Hey… its me again. That was a rough one hey? Haha. Anyway. Hope you accept this apology.
Missed you all.
Trigger warning: mentions of child abuse
Xxxx
"Well then," Percy looked around the room. "Mum?" Molly looked startled at being called upon to read.
"Oh no, dearest, I think someone else would do a much better job." She fussed.
"A better job?" George exclaimed. "A better job than the one and only famous story-teller, Molly Weasley?"
"A better job than the thrilling recounter of Tales of Beedle the Bard?" Fred joined in. "Impossible."
"Oh boys," Molly flushed, but waved her wand and floated the book over to herself all the same. Clearing her throat, she began,
"Brothers meeting for the first time"
"Yes," Damien hissed, pumping his fist.
Mrs Weasley climbed to the second floor to announce that dinner was ready. The six teens in the room were still deep in conversation. They made their way downstairs quickly. They all stared at the second room on the first floor as they passed it wondering if the mysterious 'Potter' was still inside or not.
Damien was hoping that he wasn't. He was really hoping that this new family member was going to be introduced to everyone at dinner.
Sirius snorted, "yeah, I don't think that would go down well Pup."
"Well I know that now, don't I?"
He had convinced himself that due to the Order meeting taking place today, his parents weren't able to introduce him earlier.
"No, they just weren't planning on introducing me at all."
"Damien," James began. "It was a difficult-"
Damien waved his hand. "I know, dad. It's all good now." Lily eyed her second-born suspiciously.
"How exactly is it all good now? You were just about ready to tear our heads off before you ran into the forest."
Damien smirked, "It was an enlightening trip." He looked at Molly, not willing to elaborate further.
"I'll say," Sirius whispered in Remus's ear.
Surely this Harry will be joining the family for dinner. He was however disappointed when he entered the dining room. Other than his parents, Sirius, Remus and Mr Weasley there was no one else present. Damien exchanged a dark look with Ron. Both boys had quietly decided to confront their parents about the hidden boy upstairs.
Arthur looked startled, not having anticipated being dragged into someone else's family drama quite so soon. 'I should've known better,' he thought, eyeing his youngest son. That one was loyal to a fault, and would stand with his friends until the very end.
Damien sat across from his dad. He took a good look at his dad's tired face which looked a lot older all of a sudden. James was deep in talk with Sirius and Damien could swear he heard 'Hogwarts' being mentioned a couple of times.
"I can't believe you're both going to be at Hogwarts with me," Damien groaned, throwing his head back. "I'll never have any fun again!"
"Hey," James placed a hand over his heart. "I'll have you know I invented having fun at Hogwarts!"
"Yeah." Sirius nodded, "everyone knows you couldn't have any fun until the fateful year Prongs crossed the threshold into the Great Hall."
"Not funny," James scowled. "My own son thinks I'll be a bore. This is serious!" He saw the look in Sirius's eye. "Don't you dare say it."
"That's not serious, I am-"
"I said no!"
Molly cleared her throat pointedly, raising an eyebrow as the children stifled their giggles. She continued.
James and Lily exchanged a nervous glance with each other. They both were worried about Harry. James was going to come to Hogwarts as Harry's guard. James was going to keep an eye on Harry at all times, an agreement to which Harry had very audibly and aggressively made his feelings clear. Harry had only stopped screaming abuse at James and Dumbledore because of a sudden pain in his head. Harry had clutched his forehead and had cried out in obvious pain. Before anyone could help him though Harry had took off and had stumbled his way back to his room, refusing help from anyone.
"Damn it." James scowled. "Damn it, damn it, damn it."
"I have a feeling he'll be saying that a lot in the future," Remus muttered to a sniggering Sirius.
Damien tore his eyes away from his anxious looking parents. Damien watched as the Weasley children and Hermione ate enthusiastically but he felt like his appetite had disappeared. He had decided to speak to his parents in private but decided on the spur of the moment that no time was like the present.
