Chapter 5
"Good morning girl, what are you doing here," Blaise smirked the following morning. He woke up to find a snowy white owl waiting quietly on his desk with a small parcel and letter. He got up and made his way over to the owl and examined the parcel. "You're from Harry, aren't you?" he asked the owl who just hooted tiredly.
"Well, let me get this untied and get you some food," Blaise said taking the letter and parcel off of the snowy owl. He looked around and found a small bowl which he filled with owl treats. The owl started eating greedily as Blaise looked at the parcel. It was roughly the size of a normal book and on top was a message written in Harry's chicken-scratch writing:
Ze, can you please give this package to Dee? It's something that I promised I would make for him. And no peaking!
Love,
Harry
Blaise smirked and shook his head. "They only had one conversation and he's already making stuff for Draco," he said to the owl. Chuckling to himself he took the parcel and letter and walked out of his bedroom and to Draco's. He knocked on the door.
"Come in," Draco's voice called out.
Blaise opened the door to see Draco sitting on his bed rubbing his legs, wincing slightly in pain. Blaise looked around and saw Draco's clothes still on the floor by the mirror. "What are you doing?" Blaise asked.
"Nothing that isn't your business," Draco said looking up at Blaise. "What do you got there?" he asked noticing the parcel and letter.
"A gift from Harry to you," Blaise smirked. "You two only had one conversation and already you have him sending gifts to you."
Draco leapt out of the bed and walked towards Blaise, taking the letter and parcel. He opened the letter and read it carefully. "He made it… he actually made it," Draco said looking at Blaise.
"Made what?" Blaise asked.
"My journal," Draco said opening the parcel paper and revealing a red-leather bound journal with runes carved into it. Draco couldn't help but let a smile form as he dragged his long pale fingers down the front cover of the journal. "We talked about it briefly… but the boy actually made it," Draco whispered.
"He likes you," Blaise said looking at the letter Harry written for Draco. "You guys only had one conversation and he already likes you."
"Why do you say it like that? I can be extremely likable when I want to be Zabini," Draco smirked at his friend. He stared down at the journal again, a soft smile gracing his face. Draco looked around and searched for his wand, which he found on a nightstand. Taking his wand, the journal, and Harry's letter, Draco walked towards an empty desk and sat down. Blaise watched silently as his friend read the letter's instructions again, opened to the first page, and pressed his wand at the temple of his forehead. He pulled back slowly, ever so slowly, as a silver-blue strand appeared connecting Draco's wand and forehead. He continued to pull and pull until the strand's end broke off of his head and hovered over the journal. With a flick both boys watched in amazement as the memory sank slowly towards the front page of the journal landing neatly in the center before the page absorbed it with a bright light, a scene from long ago playing briefly before being converted to words.
"Was that…"
"My first encounter with Potter, yeah," Draco said. "I don't know why I've picked that memory first but… it just seemed right."
"You wish you could have changed it?" Blaise asked.
Draco looked at Blaise. "I don't know… maybe?" he said. Looking down at the journal again he sighed. "I don't know what I'm feeling. I mean last night I… I actually sweated… a lot. I can't begin to tell you how much my legs hurt."
Blaise snickered and looked down at the journal. "Where do you think you and Harry would be if things went differently that night?" he asked.
"We would be friends… at least I hope we would be," Draco said. "Potter would still be in bloody Gryffindor but… but maybe…"
"Maybe he would have told you his secrets, and the body you're clearly working towards now would already been obtained, with Harry in your arms," Blaise finished.
Draco looked at him for a moment before nodding. He looked at his wrist, "Maybe I would never have gotten this," he also added solemnly.
Blaise took Draco's wrist in his hand. "If I say that there's a way to get rid of this, I would do it in a heartbeat Draco," he said. "But I don't know… but it can't be impossible, can it? We're powerful wizards for our age, and we have two exceptionally powerful twins who dabble in the Dark Arts. I'm sure they can help—will help, we'll remove this mark and hopefully get our twins in return."
"Our twins?" Draco asked.
Blaise nodded. "You want Harry, and I want James," Blaise explained. "I'm confident that if we work together we'll have our twins in our arms and that mark off of your wrist."
"But the Dark Lord, what if he—"
"If he tries to come after us, then we'll let Dumbledore fight him," Blaise said. "If everything works out perfectly, they'll just kill each other and the world will be a better place."
Draco stared at Blaise completely shocked. "Blaise," he whispered, "do you even know what you are suggesting?"
