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.

Author's Note: If you're one of the four-to-six people who read the previous chapter within the first two hours of its being posted, you should be aware that I added a scene towards the end of the chapter, in which Draco and Harry have a small but actually genuine conversation. The chapter was alright without it, but it didn't really feel complete; I felt as though it was missing something. I like it better now.

It wasn't until after I started this chapter that I realized Hogwarts hasn't done anything at all to contact parents about the mutant situation. But then, Hogwarts honestly doesn't have that great of a track record with parent communication anyway, so... I figure it's fine. :P

Chapter 13

Response

Lucius Malfoy sat at the dining table, and opened his copy of the Daily Prophet. He promptly closed it again, shut his eyes for a moment, then opened the paper again. That headline was still there. With a feeling of foreboding, he began to read the front page article.

It was every bit as bad as he'd feared. What was worse, he knew that while Miss Skeeter's articles tended to be rather... embellished, it was very likely that something truly had happened at Hogwarts. Someone had to have given her the "anonymous tip" after all, and the information given was too specific, too... detailed in its descriptions of the mentioned events for all of it to be false.

And Draco had been oddly silent of late- usually, he would have sent several letters by this point in the school year, yet Lucius and Narcissa had received a single letter within the past two weeks, and a rather paltry letter at that. It was certainly abnormal behaviour coming from him. The possibility of something having happened to Draco which would make him reluctant or unable to write was too great to be ignored. And if this article did turn out to be completely false, well...

That's what blackmail was for, after all.

He had a few meetings to take care of before he was able to even considering heading to Hogwarts, but he finally managed to clear his schedule around 12 o'clock.

Fifteen minutes later he was making his way towards the Great Hall.

He had a certain Headmaster to confront about his communications policies.

Harry and Draco had managed to finish clearing the Great Hall of leftover food from breakfast by the time lunch came around, and they had gotten most of the hardened-silver-diamond off of the floors, at least, though there were small bits still stuck to parts of the tables. So while it wasn't quite back to normal, the Hall was available for use, and the boys were able to join their housemates to eat.

The lunch hour was about halfway over, when suddenly the door to the Great Hall burst open. Everyone turned towards the door, and to their surprise, in strode Lucius Malfoy, looking arrogant and dignified as always but with an air of prickliness about him that said he was rather irritated about something. Taking a moment to scan the room, his eyes paused on Draco, before he drew himself up and made his way over to the Head Table.

Harry found his eyes flitting over to Malfoy, who was cringing subtly into his soup, glancing over to where his father had pulled the Headmaster aside to speak with him, a serious expression on his face and a glint of anger in his eyes.

Ron frowned in the elder Mr. Malfoy's direction. "What's he doing here?"

Harry remembered the conversation he'd had with Malfoy earlier. "I expect he saw that article in the papers this morning. And, well... It's not like most of our parents have been told about the whole mutant situation now, have they? It's probably a bit upsetting, finding out your kid's a mutant from the news."

Ron blinked at him. "Huh. Hadn't thought about that." He shook his head. "Bit weird, thinking of Lucius Malfoy being a parent. But I guess it makes sense he'd come here. He's on the board of governors, so I guess he can come here if he wants."

Harry shrugged. "I just hope he doesn't try to get Dumbledore in trouble again."

Speaking of Dumbledore, the man appeared to be reaching some sort of conclusion in his conversation with Mr. Malfoy. Moments later, Dumbledore leaned over and whispered something to Snape, who stood from his place, walked to the Slytherin table, and tapped Draco on the shoulder, motioning for him to come along with him, Lucius Malfoy following after.

"Well," said Ron, "Whatever it is, looks like they're going to go talk about it somewhere else. Don't suppose it's any of our business."

The conversation moved on to other things.

Draco followed Snape into the professor's office, his father close behind. What do I say about all this? he asked himself. How do I explain that I did develop a mutant power, but I didn't tell him when it first happened because... because I was, what, embarrassed? Scared what he'd think?

Does Father even properly understand what mutants are? That it's not a disease or anything, but something I am?

He pressed his lips together and sat in one of Snape's chairs. His father sat in another. Snape turned to face them both.

