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Chapter Text

Fred was half listening to what was going on around him because his attention was taken by someone. He wasn't staring at first, he was originally just looking around when this person caught his attention. Now, he's pretty sure he knows who it is, but he wants confirmation. 

“Hey Georgie, isn't that Malfoy, Draco Malfoy?” Fred asks, eyes never leaving the boy. 

George looks at his twin before who he was staring at. 

“Sure is,” George says, tilting his head to the side. 

As if he senses he's being watched, Draco looks around before landing on the two staring at him. No one knows why, but Draco gives the twins a nod and a smirk. The twins are taken back but remembers to slightly nod back. Draco just gives them another smirk before turning his attention to the ones surrounding him. They stare at him for another minute before their mother catches their attention. Which just ended with them teasing their mother just like they always do. George was fixing to open his mouth to joke with his mother when a loud voice boom across the platform. 

“You're a disgrace!” Lucius says before storming off with Narcissa right behind. 

That leaves an upset Draco alone, surrounded by strangers. He bites his bottom lip as he looks down to avoid looking at the others. 

“Dear,” A woman says, gently touching Draco’s shoulder. 

Draco looks up and sees that it's Molly with the twins in front of him. 

“Are you okay? You can join us,” Molly says with a sweet smile. 

Draco nods his head as George already takes his belongings and Fred grips his wrist. With that, he's dragged to where the others are at. Fred keeps Draco between them like he's trying to keep him away from Harry and Ron. Especially with the unhappy expressions on the boys' faces. Luckily they didn't have to wait long before they did what they needed and got on the train. Draco finds a compartment and sits down, not expecting anyone to join him. But the three Weasleys and Harry surprised him by sitting with him. 

“So, are your parents always so, I don't know, awful?” Fred asks. 

“Fred!” George says, slapping Fred on the back of the head. 

“He's not wrong, his father called him disgrace for whatever reason,” Ron says. 

“They are, normally they're not that bad,” Draco says honestly. 

“I know how you feel,” Harry says, clearly knowing there's more to the story. 

Draco nods his head before they change topics to a lighthearted one. 

“I don't know about how you feel, but I do hope you're in Gryffindor, Malfoy,” Fred says, looking over at Draco. 

Draco shrugs because he doesn't know what house he wants to be in. He knows what his parents would want, but he doesn't know what he wants himself. 

“I guess we'll find out,” Draco says, leaning back in his seat. 

That leads to them telling Harry more about Hogwarts since he doesn't know anything about it. Draco remained quiet mostly, just listening to the others while not fully understanding what's happening right now. Thanks to the conversations, the trip to Hogwarts felt like it was only minutes and before they knew it, it was time for the sorting hat for the first years. As they watch the first years get sorted, the twins talk amongst each other. 

“So, you want Malfoy in our house?” George asks, glancing over at his twin. 

“Yeah, there's something about him that I like,” Fred says, resting his chin on his hand. 

“There is something about him that I like as well. But our families do hate each other,” George says with a sigh. 

“Not true, mom literally invited him to join us. I think it's more his family hates ours, I mean it's not like we're not pure-bloods,” Fred mumbles. 

“Why do I see you fighting, Malfoy’s father,” George says with a smile. 

“If he hurts Draco I will,” Fred says, making George look back at him.

“Man, already on a first name basis with him. You move fast,” George teases. 

“Who are you two talking about?” Percy asks from across the table. 

At the same time the twins answered with:

“No one,” George says.

“Malfoy,” Fred says. 

The twins look at each other as their older brother looks between them. 

“Malfoy?” Percy asks. 

“Don't worry about it, everything is fine,” Fred says, subconsciously protective over Draco. 

George laughs into his elbow at his older brother's expression. 

“Okay then, just be careful, okay? He is a Malfoy after all,” Percy says. 

George could sense Fred was fixing to argue back, so he immediately covers his mouth. 

“Okay,” George says while giving Fred a look. 

Fred rolls his eyes as their attention goes back to the sorting hat. 

“Hey look, it's Draco's turn,” George says, watching Fred's eyes light up. 

George smiles at him before looking back at Draco, who's fixing to get sorted into his house. What happens next though, does not shock only the twins, but the whole Great Hall. 

“Gryffindor!” The sorting house says. 

George watches Draco's eyes widen as the whole Gryffindor’s, including the twins, table erupts in cheers. Draco doesn't say anything as he makes his way to the table, but he does help when Fred and George yanks him between them. They wait till Draco is comfortably sitting between them before they speak. 

“No getting rid of us now,” George teases. 

“Guess not,” Drco says with a sad smile. 

“Don't want to be with us?” Fred asks. 

“It's complicated, that's all” Draco says with a shrug. 

Fred and George share a look before they run their hand through Draco's hair. 

“Can you stop?” Draco snaps as he shakes the hands off of him. 

“Nope!” The twins say, going back to playing with Draco's hair. 

Draco rolls his eyes as he goes back to the sorting hat. He knows the twins aren't going to listen so he gives up trying. So, he just watched the others get sorted into their houses. 

“Draco,” Fred says, wanting Draco’s attention. 

“Shut up,” Draco says, glancing over at Fred. 

Fred smiles because he got Draco's, who ended up smiling back slightly, attention like he wanted. 

“What's your guys’ fascination with me?” Draco asks.

“We just like you,” George says with a shrug. 

“I doubt that, your family and my family hate each other so you guys should as well,” Draco says, glaring at them. 

“Do you hate us?” George asks with a smirk. 

Draco opens his mouth but shuts it, which got the twins smirking. 

“That's what we thought,” Fred says, tilting his head to the side. 

“I didn't say anything,” Draco says with a glare. 

“We know,” George says, still smirking. 

Draco rolls his eyes as he goes back to what he was doing. One by one the rest got sorted into their houses and it was time for everything else. 

“You're a Gryffindor, wonder how your father will react,” Ron says. 

“Not the time, Ron,” Percy says. 

“I don't know,” Draco whispers. 

Fred rubs his back as George sends Ron a glare. They might know some about three Malfoys, but the twins know they don't know the full extent of them. 

“I didn't mean it in a nasty way. I was generally asking because we all say how nasty his parents were at the platform,” Ron says, defending himself. 

“My father is going to be livid,” Draco says, looking over at Ron. 

“He can't do anything about it, the hat knows which house you need to be in and if he tries something, I'm sure a professor would help. Like Snape, we all know he likes you,” George says. 

“How do you know?” Draco asks with wide eyes. 

“We're not dumb, we do know things about you,” Fred says. 

Draco just pouts as he looks away as Dumbledore does his speech before they eat. Draco mostly plays with his food, not knowing how to take anything at the moment. Well, that is till a voice breaks through his thoughts and brings him back to reality. 

“If it means anything, I don't know anything about you,” Harry says, staring curiously at Draco. 

“It's probably a good thing and should stay that way,” Draco says. 

“What if I want to learn more about you?” Harry asks. 

“Surprise Weasley didn't tell you about me,” Draco says slightly playful. 

Fred, the biggest trickster, notices the playful tone so he plays along. 

“Which one? There's four of them here,” Fred says, testing his chin on his hand. 

“I-, shut up. The youngest one at this table,” Draco grumbles. 

“You can call me Ron, you know,” Ron says, staring at Draco. 

“I guess I can and I guess if you want to know more about me, I'll tell you,” Draco says, turning to watch Fred. 

He has a feeling Fred was up to no good and his face gives him away. Fred looks back, only to smile at Draco as he starts eating again. 

“I only know you're from a rich and known family,” Harry says, gaining Draco's attention once again. 

“Then I guess ask away and I guess I can tell you more about me,” Draco says before taking a bite of his food. 

That's how Draco ended up answering Harry's questions till they were going to bed. He closes his curtains and just stares up at nothing. His mind is running a mile a minute and he can comprehend being a Gryffindor now. But he knows he needs to get used to it cause there's no changing now. But the big thing in his mind is the twins and why they want to be around Draco. That's how Draco fell asleep, thinking about the twins and now being a Gryffindor. 

“You two should hate me like the rest of your family,” Draco says as they head to the Great Hall. 

“I don't think our family hates you, just your parents,” George says. 

“Ron does,” Draco says, crossing his arms. 

“Does he? I mean, he lets you call him Ron,” Fred points out. 

“Only because there's so many of you Weasleys,” Draco mumbles. 

“Still, Ron would have you call him something else, trust us on that,” Fred says. 

“Whatever you say. I know your family hates me and should you guys,” Draco says with a sigh. 

The conversation dies there and Draco thinks he finally got through to them. But he in fact, hasn't because they begin talking again as they enter the Great Hall. 

“So, are you going to support us in Quidditch?” George asks, leading them to their seats. 

“Duh,” Draco says, rolling his eyes. 

“We'll be your favorite beaters,” Fred says with a wink. 

“Doubt it,” Draco says with a smile. 

“Rude,” Fred and George say with a playful smile. 

“Look at this, the baby Gryffindor is sucking up to the older ones like a lost puppy,” Pansy says walking up to them. 

Her minions laugh at her comment as Draco and the twins roll their eyes. 

“Dont you have anything better to do than being annoying?” Draco asks, turning around to face Pansy. 

“Does your father know about you being a Gryffindor, I bet it'll be hilarious to see his reaction to this disappointment,” Pansy says, gesturing to Draco. 

“Can you go away? You're so annoying and a total prat. Wonder why people loathe you already? It's because you think you're above everyone else and do what you want when in reality you're nothing but a first year prat,” Fred snaps, not liking how she was talking about Draco. 

“Also, his father can't do shite to him if he doesn't want to get in trouble. So go away with your little minions and be annoying to someone who gives a crap about what you say cause we don't care about what you have to say, it's just proving you're nothing but a prat,” George adds. 

Pansy stops her foot before leaving with her friends. Once she was gone, the twins turned back around in their seats, seeing Harry and Ron had joined them. 

“You didn't have to do that,” Draco says. 

“We wanted to. Believe or not, Draco, we do care about you and want to protect you,” Fred says, completely serious. 

Draco is taken back, not used to the seriousness coming from them. He bites his lip as he starts to eat his breakfast. As he eats, he guesses that he's okay with them wanting to be around him. 

“I guess, it's okay that you two are around me,” Draco mumbles quietly so only the twins heard him. 

“Yes!” They say happily, making Draco smile a little. 

Draco knows he still wants to keep his distance from them, not because he hates them, but he doesn't want them to get hurt. But he knows they won't make it easy, but he has to try in order to keep them safe. He eats his breakfast before leaving to get to class, which he didn't get far without someone catching up to him. 

“Malfoy! Wait,” Neville says, catching up to Draco. 

Draco waits till Nevill has caught up to begin walking again. 

“What's up, Longbottom?” Draco asks. 

“I wonder if you would want to walk to charms with me,” Neville asks. 

“Um, yeah, sure,” Draco says, smiling a little. 

Neville smiles as well as they walk to charms. They walk in a comfortable quietness most of the time till Neville broke it. 

“I've noticed you befriended the Weasley twins. They seem like a fun group to be around,” Neville says. 

“I guess they're fun, don't know why they're around me when their family hates me,” Draco says. 

“Again, they don't hate you. They hate your parents,” Fred says coming from nowhere. 

“Exactly, they like you,” George says, appearing out of nowhere as well. 

“Where did you two come from?” Draco asks, glancing between them. 

“We weren't that far behind you two. You might have left sooner, but we're fast walkers,” George teases. 

“It doesn't help that you guys are tall,” Neville pointed out. 

“Exactly,” Fred says with a playful smile. 

Fred wraps an arm around Draco and pulls him impossibly close to his body to whisper into his ear. 

“I know that you think we should hate you, but we really do like you in more ways than you think. We're not going to do anything to you and we'll keep you safe from anyone and everything no matter the circumstances. We care too much about you to let anything happen to you along with not wanting to lose you, we will protect you, just believe me on that,” Fred whispers.

When Fred pulls back, Draco clenches his robes tightly. 

“Promise?” Draco asks. 

“Swear on my life,” Fred says with no playfulness in his voice. 

Draco smiles slightly at him as they stop outside of charms. 

“Well, here's your stop,” George says brightly. 

“Thanks for walking with us, you kept it entertaining,” Neville says to George. 

“Anytime, if you need anything, just come find us,” George says as he leaves with Fred. 

The other two watched them leave before entering the classroom. 

“What were you and Fred talking about?” Neville asks. 

“Just a silly promise, nothing major,” Draco says as they sit down. 

Neville smiles as Seamus sits on the other side of Draco with a bright greeting. 

“Morning! Having a good morning?” Seamus asks the duo. 

“Yeah,” Draco and Neville say as they get more into the conversation. 

They ended up not talking much since class had begun and they didn't feel like getting in trouble. Draco looks across the room and sees Harry and Ron watching him. But that stops a couple minutes later Hermione starts talking to them about the spell they are learning. Draco was easily able to do the spell, but that doesn't mean he got any recognition for it like Hermione. He did however about got blown up when Seamus messed up some. 

“Sorry Malfoy,” Seamus says, looking over at Draco. 

“It's fine. But you'll probably need a new feather,” Draco says with wide eyes as he looks at Seamus’ feather. 

“Professor,” Seamus says as Dean laughs at his friend. 

Draco goes back to his feather and makes sure he can do it. Once class was over, Draco left while lost in thoughts. He's back to thinking about the twins that he stills wants to distance himself from them to protect them. But he knows that twins won't let him no matter what he does. He ended up letting out a sigh and made his way to his next class, which was potions. 

“Does my father know about this?” Draco asks as soon as he walks into the classroom. 

“Not yet,” Snape says, checking over stuff. 

Draco slumps into a seat and lets out another sigh. 

“He's going to be furious,” Draco says as he hides his face in his arms. 

“I won't let him hurt you, Draco,” Snape says, walking towards Draco. 

“I know,” Draco says as Snape passes him. Draco is left completely alone in the classroom for a minute before others start gathering in. 

“You walk fast,” Neville says, sitting beside Draco. 

“I needed to talk to Professor Snape before class. I didn't mean to leave you behind,” Draco says. 

“It's all alright,” Neville says with a smile, making Draco smile as well. 

They lose their smiles as Pansy comes up to them and starts annoying them. Luckily, Snape came along and got her and her friends away before starting class. He did get praise from Snape, who had it out for Harry in the process. 

“What does he have against Harry?” Neville whispers so he wouldn't get in trouble. 

“Not a clue,” Draco says, glancing back at Harry. 

Harry gives him a small smile that Draco returns before looking straight ahead. Neville almost blew up his cauldron, but luckily Draco caught his almost mistake. 

“Thanks,” Neville whispers. 

“Not a problem,” Draco says, looking over the instructions. 

In the end, it was Seamus who ended up blowing his cauldron up by an accident. While it was funny, it did cost the Gryffindors points like Harry did. But other than that incident, the rest of the class went by smoothly. Once dismissed, they start to leave to get to the Great Hall for lunch. Neville and Draco left together and Draco was actually enjoying his company. 

“You're not what I expected. Again, no one expected you to be a Gryffindor,” Neville says. 

“Yeah, neither did I. Maybe this is my chance to not be who everyone thinks I'm going to be, be who my parents want me to be,” Draco says thoughtfully. 

“Then be the Draco Malfoy no one expects and he your true self. I'll be your friend and in your corner,” Neville says. 

“Sounds good. But it's going to be hard to change my ways,” Draco says. 

“You'll get it, I just know it,” Neville says. 

“Hey Malfoy, can we talk to you alone?” Ron asks a few steps behind Draco and Neville. 

Both Neville and Draco look back at them before Draco looks at Neville. 

“See you in the Great Hall?” Draco asks. 

“Yeah, see ya,” Neville says before leaving. 

Draco gives him a smile before walking to where the other three are at. 

“Yes?” Draco asks, crossing his arms across his chest. 

“Dont hurt my brothers or else, I'll make you regret it,” Ron threatens. 

Draco resists rolling his eyes as he feels a familiar presence a few feet behind him. 

“I'm not going to hurt them and if you want, tell them to stay away from me. I can't force them to do it and they don't want to, so if you want to tell them to stay away feel free to if you're so afraid of me hurting them,” Draco says with a huff.

“He didn't mean anything offensive,” Harry says. 

“His family hates me so I'm sure he does as well,” Draco says, eyes snapping over to Harry's. 

“My family doesn't hate you, they hate your family who hates mine,” Ron says with furrowed eyebrows. 

“I'm going to the Great Hall before this escalates,” Hermione says before walking off. 

The three boys watch her leave before Draco goes back to Ron. 

“I don't hate your family. I just know none of this is going to end well,” Draco says quietly. 

“Is your family that powerful?” Harry asks curiously. 

“You have no idea,” Ron and Draco say as they both look at Harry. 

“Then, can't we protect you if they try something?” Harry asks, wanting to protect Draco. 

Draco, who still felt the familiar presence, let out a sigh before speaking again. 

“I already got two older boys who said they wanted to protect me as well,” Draco says playfully. 

“So can we protect you?” Ron asks with hopeful eyes. 

“If you want,” Draco mumbles. 

“Good, cause we want to, especially if your father comes after you,” Harry says. 

“What would you two first years even do to a powerful wizard?” Draco asks. 

“We'll figure it out,” Ron says, putting his hands on his hips. 

“Of course, you will,” Draco says with a sigh. 