"Yeah, I do, and I have been thinking about it for a long time, nearly a year," Blaise said. "I will not allow my twins—our twins now—to die in a war they want nothing to do with!"
"Blaise, listen to yourself," Draco said fearfully, "you are talking about going against the Dark Lord—and Dumbledore! The two strongest wizards of our time!"
"I know," Blaise said again. "But the point is getting Harry and James out of the damn war. If we can remove your mark than we can get the twins out of the war."
Draco's eyes shifted down to his Mark which was covered by the sleeve of his pajama top, the phantom pain still made his arm twitched. If there was any way, even minimal, that he could get rid of it… he turned to Blaise. "Alright… let's say I agree to help you. What are we supposed to do?"
Blaise thought for a moment. "First… we need the twins on our side. And to do that… we're going to have to tell them who we are—"
"As if that'll work! They both hate me, hell Harry will probably tear the journal to shreds!" Draco said.
Blaise held up a hand and continued, "We have to tell them who we are, gently. It would only hurt us if we drag out the Ze and Dee thing, because then our twins will only love a fictional image of us. We need to tell them who we are sooner than later so we might as well tell them as soon as we can."
"And when will that be?" Draco asked.
"On the Hogwarts Express," Blaise answered. Draco didn't respond or react, he just stared at Blaise scared. "Draco? Draco…" Blaise said.
"If we tell them… they might hate us forever, can you stand that?" Draco asked.
"It's a risk I'm willing to take," Blaise said.
"Alright… let's do it," Draco said. Blaise smiled and shook Draco's hand.
"You're doing the right decision, Draco. Trust me," Blaise said.
"I hope you're right. Now, leave me for a while. I am trying to make a habit of sweating and I don't want anybody to witness it," Draco said irritably. Blaise laughed and left the room. Alone Draco stood up from the journal and undressed. He closed his eyes pointed his wand at a couple of textbooks and transfigured them into those weight things that Potter—James, always yammered on about with Weasley. He lifted them up, finding them heavy, and proceeded to move around with them frowning at himself. I'm going to need someone's help if I want to do this correctly, he thought begrudgingly.
.
The last week moved too fast for Harry. Before he knew it, he and James were in the Ministry cars again gliding away from the Burrow, Bill and Fleur waving goodbye. There was no cheerful Hagrid waiting for them at King's Cross Station. Instead two grim-faced, bearded Aurors in dark Muggle suits moved forward the moment the cars stopped and, flanking the party, marched them into the station without speaking.
"Quick, quick, through the barrier," Mrs. Weasley said, who seemed a little flustered by this austere efficiency. "Harry and James had better go first, with—"
She looked inquiringly at one of the Aurors, who nodded briefly, seized Harry's upper arm, and attempted to steer him toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten.
"I can walk, thanks," Harry said irritably, jerking his arm out of the Auror's grip. James replaced the Auror's hand grabbing his brother's arm and said, "Only I can strongarm him." They steered their trunks through the barrier, ignoring their silent companions, and found themselves, a second later, standing on platform nine and three quarters, where the scarlet Hogwarts Express stood belching steam over the crowd.
Hermione and the Weasleys joined him within seconds. Without waiting to consult their grim-faced Auror, James and Harry motioned to Ron and Hermione to follow them up the platform, looking for an empty compartment.
"We can't James," Hermione said, looking apologetic. "Ron and I've got to go to the prefects' carriage first and then patrol the corridors for a bit."
"Oh yeah, I forgot," James said.
"You'd better get straight on the train, all of you, you've only got a few minutes to go," Mrs. Weasley said, consulting her watch. "Well, have a lovely term, Ron. … James, Harry, you're coming to us for Christmas, it's all fixed with Dumbledore, so we'll see you two quite soon."
"Okay Mrs. Weasley," Harry said as they board the train. Harry waved until the train had turned a corner and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were lost to view, then turned to see where thee others had got to. James tapped his shoulder and led him down the corridor.
People stared shamelessly as the twins approached. They even pressed their faces against the windows of their compartments to get a better look at them. Harry had expected an upswing in the amount of gaping and gawping they would have to endure this term after all the "Chosen Ones" rumors in the Daily Prophet, but he did not enjoy the sensation of standing in a very bright spotlight.
"Here's a compartment," James said pointing to an empty one. They've gotten in and James hoisted their trunks into the luggage rack before grabbing his brother and pulling him on his lap as they sat down. "They keep staring," James said grumpily.
