Disclaimer -

All characters in this story belong to the greatly talented writer J.K. Rowling, Scholastic Books, and Warner Bros. and all are being used without knowledge and permission. This story shall eventually lead off into shounen ai slash, which translates into a romantic boy/boy story. Snogging shall eventually appear, so please consider yourself warned. This is my very first Harry Potter fan fic, and my very first non-anime related fic, but defiantly nowhere near my first attempt at fan fic writing.
Now, since no one came here to read this, on with the story,
Lady Koneko
=^._.^=

Harry Potter
To Have and Protect

Chapter Two
'Little Draco Malfoy'

The class drew back in horror as Malfoy was enveloped in the yellow cloud, which seemed to seethe and writhe around him. Snape, with a very grim look on his face, directed his wand at the cloud and quickly muttered a dispelling spell. The cloud almost seemed to recoil as the spell struck it; then it turned a silvery white and faded away. The grim look on Snape's face collapsed and the entire class gasped in shocked horror and amazement at what was reveled. Malfoy was still standing where he had been when the cloud, well, attacked him, but he seemed to have shrunk several feet, now standing much the same height as a young child. In fact, he looked very childish indeed, with his robes hanging loose around his neck and shoulders, long over his hands and puddled around his feet and a bewildered look in his eyes. The Slytherins nearest to Malfoy cautiously stood up and stepped away, afraid of what Malfoy would do once he realized that he had been shrunk and not wanting to be in the line of fire. All the Slytherins, that is, except Pansy Parkinson, who screeched out Draco's name an lunged at him, arms spread in what she thought was a comforting manner. Unfortunately for her, this was apparently not the impression that Malfoy had gotten, for at her shriek and lunge the strange hazed look in Malfoy's eyes faded, and he dove away from Pansy, toward Professor Snape. The Gryffindors watched in a mixture of mute shock and surprise as little Malfoy glanced up at the figure in front of him, and with a panicked look adverted to the left, diving under Harry and Ron's table. As the small body struggled to crawl under the table, hampered by his trailing robes, Pansy pulled herself out of the chair she had crashed into because she was unable to stop her lunge when her target disappeared and had painfully made contact with Malfoy's chair.

Meanwhile Ron and Harry, who were still seated at their table, had to deal with sharing leg space with Malfoy. Ron jerked back as Malfoy stumbled over his robe and banged into Ron's leg, he then lost his balance and crashed to the floor, his elbow making painful contact with Ron's sneaker-covered foot. Ron jerked back violently with a pained howl, crashing into the table behind him and a low-pitched cry came from under the table, much like a kitten. Harry slid his chair back and bent over to look under the table. Malfoy was sprawled on the cold stone floor, face pale and blood on his chin. He sighed, apparently Malfoy scraped his chin when he fell, and ran his hand through his hair. Then a pair of scared, pain-filled eyes met with his, a child's eyes, and Harry slid out of his chair onto the floor and pulled little Malfoy out from under his table before he realized what he was doing.

"Malfoy, come here," Snape demanded, wand still out. His eyes were burning coldly and his hand was clenched around his wand so tightly that his knuckles had turned white. He was nearly shaking in his fury. Malfoy, unable to tell that the fury of the tall (and as far as he was concerned) scary man was not directed at him looked up at Harry, then back at Snape, then latched his small hands onto Harry's robes and buried his face into Harry's chest.

The rest of the class gasped in shock. Malfoy had climbed into Harry's lap and was latched to him like he was never planning on letting go.

"Ummm..." Harry looked down at the blonde head, then up at the furious look on Snape's face. He struggled to get to his feet, holding the small body close to his.

"Bring him here Potter," Snape growled. Malfoy shivered slightly and tightened his grip on Harry's robes. With a sigh of resignation (he really didn't want to go to Snape) he walked the few feet and came to stand before the Professor. Snape frowned down at them, the tallish teen holding onto the small blonde; then he lifted his wand and whispered a spell under his breath. A blue arc of light emanated from the tip and surrounded the duo, then changed to a soft lavender. A quick look of surprise flashed across the potions professor's face before his usual sneer took over.

