Chapter 2. The Two Shards

In spite of the nearly abnormal heat in London, the air in Knockturn Alley seemed to be way too cold for this time of the year, almost magically so. It was especially notable comparing to the nearly opposite atmosphere in Diagon Alley, and this strange contrast made everyone who entered this dark, gloomy place feel unusually calm and relaxed. It could seem that even if some bitter enemies met here today, they would like to have a truce for a while just to enjoy this bizarre tranquility.

But there were exceptions, of course. For instance, to say that young Draco Malfoy was absolutely terrified and panicked would be a huge understatement. In fact, the boy was about to faint as he leaned against the rough cobblestone wall of some apothecary, pleading silently for all the shadows around to keep ignoring him as they had been doing so far — after all, he was just a child, nothing significant... or at least he hoped they thought this way.

Just a little boy who had managed to get lost in Knockturn Alley, being completely on his own since noon, for about an hour by now. Who could possibly be interested in him anyway?

Although the child kept wondering why his father hadn't found him yet, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that the idea of meeting Lucius Malfoy now was maybe even more frightening to him than what he was feeling at the moment. Because knowing his father, Draco was bound to receive some very serious punishment, without a doubt. He had gotten hurt before for much lesser failures than this one, and now it was certainly his fault that he had gotten lost here in this unwelcoming place.

In fact, he had merely wanted to chase that beautiful crow while his father had been too engrossed in the conversation with that vendor named Borgin — an unpleasant sycophant, much like most of those with whom Lucius Malfoy had business nowadays. Naturally, little Draco had felt very bored as he'd had to wait for them to finish their discussion which had seemed to be unending, and now... here he was, unsure what to fear more — his father's wrath or all these scary people around.

Sliding down the rough, cold wall, Draco hugged himself, closing his eyes in a silent, cramped prayer. According to his father's words, he was supposed to be able to command magic, wasn't he? And if he asked magic nicely, surely it would help him like it always helped others...

But sadly enough, it didn't, and with each second passing the boy felt the cold fingers of fear and despair gripping his throat more and more tightly.

The truth was that he was completely alone, and there was nobody and nothing that could possibly rescue him from this awful place. Not even magic itself.

And just as he was about to start sobbing out of despair, someone's cold nail touched and then scratched his cheek painfully, making the boy flinch and shrink, opening his eyes and staring at the ugly wrinkled face of the man that was looking at him with uncovered greed as well as something else the child couldn't quite distinguish.

"Look whom we got here, eh... what are you doing here all alone, boy? Oh," the old man's lips twisted into a weird, creepy smile, revealing his disgusting dark yellow teeth. "You are crying... how cute. Don't worry, sweetie. I will take care of you..."

Draco's light gray eyes widened in horror.

"N-no... Don't—don't touch me...!"

"Hush, brat. I won't hurt you, don't worry. Just come with me, and we'll spend some wonderful time together! Get up now," his thick fingers gripped the collar of Draco's white shirt, making the boy scream in utter panic, but people around them didn't seem to care at all — they just kept passing by, not paying the scene any attention whatsoever. The offspring of Lucius Malfoy wasn't familiar with the term of irony yet due to his age, but if he were, he would probably have found the situation pretty ironic considering that this was exactly what he had wished for just a minute ago.

But on the other hand, that wish never included this monster that was now pulling him somewhere against his will...

Trying desperately to get out of the iron grip, the resisting boy flinched and tripped as he heard someone's strong, unfamiliar voice,

"Hey, you there! Take your hands off the kid!"

The old man stopped, and his eyes narrowed at someone who stood under the arch that led to Diagon Alley.

Someone who was wearing the dark blue uniform... an auror!
Draco felt the small beam of hope warming his heart up a little. Aurors were supposed to protect wizards. Maybe this one would save him?

"Oh, I'm sorry, I believe it's just a misunderstanding, sir. You see, my grandson is not exactly well mannered, so he's making a fuss here while I'm trying to take him home. He will not be bothering anyone here any longer, I promise—"

"I told you to get your hands off him, didn't I? Don't you see who you're talking to, pest?"

Draco couldn't see the auror's face clearly for he was still trying to slip out of the old man's grasp, but evidently his abductor himself could, seeing as he let the boy go the the next second, making young Malfoy smack onto the dirty ground, wincing and gasping in pain.

