Death Eaters Daughter Part Two

Two Hundred Fourty Three

Dumbledore's office looked peaceful this late at night, but the Professor was anything but
My dad was called in by Madame Pomfrey's patronus, she sent it off to Dumbledore first and then to him
He showed up almost immediately, I was still laying on the ground recovering from the poison's trauma when he ran in
He traveled by floo since he couldn't apparate inside Hogwart's barrier, he had floo powder all over his hands when he went to hold me
I stayed with my head on his chest until Dumbledore responded with his own Phoenix patronus
He demanded I was brought to him at once, my group included
My dad held me at his side the entire walk there, occasionally asking if I needed to take a minute which I took him up on whenever he stopped walking
My back was healed and so was my head but my problem was the sleeping potion
The antidote nullified the poison and most of the drought but I found myself swaying while we walked
I had to keep shaking my head to keep my eyes from closing

The Professor had five chairs placed in front of his desk, McGonagall was in her sleepwear standing beside him
She looked at me with so much concern, everyone in the room did
I didn't have the energy to shut off emotions so I just suffered through them
"I'm sorry to bring you up here so soon but I need to know what happened while it's still fresh in your mind" he said
His Phoenix perched itself onto my lap, typical of the bird whenever I found myself here

Where do I begin
"Uhm" I said shaking my head "I fell from the stairs near Professor Trewlaney's room, I broke my back and got a concussion"
The look on my dad's face made me wish he didn't have a daughter like me
He always goes through so much on his own, I just keep adding more to his stress

"Continue" he said
I noticed his hand was crippled, I hadn't noticed that all year but he's been out more than in his office
Harry told me they've been doing a lot of research together, I wonder if that happened with he was with him

"Madame Pomfrey left me a second sleeping drought for when I woke up in the middle of the night...see I'm her problem child I'm there a lot so I knew the drill" I tried making light of the situation but my humor went nowhere
Everyone in the room was quiet, I wished someone else could speak for me I was having a hard time focusing but only I knew this portion of the story
"I woke up and saw someone sitting next to me"

"Who was it?" Dumbledore asked

I hesitated
I looked to my right and saw my dad waiting for my answer, Harry and Ron looked at me like they knew who it was. But they didn't
Only Hermione truly knew, she knew who stayed with me at night recently
She knew the only other person I would trust fully to be near me when I was recovering
"Draco"

Harry and Ron tensed up, their eyes turned molted
"But he didn't do anything" I said too quickly

"Why was he there?" The professor asked all the wrong questions to my group, I wish he let me talk to him by myself

"I assumed to comfort me"

"Why would you assume that?"
I hesitated
Hermione squeezed my leg in reassurance but I shook my head

"Cora" my dad said with pity "is there something going on?"

I took a deep breath, readying myself for their disappointment
"He stayed with me in the hospital recently, when I was uhm...after I almost bled to death"
I didn't feel shame saying my best friend and the love of my life was caring for me, I felt shame in the looks my close guy friends gave me, along with my dad

"So it was Draco who poisoned you?"
McGonagall let out a gasp, she wasn't aware of my reason for being here so late it seemed

"No he wouldn't have done that" I was quick to defend him

"Are you aware that we've had to keep a close eye on him this year?" I hated the look Dumbledore gave me the most

"You hear a rumor of him being a death eater and just act on it? What about the rumor of Blaise trying to kill me? Harry said that only earlier today but somehow I was poisoned right after my accident on the stairs"

"Draco has been missing classes and distancing himself. Signs we have learned to recognize as something bigger" he responded

"We've been looking into Mr.Zambini as well" McGonagall said "that's why I left quickly in the hospital I went to tell the Headmaster your concerns"

"Draco didn't do anything wrong"

"Right now we only have what you said to go off of. He's going to be called into my office for questioning after you leave"

I stood up, it took all I had but I managed
"He didn't do ANYTHING"

"Who did?" He questioned

I looked to my friends for their answer
They had a map
They will tell the truth

"Draco has been suspicious this year" Harry added

"Oh fuck you" I said shaking "you said you saw Blaise on that fucking map he clearly used Polyjuice to transform into Draco. Someone should be checking on him to be sure he's ok"

"Which map?"

"The maraurder's?" My dad asked

"Yeah his name was next to Cora's" Ron said "we hurried over when we saw that"

"Hermione you were the one who gave her the antidote, how did you know to use it?"

"I was given a tip from Draco, he said to keep an eye on Cora and keep the antidote on me. He was afraid someone was going to hurt her"
I could have kissed her, she was helping me defend him

"So Draco knew about an attempt on her life and didn't say anything to a Professor?" My dad added

"If he really cared he would have told Dumbledore" Harry said reiterating his point

"He cares enough to mention it to someone who's always with me" I said feeling so much rage
"He loves me and I love him, he has nothing to do with what Blaise did"

"We will be sure to call both of them in after you leave, along with their head of house. Cora I'm sorry for what you went through, you may go to your common room with your friends. You must be tired"

I picked my head off of my dad's shoulder that I didn't even realize I was leaning on
"What's going to happen? Both of them need to be expelled for this my daughter isn't safe with those two running around" my dad said
I knew he was trying to be helpful but it felt like he was making it worse

"No don't expel Draco, he's innocent"

"They both are until proven guilty" Dumbledore said "I will be sure they are fully checked out and if I deem them to be dangerous then I will expel them both"