"Mr. Malfoy, your parents have asked for a meeting, which is why you're here." Mcgonagall explained, her lips pressed into a thin line. Dumbledore, always comparatively calmer, tapped his fingers against the oak table in a rather eccentric pattern while telling each of them to have a seat.
"Lemon drop, Draco?" He offered with a slight twinkle in his eyes. Just as he was about to politely decline, his parents came through the floo network, dusting their robes gently.
Draco's parents were, of course, nothing short of elegant and poised. Draco resembled his father in almost every aspect, aside from the less-square jaw and rounder oval shape of his eyes that came from his mother.
"Ah, Lucius. What a pleasant surprise." Dumbledore mused.
"Indeed, Headmaster. Hello, Severus." Lucius said.
"I don't remember you ever telling me you had a son." Snape sighed, not hiding his shock well. "Much less at this age."
"Circumstances were dire, back then. We both haven't met in years, since the war ended, so I never got the opportunity to introduce." He said lightly. "Either way, I believe that we have come to the unanimous decision for Draco to transfer schools."
Igor Karkaroff, Durmstrang's headmaster, made an unsatisfactory grunt, but wasn't given the time to speak up. "With all due respect, Igor, you have failed your own students. How does such a serious case of sexual assault not get reported immediately. If anything, the kid should be expelled with immediate effect." Narcissa, though slim and petite, was no pushover with her words which almost resonated around the office.
"I'm sure Viktor wasn't-"
"Didn't mean it? Some star student you have." She snapped, yet maintaining her posture and somehow, composure. With a hand protectively wrapped around Draco, she proceeded to glare at him. "I suggest you have a backup student for the triwizard tournament, since court cases may take up most of his time."
"Mother..." Draco whispered. "Don't blow this up, please."
"You don't need to worry, nothing will leak into the press about you, we'll make sure of that. There's also nothing to be ashamed about. Your mother and I will always be with you."
"I mean it, I don't want to pursue matters." Draco pleaded.
"You heard him." Karkaroff took the opportunity to say. Lucius considered his son's words for a minute, then nodded, but took out the documents for transfer all the same.
"I am obligated to tell you that it will take 3 weeks to finalise these documents, as per protocol." Dumbledore hummed, Fawkes crowing at the tune of his words. There were some more back and forth, either pleasantries or even more signatures. Then, as instructed, Draco sat on the stool to get sorted, which took less than a second. The hat didn't even hesitate and shouted 'Slytherin' even before it touched his head.
Draco recognised the look of pride in his parents' expressions immediately. With utmost formality, Lucius and Narcissa thank them once more, reminding Draco that they could take action 'any time he was ready'.
To Draco's surprise, his parents don't leave directly through the floo, instead exiting through the main door behind him.
"Draco! How was it?" Pansy asked anxiously. Harry instinctively held his hand, but dropped it immediately seeing Draco's father. "Erm, hello, Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy." She mumbled.
"Hello, dear." Narcissa said with a smile. The more unsettling portion was Lucius, who nodded but stayed quiet, his eyes already taking in the whole scene and deep in calculation. "You kids go off to Hogsmeade, we should have a little catching up to do with Severus."
"Yes." Lucius agrees, patting his son's shoulder. "Remember to write often."
"Okay." Draco stayed still, waiting for them to walk down the corridor. "You guys go to Hogsmeade first." He said hurriedly, then walked in the same direction as they left.
Draco immediately ducks down in an obscure spot right beside Snape's office. And, as if he couldn't get more unlucky, Fred and George appear with boisterous laughter.
"Want to eavesdrop into conversation, eh?" Fred asked with a mischievous grin. The twins took turns in finishing each other's sentences.
"It may seem that we have the perfect solution-"
"If only it was a bit more refined-"
"A work in progress-"
"But it works nonetheless! I mean, partially."
Draco pushed away the thought of Hermione snapping disapprovingly at how this would definitely be illegal. Calmly, he said, "Talk me through it."
"Introducing our extendable ears." George said dramatically, while Fred took out a bizarre-looking device. Draco doesn't think twice, sticking one end into a slithering crack below a window pane and holding the other end tightly between his fingers while waddling into the neighbouring classroom. Working quickly but quietly, he managed to probe the extendable ear end past the thick silencing charms.
Their voices were muffled and soft. Draco strained his ears to listen while casting a few unsuccessful charms in hopes to have a better listen. The two Gryffindors knelt beside him, amazed at his resilience and his vast knowledge on spells.
After a few minutes, Draco cast a long spell in a mutter, emitting a loud click from the extendable ears. "Wicked." Fred and George exclaim in unison, hearing clear audio coming out from their end. "Have fun with that. And teach us how to solve the problem later!"
Draco was thankful for the quiet after they had left, leaving him alone in his thoughts. Casting another silencing charm around himself, he listened in.
"-it's good that Draco has friends here. He would do better in Hogwarts." Said a voice that was distinctly his mother's.
"Draco, Draco, Draco, can we get on to the more important matters?" The annoyed voice boomed through the extendable ears, clearly Karkaroff's. A sound that Draco could only imagine being his body hitting against a wall was heard, followed by his mother's uncontrolled anger.
"I trusted you with my son! How many times have I told you to watch out for him, keep an eye out for him because we don't trust Krum? Even before that, how did you deal with the fact that he was being bullied in school! Do you know how much it hurts when your son doesn't tell you these things while you have to infer them for yourself!" Between her words, distinct grunts and sounds of flesh hitting flesh were rather clear. "And now, my son, your student, was beaten and nearly raped, but you don't care! You don't even want to punish your star student because of pride and some useless tournament, nothing! You'd be sure that Viktor Krum will be on his knees begging for death the second Draco changes his mind!"
"Lucius, control your wife." Karkaroff spat.
"She's my wife, not an animal. And I assure you, she has a perfectly functional motor and cognitive systems." He said. "Besides, she is right."
"You could leave, you know. No one is interested in what you have to say here." Draco's father added.
"The mark, it's getting darker, Lucius." The headmaster said grimly.
"We can see that for ourselves, thank you for your blatantly obvious input." Snape, who has been quiet thus far, drawled.
"You would be stupid to dismiss that." He snapped, much more desperate this time. "It's happening again, like before, and soon neither you nor anyone else will be able to deny it... You don't fool me, you are scared. Admit it!"
"You, unlike us, have shown your disloyalty. We have nothing to fear, but can you say the same for yourself?"
"How stupid can you be, your lives are on the line. Your precious son's life will be on the line."
"Seeing as we have known each other for years, I suggest you retire immediately and run, use a Fidelius charm if you must." Draco's father said calmly. "But don't you dare bring my son into conversation as a threat."
"See it as you will. Severus, I look forward to speaking with you, alone." Karkaroff said, swinging the door open and slamming it shut. His footsteps echoed down the corridor while Draco stuck himself to the wall, concealing himself in the shadows while he stormed past.
"I really thought Draco was your nephew or cousin." Snape sighed. Draco pictured him pinching the bridge of his nose. "He resembles you in too many ways, now that I think about it..."
"He cannot take the same path as I did." His father said. "It's good that he's dating Harry Potter now, which means he's less likely to." Draco jumped in slight surprise, but took into account that his father was always good at observing people. "The kid, is he trustable?"
"He's horrible to teach, but a decent human." Snape admitted. "Draco is doing better."
"Sev, if you want to, we would like you to be his godfather." Narcissa said. "You were meant to, just because of the war- and you know what happened to the Avery child- we had to keep Draco a secret."
"I would be honoured to." Draco smiled at that reply. "Lucius, Narcissa, be careful."
"Take care as well, Severus."