Acceptance
Chapter 25
Disagreements

I stood hesitantly outside Dumbledore's door, still unsure whether or not I should let a deatheater into the room of our Headmaster. If this was a ploy to kill him and infiltrate Hogwarts, then it would seem that the plan was going swimmingly if I really did let the man in. "What are you waiting for, boy?" Lucius glared down at me, but softened a little when his son peeped at him and smiled. I decided that this was all going to be for Draco, whatever consequences that came out of it, I would be the one to bear them. With that, I led the deatheater in, only to find the room empty.

"Where is Dumbledore, Potter?"
"I don't know. He's supposed to be somewhere in here."
"Maybe he went to shave scary beardie!" Draco said hopefully. "Or at least Draco hope so…"

Just as we spoke of him, the elderly headmaster emerged from the shadows, holding a book. To Draco's utter dismay, yes, the beard was still intact.

"Ah, Lucius, I've been expecting your arrival for quite some time now," he greeted. "I would have thought you'd come earlier since I told you your son was in Harry's hands on the day you left him at King's Cross. What took you?"
"Dumbledore, you must realize that what Narcissa and I did was for his own safety. As a child, the Dark Lord wouldn't be able to locate him as easily as when he's in his teens. But as of now, I've heard rumors that he is very much aware of Draco's whereabouts and is looking for the right time to infiltrate Hogwarts and kill him for his incompetency. Listen, I didn't want my son to be a murderer back then, but now he is the one at risk of being murdered, not you."

Wait, Dumbledore was going to get murdered? Maybe that's what Draco was trying to tell me that time. That's why Lucius said he didn't want his son to become a murderer at that age. Voldemort wanted Draco to kill Dumbledore…

I felt Draco shift about uncomfortably in my hands. He looked really tense. "You okay, Dray?" I asked worriedly. I earned nothing more than a feeble nod by the scared-looking slytherin. My guess was that he didn't like what he was hearing; his father retelling a bad story and the idea of the evil 'professor' returning to kill him wasn't exactly pleasing to the ears. I hugged Draco and stroked his back gently as we observed the two adults conversing.

"I guessed as much, Voldemort is not stupid. He would have located Draco sooner or later anyway. But we're going to have to change your son back to his normal age eventually."
"I don't think that's necessary, Dumbledore. When he's this small, it would be easier to carry him around to hide him and keep him safe."
"This isn't a game Lucius. Your son is a teenager, he's not a three year old kid. I believe Harry would have mentioned before, we're not being fair to him. Furthermore, keeping him as a toddler isn't going to make Voldemort soften up and spare his life. He stands a higher chance of survival against the dark lord if he's back to his normal age, what he needs to learn is 'defense', not 'how to hide from evil, scary men."

I rolled my eyes. In Draco's point of view, Dumbledore himself was a scary man, courtesy of his apparently terrifying beard. But on a more serious note, this was quite a nerve wrecking situation. What were we to do should Voldemort succeed? What was his plan? Whether it was to kill Dumbledore or Draco, I didn't want to risk seeing anymore friends or family dying. Whatever plan Dumbledore was going to coin up, I wanted to play a part in it. Especially since this was a matter of life and death, particularly for Draco. Right now, the last person I wanted to lose was him…

"Defense? Defense? You daft old man, my son doesn't know how to defend himself well enough! He's going to die out there! He doesn't stand a chance against the dark lord! Why do you think I had to de-age him? It would be safer for him if people protected him as a little boy!"
"Lucius, he is strong. You can't keep him under your wing forever, you know? I could train him personally if you want, but I can assure you that the other professors of Hogwarts will try to keep him safe as well. Clearly, for some reason, Voldemort saw Draco as someone capable of killing me. If he's capable of such a thing, I'm sure he has the potential to do the same to Voldemort too, with a little help, of course," Dumbledore then turned to face me. Lucius Malfoy stared long and hard at me before shooting a questioning glance at the old wizard. I, on the other hand, was once again pretty much lost as to what the hell was going on here. "I have discovered someone that your boy has taken a liking to, and would be able to cooperate very well with. With Harry's help, both of them could potentially stop Voldemort."

"What, me?"
"Yes, you, Harry."
"But I couldn't possibly-"
"Yes you can, you both can. I believe in you."

I still couldn't take my eyes of Draco's father, he was practically staring daggers at me. It was creepy as hell. I could understand why he didn't trust his son to be around me any longer. I was a magnet for trouble, and one of Voldemort's favorite past times was to think about how to brutally kill me. If his target was Draco, and I was protecting his target, this would ultimately stir up his inner demon and tempt him to cause a huge bloodbath. Two of the people he wanted to murder were going to work together to take him down, no way in hell was he going to let us win…

"Dumbledore, my son is NOT going to be working with Potter," Lucius scowled and sent me another death glare. Damn, why did Malfoys have the tendency to hate me so much? Draco began tugging at my shirt, "what do they want Harry and Draco to do…?"

