There was nothing in this world that Dorcas cared more than her family. She loved them so much and couldn't imagine a life without them. She thought that being a member of the Order of the Phoenix should have prepared her for all the lost she might suffered. She was wrong. If anything, she was living in constant fear that one day, there would come a time when she lost everything. Working asa Healer didn't mean she was as oblivious of the War like people often thought. No, every day, she would find at least one casualty of the War. Most of the time, they were Aurors. But when a young child, who probably hadn't set foot on Hogwarts yet, died in an ambush, it broke Dorcas' heart. That was why when McGonagall told her to come because Harry was hurt, she felt like her whole world had collapsed. She barely remembered Flooing to Hogwarts when she appeared in McGonagall's office. All she had in mind was that she had to get to Harry immediately. True, she wasn't his biological mother, nor was she his legal guardian. But he still was her son – her baby. She tore down the castle from McGonagall's office to Hospital Wing, practically pushing Madam Pomfrey aside so she could tend to her boy.

According to what Dumbledore told her, Harry's pure and innocent magic was the reason why he could defeat Quirrel and his dastardly intentions. But, it came with a cost. By the time Dumbledore got there to help him, Harry's core magic was nearly sapped dry, and he was really close to dying. When Dorcas finally saw Harry, she was part-annoyed and part-relieved that Snape had gotten there first to help Harry, administering potions that would replenish his magic. She was thankful that Snape was there to save Harry, seeing that if they were a little too late, Harry would have died. She just couldn't deny the fact that she wanted to be the one who saved Harry. But she wasn't stupid. She knew that she couldn't be selfish for the good of her boy. So, she decided to make herself useful, and looked to the other two boys that resided the empty beds at Hospital Wing. The first boy was Ron Weasley, son of Arthur and Molly Weasley, who were a few years her senior. It was the other boy though, the one who was lying right next to Harry, that made her breath hitch.

Draco Malfoy.

The young boy, who always reminded everyone greatly of his father with his mask of indifference and cold smirk, was lying broken on the bed that looked much too big for him. His skin that was a few shades lighter than most people, looked almost translucent. Blood was soaking his platinum hair, and even though he was unconscious, his face was twisted in pain. Standing by his bedside across Madam Pomfrey, was a young girl about Harry's age with crazy curls. After listening to Harry's stories, the Healer knew that the girl could only be her boy's best friend, the brilliant Muggle born Hermione Granger. The girl was throwing worried glances on the three unconscious boys, but when Dorcas looked closely, she saw that the girl was holding little Malfoy's hand tightly in hers. It baffled the petite Healer greatly, that she nearly didn't hear Snape calling her name.

"…will you have a look at him, Lupin?" Snape said in his usual drawl.

"What?" Dorcas said, finally taking her attention from the two kids. She looked right into Snape's dark eyes, and found the slightest bit of emotion there.

Was that fear she saw in those unfeeling orbs of his?

"I'm going to get some potions from my office. In the mean time, will check you Mr Malfoy's condition and see the extension of his injuries?" Snape asked.

"Of course," Dorcas said. Even without Snape asking, her profession wouldn't allow her to just ignore the poor boy. Heading toward Draco, she quickly whipped her wand and used her spell to scan through his injuries.

"And oh, Lupin?" Snape said before leaving. "Your boy is alright. It will take him a few days to wake up, but otherwise, he's fine."

Dorcas let out a huge breath of relief that she wasn't aware she had been keeping. Flashing the ex-Death Eater a small smile, she said, "Thank you, Snape. Thank you."

With a curt nod of his head, Snape was gone.

"Miss Granger?" Dorcas said, causing the girl to jump a bit. "Will you step aside for a moment? I need to take a look at young Mr Malfoy here. In the mean time, you can tell Madam Pomfrey what happened to Mr Malfoy, okay?"

"Y-yes, Healer Lupin," the girl said. She looked at the hand she was holding, and judging from the blush on her face, it seemed like she hadn't noticed what she had been doing.