"Dad"
"Yeah Damy."
Damien took in a breath as he calmed his beating heart.
"Who's Harry Potter?"
Bill mimed a bomb exploding with his hands to Fleur.
The table hushed into complete silence. It was eerie since there were so many people seated around the table. Everyone had stopped eating and was now staring at either James or Damien.
James was stunned with Damien's question. He finally managed to find his voice as he asked.
"What?"
"Nice one, James."
"Shut it."
"I asked who's Harry Potter."
Damien couldn't understand why all the adults were looking at him solemnly.
"How did you…where did you learn that name?"
Damien was getting increasingly agitated. He had asked a simple question, and instead of getting a simple answer, his dad was acting like Damien had uttered an unholy forbidden word. Damien kept his eyes on his dad while reaching into his robes and pulling out the old parchment that was the map to the Back manor.
"I saw it next to a little dot, talking to another little dot with your name on it." he answered a little sarcastically.
Damien saw both his mum and dad turn to glare at Sirius, who in turn seemed to shrink a little. Sirius avoided their glares and just stared at his plate. He knew giving that map to Damien was going to get him into trouble someday.
"Yeah, thanks a lot, Pup," Sirius snarked. "I'll get you back for that." He failed to notice Draco sitting ramrod straight in his chair at his 'threat'.
"I want to know who he is. Why is he upstairs and why have you not mentioned anything about him?" Damien asked again.
Damien watched as his parents gave each other a sad look.
"Damien, we wanted to talk to you about this when we had a little more time, unfortunately a lot has been going on and we never got a chance to tell you…" Lily stopped and seemed to be fighting for words.
"Tell me what?" Damien was positively scared now.
This was not right. He had expected to be told that Harry was a distant relative that had just arrived that morning or that he was just visiting for a few days. He had not expected everyone to act like the sky had fallen on them. He saw his mum look uncomfortably at the Weasley family.
"Yeah, we should probably just… go." Arthur sucked in a sharp breath, blowing it out as though he was already experiencing the awkward atmosphere.
Mrs Weasley took the hint and got up quickly and started to usher everyone out of the dining room so that the Potters could have some privacy. Everyone got up and left but complained loudly that they wanted to know what was going on as well.
Once there was no one else in the room except for James, Lily and Damien, the truth about Harry was revealed.
Damien sat in shocked silence as James and Lily explained everything. How Harry was Damien's older brother, how he was abducted at the age of fifteen months, how he was feared dead.
'Bullshit,' Draco sneered, glaring at the book. He knew the truth, he knew what Harry told him, he knew what he himself had seen in that pensive ring his dark haired friend kept close at all times. He knew the nightmares his friend still had, he knew the terror he still felt at the mere mentions of their names. He had sat beside him, tears sliding down his face as his friend recounted some of the worst of it on their nights drinking together. As he told him about how Sirius Black, Draco's own relative, had found the sight of his best friend Potter hurling different objects at three year old Harry to be incredibly amusing. How he'd laughed his bark like laughter over and over again as Harry tried to dodge, bleeding, bruised and crying. Begging for it to stop, please daddy! How he had been mocked mercilessly and thrown in a cupboard under the stairs for the next three days, to huddle alone in the dark, clumsily tending to his own wounds, starving.
Draco knew if his own parents did what Harry's did he would never forgive them. And for Harry's sake, he would never forget.
They tried to explain the harsh circumstances in which Harry must have been brought up, how he had been brain washed into becoming the Dark Prince and how he has committed terrible crimes.
"Oh please," Draco scoffed. "The Dark Lord treated him better than you lot have!"
"We didn't mean to hurt him!" James snarled. "I would never intentionally hurt my son!"
"Oh really?" the blonde boy sneered. "They'll all find out soon enough, you know."
"Find out what?" Lily piped up. She held up her hand towards the Headmaster as he opened his mouth to speak. "Please, Albus, please don't interrupt Draco. I want to know."
