Chapter Three

Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire

The boy sat in his nursery, playing alone with his first wizard chess set, one designed for babies and toddlers. He sighed. He missed Anna and didn't know where she'd gone. At first, he thought she was playing Snitch-and-Seeker, and he'd toddled around for days looking for her. Then he'd asked Mother and Father where she was, but that'd made Mother cry, so he didn't ask again.

He didn't like it when she cried.

He'd finally just stopped looking last week, knowing for certain that she wasn't here. A couple of boys came over last week, and Draco had hoped that they would be his friends, but they weren't very nice. All they wanted to do was beat up the House- elves and break his toys. He liked the elves; they played with him whenever he asked, as long as they weren't doing something else at the time.

He sighed again. He was bored with playing by himself. He stood up, wobbling a bit, and made his way to the door, in hopes that Mother would make cookies with him, or Father would teach him more about flying. He smiled at the thought. He really enjoyed flying, the wind rushing past his ears and the weightlessness he felt on his toy broomstick was something that he could never get enough of, which made his father smile at him.

He liked Father's smiles, though he didn't see them often anymore.

As he wandered through the halls, he remembered that Mother had told him they were coming home with a surprise for the whole family. He hoped it wasn't his Aunt Bella. She was scary and now whenever he saw her, she was bawling like a tiny baby.

Even he didn't cry like that, and he was a year old!

He hoped they'd bring him something to play with, maybe a new Legends toy. He already had Merlin and Arthur, but he didn't have the rest of the knights or any bad-guys, so the heroes wound up turning on each other.

And besides, there was no one to play with.

Suddenly, he heard a loud pop! He knew that Mother and Father were home, and broke into a stumbling run toward the door. As they entered, he crashed into his father's legs, hugging him tightly around the knees. Chuckling, Lucius scooped him up and hugged him back. When Draco looked over at his mother, he saw a boy in her arms. A boy with messy black hair that stuck up all over his head and big green eyes that stared curiously at him.

"Who?" he asked, pointing at the boy, frowning slightly.

"This is Adrian, Draco," Lucius told his small son. They'd already decided on a name. "He's going to be your brother."

Adrian waved at him, smiling shyly. Draco's eyes widened. "NO!"

"Draco-"

"NONONONONO!" Draco yelled, wriggling until his father had to either put him on the floor or risk dropping him.

The other boy started crying, frightened by Draco's outburst.

"Draco, apologize!"

"NO!" he screamed, stomping his little foot.

Lucius and Narcissa sighed, sharing worried. Draco was a bit spoiled, and they had worried about his reaction to having a new brother. He seemed to be doing exactly what they'd feared he would do.

Lucius and Narcissa cautiously watched as she set the dark haired boy on the floor in front of Draco, who was puffing up and turning bright red.

"Sowry," the other boy said, covering his face with his hands.

Draco stopped and looked at the other boy. "No?" he said, confused.

"Sowry," he repeated, looking very sad.

Draco seemed to consider this, and he walked over to the other boy, grabbed his hand, and dragged him toward the playroom. "Mine," he explained.

"Draco, you will share," Lucius said firmly.

"No, Da," Draco said.

However, when they went to find the boys mere minutes later, they found them playing together contently.

What they hadn't seen was Adrian knock Draco to the ground when their son wouldn't allow his new brother to play with the toys.

Drawing Room, Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire

Narcissa smiled, watching them both fondly. "I think that this could work," she whispered.

Lucius grinned at his wife. He'd been thinking the same thing.

"Dobby! I need you to take Adrian's measurements and then go to Madam Malkin's and get him some clothes. Then go find him a room and furnish it. My wife and I will be gone for a while, so I also want the other House- elves keeping an eye on the boys. Do you understand?" Lucious said lazily.

Dobby nodded eagerly.

"Good. Get going, then," Lucius ordered.

Dobby nodded again and vanished with a loud pop!

Lucius sighed and ran his hands through his long hair, looking at the perfectly decorated drawing room which his wife had spent hours renovating when he'd inherited the house. The walls were now a forest green with silver draperies and lighting. The chandelier that hung above the mahogany table was sterling silver and the candles were held in the open mouths of serpents.

