Chapter Twenty

A/N: Thank you to Bookwormkat1 for reviewing the last chapter.

As soon as she caught sight of Draco, the look in Professor McGonagall's eyes turned from despair to fury.

"What on earth do you think you are doing in here?" she asked the boy, taking three rapid steps towards where he stood. Draco stepped a little to the left, in an attempt to hide the photo album from view. A futile attempt, as the professor saw it anyway. "You've been stealing my daughter's things?!"

"No!" Draco exclaimed immediately. "I'm going to visit her in the hospital on Saturday, Professor Snape is taking me, and I wanted something to bring her, to try and cheer her up."

Minerva made a sound of disbelief. "I doubt that very much!" she exclaimed, her voice laced with venom. "You know, Malfoy, you Slytherins have done many despicable things in the time I've taught at this school, but I've seen very few worse than this. Stealing from a girl on Death's door! Still, boys learn from their fathers; you never really had a chance, did you?"

Draco inhaled sharply, trying to control his anger. Ever since childhood, he had been unable to control the anger he experienced when an insult was made against his family, particularly his father. True, the man had not been an affectionate parent, often putting his son down and occasionally even striking him when he could evade Draco's mother for long enough, but he was his father nonetheless and Draco was fiercely protective of him.

"Don't you dare speak that way about my father." the boy instructed his professor, his voice a low hiss not unlike that of the creature that adorned his House emblem.

"You would defend him?" McGonagall asked incredulously. There was an incongruous smile lifting the corners of her mouth, although the Slytherin boy could not understand why. "Even after all he has done? Even what he has done to my Merida, an innocent child?"

Suddenly, the smile made sense. 'She wants me to denounce my father as an evil man.' Draco realised, horrified at the ultimatum left before him. 'If I don't, then she'll never let me near Meri again.'

It was an awful choice to have to make. It was true, Lucius Malfoy was an evil man, but he was his father all the same. The thought repeated itself endlessly through Draco's mind. And yet, each time he thought of his father, he remembered the blood that stained his hands as Merida lay in his arms in the dungeons. How could he forgive the man, knowing that he could potentially have caused the death of the girl he loved?

Finally, the choice was made.

"I have to defend him. He's my father." Even as Draco spoke the words, he regretted the choice he had made. He had had a chance to love Merida and to be loved in return; his father would never love him, no matter how much he tried. Perhaps there was a chance that he could rectify the situation. It was worth trying; anything would be worth a chance to see Merida again. "If Merida had been the one in the wrong, you would have defended her, wouldn't you?"

McGonagall's expression clouded with fury, her self-satisfied smile a distant memory, and she took a step towards him, looking more threatening than he had ever seen her look before. "My daughter would never partake in the atrocities your father committed. She would never have hurt others, innocents, the way he did. She would never have supported such a monster as Vo- as the Dark Lord. She's a good girl. The Death Eaters, and all who support them, are no more than evil creatures."

"What if people don't have a choice but to do what they do?" Draco could not keep the question from passing his lips. "What if they are forced into following the Dark Lord? Are they evil as well?"

"Those people who are too weak to stand up for their families," the woman spat, enunciating each syllable, as if every word was a dagger to stab him with. "Deserve everything they get. Particularly the mothers."

"Don't you dare insult my mother." Draco hissed. He knew that she was only trying to provoke him, but his mother was the only person who had truly loved him in his life, Merida aside. He would not allow anyone to insult her, no matter how grave the consequences of retaliation may be.

"Your mother was a sweet little girl when she came to this school." For a moment, Minerva looked almost lost in her reminisces. "Now, she's as bad as the rest of them."

"She is nothing like the Death Eaters." Draco professed. "She is a good woman who is only trying to defend her family and the man she loves."

"Death Eaters know nothing about love." Minerva sighed. The smile was slowly returning to her face, though it faded far more quickly this time. "If they did, they would never allow such harm to come to their children. If they did, they would not allow their loved ones to get hurt."

Finally, Draco realised what she was trying to say. He took a step forward, looking directly into his professor's eyes.

"Professor," the boy began, barely loud enough to be heard. "I never meant for Meri to get hurt. I swear. All I want is for her to be safe and happy."

"You want her to be safe?" McGonagall asked incredulously. Draco nodded earnestly. "Then stay away from her. That's the only way she won't be hurt like this again."

Slowly, Draco closed his eyes. He wished that he could scream and fight for his rights to see Merida again. But the truth was, however much it hurt, that her mother was right. The more he saw of Merida, the more danger she would be in. Especially now.

So he made the hardest decision of his life and promised to stay away. That night, he cried himself to sleep.

A/N: Please review!