~~ Chapter Six: Give Him a Chance ~~

            It had been two weeks since Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy had their heart-to-heart in Draco's room, and since then, the two had formed a genuine friendship.  Ron and Hermione still didn't approve of Harry's new friend, and they let him know that every chance they got, but Harry assured Draco that he was working on winning them over.  Draco wasn't the only Malfoy trying to make amends, though.  After seeing his son attempting to connect with those around him, Lucius Malfoy was inspired to do the same.  He knew that the first relationship that needed to be saved was the one with his son.  The question was how.

            Now that he decided what he was going to do, Lucius thought it would be a good idea to decide how he was going to do it.  He needed advice, though, but where to go for it?  Finally, he decided on asking the wisest man he knew – Albus Dumbledore.

            Lucius was on his way to Dumbledore's office when he ran into Sibyll Trelawney, the Divination instructor, who told him that Dumbledore wasn't there.  "Do you know where he is?" Lucius asked after Trelawney gave him the news.

            "I saw him heading toward Transfiguration about ten minutes ago," Trelawney answered.  "If he's not there, Professor McGonagall might be able to steer you in the right direction."

            Lucius suppressed a grimace.  Minerva McGonagall was one of his least favorite people in the world, and he was one of hers.  They were satisfied with their discontent as long as they didn't have to interact with each other.  But if it could help him connect with Draco, it would be worth it.

            He thanked Trelawney and walked over to Transfiguration.  The door was cracked open about three inches.  Lucius was ready to knock, but he stopped when he heard voices inside.

            "I still don't know, Albus."  It was McGonagall.  "I don't know if I'll ever find it in my heart to trust him."

            "I never said we had to trust him, Minerva," replied Dumbledore's voice.  "I said that if we can save him, it will be worth it."

            "It's too late for Lucius," McGonagall insisted.  "Draco's still young.  There's a chance for him.  Not for Lucius."

            "Well, we should give him one.  A chance, that is."

            "Why are you doing this?" she asked.  "Why are you so sure that you can save him?"

            "I never said I would save him.  I said we, referring to Hogwarts as a whole.  When I first met Lucius, he was the typical Malfoy, not unlike how Draco was up until about two weeks ago.  If Draco can change, what if Lucius can, too?"

            "Are you saying that all he needs is a friend?"

            "Well… not exactly."

            "But you're implying it."

            "It wouldn't hurt."

            "How do you know that he won't take advantage of you and throw it back in your face, like he has with every other act of kindness you've tried to show him in the past?"

            "Because he has nothing to gain, that's why."

            Throughout the conversation between the two highest-ranking people at Hogwarts, Lucius could barely even breathe.  Here was Albus Dumbledore, a man he had hated all his life, trying to convince a woman he also hated all his life that he was worth saving.  All he asked for was their protection, and in truth, he didn't deserve that.  But Dumbledore was not only protecting him, he was trying to make friends with him.  What had come over these people?

            He couldn't wait to hear any more.  This was all the reassurance he needed.  Dumbledore had faith in him.  "I won't let you down," Lucius whispered, and left to find his son.

            Had he remained there, Lucius would have probably found the remainder of their conversation quite interesting.  As soon as he was out of earshot, Minerva brought up the topic of the Hogwarts instructor least likely to give him a chance.  "Good luck convincing Professor Terringer," she said.  "Her opinions about Malfoy aren't exactly secret, you know."

            "They didn't get off to a good start, either," Dumbledore said.  "But there has to be hope.  Professor Terringer is a Master of Musical Enchantment and a keeper of a unicorn.  I'm sure Malfoy could get over the fact that her parents are Muggles."

            "But could she get over the fact that he's a pureblood from one of the longest bloodlines in wizarding history who has always hated Muggles and anything that has to do with them?"

            "Maybe, maybe not, but regardless of what the outcome may be, we have to try."

            The deputy headmistress let out a long sigh and slowly nodded.  "All right.  I trust your judgment.  You've never steered us wrong before."

            Dumbledore smiled and put his hand on her arm.  "My dear Minerva, one could not ask for a better friend."

            A smile cracked her stone face.  "Thank you."

            Her hand went on top of his, and he closed his fingers around it for a moment.  "I'm going to go talk to Terringer," he said.  "Wish me luck."  He slowly pulled his hand away and headed for the door.

            "Luck," Minerva said.

            Dumbledore glanced back at her and pulled his glasses down to the tip of his nose.  His blue eyes sparkled brightly.  "Good luck, if you please."

            A small chuckle rose from the bottom of her throat.  "Good luck."

            "I… I don't think this is a good idea anymore, Harry."

            Harry Potter placed a reassuring hand on Draco Malfoy's shoulder.  "It's all right," he said.  "Once Ron and Hermione see that you really have changed, they'll be your friends, too.  We'll be like the Three Musketeers."

            Draco blinked twice and looked at Harry out of the corner of his eye.  "There were only three musketeers.  If your idea works, there'll be four of us."

            "You've never read the book, have you?" Harry asked.  "It was called The Three Musketeers, but there were four of them in the end.  Athos, Porthos, and Aramis were the original ones, but D'Artangan joined them."

            "Point taken.  One for all and all for one."

            "Oh, so you have read it."

            "I glanced at it a couple times.  My father reads a lot of classic literature."