It'd taken them almost a year to do away with all the depressing colors, tapestries, and furniture, even though they used magic. They kept the family heirlooms, of course, but the dangerous ones were in storage, to keep Draco from getting to any of them, but somehow, Annabelle had managed…

Lucius sighed again, sinking into a chair. It was his fault. If he'd stored them somewhere more secure, maybe she wouldn't have…

Narcissa came up behind him and stroked his hair soothingly, planting a kiss on the top of his head. "It wasn't your fault, Lucius," she said gently. "It wasn't your fault."

He shook his head stubbornly. "Yes, it was! If I'd just put them at another location, there's no way Anna would've…. How can you still look at me?" he asked quietly, taking her hand in his.

She sat in front of him and looked him straight in the eyes, her sky blues staring into his stormy grays. "Lucius, would you rather I didn't?"

He shook his head, staring at the ground, scuffing his feet on the wooden floors.

"Then don't question it."

Somewhere in Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire, England, 1985

"Draco, where are you?"

Adrian wandered the halls, hopelessly lost in the huge house. They were playing Snitch-and-Seeker, a game similar to Muggle Hide-and-Seek, except the Seeker (Adrian) had to catch the Snitch (Draco) before they got to the safe zone (the nursery). He heard a muffled giggle off to his left and started running toward a moving drapery that had feet. "Ha! Got you, Drake!" He lunged toward his brother.

"Ouch!"

"Sorry, Drake."

Draco rubbed the back of his head ruefully, looking over at his brother. He liked him, and he was fun to play with, unless he tackled you.

"Can we please go flying?" Adrian asked eagerly.

Draco nodded enthusiastically. "Let's go see if Father will fly with us!"

The two boys raced back to the drawing room, Draco winning only because he'd tripped his brother on the stairs.

"Where'd they go?" Draco asked, whipping his head around.

"Master and Mistress went to visit Severus Snape, Master Draco," called a House-elf, appearing right behind them.

Draco pouted. "But now we can't go flying!"

"Sorry, young masters. They will be returning shortly," the elf, Winnie, apologized.

"Will you fly with us, Winnie? Please?" Draco begged, clasping his hands under his chin and making a puppy face at the House-elf.

"No, I'm under strict orders that you're to remain inside," the elf said firmly. Both boys sighed.

Fine, fine," Adrian muttered. "Hey, Drake?"

"Yeah?"

"You're it!"

Spinner's End, Salford

"Lucius, Narcissa, what a pleasant surprise. Do come in," said the greasy- haired young man at the door. He stepped aside and they entered his childhood home, a far cry from what they were accustomed to.

The sitting room was small and cramped, littered with piles of books and scrolls. Severus waved his wand lazily across the room, and the books flew to the shelves and the scrolls glided neatly onto his desk.

The room only fitted an armchair, a desk, and a small sofa with a coffee table in between. Lucius and Narcissa sat on the sofa familiarly, and Severus took the armchair.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Severus, we need you to make a Blood- Binding potion. We think that they're finally old eough to complete the ritual, and would like to make Adrian a real part of our family," Narcissa said, smiling brightly at him.

It had been a little less than four years since they'd taken Adrian in, not that either of the small boys remembered. To prevent questions being asked by friends, or even by Draco, they'd kept a permanent glamour on him since he'd been there, making his appearance less distinctive and memorable. He was always acknowledged and treated on par with Draco, it was just that their friends could never quite recall what he looked like once he was out of sight.

"I see."

"Would you, Severus, my friend?" Lucius added. He'd known Severus since the younger man was eleven years old, and had been a good friend to him through that time. He was even Draco's godfather.

"Of course. I haven't seen either of the boys in quite a while, so I'll stop by when the potions are ready for the ceremony next month," Severus said agreeably.

"Thank you very much, my friend," Lucius said, smiling broadly. "You don't know how much this means to us."

'Or how much is at stake,' he thought.

Okay, first off, major thanks to everyone who reviewed! This is my first fanfic, and I was really nervous about it, and the nice reviews boosted my confidence, so thanks! I was really surprised that so many people have already read it.

(Please note that this has been edited, and was originally two chapters rather than one. After so many reviews pointing out how I'd screwed up the behavior and such for young children, I've finally fixed it, a little, I think)

Cheers!

-TheNefariousMe