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Family Means More Than Blood	By : WingsofaDream Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 59825 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 7
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and its associated characters are property of J K Rowling, not me. This story is not being written for profit, just for the lols.

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1st September 1995: Night

Hogwarts had started again for another school year but it was already nothing like the previous years for Harry. Lucius was still at Hogwarts for safety and had taken up the position of DADA professor, his reasoning being that as long as he was going to be there all day everyday, he may as well do something of use. Draco was now Head Boy meaning he got his own set of rooms which he had already invited Harry to spend the night in (to which Harry had declined for a very good reason). But what was probably even more noticeable than that was the fact that neither Fred nor George had been there to ride the Hogwarts Express with him, to sit with him during the Sorting Feast or to talk to him as they dressed for bed that night.

The twins had gone through with their plan and had not returned for their final year at Hogwarts in favour of opening Weasley's Wizard Wheezes with the winnings Harry got from the Triwizard Tournament. The dark haired Gryffindor could not deny that he missed his two friends a lot but he understood that it was something they really wanted. Also, them being away would give him a lot more time alone which was exactly what he needed for his own plans.

When he had said that he was no longer going to sit by and watch his family fight Voldemort, he was serious. In Harry's opinion, it was way past the time for him to get properly involved. And so he had a plan. The adults needed to find the Horcruxes and wanted to do so without Harry knowing? Fine, they could continue to think they were and they could look in old books and theorise to their hearts' content. Harry was going to go for a more direct approach. He was going to start inducing visions and hopefully start to locate the Horcruxes himself. After all, he had proof that he was sensitive to them with the times he had seen visions induced by being near the objects.

And so there Harry was, dressed in his religious robes, freshly bathed and laying on his bed with the drapes shut around him so he was in complete darkness. As needed, he had not spoken a word since sun-set, he had not eaten for six hours, and had fought Draco off that morning when the blond had attempted to have a bit of a ''play" before they had to set off for King's Cross station. The curtains around the bed were warded against entry and had also put up silencing charm just in case; the last thing he wanted was to be interrupted by one of his two remaining dorm mates. Beside his hip was a piece of parchment, a quill, and a jar of ink for when he came out of his vision. His hands rested on his stomach, his fingers linked together and the chain of his pendent twined around each digit.

Harry released a slow, relaxed breath as he closed his eyes and shuffled one last time, getting himself completely comfortable. Now it was all a matter of concentrating on what he needed to know and making sure he did not accidently fall asleep.

It was hard for him to determine just how long he laid there for, completely still and relaxed, as the passage of time was the last thing on his mind. However, eventually, no matter how long had passed, the technique worked and Harry's consciousness was swept away.

Standing in a corner of what looked like a Slytherin dorm room, He looked around Himself to see what it was He was supposed to be seeing. There was no one in the room however and He felt an acute sense of annoyance; what was the point of being here if nothing was going to happen?

Then, suddenly, the door into the room opened. He turned to look quickly and was intrigued to see Blaise Zabini hurry into the room and then lock the door behind himself. So this was Blaise Zabini's dorm room? What could possibly happen here that He would need to see?

Blaise went straight over to one of the beds and sat down on the edge before pulling two envelopes out of the pocket of his trousers. He looked at them both in his hands for a moment, appearing to be thinking of something, before quickly stuffing one of the envelopes back into his pocket and the tearing open the second. In a flurry he pulled out the letter inside and began to read.

To say that He was curious about the contents of the letter would be an understatement and so He moved away from the corner He had entered in. He moved around the bed the Fifth Year was sitting on and climbed onto it, crawling up behind the boy so He could read over his shoulder. It soon became clear to Him that it was a letter from the boy's father giving him instructions on things to tell his older sister, things to do with "certain extra-curicula activities". Although that phrase could have been completely innocent, He felt a sudden feeling of dread sink His stomach when His eyes swept over it and He knew that His instincts were yelling two words right in his ear: Death Eater.

They had got Bethany. He could not even try to pretend He was shocked.

A few more minutes of silence passed before Blaise gave a sigh, his shoulders slumping dejectedly. Almost reluctantly, the boy pulled out his wand and pointed it to the letter in his hand and with a spell which was obviously spoken but He did not hear, the parchment went up in a burst of flame. Then, the young Zabini got to his feet and went over to his trunk, falling to his knees in front of it. After rummaging around in it for a while, he drew back again, guiding the lid shut. However, then he did not move, instead staying in his kneeling position with his hands held together up at his chest.