            The two boys were in the Hogwarts library, hiding behind a bookshelf, and waiting for the perfect moment to approach Ron and Hermione, who were studying for a test.  Now Draco was getting stage fright, and Harry was trying to restore confidence to him. 

"Come on, Malfoy.  You can do this," said Harry.  "I'm right behind you."

Draco took a deep breath, then stepped out from behind the bookcase.  As promised, Harry was right behind him.  The two boys walked over to the table Ron and Hermione were sitting at.  "Hi," Draco said.

Ron and Hermione looked up.  Ron's mouth dropped open.  Hermione was surprised, too, but she was better at concealing it.  "I'm sorry, do we know you?" Hermione asked.  "You look a lot like this kid named Draco Malfoy, but you couldn't possibly be him because Draco Malfoy is a rude, self-centered-"

"Hermione!" Harry interrupted.  "What's gotten into you?"

Hermione stood up.  "No, Harry, what's gotten into you?  What did he ever do for you?  Why does he deserve your sympathy?"

Draco stepped back and looked at Harry.  "I knew this was a bad idea," he said.  "Sorry for wasting your time, Harry."  Without another word, he turned around and left.

Harry sighed and turned back to Ron and Hermione.  "Now look what you've done," he said.

"You don't get it, do you, Harry?" asked Ron.  "You just don't get it.  Malfoy equals bad.  What part of that don't you understand?"

"The part where you draw conclusions about Draco without trying to get to know him," Harry answered.  "He's different now.  He just needed someone who could understand."

"Why should we believe that?" Hermione asked.  "For all we know, he could have you under some sort of spell."

Harry was reaching the end of his patience.  "Do you think it was my idea that we come here so he could try to make friends with you?  It was his.  Why can't you just give him a chance?"

"It's no use," Draco said when Harry caught up with him outside the library.  "They don't want to have anything to do with me."  He sighed, folded his arms across his chest, and leaned against the wall.  "Of course, it's not like I ever gave them any reason to be my friends."

"Look, Draco," said Harry, "we can't change the past, but we can try to save our future.  They just need more time.  Once they see that you've really changed, it'll all be all right."

Draco closed his eyes, and a hopeful smile flickered across his lips.  "I hope you're right."

Harry nodded.  "Yeah, me, too."

"I'm sorry, sir.  I just don't see it happening."

Dumbledore was afraid he would get a response like that from Alina Terringer when he asked her about giving Lucius Malfoy a chance to redeem himself in the eyes of the wizarding world.  "I know you and Malfoy didn't get off to a good start," he said, "and I know you have a lot of conflicting interests, especially when it comes to your heritages, but I truly believe that if we just work at it, we can uncover a side of Malfoy we never knew existed."

Alina shook her head.  "With all due respect, sir, I've seen all of Malfoy that I care to.  I will admit that his son has shown considerable improvement in both academics and personality since becoming friends with Harry Potter, but children and adults have different behavioral tendencies.  I'm sure Lucius was like that once, but now all that remains is bitterness.  And I am well aware of what he thinks of Muggle-borns.  He hates us all."

"That may change," Dumbledore said.  "Assert yourself.  Show him that you will not tolerated being treated unfairly just because you're not a pureblood.  He's quite charmed by your singing, you know."

"Oh, goody," Alina said in a sarcastic tone of voice.  "Why don't I just la de da de da-" (here, she sang a five note scale) "-my way into his heart?  Trust me, you wouldn't want me to do that.  It would be too tempting to tell him to jump off a cliff."

"I think he respects you more than he's letting on.  You should have seen the way he went on about when he saw you with the unicorn.  He would hate me for giving you a direct quote, but these were his exact words: 'She's so beautiful.'"

"He was probably talking about Elessara."

"Then he said, 'But I know she hates me.'"

"That could be referring Elessara, too.  Unicorns don't like men much, and I'm sure that man would not be an exception."

"Unicorns don't have 'a voice that would shame the Sirens.'"

There was no way that comment could be about the unicorn.  "Well, isn't that ni – when did he see me with Elessara?"

"About two weeks ago," Dumbledore answered.  "I think it was a day or two after you met."

Alina sighed and folded her arms across her chest.  "Elessara warns me if there's any threats to our well-being nearby.  There was no warning."

"Look, even the unicorn agrees with me.  If Malfoy was a threat to your well-being, she would have warned you, and since there was no warning, Malfoy must not be a threat to your well-being.  Maybe you should give him a chance."

She rolled her eyes.  "Very well.  I'll try."

A/N: Time to clear up some more possible confusion.  There's been some sparks, but no, Dumbledore and McGonagall are not romantically involved.  They might be, though… it depends on how their forming relationship is received by my readers.  If you think, Wow, this girl is stretching this story way too far and Dumbledore and McGonagall are way too professional to get involved, not to mention that it's completely against McGonagall's nature to even bend the rules and their stupid little flirting is way past the guidelines set for behavior, and top of that they don't have enough stinkin' time for a relationship, let me know and their little flirting streak will fizzle out by the next update.  But if you think, You know, Dumbledore and McGonagall do have a lot in common and it's so cute how they're on a first-name basis and everything and the idea of them getting involved has some merit, let me know and I'll try to develop their relationship further.  My defense is that these two interest me and I think they would make a charming (no pun intended), albeit unusual couple.  Anyway, let me know what you think.  Praise is nice, but criticism makes me a better writer.  ^_^