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Two Roads Diverged	By : Beldaran1 Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 2274 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Title: Two Roads Diverged

Author: Beldaran1

Pairing: Harry/Draco

Rating: NC-17

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations
created and owned by JK Rowling, no money is being made and no copyright or
trademark infringement is intended. Also,
the poetry preceding the story is from Robert Frost�s The Road Not Taken.

Spoilers: HP Books 1-4

Genre: This is a Slash (this means boy/boy loving)
story so be warned!!!

Summary: What if something happened that changed the course
for Harry and Draco? What if there was
more to the enemy than first appeared?
What if there were other outside forces that were to play a part in the
conflict between Light and Dark? Hmm.

Author's Notes: I just wanted to state that while there shouldn�t
be any spoilers from OOTP, I have read the book and some things in this story
may be colored by that knowledge.
However, I will attempt to post warnings where this issue may occur.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*

Two roads diverged
in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could
not travel both

And be one
traveler, long I stood

And looked down
one as far as I could

To where it bent
in the undergrowth;

~~*~~*~~

Part I: Summer of Change

Chapter 2

�Wow, I-I don�t know what to say Aunt Petunia.�

Harry knew he sounded like an idiot, but he truly didn�t know what to say. Learning that his mother and aunt had been
friends with Narcissa Malfoy was enough to send his
mind reeling; finding out that his dad,
his godfather Sirius, and Professor Lupin had
not only been friends with Lucius Malfoy and
Professor Snape, but considered each other brothers was enough to send him
straight to St. Mungo�s. If he hadn�t of had the evidence of the
pictures his aunt had shown him right there in his hands, he doubted if he
would have believed something so blatantly unbelievable.

Again looking at the last picture his aunt had given him,
Harry carefully rubbed his finger over the angry sad faces and could not help
but want to know what had happened to destroy what should have been lifelong
bonds of friendship. �What
happened to them Aunt Petunia?
What happened to make them turn on each other?�

Petunia sighed sadly, as she watched her nephew continue to
regard that final fateful picture taken so long ago. �Evil is what happened Harry, a very evil man
by the name of Tom Riddle.�

Somehow, Harry was not
surprised. It seemed like it always led
back to Voldemort.
Sometimes he wondered if the Dark Lord wasn�t just a convenient bogey
whose feet the world could lay all of its problems and troubles at; and then he
would remember the dying screams of his parents and know that no matter how
convenient, the evil that was Voldemort did indeed
exist. Still, it was rather funny, in a
horrible kind of way, how one man's consuming need for power and destruction
could hold the world at bay.

�Harry?� Petunia
spoke softly, afraid to startle her nephew who was clearly in a world of his
own, �Are you okay?�

�Yes, I�m fine.�
Harry finally tore his eyes away from the picture and regarded his aunt,
his expression both terrible and heartbreaking.

�Tell me Aunt Petunia,� Harry�s green eyes continued to bore
laser-like into Petunia�s making her feel as if every part of her being was
laid bare; the calm deadness of his voice sent chills down her spine, �Tell me
everything you know.�

Petunia shuddered under the weight of her nephew�s eyes;
eyes too old and world weary for a fourteen-year-old boy, and for a moment, she
felt the chill grip of fear clutch her heart, as she knew with a certainty that
could have only been prophetic that her Harry was not long for this world. �NO!� She cried out silently as sudden fury nearly
overwhelmed her, �You cannot have him!�

�Aunt Petunia?�

Harry�s quiet inquiry brought Petunia back to herself, and
with a final shudder she shook off the awful certainty that had gripped her and
resolved to anything and everything in her power to make sure Harry lived a
very long life. And to start she would
finish what she had promised.

Taking a deep breath to compose herself,
Petunia focused on her nephew and started, �Tom Riddle truly started his ascent
to power the summer before your parents started their sixth year at
Hogwarts. At first, he hid his blind
thirst for power behind issues that were at the heart of most wizards with
regards to Muggle influence in the Wizarding world.
People had very long memories, and to them it was not that long ago that
Muggles were persecuting witches and wizards. Voldemort�s agenda
was especially attractive to most of the pure-blooded elite families who had
long held themselves superior to what they deemed common wizards and witches,
most particularly those of mixed heritage.�

Here Petunia paused to let what she had said sink in; she
could tell that her nephew�s mind was furiously trying to assimilate all that
he had recently learned and she did not want to overwhelm him too much. All too soon she would have to delve into
things that were sure to be painful for Harry, and as much as she wished that
she could continue to protect him from such knowledge; she knew that she could
no longer do so.