He angled himself quickly, infinitely curious as to what the teenager He was spying on was doing. Moving, He saw that Blaise's lips were moving with speech and, allowing His gaze to lower itself, He saw that in the teenager's hands was a string of dark crimson beads.

Harry's eyes widened as he came out of his vision, leaving the Slytherin dorm room and returning to his Gryffindor one. That was not what he had been expecting but it could still be very useful indeed. He was pretty sure he recognised what the youngest Zabini was doing right at the end of that vision but he could not be completely sure as he was no expert on the subject. However, if he remembered correctly, there were two people who probably would be able to confirm or dismiss his theory.

Picking up the piece of parchment and the quill he had placed beside him on the bed, originally for the purpose of him noting down his vision, he began to use it for a different purpose. He dipped the tip of the quill in the ink quickly before proceeding to scribble down a letter to his two best friends. Once he was finished with it, he would go to the Owlery and send Hedwig to them straight away so that, hopefully, he would get a reply by morning. Also, he would stop by the kitchens on his way back; he was starving.

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2nd September 1995: Morning

Harry smiled brightly in greeting as Draco sauntered over to where he sat with Hermione at the Gryffindor table. "Good morning."

"Morning, love." Draco returned as he leaned down to kiss Harry's cheek before stepping over the bench and sitting next to him. "Granger." He greeted Hermione politely.

"Good morning." She offered in reply.

"No Weasley or Potter?"

"They're still asleep as far as we know." Harry explained. "So how's having a room all to yourself, Mr Head Boy?"

"Very nice indeed. And no doubt you'll get to see just how nice it is very soon."

"I'm sure our fathers would love that." Harry grinned in amusement just as the sound of flapping wings came.

Looking up, Harry saw that the owls carrying the morning mail were flying over-head and he kept a sharp eye open for any glimpse of Hedwig. He hoped that the twins had got his letter the night before, when he had actually sent it. He was aware, though, that they could have so easily have been asleep at the time Harry sent Hedwig with the note and therefore would not have been able to send a reply to reach him that morning.

However, soon, it became apparent that for once something had worked out how Harry had wanted it to as Hedwig came soaring down to him, a letter tied to her leg. Harry wasted no time in retrieving the letter the moment his owl had came to land on the table, right in front of him, and then hastily opening the envelope. He pulled out the parchment inside, ran his gaze briefly over the slightly messy handwriting and then felt a swell of excitement sweep through him. He had been right about what he had seen Blaise Zabini doing in his vision the night before and that meant he now had something to work with to his advantage. There was also some extra information contained in the letter which could only help Harry do what needed to be done.

"Is that from the twins?" Draco's voice enquired suddenly and Harry quickly folded the letter and shoved it in the pocket of his robes before looking at the Slytherin beside him. The blond merely raised an eyebrow at the behaviour, giving his mate a questioning look. "Should I bother to ask?"

"Ask no questions and I shall tell no lies."

The Luna Veela gave a slight nod of his head, obviously accepting the answer and going along with it, probably only because he did not suspect a letter from Fred and George to be anything of vital importance. How wrong that assumption was though.

Harry reached forward and picked up his goblet of pumpkin juice and, over the brim of it, looked over to the Slytherin table. There, sitting between the two boulders who were Crabbe and Goyle, was Blaise Zabini, innocently eating breakfast and acting as if nothing in the world was wrong or different. Idly, the Gryffindor teenager wondered if it was wrong that he felt such a huge amount of anticipation for what he was planning on springing on that Slytherin boy in the near future.

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2nd September 1995: Midday

When Harry had come out of Divination and found that there was no Draco waiting for him to go to lunch together, to say that he had been offended and more than a little annoyed would be an understatement. However, upon heading down to the dungeons to seek the blond out and instead coming across Blaise Zabini, he was actually rather glad that he had been stood up. Since his letter from Fred and George that morning, the Gryffindor had been trying to think of how to get the Fifth Year Slytherin alone in order to confront him. Now, Fate, it seemed, had given him a perfect opportunity.

"Zabini." Harry called after the boy in order to catch his attention. It worked and the dark skinned boy turned, his eyes widening slightly upon seeing who it was who had called his name, though whether it was from surprise or apprehension was unclear. The Gryffindor picked up his pace in order to reach the younger teenager more quickly and then stopped when he was a couple of feet ahead of him. "I need to talk to you."

"What would you need to talk to me about?" Blaise asked snidely, sounding so much like his older sister.

"Your family's full of Death Eaters and you're a go between for your father and sister," Harry began and Zabini's eyes widened once again upon hearing that. "You have access to a lot of vital information, information which you are going to pass onto me."