I had no idea how to answer that, so I simply shrugged my shoulders. Who knew whether Lucius or Dumbledore would make the final decision? Finally, Dumbledore declared, "Lucius, this is a crucial situation. If Voldemort really is coming to Hogwarts like you said, then we need to age Draco back up again and start getting everyone prepared to take him down, your son in particular needs the most training. I have a feeling that Voldemort won't spare him the moment he manages to get his hands on him." Draco and I turned to focus on Lucius, waiting for his reaction to Dumbledore's statement. Astonishingly, he said absolutely nothing. But I tensed up when he approached me, looking fiercely at me in the eye. Without warning he snatched Draco away from me roughly, causing Draco to yelp in pain. "My son is going to do no such thing in your plan. If Hogwarts fails to protect him, I shall do so myself!" he bellowed.

"Lucius, calm down," Dumbledore said, almost too calmly. I stared at the older Malfoy in disbelief. How could he be so freaking selfish? Then I heard a whimper coming from Draco. Shit, he's in pain! Without putting much thought into my actions, I attempted to take Draco away from his father, noticing the pain he was causing my poor baby. The death eater simply pushed me away with his free hand, the other hand still crushing Draco around his middle…

"Dumbledore, I was a fool to have allowed Draco into the hands of one of your students. Even worse, it's POTTER of all people," he spat as he mentioned my name. Damn, I was really starting to hate this guy. When I saw him a while ago, he wasn't so…deatheater-like… Dumbledore sighed and replied, "I understand your concern for your son, Lucius, but please spare a thought for the poor child. I'm quite sure he knows what he wants, and I highly doubt he regrets being taken care of by Harry. Furthermore-"

"Ahhhh Harry help! Daddy LET DRACO GO! Please! It hurts...!"

All attention shifted immediately to Draco. That's when I remembered what Madam Pomfrey said about his severely weakened stomach, which was now getting terribly crushed by the firm grip. I rushed forward and this time, managed to retrieve the Slytherin who had already burst into tears, clutching his aching tummy. Lucius Malfoy was dumbfounded; he had hurt his own son.
What did I just do? I just wanted to protect him and do what's best for him. Potter is just a dumb fuck…Or am I the dumb fuck…? Am I really protecting Draco or…?

"Draco! Holy crap, are you okay?" I cried out in alarm. Draco was panting really hard and clutching his stomach with so much force that I was afraid he would be inflicting pain on himself like that. The poor boy was in tears, clearly in a great deal of pain. Okay…What did Madam Pomfrey tell me to do in situations like this? Somehow I didn't remember her giving me any clear instructions regarding how to handle Draco's abdominal pains, so I did the first thing any concerned guardian would do; I pulled him into a comforting embrace and kissed him.

"Hush, Dray…Don't cry, I'm here, okay? The pain will go away."
"Harry…Don't…I…go…please…Draco…dowana…Draco don't want…"
"What did you say?"
"Harry, Draco don't wana leave wif Daddy. Draco want Harry! Harry stay with Draco, please…"

I tossed a concerned glance at the father of the child I was embracing. He didn't look too happy at his son's statement. Well I could imagine the sadness tearing him apart. Who would want to hear their child telling them that he would prefer being with someone else rather than his own parents? If Draco was any other normal child, I'd just tell him not to argue and just leave with his dad right now. But the thing is…he wasn't any other normal child. He was Draco…my Draco. And I wouldn't want him getting hurt, I'd want him to be happy. With that, I stood up with the whimpering Slytherin wrapped up, protected in my arms. Lucius Malfoy looked at me in the eye, and I believed I saw a hint of intimidation in them. Clearing my throat, I declared…

"Listen, Mr. Malfoy. I'm sorry but…as much as I know you want to protect Draco and keep him by your side, I think you and I…and Dumbledore…AND everyone else…knows that you can be quite a violent and aggressive douchebag. After seeing what you just did to your son, I think you get the idea. Now, I for one don't want to see Draco get hurt, even if it's unintentional. And you, unfortunately, are a potential source of danger to him. I love Draco, I care about him more than you or anyone can imagine. So if you don't mind, I'm going to take him back into my room for some well needed rest. I ask of you with all due respect to leave Draco in the safe hands of Hogwarts, we will change him back to normal and keep him safe from Voldemort. I promise, everything will be fine. Just don't try to take him away now, seriously…I won't like it…at all."

Upon receiving a stern glare, mixed with some form of guilt, from the older Malfoy, I coughed another comment. "Not just me, but everyone in Hogwarts, I believe, wouldn't like the idea of a dangerous deatheater taking the Draco they've gotten so attached to over the past few months away from them. Not forgetting…Draco won't like it either."

Lucius furrowed his eyebrows, face contorted with some unknown emotion. He looked helplessly at his son's pained expression. Draco turned his head away from his father and cried into my shoulder. I sighed and walked out of Dumbledore's office. I wasn't going to care what Lucius Malfoy thought for now, I just wanted to keep Draco safe with me…