"I know… I hate it," Harry sighed. He turned and kissed James's cheek. "Should we give them a show?" he smirked.
"No I don't think so, as much as I would love to… I think I like keeping you nice and innocent," James smirked.
"James, brother, I am far from innocent," Harry flirted. He pressed a finger against James's chest and drew it down. "I can show you James."
James gulped, his pants tightening as he held onto his brother tighter. "I… Harry…"
Harry smiled and kissed James again. "It's only us," he whispered. "Always us."
James just nodded. "Yeah… it is," he said. Harry kissed him again. "Harry, what's gotten into you?" he asked.
Harry sighed and slipped off of James's lap. "I don't know… I'm just… I don't know."
James looked at his brother before giving a knowing smirk, "Frustrated? It's okay Harry, everyone has needs."
"Yeah but ever since I've met Dee… my needs seemed to umm increased?" Harry said questioningly.
James laughed. "Increased? Well Harry… I never thought you were up for that. But I understand. Between you and me, he's really cute."
"But not as hot as Ze?" Harry asked. James laughed and smiled. "Yeah, Ze's hot as well… but neither of them compare to you."
Harry blushed but agreed. He looked between himself and James before just relaxing on his brother's shoulder. They both looked outside the window and watched as the scenery rushed by, turning into a blur. Before they could get into a comfortable haze of between awake and asleep, there was a disturbance outside their compartment door; a group of fourth-year girls was whispering and giggling together on the other side of the glass.
"You ask them!"
"No, you!"
"I'll do it!"
And one of them, a bold-looking girl with large dark eyes, a prominent chin, and long black hair pushed her way through the door.
"Hi Harry, James, I'm Romilda, Romilda Vane," she said loudly and confidently. "Why don't you guys join us in our compartment? You don't have to sit alone," she added in a stage whisper and a wink.
"No," both boys answered at once. "We're waiting for our friends," Harry added.
"Then why don't you guys just wait with us?" the girl asked. "I'm sure it'll be better than waiting alone."
"No thank you," James said. "We rather be alone with each other than with you girls. Good bye."
"Oh…" the girl said, looking very surprised. "Oh. Okay."
And she withdrew, sliding the door closed behind her. "Honestly, some people," James sighed. He looked down at his brother and said, "Where were we?"
"Just staring out the window waiting for Ron and Hermione," Harry said. He moved so he took the whole seat, his head on James's lap. "Maybe I can make something while we wait?" he asked pulling out his wand.
James looked down at Harry and said, "I know some things you can make Harry, but you'll not like them."
"I'm trying to be serious here," Harry said. "Take out a piece of parchment or something, I'll make it dance."
.
Patrolling the train's corridors must be one of the worst things. Ron was extremely bored as he walked down the train looking at all of the compartments as he passed by. Malfoy wasn't in the prefect's carriage, which only made Ron angry. "Stupid git probably things he's too good to do these stupid things," Ron grumbled. How Hermione talked Ron into actually doing this, he will never understand. His stomach began to rumble and he groaned. "Need lunch," he muttered as he looked into the next corridor.
In it was a boy with the most perfect body that Ron ever seen. He was small and lithe with clear light skin, a taunt belly and frame that screamed flexible and mousy hair. He was only, surprisingly, only wearing a tight pair of white briefs that hugged his perky ass perfectly as the boy was bent down busy with his shoe. Ron just stood there like a horny wolf staring at the small perky globes that presented themselves to him, his pants tightening very quickly. Done with whatever he was doing, the boy stood up and turned around. It was Colin Creevey.
"Ron!" the boy shrieked. "W-what are you doing? I'm just getting dressed—"
Ron gapped and just looked at Colin's body. Small for a fifteen year old and completely hairless' Colin had two dusty pink nipples that begged for attention and a smooth collarbone that needed to be kissed. In that moment Ron felt something stir deep within him. "Colin," he said his voice deep despite his sudden nervousness. "Would you—uhh would you like to go out?"
"With you?" Colin asked eyeing Ron's muscular body. He gave a smile. "Sure, why not. … Can I get changed now?" Ron just nodded. "Great! See you at Hogwarts," Colin smiled. Ron just nodded again and left the compartment.
What just happened? Ron thought to himself as he quickly finished his patrol. He couldn't believe what just happened: he just saw Colin and blurted out the question. He never even thought of Colin before, let alone in that way. He found James and Harry in an empty compartment and sat down.
