Old Author's Note (Abridged): For those of you who still want to know, 'Magni', according to the Latin/English dictionary I used, means both 'worth' and 'dearly loved'. I thought it was really cute, and the double meaning seemed appropriate considering how much money the Malfoys have. I know I said I was going to focus on Lucius and Draco's POVs, but I could not resist ending this chapter with some Dumbledore angst. I like Dumbledore a lot, but he has made some serious mistakes; I wanted him to realize that.

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

My Angel is a Dragon, My Devil is a Snake

-Catspook

Chapter 8: Old Dogs, New Tricks

"In that case, Ronald, why did you see fit to attempt to transfigure Draco into a ferret?"

Ron stared at his toes. "It was supposed to be a Halloween surprise for Harry. Sirius and I had been planning it for weeks, but yesterday he told me he wasn't going to do it, so I had to do it myself."

"Black," Snape growled, "I should have known."

Dumbledore silenced Snape with a look then asked, "Do you know why Professor Black decided not to follow through with this 'surprise'?"

"No," Ron sulked, "He didn't tell me. He's been getting everyone who ever hassled Harry, Hermione, or me. He was saving Malfoy for Halloween, to make it special, you know, but then pulled out at the last second."

"Did it not occur to you that he might have a good reason for doing that?" Percy demanded.

Ron glared at him, "I figured if it had been a good reason, he would have told me what it was."

"Perhaps it would be appropriate to have Sirius present to explain his part in this incident." Dumbledore summoned a house elf to fetch Black, then continued his questioning, "Why did you think that you were capable of successfully transfiguring Draco into a ferret? As your brother pointed out, human transfiguration is seventh year material."

"Sirius was teaching me. I did it on a frog Sirius found by the lake."

"Mr. Malfoy is not a frog, Mr. Weasley. Surely you recall when I lectured on the difference between humans and animals," McGonagall snapped.

"Yeah, but Sirius made it sound so easy."

"Whether you were foolish enough to think you could cast the spell aside," Snape hissed, "Did you not consider the fact that intentionally transfiguring a student against his will is an offense worthy of expulsion."

Ron's eyes widened in alarm, "Expulsion! Sirius said he used to do stuff like this all the time when he was in school! And Fred and George have done it lots of times with their canary creams!"

McGonagall opened her mouth to respond to that, but Black walked in, looking sheepish. "Headmaster, you needed me for something?"

"Yes. Mr. Weasley has informed him that you had intended to transfigure Mr. Malfoy into a ferret today, but changed your mind. Is that true?"

Black glared at Ron, "Yes," he admitted, "But I didn't expect Ron to go ahead and try it anyway."

"Why did you intend to do this? Surely you understand that it is inappropriate for a professor to transfigure a student against his will."

Black looked confused, "It was just supposed to be a prank. You know, like we did in school."

McGonagall looked at him sternly, "You are not longer a student, Mr. Black. As a professor, you are expected to set a good example for your students."

"Yeah..." Black mumbled, "That's what Harry's been telling me. He asked me to stop with the pranks, so I did."

"Harry didn't want you to transfigure Malfoy?" Ron interrupted.

"Yes. But I don't understand why you all are suddenly so upset about it now; I've been pulling pranks for years."

"We are all *quite* aware of that," Snape sneered.

Dumbledore again silenced Snape with a look, "You must admit, Sirius, that the consequences in this case are quite severe."

"But it was an accident wasn't it? Ron didn't mean to put Malfoy in the hospital wing."

"Were have we heard *that* before?" Snape hissed.

"I have a question," Percy interrupted before Snape and Black could get into a serious argument. "Professor Black, if you were intending to do the transfiguration yourself, why did you try to teach Ron to do it?"

Black shrugged, "I told him in advance so that he could help set the scene, you know, and he wanted to learn how to do the actual spell."

"Did it not occur to you that he might want to learn it in order to use it against someone?" Snape demanded.

Black shrugged, "What's wrong with that? James and I used to do stuff like that all the time, and the twins with their canary creams..."

"But the fact of the matter is that Mr. Malfoy got hurt quite badly," Dumbledore explained.

"Well, that's not *my* fault," Black replied defensively.

"Mr. Weasley would never have attempted that spell if you hadn't suggested it and 'taught' him how," Snape attacked.

Percy and Ron shared a shocked glance; Snape had actually defended Ron! Of course, he probably only did it to get Black in trouble, but still!

"I'm afraid I must agree with Severus, Sirius. However, the decision to attempt the spell did lie with Mr. Weasley. Minerva?"

"It is difficult to have this discussion without Mr. Malfoy, but as some of the blame obviously lies with Professor Black, expulsion would certainly be inappropriate."

