The Dragon's Kitten

23 - Separation

It was a troubling time. Troubling for all the wrong reasons actually. Since Harry had refused to go with Dumbledore in the beginning he hadn't been able to get Slughorn back to Hogwarts. Since he hadn't gotten Slughorn back he hadn't been able to get that memory he wanted.

Honestly it wasn't like Dumbledore needed the memory to know what he was in possession of. He knew a lot more than he let people believe because knowledge was power. He wouldn't be feared by Voldemort if he didn't have power. Dumbledore knew all of this. He knew that Harry even had a fraction of Voldemort's soul inside of him. An unintended horcrux.

"You called?"

"Yes indeed. We will just wait for Minerva." Dumbledore smiled.

"I'm right here Albus." McGonagall sighed.

"It seems you are. Very well have a seat." Dumbledore gestured to the chairs by his desk.

Snape and McGonagall frowned before taking a seat. They listened to Dumbledore drone on about his ruined plans. Then he complained about the current state of things. McGonagall and Snape were both rather unbothered by the events of the last term and the Christmas holidays. Dumbledore on the other hand was the polar opposite.

"... We need to be prepared. I fear what has been happening is all part of HIS plans. As such I've taken measures to assure the safety of everyone here." Dumbledore smiled.

He was a bit too pleased with himself and it made Snape even more uncomfortable. Snape knew all of Voldemort's plans as such, so did Dumbledore. They both knew that the events over the past few months had nothing to do with Voldemort. In fact the events had completely stopped Draco from fulfilling his duties.

Snape wasn't sure how much of this McGonagall knew. He was still frightened of her and couldn't bring himself to object against Dumbledore in case she agreed. McGonagall on the other hand was more curious about the "measures" Dumbledore had taken. She knew that Draco Malfoy had no intention of hurting Harry Potter in the name of Voldemort.

McGonagall knew this like she knew most things. She observed and listened. To her nothing about the past few months said that Harry was in danger. It was quite the opposite actually. Harry was happy and comfortable and Draco was happy too. She saw it on their faces whenever Draco held Harry's hand.

"What are your plans Albus?" McGonagall frowned.

Dumbledore looked at Snape for a moment and smiled. "Don't worry Minerva. You and Severus can get back to class. I just wanted to give you a heads up so you're not caught completely off guard. We need things to go back to normal and I've made sure that they will. You Know Who will not win this round."

Snape and McGonagall frowned at each other and turned back to Dumbledore. Neither said anything for different reasons. Both of them disagreed with Dumbledore's assessment of the situation. They left his office with a lot more questions as both believed that the other agreed with Dumbledore.

Over the next few days they both realized what Dumbledore had done. Harry and Draco appeared to get more miserable each day. They no longer sat together at lunch which caused concern in both professors albeit for different reasons and different students. Snape was worried about Draco while McGonagall's concern was over Harry.

McGonagall had been the first to see it. She had wanted to talk to Harry and had been on her way to the Gryffindor Tower to look for Harry. That's when she found them. Harry was curled up in Draco's lap crying out in the open. The fact that they were on the floor outside of the common room raised questions.

"Kitten, please calm down." Draco sighed.

McGonagall took advantage of the fact that she hadn't been spotted. She waited and listened trying to find some answers to the questions she had. Although seeing Harry like that had raised a few more questions she planned on addressing later.