"And what makes you think I'd do that?"

"Because I know something you don't want your Death Eater family knowing."

Blaise looked unimpressed.

The older teenager leaned in a little closer, to speak softly but still be heard by the boy. "I know you're a Christian, Catholic to be more precise."

The Slytherin gave a horrified gasp and stepped backwards, shaking his head slightly.

"My, my, a Muggle religion." Harry said in a chiding tone as he shook his head as well. "What would daddy say? What would sister say?"

"You wouldn't tell them."

"You wanna risk that?"

Blaise seemed to seriously consider all of his options in a matter of a few seconds before coming to a decision. He gave a slightly shuddered sigh before his shoulders slumped dejectedly. "What is it you want to know?"

Harry almost grinned in triumph but managed to keep his face straight. "Meet me in the Astronomy Tower tonight after curfew, about ten o'clock, we'll discuss things fully then."

"So if I come, you won't tell my family about..."

"You have my word that I won't speak a word to your family unless I really have to." Harry assured and meant it completely; not only did he not want to speak with any of the other Zabinis, he was acutely uncomfortable with the whole blackmail thing. It was something which needed to be done though. He had no doubt that Blaise wanted to stop what his family was doing but was afraid to do so. All Harry was doing was merely giving the boy a poke in the right direction. And true, in a way, he admitted, it was bringing the boy even further into the whole mess with Voldemort, something he had stopped Cedric from doing and was in the process of protecting his family from. This was different though. Blaise was already involved (to a degree), Blaise was not really a friend or anything (though deep down Harry knew that mattered very little), and the boy would not really get involved that much, he would just be passing on the information he was already getting. Yes, it was completely different (or so Harry continued to try and tell himself).

Blaise looked at Harry cautiously for several moments before sighing once again and nodding his head. "I'll be there."

Harry finally smiled at that but it was a happy, encouraging one more than anything. It appeared to calm the Slytherin as he seemed to perk up himself and no longer looked so on guard. However, no sooner had the teenager relaxed as he had tensed again, his eyes flickering to something which was behind the Gryffindor. The young man was confused for a moment before looking over his shoulder, expecting to see either Bethany or Draco behind him. Instead, he saw the dark form of Severus approaching them swiftly, looking not in the least pleased for some reason.

"I'll see you tonight." Harry whispered to the Fifth Year Slytherin quickly before turning and walking to meet Severus so that the Slytherin and his Head of House didn't meet. "Hello Father, having a good day?" He asked with a smile as he reached the man.

"Since when have you been on speaking terms with Blaise Zabini?" The Potions Master demanded instead of answering his son's query.

Harry blinked at his father and then put on his best innocent expression. "I was only asking if he had seen Draco around, I was supposed to meet him after Divination but he wasn't there waiting for me."

"Draco is currently helping me with something."

"Oh, I see." Harry replied easily, hiding the fact he felt he had a pretty good idea with what his mate was helping his father with. "When do you think he'll be finished then?"

"He should be able to join you for the second half of lunch."

"All right, fair enough. Is there anything I can do to help?" He was giving Severus a perfect chance to let him know what was going on by saying that and he hoped against hope that the man would take it.

"Thank you for the offer but Draco and Lucius are providing all the help I need."

Harry felt like yelling at Severus and telling him he knew everything that was going out of pure frustration but he knew that would serve no purpose. The idea of acting hurt that he was apparently being excluded from something by the rest of his family did occur to him but he almost instantly dismissed it. Doing such a thing would be in no way productive and would only cause more stress and aggravation for everyone. And as a High Priest in all but the Final Blessing, he was supposed to prevent such things. Still, he could not help but feel slightly excluded, despite the fact he knew roughly what was going on and would no doubt be brought up to date as much as possible by Draco at a later point.

Harry offered his father a weak smile then. "I'll see you later then." He said before turning, intending to leave.

"Haryon?" Severus's voice made Harry stop mid-stride. The Gryffindor swivelled around to look at his father and saw that the man was looking at him with an expression of regret and hope. "Would you care to join me in my rooms this evening? We'll spend some time together, just you and I."

Oh, the temptation to turn the offer down just to spite the man. But then Harry would be spiting himself because that idea sounded wonderful to him. And so he smiled brightly and nodded. "I'd love to."

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2nd September 1995: Evening

"Hey Hermione." Harry greeted the Fifth Year Gryffindor as he reached where she was sitting, waiting for him at the Gryffindor table for dinner along with her other two friends. "Alright there, Ron?" He asked the Weasley in attendance. "And hello to you, dear, sweet, baby brother." He said when he got to John, ruffling the boy's already messy hair.

