Harry Potter
To Have and Protect

Chapter Three
'A Child Amongst Us'

Disclaimer –
All characters in this story belong to the greatly talented writer J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury Books, 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. More notes at the end of the chapter.
Lady Koneko
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Lunch turned out to be a rather edgy affair that day. Rumors were running wild back and forth between the Raven claws and the Hufflepuffs about what happened to Malfoy and why he missed Transfiguration. Many of the Slytherins were saying it was because of a deliberate attack by the Gryffindors, propagated by Potter and carried out by Longbottom to throw suspicion during Potions. The Ravenclaws and the Hufflepuffs did not believe the conspiracy theory, all knew Neville was on the wrong side of clumsy in the best of times (i.e. outside the Potions classroom and away from Professor Snape) and wouldn't trust him with something so important. Besides, that was a ~Slytherin~ rumor, and those were to be taken with a grain of salt at the very least. A lot of talking was going on over at the Gryffindor table, talk about how Malfoy was attacked by a cloud and shrunk, that the cloud had came from Longbottom's cauldron, and that Malfoy had clung to Harry like a leech. They were having a hard time believing that one as well. While that a cloud attacked Malfoy and shrunk him was strange, it was well in the realm of believable possibility, as was the idea that it had come from Longbottom's cauldron. But Draco Malfoy…clinging to Harry Potter? His sworn enemy? Willingly? Not a chance.

Or so they all thought until Harry came to lunch with a mini Malfoy in his arms, Hermione and Ron on either side. The Great Hall went silent as everyone turned to the famed Gryffindor trio and Slytherin's most notorious student. Hermione was staring straight ahead, not seemingly paying attention to anything going on around her, but if one knew her well, they would have noticed that her eyes kept flicking between Harry and Malfoy and Ron, and that there was a tight cast of disapproval on her lips. One did not need to know Ron well at all to read him, the dark scowl on his face was apparent to all, as were the hard looks he kept directing at the little blonde. Harry was wearing a look that most everyone in the Great Hall had seen off and on during the last five years of school, he looked as if he would rather be anywhere else but here. There was also a faint blush of embarrassment highlighting his cheeks, something else that everyone had seen a time or two (or more) over the years. As for Malfoy, he was looking around the Great Hall in mild curiously from where his head laid on Harry's shoulder, his arms wrapped around the dark-headed Gryffindor's neck for balance, though all in the Hall could tell that the chance of Malfoy sliding out of Harry's firm grasp were slim. It seemed to a large number of people that Harry was actually ~cuddling~ Malfoy to him. The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs watched in mute silence as the small group quickly moved to the Gryffindor table and the Trio took their usual spots, with Malfoy insisting sitting on Harry's lap. All consideration for the previously mentioned rumors flew right out the window as everyone could tell they no longer had any barring on the situation now presented to them. Whispering started at the two neutral tables, and soon the noise level once again reached the level it had been in before The Entrance.

* * * * *

"Well now," Hermione said in a low voice after the conversation in the room had returned to normal, "wasn't that fun." Harry and Ron both glared at her. The three of them had stood outside the door to the Great Hall, just outside of view for a few minutes, and had heard what the topic of the day was. They were not surprised, had been expecting it in fact, but when they had talked about it before class earlier, none of them had expected that they would be going to lunch ~with~ Malfoy, and especially not with him in Harry's arms.

"I still can't believe that Dumbledore is making you watch over the little ferret!" Ron growled distastefully. Harry had told them, in hushed tones, about his meeting with Dumbledore; how that since Malfoy seemed so ~attached~ to Harry that he would be responsible for him during lunch. Dumbledore had assured Harry that Madame Pomfrey would take Malfoy after lunch and would be watching over him until Snape could find a way to return Malfoy to normal.

"Ron!" Hermione hissed as Malfoy turned and directed the coldest glare he could at Ron. "Be nice to him. You heard what Harry said, what Dumbledore told him about Malfoy." Harry glanced down at the little blonde sitting in his lap. Draco had turned away from Ron and was now giving all his attention to the plate in front of him. When he had asked why Madam Pomfrey was watching him instead of letting Draco return to the Slytherin dorm, Dumbledore had told him something rather surprising. The potion had not been, as he and everyone else had first assumed, a shrinking potion. Draco had instead been turned into a child, his age regressed to that of a five year old, body and ~mind~. That was why Draco was acting the way he was, he had no memories of his last five years of school, no memories of his friends, teachers, or the person he hated the most. He was the five-year-old that he had been eleven years ago, and Harry was quickly discovering that little Draco was vastly different from the Malfoy that he knew (and hated).

