Harry looked at himself in the mirror. He could not tell whether he was grateful for the use of Draco's hair products or not. His hair finally laid down, but he felt so fake, so made up. He knew he should get used to this. In the last timeline, he had learned that his family was an ancient and noble house. He would one day be Lord Potter, and then he would have to get used to all the balls and parties involved. He had a mask to create-one that Draco was helping him make.
"You look lovely, dear." The talking Harry in the mirror told him. Harry shivered. That was just too creepy.
"Coming?" Draco asked. Harry turned to see the blond in his doorway. The boy had on dark green dress robes, the Malfoy crest over his right breast.
"Don't you look all noble?" Harry teased. Draco rolled his eyes.
"Yes, and perhaps one day you will as well. Maybe I should help you find your house crest." Draco suggested. Sirius rolled onto his back, groaning.
"I hate house crests." He moaned. Harry snickered.
"Why? You are from the most Ancient and Noble house of Black. That is something to be proud of." Draco informed him.
"Being born into a certain family is nothing to be proud of. It's not some great achievement. It's the luck of the draw." Sirius explained. Draco thought on this. He never considered this before.
"Last timeline, Sirius spent the summer burning all the Black family crests off of the tapestries and dress robes. He broke everything else with the crest and threw it away. You should have seen Kreacher saving everything he could find." Harry reminisced.
"Ugh, Kreacher. Is he still alive?" Sirius pondered. Harry nodded.
"Yep, and he led to your death. Although, he did redeem himself." Harry thought for a moment. "By the way, you need to have a better relationship with him this time. He has something very important that we need."
"What could he possibly have that is so important?" Sirius wondered. Harry shook his head and shrugged.
"You'll have to talk to him." Harry told his godfather. Sirius sneered. Draco rolled his eyes.
"Come along, Scion Potter." Draco teased. "It is time for your first appearance in our great world." Harry sighed.
"Fine." Harry ground out. He turned to his godfather. "Now, stay put Padfoot, and be a good boy."
The two boys walked down to the ballroom. For once, Narcissa was there. She was beautifully dressed in a dark green, A-line ball gown with a strapless, heart-shaped bodice covered in diamonds. Her hair was tied in a knot at the back of her head and her ears dripped in diamonds and emeralds.
"Harry Potter. You look lovely, my dear." Narcissa crooned. Harry blushed. His dark blue dress robes did look nice, but he hardly thought they deserved the praise Narcissa put forth. It was weird. She did, after all, want him dead, just like Lucius did.
"Thank you, Lady Malfoy. You look beautiful." Harry complimented. Narcissa smiled. She led them down to the ball and began introducing her son and his best friend to the rest of the party. Harry noted that most of the guests were Death Eaters, and he felt kind of like the main dish at a buffet. He also noted some ministry officials there. At least he knew this would keep the Death Eaters from taking him straight to Voldemort.
Harry was surprised to find Zabini amongst the guests.
"What's he doing here?" Harry asked Draco. Draco shrugged.
"He's Scion Zabini." Draco replied. Said future Death Eater walked over to him.
"What do you know, Potter? I never thought you would have the guts to come to a ball like this." Zabini pestered.
"Why not? One day, I will be Lord Potter. I might as well start learning my place in society." Harry retorted.
"If you make it past your majority, I'll be surprised." Zabini threatened. Draco butted in.
"He has already defeated the Dark Lord three times, Zabini. Do not count Harry Potter as among the dead, yet." Draco spat. Yeah, just four more times to go.Harry thought to himself sourly.
"That was just dumb luck, Malfoy." Zabini argued.
"I'd like to see you go against the Dark Lord three times and make it out alive." Draco purred. Zabini rolled his eyes.
"I would never go against him, Malfoy." Zabini informed him.
"That's the problem." Harry muttered.
At this time, Pansy came up to Draco.
"Draco, dance with me." She ordered. Draco turned to his best friend. Help me, he mouthed.