Finally, Harry returned his attention to his aunt, and at
his nod of assent Petunia continued, �Among those elite pure-blooded families
that supported Voldemort were the Malfoys
and the Blacks. But while this caused
some tension amongst us, it was not enough in and of itself to destroy our
friendship; that didn�t happen until the Muggle
killings and atrocities that were committed in the name of Voldemort
began to pile up.�

�The Blacks?� Harry couldn�t help but interrupt as
confusion and doubt swept through him, �But�but�Sirius hated Voldemort and everything he stood for, he would never have sided with that monster!�

�Oh Harry,� Petunia sighed sadly, �It was all so complicated
back then, before Riddle showed what a monster he truly was. Sirius, Narcissa, Lucius, and even James, they all felt rather strongly about
maintaining the purity of the bloodlines.
Severus and Remus
also agreed to an extent with some of Tom Riddle�s agenda. And yes Harry, Lily too felt that Muggles shouldn�t have too much influence in the Wizard
world. The problem was that it soon
became evident that all Voldemort really cared about
was power and how many Muggles he could torture and
kill.�

�No.� Harry whimpered
softly. There was simply no way at all
that his parents, that Sirius, could have possibly supported any part of Voldemort or his heinous acts. �It�s not true,� he hissed fervently, �You�re
wrong, they would never- It�s not true!�

�Harry, Harry!�
Petunia reached out and grasped her nephew by his arms, his eyes had
gone wide with horror, and he was shaking so badly she was afraid that he was
going to hurt himself, �Calm down Harry!
Let me finish, please. It is not what you think! Your parents, Sirius and Remus,
Nari, they abhorred Voldemort
and were horrified by the atrocities that he committed. While they may have agreed with some of the
same issues, as did many in the Wizarding community,
they never supported Voldemort.�

Slowly his aunt�s words started to penetrate the incredulous
horror that had gripped him, and Harry felt a relief that shook him to his
bones. Taking a deep shuddering breath
he managed to gradually bring himself back under control. �I�m sorry Aunt Petunia.� Harry apologized softly, �I�m okay now. It�s just, for a moment there, it was all too
much.�

�It�s alright Harry,� Petunia released her hold on her
nephew and smiled softly at him, �This is all a lot to take in and you have
nothing to apologize for, indeed you�re taking this better than I had
expected.�

�Well,� Harry snorted, �I�ve had a lot of practice these
last few years in rolling with the punches.�

�Yes,� Petunia smiled wryly at her nephew, �I guess you
have.�

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

�So,� Draco mused softly over the last bit of information
his mum had given him, �while you all agreed to some extent with the main
issues Riddle had put forth, you were divided over his methods; and this is
what ultimately tore you apart?� He
finished off in a question, not quite sure he had fully grasped everything.

�Yes, to a degree you are correct.� Narcissa said
solemnly, knowing that it was not so simple as her son�s summation, �The boys
would get into ever more loud passionate debates over the political issues, and
then the disappearances and open violence began to increase and it was no
longer about politics; it was about stopping a madman.�

Narcissa paused a moment as she
reflected back on those dark desperate times before continuing, �Those who
supported Voldemort joined him for a share in the
power he offered and they reveled in the Muggle
killings and cruelties. It all became so
black and white, there was no middle ground; either you were for Voldemort or you opposed him and rallied behind Albus Dumbledore.
Therefore, in the end, it did not matter whether or not you agreed or
disagreed with some of Voldemort�s agenda, you were
either for or against; and your father was wholeheartedly for Voldemort. He and Severus joined his Death Eaters the very night we graduated
from Hogwarts, while Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus
all joined in with Dumbledore�s group to fight against Voldemort.�

�And you Mum, what did you do?� Draco questioned his mum with a barely
contained intensity. It felt as though
every part of his being hinged on what Narcissa was
about to say; everything she had ever told him, all the values she had instilled
in him would either be reinforced or shattered beyond all repair.