As Dorcas began her examination on the blond, she kept one ear to Hermione's explanation. The girl said that after they defeated the chess set, which rendered Ron unconscious but otherwise unharmed, Hermione decided that she would stay and look after her ginger friend, leaving Harry and Draco to proceed all by themselves. She heard both boys arguing about which potion to take to help them crossed Snape's fire, when she heard the loud roar of the troll. Dorcas remembered the whole thing during the Halloween feast, and she perfectly understood when the girl admitted she froze upon hearing it. Hermione then continued her story, saying that she heard both Harry and Draco trying their best to protect themselves from the raging troll. Then she heard Draco yelled, followed by Harry's own voice. The next thing she knew, Hermione saw Draco flying across the room. That was when the brilliant girl snapped off her frozen stupor and quickly headed off toward the blond to help. She yelled for him to wake up, and he miraculously did wake up. There was blood trickling down the side of his head before he lifted his wand up on the ceiling and made the ceiling dropped on the troll and himself, effectively protecting everyone yet endangering himself. Hermione thought the boy was a goner, even when Dumbledore came to the rescue and literally pulled Draco out of the huge rocks that had collapsed on him and the troll.

"Will he be alright, Healer Lupin?" Hermione said in a small voice. Dorcas had finished patching up the Slytherin, and Hermione was looking worriedly at the blonde.

"He lost quite a lot of blood, and the process of mending his broken bones won't be easy. But, yeah, I suppose he'll be alright," Dorcas said, giving the young girl a reassuring smile. "Now, I'm going to take care of Harry and Ron, okay? I trust you can take care of Draco, yes? And I need you to come get me in around…fifteen minutes so I can ask Professor Snape for the potions."

"Okay," Hermione said, taking back her position by Draco's bed. She shoved her hands into her pockets, as if she needed to stop herself from reaching out for the blond's hand. Dorcas was on her way to check on Ron when she heard noises out side of the hospital.

"Dorcas? Dorcas, are you in there with Harry? Doe, is he okay?"

"Oh, dear Merlin. Lucius, I'm worried about Draco."

"WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME THAT MY GODSON WAS IN DANGER? I HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW!"

"Oh, shut up, Black. You're not the only one who's worried about his boy. My son is hurt too, you know, and it's all your godson's fault."

"Cissy, put a leash on your husband, will you? He's starting to get on my last damn nerve."

"Padfoot, behave. And I suggest the same for you too, Lucius."

The door to the Hospital Wing was thrown opened, revealing five newcomers to Dorcas's eyes. There was her husband standing beside his best friend. Marlene was standing on Sirius' other side, little Jade was obviously left with Regulus and his wife. Next to Remus were the Malfoys, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. While Lucius was a frequent visitor to the Black Manor because of the Sacred meetings, it had been over a decade since the last time Dorcas saw Lady Malfoy. She had never thought about it before, but now that she saw them in one room, only then that she did remember that Sirius was first cousins with Narcissa. It was easy to forget that her best friend was related to the crazies. When both Malfoys found their son's figure lying on the bed, Dorcas was glad that she was done treating most of the boy's injuries, leaving the light bruises that she thought were better to heal naturally. Judging from the look on their faces, no doubt they wouldn't be too pleased to find their beloved son's bleeding and bruised up.

"Miss Granger," Dorcas said in a small voice, her hand reaching to tap on Hermione's shoulder softly. "I think it's better for you to leave. You can visit your friends tomorrow."

Eyes wide as she threw a scared glance at the Malfoys, Hermione nodded her head and quickly left the room. Dorcas noticed how Remus made a swift move and placed himself between Hermione and Lucius when the young Gryffindor walked past the older Malfoy. It was very fortunate that Lucius' attention was all set on his son, even when his wife had a frown on her face as she watched Hermione's retreating form. With great fascination, Dorcas noticed that even though the Malfoys were popular for being evil, it was obvious that the couple cared a great deal about their son. But, the thought was soon forgotten when Sirius pushed past everyone else so he could get to Harry, his wand was already in his hand so he could check on his Godson.

