Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and settings belong to J.K. Rowling.

A/N: Thank you for the reviews! I'm glad you are enjoying this story!

"So what do you think?" Snape asked after sharing his idea with his oldest godson.

"I like the idea. A lot." Draco said, leaning back in his chair in Snape's office. "I think teaching would be challenging and rewarding."

"Challenging, definitely," Snape drawled. He had brought up the idea of Draco becoming an assistant professor, his apprentice, to him after he graduated so that Snape could focus on the upper years and Draco would teach the lower years. Minerva had already approved the idea. "You might find it difficult to teach students who were your classmates but I think you could handle it."

"I do too. Plus I'll be here for Cass. I don't want to live away from him," Draco confessed. "I only just got him back."

"Understandable. We need you to keep him out of trouble anyway," Snape smirked.

Draco laughed.

"I was thinking of having you teach some of the first and second year classes this term, to get a feel for it," Snape continued. "I would be there to observe at first and if all goes well, then you could teach some of the classes on your own."

"Sounds good," Draco said, liking the idea. Hard to believe at the beginning of this term he had thought he had no future, nothing to hold on to, no purpose. And then he had found out his brother was alive and he had something something, someone to live for again. And now a career that he could enjoy and feel fulfillment from.

Pop!

"Dobby?" Snape said in alarm, noticing how panicked the elf looked.

"He has taken Cassius!" Dobby wailed, tugging on his ears.

"What?" Draco stood up. "Who took Cass?"

"Twitchy!"

Draco paled. "No," he whispered. Not again... He couldn't lose his brother again.

"Why would he...Albus!" Snape growled.

"You think Dumbledore took him? Why? He can't just turn him back into Harry Potter, everyone knows what he did," Draco said in a panicked voice.

"I don't know," Snape moved to the floo. "I know where his cottage is. We need to tell Minerva and call the Aurors."

/

As soon as Twitchy let him go, Cassius ran from him. He was in a cottage, a nice one but he didn't care, he just wanted to go back home. "Take me back." he demanded.

"Cassius."

Cassius turned around. "Dumbledore!" He glared at his former mentor. "Haven't you hurt me enough?"

"I'm not trying to hurt you," Dumbledore said gently. "You'll be taken back, I promise. I just want to talk to you."

"Uh, you didn't think of sending a letter?" Cassius asked sarcastically.

"Don't show such insolence to the great Albus Dumbledore!" Twitchy hissed.

Cassius rolled his eyes.

"I sent letters to you," Dumbledore said. "I do not think they are being given to you."

"Oh," Cassius bit his lip. Draco probably threw away any letter Dumbledore had sent. He couldn't blame him, not after everything Dumbledore had done. "So what do you want?"

"I wanted to apologize, to try and explain," Dumbledore sat down in a comfy looking chair.

"You already did explain. You didn't want everyone to know what happened to the real Harry Potter and you wanted the wizarding world to have a hero," Cassius sighed. "You were wrong to do it."

"I know," Dumbledore said softly.

"And Harry Potter deserved to be grieved," Cassius added.

"Yes, he did," Dumbledore nodded. "I handled everything wrong and I am so sorry. But I thought -"

"There's no excuse," Cassius interrupted. "No excuse for kidnapping me and tearing me away from my family."

"Some family," Twitchy muttered.

Cassius whirled around. "You shut up! You would hit Draco and he was only five!"

"Twitchy knew he would become evil just like his parents!"

"Twitchy," Dumbledore spoke up. "Would you please get us some tea?"

With a scowl, Twitchy popped away.

"I don't want tea. I want to go back to Hogwarts. I want to go back to Draco," Cassius said, struggling to keep his voice from shaking. He fought back tears. He wanted his brother. If someone had told him a year ago that he would feel safe with Draco and not Dumbledore, he would have suggested they be committed to St. Mungo's. But now...Draco was safety and home.

"You will," Dumbledore assured him. "Please. Just let me talk, let me explain. I deeply regret hurting you."

