Warnings: this is mild, but it is still slash. that is, there are boys who like boys. there are also some other traumatic themes that might not be suitable for those with clean minds. I am warning you so as not to receive a bunch of hateful reviews. I always value creative criticism, but I do not dig being told I am a repulsive slime. I know it already, so there!
Note: Sorry it has taken me so long to get this up. It's getting more complex than I first expected. And I have been spending too much time away from my computer. I actually have a job. *whimpers* Ahck. Such is life. Anyhow, lots of love and kisses, my darlings. Review! Cheers.
A Grey Surprise
Remus and I were pacing the hallway in front of the entrance to Dumbledore's office. I wasn't worried that he asked us to leave, I was worried that he wouldn't let us keep Harry. Yes, I am fully aware that I have a totally one-track mind. I was getting lost in my thoughts when Harry came out and just drifted away. The poor boy was going through something I had never gone through in all my life. His lover was lying in a hospital bed in the infirmary. I still had no idea why, Harry had forgotten to mention the how of the whole thing.
"Come," Remus said as he led the way up to Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore was now pacing the room with a very concerned look on his face. When we entered he stopped, but only briefly.
"Sit, please. We need to discuss a few things," he said. We sat in the chairs and he sat on the edge of the desk. "First, Harry is no longer allowed at his aunt and uncle's house, correct?"
"Right. He was in hysterics last night when he showed up. He told me that his uncle found out that he prefers... er... an alternative lifestyle, and they did not see eye to eye on the subject," Remus said.
"I figured about as much. So, what are your thoughts on the subject?" he said knowingly. Of course he would know that I was preparing myself to fight to keep Harry in my care. Dumbledore was perceptive like that.
"I can't believe the man threw him out because..." Remus started in a deadly low voice.
"That's not quite what I mean, Remus," Dumbledore said, laughing.
"Oh," he replied, straightening. It finally dawned on him. "Oh, yes! You mean about where Harry is going to live, right?"
"Yes, that was what I was getting at," he said, sobering with a great effort.
"Well, Sir, we would be willing-"
"More than willing," I interjected.
"Absolutely ecstatic if Harry could come and live with us."
"You are sure you want to?" he asked with a smile spreading over his features.
"We have both, and Sirius especially, been wanting this for a very long time," he replied.
Dumbledore smiled before saying, "Yes, I think that now is the time that you had a chance to raise him. You can't do any worse than the Dursleys, can you?" he laughed.
He was quite right, after all. Remus and I started laughing along with him; I because my godson would finally be close to me, Remus because we would be doing this together. Dumbledore sobered and us a little after, we were both still too excited.
"Now I would like to discuss this matter of Draco Malfoy being in the position he is presently in," he said gravely. Of course, we would have to discuss this at some point.
"Yes, what is going on? I've only gotten a very nondescript version of events through sobs," Remus said.
"Draco had a very rough night. Arthur Weasley and his assistant, Meg Parika, found him in his father's dungeon, dying." Oh, dear. "Apparently there is more to this story than I know as far as Draco's past with Harry is concerned. I do know, however, that Draco was sick and Harry sort of adopted him at the beginning of the school year and nursed him back to health. His father told me that he was taken ill over the summer, but there is now doubt as to the accuracy of this story. Only he and Harry know what is really going on, so I'm afraid that I can't be much help in telling the why's and wherefor's of the thing. To be honest, I know very little myself, now to think about it." He stopped and scratched his chin; Dumbledore could be an odd character at times.
"Who did this to him?" I asked. I already knew, I think I just didn't want to believe it.
"From my understanding, it was Lucius Malfoy and the other Death Eaters." Oh, dear. How had he gotten away? How had they saved him in time?
"Do you mean to say that you found proof of Lucius Malfoy being a Death Eater?" Remus managed to stammer out. Oh, yes! That thought never occurred to me.
"I think that this is testimony enough to where his loyalties lay. Would any average individual attempt at killing their one and only offspring, thus cutting off the bloodline of an old wizarding family?" I pointed out. "I know that Lucius Malfoy is not altogether straight in the head. But he's also not just some random lunatic who performed a random act of violence. He just doesn't fit the description. There had to be some other motive behind what he did."