"He's alright, Sirius," Dorcas said before the question could leave the Auror's mouth. Turning to everyone else in the room, she continued. "They are all alright. We put them to sleep so that they can heal properly without being interrupted."

"Oh, thank Merlin," Marlene sighed. "Dumbledore told us everything, and it got me so worried. I mean, they fought a troll by themselves."

"The kid is definitely his father's son," Sirius scoffed fondly as he stroke Harry's hair. "Stupid Potters and their bloody hero-complex."

"Where's Arthur and Molly?" Remus asked. "I thought they'd be here too."

"Arthur was out on a raid when Dumbledore came to tell them about the news. And Molly was taking their youngest Ginny to St Mungo's because the poor girl had the flu. But he sent them a Patronus and they said they'd be here by noon," Dorcas explained. Remus nodded his head as a respond but said nothing else. It was silent for a few minutes until Narcissa spoke.

"You saved my boy, didn't you, Healer Lupin?" Narcissa said, her voice small as she gently caressed her son's pale skin.

"I tried my best," Dorcas said carefully. She was taken aback when the older witch smiled.

"Thank you. We just saw Snape and he told us everything. If it weren't because of you…" Narcissa trailed and resumed on caring for her son to hide her emotions.

"Dumbledore has crossed the line," Lucius snarled, his fair features had gone feral in anger. "Three-headed dog, Devil's Snare, enchanted chess set and a troll kept in a school? I find it amazing that there hadn't been any accidents sooner."

"What I don't get is how these kids could find out about Quirrel going after the Stone," Remus said. "I mean, yes, I'll admit that Harry's aware that the Stone is here at Hogwarts. But for him to suspect that there was someone who wanted the Stone, and that someone was Quirrel, I wonder how he found out about it."

"It's Malfoy," a small voice said from the bed on Draco's left. All of the adults' eyes were instantly set on the young redhead who had just woken up. Groaning weakly, Ron Weasley opened his eyes and looked around the room. "My parents aren't here yet?" There was a brief disappointment in his eyes, and Dorcas' maternal instincts flared in an instant as she quickly went to his side with a glass of water.

"They'll be here very soon, dear," Dorcas said, offering the boy a smile as she helped him to drink. "Don't worry about it... Here, have a drink. You must be thirsty."

The ginger looked both pleased and embarrassed, but said nothing else as he obliged to Dorcas.

"Ron, can you tell us what did you just mean?" Sirius said after the boy had his drink. Ron looked confused for awhile, before realisation dawned on him.

"Oh… Well, last night, Malfoy – I mean, Draco," Ron quickly amended, his blue eyes landed on Lucius' unfeeling features for a split second before he looked back to Sirius. "Draco came to Harry and he told him that he overheard Snape and Quirrel talking. According to him, Snape was trying to scare Quirrel from stealing the Stone. And Harry being Harry, decided that it would be best if we went to stop Quirrel ourselves because Dumbledore was away."

"None of you ever thought of telling a teacher about this?" Remus asked. Dorcas glared at her husband when she saw the boy's ears flushed red.

"We uh… It never crossed our minds, Auror Lupin, because um… We were under the impression that the teachers wouldn't believe if we told them we suspected their colleague of being evil."

"Fair point," Marlene said. She flashed the boy a reassuring smile and said, "It's okay, Ron. No one's blaming you for anything. In fact, we should be thanking you. You were all so brave."

Ron flushed red again as he said, "Uh, yeah… Well, okay then."

"One more thing though, Ron," Sirius said. "From your story, it seemed like the three of you were rather…civil with young Mr Malfoy, yes? I was just wondering how was it that you four got over the school rivalry and decided to save the world together."

"Sirius," Marlene reprimanded, slapping the Head Council's arm.

"What? I was just wondering. And you don't need to be so abusive," Sirius said with a pout. Marlene rolled her eyes at her fiance's childishness.

"I do wonder about the same thing though, Miss McKinnon," Lucius said, who had been silent the whole time, in a manner that reminded Ron of his son. "Draco kept saying about how annoying Harry Potter and his two friends were in his letters, about how they couldn't go a day without yelling at each other. Then, all of the sudden, the four of them ran off playing heroes."