"Lily, I don't think-" Molly began gently,
"No. I want to know what he means." She took her husbands hand. "We both do."
"Mum," Damien began. "It's not really the best time-" he was interrupted, Draco snarling,
"I know how badly you hurt-"
"Enough." Albus waved a hand, silencing Draco mid sentence with a non-verbal command. "I will not allow this to be spoken of. Not yet." He peered at the furious blonde over his half-moon spectacles. "In time, you shall see, Mr Malfoy. You shall see that not all is as it seems." He dropped his hand, lifting the spell.
"How dare you try and discredit what Harry himself has told me! What I have witnessed with my own eyes-"
"I dare." The old man smiled serenely. "All will become clear, in time."
"We get nowhere with these constant interruptions," Mad-Eye butted in. "Get on with it, would you?"
They knew that Damien must be going through hell just now. It was one of Damien's deepest desires, to have a sibling, and now that his wish was granted, there was a possibility it might be horribly taken away from him.
Damien frowned, hoping against all hope that Harry wouldn't be taken from him anytime soon. 'Not when i'm just getting to know him.'
They also told him about Harry saving Madame Pomfrey's children and the deal Dumbledore had made with the Minister. They wanted to give Damien a bit of hope with Dumbledore's deal. A slight chance that all of them might end up as a happy family. James doubted this at this point in time, as Harry was not showing an ounce of positive feelings towards them.
"Maybe he'll react better to me."
"Damien, you shouldn't get your hopes up." James warned his smiling son. Damien waved him off, flippant again.
"He'll like me, I know he will."
James and Lily exchanged worried glances, hoping that their children would get along. For Damien's sake.
James and Lily finished with the future plan of Harry coming to Hogwarts with James as his guard. James watched Damien for his reaction.
The thirteen year old sat in his chair looking at his hands. He had a shocked look on is young face and hadn't interrupted once. Lily looked over at James worriedly.
"Damy, I know this all has come as a shock and you are probably very angry with us for not telling you sooner, but we really didn't want to say anything to you until we knew what the future was going to be like for Harry. We were only just informed at the Order meeting today about the plans for Harry and your dad to go to Hogwarts." Lily looked at Damien as he slowly lifted his head and looked directly at his mother.
Without a single word he stood up and made his way towards the door.
"Damien, where are you going?" Lily asked after him.
"Upstairs to see Harry." Damien said simply, without looking back.
"Oh, yeah, probably not the greatest idea," Bill commented, warily eyeing a grinning Damien.
James and Lily rushed to their feet and were blocking Damien's way before the teen had even reached over to turn the doorknob.
"No Damien, you can't go upstairs." both of them shouted at him.
"Why not?" Damien asked, "It's just Harry."
"You say that as though you know him," McGonagall stated. Damien merely shrugged in reply.
"Why not!" Damien shouted right back at them.
"Damien, he…he's not safe…not right now." Lily was finding it hard not to burst into tears.
"Mum, he's my brother; he's not going to hurt me."
Damien waved his hands at the book, clearly in agreement.
Damien tried explaining this as if his parents were crazy for even thinking something like that.
"Damy! Have you heard a single word we said? Harry doesn't think of himself as a part of this family. He's not going to consider you as his brother, not yet anyway." James felt his heart ache horribly as he watched Damien's face fall at his words.
James and Lily knew exactly how hurtful Harry could be. After all they had been with Harry for almost one week. They knew that if Harry was treating his parents like dirt then he would probably do worse with his kid brother. Damien pushed away the hurt he felt at his dad's words.
"Well maybe if you were to treat him like a part of the family then he might be able to accept us." he said with an accusatory look at James.
"That's… actually a really good idea?" James looked at his wife. "Maybe if we didn't lock him up-"
"We are locking him up." Moody cut in. "End of story."
