Yay! Sliiiightly quicker update this time! :D
Glad to see you all enjoyed last chapter! Now Harry will have to come to terms with living with stuck-up Malfoys. Wonder how he'll cope with that, eh?
Anyways, I'll be working during the summer as well as study for the coming term at uni, but I should be able to get some writing done! Personal goal is to update within a week, but I can't promise any more than that I will update *sometime* :P
Hope you all enjoy the chapter!
When he came to himself again, Harry was lying in a soft bed. Sitting up, he found his glasses on the bedside table and looked around. As everything else in Malfoy manor, the room seemed vast and spacious, with just enough furniture to make it look like someone actually lived there. Besides the bed and bedside table, there was a small bookcase with glass doors protecting the various tomes inside. Harry decided to take a look at them later. Next to the bookcase was a rather large and comfortable looking dark blue armchair.
Two large windows looked out into what could only be a garden, judging by the pretty rows of roses, hydrangeas and tulips that he could see from where he was sitting. There were also two doors, one in front of him and one to the left. Assuming that the one to the left was the entrance door, Harry chose to investigate what the other lead to.
Jumping out of the bed, the raven-haired boy quickly walked over the floor, this, as the previous rooms he's seen, covered by a richly decorated silver carpet. He briefly wondered at the choice of colouring – blue and silver. Since the Malfoys were all in Slytherin, Harry had expected green and silver instead. 'Oh well, what does it even matter to me how the Malfoys decorate their house?' Harry thought grumpily as he opened the door. The room he entered was a bathroom, with a large bathtub at one end of the room and a rather pretty ceramic sink on the other. With a snort, Harry realized the tub had feet formed in the shape of small lions' heads. Seeing nothing more of interest, he turned around and decided to take a look at the books in the bookcase. 'There might be something there that can help explain this situation to me' he thought as his eyes browsed the spines of each book in turn.
Lucius' words still ringed in his ears. 'Become the Dark Lord's husband'? The concept seemed just too strange to comprehend. Why the hell should he marry the man who killed his parents and who was considered the most evil wizard known to the magical world? And for that matter, why would he want to marry Harry? There had to some kind of trick to this, they were trying to fool him, to lure him into a trap or something Harry decided. There was just no way that he could just accept their words up front. Just as his eyes landed on one especially interesting looking book and his hand reached out to open the glass doors to further investigate, the door on his left flew open and Draco Malfoy appeared in the doorway. Harry groaned inwardly, this was definitely the last thing he needed right now.
'So. It seems we will have to call a truce' Draco stated in a nonchalant tone of voice and his hands on his hips. Short, slick blond hair practically shone in the light from the sun coming in from the windows and Harry was struck at just how much the younger Malfoy resembled his father. Though Lucius was decidedly more aloof and careful about hiding his feelings and emotions, they had the same way of holding their head, chin slightly lifted so that it seemed like they were staring down at you at all times. And of course, the eyes and hair were the same grey and silver.
Rising, Harry brushed some non-existent dirt from his knees and he faced the other boy. 'I guess… Though I don't promise I'll like you very much. You've certainly not made yourself very likeable during our first year.' He said and he hated how grumpy he sounded. Draco seemed to pick up on the underlying tone of his voice, because he snorted as if the matter was too much beneath him to even consider.
'I behaved the way I did because you decided to be stupid. Who was it that approached you before the sorting and offered you my friendship? And you turned me down in favour of that blood traitor Ronald Weasley.' Harry's first instinct was to shoot in to defend his friend, but he stopped himself. Draco did have a point. His refusal of the boy's friendship had been based on the stories Ron had told him on the train. However, if he were to go by the redhead's stories, then Lucius would've been evil incarnate, second only to Voldemort himself. From the little time Harry had spent with the older man, he seemed slightly distanced and cunning, yes, but hardly evil.
