Chapter 23: It Was A Crock Pot
"We're here," Dumbledore gently shook them. "Wake up…"
"Mmmm…" Ron rolled over on his back, "Hi, mommy… AHH! Sorry, Professor." Ron turned a dark crimson.
"I've been called many things in my time, but never 'mommy'," Dumbledore said thoughtfully.
"You called him 'MOMMY'?" Draco laughed, "Good job…"
"Speaking of mommies," Hermione said, "Ron, isn't that yours? Talking to… Draco's?"
Ron leaned out the window and grunted, "Yeah, I guess it is…"
"Come with me…we can talk to your mothers later…" Dumbledore ushered them inside. "We only have a small visiting time. They'll make it longer when they get Mr. Malfoy stable."
"Hello," a witch said cheerfully, "Can I help you?"
"Yes, in fact you can," Dumbledore replied, "Can you tell us where Lucius Malfoy is?"
"Hmmm…" the witch flipped through her book, "Here we are, Malfoy, Lucius…correct? He's on the Fourth Floor… Room 1598… Intensive Care… he's not stable. Have the healers working with him given you permission? I'm sorry but you will-"
"It is all on this form," Dumbledore handed her a piece of parchment. "We have brought his son and a couple of his friends."
"Well," the witch carefully read the letter, "I don't know if his friends can see Lucius, but I think his son should be able to. Just talked to his wife. She also said he wanted to see him. Alright, you can go on up…"
"So, if we do go in, what do we say?" Ron asked as they walked up. "Hope you're feeling better?"
"Yeah, that sounds about right…" Hermione said nervously.
"It should be more like 'I hope you get better'," Draco contradicted.
"We are here," Dumbledore announced, "They are only letting Draco in for the time being, so the rest of you are free to wander if you like. And as we are in a hospital, I am not worried that you will go and kill and or harm yourselves."
Draco walked up to the door and it swung open. A Healer stood over a figure in a bed. "Here, you need to drink this. It should stabilize you a little more." The Healer placed a goblet on the table next to the bed.
"Can…I…see-?" the figure croaked.
"Your son? Yes, he's here…" The Healer motioned for Draco to come over. "I'll be going now," the Healer said to Draco quietly, "Make sure he drinks the potion…"
"Yeah, okay," Draco muttered.
Lucius struggled for a few seconds but managed to sit up. "Hey…" he said hoarsely, "Glad you made it…out alive I mean…" His eyes had dark circles under them and he looked paler than usual.
"Are you okay?" Draco sat down beside him, "How long are you going to be like this? Are you going to die? Why-"
Lucius put up his hand, "I'm fine…but I've lost all feeling in the lower half of my body…BUT the Healers think it's reversible. Can you hand me the goblet? It helps…"
Draco handed him the goblet and Lucius drained it in one gulp. "Yech…" Lucius grinned, "Not very tasty but it helps. I have to take this once every hour."
"You've already got some energy back…" Draco smiled nervously.
"Cheer up," Lucius put the goblet back on the table, "I'm getting better. Some Healer gave me a Wakefulness Draught. I was vibrating; caffeine overload… Do you know if Neville snowboards?"
"No, why?"
"I had this weird dream… Neville was in our kitchen doing 360's on a snowboard. The problem was, he never left the ground, just kept spinning in circles. Oh yeah, and you were running around with a stew pot on your head…"
"How did you know it was me then?" Draco smiled.
"Well, remember when you were-"
"Sorry to interrupt…" Hermione walked in along with Harry, Ron, and Neville. "They said we could come."
"Good," Lucius nodded his head, "You're all alive. Neville, do you know how to snowboard?"
"What?" Neville looked shocked, "No, I can't…"
"Draco," Harry pulled up a chair, "Do you really run around with a stew pot on your head?"
"Hey it was one time! I was thirteen and bored and stupid…" Draco blushed.
"And you dented our kitchen door…" Lucius grumbled.
"So that's why!" Hermione said, "I was wondering why it had a chunk missing …"
"You did not run a round with a stewpot on your head once," Narcissa walked in, "Remember the week before school started? You-"
"Mum, don't!" Draco said loudly.
"Dear," Lucius contradicted, "he didn't run around with a stew pot on his head-"
"Yeah, see he's on my side!" Draco smiled.
