Chapter 21. Changes for Draco

Harry had planned on going to the Hospital Wing first thing in the morning to check on Draco, but as soon as he climbed out of the portrait hole he realised that was not going to happen. Small groups of students kept stopping him on the way down to the Great Hall, asking about specifics of the trial. "How did she look when she was convicted, Harry?" and "Did you manage to kick her on the way out?" "Is it true you got to cast a curse on her that changes her into a toad every time she lies, Harry?"and even the occasional comment from a Slytherin, "Thanks, Potter". Eventually Hermione had to snap at them to leave him alone so he could eat a piece of toast before breakfast was over.

"Thanks." He sighed gratefully, "I thought I wouldn't be able to eat anything this morning." But as he bit into his toast, it seemed he was destined to go hungry, because right then the morning post arrived. Hundreds of owls swooped in and landed all over Gryffindor table. Harry sighed. It was going to take ages to untie all those letters and send them off again. With a sour look on his face he liberated the owl closest to him of a quite heavy looking package. Ron, Hermione and Neville looked at one another for a moment, nodded in silent agreement and started whispering to the people sitting next to them.

When Harry next looked up, his face split open in a grin. The entire table was helping him relieve the owls of their burdens, passing the letters to him. His three closest friends methodically cast revealing spells on them, checking them for harmful content and curses. They vanished the tainted letters and stacked the others neatly in front of him. Harry knew he wouldn't have time to open all of them, so he just shrank them and put them into his book bag. He just managed to snatch a piece of toast before every crumb disappeared from the golden plates. He sighed in satisfaction.

The entire day his mind kept going to Draco in the Hospital Wing. What would the boy ask him now that everything had sunk in a bit better? How were they going to do this thing? What would Draco tell his housemates? He was lucky the professors were happy with him, because he knew that every other day he would have lost Gryffindor a lot of points for daydreaming.

The moment his classes ended, he almost ran up the stairs, intent on visiting Draco at last, but he was stopped by a first year, carrying a familiar looking scroll. Dumbledore again. Couldn't he ever catch a break? He wished he would have had time to coordinate a story with Draco, but that wasn't possible now. Before long he found himself sitting in the visitor's chair in the Headmaster's office.

"Harry, my boy, you cannot believe how relieved I am to see you are alright." the Headmaster stated. "We were all quite worried about you, you know."

"I am sorry for that, Professor." The Potter Heir said genuinely, "The emergency was never meant to take up this much time and I didn't have the opportunity to send a message or I definitely would have."

"I am glad to hear that. Did the emergency by any chance have anything to do with our newest patient in the Hospital Wing?" Dumbledore picked up a piece of parchment from his desk and skimmed through it briefly. "He had rather bad burns on his arms and suffers from severe magical exhaustion. In fact, he still hasn't woken up since Madam Pomfrey gave him a restorative draught when he first came in, I see."

Harry only just managed to disguise a sigh of relief. Draco hadn't reported anything yet, so if he managed to get to him before someone asked, their stories would work out. "Well, as a matter of fact Draco Malfoy was the emergency." Harry admitted. "I was alerted something was wrong with him so I went to find him. It turned out to be his Father disinheriting him, with rather nasty consequences." He grimaced and saw Dumbledore do the same. "I tried to get close to him, but his magic must have seen me as a threat, because the next thing I knew I was unconscious and stayed that way until yesterday. We were lucky the safe haven Lord Black provided was secure enough that nothing happened to us until I came to."

"That's a remarkable story, Harry." The Headmaster said, his eyes twinkling merrily, "And where was this mysterious safe haven, if I might ask? The wards did not detect your leaving school grounds."

The raven haired teen grimaced for a moment and then answered. "I promised not to share that information." And he had, the portraits that guarded the chambers had been adamant he keep it a secret for anyone not of Slytherin blood, Draco had been the only exception. If Dumbledore wanted to believe he promised Lord Black, however, he would allow him to think just that. And as he had hoped, the Professor looked disappointed, but did not ask him further. He knew what Harry's promises were worth.

"And what about the new jewellery young Draco was wearing when he came back?" was the Headmaster's next question.

"You mean the Heir ring to House Black?" He waited for Dumbledore to nod before continuing, "Lord Black promised to protect Draco from his father and everyone else and as he had no other Heir, this was the most efficient way to do so."