"Anything the matter Ron?" James asked.
"I asked Colin Creevey for a date," Ron said blankly.
"What?" Harry said sitting up straight.
"I just… I saw Colin bending down—such a perfect butt—and I just asked," Ron said. "I don't know what was going on with me, I just asked."
James and Harry shared a look before looking at Ron. "Well," James began, "at least you asked a cute boy."
"Yeah, Colin might be annoying but he's very cute," Harry agreed.
"So it's not too bad," James smiled. "Who knows, the boy might be a submissive like Harry here—ow!"
"Don't," Harry warned, Ron noticed that a paper figure kicked James in the cheek. James rubbed his cheek as he shot a glare at his brother.
"Anyway… it might be good for you Ron," James finished. "Dating Creevey."
"Who's dating Creevey?" Hermione asked as she came into the compartment and took the seat next to Ron.
"Ron is," Harry said.
"You are?" Hermione asked turning to him.
Ron looked between the three and just slumped in his seat. "Don't ask about it. …Wish the lunch trolley would hurry up, I'm starving." He looked at James and Harry. "Guess what? Malfoy's not doing prefect duty. He's just sitting in his compartment with the other Slytherins, we saw him when we passed."
"Really?" Harry asked interested. It was not like Malfoy to pass up the chance to demonstrate his power as prefect, which he had happily abused all the previous year.
"What did he do when he saw you?" James asked.
"The usual," Ron said indifferently, demonstrating a rude hand gesture. "It's not like him though, is it?"
"Weird," Harry mused.
Before Harry could say anything else, the compartment door slid open again and a breathless third-year boy stepped inside.
"I'm supposed to deliver these to Harry and James Potter," he faltered as her eyes met Harry's and he turned scarlet. He was holding two scrolls of parchment tied with violet ribbon. Perplexed, Harry took both scrolls and gave James his and the boy stumbled back out of the compartment.
"What is it?" Ron demanded, as Harry unrolled his.
"An invitation," Harry said.
Harry,
I would be delighted if you would join me for a bit of lunch in compartment C.
Sincerely,
Professor H.E.F. Slughorn
"Slughorn wants us?" James frowned, looking at his brother.
"Who's Slughorn?" Ron asked.
"New teacher," Harry said. "Well, I suppose we'll have to go, won't we?"
"Yeah I guess so," James said. They both stood up and the paper figure Harry made floated in the air after them.
"Uhh, Harry?" Ron said pointing to the figure. Harry turned to see it. "Oh!" he exclaimed. With a swish of his wand the paper figurine unfolded itself and drifted towards the ground as a blank, flat piece of paper.
"Harry, when did you—"
"Later Hermione," Harry blushed as he and James walked out of the compartment. James grabbed Harry's arm and guided him through the packed corridors, pushing through the people waiting for the lunch trolley. When they reached compartment C, they saw at once that they were not Slughorn's only invitees, although, judging by the enthusiasm of Slughorn's welcome, the twins were the most warmly anticipated.
"Harry, m'boy!" Slughorn said, jumping at the sight of them so that his great velvet-covered belly seemed to fill all the remaining space in the compartment. His shiny bald head and great silvery mustache gleamed as brightly in the sunlight as the golden buttons on his waistcoat. "Good to see you, good to see you! And James here you are too! So glad you both could be here m'boys!"
At a gesture from Slughorn, they sat down next to each other. Harry looked around at their fellow guests. He recognized a Slytherin from their year, a tall black boy with high cheekbones and long, slanting eyes (Blaise, that's his name, Harry thought. He reminds me of Ze); there were also two seventh-year boys Harry did not know and, squashed in the corner beside Slughorn and looking as though she was not entirely sure how she had got there, Ginny.
"Now, do you know everyone?" Slughorn asked Harry and James. "Blaise Zabini is in your year, of course—"
"Hello," Zabini said, seemingly ignoring the principle that Gryffindors and Slytherins hate each other. "Nice to see you two again." For some reason his voice sounded familiar to Harry—too familiar.
"This is Cormac McLaggen, perhaps you've come across each other—? No?"
McLaggen, a large wiry-haired youth with a handsome face, raised a hand and offered it to Harry, who took it, and gave a strong grip of a handshake.
"—and this is Marcus Belby, I don't know whether—?"
Belby, who was thin and nervous-looking, gave a strained smile.
"—and this charming young lady tells me she knows you two!" Slughorn finished.
