Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, settings, or worlds within this work, outside of a few OC's. Any recognizable characters are not mine; I'm just playing with them. Harry Potter and its associated works belongs to J.K. Rowling. X-men and Marvel belongs to... er... Disney, I suppose? I am not making any money off of this fan work, nor do I wish to.

Chapter 6

Questions and Answers

Half an hour after the incident with the Hippogriff...

Draco Malfoy perched primly on the end of his assigned chair as Madame Pomfrey scanned him with her wand. The medi-witch hummed thoughtfully.

"Hm. Well, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong, exactly... Perhaps a bit of tension from the stress of the day, and your magical readings seem to be running a bit stronger than your body is accustomed to, but other than that I'm not finding anything odd. Your readings are perfectly normal for a young wizard of thirteen."

Draco frowned. "But that can't be! I've been feeling strange for the past week, and now that... thing happened on the grounds- there must be something wrong. Scan me again!"

"Mister Malfoy, I assure you that I have run every possible diagnostic-"

"Scan. Me. Again. You must have missed something the first couple times."

Madame Pomfrey closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "...Very well, then."

She proceeded to run through a third series of all the diagnostic and checkup scans she could think of, double-checking each one to ensure she was reading the results with as much accuracy as possible.

"I'm sorry, Mister Malfoy, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with you. You're a perfectly healthy teenage boy."

"Then there must be something wrong with your wand-"

The door to the hospital wing swung open, and Madame Pomfrey turned around to see who had chosen to disturb her while she was with a patient. "Ah, Professor Snape, here to check on the patient?"

Snape stepped inside. "Indeed. I heard from Hagrid right after my last class ended. There was an incident during the Care of Magical Creatures class, I believe?"

She opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by Draco calling out, "Professor Snape! You're here! Do you know any medical diagnostic scans? Pomfrey's wand is no good," he sneered, "she's not picking up anything. Says I'm 'completely normal.' Ha! As if I can't tell when something's wrong with me-"

Madame Pomfrey stiffened. Insulting another's wand was something that just wasn't done, particularly in professions for which wand use was a priority in the field. "It's really none of your business- but I'll have you know that my wand was checked over by the Magical Board of Licenses for Medi-witches and Medi-wizards just two weeks ago in preparation for the new school year! It is in perfect condition- just as you are- and I'll not have you calling my medical judgments into question just because you don't like what I have to say! Now I've scanned you three times already, and you are perfectly fine. In fact-"

She turned to Snape. "I believe he is free to go at any time. You may take him back to the Slytherin dormitory whenever you please."

Draco protested. "But Madame Pomfrey-"

"No, Mister Malfoy, I'm not going to scan you again. Whatever happened in class today had nothing to do with your health, and I'll not have you cluttering up one of my hospital beds when you don't need one. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

"But I-"

Good day, Mister Malfoy."

Snape caught Draco by the shoulder and nudged him in the direction of the exit. "I believe you heard the witch."

Draco opened his mouth to reply, but couldn't think of anything to say. He closed it again and reluctantly moved towards the door.

They walked towards the Slytherin dormitory in silence. Once they reached the hallway where their door was kept, Draco was about to head for his dorm room when Snape suddenly spoke. "My office, Mr. Malfoy."

Draco perked up at that. Was Snape actually taking him seriously? Would he help him figure out what was wrong? He followed Snape into his office and sat down in one of the chairs. Snape shut the door, then turned to face him, a stern expression on his face.

"While I recognize that you are likely feeling particularly unsettled by events which occurred earlier this afternoon, I would recommend in future that you refrain from giving insult to respectable witches and wizards who are very good at their jobs. Particularly those who are in the medical profession. People who are in a position of authority regarding your health are not to be trifled with, and making enemies of them is unwise. Do I make myself clear?"

Draco cringed, abashed. "Perfectly, Professor."

"Good." With that, he moved to sit in one of the other chairs, facing Draco. "I would rather not waste either of our time by giving you a scan with my wand. I am certain that Madame Pomfrey was very thorough in her examination, and I do not believe that such a search would be fruitful. However," he leaned forward, "I would like to hear your account of what happened in your Care of Magical Creatures class before I go to investigate the scene myself. Perhaps we may yet shed some light on the problem and determine the proper course of action."