When Harry didn't reply, Draco took it as a sign to continue. Walking over to the bed, the blond sat down and stared accusingly at the Boy Who Lived. 'You can hardly blame me. And wouldn't you know, I seem to be right. It is no secret that the Weasleys are avid followers of Dumbledore and finally the public has become aware of just how twisted that man is. The fact that that redheaded clan is still following his beck and call is just testament to how narrow-minded and delusional they are!' the young Malfoy sneered. 'And now you're here in Malfoy Manor. My father has been given the honour of educating you in the ways of our people, in the old traditions and ways of life that all wizards should adhere to!' the pride was evident in his voice now and, with an almost playful toss of his head, he added 'I told you that some families were better than others.'
'Stop talking shit about Ron and the Weasleys!' Harry growled, though his heart wasn't in it. The fact that his best friends had neglected to send him any letters at all had made him feel oddly vulnerable. Also, getting into yet another fight with someone he would be living with for the foreseeable future was probably not a very good idea. A truce sounded like the most sensible option, Harry reasoned and he decided that for now, he would try to get along with Draco and then he could talk to Ron and Hermione to get their view on it later. If the Malfoys were to be his new family, then he'd be damned if he wouldn't try to prevent it becoming yet another life such as the one he had been leading at the Dursley's.
'Listen' he started and tiredly wiped a hand over his eyes as if it would alleviate the coming headache he felt was forming. 'if I'm going to be living here, I want to get along with both you and your family.' Draco's eyebrows rose, as if this sudden declaration of defeat surprised him, but then he schooled his features again, smiled slightly and rose from the bed.
'Finally you're being sensible. To be honest, I expected a lot more fighting from you than this, but I can't say I'm disappointed that you're being agreeable for once.' Harry decided to ignore the slightly self-satisfied tone of voice the blond used and shook the hand that the younger Malfoy had extended towards him. Just a little more than a year ago, that same hand had been offered him and he had turned it down based solely on a few whispered rumours from a person he'd talked to for just a few hours on a train.
With a sudden realization, Harry figured that Draco might be a useful source of information. After all, he did live in Malfoy manor and despite perhaps not being the favoured conversation partner of his father, he might have overheard something here and there. Deciding that it was worth a shot, Harry, not being one for subtlety, fixed his eyes on Draco.
'So, care to tell me what's going on? You're bound to know something, at least more than I do at the moment!' the dark-haired boy stated. To his surprise, Draco looked slightly uncomfortable, silver blue eyes shifted to avoid Harry's own green ones and he shifted from one foot to another.
'I'm not really supposed to be talking about it with you. Father did tell me that you were bound to have questions, but that you were to go to him with all of them.' However, the other boy looked around him quickly, as if he suspected someone hiding in a corner, and leaned forward with a conspiratorial whisper 'though I do know that this situation, you know, the whole you-being-betrothed-to Voldemort thing, isn't something new. Apparently, even your parents knew about it! Though they were less than pleased about it…'
This little tidbit of information was precious to Harry. Though seemingly inconsequential to anyone else, to him it was valuable insight into what his parents had been like, what their thoughts and opinions had been. Of course, he knew that both of them had been firmly on Dumbledore's side, but he still wanted this proof of them being just a spectre of something long lost which the headmaster conjured whenever he thought Harry needed some emotional guidance.
On the other hand, having to ask Lucius directly didn't particularly appeal to Harry. Draco was predictable, or at least as predictable as a Malfoy could ever be, and as such it was easier to know how to phrase a question or statement so as to sneak information from him. Lucius, being involved in the high political circles of the Ministry, would detect such an attempt at once and probably find it highly amusing to leave him even more confused than he was at the moment. However, he had said that Snape's and his job was to prepare him for his future as the Dark Lord's… 'the Dark Lord's what exactly?' Harry wondered as the thought flicked through his mind. Husband? Probably not, the word seemed to convey a sense of equality. Harry was not so naïve as to think Voldemort considered the two of them equal. Consort then? Someone in the background, more there to highlight the other person in the relationship? This musing frankly left him with a headache so he decided to leave it for another time, hopefully after having obtained more information from either Lucius or Snape.