�I- I married your father,� Narcissa
stuttered slightly as she had not anticipated Draco asking her that question. �I- I pretended for a while that I could stay
out of it all, but when it became apparent that I would no longer be allowed to
bury my head in the sand, I finally had to make a decision as to which side I
would support.� Here, she took a
fortifying breath and looking her son straight in the eyes, she continued, �In
the end I became a spy.�

�A spy!� Draco gasped; this was the last thing he had
expected his mum to say, �you- you became a spy?� He shook slightly as the shock nearly
overwhelmed him; it was simply beyond the pale that his mum, his mum for Merlin�s sake, would be a spy
for- but wait, she had not said for whom she spied. �For which side Mum- for which side did you
spy?�

�I,� Narcissa swallowed the lump
that had formed in her throat, for she feared her son�s reaction to what she
was about to say, �I knew that no matter what, I was going to be betraying
someone that I loved your father or my Lil. I- I just could not abide by that monster Voldemort, I knew first hand the pain and misery he
wrecked, the lives he destroyed. I tried
to talk Lucius around, to make him see, but he was in too deep and thought
I was being silly and foolish.� Narcissa clenched her fists and her eyes flashed hotly in
remembered rage and despair at being so summarily dismissed, she struggled to
keep the lingering bitterness out of her voice, �And so I went to Albus Dumbledore and offered to confer whatever information
I could obtain from your father about Voldemort�s
movements.�

Draco sat stunned, the implications of what his mum told him
sinking in, a small part of him was appalled that Narcissa
would so betray Lucius; but the greater part of him
was relieved beyond all measure that she had chosen to oppose the Dark
Lord. He only wished that his father too
had fought against Voldemort and that his mum had not
needed to take such action.

�Wait,� Draco jerked
his attention back to Narcissa, �Wait a minute,
wasn�t father under the Imperius Curse?� His voice took on a fervent, almost pleading
quality, he did not want to think, to believe, �He- he was forced into serving Voldemort. Father told me himself that he was tricked
and later put under Imperio, that a Malfoy would
never serve a madman!�

�Draco,� Narcissa sighed
unhappily, she did not want to shatter anymore of her son�s illusions; he had
so few left when it came to Lucius, but she could no
longer allow him to believe a lie that could very well cost him his life, or
worse. �Lucius,
your father, was never under the Imperius Curse, he
willingly served the Dark Lord.�

�No Mum, please,� Draco�s voice shook slightly, all the
horrible things people had whispered about his father when they didn�t think he
could hear them, all the times the bloody Golden Trio had denounced his father
as a vile Death Eater; they couldn�t possibly be true, they couldn�t be right.

Yes, his father was a rather cold and distant person, and to
those he perceived as being below him he could be down right cruel. However, this did not make him a bad man, an evil man, a- a murderer. Lucius had been
forced to do those awful heinous things, to commit such monstrous crimes,
hadn�t he? Draco swallowed convulsively,
feeling suddenly nauseous, he struggled not to vomit; he could not bare the
thought that his father might be as bad as Voldemort,
or worse. �But Mum would not lie about something as important as this.� The thought pierced his mind, and with sudden
clarity, he knew that what she spoke was true, his father had been a willing
participant.

�He�s evil isn�t he Mum,� Draco said stoically, his voice
dead of all emotion, �Father is just as evil as that monstrous bastard.�

�I,� Narcissa paused a moment,
wanting to get this right, wanting to provide her little Dragon with some hope, �I�ve often wondered that
myself love, whether or not Lucius was evil. Your father is such a complicated man,
capable of such wondrous acts of love and kindness, and yet just as equally
capable of committing sadistic and cruel crimes. I have come to believe that, just as there is
in all of us, there is a horrible darkness in your father, which under
different circumstances may have never seen the light of day. Unfortunately, your father found favor in Tom
Riddle who was quick to take notice of the dark side of Lucius�
nature, and Riddle wasted no time in nurturing and feeding that darkness. He enticed Lucius
by teaching him the darkest of the Dark Arts, by giving him more and more
power, and ultimately granting your father entrance into Riddle�s inner
circle. The deeper that Lucius was drawn in, the darker he became; until I could
barely recognize him as the man I married, the man I loved.�

�No Draco, I don�t believe that your father is an evil man,�
Narcissa said forcefully, �I believe he is a lost
man, lost in the grips of a powerful evil, and I hold onto the hope that he
will one day find his way free and come back to me; come back to us.�

�I-,� Draco started to say but was interrupted as a small
popping sound announced the arrival of one of the house elves.