"Well, you should ask your son about it, Mr Malfoy," Ron said bravely, the look on his young face reminded the adults of his late uncles Fabian and Gideon Prewett. "You should ask him why he decided to become a hero all of the sudden, along with why he saved Hermione Granger during Halloween feast."

"Why did you do it, Draco?"

"Why did you help Potter?"

"Why did you save the girl?"

"Why, Draco? Why?"

(I'd answer it if I could, Father.)

By the time Draco finally woke up, the only pain he felt left was the slight pounding in his head. He had woken up a few times in the past five days he was unconscious, and he was quite aware of his parents coming to visit him the whole time. But, one thing he remembered for sure was seeing a mass of brown curls and the feeling of soft, small hands holding his own. It didn't take much for him to determine whose curls he saw (and whose hands were holding his), but he dared not to ask her about it. Even when she came to visit Potter, her brown eyes landed on his for a moment before she turned to her best friend, Draco kept silent. Mostly he pretended to be either asleep or too engrossed with the book he was reading when she and Weasley came. At night, when he and Potter were left alone, they never talked to each other. He knew though, judging from the glances Scarhead sent at him, that the Gryffindor was dying to know why Draco had saved him from the troll. But Potter was stubborn as hell, so he too kept silent. Seven days Draco stayed at Hospital Wing with Potter, seeing Gryffindors coming to visit him, and he couldn't help but to feel the slightest bit of envy when he realised the only person, other than his parents, who came to visit was Theo Nott.

(And maybe her, but Draco couldn't let his hopes up.)

When Draco was finally released by Madam Pomfrey to attend the feast, he tried hard not to bother himself too much with the whispers his fellow Slytherins were giving him. As he took his seat beside Theo on Slytherin's table, he noticed how everyone, even students from other Houses, were talking about him. It didn't help that he walked into the Great Hall with Potter by his side. Probably wasn't the smartest move he ever made to come with Potter, who was like a walking sign-board that screamed for attention. He was more than grateful when Theo didn't treat him differently and merely asked whether Draco wanted smoked-beef or chicken to go with his mashed-potato, and if he would pass him the salt please. Looking at Potter sitting with his friends, the blond found that the other boy was just as comfortable as he was with all the attention he was receiving. A new sense of respect hit Draco because, for the first time ever, he realised that Potter wasn'tthe public-seeking idiot he had always thought him to be all this time. He probably sensed that Draco was looking at him because the green-eyed lad looked up from his food to look at Draco. A small nod was passed between the two boys, before the both of them turned their attention back to their food. That was when Draco felt someone took a seat beside him.

"Move over a bit, Malfoy. And pass me the chicken, will you?" Blaise Zabini said casually as he busied himself with his food. Draco was at lost for words that he didn't even realise when the dark-skinned boy impatiently snatched the plate of chicken from his hand.

"What are you doing, Zabini?" Theo said warily, a deep frown was set on his face. Both Draco and Theo were so used to Zabini being the loner in their year that to have him sitting with them was mind-boggling for them.

"I am having dinner, Nott. Same as you. Pretty sure it's allowed," Zabini said, still in the same tone.

"Yeah, well, last time I checked, you eat dinner alone," Theo retorted impatiently. "Something about you being better than everyone else."

"If I don't count you two, I am eating alone," Zabini said, nodding his head to the fact that the three of them had a good distance away from the rest of the Slytherins. "Besides, out of everyone else here, you two are the least annoying lately."

Theo opened his mouth and looked like he was going to say something rude. But one look from Draco, he kept silent. The blond flashed him a look of gratitude, to which he replied with a shrug of his shoulders. Draco knew that there was a reason Zabini was willing to come out from his solitude and joined them. Whatever his reason was, Draco didn't bother to know. As long as Zabini proved that he wasn't as dumb as everyone else, Draco was willing to ignore Zabini's change of heart. Resuming with their dinner, the three boys were silent even before Dumbledore asked for their attention. It was only then that Draco realised the Hall was decorated in Slytherin colours, a definite sign that they had won the House Cup. This lifted his mood up a litte bit, knowing that his House had won. He then listened to Dumbledore reading out the final points; Hufflepuff with three hundred and twenty-three points, Gryffindor with three hundred and seventy-two points, Ravenclaw with four hundred and thirty-seven points, and Slytherin with four hundred and eighty-two points. The whole Slytherin table errupted in cheers, and even Zabini beside Draco was smiling. But the smiles dropped from their faces when Dumbledore began to say that he was giving out points in the light of the recent even.

