thing he would have never expected. He had read about how Grindlewald had been the acting force behind World War II. Harry knew that Grindlewald had supplied the muggles with poisons, weapons, and camps so that they could kill one another in record numbers. He knew that Grindlewald had planned to let the muggles kill themselves then he would walk in and take over and he would have if it hadn't been for the one wizard who stood up for the muggles when the rest of the wizarding world was content to sit back and following Grindlewald's footsteps, Albus Dumbledore, their father.

"You know the concentration camps and the gas chambers from the muggle side of the war?" Nathan asked. Harry nodded with a forbidding feeling building in his gut. "They were created after some of dad's original ideas for large scale, painless killings."

"Shut up." Harry said. He didn't want to hear any more about it. He wished he had never listened in the first place. He didn't want to know these things. Nathan opened his mouth to protest but Harry spoke first. "Just give me a minute to process things, ok?"

Nathan nodded and Harry buried is head under his pillow. It was always easier for him to think if he was alone and he didn't want to kick Nathan out just yet. After a good ten minutes of with his head under the pillow he came up for air and to tell Nathan what he thought.

"Nate listen to me and don't interrupt me, ok." Harry said completely seriously. Nathan nodded with a raised eyebrow at how Harry was taking charge of the situation. "I've heard all I want to about dads past and I can understand why you were upset. But you still had no right to do what you did. First off you don't talk to us for two months, and then you storm in here without notice and scream that you hate our father. I'm your brother and your best friend and for the first time since I started martial arts I wanted to hurt someone. I wanted to throw all that self discipline crap out the window and I wanted to hurt you."

Nathan looked genuinely hurt at Harry's admission. "How can you not be angry at dad? He helped a mass murderer kill millions of people."

"No he didn't. He dreamed up some messed up plans with his friend when he was a teenager. I doubt he ever really thought about using them seriously."

"But he did think of using them Harry. He went so far as to describe what type of poison he would use."

"Nathan, you're missing the point and you said you wouldn't interrupt. Ok, so our dad was a mean kid and he had some messed up friends. But he didn't do anything wrong. Grindlewald did, it was Grindlewald who took those plans and made them into realities, not dad. Dad says it's our choices and actions that make us who we are. Not our heritage or our thoughts I would imagine." Harry said hoping that Nathan would get the point.

"How do you know he didn't help?" Nathan asked quietly.

Harry stilled his body, he didn't even breath. He couldn't believe that Nate had just asked that. "I know he didn't help because I trust and love him enough to give him the benefit of the doubt." Harry said slowly making sure to enunciate every syllable of every word.

Nathan turned his head into the pillow to hide his face from his brother. "I want to believe that he didn't do any of the horrible things I keep thinking of but I can't. I don't know what's wrong with me. Aren't I supposed to give him the benefit of the doubt like you?" Nathan said in a pained voice.

Nathan stopped talking and Harry knew he was silently shedding tears. He now knew why Nate hadn't come see them for two months. His brother's voice had sounded so lost. Harry figured that Nate had been guided astray and all he needed was to be shown the light.

"Do you think dad would have passed so many laws for nonmagical peoples rights if he did want to kill off all the muggles in the world? If he was like you fear do you think he would have fought so much with Voldemort? And what about Fawkes, Nathan, do you think the epitome of all things light would be dads bonded if he really was a former or current Dark Lord?"

Nathan closed his eyes and fought back the tears that were threatening to fall. He was supposed to be the intelligent one in the family, but he had been blinded by something he knew deep down wasn't true. Since he had read that journal he had walked around thinking his father was an evil incarnate. Harry, his younger brother, had just ruined every argument he'd had against his father.

"I'm an idiot." He moaned into his pillow pitifully.

"Yes you are." Harry agreed full heartedly.

"I told dad I hated him, but I don't. He probably hates me." Nathan half said half cried before he started to sob into his pillow.

Harry had never really been in this position before. He was the youngest in the family so usually he was the one who was being comforted not the one giving the comfort.

Copying his mothers' technique he awkwardly hugged his brother, who was squeezing Harry's pillow so tight, Harry half expected it to rip, and rubbed circles on his back while whispering reassurances in Nathans ear.

He didn't remember when Nathan's breath evened out but he did remember pulling his comforter over both of them before falling into deep sleep.

Minerva came to the land of the living slowly. She felt completely content, if a bit sore. She stretched out her hand searching for her husband; it met nothing but crumpled sheets. Her confusion woke her fully. She knew he was lying next to her, she could feel the warmth from his body.

A moment of inspiration struck her. She slowly lifted the sheets to the bed and her heart felt like it would break at the sight before her.

