Disclaimer: The Harry Potter Series (1997-2007) and any characters and original locations within the books belong to JK Rowling. I own my original characters and my plot twists. I am not trying to pass any of these characters or copyrighted ideas off as my own and therefore it isn't plagiarism or copyright infringement.
Chapter Five – Mermaids
The Yule ball was interesting for Leo. He watched as Fleur was escorted by one of the seventh year males from the academy. He chuckled at Ron's expression when Hermione was seen by the red head on the arm of champion Viktor Krum. He sighed, when he noticed Harry's longing eyes when Cho was escorted by Cedric Diggory. He shook his head, when he noticed that one of the Patil twins was on Harry's arm and the other was being escorted by Ron in some disturbing dress robes. Leo turned to his gorgeous date and held out his arm. He spoke in French, "Are you ready to dance?"
Gabrielle was wearing a stunning light blue dress robes, her fair blond hair was precariously perched on the top of her head, and her sister must've help her with her makeup as she looked quite lovely, "Oui."
Leo chuckled as he noticed the eyes of many of the male students staring at Gabrielle with adoring eyes and glaring at him with envy, "Everyone is staring at how beautiful you look and just as many are glaring at me with jealousy. Apparently they're upset that I bagged such a lovely flower as a date."
Gabrielle blushed, "I'm not as pretty as my sister Fleur."
Leo shook his head and smiled, "You only think that because she's a young woman and you're just starting to blossom. Give it time Gabrielle, I think when you reach her age you'll be even fairer than she."
The two of them gracefully waltz to the traditional music and Leo looked around to notice their Headmistress was dancing with a well groomed grounds keeper. He smiled realizing how those two would make the perfect couple. He loved his Headmistress and felt that she deserved love even though she was much taller than most men. He looked over and saw Draco's eyes fixed on his as he waited by the punch bowl for his date. Leo shot a smile Draco's direction and received a glare in return. He shook his head realizing getting through to his brother was going to take a lot more than a few lessons.
Around the end of the ball Leo noticed Cedric speaking with Harry for a moment. He couldn't help but wonder if perhaps it had something to do with the next task. He soon was passing Gabrielle off to her sister so the two could to back to their shared room. On his way out of the transformed Great Hall he bumped into the one person that he could never seem to avoid. Perhaps people were right about the connections twins had. Draco growled, "Why don't you watch where you're going?"
"It's nice to see you too. What's the matter Draco? Are you upset that my date was far more attractive than yours?" Leo teased with a full smile.
Draco glowered, "No. There's no reason for me to be jealous of you. Haven't we been over this? I have everything and I get anything I want. I'm a Malfoy."
"Ah yes you can have whatever you want that's materialistic. You have the newest fastest broom. You have more money in your vault that some witches and wizards make in a year. However, the one thing money cannot buy is love and true friendship, and that my dear Malfoy heir is of what you were jealous," Leo chuckled as he walked back to the boy guest dorms for the academy.
The morning of the second task Harry was with Neville but his other two best friends weren't anywhere. Leo looked around and noticed that Gabrielle was missing as well. They were going to the lake to retrieve something that was precious taken from them. Leo's brow furrowed trying to piece together all of the pieces. Let's see there are three people missing and four champions, wait I wonder. He looked around and soon noticed that one Ravenclaw beauty was missing as well. Hmm, I guess there are four people missing. So let's see. Fleur's little sister, Cedric's date to the Yule ball, Krum's date to the Yule ball, and Harry's other best friend. Well that sucks; they're probably all down there under some petrifaction spell that doesn't require them to breath.
Leo stood next to Neville as the four champions jumped into the lake. He heard the announcer stating that both Fleur and Cedric were using the Bubble-Head Charm. Krum had partially transfigured himself into a shark and Harry somehow had gills. Neville chuckled, "Gillyweed, that was brilliant of Harry, however it's quite rare. I wonder how he got his hands on some."
Concern knotted Leo's gut, when he saw Fleur return to the surface without Gabrielle. They wouldn't let her die would they because a champion failed at the task? Soon Cedric returned to the surface with a now revived Cho and quickly followed by a still half transformed Krum and Hermione. Everyone waited with bated breath for Harry to return. The time was almost up when two people appeared at the surface but neither one was Harry. He gasped when he realized the two were Ron and Gabrielle and finally Harry made it to the surface.
Leo noticed something he hadn't noticed before. One of the judges was changed for the second task. Percy Weasley had taken Crouch's place. He waited to hear the judge's decision and soon Fudge spoke, "We award first place to Cedric Diggory, and in second place because he showed great bravery in not only recuing his ward but also making sure that all were rescued. For showing outstanding moral fiber we've decided to give Harry Potter second place and Krum third."
Leo heard Draco groan from behind him causing him to turn around, "What's the matter Draco, jealous?"
He didn't respond but just turned around and walked away with Crabbe and Goyle following him. George and Fred appeared near him and Neville, "No, he's just upset that he lost the bet. He'd bet that Krum would do better than Harry and well-"
The other twin cut in, "He lost. I'm sure it was just pocket change for a bloke like Malfoy."
