"How do you do it, Dylan?"
"Do what?"
"Stay innocent even after everything that has been done to you," said Harry quietly as he drowned a phial containing a Calming Draught.
"Stay innocent? Harry, what are you talking about?"
"You were called a freak your whole life. So was I. The matron in the orphanage tried to do an exorcism on you. I've never told this to anyone except Daphne, but the Dursleys did that to me when I was five. I was never more scared in my life than I was that day. I was beaten up for accidental magic; so were you. I was told that my father was a useless drunken layabout and that my mother was a whore. Even now, many people at Hogwarts call you a bastard. You were told that your father was a Death Eater while I was told that my parents were murdered by one of the most dangerous Dark Lords in recent years. How, Dylan? You still remain pure at heart. You don't seek revenge against those who hurt you. Even after what others called you at school, you still go out of your way to help them if they're in trouble. Your innocence and sunny personality confuse me. We share a similar past, yet I turned out much darker in the process. How?"
Dylan was speechless. This was the last thing he expected. He stayed silent for a minute before responding.
"I don't think I care much for revenge," he admitted softly. "When I was growing up, I tried to fight back, but whenever I did, it only got worse. I used to get angry at them for the way they treated me, but I realised later that there was no point. I was alone with no one to help me. I had to rely on myself for everything. If I had to survive, I had to avoid them. I did not have the power to take them head-on, so I kept to myself. I don't understand why you call me pure at heart. I'm nothing like that."
Harry chuckled slightly, shaking his head in amusement. Dylan really had no idea how unique he was. Would Harry have turned out like that in another life? Where his eyes displayed innocence and warmth instead of the cold emerald orbs they always were? Harry couldn't explain it, but torturing the Dursleys and killing Vernon today struck a chord.
"If you were given a choice, would you be willing to kill the people who treated you that way? Make them pay?"
Dylan was startled by that question. He swallowed as he answered, "I won't lie and say that they don't deserve punishment, but I wasn't the only one those older boys and people at the orphanage tormented. But would I intentionally torture or kill them? No. I don't think I could do it."
After a pause, he asked hesitantly, "Can you?"
Harry looked at the boy directly in the eye and said, "Yes. I've already done it."
Dylan's eyes widened and he involuntarily moved back as though burned. "Killed?" he whispered, but Harry didn't answer.
Technically he had killed. He may not have used his wand to strike the final blow, but he was the reason Professor Quirrell and Vernon Dursley were dead. He had used the Cruciatus Curse on Marge Dursley and Aunt Petunia. He had the capacity to perform the Killing Curse, which not many could do. The curse required powerful magic behind it. The amount of hatred which Harry needed to feel to use the Cruciatus and Killing Curses were frightening. Sirius had spoken to him about this, but… there were some things he could never tell Sirius. His godfather wouldn't understand. Neither would Daphne, for that matter, because they had never experienced it.
"Would you think any less of me if I said yes?"
Dylan gazed out of the window, looking at the twinkling stars above. "Why did you do it?" he asked after a pause. "Was it only for revenge?"
"No, not really," replied Harry honestly. "The first time I killed someone was when I was eleven, in my first year at Hogwarts. There was a teacher by the name of Professor Quirrell who taught Defence. He was being possessed by Voldemort or was Voldemort himself, I think; I'm not sure. He had nearly caused the death of Hermione Granger by letting a troll inside the school once. Many other students could have died that day too. To ensure that he didn't kill anyone - or me, for that matter - I led the man to his death. I stunned him and let the Cerberus at school do the rest."
Dylan remained silent.
"This evening, I had something important to do with regard to Voldemort's continued survival," he continued. "I needed someone to drink a very painful potion that makes the drinker relive his worst memories. No one knows this, but I kidnapped my Muggle relatives some time back and kept them locked up in the dungeons. I made my uncle drink the potion, but he unexpectedly died today."
"But you didn't actually kill both," said Dylan hesitantly, trying to wrap his mind around what he was hearing. "The first one, you were trying to stop Voldemort. The second one was an accident, wasn't it? You didn't kill him either. So, why are you feeling guilty?"
"Oh, I'm not," said Harry flatly. "I don't feel guilty for killing both those men and I never will. They deserved everything they had coming to them. But I'm just curious about how you turned out to be such a sweet kid. You really are something special, Dylan. I'm glad I met you. You're like a mirror to me. I won't change who I am, Merlin knows I am happy the way I turned out, but sometime, somewhere, I could have been like you. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing."
"You certainly think a lot, don't you?"
Harry exhaled. "If you're afraid of me after learning this -"
"Stop," said Dylan firmly. "That will never happen. You - you're my brother, Harry. Granted, we might be cousins ten generations removed and not actual siblings, but that doesn't matter to me. You - you're my hero! You always help me when I need you. You take care of me and, well, yes, what you did was wrong, but you took me in, accepted me, an orphaned son of a known Death Eater, as your brother. You gave me a home and spent time with me, taught me advanced magic; how can that make you a bad person? I-I don't know what else to say…"
Harry stood up and pulled the younger boy into a tight hug. "Thanks, Dylan," he whispered. "You are and always will be my little brother. Just don't ever change from the sweet boy that you are. I love you."
Dylan choked as he gripped him tighter; no one had ever uttered those words to him before and it was a novel experience for him, not to mention emotional. "Love you too, Harry."
Harry simply placed a kiss on top of the boy's head. A minute later, they headed towards their respective rooms for the night.
Sitting on floor near the fireplace, the young Potter scion closed his eyes to centre himself. It had been an emotional day for him and he needed to get himself under control. He couldn't have such an episode again.
....
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