"I—oh! I'm so sorry! I—"

"You what, Xhul? What will be your excuse this time?" The boy stared at the auror now that he had the opportunity to study his saviour a little. The man had brown eyes, his hair was black and wild, which made Draco assume that he was not a pureblood seeing as he clearly didn't pay much attention to his looks. He also had a short, half an inch long chin curtain beard without a mustache, and aside from the uniform, he wore simple glasses that looked pretty cheap — yet another piece of evidence to the fact that he was a lowlife, as his father called the likes of him.

As the man came closer to them, Draco also noticed the boy that was gazing at him curiously from behind the auror's back. He was probably around his age, not older than seven, and he looked very similar to the auror except for the bright green eyes and ... the scar on his forehead?

It can't be...!

"I—well, Mr. Potter, actually I just noticed that this child was feeling very uncomfortable here, so I decided to take him back to his parents as soon as possible, you see. Apparently the brat had run away from Mr. Malfoy, and I didn't want him to put a shade on his father's glorious name by letting everyone around find out about his awful behavior. I guess it's too late now anyway, eh... But you see, this place is definitely not suited for children like him and...," he paused, moving his gaze to the other boy who met the yellowish, unhealthy looking eyes absolutely impassively, "The Boy Who Lived, of course. Don't you think so, Mr. Potter?"

It all clicked for Draco now. These people weren't lowlifes. They were much worse...

This time, everyone around them seemed to be a little interested — of course, none of them dared to stop and watch what was going on as the reputation of James Potter preceded him, but at the same time, nearly everyone seemed to slow down a little bit to take a peek at the second boy.

Of course, Draco knew why.

It was Harry Potter, the one who had miraculously destroyed the Dark Lord shortly after his birth. Everyone knew something about him, and as far as Draco was aware, James Potter's offspring was someone disliked a lot by his father, as well as the auror himself. Ever since the day he was born, the boy had been told that Potters were a family of blood traitors and that he, Draco, should always stay away from them.

Until this day, there was no reason to doubt that advise.

But now... this 'blood traitor' had just saved him from something dire. Surely Draco was still very young and naive, being raised pretty much isolated from society, but he was not completely oblivious. It was more than obvious that this scary old man wouldn't do him any good. There were rumors that some warlocks abducted children to use them in their dark rituals, and none of these kids were found alive after that. And this old man definitely looked like someone capable of committing such things...

Draco moved his eyes to James Potter then, staring at the man incredulously and trying to decide what to think about his saviour.

He looked scary, too, but not in a bad way. And he was also angry. Very angry, much like Lucius Malfoy was whenever his son did something especially inappropriate. But at the same time, this wrath was directed at his, Draco's offender... not at himself. And that was amusing to watch.

"Both of them are under my protection now. Get the hell outta here unless you want me to send you to Azkaban tonight. And trust me, I shall do it if you don't disappear right away. I couldn't care less about how influential your friends are; they are all nothing to me. Just like you, Xhul."

The older man grinned mockingly, bowing down theatrically and flicking some dust off Draco's white shirt before stepping away from the boy.

"As you wish, Mr. Potter. I wouldn't dare to go against the orders of the Head of Auror Office himself."

"Just get lost already, you mongrel!"

The man disapparated, and people around the three of them hastened again the next second, probably realizing that the show was now over and not wanting to meddle with James.

"Now then," the auror came closer, giving the blond boy a hand to help him get up from the ground, which he took hesitantly, "Your name is Draco, isn't it?"

"Y-yes, sir," he stuttered, blushing and looking away sheepishly. The auror didn't look angry anymore, but it was still a little bit scary to meet his piercing gaze.

"Is it true what Xhul said? Did you run away from your father?"

The gray eyes of the boy widened in fear again.

"No—no! Actually, it's—uh—well—I guess...," he mumbled, lowering his head in shame. It made The Boy Who Lived chuckle, which in turn made Draco glance at him hatefully.
It wasn't funny at all...!

James' features softened as he patted young Malfoy's head, rustling his hair and smiling reassuringly.

"And why did you do that? Don't you know how dangerous this place is?"

