Brothers

Chapter One

Rivers

"I have a what!?" Draco Malfoy stared at the smiling young Ministry official who had arrived at his home just minutes before.

"A twin brother," Mr. Took repeated, giving him a really ridiculous looking grin. He turned his attention from Draco to the boy's father. "You wouldn't believe the troubles we had to go through to finally find his birth parents--you and your wife of course! When he was given to us, we had no idea who his birth parents could be! So, we simply performed the Hereditas Charm. You can imagine our surprise when we found out that you, Mr. Malfoy, was his father!"

Draco saw that Mr. Took was indeed young and had probably recently joined the Ministry of Magic from the way he was acting. Mr. Took appeared to be upset about something, though he didn't show it in his voice.

After an awkward silence in which Draco stared at Mr. Took, Mr. Took stared at Lucius, and Lucius stared at the floor (apparently in deep thought) Mr. Took spoke.

"Uh, th-the Hereditas Charm is actually...actually a rather complicated spell..." Mr. Took explained. "Unlike some of the, uh, other spells that have been d-developed the Hereditas...well...what it does is it tells who a person's parents are without needing the parents to be present..."

Draco struggled to absorb all this new information. He was shocked beyond belief. It was the summer after his second year at Hogwarts, and he thought his life was going well. He liked being an only child, since that meant he got any and all attention his parents would bother to give. Being an only child made it easier for him to be himself, since he didn't have anyone to compete against or anyone to overshadow him.

Another silence ensued and Mr. Took, desperate to end the awkwardness of the situation, only increased it by stating (without much prior thought as to what he was saying), "Mr. Malfoy, you've changed in the last thirteen years. And you're much shorter in person."

At this Lucius looked up at Mr. Took and Mr. Took gave a startled cry, realizing what he had said. He began to sputter almost incoherently about how he didn't mean to offend, if he did offend, and that it was merely an observation. He also babbled about how the Hereditas Charm shows the parents, as they were when the person was born. Lucius merely looked away like Mr. Took was something repulsive and resumed his deep thoughts as he stared at the floor.

Silence again. Draco could almost swear, even in his state of shock and dismay that he could hear Mr. Took's rapid heartbeat.

"Yes, well..." Mr. Took cleared his throat and went on when no one said anything, trying to recover the line of conversation that had brought him here, "it was a-an even bigger shock wh-when we realized that he was young Draco's, uh, twin. We couldn't imagine why he was adopted, and so of course there are a few questions that need to be answered..."

Mr. Took retrieved a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his forehead with it.

"Uhh..." Mr. Took was looking at Lucius Malfoy as if he were afraid of what might happen if he said the wrong thing again. "Of course...of course, the questions can be answered later...uh, some other time, perhaps? Yes, I-I think that's best..."

Draco couldn't control himself any longer, and the words he had been dying to say from the start poured out of him like a raging river.

"I can't have a brother! Father would have told me about him!" Draco insisted. He looked to his father. "Right?"

Lucius Malfoy said nothing. Draco gaped at his father in astonishment. He had had a twin brother his entire life and his father had never said a word about it. His shock quickly turned into anger as he realized just what this meant. His father had been lying to him his entire life.

"You never told me? Why? Why the hell would you keep it from me?" Draco shouted, his face turning red.

Again Lucius said nothing. His father felt that he did not have to explain anything to his son. Instead of answering he remained standing, almost casually, as he had before, his arms folded across his chest, and continued to stare at the floor.

"Father!" Draco felt betrayed and he didn't know why.

"Let's not have any fighting," Mr. Took said quickly, looking from one Malfoy to the other quite nervously. "His name is Rivers Milligan. Muggles adopted him when he was a baby and he didn't know he was a wizard until he got his letter from his school. Despite the fact that he's been going to a school for witchcraft and wizardry for two years, he's still a bit lost when it comes to being a wizard."

Draco listened and already he could tell he wasn't going to like his brother very much. His brother had probably been a big disappointment to the Malfoy name and Draco didn't doubt that he still was.

"What?" Draco realized that Mr. Took had asked something.

"I asked if you would like to meet him. He's in the, uh, the living room." The young wizard gave him a crooked, strained smile.

Draco didn't really want to meet his brother at all. He didn't even want to have a brother. Instead of saying anything he folded his arms across his chest and looked away.

"Of course." It was the first thing that Lucius had said since he had his son called down when Mr. Took arrived.

Mr. Took nodded; he looked (and was) very relieved to hear Lucius say something that didn't directly threaten him. He crossed the room to the door that led to the living room and opened the door wide.

"Rivers?" The wizard stood to the side of the doorway.

Draco heard movement in the other room and he looked over at the doorway. What he expected was a boy who looked just like him to come through that doorway. What he saw was almost completely different.

The boy who walked in was the same height as Draco, and his eyes were the same color. His hair was slicked back like Draco's, too, but a lock of hair fell free above his right eye. The similarities ended there. Instead of blonde hair his was dark brown and his face wasn't as narrow as Draco's. He had pale skin too, but his was more of a sickly-pale; it didn't look natural.

Rivers looked at Draco and Lucius and then up at young Mr. Took, a look of distaste on his face. "Do I have to stay here?"

Mr. Took chuckled nervously. "O-Of course you do. This is your home now."

Rivers looked back to see Draco glaring at him. Draco looked away as if his head would explode if he looked at Rivers any longer.

"I'm afraid I must go. I...have many things yet to do," Mr. Took told them. There was a short pause and Mr. Took muttered, "Why do I feel like I'm forgetting something? Hmm...it's nothing..." He shrugged, dismissing the subject. "Perhaps you should get to know each other. Yes, that would be good...Good-bye."

Mr. Took turned and left in a hurry. Draco heard the front door slam as the young wizard left. Draco glanced back at his brother only for a second. At that moment both boys thought the same thing: At least school starts soon...