Creature of Kinds [1/3] - A Draco Malfoy Love (Harry Potter)

1

• October 26, 1995 •

Ever since the Ministry of Magic had begun interfering at Hogwarts, Harry and many other students would train in secret. The Room of Requirement had presented itself to Neville just days ago, the perfect place to go and train privately. Since Dolores Umbridge had taken over the school, Draco, along with many of the other Slytherin students, had been assigned the job of tracking down the rule breakers. All in all, Hogwarts would surely be chaotic this year. 

"I don't care if it's hard to find them," Dolores snapped at Filch, "just find them!"

Filch nodded and scurried off back to his post with two other Slytherin boys. Draco, however, was on his own on this day. He wondered the castle in silence. Similarly to how Harry was once drawn to the Basallisk years ago, Draco followed a strange sense had brought all the way to the entrance of the castle. As he approached the entrance of the Hogwarts, the presence grew in power. Just as he reached the doors, they were forced open by an immense gust of wind mixed with magic. Draco was nearly knocked him off of his feet, his hair whipping against his ears in the breeze.

"Mr. Malfoy, what do you think you're doing?" Professor Snape's voice sounded from behind Draco.

"I didn't do anything," Draco insisted, desperate to prove his innocence to his Head of House.

Before Snape could speak again, someone entered through the massive opened doors of the castle. Or rather, something. First came white fog, like a eerie cloud crept along the surface of the ground before diminishing. Draco watched in fear as this shapeless mist approached, while Snape's jaw hung in disbelief.

The wizards were both frozen in place as the white cloud finally diluted completely into nothing, revealing a completely white wolf. They two might've been afraid, but Snape noticed immediately the limp the wolf walked with and the scarlet, matted fur on it's left side. He turned to Draco and ordered, "go straight to the hospital wing and inform Madame Pomfrey of this incident."

Draco, completely lost for words, was still frozen in place for a moment. "Go," Professor Snape's harsh tone shocked Draco out of his daze and he ran off. His feet seemed to move on their own as he stumbled his way to the hospice wing, just as Snape had ordered.

After warning Pomfrey, Draco sat in the room of empty, white cots and waited. Within minutes, Professor McGonagall and Snape rushed inside with the injured wolf. "She's losing blood, quickly," McGonagall quaked as the nurse laid the wolf out on an empty bed.

Pomfrey's eyes widened as she looked into the wolf's eyes; they waved like a deep ocean, pain dancing across them like a cursed ballroom floor. Pomfrey gasped, "goodness, is this-"

"Yes," McGonagall cut her off with serious eyes. She approached the nurse as she worked her healing magic on the wolf. After just a minute, the blood stopped flowing and Pomfrey sighed. Now she looked to McGonagall, but the old professor only stared down at the wolf as it sleeped peacefully. "She's returned."

Draco, who still sat unnoticed on an empty bed, watched the whole seen go down. Not ten minutes ago, he walked the Hogwarts halls without a single care. It was very difficult to process what was going on. As the nurse began to gentlt wash the clotted blood from the white wolf's fur, Draco srood up and spoke, his voice demanding and mildly nervous, "what's going on?"

Snape whipped around, shocked to find that the Malfoy boy had stuck around in the hospital wing after doing what was asked of him. He rushed over to the boy and snarled in a deathly serious tone, "why are you still here?"

"Because you told me to come here," Draco retorted. The Slytherin boy  raised his voice slightly, "and I want answers; why are we waisting time and potions to heal a wolf?"

Pomfrey looked up with wide eyes, "don't you have any idea who this is?"

"That's enough!" Snape growled over his shoulder, obviously growing flustered. Everyone fell silent and the Professor turned back to Draco, "go back to your common room. Now."

• • •

That night, Draco did not find sleep easily. His curiosity and frustration grew with every minute he laid in his bed. His eyes were glued to the ceiling as his thoughts grew suspicious. "What are they trying to hide?" He muttered to himself quietly, "I ought to tell my father about this."

Although his mouth had spoken it, Draco couldn't help but feel that telling his father wouldn't be a good idea; not yet, at least. Not until he knew more. Don't you have any idea who this is? Pomfrey's words echoed in his head; she'd said 'who', not 'what', which implied to Draco that whatever that wolf was, it was also, somehow, a person.

Finally, when his eyelids refused to stay open any longer, sleep found the young Slytherin boy, and he let it take him.

• October 27, 1995 •

The next day at breakfast, Umbridge made an announcement. "As you all know, the stress that school creates can be very pressing," she started, "but I hope that all of us can still express our excitement for gaining a new student; Jinx Metlock."

After speaking the name, a girl stepped up and stood beside the disliked headmaster. Her full, wavy hair fell over her slender shoulders like a black waterfall, stopping just under her chest. Her skin looked as though it had never seen the light of day. But not even Draco could deny the pure beauty that this girl was.

"Jinx has transferred from another wizarding school, and will be placed with the fifth year students," Umbridge explained in her peppy voice that every student had grown to hate, "congratulations Slytherin, you've gained a new house member."