Chapter 4: The Secret Tree

A loud, split second, snap dropped two figures unceremoniously on the red carpeted floor after a whorl of black. Pliers looked around anxiously as he watched two disoriented teenagers pick themselves up from having their insides thrown around a blender and back again.

Matthias' vision swayed as he staggered away from the house elf and towards his father's mahogany desk. He reached out to catch himself but greatly miscalculated the distance between him and the table and fell face first on the floor.

Kian on the other hand dropped on his back, arms wrapped securely around his stomach, groaning as he tried to get the feeling back on all of his limbs. "We are –" he heaved, "– never doing that again."

Matthias laughed dryly as he looked over his shoulders and lightly kicked Kian's leg. "This was your idea."

"It was," Kian hissed scornfully. "But since when have my ideas actually done us any good?"

"Not many," Matthias jeered.

"Exactly," the Muggle nodded. He turned to his side and shakenly tried to push himself on all fours. The sudden movement sent black spots around his eyes, and bile to rise at back of his throat. Kian gagged and fell back on the floor while grumbling profanities in his native tongue.

"Stay down," Matthias instructed as he gained his balance, after the world finally stopped shifting around him. "We don't know how well Muggles handle Apparition."

"Not as well I thought," Kian growled. "I feel like shit. How the fuck do wizards handle this stuff. God. Why the fuck did you agree with my plan? You're supposed to be the one who tells me if this works or not!"

Pliers' ears twitched at Kian's colorful vocabulary and looked at Matthias, his mouth trembling to say something. "Should- should Phu-Phu-Phu-Pliers t-t-t-tre-treat the M-m-mu-mmm-muggle, yu-young ma-ma-mas-mas-massster, sssss-sir?"

Matthias waved his hand dismissively at the house elf. "He's fine, let him breathe." He leaned back on the desk and rubbed at his temples; soothing his nerves. "Did we set the charm off?"

Pliers meekly shook his head. He made once last check at Kian, who made another attempt to sit himself upright, before Apparating out of the room to deal with the next task, which was use Rhaegis as the distraction to trigger the charms, while Pliers apparated them inside.

Matthias knew he explained the concept of Apparition to Kian ways back, but he didn't expect him to remember or use it for this specific situation. Despite being more knowledgeable about magic, Matthias didn't know that house-elves were actually an exception to perimeter alarm charms and Anti-Disapparition Jinx set in their own households. Logically, it makes sense since Apparating actually doesn't require breaking and entering; it literally just makes you phase through the obstacle and brings you inside the place one desires.

Kian finally sat up and let out an exhausted moan before looking at Matthias. "Now we're in. Your turn to start thinking. Where would your dad hide a genealogy?"

Matthias frowned in thought and looked around the room for a moment in thought.

The room was, like most of the house, relatively bigger than what one would expect it to be. It's spacious enough room to fit about ten people in, and it still won't look crowded. On the left side of the room, beside the glass door that opens up to the balcony, is a circular table set up with two, single seater, armchair sofa's on opposite sides.

Behind it lay a built-in bookcase that curved in a 90 degree angle divided into eight columns that held six shelves each. The case is filled with assorted hard-bound books on magical law, both national and international, Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts, diaries for personal use, and journals. Multiple trophies and plaque awards were also displayed in some of the shelves, along with small portraits that moved in a loop.

Another cabinet stood beside the book case, where small but intricately designed and sculpted crystal glass figurines of magical and non-magical creatures were displayed. The largest of which was placed in the middle, a crystal clear figurine of two swans, with two multifaceted Lapiz Lazuli gems for bodies, connecting their foreheads together as though showing affection for one another, shimmered under the low yellow light that brought attention to it.

Then finally, to Matthias immediate right, is an oddly bare wall. Not a single portrait was anchored unto it.

Matthias found himself staring at the empty space far longer than he should have. A weird feeling at the back of his head screamed and told him that something wasn't right about it. Something was off.

"Matthias," Kian snapped his fingers twice in front of his friend's face. "We don't know how long we have until the charms get triggered by us breaking in. Your plan, if it's convenient, please."

