Author's note: Hey guys! Glad to see more of you favoriting and following this story XD Special thanks to a particular reviewer who reviewed on EVERY single chapter, really thankyou soooo much Makurayami Ookami! And thank you to all of you who reviewed as well :D I still hope to see more reviews though~ No kidding, it actually does work some magic to motivate me when I write 0_0 oh yeah I noticed my story lacking in funny scenes for quite a while, just wondering, do you guys want to see more 'funny' or 'serious' in this story? I'll take your opinions into account as usual :D Well, enjoy this chapter~ R&R! And by the way, some of you had mentioned stuff about Draco going back to his normal age, trust me, he will pretty soon ^^
Acceptance
Chapter 21
He Doesn't Have to Know
"Harry! Wrong potion!" Draco cried as he shoved my hand away from a gooey black solution. Damn, I had always hated potions class, I never get anything right! Fortunately, this whole year, Draco had been helping me and guiding me through steps that I was amazed he could understand, thus preventing a series of explosions and disasters potentially caused by my retarded potions. Well, I shouldn't be surprised. After all, Draco had always been a pro at this class. Since Draco was de-aged, Snape would always pair me up with him for pairwork. I guess he didn't trust anyone else to work with his favorite little student when he was in this condition. Then again, maybe he did it to break the yearly tradition of me creating dangerous potions which landed people in the infirmary. I have to admit, his plan worked. I haven't harmed or disfigured anyone yet, and Snape had actually rewarded 10 points to Gryffindor for that. Amazing.
"Thanks Dray, you're like my own personal little professor," I grinned, patting his head. Draco smiled as he waved his arms around happily, then abruptly changed his expression to a serious one, which still looked adorable somehow, and began pointing out random steps in the textbook to me. I was actually doing better in this class this year, thanks to him. Then the familiar thought struck me again; when he returns back to his normal age, I won't have his guidance anymore. Wait no…not just guidance, I won't even have his company either. Damn it all! I've been having these thoughts for the past few days already. Every single time I look at him or hear his voice, I'm reminded of the truth that one day he WILL have to go back to normal. He couldn't possibly stay a child for me…
"Harry!"
"Huh?"
Before I could react, Draco had snatched a bottle away from my hand. I looked down into the flask in my other hand and realized that a bubbling red solution had almost overflowed out of its container. Whoa, that was a close one. Immediately my attention went back to Draco. He was covered in the other potion that I was initially holding.
"I'm so sorry, Dray! Are you okay?"
The little Slytherin coughed a little before nodding with a small smile on his face. I have got to stop spacing out in random moments… One day this bad habit would probably be the death of me. If Voldemort poofed in and I started spacing out in battle, I might as well just kiss the planet goodbye.
"Stop being so careless, Potter!" Snape shouted before slapping me on the back of my head. He scooped the drenched Draco up and took him away into his office for some cleaning up. I didn't protest against his actions this time since it really was my fault that Draco got splashed with my failed excuse of a potion. I proceeded with the rest of the potion by myself, damn this was not gonna turn out good without my little helper.
"Trust that Potter to get you wet like that, you're lucky as hell that it wasn't the acidic potion we were making last week," Snape muttered as he wiped Draco dry with a cloth. Draco said nothing but just smiled at the grouchy professor. Snape raised an eyebrow, he still hadn't gotten used to Malfoy being so smiley and cheerful, especially after getting splashed with some foreign potion. He would have flown into a rage in the past.
"Say, Draco…" the potions master said as he looked towards one of his messiest tables. Draco smiled and went "hmm?" as Snape began checking on all sorts of weird solutions at that table.
"You don't happen to remember much about what happened last time, right?"
"Um…Draco dun really wana talk about it."
"Do you remember the reason why you were de-aged?"
"Wazzat?"
"De-aged, you little poof. It means instead of growing older, you became wayyyy younger than you should be."
"Draco is three years old!" the little Slytherin beamed as he waved three fingers in front of Snape, who was trying his best not to lose his patience with him.
"No, you were not three years old several months ago. You were Draco Malfoy, a teenage wizard studying in Hogwarts."
"Yes, Draco wanna study in Hogwarts but Draco need to wait couple more years to be big enuff!"
"Ahhhh…Anyway, tell Harry the potion's almost ready."
"Oki! What potion?"
"Just tell him and he'll know."
"Hmm…okay…"
With that, Snape carried Draco out and I watched as the little Slytherin scampered towards me. Meanwhile, Snape had begun inspecting the product of our potions and I knew for sure mine would be the death of him.
"Harry! Professor say potion almost ready!" Draco exclaimed as he hopped into my arms. Before I could open my mouth to ask "what potion" it suddenly hit me like a bullet; oh right…THE potion. Wow, I never realized it would be more than half done at this time of the year. I had expected Snape to take longer since he always seemed to be so busy with his other stuff.
Damn…I know we've been anticipating the arrival of the potion for quite a while but this was really sudden. It's okay…It's okay…He said ALMOST ready, it's not ready yet…I can still have little Draco with me for quite some time…right?
"Harry, what potion is professor talkin about?"
"Um, just a little something that I requested for long time ago, nothing special."
"Tell Draco about it! Draco's curious!"
He was looking at me with those wide eyes I couldn't resist. Still, I couldn't tell him what the potion was for, could I? Well, it would explain a lot as to why everyone kept saying stuff like "when he goes back to normal"… But he wouldn't understand. Even if I took the time to tell him, I was worried; is it going to be too much information for him to handle in such a short time? What if this news frightens him? What if he becomes psychologically affected by this? What if he doesn't like what he hears and runs away? Runs away from Hogwarts? Runs away from us, his protectors, friends, family? What if he runs away from me…? I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if he left and never came back, and by never came back, I mean…what if he loses his life out there…? He's just a child…
"HARRYYYYYY!"
"Oh god, I'm sorry Dray." This sucks, how many times have I spaced out today…?
"Potter, your potion is a disaster," Snape commented as he walked past my table, not even bothering to take another look. I guess my failing grade had already been decided for the day. Oh well, screw Snape and potions, I'm going to the next class. "By the way, Potter," Snape said as the class started to leave. "You got my message?"
I frowned, upon remembering the content of the message and nodded. Snape saw the tint of disappointment in my eyes and straightaway he knew what I was feeling. This was not good.
~~~LATER THAT DAY~~~
"Headmaster, I have informed Harry that the special ageing potion is almost complete."
"Well done, Severus. But I sense that that's not the real reason why you have confronted me."
"Well, I guess you'd be able to guess what I'm about to say. It's Potter…he's gotten too attached to the young Malfoy, just as we feared. He doesn't want to let him change back to normal any more, I can see it in his eyes."
"That does pose as a problem. I could try talking to him, convince him to do what is right, but ultimately, the choice lies with him."
"Headmaster, the choice does NOT lie with Potter. Draco Malfoy needs to go back to normal and tell us what happened to him in the first place, why he was de-aged and by whom."
"I understand, Severus. However…give him some time, just keep working on the potion and when the time is right, we'll see how everything goes and make sure Harry keeps his cool."
"Whatever you say…"