Draco bit his lip, trying to find the right words and to get a hold of himself. This person wasn't his father. He had no right to punish him anyway, so there was no reason to be afraid of telling the truth.

"I—I do... it's just—well—I wanted to catch that bird, and..." He stopped, realizing how ridiculous that probably sounded.
But neither James nor Harry laughed. Instead, The Boy Who Lived asked casually,

"What kind of bird? An owl?"

Draco stared at him, thinking for a few seconds before finally muttering,

"No... a crow."

Harry looked around curiously, adjusting the glasses on his nose.

"A crow? Here?" There were no birds visible around, which was hardly surprising — Knockturn Alley was probably the most popular place among dark wizards in London, and someone would certainly catch such a smart bird as a crow as soon as it appeared here.

"Yes. A very big one. I thought about catching and taming it because I want a pet, but I got lost," said Draco, surprised by his own sudden bravery. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that he didn't want to look weaker than this celebrity, and also he certainly didn't want to be ridiculed by him or his father.

"If you want a pet, why don't you just ask your dad to buy you one, then? Would be much easier, wouldn't it?" asked Harry, suddenly receiving a light cuff on the nape from James.

"Behave, son."

"Sorry, dad," the black haired boy winced a little, but grinned mischievously at the same time, which made Draco frown.
What had he been scolded for? And what funny was there...?

"I did ask him, but he said that I'm too young to have a pet. That's why I wanted to catch one on my own. This way, it would be rightfully mine... right?"

James smirked, putting his hand onto the boy's slender shoulder and lowering onto his knee so that their eyes would be on the same level.

"Well, that's an understandable reason. But it was still very reckless of you. Your father is probably very worried now."

Draco sighed sadly, shaking his head and looking away. Suddenly he felt jealous — James Potter clearly cared about his son a lot, seeing as he wasn't leaving his side for a second here. Why didn't his own father care about him as much?

"No, I doubt that."

James frowned, and Harry's smile disappeared the next second, too.

"Why would you think that?"

The boy shrugged uncertainly, mumbling quietly without looking at either of them,

"Well, if he were worried, he would have found me by now. Sometimes I think he doesn't care at all."

There was a long, oppressive pause. The auror looked a bit shocked while his son just kept gazing at the blond boy thoughtfully as people around them kept passing by indifferently.

"I'm sure he simply hasn't managed to find you yet, kid," finally uttered James carefully. "Knockturn Alley is big; we were just lucky to stumble upon you on our way, really. If you don't mind tagging along, I'll make sure to take you home when we are done with our business here. It shouldn't take long."

Draco gave the man and his son a long searching gaze before finally nodding hesitantly. It wasn't like he had any other option anyway with the likes of that Xhul around.

James smirked, rustling his hair again, which made the boy wince in annoyance. His mother always told him to take a good care of his looks no matter what, and of course that included his always—so—perfect hair, too.

"Fine, then. Let's go. You guys stay close to me, we'll be done here in no time." They walked down the alley, and for the first minute or two all three of them remained silent. Harry was the first one to open his mouth, whispering quietly,

"Why did you really run away?"

Draco looked at him confusedly, baffled by the unexpected question. He had told them the truth, hadn't he? But after thinking for a few seconds, the blond child frowned, looking at the ground under his feet.

"I was bored. Father kept talking to that man for ages, and I just couldn't stay there any longer."

Harry smirked, nodding understandingly.

"I feel ya. Adults can be impossibly boring sometimes." He replied with another whisper, making young Malfoy shoot a short, cautious glance at James.

But either the auror didn't hear his son's words, or just preferred to ignore them which seemed unlikely as it would be very strange in Draco's opinion as it was worthy of some good punishment for sure. At least his own father would never let something like this just slip unnoticed, of that the boy was absolutely assured.

"By the way, what are you doing here? I mean, both of you." He decided to change the topic to a more neutral one, just in case.

The black haired boy smirked in anticipation.

"Getting my secret birthday present."

Draco frowned, feeling even more confused than before. These people were probably the strangest ones he'd ever met...

"A secret present? How can it be secret if you know about it?"

Harry put his finger to his lips, hissing even more quietly,

"It's secret to mum. Not to me."

"Oh..." The boy decided not to venture digging any deeper, turning his head away and once again looking at the road ahead of them. "Happy Birthday, then," he added, to which Harry smiled and nodded in appreciation.

