Just like Brothers

Chapter 27

"Professor!" Harry ran to catch up with the defense professor.
   
"Harry?" The scarred middle-aged man turned around.
   
"Sorry Professor. I've been meaning to ask you something." Harry admitted shifting on his feet. "See, I've recently gotten a book of letters all from my mother, and you're mentioned in a few of them. You were friends with my parents?"

Lupin sighed. "Why don't you come to my office and we'll have a chat, Harry."
      
Lupin's office was unlike any Professor's office Harry had ever been in. It was more cozy then the others. There were bookshelves with tons and tons of books piled messily on the shelves. Harry recognized a lot of them as popular muggle novels. He had some empty cages along the walls and some unpacked boxes. In the middle of the room was a wooden desk with three cushioned chairs. On the desk was a stack of papers, an old quill, an empty bottle on ink and a half-eaten chocolate bar.
       
"Have a seat Harry," Remus gestured at a chair and sat down himself.
     
"Chocolate?" Lupin offered. Harry shook his head and clasped his hands in his lap.
     
"So, Harry, what do you want to know?"
     
"Everything," Harry breathed, "what were my parents like?"
     
Remus Lupin's face twisted into a sad smile.
     
"They were two of the best people I have ever met," he sighed, "I met your mother on the train, she was my first friend. After I was sorted was when I met your father. There were four of us... James and I and, well," he stopped abruptly and shook his head. "Your father and I were like brothers, he was the loyalist friend I've ever had. He loved Quidditch and pranks, but above all he loved you and your mother. He wanted to name you Elvendork, Lily had a hard time getting him to agree on a normal name." Remus laughed, "Lily hated your father for years. It took him the better of seven years to convince her to go out to with him. However they became friends in sixth year. They loved each other more than life itself. She managed to see the best in everyone, even when she shouldn't have. Her best friend was her sister until she came to Hogwarts. She used to say her biggest regret was loosing that bond with Petunia."

"You've met my aunt?" Harry asked, curious.

"Oh yes, I don't expect you to remember, Harry, but I used to visit you all the time when you were a baby. I would've taken you in if Dumbledore would've let me. For a while you were the only thing I had to keep me going, the only thing I cared about in life." Remus smiled sadly at the teenage boy, "your uncle made me stop coming around, he didn't want to be associated with people of our kind, he didn't want you to be exposed to it at all." He sighed sadly, "my biggest regret was listening to him."

Harry was shocked. He couldn't get words to come out of his mouth. He just ended up staring at the man with his mouth wide open.

"I'm sorry, I should't have said anything. It's about time for supper, you should get going." Remus Lupin brushed his hand through his hair, uncomfortably.

"Right, er, yeah. Thank you Professor." Harry said. He went went to leave but saw a spark die in the older mans eyes. For a second he really looked at the Defense Professor, he had ratty clothing, scars covering every inch of his face, his hair was already graying at the roots and he had stress lines creasing his forehead. He looked older than he should've by about twenty years. Harry put down his bag and pulled his Professor in for a hug.

"Thank you," he mumbled before hurrying out into the hall.

>•<

Draco woke up with a start. His sheets damp with sweat and his breath heavy. Every breath he took was hard and labored. He was uncontrollably shaking and his hands were tightly grasping his sheets.

"Draco, are you up?" A groggy voice came from his left. He opened his mouth to respond but no words came out.

"Draco?"

This time Draco knew it was Blaise. He heard the curtains being drawn back from his four poster but his eyes remained staring straight ahead.

"Mate are you alright?"

Again Draco couldn't respond, he was paralyzed with unrational fear.

"You don't look so great, I'm going to get Snape." The panicked tanned boy ran out of the dormitory, leaving Draco by himself.

Flashbacks of the last night he spent at Malfoy Manor were replaying in his head. He could feel the pain as the cruciatus curse hit him.

This wasn't the first time this had happened to Draco. Over the summer he had gotten reoccurring nightmares that were very similar. The only one to ever experience one before was Harry. Harry had helped Draco through a few dozen of these night terrors as the raven-hair boy had ones of his own. He taught Draco how to cope with them but this had been a particularly terrible, there was no way he could get through it on his own.

"Mr. Malfoy." He heard Snape's familiar voice call, it was laced with concern.

"He's this one Professor." Draco assumed Blaise had led the potions master to his bunk.

Snape took one look at the blond and turned to Blaise,

"Go get Professor McGonagall, tell her I need Harry Potter."

Blaise stared at the man.

"Hurry boy," Snape snapped, "tell her it's urgent, get Harry Potter and bring him here."

Blaise took off again, sprinting out of the Slytherin dorms.

"Draco you need to breathe," Snape soothed, "it's not real, you are at Hogwarts, you are safe."