Ginny grimaced at Harry and James from behind Slughorn's back.
"Well now, this is most pleasant," Slughorn said cozily. "A chance to get to know you all a little better. Here, take a napkin. I've packed my own lunch; the trolley, as I remember it, is heavy on licorice wands, and a poor old man's digestive system isn't quite up to such things. …Pheasant, Belby?"
Belby stared and accepted what looked like half a cold pheasant.
"I was just telling young Marcus here that I had the pleasure of teaching his Uncle Damocles," Slughorn told Harry and James, now passing around a basket of rolls. "Outstanding wizard, outstanding, and his Order of Merlin most well-deserved. Do you see much of your uncle, Marcus?"
"Not… not much of him… Er… he and my dad don't get on very well, you see, so I don't really know much about…"
His voice tailed away as Slughorn gave him a cold smile and turned to McLaggen instead.
"What is this?" Harry whispered to James as they broke a roll for each other.
"His new collection from the looks of it," James whispered back. "Belby's not going to make it."
"No he will not," Harry whispered back. He felt eyes on him and glanced at McLaggen. "He keeps staring at me… it's weird," he said pointing to Cormac who was talking to Slughorn but smiling at Harry. James followed Harry's eyes and listened to Cormac for a while.
"—We went with Bertie Higgs and Rufus Scrimgeour—this was before he became Minister, obviously—"
"I think he's trying to impress," James whispered as Slughorn passed around a tray of small pies, somehow missing Belby.
"Impress who?" Harry whispered. He took a pie, cut it in half, and traded his half for half of his brother's.
"Slughorn… you… both," James whispered. "The weird thing is Zabini."
"Yeah I get what you mean… he looks so familiar," Harry whispered. "If only I had my journal with me then I could look back."
"Yeah, your journals would be very useful right now," James said frowning slightly at Zabini, who was listening intently at Cormac McLaggen's story of hunting nogtails with his Uncle Tiberius and the Minister of Magic. The twins stared at Zabini trying to figure out why he sounds and looks so familiar.
Everyone here seemed to have been invited because they were connected to somebody well-known or influential—everyone except Ginny. Zabini, who was interrogated after McLaggen (not that that didn't stop the boys from staring at the twins), turned out to have a famously beautiful witch for a mother (from what Harry could make out, she had been married seven times, each of her husbands dying mysteriously and leaving her mounds of gold).
Slughorn turned to the twins and said, "And now, "Harry and James Potter! Where to begin? I feel I barely scratched the surface when we met over the summer!" He contemplated the twins for a moment as though they were a particularly large and succulent piece of pheasant, then said, "'The Chosen Ones,' they're calling you two now!"
The boys said nothing. Belby, McLaggen, and Zabini were all staring at them.
"Of course," Slughorn said, watching the twins closely, "there have been rumors for years. …I remember when—well—after that terrible night—Lily—James—and you two survived—and the word was that you must have powers beyond the ordinary—Anyway, such rumors this summer. Of course, one doesn't know what to believe, the Prophet has been known to print inaccuracies, make mistakes—but there seems little doubt, given the number of witnesses, that there was quite a disturbance at the Ministry and that you two were there in the thick of it all!"
The twins, who could not see any way out of this without flatly lying, nodded but still said nothing. Slughorn beamed at them.
"So modest, so modest, no wonder Dumbledore is so fond—you were there, then? But the rest of the stories—so sensational, of course, one doesn't know quite what to believe—this fabled prophecy, for instance—"
"We never heard a prophecy," Ginny said. "I was there too, and all this 'Chosen Ones' rubbish is just the Prophet making this up as usual."
"You were there too, were you?" Slughorn said with great interest, looking at Ginny, but she sat clam-like before his encouraging smile.
Slughorn began a long-winded trip down memory lane as his talk of the Daily Prophet turned towards the various famous students he had, but Harry had the distinct impression that Slughorn had not finished with them, and that he had not been convinced by Ginny.
The afternoon wore on with more anecdotes about illustrious wizards Slughorn had taught, all of whom had been delighted to join what he called the "Slug Club" at Hogwarts. The twins could not wait to leave, but neither could think of how to do so politely. McLaggen and Zabini kept staring at them. Finally the train emerged from yet another long misty stretch into a red sunset, and Slughorn looked around, blinking in the twilight.