The Headmaster smiled broadly. "I am glad to hear that and I am certain Professor Snape will be as well. We had worried about what the rest of his House might do when they found out about Draco's loss of his title. Am I right to assume this means he left Voldemort's side as well?"

Harry nodded.
"Splendid!" Dumbledore cried. "That is the best news I've heard in quite some time. Though of course the results of the trial yesterday were very positive as well." He smiled. "You did a great job, I hope you realise that."

"Thank you, Professor."

"Now, there is one more thing I need to ask you." The Headmaster said, looking grave once more. "In this adventure of yours, I didn't hear you say anything about Mr. Rosier?"

Harry was startled. "Do you mean Marius Rosier? The first year Slytherin? I don't even know him. Has something happened to him?" The only thing he knew about that boy was that his uncle on his father's side had been a Death Eater during the last war.

Dumbledore looked surprised. "I thought he might have been with you." Then he said grimly. "He went missing last night. I thought perhaps it involved you?" And when Harry shook his head, the Headmaster paled a little. "In that case, I will thank you for your information. I do believe you have a class shortly, so I will leave you to it. In case you hear anything about Mr. Rosier, you will let me know?"

"Of course, Professor." Harry agreed easily. He rose from his chair. "I am sure you will find him. It is probably just a prank or an innocent case of skipping school. However, if I do hear anything, I will tell you immediately."

He meant what he had said, he did want to help find the first year and since he had to visit his friendly portraits anyway, he decided to kill two birds with one stone. He couldn't visit Draco until after curfew anyway, with everyone watching him. The invisibility cloak would guarantee at least some privacy.

It turned out his absence had done some damage with a few portraits. Some inhabitants were offended by his 'ignoring them' and it took quite some persuading and promising them favours to appease them. When he got back to Gryffindor tower that night, he was quite exhausted.

He was glad to join his friends by the fire and relax in the familiarity. Hermione was sitting on the floor right next to the flickering flames, using the light to read something she called 'distracting and fun' (he did not agree with her judgement, though). Ron was practicing his chess skills by playing himself, a look of intense concentration on his face that looked almost out of place. Harry and Neville sat together in a large, scarlet, squishy settee and stared into the flames in a comfortable silence.

"Are you alright, Harry?" Neville asked concerned. "You look tired."

"I'm fine, "he shrugged, "Just not looking forward to a tea party with the portrait of the old hags on the third floor corridor next week. What on earth did you guys do to them?" He scowled when Neville chuckled.

"Hermione might have called them 'ladies'."

"You are kidding me?" Harry said flatly.

"I'm afraid not. Though in her defence, she really didn't know that was a wrong move. She's sorry." He laughed harder when he saw Harry throwing Hermione dark looks, the girl not noticing because she was enthralled by her dense looking history tome.

"Well, if she is so sorry, she might as well come with me next week. That should help her remember." He said darkly.

Neville grinned. "I'd like to see that." He said, "Really, though, she tried really hard to keep all of your affairs going while you were… away."

Harry sighed. "I know. I'm not actually mad, it's just, did you know a first year Slytherin is missing?"

The Longbottom Heir frowned. "I hadn't heard, who is it?"

"The Rosier kid." He nodded as he saw Neville's look, "Yes, I know, his uncle was a Death Eater. Still, you know I believe everyone deserves an honest chance to choose their own path."

"And I agree." Neville smiled, "I was just trying to remember if I'd seen him anywhere recently. I don't think I did."

Harry looked down uncomfortably. "Sorry."

"No problem. I know you have a lot on your plate right now." He was silent for a moment. Then he added, "Do you think… Voldemort is involved?" He grimaced as he said the name.

The Potter Heir swallowed uncomfortably. "I don't know." He admitted. "But as I told Dumbledore, it might just be a prank or someone skipping class. It doesn't necessarily have to be something bad. I think it shows how bad it's become that we immediately think the worst, while normally this wouldn't have been something to worry about."

"I guess." Neville said sadly. "Still, I'd feel better if we could look for him somehow."

Harry smiled. "I'll ask the DA at the next meeting. If someone has seen anything we should find out quickly enough."

