Custody (REDRAFTED- NEW ONE IS POSTED)

Chapter Ten

The tail wasn’t the only change. Poking from the mess of white blond hair were two cat ears, the same white blond as his hair and tail. Ron couldn’t stifle his laughter any longer, doubling over to hold his stomach.

“Yes this is all so hilarious Weasley.” Draco drawled, crossing his arms and leaning back against a pillow. His tail twitched in agitation making Ron laugh even harder. Hermione tried to reprimand him but she too started laughing. Harry was smiling in amusement but he couldn’t bring himself to laugh when Draco looked so upset.

“How did… um…” Hermione put her hands on top of her head, mimicking cat ears.

“It seems that a bit of something like polyjuice potion was injected into his system. However, it seems like there was the blood of a magical creature in it. We’ve tried to undo the effects but whoever injected this potion into him tampered with the potion. You informed us of the attack that occurred on Mr. Malfoy. Has there been anyone else who may have gotten this potion into their system?”

“No.” Harry shifted his weight to lean against the wall by Draco. “But if the polyjuice potion was tampered with, do you know how to fix it? I thought that potion reversals were easy to do.”

“Normally they are. If it had just been a quick mix-up, the DNA of a magical creature instead of a wizards and that were the only problem, Mr. Malfoy would have been fixed up by now. But we have never seen polyjuice potion tampered like this. And injected.”

“Can you fix this or not?” Draco asked impatiently, gesturing to his tail which was starting to flick more. Grabbing a blanket, he pulled it over himself to cover his lap and tail.

“At the current time, no.” The healer was starting to get nervous from all the questions and the irritated state Draco was in. This seemed to piss Draco off more but he didn’t say anything.

“Do you know which magical creature’s blood Draco was injected with?” Hermione asked, finally able to stop laughing.

“No. There are very few magical creatures with features that he has developed. There is also the possibility that he could already have creature blood-”

“No.” Draco scowled, glaring at them. “I’m a pureblood. My family is one of the oldest pureblood lines. That is common knowledge.”

“Draco.” Hermione sat down at the edge of the bed, watching him carefully. “Most old pureblood families have mixed with magical creatures at some point. In some of the early days, many of the powerful families started mixing with magical creatures such as veela and werewolves. Because only high class families did this, half and half wizards were treated almost as royalty.”

“Are you telling me I’m some sort of fucking cat monster?”

Hermione started talking to him quietly, trying to calm him down. While she did that, Harry started talking to the healer. He was trying to ignore the weird tug at his chest when Hermione had leaned close to Draco and put her hand on his knee.

“We aren’t sure if there will be any negative effects to his health due to the lack of experience with this sort of potion. We advise that someone keeps a close eye on him. We also advise that he stays inside and away from people.” The healer seemed to get even more nervous while talking to Harry.

“When will he be released?”

There was a sharp slap in the background. Ron had poked at Draco’s ears earning a hard hit on the arm. They started bickering, leaving Hermione to settle the argument. Harry rolled his eyes at them.

“He can be discharged now. Would you like to use one of the fireplaces to leave a message to who he is living with or a loved one?”

“He’s living with me.”

The healer blushed and nodded. “I will send in the bill and an extra pair of clothes for him.” She hurried out of the room. Harry sat down on the edge of the bed, next to Hermione.

“You can come home but you’re grounded.”

This made Ron laugh, earning another smack. Harry reached out and poked his tail, causing Draco to hiss at him. The three burst into a round of giggles as Draco pouted. After a minute, even he couldn’t stop a small smile.

The healer, true to her word, had sent in the clothes and the bill. Ron winced at the cost but Draco didn’t seem the least bit bothered by it. The others left the room, leaving him to change.

“I can look for any information about what Draco has turned into.” Hermione was already running thoughts through her head, trying to figure it out. “I know of a few MCs that have catlike features but-”

“Hermione!” Ron and Harry yelled in unison, distracting her. “This can all be figured out later. Teddy can stay with Molly and Arthur for a little bit while we figure all this out.”

“And you know you shouldn’t be stressing out.” Ron said, pulling her close to him. Harry awkwardly shifted, looking down the hall. He didn’t have to third wheel for very long. The door swept open revealing the very pissed of Malfoy heir. His ears were lowered slightly. His light colored tail was fluffy enough to be a feather duster and it was long enough to brush the ground if he wasn’t careful. Ron burst into another round of laughter. Hermione rolled her eyes and smiled.

“Cute kitten.” Harry smirked.

Draco went red and shoved at his shoulder. “Shut up Potter.”

Ron and Hermione looked at each other knowingly as the other two bickered on their way out of the hospital.