"What do you want, Parkinson?" Harry huffed exasperatedly.
"You may have tarnished him by turning him into a Gryffindor, but I can save him." Parkinson stated. Draco rolled his eyes.
"You have too much faith in your own abilities, Parkinson." Draco drawled.
"He's taken, Parkinson." Harry defended. Draco gave Harry a nasty look. Pansy perked up.
"Oh, by who?" She inquired.
"Hermione Granger." Harry pointed out.
"The mudblood?" Pansy pushed.
"Don't call her that." Draco spat out, fists clenching. Zabini smirked.
"Got yourself a girlfriend?" Zabini teased. "My, my, what would Daddy Dearest say about his scion dating a mudblood."
"I said, stop calling her that." Draco ground out, ready to strike.
At that moment, Severus walked over.
"Draco, Mr. Potter, Minister Fudge has been demanding that he speak with the two of you." Severus lied. Draco and Harry got the hint and walked away with Severus. "Mr. Zabini, Miss Parkinson." He dismissed.
Once they were a distance away, Severus turned to his godsons. "You must be willing to leave when a conversation like that is escalating." Severus instructed. "You must keep your anger in check, Dragon. Especially when your father is around. Imagine what would have happened if he knew you got in a fight over a muggleborn student, let alone one that you seem to have feelings for." Draco blushed and went to deny it. Severus lifted his hand to stop the boy. "Don't deny it. You are among friends here. I, too, once loved a muggleborn in the same way." Harry winced. He really wished Severus would stop talking about his mother in that way.
"Of course, Uncle Sev." Draco agreed.
"Why don't you go back to your room. I will come up with a good excuse as to why you left." Severus promised. Draco and Harry nodded in agreement. Severus left and Harry and Draco walked toward Draco's room.
"Why do you think my father did what he did?" Draco asked Harry out of the blue. Harry turned to his friend in shock.
"Like, what? Join Voldemort? I heard he was a lot more persuasive back then." Draco shook his head.
"Why did he return? Didn't he know I would have to be given over to the Dark Lord? Why was he so willing to offer me up as a living sacrifice to his lord?" Draco wondered aloud. Harry sighed.
"I don't know, Dragon." Harry responded honestly. Draco swallowed.
"I don't want that to happen again. I know he was one of the Death Eaters that attacked at the World Cup." Draco admitted. Harry rolled his eyes.
"It was pretty obvious." Harry argued. Draco smirked.
"What should I do?" Draco asked his friend. Harry shrugged.
"Maybe you should go to Professor Snape. I'm sure he could tell you how best to handle the whole situation." Harry advised. Draco nodded.
"Maybe I will. I just want to be out of this war." Draco acknowledged. Harry smirked.
"I hear you. Though, if you really wanted out of the war, you really shouldn't have befriended me." Harry pointed out. Draco laughed.
"At least this way, I'm on the winning side." Draco teased. Harry laughed again.
"Let's hope." Harry agreed. At this point, they were back in Harry's room. Sirius was there.
"Hey Harry, how was your first ball? Was it as tedious as I told you it would be?" Sirius asked. Harry nodded.
"Even more so." Harry admitted. Draco turned to Harry suddenly.
"So, what happened this year? I think we deserve to know." Draco drawled. Harry nodded.
"I do have to explain why I was on edge during the tournament." Harry guiltily remembered. Sirius sat down on the edge of the bed and motioned for the two boys to sit on either side of him.
"Well," Sirius prompted. Harry sighed.
"Well, we went to the Cup with the Weasleys. That's where I met Mr. Diggory. That was my first portkey ride. I watched with Ron and Hermione. After that, the Death Eaters attacked. I was blamed for the Dark Mark in the sky, because it was my wand." Harry began.
"Just like this time." Draco interrupted. Harry rolled his eyes.