“Hey! We will, we're not weak,” Ron says. 

“You're also young,” Draco points out. 

“So are you,” Harry says. 

“Yeah and I'm used to my father's temper,” Draco says, glancing over at Harry. 

“Well, if he does anything to you. We will figure something out, does he hurt you?” Ron asks, becoming completely serious. 

Draco freezes because he can't come up with a lie to save himself. 

“He keeps me in line,” Draco says. 

Harry's expression changes and Draco wonders if he knows that Draco is lying. 

“That doesn't answer my question,” Ron says with sad eyes. 

“He doesn't,” Draco says. 

“If you say so, but we should get to lunch,” Harry says with a look. 

“Yeah, coming Malfoy?” Ron says. 

“I'll be there soon, you to go ahead,” Draco says, wanting to deal with who's been waiting for him. 

“If you say so,” Ron says before leaving with Harry. 

Draco watches them leave before he deals with that familiar presence. So, he was not surprised to see the twins when he turned around. But he was surprised by the annoyed looks on their faces as they leaned against the wall with their arms crossed across their chests. 

“What did they want?” George asks. 

“I'm sure you two heard the whole conversation,” Draco says after walking up to them. 

“Some. Now what did they want?” Fred asks. 

Draco sighs as he tells them everything about the conversation. 

“Does your father hurt you? I know what you said, but honestly, does he hurt you?” George asks. 

“Like I said, he keeps me in line,” Draco says. 

Fred and George share a look but drop the subject. 

“Okay, now let's get to the Great Hall and tell us about your day so far,” Fred says, pulling Draco along down the hallway. 

Draco only sighs as he catches up to Fred so he's not being dragged. The twins had to ask Draco a couple more times to get him to tell them about his day. But they also know it's his way of playing so it never annoyed them. That's how they know the three of them are going to be trouble together and can't wait to see what they get into. 

“Wait, so your father still doesn't know yet?” George asks. 

“He'll most likely will by now,” Draco says sadly. 

“Hey, remember what I said, we will protect you,” Fred says, looking over at Draco. 

Draco nods his head because he has a feeling that they'll do anything no matter the cost to keep him safe and that thought makes him feel safe for once. But for now, he's just worried about school and the fact that the twins aren't going to leave his side unless they have to, which makes him feel secure and grounded. 

“Maybe you two aren't that bad after all,” Draco mumbles to himself.

“Oh Draco, you don't know the half of what we want to do with you,” George says, wrapping his arm around Draco’s shoulders with a mysterious yet playful smirk. 

Chapter Text

Just as Draco comes out of his room to the common room, he spots the twins standing there against the wall.

“Our git!” George says as he spots Draco. 

Draco rolls his eyes, but approaches the twins anyhow. 

“Too early,” Draco says, rubbing his eyes. 

“Adorable,” Fred says fondly as he runs his hand through Draco's hair. 

“Already rebelling?” George teases, noticing Draco's hair ain't slicked back now. 

“It's a long story, but my father knows about all of this,” Draco says with a shrug. 

“You're going to tell us? Right? It's only fair if you do,” Fred says, crossing his arms across his chest. 

“And why's that?” Draco asks as they leave the common room. 

“Because you're our friend and we care about you as well as want to protect you,” George says. 

“You're not going to leave me alone about it till I do, aren't you?” Draco asks. 

“Know us so well already,” George teases. 

“That's a new record,” Fred adds. 

“Tell me again why I'm around you two?” Draco asks as he shakes his head. 

“Because you like us and see us as friends,” Fred says, wrapping himself around Draco. 

“Do I? I didn't notice. You're lying,” Draco says, tilting his head to the side. 

But he never shook Fred off of him like he has the first three days of being here. Fred and George also know Draco is just messing with them because they can tell when he's playing after just being around him for a week. But they also know it's going to take a while before Draco admits that they are friends. 

“Can you two give him some breathing room? I swear you're suffocating him,” Percy says, coming from nowhere. 

“No we're not, he's perfectly fine. Right Dray?” George asks, running his hand through Draco's hair. 

“Am I?” Draco asks with that same smirk. 

“Give it up, Percy. They won't leave him alone even if it costs them their lives,” Ron says, as he and Harry and Hermione caught up to them. 

Fred and George just send them a smile as they wrap themselves around Draco. Percy rolls his eyes before leaving with his friends, leaving the others by themselves. 

“He doesn't like me,” Draco says with a sigh. 

“He'll warm up to you, he's just cold to some people,” Fred says, letting Draco go. 

Draco hums and pulls Fred and George back to him so they would wrap themselves around him. He notices the fond look from Harry and Ron that has him looking away. 

“I'm cold,” Draco says before they survive the moving stairs.

Fred and George hums contently as they nuzzle more into Draco as they wait to get off the stairs. They only pulled off when they had to start walking again, but kept plastered to Draco's side as the other three followed along. They make their way to the Great Hall and like always, Draco is settled between the twins. 

“I swear you two have claimed him as yours,” Hermione says with a sigh. 

“So what if we have, what's wrong with that?” George asks with a playful smile. 

Hermione opens and closes her mouth so Fred hits the back of George's head. 

“He's just teasing,” Fred says. 

George just smiles before he pushes Draco more into himself and Fred. 

“So, when can we hear about your father?” George asks. 

Draco sighs, knowing they won't drop it because they do want to protect him. But he still doesn't know why he so easily opens up to them about everything. 

“My father knows about me being a Gryffindor and like I knew, he hates it. He also knows that I'm hanging out with you two because he got ears everywhere. And he told me that I'm not his son as long as I hang around you guys and be a Gryffindor,” Draco explains. 

“That's rubbish! I hate him. What does your mom say?” Fred asks. 

“Nothing, which isn't surprising because she seems to always follow whatever father does,” Darco says as he starts picking at his food. 

“We're sorry,” George says, rubbing Draco's back. 

“Not your fault, it's life and I'm used to them isolating me from the family and themselves,” Draco says. 

“Do you have any other family that will treat you well?” Harry asks out of curiosity. 

“According to my parents, the whole family hates me,” Draco says, staring sadly at his food. 

“If it means anything, we don't hate you. And I'm sure you have family members that like you,” Ron says. 

Draco doesn't respond because he doesn't want to have this conversation anymore, especially learning about Harry's home life. Noticing that he doesn't want to talk about it anymore, they drop the conversation for now. 

“Can you get Snape to give us a break?” Ron asks, which just gives him a look. 

“Can't, he's too stubborn,” Draco says as George cuddles up to him. 

Draco doesn't push him away as he starts eating as Fred joins his brother as well. But he doesn't eat much because he gets sick to his stomach and rushes to the bathroom. After he throws up his breakfast, he's accompanied by someone. 

“What happened? Are you sick?” Harry asks. 

Draco shakes his head as he lets Harry take care of him. 

“Then what's wrong?” Harry asks. 

“I just thought back to the letter where my father said he'll hurt me or the twins if I don't stay away from them. But I want to be around and don't tell anyone that,” Draco admits. 

“I won't say anything, but it's obvious that you want to be around them,” Harry says with a smile. 

“Whatever, Pottah,” Draco teases as they leave the bathroom. 

Only thing is they run into McGonagall, who has a concerned face. 

“Is everything okay?” She asks. 

“Yeah, breakfast just didn't settle well for him,” Harry explains. 

Draco's eyes widened because he didn't expect how well Harry could lie about stuff like this. But again, he remembers what he said about his family so he's not surprised. 

“Really? Are you getting sick?” She asks, looking over at a paler Draco. 

“I'm okay ma'am, guess my stomach didn't like breakfast,” Draco says.

“Okay, but get back to breakfast and try to eat something, both of you,” She says.

“Yes ma'am,” They said before going back to the Great Hall and used the same lie as before. 

Draco tries to keep his distance between himself and the twins to keep them safe. Well, he mainly wanted to keep the twins safe and he hasn't figured out why he does yet. But, the twins don't make it easy and always find their way back to his side. 

“Awe, he can't get away from the twins, his father ain't going to like it,” Pansy says as Draco and Neville pass her. 

“Shut up,” Draco says, never stopping to confront her. 

He hears her scoff, but he doesn't pay her any attention. 

“Why are you trying to distance yourself from the twins? I thought you like them,” Neville says, glancing over at Draco. 

“It's complicated, honestly. And I guess they're tolerable,” Draco says, looking away from Neville. 

“One day, you'll admit that you like them,” Neville teases. 

Draco rolls his eyes as they walk down the stairs leading to the dungeons. 

“So cold,” Draco says with a shiver. 

“Yeah,” Neville agrees as they make it to potions. 

They go inside and sit down in their seats after noticing they were a little bit early. Snape doesn't mind them as he focuses on whatever he is doing. Draco and Neville continue to talk about the twins and Draco briefly informs Neville as to what's going on. Neville, like everyone, says he doesn't like his father and that Draco shouldn't let him control his life. Draco knows they are all right, but he knows how his father is and it scares him. They stop talking about it when the other students start piling into the classroom. 

“Draco, please stop avoiding my brothers. They're going crazy without you,” Ron says, standing in front of Draco's and Neville’s station. 

“They're around me,” Draco says with a pout. 

“I know, but they know that you are avoiding them or at least trying to distance yourself from them,” Ron says. 

“It's not that I want to, it's just something I have to do,” Draco says, glancing over at Harry.

Harry gives him a small smile and Draco sighs before explaining why he's avoiding them.

“Draco, they're going to be safe here, there's no reason to avoid them, trust me, they want to be around you and they're not going to stop protecting you,” Ron says. 

“I know,” Draco says, curling in on himself. 

“I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable. I'm just worried about you, I guess,” Ron says. 

“I'm fine,” Draco says. 

“We know,” Harry says with a specific look in his eyes. 

Their conversation ends there since Snape made everyone get to their seats so he can start class. Draco makes himself focus on the lesson so he doesn't have to worry about anything else. Plus, he loves potions and he actually enjoys it a lot. He's good at it and enjoys the praise because he hardly gets any from anyone else. Even Neville praises him and is glad that they're partners or he'll be lost at it. Draco can only say thanks shyly because he doesn't know how to accept it. 

This goes throughout class and Draco is a blushing mess afterwards. But doesn't have to recover as his wrist is instantly grabbed as soon as he leaves the classroom. He didn't even fight it because he saw who it was and had a feeling this was going to happen. He let them drag him through halls to a passageway that looks like no one takes. The twins let him look around before they go impatient. 

“Okay, what gives? Why are you trying to distance yourself from us?” Fred asks, crossing his arms across his chest. 

Draco sighs before coming clean about the entire letter he got from his father. He starts tearing up, so the twins pull him into a hug and bushes him. 

“It's going to be okay, I promise. Stop distancing yourself because we want to be around you and we want to protect you. Please Draco, let us in and let us be your friend. I know our families don't have a good relationship or anything, but we can change that. We can be different and show everyone that we can be friends no matter what is thrown our way,” George says, running his hand through Draco's soft hair. 

“Okay, let's do it,” Draco says, voice muffled into Fred's shoulder. 

The hug is longer than the twins thought it would last, but Draco doesn't want to let go and they're enjoying holding him. 

“What made you decide to leave your hair natural?” Fred asks as he plays with Draco's hair as well. 

“Trying to be myself and not I was made to,” Draco says, still keeping himself in the comfortable embrace. 

Fred and George share a look, silently communicating that there's more going on than what meets the eye. They tighten their arms around Draco as they get their fill of playing with Draco's hair. They eventually make their way to lunch and they make sure that Draco has eaten. 

“I'm assuming he told you two?” Ron asks, tilting his head to the side. 

Fred, who has himself wrapped around Draco, nods his head before resting his head back on Draco's back. Draco looks at Ron from across the table, worried in his eyes because of the fact the twins are both doing the same thing. 

“You two got to eat as well, you guys do have practice after lunch,” Ron says to his brothers. 

The twins grumble as they detach themselves from Draco to start eating. They much rather be cuddled up to Draco because he's quite comfortable. They all finish their food and sit there and talk till Harry and the twins have to leave for quidditch practice. 

“Oh Draco, are you going to miss your favorite beaters?” George asks, leaning against Draco again. 

“No,” Draco says with a smirk. 

“You'll miss us, just admit it,” Fred says. 

Draco rolls his eyes, wondering if he should regret saying that they're his favorite beaters. But again, he doesn't regret it at all because he has no reason to regret it. 

“Dont you guys have practice?” Draco asks with an arched eyebrow. 

The twins pout but leave with Harry, leaving Draco with Ron. 

“Want to play chess?” Ron asks, conjuring up the game. 

“Yeah,” Draco says, leaning on his elbows. 

Ron sends Draco a smile before setting up the game while Draco watches. They talked about random topics as they begin the game, but eventually, it's Draco who asks the question he's been thinking about since lunch. 

“Should I not say something to them about my father?” Draco asks after making his move. 

“They would have figured it out somehow so it's better that it came from you and not someone else,” Ron says, thinking about his move. 

“I guess. But I'll feel guilty if they worry too much about this. Even themselves said my father can't do anything while we're here,” Draco says, forgetting about the game. 

“Draco, they're more worried about you than themselves. From the beginning they can tell your parents scare you more than they should, so they worry because they like you,” Ron says, forgetting about the game as well. 

“They're strict,” Draco says, crossing his arms across his chest. 

“I bet they are, but there's more there that you're holding it in. You can tell me and I won't tell anyone else unless I get permission from you,” Ron promises. 

Draco looks around before getting up with Ron following suit and they end up in an isolated and dusty staircase.

“They love to hit me for every little inconvenience,” Draco admits, sitting down on the steps. 

“What?” Ron asks in shock as he sits down beside Draco. 

“That day we came here, they would have if it wasn't for all the witnesses. Then your mom and brother came so I wasn't afraid,” Draco says. 

“I don't know much about anything yet, but I don't think it's good to be terrified of your parents,” Ron says. 

“I know,” Draco says. 

“What are you going to do about after this term? Are you going to go back to the manor?” Ron asks.

“Like I have a choice. They are my parents and they can't keep me stranded here. I'm sure I'll be isolated a lot more than I was before,” Draco says, looking down at his lap. 

“Maybe we can see if mom can let you stay with us,” Ron says. 

“My parents will definitely kill me then. Trust me, you don't want to make them mad,” Draco says as he shakes his head. 

“That sucks,” Ron says before they end up in a happy conversation. 

Ron was happy to see a smile on Draco's face because of how rare it is. 

“I have to admit, you're good company,” Draco says, resting his chin on his hand. 

“So are you, I honestly didn't know what to expect when my brothers dragged you to us. But I'm glad they did because it sparked our friendship,” Ron says. 

“We're friends?” Draco asks hopefully. 

“Of course, I wouldn't care about you this much if we weren't,” Ron says with a sincere smile. 

Draco smiles as well before he watches Ron lose his smile as he looks behind him. 

“Well look at this, two sad low lives,” The voice says. 

“Oh shut up, Goyle. No one cares about what you have to say,” Draco says as he stands up and faces Goyle. 

Ron gets up as well and stands beside Draco, ready to protect him if anything happens. 

“Ooo, so scary. Not, I don't know how your family puts up with you. Oh wait, they don't, they hate you,” Pansy says, joining in. 

Ron watches as Draco clenches his hands as he loses this battle, making Ron decide to fight for him. 

“Do you two have anything better to do than pick a fight? It's almost like you're insecure about something and you're taking it out on us. We haven't even done anything to you guys, it's you guys who are awful. And if I remember correctly, you were friends with Draco. What happened to that friendship? Or was it just because of his family and now that he's in Gryffindor then he's awful and all of that? If that's the case then you all are so pathetic,” Ron rants, feeling Draco clench his to be so he doesn't throw a punch. 

“They're not worth it,” Draco says before he gets punched. 

“What was that for!?” Draco asks, cradling his jaw. 

“Youre so annoying! You think everyone is below you! You even got him to fight your fights!” Pansy yells. 

Draco opens his mouth to fight back, but stops when he notices two tall figures approaching them. 

“Wow, you guys are so pathetic. Picking a fight and punching someone who wasn't even doing anything,” Fred says, standing beside Draco as George stands beside Ron. 

“And Ron what they had was a fake friendship, they were only friends with Draco because he has money whereas with us, we're friends with him because we like him for who he is, not who he made out to be,” George says. 

The whole disagreement ends there because Snape somehow found them. 

“What is going on?” Snape asks. 

“Theyre picking a fight with us like wild animals," Pansy says. 

The Gryffindors' mouths rolled their eyes because they knew that was going to happen. 

“Shes lying professor, Ron and I was talking and they picked a fight with us, which we didn't even fight back just made a couple of statements then she punched me in the face and then the twins was backing us up. We never picked a fight and didn't want one to start,” Draco says, stepping in front of the Weasleys.

Snape looks between everyone before he starts speaking again. 

“Minus ten points for Slytherins, now go away before I take anymore from either house. Besides Mr. Malfoy, I need a word with you,” Snape says. 

The Slytherins leave while laughing, thinking Draco is in trouble. The brothers stay behind for a minute before leaving once Draco makes them leave. They wait till they're out of sight before Draco breaks the silence. 

“I can’t leave them alone, they are my friends now and I want to be around them. I know what my father has said, but this is something I want and I’m not going to back down from it. And I know my hair ain’t the way he wants it either, but I’m more comfortable this way,” Draco rambles.