"Good gracious, it's getting dark already! I didn't notice that they'd lit the lamps! You'd better go and change into your robes, all of you. McLaggen, you must drop by and borrow that book on nogtails. Harry, James, Blaise—any time you're passing. Same goes for you, miss," he twinkled at Ginny. "Well, off you go, off you go!"
"Glad that's over," James said as he stretched. "I don't think I could have survived another hour listening to his 'great students.'"
"An hour? Try being stuck next to him," Ginny said.
"How come you ended up in there, Ginny?" Harry asked.
"He saw me hex Zacharias Smith," Ginny said. "You remember that idiot from Hufflepuff who was in the D.A.? He kept on and on asking about what happened at the Ministry and in the end he annoyed me so much I hexed him—when Slughorn came in I thought I was going to get detention, but he just thought it was a really good hex and invited me to lunch! Mad, eh?"
"Better reason then most," Harry shrugged. He looked down the corridor to see Zabini standing there, waiting. "What do you want, Zabini?" he said sharply.
"To have a civil conversation with you and James, I am allowed that, aren't I?" Zabini asked.
James narrowed his eyes as he took a step towards Zabini, standing next to Harry. "I honestly don't know, snake. How do we know you'll won't just hex us or something?"
"I'll let you hold me wand," Zabini said at once, pulling out his wand by the tip and holding the handle out towards the twins. James looked at the wand for a moment. His eyes studied Zabini for a long while before turning to Ginny. "We'll see you later," he said to her.
"James… you sure?" Ginny asked.
"I'm sure. Harry, take his wand," James ordered. Harry took a step and snatched Zabini's wand. Zabini held both his hands out and smiled. "Shall we look for an empty cabinet to talk?" he asked.
"You first," James said pulling out his own wand and aiming it at Zabini. The Slytherin just smiled and turned his back to the boys and started walking. Harry and James followed, the older twin's wand held outright as the three walked down the corridors. After five minutes Blaise stopped at a compartment and looked inside. "This one is empty," he said.
"In," James ordered, flicking his wand. Zabini just rolled his eyes but walked inside, sitting down on one side of the compartment and Harry and James taking the other side. "Talk," James said.
Zabini smiled and said, "I will but it will take a while and require some explanation, James."
"Don't call me that, Zabini," James said.
"But I call you that all the time, you see," Zabini said. He frowned and looked at the two of them. "Doesn't my voice sound familiar to you guys? At all?"
James and Harry looked at each other. "Well…" Harry began.
"No, it doesn't," James snipped.
Zabini's frown deepened and sighed. "After being friends for two years you'd think you would have memorized my voice. I mean, I've memorized both of yours… maybe it was because I've always worn a mask."
"What are you talking about?" James asked irritated.
"Harry, James, it's me… Ze. From the pub Devilish Intensions," Zabini said. Harry just stared at him. "You… you're Ze?" he asked.
"Yeah, I am," Zabini said. "Ze, Zabini… not that much of a stretch."
"Why are you telling us now?" Harry asked. "Why even tell us at all?"
"He's trying to threaten us Harry," James said. "Look, he's a Slytherin! I bet… I bet his friendship with us was all a lie or something. And now that he knows everything he wants to blackmail us or something."
"I would never do that!" Zabini yelled. "You think that I would honestly tell your secrets to anybody? I didn't even tell Dee after he asked about them!"
"How can we know you're telling the truth?" Harry asked.
"Because it's me, Ze, your friend for the past two years… I care so much about you two, do you think that I would do anything to ruin that?" Zabini asked. James sighed and looked at his twin brother. "Harry…"
Harry stood up and closed the blinds over the compartment door as well as the blinds for the window. He locked the door as well and pulled out his own wand. Zabini just sat peacefully still as Harry aimed his own wand at him and whispered, "Veritasermo." A clear fog slowly drifted from Harry's wand toward Zabini who breathed it in without any struggle. "Why are you here?" Harry asked.
"I wanted to speak with James and Harry Potter," Blaise said, looking at James and Harry, meeting both their eyes. "I want to show them who I really am."
"And who are you?" James asked.
"Blaise Zabini, son of Lucrezia Zabini and heir to the Zabini family. I am a Slytherin in my sixth year. I am also Ze to Harry and James Potter."
"Are you in support of Voldemort?"
"No."
"Are you in support of Dumbledore?"
"No."
"Who do you support then?"
"My mother and I support neither Dumbledore nor the Dark Lord, instead taking a neutral stance in this matter."
"Have you told our secrets to any Death Eater or Death Eater supporter?" Harry asked.
