Chapter 1

                                        

                                              
Published: May 25, 2025
Draco was pulled out of his recovery bed by his father. He was weak, spent. His magic was depleted, low.
"Draco... the wolf believes he has found Potter! Come and confirm it and earn some good favor from the Dark Lord."
Draco noted that his father didn't say that he would forgive him. The Dark Lord loved torturing him too much for that. Before Draco left his room, he applied the glamour spells that had shielded his condition for so long.
When Draco walked into the foyer, he recognized Weasley and Granger immediately. His heart beat faster. There was another male on the floor, kneeling. His face was misshapen. Even before his father shoved him to his knees in front of the mystery man, he was sure it was Potter.
"Well, Draco? Is it Potter?" his father growled.
"Tell us, boy, and we'll be rewarded!" Aunt Bella spat.
"You mean I'll be rewarded," Greyback hissed.
While his aunt and father argued with Greyback, Draco stared into Potter's green eyes. Potter blinked as though seeing through his own disguise. Glamours couldn't hide the fear and misery in Draco's eyes. Potter was astonished, but then Draco could see desperation in Potter's eyes. He was pleading, silently, to help him, but he couldn't. It wasn't just his life on the line, now. He lowered his eyes, helpless to save him. He hadn't seen Potter since his failure at the Tower, except for that Dream.
"Silence!" his father spat. "Draco! Is it Potter?"
As much as he wanted to say no, he couldn't risk it. "I don't know."
Greyback snarled, "What do ya mean you don't know?"
"I don't know," he repeated, refusing to look at Potter, again.
"Listen, you coward," his father snarled, grabbing him by the shirt.
"No! Wait! Where did you get that sword!" his aunt shrieked.
His father released him, and Draco fled to his room. He dropped the glamour immediately, revealing his weight loss and scars. Even at school, it was hard to eat, hard to put on weight, despite his condition. He walked over to the small bed and peered down at the rosy-cheeked boy, whose eyes lit up happily when he came closer. He tickled the small infant's tummy, and the boy giggled, already breaking milestone marks. He was special. He was his.
Draco shivered as he felt a small probe on the wards. His father hadn't removed his access, yet. The Dark Lord was testing him with having the ability to escape. He wouldn't dare risk it. However, Draco, unlike his father, had a wand. He checked and found that his former elf, Dobby, was trying to get in.
"Dobby?" he called, and the elf appeared, looking wary. 
"Master Draco?"
"Go! Save Potter and his friends! They're in the basement!"
Dobby left without another word. In for a Knut, in for a galleon, as the saying goes. Potter needed to escape... to win. Potter needed to save them... his son.
A sudden burn on his arm made him shudder and drop to his knees. He knew he had to hide his tiny son, so he pushed the crib into the closet and waited for more punishment.
****
Less than a month later, Draco found Potter again. Crabbe and Goyle made him come with them, and they cornered Potter in the Room of Hidden Things.
"That's my mother's wand, Potter," Draco said, alerting the Chosen One to their presence. His mother told him how Potter had taken her wand and Aunt Bella's.