“I’m not going to tell you to stop hanging out with them, I just want to tell you to be careful because we both know how your father is. I don’t know how he is at home, but I know how he is when mad. And I don’ t care how your hair looks, stop being someone who you’re not and just be yourself, you’re only just a kid. Now get out of here and do whatever you were going to do, but stay out of trouble,” Snape says.

“Yes professor,” Draco says before walking away.

He goes the way he did and finds the three Weasleys and Hermione waiting for him against the wall.

“Are you in trouble?” Hermione asks, concerned in her eyes.

“No, he just wanted me to be careful because of how my father is and just be myself,” Draco says, knowing that they already know about his relationship with Snape.

“Okay, we’re going to go meet up with Harry and fill him in. See you later,” Ron says before leaving with Hermione. 

Draco watches them leave as the twins stare at Draco and notices that the boy is nothing but tense. 

“Come with us,” Fred says, linking his arm through Draco’s.

Draco doesn’t fight it and lets himself be dragged to wherever Fred and George want to take him. They go down a lot of halls and end up standing in front of an abandoned classroom. The twins cast Alohomora and the door opens up for them and they push Draco inside. Draco looks around and sees some blankets in the far corner away from the door, so Draco knows this ain’t their first time there.

“We come here all the time, it’s nice and quiet. Come and sit down,” George says, taking Draco’s hand and taking him to the blankets.

“Why did you guys take me here cause I’m sure that you guys claim this just as your spot,” Draco says, settling between George’s legs so he leans against him comfortably.

“Becuase we want this to be your place as well and know you can relax here with no worries like now, you look at peace,” Fred says, settling down beside them.

Draco just smiles because he is right and he knows he doesn’t have to worry about anything right now because he’s safely tucked away with the twins. They don’t leave the room till their next class that they walked Draco to. Well, halfway there, Harry had joined them so they took them both to class.

“See you after class?” Fred asks as they stand outside of the first-year classroom.

“Yeah, I figured you guys would want to walk me to the next class,” Draco says with a smile.

“We’ll be there,” George promises before leaving with Fred as the other two go inside the classroom talking lightly.

“It’s good to see you look more like yourself,” Harry says as the two of them sit down.

“It feels good, but I know that it’s not going to last long because happiness hates me at times,” Draco says with a sad smile.

“I know how you feel. My relatives that I stay with don’t treat me well, like I’ve told you. But what no one knows is that they keep me in a cupboard,” Harry says.

“That’s awful,” Draco says.

“I know,” Harry says.

Draco bites the inside of his cheek before telling Harry about his experience at home, just not in full detail.

“That’s awful, why do they keep you isolated?” Harry asks.

“I wish I knew,” Draco says sadly.

The conversation ends there because the professor comes in and starts the class and they don’t feel like getting in trouble. After class, they take their time leaving so they don’t get run over by other classmates.

“So, you guys almost got in trouble?” Harry teases as they meet up with the twins.

“Yes, but thanks to Dray, we got out of trouble. Snape really does like you more than anyone else here at Hogwarts,” George says, wrapping himself around Draco.

“He raised me when I was younger, a lot better than my parents ever have. And he’s my godfather,” Draco explains.

“That explains why he likes you,” Fred says with a smile.

Draco nods his head and he for some reason tells the twins what he told Ron and Harry about his parents.

“I really hate them. I hate them more and more that I learn about them. Are you positive there’s nothing we can do? Or Snape? Or Dumbledore? Or a professor?” George asks.

“Breathe George. And there’s not without someone getting hurt,” Draco says.

“You’re really terrified of them. More than a child should be,” Fred says, concerned in his voice.

“So I’ve been told. But what can I do? I’m a child and they can get away with anything, I’m at a loss here,” Draco says.

“Say you could do something about it and say they get what they deserve, what would you do?” Harry asks.

“Hope Snape would take me in,” Draco says.

“Or, you could stay with us if that happens,” Fred says.

“That would be fun. But right now, I can’t do anything and nothing will end well if I try, so can we please end this conversation?” Draco pleads as they make it to their class.

“Yes,” The other three said.

Draco nods his head and goes into class with Harry, where they finally caught up with Ron and Hermione. But Draco can’t stop thinking about the conversation because he knows they’re right. But he also knows that he’s a kid so he doesn’t know what to do to end this situation.

Chapter Text

Everyone has noticed the changes in Draco over the past week. It wasn't hard to figure out since he went from being happy and talkative to being quiet and upset. 

“What's wrong?” Neville asks as the two of them walk from potions. 

“Nothing, why?” Draco asks, not meeting Neville’s eye. 

“Draco, we both know better. Now come on, please tell me,” Neville says, pulling Draco to the side. 

Draco bites his lips as he contemplates telling Neville or not. In the end, he decided to tell him because he is his friend and has the right to know. 

“The twins have been avoiding me and I don't know why,” Draco admits. 

“Then pull a page out of their book and question them,” Neville says, knowing that Draco does like the twins. 

“I don't even know their classes or anything,” Draco says. 

“Then let's investigate,” Neville says, pulling Draco along down the hallway. 

They don't do anything till after flying class when they spot Oliver. 

“Oliver!” Draco says as he takes off to catch up with him. 

Oliver stops and waits for them to catch up to him. 

“What can I do for you two today?” Oliver asks as he grips Draco's wrist and starts walking. 

Draco sends Neville, who's following behind them, a look before he starts speaking. 

“When is your next Quidditch practice? I need to talk to the twins, but seem to never catch them,” Draco says. 

“Now, now come along and you two can watch,” Oliver says, dragging Draco to the stands with Neville following along. 

Though, Neville only stays for a couple minutes before leaving. Which leaves Draco in the stands alone as the team comes to the pitch. Draco watches everyone who comes but never sees the ones he's after. He's so focused on the field that he nearly screams when he hears a voice behind him. 

“Joining the team?” Fred asks, still behind Draco. 

Draco turns around and faces Fred and George, who both have their gear on and brooms in hand. 

“No, I can't and it's not like I could anyways if I wanted to because you guys Harry. But I'm here because you are breaking my heart by ignoring me,” Draco says before quickly looking away. 

He definitely didn't mean to be so honest and thinking about running off. But he doesn't get a chance since the twins sit beside him and use their brooms as a cage. 

“We thought you wanted us away from you? At least that's what we were told. And we're worried about your father doing something,” George says, staring at Draco. 

Draco tears up because he feels hurt and upset and he doesn't like it. 

“And we're in different years so I'm sure you hate being seen around us. That's all we hear from everyone at least. So, we thought it'll be better to give you space instead of suffocating you,” Fred adds as he looks away from Draco.

They move their brooms away from Draco, who immediately springs up to his feet to stare at the twins, who's still avoiding his gaze. Draco explodes and doesn't care who hears or not because he's hurt. 

“You two are the worst right now! You kept telling me I'm safe, I'm going to be fine, you won't leave, that you'll protect me! But you lied! You lied this whole time to me! The time I actually trust people and let my guard down I get left! It's not fair at all! I like being around you two! I consider you guys my friends! But you guys believe other people instead of asking me! I hate you two!” Draco yells before running off, ignoring his name. 

He runs to the castle and all the way to the classroom the twins showed him. He unlocks the door long enough to slip inside before locking it back. Then he curls up in a ball on the blankets and lets all his pain and agony out. What seems like hours, which was a few minutes, Draco is pulled into an embrace. He wants to yell at them, but he feels their tears on both sides of his neck. 

“We're sorry! We really are! We're scared of losing you!” George cries out. 

“We didn't want to avoid you! We want to be at your side, but we got scared that we were suffocating you cause you looked more relaxed with others,” Fred cries out. 

“I'm the same way with you, I just don't know how to show it and half of the time, I'm playing with you two. And I don't hate you two, I only said it cause I was hurt,” Draco says, rubbing their backs. 

They stay like for a couple minutes before moving so they're in the normal positions. The twins against the wall with Draco between one of their legs with his back against their chest. This time, it's Fred's turn and he keeps playing with Draco's hair. 

“What about practice?” Draco asks. 

“Oliver canceled it because half of us was “sick,”” George says with a smirk. 

“In other words, he wanted us to make up with you because you're like everyone’s favorite. Which you're ours,” Fred says, wrapping his limbs around Draco. 

“Okay, okay, I get it. I'm yours,” Draco says as Fred frees him. 

Even though he was freed, Draco still stayed plastered against Fred's front. He can't help but smile as the twins run their hands through his hair. They eventually leave the classroom so the twins could get changed back into their school clothes before class. None of them wanted to be separated, so Draco just followed along with them. As they get changed, Draco curiously looks around the place. 

“Are you going to try out for the team when you're allowed to?” George asks, glancing over his shoulder at Draco. 

“Doubt it. You guys already have a good team and I'll just get in the way,” Draco says, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Hey now, you'll make it just as good if not better. Besides, you love flying,” Fred says as he puts on his robe.  

Draco just shrugs before he turns around to see the twins are changed. They pull Draco into another embrace before going back to the castle where they run into Harry. 

“Are you guys better now?” Harry asks hopefully. 

“Yeah,” Fred says happily. 

“That's really good, you guys are better off being happy,” Harry says as Draco drags Harry with them. 

They all walk to class together, but the twins don't see Draco till dinner with Harry. Some part of them are jealous, but at the same time, they're glad to see Draco gaining more friends. 

“Hey Fred, George,” Harry says as they settle on either side of Ron.

“Heya,” They say with a friendly smile. 

Even Draco sends them a rare smile that pulls at their heartstrings. As they looked closer, they noticed a far away look in his eyes once again. Draco easily caught on to their look, if his head shake towards them have anything to go by. Fred mouths “later” to Draco, who nods his head without anyone else noticing their silent conversation. 

“So, how were classes?” George asks, throwing them into the conversation. 

Fred was focused on Ron and what he was saying, that he jumped slightly when he felt fingers wrapping around his middle finger. He glances in the direction of the hand and sees that it's Draco who's doing it. Fred sends him a smile as he properly took a hold of Draco’s hand. No one bats an eye at this because they all know that it keeps Draco grounded and calmed. That's also how the twins know there's something eating Draco up inside. So, Fred just gives him another smile, letting Draco play with his hand as he turns his attention back to Ron. This goes on till they are done eating and till Harry and Draco slips away to a random bathroom. 

“Have you learned anymore about that three-headed dog we saw that night?” Draco asks after they made sure they were alone. 

“Only what Hagrid told us, but there has to be more to it. Are you okay?” Harry asks, noticing Draco's anxious behavior. 

“Yeah, just don't feel like getting in trouble,” Draco says, glancing at the door. 

“We're not doing anything wrong, just talking,” Harry says. 

Draco nods his head, still not looking at Harry which makes Harry worried. 

“What's wrong?” Harry asks. 

“I'll tell you after I tell the twins,” Draco promises, finally looking back at Harry. 

“You better. Now come on before they come looking for you,” Harry says, taking Draco’s wrist and taking him back to the Great Hall. 

Draco just follows along and somehow gets separated from Harry from other students coming out of the Great Hall. He only sighs as he leans against the wall and waits for the twins to find him instead. 

“Hey Draco. Did you and the twins get everything straightened out?” Oliver asks, leaning against the wall. 

“We did, thanks for asking,” Draco says with a small smile. 

“Of course, I just want things to be that way because it's good to see you all close,” Oliver says before leaving with his friends. 

Draco watches him leave as he thinks back to the letter he got. The longer he stands there and thinks about it, the more the area around him merges into something else. He feels anxious, almost like he’s becoming lost from where he’s at without anyone noticing what is going on. Well, beside a duo that came out of the Great Hall talking to Angelina before they noticed Draco standing against the wall looking disoriented.

“Sorry Ang, but we need to leave,” Fred says with a smile.

Angelina nods her head before the two boys rushes over to Draco, stopping right in front him and not immediately touching him.

“Draco, can you hear us?” Fred asks, standing in front of Draco.

Draco doesn’t say anything as he anxiously looks around, making the twins share a look.

“Dray, come back to us. You’re at Hogwarts, you’re not somewhere that will harm you. You’re safe here, you’re safe here with us,” George says.

They keep talking to Draco till the blonde takes a deep breath and finally remembers where he’s currently at.

“That’s it, take deep breaths,” Fred says, having Draco take deep breaths with him.

Once Draco was back to his normal self, the twins asked him a question.

“What happened, Dray?” George asks, squeezing Draco’s shoulder.

“My parents have spies here. I mean, how else would they know that I’m going against their demands and keeping being around yourself,” Draco says, staring at the floor.

But when he glances up, he notices the confused look on the twins face.

“When Harry and I were roaming the halls before lunch, I got a letter from my parents about our friendship and my new appearance,” Draco explains.

“Is that why we haven’t seen you two? We’ve been told about the dog with three heads so no hiding that. But where have you been?” George asks.

“Hiding from the public eye, I was afraid to give my father more fuel to use against me and I didn’t know where you two were and we tried to hunt you down, but couldn’t find you.” Draco says as the three of them start walking to the Gryffindor Tower. 

“We’ve been with friends and then started to look for you. And for tonight, let's sleep in that classroom in case it’s someone in our house that's being a snitch. Plus, it gives us an excuse to just spend the night with you alone,” George says. 

“I'm down for that. But how are we going to make it happen? We all know Filch and Norris would be out. And who knows what your brother and his friends are going to do,” Draco says as an afterthought. 

“Meet us in the common room at midnight and we'll sneak off and don't worry about us getting caught, we know all the secret passageways,” Fred says with a wink. 

“Why am I not surprised you two know the secret passageways,” Draco says, rolling his eyes but voice full of fondness. 

“Cause you're just like us deep down inside, we just haven't brought it out yet,” Fred says, poking Draco’s nose which makes Draco go cross-eyed. 

“But we will by the end of this year, you just wait,” George says as they get stuck on the moving stairs. 

“Whatever,” Draco says as he knows that they will. 

Draco is sitting in a chair in the common room exactly on time. He's already passed Harry and his friends, which did raise questions. But Draco shrugs them off before the three of them go to bed. Now Draco is hoping that the twins didn't fall asleep and are still going to meet up here. He also decided to give them till twelve thirty before going back to his warm bed. So, he sat there and waited for any signs of the twins. But the longer he sat there, the more he dozed off. 

“Boo,” George whispers into Draco's ear as he covers his mouth as well. 

Draco jumps violently before glaring at the twins. Fred and George just smile at him as George removes his hand. 

“We know what we said, but we got another idea. Come on,” Fred says, pulling Draco up. 

Once Draco was up, George grabs his hand and drags him out of the common room. 

Draco remains quiet because the last thing he wants is them getting caught. The twins eventually lead them down secret passageways that have Draco starting to sneeze. George easily picks Draco up and shoves his face into his neck so he doesn't inhale the dust. Draco decides George was comfortable and warm, which he blames for him to doze off. He only wakes again when his back hits something extremely soft. 

“Wha?” Draco asks, starting to sit up. 

“Shh.Lay back down,love. We just laid you down on the bed,” Fred says, getting on Draco's left side on the bed. 

George gets in on the other side and Draco takes the chance to look around and see they're in a luxurious room. 

“Don't worry about what room we're in, we'll tell you later. Just know no one can find us in this room and we can sleep safely and everything,” George says as they both curl around Draco. 

Draco smiles softly as he curls more into their arms,completely content. The twins watched him fall asleep, smiling as the peaceful expression on Draco’s face. 

“You know, it's nice to see him relaxed,” Fred says, covering Draco up some more. 

“Agree, I mean look at him. He looks adorable, all relaxed and content,” George says, noticing the small smile on Draco's face. 

But it slightly fades away when the twins move to lay down comfortably. Once they were situated, Draco subconsciously tightened his grip on Fred's shirt without waking up while his smile returned. The twins wrapped themselves around Draco and watched over him for a couple more minutes. 

“Hey Freddie,I'm going to protect this boy, no matter what the cost will be,” George promises as he moves Draco's hair from his eyes. 

“Then we're on the same page on that, Georgie,” Fred says, a smile plastered on his face. 

George catches his gaze and gives him a smile before setting an alarm with his wand. They do have to get Draco in his bed before they get questioned. But for now, they fall asleep along with Draco before the alarm wakes them up. Which, it was that alarm Draco slept through, so they carried Draco back to his bed and laid him down before going to the common room. Though, they stop dead in their tracks as soon as they run into Percy in the common room. 

“What are you two up to?” Percy asks. 

“Nothing, just going back to bed,” Fred says with a shrug. 

“Why are you two up so early? You're never up this early, especially on a free day,” Percy says.

“We just couldn't sleep,” George says, shrugging his shoulders. 

“So, why were you coming from the first-year dorms?” Percy asks.

“Because I asked them to come up there because I wanted to show them something,” Ron says, coming into the common room, clearly woke up not too long ago.

Percy doesn’t seem to believe them, but that doesn’t stop Ron from backing his two older brothers up.

“It’s the truth, so don’t try to question us,” Ron says, clearly not a morning person and doesn’t want to deal with the argument.

Percy eventually lets it go and leaves, leaving the twins with Ron in the common room. They sit down on the couch and Fred curls up under a blanket as they all just sit there in a comfortable silence. 

“So, where did you take Draco last night? I saw you laying him down in his bed,” Ron says, looking over at his brothers.