Albus was there, his hair rumbled from sleep, still completely nude. His head was parallel to her stomach and he lay perfectly still his eyes never wavering from where there youngest child was growing. The scene was heartwarming or it would have been if she hadn't been able to see the fear and uncertainty in his eyes. His cerulean eyes looked terrified.

Minerva knew it had nothing to do with the child itself. He was a great father. No his fear wasn't for himself but for her. He was terrified of losing her.

She opened her mouth to say something but she could think of no words to ease his pain. She knew he lived for her. He'd told her so many times, but she lived for her children.

"I thought you looked heavier" Albus said his voice ruff with sleep. "But thought it wiser not to say anything."

Minerva stared at him for a moment wondering if she was still asleep and had dreamed that remark or if he really was clueless. "Your first assumption was correct." She said dryly as she moved under the covers with him.

His lips twitched slightly. Which was a good sign, she hated to see him sad. Albus not smiling was like the sun not shining. It was unnatural.

"How long?" he asked.

Minerva didn't need to ask what he meant. She grabbed his larger hand and laced her long fingers through his. "Poppy says the end of April, possibly later. Its too early to tell."

"Almost six months." He breathed out. His thumb was stroking the back of her hand as he sat in thought.

They laid in silence, relishing just being able to be close to one another. Here in their bedroom they were free to be as open with one another as they wished. There were no students, teachers, or ministry officials around to catch them like there were outside of their quarters. Even in their quarters they weren't completely free from scrutiny. There was always the chance of one of the couple's few friend's flooing in or even worse their children catching them in the act. They'd discovered that the hard way years ago. Nicholas hadn't stopped teasing them or making lewd gestures for months, and she remembered the time Evan had walked in on them. His exact words had been, 'Sweet Merlin you're naked and, and eww gross.' Needless to say since those two incidents, which had occurred in the same month, they'd waited till they were in their quarter to do anything more than a quick kiss, and now even a quick kiss would get a groan or a face from their two youngest children.

"I'm going to do some research. Muggle technology has come a long way. They might have something that could help us." Albus said breaking the comfortable silence with a thoughtful frown.

"There's plenty of time for that. For now we have to do something about Nathan." She said drawing his attention away from her. She knew it was a horrible thing to distract him with but she didn't want to talk about this now. There was no way they weren't having this child so there was nothing he could do. The situation with Nathan was something he could fix.

"I'm going to talk to him today. I'm going to explain everything. I won't hold anything back." Albus answered in a slightly stronger tone. It appeared he had been thinking of how to handle Nathan.

Minerva released a silent breath before leaning over to give her husband a lingering kiss on the corner of his mouth and climbing out of the bed. She hated to do it but she was a teacher and she had responsibility to her students to be prepared to teach them.

The cool draft hit her naked form immediately causing her to practically run into the bath room to get to the hot water.

She smiled to herself as she heard Albus chuckle from the bed. "I would have given you the blanket my dear." He said in a teasing voice.

"Would you have? I seem to remember a number of times when I had to wrestle that blanket from you grasp." She yelled from under the steaming hot spray of water.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He answered sounding closer than before.

She turned around slightly startled. She hadn't heard him come in and frankly she hadn't been expecting him to move from the bed for at least fifteen more minutes. He was leaning in the door way with his arms folded across his chest, watching her.

"Enjoying the view love?" she asked with an exaggerated waggle of the eye brows.

"It's stunning." He said simply. Minerva looked over her shoulder and smiled. He always knew exactly the right thing to say to make her feel like she was the only women in the world.

"There's room for one more I think." She said as she lathered a cloth and began to wash her creamy skin.

Albus smiled and joined his wife.

Husband and wife stepped out of the master bedroom forty minutes. Minerva was wearing a thin but warm black under robe, her high heeled boots were already on and she was carrying her thick teachers robe. She always waited until the last minute to put it on and put her hair up. Albus had a simple pair of grey slacks on and a blue button up shirt that Minerva said made his eyes jump out. In his hand was pair of bright orange and purple hand knitted socks that you could tell were warm by just looking at them. He wouldn't be making an appearance today. If anyone asked he had urgent business to attend to in London.

"I'll go wake the boys." Minerva said. "Do you want me to tell Nathan to meet you in your study after he eats?" she asked.

"That sounds like a good plan. I'm not really very hungry so I'll head there now to finish up some paper work." Albus said. Minerva frowned at the thought of him not eating breakfast. He usually ate like a ravenous teen age boy, but let it slide. "Have a nice day dear and please be careful." Albus said as he kissed her lightly on the lips.

"I will be." She said knowing that his mothering of her would only get worse from here on. She turned to leave but stopped only a few short steps away. "And Albus."

"Hmmm." He hummed as he jumped in place while putting one of his brightly color socks on his feet.

