The Siren's Call (A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction)

176. Professor Granger

The halls of Hogwarts seemed eerily quiet as Dioleh stepped through the front door. A large amount of the damage from the battle seemed mended but as Dioleh stopped by a large tapestry, her eyes shifted to the blank wall across. Approaching it, Dioleh crossed back and forth three times. Turning back, she found herself faced with a door. Laying her hand on the handle, Dioleh opened the door and stepped inside. The walls of the room were scorched and ashes covered the entire flooring. The library she had requested was nowhere in sight. With a small sigh, Dioleh turned toward the door and closed it behind her. As she stepped away toward the Headmistress' office, she turned back to see that the door had faded into nothing.

The golden gargoyle before McGonagall's office glittered in the warm afternoon light as Dioleh approached. "Amethyst," Dioleh said. The gargoyle sprang aside and soon Dioleh was climbing the spiral stairs to the door. Soft voices sounded from inside. Dioleh quickly knocked to avoid eavesdropping.

"Come in," the crisp voice of McGonagall called. Opening the door, Dioleh was shocked to see Draco sitting in a chair opposite her. His hair had grown out slightly and a faint beard has grown along his chin. "Ms. Granger," McGonagall said with a small smile. "It is delightful to see you, my dear. What can I do for you?"

"Uh, right," Dioleh said, tearing her eyes away from Draco who was taking a sip from his tea and didn't seem to be listening. "I wanted to speak with you about the teaching position. I saw the ad you put in the Prophet."

"Ah, yes," McGonagall said. "You must excuse me, Mr. Malfoy, but I need to ensure that the students' minds are as looked after as the school building."

"Not to worry, Professor McGonagall," he replied kindly. Getting to his feet, he asked, "Enjoy your holiday, Dioleh?"

"Very much," she replied. "See you at the Three Broomsticks later?"

"Wherever you wish, love," he said with a grin. Biting back a smile, Dioleh took Draco's vacated seat.

"Now," McGonagall began crisply. "Usually Hogwarts has a policy of not allowing students just out of school to teach, but considering the past year you have lived, I believe you are more than qualified. I shall see who else applies and get back to you shortly."

"Thank you, Professor," Dioleh said.

⥖✦✧⦽✧✦⥗

The welcome cool of the Three Broomsticks greeted Dioleh as she stepped inside and headed for her and Draco's normal table. "Hey, Dray," Dioleh said with a smile. "How are you?"

"Busy," he replied with a slightly weary smile. "But I enjoy what I do, so for once it's a good kind of tired."

"Yeah, I read about you in the paper," Dioleh remarked as one of the employees set a bottle of butterbeer beside her. "Thank you."

"Anything interesting?" Draco asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I didn't catch the author's name, but I'm pretty sure their article was just them fawning over you," Dioleh remarked with a teasing grin. Draco laughed, covering his mouth to try and hide it. "I'm proud of you, though. You're doing a lot to help people. You've certainly done a good job of turning public opinion of you from cowardly Death Eater to charitable philanthropist."

Leaning forward, Draco countered, "And what about you?"

"McGonagall's going to get back to me about the Defence Against the Dark Arts position," Dioleh explained. "She said she thought I was qualified."

"Well, I think you'd be a brilliant teacher," Draco admitted.

"Thanks," Dioleh replied, blushing slightly. "So, what's next for you?"

"Well, once England has been rebuilt, I was going to focus more on the kids," Draco admitted. "I've been working with the Ministry and Kingsley has allowed me to take custody of the boys who didn't have anyone else. The kids that had other relatives and the girls are with me the first half of every weekday."

"What do you do with them?" Dioleh asked.

"Well, we spent the first week just getting to know each other and just having fun, but then I told them my story," Draco explained. "We spend some time talking about what was wrong with our parent's beliefs, but most of it I'm just trying to show them that I really do care about them and that I'm not just trying to reform them."

"Yeah," Dioleh said softly. "How are they responding?"

With a small sigh, Draco admitted, "Depends. Some of them never really agreed with their parents to begin with, and then there are the ones who are good kids that just have biases. But the hardest are those who fully believe in their parents and are bitter about having them taken away. I don't know how much I can do for them."

"I think it's brave of you to take this on, though, Dray," Dioleh said gently, taking his hand in hers across the table. "I know it can't be easy on you."

Rubbing his thumb against her hand, he said, "There are rewarding moments. I had a boy come out to the kitchen while I was going through some papers last night. He seemed really upset so I asked him what was wrong. He didn't really answer me but he just gave me a hug and started crying. He wasn't upset but he seemed just...overwhelmed like he had finally realized he was away from his old life."

"Aw," Dioleh said with a warm smile. "What's his name?"

"Caleb Greyback," Draco explained. Dioleh's heart clenched slightly at the name, but she quickly recovered.

"I didn't know he had a son," Dioleh admitted quietly. "Is he..."

"No," Draco replied. "His dad didn't want him involved in the war so he refused to let anyone bite him."

"Who knew," Dioleh remarked. "Greyback being a half-decent father."

"Trust me," Draco replied grimly, "he left Caleb with enough damage. He has pretty bad panic attacks every full moon."

"How old is he?" Dioleh asked.

"Seven," Draco explained sadly.

"How many are there?"

"Ten," he said. "Five are living with me, two live with their relatives, and three live in a foster home."

"Who's watching them now?" Dioleh asked with a small frown.

Slightly awkwardly, he admitted, "I actually asked my Aunt Andromeda to help me take care of them. I figured it would be a good chance to get to know one another finally. I leave at about noon every day to take care of work stuff and she takes care of them while I'm gone. It'll be easier when Hogwarts starts. Five of the ten are going back, three of the five living with me, so it'll be a lot easier with just two full time."

"Well, I for one, am very proud of you, Dray." Draco smiled, continuing to run his thumb against her hand.