2.
"I am terribly sorry I am late…" Draco began as Krux rose from his seat.
"Mr. Malfoy, need I remind you that when your father was in this position, he was never late. Ever."
"Yes sir," Draco bowed his head, trying to keep his calm. He longed to just walk out or tell Krux what he really thought of him, but that would just make things worse. After all, he just wanted the meeting to be over with and with as little argumentation as possible.
"So, it has come to my attention that the new Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor at Hogwarts has the students duel each other. Have you heard of this, sir?"
"I have not," Draco sighed, "But I really don't see the problem. When I was at Hogwarts, Severus always had us duel. He-he even placed me against Potter," Draco smirked.
"And so you agree that this is dangerous and a violation of the students' safety…"
"Krux, I honestly don't see where the problem is. Besides, if the professor is supervising at all times, then there shouldn't be any concern. More than once, things got a tad out of hand in my class and Severus would step in and…"
"Mr. Malfoy, my son is in that class and he was placed in the infirmary on three accounts of burns and lacerations."
"Then your son should learn how to be a better dueler," Draco sneered under his breath.
"What was that?" Krux demanded.
"Nothing," Draco smirked, "Just…if you are so concerned about your son getting hurt in a duel, then you should teach him how to actually…"
"Are you telling me what to do, Mr. Malfoy?"
"Possibly," Draco smirked again.
"I take back what I said earlier," Krux straightened, "You are just like your father."
Draco's face went sour. Alright, so telling people what to do was in his blood, that hardly meant that he was just like his father, did it? Draco tried to shake the thoughts from his head as Krux rose from his seat.
"I believe we no longer have any business to attend to."
"Good," Draco tried to smile as innocently as he could.
"Mr. Malfoy, I can assure you that I will look into this and I will have that new teacher fired. My son could have been killed!" As he spoke, a memory flashed through Draco's mind. There he was, standing in the middle of the forest when that freak, Hagrid's, horse-bird-thing had attacked him. His father had the thing executed. Now who's more like my father, Draco asked himself angrily.
After Krux had left, Draco hurried out to the desk to see Hermione playing with December. She was still cooing to the thing and had the most idiotic expression on her face.
"Who's a good girl? You're a good girl!"
"Please," Draco gagged, "You're making me sick."
"You know, if you're going to take care of December, you are going to have to actually be affectionate."
"No thank you, I'll pass on that," Draco made a face, "What the bloody hell is that atrocious smell?"
"December," Hermione answered plainly, "She needs to be changed."
"You do it!"
"Draco!"
"What? I've never changed a baby before!"
"My God!" Hermione rolled her eyes, "How do you expect to be a father if…"
"I am not going to be a father!" Draco shouted, "She isn't mine! Why should I take care of her?"
"Because, you're all she has!" Hermione insisted, "Besides, she likes you!"
"She's a baby! She doesn't know who she likes!"
"Then explain why she cried when you left her," Hermione smirked, knowingly.
Draco couldn't say anything to that. Instead, he took December from Hermione's arms and held her out at a distance. He began to wonder if he had smelled that bad when he was a baby.
"Alright," Draco rolled his eyes, "I'll change her, but I might need someone to show me what to do."
Hermione nodded and led Draco over to a restroom. At first he had argued for a few minutes about entering a girl's restroom but considering Hermione refused to go into the men's and she was the only one that could help him, he finally gave in and followed closely behind her. She pulled down one of the changing stations and placed December inside.
"There's a spell for this," Hermione said as she began to take off the old diaper.
"Really?"
"Yeah. It'd make this a whole lot easier but then again, I have never been one for short-cuts. Besides, you'll have a more personal connection…"
"I don't want a personal connection!" Draco objected, "I want her gone as fast as possible!"
"Sure," Hermione nodded.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Draco demanded as Hermione began to put on a new diaper from the dispenser.
"Nothing," she shook her head, "Nothing at all."
"Liar," Draco snarled.
"Draco, I can never be the one to tell you what to do but…"
"Hermione," Draco sighed, his brow creasing with stress, "I can't keep her. I could never be a good father."
"You aren't Lucius," Hermione said quietly as she handed December back over to Draco, "But go to the Minister. He will be able to offer you advice."
After she left, Draco stood there, holding December in his arms. She looked up at him and smiled. The kid did smile a lot. And it wasn't as if she was one of those annoying babies who cried all the time. And she was kind of cute.
"No!" Draco scolded himself, "Stop it! This thing is nothing more than an annoyance. You have to take her to the Minister."
He carried little December out of the restroom and to the Minister's office. The door was shut, as always, and his secretary happened to be gone. Draco knew it wasn't polite to just barge in, but then again, this was Draco. Being polite wasn't one of his top concerns. He shoved the door open with his shoulder and marched inside.
"Draco!" The Minister clearly was not expecting any sudden guests, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Shove off, Potter!" Draco hissed.
"You know," Harry smirked, "I could have you deported for that."
"But you won't."
"Malfoy, I swear if you weren't one of the bests…what is this?" Harry nodded towards the little girl.
"Oh, December Rose. I found her this morning on my porch. There was a note saying that her mother couldn't keep her and she thought that I would be able to provide for her. I-I don't know what to do with the thing, Potter. I can't keep her."
"And why not?" Harry asked.
"Because, I'm a Malfoy."
"No kidding."
"Look, I came to you asking you for help. You've helped me in the past – hell, you got me this job – surely, you can do this too. If not for me, for December. She needs a good home. She needs…love."
"And you think you are incapable of offering that to her?" Harry was clearly not following Draco's logic.
"Of course. Malfoys aren't…compassionate."
"I don't know about that," Harry mused, "It was you who saved Hermione from that Dementor…"
"What choice did I have? She could have been killed!"
"And why did that concern you?"
"Because it wasn't her battle. It was supposed to be just you and the Dark Lord. She didn't need to die."
"Well, that sounds compassionate if you ask me."
"I didn't."
"So you want me to put December – right – up for foster care?"
"Well…yeah," Draco shrugged, "But make sure she goes to a good home."
"I-I can't make that kind of promise, Malfoy. There is a fifty-fifty chance that she'll be put in a good home…"
"But you're the bloody Minister! Can't you pull a few strings?"
"It doesn't work that way. She'll go where she'll go."
"Why…why do people foster if they…they don't want to love the thing."
"The 'thing' is a child, Malfoy and some people just don't care."
"I care. I care enough to know I can't keep her."
Harry bit down on his lip, "Alright, Malfoy. Here's how this can work. You keep December for a week. If you find that you do have the compassion for her that I think you do, then you can keep her. If not, she can go up for foster care."
"A whole week?"
"Yes. If you don't want to, I can just call the Child Care Services and they can put her…"
"I'll take her!" Draco answered a little too quickly.
"Fine then," Harry nodded, "I hope everything works out."
"Me too," Draco nodded, "Thanks, Potter."
"I did this for December," Harry reminded him, "Not you."
"Of course," Draco smiled before carrying December out of the office and back towards Hermione. She looked anxious as if she hadn't stopped thinking about December since leaving them in the restroom together. Draco couldn't help but laugh when Hermione jumped up at the sight of them.
"Missed the kid, huh Granger?"
"She is sweet."
"You want her?"
"Draco, I can't do that. Ron would throw a fit!"
"Potter said that if I kept her for a week and found that I liked her, that I could keep her."
"What's your other option?" Hermione asked.
"She go up for foster care."
"You can't do that to her, Draco!" Hermione shouted, "You just can't!"
"Hey, there's a chance she could find a good family…"
"Draco…" Hermione's eyes were pleading.
"Right," he nodded, "You're right. I can't do that to her."