"Well, maybe if we didn't-"
"Maybe we shouldn't lock any Death Eaters up then-"
"Charlie, you know that's not what anyone is saying-"
"Isn't it Bill? This is You-Know-Who's son, and you're all talking about letting him roam free-"
"He's my son-"
"- as though he's done nothing wrong-"
"Enough, Charlie!" Arthur interrupted. "You and I will talk later, but I don't want to hear another word about this from you, no," he held a hand up. "Not one word. You, my dear boy, have no idea what loss is. What it does to someone. What it must be like to have someone you love, your own child, returned from the dead-"
"I know loss." Mad-Eye looked down. "I lost my Alice, my girl. And you all seem to forget that."
"No-one forgets that." Arthur looked at the man, understanding in the way only a father could be. "And if she came back? If it turned out she had hurt people, but she was back? What would you do? Would you hate her? Lock her up?"
Mad-Eye shook his head, looking at the ground. Molly waited for a response, and, when one did not appear forthcoming, resumed reading after a nod from her husband.
James looked at Damien with confusion.
"What do you mean?" James asked
"Well, for a start, don't lock him in a room! Second, how about telling him a little about his family. I bet you kept me a secret from him like you kept him a secret from me!"
James and Lily looked at each other in humiliation. They had not mentioned Damien to Harry at all and now that Damien had mentioned it, it did seem really cruel to lock Harry in his room.
"Damien, we don't actually keep him locked up, we had to for this meeting, a lot of the Order members are very aggressive towards Harry and Harry doesn't do anything to help matters!" James was thinking about Moody in particular.
James glanced at the man, but he didn't appear to be listening. For once, the man was lost in his own thoughts, vigilance the last thing on his mind.
Damien was beginning to get desperate now.
"Look mum, dad, you just told me that I have an older brother and that he is only a few feet away from me but I can't meet him! You can't do that to me! It's just cruel. Please just let me see him." Damien pleaded.
James and Lily looked at their younger son and felt their heart break at the look of desperation on his face. But they were the parents, they knew better. Harry was in a towering rage at being told he was going to be forced to stay in Hogwarts under the constant eye of James. Now was not the time to be meeting anyone. Lily took a deep breath and looked at Damien straight in the eyes.
"No Damien and that is my last word. I don't want to hear anymore about this subject. Finish your dinner and then return back with the Weasleys. You can meet Harry later."
"Not fair," Damien muttered, Hermione looking at him sympathetically.
"Don't worry mate, we'll help you sneak in to see him," Ron whispered, to nods from the twins, Ginny and even Hermione.
Damien had never felt such rage at his parents. He looked from one to the other trying to see if there was any room for further argument. He didn't see any.
"When am I going to be able to meet him? In Hogwarts! You really think that's fair. I get to see my brother for the first time in school. You guys must be joking." he finished.
"That seems a bit much mate," Sirius looked at his best friend. "Surely he can see him beforehand."
"And run the risk of Harry hurting him? He's volatile, Padfoot!" James ran a hand through his messy hair. "No, we can't risk it. I won't have both of my sons hurt."
"We are not joking and the 1st of September is only a week away. Now finish your dinner and get ready to go to the Burrow!" Lily was turning the same colour as her hair, and that was not a good sign.
However Damien had inherited her fiery temper and was not going to go quietly.
"Uh oh," Sirius exchanged a look with Remus.
"FINE! Have it your way! This is awkward enough and now you guys are really going to mess it up. I get to see Harry for the first time along with the entire bloody school. Brilliant! Thank you very much!"
With that said the youngest Potter stormed around his parents, wrenched open the door and ran to the other room where the Order meeting had taken place. He slammed the door open and didn't even stop to look at the shocked faces of Hermione and the Weasley family, as they were sitting talking about the true identity of Harry Potter.
"Nice, I found out the same day my friends do." Damien snarked.
Damien stormed towards the fireplace and wrenched the pot holding floo powder open. He grabbed a fistful and before anyone could say anything he threw it into the flames and stepped in.
