I Am Dansmesyeux Riddle

Chapter 14

FOURTEEN: Pets

Response To Reviews:

Drownin' in my Tears: I wish that they could fit one of them horses into the school unnoticed…but yeah…Thanx for your review though =)  

Sue Falkenkralle: A Tasmanian devil? Wow…you people have weird ideas for pets…not that wanting an exotic pet is a bad thing. Thanx for your review.

Marauder1prongs: Katie, where would they get a cougar?

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Previous Chapter: Dumbledore watched him patiently, and the Potions Master couldn't help but sigh. This was going to take a while... 

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Severus let the silence continue for a few moments before he tried to tell the Order what Dan had been through. Finally he said in a silky tone, "I believe he told me that he was physically abused every day for the smallest and most insignificant reasons. Need I tell you that he has scars to prove it. As a matter of fact, Headmaster, I can call him in here and tell him to show you each mark and how it was inflicted upon him." Severus looked at Dumbledore with an emotionless expression on his face, as if daring him to order Dan into the room.

"That won't be necessary, Severus," Dumbledore replied. "You may however retrieve, young, Mr. Malfoy."

That's all they wanted to know? Severus thought to himself. There had to be more too it. After all there was more to Dan's story than that. Instead of arguing or pointing his concerns out to Dumbledore, however, he turned and headed out of the office door to find Draco.

As he entered the hallway he heard Dan yelling, "Fetch, doggie! Come on! Fetch the paper!" Dan was pointing to a large crumpled piece of paper and glaring down at Sirius the dog. Draco was watching their dispute with interest but he didn't dare get involved. "Get it!" Dan ordered. The dog growled and Severus decided to join them.

"Hello, doggie," Severus sneered at the mutt. In return Sirius snarled, his teeth bared. "You don't want to make Dan cry do you? Go fetch the paper."

Severus could have sworn that Sirius threw him a dirty look as he turned to retrieve the piece of paper. He trotted happily over to Dan and placed the paper at the boy's feet, wagging his tail freely.

"Good, doggie," praised Dan as he patted Sirius on the head.

"Draco," Severus said, turning to the boy.

"Yes, sir?" replied Draco obediently.

"Go ahead into the Headmaster's office. He wants to talk with you. Don't forget to ask if he wants to speak with any one else afterwards." Draco nodded and left did as he was told. As soon as he was gone Severus kicked at Sirius to shoo him away, and he picked Dan up as if he weighed nothing more than twenty pounds.

"Come on, kid. Let's go finish our paint project," Severus said to Dan who smiled at the offer.

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Nervously Draco knocked on the Headmaster's door. A calm voice from inside said, "Come in," and so he did. At first Draco was surprised at how many people were in the room. There sure were a lot of muggle and mudblood lovers that liked Albus Dumbledore. The only one he could recognize was the one that he told him to come here, Remus Lupin was his name if he remembered correctly.        

"Hello there, young Mister Malfoy," Dumbledore said. Draco turned his gaze upon the old man, and all of the things that his father taught him were pushed to the back of his mind as he felt, for the first time in his life, fear.

"Where are my manners? Here. Come sit down," the Headmaster offered, indicating a chair that was too close to the strangers then he felt necessary.

So Draco decided to reject the offer. "No thank you, sir."

"Is there anything that you'd like to talk about?" Dumbledore asked kindly. He came towards Draco slowly but the Malfoy heir didn't dare back off. It was one thing to feel fear but another thing this to show it.

"No, sir," answered Draco. It was better to keep all answers short and to the point.

"If you're sure, Mister Malfoy, you may leave."  Draco's brows furrowed. He wasn't being forced to talk or tell them all about how horrible life was (not that it was). "Before you go, however, I would like to know if you'd be interested in going to Hogwarts for your wizard education when you come of age."

Excitement flooded him, and he had to restrain himself from jumping up and down. "Really?" Dumbledore nodded and Draco (who was still trying to contain his feelings) nodded too.

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Surprisingly the meetings with the Ministry weren't as horrible as Severus had thought they were going to be. He had been allowed to stay in the room with all of the children that were 'under aged' but he couldn't talk while the Ministry questioned them.

The questions themselves were basic. Most were simple like 'who are your parents or legal guardians? Or 'how old are you?' Some, on the other hand, were most toward the personal side like 'has your magical talent shown itself yet?'

They were exceptionally nice and patient with Dan who had been terrified because the one asking him questions was a woman in her late twenties. He wasn't afraid of her because she was mean. It was more so about the fact that Dan was scared stiff when it came to strangers.

The man that questioned Severus about the whereabouts of the Dark Lord's castle wasn't the least interested in having a chat over tea. He was someone that seemed deeply interested in bringing Voldemort down. The Ministry member even went as far as to say that Dan and the other children were mongrels. In the end Severus had denied that he knew where Voldemort was hiding and he was forced to swear that he was completely loyal to Dumbledore.

"Dan, Draco! Don't run ahead!" Severus shouted to the energetic children. It had been three days since the Ministry had come to Hogwarts and Severus was happy to put the memory behind him.

In front of him Dan and Draco were a good distance away, but Severus couldn't blame them. They were in Diagon Ally, a place where they weren't allowed to go to on their and to add to the fun experience Severus had promised to buy everyone one of the kids any one pet that they wanted, magical or not.

"Keep up, Uncle Sev!"  they both yelled back.

"Why are they so excited? We're only allowed to get ONE pet!" whined Pansy.