"That may be so, Sirius, but at the moment, that is neither here nor there. What I am wanting to discuss with you at the moment is Draco's final destination," he said.
"What exactly do you mean by final destination?" I asked.
"Well, he cannot stay at Hogwarts much longer. He will be healed by this evening and I need to get him out as soon as possible. There are many enchantments that need to be placed on a variety of places, this one included. There can be no one about that is not performing magick of some kind; it is simply no place for anyone to be wandering about. What I am asking you is to take Draco home with you. There is nowhere else I can send him that I know will be safe."
Draco had nowhere to go. The son of one of the most respected wizards in Britain had nowhere else to go. This was a rather sad thought in a way. The boy had nothing going for him, kind of like Harry. They were both so very alone. I was starting to understand their relationship a little better. Dumbledore was asking us to take him in. He had nowhere to go but maybe with Harry. Dumbledore would never have asked either of us to adopt any kid for any period of time. We were the last two people he would have asked. As it was turning out, he really had reached the end of the list.
Remus and I looked at each other with what I knew were the same expressions. Apparently, he was as much at a loss for words as I was. My first thought was, 'How will four people live in one tiny flat all at once?' And then I decided that we would have to make do with what we could. He seemed to have come to the same conclusion about the same time that I did.
"Of course we'll take him in, but how are we going to fit four people into that little space together all the time?" Remus thought out loud to no one in particular.
"Then I will have someone find a house. Don't worry about all your things, they will be there whenever we get you to where you will be. In the meantime, thank you for all your help. I was afraid I would have nowhere to send him. Thank you," he said. He stood and went to the door, saying, "Feel free to go where you please, but please keep within the walls, the enchantments are wearing thin."
"You mentioned that," I said.
"Of course," he said on his way out the door.
The two of us sat there silent together for a few moments, both lost in thought. There were a lot of heavy things that came to pass within a very short period of time. There were a lot of things to absorb in a very short period of time. Life as I had known it for the last few weeks was now only a memory. All of our lives had changed indefinitely; there was no hope in ever going back now. We were going to be moved into a bigger house so that we could look after my godson and his... significant other. This significant other who had gone through some serious trauma, from everything I had been told. Lucius Malfoy was going to fall. Harry was going to live with us. Oh, my dear, Harry had fallen in love. He was still so young. Then again, he did know an awful lot about living life and reading people and situations that most accomplished wizards didn't know. He had the gift (or curse) of maturity, causing Harry to be put on a different level than most. He was far brighter and far more perceptive than any other creature I had ever come across.
How extreme Draco's condition truly was I did not really know. I did not know what to expect from anything at that point. But I couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen when we got home. How was he going to treat Remus and I? How was he going to treat his new situation? How crazy was this boy? Not to sound incorrect or prejudiced, all I mean is that no one could go through what he went through and be perfectly sane. In other words, would he have a nervous breakdown when thrust out of the care of his father? The way I saw it was that if he was away from the abuse, he would start to settle in and relax. Which was what we all wanted, but with him relaxing, he would feel safe enough to start letting out. So how was it going to come out?
"You do realize what we just agreed..."
"We've begged for," I interrupted. I knew what he was going to say. After that many years of friendship and otherwise, we had developed the ability of reading each other's thoughts and finishing each other's sentences.
"This is rather odd, you know?" he said, scratching his chin. "I don't think I ever saw any of this coming."
"How could you see it coming?" He shrugged his shoulders and settled into the chair. "Knut for your thoughts."
"Well, I was just thinking about bringing charges against all these Death Eaters. I mean, what will happen to Voldemort when he loses his closest ring?"
"Probably just build a new one. Unless he can be caught off guard..." I trailed off.
"That is the thing, isn't it? How does one bring down the worst dark wizard the world has seen in five hundred years? He may be the worst period. James and Lily died fighting along with countless others."
"Yes, but he failed to kill Harry."
"Several times. And I can't help but wonder what it is that Harry's got that he can fight off dark magick like he can."
"Do you think Harry's got something to do with it, then?"
"Well, if he could find a weakness and play upon it, he might have a shot."
