Late that night, Remus collected Harry and Draco from their dormitory and led them to his office. Sirius, Narcissa and Abraxas were there waiting for them. As soon as the boys entered the office, Sirius grabbed them both into a tight hug and wept. They hugged him back nervously, not sure whether he was going to yell at them. Eventually Sirius let go and told the boys to sit down.
'I trust you both know by now that the diary Aries has been writing in for these past several months was created by Lord Voldemort,' he stated. Harry and Draco both nodded hesitantly. Sirius took a deep breath before continuing. 'It appears that Voldemort ordered Lucius to give Aries the diary, in the hope that it would kill him.'
'I'm so sorry, Uncle Sirius,' Draco sobbed. 'I had no idea.'
'I know that,' Sirius replied. 'And I forgive you. But I want you two boys to understand the seriousness of what we're talking about here. The Dark Arts are very dangerous. They are not fun and games, and they can cause irreparable damage to your souls. It's the Dark Arts that can lead a wizard like Lucius to betray his family to a miserable fiend like Tom Riddle.'
The boys nodded.
'I have expelled Lucius from the family,' Abraxas said sternly. 'He will never harm either of you again.'
Draco looked up at his mother, tears streaming down his face. 'Why did he lie to me, Mum?' he asked. 'I thought he wanted to help Aries.'
'I don't know,' Narcissa said quietly. 'I don't know at all.'
'But I do know this,' Sirius said, drawing himself up to his full, impressive height. 'Tom Riddle has made himself some very powerful enemies today.'
'That half-blood bastard!' Harry growled.
Abraxas raised an eyebrow. 'A half-blood? Really?'
Harry nodded.
His grandfather snorted. 'Figures,' he said with an angry snarl. 'I swear on my father's grave that Tom Riddle will ever rue the day he decided to attack the Houses of Malfoy and Black.'
.......
Harry and Draco stood on the green banks of the lake, silently counting the bounces as they played ducks and drakes. They had said virtually nothing to each other in days, ever since things had come to a head with the diary and Lucius. They weren't fighting – they still spent practically every waking moment with each other – nor was it simply a matter of their not having anything to say, such as might occur on a pleasant Sunday afternoon in midsummer. Rather, the boys found that they had far too many unpleasant things to tell one another. Their newly-discovered speechlessness came from their being utterly unable to decide how to begin the conversation.
Harry broke the silence first.
'It's been a strange week,' he said.
Draco sighed as his stone sank after skimming twelve times. 'It certainly has.'
Harry gulped hard. 'I'm sorry about your dad.'
Draco's expression turned stone-cold.
'That man is not my dad,' he spat.
Harry nodded. 'Right. I'm sorry about that.'
Draco took a deep breath before responding.
'Thanks,' he said. 'I'm sorry about the diary.'
Harry shrugged, and threw another stone. It bounced ten times. 'It's no big deal,' he said. 'You had good intentions.'
Draco frowned. 'You know what they say about good intentions.'
Harry laughed humourlessly. 'I suppose that's a good lesson for us both to learn.'
His cousin skimmed another stone across the water. Seventeen jumps. 'I wish you'd told me more about what was going on between you and the diary,' he said. 'I might have been able to help.'
Harry sighed. 'You're right,' he said. 'And you ought to have told me that Uncle Lucius asked you to give me the diary. I should have probably taken it straight to Dad if I'd known.'
Draco nodded sadly, then looked his cousin directly in the eyes. 'Aries, do you trust me?' he asked.
'Absolutely,' Harry replied without hesitation.
'Even after all this mess?'
'Of course,' Harry said. 'You're my best friend. You didn't mean to put me in danger. Do you trust me?'
'With my life,' Draco replied. 'Let's promise each other something, Aries. Let's never have any more secrets from each other.'
Harry hesitated. He had some very large secrets that he didn't particularly want to share. On the other hand, he trusted Draco as much as he trusted Sirius, and far more than he trusted anyone else. He nodded reluctantly.
'No more secrets,' he said quietly.
Draco smiled, and skimmed another stone. Fifteen. 'I'm glad that's settled. I feel better knowing that we're not hiding anything.'
Harry's heart thumped violently within his chest, and he suddenly felt very warm. He didn't want to tell Draco the truth, but he had made a promise, and a wizard always kept his word.
'Whilst we're on the subject of secrets...,' he began.
Draco groaned. 'Do you have more to tell me?'
'I don't have to say anything, if you don't want me to,' Harry said quickly.
'No, I want to know,' the blond boy replied.
Harry thought for a second. There wasn't anyone nearby, but he thought the side of the lake was still a bit too open for the revelation he had in mind. 'Will you come with me for a bit, Draco?' he asked.
'Of course, Aries,' Draco said, and turned to follow. Harry led him over to the Whomping Willow, where he levitated a twig to bump against the knob Sirius had pressed a few days earlier. The branches stopped instantly.
'How did you manage that?' Draco demanded, but Harry only guided the blond boy towards the secret passageway. Moments later, they were in the Shrieking Shack.
'My dad showed me this place a few days ago,' Harry explained. 'I thought it might be a safe place for us to talk.'
'So what do you want to tell me?' Draco asked.
'Just a second,' Harry said. He cast a number of defensive and muffling spells to prevent anyone from eavesdropping, then checked for any hidden wizards or ghosts. If his experience with the diary had taught him anything, it was that one could never be too cautious. Once he felt absolutely certain that no one was listening, he sat down with Draco on the sofa.
'I promised not to hide anything from you,' he said. 'And I meant it.' He took a deep breath. 'There's one big secret I've been keeping for a long time. It's dangerous, and you could use it to really hurt me, but like I said, I trust you completely.'
Draco frowned. 'What's this big secret, Aries?' he asked.
'You've always known me as Aries,' Harry said quietly. 'But before I came to live with the Squibs, I had a different name.'
Draco raised an eyebrow. 'What was it?'
'Harry,' the dark-haired boy replied. 'I'm Harry Potter.'
Draco's mouth fell open. 'The Boy Who Lived? The one everyone thinks is dead?'
Harry nodded affirmatively. 'That's right.'
His cousin was stunned. 'You're the one who defeated the Dark Lord – sorry, Tom Riddle – when you were just a baby?' The family had decided that since Voldemort was now their enemy (and an illegitimate half-blood to boot), he did not deserve their respect, and was henceforth to be referred to only by his birth name, at least within the family.
Harry nodded again.
.....
Want to read ahead. Then join my patreon now.
2+ free advanced chapters from each of my books,
FOR ALL FREE MEMBERS.
Link: p*atreon.com/Nebula_Scribe (Remove the *)
Thank you once again for all the support, and I hope you enjoy the story.