DMM CH.13

Ginny stood in that spot for a few seconds to take everything in. On what appeared to be a changing table was a small toddler with nearly bleach blonde hair. Madam Pomfrey waved her wand over the child and a dim flash of yellow light engulfed him. To their side was none other than Miss Hermione Granger, sitting patiently on one of the hospital beds. After the initial shock of the sight before her, Ginny made her way over to Hermione, a deep grin sweeping across her face.

Hermione tore her gaze from the healer and moved them to her best friend that is a girl, Ginny. Thinking she might have a similar reaction as her older brother, no matter how unlikely it occurs, she drew a sharp intake of breath and seemed to hold it for all it's worth. As Ginny neared her, she began to breathe normally as she took in her friend's practically glowing features. Her eyes were glazed with curiosity, determination, and pure anticipation. Much unlike her brother, the pools of color, brown instead of blue, were shining out brightly in any happy feeling imaginable. Hermione sighed with relief.

Ginny took the seat next to Hermione on the bed. She glanced from the supposed Malfoy and back to her best friend, and then let out a giggle that surprised Hermione into one of her rarely seen confused looks. Quietly chuckling at her friend's expression, Ginny said, "Are you going to look confused all day, or are you going to fill me in on any of this chaos? That wouldn't be the Slytherin King himself, would it?"

Hermione smiled. "Yep, that's him all right. Dumbledore thought it would be good for him to be in my care for some unknown reason. He said it was because I had babysat before with a high level of tolerance, but knowing the headmaster, there is some other reason for this dilemma." The two of them giggled once again, and then were interrupted by the madam at the moment.

Madam Pomfrey finished the check-up, with results both good and bad. Smiling down at the newly shrunken infant, the healer gently picked him up and placed him in the center of one of the unoccupied beds and turned back to the two teenagers. "Ginny, would it be alright if I speak to Hermione alone for a while? This is a very confidential matter."

Ginny merely nodded, waved good bye to Hermione, and strolled out the door. On her way out, she looked back up at the ceiling to see her brother, still dealing with the complete loss of gravity and mobility. He gave her a pleading look, or was it a desperate glance? Either way, Ginny didn't do anything but give him a sly grin with a wave, then walked back toward the Gryffindor common room. Ron sighed silently, and then started trying to get the attention of anyone who might be able to help him out of his self-induced mess.

Back in the infirmary, Madam Pomfrey had just transfigured a few chairs from unused pillows. Guiding Hermione over to the other side of the room, the healer took out the chart of data she gathered during the examinations. After sifting through the information once more, Madam Pomfrey took the seat next to the soon to be young adult.

"Most of the results were in the correct ranges for his age, which is about 11 months. He should be able to crawl, and maybe when he ages a month or two, walk. His health at the moment is perfectly acceptable. Though, in his past, it apparently wasn't anywhere near well." She said, eyes closed while frowning slightly at the floor.

"In his past? You mean like a broken bone or two? Those are actually quite common with small children, and even more so with school and Quidditch and_" Hermione said, but was cut off.

"These were not the ordinary wounds, even if he was a teenager at the time. I checked his skin history while examining him, and there have been many extensive injuries, most of which were made by an adult at the time." The madam said with a sigh.

Hermione stood there, mouth agape. She couldn't believe what she was hearing, even though it was coming from a professional healer's lips. Malfoy, the spoiled, annoying, Slytherin King, was abused as a child? "If it was that bad in his childhood, what exactly happened when he grew up over the years?"

Swarms of mental images clustered in Hermione's thoughts, all of which were terrifying to just imagine. Looking straight into the witch's eyes, she began asking multiple questions concerning Draco's childhood medical results and his previous results from the mandatory check-up the madam had done for the Quidditch season. Neither of them managed to catch a glance at the toddler.

Draco had been bored out of his mind, even for an 11 month old! He had looked at every possible surface and studied them until he grew tired of the subject. Then he tried doing what he had done as a teenager in Professor Binns' class, other than use a recording spell and fall asleep. He started counting the number of different objects in the room. Apparently, there are 12 beds, 36 pillows, etc., and now he had run out of things to count, including the ceiling tiles! Now, he was sitting up on the bed, staring into blank space, trying to think of something to do. He clutched and unclenched the blankets in his hands, knocking over the stack of pillows farther down on the bed. He reached over to move them back into a pile while the two women were distracted by something or another, and promptly fell over onto the padded blankets. Pushing himself up, Draco glanced in the women's direction, noticing he let out a once held breathe. That is when he got an idea of something to do, or an escape.