Ron let out a sigh of relief. " *However*, it was extremely irresponsible of Mr. Weasley to attempt such a complicated spell on a fellow student-"

"But it's *Malfoy*."

McGonagall gave Ron such a glare that he sank down in his chair, flushed with shame. "As far as I can recall, *Mr. Weasley*, there is nothing in the Hogwarts rules that states that it is acceptable to attempt inappropriate, complicated spells on students because they are named Malfoy."

"There should be," Black muttered, apparently not intending to be overheard.

"Sirius!" Dumbledore rebuked sternly, "Our students are all deserving of equal protection under the rules, regardless of their family name."

Snape snorted at the same time Sirius asked, "Since when?"

Dumbledore drew his fluffy, white eyebrows together, but did not comment. Percy suspected that the old wizard was storing that bit of information away for future use. McGonagall took advantage of the momentary silence to finish handing down her decree, "The identity of the student is irrelevant in this case; Mr. Malfoy has not so much as put a toe out of line since last year, Mr. Weasley. He did nothing to provoke you, and while Professor Black's involvement is significant, the bulk of the blame must still lie with you. My recommendation is suspension of Mr. Weasley's Hogsmeade privileges and detention until the beginning of the Christmas holidays," Ron opened his mouth to argue, but McGonagall silenced him with a glare, "And one hundred house points."

"A hundred! There's no way we'll win the cup now; everybody will hate me!"

"You should have thought about that before you decided to attempt such a dangerous spell on a fellow student; you demonstrated not only irresponsibility and poor judgment but also a fundamental lack of academic understanding."

Ron slumped low in his seat, frowning angrily. Percy found it difficult to feel sorry for him; not only have he done something incredibly stupid, but Percy was still afraid of what Lucius Malfoy might do.

O~O~O~O~O

"Shhh, try to rest now, son."

"I don't think I can, father," Draco replied tiredly.

Lucius stroked the side of Draco's cheek, "That's all right, my dragon, but do try. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Just stay."

"Of course." But despite Draco's assertion, he did manage to fall asleep not too long after that. Lucius watched the boy carefully to be sure that he stayed asleep, and so was startled when there was a knock at the door. Lucius immediately rose to his feet and opened the door, afraid that another knock would wake Draco.

Blaise Valini was standing in the hall with Draco's stuffed panther in his arms. "Hello, Mr. Malfoy," Blaise said quietly, "Is Draco sleeping?"

"Yes. What are you doing with that?" Lucius demanded in a whisper, pointing to the panther.

"I thought Draco might want this. Is he going to be okay? No one's told us anything; Millicent's frantic."

Lucius took the panther and narrowed his eyes, debating how much to tell the boy. "Tell Millicent that Draco will be healed in a few days."

"And after that?"

"We haven't decided yet." Blaise turned to leave, but Lucius had a thought, "Valini."

"Yeah?"

"Do you know where in this school we might obtain a wizard wireless?"

"Do you want it for music or news?"

"Why?"

"I know that you... have a problem with muggles, but if you really want music, I have a recorb full of muggle music you can borrow. I can't think of where you'd find a wireless."

"Can you command it not to play music that is too harsh?" Blaise nodded and dug the small orb out of his pocket and whispered a command to it before handing it to Lucius.

"How long do you need it for?"

"Two days; Don't worry, it will be returned to you."

Blaise smiled, "I wasn't worried. Tell Draco we all hope he feels better."

Lucius nodded and closed the door silently and sat back down beside Draco's bed. He carefully brushed a lock of Draco's pale hair out of his face and considered whether or not to play the recorb. Lucius had gotten used to having soft music playing in the background, but Draco was already sleeping well, and Lucius did not want to inadvertently wake him. Lucius placed the recorb on the bed stand and settled in to guard his son's sleep.

O~O~O~O~O

Despite Ron's and Sirius' objections, McGonagall's punishments were instated that night; the points were taken, and the detentions would begin the next day. Snape left, nettled that Ron had once again escaped expulsion. McGonagall had also gone, angrily leading Ron back to the common room to explain to his housemates why they no longer had any chance for the house cup. Dumbledore had told Sirius to go with them to help explain to Harry and Hermione what had happened; the old wizard had seemed very concerned that this whole mess could end up damaging the trio's friendship. Percy had stayed behind, still wondering why Lucius Malfoy had not charged in, wand raised, intent on cursing Ron into oblivion.

"I trust you are wondering why Lucius chose not to appear for this meeting?" Dumbledore asked him, the twinkle in his periwinkle eyes very faint.

"Yes. Do you think he might be planning some later revenge? If he was willing to lead you to you-know-who, I shudder to think of what he might do to Ron."

Dumbledore stroked his beard thoughtfully. "I have spoken to Mr. Malfoy, and while I will not deny that he was angry, I believe that he is far more interested in Draco's welfare at the moment."

