DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters. 'Sides, you'd get more blood out of a turnip then you would money out of me! HA!

AUTHORS NOTE: Don't you just love it when someone posts a story with a lump of chapters instead of just one? I do too, so enjoy!

SUMMARY: Harry feels like he's in hell, Draco's living through a nightmare. Can they help each other before it's too late to save either one?

FROM THE LAST CH. Staring at the door, he realized he had a dilemma. Go in and possibly get laid, or be attacked and brutally murdered. Obviously, the second was not as appealing. Palming his wand just in case, Draco breathed deeply to settle his nerves and knocked. Dumbledore opened the door. Eww, Draco thought with a shudder. Please let him want to kill me!

Tainting the Innocent

Chapter Two

"Wonderful to see you, Draco," Dumbledore said with a smile, waving the boy in and closing the door quietly after checking that he hadn't been followed.

"Sorry I'm a bit late, Headmaster, I was held up deciding if it would be wise to come." He spoke with his usual cool detachment. Not a chance he would let the old man know of the weakness in his knees and the nausea in his stomach.

"Yes, in these times the path of caution is the wisest. I am glad you decided to come, though"

"Thank you, sir. Now, if I may ask, why did you need to speak with me in such secrecy?"

That simple question seemed to weigh heavily on the headmaster. He sighed loudly, walked to one of the tables and slowly took a seat on the edge. "Sit down, Draco," he said, hooking his ankle on the nearest chair and sliding it towards the boy. "I had thought this discussion would be better coming from someone else, seeing as how you utterly despise me, but I was the most appropriate at the moment."

"I don't-" Draco tried to speak in his defense, but Dumbledore waved at him to stop.

"There's no need to lie, my boy. The entire school knows it for truth, so what would be the point. Now, please sit down, and I shall explain why all the cloak and dagger was necessary." Draco did as directed, sitting with his back straight as a rail, trying to look older and more mature. He new the headmaster was not given to theatrics, and so whatever caused this hubbub was bound to be important.

A powerful sigh erupted from the older man as he gathered his thoughts. Time ticked on and Draco began to relax his rigid posture. He had even begun to drift into a daydream of what would have happened with that red head when Dumbledore started speaking. "Draco, I need to know where your loyalties lie. Do you follow Voldemort and your father, or do you support the Resistance?" It had never occurred to the Slytherin that anyone would actually ask him that. He had always assumed that his actions would speak for themselves, but then realized that maybe they already had. He'd certainly never given anyone reason to believe he was a sympathizer; teasing the muggle borns, defending his father against any who spoke ill of him, and bullying their Wonder Boy. Looking back, he could see how his position was a bit cloudy. He'd never walked around with a button that proclaimed "I HEART Voldie", but he hadn't exactly spoken against the tyrant either. Just as he was about to answer though, something occurred to him.

"Why are you asking me now, sir? The war has been going on since this past summer and yet I returned to school. It would not be feasible for the Dark Lord to run a Death Eater base out of Hogwarts, what with all of the magical wards."

"Answer me first, Mr. Malfoy. I assure you I have my reasons." An evasive Dumbledore always had something very juicy to hide, but Draco decided not to tell him the complete truth if he wanted to play these games.

"I don't care one way or another about this pointless war or that crazed mud-blood. Following him is likely to get me killed or worse, and I'm quite fond of my life as it is, thank you." The old man did not miss the flippant tone. He stared at Draco contemplatively, and the boy thought he hadn't believed him about his allegiances. He met the man's eyes with an icy stare, pulling his best "Malfoy" face. Dumbledore seemed to have decided to continue speaking about whatever had made him summon Draco here.

"Good, good," he muttered quietly, more like he was trying to convince himself. "Reasonable, if a bit shallow. Well, Draco," he said louder, "the reason that this has become so important now, as opposed to earlier in the year, is that your father escaped from Azkaban with three other leading Death Eaters two nights ago."

Draco just sat there for a moment, staring back at the man without comprehension. "What," he finally asked quietly. "Why haven't I been told? Or read of it in the papers?" This quiet reaction seemed strange for the volatile Slytherin. How he felt about this news wasn't clear. It was possible that he was glad for his father's escape or angry that he hadn't been informed before hand. Maybe it was an act and Malfoy new exactly where his father was hiding. The thought that Draco Malfoy was afraid of his father's escape was dismissed immediately.

Startled by his student's ambiguous reaction, he continued. "The ministry put a choke on the story so as not to alarm the public or alert potential allies. They want these men with a passion and will take no chances. Draco, his group killed three aurors, seriously injured another three, and kidnapped a fellow inmate. The ministry incarcerated this man for grifting muggles with his magic and thereby threatening the discovery of the wizarding world. He was also once a Death Eater, one of those who turned their backs on Voldemort when he disappeared." His expression became grave and he grasped his hands together tightly. "In light of your reaction, I can guess what your answer will be, but I must ask. Did you have any previous knowledge of Lucius Malfoy's escape attempt? Do you know where he could be hiding now? Do you know if this man could still be alive?"

Draco went pale as realization hit him. They thought he'd had something to do with his father's escape. That's why he was being questioned about his loyalties now. The thought of how this interview could have gone if he'd had any other headmaster than Dumbledore frightened him to the core. He would have been taken into custody and questioned by aurors under veratiserum or worse. The fact that he was a minor probably wouldn't have held much weight. He was the son of a powerful Death Eater and, even he had to admit, a git.

Of course, no one took into account that they had almost lost the ancestral estate and fortune before Narcissa proved to the Ministries satisfaction that she held no sympathies for Voldemort. They only saw the image of a younger Lucius, and probably took all of his schoolboy pranks on the Golden Trio as the war tactics of Mini-Death Eaters. The ministry would never believe the truth. Fudge would convince himself that Dumbledore was trying to protect his student and take matters into his own hands. The idea of what would happen then caused the nausea to return even worse than before. Shell shocked, he rose from the chair and exited the room, never realizing that he hadn't answered the questions.