Matthias blinked out of his daze and turned to his friend. "R – Right," he stammered. "Well, the only places we can really check are the desk –" he patted on the table he was sitting on "– and the book case. I don't think vater would hide something inside his collection case."

Kian turned his head over to the glass collection near the door and hummed. "Didn't know you father was a sucker for these things."

"It calms him down," Matthias explained. "Anyway, I'm going to check his desk first. You should check the albums in the shelf. If there's nothing there, you can check the journals, I'm sure he'd have mentioned something about a Gareth."

Kian nodded in understanding and walked over to the book case, crouching down to scan through the numerous volumes of hard-bound family photographs and file cases that were wrongfully stashed beside them.

Matthias also went to work begin their search. He walked around the desk, tracing his hands over and under the edges in case his vater decided to be smart and hide a secret button to open some compartment he doesn't want anyone touching or knowing about. After two tries, Matthias gave up and supposed if there were any hidden compartments, they would be hidden with magic.

He clicked his tongue. He can't use magic to check anything, so he proceeded to rummage through the drawers instead. Matthias carefully sifted through hundreds upon hundreds of paperwork his vater has filed, and putting them away after careful deliberation that they were useless.

Matthias sighed in defeat as he pushed the last drawer close and arranged everything in and on the table back to how he found it earlier.

The young wizard looked over to Kian's progress and only shook his head in mild amusement when he saw the Muggle climb over the sofa and reach for the books on the fourth shelf; which was a little too high for his reach. He quickly flipped through the pages then shoved the book back in the shelf after it was deemed worthless.

Matthias clicked his tongue and moved from the desk to hopefully help Kian with his own search, but found himself stopping and staring at the blank wall again.

That lingering thought from before made itself known again, and a strong feeling told him that something was missing from this wall. Something big, and… branching out. He can't remember what it was, but he has vague recollections of it.

Matthias closed his eyes and tried to remember what it was he saw on the wall before. A shot of pain, along with an image that he can barely make out, passed through his head and sent Matthias tumbling back.

Something is definitely wrong here. The only time he felt that same pain was when he thinks about or tries to remember why the name Gareth Braun feels and sounds familiar despite not knowing who he is.

Filled with new found resolve to solve this mystery, Matthias made an unconscious step towards the wall and pressed his hand on it. He traced his fingers aimlessly on its bland surface, half expecting something to happen.

"Hey!" Kian yelled at him. "If you're done searching your station, I could use a little help here."

"Sorry," Matthias apologized instinctively, but didn't let his focus from the wall wander.

Kian frowned incredulously at the younger brunette and dropped everything he was working on, on the floor and left about a dozen books lying there as he walked over to check on Matthias. "You alright? I've never seen you so fixated on a damn wall."

Matthias hummed in agreement, his fingers still tracing an unknown shape on the wall. "Something's missing here."

"Yeah, an ornament or two," Kian scoffed. "It could use a few lamps. Just a little something to give it flair."

"No, no," Matthias shook his head. "I've seen something here before, it's like – snaking out. All over, with… pictures. Urgh –" he groaned again, fighting through the migraines that hit every time he recalled a bit of information from his cloudy memory.

Kian caught him by his shoulders as the latter dug out information in his seemingly locked memories.

"I don't –" Matthias hiccupped "– know when exactly I saw it, but I know I saw something. It was right here," he gestured at the entire wall, "but it's just... gone. All of it. I don't understand why."

Kian looked up at the wall and studied it for a bit. He left Matthias side to inspect the wall himself and traced it, looking for some panel or hidden button to reveal a secret portrait or something but found nothing. "Maybe we're going about this wrong," he thought out loud.

"We're searching for a genealogy like a Muggle would," Kian explained. "We grew up watching spy movies and mystery get solved through smarts and trap doors, but your dad is a wizard. He definitely used magic to hide it."

Matthias frowned in thought, he had the same thought earlier, but they – he can't use magic out of school. That's a violation of the law. His eyes scanned the barren wall again and thought, "There might be something… A spell… it hides things from sight."