"Draco. Professor Dumbledore has just finished explaining to your father that there is a mutant situation at Hogwarts, that there are several students affected, and that you are one of them. However, he has decided that, as one of the mutants in question, it would be best if he hears the particulars from you. I will remain here to give input if any should be needed." With that, he moved to his desk and sat, taking a position where he could monitor the conversation, without being intrusive.

Draco straightened in his seat and met his father's eyes. "Father. I see you saw the paper this morning."

"Yes, I was rather surprised to see that the Daily Prophet was made aware of what was going on with my own son before I myself had been informed."

Draco cleared his throat. "Yes... I had intended to write you, Father, but I've been rather busy with everything that's happened since the beginning of term. And... I was uncertain what would be the best way to explain the, ah... situation."

Lucius' gaze sharpened. "There is a situation to be explained, then?"

"Yes, Father."

"Then perhaps we should get that out of the way before speaking of anything else."

"...Yes, Father."

So Draco explained. He told Lucius Malfoy about mutants, explaining what they really were ("No, Father, my magic hasn't been messed up at all. Look, see? Lumos. Nox. I can still cast just fine."), then moving on to how he'd been feeling strange for several days before school started, and how it had only gotten worse upon arriving at Hogwarts. He spoke of going through his classes on the day of the Incident, and how his skin had been bothering him even before he stepped into that fateful Care of Magical Creatures class.

When he got to the account of his encounter with Buckbeak, and recounted how his skin had changed and he'd shot something out of his arms, Lucius frowned. "I've never heard of such a thing before. And you say you are able to cast this type of magic whenever you wish?"

Draco sighed. "It's... not exactly magic, Father. I'd be far better at controlling it if it were. It's hard to explain if you haven't experienced it yourself, but- here, let me show you."

He lifted his hand up between them, and shifted his hand silver. Then, slowly, carefully, he formed a small amount of liquid diamond and began winding it through his fingers, around his hand, forward and backward in the air between them.

Lucius stared. He glanced from Draco's hand, to Draco himself, and back again. Draco smiled wryly. "Pretty weird, isn't it?" He cupped the liquid diamond in his hand, shifted its shape until it was as close to a sphere as he could make it, and solidified it, then passed it to his father. Lucius took it, studying the material for a few moments, then pocketed the oddly shaped gem.

He turned to Professor Snape. "Just how many more of these... mutants are there in the school?"

Draco breathed a sigh of relief as his father finally left. It was nice to clear the air between them, but that didn't mean it wasn't awkward getting to that point.

And he still wasn't entirely sure what his father really thought about everything, but it didn't seem as if he were in imminent danger of being disinherited or something because of his mutation, so it couldn't be too bad.

Although, finishing the conversation with his father meant he now had to go to joint detention with Potter. Again.

At least their job in the Great Hall was nearly finished.

A few days later, far on the other side of the Atlantic, Professor Charles Xavier finally found the time and opportunity to peruse Cerebro's logs of new mutant signatures. Of course, Charles couldn't exactly go haring off after every single mutant Cerebro happened to find- he'd never be able to focus on the students he currently had if he did- but he at least took the time to check in on them, especially the ones who were likely to truly need his help.

And so it was that on Sunday afternoon, a few days after Harry and Draco had their fight, he happened to be looking through Cerebro's files on mutants in Scotland, looking for any strange sightings that might be an indicator of mutant disturbances in the area, when he came across an advertisement in the paper.

"Private boarding school in Scotland has had several students who were found to be mutants within the last few weeks. We wish for these students to continue their enrollment in our school, but are having difficulty helping them control their unique abilities. As such, we are looking for a qualified individual who can assist us in this endeavor. Those who wish to contact us may address their responses to M. McGonagall, at the listed address."

Well. How interesting. And so polite in describing the situation, too.

It also corresponded nicely with a set of several mutant signatures Cerebro had registered as all being clustered within one area, at least two of which were of power levels significant enough that the mutants in question were likely to need help learning to use their powers safely.

Very interesting indeed, and certainly worth looking into.

The school had requested qualified help, after all, and Xavier was one of the few people around with experience in these sorts of matters.

He pulled out a piece of paper and composed a simple reply, then called Ororo to his office.

He'd need to wait to put together an official team until he heard back from this boarding school, but that didn't preclude him from warning the teachers that they may be getting a few new attendees within the next week or two.

