~~ Chapter Ten: Someone Special ~~

            Madam Pomfrey and the rest of the medical staff worked as fast as they could to save Draco Malfoy after the fall, but even they knew the boy's chances for survival were slim.  A concussion sustained when he fell rendered him unconscious, but that was the least of their concerns.  They concluded that he had at least four cracked ribs and was suffering from massive internal bleeding.  The only thing they could do was put a healing spell on him and wait for it to take effect.

            Lucius Malfoy had not left Draco's side since the boy was brought to the hospital wing.  The elder Malfoy wasn't quite sure what had come over him.  Up until the deaths of Narcissa and everyone else at Malfoy Manor, Lucius considered Draco to be nothing more than his successor.  Now, as Draco's life hung by a thread, Lucius was finally understanding what the difference was between a parent and a father and an heir and a son.

            It was well past midnight.  Lucius was sitting in a chair next to Draco's bed, reading by candlelight.  Two unoccupied chairs were on the other side of the bed.  He couldn't have fallen asleep even if he wanted to.  He was too worried about Draco to do anything but wait.

            The sound of footsteps caused Lucius to glance up from his book.  When he saw that that he was being joined by Alina Terringer, his eyes returned to the page and tried not to look at the Musical Enchantment professor.  She took notice of his presence, of course, but did not acknowledge it.  All she did was sit down in one of the two chairs opposite him and lay her hand on Draco's arm.  Her head was bowed, and Lucius thought he saw tears forming in her eyes, but the angle and lighting were all wrong for him to be certain.  They sat in silence for almost a minute, and then Alina spoke.  "Have you ever met someone who makes you rethink your entire outlook on life?"

            Lucius looked up from his book.  "Present company excluded?" he asked.

            "I don't know if you've realized this, Mr. Malfoy, but Draco is a very special boy," Alina said.  "I've known him less than a month, but that's been long enough for me to understand that he didn't 'change' into someone else.  Rather, that 'someone else' is just another side of him that's been kept secret for so long, even he almost forgot it existed.  He'll always be Draco Malfoy, but the question is, just who is Draco Malfoy, anyway?  With that thought in mind, how can we be sure anyone is who they are?"  She paused to rub at her eyes, and Lucius's suspicions that she was shedding tears were confirmed.  "People don't change, they just reveal more of themselves."

            Lucius looked at his unconscious son.  Draco's eyes were closed in a combination of sleep and unconsciousness, and there was a large cut above the right eye that was starting to swell.  Draco landed on his right side, and it was that side of his body that sustained the most damage.  His normally pale skin was almost as white as the sheets that lay around him, save for the blotchy purple bruises in several areas.  His lips were slightly parted, and his breathing was irregular, sometimes coming in long draws and sometimes in quick gasps.  Lucius found it strange that he never realized how much his son resembled him, even in this state.  The two were exact copies of each other.

            "He is special," Lucius agreed, "although I fear my realization of this may have come too late."

            Alina sensed the need for a change of subject.  She glanced at the book Lucius was holding.  "What are you reading?" she asked.

            He held it up so she could see the title.  "Tess of the d'Urbervilles," she read.  "Excellent work of literature."  She paused as if trying to remember something, then spoke.  "'"Justice" was done, and the President of the Immortals, in Eschylean phrase, had ended his sport with Tess.  And the d'Urberville knights and dames slept on in their tombs unknowing.'"

            "'The two speechless gazers bent themselves down to the earth, as if in prayer, and remained thus a long time, absolutely motionless: the flag continued to wave silently," quoted Lucius.

            "'As soon as they had strength they arose, joined hands again, and went on,'" Alina finished.  "You are well versed, Mr. Malfoy."

            "As are you, Professor," he replied, impressed at her recital of the last paragraph in the book he was reading.  "Do you read Hardy often?"

            "Not as often as I would like.  Musical Enchantment is a very demanding field of study."

            Unable to concentrate on reading anymore, Lucius closed the book and placed it on the nightstand next to Draco's bed.  He felt an urge to ask her what she was discussing with Snape earlier that day, but he wasn't sure how she would react.  It was probably something completely innocent, like their respective areas.  Teachers talked about things like that.

            Lucius was saved from entertaining other thoughts by the sound of two sets of footsteps approaching them.  He looked up to see who was coming, and Alina turned around to see for herself.  "Good evening Headmaster, Professor," Lucius said.

            "No, good morning," corrected Albus Dumbledore, "for that is the hour."

            "I could not sleep."

            "Nor are you expected to be able to," said Minerva McGonagall.  "It is only logical for you to be concerned about the welfare of your son."

            Lucius was unable to hide the surprised look on his face that appeared when the deputy headmistress spoke the line that seemed so innocent on the outside, and yet encompassed everything he had been striving for in the last two weeks.  His lips moved, as if trying to form words, but no sound emanated from them.  Alina spoke for him.  "Why don't you two sit down?" she suggested, placing her hands on the armrests of her chair in preparation to stand.

            "Don't get up, Professor," Minerva said.  She closed her eyes, tilted her head back, and disappeared.  In the place she had been standing was now a tabby cat.

            Dumbledore smiled and sat down in the vacant chair next to Alina.  The cat leapt up onto his lap and sat down.  "Now," said the headmaster, "where were we?"

            "Reasons for being awake at this hour," Alina answered.  She looked at the cat, then pressed her hand to her temple and shook her head.  "I don't know if I'll ever get used to that, Professor McGonagall."

            If a cat could smile, that's what Minerva would have done.

            "I should think my reasons for being here quite obvious," said Lucius, "but if I may ask, Headmaster, what are you and Professor McGonagall doing awake at this hour?"