"That is a good idea. I didn't think of that." Neville looked relieved. They chatted about light things until the common room was empty apart from their little group. With great effort Harry heaved himself from the embrace of the settee and dug his invisibility cloak out of his pocket. "I'm going to see Draco now." He told his friends and after saying goodbye and handing them the Marauder's map so they could keep an eye out for him, he left.

There was something soothing about the quiet corridors and yet Harry didn't feel at ease. It had been a long time since he had roamed the castle alone at night. Definitely not since he had started to enforce the 'travel-in-pairs' rule. Before long he reached the Hospital Wing. He put his head on the door and when he didn't hear Madam Pomfrey's robes rustling about in activity, he opened the door a creak and peeked around it. The room was completely dark and silent. He could hear Madam Pomfrey bustling around in her adjacent office. From experience as a hospital wing resident, he knew that meant she was getting everything in order before going to bed. He was good to go in.

He tiptoed to the only bed that had drawn curtains set up around it. Draco was lying in bed and seemed to be sleeping. He looked even paler than usual against the white sheets, but otherwise seemed fine. His arm lay on top of the sheets and was covered in a light bandage. He felt a little guilty for waking the boy up, but this couldn't be postponed any longer. "Draco?" He whispered, casting privacy wards around them. "Wake up. It's me, Harry."

Draco blinked confusedly for a moment, before understanding what was going on. He swallowed nervously and nodded in respect. "Magister." He said hoarsely, pushing himself upright.

"Please, don't push yourself too hard." Harry said kindly, sitting down in a chair near the bed. "You are still recovering. I don't want to hinder your healing by tiring you out." Then he grinned. "Well, tire you out even more than I'm doing now by waking you up when you really should be sleeping."

"That can't be helped." Draco said, looking determined. "We have a lot to discuss."

The Black lord smiled. "I know. That's why I am here. First of all, we should make sure our stories match. You haven't told anyone anything yet, right?"

The blond smirked "I pretended to be asleep every time Pomfrey or Dumbledore came to check on me.

They both chuckled. "Well done." Harry said, "That definitely helped. I told Dumbledore that I went and helped you out because you got disinherited." He grimaced, "I'm sorry I had to do that."

Draco shrugged. "He would have known anyway. The symptoms matched and he would have heard sooner or later."

"He had already noticed the new Heir ring." The other boy admitted. "I didn't tell Dumbledore where we were, though he did ask. I worked my way around it. I told him you knocked me out and that's about everything I think. You have a good excuse for your memory to be fuzzy anyway, so I don't think it matters if you don't give any details."

"Okay." Draco said. "I'll do that." He looked unsure again. "So what about… everything else?"

Harry sighed. "Well, I'm not going to lie, it won't be easy." He started. "We won't have time to discuss everything tonight, so I'll start with what you need to get you through the first few days, until you get out of here and we can meet up again in a safer place. Is there anything you want to ask me?" And as the blond fidgeted, he added, "I meant what I said before, I really do want us to be a family." He smiled wryly, "I admit I don't have much experience, but you don't ever have to be afraid to be honest with me. I won't be angry if you speak your mind, at least in private, when it's just us."

Draco still remained silent.

Harry sighed awkwardly. "I suppose I'll start with what I think you'll need." The Black Heir nodded and swallowed. He seemed to realise that his life was going to change and braced himself for what his Lord was about to say. Harry needed to be strong for him now. "Madam Pomfrey won't let you go immediately and I doubt any of the Slytherins will visit you here. They will want to meet you on their own terrain, am I right?"

"I suppose so."

"So you have until then to get familiar with this. Don't worry. I'll be by again if you want me to."

The other boy looked a little more calm now.

"You are a Black now. You are part of the Black Family, that means you'll need to learn the Black family values. Don't worry it's manageable, I learned everything there is to know about pureblood culture in just one summer, you only need to change some things." He smiled comfortingly. "I don't know how much your mother told you about them, so I'll just start from the beginning. Rule one about being a Black is charm. You have to give up on the Malfoy arrogance. Blacks might believe that they are better than everyone else, Merlin knows Sirius's family did, but they did not use just their name to get things done. They made themselves alluring. Everyone wanted to be around them, help them, get in their good graces because they did not only have money and influence, but also seemed to care on some level. Yet not enough to do things for them without getting something in return. They played people. It's a lot easier to get something done if people think they came up with the idea." He winked. "I'll give you a book written by a Black that explains everything in detail. You can decide how much you adapt it into your own lifestyle, though you should remember one thing: you cannot look arrogant. Okay?"