Over the next few days at Hogwarts, the aftereffects of that newspaper article could still be felt reverberating even several days later. Many of the students- including the Weasleys- and some of the teachers- especially the Headmaster- began receiving letters from concerned parents. This included a letter to Neville from his very worried grandmother. (to whom he had to explain that yes he was a mutant, but he was doing alright, really, Gran.)

In fact, there were so many letters that after that Friday morning in which the Great Hall was flooded with owls, Professor McGonagall decided it would be prudent to write a missive to be sent out to all the parents explaining what was actually going on: No, their students weren't coming down sick. Yes, some of them had gained strange powers, but their magic hadn't been affected in any negative manner. No, their students were not in any significant danger from being around the mutants in question, so long as they made sure to take precautions and make allowances for the times when one of the students needed to go off by themselves for awhile. This seemed to placate them, and the inflow of letters slowed drastically once an explanation was sent out.

On the other hand, everyone was whispering about Harry again. It wasn't as bad as last year, when all the students had thought he was the Heir of Slytherin and avoided him like the plague thinking he was going to hurt them or their friends, but it was still a bit uncomfortable between Harry and the rest of the school. Oh, no one acted as if they were afraid of him or anything- in fact, most of them were more intrigued than anything- but ever since the day when he accidentally ruined everyone's breakfast, it seemed nobody knew how to react to him. They either did their level best to ignore his mutation completely, looking the other way whenever he dashed out of a classroom, or they started asking him if he was alright every time there was even a single hint of a breeze.

One rather intriguing thing happened, though... Harry's mutation being outed to the entire school seemed to be the catalyst which triggered all of the others to be straightforward about it as well.

It started with Neville, who felt that since Harry's mutation was out in the open now, it didn't feel fair for him to keep quiet about it. He stood up in the middle of the Common Room one day while everybody was doing homework, walked to the middle of the room, and blurted "I'm a mutant and I can control plants!"

Everyone froze, and turned as one to gawk at him in disbelief.

Ron raised an eyebrow. "Wow, Neville. You're really just throwing that out there, huh?" He grinned. "Proud of ya, mate. You'll make a proper Gryffindor yet!"

Harry stared at Neville for a long moment, then decided now was as good a time as any to try something he'd seen some of the kids do in primary school. He walked up to Neville and raised a fist in his general direction. Neville gazed blankly at his fist in confusion. Dean snickered. "You're supposed to bump it, Neville. Muggle thing. 'S called a bro fist. People do it for- well, for a couple different reasons, but one of them is sort of a way to say 'Good Job.'"

Neville blinked. "Oh." He lifted his own hand, reached out, and nudged Harry's fist.

Harry grimaced. He hadn't really thought this through, had he? He reached over, took Neville's hand and curled it into a fist of its own, and bumped his own fist against it. "Like that."

"Oh." Neville studied his hand and smiled slightly. "I see." He glanced up at Harry. "Thanks."

Luna didn't really need to announce her own mutant status since she'd pretty much done so already, but she made a point of talking about her mutation more often in conversations. Tony Kettleburn didn't feel the need to make an official proclamation to anyone outside of his friends... but he stopped hiding his tail.

And then there was Cedric.

The poor Hufflepuff was in the odd situation in which everybody in the House knew that there was a mutant somewhere between fourth and sixth year, but didn't know the person's identity. It was one thing having your mutant powers outed in a shocking, abrupt, violent manner where everyone could see you. It was another thing entirely having the entire House waiting with bated breath for the day in which they can finally descend their righteous pranking fury upon the culprit of all their misplaced items.

...yeah, he wasn't particularly keen on having a couple hundred minor pranks all aimed at his person in retaliation for his own accidents with his powers. His own mutation tended to mess with him enough already, he wasn't sure he was willing to deal with half his House coming at him.

However, with all the other mutants coming forward, he figured if he was going to tell anyone, it might as well be them.

Now, as for how to go about it...

It took him a few days to come up with something he found suitable, but he was pleased with the plan he managed to devise. Monday morning, he took some of his origami paper and folded five little paper butterflies in the other mutants' House colors, on which he wrote his name. Then, over the next few hours, he flitted each butterfly over to its intended recipient.