�Pleased to be excusing me Mistress Malfoy,� the little elf
squeaked, �buts the Master says Young Master has to be seeing him now. He is ready to be seeing him in the study.�

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

�I owe you a grave apology Harry.�

�What?� Harry looked
up from the glass of lemonade he had been contemplating as if it held all the
answers of the universe, his mind was in an endless whirl as all manner of
thoughts tumbled about trying to reshape his worldview. �Apologize for what Aunt Petunia?�

�I have treated you terribly since the day you were
entrusted into my care.� Petunia�s voice
trembled with remorse and she felt tears well up in her eyes, �I have cruelly
neglected you and shown you not an ounce of love or kindness even though my
heart has always been full of love for you.
It pains me- no it shames me
to admit that I have let fear guide my hand, and by so doing I may have ensured
that you lived, but I have also robbed you of the happy childhood you
deserved.�

�It�s-,� Harry stopped abruptly. He was going to say that it was okay that his
aunt had treated him so hatefully, but it was not okay. His childhood had been miserable and lonely,
and an apology would not be enough to erase the bitterness of the past. �But,�
his conscious was swift to point out, �It
is a start. It could be a good beginning
to healing old wounds and moving on to something better.� Yes, he could accept his aunt�s apology and
let the healing begin, or he could hold onto bitter hurt feelings and continue
to let the wounds fester.

�I don�t condone the way you have treated me Aunt Petunia,�
Harry spoke firmly, sure of the choice he had made, �but I do accept your
apology.�

With those words, Petunia could no longer hold back the
tears that had been threatening, and she began to weep softly in relief, �Thank
you Harry. I- I don�t deserve your
forgiveness, but I am grateful and I will spend everyday for the rest of my
life earning it.�

Harry hesitated for a moment, unsure if he should do what
his gut was insisting he must, and then he reached out and gently pulled his
aunt into his arms and held her as she continued to weep. It was not long before he felt his own tears
join those of Petunia�s, and together they wept for lost childhoods, lost
friendships, and lost love ones. And for
the first time since that awful day when Cedric was slain in front of him and Voldemort returned, Harry felt a small spark of hope.

�Harry?� Petunia
inquired softly, loath to disrupt this special moment she was sharing with her
nephew.

�Yes Aunt Petunia.�
Harry answered just as quietly, he too not wanting this peaceful moment
to end.

�Would you please
call me Aunt Tuni, I have always hated the name
Petunia.� Petunia�s voice held a slight
petulance that, try though she might, she couldn�t quite keep out.

�I- I think I�d like that Aunt Tuni.� Harry smiled affectionately.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

�You wanted to see me Father?�

Draco stood respectfully just inside the door to his
father�s study, he schooled his features into a closed impenetrable mask and
waited for Lucius to acknowledge his presence. If truth be told, Draco was finding it hard
not to furiously question his father on his allegiances, but he knew from past
experience that Lucius Malfoy did not take kindly to
questioning of any sort. So, instead, he
waited patiently for his father to finish whatever business he was about and
get on with the annual year-end dressing down.

�Well boy,� Lucius barked
abruptly, turning icy silver eyes on his son, �Don�t
just stand there like a house elf, sit!�

�Yes Father,� Draco said smoothly. After waiting a fraction of a second, to show
Lucius he was perfectly content with standing, Draco
casually made is way across the room to sit in one of the dark plush chairs
facing his father�s desk.

Lucius frowned slightly, taking
notice of his son�s impertinence, and the perpetual chill in the room dropped
another notch. �I will let it slide, for now,� Lucius
thought dispassionately, �But the boy had
better straighten up soon, for my Lord Voldemort will
not take such insolence lightly.�
Besides, he had many plans for his son and only heir, and chief amongst them
was to properly groom Draco to one day take his place at the Dark Lord�s side.