Leo smirked, "Yes the money doesn't mean much for a Malfoy. They have so much of it after all, but losing is a different story. They pride themselves in doing well and since he's working on making Lucius proud, I'm sure he's feeling the sting of defeat."
The twins looked from one another and back at Leo, "You know more about Malfoy than one should."
The other one responded, "Yes, I think you've been lying about who you really are."
"Distantly related, my ass."
"Call it twin intuition."
"Leo, you act like you are his twin brother," the first twin finished.
A sick feeling settled in the pit of Leo's stomach before he smiled, "I think you're twin intuition is off. The first time I ever met Draco was when I came here with the academy and frankly I wouldn't curse anyone to be his twin. It's just like the story of the Prince and the Pauper by the well known American Muggle author Mark Twain."
The twins looked between one another before speaking in unison, "Never heard of it."
"Not well read in muggle literature, I see. Then again I'd be surprised if the two of you read anything other than the funnies section of the newspaper," Leo pinched the bridge of his nose when he realized the twins didn't know what he was talking about. "Well it's a story about two unrelated strangers looking exactly like one another and switching places. One is Edward the VI son of Henry VIII of England. The muggle king of England back in 1547 and the other boy was Tom Canty who is a poor boy living in London with a not so friendly father. Hmm, now that I think about it the story really does fit for me and Draco. He's the one with the horrible father but has the wealth and I've grown up in a loving environment but without the wealth. Hmm, so does that make me the prince or the pauper?"
The twins looked at each other and back at him, "Leo, you are strange."
The other one smirked, "But we like strange, so you're good in our book."
Leo chuckled and left the twins by the lake. He remained deep in thought as he walked. He couldn't help but consider the implications of the novel he'd mentioned to the twins. His brother had been raised under the cruel hands of their father. He was taught how to act like a proper pureblood heir and raised him under the hateful belief system of pureblood superiority. Before he knew where he was going he soon found himself in the library and sure enough Hermione was sitting at her usual table. He approached, "Hey, I was wonder if you've heard of the Prince and the Pauper?"
She looked up from the book she was reading and smiled, "Yes, I've heard of it. Mark Twain was a talented American writer. I'm a little surprised that you have."
Leo sighed as he sat down at the table, "I've always felt a connection to that story. It was one of the first novels I read. I guess when one see's your own face in the papers but it belongs to a different person, it makes you think. I mean, I've known of Draco's existence since the first time he appeared in the paper as the Malfoy heir, but he had no idea that a stranger like me was out there until I came here. I can't help but wonder if I would be like him if I were raised by his parents, you know?"
"So you're dwelling over the fact that Malfoy has your face, but is a complete git? I mean muggle psychologists have questioned the concept of nature versus nurture. This seems to be the concept that you're questioning yourself. I'm not sure what the Wizarding community thinks about the muggle concept. I know that many members of the community take blood purity into consideration," she paused for a moment tapping her chin with her finger and looking upward.
Her eyes peered through him, "You know an interesting concept is that of separated identical twins. Identical twins have essentially the same exact DNA as the egg splits during the formation process. So, if we were to take the story of strangers looking alike but living opposite lives and add a separated twin twist than your concern makes more sense. You know if you were Draco's identical twin than the two of you wouldn't just look alike but the two of you would share the same genes and thus the same personality traits. The reason why the two of you act different is because of the different environments the two of you were raised."
Leo raised his hands up in a gesture of surrender, "But I'm not his identical twin so that theory is invalid. I mean what explains-" he ran his hands over the top of his head and got up. "You know this was stupid. I'm sorry for bothering you." He quickly left the library only to be stopped by his mirror image except with gray eyes reminiscent of molten steel. He pinched the bridge of his nose, "What do you want now Draco?"
"I overheard the conversation you were having with Granger," he crossed his arms and leaned against a wall.
"So you're not just a complete tosser but an eavesdropper to boot. So, what did you hear that you don't like?"
"The concept of nurture versus nature, I mean I know you're not my twin but if you were. Does that mean I would be more like you if I was raised differently? Would I be more confident without being proud? Would I be as easy going and happy, as you?" His eyes swirled with a maelstrom of emotion, which he artfully contained within them. The rest of his features were a mask of stoic indifference.
"If I were you're genetic copy than it's possible, but like you said we're not twins. We're just strangers who look alike. The prince of Slytherin," he pointed toward Draco. He pointed to himself, "and the pauper from France. Of course you've never heard of that story either. It's muggle literature. I guess it could be in the library somewhere if you're interested." He turned and walked away realizing keeping his cover was getting harder when so many people were willing to jump to the twins separated at birth theory.
A/N: Okay so this is the last chapter I have that's complete. I am going more with the book where Dobby gave Harry the Gillyweed instead of Neville in the movie. The next chapter I start to go into the realm of plot modification. I may have a bit of foreshadowing in this chapter. I wonder if anyone can guess what that might be.