More to Life

~+~

Chapter Nine - Family Unknown

"Um... Draco? Any particular reason I can still see your robes?" Harry asked after the two boys had only taken a few steps down the long corridor.

Sure enough, even with the invisibility spell cast, they could still be seen - well their clothes could still be seen at least.

"I guess it doesn't work on clothes," Draco mumbled.

"Obviously," Harry scoffed. "How is this going to work?" Harry saw Draco's robes moving and he safely deducted that Draco was silently laughing. "This isn't funny!" Harry yelled, making an echo through the corridor.

"Shut up!" Draco hissed. "You want to get caught? We shouldn't even know this spell!"

"Only one thing for it," Harry said eventually.

Draco had a good idea what it was. "No way!"

"Well what do you suggest? An invisibility spell isn't any use if people can still see our clothes!"

Draco sighed. "We'd better get our clothes back before the spell runs out."

"How long?" Harry asked.

Draco muttered under his breath as he counted. "We have about twenty minutes left."

"Can't we just stuff our clothes behind a statue somewhere?"

"Seeing as we only have twenty minutes it'll have to do. I swear remind me never to do this again, EVER!"

If anyone had walked down the corridor at that moment, they would have seen clothes seemingly shedding themselves from invisible bodies. Harry screwed his clothes up and shoved them behind the nearest statue, while Draco folded his. Harry impatiently tapped his foot.

"For Merlin's sake Draco, c'mon!" Harry snapped.

"Alright, I'm done. Don't come moaning to me when all your clothes are creased."

"Great, now we have fifteen minutes because of your excessive moaning," the dark haired boy said in a huff.

They both jumped when Snape's office door suddenly jerked open and Severus himself walked out, slamming the door shut behind him, forgetting about any sort of locking charm what so ever. Harry blinked. For some reason everything just got a whole lot easier. It wasn't a feeling Harry was comfortable with though. Somehow it seemed too easy.

Draco coughed. "Are we going in or not?"

Harry nodded then remembered Draco couldn't see him. "You know, he wouldn't have just left the letter lying around, would he?"

"Doesn't hurt to look."

"I'm gonna tell him he's a stupid idiot if he did leave it lying around."

"What and tell him we were in his office?" Draco asked in amusement.

Harry sighed. "Good point. C'mon."

Draco looked up and down the corridor, making sure it was clear and pushed open the office door. The office itself looked like a smaller version of the Potions classroom. Some odd potions littered the shelves behind a huge desk. The desk itself was covered in crumbled bits of parchment, student assignments and other bits and pieces that Harry had never seen before.

Draco spotted the letter first. He stared in disbelief at the letter hanging out the black envelope. "He's going to really wish he was more careful," the blonde muttered as he picked it up off the desk and waved it around so Harry could grab hold of it. The dark haired boy walked over to Draco and snatched it away, flipping the piece of parchment open.

Severus,

We know that you have been the carer of Harry Potter for the past two years. We are willing to forget the fact that you didn't tell us if you bring the boy to the edge of the Forbidden Forest on the night of All Hallows eve. Eleven PM sharp.

Our Master is already unhappy with you Severus. You wouldn't want him to get angrier, would you?

Macnair

The Boy Who Lived gulped. "Guess that settles it. Either Voldemort is still alive, or Death Eaters aren't really that loyal and they've gotten themselves a new master." Harry said the last part of the sentence a little sarcastically.

Draco gently took the letter out of Harry's hand and put it back on the table exactly the way he had found it. "C'mon, the spell's beginning to wear off and I have no intention of being stuck in this office, naked."

Harry forced a laugh. He stopped suddenly when he realised how bitter the sound of his own laughter was. He knew the Death Eaters would come after again eventually, but he didn't realise it would be this soon, or that the Dark Lord would still be around. Even when Draco told him that many people didn't think Voldemort was dead, he never thought of it as an issue. A livid Voldemort coming after him sounded a lot more real than any group of Death Eaters did.

Draco and Harry made it back to their clothes with no trouble. As soon as they were dressed, the spell began to wear away, leaving them visible again.

"Are you ok?" Draco asked his friend.

Harry forced a smile. "I'll be fine." Eventually... He noticed his hands were shaking slightly.

Draco scoffed. "I'll ignore that blatant lie and pass it off as you not wanting to talk about it."

"Thanks, Draco," Harry mumbled. "There's one thing I don't understand though..."

"What?" Draco said to urge the dark haired boy on.

"Why did he want me? Voldemort I mean. There must be some reason he wanted to kill me in the first place, right?" Harry mused. Draco only nodded. "I think it's about time I did that family research I was on about doing."

Draco grinned. "To the library then?"

*~*~*

Harry had only been in the library once before, that was when he had gotten lost on his way to Transfiguration during the first week of term. Professor McGonagall hadn't taken kindly to him being late. This was the first time Harry had been able to take a good look around the library. It was huge, for lack of a better word. Maybe gigantic would be better or colossal. Massive shelves lined all the four walls of the room and extra book shelves covered most of the floor area. There were around four long tables, which were the first things that could be seen from the library doorway.