"Oi, get off!" John protested as he shrank away from his older brother's touch much to the amusement of the other two.

Harry chuckled but did as he was asked, removing his hand from the boy's head and then sitting down next to Hermione. "Have a nice first day back?"

"It's school," John grunted. "Nice is impossible."

Hermione gave him a disapproving look before turning to Harry and speaking. "I personally have had a wonderful day. I'm rather excited about what we'll be studying in Transfigurations and Herbology this year and although I was at first apprehensive about your godfather teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts I have to admit that he seems to have a very good plan for the year."

"Glad to hear it." Harry smiled as he reached forward to scoop some mashed potatoes onto his plate. "How was he with you all? He didn't pick on you or anything did he?" He asked in a concerned tone, mostly directing the question to his younger brother.

"He ignored us if anything." John answered easily to which Harry felt an instant swell of relief and gratitude towards the Malfoy patriarch. "Oi Harry, are you pissed off..."

"Language." Harry interrupted with a slight frown.

John sighed at that but went along with it. "Fine: oi Harry, are you mad at Malfoy at the moment?"

"No. Why?"

"Because he's coming over and looks like he's done something wrong."

Harry turned at the younger Gryffindor's words and saw that, indeed, Draco was making his way over to them and was looking less than confident, as though he was fully prepared to be told off. The dark haired young man simply aimed a smile the blond's way and beckoned him over. That seemed to be enough encouragement for the Veela as he instantly picked up his pace and a second later was sitting beside his mate, pleading his innocence:

"I am so sorry about earlier, Harry! But Sev needed help with something and I couldn't say no and it took longer than I thought it would and..." The blond was forced to stop his frantic apologies when Harry reached forward and pressed his index finger to his lips.

"Was it to do with that thing?" He asked, hoping that the Veela would get his meaning. It took a moment but Draco did understand what Harry was referring to and nodded his head a couple of times. Harry smiled at that and removed his finger. "Then I completely understand."

The Veela seemed to deflate at that and relax.

"You didn't really think I was going to have a go at you, did you?"

"Well, I always thought there was a chance."

"What's the thing?" John abruptly asked curiously.

Harry opened his mouth to answer the younger boy's question but Draco got there before him. "Family business, private, I'm sure you understand."

Harry bit back a cringe at that and instead levelled a glare on his mate. The Veela merely raised an eyebrow at him before concentrating on fixing himself something to eat. Harry shook his head slightly before turning his attention onto John who was looking more than a little disgruntled at being brushed aside in such a manner and also probably because of what Draco had said. Now that things were better between the two genetic Potters, reminders of the fact they were related but had different parents just seemed to be extra hard to bear.

Harry offered his younger brother a weak smile and got one in return but it did neither of them any good and the depressed mood remained. They kept it between themselves however and joined in the conversation with the others.

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2nd September 1995: Night

The door leading into the Astronomy Tower opened with a long creak which made Harry cringe, the sound seeming so much louder in the silence of the night. He slid through the slim crack he had created quickly, turning around as he did so his back was to the rest of the area. A moment was taken to look outside again, to make sure that no one had followed him before he carefully guided it shut again, another creak sounding much to the Gryffindor's displeasure but he continued on regardless, pressing the door into place until he heard a click. Only then did he turn around to face the rest of the room.

Due to the fact Harry had been expecting to see the room he was in, it was a startling discovery to find himself with an extreme close-up of someone's face millimetres from his own. He gave a small cry of shock and staggered back until he collided with the door and, in the second it took for him to do that, realised just who it was that had surprised him.

"Merlin, Zabini, did you have to do that!"

"You're late."

"Yes, I am aware of that. I was held up from having to escape Filch." Harry explained easily as he moved past the Slytherin, intending to go over to one of the observation alcoves.

Blaise watched him carefully for several moments before speaking, not moving from where he was standing near the door: "Look, Snape, I know you got your information from those Weasley twins so tell me what you want to know and then leave me alone."

"It's not that simple." Harry said quietly, sitting on a ledge, lit up in the silvery glow of the moon outside which he was gazing at with a soft gaze. Then, he turned his head to look over to the boy who was still glaring at him warily. "First of all, I want you to calm down. I'm not out to get you, Zabini, honestly I'm not. I'm a Gryffindor, not a Slytherin."

Blaise said nothing to that.

The Gryffindor sighed. "All right then, stay where you are and just listen to me." He paused a moment, thinking about what exactly it was he wanted to say. "Despite what you think, I didn't get my information from Fred and George. Yes, they confirmed it when I asked them but they weren't the original source. I suppose you're aware that I'm prone to the odd vision, hmm?"