"Potter, you will accompany me to the hospital wing. The rest of you will properly dispose of your now ruined potions" Snape paused to glare at each and every student. In the excitement of Neville's potion exploding and the aftereffects, everyone had forgotten to watch over their own potions. His gaze stopped at Neville, who was still under his table. "Except you, Longbottom." Neville shivered at the icy voice directed at him. "You shall leave everything on your table as it is. Do ~not~ touch a thing." His tone conveyed that many a horrid thing would happen to him if he did, and Neville shivered in fear. Snape turned and glared at the rest of the class. "Once everything is in order, all of you are excused from class." Silence filled the room at Snape's announcement. Never, no matter what potion had been messed up, had the entire class been excused before. Ignoring his shocked students, Snape motioned for Harry to walk ahead of him, and the three of them left the room, Harry feeling suspiciously like a prisoner being escorted to his doom for some reason. In his arms, little Malfoy snuggled against Harry's chest, a small, hidden smile curving his lips as he closed his eyes.

The class watched in silence as the three wizards left the potions classroom and the heavy wooden door close ominously behind them. They stood that way for several minutes; then Ron turned to Hermione.

"Well, he didn't say anything about the twenty points."

Hermione stared at Ron for a moment in disbelief, her lips tightening into two white lines. She stared at him for a few minutes more, fighting to keep from saying something very unflattering. After a brief but difficult struggle she won, and turned away from Ron and started cleaning up her potions mess, shooting a stern look around the classroom to see if everyone else was doing the same. A loud scuffle filled the room as everyone got to work. Wisely, no one said anything.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, Snape was hustling Harry to the hospital wing as fast as Harry could walk, considering he was carrying around forty pounds of Slytherin that was clinging to his chest. He was not happy with what had just happened in his classroom, and most defiantly not happy with what had just happened to his favorite student. He glared at the back of the young Gryffindor's head, knowing beyond a reason of a doubt that somehow this wouldn't have occurred if it weren't for Potter. In the normal event of things, there would have been no way Longbottom could have created a shrinking potion out of the beginnings of the Potion of Coronius, no matter how badly he had messed up. Ground hydra scales were required for a shrinking potion, and the only hydra scales were in his private stores. And Neville had added the knotweed, which reacted against hydra scales and would have negated the shrinking properties. And all shrinking potions had to be drank, the cloud formation signified that the potion had been a transfiguration potion, but for a transfiguration potion, the essential ingredients had to be prepared no less than a fortnight before use. And they didn't shrink people. But the spell he cast on Malfoy clearly stated that it had been a transfiguration potion. He growled deep in his throat as they turned down the last corridor. He was going to have to examine the remains in the cauldron and find out exactly what had happened, he glanced at the top of Malfoy's head, no matter what the results were.

They reached the hospital wing and Harry shuffled Malfoy in his grip until one hand was free to open the door. The moment he and Snape entered the room, Madam Pomfrey was upon them. She gave Harry, his blonde bundle and then Snape a searching look; then nodded to herself.

"Bring him over here Mr. Potter," she said softly, motioning to an empty bed. "Professor Snape, what has happened to him?"

They watched as Harry carefully pried two small hands off his robes and laid Malfoy on the bed. During the trip to the hospital wing, Malfoy had fallen asleep. "I am not sure," he replied quietly, so Potter couldn't hear them. "It looks as if Malfoy has been affected by a shrinking potion, but from what I can tell at this point, it was a transfiguration potion."

"Hmmmmmm..." Madam Pomfrey gave Snape a stern look, she had always felt that his methods of teaching were a bit risky; she would complain to the headmaster as soon as everything was stabilized here. She was getting tired of having Potions students in her infirmary when a little prudent caution could have been used and disaster adverted. She was not looking forward to young Longbottom's visits this year.

"Mr. Potter, thank you." Harry had stepped back from the bed, giving Malfoy a quick worried look. Pomfrey hid a smile; she had always known that Mr. Potter had a soft heart. "You may now return to class."

Harry nodded and quickly left the hospital wing, glad that Snape was paying more attention to Malfoy than him.

* * * * *

Harry met up with Ron and Hermione while on the way to History of Magic, Harry coming from the direction of the Gryffindor dorm and Ron and Hermione coming from the library. Both Harry and Ron and Hermione had been looking for each other for the past half hour, but due to the various staircases and corridors, had managed to pass each other numerous times without even realizing it. They had barely enough time to nod to each other before entering the class and taking their seats. There would be plenty of time to talk after class started. Once everyone was settled, Professor Binn began his lecture, the rise and fall of Ys off the Normandy coast. As usual for the class, everyone made themselves comfortable and took a nap. Ron and Hermione shot Harry a quick look, and Harry nodded. Fortunately they were all seated next to each other, so they wouldn't have to pass notes.

"So," Ron hissed, making sure to keep his voice under the monotone drone of Professor Binn, "What's up with Malfoy?"

Harry shrugged. "Don't know," Harry whispered back. "He was asleep when we reached the Hospital wing, and they kicked me right out. Snape looked worried though."