"Fifty points to Ron Weasley…"

"Fifty points to Hermione Granger…"

"Sixty points to Harry Potter…"

"And ten points to Neville Longbottom…"

"He gave Longbottom too?" Theo gritted out, throwing death glares toward the Gryffindors who now had beaten Slytherin's points by sixty points.

"Stupid old coot," Zabini muttered under his breath scathingly.

Draco was too angry to even say anything.

"I know that some of you think that this hardly seems fair, right?" Dumbledore continued, and it took great effort for Draco to stop himself to yelling something rude. "That means I'll have to change that. So, I hereby give sixty points to Draco Malfoy for his decision to see past his school rivalry to determine what's right and wrong, and the brilliant skill of magic he showed by defeating a troll."

Wait, what?

"I suppose this will be the first time in a millennium that Hogwarts have two House Cup winners."

Everyone in the Great Hall was silent as they tried to process what Dumbledore was saying. The old wizard was smiling in mischief at every Gryffindor and Slytherin when he waved his hand, wandlessly changing the decorations into both Slytherin and Gryffindor colours. When both Houses, who were located the farthest from each other, finally got over their shock and confusion, a loud cheer that sounded a lot like an explosion erupted from both Houses. If his fellow Slytherins were against him for helping Potter before, now they were swarming him and praising him. It all felt like a dream to him, and he hardly realised whose hand it was that clapped his back, whose voice it was that chanted his name. The rest of the feast was like a blur to him. He didn't really remember what happened next after Dumbledore gave out the points. The next thing he knew Theo and Zabini were leading him back to Slytherin Dungeon, both of their faces were beaming as they talked animatedly about how it was about damn time someone acknowledged Slytherin for something other than their dark and evil reputation.

"How did you do it anyway?" Theo asked once the three of them were sitting on the couch in the Common Room. "How did you defeat the troll?"

"I dropped a good portion of the ceiling above me on it," Draco said, careful not to mention the fact that he was unconscious before he did it, and the only reason he was awake was because he heard a certain someone calling out for his name.

"What?" Zabini exclaimed, eyes going so wide it was actually pretty funny. "You dropped the ceiling on top of a troll?"

"Yeah."

"Where were you when you did that?"

"Right in front of it…"

His answer got Theo and Zabini to stare at him as if he grew another head and a tail. Shaking his head in disbelief, Theo said, "Wow, Malfoy. I didn't know you were such a selfless bastard."

"I am not," Draco huffed, rolling his eyes. After all, he still had a reputation as the world's biggest prick to uphold.

"Well, you could have died, you know," Zabini said, backing Theo up. "And I think that's pretty damn selfless, alright."

The blond glared at the two boys across him, his old friend and new friend. With Crabbe and Goyle, they'd cower whenever Draco sent them his evil glare. But Theo and Zabini? They merely stared right back at him. Bloody pricks.

"So now you two decided to become friends? That's just amazing," Draco spat. He lifted himself off the couch and made his way to the boys' dormitory.

"Don't be bitter because we kick you out of the Evil Gentlemen's Club, Draco!" Theo called. Even without looking, Draco knew the two boys were slapping each other's hands with annoying smirks on their ugly faces.

"Yeah," he heard Zabini said. "It's your fault after all for growing a heart in that little cold hole you have in your chest."

"Sod off, you two," Draco said before he disappeared into the dorm.

But even as he began the tedious work of changing into his pajamas, Draco knew that no matter how those two irritated him, he would never trade them for the world. Because, for the first time ever, Draco felt what it was like to have friends.