“We took him to a special place so he could have a peaceful sleep without being worried about someone watching him. We can’t give too many details because it’s his place to talk about it and not ours,” Fred says.

“All I care about is if you forced him to do something he didn’t want to do or not,” Ron says.

“Don’t worry, he wanted to do it and he seemed to enjoy himself before he fell asleep against me,” George says.

Ron nods his head and the twins see him smile,making them think that he does care about Draco more than anyone else does. That thought does not help their jealousy, but they’re good at keeping it at bay and controlling it. They’re not sure if anyone caught on to their jealousy because no one had said anything to them about it. They’re not complaining though because they don’t want to answer more questions than they need to. 

“You guys seemed to have gotten closer than what we thought you would because you and Harry looked like you hated him at the station that day,” George says, voicing his thoughts without thinking about it.

“It’s because we got to know the real him and he’s not bad at all. Though, I hate his family mostly because they don’t know how to take care of Draco. We all saw what happened at the platform and that look wasn’t directed at Draco, it was directed at his parents that was awful to him,” Ron says after a minute of thinking.

“That did make us mad as well, now we’re just worried about him getting hurt. But that doesn’t mean anything because we’re going to protect him no matter what it does to us,” Fred promises as he looks behind him at the sound of footsteps.

Their jealousy flares when they see Harry and Draco walking, talking, and laughing together as they walk into the common room. Don’t get them wrong, they love seeing them close and friends, but there’s something inside the twins that are wary about it. They just can’t figure out why they like this, but they just know that their protectiveness is coming out like they’re sensing something.

“What's up with you two?” Ron asks, bringing the twins back to reality.

They blink a couple of times as they silently try to think about what they had missed. But that ended when Draco decided to plop on top of them to get them back to with them.

“Earth to you two,” Draco says,moving so he’s sitting between Harry and George.

“We’re here,” Fred says, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

“Sure about that?” Draco asks with a smirk.

“Yes,” George says before tickling Draco, making him fall into Harry while laughing.

They do this for another minute before George finally relents, letting the younger catch his breath.George sits back on his heels and looks down at Draco, who’s now looking content and carefree. This side of Draco is the total opposite of what everyone else sees besides a select few and most of the Gryffindors. This is the side of Draco that everyone easily falls in love with and wants to see it more. Draco eventually catches his breath and smiles up at Draco.

“Feel better now?” Draco asks with a smile as he moves up onto his elbows.

“You meant to do all of this, didn’t you?” George asks with wide eyes.

“I’m not the only one who was clearly going through something, so it was good to see you guys laughing and smiling along with me, right Harry?” Draco asks, tilting his head back to look at Harry.

George looks at Harry and can feel Fred doing the same and all Harry does and smiles as well as he looks up from Draco to the twins.

“He’s right, we’re glad that you two are now smiling more, we all decided that we don’t like being upset or frowning. Stay being happy and not worry about everything because that will just make you sick,” Harry says like he’s speaking from experience.

Thinking back to multiple conversations makes them all believe that he is talking from experience. But they don’t continue the conversation because they hear footsteps coming into the common room with them. They glances back and see Hermione walking up to them with confusion plastered all over his face.’

“What is going on in here? I’m surprised that you all are awake instead of being asleep since it is the weekend and for the fact that we have some more time before breakfast,” Hermione says.

“Nothing, just chilling,” Ron says, taking some of Fred’s blanket and the others sitting on the couch normally.

“Hmm,I’m going to the library. See you later. Harry, Ron wants to join me to study?” Hermione asks.

“Too early for that,” Ron says, watching Harry wrap himself around Draco.

The twins chuckle because they can tell these two aren’t going to remove themselves too far from Draco this morning. Hermione nods her head before leaving, leaving the boys alone once again. They sit in silence for a  couple of minutes, trying to wake up before Harry asks a question.

“Where did you guys take him last night?” Harry asks, looking around Draco.

“A secret room that you all will know about later on. But for now it's a secret and we just wanted to take him somewhere where no one can find us so that he knows he’s not being watched, which is something Draco will tell and not us,” Fred says.

Draco snorts before he does tell the other two because they do deserve to know because it is important to him for his friends to know what happened. It felt good to talk about his problems and let people in for the first time. 

“So, there’s a spy for your father here? Do you have any ideas of who it could be?” Harry asks.

“No, and don’t worry about it because I know you guys got your own adventure going on,” Draco says with a sigh.

“But what about you?” Ron asks.

“Fred, George, and myself are going through this adventure together and maybe we can figure it all out or overlap in some ways,” Draco says,rubbing his eyes.

The conversation ended there due to others waking up and it was time to go to breakfast. So, the five of them leave the common room together and go down to the Great Hall. Harry and Draco are still clinging together and in the front, so they missed the fond smiles they both were getting. Draco is content leaning against Harry and happy that they’re friends while Harry feels the same, there’s still more for him. Harry doesn’t know what it is, but he just knows that he doesn’t want Draco far away from him. But he’ll figure it out eventually, but for now, he just focuses on what’s happening now with Draco and himself.

Chapter Text

Of course it's Halloween when everything takes a turn for everyone. But the thing is, Halloween started off normal for everyone. Besides Ron upsetting Hermione by making fun of her. 

“You hurt her feelings,” Harry says, resting his head on Draco's shoulder.

“I know,” Ron says, throwing his hands up in the air. 

“Maybe you should apologize to her,” Draco says, shrugging his free shoulder. 

“She had it coming,” Ron mumbles. 

“Doesn't matter mate,” Draco says, standing up. 

“Where are you going?” Harry asks with wide eyes as he grips Draco's wrist. 

“Bathroom,” Draco says, freeing his wrist before giving Harry a smile. 

Harry nods his head before letting Draco go. Draco leaves the Great Hall and makes it halfway down the hallway before he gets hit in the back of the head. He stumbles before catching himself and checking his head for blood. He turns around and that's when things get dangerous cause he's faced with a hooded figure. He takes off and runs into Fred and George as the figure catches up to him. 

“Run!” Draco says, pushing the twins. 

They take off before Fred gets hit with a stinging hex. He stumbles and starts defending himself like the other two. It's clear this figure is older and knows more as they were almost outsmarting them. But during all of this, they hear about the troll. Hearing the professors and students, the figure takes off before anyone can see them. 

“Where are you two going?” George asks as Harry and Ron almost run past them. 

“The troll is in the girls bathroom where Hermione is at,” Harry says, taking them with them. 

They all rush to the bathroom and attempt to take down the troll. Draco was too focused on protecting Hermione that he didn't see the troll coming right at him. By the time Draco has realized, he's thrown into a wall. He crumples to the ground, causing the twins to cover him as Ron takes the troll down. Then Snape, McGonagall, Dumbledore, Quirrell all rush into the bathroom. That leads to questions as the twins pick up Draco. 

“You okay, Mr. Malfoy?” McGonagall asks, noticing Draco slowly getting up. 

“Yeah,” Draco says, rubbing the back of his neck. 

Though, he ended up being surprised when Hermione takes the blame for everything. Miraculously they only lost ten house points before they were sent their way back to the dorms. During the walk, Harry notices that Draco keeps touching the back of his head. Without a second thought, he grips Draco’s wrist and stops which makes Draco stop as well.

“Are you okay? You keep checking the back of your head,” Harry says, noticing the four have stopped as well.

“Yeah, I just want to make sure my head ain’t bleeding,” Draco says, knowing he can play it off as banging his head off the wall.

“Here, let me check,” Ron says, taking his wand out.

He casts lumos and starts checking Draco’s head for any blood that they somehow missed. But he doesn't have any blood and he voices his conclusion to the others as he stands in front of Draco.

“Thanks for checking,” Draco says with a small smile.

“No problem,” Ron says, gripping Draco’s wrist and starts dragging him off.

Draco lets it happen because they all have been doing it for awhile and he doesn’t fight it anymore. Once they make it to the common room, Draco and the twins go sit in the window seat like always. Draco remains quiet as he looks out to the starry sky as the twins silently observe him.

“Now that it’s less chaotic, do you have any idea who that figure was? Should we have told someone?” George asks, resting his chin on Draco’s bent knees.

“What would we have said? That I got attacked by an unknown figure that left when the professors and students started coming around? If my parents hear about this, it would just be bad for me,” Draco says, playing with Geroge’s fingers.

“I wish there was more that we can do to ensure that you’re safe in the walls here at Hogwarts,” Fred says, nuzzling Draco’s wavy, almost curly, hair.

Then it dawns on Fred that Draco’s hair is more curly and not like his parents at all, which he didn’t realize he was making a face till George calls him out.

“What is up with your face?” George asks, making Draco tilt his head to see Fred’s expression.

“I’m confused,” Fred says.

“About what?” Draco asks, tilting his head more into Fred’s shoulder.

“How is your hair so wavy without your parents’ being this wavy? Which it’s borderline curly,” Fred says.

“Now that you mention, how is it like that?” George asks, tilting his head as well.

“It’s a Black’s trait,” Draco says with a little smile.

“Come again?” George asks with a chuckle.

“Ever heard of the Black’s family?” Draco asks.

“Yeah,” Fred and George say in unison.

“I’m related to them on my mom’s side and I got more of the Black’s traits then I do the Malfoy’s,” Draco explains.

“Wow. Are you happy that you got more of the Black’s traits than Malfoy’s?” George asks.

“To be honest I am, if anything, everyone says I’m a splitting replica of Regulus, my cousin, besides a few aspects. And when I say everyone, I mean everyone. I have to agree based on the pictures I was able to see. But besides the appearance, I don’t know if our personalities are the same or not,” Draco says, playing with George’s fingers again.

“Does that side know about your homelife?” Fred asks.

“No or I’m sure they would have done something by now. Besides Regulus since he died when he was twenty-four,” Draco says.

“Dang, sorry Draco,” George says sadly.

Draco just shrugs his shoulders as he fights back sleep that the twins have noticed.

“Maybe if I was living with them then maybe I wouldn’t be in as much danger as I am now,” Draco says as he loses the battle to sleep.

It warms the twins that Draco feels safe between them but it kills them that Draco is in fact in danger and there’s not much they can do about it. But for now, they just hold Draco and hope that things would be better for this boy in the long run. 

“You look frustrated,” Neville says as he and Draco walk to the training yard.

“I’m not, just confused about a lot of things these days.” Draco says as he rubs his face.

“Want to talk about it?” Neville asks, wanting to help Draco anyway he can.

“I can’t tell who’s staying as my friend or who’s just too busy to spend time with me and strengthen our friendship,” Draco says.

“Is it the twins again? I thought you three have been going strong,” Neville says.

“What? No, it’s not them. This one is in our year and he comes to me and we connect but then he’s gone and not around as much,” Draco says, not realizing he said the gender.

“Do I know him?” Neville asks, making Draco stop in his tracks.

Draco silence is the answer Neville needs to know that it is someone that he knows.

“So he’s in our year and we both know him, yeah, that doesn't help much,” Neville says with a pout.

“Why do you want to know who he is? Not to sound mean,” Draco says as they start walking again.

“I don’t want you to be upset,” Neville says as they finally make it to the training grounds.

As they are standing there, Harry and Ron both join them as they wait for the others to come up.

“He’s talking about us,” Ron says, knowing this because of the twins.

It took Neville a minute to understand what Ron was talking about but he did figure it out.

“We are your friends and I promise we will do better at showing it. We just don’t want to add more to your plate than what’s already on it,” Harry says, squeezing Draco’s hand.

Harry was relieved when he felt Draco squeeze his hand back because Draco always does this when he lets the other person know he understands or agrees without speaking. Harry doesn’t let go of Draco’s hand as Professor Hooch starts class with what they will be doing in the class. Which wasn’t hard at all for Draco since he loves to fly, but for Harry, he keeps getting distracted by Draco for unknown reasons.

“Shut up,” Harry says when Ron laughs at him after hitting himself in the face with his broom.

“Hey that's what I said when I did it,” Ron teases with a smile.

Harry just pouts as he spots Draco out of the corner of his eye after landing gracefully. He’s not aware that Ron was watching as well till he spoke about Draco without Harry realizing who he was talking about.

“He’s really good,” Ron says.

“Who?” Harry asks, tearing his eyes away from Draco.

“Draco. He’s amazing at flying,” Ron says.

“That’s because he loves it,” Harry says, eyes going back to Draco, who’s walking up to them.

Once Draco joins them, the three of them watch the others since they already did what they needed to do.

“Potter, why is your nose red?” Draco asks.

“His broom got him,” Ron says, earning an elbow to the stomach.

“Shut up,” Harry says.

“Not surprised,” Draco says, eyes going up to the ones on the brooms.

Harry just fondly rolls his eyes as he rests his head on Draco’s shoulder like he has been doing for awhile. This is how they end the class and when they are leaving, Harry holds onto Draco’s wrist the whole way to the Great Hall. Upon entering, they sit down, with Draco between Ron and Harry, and wait for the others. They talk to Hermione, well mostly Ron, Draco was listening and Harry was too busy observing Draco.

“He’s not a ghost or anything,” Fred says as he sits across from Harry with Oliver between him and Geroge.

“I know! I’m just thinking about something,” Harry says with a pout.

“If it’s about my flying, I did that my whole life,” Draco says as he receives a letter.

“Who is it from?” Ron asks, glancing down at the letter.

“My parents,” Draco says as he starts opening the letter.

He pulls it out and reads it to himself while the others busy themselves in something else so that they don’t see anything Draco doesn’t want them to see or know.

Draco,

We know you’re still around those twins and other Weasleys along with that Harry boy. You know how we feel about that and we keep warning you to stay away from them. Why aren’t you listening to us? We’re your parents and deserve more respect than what you’re giving us. You ashamed us by being a Gryffindor, but now hanging around them? This is unacceptable. You’re a disgrace to the Malfoy’s name and if you don’t change who you’re hanging out with or house then you’re not our son anymore.

Narcissa.

“Draco?” George asks. 

Draco looks up and doesn’t realize he has tears in his eyes till Ron wipes them away.

“What did it say?” Fred asks.

“Read it and say it out loud, I can’t,” Draco says, handing George the letter.

George does what Draco says which ends with all of their blood boiling at the end.

“This is rubbish, they’re the worst. Draco, whatever happens, I will protect you,” Harry promises as he grips Draco’s hand.

Like before, Draco squeezes it as he hides his face in Harry’s shoulder so no one can see tears in his eyes. Harry uses his free hand to rub Draco’s back as they all remain quiet, lost in thought on how to help Draco at who’s after him and who’s the spy.

“I got an idea, come with me,” Oliver says, standing up.

None of the other seven others questioned him and left the Great Hall. Once they are far enough, Oliver leads the group down countless hallways till he reaches an empty classroom. He makes sure everyone is inside before he locks it and puts up a silencing spell.

“So, what’s the plan?” Fred asks once Oliver turns around.

“Okay, so we all know his parents are somehow figuring out what he’s doing while here as well as who he’s associating with. And we definitely know that they know who exactly he’s around. So, Fred and George distance yourselves slightly from him so that the three of us can see if we can figure out the spy as the others hang out with him like normal,” Oliver says.

“Will it work?” Ron asks, clinging to Draco’s arm.

“It’s worth a shot,” Oliver says with a shrug.

“Wow, not around the twins? I’m surprised,” Goyle says, coming out of the bathroom.

Draco rolls his eyes as he walks past them, instantly regretting going back to the Gryffindor tower alone. He groans in pain as he gets pushed into the wall by Goyle, who lets out a yell.

“Hey! When I’m talking to you, you listen, little brat,” Goyle says, pinning Draco to the wall.

“I don’t have to do anything I don’t want. You’re not my boss,” Draco says, trying to get past Goyle.

“Brat!” Goyle yells before pushing Draco harshly into the wall.

Draco yelps in pain as he falls to the ground and grips the side of his head as pain shoots through it and his shoulder.

“Weak,” Goyle says before leaving.

Draco resists rolling his eyes due to the pain being bad. 

“Draco,” Harry says, skidding on his knees to land in front of Draco. 

“I'm fine. I made Goyle mad and he pushed me into the wall. Any luck with the spy search?” Draco asks, leaning heavily against Harry.

“No, but for the adventure we got ourselves into. We may have a suspect,” Harry says, wrapping his arms securely around Draco to keep him close to his front.

“Who?” Draco asks, content leaning fully on Harry.

“Snape,” Harry says, making Draco jump away from him.

“What?” Harry asks, tilting his head to the side.

“It’s not him. It can’t be,” Draco says.

Confusion is written all over Harry’s face, but doesn’t get to question Draco because the twins intervene.

“He raised Draco in a sense, so if it’s him then you really need to prove it because it could be someone else,” George says, helping Draco to his feet. 

Though he jumps away when he sees the look on Harry’s face, making Draco smile at him.

“What? I’m just saying,” George says, holding his hand up in surrender.

“He was ours first so you have to share like we have to,” Fred says, knowing that looks too well.

“You two aren’t any better,” Harry mumbles as he wraps himself around Draco.

Draco can only laugh at the three of them because he finds them adorable and hilarious about sharing.

“Don’t laugh at us,” Harry whines as he twirls them around in a circle, which only makes Draco laugh more.

In reality, none of them have a problem with Draco laughing at them because he hasn’t laughed in awhile due to everything he’s getting put through this year. 