Draco forced himself not to squirm, to not show an ounce of
weakness, as he returned his father�s cold stare with a haughty one of his
own. At the brief flash of annoyance in Lucius� eyes, he just managed not to let loose the smirk
playing at the edge of his mouth. �Two hits in less than ten minutes,� he
scoffed silently, �Father must really be
off his game to give so much away.�

�I have been reviewing your scores,� Lucius
finally broke off the silent battle of wills and looked down at Draco�s fourth
year marks, �Once again it would seem that you have failed miserably to finish
above that mudblood.
What have you to say for yourself boy?�

�Well,� Draco drawled slowly, �I did finish tops in
potions. And honestly Father, the mudblood is part of that bloody Golden Trio of Gryffindor, all of the professors practically worship
them. Except for
Professor Snape of course.�

�Yes, I am aware of how that fool Dumbledore has them all
coddling those troublemaking brats.� Lucius silently fumed, it galled him that all of his
efforts to curb such blatant favoritism had been met with resistance, �Still,
that does not account for your continued appalling play against Gryffindor in quidditch. You have
yet to beat Potter.�

�I know Father,�
Draco inwardly cursed the natural inborn talent that allowed Potter to
fly like an eagle on his broom, �I believe, with a bit more practice, that I
will be able to beat Potter to the snitch next year.�

�Be that as it may,� Lucius calmly
picked up his wand, from where he had laid it on his desk, and began to fiddle
with it idly; the silent threat implied, �I will not tolerate another
loss. Are we clear?�

�Yes Father.� Draco
swallowed nervously and dragged his eyes away from his father�s wand. �Game,
Set, Match�Lucius.�

�Good.� Lucius smiled coldly, �Now that is settled, we can get on
to other business.� Lucius�
smile turned razor sharp, and an unholy glee blazed in his eyes as he continued,
�These are great momentous times we are now living in Draco, but rest assured
my son, I shall have you properly prepared to take your rightful place as my
heir.�

�Yes Father.� Draco
was not at all pleased with where this was all heading, he did not want to
follow in his father�s footsteps, especially if those footsteps led to the feet
of Voldemort.

�Come Draco,� Lucius rose swiftly
from his seat and strode purposefully around his desk, �There is someone
important I want you to meet.�

�Yes Father,� Draco answered politely, a ball of dread
forming in his stomach as he rose to follow his father.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry�s mind was in a complete tailspin as he tried to come
to grips with all of the knowledge he had gained this afternoon. As he absentmindedly washed the dishes and
handed them to his aunt to rinse and dry, he continued to find it hard not to
believe this all was not some kind of strange dream from which he would
eventually awaken. From the revelations
about his parents to the newfound peace he had gained with his aunt, Harry was
having a hard time assimilating it all.
Still, there were questions that nagged him, more that he wanted to
know, but he supposed that he had the remainder of summer break to find out all
that he could.

�Aunt Tuni?� Harry broke the quiet that had settled over
the kitchen, as one particular question kept nagging him, �May I ask you
something?�

�Of course Harry, you may ask me anything.� Petunia smiled, happy just to spend a quiet
late afternoon with her nephew doing nothing more taxing than washing a few
dishes.

�Why now,� Harry inquired softly, �why tell me all this
about my parents and everything now?�

�Well,� Petunia frowned thoughtfully, �now that Voldemort has returned, Nari and
I felt that it was imperative that you and Draco know the truth; so that you
both may begin to prepare for what you must face.�

�Malf-,� Harry started to exclaim,
but stopped abruptly as an intense pain, centered behind his scar, shot through
him, and crying out he grabbed his head.

�Harry!� Petunia
screamed. She dropped the dishcloth she
had just been using and rushed over to her nephew who was doubled over in pain
and clutching his head. �Harry, what is
it, can you tell me what�s wrong?�

From a great distance, Harry could hear his aunt calling to
him, but it was washed out in the sea of red-hot anger and murderous rage in
which he was drowning. He struggled,
trying to pull himself out of the poisonous miasma, but the harder he struggled
the further he sank, until he felt himself ripped away from his consciousness
and held in another�s.

Shuddering, Harry now found himself looking through foreign
eyes tinged in red, and he gasped in fear and shock.

Petunia barely managed to catch her nephew as his legs
suddenly gave and he slumped to the floor.
She didn�t know what to do, didn�t know what was causing his affliction;
all she knew was that Harry was in terrible pain and his screams were making
her want to scream as well. Albus! She needed to
get a hold of Albus, he would know what was wrong, he would be able to help Harry.

Petunia reached over and yanked open the bottom cupboard,
pulling out the neatly folded pile of dishcloths that she kept there, she
placed them beneath her nephew�s thrashing head. Trembling, she smoothed back the sweat soaked
hair on his forehead and started to get up, when Harry suddenly gasped, �Malfoy!� and went limp.

To Be Continued�

The next part will be posted on Sunday.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Two Roads Diverged