Author's Note: Thanks for reviewing, guys! More please ^^ I'm super sorry Draco didn't make his appearance in the previous chapter. I understand some of you are reading the story mainly because you adore our Slytherin prince, so I PROMISE he shall reappear here in this chapter! Well, actually, he barely does anything in this chapter but he will in the next chapter. I'm so sorry about that, I knowwwww some of you are frantically awaiting the arrival of Drarry but that stuff can't come just yet! But it will! Hope you guys will still enjoy this lousy chapter though :D Have patience with me please x_x Oh yeah, R&R too!

Acceptance
Chapter 33
Danger Lurking

"Bloody hell, that was some tiring training."
"Yeah, I'd have to agree with you there, Ron. Oh yeah, how did your separate training with Dumbledore go, Harry?"

I glanced up at the ceiling for no reason in particular, some part of a smile found its way to my lips, "I guess it went pretty well, Draco's going to be joining me tomorrow." Yes, I was in truth, still terribly worried about the Slytherin's health condition, but he had no choice but to attend the training sessions. And I made myself responsible for anything that happens to him, which I hope…nothing bad would…

"Isn't Draco still in the infirmary?"
"Yeah, but Dumbledore said he agreed to come…"

My two best friends saw my false smile begin to falter and immediately sensed my anxiety for the boy. They knew me the most, seeing through all my fake smiles. I thought they would have told me to do what my heart wanted, which was to prevent him from attending potentially dangerous training sessions. But instead, they supported me in what seemed to be the right thing, given the current situation. "Like we said before, thousands of times, although it never seems to drain into your thick skull, we're with you all the way, mate," Ron grinned, giving me a manly slap on the back. "Indeed," Hermione chimed in. "We know you'll protect him, and he'll protect you too. Both of you would perform wonderfully, I just know it!"

This time, I smiled…a real smile. I knew I could count on them. Hell, my self-esteem would die if not for these two. Looks like I had to have faith in myself to protect Draco. But the only problem is…in his mind, I was still the enemy; stupid fucking show-off Potter…

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you guys. I visited Draco in the infirmary a while ago," I remarked. Well, I had to tell them eventually. Their eyes widened and they looked at me with curiosity, and I knew what they were about to ask. Unfortunately, the answer wasn't what we all hoped for. Soon, I saw their crestfallen looks, which pretty much reflected mine. Honestly, my heart was still aching…Draco really didn't remember…

"Come on, mate. We ought to be going for our next class," Ron sighed, hand on my shoulder. I nodded with a blank countenance and headed off to class with my friends. It was going to be a long, depressing day…

*~*~*~MEANWHILE~*~*~*

Lucius Malfoy stood before the dark lord, fear eating him up from the inside. Voldemort had called him, and he sensed trouble afoot. He had a rough idea about what this little meeting was going to be about and it wasn't something he was looking forward to.

"Well, Lucius, do you have anything to tell me?" the soft, but firm voice echoed around the concrete walls surrounding the two. Lucius gulped, he's the one who called me here, why the fuck would I have anything to say to him?

"No, my lord," he stammered.

Voldemort stood up from where he sat, rising to his feet and slowly approaching the nervous Malfoy.

"I'm going to ask you again…And I'm going to ask it very nicely…Do you have anything you wish to tell me?"

Still no response. Voldemort was strangely calm as walked around Lucius, the sound of his footsteps creeping into his eardrums. He decided he had to do this a different way. "Lucius Malfoy, you've been my deatheater for years, don't you think I know you well enough to be certain that you're hiding something from me? Perhaps…information about your son's current whereabouts? Perhaps…who he's with at the present time? Perhaps…why you're looking…" He paused right in front of Lucius's face. The bald man's eyes were staring into his, searching his soul. "…looking…absolutely terrified at the sight of me…questioning you…"

Beads of perspiration were forming on the elder Malfoy's forehead and he had no idea how to respond to his master's questions. Telling a lie might save his son's life, but if the dark lord saw through his lies, he would be finished, and so would Draco. Yes, lying would help, but he could not cover things up forever. One day, the truth would obviously unfold. And this time, he knew that the dark lord had gotten some sort of lead regarding Draco's current situation and what he had been through. Why else would he be questioning him in such an eerie, intimidating way?

"I…My lord, I…I don't really know-"

Lucius was cut off by a sudden blast of light coming from Voldemort's wand. It hit him square on the chest and sent him flying into a brick wall. Blood was trickling down the back of his head and his vision became blurry.

"My lord, I don't really know~" Voldemort taunted. "Well here's a tip, you could start off by telling me why you DE-AGED your son in the first place, then proceed by explaining how the hell he ended up in Harry Potter's care, followed by telling me WHY Dumbledore has started training sessions in preparation for my arrival! How, Lucius? Tell me how. How did all this happen? My infiltration to Hogwarts was strictly a secret kept between you and I. So unless you told any other death eaters about this plan, I would assume that you paid a little visit to Dumbledore to leak in top secret information!"

Another blast of light was shot at the fallen Malfoy as he struggled to get back on his feet, failing once again. Voldemort stood before him and bent down to his eye level.

"Tell me, Lucius, why won't you just let your son accomplish that one simple mission? All he needs to do…is get rid of my main obstruction to world domination. Killing Albus Dumbledore is all I ask of him. Why won't you just let him do it? It would make our lives much easier. "
"I…I told you before, my lord. I don't want Draco to become a killer yet. He has a whole future ahead of him, please don't make him do it. You could have asked me or any other death eater to kill the man, but why my son…?"
"He will become a future death eater, and that is a job which requires much killing and bloodshed. I'm just preparing him for that future with a simple task. Now…"

Voldemort stroked Lucius' face with his cold hands, making the Malfoy quiver. "You are to stay by my side from now on, no more fraternizing with the enemy. I will take over from here…"

*~*~*~MEANWHILE~*~*~*

Draco shivered as he felt his feet come into contact with the cold, hard ground. It had been awhile since he managed to stand on his own two feet again. He had spent the past hour trying to simply sit up on his bed. His stomach hurt when he bent and stretched or basically moved around excessively, but once he was up on his feet, the pain just died down.

The slytherin let out a soft chuckle as he began walking around the room with ease; finally he could walk again! It felt stupid as hell to stay cooped up in a bed all day with barely any visitors, namely a greasy haired professor, an old coot, and his 'enemy'. Draco's smile faded away at the thought of his last visitor, thoughts racing wildly through his mind. Then he remembered that he would be seeing this particular visitor tomorrow during Dumbledore's DADA training session and an innocent little smile reappeared on his lips once more.

Yes, Draco…You'll have to face my ugly face tomorrow. I hope we can still work well together despite…well…all the stuff that has happened…

…See you soon…

Author's Note: HEY I made an early chapter so you guys better be grateful LOL! Review pleaseeeeeee (sorry this chapter was so terribly short but I've been busy lately T T...)