"And hurting my family?"

"Yes," Dumbledore gave a deep sigh. "Your parents surprised me, when they became spies. They were very brave and I'm sorry I wasn't able to protect them."

"Why didn't you just tell them what you did? Why didn't you step forward with the truth?" Cassius blinked away his tears. "I needed my family. I shouldn't have had to worry about Voldemort, to feel like it was only my responsibility to stop him. I was just a kid. Literally."

"I know," Dumbledore looked older than his years as he looked at Cassius. "I put a responsibility on you that should never have been yours. I wish I could make it up to you."

Pop!

Dobby looked frantically around, his big eyes landing on Cassius with relief. "Cassius Malfoy, sir! You is okay!" He gave Dumbledore a reproachful look. "Albus Dumbledore must lower his wards to allow Cassius's brother and godfather in. If not, Aurors will arrest Albus Dumbledore."

Dumbledore gave a sigh and waved his hand, lowering his wards. A moment later, Draco and Snape ran in.

"Cass!" Draco grabbed his brother and held him tightly. "Are you hurt?"

"No," Cassius said, hugging his brother. "I'm okay."

"This is a new low, Albus," Snape hissed at Dumbledore. "Haven't you done enough damage?"

"If Cassius had been allowed to receive my letters, this would not have been necessary." Dumbledore said calmly.

"Oh, so it's my fault," Draco kept one arm around his brother, the other pointed at Dumbledore , wand in hand. "I will not apologize for doing what I think is best in protecting my brother."

"I simply wanted to apologize to him."

"So you had him kidnapped to apologize for having him kidnapped?" Snape asked sarcastically.

"He wasn't supposed to be kidnapped. I had thought he would come of his own free will," Dumbledore said, glancing at Twitchy.

Draco followed his gaze and a look of fierce hatred crossed his face. "You!"

Twitchy looked at him with equally hate filled eyes. "Twitchy knows the Malfoys are evil!" he spat.

Draco's face darkened. "Diffin-"

"Draco!" Snape stopped him from casting the spell, watching Twitchy carefully. "House-elves have powerful magic of their own," he said quietly. He would like to avoid a duel, not being completely sure if Albus would fight against them or not.

"Twitchy was acting on my orders," Dumbledore spoke up. "I simply wanted to apologize. I believed what I did was necessary but I regret the pain I have caused you."

"Not forgiven," Draco said, his tone ice. "What you did, however, is worthy of someone like Voldemort."

"How dare you!" Twitchy screamed, casting a blasting curse at Draco.

Draco pushed Cassius out of the way but before the curse could hit him, Dobby appareated them to the other side of the room. And then Dobby attacked Twitchy. The wizards watched in horrified fascination as Dobby slugged Twitchy under the jaw. Twitchy stepped back and took a swing, but Dobby managed to get out of the way and socked Twitchy right in the nose. Twitchy let out a scream, picked up Dobby and slammed him to the ground. Dobby kicked out his leg and knocked Twitchy's knee out from under him.

"Go Dobby!" Cassius cheered. This was brilliant! He wished Enzo and Jason could see this!

"Enough of this!" Dumbledore roared.

Twitchy and Dobby stopped, both looking worse for wear as they stood glaring at each other.

"Twitchy, you are not to harm anyone!" Dumbledore said. "Leave us."

Twitchy gave him a mulish look and popped away.

Cassius went to Dobby. "Are you okay?"

Dobby nodded. "Yes sir. Dobby is just fine."

"Albus, we are leaving and I must ask you not to bother either Cassius or Draco again," Snape said. "I know you want them to forgive you and then all of us can bond over lemon drops but that's not going to happen. You should be satisfied that you are not in Azkaban."

"He should be," Draco muttered.

Dumbledore raised his hands peacefully. "I've said my piece. I wish you all the best."

"Let's go," Snape said quietly.