"And what happens when Draco is well? Malfoy could still come after Ron."

"He could, and I will keep an eye on Ronald. However, I have a feeling that Mr. Malfoy is more angry with me than with Ronald. Tell me, Mr. Weasley, do you believe that I favor the other houses over Slytherin?"

Percy blinked. How had he gotten lured into this conversation? He could not lie to the Headmaster, but he could not say anything negative to an authority figure either. "Umm..."

"Please feel free to be honest; if the Slytherins are being discriminated against, I need to know."

"I think... I think that most of the students have a tendency to dislike the Slytherins, and I don't think that the faculty has... done much to discourage that."

"The Slytherins do have a tendency to act out more."

"They are also the most likely to be acted out against. And I may be biased considering my brothers'... behavior, but actually, I don't think Gryffindor is that far behind Slytherin in rule breaking. I could be wrong, of course," Percy added hastily, "I don't know many of the Slytherins that well."

Dumbledore nodded absently. "Thank you, Mr. Weasley. So, how are things at the Ministry?" Percy shrugged; he had not been as excited about his job ever since got arrested. The new head of the department of International Magical Cooperation was far less organized and clear about what he wanted, and it drove Percy mad.

And to be honest, Percy had become a bit disillusioned with the Ministry ever since Minister Fudge's behavior at 's trial. The Minister had invited all the wizarding press and turned the trial into a media circus, featuring himself as the 'hero' who was going to protect the wizarding world by giving Mr. Crouch the maximum sentence of life in Azkaban.

Percy was now finding the paperwork to be the best part of his job; at least he always knew what he had to do. "Same as ever, really. Dad got a new Muggle Protection Act passed after the Death Eater attack on September first, so he's happy about that."

Dumbledore nodded, "I'm aware. I must say that Mrs. Hill did a great deal to convince certain... conservatives that muggles are not as helpless and cowardly as many chose to believe."

Percy smiled; it was nice that his father was happy with work even if Percy wasn't. "Um, perhaps I should be getting home now. Mum and Dad should be home soon, and it would be good if I were there to explain."

Dumbledore nodded, "Yes, that would probably be best, though I'm sure Ronald appreciated you coming."

Percy stood, "Thank you, sir. Good evening."

"Good evening, Percy."

O~O~O~O~O

c~c~c~c~c

"Daddy?"

"Draco, why aren't you in bed?"

"Couldn't thleep." Lucius pushed his chair back away from his desk a bit and opened his arms invitingly. Little Draco padded across the thick rug and climbed into Lucius' lap.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Draco nodded, his large eyes wide and his little fingers in his mouth. Lucius pulled out the boy's fingers and dried his tiny hand with a handkerchief, "Don't suck your fingers; you'll ruin your teeth. Do you want me to take you back to bed, or do you want to stay here?"

Draco wrapped his arms around Lucius' neck and cuddled close. "Thtay."

c~c~c~c~c

"Father?" Lucius looked up quickly; he had been so engrossed in his memories, absently stroking the warm panther, that he had not noticed Draco awaken.

Lucius managed to give Draco a warm smile while he inwardly cursed himself. "How are you feeling?"

"Still hurts." Then he noticed the panther in Lucius' lap, "Where'd you get that?"

"Your roommate brought it by; he thought you might want it. He said Millicent is worried about you."

Draco smiled, "She broke Weasley's nose."

Lucius narrowed his eyes, "Why isn't he in the hospital wing then? The nurse didn't tend to him *first*, did she?"

Draco tried to shrug, but he was bound so completely that all he could do was roll his head from side to side. "This is so *frustrating*. And I don't know; I think a house elf might have fixed him up, he was bleeding a lot."

Lucius frowned. "It wouldn't surprise me at all if they took care of that muggle-loving Gryffindor first- what is it?" Lucius noticed Draco giving him an odd look.

The boy flushed and turned his head away, "Nothing."

Lucius gently stroked Draco's hair, "You can tell me anything, son; you know that."

"Well..." Draco turned to face him, "I overheard Valini and Hill talking the other day, and Hill said that you had been talking to her Mum. Is that true?"

Lucius had been wondering when that would come back to haunt him. "Yes. I went for a walk in muggle London, got caught in the rain, and she offered me a seat in her vehicle."

"And you went," Draco said emotionlessly.

"Yes. Do you think that I shouldn't have?"

"Well, why did you?"

Lucius shrugged, "It was wet. She was curious about our world, and if there is any muggle that I could tolerate speaking to, it would be one who defeated as many Death Eaters as she did. She may even have saved my life that day, you know."

Draco's eyes opened wide, "No, I didn't know that. What was she like?" The curiosity was back; whatever else could be said about Draco, his need to know had a tendency to override just about everything else.