"Don't be too hard on Nathan." She said.

He stopped fiddling with his sock and looked at her in complete seriousness. "I'm going to tell him anything he wants to hear. I'm not mad. I knew this day would come." He said.

Minerva nodded. She understood. With Lizzy and Evan things had been different. They had been smart, but Nathan was near if not genius level. He had also been more enthralled with stories of his father's greatness more than the other children. They knew when he found out it wouldn't be pretty, but neither of them had expected him to find out so soon, or in such a manner.

Albus put his remaining sock on before turning down the hall and walking to his study. He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice Minerva watching him until he disappeared behind a closed door.

Minerva sighed and walked to her youngest son's bedroom. Harry had to wake up and get ready to go back to classes. There was only a half an hour until breakfast started and she wanted him to be able to go to his dorm first to grab his school supplies.

She opened the door slowly so as to not wake him. The sun was just rising letting a beam of reddish light filter through the semi closed curtain and fell on his bed. A myriad of emotions hit her when she saw that Nathan was lying sleeping peacefully with Harry's arm around him. Her heart broke as she saw the dark purple bruise on Nathan's cheek. She had done that to her son. She thought she could literally feel her heart tearing into little tiny pieces.

She was relieved that he looked so peaceful even if the bruise did look horrible. In her mind he looked like a wounded angel. She knew that even if Nathan forgave her she would carry the knowledge that she had hurt her son with her for the rest of her life. It was something she knew she would never forgive herself for.

She didn't have any more time to think because just then Nathans eyes fluttered open sleepily. She could read the confusion of where he was easily. What scared her were the other emotions on his face that she couldn't read. Since when couldn't she get a read on one of her children? It seemed Nathan had learned a few new things while he was away. Masking his face being one of them.

"Good morning." She said as she crossed the room. Nathan nodded warily. He clearly remembered his mother's anger from the day before.

She reached the edge of Harry's bed and shook his shoulder lightly to rouse him from his dreams. "G' 'way" he mumbled sleepily before burying his head under his pillow.

"Harry, you have to wake up." She said. He didn't move. "There's breakfast waiting for you in the Great Hall. Blue berry pancakes if I remember corrected."

"Blueberry?" he asked his head snaking out from under his pillow. Nathan rolled his eyes and climbed out of bed. Accidently or not he managed to pull all the blankets with him.

Harry sat up quickly and tried to pull the blankets back, but Nathan was bigger and stronger. The mischievous glint in his eye was the only warning Nathan had. In a swift motion Harry let go of the blanket causing Nathan to stumble. Then he whispered the summoning charm while concentrating on one of the pillows Nathan had dragged with him.

Nathan's head tilted to the side in confusion as he watched the pillow sail by him. He looked towards his mother to see if she had summoned it, but she was only standing with her arms crossed trying not to smile. Before he had time to do anything else a pillow connected with the side of his face, the side without the bruise thankfully, with enough force to make him loose his already shaking balance causing him to fall in a heap to the floor.

"That's what you get for stealing my blankets." Harry said in a thick voice. Nathan said there stunned for a moment before he burst out laughing. He doubled over holding his stomach. Harry soon joined him. "The look….on your face was….priceless." Harry gasped out.

In response Nathan chucked a pillow at his head. "Wandless magic?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yea well you've been gone for a while I had to find something to keep me occupied." Harry said with a shrug.

Minerva watched as Nathan's eyes darkened, from where she had been standing watching the boy's interaction. It had been refreshing to see Nathan with a true smile on his face. She thought now was as good at time as any to break up the fun. Harry had to get ready to go to class and Nathan had to get ready to talk to Albus.

"Boys." She said in her best no nonsense voice. Both head swiveled towards her; they had forgotten she was there. "Now that you're both up we all have a busy day ahead of us. Harry you need to take a shower and get ready for classes."

Harry's face fell. "Can't I stay out one more day? I haven't seen Nate in months." He asked with his best puppy dog impression.

Minerva's eyes soften but her resolve help firm. After years of dealing with pleading students she'd developed a tolerance towards usually heart moving looks. "No, Nathan is going to be busy today." And even though she didn't say doing what from the looks on both their faces they both knew what he was going to spend the day doing. "But I hear that your aunt is very worried about you. She'll be taking you home on Friday just to make sure you're as healthy as Madame Pomphrey says you are, and you'll be staying with her for the entire weekend." She said.

In fact there had been no such plan and she knew she should have talked about it with Albus before she made the decision but seeing both of her sons faces light up was worth any possible complications that could arise. If worse came to worse she could blame it on her pregnancy hormones.

"Wicked" Harry said as he and Nathan stood.

"Go get in the shower." Minerva said shooing him out of the room. "I'll have a house elf fetch a robe from your dormitory."

