Disclaimer: They're not mine. You knew that.

My Angel is a Dragon, My Devil is a Snake

-Catspook

Chapter 7: I'm sorry

Lucius apparated back to the Manor's ballroom directly after Draco left the Three Broomsticks. He immediately collapsed onto the marble floor, sobbing. He was so stupid, so useless...

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"You stupid, useless, little whore! How many times have I told you...

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His little dragon, his precious son, deserved so much better from him...

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"You lied to me!"

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Oh, Draco, my dragon, I am so sorry...

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"Ow! Father, why did you do that?"

"I explained this, Draco. It is very important that your learn how to manage pain without letting other people know what you are feeling."

"But it hurth!"

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I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry...

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"Crucio!"

"FATHER!"

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Oh, precious, how could you forgive me that? You deserved so much better than me...

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"What did I do to be saddled with a wretch like you, you disgusting little worm! You will not fail me again, you stupid..."

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I failed you, precious. It's all my fault...

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"Please, don't, father! I don't think I can handle it today..."

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I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...

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"I'm thorry! Whatever I did, I'm thorry! Pleathe don't do that, father..."

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Not your fault! None of it was your fault! It was all mine; I'm so sorry you have to suffer for my mistakes, my precious...

"Master Lucius, sir?"

"GET AWAY FROM ME YOU VILE CREATURE!" he screamed, "How could you let Him do that to me! How could you let me do it to my precious..." Lucius couldn't stop himself from dissolving back into sobs. He was so pathetic, so weak...

"Dibby is mostest sorry, Master Lucius sir!" the hose elf wailed, slamming her head against the marble floor. "Dibby is wishing she could have been protecting Master Lucius sir from Master's father, sir! Dibby is bad, bad house elf!"

"Stop!" Lucius barked, "Just... stop..."

He didn't want Dibby's pity or her guilt. He wanted... He didn't know what he wanted. He wanted Draco to be happy, to be safe, and if she couldn't manage that, and she couldn't, then nothing she said or did mattered. But he didn't order her away; he didn't know why. He was so tired, and it hurt so much... But he couldn't lie on the ballroom floor forever; he needed to be ready to take care of Draco.

He shakily climbed to his feet, leaning heavily on his cane, and stumbled to his bedroom. Dibby followed him at a distance, and after Lucius pulled off his cloak and shoes and climbed into bed, he ordered her to bring him dinner; he had to be back at his normal weight before the Christmas holidays or Draco would get even more worried. "I'm sorry, precious," he sighed, "You deserved so much better than me."

O~O~O~O~O

Draco couldn't swallow his pride enough to confront Millicent until Tuesday night. He had been in his room doing Thursday's arithmancy homework when Valini had come in, grinning like an idiot. "I'm probably wastin' my breath, but I'm about to go set up this week's film; you're welcome to come. We're havin' it tonight because Thursday is Halloween and Dumbledore has other stuff planned. It's 'Star Wars: A New Hope'. See, Star Wars is..."

"Do you honestly think I care?" Draco had demanded archly. 'The Sword in the Stone' had been mildly interesting, but Draco preferred to take advantage of the privacy that was available in the dorms when everyone else went to 'movie night'. Therefore, after Valini left, he had gathered up his books to continue studying in the more comfortable and newly emptied common room.

Well, not completely empty. "Millicent?"

Millicent, who had been sitting on the couch in front of the fire, turned. "Oh, were you going to study down here? I'll go up to my room..."

"No. I mean, you don't have to."

Millicent looked away, "I will anyway; just let me get my books."

"Wait a minute," Draco walked over and sat next to Millicent on the couch. She leaned away from him, watching him warily. "I want to talk to you."

She didn't encourage him, but she didn't leave either; that was a good sign. "It bothers me that you can't believe me when I say that you're my friend-"

Millicent opened her mouth to reply, but, in imitation of his father, Draco raised a silencing hand, "Let me finish, please. You seem to think that I can't like you because you aren't pretty, but that's just not true. I like you because you are nice to me and, until least week, you listened to me and believed what I said. I would still like to try to be friends again."

Millicent watched him carefully, confusion and mistrust evident in her expression. Draco worked very hard to keep in mind what his father had said, that her problem had nothing to do with him personally.

Finally, she said, "I'm sorry. If you really want to be friends again, then I guess I'd like to try too." Draco grinned; he was used to getting what he wanted.

O~O~O~O~O

It turned out to be the night for apologies. Draco and Millicent had gone to the library to do some research for history of magic when Potter and Black had marched by. At least, Potter had marched; Black had fallowed timidly, like puppy with its tail between its legs.

Draco motioned Millicent to stay put, then followed them stealthily; he wanted to know what was going on with those two. They ended up once again in the hallway in front of the DADA room. Draco hid behind the last bend in the hall; it would not do to be spotted. Unfortunately, he was far enough away that he couldn't hear everything that was said. Draco concentrated hard, trying to catch as much as he could.