Lucius shrugged. "She as a lawyer. Ambitious, proud, unintimidated. I imagine that if she had been a witch, she would have been in Slytherin. What is her daughter like?"

"Very athletic, competitive. Millicent said that she threatened to throw anyone who cheats off the quidditch team; she seems to think that the reason the rest of the school believes that Gryffindor is the best at quidditch even though Slytherin has won over half of the house cups is because Slytherin always cheats."

Lucius nodded, "She may be right."

"Does Slytherin always cheat?"

"They did in my day. Didn't do them much good, though, once Potter and Black got on the team," Lucius frowned.

"Did you play?"

Lucius shook his head, "No. My father did not approve."

And Lucius would die before letting Draco know just how Abraxas had expressed his views on the matter.

"Oh."

"Do you think you could sleep some more? You really need the rest."

Draco pouted. "I don't think so. I woke up 'cause I was having bad dreams."

"Oh, precious, I'm sorry." Lucius could crucio himself for not noticing that.

"What for?"

"You should not have to suffer so."

"That's not your fault; it's Weasley's. What's going to happen to him?"

Lucius shook his head. "I don't know, but knowing Dumbledore it probably won't be much more than a slap on the wrist. If you want me to-"

"No. I don't want you to get in trouble. Millicent did break his nose, after all," Draco smirked.

"He deserves much worse," Lucius said darkly, "But I will respect your decision. Anything that I could do to actually get through to him would likely be illegal."

"There's just no way we'll get a fair shake in this place, is there?"

Lucius caressed Draco's face, sighing sadly, "No, my precious dragon, there is not. You can be home tutored, if you like, or you can go to another school. Durmstrang is too far away, and full if Death Eaters' children, but I'm sure we can find an alternative."

Draco seemed to consider it, "Do I have to decide now?"

"Of course not," Lucius replied, "You need to get well first, and then we will decide what to do."

"No dreams," Draco whined.

"How about this?" Lucius asked, taking the recorb off the bed stand, "Music helped when you were little."

"Maybe... wait, isn't that Valini's?"

"Yes."

"But it only plays muggle music."

"That is correct. But if it helps you sleep, I really do not care about that."

"Okay," Draco said warily, "If you're sure."

Lucius placed the orb back on the bed stand and commanded it to play. The song was not really all the different than wizarding music: soft, with lots of violins and trite lyrics. It worked beautifully; Draco was asleep in minutes. Lucius brushed his fringe back lovingly, "I love you so much, my precious dragon."

O~O~O~O~O

After Percy left, Albus sat alone in his office for a long time, trying to figure out where he had gone so terribly wrong. Part of it was his own upbringing, of course; members of his family had been in Gryffindor for generations, and the Slytherins were just as combative then as they were today, or rather, as they had been last year.

Blaise, Flare, and the others had really done an excellent job of reducing the hostilities; it was amazing that in less than a year they had broken down metaphorical walls that had existed for a millennia. It was not the sort of action Albus would have expected from Slytherins.

Of course, therein lay the problem; Albus had gotten exactly what he had expected from Salazar's house, and he had expected all the wrong things. He had always assumed that the Slytherins had started it; the fact that they were the aggressors and the rest of the school the victims, he had never questioned. What a fool he had been.

Severus, his dear Severus, had been driven into Voldemort's arms by a mistrustful and hurtful student body, an apathetic administration, and an abusive father from whom Albus had failed to protect him. Albus had always assumed that Severus had been his only mistake; he wondered now how many students he had lost to Voldemort due to his own prejudices. Albus suspected that Lucius was at the top of the list; an utter waste of talent, Albus could now see. And if Voldemort had not harmed Draco and raised Lucius' ire, Albus would have eventually lost the boy to him as well.

Albus resolved to speak to Sirius about this; the animagus was a good man, but he needed to realize that he, also, had been led astray for years, and allowed to do things that should never have been tolerated. The hour was late, but Albus knew he would not be able to sleep until he checked on Draco and Lucius. With a wave of his hand, he became invisible, then traveled to Draco's room.

Albus carefully passed through the door like a living specter (it had taken him years to develop that particular ability) and was touched by what he saw. Draco was asleep, his body magically bound and unnaturally still, but his youthful face relaxed was in sleep and tilted towards his father.

Lucius was awake, carefully stroking his son's pale cheek, with an expression of such tenderness on his face that Albus found it difficult to believe that this was the wizard had killed so many innocents during the war. Dumbledore was now certain that a man capable of such loving emotion would never have become a Death Eater without some pressing reason, and Albus had made it impossible for the young man to come to him instead of the Dark Lord. Dear Merlin, what had he done?

* End Chapter 8 *