"Thanks," he said simply, as if it wasn't that big of a deal.

Draco frowned. There was something odd about Harry Potter. He came from a very rich and old family, and he was the heir to his line, much like young Malfoy himself. But this boy seemed to be his complete opposite, and his relationship with his dad, James, who in turn seemed to be nothing like Lucius, was clearly a lot different from the relationship between him and his own father.
Was that why he was told to stay away from Potters? Just because they were different? But they appeared to be nowhere close to the descriptions father always gave whenever this family was mentioned. They were kind and noble, seeing as they helped him without asking for anything in return. They were undeniably strong — after all, Harry had defeated the Dark Lord, and James... that creepy man named Xhul had looked to be afraid of him and evidently he respected the auror quite a lot.

They were also pretty funny. Or at least Harry definitely was — maybe it wasn't very polite of him to sneer at Draco's misfortune, but on the other hand, hadn't tried to mock or offend him in any way. Actually, The Boy Who Lived turned to be surprisingly friendly and easy to get along with. The fact that Potters didn't seem to care about manners all that much was very pleasant and refreshing, too. Sometimes it seemed to Draco that he had too much of all that in his life...

"Here we go, lads. After you," James made a welcoming gesture with his hand, and Harry jumped up the stairs, letting out a squeal of delight and rushing inside the small, inconspicuous store they had stopped nearby.

Giving the older Potter a short questioning gaze, Draco followed the boy, gasping as he passed through the short dark corridor, entering the unexpectedly vast hall full of various... things.

There were different swords and daggers. And then there were hundreds of books. There were also talismans, jewelry and a lot of sealed scrolls of parchment here and there.

But apparently none of those really interested young Potter. A pair of strange looking steel bracelets with some ancient runes engraved on them, protected by the charmed glass box — evidently they were the object of Harry's interest seeing as he didn't pay any attention at all to the other things in the room, stopping right next to the box and examining it with his eyes curiously.

"Ah, Jimmy! And young Harry, too! Welcome, welcome. I've been expecting the two of you," the brown haired man at the counter smiled warmly, shaking James' hand and then moving his gaze to Draco. "Oh? I never knew that you had another son, you slicker! When on earth—"

"Just shut up for a second, Selvik. He's not my son, his name is Draco Malfoy."

"Huh?" The man named Selvik narrowed his eyes at the blond boy, making him swallow heavily under the cold gaze. "Draco Malfoy, you say? What did he do for you, of all people, to bother with him?"

"I didn't do anything—"

"I wasn't talking to you, brat, was I? So, Jim?" Draco shut his mouth despite the anger that filled him. Why was this man talking to him like he was some criminal or a lowlife...? Just who did he think he was?

James rolled his eyes, sighing in slight irritation.

"No need to be so harsh, man. He did nothing wrong except for getting lost here in Knockturn Alley."

The other man squinted at the boy, hemming suspiciously as he gave Draco a long, studying glare.

"Got lost, huh... well then, maybe, maybe. He's not his father, after all, so I guess I should try to be unbiased here. Anyway," he turned back to the auror, the smile returning to his face the same instant, "I can see that your son is well aware of the reason why you guys are here. I have to warn you, though; these are the strongest ones you could possibly find in England. The standard auror ones are inferior by far, you know. I ordered some special enchantments for them, so I gotta ask you just in case... are you sure you wanna use them?"

"Yeah," James nodded affirmatively, "Thank you very much. These should do just fine."

Selvik smirked understandingly.

"Does Lily even know about your... methods?"

The auror smirked skeptically, shaking his head.

"Of course she doesn't. I told you how overly careful she is in everything that concerns Harry, remember? But knowing that, as well as realizing that he needs training, we've come to the agreement. I'm to train him to use magic whereas she is to educate him. In other words, theory is her territory, practice is mine."

The vendor smirked in response, nodding approvingly.

"That's a good decision. And how does it work? Is everything alright?"

James shrugged carelessly, putting his hands into the pockets of his pants.

"So far, so good. Right, Harry?"

The boy nodded quickly, not looking away for a second from what was, as Draco presumed, his present.

"Yes, dad."