"Right?" agreed Blaise. "I want two kitties!"

"I don't think so," Severus said to them. "Cats and rabbits like to multiply."

"Ewww!" exclaimed Blake. Severus raised an eyebrow at him, as if he were wondering how Blake knew what he had meant. "Errrr…I mean. What does that mean?"

Rolling his eyes at the nine year-old liar, Severus yelled to Dan and Draco again, "You two had better slow down before you get abducted!" Draco and Dan stopped in their tracks and turned to him with confused expressions on their faces.

Severus sighed and said, "Forget it. Keep going." 

"Okay, Uncle Sev," they said in unison. Dan ran to Severus's side and Draco did the same.

"Please get off me," Severus said uncomfortably.

"NO!" Dan and Draco responded.         

"Ha ha." Blake smirked at the ex-Death Eater. Severus glared at him, and Blake fell silent.  

"Walk. I command you both to walk," Severus said, pulling them off of him and giving them a gentle push. Dan and Draco laughed and ran ahead again.

"Up?" Angel asked in his timid voice. The four year old stopped and looked up at Severus with pleading eyes.

"Very well." Severus reached down and pulled Angel up and onto his shoulders. "Happy now, Angel?" The orphan nodded slightly and Severus resumed walking.

"I found the store, sir." Jamie, his backpack thrown over his shoulder, was pointing to a large store. A wooden sign in the window spelled "Animals for the Diverse: open".

"Dan! Draco! Follow Jamie!" Severus shouted to the over energetic kids.

"Can I get a kitty and a rabbit?" Jane asked.

"No," answered Severus. "You can have one of the other. Not both."

"Jerk," Jane muttered as they entered the store.

"Okay everyone," Severus addressed the Death Eater children. "You are each allowed to pick out one animal. Do not worry about buying it a cage or whatever; only get food for it. Come and tell me when you have found what you want. And remember. Pick out only one animal."

Gleefully Dan and Draco took off to the back of the store. "What are you gonna get?" Dan asked Draco.

"I want something cool looking that can stay out of a cage," answered the blonde. "What are you going to get?"

"Father always said that if I ever got a pet I should get a snake," Dan answered shyly.

"I guess there's no real choice there, huh?" Draco took the lead to the back of the room as Dan tried to think up an answer.

"I guess not. Hey look, Draco! That cage had a hammock in it!" The Malfoy and Riddle heir gathered around a rather large cage that was a little taller than them. Draco pressed his face up against the glass. Something inside did the same and he fell to the ground in surprise. Dan laughed as Draco got to his feet and tried to read the label on the cage.

"Hey, Dan, what is a fer-ret?" inquired Draco.

"Umm…I dunno," replied Dan. "I guess a ferret is what is in the cage." The two boys leaned close to the cage and peered inside. They could barley make out a weasel like creature that had a long, skinny body and a furry tail. It had white fur and red-colored eyes.

"Wow," Draco said in a daze. "He's a cool little fella. I wonder is Uncle Sev will let me get him."

"I dunno, Draco," said Dan. "He makes a weird squeaky noise. Can you hear it?"

Draco put his ear to the glass, and he stopped breathing so he could hear the ferrets. A small squeaking sound made him smile. They sounded like mice and as far as he knew Uncle Sev hated mice. As Draco called for assistance from one of the people that worked in the store Dan wondered off. To his surprise a few voices from behind spoke.

"Another child!"

"Maybe he will pick me!"

Dan turned around and saw a relatively small cage full of snakes that were no thicker than his index finger. They were also very small, about 10 inches long (25 cm). Each of them (there were six of them altogether) had different colors and mixtures of deep red and light orange. Two of them were white with red eyes.

Dan bit his lip as he approached the tank full of snakes. He knew that his father could talk to snakes but he hadn't known that Dan had inherited the trait.  

"Hello," Dan said to the snakes. He read their label and saw that they were called Corn Snakes.

"He ssspeaks!" one of them exclaimed.

"I want to go with him!" a white one proclaimed.

Dan chose to ignore the argument of the snakes and he looked into their cage to see if he could find anything that he may have missed before. To his delight he found another snake. She appeared to be sleeping in a plastic tree. Her colors consisted of bright orange with light red spots.

"Hey, there," Dan said gently.

The snake raised his head and became eyelevel with Dan. "Issss there sssomething you want?"

"How would you like to come home with me?" Dan offered.

The snake's dull eyes lit up and it hissed, "I'd love to, sssir. I can only hope I will not be a bother to you."

"You won't be," Dan promised.   

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A/N: There's going to be a twist coming up in the story very soon. I'm not sure in what chapter but…yeah. I need to get a few of your opinions though…you know, before I decide to end the story… (joking) Oh and please ignore the misspellings of any names of Slytherin characters *coughs* Blaise *cough*.

Question:

1. Who (besides Dan) would you most like to see in Part Two of this story? You know, who do you want to play a big part? Someone out of the kids…or even maybe one of the adults…       

2. How long would you like this story to continue?

3. Would you mind if I decided use my favorite music in Part Two? No…that does not include Eminem *gags*

4. Would you want Dan to meet up with Harry when they get older?

5. Who would you like to see Dan and Draco end up with (ex: Draco and Ginny)?

6. Are these questions getting annoying?

7. Would you like to see more of Voldemort?

8. Do you like Barty Crouch, Jr? Should he keep being in this story? If you answered yes pleases check out my story about him.

9. Do you even think that this story is worth me working on it?