"The Burrow!" he said between clenched teeth and before anyone could stop him, he was transported to the empty Burrow.
"We'll look after him, dear," Molly interrupted herself to reassure an upset Lily.
"You always do," the younger red-head replied, smiling sadly.
xxx
The next few days seem to pass uneventfully. Damien was still in a mood with his parents and refused to speak to them. James and Lily had instantly gone after Damien to the Burrow followed by the Weasley family and Hermione. Damien had mostly ignored them and refused to even acknowledge that they were there.
"Brilliant, that makes two of them!" James remarked, to sniggers.
"No one said it would be easy mate," Remus laughed.
"Brilliant, now that makes two of them!" James had said to Lily when they came back to the headquarters.
The Weasley family didn't really know what to do or say. They all had been pretty shocked with the true identity of Harry but unlike Damien they were not eager to meet him at all. The Weasley boys were outraged that the boy who had hurt so many people and even killed was going to come to Hogwarts and not be punished for everything that he had done.
"We are?" Ron looked confused. "Why?"
"Context." Hermione replied. "You in the book doesn't know any of the background that you sitting here does. It changes your opinion and reaction to things."
"It doesn't change everyone's opinion."
"Charlie, I said-"
"Enough, I know."
What was more, Professor Dumbledore had come to the Burrow the next day after the Order meeting and asked the six teens attending Hogwarts to be civil to Harry and to try and make him feel as welcome as possible.
"Welcoming committee, yay," George did little jazz hands.
Damien was trying his best not to lose his patience. That was mostly because of Percy Weasley. He was sick of hearing all the foul things that Percy had told him about the 'Dark Prince'. Percy was working for the Ministry and was taking immense pleasure in reporting the crimes that were carried out by Harry. Damien had finally cracked and had snapped at Percy one night.
"You know what Percy? It sounds to me as if Harry's done the Ministry a favour by getting rid of the really dangerous Death Eaters since the Ministry wasn't up to the task!"
"Damn right!"
"Damien, language!"
"Sorry mum."
That had shut Percy up. However Damien couldn't make any excuse up for his brother when it came to the deaths of the Longbottoms. Damien was good friends with Neville and it had completely devastated Damien to learn that it was Harry who was responsible for orphaning Neville.
Damien's good mood evaporated instantly at the reminder. Neville's parents, Merlin, how could he have forgotten?
However Damien was so desperate to make things work out with Harry that he tried not to think about his brother as the Dark Prince. Damien managed to push the crimes committed by the Dark Prince to the back of his mind. Anytime the Dark Prince was mentioned by Percy, Damien had mentally repeated to himself, 'Harry had been brain washed, he'd been brain washed, probably the Imperio, he'd been brain washed'.
Draco rolled his eyes, but held back snarking at the younger boy.
Back at the Order headquarters things were not any better. After the meeting with Dumbledore, Harry had taken quiet refuge in his room again. He hardly spoke to anyone and gave James cold glares whenever he could. James sighed as he crept into bed one night.
"I don't know how I can spend any time with Harry being so cold towards me. I don't think me being his guard was such a good idea."
"Well done," Draco clapped. "It has a brain."
James glared but refrained from replying.
"Nonsense James, Harry will open up to us once he gets to Hogwarts. You know what its like. That place brings out the best in everyone. Just wait and see." Lily tried to comfort him.
xxx
"Okay, now you remember what you're going to say if Mrs Weasley asks you anything." Damien asked a very nervous looking Ron.
"Yeah" Ron replied
"Kids." Arthur looked at them sternly. "You shouldn't get involved."
"Well, technically, we haven't yet." Ron replied cheekily.
"Right, Hermione, you and Ginny have to keep Mrs Weasley busy with something or another I'll hopefully be back soon." Damien watched as the girls shared a worried look with Ron. Damien sighed. He knew what question was coming.
