The meeting finally ended, and everyone was standing to leave when a great amount of noise reached their ears. Someone was kicking and screaming his way down the hall towards the Transfiguration room. The members of the Order stood still until a head appeared in the doorway. It was Peeves, of course.
"Lookie what I found, Headmaster, sir. Skulking around the front doors, he was. Naughty naughty. Got quite cross when I wouldn't let him in. So I let him sit outside for a while before I brought him to you, sir." Peeves' face displayed a wicked grin as he pulled a bedraggled Draco Malfoy around the corner. A collective gasp filled the room upon recognition. Harry's face burned with anger at seeing his long-time enemy so close.
"Professor," Malfoy said raggedly. "I had to find you...I have information, but you have to keep me safe. It'll be worth it, I swear."
"I'm afraid I'm not even close to believing you, Mr. Malfoy. But please, join me in my office and we'll see what to make of this, shall we?" Dumbledore smiled pleasantly and led the way. The entire Order followed him, naturally.
No one was particularly happy when Dumbledore escorted Malfoy up the stairs to his office and left the rest of them standing in front of the stone gargoyle.
"Harry!" someone whispered. "Go on, see what's going on!" Harry smiled and dashed through the wall and up the stairs. He poked his head through the wall at a discreet height and watched the proceedings.
"Now, Mr. Malfoy, what is this vital information you wished to share with me?" Dumbledore was seated at his desk, as per usual, with Malfoy playing the recalcitrant student opposite the Headmaster.
"I can tell you the location of the Dark Lord's headquarters!" Malfoy said loudly, seeming eager to impress.
"Oh?" Dumbledore lifted an eyebrow. "Has it moved since our raid last night? I presume that you left the Dark Lord's followers sometime during the previous evening, so if it had, I doubt you would know about it. Unless, of course, this is a trap and you were brought here by fellow Death Eaters to infiltrate our forces."
Malfoy's face fell. His ticket to safety was expired. He would have to find something better.
"I can tell you where the Dark Lord is planning to attack next!"
"I'm afraid we already know that as well." Dumbledore regarded the younger man with something akin to pity. "Is that all you have to offer?
"Damn you!" Malfoy shrieked. "He'll kill me when he finds me, and there's nothing I can give you in return for protection!"
"My dear Mr. Malfoy, I daresay he already knows where you are, and perhaps there is something you can do for us. I just need to decide what that is."
"He can't find me! You know what he does to deserters? I need a guarantee of protection! I need you to hide me!" Malfoy was on his feet again, nearly shrieking in his fear.
"Please sit down. Why don't you tell me why it is that you've deserted him?"
Malfoy's face flushed bright red. "I'd rather not say," he mumbled.
"I can hardly trust your change of heart if I don't understand it. And if I don't trust you, then there is no way I can keep you here."
"Fine!" Malfoy snarled. "But this stays between you and me."
Harry came close to laughing. He had a feeling he was about to hear something really good.
"Crabbe, Goyle, Theodore Nott, and I were assigned to Muggle torture last night. You know the routine...cause as much havoc and damage as possible, get people really frightened. Anyway, we were at this Muggle hospital, chasing people around, hanging them upside-down by their knickers, things like that, when we came across this room that was just full of babies." Dumbledore's eyes widened a bit but he gestured for Malfoy to go on.
"So Nott goes in there and starts making a whole lot of noise, and all the babies start crying. He was levitating them up to the ceiling, spinning them around; all the while they're screaming their little heads off. It made me sick. I have a son, you know." Again Dumbledore looked surprised. "Yeah, he's almost a year old and these babies all looked like he did when he was born. I said to Nott, 'They're just babies,' and he said, 'They're Muggles, Draco.' I just stood there. He said, 'Draco, what are Muggles for?' I responded with what I'd always been told. 'Wizard sport.' 'Exactly,' he said. 'So get out your wand and have some fun.' But I couldn't. I picked up a little boy with blonde hair, just like my son, and Nott started laughing. 'Put the little beast down, Draco. You look ridiculous.' He stopped fooling around and came over to me. 'Draco, what are you doing?' I said, 'I can't hurt babies, Theo. It doesn't matter if they're Muggles. They're not even old enough to beg for mercy. This is wrong.'" At this, tears sprang from Malfoy's eyes. Harry would've laughed if the situation hadn't been so lacking in humor.
Malfoy took a staggered breath and finished his story. "I put the baby down...and I knocked Theo out with a Reductor curse. I tied him up so he couldn't hurt those defenseless little babies anymore. And then I ran." He looked up at Dumbledore and let out a deep sigh. "I can't...associate with those people anymore. I don't expect a grand reception here, but at least there's no innocents being tortured here."
The Headmaster stood and faced the windows behind him, looking pensive. Harry withdrew his head from the wall and went back to the hallway.
"What happened?" the gathered group asked.
"Dumbledore's going to let him stay," Harry said with certainty.
"You're kidding!" several people shouted. "Lucius Malfoy's son? He's a monster!"
Harry smiled. "Not as much as you'd suppose. There's some humanity left in him, I think." With that perplexing statement, Harry took off down the corridor, smiling smugly. Let them think about that for a while, he said to himself.