"Like invisibility?"

"Sort of, but it's just for objects," Matthias clarified.

"So, why not cast it?" Kian wondered while he waved a hand on the wall.

"Under-aged magic," Matthias reminded him. "I'm not sure if there's a loop hole around this one. If I break it, it's a court case."

Kian hummed for a while before crossing his arms nonchalantly. "We've gotten this far, you can't seriously want to back out now. We've been trying to find answers the entire summer, and this could be the final key."

Matthias mulled over the risks silently on his own. Would he risk getting in trouble with the Ministry without knowing for sure if casting a spell like this would reveal anything important? He glanced at Kian, and saw how the latter's eyes was set on breaking the rules. He really wanted to see this through the end.

"I'm placing my trust on Johann's regard for rules and hope the disruptor charm he placed around our old home is still in effect here."

"You can do that?"

"Johann, did, so let's," Matthias pulled out his wand from behind his pants pocket and smiled nervously. "Let's put our faith in him."

Kian rolled his eyes, grumbling something about not trusting Johann as far as he can throw him, but placed his full trust in Matthias. "Alright, fine. Let's just… get this over with."

Matthias nodded at Kian in gratitude then turned to the wall. He raised his wand and tapped it lightly on the façade and cast, "Aparecium."

Black ink slowly lined the wall before them and curved in every corner, forming something a keen to a tree with multiple branches and roots that reached miles. Thin long lines branched out from the black trunk in the middle of the wall, and connected itself to thorny framed head of people with floating banners for names.

Kian backed away in awe, watching as the family tree appeared itself in all its glory before his very eyes. He chuckled under his breath, quickly glanced around for any Ministry alarms, and proceeded to look for any hints of Gareth.

Matthias on the other hand simply stood there, mesmerized by the print.

He remembers this tree.

He'd seen it two years ago, when he wandered off into the study without his vater's permission. His father got angry at him at that time. Why he got angry, Matthias can't remember. Which is weird, considering it was something that he apologized for repeatedly because he was banned from entering the room ever again.

His vater didn't do anything without reason, so Matthias must have found something he shouldn't; and all signs currently point to the family tree.

Matthias studied the pictures and names found in the genealogy, whom he is familiar with, but not quite knowledgeable off. He assumed the genealogy was in some book Kian or Keith can get their hands on, but he forgot that wizards think differently. He didn't want to admit that he probably wasted Kian's time, but at least they got to solve this together like old times.

The further he traced, Matthias noticed that two heads were often placed side by side together. Underneath them branched out multiple people, which probably meant they were married and the multiple heads, were their descendants in the form of children and their children's children. Some of the heads were also void of color unlike the others. He didn't need magic to tell him that those were people who unfortunately passed already.

Matthias followed the branched until he found a very familiar name, Manfred Braun – his grandfather. Matthias immediately scanned below his name and found that it parted into three smaller branches. Vater had siblings?

Matthias beckoned Kian to come end this mystery with each other, and together, traced the family line to its offsprints. Matthias traced first to the eldest in the family, a young girl named Franziska Braun whose head floated in black and white. There was no head floating beside it nor were there any branches snaking underneath it.

Matthias frowned. Maybe that's why vater and Johann never talked about her.

On the next branch floated his vater's head right beside Elvira-Shuster Braun. He expected his mother's name to be floating right beside Hendrik as well but he supposed the tree only noted covenanted couples. Still, Matthias is a legitimate son of Hendrik so he should be right beside –The branch only extended to one person and there floated Johann's face in that infamous smug look of his.

Matthias shook his head in disbelief. This can't be true. He is Hendrik's son, he left because of his own personal reasons. His vater said so. Matthias felt his heart race as his his temples throbbed.

What is going on?

"Matt…" Kian whimpered as he pointed to the picture beside Hendrik.

The name Gareth Braun floated above a picture of a clean shaven, youthful man with the same hair and eyes as Matthias. They looked too alike. He glanced over beside the head, and saw his mother's face, colorless, but still brimming with life because of her smile.