"Damy, are you sure you want to do this?" Ginny asked.
"For the hundredth time, YES! I want to do this. Don't you guys understand? I need to do this. There is no way I'm going to meet my brother for the first time in Hogwarts." Damien finished looking at his friends angrily.
"Told you we would help."
Damien knew it wasn't his friends fault but he couldn't help shouting at them in frustration.
Damien was sure that his silent treatment on his parents would have resulted in then letting Damien meet Harry. However, James and Lily just left Damien to sulk and didn't give in to his demands. It was now the day before school started and Damien was extremely desperate to see Harry.
Damien went over the plan in his head again. He was going to floo over to his house and 'borrow' his dad's invisibility cloak
"You mean, 'steal'," James interrupted. He didn't look overly upset about this fact, however.
and use it to sneak into the headquarters. Damien was going to have to wait until his uncle Sirius came over to the Burrow. He was then planning to slip away with Sirius to the headquarters. Damien knew it was impossible to enter or exit the headquarters without a member of the Order so he was going to use the invisibility cloak and sneak into the fireplace with Sirius and floo to the headquarters. Once Damien got inside he was going to go and meet his brother for the very first time.
"Well, that seems like quite the security flaw." Tonks remarked, pulling a face.
"Yeah, but not everyone has a cloak like Prongs does." Remus replied. "So, that helps?"
Damien felt the excitement and anxiety bubble within him. He didn't want to think about what would happen if he were to get caught. His parents would be so angry with him. Damien was sure he would be grounded for life! On the other hand if he wasn't caught he would get to finally meet his brother and hopefully speak to him before going to Hogwarts. The thought of meeting his long lost brother kept Damien from backing out of this plan. His friends were just as nervous as Damien. They kept on pointing out all of the potential things that could go wrong.
Hermione had pointed out the fact that Sirius was an intelligent man and would probably notice that there was someone with him in the fireplace.
"Not that intelligent," Remus snorted, wincing when Sirius elbowed him sharply in reply.
Ron had pointed out that once Damien got inside the headquarters was fine but how was he supposed to come back out?
"I'll just accept the consequences, I suppose?" Damien shrugged.
Ginny had kept on saying that the plan was never going to work since the headquarters must be guarded from the inside, especially with Harry being held there.
Damien had ignored all of them and had said that if worst came to worst he would own up to his parents and then just suffer the consequences.
Damien pointed at the book excitedly as it agreed with him.
Damien got up and prepared to floo over to his house. He waited with a handful of floo powder in his hand. He was standing at the fireplace for just about ten seconds when he got his signal.
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF MERLIN… FRED! GEORGE! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" shrieked a voice from downstairs.
"Boys-"
"Hasn't happened yet, mum!"
Damien didn't waste any more time, he threw in his handful of floo powder and stepped into the green flames.
"Godric's Hollow" he spoke clearly and was gone in an instant.
Ron, Hermione and Ginny stood and watched the spot where Damien had been standing, only a few seconds ago. They all prayed the plan worked.
The three teenagers turned and ran downstairs to see what distraction Fred and George had caused. Mrs Weasley was still screaming at the twins when they entered. Ron, Hermione and Ginny could barely stifle their laughter when they saw what had happened. All of the dishes had sprouted little legs and were running around the kitchen floor, the spoons were battling against the forks, and a kettle was pouring hot tea into the house plants, which were trying to hop away from the scolding liquid.
"Wicked."
Fred and George stood amongst the commotion and beamed at each other, while a very angry Mrs Weasley was shooting all sorts of curses out of her wand trying to control the situation. The five teenagers looked at each other and confirmed wordlessly that Damien had gone to the Potters manor. They all hoped the distraction caused would keep Mrs Weasley busy until Damien had returned with the cloak.