"I still can't believe that Neville's potion did that," Hermione huffed softly. "The potion's reaction had all the earmarks of a transfiguration potion, but those take days to prepare, and the ingredients are hard to come by."

Harry frowned, and for some reason the way Malfoy had been acting sprang to mind. "Do you think that the potion was tampered with?"

Hermione looked thoughtful, thinking things over; then shook her head. "I don't see how anyone could have. Ingredients for a transfiguration potion would have to have been prepared before school even started. The main ingredient in a Coronius transfiguration potion is platypus venom, and because of how dangerous it is to use possession of it is regulated by the Ministry. Someone would have had to known in advance that we were doing that potion, then gone to the trouble and expense of gathering the ingredients, then preparing them, and then there is the problem of getting to the cauldron without anyone seeing..." Hermione shook her head; she could not see how it could have been done. And who would go to such trouble to tamper with Neville's potion in the first place?

Harry sighed and crossed his arms, resting his chin on them. Well, so much for that theory. Why would Malfoy tamper with Neville's potion? Ron nodded softly, unaware of Harry's thoughts, and noting that there wasn't much of anything else to say, settled down for his midmorning nap. Care for Magical Creatures was right after lunch, and he wanted to be rested up for it. Hermione looked at her two friends for a moment, sighed softly, and tuned into Professor Binn's lecture.

* * * * *

It was him again, the boy with the green eyes. He hadn't recognized him in Madam Malkin's, and had nearly kicked himself when he had awoken the next day, the memory of bright green eyes shining at him, a joy of living shining within them, and he had realized that he had finally seen them in reality, and had lost them. But here he was again, on the train, and sitting and talking Quidditch with a ~Weasley~ of all people. It just made him sick. He had to get him back, but something went wrong and ~he~ turned him down. Later, as he thought the conversation through, he reluctantly admitted that his choice of topics might have been flawed, but that shouldn't have mattered! It was him and ~he~ denied him

The small blonde turned, whimpering slightly in his sleep. No one was there to see it; Madam Pomfrey had left a nurse in charge and had accompanied Snape to the headmaster's office to tell him what had happened to young Malfoy, but she was not as attentive as Madam Pomfrey was, and thus missed the soft sound.

He hurt, and he was scared. He didn't know what had happened, except that there was yelling, and people frightened him, and now his chin hurt. He whimpered, and a face appeared, looking under the table he was hiding under; a boy with dark hair and green eyes was looking at him. Green eyes, those green eyes. His own silver-gray ones locked with them, and before he knew what was happening, the boy was kneeling on the stone floor next to him and pulling him up with a gentle look in those green eyes, the ones he missed so...

* * * * *

Draco's eyes fluttered open, and he looked around the strange room. He frowned, his lower lip sticking out in a bit of a pout. Where was he? And where had the green eyes gone? He remembered nothing but the green eyes, the soft look in them, and warm arms holding him tightly, as if they would never let him go. He sniffled softly; he wanted them back. Draco looked around the room again, noting that no one was in sight. A speculative look crossed his face, and he pulled back the covers and slid his legs over the edge of the bed and slid off. His stocking clad feet made no noise as he landed softly on the stone floor; his shoes had been lost in the Potions classroom. With one last fugitive look around the hospital wing, the young boy darted to the door. If the green eyes weren't here, well, he would just go out and find them.

* * * * *

It was an undetermined time later that something dragged Harry out of the half-sleep daze he often fell in to pass time in History of Magic. He blinked blurrily, Professor Binn droning in the background about another goblin war that was important for some reason or other, looking around the class. With the exception of Hermione and Dean, the rest of the class was sound asleep. Dean appeared to be in the same half-sleep state that he had been in, and Hermione, as usual, was wide-awake and paying avid attention to the lecture. Harry frowned, not seeing what had disturbed him, when he felt a soft tugging at the sleeve of his robe. He looked down, and his eyes widened in surprise as he saw a small, gray-eyed blonde looking up at him with a rather smug look on his face.

"Malfoy," Harry hissed, quickly looking around and making sure that no one was paying attention, "what are you doing here?" The Slytherin frowned up at Harry, his lower lip sticking out, and crossed his arms imperially. Absently Harry noted that while Malfoy's robes seemed to have been shrunk to fit, they still seemed a bit long, the hem brushing the floor and the sleeves falling halfway over his hands. "Well?" Harry prompted, wondering why Malfoy was staring at him when he should be in the hospital wing getting back to the proper size.

