After an absence of somewhere around seven months, no one's going to believe I'm still alive, but whoo! DRAGON'S DEN IS BACK!
This time, with strangely less angst, alot more weirdness, and a whole heap of Draconess. Yummy. Here's the first chapter for you.
If anyone wants the old version, I'm going to post a link to it here once I put it on the net somewhere.
"My son has had a bad summer."
'Understatement of the millenia.'
"He is unwell, and I fear the consequences of this change in surroundings."
'Consequences of my surroundings? My surroundings? I'm more worried about the consequences of your surroundings. I'm not the one hanging around the Dark Lord.'
"Mister Malfoy."
'I love the way those two words fit together so perfectly. I'm so blessed to be a Malfoy, with rich parents, a father who's a lunatic, a mother who's comatose more often than not, thirty cats roaming around my house and a snobby accent that follows me around everywhere.'
"I'm afraid there is nothing I can do to change the situation. The parents have all been alerted, the students are all at the feast waiting for my announcement. I cannot change a thing."
'Oh, yes, and let's not forget the enmity towards Dumbledore that I've 'inherited'. That old pervert is trying to make me lose my mind. He's doing this entire thing on purpose.'
"Albus, you simply must change it. I cannot have my son's fragile condition worsened any more. The attacks are brought on by stress, I cannot allow you to put him into a situation where he cannot avoid it."
'Avoid? You want me to try and avoid it now? That's not what you were saying when you put the bloody curse on me, you fool.'
"Lucius, there is no going back now. You are no longer a school governor, you cannot make me change what has already happened."
'Oh, yes. Brilliant idea, Professor. Bring up the old school governor wound. Brilliant way to make my father complacent. Dumbledore, you are ever so tactful.'
"I see you will not be swayed. Then I am sorry to say that I must withdraw my son from this school."
'See? Too far. Now he wants me out. I suppose it's time to wake up and make a scene.'
"Mister Malfoy, must you truly go that far? Your son is a valuable student at my school. I do not wish to frighten him away."
'Frighten me? Ohhh, now that's just insulting.'
"I fear that the only one that will be 'frightened away' by this arrangement is whoever it is I'm stuck with."
Draco opened his eyes to a large green drapes covering his four poster bed. 'King size,' he noted in approval.
"Ahh, my eavesdropping son is finally awake," came his father's silky voice, then a rustle as said father flung open the drapes, revealing a landing with three bedside tables with two beds in between them, one of them the one Draco sat on. Its sheets were a sparkling new white, with green embroidered snakes on the pillows.
The other bed was covered in bright red drapes, parted enough for Draco to see one of the pillows – white with a red embroidered griffin on it.
'No wonder father's upset. Dumbledore's roomed me with a bloody Gryffindor!'
Looking around the rest of the room, Draco saw a single door, but also that the beds were long enough to almost reach the ends of the landing – where there was a railing, which overlooked onto what looked like another floor, with a red armchair and a green couch, both situated over a green rug. Draco supposed the rest of the room was hidden away underneath the landing.
"It's rather hard not to eavesdrop when the conversation is taking place less than a few feet away," Draco muttered. "What happened, anyway?"
"You flung your fist into my desk, then passed out," Dumbledore supplied helpfully.
"I will replace your desk, Albus, never fear," his father drawled.
"Oh, no doubt you will, Lucius," Dumbledore drawled back.
Draco raised an eyebrow. "Whatever," he noted. "When do I get to meet whoever it is?"
"You won't, Draco," Lucius snapped. "We are leaving the school, Albus. Thankyou for your hospitality."
Draco watched his father turn on his heel and walk toward where he presumed the staircase was – he couldn't see it through his curtains.
Draco looked up at Dumbledore's thoughtful eyes for a moment. As though he could sense Draco's curiosity, he smiled, held up seven fingers, and mouthed, "Weasley."
Draco raised seven fingers and raised an eyebrow.
Dumbledore nodded, pointed to his father and put a finger to his lips.
Draco swore under his breath.
"Draco, when I said 'We are leaving the school,' – emphasis on 'We' – I meant it."
Draco slowly raised himself to his feet. "Oh … but I'm curious now, Father."
"May I ask why?" Dumbledore asked softly.
"Well, I don't ever recall Professor Dumbledore having the brain of a newt, so he couldn't possibly be insane enough to pair myself with a Gryffindor, unless he had a very good reason?" he hinted.
Dumbledore smiled. "Well, that is something that is understood best when seen. Come along then."
With another twinkling smile, Dumbledore lead them down the stairs.
As Draco reached the bottom step of the twirling staircase and looked around what was underneath the landing, his eyes widened. "Oh," he said simply.
"If you will excuse me, I must be making my way to the feast. Please do stay here, make yourselves comfortable. I will return after my speech with the Gryffindor."