Sure enough Damien walked into the kitchen, half an hour later to find Mrs Weasley still shouting at Fred and George, who were both trying to convince their mum that they had only meant the dishes to wash by themselves and for the tea to be made of its own accord, so that Mrs Weasley could rest. Damien winked at the twins as he sat down at the dinning table. The cloak was folded neatly and hidden away in the inner pocket of his shirt. All Damien had to do now was wait for Sirius to come over and give all of them their Hogwarts Express tickets.
"Little thief," James remarked proudly, a twinkle in his eye. Sirius pretended to wipe away a tear.
"Ah, they grow up so fast."
It was around 7pm before Sirius made and appearance. Damien watched his godfather as he laughed and chatted animatedly to the Weasley boys and felt a pang of jealousy. Damien had given his godfather the cold shoulder as well as his parents, since he felt that his relationship with Sirius was so strong that Sirius should have come and told Damien the truth about Harry.
"Awwww," Sirius sighed. "That sucks". James looked at him incredulously.
"Does it?"
Sirius had tried to get Damien to talk to him but had no success. So when he arrived today he just gave Damien a big smile and made no further attempt to talk to his godson. He figured it would be better for Damien to come and talk to him when Damien felt he had forgiven him.
Damien took a deep breath and turned to look at Sirius.
"Uncle Siri, could you pass the potatoes please?"
Sirius stopped talking and looked at his godson. Damien had to stop himself from laughing at the look on Sirius' face. Sirius took the tray of potatoes and passed them over so enthusiastically that a few potatoes fell out of the tray and rolled across the table.
Lily smiled fondly at the man they made their firstborns godfather.
"Thanks" smiled Damien and took the tray and set it down beside him.
Sirius was looking very happy at the fact that his godson was now on talking terms with him.
After dinner all of them piled outside to play a game of Quidditch. Sirius and Damien sat on the front porch and watched the three boys and two girls take off into the sky, yelling at each other to play fairly.
"I love Quidditch." said Sirius softly.
"Do you know Damy, your dad and I became friends for the first time on Hogwarts Quidditch grounds?" asked Sirius.
"I thought it was the train?" Lily questioned.
"Nah, that's just where we met."
"Yeah, I know. You and dad have told me the story like a thousand times already." replied Damien, although he was smiling while he replied.
"Oh sorry, it's just a great story."
"Uncle Siri, have you told the story to Harry yet?" Damien asked and he kept his eyes on his uncle's face to see what his reaction would be.
"Uhhhhh."
As expected Sirius's eyes darkened and the smile plastered across his face vanished.
"No, I've not been able to get around to that yet." He replied looking at the ground as he spoke.
"Got around to what, telling Harry that story, or just talking to him in general?" Damien didn't want to get angry with his godfather but Damien was finding it hard to control his emotions.
"The second part."
"Damy, it's not what you think. We all have tried talking to Harry, but Harry just doesn't want to know us. He just ignores us most of the time and the few times he has exchanged words with me they have always been things like, 'Get out' or 'Leave' so I don't think he will appreciate any stories anybody tells him." Sirius spoke in a tired voice and Damien instantly felt his anger fade away.
Fake. Draco glared at the man.
"Sorry" he mumbled and he felt his godfather put an arm around his shoulder. Damien let his head lean onto Sirius's chest and closed his eyes for a moment.
Damien was feeling awful about his plan. He couldn't trick Sirius and go with him to the headquarters. If Damien was caught he would get Sirius into trouble as well. Damien quickly pushed his thoughts away and opened his eyes. He had to do this. If he got caught he would blame this onto his parents since they were the ones who wouldn't let him see Harry. Damien mumbled a quick goodnight to Sirius and made his way inside the Burrow.
"Thanks for the concern, anyway, Pup."