Around them the rest of the Gryffindors were staring at them, or more accurately, at Malfoy. Seamus, Dean and Neville were sitting closest to them (across from them, actually) and had naturally enough heard Hermione's hissed comment. "And what was that, Hermione?" Seamus quickly asked, his eyes flicking from Harry to Malfoy and back.

"Can't hurt to tell them," Ron muttered around a mouthful of food. Hermione gave him a disgusted look. "Everyone will be finding out soon enough." Seamus' eyes lit up and he, Dean and Neville leaned in close. Hermione turned to Harry to see if he wanted to be the one to tell their friends what had happened earlier -he was struggling with Malfoy for the possession of his lunch- particularly the large piece of chocolate cake with coconut pecan frosting that Harry had served himself. Her lip twitched, partially in humor and partially in exasperation, and she turned to her three yearmates.

"Neville, your potion somehow transformed Malfoy back into a child. Dumbledore said that he is to eat lunch with us and then Madam Pomfrey will be taking over watching him until a counter potion is administered."

"Good going Neville!" Seamus clapped Neville hard on the back, nearly knocking him into his soup. "You did a Transfiguration Potion on Malfoy. Now we don't have to deal with the slimy git in class!"

Seamus was suddenly on the receiving end of three hot glares; one from Malfoy, which wasn't up to its usual standard because as a child he was too cute to carry it off well, one from Harry, who's arm had tightened around Malfoy's middle at the comment, and one from Hermione (who had not missed Harry's protective gesture).

"It was not a Transfiguration Potion," she declared empathically, looking sternly at him. "It was a Regression Potion. He did not ~become~ a child, he was ~returned~ to a state of childhood." Seamus and Neville blinked in confusion, but awareness dawned on Dean's face. "How old is he then?" he whispered, giving the Slytherin a searching look. Malfoy looked to be around four.

"Five," Harry said, his attention still on the small blonde in his lap. He had managed to get the cake away from Draco without making a mess (or with too big a fuss), but he was now absently giving the blonde child small bites of it with his fork in between his own bites of cake. Ron glanced over at Harry; saw what was happening, and promptly gagged on his roast beef and rye sandwich.

"And as such," Hermione said, absently whacking Ron on the back until he coughed up his bite of lunch that had gone down the wrong way, "we are to treat him as such. Malfoy has no memories of the last five years of school, or of any memories that happened after his sixth birthday."

"That means," Neville whispered softly, glancing at the blonde nervously but hopefully, "he doesn't remember whose cauldron exploded?"

"No," Ron said hoarsely between stray coughs. "And if you are really lucky, he won't remember after he gets returned to normal."

"When will that be?" Seamus quickly asked; his eyes dancing as he watched Malfoy.

"Dumbledore did not say," Harry said, setting the empty dessert plate aside and pouring Draco a small goblet of pumpkin juice, which he took with a smile. He took a sandwich for himself, cutting it in half and then in fourths after he noticed Draco's interest in the sandwich, and sat them on the plate before him, one fourth still in hand. "Dumbledore said that Snape would have to figure out exactly what caused the potion to explode in the first place before he could make a counter potion. Regression Potions seem to be rather tricky."

"Not for several weeks then, hmm?" Seamus cast Malfoy a speculative look. He was taking small, delicate bites out of the sections of roast beef sandwiches that Harry had cut, judiciously nibbling around the crusts. He could see some opportunities… Unfortunately for him he was not the only one seeing things and Dean swiftly sent him an elbow in the ribs to tell him what he thought of whatever it was that Seamus was planning. The Irish teen glared in a pouting sort of way at his best friend and went back to his lunch.

Things were peaceful enough for the next few minutes as everyone made inroads in their respective lunches (Harry quickly discovering to his chagrin that Draco had a strong aversion to carrots unless they were covered with ketchup) when everything went to pot with the arrival of Pansy Parkinson, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle, who made their way across the Great Hall to where the Gryffindors and Draco were eating.

As the gathered Gryffindors looked up a the approaching Slytherins, Pansy quickly made it obvious why they had trod onto Gryffindor area as she came to stand behind Harry's chair.

"We want Draco back. Give him here, now!" Crabbe and Goyle leered threateningly from behind. Draco had looked up and behind Harry at the mention of his name, but drew back once he saw whom it was who was speaking. Lack of memory notwithstanding, his distaste for the Slytherin girl was obvious. Harry tightened his grip possessively around Draco's middle and pulled him tighter to his chest.

"Professor Dumbledore said Malfoy was to have lunch with us," Hermione quickly said, noting Harry's protective attitude and hoping that no one else had seen it. She had been hoping that incident in class earlier was an isolated incident, a fluke, and that she had misread his action earlier but it looked as if Harry's protective instincts were taking an unwholesome (and as far as she cared, unwelcome) interest in Malfoy.

