Twins and Brothers

A/N: Hello, I'm baaaack! I've been gone for a while, but I'm back to writing, for right now. My teachers are making me write papers like crazy, something about finals and end of semester going down. Anyway, I've been dying to write this fic for a while because I've always wanted this to happen—a Draco/Harry as brothers story. I've been trying to write this for over two weeks (since Cupboard Noises—go read it, it's a really funny little fic), and I'm really pleased with what I've got so far. I'm especially pleased with the result of this chapter, and I hope you are, too.

This is an AU story that takes place after the Battle of Hogwarts. Lucius, Narcissa and Draco got caught and tried for war crimes, Harry and Ron are Aurors. Sooner or later, Draco became an Auror himself (after he got out of Azkaban) and the three became friends, slowly but surely.

Rating: T for dramatic content and language.

Pairing: Harry Potter & Draco Malfoy as twin brothers.

Warning: Language and possible use of the F word in the future.

Disclaimer: JK Rowling is my role model and is totally brilliant. Like for all of my HP fanfics, I'm just reveling in her brilliance, okay?

Enjoy!

Chapter One

Dear Mr. Potter,

It seems that we have a great deal of matters to discuss concerning you, me and my son Draco. I would like you to meet with me at noon tomorrow concerning these matters. Even though this is quite sensitive information (and quite too sensitive to have this message sent by owl post and Flooing), I believe that we should have this conversation in person. You are also welcome to bring your friends, Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger, because depending on the situation, it might be necessary to include them in on this. I honestly don't have enough time to tell you this in a letter, so do make up your mind before tomorrow, won't you? Otherwise, I'll just have to have someone fetch you three for me.

Hoping to see you at noon tomorrow,

Lucius Abraxas Malfoy

Lucius scrolled up the letter and called his loyal owl Fidel (meaning "loyal" in Latin) to his arm and tied the letter to the owl's leg.

"Take this to the residence of Harry Potter, and make sure that he gets it. Time is of the essence. There's isn't much time, so hurry!" Lucius said

And with that, Fidel launched off his master's arm to deliver this oh-so-important letter. Lucius sat back on his bed and began to cough. After his coughing fit subsided, he began to contemplate his situation, of how he ended up this way. He, a wizard, and a Pureblood wizard at that, had contracted a disease of a Muggle, and a lowly Muggle at that.

Filthy damn Muggles.

Maybe this is karma, he thought. Karma for all the years as Lord Voldemort's Death Eater, He couldn't deny that he enjoyed it, the killings of Muggles, their screams and pleas for him to stop torturing them, and his mercy of finally killing them with delightful glee. He loved putting those damn things in their place, and he couldn't deny it.

The only thing worth denying, in his opinion, was admitting to what a stone-cold killer he had become. He would never admit it, but there was a part of him wondering what kind of monster he was. He never acknowledged that side of him that he knew he had inside: the ability of compassion. The demonically sadistic side of him dominated his soul, and for that, he knew he must pay. And with that, Lucius believed that those Muggles' God had cast his revenge on him: The last Muggle he killed was during the war. That Muggle man ended up having tuberculosis, and by some weird misfortune, Lucius had contracted it from him. This wasn't an "I should have been more careful" situation for him, this was an "I shouldn't have been there, and I shouldn't have done that" situation for him now.

So maybe I might be wrong about that, he deduced. This isn't karma, this is penance. This is revenge. This is the revenge I get from their God for every damned thing I had done in my life and for what I did to those Muggles. Having a Muggle's disease is going to be the small part of my troubles, especially when I pass on into the afterlife. He'd never believed in a hell before, but he seriously doubted that he'd be going to heaven for his misdeeds anytime soon. The least he could do with his last few days, he decided, was to make sure that he could undo a few wrongs that he did in life.