            "Just making our rounds," Dumbledore answered.  "What about you, Professor Terringer?"

            "I could not sleep, either," she answered.

            "Forgive me, but I find it odd that a person as experienced in Musical Enchantment as yourself would have trouble sleeping," Dumbledore remarked.  "Surely it would be no difficult task for you to come up with a lullaby to do the job."

            "Yes, but that's the funny thing about Musical Enchantment," Alina replied.  "It doesn't work on yourself, only on others."

            "There wouldn't be much of you left if that were the case," commented Lucius.

            Dumbledore caught the deeper inner hidden meaning behind Lucius's comment and grinned to himself.  Alina just looked confused, and slightly peeved because she didn't catch the full implication of his words.  The cat laid down and rested its head on Dumbledore's left hand.  With his right, the Hogwarts headmaster stroked the soft fur along Minerva's back.

            Alina eyed Dumbledore suspiciously, but said nothing.  Dumbledore took it upon himself to change the subject.  "Lucius, it may please you to know that I have not seen any student tonight that is not concerned about Draco and hoping for his speedy recovery," the headmaster said.  "You are not alone, and if you allow it, you will never be alone again."

            Lucius sensed that there were several meanings in Dumbledore's words, but he didn't feel like pondering them at the moment.  His head gave a slight nod.  "Thank you."

            The cat jumped down from Dumbledore's lap and changed back into Professor McGonagall.  "It's late," she said, "and Professor Terringer and I have classes tomorrow."

            "Point taken," said Alina.  She stood up, kissed Draco on the forehead, and left the room.

            The other three watched her go, and once she was out of earshot, Lucius spoke.  "I never realized she cared about Draco so much."

            "A lot of people do now," McGonagall replied.  "All you Malfoys are quite charismatic.  It's just a matter of opening up."

            "I'm glad there was still a chance for Draco."

            Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.  "You say that like you're a lost cause."

            "I am a lost cause," said Lucius.

            "I don't think so."  Dumbledore looked at McGonagall.  "And she's working on it."

            Lucius looked toward the exit, in the direction Alina had gone.  "She does."

            "You're focusing on the negative," McGonagall said.  "Give her more time.  She may yet come around.  You two seemed to be conversing quite well when we came in."

            Lucius wrung his gloved hands and glanced at the floor.  "A fluke.  That's all it was."

            "Call it what you want, but the fact still remains that you've found common ground.  That's what we like to call progress."  The Transfiguration instructor turned her head toward the exit momentarily, then back at her companions.  "If you'll excuse me, please, I will retire.  Good night."

            Dumbledore stood and took her hands.  He whispered something that Lucius couldn't catch, then planted a quick kiss on her cheek.  McGonagall blushed, but she was also smiling.  The two men watched her go, and Dumbledore sat back down.

            "I saw that," Lucius said as soon as McGonagall was gone.  "Is there something going on between you two?"

            Dumbledore paused to think before answering.  "Minerva is very special to me," he said.  "We have… an understanding."  A smile flickered on his lips.  "She'll probably hate me for doing that.  She's terribly shy, you know."

            He shook his head.  "No, I didn't know.  That's news to me."

            "Oh.  Well, she is, believe it or not."

            "What did you tell her?"

            Dumbledore's face darkened.  His gaze rested on Draco for a moment, then went to the floor.  "I told her the same thing I'm going to tell you: be careful."  He lifted his head, and his blue eyes fixed themselves on Lucius.  "Until we know what this foe is, we can't protect anyone from it."

            "But didn't we decide that it was Voldemort who was behind the attack on my family?" asked Lucius.

            "We did," said Dumbledore, "but he's not going to stop there.  Voldemort certainly has a hand in this, but he's doing his work through another."

            "Who?"

            "I don't know, but I plan to find out."

Quick notes to reviewers…

Prongs – Sorry, no slashing… in this one.

Maeglin Yedi and RavensHaelo – Thanks for the advice.  A new version of the story, complete with evil Malfoys and no Mary Sue, is in the works.

Auri – This isn't my first fic (I've been writing ever since I could lift a pencil and I have several other fan fics up in various places around this site and the Web), but it is my first Harry Potter fic.  I'm glad you're enjoying it.  Hee hee… yep, Dumbledore and McGonagall.

Aeryn Alexander – I never said how far Draco fell, but it was probably something on the line of at least a hundred feet, and it all happened so fast that no one had time to react.  (Actually, that's just my excuse for I didn't think of that, and besides, it was important for this chapter for Draco to get hurt.)  And as far as Snape goes, don't worry, haven't forgotten about him.  He's going to be playing a MAJOR part in upcoming chapters.  (I've even entertained thoughts of a love triangle between Snape, Lucius, and Alina, but I don't think it'll happen)

Galileo – Yes, I had you in mind with the viola thing.  *mad giggling*  And yes, we will be seeing much, MUCH more of Icarus Knight.  No, you may not join the string quartet.  Oliver wants a good viola player in there.  *laughs* 

The two mad Slytherins – Yeah, I know Cedric died in the fourth book, but this is set at the same time as the third book, so he's still around.  ^_^   Dumbledore and McGonagall probably do naughty stuff on their own time, but I'm trying to keep this at a PG-13 rating, so we will see little more than goo-goo eyes, flirting, hand holding, and the occasional kiss or two.  The main couple in this story is Lucius and Alina.  Besides being a pair I wanted to experiment with, the ridiculous cuteness of Dumbledore and McGonagall serves mostly to balance out the dysfunctionality of the other two.

Slytherin-grl – *blushes*  Aw, shucks…