“You’re way too adorable.” George says once Harry stopped twirling the two of them.

Draco just sends him a glare that George knows is fake with how much he’s around Draco. George just smirks as he ruffles Draco’s hair. 

“That's the fakest glare I've seen you make, I think we're changing you,” George teases. 

“Oh shut it, you guys ain't doing anything,” Draco says, crossing his arms. 

He's still wrapped up in Harry's arms, so he just looks adorable more than anything. 

“Whatever you say,” Fred teases as he pinches Draco's nose. 

Draco swats his hands away and he crosses his arms with a pout. Harry smiles before twirling them again, making Draco laugh again. They eventually recover and Draco ends up with the twins in their classroom. Draco curls up to George’s chest as Fred runs his hand through his hair. 

“Can we know more about your family?” Fred asks. 

“Which side?” Draco asks, blinking one eye open. 

“The Blacks,” Fred says, moving his hand so Draco can prop more up against George. 

“I don't know too much about them, just what I've learned throughout the years. Um, my cousin is falsely accused of a crime against his best friend. He also has a crush on his other best friend along with my other cousin who's young and she loves to flirt with my cousin's best friend. My cousin's brother was in a secret relationship with his brother’s best friend before he took his life at  twenty-four and I'm a splitting replica of him and my parents hate it,” Draco says. 

“That's a lot of cousins, best friends, and brothers in that statement,” George says, playing with Draco's hair. 

“Well, we know Regulus,” Fred says with a smile. 

“If I tell you two the names, promise me you won't tell anyone else,” Draco says, moving so he's facing the other two. 

“We swear,” The twins say. 

Draco sighs as he gets comfortable while facing the twins. 

“Sirius Black is Regulus’s brother and they're both my cousins. My other cousin, Tonks, wants to be with Remus Lupin, who's been in a relationship with Sirius. And I was going through some stuff before school and I found a lot of letters between Regulus and Harry's dad, which  I was allowed cause there was a note saying I could, just I don't know where it came from. Anyhow, in the notes it proves they were together but I don't know what happened to them cause the letters stopped when they found out my mother was pregnant with me,” Draco explains. 

“Sounds like another mystery there,” George says. 

“It does, what happened between them and why they stopped messaging when they heard about you. It's cleared that there's stuff missing with all of this,” Fred says, nodding his head. 

“Exactly,” George says, nodding his head as well. 

“Can we solve this one first?” Draco whines. 

“Yeah,” Fred says, pulling Draco back to them. 

Draco willingly goes and melts against them like he always does. 

“We promise to keep our mouths shut about all of this. This seems like a lot and not enough answers for anything and it's important to you that we keep quiet and we don't want to put you in an uncomfortable position,” George says, rubbing Draco's back. 

“I want to talk about it, I just want to get more answers but there's too much going on right now that it's too hard to add more mysteries to our plates,” Draco says into George's shoulder. 

“One mystery at a time?” Fred asks as he cuddles up to the other two. 

“Sounds good,” Draco says with a small smile. 

The twins rub Draco's back and let him fall asleep against them. They ended up not leaving the classroom till it was time for dinner. They gently wake Draco up and they go to the Great Hall where worried friends and family are waiting. 

“There you three are! Everyone was worried,” Ron says, making Draco sit beside him. 

“We're fine, why would people be worried?” Fred asks, sitting across from Ron. 

“Because people are talking about seeing a hooded figure the night of the troll incident,” Harry explains, seeing how Fred, George, Draco all look at each other. 

“What is it?” Ron asks, watching it as well. 

“What's wrong?” Hermione asks. 

The three boys have a silent conversation before Fred speaks. 

“That hooded figure went after Draco and we know because Draco ran into us and it started using magic against us which we did to defend ourselves and they ran away when they heard others,” George explains. 

“It also hit me in the back of the head,” Draco adds. 

“What!? You should have gone to Pomfrey after the bathroom since you were thrown into the wall there,” Harry says. 

“I'm fine there wasn't blood or anything,” Draco says, taking his plate from George. 

“If you say so,” George says. 

As Draco continues to talk to the twins, the other three have their own conversation.

“Should we ask him about Snape again? I know he said it’s not him but maybe we can get more out of him about Snape than we can by ourselves,” Hermione says.

“I don’t want to betray his trust by prying about Snape,” Harry says, pushing his food around on his face.

“Can you guys please stop talking about Snape, it’s not him. It can’t be, he actually cares about this school and protecting this stone,” Draco whispers before storming out of the Great Hall.

“Guys, it’s seriously not Snape,” George says, rubbing his face before leaving to bring Draco back.

Harry was surprised that Draco did come back, but he can tell Draco ain’t happy and he doesn’t blame him. Harry feels bad so he scoots closer and wraps himself around Draco’s arm.

“I’m sorry, I know what you said but he’s the only suspect we have right now. If we can find another person to put this on, we would,” Harry says into Draco’s shoulder.

He feels a weak squeeze on his thigh, it makes him relieved that Draco isn’t fully mad anymore. But at the same time, Harry can tell that something is still eating at Draco. He doesn’t want Draco to storm out before he eats, so Harry waits till they eat to ask Draco what is wrong.

“What’s wrong?” Harry asks, rubbing Draco’s wrist.

Draco only shrugs, clearly not wanting to talk about it, which Harry doesn’t know if it’s because they’re surrounded by people or he just doesn’t want to.

“Can we talk about it in the common room once everyone else is in bed?” Harry says quietly enough so only Draco hears him.

It takes Draco a couple minutes to think it over, but he eventually nods his head, making Harry let out a relieved sigh.

“Good,” Harry whispers to no one in particular.

But he smiles when he feels Draco squeezing his knee once again and with a small smile on his face. Knowing that Draco will talk to him now, Harry keeps one hand on Draco as he eats his own food so he doesn’t get an earful about not eating. Harry doesn’t care about the stares or anything because he feels content keeping a hold on Draco. He can’t place why he feels like this but he’s not complaining either. Eventually they finish their food and they almost immediately head to the common room. They find it empty so they sit down in a window seat facing each other with Draco gripping Harry’s hand.

“Can I know what’s going on?” Harry asks as he rubs Draco’s knuckles.

“I can’t figure it out completely but it seems like everything is too much now? Between school, friendships, my parents, my mystery, your adventure, and everything in between. It’s like I can’t keep up with it all and I’m drowning in it. But I can’t prove it since I am excelling in my classes. But I am and I guess I just want a break of some sorts?” Draco says, letting Harry pull him into a hug.

“Everything will be okay. You got a whole group of people that will help you, especially me and the twins, I promise,” Harry says.

Draco doesn’t know why, but he breaks at that statement. It’s like comfort washed over him and he just lets it go. He was thought not to cry, but it feels good to just let everything out. Meanwhile, Harry is glad that Draco is finally letting everything out. He doesn’t care that his shirt is getting wet, he’s content with rubbing Draco’s back and keeping his hand in his hair.

“We’ll figure it all out, I promise,” Harry promises, pulling Draco closer.

Chapter Text

Draco finally decides to admit that he's friends with the twins. He just hasn't told it to the twins themselves yet. He will! He just got around to doing so just yet. But he has admitted it to Neville and some Slytherins that were going on about them and wanted to know why he's so protective over them. 

“So, when are you going to admit to them that you guys are friends?” Neville teases as they make their way from one class to another. 

“Shut it, they were supposed to be the first ones I told but I was too annoyed and it slipped out,” Draco says, pouting at the end. 

“I find it adorable that you care this much about them, honestly. I know how much they adore you and it was obvious you knew you were friends with him with the happy expression you get on your face  they're around,” Neville says, nudging Draco's shoulder with his. 

“I do care about them,  it’s just how I was raised up so I have to keep changing to become my own person. Which is hard in itself, but it’s worth it. Well, probably not because of my parents who're not happy about any of this at all. But there’s nothing I can do but keep taking things day by day,” Draco says with a sigh.

“It got to be hard, isn't it?” Neville asks.

“I didn't mean to trigger any bad memories at all.  I am so sorry,” Draco says with wide eyes as he turns his attention to Neville.

“It’s fine, really. I like learning more about your life,” Neville says, reassuring Draco.

“Well, we’re here,” Draco says, leaning against the wall across the classroom they walked to.

“Pulling a Weasley trick and waiting for them to come out of their class,” Neville teases as he leans against the wall beside Draco.

“What can I say? They’re rubbing off on me,” Draco says with a playful smile.

“Ain’t that a good thing? I mean, maybe they’re helping you find out who you really are without pressuring you and just being themselves which is how you are just as well, it’s just hidden deep inside due to your family’s beliefs,” Neville suggests.

“The thing is, my cousin was a prankster when he was here and he’s a pure-blood as well as from a strict family as well. Again, he was able to escape from his family in  the end though,” Draco says as he notices students coming out of the classroom.

Neville and Draco fall silent as they look for the two ginger heads he’s been infatuated with now for a while. Neville was watching him fondly and saw his face brighten up when the twins finally came into his view. It takes the twins a couple of seconds to notice Draco, but Fred was the first one to see him.

“Git!” Fred says, making his way to Draco with Geroge following along.

“What brings you two here?” George asks as he hangs off of Draco.

“We wanted to walk to the Great Hall together,” Draco says, letting George hang off of him.

“Yeah? Any specific reason why you want to?” Fred asks with a knowing smirk as he takes Draco’s hand and drags him off.

“Your smirk says you know something so what is it?” Draco asks as he makes sure the other two are following them.

Once he sees that they are, Draco relaxes his grip and closes his hand around Fred’s hand.

“A little birdie told us that you said Freddie and I were your friend,” George says with a smirk of his own.

“I was going to tell you two first, but then some Slyterins wouldn’t shut up about you and I just let it slip out before I could stop myself,” Draco says, defending himself.

The twins kept teasing him the whole trip to the Great Hall, but Draco can’t find it in him to tell them to knock it off because he does enjoy it. They stop when they make it into the Great Hall. That’s when they start observing Draco and they think about the known fact between them. They have a crush on Draco, but they know they can’t do anything about it right now for the fact he’s only eleven. But that doesn’t stop them from being there for Draco as his friend, even though they wish it was more than that. But they’ll take what they can get. When they come back to reality, they somehow got on the topic of Draco’s family, mostly his parents. Which this is a normal occurrence to them because Draco won’t talk about his family without someone prompting it. The twins do however notice that Draco doesn’t talk about the Black’s side. They know there’s a reason there, but they’re not going to push Draco into talking about the Blacks without knowing why he never talked about them.

“No offense, I don’t think I could survive being in your house,” Neville says, shaking his head.

“I know I won’t be able to. No offense Draco,” Ron says with a sad smile.

“It’s fine, I think the only reason I have is mainly to Dobby, the house elf,” Draco says, pushing his food around on his plate.

They all can tell Draco is about to the point where he’s done with the conversation, so they watch what they say so that he won’t shut down on them.

“Tell us about Dobby,” Hermione says, turning her attention from her book to Draco.

Draco looks at her for a minute before looking at the others, instantly knowing they want to ask about his family, more specifically his home life.

“I know you guys have questions about my home life so ask away if you want to. I don’t care to answer them, but it’s not all rainbows and whatever,” Draco says, looking between everyone. 

“We don’t want to if it’s going to bring up bad memories or anything because we don’t want to do that to you and just want you comfortable around us without worrying about us asking about your family because we know it’s not good,” Fred says.

Draco sighs as he looks around and really thinks about telling them about his home life. 

“You guys can't tell a soul about this before I do anything,” Draco says, looking around the group. 

“We swear,” They all say in unison. 

Draco nods his head before standing up and motioning the others to follow him silently. They get the hint and follow Draco out of the Great Hall to an empty classroom where Draco puts up a silent charm. 

“I believe my parents want me gone for good. Well, I don't know but I feel like they do. They never treat me with respect, they yell at me, hit me and so much more. They say it's to keep me in line but I don't know, it doesn't feel like that to me,” Draco says. 

Everyone stands there and is shocked and angered with the twins feeling the most anger. 

“That's abuse, Draco,” Harry says, knowing how Draco feels all too well. 

Draco just shrugs because there's nothing no one can do because of how powerful his parents are. 

“Can we tell someone? So that you can get out of this situation?” Neville asks, worried about Draco’s safety. 

“There's nothing we can do, they don't hit me enough to leave bruises or anything and then they just use it as an excuse to discipline me and can get out of any trouble,” Draco says, running his hand through his hair.

“Thats rubbish,” Fred says, crossing his arms across his chest. 

“I know, but please don't tell anyone about it. I don't want any attention on me or set them off that I'm talking about my home life,” Draco says with pleading eyes. 

They all want to disagree, but the look in Draco's eyes. The eyes that scream that he's scared prevents them from doing so. Harry, who was watching Draco with sad eyes, walks up to Draco and takes a hold of his hand. 

“Okay, we won't tell anyone. But if it gets worse at all, you have to let us tell someone. For now though, we can find a way to keep you safe and figure out the rest later because we all got a lot going on right now, but your safety is what we care the most about,” Harry says, squeezing Draco's hand. 

Harry knew Draco wasn't going to talk, so he was waiting for Draco to squeeze his hand. He smiles slightly when he does feel the squeeze, letting him know that the blonde understands and agrees with him. 

“Thank you,” Draco whispers as he looks between everyone. 

“Of course, we don't want to put you in any dangerous situation. So if keeping our mouths shut about it will keep you safe while here, then we'll do it unless it get worse,” Neville says, coming up to give Draco a quick hug. 

Ron does the same and as Draco returns the hug, his eye catches the twins. He can tell they're lost in thought and he wants to bring them out of it. He waits till he is done talking to Hermione before walking up to the twins. He gives Harry a look, who knew what he wanted and led everyone out so he can be alone with the two boys. He put a hand on their arms and gently shook them to get them to listen. 

“Freddie, Georgie, come back to me,” Draco says, using their nicknames to get them back to him. 

They blink a couple of times before their gaze settles in the youngest, who still has his hands on them. 

“What is on your mind?” Draco asks as they leave the classroom as well. 

“We're just thinking that you're not safe here as well and we're just trying to come up with a way to keep you safe,” Fred says with a smile. 

“You two are so protective of someone you barely know,” Draco teases with a smile. 

“We've been with you since the beginning of the school year, I think we know you very well,” George says, throwing an arm around Draco's shoulder. 

“I know you don't want anyone else to know, but what if we briefly explain this to Percy? He's smart and can come up with something to help us and we won’t tell him everything just that a friend is not in a good environment at home and we're coming up with ways to help them,” Fred suggests. 

Draco thinks about it for a few minutes before agreeing so they went and hunted down Percy, who was currently in the library. 

“Percy, we need your help. But we can't talk about it out in public, can we meet up tonight by the lake after curfew so no one eavesdrops?” George asks as the three of them sit around the table Percy is occupying. 

Percy glares at his brothers before losing it when his eyes land on Draco. Draco doesn't know what his face is showing, but Percy sighs before speaking up. 

“Fine, eleven tonight at the lake. This better be an emergency,” Percy says. 

“Trust us, it really is,” George says with wide eyes. 

“Then be there at eleven and don't be late. Now leave and Malfoy, can you please go so I can study?” Percy says. 

“So mean to your brothers,” Fred says before leaving with the other two. 

They go to the courtyard and sit around the fountain and do some homework. Though, Fred and George can't stop glancing at Draco, who is feeling their stares. 

“What?” Draco asks, looking between them. 

“Nothing, just, is your hair getting dark in some places?” Fred asks, playing with Draco's hair. 

“Yea? Is it? I mean, it looks good, just didn't notice it before,” George says, playing with Draco hair as well. 

“A Black's trait, like my mother,” Draco says with a smile as he stares at his work as the twins continue to inspect Draco's hair. 

“I swear your father ain't your biological father,” Fred teases. 

“That would be hilarious and a story of a lifetime,” Draco says, content with the twins playing with his hair. 

They eventually go back to their work before they end up in the common room till they have to go to the lake. 

At ten fifty-five, the twins and Draco are at the lake. All they have to do now is wait for Percy, if he shows up at all. They know he said he would, but they also know he's becoming distant with them. Draco is sitting against a tree as the twins stand around them, protecting him from the unknown. 

“Are you two sure he's going to come?” Draco asks, looking up at the twins as they look in the direction of the castle.

“Yeah. We know that he’s more distant now, but he normally comes through for us because he does care about us,” Fred says, kneeling so Draco can settle between his legs for some warmth.

Draco does exactly that and doesn’t move till they hear footsteps coming right up to them. They all stand and Draco gets pushed a little more towards the lake so that he’s behind the twins. Meanwhile the twins pull out their wands, ready to defend themselves and Draco.

“Relax, it's just me,” Percy says, coming into the light.

The twins sighs of relief and lower their wands as Percy begins to lecture them about being out this late and dragging him into this. While all of this was happening, Draco was behind them watching. But he lets out a blood curling scream when he feels fire miss him by inches. That got the three brothers to turn their attention to them and widen their eyes when they see the figure behind the fire. George doesn’t hesitate rushing to Draco and picking him off as the other two start sending defending spells. 

“Let’s go!” George yells before they take off.

George kept Draco pressed to his front as the other two kept sending off spells to get rid of the figure that’s now chasing them. They don’t know where they’re running to, but they just want to get somewhere safe. 