Were we really discussing the possibility of Harry fighting face to face with Voldemort again? Out of choice as opposed to necessity? Who were we to promote that to an undergraduate wizard? 'There is really little behind it, I hope, so I wouldn't worry yourself about letting your mind wander,' the little voice in the back of my mind said. And of course it would be that illusive Rationality that only seems to like to surface when the need has long since passed. 'Besides, the important things are all right and that's all that matters.'
**
It was almost time for us to get on our way and Harry had not yet returned with Draco. He had gone to the infirmary to collect him nearly thirty minutes earlier. Remus and I still had not met the boy as he had spent most of the day asleep in the infirmary. It was already almost ten and we were still not fully rested from lack of sleep the night before. 'If he isn't back in...' I thought as I saw Harry and a rather sickly looking blonde creature descend the stairs.
Draco was not exactly what I was expecting. I couldn't tell you what I was expecting, but I can assure you that it was not that. Standing side by side like that they looked like exact opposites. Harry with his dark hair and vibrant green eyes were a stark comparison to the other boy's white-blonde hair and pale grey eyes. He might have been very pretty had he not looked so beat up. Then it occurred to me that it was like I was looking at an impersonation of James Potter and Lucius Malfoy. They looked like almost clones of their fathers, yet with a feature or two of their mothers. Thank goodness I was transformed when I saw him, I might have had to be mortified at the look on my own face.
Remus was standing there with a rather forced smile. I knew what he thought of anyone with the name Malfoy. He didn't like Draco when he had taught him Defense Against the Dark Arts. Said he was creepy. I would believe that. His appearance even now was quite alarming. 'He'll get better.' As they approached I was becoming less and less sure about what was going to happen. To say I was apprehensive would be a gross understatement. As much as I would like to say that I was a bigger person, I simply could not put my prejudice behind me. Remus and I had gone to school with Lucius. He was not one to mix with.
"Hi, there." He was beaming. He suddenly reminded me of James. "Draco, this is Remus," he said. Remus extended his hand, though I knew how painful it was for him to do that. Then they turned to me. "And this is my godfather, Sirius. Sirius, this is Draco," he finished. Harry was nervous. Draco just cocked his head a bit and held his hand out. I don't think he knew what to expect, but he played along, anyway. He was a good sport. I was already starting to like him. I put my right foot in his hand and he shook it a bit.
"Nice to meet you," he said quietly.
"Likewise, I'm sure," Remus muttered.
I tend to forget that I have no vocal cords when I'm transformed, so it was only natural for me to respond. Of course, it only came out as a strangled kind of squeak. Harry and Remus laughed at me and Draco also seemed to be amused. He smiled and cocked his head again.
"All right," he said to me. He seemed to take that as acceptance on my part. I suppose he did have a certain kind of charm.
"Shall we, then?" Remus said, starting to march out the door.
He seemed extremely interested in getting into the car that was to take us to our new house in some Muggle part of the country. He was so damn exasperating when he was being like that. He was being childish. I was trying to put my prejudices behind me. Draco was quickly winning me over. Just the way he looked at Harry was enough to convince me that the boy wasn't all bad. Why couldn't Remus do the same?
The rest of us followed and joined him in the back of the Ministry car. The short ride was spent in a very awkward silence. Remus seemed to be ignoring the tensity in the air as he always did in situations as those. Harry was watching Draco's obviously disappointed person out of the corner of his eye. Draco was staring down at the floor. This was not starting out at all like I had hoped.
As soon as we had all stepped out of the car, it was gone and we were standing outside a two-story surrounded by trees. As we walked up and into the house I transformed to myself once again. At my full height, the top of my head nearly reached the bottom of the veranda. Inside the front door was the staircase leading to the upper portion of the house that Remus had already retreated to. Downstairs was a relatively small bedroom, a kitchen, a sitting room, and a washer and dryer in a hut just outside the back door. The house was not huge, but it wasn't small, either. It was rather cozy, actually. There was just enough room for all four of us to live comfortably together.
'Remus is probably already finding his things and organizing his books,' I thought rather bitterly as I found Harry and Draco sitting at the table in the kitchen. They had put a pot of tea on, so I figured I might join them. I was not keen on finding Remus at the moment. I was rather disappointed in his reaction to Draco. In all honesty, I did not expect him to so ungracefully accept his new set of circumstances, even if he was not necessarily fond of them. He had not behaved quite like that before in all the time that I had known him. 'He's just getting old before his time.' 'Yeah, and that's the problem,' I thought to myself.