"I'm sure she's gonna beat some shit out of you once she finds out that you're putting restrainers on him at such young age, though," Selvik grinned slyly, and Draco frowned. What exactly were they talking about? And more importantly, why did this bad mannered man dislike his father so much? There had to be a good reason to it...

"Well, it's only to be used during our training sessions, really, so it should be safe. It's not like he has to always wear them, you know," James scratched his nape uncomfortably — apparently he didn't fancy the idea of this Lily, whoever she was, beating him up.

"Whatever, man. It's not like he'll be able to do anything while wearing these. I don't know what you're thinking, but then again, who am I to judge you and The Boy Who Lived himself?" Harry finally snapped out of his thought at the mention of his famous nickname, turning his head to look at Selvik and giving the man a small, polite smile.

"But that's exactly what we need these for. When I wear restrainers, I can be sure that my accidental magic won't hurt anyone should it go wild during my exercises. That happens pretty often lately, so I can't train properly without them, you see. And all those I tried before, well... they don't work well enough anymore."

The man's eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Huh? What do you mean they don't work anymore?"

Harry glanced at his dad before shrugging uncertainly, suddenly looking sheepish. The auror grinned pridefully, replying instead of his son,

"Let's just say that sometimes his mother's temper awakens in him, and no obstacle can withhold such tremendous power," both the adults chuckled, which made Harry blush as he decided to look away and pretend as if he didn't hear that, much to young Malfoy's amusement. It turned that The Boy Who Lived was not so perfect, after all. He had his own weak spots, just like Draco himself. It was certainly a pleasant discovery.

"I see. And with these on you, you can go all out without being afraid of inadvertently killing Jim or turning the floor under your feet into lava or doing some other dangerous shit... that's pretty shrewd, what can I say, if only a bit brutal given that you're only seven. As expected of Jimmy," Selvik smirked, clapping on the auror's shoulder. "Anyway, feel free to take your stuff. For free, of course — just don't mention my name at your office and we're good, buddy."

"As always," James nodded, coming close to Harry and opening the box with a flick of his wand... or his hand?
Draco wasn't sure.

But instead of trying to figure it out, the boy stepped slowly towards the vendor, clenching his fists and taking a deep breath before blurting out,

"Sir, may I ask you a question?"

Selvik looked down at Draco with slight despise and nodded after a short pause,

"What is it, brat?"

Draco hesitated for a second — the man was big and clearly very strong physically, yet still the boy decided to gather all the courage he had, proceeding,

"What do you hate my father for?"

All the sounds in the room died off immediately. James looked at Draco ruefully, whereas Harry focused his gaze on Selvik who seemed to be taken by surprise with this question, although it was clear that the man was having a hard time controlling his anger.

"Why do I hate him, you ask? Well, that's not hard to answer, boy. Your daddy's friends murdered my wife and children eight years ago. It's a shame that he's not jailed as well yet, but I hope Jimmy will fix this in time. He knows his shit."

Draco's eyes widened in shock.

His father? Friends with murderers? Was this man talking about the accomplices of the Dark Lord? But if Lucius Malfoy was a murderer, then how come he was still free?

"You—you're lying...!"

Selvik laughed, shaking his head.

"Oh, dear lord, it's such a shame that you came here with Potters. I'd gladly put you out of your misery to prevent you from growing up into a monster like the one your beloved daddy is, brat." There was such intense hatred in his eyes that Draco couldn't quite decide if he was more scared or angered by the man's malign.

But somehow...

Draco bit his lip, feeling the unwanted tears coming up to his eyes yet suppressing them with everything he had, refusing to cry in front of Selvik.

Somehow it didn't seem unrealistic to him. His father was not a kind man by any means, of course. Sure, he treasured Draco and his poor mother to an extent... well, in his own way, but that was it. Unlike Narcissa who loved her son to no end and always gave him whatever he wanted, Lucius, on the other hand, had barely shown any signs of love so far as Draco could remember, and until now, the boy had never really wondered why it was this way, considering that natural.

However, seeing the Potters today, as well as comprehending Selvik's words... he hadn't come to any conclusions and neither had a new picture of the world formed in his head just yet, but everything that had happened today had planted the seed of doubt in his heart, making some new, disturbing questions rise up.

What if his father wasn't always right?

What if he wasn't that much better than other wizards?