"I guess that's straightforward enough. I'm not sure I know how though." Draco said slowly.

"It will get easier as you go along, trust me." Harry said. "And if not, we'll practice. So when you get down in the Slytherin common room, act like you don't have a care in the world. You should look like you know more than they do. Just sit down in your usual chair, claim back your place on the Slytherin throne, yes I do know about that." He chuckled.

"They won't let me, though. Someone will challenge me, claim that I'm unworthy. Some will try to hex me even." The blond twisted his sheets in his hands.

"Let me finish. "Harry smiled knowlingly. He proceeded to explain in great detail exactly what Draco should do. The other boy's lips turned up in a smile that widened as the Black Lord's description went on.

"That will work." He smirked, "They won't know what hit them."

Draco felt a lot less certain about it when he found himself in front of the Slytherin common room around noon the next Saturday. Madam Pomfrey had just released him and though he had been going insane in there with nothing to do, he wished she would have picked a different time. The common room would be crowded right now. Then again, hopefully everyone would be convinced at the same time. He slowly breathed in and out and then said, "Inheritance." The wall slid slowly aside. Oh the irony of the password wasn't lost on him, it was a way of the Slytherins to intimidate him, but he was not going to let them. He slid into the script he and Harry and designed.

"Finally, I thought Pomfrey was never going to let me leave." He exclaimed as he strolled into the common room, loosening his tie with one hand and undoing the first two buttons on his shirt. "You know, guys, I would have appreciated a visit while I was in there, I didn't think someone could be so incredibly bored." All eyes in the common room were on him, the younger students looking confused, as though this was not going like they had expected, the older years looked stunned. So far so good. He made his way to his chair by the fire. Theodore Nott was sitting in it.

"I appreciate you keeping my seat warm, Heir Nott, but I'm back now." He said, patting the boy on his shoulder. He was toeing the line of propriety here, his Magister better be right about this.

Nott rose. "I don't think you understand the situation here, Malfoy, but you are no longer on top. I would make yourself scarce. Things are going to change here and not for the better. At least not for you" he smirked evilly, drawing his wand. The others in the common room joined him.

"Is that right?" Draco drawled with a chuckle, surprising them yet again. "I do believe you were misinformed, Heir Nott." He nonchalantly tousled his hair, putting his new Heir ring on display. Nott paled. "That is not possible." He said. "No one even knows who that man is."

"Well I most certainly do." Draco smirked. "What was that you said, Heir Nott? I could have sworn those were threats and did you neglect to use my title as well? Tut tut." He wagged his finger at him and winked.

"What's wrong with you, why are you acting so… so… different?!" Pansy Parkinson shrieked.

"Why Lady Parkinson I am no longer held by my father's rules. I am a Black now, see?" Everyone slowly seemed to realise what Draco was trying to say.

"Did you somehow get the Black heirship?" Blaise Zabini asked.

"I always knew you were intelligent." Draco smirked, then he turned to Nott again. "So, what about that chair?"

"The Dark Lord wants your head on a platter, Heir Black." Nott spat. "And what He wants, He gets." Then he got up dramatically and stormed to the dorms.

Draco made himself comfortable in his familiar chair. His eyes fell onto one of the boys he had helped with his homework during his first week of neutrality. "So how did that Charms test go?" he asked.

The boy's eyes widened at being addressed by the Slytherin prince in front of everyone. "Very well, Heir Black, thank you for your help."

Draco nodded, smiling freely. "I'm glad." He readjusted himself in his chair, getting more comfortable. "Now where did I leave my Transfigurations book?" he asked himself with a frown.

"I'll get it for you!" the boy jumped up, ran to one of the side cabinets and came back a moment later with his book, handing it to Draco proudly.

"Thank you." Heir Black said," What was your name again?"

"Jugson, sir, Eldrick Jugson." The boy beamed up at him.

"Thank you Eldrick." Draco grinned. He couldn't wait until his next meeting with Harry, who had promised him to discuss things in more detail. If this was how easy everything would work out, he should have changed sides a lot sooner.

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Dolceconbrio