Half-Dimension

36

"Lord Malfoy," Tom spoke, his words were calm, collected, and had a tinge of coldness in them despite the standardized warmth that was echoing through it. Lucius knew the other well enough to realize that his Father was really about to do something he would regret, and Tom was going to warn him against going further in one of the most polite ways possible. It was something that was somewhat frustrating with Tom. He gave a warning first, before anything more, and then if one decided to go against that warning...well there was little anyone could do. Furthermore, this was a rather precarious situation, something he was sure that his Father realized quite effectively.

Normally, Lucius did place quite a bit of pride in his Father's accomplishments as a wizard, even he himself was quite powerful in his own rights, but Lucius was also not completely stupid. His father would fail in a fight against Tom, as would he. There was little question about who was more powerful. Sure, Tom may be a halfblood, but for all that he took after his father in appearance, he took after his mother in magic. Halfbloods were known to be either extremely powerful, or...not so powerful, but it really just depended upon parenting, and how stkrongly they related to the magical family ties, and not to mention Tom was of the Slytherin family. An extremely ancient, extremely powerful, and extremely talented bloodline. Furthermore, he had the benefit of having Draco protective, clearly so much so that he would attack anyone who tried to take Tom away from him, or him away from Tom. The situation was incredibly dangeorus.

"What is going on?" Abraxas questioned, turning towards Lucius. Lucius glanced towards Severus, not sure he really wanted to answer that question, particularly since he had no idea himself. Luckily, maybe, Tom seemed to desire to intervene, so he did. The other had little in the way of conventions after all.

"Lord Malfoy, they don't know what is going on, perhaps all of the shock and excitement has worn their memory thing, hmm?" Tom turned to look towards them. Abraxas paid little attention to the Slytherin Lord-granted he was not aware that it was the Slytherin Lord, but that was hardly important. Tom may feel slighted, and that was dangerous as well, particularly with Draco the way that he was.

"I am afraid Tom is right, Father," Lucius said simply. "I wasn't sure what was going on. We also failed to figure out what it is that Draco could present as. We failed on multiple accounts, well, I failed, that is." He admitted softly. He knew Abraxas was not going to be pleased at this information, but given their situation, he doubted that he would see recompense for the current moment. It would be done after the transition finished, he knew he would be punished then.

"Well tell me what you do know." Abraxas hissed. Lucius took a deep breath, making a slight jerked head motion towards Tom to keep him quiet, or at least, hoping to keep him quiet.

"Well, it was easy and simple at first. Draco has been complaining of headaches, well, not complaining but it is obvious he has been getting them. He also comes back from the dueling club that he has recently become a part of irritated and frustrated. However, we thought that this was simply the side-effects of long nights, as he has not been sleeping well, and being subjected to the Potters and their rag team of idiots. It was pretty clear this afternoon that was not the case. Severus and I tried to convince him to see Madam Pomfrey, but he refused. Things got heated and all of a sudden Draco was lashing out. We tried to contain it but..." Lucius shook his head. "Either way, I sent for someone to get Tom, he was supposed to be in the castle today, and he would have better luck helping should Draco completely lose it without harming him. Then...he started transitioning. Draco refused to leave Tom's side. In all honesty, I do not know that it would have been good without Tom there. He managed to calm Draco down, and brought him to the medical wing rather promptly."

"I see," Abraxas said, his voice deceptively gentle. Lucius knew, though, that he was unhappy.

"Either way, it is almost impossible to get Draco away from him now. It would be bad for Draco, beyond anything else."

"I sort of figured that myself, but thank you for the clarification, Lucius,"

"Mister Malfoy, if I may," Severus cut in, gently angling himself towards the Pureblood. "It could be a far more dire situation. Draco had barely returned from classes. In which case, he would have been surrounded by other people, Gryffindors especially which I know you know are not to be trusted with anything as delicate as this. Furthermore, Draco and Tom have met on occasion before, ever so often, considering Tom does come to the school to help Slughorn at least every couple of weeks. The two get along quite well. At the very least, it is someone that Draco knows, and gets along with, that is helping him. It would have been far worse if, say, the Potters were the ones in charge of trying to help him." Abraxas blanched at that, and Lucius had to say, his Mate had quite a way with words. "It had been a rather close call, as it were." He added on.

"Lord Malfoy, if I may interject for a slight second before Dumbledore comes bursting through that door again." Tom said, his voice coated in thin politeness. Abraxas turned back to the Alpha. "I must admit, I admire your care for you son," He said simply, letting his fingers trail through Draco's hair, forcing Abraxas to watch as Draco sighed contentedly. "However, I do not so much care for your attitude towards my person. After all, I have aided your eldest multiple times, and on multiple occasions have I ensured his success, in various endeavors. Of course, I doubt he would have informed you of these, or at least, would not have specified where the help came from, but as it were, it is unwise in general to anger someone whom you have your entire house in debt to, do you not think? So I would appreciate it if you could perhaps go and handle Dumbledore for the moment. He is irksome, and I would rather not have to deal with it, the last time Draco here almost clawed his eyes out. I doubt anyone wants to deal with that sort of aftermath." Lucius watched as his Father seemed to turn from anger, to shock, to some relief, to surprise. The Malfoy Patriarch did not respond in kind to the threat, as they all knew it was not the time, merely turning on his heel to do as Tom had asked.