For the second time in a matter of a few weeks, Draco woke up to a white ceiling. I'm in the Hospital Wing… Draco's memories slowly returned to him, alongside a numb pain in his shoulder. He grimaced as he tried to sit up carefully.

"Draco, are you awake?" he heard a most familiar voice. "Be careful, don't try to get up too quickly."

Draco's eyesight finally got used to the whiteness and he noticed his father standing near his bed, worry clear on his face. "Dad… what are you doing here?"

"I heard that you were hurt, I came here immediately of course," Lucius said. "Are you feeling alright?"

Draco nodded slowly. He noticed that his dad really must've had arrived here in a hurry. His platinum hair wasn't combed, and he was wearing a pair of red 'Go go Gryffindor!' slippers. Draco chuckled at that, feeling the soreness of his throat and grimacing.

"Here, drink some water," his dad offered.

Draco gulped down the water thankfully and sighed with satisfaction. "I'm alright. What about Harry? And Hermione, and Ron? Are they okay?" he asked, cursing himself mentally for not asking that earlier.

Lucius nodded. "According to my knowledge, your friends should be fine, yes."

"And the Slytherin boy? The one who attacked us?"

Lucius's face grew a bit paler from its usual paleness. "I have managed to convince the Headmaster to expel him. He won't bother you again."

"Thank you, dad," Draco said. "You're the best."

Lucius nodded with a serious expression. "I agree."

After a moment, they heard footsteps coming in their direction, and three figures entered. Theodore Nott, Severus Snape and an unknown to Draco man stood before him and his father.

"As the Head of the Slytherin House, I would like this stupid boy," Severus said as he pushed Theodore closer, "to apologize to you formally for arranging this attack. I have also given him a scolding and a severe detention."

Draco smiled at his uncle, then looked at the Slytherin boy, who seemed very intimidated by the adults.

"Err, I'm sorry, Malfoy," he said. "That was bad of me… it's bad to attack people. Yes, sorry."

Draco was even more embarrassed than the other boy. "It's okay, I accept your apology."

Lucius scoffed at the unknown man. "Seriously, you should've raised your son better than this," he said. "But what can you expect, from a Slytherin…"

Severus rolled his eyes. "Lucius, I know you've had a… change of heart of sorts, after Draco's Sorting, but you can't just insult my students. It's my job's privilege, you have to be a Professor to do that."

"Now listen here, Severus…"

Draco stopped listening to his father's and uncle's silly argument and looked around the Hospital Wing. He noticed Harry chatting with the Headmaster nearby, but he couldn't localize Ron or Hermione.

After a few minutes of a heated debate that didn't conclude with anything at all, everyone left Draco's side. He promised to write his dad often, and after a quick goodbye hug, stood up to check on Harry.

"Hey, Harry, are you okay?" he asked with a small smile.

Harry eyed him and returned the smile. "Yes, hi Draco. Is your shoulder alright?"

Draco nodded. "It is, thank you. What did you chat about with the Headmaster earlier?"

"Nothing important. He just came here to check on me, I think," Harry said.

Draco hummed in agreement. Probably secret Dark Lord business, I shouldn't pry. "By the way, Harry… good job with that snake, you saved us."

Harry shook his head in confusion. "That's not really true, you cast the spell, I just told it to attack the other boy instead of me. Wouldn't everyone do the same?"

"Well, I guess I would do the same, but the snake wouldn't really listen to me… Oh, what will you do if anyone finds out about it?"

"About what?"

"Your… talent," Draco whispered. "You know, Parseltongue."

Harry didn't seem to understand. "What's that?"

Draco sighed and rolled his eyes. "Really, Harry, you don't have to pretend, I saw you use it."

Harry shrugged apologetically. "Sorry, Draco, I don't know what you mean."

Draco sighed one more time. "Fine, whatever you say, Harry, I understand that you want to keep it a secret, I won't tell anyone." I guess it makes sense, he just won't admit it to anyone. It's too dangerous for people to know that he's a Dark Lord now. But why not to me, he knows that I saw him already…

The Dark Lord himself still looked confused as Ron and Hermione entered the Hospital Wing. They brought some food from the Great Hall, and gave it to Harry and Draco.

"Are you two alright? You both lost consciousness…" Draco asked after both he and Harry convinced everyone that they were alright.

Hermione nodded. "Yes, we didn't really suffer any injuries… by the way, please, tell me how you managed to defeat that Slytherin boy," she pleaded. "None of the students know anything!"

Draco smiled. That will please Harry. Nobody will find out he's a Parselmouth.

"Oh, well," Harry started. "Draco cast a spell, a snake appeared, and I told it to attack the Slytherin boy."

Ron looked terrified by that revelation, the red-haired boy taking a step backwards and almost falling down. Hermione was just surprised.

Oh… I guess the Dark Lord doesn't care about secrecy that much...