Draco considered this. It was a solid start, at least. Much better than sitting in the hospital wing doing nothing.

"Alright. Here's what happened. The big oaf brought out a group of Hippogriffs from the Forbidden Forest for today's lesson, and Potter had just finished showing off how great he is, when-"

After speaking with Draco, Severus sent him off to his dorm while he went to take a look at the clearing on the grounds where the incident occurred. As he drew closer, he was both surprised and not to see that Potter and his friends Weasley, Granger, and Longbottom were still hanging about.

It appeared that Longbottom had somehow managed to get himself tangled in some thick, heavy grass, while Granger was currently attempting to pry him loose. It seemed that every time she cut one section of grass, another part sprang up and reinforced the problem. The boy was becoming visibly irritated, an unusual occurrence for a person of his temperament. Someone must have cast a jinx on Longbottom when he wasn't looking. It would be just like Hagrid to forget to watch out for some of the less-obvious pranking hexes popping up in his classroom.

The Weasley boy was watching this scene with obvious amusement. It was likely he thought it a good story to tell his brothers later. Severus shuddered to think of the ideas knowledge of such a hex might give the Terrible Twins, and quickly put that train of thought aside. Potter, on the other hand, appeared pensive about something. Probably worried about their fool of a teacher, the stupid boy. It wasn't as if Hagrid was the one who'd been attacked by an angry Hippogriff. What had he been thinking, bringing up Hippogriffs this early in the year?

Well, no matter. What's done is done. As Severus passed the motley crew of Gryffindors, they paused in their goings-on to gawk at him as he went by. He rolled his eyes, did his best to ignore them entirely, and made his way over to where the Hippogriff had attacked. There, just as Hagrid and Draco had said, was a large mound of something that looked like some sort of light silver fluid hardened into a crystal. The Hippogriff- Buckbeak, if he recalled correctly from the half-giant's emotional ramblings- remained stuck fast inside it rendered harmless enough for even the most disrespectful wizard to approach.

Severus considered for a moment, then brought his wand up to scan the silver substance.

Curious. If he had performed the information-gathering scan correctly, it seemed that this material carried many similarities to diamond. Yet, it was also plain that it had, in fact, been a fluid at one point, if only for a brief moment. On top of this, while there was a magical residue contained within the crystal, it wasn't nearly to the same degree as it would have been, had the material been transfigured or conjured in some way via accidental magic.

In fact, this substance was hardly magical at all. And Draco said this came out of him?

Wait a minute.

Hold on.

There was something oddly familiar about this...

A magical person who had recently turned thirteen... A strange feeling over the course of several days, with hints of the same over several weeks if they truly thought about it... A very strange, foreign, non-magical power, appearing out of nowhere during a stressful moment...

A flash of red hair niggled at his memory, a gust of wind blowing from lungs much too small to generate such a gale, yet somehow managing it anyway...

Severus turned on his heel to head straight back to the dormitories, studiously ignoring Potter on his way out. If he was right... The only way to absolutely know for certain would be to perform a DNA test, but if he could get Draco to see if he could recreate this occurrence, create this substance again... Well, that would certainly prove it in his mind, even without DNA evidence.

Though Merlin help him once it came time to explain it to the rest of the faculty.

Several Slytherins jolted in surprise as Severus Snape stepped into the Common Room. It wasn't every day your Head of House paid you an unexpected visit. Postures were straightened, clothing was fixed, books were shifted so they were stacked more neatly...

Unfortunately, Professor Snape breezed right past them all, paying no mind to the effect he was having on the nerves of the students in his House. His focus was elsewhere.

He approached the third-year boys' dorm room, pausing once he reached the door. He knocked.

The door was opened by Blaise Zabini, who blinked at him for one brief moment before his manners caught up with him and he stepped aside, waving his Head of House inside. Draco lay on his bed, flipping through a book. He looked up at Professor Snape's entrance, and scrambled up off his covers, a look of hopeful anticipation on his face. Snape silenced him before he could say anything, and motioned for him to come along with him.