"Only, I was right next to my wand when they found me, so it was more suspicious. Remember, they came and gave it back to me and warned me to take better care of it this time." Harry pointed out. Sirius nodded.
"Continue," He pushed. Harry nodded.
"I began having visions at this point. Voldemort was with Pettigrew and a man I did not recognize. It latter turned out to be Barty Crouch, Jr." Harry told them. "We got to Hogwarts and we were told of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. I was glad because I saw no way I could enter and therefore, I thought I would have a year free of anxiety and worry."
"No such luck for the boy-who-lived." Draco sighed, teasing the boy.
"Exactly. Sirius, Mad-Eye Moody will be the DADA professor this year. Except, it won't be Mad-Eye. Barty Crouch Jr. takes him captive and Polyjuices himself to be Mad-Eye." Harry explained.
"That ba…I mean, jerk." Sirius corrected. Harry nodded. Draco's eyes widened in understanding.
"So, it was a Death Eater that turned me into a ferret?" Draco queried. Harry laughed and nodded.
"Yep. He taught us about the Unforgivables. Remember that, Draco? It should have been the first sign. It really was stupid of him to do. It taught me how to fight off an Imperius Curse." Harry thought.
"You can fight off an Imperius Curse?" Sirius gasped, astounded. Harry nodded.
"Yeah, it only really took me two tries. Anyway, Barty entered me into the Tri-Wizard Tournament, ensuring I would be chosen by adding a fourth school. It chose me. Everyone turned on me. I had no idea what was going to happen. Hagrid informed me that the First Task would be dragons. I knew that the other champions except for Cedric would know what happened. I went and told Cedric so it would be fair. He returned the favor by telling me how to figure out the second task. I took the message too seriously and thought all of them would die." Harry informed them.
"So, that's why you came in last. You played the hero?" Draco asked. He considered this. "Not very surprised." Harry smirked.
"Yeah, so the final task came around and Cedric and I made it to the trophy at the same time. We decided to take it together, so that both Hogwarts champions won. It was a portkey, and it took us to a graveyard. Wormtail was there with Voldemort's wand. He killed Cedric, and tied me to a tombstone-Tom Riddle's tombstone." Harry continued.
"Who's Tom Riddle?" Sirius asked.
"Voldemort's father." Harry answered off-handedly. "You know what would really annoy him? If I started calling him that. I think I will address Voldemort as Tom Riddle from now on."
"Maybe you should even call him Tim sometimes, just to annoy him further." Draco suggested. Harry laughed and nodded.
"Anyway, I watched him come back to life. Then, he called all his Death Eaters to him. Your father was there, Draco." Harry admitted sadly. Draco shook his head.
"He's no father of mine." Draco announced. Harry nodded in understanding. Sirius looked thoughtful for a moment.
"I didn't know you could disown family the other way around." Sirius commented. Harry smirked.
"You can when you're a Dragon." He teased. Draco pushed Harry off the bed. Harry laughed again.
"I escaped, but not before he got out two Cruciatus curses and an Avada Kedavra that just missed me. I yelled out Expelliarmus at the same time, and the wands connected. Their cores are brothers, and so they can't harm each other." Harry explained. Draco nodded. Sirius shook his head.
"Only you, Prongslet." Sirius sighed.
"Anyway, that's why I have such an aversion to portkeys. I hate the things because I can never trust them." Harry continued. Draco nodded in understanding.
"Okay, then, let's change it all." Sirius suggested. Harry and Draco shook their heads.
"No," They agreed in unison. Sirius looked confused.
"Why the heck not?" Sirius asked.
"Time made us promise we wouldn't change anything too drastically. This would be pretty drastically." Harry explained.
"We'll just have to make it through." Draco agreed. Harry quirked an eyebrow at his friend.
"We?" Harry questioned. Draco smiled.
"Yes, we, together. You're not alone in this anymore, brother." Draco promised. Harry smiled.
"Together?" Harry clarified. Draco nodded.
"Always." He promised.