Draco took hold of Harry's sleeve and dragged him down one of the rows. Harry was gapping at the amount of the books.

The blonde haired Slytherin finally stopped in front of a row of shelves that had a brass plaque attached that read 'Wizard and Witches' Records'

Harry gave Draco a 'why-do-they-keep-stuff-like-this-in-a-school-library' look.

"There's no library except the one here and since the Ministry has no where to keep records like this, they end up at Hogwarts," the blonde said as he ran a finger along the shelves, trying to find where the letter 'P' records began. "They automatically get updated when someone is born."

"How- wait, don't answer that," Harry said rather stupidly.

Draco laughed. "Forgetting about magic again are we?"

"Shut up git," Harry said with a half laugh.

"K... L... M... N... O... P!" Draco said as he carried on searching the records, finally finding the right shelves.

"Glad you can recite the alphabet, Draco," Harry said sarcastically.

"I swear to Merlin that Severus is rubbing off on you," Draco muttered. He pulled out the book that would have the Potter family in it and gave it to Harry. "For that you can go read that yourself." He then stuck out his tongue and began to walk off.

"I'll give you a Chocolate Frog if you help?" Harry whispered loudly with a smirk.

Draco stopped walking and turned around slowly. "Two."

"One," the dark haired boy said.

"Two, final offer."

"One and a half."

"How can you give me half a Chocolate Frog?"

"Easy. I eat the other half first then give the rest to you."

"Two."

"Oh alright, two it is," Harry finally gave in.

"You know you didn't have to bribe me, right?" Draco said with a grin.

"Whatever," Harry muttered, slamming the book down on one of the tables, earning a glare from Madam Pince.

Draco ignored him and opened the book, flipping through the pages to find Harry's name. Finding it reasonably quickly, he shoved the book back over to Harry. "Say the spell it tells you while pointing your wand at the book. It should show you your family tree," Draco explained.

Harry ran his finger down the page until he came to his own name. It read:

Potter, Harry James

DOB: 31^st July 1980

Age: 11

Address: Not Listed

Family: cognatio arboreus 'Harry James Potter'

"And that's it?" Harry asked. "I just say that spell and it'll show me my entire family tree?"

"Yeah, that's it. They're not exactly going to make it hard, are they? People wouldn't bother finding out about their family if it was too hard. There is the fact that only you can do that spell though. No one else can say 'cognatio arboreus Harry James Potter,'" Draco said.

Harry took a deep breath and pointed his wand at the book. "Cognatio arboreus Harry James Potter."

The two pages that once had many names printed upon them became clear then the spell began to draw lines. Names began to appear on the parchment where the lines ended. The first name Harry's eyes rested on was his own. He followed the line up with his finger and found his parents' names.

Lily (Evans) Potter - James Potter

1^st Apr 1960 - 31^st Oct 1981 23^rd Feb 1960 - 31^st Oct 1981

Harry's eyes then ran all the way to the top of the page and when they reached there, he nearly fell over the back of his chair. He shakily pointed to the name lying right at the top of the family tree and coughed to get Draco's attention. "Does that name read what I think it does or is it just my eyesight going again?"

Draco gave his friend a blank look before looking at where Harry's finger was pointing. He said that they were both thinking. "Bloody hell! That says..."

"Slytherin," Harry muttered under his breath.

Sure enough, right at the top of the page was the name 'Salazar Slytherin'. There were no names before him. Harry ran his finger over the book again, coming to a rest at his own name. He then began to move his finger across the page. He caught the names of Aunt's, Uncles and cousins that he was meant to have but next to each name laid a death date.

"Anyone who was related to Slytherin is dead except me and..." Harry paused and looked at the only name on the tree that didn't have a death date. "...Tom Marvolo Riddle." Harry looked up sharply. "So he's not dead!"

"That means the Dark Lord is the heir of Slytherin," Draco told him. Harry gave him a blank look. "Each of the houses here at Hogwarts has an heir whether or not they're living or dead. Since Voldemort is older than you, he's the heir of Slytherin. If he had of died that night, you would have been the heir, catch my drift?"

"Yeah... That's... wow..." Harry ran a hand threw his hair, making even more rumpled than before. "That's why he wanted to kill me..."

"All these names on here are from people who were murdered before he vanished after going after you," Draco said. "And they're all half-blood or less."

"At least my name and his are so far apart I doubt that we're really related," Harry said to comfort himself.

"True. There must be about fifteen or so different marriages in between your name and his. 'Fifteenth cousins twice removed' doesn't have the same ring to it as cousins does."

Harry cancelled out the spell and knocked the book closed. "Heh, I'm a descendant of Slytherin..." he mumbled nervously.

Draco tapped his fingers on the table for a long while before suddenly speaking. "Can you speak Parseltongue then?"

"Speak what?"

"Parseltongue? Talk to snakes?"

"I..." Harry paused as he thought about it. "That's not common then?"

Draco grinned. "So you can talk to snakes!"

"I've only ever done it once as far as I can remember," Harry said. "It sounded like the snake was talking English to me."

"You're best off not telling anyone about this," Draco said thoughtfully. "Many people hate Slytherin as it is and there's no need to start giving everyone reason to believe that you really are leading the Death Eaters. No one will believe that Voldemort is back out of hiding."