"-It was a crock pot…" Lucius finished.
"Really?" Narcissa said thoughtfully.
"Hey! Dad, please shut up!"
"What else has Draco done? Oh yeah, there was that one time you tried to prove you were immortal by jumping out the window on the first floor…"
"I was young…" Draco said when he noticed everyone staring at him.
"And disturbed," Narcissa muttered.
"But now we know the truth," Lucius announced, "Gryffindors are immortal…"
"He's right, you know…" Harry said.
"Let's prove it…" Draco grinned.
"Okay, just…uh…don't hit me in any vital organs or anything I may need. Oh, and NO killing curses."
"So basically, I can poke you incessantly," Draco poked him. "POKE!"
"HEY!" Harry said annoyed.
"No one poke anyone to death…" Lucius said sternly, "But you can keep poking Harry, he's immortal…"
"Thanks…" Harry muttered.
"We have to go," Hermione announced, "It's almost seven."
"Already?"
"POKE!"
"Ron, don't you start TOO!"
"POKE! Hehehe!"
"NEVILLE!"
"Aw, what the heck, POKE!"
"Mr. MALFOY!"
"Ow…" Lucius groaned, "I think I pulled a muscle…"
"Poking someone?" Draco looked at him.
"You try getting hit with the Cruciatus Curse five times and then roll over and poke a moving TARGET!"
"Sorry, dad," Draco smirked, "Don't…er…injure yourself further…"
"I'm sorry but you'll have to leave…" a Healer said quietly, "Well, you've got him talking… and he drank his potion!"
"Despite the fact it tasted like-" Luecius muttered before he was cut off by Narcissa.
"Thank you for allowing us to visit…" Narcissa inclined her head while shooting Lucius a stern glance. "And you… no profane language, you hear me? If you wouldn't say it around your son, don't say it!"
"Mum, dad's cussed out-" Draco began while Lucius made a slashing motion at his throat to cut him off. "What I meant to say is dad never cussed out anyone, at least not in front of me. Yeah, that's about it. Yup… never cussed out anyone… Nope, not even Dobby…" Draco saw the look from his father and quickly said, "Shutting up, dad…"
Once outside, Harry started laughing at Draco, "Smart move… Do you even know when to shut up?"
"No, not really…" Draco grinned, "Mum's probably lecturing dad right now and threatening him… She's always like that though. Way over-protective. Makes up for my dad, I guess… He's really pretty relaxed about disciplining me… except in public. Even then he really doesn't care."
"'Play nicely' I bet that's all he says…" Hermione remembered the encounter with Lucius in their second year.
"And 'No touching'…" Harry muttered.
"And 'Wait til I tell your mother!'" Draco imitated.
"I still can't believe your dad's the relaxed one…" Ron said in a shocked voice.
"He's not… just in the discipline. He's really uptight about my grades, friends, girlfriends, who I'm going to marry, my future, my responsibilities, sports, and stuff like that." Draco corrected.
"Who you're going to MARRY?" Ron yelped, "It's a little early for that!"
"My mum got married when she was eighteen…" Draco said.
"My parents got married in their early twenties according to Sirius," Harry said as the walked down to the lobby.
"Mine got married when my mum was twenty and my dad was twenty-one…" Ron said. "How old was your dad, Draco?"
"Twenty-three, I think…"
"Oh… so they're five years apart?" Ron asked.
"Good job, Ron, you know your math!"
"Come along," Dumbledore walked over to them, "The carriages are waiting."
They arrived back at Hogwarts just as dinner was over. "Darn," Ron muttered, "It was turkey night."
"If you like," Dumbledore smiled, "I can get some food from the kitchens for you. Ron, I assume you would like turkey… What would anyone else like?"
"Turkey's fine," Harry said.
Neville thought for a few seconds, "How about spaghetti?"
Hermione answered quickly, "Just a salad…"
"And you Mr. Malfoy?"
"Huh?" Draco looked up, "Sorry…ummm… how about some Pan-Asian cuisine?"
"So Ron and Harry would like turkey, Neville wants noodles, Hermione wants salad, and Draco wants Asian cuisine," Dumbledore counted on his fingers. "Go sit in the Great Hall, your food will be here soon…"