Shakenly, Matthias traced down below the couple and found his name floating there, beneath both of them.

An electrifying pain shot through his mind and Matthias fell to his knees. He heard Kian calling for him in the distance but locked up memories suddenly came flooding back to him.

He was twelve years old when he wandered into his vater's study.

He wanted to watch the glass figures come to life again, but vater wasn't in the room. He looked around, curious of what or how magicians worked. Then, he found a letter on the table. He read it, confounded by its contents because it made sense. Everything made sense and he hated the truth that it contained.

Hendrik found him tearing the paper in half and crying in front of the family tree, trying to claw out the picture of Gareth beside his mother.

He demanded an explanation, screaming in anger mixed with disgust and betrayal, as he watched his vate– his uncle, try his hardest to explain himself.

Matthias raised his wand towards Hendrik, not wanting to believe anything that was coming out of his mouth, the end of the wand glowing a dangerous mix between green and red. He wanted to hurt Hendrik for lying, two years of living with a family built on lies, but dropped the wand in defeat.

He can't bring himself to hate someone who cared more than his real father did.

Hendrik took his wand from him and wrapped him in a hug while he apologized. The last thing twelve year old Matthias saw was a bright white light that seemed to take away all of his frustrations, and leave them forgotten until now.

"Matt…"

Kian placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, and looked at him with apologetic eyes.

Blinded with renewed feeling of betrayal, Matthias only felt irritated that Kian thought this was what he needed right now. He didn't need anyone's pity. What he needed was space.

He needed to get out of here.

Matthias pushed Kian's hands off him and bolted towards the door, the latter's warning regarding the charms falling unto deaf ears, and three things happened all at once.

The doors flew open, Pliers and Rhaegis screamed, and a loud pop erupted behind Kian.

Kian sat uncomfortably on Hendrik's chair, tapping his fingers in a rhythm on the table whilst they waited for something to happen.

It has been twenty minutes since Matthias ran off into God knows where and Hendrik apparated inside the study in fury. Kian had been asked to stay put while Matthias was located, however he doubted Hendrik wanted to keep him here for longer.

He did, technically help his son – nephew – discover the truth about his parentage. He was being held back for questioning and probably for a memory wipe.

Kian secretly hoped the memory wipe would only include events of today. He's not going to accept being thrown back in the dark regarding the wizarding community all over again. Not after years of hardwork.

Rhaegis screeched from the other room, and broke everything she can lay her claws on. Kian watched Hendrik turn twice his age in a split second as he roared "PLIERS! SHUT THAT DRAGON UP BEFORE I TURN YOU INTO A FLOOR RAG!"

Pliers immediately shuffled into Matthias' room and attempted to calm down the poorly distressed qyvern.

Kian covered an ear when the wyvern let out a sharp high-pitched wail that shattered some of Hendrik's glass figurines. Hendrik cursed in their native tongue as he mended the figure back together and stormed to fix the problem with Rhaegis himself.

Kian pressed a curious ear unto the wall and heard the poor creature drop asleep on the floor, before quickly returning the chair behind the desk. Hendrik walked back into the study without Pliers, but the look on the former's face made Kian deduce that Pliers was sent out to look for Matthias.

He scoffed softly, careful not to irritate the older Braun more than he already has. But he doubted that Pliers, not any of them can find Matthias that easily. Matthias didn't want to be found, and if he was against people that used magic to locate him, he'd choose a place where they will be forced not to.

Kian slumped on his chair as he watched Hendrik pace back and forth the room with hunched shoulders. He's nervous, Kian noted.

He supposed it's only natural to be, when your nephew finds out a secret you've been keeping from them for two whole years. Kian can't understand what Matthias is feeling or going through right now, but if he were to pick sides, he'd definitely side with his best mate on this one. Regardless of the dangers this secret may possess, Matthias had the right to know about who his real father was.

Glancing again at Hendrik, who had now resorted to wringing his hands over the other, Kian assumed the former was expecting this day to come – but not as soon as this. Hendrik bit his lip, and Kian hyper focused on the quick mannerism.