“The hut! It’s right up here!” Percy says, spotting Hagrid’s hut.

They rush to the hut while trying not to get hit as well as protect Draco from the figure as he is the target. Though they stop dead in their tracks as the figure gets in front of them, making them have a stare off with it. Just like on Halloween, the figure is covered and there’s no clue as to what it is.

“What is this thing?" Percy asks, his wand raised to cast a spell.

“We don’t know,” Fred says, making sure Draco and George are behind them.

The figure looks at them and, the only thing they can see is its mouth, smiles at Draco before jumping into the sky.

“Go!” Fred says, pushing George in front of them. 

George takes off with the others rushing behind him as they keep defending themselves till they tumble into the hut where Hagrid is at with the golden trio. George keeps Draco hidden as Percy and Fred closes the door and leans against it. The four of them finally look up and see four other confused and worried faces looking back at them.

“Hey kiddos,” Hagrid says, curiously looking at them.

“What happened?” Harry asks, helping Draco off of the ground.

George was going to answer, but they heard footsteps approaching them.

“You three need to hide,” Draco says, looking at the twins and Percy.

“What about you?” Fred asks with worried eyes.

“I’m the reason why we’re in this mess,” Draco says.

“You guys go, I’ll stay and take the blame,” Harry says, standing beside Draco.

The twins wanted to argue back, but their brothers and Hermione were ushering them out the back with Hagrid just as McGonagall walks inside. They knew they were in trouble, so Draco doesn’t lie, mostly, about why they’re out there. Harry stands there in shock because he wasn’t expecting Draco to take the full blame. He was about to speak up, but McGonagall spoke up before him.

“Dentention with Hagrid the both of you-,” McGonagall says before Ron and Hermione rushes inside.

“We’re here as well,” Ron says, wrapping himself around Draco.

McGonagall sighs before giving them all detention and takes points away before leading them inside the castle and to the stairs.

“Mr. Malfoy, please stay back for a minute,” McGonagall says before Draco enters the portrait hole.

Ron and Hermione go inside, but she notices Harry hasn’t left Draco's side nor let go of his hand. She smiles slightly before she starts talking about something that has been on her mind since she heard about the figure.

“Is everything okay at home?” McGonagall asks, sincerity in her eyes.

That’s when Draco lies fully about his home life, tightening his grip on Harry's hand in the process.

“If anything happens at home and you’re afraid, just know you can talk to me or if this figure comes after you again. And be sure we’re going to look into this figure because Hogwarts is a safe place and should stay that way,” McGonagall says.

“I will, Professor,” Draco says with a slight smile.

She nods her head and lets them go through the hole to where the others are anxiously waiting. Draco explains what McGonagall had to say as Fred does the same about why they were outside  and they decide to call it a night and go to bed. Harry and Ron don't wait to climb in with Draco, worried about everything that had gone down that night. They’re exhausted but extremely worried about Draco’s safety, so they make a silent promise to do anything they can to keep Draco safe.

Chapter Text

Draco had to admit that he didn't expect anything to change since that night by the lake two weeks ago. Sure they did their detention in the Forbidden forest, but Harry has been glued to Draco's side since that night. He didn't even go with Hagrid the night of their detention, he didn't want to leave Draco's side. Which leads to now, two weeks later and Harry is still glued to Draco's side. Draco even got dragged into Harry's mystery because the boy didn't want to leave Draco. 

Draco just lets it happen because he figured out that he likes Harry's attention on him like he does with Fred and George. In fact if Draco isn't seen with Harry, he's seen with the twins and Neville a few times. Draco ain't going to complain though because it makes Draco feel safe and secure. He knows he's not safe till that figure is caught, but he feels safe when he's with someone. 

Hermione and Ron don't mind Draco being dragged into their mystery because they're his friend. They also love his smarts and tend to do homework together when not looking into one of their mysteries. Even though Draco does love the attention, it’s starting to drain him to go from friend-to-friend, do homework, keep up in class, look over his shoulder, and anything else. He tries to hide it from everyone, but it’s clear that they are starting to take notice of it if checking in more and more have anything to go by.

Draco tries to shake their worries off, but they’re not buying it anymore. Even Wood has taken notice as well and takes him away from everything so he can take a nap in between classes and down time. No one blames him because they all know they get jealous with each other because they haven’t learned how to share yet. Meanwhile, Draco doesn’t fight it and just lets it happen because he’s too drained to fight back. He’s grateful for the extra sleep, but it doesn’t help him feel safe when he’s not with his friends. 

He doesn’t even have the energy to stand up for himself against the Slytherins when they corner him in the halls. Luckily he’s always with one of his friends and they fight his battle for him. But as this happens, they know that they need to get a better grip on things so that they can keep Draco safe instead of wearing him thin. So, late at night as Draco sleeps soundly in bed, Harry, the twins, Ron, Hermione, and Neville are in the common room.

“Can we all admit that we need to get a better grip on things for Draco? I know we’re not fighting for him, but I can tell that he’s exhausted with all of this going on on top of what’s going on in his personal life,” Neville says, breaking the silence.

“We do, we need to keep him secure and relaxed, but with us pulling him every other way like this, we’re not doing a good way at it,” Harry says.

“You’re both right. I don’t know what got into us here lately, but we need to get better for Draco’s sake at least,” Fred says.

“I might know what is happening,” Hermione speaks quietly.

“Go ahead and tell us,” George says with wide eyes.

“You two have been extremely close to him since day one, so you get jealous when you’re afraid someone is going to take your spots whereas the rest of are jealous that we don’t spend enough with Draco whereas Harry is protective over him and get jealous when he feels like someone is trying to take his spot as his protector. And in the middle of all of this, Draco is trying to find time for all of us to see all of us along with everything else and it’s starting to drain him,” Hermione points out.

“So, what can we do?” Ron asks with hopeful eyes.

Hermione smiles brightly before she starts talking about what they can do and they all agree. So, the next morning they do so and Harry does inform Draco because the poor boy looked too confused. Draco nods his head and just lets it happen which is a good thing because he starts feeling more at ease. He of course didn’t point it out because everyone else can just look at his face and tell. They do let Harry stay close to Draco because they can see Harry is a big part of Draco being secure and safe. They know he’s still afraid and no one can figure out about the figure and they don’t know what to do about that. Along with the Golden trio trying to get information about Nicolas Flamel with Draco’s help.

“We’re not putting too much on you, are we?” Harry asks as he rubs Draco’s knee under the table.

Draco looks up from the book he was reading and shake his head “no” before he starts speaking.

“I’m having fun doing this stuff with you guys to be honest. It also gets my mind off of other stuff right now anyways,” Draco says with a smile as he squeezes Harry’s wrist under the table.

Harry smiles and his smile gets bigger when he watches Draco’s eyes brighten up when the twins come into the library and join them at the table.

“Learned anymore about Nicolas?” George asks, wrapping an arm around Draco’s shoulder.

“No,” Draco says, leaning into George’s warm embrace.

“You all are smart so I’m sure that you guys will figure out more information about him,” Fred says, sitting beside Ron and looking at the book.

“I hope so because we want to wrap this up so that we can turn our attention solely on Draco’s mystery and figure out what or who’s after him,” Ron says, rubbing his face.

Just as Draco was going to respond, Draco’s owl makes it’s presence known and gave Draco a letter.

“Of course,” Draco says, taking the letter and pets his owl’s head.

“Your parents again?” Ron asks, disgust in his voice.

Draco just nods his head as he opens his letter and starts reading it to see what he has done wrong this time.

Draco,

Detention really? You’re just a disgrace to the family and extremely close to getting disowned. We don’t want a son like you so better yet, you are disowned from this point on. You made out lives living hell and it’s time to return the favor. Have fun trying to find parents who would want to take care of you because we don’t and we’re beyond done with you. Do not mail us back or anything because you’re dead to us and no longer a Malfoy

Lucius and Narcissa

“What the hell?” George says after Draco let him read it.

Draco takes the letter back and runs off McGonagall’s classroom without even thinking about it.

“Mr. Malfoy, what can I do with you?” McGonagall asks, looking up from her work.

Draco catches his breath as he hands the professor the letter and lets her read it. She reads it and her heart breaks at what is said as she looks up at Draco.

“Do you think Remus would still take me in? Or adopt me still? I know we talked about it that one day, but do you think he still will? There’s no one else I have,” Draco says with tearful eyes.

“I will ask him. But I know that he will because he does care about you and trust me that he has wanted to for a long time along with a few others,” McGonagall says with a smile.

“Thank you, but I do need to get back to my friends because I rushed off without telling them and I don’t want them to freak out,” Draco says, gripping the letter tightly.

“Okay, I’ll let you know when I get word on what Remus has to say. Take care in the meantime and if you need anything come to me because I’ll play as your guardian for now. Just don’t let too many people know right now,” McGonagall says with a warm smile.

“I will. Thank you, professor,” Draco says just as people rush into the classroom.

“Draco!” Harry says, throwing himself onto Draco.

Draco catches him and hugs him as the others join into the hug.

“Is everything okay? You rushed off very quickly,” Ron says.

“Yeah, I just needed to ask McGonagall about an option of a parent who said they wanted to adopt me earlier,” Draco says with a small smile.

“That’s good. If that falls apart, you can be a part of ours,” Fred says, hopeful this person would agree.

He wants Draco happy and he’ll take anything that will make him happy. The group leaves together, talking about anything they can think of as they make their way to the courtyard. But they stop in their tracks when they see Lucius talking to Dumbledore. They share a look and decide to just walk past them and get to where they wanted. But Lucius grabs Draco’s arm and pulls him between Dumbledore and himself. The others watch Draco wince in pain as Dumbledore just smiles at the interaction between the two of them. That gets their blood boiling, but they keep their mouths shut for now because they don’t want to get Draco in trouble.

They ended up standing there, watching Dumbledore allow Lucius trash Draco anyway he wanted. Harry snaps and pushes Lucius off of Draco when the men hit Draco in the face with his cane. Draco grips Harry’s wrist and they all leave, wanting to get away from the two adults. They go to the hospital room to make sure Draco doesn't get any damage from the cane. Pomfrey was angry when she heard about what had happened and ended up getting McGonagall involved in all of this as well.

“We need to tell Dumbledore about this,” McGonagall says, eyes locked on the bruise on Draco’s jaw.

“He was there and watched the whole thing and didn’t care about it at all. In fact, he was smiling about it the whole time,” Ron says, fists clenched tightly.

McGonagall shakes her head before taking a seat beside Draco, who’s finding Harry’s hand interesting.

“Dear, I owled  that person and I should get a response back by the end of this week so hang in there, okay?” McGonagall asks, pushing Draco’s curly hair.

Draco looks at her and nodded his head with a small smile on his face as McGonagall look at him with a fond smile.

“What?” Draco asks, messing with his hair.

“Nothing, just you look identical to someone I used to know back when they was in school. Everyone misses them because he wasn’t a bad person, just raised up wrong like you,” McGonagall says.

“I’ve been told I looked identical to my cousin who died when he was young,” Draco says with a sad smile.

He watches McGonagall’s eyes widen before she smiles at him and ruffles his hair.

“You actually look like a mix of a pair of brothers that are polar opposites of each other but cared and loved each other dearly. One was a prankster and the other was the quiet one. But I’m off to teach class and you all should get to the Great Hall to get food,” McGonagall says standing up.

The others nodded their heads and followed her out beside the twins and Draco.

“You three coming?” Harry asks, curiously.

“We’ll be there in a couple, you guys go ahead,” Fred says, watching the others nod their heads before leaving.

The twins waited till they left before they started talking about who McGonagall was talking about.

“My cousins, Regulus and Sirius, is who I believe she was talking about because that is how I was told they acted like,” Draco says, standing up.

“Can we know who she owled?” George asks curiously.

“Remus Lupin, Sirius’ and Jame’s best friend,” Draco says with a sad smile.

George and Fred give Draco a hug before they go to the Great Hall with the others and enjoy dinner with everyone. 

Chapter Text

Draco and the twins were roaming the halls, aimlessly talking when McGonagall stops them. 

“Mr. Malfoy! I've been looking for you,* McGonagall says, making them all stop talking. 

“Did I do something?” Draco asks, worried in his eyes. 

McGonagall sees the twins, running their hands through Draco's curly and darker hair. 

“Merlin no! I just wanted to let you know that you're officially being adopted. I don't know if you want me to talk about it in front of your friends or not,” McGonagall says, looking between the twins. 

“It's okay, they know everything already,” Draco says with a kind smile. 

“Okay, Mr. Lupin has officially started your adoption and your parents seem excited about the adoption, And don’t worry, all of this is happening with watchful eyes and with a very trusted person, so don’t worry about manipulation at all,” McGonagall says.

“Thank you, ma’am.” Draco says with a smile.

“Not a problem. And on a different topic, you really look like someone I knew,” McGonagall says, looking like she’s about to walk off.

“Can I know who? I know about Sirius, James, Peter, Regulus, Remus,” Draco says before McGonagall could walk off.

He watched her smile before she decided to let Draco know who she’s talking about.

“Both brothers, Sirius and Regulus, that’s who you’re looking like. And with your two friends behind you, you remind me of their friend group that was called Marauaders,” McGonagall says.

“Then maybe we can be Marauder 2,o,” Draco says playfully.

“I think that they would like that a lot, now off to class, all of you,” McGonagall says, rushing them off so they can get to class.

Draco just smiles the whole time and when he walks into charms, Neville gives him a look.

“What took you so long?” Neville asks, tilting his head to the side.

“Nothing, just I finally can get away from my parents and I heard something sweet and it’s just making me happy today,” Draco says, shrugging his shoulders.

“That’s amazing. Really, I know how your parents made you feel about everything.” Neville says, squeezing Draco’s forearm.

“It is. Maybe then I can live a better life, but I don’t know about happiness because I’ve learned that me and happiness don’t get along,” Draco says with a sad smile.

“Well, maybe with this adoption, maybe that’ll change everything,” Neville says with hopeful eyes.

“I hope you’re right,” Draco says, nodding his head.

“I’m sure I am,” Neville says as Flitwick starts the class.

Draco pays attention, but he also thinks about when the twins are going to ask him about his cousins. But for the most part, he pays attention to class so he doesn’t fall behind. It’s when class is over that the twins grab him and drag him to their classroom. Draco gets settled against Fred’s chest and lets them play with his hair and whatever else they wanted to do all while he waits for the question that he knows they have.

“Okay, tell us about Sirius and his life,” George says, not waiting any longer.

“And tell us everything that you know,” Fred says excitedly. 

“Okay, this is all I know. Sirius is two years older than Regulus and he and his friends were so protective over him at school. Um, you know about Remus and who likes him along with how I'm connected to them. McGonagall was right about Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter being friends here and known as the Marauders and that Sirius was a prankster whereas Regulus was quiet. You know why Sirius is in Azkaban, but I feel like he's falsely accused. And Remus and Sirius were in a relationship and you know what I said about James and Regulus,” Draco says, trying to see if he's missing anything. 

“Dang, that's a lot of information,” George says, rubbing his forehead. 

“You asked,” Draco says, flicking George’s forehead. 

“Yeah yeah,” George says with a smile. 

“So you think Sirius is falsely accused?” Fred asks, tilting his head to the side. 

“I do, I mean, knowing what I know about him and what had happened, it doesn't seem like something Sirius would do.. I think he was set up because he's an easy target to go after,” Draco says. 

“If that is the case, then do you want to prove him innocent? Wait, ain't he already out? But house arrest because of something with the ministry?” George asks. 

“For the time being he's free, but if they find evidence, the right kind, he can go back to Azkaban. But I feel like someone would plant something just to get him back there,” Draco says, playing with his robes. 

“Why would someone do that?” Fred asks. 

“Because they wouldn't want to go down for the crime they admitted. I'm a firm believer that he's innocent, why would he go after his best friend for someone he despised? Especially with them saving Regulus from that person, who is You-Know-Who,” Draco says, leaning more into Fred's embrace. 

“Whoever did this is awful. I know they found his dead body, but what if he and Regulus really ain't dead and someone got them?” George asks. 

“I'll be overjoyed to know they're alive, but I can imagine the trauma they would have. But if whoever is behind them, I want to figure it out because I need Sirius in my life along with being with Remus, I know they love each other,” Draco says, pulling his knees to his chest. 

“Let's say that we prove him innocent and continue his relationship with this Remus person, how would you feel about it? I mean, this guy is now your parent and Sirius is your cousin, how would you feel about it?” Fred asks, wanting to make sure what Draco really wants. 

“I want that. I want them both as my parents, I like them both even though I've never met them. But from what I know and read, they're nice and funny and I want to be raised by them. Everyone should be happy and I feel like this will make everyone happy. It would make me happy even though it never lasts with me,” Draco says, tears running down his cheeks. 

The twins immediately wipes away the tears and wraps him up in their arms and lets him let it all out. They wait till he's fully calmed down before they continue their conversation. 

“Why don't you talk about the Blacks when we ask you about your family?” George asks curiously. 

“I don't want to bring up anything that would bring down Sirius. I also don't want him to get blamed for anything else and that side of the family does have an abusive past as well,” Draco says, playing with Fred's fingers. 

He jumps slightly when he feels lips pressed against his head. He hides his smile into Fred's chest and listens to what the twins have to say. 