What if he was, in fact, evil...?

All that was now overwhelming the boy's mind, and he lowered his head, crushed by various anxious thoughts.

"I guess that's enough. Harry, hand me the bracelets for now, I'll hide them until our next training. Selvik..." James paused, and judging by his troubled expression, he seemed to want to add something else, but apparently the black haired wizard decided not to go on with the conversation in the end. "So long. Draco, let's go. We gotta get out of this place as soon as possible. I'm beginning to feel depressed by this atmosphere." He came close to the blond boy, taking Draco's small hand into his and pulling him towards the exit, followed by Harry who also appeared to be pretty concerned with something now.

They walked out of the store, and none of them uttered a word for quite a while — it was hard to say exactly how long did the silence last this time, for Draco felt completely lost and exhausted after all the events of this day. Only when they were about to enter Diagon Alley, Harry finally said,

"Don't worry so much about what he told you."

The blond child shot The Boy Who Lived a grim glance before muttering quietly,

"But he said that my father is evil. How can I not worry about it?"

Harry shrugged carelessly, the optimistic smile never leaving his lips.

"Well, you could call me evil too. I have killed Voldemort, haven't I? And killing is a bad thing, and a crime."

Draco flinched at the mention of the forbidden name, shocked by Harry's bravery. Of course, when the boy thought about it, his new friend, if he could call him a friend, had the right to spell the Dark Lord's name considering that he was the one who had defeated him, yet still... it was impressive. It was something exemplary. Young Malfoy wished to become as courageous one day.

"But nobody hates you for that," he finally reasoned after some thought.

The black haired boy stopped smiling, looking away.

"I wouldn't be so sure. Still, he's your dad. Family is the most important thing out there, isn't it?"

Young Malfoy smiled weakly and nodded.

"I guess."

"Besides, there is no proof that what Selvik said about your dad is true. If things were this way—"

"—then Lucius would probably have been long imprisoned," finished James, looking at the blond child over his shoulder for a second before turning away and adding, "Listen, kid... I never knew that he had such a vendetta against Lucius. Otherwise I wouldn't have taken you inside his store, of course. Sorry about that. But Harry is right, and you should always remember that. Any accusations with no solid proof behind them are meaningless. And if your father is not in Azkaban yet, it means that he is innocent, end of the story. Don't let anyone confuse you, alright?"

Thinking over James' words for a few seconds, Draco smiled a bit more brightly, nodding.

"I get it. Thank you, Mr. Potter!"

The auror winked at him, but then he stopped for a second, waving his hand at someone.

"Oi! Lily! Over here!"

Draco squinted under the scorching rays of sun, trying to discern the face of the woman that was walking quickly toward them, looking a bit worried.

She was beautiful, he could tell that much. Being in her mid twenties, she looked nothing like the blond boy's mother — aside from being younger, she had long, straight fiery red hair that almost reached her waist, and her eyes were bright green, much like Harry's. She was also wearing the uniform similar to that of James, although hers was a bit different — probably the version designed for women, as the boy assumed.

This Lily was an auror, too. She was probably Harry's mother, then.

A mudblood...

The woman smiled happily as she approached them, kissing her husband quickly before bowing down to take a close look at Harry who paled a little, but smiled as well nonetheless.

"Hey, mum."

She sighed, patting his cheek lightly.

"Didn't I tell you to dress properly today, Harry... like father, like son," she muttered, fixing the collar of Harry's black short sleeved shirt and making an attempt to make his messy hair look decent, but stopping shortly as she realized that it was pointless.

Her actions and words surprised Draco quite a lot, although he didn't show any sign of his true emotions, trying to remain calm and expressionless. According to his father's words, mudbloods never really cared about appearances, clothes or etiquette. Was that also a lie?

The gaze of her emerald green eyes moved to him then, making the boy stop breathing for a second as she frowned, looking at him with a mixture of emotions he would classify as something between concern and displeasure.

"Oh, dear lord, where did you get that?" Asked the woman, pulling her wand out of nowhere and pointing it at his face, making the boy gasp in fear.

No, father hadn't been lying about mudbloods! She was going to curse him, without a doubt...!