Afraid? What could the older Braun possibly be afraid of?

A floorboard creaked from the hallway and Hendrik finally stopped pacing.

Kian kicked his swivel chair around and was not surprised to see Johann storm into the room with his hair sticking in the wrong places. He returned in a hurry.

"What happened?" he inquired through heavy breaths.

"He found it," Hendrik answered blankly as he glanced to his left.

Johann's eyes scanned over the family tree on the wall, focusing his attention on the name beside Idelina Braun, and balled his hands into a fist. He charged towards Kian and pulled him off the chair, dragging him over the table, toppling over various items on the floor, and pressed his wand threateningly on the Muggle's throat.

"Give me a good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now," he hissed in German, fully aware that Kian can understand it by now.

Kian's eyes narrowed at the Johann, unfazed by the threat it posed. "You should really work on your empty threats, wizard."

"Don't push me, Muggle" Johann growled back. "I should've erased your memories the moment Matt told me you knew."

"He would've have hated you," he chided. "But you don't need me to do that now, do you?"

Johann clicked his tongue lowered his wand lightly, in slight agreement. "He was already happy… why didn't you just leave this alone?"

Kian blinked and couldn't help himself, he laughed. Johann flinched and Hendrik turned his head alarmed by the Muggle's reaction.

"So I'm the one at fault?" Kian argued in English. "I'm sorry, but I'm not the one who pretended to be his family for two years, and kept him in the dark about who his real father is!"

Johann seethed in anger and jabbed his wand deeper into Kian's throat, all inhibition thrown out the window. Kian glared down at him as he gagged and started to punch the older male's face to release him.

Hendrik pulled them apart without another word, and snarled at the older male, "Johannes! Wand down, now"

Grunting at the tone Hendrik used, Johann dropped his wand and subsequently, Kian who fell back unto the chair. He rubbed at his swollen skin while glaring daggers at Johann who waved a furious hand towards the Muggle, "He helped Matthias break into your study! Don't you at least want to punish him for doing that?"

Hendrik looked down at Kian and met defiant sea-green hues.

There was no way, Kian is allowing him to have his memories erased. Well, he might not be able to fight it, if that was Hendrik's decision, but projecting his intentions usually does the trick.

"No," the older wizard sighed in English, "He's only doing what Matthias asked him to. We had our chance to tell him and we didn't."

Johann laughed in disbelief and repeated his father's worlds with utter spite, "We? I wanted to tell him the moment he asked about Uncle Gareth. You promised me last time. Once the memory charm wore off we tell him, and what did you do?"

Hendrik remained silent in response.

Kian looked back and forth between the older Braun's. Could Matthias have already known, and Hendrik consciously erased that memory from him to protect him? Kian hummed, that would explain the memory lapses Matthias had while they were trying to figure this out.

The memory wasn't gone, it was buried.

"You told me to keep quiet about it!" Johann screamed as he pointed an accusing finger at Hendrik. "You knew Matthias wouldn't give up that easily. You literally told him he was dangerous and that he should stay away. If you raised him as your son for two years, then you'd know that was more than a good reason for him to dig deeper."

Johann turned on his heels and mumbled under his breath, "I should've told him… None of this would've happened if I did."

"What's done is done," Hendrik said through regret filled eyes, "all we can hope for now is that he returns safe. We need to explain why we had to keep this a secret."

Johann scoffed as if reminding Hendrik that it was his idea to keep it from Matthias, not his.

"Why did you –" Kian finally spoke, his voice breaking a little from the bruise on his neck "–keep this a secret? If you actually knew Matthias, you'd know that secrets don't stay secrets for long with him"

Johann waved a hand in agreement with Kian for once.

Hendrik sighed and pressed his nose bridge as if contemplating how to explain this clearly towards Kian. "If he knew," Hendrik started "which he did, I'm afraid he'd be too taken in by his loss and put himself in danger."

"I am not afraid of Matthias disowning me as his father once he learned of our real relation," Hendrik explained. "Gareth will and always will be his real father. I am but a substitute to fill in my brother's role." There was a spark of pain in his eyes that Kian assumed was a mixture of pity and regret, but it wasn't meant for himself or Matthias.