After the Battle of Hogwarts, he went into hiding with his family for a year. Unfortunately, he was found and caught by the Aurors living in squalor, squatting in a crumbling Muggle project, which made it all the more embarrassing. Oh, how the mighty have fallen: The rich Lord Malfoy and his family living in their own piss and shit like filthy pigs, living in squalor like bums. They ought to be ashamed of themselves, they really ought to be, the newspapers claimed. They assumed that he would have at least found more comfier accommodations, but being on the run will put anyone into survival mode, putting their survival instincts foremost at the top of the agenda. They learned to survive and stay undetected for about eight months, before his son Draco decided to turn himself in. He never admitted it, but Lucius knew that Draco had more balls for doing the brave thing than he ever did. The next day, he found an article in the Daily Prophet of how Draco had turned himself into the authorities, and was awaiting a trial date a month from now from Azkaban. A month later, the Wizengamot had laid down their verdict: he was sentenced to a year for bringing the Death Eaters into Hogwarts and for being an accessory to the death of Albus Dumbledore. Even though Lucius and Narcissa had hearts heavy with heartbreak for their son, they kept moving, never staying anywhere longer than two weeks. Another month later, Narcissa left, saying that she couldn't stand the squalor anymore and Apparated away. Unfortunately, when he found the Prophet, he grew heavy with sadness because he found out that she too was sent to Azkaban for a year as an accessory to a Death Eater. Unfortunately he couldn't stop. He knew that he couldn't stop moving, lest he be caught to. Unfortunately within the next month, the authorities did catch up with him. When the Aurors took him into custody—the team led by Harry bloody Potter, nonetheless—the only thing that Lucius could do was weep for his foolishness and the shame he felt for his newly accustomed lifestyle that he had been living for the past year. However, instead of waiting a month like they did for Draco, the Wizengamot decided that his war crimes as a Death Eater must be taken into account now. He was sentenced to five years in Azkaban for murder and other crimes against both Muggle and wizardkind. During his time behind bars, he was visited by Draco who was released soon enough. Unfortunately, he found out through Draco that his wife would not be visiting him because she did not survive nine months into her sentence. In his heart, he knew that he damned her to die with his Death Eater beliefs and the teachings of his father, Abraxas. He felt, no, he knew he was responsible for her dying in that abominable hellhole, and that was the biggest regret he will ever have for the rest of his life. However, to keep his sanity, he thought of the good times in his life that he shared with her. He kept the thoughts on a constant loop for the rest of his time there, and four years later, he was released. The first thing he did was visit her grave outside the prison to show her final respects, and then he openly wept for the first time in four years since he heard of her death. After relieving his feelings, he went home to his son to openly grieve there too. Afterwards, he just felt the thorough relief of knowing that his nightmare was all over, and he could go back to living his life.

That was until the day he went for a health checkup.

During his checkup, a Healer ran a Diagnostic Spell and revealed that he was positive with tuberculosis. He never felt more scared in his life from knowing that he caught a disease, assumed that it was from his days in squalor, or even from his stint in Azkaban. When he found out what it was and how he may have gotten it, he not only felt shame, he felt past regret for his mistakes as a cruel bastard as well. During his time in Azkaban, he had decided to change a new leaf, as did his son Draco. Draco had really changed over the years, dropping his old values and doing many charities for both Muggles and wizards alike, especially Muggleborns. He even went through training and became an Auror, and that made Lucius respect his son a whole lot more for making better choices earlier on in his life than he did, despite his father's teachings. With the way Draco was carrying himself in society, it made Lucius believe that maybe, just maybe he may have a chance at redemption also. He freed all except his most trusted house elf, Styx, and downsized from his manor to a decently small cottage for he, his son, and his elf. He gave most of his possessions away for auction and charity. He made really decent living and took it one step at a time since he'd been diagnosed.

Even though he'd done everything he could do to right his past transgressions, there was still one more thing he needed to make right before he died, and that was Harry Potter. Even though he supposedly detested Harry to the last Knut in his vault, he owed it to him to tell the truth before he died, and then, just maybe, he would be at peace.

A/N: Okay, this was it—the first chapter! Please read and review, they are my warm mugs of Butterbeer already paid for!

Another thing I'd like to express are the religious values Lucius has about his afterlife while he's dying. That was just a little something I thought he might be thinking about while he's dying and nearly on his deathbed. I have nothing to do about what certain people think about near death, but where they might be going in the afterlife might be one for some. I'm just going to leave it at that, so no flames for that. I told you this story was dramatic.

Phoenix :D