/

"Draco!" Cassius laughed, trying to wiggle out of Draco's embrace. His older brother had been hugging him non stop since returning to Hogwarts.

"Sorry, sorry," Draco reluctantly let him go.

Snape immediately took his turn in hugging the pre-teen. "Such a troublesome child."

"I didn't ask to be kidnapped!" Cassius protested, a grin on his face. He knew Snape was kidding and that the man had been worried about him.

"I guess what you've been saying all these years is true. Trouble just finds you," Snape sighed.

Draco laughed.

"It does!" Cassius agreed. "But I'm sorry you guys were scared."

"It's not your fault." Draco said.

"I just wanted to return here, to you," Cassius said in a small voice. "I was scared. I was afraid at first that he wouldn't let me come back to you." How things had changed. At one time he had trusted Dumbledore fully and Draco not at all. Now Draco was home to him. Who would have thought?

"I'll always find you, Cass. I promise." Draco said, pulling him in for yet another hug.

"Draco!" Cassius groaned but secretly loving the attention. For all that he complained about being a kid, he craved the affection he got. Probably because he had never received it before. And he figured Draco needed it as well.

/

"And then Dobby punched Twitchy right in the nose!" Cassius said gleefully. "And then -"

"Cassius, it's time to go," Draco called from across the room. They were in the Slytherin common room where Cass had been visiting his friends and he had been studying with Daphne and Theo. But it was almost nine-thirty, which was Cass's bedtime.

"In a minute," Cassius called back. He turned back to Jason, Enzo and Sadie. He was having a grand time telling his friends about his abduction the day before. "And then Twitchy picked up Dobby and slammed him down onto the ground."

"Merlin," Jason said impressively.

"And then what?" Enzo asked eagerly.

"Cassius!" Draco called again.

"And then Dobby kicked out his leg and tripped Twitchy," Cassius continued, ignoring his brother. "That's when Dumbledore put a stop to it. But it was awesome!"

"I can't believe Dumbledore sent his elf to kidnap you," Sadie said.

"I don't know if he sent him, exactly." Cassius said thoughtfully. "I got the feeling Twitchy took me on his own - Hey!" Someone had tugged his hair and he found his head pulled back and he looked up into the annoyed eyes of Draco.

"I've been calling you," Draco said, letting him go. "It's time to go, it's almost your bedtime."

Cassius felt his face heat up in embarrassment. Did Draco have to mention his bedtime in front of his friends?

"See you tomorrow," Cassius muttered to his friends. He followed Draco out of the common room. "Merlin's Pants, Draco! Did you have to embarrass me like that?"

Draco rolled his eyes as they reached their quarters. He said the password to let them in. "Did you have to ignore me calling you?"

"I didn't, I said, 'In a minute'," Cassius grumbled.

"Ah yes, thank you for that respectful response," Draco said sarcastically. He shook his head. "I didn't meant to embarrass you but I don't want you staying up late, you know that. Especially after what happened yesterday, you need your rest."

"I'm fine," Cassius sighed. "Besides, I was telling my friends all about what happened. That Dobby and Twitchy fight was brilliant, too bad Dumbledore didn't let them finish. I bet Dobby would have won!"

"Cassius," Draco groaned, running his hand over his face. He studied his brother for a moment and then grinned. "I bet he would have won too."

/

Urquhart walked Cassius to his quarters after their Quidditch practice which Draco had missed. Urquhart had just said that Draco had something else to do but Cassius couldn't think what would be more important than Quidditch. He entered the sitting room, intending to ask his brother what was so important when he heard laughter from the kitchen. He peeked in and his mouth dropped open. Draco and Hermione were sitting at the table, books and papers all around them, cups of tea in front of them.

"This is why you skipped Quidditch practice?" Cassius asked, looking at them curiously. "A study date?"

Hermione blushed and Draco coughed up the tea he had just taken a sip of. "No, it's not -" Draco started to say.

