"Henry?"
Harry started and looked up. It took him a minute. Not only had he been listening to Ron explain a few more rules of chess that he insisted were simple, but the name still didn't feel like his.
Draco stood in the door of the compartment, his face stiff. He stared at Ron, then nodded to Harry. "You should probably get your robes on, Henry. There was an announcement a minute ago that we're only about five minutes from Hogwarts." Then he shut the door behind him with a quietness that felt almost like he was leaving a funeral.
Harry scowled at the door before he stood up and reached for his robes. It wasn't like Draco had come back to the compartment to sit with Harry before Ron showed up, either. He'd left his trunk here and said that he would be "back in a little while," but he'd spent the entire ride with his friends, not his bloody twin brother.
"Weasley," Draco said, sounding as though he was about to choke, and then left.
"Henry?" Ron asked in a blank voice as he started getting his robes out of his trunk, too. Harry sighed, hoping they weren't going to have to have the argument all over again.
"It's what the Malfoys decided to call me," he explained as he dragged the robes over his head and straightened the collar around his neck. "I really, really hated the name Aldebaran." Ron snickered, and Harry smiled over his shoulder. "Yeah. But they didn't want to keep the name Harry because that's what my kidnappers called me."
"Kidnappers? Really?" Ron was looking at him with a half-open mouth. Harry nodded.
"Yeah, we went to the Ministry and they questioned someone named Sirius Black. Who's apparently my godfather?" Harry shook his head. The thought still bewildered him. "But he betrayed my parents—I mean, the Potters—and got sent to prison. But before he did that, he decided to kidnap one of the Malfoys' twins and give him to the Potters." It was still strange to realize that Harry was talking about himself. "They couldn't have kids, apparently."
"Wow." Ron tilted his head. "So Henry is sort of a compromise?"
"Yeah."
"Are you going to start going by that in Gryffindor?" Ron wrinkled his nose. "I reckon I can get used to it. It would be a little strange, though."
Harry shook his head. "I understand why Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy don't want to call me Harry, but I'm still going to go by that in Gryffindor. Just Draco and probably the professors have to call me Henry. I know Mr. Malfoy wrote them a letter about it. I think."
"And you're still going to call him Mr. Malfoy?" Ron seemed weirdly cheerful about that. "Not Dad?"
Harry gave a full-body shudder that he didn't have to feign. "It would still be strange. And even then, Draco doesn't call him Dad. It's always Father."
Ron nodded, thoughtful. "I reckon you didn't change that much after all," he said, with a hearty clap to Harry's shoulder, and they got ready to leave the train as it slowed down.
...
"Mr. Malfoy? If you would come with me, please."
Harry turned around and blinked in surprise when Professor McGonagall stopped him from going into the Great Hall. Ron already had, since he'd been in front of Harry, but Draco came to a silent stop behind him. He really had a penetrating stare when he wanted to.
"Er, all right, Professor." Harry nodded to his brother and walked after her. Then he heard footsteps following him. He turned around and frowned at Draco.
Draco lifted his chin, although before he could say something, Professor McGonagall cut in. "I assure you, Mr. Malfoy, I will return…Aldebaran safely."
"Henry," Draco said firmly. "Did my father's owl not reach you, Professor? I know he was going to send an owl to all the professors telling them the name we compromised on, so they would address Henry properly if they had to distinguish between us."
Professor McGonagall blinked and pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. She looked honestly startled, which made part of Harry relax. She wasn't ignoring his compromise name on purpose. "Your pardon, Mr. Malfoy. I did receive an owl, but it came during a particularly busy time and I didn't read it thoroughly."
"Yes, professor. I would still like to come with my brother."
"This is a private matter, Mr. Malfoy. I promise that I will bring your brother with me when I go to the Great Hall a few minutes from now."
Draco glanced at Harry. Harry was startled when he realized that he was getting asked if he wanted Draco to come along. He shook his head, both in response to Draco's question and in response to his own thoughts. Sometimes he could be surprised at how caring the Malfoys were, despite everything.
Draco sighed loudly and looked at Professor McGonagall once. "Please be aware that we are highly protective of my younger brother, professor. He was already stolen from us once."
"Mr. Malfoy," McGonagall said, and she sounded genuinely shocked. "I hope you are not accusing me of kidnapping!"
"People who were really proud of being Gryffindors did, once," Draco said darkly, and clasped Harry's shoulder for a second before turning and going into the Great Hall.