The Secret's In The Telling by Sakuri

chapter 4

Swiftly, he stepped back again.

The nurse looked at him, her expression giving away the amazement she was trying to hide. "What are we going to do? Just stay here with him?"

Wordless, he nodded. There was nothing else to be done, really.

"What about tomorrow night? And the months after that? Severus, we can't continue to lock him up like this!"

He glared at her impatiently. "I realise that. This measure is only temporary. Tomorrow we will see if he can stay in his right mind through the transformation. If so, the cage will no longer be needed."

The nurse nodded absently. "Where is he going to stay? Of course, he's perfectly welcome to remain here, the poor love, but I'm not certain he'd enjoy –"

The Professor snorted. "No, I somehow doubt he'd be content to remain here. I shall talk to Albus about finding him his own room to be occupied this time of the month."

xxx

Long hours later – hours which Draco only vaguely remembered – he woke, blinking dazedly, just in time to find Severus tossing a blanket roughly in his direction, which hit him squarely in the face before settling over the rest of him.

Opening his mouth to protest the undignified treatment, it came as a shock to hear his own voice emerge scratchy and barely audible. He coughed and looked down at himself, realising to his horror that the blanket was the only thing covering him. Clutching at it, he looked up to see the slyly amused Professor step back out of the large metal cage that was surrounding him.

That was when memory hit. He paled rapidly, his embarrassment at his state of undress forgotten.

"Draco." The Potion Master's deep voice caught his attention, steadying him for the moment. Severus stood holding open the cage for him, waiting expectantly. "I'm not going to stand here forever," he snapped abruptly, his tone, as always, impatient.

That, more than any reassurances Madam Pomfrey might have offered, roused him to move again. If Severus was still irritable and able to snipe at him, it meant the world was still the same to some extent.

He stepped out hesitantly, his every movement hurting. The blanket was wrapped around him like a bath towel, though he clutched it primly at his throat, earning a roll of the eyes from his godfather.

Without warning, the door to the miniature ward opened and the nurse bustled in, holding the neatly folded pile of Draco's robes and under-clothes. The blond blushed indignantly at her unannounced intrusion, fussily checking that not an inch of skin was on show that he didn't want on show.

"Here we go, my dear," she practically sang, her forced cheer grating on him. She set the bundle down on the foot of the one bed in the room before turning to look him over. "Now, you get dressed and I'll have a meal waiting for you in the main ward."

As she said those words, it suddenly occurred to him how truly starving he was. When in Merlin's name was the last time he'd eaten?

"That would be appreciated, Poppy," Severus answered coolly in his stead.

The nurse nodded and disappeared again, leaving the older man to turn a serious look on the younger. "After you've eaten, the Headmaster has asked that I take you to his office. We have a situation to discuss."

Draco watched silently as his godfather followed the nurse, closing the door behind him and affording the blond the privacy to get dressed.

xxx

Yet again, Malfoy's empty seat at the dinner table was all too obvious. Harry looked at his best friend in bemusement as Ron stared fixedly at the empty spot the blonde usually occupied, glaring at it over his bowl of cornflakes. As ridiculous as it was, Malfoy seemed to annoy Ron more when he wasn't around.