But then he felt the strange wave of warmth on his cheek. Touching it reflexively, he remembered that this was the spot where that old man Xhul had scratched him. He had already forgotten about that...
Draco had learned long ago how to ignore pain as he had gotten punished pretty often, and considering that he had been having far more disturbing things on his mind since that moment half an hour ago, the boy had totally forgotten about this scratch that was... gone now.

She had healed him! She didn't really intend to hurt him!

Lily smiled warmly, putting the wand back into the sleeve of her jacket and patting his cheek as well.

"And who are you, young man? Harry's new friend? Was that the present you have prepared for his birthday, Jim? To allow him to make some new friends?"

Her husband smirked, exchanging understanding glances with Harry before winking at Draco.

"Whereas it is good for him to improve his social skills a little, it has nothing to do with his present, honey. He's gonna get it later. But I think they are getting along nicely, right, guys?"

"Yeah!"

"Yes..." Draco's reply probably didn't sound as convincing as Harry's, but that was not something the boy found important at the moment, now that everything he knew about life was being slowly turned upside down. And although he would later find it strange, and he certainly wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he actually liked Lily Potter, so he didn't want to lie to her, even though he knew that this lie of Harry and James' was harmless.

"What's your name then, mister?"

He coughed, bowing his head politely.

"Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. It's a big pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Potter."

James made a funny face, pretending to look offended, which made Draco suppress the urge to giggle as the man drawled,

"Hey, you weren't so polite back when we met, kid! Is it all because of her beauty? I should've known!"

"Nah, dad, it's because even he can't take you serious when you're acting like a child," Harry smirked, and Draco was about to gasp again, expecting James to put his son in his place for such insolence, but instead, James simply laughed, and so did Lily after a short, barely notable suspicious glance directed at her son's newfound friend.

They were totally the weirdest family the blond boy had met so far, but surprisingly enough, it was in a good way. Actually, he couldn't remember the time when he had felt so free, without being afraid of getting punished for any step he took.

"It's nice to meet you too, Draco. I hope you and Harry will become great friends. Anyway, Jim, where are his parents?"

"That's what I've been trying to figure out until we met ya. He'd gotten lost not so far away from here before we stumbled upon him, and I gotta send him back to his home as soon as possible. I guess we should go to the Leaky Cauldron, the fireplace there must be connected with Malfoy manor. Is that right, kid?"

Draco shrugged timidly.

"I'm not sure, sir. I've never been to that place."

Lily's eyebrow cocked in surprise with a note of suspicion again, but she didn't say anything on the matter, smiling the next second instead.

"We should get going, then. We have to do a lot of preparations for tonight. Did you guys know that Sirius is coming back from France together with, uh... somebody?"

"Really?" James and Harry drawled simultaneously, grinning happily.

"I bet this 'somebody' won't last a month, just like all of his previous 'somebodies'," said James.

"Indeed. He is such a bounder," Harry hemmed.

"Son! Don't be so rude! Sirius is... well—"

"Yeah, Sirius is Sirius," the Boy Who Lived muttered, rolling his eyes which made James grin, and even Lily's mask of seriousness gave a crack as she chuckled, shaking her head.

"You are so lucky that this is your birthday today, otherwise I'd call no sweets for you until next week for sure."

"Oh yeah, lucky me." This time it was Lily's turn to roll her eyes at her son's response, shaking her head at his smug grin.

Draco watched the scene with his eyes open wide, although as strange as it seemed, he was getting used to their behavior. And it felt shockingly good. He certainly would like to spend some more time with them... eventually. If he would get a chance to.

They entered the homely pub that the Leaky Cauldron turned to be, walking past a few wooden tables strictly toward the fireplace. There were not a lot of people at this time— only two men were sitting quietly at the bar, drinking something from iron piles from time to time, and there was also a beautiful woman with two little girls, brunette and blonde, sitting at the table in the corner of the hall and not paying any attention to the newcomers.

"Welcome, James, Lily, and Harry, of course. How may I serve you?" asked the gray haired man, the owner of this place.

"Hey there, Tom," said James and Harry discordantly.

"Greetings, Tom. I suppose we could stop here for the lunch, what do you guys think? Draco, are you hungry?" asked Lily, but before he could reply, the fireplace lit up with green flames, and Lucius Malfoy himself stepped into the room, looking...

Absolutely infuriated.