"Good evening!" Dumbledore said simply, looking up to the sea of faces. "I hope we all enjoyed the feast?" There came a roar of appreciation. "The house elves will be glad to know they are appreciated." Another roar, among with some claps, and a single 'Boo!' coming suspiciously from Hermione Granger's general direction.
"Now, the house elves have all been working very hard these holidays," Dumbledore continued. Another 'Boo!' came very suspiciously from Hermione's general direction. "They've been cleaning out old classrooms, installing new toilets, generally doing all the odd jobs that have needed to be done for … oh, let's say the past few centuries!"
A small chuckle followed, but mainly people were still focused on the phrase 'New toilets,' and were nodding their respective heads appreciatively.
"But most of all, they've been working on one very good thing, something I'm sure you will all appreciate."
There was a still silence as Dumbledore's tone changed. The students were interested now, as they knew that that tone meant Dumbledore was up to something. Most of them were trying to figure out whether this was a good thing or a bad thing, though.
"I know many of you have complained amongst yourselves about the lack of privacy in this school. Sharing a dorm room with up to six other people must be terrible," he said mournfully. "Thus, I've decided, with the aid of my teachers and house elves – No more dorms!"
The room practically exploded, all except for the Hufflepuff table, who all just sat there in a mix of ecstasy and shock, unable to move or speak. This lasted but a few short seconds, and then they too were screaming and whooping with their fellow houses.
It took quite a few minutes for them to quiet down (eventually Dumbledore simply cast a mass silencing spell), but they did, so Dumbledore continued.
"You have been paired off by order of your hobbies and interests, which were supplied by various … sources. You will share a room with this partner, including your own bathroom, shared closet, and desks for your study – although I doubt many of you will use those often."
A highly suspicious snort came from Hermione's general direction, but Dumbledore ignored it and continued on. "You have also been supplied with any required equipment for said interest, if it was not brought with you."
Screams of joy echoed through the Hall. Dumbledore chose not to waste his time again, and immediately cast the temporary silencing spell.
"Please wait where you are. Your Head of House will be making their way down the tables and will provide you with a map to your rooms and your password." There was a pause as Dumbledore looked around the room. "Other than that, I wish you all a good night's rest. You're going to need it on the morrow!"
The statement was obviously final, but Dumbledore didn't leave afterwards. Instead, he opted to make his way down to the Gryffindor table, stopping just short of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Harry looked at him questioningly, expecting the visit to be related to him – as it so often was.
"Not this time, Harry," Dumbledore said quietly, looking across from him, to where the two Weasleys sat. "Miss Weasley, if you would come with me?"
Ron elbowed her. "What did you do?"
Dumbledore simply smiled, and with that and a swish of his cloak, he made his way out of the Hall, expecting Ginny to follow him.
"You know why he's doing it though, don't you?"
"Let me guess, a plot for world domination?" Draco drawled.
"He's trying to raise morale. He wants to keep this school alive, even until the Dark Lord has it right in his grasp."
"No doubt he does," Draco mused.
His father sat on the green couch, fuming, glaring at a completely innocent wall that would have shrivelled up and cried in a corner, were it not an inanimate object.
Draco decided it was time to take his attention away from the poor wall before it collapsed. "But that's what the Slytherin's are here for. To break morale. And what is one man against the entire Slytherin house?"
His father finally took his eyes off the wall, closing them sand resting his head back. "Oh, yes," he murmured, his lips curving into a smile. "Perhaps … perhaps then this could work. If you are up to it, you could set an example with this Gryffindor you're paired with … to make sure the rest of your housemates don't forget that they're here to crush the happiness of this school into the ground under their feet."
"Oh, I was planning to do that anyway, but I could always be a bit more obvious about it," Draco drawled. "I think it's marvellous, what Dumbledore's done. He's paired me one on one with an unsuspecting Gryffindor … They can be my stress relief for the year."
It was obvious to Draco that his father was having a hard time keeping a straight face. "Of course," Draco added, wanting to push his father off the edge, "One Gryffindor isn't enough. I'll still need to take out all my suppressed rage on Potter and his sidekicks."
Draco got what he wanted, a simple chuckle from his father.
"I've been counting on that all along," the blonde man said. "No doubt you won't disappoint me."
"No doubt," Draco replied, watching his father stand, still smiling, or rather, smirking. Malfoys find it hard to tell the difference.
Lucius walked to his son. Draco bowed his head slightly, a small smile reaching his lips (not a smirk), as his father kissed his forehead lightly. "I must go now, Draco," he said.
"I'll see you sooner or later," Draco shrugged.
Lucius left the room without looking back. Draco looked after him a moment, then smirked and flung himself back onto the couch, staring at the set up underneath the second floor.
"Well, Miss Weasley, I can't wait to meet you," he muttered.