"I have told no Death Eater or supporter of Harry and James Potter's secrets," Blaise said. "I have only told Draco Malfoy hints of them, as he wishes to flee the Dark Lord."
"Draco Malfoy?" Harry said.
"Why would Draco Malfoy want to run away from Voldemort? And why did you tell him hints?" James demanded.
"He's scared. He does not want to be with the Dark Lord nor any of his followers. As for why I told him, it is because Draco Malfoy is Dee."
"Dee is Malfoy?" Harry whispered in disbelief.
"Yes."
"Is Draco Malfoy affiliated in any way to the Dark Lord or the Death Eaters?" James asked. Blaise looked at him.
"Draco Malfoy was forced to become a Death Eater after his father's imprisonment. It was to humiliate his father. Draco has been given an impossible task but is currently looking for a way to get rid of his Dark Mark."
"Draco has a Dark Mark?" Harry asked.
"Yes."
"Malfoy's a bloody Death Eater… knew it would happen one day," James muttered darkly.
"Why would Draco Malfoy want to remove the Dark Mark?" Harry asked.
"It is a source of shame for him. Draco Malfoy wants nothing to do with the war. He told me his Aunt Bellatrix held him down as You-Know-Who gave him the mark."
"Why should we believe what Malfoy is saying?" James asked.
"Because he is exercising," Blaise said looking at Harry. "Harry Potter likes muscles. It makes him feel safe, so Draco Malfoy is exercising to build muscles and make Harry Potter feel safe."
"Dee is… Draco Malfoy is doing this for me?" Harry asked.
"Yes."
"Why?" James asked.
"Draco doesn't know," Blaise said. "He's just very scared. He won't tell me everything that is going on; because of his Dark Mark and conflicting feelings—Draco is at a lost."
"What conflicting feelings?" Harry asked.
Blaise looked at him. "He said that he wished he could change your first meeting. That he can make a better impression on you and become your friend instead of your bully."
Harry stared at Blaise, lost for words. He bit his bottom lip and looked at stuttered as he tried to ask his next question. "Is this… is this true? Does Draco Malfoy wishes to be my friend?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you tell us who you are before?" James asked.
"I was afraid," Blaise said. "I was afraid that if you two knew who I really am that you wouldn't give me a chance, that you would yell at me or hate me because I'm in Slytherin. After our friendship formed I became scared of breaking our friendship and losing you."
"Why are you afraid of losing us?" James asked.
"Because I love you, both of you," Blaise said. "I care deeply for you as if you were my family."
James leaned back in his seat and exhaled through his nose. He looked at Harry. "What should we do?" he asked.
"I don't know… Zabini is Ze. He knows everything and… and I don't think either of us wants to lose Ze," Harry said. Biting his lip again he stared at his lap for a long, silent moment as he contemplated what to do. Then, slowly, he looked up at his brother. "I think we should believe him… that we should just continue our friendship with Ze… Blaise like normal."
"But what about Malfoy?"
"I'll deal with him," Harry said. "If what he's saying is true, then Malfoy might be in more trouble than we can realize."
"Fine… it's your call," James said. He turned to Blaise. "Look Zabini, Harry and I care a lot about you. And if you do anything to hurt Harry, I will hunt you down. Understand?"
"Yes."
"Will you do anything to hurt Harry?"
"Never."
"Good," James said, turning to his brother he said, "You can stop the spell now."
"Finite Incantatem," Harry said.
Blaise's senses came back to him and he smiled. "Thank you… seriously," he said.
James just looked at Blaise for a moment. "Any more secrets you're holding form us, Ze?"
Blaise frowned. "No, there aren't. Look James, Harry, I'm so sorry for lying to you guys but it's the only way I knew how that I could get close to you guys. … Besides… during that time I was… you know, still… in the closet."
"Ohh," Harry said, feeling sympathetic for Blaise. He looked at James and said, "You can't blame him for that, can you?"
"For wanting to hide while in the closet? No, I can't," James said. "But you should have told us, Zabini. If you just told us when you've came out, we wouldn't be in this situation."
"Would you have stayed with me?" Blaise asked, crossing his arms.
"I…"
"We don't know," Harry said honestly.
"And because of that, I was… am afraid," Blaise said. He leaned forward and said, "Listen, I love you guys very much. And because of that, I'm deeply afraid of doing any action that would destroy or ruin that. I'm sorry James, I really am… I just don't want to lose you."
