A Whispered Confession Can Change Everything

Chapter 14

“Draco, I wanted to talk to you for a moment.” Draco swallowed the soup off his spoon, looking up with wide eyes while Albus just smiled down at him gently and sat next to him. The older wizard could hear the poor boy’s heart rate soar, “You’re not in trouble now calm down, son.” Mentally Albus froze, not sure how the boy would take such a slip. He was starting to see the boy as a son but Albus wasn’t so sure if the child could ever see him as a father. But Draco just took it in stride, saying nothing except to carefully put his spoon down and give Albus his undivided attention, “I’ve received word from Mrs. Amanda Toomsley who runs the Wizarding Children’s Home in London.”

Frowning, “Children’s home? You mean orphans?”

Nodding and ignoring the slight sneer that crossed Draco’s face. He was well aware of the opinions of the boy’s parents on the subject. On a lot of the older pureblood families actually. Orphans, wizarding ones, were only slightly more elevated than muggleborn children and far less than half bloods, especially ones that were not adopted into a family, “Quite right. Children in this home are more than likely destined for a wizarding school in a few years. In fact, there are three children that have been accepted to this school in the autumn. I had thought to bring them here for the summer.”

“Why?”

His sneer had been replaced by open curiosity. Albus was again amazed at Draco’s progress, in several senses. The child had started to question his upbringing, to form his own opinions and it pleased the Headmaster to no end. His sullen anger had shifted to a wary contentment that only seemed to slowly improve as he was encouraged. He was even making friends with some of his bitterest rivals, filling the Headmaster with pride. Not that he pried into the children’s conversations, but he was well aware of who the boy had been writing to all summer. Smiling gently, “For you, Draco.”

Blinking in surprise, “Me? What...what do I have to do with it?” His eyes widened in panic, “You’re not sending me there are you?!”

Draco looked about ready to jump to his feet but Albus had already seen the panic surface, placing gentle hands on his shoulders to offer reassurance, “Of course not, Draco. You are my charge and nothing will change that.” He slowly relaxed but was still wary, “Now, it occurred to me that you might enjoy some company. After all, even Hogwarts can get rather monotonous without companionship.”

Flushing pink, then paling, thinking of Crabbe and Goyle and his father’s idea of companionship, “I’m fine, Albus. I don’t need companions.”

Gently ruffling his hair, “Even so, they will be coming and I thought you might enjoy making some new friends.”

Looking down with a sour expression, “I don’t make friends.”

Tutting to himself, “I believe that is a bit of an exaggeration, isn’t it? Miss Parkinson and yourself
are very close. Then there are your letters with Mr. Potter and Miss Granger. And there’s Hagrid, are none of them friends?”

Draco thought about it carefully and realized he did have friends. Real friends. Not the kind bullied into it because of his family or money or anything but because they liked him. Did he want more friends, was the question? The more people he trusted, the more of a risk of being hurt or betrayed, “I suppose.”

***

Draco fairly hid behind the Headmaster, peeking and watching as three children debarked from the coaches and taking a stunned look at the castle. They were varying in height, he being told the three eleven year olds would be attending the school in the autumn. He’d never met orphans before, other than Potter. But this was different. They grew up in the ‘system’ as he’d heard the muggleborns whisper. Orphanage raised kids. Funny, they didn’t look all that different from real kids.

The tall girl with the bright red hair struck him as a Gryffindor just because of her superficial similarity to the Weasleys. Though her eyes shown of intelligence and mischief. The two brunettes, twins apparently, might be Ravenclaws or Slytherins. It wasn’t unheard of for a Slytherin to not be a pure blood, it was just unusual. They looked secretive standing next to one another, like they knew something no one else did.

“Welcome, my honored guests.”

The girl at the center stepped forward easily, confident and alert, “Cassandra McKnight. A pleasure, Headmaster.” She shook the old man’s hand, confidence in her poise. She spotted Draco and gave him a wink, gesturing slightly behind her, “The twins are Henrietta...”

The twin with her hair pulled up in a french knot waved, “Hen for short.”

“...and Alexandra Cloven.”

The other smirk, showing a dimple, “Alex if it’s all the same.”

“Don’t try to tell them apart, after three years we’ve all just given up.” Both girls grinned unrepentantly, Draco spotting immediately that Henrietta didn’t have a dimple.

He felt a hand prodding him out of hiding and squeaked indignantly, but quickly got a hold of himself when he was in plain view. Fixing his posture, giving Albus a quick glance and holding out an imperious hand, “Draco Malfoy.” And he couldn’t help but duck his head just a little. And it was that duck that they all caught, relaxing their apprehensions of coming here. Everyone knew of the Malfoys. But they could all see he was different.

Cassie gave him a sweet smile and clasped his hesitantly outstretched hand. She could read his nervousness instantly, “Cassie. Nice to meet you, Draco. I’ll bet you know the best ways around the castle.”

A small smile started on his face, and all he could do was nod. He’d done the same with Harry, but for once he wasn’t shunned. He was soon surrounded by the others, asking questions and fingering his wand when he showed it to them. Albus clapped his hands, catching their attention, “Now, as much fun as we are having, I think we’d best step inside for supper. I’m sure the elves have gone to a lot of trouble to welcome our guests.”