"What's wrong with him?" Harry asked as I sat down.
"He's acting like an old man. I don't honestly know what's wrong with him, although I am rather put off by it, myself." What was I supposed to tell him? "Don't worry, he'll come around."
"Yeah, sure."
"Oh, honestly. Are you really going to let his pettiness put you in such a state?" I asked him. He just looked at me for a moment and then smiled. "That's what I thought. Now how is that tea coming along?"
"Oh, yes," he said, jumping up. He set a cup in front of himself, Draco, and me before pouring it out.
It occurred to me that as there were only two rooms in this house, I was going to have to have that whole responsible sexuality talk with them. I wondered if either of them had been talked to about it before and I found myself becoming increasingly worried about how to face this. Then again, they were both almost seventeen years old, so they couldn't be that uneducated. Still, it was an obligation I had taken on in taking them in.
I looked up to see both of them looking quite expectantly at me. "Will you please relax, honestly. We're going to be in this situation for a while, so we might all do to get used to it as soon as possible."
"Actually, I was just wondering why you had that look on your face," Draco said very quietly.
"What look?"
"Well... Like you were very confused, or kind of sick or something."
I started to laugh. "I'm sorry. I was just thinking," I said, sobering, "it's kind of my obligation to have the whole sexual responsibility talk with you," I started.
"Yeah, we know. Use protection and abstinence is the safest and all the rest. Yes, we know all about that and have been practicing those things already," Harry replied. He frowned all of a sudden and paused. "Not that you really needed to know that...." he trailed off. Draco and I laughed at him.
"Like I said, out of obligation I am having this discussion with you. I know you don't really need guardianship anymore, but you do still need a little guidance. And I just need to do the responsible thing as best as I can."
"Do you have any kids of your own?" Draco suddenly asked.
"No, I don't."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you did."
"Why's that?" I asked. He piqued my curiosity.
"Because you act like you know what you're doing a lot better than my father does," he replied, lowering his gaze to stare at the floor. He looked up at me again before saying, "Then again, the only thing he ever did well was working for the Dark Lord. Fitting, isn't it?"
Harry snorted. I was not wanting to turn the conversation this way tonight. Tomorrow, maybe, but not tonight. "Actually, it is time I think we should all try to sleep. I know I haven't had much of it lately. Anyway, I shall see you in the morning. Sleep well," I said as I left them alone.
**
As I lay next to Remus before falling asleep, I thought about the day. Nothing ceased to amaze me at that point. Things I had never anticipated were presenting themselves in a very overt way. Draco was turning out to be a decent person. I didn't think it was a physical possibility for there to be a single Malfoy with a decent personality. I may not have known him that well at that point, but he was rapidly growing on me. He was not nearly as shy I had expected him to be. Actually, he was in a much better condition than I expected him to be in. It kind of disturbed me, but there had to be a reason for it. Either he had not yet fully absorbed the extent of the things that had happened to him, or he was just wasn't affected by it anymore. There was too much to his story that I just didn't know. There was little point in dreaming up fanciful answers to my questions about his life. All things would be answered in their own time. But I was definitely starting to like him. I approved of Harry's choice. He was a positive individual. Yes, this was going to work out just fine.
*****
I may have been a bit long winded, but I am growing rather fond of this chapter. Do tell me what your opinions. I love hearing what you think of this. And speaking of which, I would like to thank the following for all the lovely and truly flattering reviews: Shadow Maxwell-Yuy, Hades, UserFriendly, GSKrissy, Prongs *blushes* I... I... *blushes deeper* Every chapter! You're just so sweet. *blows a kiss* Really. Rubicon and Padfoot Lover, your flattery is just stunning. *grins* Nykto, stay tuned, I am working very hard on the 'How Lucius Found Out' chapter. I just have to work out a few more minor details... And of course, my luv, the Goddess Shinigami, you are so wonderful to me. Thank you all for making me feel like I can write good. *giggles* Cheers!
