The Malfoy cursed child (twin of draco si)

[azukugames]

Ryuto Malfoy had long since stopped finding the English countryside beautiful. He'd seen it too many times — through too many carriage windows, too many Ministry galas, too many early-morning escapes from his father's expectations. Now he pressed his forehead against the cool glass of the Hogwarts Express and let the rolling hills blur into green nothing while his brother's voice cut through his quiet.

"I know for certain we'll be sorted into Slytherin," Draco announced, as though it were a foregone conclusion and the rest of the world simply hadn't caught up yet.

Ryuto didn't look away from the window. "You will be, maybe. I'd prefer Ravenclaw. Or Gryffindor, honestly."

The silence that followed was sharp enough to cut.

"Gryffindor," Draco repeated, as if the word itself had offended him. "You'd shame the entire Malfoy name. What if Father disowns you?"

Ryuto finally turned, offering his brother a smile that held no warmth whatsoever. "Oh no. Anything but that." He let the sarcasm sit for a moment before continuing. "At least then I wouldn't spend the next decade waiting to be handed off in some marriage contract. Father will use me as a bargaining chip sooner or later — we both know it."

Draco opened his mouth to respond, but a knock at the compartment door cut him short.

The door slid open to reveal a round-faced boy clutching the doorframe as though it were the only solid thing in his world. His eyes were red-rimmed, his expression equal parts hopeful and defeated.

"Sorry to bother you," Neville Longbottom said. "Have either of you seen a toad?"

"No," Draco said flatly. "And frankly, Longbottom, I'm surprised you even received a letter."

Ryuto jummped out his seat

"I'll help you look," he said, stepping past Draco without a backward glance.







They moved through two carriages before Ryuto spoke, keeping his voice low and even.

"What have I told you about confidence?"

Neville pulled at the hem of his robes. "I know, I just — I'm not sure I deserve to be here."

"That," Ryuto said, "is precisely the kind of thinking that makes everything harder than it needs to be."

They nearly collided with a girl rounding the corner from the opposite direction — bushy brown hair, an impressive stack of books tucked under one arm, and an expression that suggested she had already read all of them at least twice.

"Sorry, Neville," she said, slightly breathless. "No luck with Trevor in this section either."

"We could ask an older student," Ryuto offered. "There may be a Summoning Charm that would help."

The girl's eyes lit up immediately. "You're right She straightened and extended her hand. "I'm Hermione Granger."

"Ryuto Malfoy." He shook it without hesitation. "And please for the sake of my sanity ignore everything my brother says about Muggle. borns."

Neville nodded earnestly. "The rest of Ryuto's family are… not exactly welcoming.

Ryuto said nothing,







Several carriages back, a boy sat alone with rather more going on inside his head than his expression let on.

This is all completely surreal, Harry Potter thought, watching the countryside flash past. Of all the lives to be reborn into.

He tuned out Ron Weasley's enthusiastic commentary on Chocolate Frog cards and turned his attention inward. The wand in his pocket felt familiar in a way it probably shouldn't for an eleven-year-old who had only just retrieved it from Ollivander's. Then again, he wasn't quite a typical eleven-year-old.

I've managed to build a foundation with wandless magic, at least. I just wish I'd had a chance to choose something more useful at the start. He exhaled slowly. For now, I'll go with the flow.

What struck him as odd, though

as the journey wore on and the train filled with the noise of excited first-years was that not a single person had come to his compartment asking about a missing toad.

Strange.







Back in Hermione and Neville's section of the train, Ryuto had accepted the offer to share their compartment and was leaning back against the seat with his arms folded, looking precisely as comfortable as someone who had spent a lifetime making the best of whatever room he was placed in.

"How is Uraume doing?" Neville asked, settling across from him. "It seems unfair they couldn't come with you."

"They're at the Manor," Ryuto said. "Mother and Father weren't going to allow a first-year to bring a personal retainer to Hogwarts without a considerable argument, and I didn't have the energy for it."

Hermione looked between them. "Who's Uraume?"

Neville hesitated, then said, a little carefully: "Don't be alarmed, but they serve Ryuto. Faithfully. Very faithfully."

Ryuto offered a more measured explanation. "I found Uraume when I was eight. I'd gone for a walk on my own — which I did often, as the Manor isn't exactly a warm place — and they were alone. Abandoned. Seven years old." He was quiet for a moment. "I brought them back with me. My parents protested until Uraume demonstrated a talent for magic. They also have an ability I've come to think of as ice manipulation — something well outside ordinary wizarding magic." A faint smile crossed his face. "And their cooking is considerably better than anything the house-elves produce."

"They're loyal to you specifically?" Hermione asked, her tone more curious than alarmed.

"Only to me," Ryuto confirmed. "That has never changed."










The Great Hall was every bit as magnificent as the books described, though Harry found it difficult to focus on the enchanted ceiling when there was so much else demanding his attention.

He watched the Sorting with detached interest — Draco Malfoy striding to the stool with the confidence of someone who had already written the outcome — and then, before the Hat had even touched his head, it called out Slytherin to a ripple of applause from the green-and-silver table.

Then another Malfoy approached the stool.

Harry hadn't expected that.

The boy was blonde, like his brother, but carried himself differently — less performance, more self-possession. Where Draco walked as though expecting applause, this one moved as though the applause was simply irrelevant. He sat. The Hat took a moment that stretched noticeably longer than his brother's. Then

Gryffindor.




The red-and-gold table was stunend. Harry blinked.

He leaned toward the nearest person and asked quietly, "Who is that?"

Hermione Granger, who had been sorted moments earlier and was still adjusting to her seat, answered without looking up from her programme. "Ryuto Malfoy."

Draco has a brother, Harry thought. The realisation settled over him with the particular weight of something that was going to matter eventually. What other surprises has this world been saving?

He turned back to the front and filed it away for later.

There would be time.










Author's Notes:

• Harry Potter is a reincarnated soul — a fan of the series in his past life with a passing interest in anime. He suspects he may have landed in some kind of AU, and he is not wrong.

• Ryuto Malfoy was semi-knowledgeable about Harry Potter in his past life. He was born with the Shrine technique — Sukuna's innate ability — and has spent his childhood mastering it in secret. Uraume is his retainer: absolutely loyal, stoic, gifted with ice manipulation, and an exceptional cook.

• Uraume serves Ryuto exclusively, much as in canon. Their loyalty is unconditional and has never been tested, because it has never needed to be.