Well. He thought it was a good plan, at least... Luna seemed rather delighted to receive her butterfly. Cedric hadn't really needed to tell her about him, considering she already knew... but he felt it would be fair since everyone else would get one.

In contrast, Draco Malfoy sent him a very strange look when a little green paper butterfly landed in his hand on his way to the Slytherin table at dinner.

He kept the butterfly, though, and set it on the table beside him when he sat down to eat... Which was honestly rather more than Cedric had been expecting. So. Mission accomplished, he supposed.

On Tuesday morning, an owl dropped a small letter on Professor McGonagall's plate, sent from the Muggle Liaison Office.

She opened the letter. It read:

Dear M. McGonagall:

My name is Charles Xavier. I am writing in response to your notice in the paper, requesting assistance
with helping some newly discovered mutants with controlling their powers.

I have been running a private boarding school for many years, which is dedicated to helping mutants
learn to use their abilities. As such, I have a lot of experience with matters of this type. I would be
pleased to help guide your students as well, if your school will allow it.

If you are interested in my offer, then perhaps we can schedule a meeting to discuss potential
arrangements. I have included my mailing address, as well as a telephone number at which you can
reach me. Should you choose to contact me by phone, please be aware that as my Institute is located
within New York State, there is a time difference of several hours between us. I would appreciate it if
you would schedule your calls accordingly.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Charles Xavier

McGonagall's eyes went wide as she read the letter. She had hoped for some response, certainly- but she had hardly been expecting anything as promising as this!

She looked up to see that all the Head teachers were watching her expectantly. Unfazed, she passed the letter to the Headmaster, whose eyes went from their usual twinkle to a very bright twinkle indeed.

"Well. It seems we have a meeting to arrange."

Snape slumped visibly in relief.

He wouldn't have to be the resident expert anymore. Thank Merlin for that.

Author's Note:

Whyyyyy do I keep trying to write characters whom I have no idea how to properly portray? Especially since some of them aren't really developed enough to know how they would react when they're being sincere rather than just playing a situation up for the sake of politics, LOL.

But then I guess you could say that about this whole fic considering I'm trying to write for Harry Potter based mostly on fanfic knowledge and research. :P

Lucius is not necessarily a good guy. But in canon, he was willing to go to great lengths to ensure Buckbeak received consequences because of Draco's injury. While a lot of that was more of a power play than anything, it still indicates he does try to be an active parent when a situation calls for it, and this mutant thing is something that affects his family directly even without that Prophet article, so I felt that a little interruption at the school so he can find out what the heck's going on was a good idea.

BTW, At this point in time, Lucius' questions are less about the political side of things (though of course he's thinking about that angle too) and more along the lines of "what in the world is happening to my son, why wasn't I notified, and what can I expect to come from this in the future." I'm not intending to foreshadow anything at this point, though that is subject to change.

Part of me wants to include Narcissa's reaction to this too but, well... one new character to get a feel for at a time, you know? And I don't really intend for either of Draco's parents to play much of a role at this point in the story, outside of times in which they would actually need to be present, so... *shrug* I suppose you can assume that any discussions about this situation between the Malfoy parents does take place, just... offscreen.

Same goes for some other things, I guess. Sometimes I'll post a chapter, and then I'll remember a couple things that I'd wanted to happen within that timeframe but wasn't able to actually put into the chapter, and it wouldn't fit with the way I wrote it anyway...

In fact, come to think of it, it might be a good idea for me to make a one-shot side story for this fic (like I've seen some author's do), where I can place various scenes I don't manage to get into the actual story... Hm... something to think about. :)

I'm not actually entirely sure where the next few chapters are gonna go. Up until now I've had a pretty solid plan for what I wanted to happen, but we're starting to reach uncharted territory. Or at least, less-charted territory. We're not off the map yet, but we're in a less-fully-graphed section, hehe.

I've been getting ideas for stuff over the last several days, so it's not like I'm making everything up on the spot, but... it might start to feel a bit directionless at parts as I work on trying to figure out what I'm actually doing, especially since the X-men characters are about to start making their fic-debut and I haven't written for them at all yet. Though, I shouldn't have quite as much trouble characterizing the X-Men:Evolution characters, considering I've actually, y'know... watched it.