Draco had watched the other boy carefully as the Boy-Who-Lived was otherwise occupied by these mental musings. The blond had to admit he was surprised how easily the other took the news of him basically being forced to marry a man old enough to be his grandfather and who had killed his parents on top of it. If he had been in Harry's shoes, Draco would probably have thrown a massive fit. Furrowing his brows, Draco realized that he had never truly seen Harry passionately refuse to do something that a person of authority told him to do. Yes, he could be snide, especially in Potions, but he never outright refused to do something a teacher told him to do. For the first time in his life, Draco caught himself wondering how Harry had lived before he came to Hogwarts. The fact that the raven-haired boy had lived with his Muggle relatives was widely known, but no one seemed to know just what Harry thought about his living there. Not being one for waiting patiently when curious, Draco decided to get to the bottom of the matter.
'Sorry to bring you out of your internal debate, Potter, but since we're practically going to be brothers from now on I want to know more about you. It will be expected of us to know each other well, after all, we are to be family and nothing is kept secret from a member of the family. That is one of the important rules of Pureblood society, though I'll make sure to teach you the others later as you will need to know them by heart.' Harry looked slightly confused for a moment, but then he walked over to the bed and sat down, patting the area next to him as a sign for Draco to sit down as well.
'So, what do you want to know?'
'It's no secret that Dumbledore brought you to your mother's sister and her family after your parents died. What was it like growing up in a muggle household? I'm sure they must have been intensely impressed by your magical abilities!' the last sentence was said with no small amount of pride, it was obvious that Draco considered Muggles to be much inferior to wizards and witches.
'Well, to be honest, they tried their best to conceal the fact that I was anything more than someone who lived to make their lives unbearably hard.' Harry admitted. He had decided in less than a second that Draco had a point. Now they were family, whether Harry liked it or not, and to be frank, the thought of having a brother to confide him appealed to him.
Draco sent him an incredulous stare. 'Hard?! How in the world could they consider living with the Boy-Who-Lived hard? Not to be too brusque with you, but they did get a pretty nice sum of money just by giving you a roof over your head.'
Scratching the back of his head in a slightly embarrassed manner, Harry nodded. 'I guess… My aunt harbours a lot of anger towards my mother, some kind of inferiority complex or other, and my uncle is terribly sceptical towards anything that might seem even slightly "abnormal" or out of the ordinary.' Leaning back, Harry stared at the ceiling while the memories of his previous eleven years were recalled. 'To make up for being a freeloader, as my uncle called it, my aunt made sure I pulled my weight around the house. I didn't mind terribly, to be honest. If I did it well, they'd leave me alone and – ´
He didn't get further than this because Draco had sprung to his feet with an indignant look on his face. Without saying a word, the slightly older boy grabbed Harry by the wrist and stalked towards the door, slamming it shut behind them. Harry tried his best to keep up with the other though he was thoroughly confused. Just what had he said to make Draco so angry? The blond was practically steaming and his face was pinched, eyes narrowed into angry slits. Never had Draco Malfoy given Harry a reason to fear him slightly, that was, until now.
'Hey Draco, where are we going? Did I say something wrong?' Harry tried to ask, but Draco ignored him completely and continued to drag him by the wrist. Never having seen the manor in full, Harry had no idea where they were heading, so he stopped fighting the other and decided to just follow along as best he could, hoping that it would all be explained sooner or later.
Finally, after about ten minutes of brisk walking, they found themselves standing outside a darkly coloured door. The young Malfoy stopped just long enough to courteously knock on the door, but he didn't wait for a reply before storming in, though slightly slower than his previous pace.
Harry looked past the blond head in front of him and saw what could only be an office. Lucius' office judging from the fact that the Malfoy patriarch was sitting behind a massive mahogany desk, a stack of parchment in his hands. Snape was also there, sitting in a leather armchair in front of a fireplace. Harry absentmindedly wondered if all the rooms in the manor had fireplaces, before Lucius broke the silence.
'Draco, what is this supposed to mean?' the older man said in a perfectly composed tone of voice, but there was unmistakably a sense of threat hiding in his words. 'I don't recall allowing you to just barge into my office whenever you feel like it.'
Draco flushed a little, but seemed to gain confidence as he straightened his back and lifted his chin slightly, as if in defiance.
'I'm deeply sorry, Father, but Harry has just told me something that I think both of you need to know as soon as possible.' The words appeared to pique the interest of the two men because Lucius put the papers aside and folded his hands neatly in front of him, while Snape sat up just a bit straighter in his chair. Onyx and silver eyes were trained on Harry and the boy shot Draco a bewildered look. Sensing his confusion, the other boy faced him with an encouraging nod.
