Warnings: spoilers for books 1-5 just to be safe. Also there will be NO spoilers for book 6. Eventual non-con. OOC for most characters, as I'm not too good at writing Snape or Dumbledore to well.

AN: Thanks to Artificer for beta' ing this for me.

Chapter 8

Albus Dumbledore sat in his office, fuming. He was the greatest wizard of this age, perhaps the greatest ever to have lived since Godric Gryffindor. He founded the Order of the Phoenix. Aside from the Boy-Who-Lived, Voldemort was afraid of no one but him. He was Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. He could have been Minister of Magic, but declined. He defeated Grindelwald and discovered the twelve uses of dragon blood for Merlin's sake.

There wasn't anything he couldn't do. He had a plan, oh yes he did. It would just take time. Time he hadn't planned on needing, but would have to spend nonetheless.

Professor Dumbledore grinned wickedly as he formulated his plan. He had best begin immediately. He stood and walked over to one of his many storage cupboards. He removed a potion vial and then returned to his desk. He set the vial down carefully before calling for a house elf.

He smiled after the sound of a crack. "Ah, Dobby. Just the elf I wanted to see," Dumbledore said with fake cheerfulness.

The little green elf looked at the headmaster with wide hopeful eyes. "Master has job for Dobby? Dobby help Master. What is Master needing?"

"Dobby, Harry Potter is your friend, isn't he?"

Dobby nodded frantically. "Oh yes. Harry Potter is great wizard. Harry Potter freed Dobby from his old master. Harry Potter says he's Dobby's friend, sir."

Dumbledore's smiled grew wider. "So if I were to tell you that Harry's in danger and he needed your help you would help him wouldn't you?"

Dobby clasped his hands together in horror when the Headmaster said that Harry was in danger. "Who hurt Harry Potter? Dobby help. Dobby can save Harry Potter, sir. Tell Dobby. Dobby won't let Harry Potter be hurt."

"That's wonderful Dobby. I'm glad Harry has you to protect him from danger. Actually, having been a house elf to the Malfoy family, I'm sure you know that Draco Malfoy is part-Veela."

Dobby bobbed his head up and down in agreement. He knew about the Malfoy's bloodlines. He knew how much they hid the fact that they weren't really as pureblooded as they claimed.

"He's selected Harry as his mate and I'm concerned about that. You know how the Malfoy family feels about Harry Potter. Why, wasn't it Lucius Malfoy who let He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named'sdiary into Hogwarts?"

Dobby's eyes widened once more at the thought of something happening to his favorite wizard.

"If I remember correctly, Veela must bond with their mate as soon as possible or they will both go insane and then die. I'm afraid that Draco may not be able to get over his hatred of Harry. I've tried to see Harry, but Draco keeps him locked away from everyone. Perhaps if there was a way I could get to him, I could help Harry," Dumbledore said sadly.

Dobby began jumping up and down in excitement, clasping his hands. "Dobby can! Dobby can! Headmaster sir, Dobby can get to Harry Potter. Dobby help Harry Potter like Harry Potter help Dobby. What Dobby do sir?"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled with satisfaction as he picked up the vial off his desk and handed it over to the house elf. "Excellent Dobby. I knew I count on you. Remember this is all for Harry. You must follow my instructions exactly or we will have failed to protect Harry."

Dobby nodded his frantically once more. "Dobby will, sir. Dobby will."

"Good. Here's what you must do…"

It didn't take the Headmaster long to explain to the simple house elf what he needed to do. Once Dobby was gone Dumbledore sat back in his desk and grinned evilly. Well Malfoy, I believe this is checkmate. You'll be out of the picture before you even realize what happened. I'll have my weapon at the final battle and there isn't a thing you'll be able to do about it. Harry will run from you and head straight to me save him once more, Dumbledore thought with conviction.

Harry woke to the sound of soft, trilling music. He recognized it vaguely and tried to see where it was coming from, but, without his glasses, he was reduced to squinting ineffectually. Harry sighed in frustration. He hated not being able to see. It made him nervous to be so vulnerable and exposed.

Harry sat up in the bed. Maybe Malfoy was around and would notice he was awake. Harry had no other choice. He didn't know where he was and he didn't want to walk around in an unfamiliar room. With his luck, Harry doubted he would even be able to make it to the door before Malfoy found him. Never mind trying to master all the moving stairs, he'd never make it anywhere without injuring himself even further.

Just then Harry's stomach growled, reminding him of exactly how long it had been since he'd eaten; his suddenly incessant bladder decided to make itself know as well. Harry was about ready to cry in frustration. He was so engrossed in his morose musings that he failed to notice that the musical trilling was growing louder.