"Thanks mum. I'll see you later Nate." Harry said as he left the room.

Minerva looked around the room and was amazed that it could be in such a state after her son only sleeping in it for one night. There were clothes on the floor, toys scattered about, there was even a half eaten biscuit on the floor. She waved her wand in a short motion and everything misplaced flew back to its original position, even the bed remade itself.

Nathan stood on the other side of the room awkwardly. He didn't know what to do and he didn't just want to leave. He knew his mother wouldn't take kindly to that and at this point he didn't want to make her any angrier at him than she already was.

Minerva turned to look at Nathan. His head was tilted down and his hair fell into his face. It was cut in such a way that some of the longer strands fell down to his chin covering the ugly bruise. She stepped towards him and was relieved that he didn't flinch or back away. She knew he had every right to be angry or even afraid of her, but still a small part of her hoped he could understand that she had made a mistake and that she was sorry.

"Nathan." Minerva said softly. He didn't move or show any indication that he was listening. "Please look at me." His head tilted up slightly and Nathan looked at her through his bangs. "I wanted to apologize for hitting you yesterday," she said blinking back tears. "it was inexcusable and under normal circumstances it would have never happened."

Nathan squinted his eyes slightly and stared at Minerva with expressionless blue eyes. "I was out of line yesterday." He admitted with a shrug. "I understand. I've lived with you and dad all my life. I see how you act around each other; I grew up watching you interact. Your soul mates. I hurt the one person you're bound to, the person you love more than any other. Given the circumstances I'm glad I wasn't mauled." He said with a shaky smile at his last response.

Minerva was stunned slightly. Though knowing Nathan she should have expected it. She and Albus had never told anyone they were bound to one another. It wasn't that they were ashamed but it was more along the lines of it being a very intimate secret. It was something that they had together, something more special than anyone but a few in history could even imagine.

"You're wrong." Minerva said with sudden clarity as she understood what her son had said.

Nathans face showed confusion. "What? But I could have sworn that-"

"You're correct, as usual, that we are soul mates," Minerva said. "But you're misinformed when you say that I love your father more than anyone. I do love your father more than I can even express but I love my children more." Minerva explained simply.

"Even me? After what I did yesterday." Nathan asked. His voice was strong but to Minerva he seemed so young. It was like he was three years old again asking Albus and her if they would still love him even though they now had another son.

"I have never for even the briefest of moments not loved you." Minerva said without hesitation before pulling her teenage son into one of the breath stealing hugs that Harry had become so accustom to this year. For a moment while holding Nathan in her arms she wished that he was still the inquisitive toddler who had come running to her whenever he was hurt, instead of the agsting teen who felt the need to bottle everything up.

Nathan squeezed her back relishing in the comfort he hadn't felt in what seemed like a life time. He pulled back first and hastily wiped his slightly wet eyes.

Minerva did the same. "You should get dressed your father wants to speak with you after breakfast." Minerva said trying to return to her normal self when in reality all she wanted to do was curl up in a ball with a bar of chocolate and cry.

Nathan bit his lip and opened his mouth to say something but words failed him. Instead he nodded and left the room the same way he had entered last night.

Minerva let out a deep breath, and then left the room heading for the drawing room. Right now she wanted a cup of tea and a comfortable chair as she waited for Harry to get out of the shower and dressed.

A.N.

Hey guys sorry for the long wait. I only usually write on weekends and for the past four weeks ends I've been in the Pocono's snowboarding and then I just had my midterms in school, plus I just had three papers due. A five page and two three page papers. My five page was amazing I wrote it on Charles Darwin and how his theory of evolution has been revolutionary to the scientific world, my teacher loved it and I got a perfect score. Anyways I was excited and had to let you peoples know that. Another reason I haven't been writing is because my friend just got her license, we've been cruizing in the land rover for two weeks now. We're such goobers.

About the story I already have the next chapter started I think its mostly going to be about Nathan with some weekend family time. And as always review tell me if I sucks. And for everyone who did review that you so much I love the advice and the blessings.

Ohh and one more thing, someone reviewed anonymously, I think he thought I'd be affended or whatever, but he pointed out some very good points. I do have a lot of grammerical erros, I can't spell and I know it, its why I only have a 96 in English. Also I know my storys choppy and the begining really blows I do plan to go back and redo it when I get ahead of myself in posting chapters. I love constuctive critisism, I want you people who take the time to read my story to tell me what you think I'm doing wrong. I wont get angry I promise I'm a really mellow person.

peace,

Alisha

P.S. The New York Giants play the New England Patriots in the superbowl and I'm thrilled the Giants are my team and I'm so excited that they made it this far. Wish them luck!!