'When we were talking earlier, you told me that your relatives were less than impressed by you being a wizard.' At Harry's confused nod, Draco continued. 'You also said that they made you work as a payment for providing you with a place to live. Just what 'work' did you mean?'
Not fully understanding why this was the reason for Draco's indignant rage, Harry sighed. 'Look, it wasn't too bad! Aunt Petunia left it to me to do the chores, you know, making breakfast for Uncle Vernon and Dudley, cleaning the house, weeding in the garden – just boring, everyday stuff.'
However, the reaction from the three other people in the room clearly showed that he was alone in thinking this an everyday matter. Lucius' face stiffened before his lips thinned into a straight narrow line. A sharp 'what?' escaped from the Potions Master and Draco looked at him with a serious expression, which seemed to say 'I told you my reaction was justified'.
Walking around his desk, Lucius came to stand in front of the dark haired boy. 'Harry, this is a serious offence. You have been treated like a house-elf, by your own family no less. I'm not sure how familiar you are with Wizarding traditions, but a magical child is never to do the work of an elf. The chores you described are reserved as punishment for those elves who are sentenced to serve a magical household and as such, making you do the same tasks would effectively reduce you to the status of a criminal in the eyes of Wizarding society.'
Harry's eyes widened when he realized what Lucius was saying. 'But they are muggles, it's quite common in the muggle world to make the children help out around the house!' His words were dismissed by a loud snort from Snape as the man rose from his chair.
'And have you ever seen your cousin do anything even resembling household chores? Even if other children work around the house, they are usually given an allowance. They aren't made to work as a way of repaying the parents' kindness in letting them live in their house.'
Wishing to reply, but finding himself without any convincing arguments to compete with those of the three in front of him, Harry was left feeling very confused and uncertain. 'But still, it's hardly an offence in the muggle world! Maybe it's not usual, but it's not particularly mean or anything!' he tried to chime up, but Lucius ignored him.
Draco, who seemed to gain confidence from having the two older men on his side in the discussion, spoke up. 'Also, I remember how your glasses were broken and taped together when I first saw you, as well as how you seemed to be quite malnourished.' He added with a pointed look at his clothes 'not that you could notice very well when you cover yourself up in those huge baggy clothes.'
The boy's words directed Snape and Lucius' attention towards him even more closely. None of them said a word, but after what seemed like several minutes of careful scrutiny, the older Malfoy turned on his heel and walked back towards his desk. Parchment and a quill was quickly produced and Harry shot Draco a bewildered glance when Lucius proceeded to write something that looked like a letter of some sort.
'What is going on?' he whispered, just low enough so that only Draco would hear. The other just put a finger to his lips and shook his head, clearly signalling Harry to wait and see.
Without wasting any time, Lucius stood up, quickly rolled up the parchment and, from a perch next to a large window, picked up a regal-looking eagle owl and tied the letter to its foot. Walking over to the window, the man opened it and let the bird take to its wings. They all watched as the owl disappeared into the distance and only after it gone from view did Lucius turn around to face them again.
'What was that and who are you writing to?' Harry asked, for a moment completely forgetting that it was rather rude to ask something like that. Lucius, however, didn't seem to mind because he sat down behind the desk and sent him a slight smile that also seemed to convey that it was all going to be sorted out.
'That, Harry, was me telling the Dark Lord how his future husband has been treated at his relatives' house. I can assure you, he won't be pleased by the news.'
*sigh*
Poor Harry... Voldemort will not be happy at all!
This is just a way for me to introduce Voldie a little, since he will have to take the backseat for a little while. After all, Harry is almost 12 and nowhere near an age appropriate for marriage! Remember, the reason he's at Malfoy manor is so that Severus and Lucius can teach him all about pureblood traditions and values and everything bascially...
I'll probably do a little time skip so that we can get to what we're all here for *wink wink*, but that's still a few chapters off! So please bear with me and tell me what you think of the story so far or if you have any thoughts/ideas! Love reading your opinions!