Damien slipped on his father's cloak and crept into the fireplace in the dinning room. Damien knew this fireplace was the only one Sirius ever used. He thanked Merlin that it was a big fireplace, two people could easily floo from here. He stood next to one of the walls and pushed himself flat against it so that Sirius wouldn't be able to bump into him when he got in. Damien had to wait ten minutes before he heard Sirius saying his goodbyes. Damien held his breath. 'This is it' he thought to himself. He pushed himself further into the wall as Sirius stepped into the fireplace and nearly cried out as Sirius's robes brushed against him. Damien prayed that Sirius didn't notice. Sirius was still busy talking to Mr Weasley. Damien was breaking into a sweat. His legs shook a little from holding himself so taunt. At long last Sirius bid his goodbyes and threw the handful of floo powder into the flames and shouted,
"12 GRIMMAULD PLACE"
Lily sighed, disappointed but not surprised.
Damien felt the familiar spinning and held onto his cloak to keep it from flying off him. He managed to keep himself from falling out of the fireplace as he arrived behind Sirius. Damien stood in the fireplace for a couple of seconds. He saw his godfather brush his robes and leave the room quickly. Damien released the breath he was holding.
'I don't believe it. I did it! I made it into the headquarters without getting caught' Damien thought to himself.
'I should probably point this out to dad afterwards, if a thirteen year old can get into the headquarters with an invisibility cloak then the Order better get some other protection wards in place' Damien told himself as he crept out of the fireplace.
"Well, at least there's that. We will be updating the wards in some way, I suppose?" James questioned.
"Of course we will be, why in Merlin's name would we leave this obvious security flaw?" Mad-Eye growled.
"So obvious you needed a thirteen year old to point it out to you?" Ginny smiled sweetly. Mad-Eye spluttered as Molly continued.
Damien waited for a minute or so before making his way upstairs. His heart was thumping madly and Damien couldn't stop his legs shaking in excitement as he slowly and quietly made his way up to the first floor. He prayed Harry was in his room and the door was not locked. If Harry was moved to another room then Damien would have no chance of finding him since his mum had taken the map to the Black manor from him.
Damien stood in front of Harry's room. His heart was going to thump its way out of his chest. Damien forced out a ragged breath. He placed one of his hands on the doorknob and gave it a small twist. The door clicked open and Damien almost cried out in joy.
'This is it. I'm finally going to be able to meet my older brother' Damien thought to himself as he slowly cracked the door open. He poked his head into the room, still under his invisibility cloak. The room was empty.
Damien pulled himself into the room and closed the door behind him softly. He looked around the room properly. There was no one in the room.
"What? I swear, if he is trying that damn door again-" James groaned.
Damien slipped the cloak off and let it drop onto the floor.
'Bollocks!' Damien cursed under his breath.
Damien couldn't believe his luck. After all that planning and scheming, after all the risk Damien under took he still didn't get to meet Harry. Damien almost cried in disappointment. He was about to pick up his cloak and leave when he noticed a few items scattered on the desk in the far corner. Out of morbid curiosity, Damien made his way over to the desk. He saw many books scattered across the desk and many quills and parchments. There was a Hogwarts school robe thrown over the back of the chair as well.
Damien picked up a book that was lying open and turned it over to read the front cover. 'Dark Arts and Forbidden Curses'. It didn't look like a textbook for Advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts. Damien wondered who gave Harry such a book and began flipping through the pages. It contained instructions on what looked like really complex and difficult spells and wand work. Damien started to read the first couple of lines out of curiosity when he suddenly felt a hand grab his shoulder and spin him around.
Damien let go of the book instantly and turned around to come face-to-face with a very angry looking Harry. Damien just looked into the face of his brother. He felt paralysed with shock. He watched numbly as Harry let go of Damien's shoulder and give him a calculating look. Harry burned his emerald eyes into hazel ones before asking,
"Who the hell are you?"
"Surprise, it's a boy?" Damien said weakly.
"He's your brother, not your father."
"I know that!"
xxxx
That was an effort. And not my best. Im trying to get back into this, just be patient with me? A thousand apologies in advance, I'll try and be quicker on the updates this time!