Kit to Fox

Chapter 2: Rewritten

When Harry fell asleep, Draco gently picked him up as he continued to stroke his hair as he made his way towards the headmaster's office, careful not to wake him. As he walked down the halls, there was not a single student to be seen, making the trip all the easier. The other professors must have told the students to head to the dorms and not come out unless otherwise told. There was no other explanation for the emptiness in an otherwise bustling corridor. When Draco arrived at the gargoyle, he met with Professor Snape who was standing in front of the gargoyle, waiting for one of the teachers or Draco to return so he could give them the password.

"Lemon drop," Snape said with a scowl as the gargoyle leaped aside. The password was very unoriginal. The headmaster must use lemon drop at least once or twice a year. The two climbed up the spiraling staircase until they reached the door. Snape knocked on the door twice, entering only when they heard a "Come in."

"Severus, my dear boy. I see you and Draco have run into a bit of a... problem. I shall call Poppy to have her do a few tests to see if the boy is healthy." He conjured a patronus and gave it instructions. When it left, Dumbledore turned towards them.

"Now, would somebody like to explain what happened to me?"

Draco sighed. "He was turning in our potion we created when he noticed Neville and Ron's potion was ready to explode. He pushed them out of the way just before it exploded. He must have gotten some in his mouth and swallowed. After that, there was a blinding light, and here we are; though that doesn't explain the new additions." He looked down at the young boy, smiling when Harry snuggled closer, purring softly.

"And why would young Ron be in the infirmary?" Dumbledore questioned further, his brows crinkling together.

"When he woke up, he only recognized me, but Ron became livid when he saw this. He started to accuse me of nonsense, and eventually, he became physical. Now, this is only a theory, but I think that it was his instinct to protect me. He kept calling me his mate, and he even took a punch for me. He was doing everything in his power to try and protect me; and in his eyes, Ron was a danger," Draco answered, still a bit surprised that this event even happened. It was all so confusing. The potion wouldn't have been able to de-age someone and also give him new features. And what was this about a mate, how come he never heard of this before? There were too many unknowns, and he would like to get down to the bottom of this for both the sake of Harry and himself.

As Dumbledore processed the given information, the doors burst open and in rushed a worried Poppy.

"Where is he?" she questioned. When she saw that Draco had him, she said, "Bring him here." She pointed to the couch.

When Harry was laid down, she practically pushed Draco out of the way and performed a few diagnostic spells on him. When Harry could no longer feel Draco's warmth or presence he began to whimper, then outright cry as his hands searched for the older teen, but found nothing. His eyes flung open and he curled himself into a ball as he let out more whines and whimpers. Draco rushed over to the boy and pulled him into a hug, whispering sweet nothings into his ear.

"It's okay. Calm down, sweetheart. Hush, darling, hush." As Draco calmed Harry down, Poppy finished the diagnostics spell and gasped at the length of the injuries and past health conditions over the years. Professor Snape snatched the five-foot paper from the medic and began to read. As he read his eyes became wide and his hands started to shake. The entire time he had known Harry, he had treated him like shit. He was prejudice and thought that the Boy-Who-Lived was nothing more than a spoiled brat who knew nothing of pain, who always got what he wanted all because his father was James bloody Potter. He only hoped the boy would be able to forgive him when this was all over.