Draco had been watching the elves run like maniacs around the kitchens all day, whipping up dishes and confections, in between bouts of shooing him out so that he couldn’t sample, “I’ll say.” His hands automatically covered his mouth, not believing he’d slipped so badly with his slang in front of the Headmaster.

Cassie, seemingly understanding something unspoken, gently grasped his hands and lowered them from his face, “Well then let’s dig in and pig out. Right guys.” They all screamed ‘yea’ and she gave Draco another secret smile, “When you live in the home as long as we have, you learn to eat what you can grab before someone else does.” He looked at her with something akin to awe and silently gobbled up every word.

***

Cassie regaled children and adults alike at the lunch table, talking at length about the homes she had been housed in over the years. It was a sad fact, but not many families want to adopt older children. Draco cocked his head in curiosity, “What happened to your parents?”

“Draco!”

The blond cringed with a jump at Minerva’s rather scandalized voice, looking for all the world like he was expecting to be hit, but Cassie took it in stride, “It’s okay, Professor. It’s an honest question and my mother used to say it’s better to have one honest question than a hundred polite ones...you get the answer out and save everybody a lot of time.” Glancing back at the boy she’d defended, not missing his reaction and silently filing it in her mind for questioning later, “And to answer it...our father was never a real big fixture in our lives and he disappeared eight years ago. Mom and my two brothers died in a Death eater attack five years ago.”

Frowning to himself, looking timid now, “But there hasn’t been any real Death eater activity in years.”

Her expression grim, her normally sparkling eyes flat but not angry with him, “That’s not what we saw.”

Mentally Draco had to concede that, but it just didn’t make sense. His fath-...Lucius hadn’t been actively involved in the Death eater since You-Know-Who’s demise. At least, that was the impression he had. But it was really impossible to tell what had been kept from him so he certainly wasn’t going to argue. He nodded in acceptance, sorry he’d brought it up but unable to say so.

Cassie leaned in, resting her chin in her hand and elbow on the table, “So how ‘bout you, Draco? Same question.”

He’d been expecting this one and collected himself with a small sigh. He could have lied. He might have tried to get around the truth and spare his family some humiliation. But the truth is his father had fucked up royally and he didn’t care if it made Lucius look bad, “The courts took me away from them. Albus took me in.”

She seemed to sense there was a story there, but she could tell how raw the subject was to him. She nodded her head in acceptance and turned her attention to a slice of bread, buttering it with care. Hen wasn’t tactful enough to understand that, “How come?”

Wincing, eyes on his bowl, “Mother was never around and father...abused me.”

He flinched just saying it, refusing to even think about it. It had taken this long just for him to realize that father hadn’t the right to do what he did and no amount of failure or disappointment made it okay. Hen looked about ready to ask something as well, most probably how he was abused, but Cassie shook her head, telling her with a slide of her hand to back off the subject.

It wasn’t raw anymore for her, talking about her family. She could understand. It had taken two years before she could even hear talk of Death eaters without flinching. Plus she knew trauma when she saw it and the shorter blond was traumatized. She’d seen plenty at the orphanage. Rubbing her hands together, “So, we’re here to learn. Tell us everything you can think of about Hogwarts.”

Looking up slowly with the beginnings of a grin, reciting that past wouldn’t be a hardship, “Well...the first year feast, you’ll be sorted into your houses-...”

“Draco. We want the insider knowledge, not Hogwarts, A History.”

His smile grew, “Okay. Ravenclaws are where you go for homework help in just about any subject, Hufflepuff for Herbology. Slytherins know their dark arts but most of them...uh...”

Nodding, “Most of them won’t give home orphans the time of day.”

Grimacing, “Actually, if that’s all they’ll give you you’d best count yourselves lucky. They, uh...we keep mostly to our own house.”

Albus clapped his hands together lightly, hoping at some point an opportunity to announce it would present itself. And it had, “And on that note, a subject I had been meaning to bring up.” Everyone turned to Dumbledore who was pushing away his dish and contemplating his tea, “As I’m sure any Hogwarts student is aware, there is a sorting for all new students...except that the rules do not say it quite like that. The sorting revolves around a student’s eleventh birthday...” Draco’s eyes started to silently widen, “And if I am correct, your eleventh birthday is in less than a month, isn’t that right, Draco?” Nodding with trepidation and swallowing, “Well there you have it. You will be sorted in the autumn.”

His heart jumped to his throat, “But...” Everything he’d ever prided in his life was falling apart. He wasn’t sure if it was a happy or sad feeling bubbling inside of him. Switching off his confusing emotions, ignoring the stares from the other three older kids who knew he was going into his third year in the autumn, “What if I am sorted into Slytherin?”

Cassie frowned to herself, hearing a sudden lilt to his speech, almost aristocratic sounding. McGonagall gave Albus a glance, as if to say it wasn’t even conceivable, “Then Slytherin is where you belong.”

Hope and dread filled him and he pushed it down, face going blank from the effort to cut off his emotions. “And if the hat places me somewhere else...”

Nodding, “Then that will be your house until the end of Hogwarts.”