"...want, Sirius?"

"I wanted to..."

"You had better be intending to apologize, or I'm leaving right now."

"I am so sorry, Harry. I never *never* meant to hurt you. Please, can you forgive me?"

There was a pause, "For hitting me, I can forgive you, as long as you *never* do it again-"

"Harry, I would never-"

"I'm not done yet. I can forgive you for hitting me, because... both upset, and you are obviously sorry, but you're not sorry about the pranks, and I can't forgive you for that. And even if I could, it's not me you need to apologize to."

"Harry... thought a lot about... still can't see why you were so upset."

"In that case, I just can't talk to you anymore."

"Harry, please don't!"

"I told you I'd leave if you didn't intend to apologize, and you clearly didn't."

"Harry, please! I can't lose you, I just can't! I'll do whatever you want!"

"You think this is easy for me? I love you; I do, and that's why it hurts so much to see you doing such cruel things to people."

"Harry, I didn't mean to be cruel, but if you're convinced that I did-"

"I never thought that you intended to be mean; you just couldn't see that people got hurt anyway."

"I guess... concede..."

"That's what I wanted. But I still think it would be good for you to apologize to the kids you hurt."

"... guess..."

After that, Potter and Black began speaking so quietly that Draco could no longer hear much of anything. Glancing at his pocket watch, Draco realized that the library was going to close in a few minutes, and he crept away to go help Millicent bring their things back to the dorms.

"There you are," Millicent greeted, only to be hushed by Madam Prince. The librarian glared at them and gestured towards the clock, so they started packing up their books.

Millicent leaned close to Draco and asked, "Did you hear anything interesting?"

Draco nodded as he shouldered his book bag and brought the books he wanted to check out over to the desk. Madam Prince scowled at them, but stamped the books anyway. Draco placed them in his bag and they headed back to the common room. Once they were away from the library, Draco glanced around to make sure they were alone.

"The day Black cursed you, I overheard him and Potter having an argument. Potter... well, Potter said that Black should stop harassing people and Black got angry and slapped him."

Millicent gasped, "Really?"

Draco nodded, "That's why they've been avoiding each other. Anyway, just now, Black apologized for hitting Potter, and told him that he'd stop the 'pranks'. Potter agreed, but he still thinks that Black should apologize to the students he cursed."

Millicent smiled, "That's nice."

Draco narrowed his eyes at her, "You're not about to go kissing Potter's arse now like everyone else, are you?"

"No," Millicent grinned. "But I always wondered something..."

"What?"

"Well... since Black was so keen on getting back at people who had done stuff to Potter, how come he never tried to curse you?"

Draco shrugged, "I've wondered that too, but I never could figure it out. But if Black keeps his promise, I guess I don't have to worry about it anymore." Draco would later remember those words and cringe.

O~O~O~O~O

"Watch it, Weasley!" Draco snarled, as the lanky redhead bumped into him that Thursday on the way to DADA. Weasley only grinned in a very disturbing manner. Draco tried to make light of it, "As much as I can understand touching me to be the greatest thrill you've had on your entire, pathetic life, get *away from me*."

But Weasley then whispered something under his breath that Draco had hoped never to hear again. Suddenly, Draco's body was shrinking and sprouting fur; Dear, Merlin no! Father, help me!

But there was something wrong; it didn't hurt like this last time! It felt like his bones were breaking, tearing muscle and skin. Draco screamed and fell on his back. Father, help!

Draco could hear people talking, but it was hard to make out the words. Then there was a loud thud and Draco managed to open his eyes wide enough to see Millicent pinning Weasley against the wall, and Weasley's nose dripping blood, clearly broken.

Potter was yelling and Granger ran off. Draco hoped that her teacher's pet tendencies would hold and she was going to get a professor; dear Merlin, it hurt! Draco whimpered when a booming voice filled the hall, causing him to flinch and jarring his fragile, shattered bones badly.

"Miss Bulstrode, Mr. Weasley, what is going on here?"

"She punged me!"

"He attacked Draco!"

Dumbledore's wrinkled face entered Draco's narrow field of vision. ", can you speak?"

Draco could only whimper, and though the pain he felt himself being floated into the air and directed towards the hospital wing. He vaguely heard Dumbledore order Millicent to wait for the him at the gargoyle guarding his office, Weasley to follow them to the hospital wing so that a house elf could fix his nose, and Granger to find Snape and bring him to the hospital wing.

Snape, yes, Snape would think to call Draco's father; Draco wanted his father!

O~O~O~O~O

Lucius was lazily playing a chess game against himself in his office when Severus' head appeared in the fireplace. Immediately Lucius felt his body go cold, "Severus? What is it?"