A nod.

"Last night I had a vision of you, in your dorm room. I saw you with two letters, I saw you open one of those letters and I saw what was written in that letter. You act as a go-between for your father and sister."

The Slytherin glared again. "And I suppose you want me to stop?"

"No, not at all. As I said earlier today, I want you to pass that information onto me as well."

"Why?"

"Because I'm the only one who has a chance of defeating Voldemort. I'm the only one who can get close enough to him in order to pull it off. I'm not asking you to fight along-side me, Zabini, or publicly support me. If, somehow, you are found out, I will do everything I can to make sure you stay safe and protected, even if it means keeping you by my own side twenty-four seven. I know you're not happy with things the way they are, why else would you look so miserable after reading that letter? Why else would you fall to your knees and pray seconds after you destroyed it?"

Zabini stayed silent for a while after that and it was obvious he was considering everything the older teenager had just told him. You could almost hear the cogs and wheels in his head turning as he sorted everything out and weighed up his options. Harry watched the boy carefully, wanting to see if he could catch a glimpse of anything that would give away what answer the Slytherin was leaning towards. Nothing was given away though and he had to wait the long, nervous minutes before the dark skinned teenager finally answered:

"If I did help you, what exactly is it you'd want to know?"

"Anything. Absolutely any bit of information you could possibly supply me. Anything your father tells your sister or anything he tells you, yourself. It could all prove to be useful and it could all aid in bringing Voldemort down."

"And you'll protect me if something goes wrong?"

"Yes."

A long pause then as Zabini looked to the side, away from Harry and to a shadowed corner of the tower. It was not a tense silence though, because Harry knew what was coming. He knew what the boy's answer would be and he had not even needed a vision to tell him. The youngest Zabini was a complete open book; it was a wonder the boy had managed to keep his religion a secret from the rest of his family for so long.

Abruptly, the Slytherin took in a deep breath, his shoulders squaring before he turned his head back so he was looking at Harry. Their eyes met and before the boy had even spoken, Harry knew he had been right.

"All right." Zabini said with a stiff nod. "I'll help."

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13th September 1995: Evening

Harry sat on his bed, his back resting against the head board and the curtains closed around him, looking down at his scroll of parchment carefully, a quill held between the fingers of his right hand, ready to note something down or scribble out something accordingly. He had just induced another vision and this time it had turned out to be something expected rather than the surprise direction of including Blaise Zabini in his plans. This time, he had focused on the progress the adults were having with the Horcruxes and, just as he had wanted, he was gifted with a vision of the current situation.

Another Horcrux had been found. The vision had been vague on what the object actually was, it looked like a it had been some piece of jewellry. If Harry had interpreted the vision correctly the latest Horcrux had been located during the time Lucius and Severus had been away and had been retrieved only recently, perhaps in the last three or four days. It had definitely been destroyed though which was obviously something to be pleased about.

So, now, according to Harry's notes, there were three more Horcruxes to destroy, all of them unknown. He was already planning on methods to try and get himself to see what they were and also on how he was then going to deliver the information to the adults without them catching onto the fact that he knew everything they were doing. It would be tricky but in no way was impossible and Harry was confident that it only had to be a matter of time before everything began to come together and wrap itself up.

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25th September 1995: Night

It was freezing cold and it was snowing which, common sense told Him, meant He was outside. And, opening His eyes and looking around, it became clear that, indeed, He was outside. It was night time, the sky black and cloudy, the trees around Him nothing but black silhouettes and the snow almost glowing in the darkness.

He was on His knees, leaning forward to support His weight on His hands. There was someone beside Him with a hand on His shoulder.

Suddenly, coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once, there was a horrible bang, a lot like a very heavy door smacking into something equally as solid and heavy. He stood from where He was kneeling and looked around slightly frantically to see a couple of dozen metres away from Him was a massive, dark, imposing building.

The person beside Him clutched His arm tightly and after that nothing moved. For long moments, nothing more happened but the nervous atmosphere did not relax. The stress getting to Him a little too much, He lowered His head and closed His eyes while taking in a deep breath to calm Himself. Around Him it was silent again and the snow continued to fall around, frequently landing on Him and chilling His skin. After a few moments, He opened His eyes again without raising His head and gasped at the sight of His hands; they were stained with thick trickles of some black and viscous substance.

From somewhere in the darkness, an almost inhuman roared scream echoed around Him.
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Family Means More Than Blood