"What concerned me wasn't the truth of his father's identity, but the truth of Idelina's murder."

"What do you mean?" Kian pressed, beckoning for answers from both Johann and Hendrik. "I thought a Death Eater killed his mom."

"That is partially true," Hendrik sighed. "The person we locked in Azkaban was only but one of the parties responsible."

"On the night of the murder," Johann mumbled. "Two people were there. One was the… the death eater we caught. And the other one was –"

"Gareth," Kian finished as the pieces formed. "But… why? If they were together, married even as the tree shows, why would he want to kill both of them?"

"My bruder," Hendrik started sorrowfully, "He loved Idelina with all his heart. He would do anything to protect her, but when our vater found out that he had fallen for a Muggle, he took everything from him. Disowned him from the family title, riches, and power that he would've given to Idelina and Matthias, come the right time."

"He tried to live without those to prove to our family, and vater most of all, that he didn't need any of it to survive, but in the end, vater won," Hendrik explained. "Gareth couldn't get a job in the wizarding world due to vater's influence, and he was forced to find finance in a Muggle firm. Loving as he may be, Gareth has a pride that was too big for him to fit in his hands. He grew resentful, first towards the vater, then the family, and lastly – his own wife."

"Problems piled up as he made one wrong decision after the other. I saw him getting lost, he was… beginning to defuse his frustrations to Idelina. Even Matthias, who was less than two years old. I offered him my help, but… he kept avoiding me. Then one day, I get an owl from Idelina that Gareth didn't return home after two night. That was until –"

"The night of the murder."

"Death Eaters were already forced into hiding after he was defeated by Harry Potter years prior," Hendrik said. "But a few sects survived and remained hidden, bidding their time to see him rise again. Gareth may have found shelter with one of his friends in our old school, and started seeing differently from what he used to. He allowed their ways to indoctrinate him, and so, blamed Idelina for all the misfortune that had befallen him."

"A week before the murder, I heard from a friend that they caught sight of my bruder, near Matthias' kindergarten and their home. I grew worried, so I placed protective charms around their home. The alarms triggered when they entered, but I arrived too late," Hendrik exhaled. "Idelina was already dead, and Gareth was gone. I was lucky enough to save Matthias at least."

Hendrik turned to Kian, and the latter was surprised with the raw emotions engraved in those eyes. He couldn't turn away.

"Do you understand why we he had to keep this a secret?"

Kian frowned in concession. If Matthias found out about this, he'd be broken by it. His own father, driven to murder his own son and wife because of his broken pride? And once he did, it would be hard to tell what Matthias will do with that information. Kian knew what Matthias will try to do, but did his family?

It was not an easy decision to make.

"I understand that you did what you think was right," Kian mumbled. "But real father or not, you're his family. He trusted you and the least you could've done was place you faith in him. Matthias may be emotional, but he's not stupid. Like you said, he's your son."

Hendrik smiled grimly at Kian's words, a little thankful that the Muggle still considered him as Matthias' father and not the monster Gareth has become. "He won't endanger his life over this if it'll hurt any of you," the lie seeped through his tongue like silver.

Johann narrowed his eyes at Kian, skeptical, while Hendrik nodded in agreement. "Yes, you're right about that."

"I don't know if he'll forgive you right away, but least you can do for him is give him the space he needs to process all this," Kian suggested.

"But he could be –" Hendrik started, but Johann held him back.

"He'll come back when he's ready vater," Johann turned to Kian, eyes still infuriated at him, but reserved as he knew what Kian was capable of. "You know where to find him?"

Kian grinned as he walked past both wizards, and shoved his hands inside his jacket's pockets. "Don't worry," he looked back for a second, "I'll take care of him."

A/N: Tis a really long hiatus huh? Well, here's to hoping I don't disappear for that long ever again (we all know that is a LIE) Anyway, that's it from me. Don't forget to review, favorite or follow to get your update hot, hot, hot! See you in the next chapter!

Sushi OUT!