"Weasley got it into his fool head to attempt to transfigure Draco into a ferret and didn't manage to do it properly. Draco will be fine, but he was asking for you-"

"I'll be there immediately." Lucius' heart beat erratically as he ran to the ballroom and flooed to Hogwarts. Normally, Hogwarts was not accessible by floo, but Lucius knew that Dumbledore could connect his office at a moment's notice in the case of an emergency.

"Hogwarts!" Lucius stumbled out of the old fool's fireplace, immediately demanding, "Where is my son?"

Lucius was too worried to notice that the infernal twinkle in the old fool's blue eyes had gone out. "He is in the infirmary. Madam Pomfrey is tending to him; I'm afraid-"

Lucius did not wait for Dumbledore to finish, instead striding out of the idiot's office as quickly as he could manage without letting on how terrified he was. He did not even notice that Weasley had been cowering in the corner of the Headmaster's office. Nor did Lucius notice that the Headmaster had followed him until Dumbledore placed a wrinkled hand on Lucius' arm. "What?" Lucius snarled, jerking away.

"I'm afraid that you can't see Draco just yet-"

"You cannot keep him from me!"

"No one is trying to keep Draco from you, but Madam Pomfrey is not quite done tending to him yet."

"What did that whelp do to him?" Lucius growled.

"He attempted to-"

"I know what he 'attempted' to do, now tell me what he did!" Had Lucius been less angry, he would have been surprised by the fact that Dumbledore did not seem to take offense at Lucius' rude tone.

"As far as I understand it, the transformation got stuck about half-way through and we cannot safely use a reversal spell. Madam Pomfrey is going to have to remove and then replace some of Draco's bones, and then Severus is going to provide a potion to remove the fur."

Bones? "Which bones?"

"Primarily in his legs and arms, I believe." Lucius mind was jumping rapidly from thought to thought; it was too painful to focus on most of the possibilities that were forming in his head.

"If his bones were that badly malformed, the rest of his body..."

"Will be easy to put right once the affected bones are removed."

Oh, Draco, his poor, precious dragon, "Is he in much pain?" Lucius asked roughly.

Lucius did not notice the look Dumbledore gave him, "Due to the nature of the spell, Madam Pomfrey was not able to cast a sleep or numbing charm on him." Lucius did not wait for further explanation; he continued his fevered trek to the hospital wing.

His Draco, his poor dragon! When Lucius reached the hospital wing, he did not see Draco on any of the regular beds, meaning that the nurse was probably tending to him in one of the private rooms. Lucius swore loudly when he found the door leading to those rooms locked. He hastily drew his wand and was about to cast 'alohomora' when Dumbledore once again caught up with him. "I'm afraid I must ask you not to do that, Lucius. Madam Pomfrey needs to concentrate."

"He was asking for me!" Lucius didn't care that panic was evident in his voice; he only cared about getting to Draco as soon as possible.

"You will be able to see him in a few minutes, but it would be dangerous for you to interrupt Madam Pomfrey now."

"Then I will wait here until it is safe." With that, Lucius pulled a chair up next to the door and sat down, tapping his cane on the floor in agitation.

"Lucius, I am truly sorry that this happened-"

"Don't," Lucius snarled. "Save your placations for the parents of your *darling* Gryffindors. After seven years here do you doubt I know how you really feel about those who wear the silver and green with pride? If you're trying to appear as if you actually care about the welfare of *all* the students under your roof by acting the part of the concerned administrator, don't bother. You and I are the only ones here to see it, and I know what you really think about us."

The old fool seemed to consider this before stepping back slightly and asking, "What is it that you want me to do, Lucius?"

"Get out of here!" Lucius hissed without hesitation, "Spare me your platitudes."

Amazingly, Dumbledore did leave, giving Lucius a sad glance as he did so. Too worried to ponder the reason why his command had actually been obeyed, Lucius leaned forward, gripping the head of his cane tightly, remembering the last time he had been forbidden to see his son for 'Draco's own good'.

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"He's sick, he needs me!"

"Please calm down, Mr. Malfoy. The mediwizards are still not exactly sure what your son's specific illness is, and it would be dangerous to interrupt them at this point."

"What are they doing to him?"

"The mediwizards are running tests, attempting to discern the nature of his illness. If you could wait here without disturbing the other patents' families, the mediwizards will be sure to call you in to see Draco as soon as possible."

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The wait had been intolerable then, too, and when Lucius had finally been allowed to see Draco, the tiny seven-year-old had been in such a state of distress that he had launched himself into Lucius arms, crying and trembling violently. Images of Draco wondering why Lucius was not coming to comfort him now were drowning Lucius in guilt. Oh, please, Draco, please understand that I'm only trying to help you.

A half an hour later, the Hogwarts matron bustled out of the locked door, surprised to find Lucius waiting there. "Mr. Malfoy?"

Lucius stood quickly, "How is he?"

