A/N: despite all me lovely reviews, I wanna shoot meself… I, like, totally REPEATED meself in the last chapter:dies: oh, the embarrassment…. The woe… :cries: misa stupid….
:is busy being a dramaqueen:
er… so I hope you forgive me…for being such a forgetful idiot… I took up on a reader's advice and read the chapters trough… and it was like… arrgh :bangs her head against keyboard: jphkdfnoöbcvälbrekypotrjuhlmghözcv,gädlg,dcf… and so forth…
and now, I'm warning ye folks… I'll probably be away for most of the summer, so don't go all homicidal on me if u don't see the next chap till August or sumthin…
now, on with the chapter!
Draco decided not to mention the fact that he had seen Harry's eyes… It would have led to awkward questions he wasn't quite ready for yet… So, he smiled at Harry a grateful smile and didn't say anything.
After a while Harry rouse from the bed.
"I'm going to see if Dumbledore is here yet. He said he'd come here and escort you to Hogwarts. I, unfortunately have to stay here. I'll be right back."
Then he walked out the door.
Draco tried to calm himself. He was only going to be alone for a couple of days. No need to panic. He was going to be fine… without Harry.
And the calm he had succeeded in building up, vanished with a 'poof'.
He wasn't going to make it… The minute he stepped inside that castle, he was going to be reduced to a poor blabbering wreck. And as much as he hated it, he was going to be forced to talk with the old coot. Harry believed in him, so he had to be good for something…
Another thing was bothering him too. His veela side was about ready to fall on his knees and confess his undying love for Harry. But his human side wasn't too sure yet. He didn't know. Sure, he felt something. But it surely couldn't be love… not yet. It was too soon. One thing he was sure of though, was that it was more than platonic. He felt… attracted to Harry.
Sighing deeply, he lay back down on the bed.
He must have dozed off for a couple of minutes, because he was startled awake when he heard a soft knocking on the door. 'It can't be normal to sleep as much as I do nowadays…' Clearing his thoughts, he answered with a 'come in'.
"There he is. Do you think it's safe for him to put away the concealment charm, sir?" Draco heard Harry say.
"Yes, I closed the door properly and it's locked now." He heard Dumbledore reply.
Draco made a move to reach for his wand, which was placed somewhere on the table beside his bed, when he heard a soft voice speak the words, and he felt himself grow normal again.
Hand dropping back to his side, he raised his head to look at the direction from where the voices came. He must've looked a little wrongly, or maybe it was because of the unnatural colour of his eyes, because he heard Dumbledore sigh deeply.
"I never dreamed that Lucius would go this far. I'm so sorry for you, young Draco. "
Draco looked away.
"Harry, would you be so kind to leave us alone?" Dumbledore spoke again.
Harry must've nodded, since Draco heard no reply, only the soft click when the door shut.
"Now, why don't you tell me everything. From the beginning." Dumbledore said, as he sat down on a chair next to the bed Draco sat in.
First, Draco tensed, but as he concentrated, his veela senses told him he could trust this old man. A wave of comfort washed over him and suddenly he found himself telling Dumbledore everything. From the day where he had seen Harry at Diagon Alley, to now. And during the time he told Dumbledore, the old man wouldn't interrupt him even once. And for that, Draco was immensely grateful.
When Draco was finished, they sat in silence for quite a while.
"Well… I see you have quite the problem there, Draco."
Draco's shoulders slumped.
"But I wouldn't lose hope yet. After what I've seen, I can guess that you and Harry have become friends?"
Draco paused a little before answering.
"I don't know if it can be called 'friends'. More like a mutual understanding."
"But that's already very much. As I said before, there's always hope."
Draco nodded.
"And sir… what about now that I come to Hogwarts?"
Dumbledore seemed to think for a moment, because he was silent for a while.
"Well… I guess we could make Harry come with you. Yes, I think we'll do that. Even if Grimmauld place is safe, we don't know what will happen when the Weasleys find out about you. And I'd rather have you at Hogwarts. I'm going to call Harry back in now."
Before Draco could say anything, Dumbledore had moved to the door and opened it. Harry walked in, looked at Draco with a bit of concern, before he sat down on a chair. This look didn't go unnoticed by Dumbledore and he had to refrain himself from grinning in a very un-Dumbledorish way. Yes, there was still hope for young Mister… Black. And as fast as Dumbledore's face had lit up, it saddened. He cleared his throat and willed the thoughts away.
"Harry, Draco and I have come to the conclusion that it would be best if you would come with him to Hogwarts. The reason is that, even in Hogwarts, Draco will still be blind and there's no chance that any teacher can accompany him all the time. So, I will give you the task of helping Draco get around the castle. This means also that you will share a dorm and that you won't let Draco out of your sight."
Silence"Now Harry, do you accept?"
And surprised at himself, Harry found himself answering before he had given much thought to it.
"Yes."
Dumbledore smiled.
XXxxx
Draco didn't know exactly what the Weasleys and Granger had said when Harry told them that 'Michael' and him were going to Hogwarts.
Now, though, he felt himself being surrounded by four Weasleys and one Granger. Mr. Weasley, whom Draco hadn't known that much, had shook Draco's hand first and wished him good luck. After that came Ron (who Draco still called 'Weasel' in his thoughts), who had given him a 'manly hug' – with one arm and a clap on the back. They hadn't talked that much, since Draco still found it weird to have a normal conversation with Ron. But, all in all, things were going considerably better between them, even though Ron didn't know 'Michael' was in fact his arch-enemy, Draco Malfoy. Even though his name wasn't Malfoy anymore.
Ginny came next. She was the one Weasley, except Mrs. Weasley, that Draco really liked, maybe even loved. Quite ironic, wasn't it, since he had hated her in the beginning. They hugged, properly, and Ginny even cried a little. Draco felt sad that he couldn't say to her something like, 'don't be sad, we'll see each other at Hogwarts'… since they wouldn't. The next time Ginny saw him, he would be Draco Black and he didn't know if it ever would be the same between them. He promised to write her though, he would have Harry help him.
And lastly, Mrs. Weasley. The woman with a slightly too large heart for her own good, who had taken him in, given him clothes and food. He felt like her adopted son. And that, was a weird feeling. He wanted to take back every mean word he had said about her in the past. It didn't matter if she was chubby, it only seemed necessary. Otherwise, she would possibly burst from all her kindness.
She had hugged him tight and whispered to him to be a good boy and that everything would be alright. And he had desperately wanted to believe her.
And as Harry, Dumbledore and himself flooed to Hogwarts, Draco found himself praying that the next time Molly Weasley and the others saw him, really saw him, and knew who he really was, that they wouldn't hate him.
A/N: I'M SO SORRY FOR THE SHAMEFULLY SHORT CHAPTER! But seriously, I've been on vacation and now I'm going again in a couple of days, I just want to send this off to me beta so you guys can get something. I hope you like this chapter. I really do. This was also kinda just a filler, but in the next chap, their survival at Hogwarts begins! Even if it's just for a couple of days . so, it kinda fits actually… kinda like a new 'era' begins in the story or sumthin… okay, misa through rambling xD