Harry looked at his brother. James just stared at his wand which now laid on his lap. Harry sighed and stood up, sitting down next to Blaise. "I believe you," he whispered. His voice caused James to look up. Harry stared at him expectedly. James looked between his brother and Blaise before standing up and sitting on Blaise's other side. "I believe you too," he muttered.
"Thank you," Blaise smiled. He wiped away any tears that threatened to show and wrapped an arm around both Potter twins bringing them into a hug. "This means so much to me! Thank you, James, Harry." The twins returned the hug and Harry smiled.
"Just no more secrets, alright?" James asked.
"Of course, yeah," Blaise nodded. "Just can you do me one thing? Keep the information about Draco to yourself. … Let him tell you Harry when he's ready, alright?"
"Okay," Harry nodded. "But I'm not going to wait forever."
Blaise nodded in agreement and the three friends stood to leave the compartment. Harry and James hugged Blaise separately one last time before leaving first, heading towards the front of the train where their compartment was whereas Blaise turned to leave to the back, smiling to himself as the hardest part of his plan is over and all that remained was making James Potter fall in love with him.
A/N: Well Blaise finally told the truth to James and Harry and Ron seems to be thinking with the wrong head. And Cormac… why is he looking at Harry? Will Draco have to race to get Harry's heart before Cormac does?
Leopardblack: lol thanks for the "fuck." And don't worry about the incest aspect, the most they'll do ever is kiss each other's cheek. Harry doesn't work out simply because he just doesn't want to, he's too busy with his spells to think about working out lol. And no there is no story before this, this is a stand-alone story. That said of course I'm holding stuff back from you guys, it would be no fun just dumping all the information I have on you guys!
Jokul Frosti: Let me correct you! Draco doing naked squats. Very important to keep the naked. And yeah Viktor was a bit of a jerk and broke Harry's heart. Here's hoping that we never, ever, ever see him again in a certain pub.
Ninjasnowflake: Before I respond, I gotta say: Your name? I love it. With the twins, I'm just systematically tackling every single cliché I can think of and putting my own twist to it. So with twins: Usually James is an arrogant straight douche who everyone's supposed to hate. Here he's just a gay big brother looking out for his little brother with that said I've thought to myself how best to split up the "canon" achievements and through that split fragments of their personalities came through with James being a bit more physical than Harry, and Harry able to focus more on magic while still being ruddy awful at Potions. As for why James's name is James… it's kind of common in some families to have their first born named after the dad. With everyone being gay… well not everyone's gay lol Neville isn't, umm technically Ron's bisexual… but seriously I'm just a gay guy trying to make the world gayer because there's too many straights lol. And yeah the twins can be a bit dumb sometimes in some areas, what can I say? They're males and males are the most oblivious creatures to affection. A fact you can take to the bank, my friend. The masks just hides their face, not their hair. Again chalking it up to the twins holding an idiot ball every now and then. As for Draco's willingness to talk… sometimes when you got so much stuff you gotta just talk and besides look at the outcome! He's got a cool new journal now. And please keep rambling! Long reviews are my favorite so seriously thank you so much!
Guest: Only because you said please.
Littlesprout: Thank you so much.
Kigen Dawn: Haha that's why you shouldn't do reviews on your phone. Well yeah those twins are sneaky aren't they? Much like their author who, while made the concept with you (To my dear readers if you do not like this story please blame this chap) changed and hid many things from you. So they might go back to Knockturn Alley… but they're already at Hogwarts.
Atlantis51: Ultimately yes this will be A Drarry but it's going to have a hard time getting to that point lol
AnnaMerteuil: Oh, okay. And yeah everything has consequences! From the short romance that broke Harry's heart to Blaise's and Draco's conversation.
CloudZzFluffyBedsofWhite: Thank you. And yeah poor Harry with the Krum situation. They were going to have a happily ever after: Harry and his Quidditch King but now… well, Harry and James are more guarded now. As for Dumbledore… who knows what the old fool is thinking of?
Alex Frost: Twincest? Yes and no… like I said the most they'll do is kiss each other's cheeks and forehead. If you count that as twincest, yes, if not then no. But with Fred and George on the other hand… that's a yes, yes, yes, oh god yes!
Kamui5: The twins, mostly Harry, will be practicing the Dark Arts, not as violently Dark as in my other stories and definitely no Unforgivable Curses, but everything else that isn't "Ministry-approved," which will be explained at a later time , is up for fair game. And no Voldemort support in this story, nor Dumbledore support.