Pansy stuck her small pug nose in the air, as though she was greatly offended. "Draco is a ~Slytherin~. He is having lunch with us, aren't you Draco?"

Everyone turned to the blonde. He looked up at Harry, his bottom lip sticking out slightly; then glanced back behind Harry at Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle. A determined look came to light in Draco's silvery eyes and his lips tightened. "I am saying here," he declared in a soft-spoken voice, a trill of ice running through it that was familiar to all at the table. Pansy looked shocked at Draco's declaration, while the others were shocked at how young he sounded, and the dawning realization that during the last twenty minutes not a one of them had heard him speak a single word. "I," he continued softly, looking up at Harry with a slightly possessive look in his eyes, "am not leaving." With that he leaned back into Harry's chest and wrapped his arms around the arm wrapped around his chest, his silver eyes all but daring anyone to try to remove him.

Silence enveloped the table, and part of the table next to them, as everyone who had been listening absorbed what they had heard. Pansy's face turned an unattractive shade of red as snickering started from the next table, everyone had heard the night before of her plans for Malfoy, and everyone found it amusing that even as a child Malfoy didn't want her near him. She was about loose what little control of her temper she had and snatch the blonde child from Harry when someone cleared his throat behind her.

"Is there something wrong Miss Parkinson?" a chilling voice drawled. All turned and saw Professor Snape, with Professor McGonagall next to him, standing behind the trio of Slytherins with one of the coldest looks any of them had seen outside the Potions classroom.

Pansy paled immediately, but Slytherin bravado kicked in. "N-no, sir. Nothing is wrong. We were… just checking to see how Draco was since he missed class… shouldn't he be having lunch with us…"

"No, Miss Parkinson, he is not," Professor McGonagall spoke up, wanting to squash any potential trouble before it got any further. "The Headmaster clearly said that Mister Malfoy was to have lunch with Mister Potter and return to the Hospital Wing, where he will stay until a counter potion is administered. There will be no more on this subject, is that understood?"

Everyone mutely nodded.

"Then, Miss Parkinson, Mister Crabbe, Mister Goyle, you may return to your table." Under Snape's cold gaze the three Slytherins slunked back to their table. The Gryffindors kept their laughing at bay only because Professor Snape was present. "Longbottom, twenty points from Gryffindor for blowing up your cauldron!" With a searching look at Harry and Draco, Snape swung around, his robes billowing around them in a way the students had yet to figure out how to emulate and strode to the staff's table. McGonagall gave Harry a searching look herself, privately wondering why things kept happening to the poor boy before she too turned and strode purposely to the staff table.

"Ooh…" a low moan escaped from Neville as he knocked his head against the table, narrowly missing his plate.

"Cheer up mate," Seamus told him encouragingly, giving him another hearty wack on the back. "You have to look on the bright side of things. Sure, you may have lost us twenty points, and in the first class of the first day of the year, but you have given us several weeks of class without Malfoy."

"Yeah," Ron said, smiling at Neville. "It's worth the twenty points not to have class with the ferret."

"Ron!" Hermione hissed, glancing out of the corner of her eye at Harry and Malfoy. Harry was still holding the Slytherin tight, and he didn't seem to be aware of doing so. Malfoy was glaring at Ron, and from the cold look in his eyes she would almost swear that he was planning something. She mentally sighed, somehow knowing that this was going to be a long several weeks and took a long drink from her goblet.

* * * * *

"Puppy dog tails," Hermione told the Fat Lady and the picture swung aside, revealing the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. "I swear," she murmured lightly, "the passwords get stranger every year."

Ron gave her a puzzled look. "What's so strange about puppy dog tails?" he asked as he followed her through the portal and into the common room. Hermione stepped aside and gave Ron a puzzled look, which quickly changed into realization.

"It is a saying from a Muggle nursery rhyme," she informed him. "It is one of the things that little boys are made of."

The redhead paused in the doorway and gave Hermione a worried look. "Right," he muttered and continued into the room, giving Harry room to enter. He would never figure out Muggles. Who in their right mind would think something as silly as that? Behind Ron, walking slower than his two friends, came Harry. While all three were tired from their last class, Harry's slow pace was due more to the limp blonde Slytherin he was carrying than from the exhaustion that was clearly etched on his face.

Ron and Hermione watched in silence as Harry entered the room, the portrait swinging shut behind him. He shuffled Malfoy in his arms, shuffling him from one side to the other. The sleeping child muttered softly in protest, then snuggled his face into Harry's neck, causing Ron's stomach to lurch uncomfortably.

"I can't believe that we are going to be stuck with the ferret until he is back to normal," Ron hissed darkly in a low voice. Hermione and Harry had both laid into him earlier for speaking loudly, neither of them wanted to wake Malfoy. Hermione had pointed out to him that a sleeping Malfoy was better than an awake and irritating Malfoy. Ron had conceded to her wisdom (and glare) and had lowered the volume. The longer the annoying ferret child slept, the better it was for him. He was not happy about it, but then, he wasn't happy about any of the situation.