"It's not like that, I'm just helping Draco plan for his classes," Hermione quickly said. She stood up and gathered her books. "But I should go, I have some studying to do."

"Thanks for the help," Draco said as he saw her out. He returned to the kitchen. "Geez, Cass. Embarrass us much? It wasn't a date." He lightly admonished.

Cassius shrugged. "You two have been talking more lately. And you skipped practice," he said, as if it was unbelievable that something could be more important. "And what did she mean, your classes?"

"Yeah, I wanted to talk about that," Draco rubbed the back of his neck. "It's something Uncle Sev and I have been talking about. He brought it up before Twitchy took you. He thinks after I graduate, I could be his apprentice. An assistant teacher."

"So you would be staying at Hogwarts after you graduate?"

"Yeah. What do you think about that?" Draco asked, a little apprehensively.

"I think it's brilliant!" Cassius said excitedly. He didn't want to be separated from his brother.

"You do?" Draco asked in relief. "Good. Uncle Sev's idea is that I will teach the younger years so that he can focus on the older years, the ones who are more serious about potions."

"Passing off all the dunderheads to you, huh?" Cassius asked cheekily.

"Pretty much," Draco chuckled. "Anyway, he thought I should get a feel for it so I'm going to teach some of first and second year classes, just to see if I like it. Hermione was helping me go over lesson plans. I had mentioned it in passing to her and she thought it was a great idea."

"It is," Cassius assured him. "Will you be teaching one of my classes?"

"Yes. I know that will be weird for you," Draco said.

"No, it's fine. What potion will we be doing?" Cassius asked.

"Swelling Solution."

Cassius froze for a second. Oh, he remembered that lesson. That was when he had set fireworks off as a diversion for Hermione to steal ingredients for the Polyjuice potion. The firework had landed in Goyle's cauldron, exploded and the solution hit Draco, his nose swelling to the size of a melon. Cassius bit his lip, laughter at the memory threatening to come out.

Draco was busy looking at the lesson plan he had drafted, making some notes when he heard snickering. He looked up to see his younger brother laughing. "What?"

"No -nothing," Cassius gasped.

Draco looked at him perplexed. What could be so funny about the Swelling Solution? Cass should be familiar with it, he had – oh. He frowned, remembering that particular lesson. Someone had let off a firework and his nose had swelled so large that – wait. "That was you?" He stood up.

"What?" Cassius managed to say.

"You set off the firework that caused the Solution to hit me and Goyle?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about Goyle. His eyes got as big as dinner plates!" Cassius laughed again.

Draco stared at him. Letting off a firework in a potions class was so dangerous, why would he have...ah yes. This must have been part of the Polyjuice potion escapade. That would have been a perfect distraction to steal ingredients. He folded his arms across his chest and glared at his brother.

Cassius's laughter faded and he cleared his throat. "Um, I guess it wasn't so funny." he said weakly.

Draco turned around so that Cass didn't see the smile on his face. It was funny. Now, not so much then. But he didn't want his brother to know he found it funny, he didn't want to encourage that sort of behavior. "Well, I certainly hope you won't be doing anything like that during my lesson."

Cassius's eyes widened. "I wouldn't do that, Draco. Not again. Besides, you'd tan my hide if I did anything like that." He could only imagine the look on Draco's face if he set off fireworks during class.

This time Draco did laugh and turned around to face Cassius. "Yes, I would. And don't you forget it."

"I was so worried about letting off the firework I didn't pay attention to that class. My solution didn't turn out well at all." Cassius admitted.

"That's why I'm glad you're doing your Hogwarts years again," Draco said gently. "This time you can actually pay attention to your lessons, instead of worrying about Basilisks, or stone's or anything."

"Yeah," Cassius said. Maybe he could do so well during Draco's lesson, that he would impress his brother. The thought brightened him up. He could make Draco proud of him, show his brother he was smart too.

TBC: Up next, Draco teaches, Cassius looks forward to Christmas and he and Hermione are attacked while shopping in Diagon Alley.