“That makes sense and it's good to see you having boundaries about who you will talk about or not. I know we ask about your family, but don't have to tell us anything you don't want to,” George says, leaning in and kissing his cheek. 

They see and feel Draco's smile despite hiding his face still. 

“You're too cute,” George says, ruffling Draco’s hair. 

“Shut up,” Draco says, sitting back up once again. 

They sit there in silence, all lost in their own thoughts about everything they had just talked about. They do know they need to get to class, so they slowly get up and walk out of the classroom. They make it to the steps when George stops Draco from going up. 

“If you want to prove Sirius innocent then we'll help. We know you have a lot going on, but we can tell this is important to you so we'll help you prove him innocent. We'll start researching what we know and go from there while you just focus on what you can,” George says, no joking expression anywhere on his face. 

“You're serious?” Draco asks quietly. 

“We're are,” Fred says before he gets an armful of Draco. 

“You have no idea how much that means to me,” Draco says into their shoulders. 

“We want you happy Draco and we know that this will make you happy so we will do anything we can to prove that Sirius is in fact innocent. Hey, maybe we can find him and somehow sneak him here so you can see him or find a way to owl him. Either way, we're going to do what we can do,” Fred promises as he runs his hand through Draco's hair. 

Draco smiles slightly at them and walks to class with them. They don't talk about it anymore because the twins know that Draco doesn't want anyone else knowing right now. Draco can't believe they actually are giving to help him with this since they don't know Sirius. But it's that all because he knows that's how they show he cared about him. It scares him that they care this much about him, but he's not complaining because he never had anyone care about him like this. 

“Well, here we are,” George says, bringing Draco back to reality. 

He blinks a couple of times and sees they're standing outside their class with Ron standing in front of them. 

“You're good?” Ron asks, taking in Draco's wide eyes. 

“Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking about something,” Draco says, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“It's all good,” Ron says, ruffling Draco's hair. 

“We'll see you two later,” Fred says, patting Draco's back. 

“Okay, bye,” Draco says with a smile. 

“Bye,” Ron says as well. 

The twins give them a smile as they watch the two first-years go into the classroom before going to theirs. 

There was time before curfew so Draco decided to come to the courtyard to escape reality. He knows he has put more pressure on himself, but he knows it’ll be worth it in the end. For now, he just wants to escape reality and take a moment of peace, which didn’t last too long. He just made it to the fountain when the figure appeared once again, standing in front of Draco with a sinister smirk.

“Who are you!?” Draco yells, wand in hand and ready to defend himself.

He doesn’t get a chance when he’s hit with crucio, making him immediately fall to the ground and letting out blood-curling screams. 

“You’re a disgrace to the purebloods, this is your punishment for betraying your family. Oh wait, they’re not your family anymore,” The figure says, watching Draco scream bloody murder. 

But the spell is stopped when a big black dog jumps over Draco and lunges itself at the figure. The figure takes off, clearly afraid of the dog, leaving Draco crying out in pain his body is still having. The dog didn’t leave Draco, instead it went up to him and tried to bring him comfort. A tiny part of Draco feels comfort from the dog, but the pain is overpowering everything else. 

“I-it’s okay, Puppy,” Draco stutters out to calm down the dog.

But it seems like the dog knows better as it licks at Draco’s face to bring him comfort. Draco curls more into himself and lets the dog comfort him, not knowing how to get any other help at the moment. Draco whines when the dog takes off when a familiar voice hollars towards Draco, like it knew Draco would be in good hands.

“Draco!” Ron yells as he rushes to Draco.

Ron skids to his knees as soon as he reaches Draco and starts checking him over.

“What happened?” Ron asks, moving Draco’s hair out of his face.

“The figure came and crucio on me,” Draco says, still in a lot of pain.

“I believe you, but are you sure?” Ron asks, wanting to double check.

Draco nods his head before telling Ron that the figure knows him since he knows that he’s disowned.

“How much danger are you in?” Ron asks as he sees Snape, McGonagall, Dumbledore, and Quirell all coming to them.

Ron doesn’t trust Dumbledore or Snape, so he scoots closer to the boy crying in pain.

“What happened?” McGonagall asks, immediately getting on her knees to comfort Draco.

“Someone used crucio on him,” Ron says.

“Mr. Weasley, if you didn’t know, that’s an unforgivable spell,” Snape says, seeing Ron’s confused look.

Ron’s face pales, knowing unforgivables are dangerous which makes him more worried.

“They knew him, they know who Draco is,” Ron says as Snape carefully picks up the boy.

All of them share a concerned look before rushing Draco to the infirmary along with Ron. They get to the infirmary and lay him down before McGonagall takes Ron to the portrait. He goes inside and everyone can immediately tell something has happened and that Draco is not with him.

“Where’s Draco? You were supposed to get him,” Harry asks, sitting more up in the chair.

“He’s in the infirmary. That figure came back and used an unforgivable spell, crucio on him and this figure knows him because Draco said it was talking about him being disowned,” Ron says, sitting beside Fred.

“What!?” George with wide eyes.

“Is he okay?” Fred asks with wide eyes as well.

“I don’t know, Snape laid him down on the bed then McGonagall took me here,” Ron says, pulling his knees to his chest.

They fell silent and none of them said a word nor did they get any sleep because they were too worried about Draco. But an hour later, Draco comes through the portrait and is immediately wrapped up in everyone’s arms. Draco lets them all hug him before he forces everyone to go to bed or they’ll regret it in the morning. Harry and Ron sleep with Draco, wanting to make sure that he’s okay while he sleeps. They don’t remember falling asleep, but almost panics when they wake up and Draco is nowhere in sight. But relaxes when they see him dressed and coming back to the bed and give the other two a smile.

“I’m going to be fine, just sore for a few days. It’s not my first time being hit with crucio,” Draco says, sitting on the bed as the other two get up.

“And we can’t tell no one?” Ron asks sadly.

“No,” Draco says with a sigh.

Ron nods his head and leaves to get dressed with Harry before the three of them meet up with the twins and Hermione in the common room.

All of them are glad it’s Saturday and don’t have any classes because none of them have the energy. So, they go to the Great Hall and have a quiet breakfast before Harry and Draco end up at the fountain in the courtyard. They sit on the edge and Draco rests his head on Harry’s shoulder.

“There was a dog here last night. He protected me from the figure and it seemed like it was comforting me before it ran off when Ron came,” Draco says, gripping Harry’s hand.

“Maybe it was. I believe almost everyone will want to protect you,” Harry says, leaving a kiss on Draco’s head.

“Whatever you say, Harry,” Draco says with a smile covering his face.

Harry smiles as well as they fall back into a comfortable silence between the two of them. 

“Maybe you shouldn’t be alone till we figure all of this out,” Harry suggests.

“I guess you’re right about that,” Draco agrees because he knows that he’s nowhere safe without someone at his side.

They fall silent when the twins come up to them and ask if they can burrow Draco for a little. Harry nods his head and Draco goes with the twins to their classroom.

“What’s up?” Draco asks, tilting his head to the side.

“From what we could gather, Sirius and them were extremely close and wherever one was the other one was close by. Sirius was also an animagus, we only know that because of our parents,” Fred says.

Draco’s eyes widen because he starts thinking about the dog that he saw last night.

“Did anyone say what kind of animal he was?” Draco asks.

“No, no one but his inner circle knows, why?” George asks.

“Because of the dogs that saved me and were comforting me before running off when Ron came,” Draco explains.

“Do you think it was Sirius?” George asks.

“I don’t know,” Draco says, looking defeated.

The twins share a look before pulling Draco into their arms and leaning against the wall. Draco goes along and doesn’t fight being moved or about being in their arms, his body is still exhausted from everything. He feels better being in their arms and not having to worry about anything else that’s happening.

“Everything will work out in the end, you just have to have hope, that’s all,” George says, playing with Draco’s hair.

“I do have hope, it’s just some days are hard to have hope with everything else happening around me,” Draco says with a shrug.

“We get that, we really do,” Fred says, tightening his arms around Draco.

Draco nods his head before he closes them, sleep taking over him but he doesn’t mind because of who has him in their arms. The twins remain quiet, keeping Draco comfortable as he sleeps in their arms. But it doesn’t help them not feeling because Draco is young and doesn’t need to be going through everything that he is. They’re also at a loss because they don’t know how to help Draco with anything, especially with them not figuring out any information about this figure.

“Georgie, what can we do?” Fred asks.

“I don’t know. I just keep doing what we can do and maybe we can get Sirius completely free and he can help protect Draco? And that Draco will have more support and maybe we can eventually figure out this figure,” George says.

“Maybe. How can he manage all of this, plus what he’s doing with our brother and school. I’m exhausted just thinking about it,” Fred says, rubbing his head.

“It’s because Draco is strong and not afraid to do anything,” George says.

“That’s the scary part,” Fred says.

“It really is,” George says.

Chapter Text

“You're leaving? What do you mean you're leaving? Why are you leaving? You can't leave, I need you!” Harry says, wrapping himself around Draco. 

“You've been ignoring him, once again,” Fred says, pulling Draco free. 

“I know! And I'm trying to get better, okay?” Harry says, pulling Draco back to him. 

Draco hits his face off of Harry's shoulder, but he also lets it happen. 

“I'm only going to be gone for the weekend. I need to get my stuff settled in my room, I'll be back by dinner Sunday,” Draco says into Harry's shoulder. 

He feels Harry sigh more than he heard it. He also feels Harry's arms tightening around him, not wanting to let him go. 

“Harry, you have to let him go. He needs to get his room set up, see the house, and get to know his parent better,” Fred says, knowing Draco already knew Remus very well. 

“It'll be weird without him, I don't want him to go,” Harry says, never letting Draco go. 

“Mate, none of us want him to go. But he does need to do this and he's not leaving now, he's leaving in the morning,” Ron attempts. 

Harry grumbles but lets go of Draco, but not without a pout. Draco just smiles and ruffles Harry's hair, who smiles under his actions. 

“Harry, I promise I'll be back Sunday. I need to do this and besides, you'll be busy doing your own thing and won't miss me that much then before you know it, I'll be back and things will be the same as before,” Draco says with a shrug. 

“That doesn't make me feel any better,” Harry says through a pout. 

“But it's the truth, we're not being good friends to him,” Ron points out as he stands beside Draco. 

“Dang, Ron. Make me feel worse, mate,” Harry says, glancing over at Ron. 

“It's true though,” Ron says, casually shrugging. 

“You don't have to point out the obvious,” Harry says, still pouring with his arms across his chest. 

“I know, but we do need to get better at being Draco's friend instead of pushing him away because we're to focus on our mystery and then dragging Draco back to be his friend and get his help then ditch him again,” Ron says. 

“So you guys knew what you were doing!” George concludes with wide eyes.

While all of this was going on, Draco sneaked off to the courtyard. He knows it's stupid with it being dark out, but oh well. He ends up at the lake and sits down, only to get a lapful of dog. 

“Puppy! You're still here. I never got to thank you for saving me the other day. And I'm leaving tomorrow morning to go to my new home! Remus Lupin adopted me, I know who he is very well thanks to me being a nosy kid and figuring it out on my own. I'm going to miss you though. Why are you giving me a look like you understand me?” Draco asks, tilting his head to the side. 

The dog just licks Draco’s cheek before settling his head down on the boy's lap. Draco smiles as he continues running his hand through the dog's soft fur. 

“I'm going to miss you though,” Draco says with a pout. 

The dog barks in agreement and licks at Draco's hand before laying his head down again. Draco just smiles as he pets the dog and lets time pass by till Ron finds him twenty minutes later. But once Ron got to him, the dog took off once again. 

“We were wondering if we needed a professor to look for you,” Ron teases as he sits down beside Draco. 

“Sorry, it was getting intense, that's why I left. Then I came here and just looked at the lake,” Draco says, motioning to the lake. 

“It is beautiful in a way,” Ron agrees with a smirk. 

“Fine, I was also with a dog that saved me that one day,” Draco admits. 

“Now that makes more sense. But why does it keep running off before someone comes close enough?” Ron wonders. 

“I have no idea,” Draco says, looking in the direction the dog took off in. 

They remain quiet for a few minutes before getting up and heading back to the castle. 

“Sorry about earlier, we didn't mean to get intense,” Ron says, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“It's fine. It's nice to see you guys owning up to your actions,” Draco says, shoving Ron playfully. 

Ron smiles fondly before pushing Draco back playfully as well. They keep doing this all the way up to the common room where everyone surprisingly is already at.

Draco was sitting in a chair as the twins stood behind it with McGonagall standing beside the desk. They're all in the headmaster’s office waiting for Remus. Draco doesn't know where Dumbledore is and he doesn't care, he's just excited to see Remus again. Which ends with him thinking about Sirius and that McGonagall knows him. 

“Professor, can you tell us anything about Sirius? We know he went here and was in a group. But what else do you know about him?” Draco asks, making everyone flinch in shock. 

“What do you want to know?” McGonagall asks. 

“Anything,” Draco says with a shrug. 

McGonagall sends him a smile before talking about Sirius and how he was a caring and protective person, especially over his baby brother. The three of them really listen and it helps prove that Sirius is innocent and didn't do anything illegal. Draco was also excited to learn more about his cousin and it made him want to meet him more. Which he guesses he can now because he's no longer a Malfoy. 

“He sounds like a really sweet person despite his childhood,” Draco says with a small smile. 

“He is. You really remind me of him and Regulus in multiple ways. But what really stands out is that you all are sweet and caring despite your childhood,” McGonagall says with a fond smile. 

“Maybe it's a Black trait,” Draco teases. 

“I completely back that up,” McGonagall says with a laugh. 

“With Sirius’ friend James, I swear he and Regulus were a couple. Everyone thought they hated each other, but as time passed by they got close and to me it seemed like they were together. But then Regulus disappeared,’ McGonagall says sadly. 

“Wait, I thought Regulus died,” Draco says. 

“That's what people say, but no one found a body. All everyone knows is that he was planning to leave with Sirius and then disappeared,” McGonagall says. 

“How old was he?” George asks. 

“Sixteen,” McGonagall says. 

“Then where did twenty-four come from?” Fred asks. 

“The Malfoys,” McGonagall says. 

“Of course,” Draco says, rolling his eyes. 

“So, he could still be alive?” Fred asks. 

“I believe so and I won't change my mind till they find a body,” McGonagall says, using her wand to check the time. 

The three boys share a look during that time before McGonagall gains attention. 

“Mr. Weasleys, it's time for you guys to get to class,” McGonagall says, putting her wand away. 

“Boo,” The twins say with a pout. 

McGonagall just sends them a look that has Draco chuckling. The twins pout for a few seconds before hugging Draco goodbye and leave. Once Draco was alone with McGonagall, he didn't know what to do. 

“Why were you asking about Sirius?” McGonagall asks. 

“He's my cousin and I don't know much about him and I would like to,” Draco says, looking up at McGonagall.

“Narcissa never talked about him?” McGonagall asks. 

“You know how the Malfoys are. Besides, they barely talked to me unless it was punishment or appearances,” Draco says, watching the floo light up. 

Remus steps into the office and both adults watch Draco’s face brighten up with a bright smile that got them smiling. 

“Sorry I was late, I was having trouble with a few things at the house. Nothing bad though,” Remus says with a shrug. 

“That's okay, someone is asking about the Blacks, especially Sirius and Regulus,” McGonagall says with a teasing smile. 

“Hey! I just wanna know the side of my family I haven't been allowed to do,” Draco says, crossing his arms across his chest with a pout. 

“The Malfoys-, never mind, they wouldn't. They despise the Blacks,” Remus says, shaking his head. 

Draco stands up but gets dizzy before stumbling into Remus’ arms. 

“You okay?” Remus asks, keeping Draco close in case he falls again. 

“Yeah, I haven't eaten anything since yesterday,” Draco says, rubbing his head. 

“Then let's get you home and get you food before we do anything else, okay?” Remus asks, moving back a couple steps. 

Draco nods his head and lets Remus take his duffle bag before they turn their attention to McGonagall. 

“I'll have him back Sunday evening,” Remus promises. 

“Okay, take care. Both of you,” McGonagall says as the duo walk to the floo. 

“We will,” Remus says as Draco waves goodbye. 

Once McGonagall waves back, they walk through the floo and into a cozy cottage. 

“I know it's not like your old home, but I hope you like it,” Remus says as Draco looks around the living room. 

“It's perfect. Thank you for everything,” Draco says, turning around and hugging Remus tightly. 

“You're welcome,” Remus says, hugging Draco back before pulling back. 

He places Draco's bag near the couch and takes Draco to the kitchen. He whips up something to eat before giving Draco a tour of the house. They end up in Draco’s room that has gray walls, a desk in the corner, a bigger fluffy bed. To Draco it's perfect and he makes sure Remus knows it. 

“Glad that you like it. Do you want to decorate it now or wait or what do you want to do?” Remus says, glancing over at what Narcissa gave him of Draco’s.

“Let’s decorate. I don’t have much so it won’t take me long to get everything done, and I want you to help because I want to get to know you better,” Draco says, walking to the boxes.

He turns around and returns the smile that Remus is giving him before turning back to the boxes.

“Did you make sure nothing bad will happen when we open these?” Draco asks, eying the boxes suspiciously.

“I did and so did Snape and McGonagall,” Remus says with a fond smile.