Hermione sighed, understanding Ron's frustration and irritation completely. Who would have thought that ~Malfoy~ of all people would throw a pitched fit to keep from being removed from Harry? Madam Pomfrey swore that she had never seen the like, and somehow Ron had been kicked in the face, giving him a black eye. They had ended up having to take Malfoy to Care of Magical Creatures with them, where all the Slytherins gave them the evil eye while Hargrid introduced them to their class project for the year. After that, no one had time to glare at them, as Harry, Ron and Hermione's worst fear came to life, creatures just as bad as hydras. Rocs.

Hagrid had them divide into pairs, giving Harry a sympathetic look as he did so. Harry had been paired with, of course, Malfoy, who had spent most of the class clinging to Harry's robes and giving the roc they were in charge of apprehensive looks. No one made fun of Malfoy for that, as most of the class was giving their rocs the same looks, some liberally laced with worry and fear. Newly hatched roc chicks were the size of large dogs, and they could easily snap a hand off if one wasn't careful.

Harry was having the worst of it, having to feed and watch over a hungry chick that would snap at anything in snapping range and Malfoy. Halfway through the class, not wanting to be near the roc chick any more, Malfoy had wandered off and only a sharp yelp of pain from Neville and laughter from some of the Slytherins had caused Harry to look for his charge.

The class had ended with Harry, Ron and Hermione the worst for wear, the latter two taking on most of the responsibility of Harry's roc while Harry watched over Malfoy as the little blonde Slytherin wouldn't let anyone else but Harry within touching distance. Neville was limping, not due to an incident with the roc that he and Pansy were taking care of, but due to the surprisingly strong kick in the shins that Malfoy had graced him with. On the way back to the Gryffindor tower, Malfoy, who insisted that Harry carry him, had fallen asleep…

"Where are you going!" Ron demanded sharply, drawing Hermione out of her thoughts and back to the present. Harry had made his way across the common room and was about to start up the stairs to the dorm rooms.

"Up to our dorm, of course," Harry said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I am going to dump Draco in my bed before my arms fall off."

"Oh, no, you're not! Not in our dorm!" Ron hissed as he marched across the room, his head shaking wildly. "Malfoy is ~not~ sleeping in the same room as me! And when the hell did he become Draco!? Just dump him on a sofa or something."

"Shush, you will wake him!" Harry hissed back. "He is a little boy…"

"…monster…" Ron inserted under his breath low enough that Harry couldn't hear him.

"…who needs his sleep. I am not dumping him on the sofa or anywhere else where someone can come by and disturb him. And he asked me to call him Draco."

Hermione's eyebrows arched at that. She had not heard Malfoy say that, it must have happened in History of Magic before Harry had caught her attention, but she had noticed, unlike Ron, that Malfoy would not answer Harry unless he called him by his given name.

"When the hell did that happen!" Ron demanded, earning a smile from Hermione that nether teen saw. Harry scowled at Ron, cuddling the small body close. Hermione's smile faded. Harry was getting way to protective of Malfoy, she was going to have to sit him down and give him a good talking to about that, and soon. The pair disappeared from view, and Hermione made her way to her dorm room to drop off her books and supplies. There was a good hour and half before dinner was served, and she wanted to spend as much of it as possible in the library looking up age regression potions. Things were going to become worse, she knew, before they became better, and she had the feeling that she would be wanting all the information she could get before this mess was done and over with.

To be continued…

Hello everyone!! First off, I would like to apologise for how long it has been since I have updated. Real Life stepped in, (i.e. crashed hard drive) and so did a nasty bit of writers block, but now, finally, here is chapter three. I do hope you all enjoy it, and please be a bit patient, as I have no clue whatsoever when chapter four will be coming out, but I can tell you that we will be getting things from Draco's pov. Now, I would like to thank all the wonderful people who have reviewed the last two chapters. Thank you Lanna, Kai Michi, Val Mora, Scratches, Myrtle-Pyrtle, Youko Gingitsune, Jedi Cosmos, IceFire, mandraco, Xanpetuk, heehee, Lichan, Klee, Laney, CrystalStarGuardian, SailorChibi, whitebearwrites, tsuki neko, Darklites, Mida, kcgal, sev's-gurl, Remy, bwaybaby79, Protector of the Little People, sm, Anna, Warui Warui Neko, Yanagi-sen, Antigone, Enjeru, Linda, gwen, Myr, Lady Malfoy, ichigatsu, Joydrop, and ladyeclectic. *deep breath*
Ja ne
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