Once they were alone in the dungeon's hallways, Draco decided he couldn't wait any longer. "So, did you find anything? Do you know what's happening to me?"

Snape's lips pressed into a thin line. He gave a brief nod. "I believe I do, yes."

Draco grinned. "I knew you'd figure everything out! So what is it, Professor?"

Snape considered him a moment. "I have an idea of what the situation may entail. However, we must test my hypothesis before committing to anything. To do so, we must go back outside."

Draco frowned. "Back outside?"

"Yes. That substance you created during class- I need to see if you can recreate that event."

Draco blinked. "You want me to do that again?"

"Yes."

"On purpose?"

"Yes."

"What makes you think I can even do it a second time?"

"If you can't, then my suspicions will be proven wrong, and we will be back to square one. It will be helpful to our investigation no matter the results."

Draco was rather confused by the whole thing, but he figured he'd better go along with it. "Alright... I suppose I might as well try."

They made their way outdoors. Then, Snape led Draco to a corner of the grounds that was left relatively undisturbed. Snape looked to Draco expectantly.

"Whenever you're ready," said Snape.

Draco cleared his throat. "Right. Whenever I'm ready. Whenever I'm ready." He closed his eyes. "Whenever I'm ready." He opened his eyes and studied his arms. "Whenever I'm- Professor, how exactly am I supposed to do this? It's not like I meant to do it the first time. I'm not even sure what I did!"

Snape sighed. "You said you'd been feeling strange for several days, and that it got worse right before this happened, correct?"

"Well, yes."

"And even though it's not as intense as it was before, that feeling is still there, yes?"

"I- well... yes."

"Focus on that feeling, on the way it made you react at the moment when Buckbeak attacked you. See if the feeling leads you anywhere, pushes you to do something,"

"Oh. Alright." Draco closed his eyes and thought back to how he'd been feeling over this past week, to the sensation of his fingers shifting, to the cool, restless sensation that even now rested under his skin... He focused on that feeling, tried to pull it up. And suddenly-

He felt something. He knew he felt something. It crept along his forearm, then began spreading up to his shoulder... He opened his eyes, and nearly screamed.

There, surrounding his arm all the way up to his elbow, a mass of glowing liquid silver shifted and swirled in the air. Not only could he see the stuff, and feel it sliding in and across his skin, but he could feel it, as if it were some sort of extension of himself, though with a distinct lack of actual sensation; it was less of a second skin, and more of a state of awareness of where the silvery liquid was in relation to himself. He stared at it in bewildered curiosity for a moment.

Then his sense of reality caught up with him, and he dropped the liquid like a hot iron. The liquid hardened as it dropped to the ground, turning into the same liquidated-crystal that the Hippogriff had been covered in. Once again Draco watched as his arm slowly turned from a bright, icy silver back to normal, pale flesh.

He swallowed hard, and turned to Snape. "Did... did that confirm your... Your hypothesis?"

Snape cleared his throat. "It did."

"Good. Great. Then will you please tell me what's wrong with me? Why am I like this- why can I do this? What..." Draco took a deep breath. "What am I?"

Snape turned to look Draco in the eye.

"You're a mutant."

Author's Note:

I realize that in this scenario, Pomfrey probably could have realistically picked up on something different about Draco even if he still was showing up as healthy... but I decided that for the sake of keeping my personal continuity straight (that is, having the wizarding world currently in the dark about mutants) it would make more sense for the X-gene to simply not even register. Because if it did register, that would make it difficult for them to not know about mutants, as the discrepancies between readings of mutants and non-mutants would otherwise have been found on other people by now and documented in some way.

I mean, it's literally just part of the person's DNA; sure, some abilities might give a person strange readings like if someone has a higher-than-normal core temperature because they have fire-based abilities... but in this case, Draco's abilities are specifically the sort that don't show anything unless they're actually activated. Ergo, they won't show up on a magical scan.

Three guesses as to who Harry got his X-gene from, and the first two don't count, lol.