Malfoy's eyes narrowed, and his lower lip stuck out further in a sort of pout. "Draco," he finally said, his soft, childish voice barely carrying the distance to Harry.

Harry blinked. Needless to say, this was not what he had been expecting to hear. "What?" he hissed, his voice rising slightly. "Listen Malfoy, I have no idea what crazy idea is running through that head of yours, but if you don't want to get both of us detention, you will..." Harry's voice trailed to a stop as somehow Malfoy had squirmed into his lap and was now sitting with his back against his chest, looking up at him with the Malfoy smirk broad across his face. What the hell?!?

"Hi," Malfoy said, then looked down and reached out and picked up A History of Magic, the Sixth Volume and absently started leafing through it as though he hadn't a care in the world. It was all Harry could do not to leap up screaming. Instead he turned and looked behind him. Ron was sound asleep, using his book as a pillow and drooling slightly out of one corner of his mouth. No help there, though what help Ron would have offered was a mystery. His head turned slightly, and Harry's gaze fell on Hermione, who was so absorbed in the lecture that she hadn't noticed what was going on a mere three feet from her. Quickly he looked down at his unwanted visitor, happily absorbed watching Wendelin the Weird in one of her many disguises being burnt as a witch - for the twenty-seventh time. Harry reached out, and grabbed Hermione by the sleeve of her robe, and gave it an urgent tug. Hermione, not happy to be interrupted, batted at Harry's hand. With a firm look on his face, Harry tugged again, and Hermione turned to him to demand that he either return to his nap (knowing better than expecting him to pay attention to the lecture) or leave her alone when her eyes popped open and her jaw dropped like a landed fish. She gaped at the small blonde in Harry's lap; then looked up at him.

"What is he doing here!" she hissed, glancing around the class and up at Professor Binn. "And why is he in your lap?"

Harry waved his hands in the air. "How should I know?! He just appeared here!"

"And crawled into your lap," Hermione drawled, still deeply shocked but quickly coming out of it. "Well, he just can't stay there." Harry granted her an incredulous look. No kidding he couldn't stay here! "What are you going to do?" Harry stared at her, then down at Malfoy, who was flipping through the pages looking for more interesting pictures to look at.

"Ummm... I was kinda hoping you would have an idea"

"Errr..." Hermione grimaced, and both looked at the little Slytherin. "Malfoy!" she hissed. The blonde head looked up from the text and over at Hermione. "If you don't return to the hospital wing, you are going to"

"Not leaving," the blonde said, snuggling back into Harry's chest. Draco grabbed Harry's arm and draped it around him, holding on to it tightly as he graced Hermione with one of the Malfoy glares. It did not have the effect that it usually did, as it appeared to be coming from a four-year-old child rather than a sixteen-year-old git. Harry gave Hermione a desperate look, and she looked on helplessly.

"Madam Pomfrey is probably looking for him," Hermione said slowly a moment later after some deep thought.

"I should certainly hope so!" Harry muttered with feeling.

Draco had finished looking through the history text and was now looking around the classroom in avid interest, looking for something to do. His eyes fell on Harry's quill and ink, forgotten, and a piece of cream colored parchment that Harry had taken out for show to make it look as if he intended to take notes. With glee, Draco grabbed all three, and began to scribble.

"Don't do that!" Harry grabbed the quill and glared at Malfoy. What happened next shocked both him and Hermione. Malfoy's eyes grew wide; then he glared up at Harry, an angry pout on his face. But Harry could see tears in the silver-gray eyes as Malfoy turned away, facing away from Hermione. Without realizing it, he tightened his arm around Malfoy in a comforting manner and propped his chin on Malfoy's head, much like someone would to comfort a troubled child. Once again Hermione's jaw dropped. Any comment that she might have made was prevented by a soft cough from the door. Professor Binn stopped his lecture and he, Harry and Hermione turned to see who was interrupting the class. Dumbledore stood there, a bemused look on his face as he watched the actions of the two Gryffindors and the one Slytherin.

"Professor Binn," he said softly so he wouldn't disturb the sleep of the class. "I am afraid I must borrow Mister Potter and Mister Malfoy for the rest of the class." The ghost looked at the trio, trying to figure out where the Slytherin had come from and nodded.

"Meet you outside Dumbledore's office after class?" Hermione quickly whispered, glancing between Dumbledore and Harry. Harry looked up at the clock, saw that class was twenty minutes from being over and nodded. Quickly Harry gathered his stuff, placed it all in his bag, and with Malfoy in his arms got up and walked to the door. Dumbledore stepped aside, a grin dancing across his lips and closed the door behind them.

To be continued...