The group walked silently back up to the castle, each deeply emerged in their own private thoughts, all centring around the small blonde boy who was sobbing quietly in Hermione's arms.

"Hey Harry," Dean whispered, as they trudged past the lake, "What was all that about exactly?" Harry shrugged,

"No idea." He lied. In actual fact, he knew perfectly well, but right now, he didn't even want to think about it, let alone explain it to someone else. "Maybe it's just going to be one of those days. You know what I mean?" Dean nodded his agreement,

"Yeah, I guess…it's been kind of weird today."

"Yeah." They walked the remainder of the journey in silence.

"I'm going to go and see Dumbledore." Hermione told them, as they reached the steps leading up into the entrance hall, "I'll see you guys later." The others nodded and said their goodbyes to Draco, who refused to look up from the safety of Hermione's cloak,

"Is he going to be alright, Mione?" Seamus asked quietly, "He seems really upset…"

"I expect you would be too." Hermione snapped, a little harsher than intended, "I'm sorry. I'm sure he'll be fine, he just needs some time, that's all."

"Okay. Bye Draco, hope you feel better soon." The little boy shuffled about as a sign that he heard and accepted what Seamus had said, but still wouldn't look up. Hermione smiled at her friends,

"Thanks. I really appreciate your support, I'm sure Draco does too, but would you mind keeping it to yourselves? Just for now, at least."

"Sure."

"Of course!"

"See you later." And with that, they walked off, leaving Hermione and Draco standing in the middle of the hall. Hermione looked down at him,

"Well kid," She said, "Let's see what we can do about our situation, shall we?"

Albus Dumbledore looked up from his paper as a knock on his door disturbed him,

"Yes? Come in." Hermione slowly stepped into the elaborate office, looking around her in awe, "Ah Miss Granger! And what might I have done to deserve the pleasure of your company?"

"Well-." Hermione began but Dumbledore interrupted her,

"Please, have a seat" Hermione sat down, arranging Draco on her lap, "Cola cube?" Hermione frowned,

"Umm…. No Thankyou. Draco, do you want a sweet?" He shook his head. Albus nodded, and removed his glasses, placing them besides him on his desk,

"Do go on, Miss Granger."

"Okay, well…" She paused, trying to decide the best way to go about this. She figured on the 'Concise and Straight to the point' way, "We saw Lucius Malfoy in the Three Broomsticks."

"Ah…And did he see you? Or should I say, did he see Draco?" Hermione felt Draco push himself closer to her and she nodded,

"Yes. Mr.Malfoy had grabbed my wrist and Draco told him to let go. Then he tried to-to hit Draco and I said that I'd report him for child abuse and he said…he said it wasn't illegal?" She looked the old man directly in the eyes, "Is that…true, Professor? Is it really legal?" Dumbledore sighed and leaned back in his chair, glasses perched, once again, on his long nose.

"I'm afraid Lucius was telling the truth. Although that still doesn't make it acceptable. But there is, unfortunately, no legal action we can take against him. Did he try and take Draco away at all?"

"No." Draco answered, raising his head, eyes red and puffy from where he had been crying, "But he said he'd be back. He said I should remember that a Malfoy always gets what he wants…" He gulped hard, and buried his face back into Hermione's robes,

"The point is, Professor, he knows where Draco is and-."

"He isn't safe here anymore." Albus finished for her, gazing absently in to space, "But the thing we have to decide now is, where can Draco go where he will be safe?" He put a random cola cube into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully, "Somewhere safe…" He murmured to himself, "Where only a select few know about… Eureka!" He slammed his hand down triumphantly on the desk, making Draco and Hermione jump, "Draco, how do you feel about the number twelve?"

Greetings! Heheh, 2 chapters in one day! Lol!

N-ee-way, caramel filled chocolate frogs to...

Hogaboom, -addicted-2-hp-, lilmissgullable, Tamika DanarDraco, lollenk, perfectpureblood, Nikki's Evil Doppelganger, Dark Princesses, thinkb4uspeak, 13BlackAngels, beinmyeyes and TimeMage0955!

Love u all v. much! Lilyxxx