“Good, now let’s get to it,” Draco says, opening one of the boxes.

Remus shakes his head fondly before joining Draco and starts taking stuff out of the box. They start off working in silence, but Draco eventually starts asking questions that Remus didn’t hesitate to answer. After like seven questions, the questions stopped so Remus turns around and sees Draco staring at his wedding ring.

“You’re married,” Draco noted.

“I am. To Sirius,” Remus says, sitting down on the bed.

Draco joins him and takes his hand in his to play with the ring on Remus’ finger.

“Did he not want to adopt me?” Draco asks, insecurity laced in his voice.

“He does, it’s just he can’t at the moment because of the charges against him,” Remus says, letting Draco do whatever.

“True. But if he was a free man, would he want to adopt me?” Draco asks, looking up at Remus.

“In a heartbeat,” Remus says honestly, watching Draco smile as he starts asking more questions as they finish up in his room.

When they are done, they go back down to the living room and Remus finds something on the tv.

“I do need to do a few things for the ministry if that’s okay. If not it can wait,” Remus says, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Go, I’ll be here or in the garden,” Draco says with an honest smile.

Remus nods his head before going to his office, leaving Draco to his own devices. Which Draco does watch the tv for a little before Remus comes back.

“What did you have to do?” Draco asks as soon as Remus sits down beside him.

Remus looks over at him and sends him a small smile, thinking about something so Draco let him take his time.

“If I tell you, it has to stay between us. Okay?” Remus asks.

“Promise,” Draco says, getting on his knees to face Remus more.

“I’m a wolf and the ministry needed my help with something wolf related,” Remus says.

He ends up chuckling at Draco’s awestruck expression before the boy tackles him into a hug.

“I promise I won’t say anything,” Draco says, getting comfortable in Remus’ warm embrace.

Remus hums and they go back to the movie that was playing till they finished it and Draco decided to explore the garden. He sits on the bench out there with Remus right before a dog runs up to them. Draco gasps when he realizes that it’s the dog that he sees around Hogwarts.

“Puppy!” Draco says happily, making Remus chuckle as the dog jumps up to lick his cheek.

“I see you met Padfoot, who’s actually Sirius,” Remus says, motioning to the dog half in Draco’s lap.

“Sirius?” Draco asks, looking down at the dog.

“Yeah, that’s Sirius just when he’s in his dog form, he’s Padfoot,” Remus says as he pets Padfoot’s head.

“Wait, he’s an animagus?” Draco asks.

“Okay, you’re too smart for your age,” Remus says with wide eyes.

Draco just sends him a smile before looking back down at Padfoot once more.

“Why ain’t he in his human form?” Draco asks.

“That way, if something happens and you get questioned, you never saw him,” Remus says, clearly already planning this ahead of time.

“Makes sense and my friends and I are trying to prove his innocence,” Draco says as Padfoot lays a diary on his lap.

“We both know you shouldn’t but we know that a Black doesn’t back down from anything so that Diary could help you. And  before you say anything, I know what you’re doing at Hogwarts because you tell Padfoot who tells me. Another reason why I’m glad you’re so you don’t get attacked,” Remus says, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I’m glad that I’m here as well. It helped me clear my mind along with figuring out who’s going to push me away or not because I befriended Harry and he subconsciously pushes me away then draws me back then does it again. And they know they do this and try to fix it, but they’re not doing a good job at it,” Draco says, looking the diary over.

“I’m sure they will get it right. Besides, from what I hear you have good friends already,” Remus says with a fond smile.

“I do, it surprises me because of our families’ history. But I’m not complaining one bit,” Draco smiling at Remus as he pets Padfoot.

He glances at Padfoot when he lays down at his feet, which catches Remus’ attention again.

“You look like you have something on your mind,” Remus says, giving Draco a chance to speak.

“Can you tell me about Sirius? Regulus? James? Yourself? And your time at school? You don’t have to, but I honestly want to know all of you better,” Draco says, playing with the corners of the diary on his lap.

Remus smiles fondly at Draco before conjuring a blanket to cover them up since it is getting colder out. Padfoot grumbles as the blanket covers his face before moving so he’s over the blanket.

“Poor baby,” Remus says, looking down at Padfoot before turning to Draco to speak again: “Sirius was a protective and caring person, especially over Regulus. But was not the only one we all were. We became more protective once we got Regulus out of the house and things got better for him and I swear he and James got into a relationship like four months before Regulus disappeared. James never did get in a relationship with Lily, they got together when they both were grieving and went from one thing to another and then they had Harry, who they loved dearly then that Halloween night happened and Lily died and like Regulus, James disappeared, assumed dead. For Sirius and myself, we got in a relationship during Hogwarts and around everything, we were planning on adopting, but that blew up in our faces when everything happened,” Remus says, looking up at the sky.

“I’m sorry about what happened. But, do you know who or where you were going to adopt from?” Draco asks, squeezing Remus’ wrist.

“Yeah, we did. Even James and Lily were going to adopt them if we didn’t want to do it that way we got them away from their parents,” Remus says, leaning down to pet Padfoot’s head, who has fallen asleep against Draco’s legs.

“Can I know who the baby or child was?” Draco asks, clenching the diary.

“It was a baby and Draco, the baby was you. You were the one we was going to adopt when your mother owled us saying she was going to do it,” Remus says.

After Remus asked that, Draco kept asking questions all weekend, making the other amused the whole weekend. Draco even reads the diary and notices that this Peter person is suspicious and that Sirius couldn’t have done it, especially when he was expecting to adopt him. So, when he got back to Hogwarts, he immediately hunted down the twins before dragging them to a secluded area and put up a silencing charm.

“Sirius is innocent and I can prove it. He’s also the dog I keep seeing here and he’s married to Remus,” Draco says in one breath.

He accepts the twins hugs before the twins start asking questions once the information sunk in.

“Cool that he’s the dog. But how can you prove it?” Fred asks with hopeful eyes.

“Tell us! We wanna know,” George says with the same expression.

“They gave me this diary and their other friend Peter is suspicious and why would Sirius want to kill his friend when they were fixing to start the process to adopt me?” Draco asks with a smirk.

Chapter Text

“Draco, you've been back for less than twenty-four hours, are you sure you don't want to rest?” Fred says as Draco looks over their stuff. 

“It's morning now so there's no point,” Draco says, eyes glued to the diary. 

They've been looking through everything they have all night and they do have enough information to free Sirius completely. The twins don't care if they were up all night because they know how much this means to Draco. 

“Okay, we got everything in order. But how do we do this? We're eleven and thirteen years olds, we can't go anywhere outside of Hogwarts and we definitely can't just say Sirius is free, here's the proof,” Draco says, running his hand through his hair.

They fall silent as they think of what to do and it's Free who comes up with something. 

“McGonagall! She can help, she seems to love Sirius and I bet she knows good lawyers to actually look into it and prove he's innocent,” Fred says with wide eyes. 

George's and Draco’s eyes widen as they agree with Fred, so they rush to McGonagall’s classroom. They knock on the door and impatiently wait for a response. As soon as they got one, they quickly went inside and straight to her desk. 

“What can I do for you three at six-thirty in the morning?” She asks, looking up from her work on her desk. 

“Sirius is innocent and we have more than enough proof. We need your help because we want this case looked into with good eyes and someone who will help prove his innocence despite how others feel,” Draco says in one breath. 

McGonagall looks between the three of them before she speaks again. 

“Okay, show me what you got,” McGonagall says, laying here quill down. 

Draco let out a relieved sigh before they showed her everything they came up with. She listens carefully and looks through everything while still listening to them. 

“Okay, I know someone who's already looking into the case and what's to prove Sirius innocent and if you three let me take all of this to her then it will really help a lot,” McGonagall says, looking up at the three of them. 

“Really?” Draco asks hopefully. 

“Yes,” McGonagall says honestly. 

“Then it's all yours,” Draco says, exhausted. 

“Thank you boys,” McGonagall says as they start leaving the classroom. 

“You're welcome, ma'am,” Fred says, leading the two tired boys out. 

Since none of them was paying attention, Draco stumbles into Ron and Harry as soon as he is out the door. He would have fallen, but Harry easily catches him as the twins catch themselves.

“So this is where you guys got off to,” Ron says, looking between all of them.

“Yeah, we just had something to talk about with McGonagall,” Fred says, taking a sleepy Draco into his arms.

Ron and Harry send him a non-believing look, making Fred shrug at them because he’s not saying anything else more about it without Draco’s permission since it’s technically his business. 

“We’re just helping someone important to me prove their innocence,” Draco says, rubbing his eyes before walking away.

That’s how everyone knows that this conversation is over and no one is going to elaborate on it.

“Draco! Wait up!” Harry says before running to catch up to Draco.

Draco stops and lets the others catch up to him before he resumes walking with Harry holding his arm in a vice grip.

“Did you sleep at all last night?” Harry asks, noticing the black circles under Draco’s eyes.

“No, we just had a long night, that's all,” Draco says with a small smile.

Harry returns the small smile as he keeps his hand wrapped around Draco’s arm like he’s afraid that he’ll just vanish from his grasp.

“Did you have a good weekend?” Ron asks, curious about Draco’s weekend.

“I did, he’s really sweet and caring and I’m happy that he’s the one who adopted me because I actually knew him before now. But I wasn’t allowed to be around him because of my parents, but now I can and I believe this is what I needed the whole time,” Draco says, looking back at Ron with a smile on his face.

“That’s really good to hear, you do deserve to have a good childhood,” Ron says, sending Harry a look.

Draco knows Harry doesn’t have a choice, but Molly is picking in to help and find a way to stay with her which seems to be working hopefully soon. They then fall silent as they make their way to the Great Hall where everyone was happy to see Draco is back. Draco ignores the snide comments coming from the Slytherins as he gets led to their table.

“Welcome back! Did you have a good weekend?” Neville asks with wide eyes.

“I did, thank you for asking,” Draco says, accepting his plate from Hermione.

“Not a problem, we did miss you though,” Neville says shyly.

“I missed you guys as well,” Draco says as Harry wraps himself around Draco once again.

Draco looks over at Harry, who’s looking at him already and gives him a small smile. Draco returns the smile and leaves Harry be and let him hold onto him as they start eating. Draco doesn’t bother questioning Harry about why he’s being this clingy because he’s sure that he has a reason to do this. He also finds it comforting because he never got to do this growing up, but now with Harry and his new parents. 

Draco honestly did think he'll only do this during breakfast, but Harry never left his side during classes. It almost seems like something had happened during the time he was gone that caused Harry to stay glued to his side. He gave all their professors a shrug when they all gave him curious looks. He doesn't even push Harry off because he doesn't have the heart to do so. He's just confused on why he's clinging so tightly to him, so he decided to question him when they were sitting at the fountain in the courtyard.

“Harry, not that I don’t like it. But why are you clinging to me so much today? You’ve never been this clingy before,” Draco says, resting his head on Harry’s shoulder.

“It’s just I feel awful about how things ended when you left and how I’ve been acting before you did leave. I know I’m not being a good friend and I want to get better, it’s just I don’t know how. This mystery is big to me and I want to solve it with you, but it’s like the twins take you away and off doing your own things with them,” Harry says, resting his chin on top of Draco’s head.

“It’s just they’ve been there since the very beginning and not that I don’t feel safe or anything like that with you, it’s just they are my safe space for unknown reasons, I mean all of you guys are my safe spots, but the twins, I guess has been there more than anyone else,” Draco says, looking down at their laps.

“That does make sense because they do take care of you better than the rest of us. Trust me, they did let us know which we did deserve because you should have friends that’s always there for you instead of coming and going whenever they please,” Harry says, moving so that they can lock eyes.

“You guys are good friends though,” Draco says with wide eyes.

“Are we?” Harry asks, tilting his head to the side.

Draco doesn’t get a chance to answer because Ron and Hermione walk up to them.

“Mate, you’re supposed to be at practice in a few minutes,” Ron says as they stop in front of the duo.

“We’re coming,” Harry says as he stands up.

He then turns around and holds his hand out for Draco, who accepts it with a smile. Harry doesn’t let go of Draco’s hand and doesn’t till they make it to the stands.

“See you after practice?” Harry asks, his attention solely on Draco.

“If the twins don’t steal me first. You know they do that after every practice without missing a beat.

“True, then see you at classes?” Harry asks, hand subconsciously going up-and-down Draco’s arm.

Draco hums because his voice decided to not work at that exact minute, which makes Harry smirk before walking off to the changing room.

“You’re good, mate?” Ron asks, getting Draco to move to the stands.

“Mhmm, perfect,” Draco says as they walk behind Hermione.

Hermione stops after that to look over her shoulder at the two of them, which just got her two curious looks before they make it to the seats. They keep the conversation going with Draco mostly listening, like always, and answers when questions are for him. But once the practice started, their attention was on that, eagerly watching Harry get better and better at Quidditch. They know he was good before, but he’s only getting better at it. However, Draco jumps when Fred stops in front of him on the broom.

“Hey cutie,” Fred teases with a smirk.

“Hey Freddie,” Draco says as he rolls his eyes.

“Are you dating my brother?” Ron asks as Fred flies off.

“No! It’s how he teases me now,” Draco says, holding his face in his hands.

Luckily the conversation ends there due to Hermione getting their attention back to what’s going on. In fact, they remained mostly quiet till practice ended with conversation going every which way. Draco was standing beside Hermione when George took his wrist and dragged him off with his twin. Draco doesn’t question them and just lets them drag him wherever they want. Though they get stopped when McGonagall finds them and asks them to come into her classroom.

“We’re innocent and haven’t done anything!” George says, putting his hands up in surrender once they were in the classroom.

“Do you have a confession?” McGonagall asks, arching an eyebrow.

“No, ma’am. Just wondering what you wanted,” George says with a smile as the trio sits down at the desks.

Draco snorts as the twins get situated on either side of him as McGonagall stands in front of them.

“I wanted you guys to talk to you three because that lawyer I was talking about earlier has come and looked through everything and it she said with everything she got, Mr. Black will be proven innocent. There’s a few things to be done still, but it’s looking really good for him,” McGonagall says with a smile.

“That’s amazing! I really hope it happens because it means a lot to me to get him freed from everything. And I know that all of this is the reason why he hasn’t adopted me, but he wants to adopt me. Don’t tell anyone I said that because of everything,” Draco says, looking around at everyone with wide eyes.

“Don’t worry Mr. Black, your secret is safe with us,” McGonagall says with a sincere smile.

“Wait, I got the Black name?” Draco asks in shock.

“Well yes. Your father's last name is Black,” McGonagall says.

“But, everyone calls him Lupin,” Draco says confused.

“Sirius didn’t want anyone to come after him for being married to an alleged killer so that’s why everyone says Lupin,” McGonagall explains.

“Ah, makes sense. I think,” Draco says, running to his curly and longer hair.

“Thank you for the update, Professor. I didn’t think it would happen this fast,” Draco says.

“There’s a lot of people who want to free him and go after the real criminal. Now, off you guys go so you can spend time together before classes” McGonagall says, shooing them all out. They once again almost straight into Ron and Harry, who once again give them a curious look.

“Know what, I don’t want to know,” Harry says before grabbing Draco’s hand and drags him to the library with him and Ron.

Draco sends the twins a look before looking at Harry’s back the whole walk to the library. During this walk, Draco thinks about whether he should tell Ron and Harry about what’s happening. But he’s afraid that they will turn on him for trying to free Sirius, which he knows they don’t know what he knows. His train of thought is halted when he’s shoved down in a chair.

“Sorry, we were trying to get your attention, but nothing was working so I meant to sit you down gently,” Harry says, rubbing the back of his neck.

“It’s fine,” Draco says as Harry sits beside him.

Draco bites his lip as he thinks it over one more time before he does make up his mind.

“The twins and I are trying to free Sirius Black, who’s my cousin and married to my father. Harry, I don’t know if you know it or not, but he was framed for murdering your parents by giving them up to him. But from what I heard and read, it’s not true and the twins helped me with this and we then got McGonagall in because she knows of a really good lawyer that wants to prove Sirius is innocent along with others,” Draco says, staring down at the book in front of him.

“How you manage all these mysteries plus your personal life is beyond me,” Ron says, rubbing his eyes.

“You’re not disappointed that I’m doing this?” Draco asks with wide eyes.

“Merlin no, if you of all people think he's innocent then he must be because when have you ever been wrong about that?” Ron asks.

“He’s right, when have you been wrong about your feelings? And it seems to be really important to you and that makes us know that we have no reason to be mad. And they need to find the real murder instead of framing someone for any reason that they can think of,” Harry says, squeezing Draco’s hand.

Draco feels a relieved smile take over his face as he turns back to the book in front of him.

“I know you guys think it’s Snape who’s after the stone. But I don’t think it is just because of how well I know him. But I can still help you guys prove if it’s him and we can also see if it’s someone else behind this,” Draco says, his face turning red a little.

“Then let’s get to work,” Ron says with a smile.

Draco nods his head and the three of them tune into the books in front of them with Hermione joining them not too long after. Draco has noticed that Harry never removed his hand and kept it on Draco’s thigh, so Draco places his hand on top of Harry’s hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Harry smile as he closes his hand around Draco’s hand. Draco smiles himself as he focuses on the book so they don’t gain attention while he doesn’t care if they do get attention because he feels content.