Draco rushed into Harry's bedroom as soon as he heard Fawkes' song growing louder and more insistent. He found an obviously distraught Harry sitting up in bed. Draco approached the bed cautiously, remembering clearly how skittish his mate was at the moment.

"Harry? You all right?" He asked gently.

Harry really wanted to cry, but fiercely suppressed the urge. He needed to stop crumbling like burned paper. "I'm hungry, I gotta use the loo, and I can't see." Harry's voice came out more needy than he had meant it to.

Draco blinked in surprise and then sighed heavily. He really should have remembered that. He was supposed to be taking care of his mate so that he could prove to Harry that he could be trusted.

"There's a temporary spell I can cast that will let you see for approximately eight hours. We can use that until I've asked Sev' to brew the potion needed to permanently correct your eyesight. Or we can just wait for the potion. I still can't believe Madam Pomfrey never bothered to fix them before now. I used to think you just wore those horrid things because you wanted too," Draco explained haughtily, obviously showing his distaste of what he thought of a severe fashion no-no.

Harry flinched unconsciously at Malfoy's forceful nature. "I thought they couldn't be fixed since she never bothered," Harry murmured, unwittingly calming Malfoy's Veela side.

Draco felt like slapping his forehead. He was supposed to be trying to get Harry to get along with him, not make his mate feel even more alienated. Gently, he replied, "Your ribs are still healing. Madam Pomfrey couldn't heal them yesterday because the potion would have interacted badly with the other potions in your system. We should be able to fix your eyes in a few days. Let me help you to the loo and then we can sit in the common room."

Not seeing any other choice, Harry nodded his agreement. Obviously, he was stuck with Malfoy until he could move freely on his own without pain.

Harry flushed red in embarrassment when Malfoy carried him to the loo after casting a weightless charm. He blushed even hotter when Malfoy made no move to leave him in privacy; the blonde simply turned his back and waited. By the time Malfoy set Harry down on the sofa in the common room Harry's entire body was flushed a bright red. He hugged his arms tightly to himself, refusing to look up from the floor. Draco made his way to a small side table, upon which sat some refreshments, pretending not to notice how embarrassed Harry was.

"I had Dobby bring some biscuits and tea. There are things that you need to be made aware of. I know you'll be hard pressed to believe anything I say, but Severus can confirm everything, as well as your wolf. Here, eat this," Draco explained as he offered Harry a plate.

Harry eyed the biscuits warily. He looked quickly between Malfoy and the biscuits, as if he were afraid that Malfoy would snatch them away if he showed any interest in the offered food.

Draco rolled his eyes. "For Merlin's sake Harry, just eat the biscuits!"

Harry snatched a biscuit from the plate and held it close to his chest before he could blink. He still eyed the blurred blob that was Malfoy nervously, but settled down to nibble on the biscuit.

Draco nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Now, I've sent Sev' an owl. He and your werewolf will be down for dinner-"

"Remus. His name is Remus," Harry stated firmly, interrupting the blonde.

Draco gave a sigh of irritation, but didn't comment on the interruption. "They will be down for dinner to make sure you understand what's going on."

Harry didn't interrupt again, but wanted too. He didn't like that Malfoy was implying that he was stupid. Aside from that, anything Malfoy told him couldn't really be trusted, no matter what Malfoy said.

"If you don't sit down and stop that infernal pacing I'll inform Draco to keep Potter under lock and key for the rest of your life," Severus spat as he eyed Remus darkly.

Remus Lupin gave a low growl. "I can't help it. He's my cub. He's my only one. Harry's all I have left, Severus. Everyone else is gone. I couldn't protect them and I can't protect him. I don't know what else to do."

Severus sat on big overstuffed chair. His book lay in his lap forgotten as he was distracted by Remus' pacing. His legs kept warmed by the fire, as he sought to settle his scattered thoughts. Severus could hear the pain in Remus' words. He knew what it was like to want to protect, but unable.

"There is nothing you can do now. You have to trust that Draco will be able to do what you could not. He has managed so far. Have faith that he will continue to do so."

Remus stood still and looked at his mate. "How can you be so sure? How do you know Draco won't treat Harry the same way Lucius treated Claudius?" Remus demanded.

Severus sighed and looked away from Remus. He stared into the fireplace as he remembered that day. The day Draco rescued Potter from those muggles. Severus knew no one would have stood in Draco's way. Draco would have destroyed the entire town to get to Potter.

"Rest assured, Draco will never be like his father. He would not have rescued Potter in the first place," Severus said quietly as he looked to Remus once again. "We will be attending dinner tonight in Draco's rooms. You can check on your precious cub then."