Harry nodded slowly. "I see what you mean."

*~*~*

Parselmouth - The ability to talk to snakes or snake like creatures. Said to be spoken by Dark Wizards, Parselmouths are relatively low in number. Salazar Slytherin was a well known Parselmouth himself. The language resembles hissing to anyone who cannot speak Parseltongue, but it has been said that Parselmouths hear the language as if it was English...

"Hello," said a timid girl's voice next to Harry. The dark haired boy slammed the book shut and looked up sharply. The girl blinked. "What were you reading?"

"Nothing," Harry mumbled.

"It didn't look like nothing to me," the girl told him smugly.

"What's it got to do with you anyhow?" Harry scowled.

"Well I'm sorry for interrupting your 'quiet time'," she said making air quotes, "but I just wondered what you were doing sat here, by the lake, on your own?"

"Maybe, by some miracle, I wanted to be ALONE!" Harry snapped.

The girl huffed. "I don't know why I'm bothering..."

"Why are you then?" the Slytherin interrupted. "You're a Gryffindor for a start. Why are you talking to me?"

"I don't know... you looked... lonely."

"Really?" Harry a little sarcastically.

"Yes. I'm Hermione. Hermione Granger," the girl with the bushy brown hair told him. "What were you looking up?"

"None. Of. Your. Business," Harry said slowly as if he was speaking to a five year old.

Hermione blinked a few times at Harry. "Fine then. I was only asking."

"Well don't," Harry instantly regretted speaking like that to her. "Sorry," he mumbled, "I seem to be biting everyone's head off today."

Hermione nodded and looked over Harry's shoulder. "Looks like your friends are coming."

Harry looked over his shoulder to see Draco and Blaise slowly making their way across the grass towards him. "You'd better go, unless you want Draco to send some sarcastic comment at you. He doesn't like Muggle-borns."

Hermione looked shocked. "How did you know I was?"

"Draco told me he'd never heard of your family name when we were being sorted." Seeing Hermione's down hearted look he spoke again. "I have nothing against you," he said quickly, "I mean I'd be a hypocrite if I did since my Mother was Muggle-born."

Hermione nodded. "I can take whatever he says to me. I'm used to it by now," she mumbled.

For a split second Harry left sorry for her. He knew what it felt like to be sneered at, stared at, being at the end of insults.

Draco sat himself down next to Harry and Blaise sat at the other side of him. The blonde haired Slytherin then began fiddling with the hem of his cloak. He looked up at the Gryffindor girl and sneered.

"And you are?"

Harry poked him in the side with his elbow. "Leave it; she hasn't done anything to you." Harry didn't know why he was sticking up for the girl when it was his best friend who was doing the insulting.

"Hermione," she said quietly.

"Granger," Draco finished for her. "You're a Mudblood."

Harry poked him again, but Draco paid no heed.

"A what?" Hermione asked.

"Dirty blood," Draco mumbled.

"I'll tell your Mother about your language," Harry said with a smirk. Draco elbowed Harry this time.

"Don't you dare."

"Say your sorry then. She hasn't done anything to you. No need to insult her," Harry pointed out.

"Sorry," Draco mumbled like a small child that had just been forced to say sorry by its Mother.

Blaise sniggered. "Harry so has you wrapped around his little finger."

Draco gave Blaise a shove with his left hand. "Bloody git." Draco then looked the girl up and down. "Doesn't mean I like you though."

Hermione smiled a little. "Of course not. Why would any Slytherin like a Gryffindor, hmm?" With that she walked away.

Blaise laughed a little. "Gotta admit, she's got spunk."

"Spunk?" Draco snorted. "More like a death wish."

The light brown haired boy shrugged. "Same thing."

Harry sighed as the other two boys began arguing about if spunk and death wish meant the same thing or not. He sat there quietly, trying to take in all the information in that he had learnt about himself that day. He was a descendent of Slytherin, the only one left besides Voldemort. He could speak Parseltongue, which many wizards and witches thought was a dark art. Voldemort was alive somewhere in the world and the Death Eaters wanted to kidnap Harry so that they could give him to the Dark Lord.

The dark haired boy shuddered. He briefly wondered if anyone had ever thought of telling him exactly what was going on. Of course not, he thought bitterly. I'm just a kid to them, not old enough to know why I have a mad man after me, but it doesn't change the fact that he is after me.

Harry stared off over the lake. When he does come, I'll be ready for it, he thought determinedly.

"Harry?" Blaise said, breaking Harry's thoughts.

"Hmm?"

"Are we going in?"

"Yeah."

"You alright?" Draco asked.

"I'm fine," he said honestly for the first time that day. "I'm fine."

~+~

*cough* Ok so I was kind of nice to Hermione. She won't be in it that much. She'll be more of an acquaintance than a real friend. I know the heir thing is so overused but I like the idea of Harry being a descendant of Slytherin not necessarily the heir. At least he's not Voldemort grandson or something. (Not that I hate that, but the idea has been used before and I don't want to copy).

Leatrix Malfoy ~ 3^rd November 2003