"Potter. Care to explain why is my son here with your bunch?" He stared at James expectantly, nearly radiating hatred for the auror.

The red haired witch was about to retort, but James stopped her with a light motion of his hand.

"Chill, Lucius. I found him in Knockturn Alley, scared to death by someone named Xhul. He was trying to drag your son somewhere by force, so I decided to intervene. But I'm sure you don't know anyone named Xhul, do you? Anyway, feel free to take him home. And please, don't thank me, it's my job to keep everyone safe from the likes of... him," the auror smiled politely, pushing Draco lightly in the back.

The boy strode toward his father reluctantly. He knew what this expression of his meant. It was going to be painful... very painful.

He wasn't wrong in his assumption. As soon as he came close to Lucius, he got knocked down by the dark, lacquered cane of his father, yelping and gripping his apparently broken nose.

"That the heck are you doing, you idiot!" Lily rushed towards the boy, but stopped a few yards away as Lucius pointed his wand at her chest.

"Get. Away. From. My. Son!"

She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists in anger and frustration, meeting tear-filled gray eyes of Draco who looked away the next second, trying desperately not to utter a sound.

"Get up now. We're leaving." With a flick of his father's wand, the injured boy felt as the strong wave of magic made him stand up, limping towards the fireplace. "Episkey," with another flick, Draco felt his nose getting healed the next second, but it was hardly relieving — he knew that the main part of his punishment awaited him at home.

But then something inexplicable happened. Just as he was about to enter the fireplace, a heavy cauldron fell down from the rack above right onto Lucius' head, making the man turn around and hiss in pain and anger.

"Who did this?" he roared, looking at the Potters. But none of them had their wands drawn out... And the men at the bar, as well as the women at the table near the window didn't seem to pay any attention to them at all. Only one of the girls that was sitting next to her, the blonde, was staring at Harry with her mouth open, as if he...

Draco's eyes widened in realization.

Harry had done this! He had made that cauldron fall...!

The satisfied grin on young Potter's face only confirmed his assumption. And although Draco had every right to be mad at him considering that the boy had formally attacked a member of his family, he... smiled.

No matter what was the true intention behind what Harry had done, he'd avenged his broken nose. For the first time in Draco's life, someone stood up for him. Not just nursed him after he got hurt like his mother always did, but actually tried to avenge him.

That was the moment when the boy realized something very important. No matter what his father said, he was certainly wrong in one thing — the Potters were good people.

To his surprise, he then felt something pricking the skin of his hip near the left pocket of his black pants. Slowly putting his hand into it while Lucius still weren't looking at him, Draco took out something shiny, staring at the little thing. Taking a closer look, he realized that it was a small piece of a broken mirror. But why on earth did he have it...?

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Mr. Malfoy! I must have been too tired yesterday, so I put it on the very edge... oh, my... can I do something for you to compensate this misfortune?" pleaded Tom, to which Lucius just snorted, turning around and pushing Draco deeper into the fireplace.

"Malfoy Manor!"

Before the green flames absorbed them, Draco noticed as Harry winked at him before taking a similar shard out of his own pocket and showing it to him in the last moment. Young Malfoy had no idea how important this piece of junk would become to him very soon...

As soon as they disappeared, Lily hugged James and closed her eyes, leaning against his shoulder and putting her chin onto it, uttering quietly,

"Sometimes I truly hate all these pureblood traditions. Does he really have to be so cruel? This is his son, for God's sake..."

James sighed sadly as he hugged her waist with one hand and pulled Harry closer to them with another, still gazing at the empty fireplace.

"I know, honey, I know. But there is nothing we can do for now aside from not following these garbage traditions ourselves, I'm afraid."

After a few seconds of silence, Lily flinched suddenly as she remembered something important, muttering into her husband's ear the next second,

"By the way, sweetheart. Care to explain what the two of you were doing in Knockturn Alley?"

The auror paled, and his wife grinned victoriously, making Harry roll his eyes.

"Well, thank you, dad. We're screwed again."

Thanks you very much for the reviews, they really help a lot.

I'd also like to remind you that the first few chapters are going to be the prologue, introducing the main heroes of the story and showing the changes caused to their lives by the specifics of this timeline. The main part will begin in approximately 5 chapters from here.

Have a nice day!