Draco saw his moment of opportunity to escape unnoticed. He made his way onto his hands and knees, and started to crawl to the other side of the bed. He fell flat on his face at least twice on the way, both times looking back to see if his 'guardian' had witnessed the act. Thankfully, she was in a heated discussion with the healer at the moment. "Wonder what that's all about."

He made it to the far side of the bed, the side up against the wall. Cautiously, Draco gripped the blankets tightly in both hands, balling them into tiny fists. Slowly and gently, he slid down the side of the bed, hands clutching to the blankets for dear life. His feet hit the floor with a soft thud, making him look rapidly in the two women's direction. Sighing in relief of their ignorance, Draco slipped back onto his hands and knees and began to crawl in the direction of the door.

Hermione was absolutely livid. From the evidence gathered by Madam Pomfrey's medical tests, it seems that the de-aged Slytherin experienced a very painful childhood, not unlike Harry's. The skin history showed that multiple layers were replaced constantly, and the main health history test showed from 4 pints of blood loss and below, broken ribs and other bones, etc. There was also a large increase in magic use around this time. She suspected that Draco's magic acted on its own in order to heal him unknowingly.

Hermione bit down on her lip, thinking of all of the pain one of her best friends suffered, being placed upon the little toddler now in her care. She had assumed so much about Draco based solely on his attitude toward her, not even considering that he had anything less than the life of a spoiled rich child.

"Well, this time it will be different. Draco didn't have a good childhood, or anything close to it, the first time through. If this is a chance to change that, and his perspective on muggleborns and muggles themselves, then I'll do what I can to steer him in the right direction. Who knows," Hermione chuckled to herself, "Maybe he'll see me as more than the 'Mudblood Know-It-All' that he has branded me as."

Madam Pomfrey looked at the teenage girl closely, smiling at the sudden change from the shocked posture to one of confidence and determination. "Yes, Hermione will be of great use to the young Malfoy's development, both as he grows back into his former state and his growth as a person." Looking back at Hermione, who still had her eyes closed, the healer cleared her throat to get her attention. It worked.

Hermione opened her eyes and shut them again, squinting from the light change after having her eyes closed for the past 10 minutes. After getting her sight back, she turned to the healer with a flare in her eyes. Madam Pomfrey chuckled at the sight of a true Gryffindor shining through her. "Now that you know this, I'm sure that you will act accordingly. There are a few supplements that I would like you to give your little ward to stabilize his growth and development. Since his first childhood didn't have a very constant schedule beneficial to his health, there will be a few different supplements for him to take in order to get him on the right track. We will put him on a mixed nutrients supplement for at least a month, and then go from there."

Hermione nodded in response, adding more to the ever growing mental note list.

"Well, if that is all, then I guess we will be on our way back to the apartment. When should we come for another check-up?" She asked, gathering the contents of the baby bag and shrinking it. She turned to the healer to see her, dare she think it, smirking with a somewhat malicious look in the eye.

"Oh, I will know when Severus finishes analyzing the potion, which he should be done with by now. Why don't you take Draco down to the dungeons to find out? Have Severus floo me when you end your meeting, hmmm." Madam Pomfrey said with a now wicked gleam to her eyes. Hermione just stood there, looking around with her eyes to see who could be controlling the medical witch. "I assure you deary, I am the only one telling you this." She said with her back turned toward Hermione.

Hermione gulped, knowing that the witch had in fact mastered the 'eyes on the back of you head' charm. Turning toward the bed where Madam Pomfrey had placed Draco, she added another note to find that charm. It would be very useful when raising a child. After turning, Hermione frowned at the row of bed before her, each empty. "Madam Pomfrey, where did you send Draco?" She asked.

"What do you mean, child? I put him on the bed right next to the_" The healer stopped mid. phrase and scanned the rows of beds. Hermione knew exactly what had happened now, and a rouge toddler crawling around the school was not a good thing, especially this particular one.

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