"I've healed all the skin and soft tissue injuries, but he's in a for a painful few days. He has sixty-two bones to regrow; it would be dangerous to grow them all at once, so we will have to space it out over a couple of days."

Lucius sighed, "May I see him?"

The nurse pursed her lips, "Perhaps you can calm him down. The best thing for him is rest, and he is not being cooperative."

Lucius did not waste the time it would have taken to glare at the witch for criticizing his son, he simply swept down the hall looking for Draco's room. He found his precious dragon at the far end of the hall, magically bound to the bed, patches of soft, white fur scattered over his body, and his limbs and part of his ribcage looking... deflated.

Large, silver eyes gazed at Lucius forlornly. "Father?"

He sounded so small, so lost, "Yes, my precious, I'm here. Why are you bound?"

"I can't move, or the bones won't grow back properly. It's hurts, father."

Lucius gently stroked the side of Draco's face, "I know, my dragon. I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do about that."

"Just stay with me, father, please."

"Of course, precious. I won't leave your side until you ask me to." Lucius pulled up a chair and resolved to offer what comfort he could.

O~O~O~O~O

Percy was sitting at the kitchen table, sipping tea, and going over a report on the precision of scales used for potions making when a Hogwarts owl tapped on the kitchen window. His parents had gone to the annual Ministry Halloween ball, so Percy opened the window and retrieved the letter.

He waved the owl over to Errol's former perch (the old owl had finally died last summer, and Percy had volunteered Hermes as the family owl until his parents had the money to buy a new one). Percy considered whether he should open the letter.

It was addressed to his parents, and it was technically a crime for him to open it, but it must have been urgent for Dumbledore to send a message on Halloween night. Of course, if it really had been urgent Dumbledore would have contacted them through the floo system. But Percy and Mr. Weasley had been at work all day, and Percy just remembered that his mum had mentioned a shopping trip to Diagon Alley that morning; Dumbledore could have called on them while Mrs. Weasley was out.

That decided it. Percy cautiously opened the letter and did something he had not done in years; he swore, loudly. Percy, mindful of what his parents would think if they returned and found him gone, wrote a quick note on the back of a grocery list before apparating into Hogsmeade. Percy ran across the vast lawns of Hogwarts as quickly as he could; by the time he reached the front doors, he was gasping for air and lamenting that he was not in as good shape as Charlie or the twins.

The trek to Dumbledore's office was a long one, and it gave Percy some time to figure out what to say to Ron. He planned out a clear and rational speech about thinking before acting and *never* casting spells on other people that you don't know how to use properly, but the whole thing flew right out of his head when he the door to Dumbledore's office opened and saw Ron sitting in front of the Headmaster's desk, his arms crossed, slouching sullenly.

"What is the matter with you?" Percy shouted, "Do you have a death wish? Do you have any idea what Lucius Malfoy could do to you?"

Ron scowled at him, "Where are Mum and Dad?"

"At the Halloween ball," Percy panted, "I came as soon as I got the owl. Has Lucius Malfoy arrived yet?"

"Please have a seat Mr. Weasley. Mr. Malfoy did, in fact, arrive hours ago, but he is more interested in staying with his son than discussing Ronald's punishment."

"What? I'd have expected him to..." Percy trailed off when Dumbledore looked pointedly at Ron, who was staring at Percy suspiciously.

"Nevermind." Percy sat in the chair next to Ron's and demanded, "Why did you do it, Ron? What made you think you could do it? Human transfiguration is seventh year material."

"Why should I have to tell you? You're not Dad."

"Would you like me to apparate into the middle of the Halloween ball and explain to Mum and Dad that you put the son of the richest wizard in Britain in the hospital wing using a spell you had no business attempting in the first place?"

"No."

"Did Fred and George put you up to this?"

"No."

"Why did you do it, then?"

"You wouldn't understand," Ron replied, sullenly.

Percy frowned, "Either you try to explain it to me or I really will interrupt the ball to get Mum and Dad. Do you think Mum will understand?" Ron remained mute.

"Well, Mr. Weasley, if you are unwilling to explain to your brother why you would do such a thing to a fellow student, perhaps you will be willing to explain it to me." Percy turned to see a very angry McGonagall glaring at Ron. Professor Snape, scowling fiercely, was standing behind her.

"Ah, Minerva. Severus, I trust that means you have developed a potion to remove Mr. Malfoy's fur?"

"Yes. Lucius has once again refused to leave Draco's side, so it appears that we must have this meeting without him."

Dumbledore stroked his beard. "Normally, I would not feel comfortable doing that, but Molly and Arthur are also busy at the moment, and Ronald has been waiting in my office for over five hours. Do you think it is acceptable to continue now, Minerva?" McGonagall nodded. "In that case, Ronald, why did you see fit to attempt to transfigure Draco into a ferret?"

* End Chapter 7 *