The Auror and the Fountain

Chapter Nine: Progress and Regression


Lucius and Narcissa were listening to their son with totally different expressions on their faces. Narcissa had the face of innocence, not understanding a word, while the man looked like he was about to call his son a fool.
Draco had been looking over his facts for days. He had measured the contents of the canteen after Harry had brought it and described the amount that was left after Ginny had been transformed. He determined the amount she had drunk, and how many years she had lost based on her size and shape. He had calculated how many years to regress his parents and had added in the fact that a few drops had not only restored his hair, but made him feel about ten years younger. Now, was the moment of truth, but he wouldn’t give his parents anything without their consent, and that was becoming a problem.
“Draco, I did not raise a fool.” Lucius spat.
“I am not a fool, Father. This will work, or don’t you want to try it? Is it because it was discovered by Harry Potter, or is there another reason? Do you want to die and leave me so badly?” Narcissa began to cry and Lucius looked at the pale grey eyes of his son, seeing the real fear the younger man felt.
“I will try it. I’m not a fool, either.” he said, his voice filled with indignity.
“Good, and you, Mother.” Draco asked.
“If you think it is good, Draco. I’ll take it.” she said in that happy singsong, again.
That would have to do. Draco had mixed the fifteen drops into each of two cups of plain water, and handed one to each of his parents. He watched as his mother drank hers and helped his father lift the cup to his lips, seeing the movement of the man’s Adam’s Apple as the liquid ran down his throat.
Draco watched as the potion took effect, raising the skin to obliterate the wrinkles, filling in the hollows of cheeks and straightening a long bent spine. His father seemed to rise in his chair, his hair sprouting from long dead roots to fill in and flow down to his shoulders once more. It was like watching someone polyjuiced to look like his parents had twenty years before. It was a dream come true and Draco felt the rise of tears in his eyes as he watched them look at each other with amazement.
He began to feel like he was intruding and was about to leave when his father called to him. “Draco, is it real?” he asked.
“Completely. And it is permanent, unless I can find an antidote.” Draco responded to the wonder in his father’s eyes.
“Why would anyone want an antidote for this?” Narcissa asked as she looked at her hands, no longer marked by the spots that had made them look diseased for years.
“Someone who took too much.” Draco said and his father looked up in understanding. “I need your help, Father. Can we work on this together? It must be kept secret, even more so than the things that pertained to the Dark Lord.” Draco added.
“Who are we trying to save?” Lucius asked as he rose from the seat unaided for the first time in nearly ten years.
“The wife of Harry Potter, Ginny Weasley Potter.” Draco informed him and Lucius nodded. “It is a way to repay him for the debt of your youth.” the younger Malfoy added. “Oh, and we need to be careful around Scorpius. He and Harry’s younger son have become close friends. I don’t want him to let this slip to the boy.”
“I think we need to begin immediately. I cannot be indebted to Potter for any longer than a day or so.” Lucius said, but Draco detected a bit of untruth in his words. His father was covering up the gratitude he felt toward Potter in the only way he knew how. Luckily, Draco understood that, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t overcome this in himself. He planned to thank Harry in a more Gryffindor way.


Harry had returned home and called to Hermione on the family floo. He waited as she gathered up his other children and returned them to his home. Ron was working so he decided to tell Hermione and let her handle her husband. It was usually a good idea to work them this way, and it was also the coward’s way, but Harry could admit to cowardice in certain circumstances. Facing Ron with the information that his only sister had been turned into an infant by Harry’s stupidity, was one such occasion.
Hermione sat at the table, her hands wrapped around a cup of tea that was going cold in them, and her eyes on a spot that only she saw on the table’s surface. Harry waited, his mind on too many things to voice anything right now.
“Are you sure?” Hermione said. “Maybe she just ran off. Oh, I’m sorry Harry. I didn’t mean, . . .oh, damn!”
“I know, Mione. It was my first thought, but I tested the water. It is the truth. And I am working on an antidote. I will find one, but in the meantime, I don’t know what else to do.” Harry said.
“We knew you were having troubles. Ginny confided some things in me. But, I just thought you needed to spend some time together. This is . . . just such a surprise. I mean, you didn’t do it on purpose, of course, but it makes things seem so . . . suspicious.” Hermione admitted. “Ron will freak!”
“I know. I would never do anything to hurt Ginny you have to know that. I didn’t know what the water did until later. It never occurred to me that the baby at the fountain was Stan, I just thought he had kidnapped it. I didn’t even realize what the water had done to me until after.” He added.
“I just thought it was to try to entice Ginny back, like you were working on things. I didn’t say anything, cause I didn’t want to embarrass you. I’m sorry Harry. It is just so, weird, even in wizarding terms.” she said.
“So, will you help me with Ron?” Harry asked.
“Yes. I can take the baby . . . Ginny, too. If you want me to.” Hermione offered.
“No. It is too risky. I’ll just have Agatha watch her with the twins. She loves babies. It will be okay, Hermione. I have the best working on an antidote right now.” Harry said and Hermione looked at him oddly. “The new potions professor at Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy. He wasn’t Snape’s favorite just because he was a Slytherin, you know. He knows his potions, and spells and charms. Neville says he can quote history even better than you, but with a pure blood taint to it. He says that Malfoy was raised with his nose in a book and his hand on a cauldron, so his skill runs in his blood. I think he will find it and besides, he owes me a favor.” Harry said with a little side smile. Hermione looked skeptical, but nodded anyway.
“I think I will try to help out as well. I have some very old books that might have some information that Malfoy doesn’t. We’ll see what we can find out about this fountain.” Hermione said finally, a touch of challenge in her voice.
‘Oh, great.’ Harry thought seeing the way she seemed to calculate her options. ‘Now, I’ve got to keep Hermione from competing with Draco on this. I’m starting to feel old again.’


And the race for the cure is on. So, what will happen to the poor little babies and what will be the next step for our two heroes?