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Chapter 99 – Like a Light!!
Lucius was furious.
If the room hadn't been full of professors, portraits, and his own wife, he would have absolutely cracked Draco on the head with his cane.
What kind of broken, useless child was this?
He had strutted in planning to defend Draco, punish Darren, and appear dignified.
But now?
After learning Darren's real name?
Lucius felt as if someone had yanked the rug out from under him in front of the entire wizarding world.
How on earth was he supposed to walk back his earlier threats?
He turned toward Darren—originally just to take a closer look.
But the more Lucius looked, the more stunned he became.
This child…
No wonder every professor liked him.
No wonder he was already forming influence even as a first-year.
A Slytherin, but adored by multiple Houses.
Charismatic.
Sharp.
Self-sacrificing.
Charming without trying.
It was the perfect combination of everything a future leader should have.
It was… potential—the good kind, the Malfoy kind.
His kind.
Not appearance—no, Darren's face was far too gentle, far too beautiful. That was Lily's influence, unmistakable even after all these years.
He remembered little of Lily's face now, but red hair and green eyes, a soft beauty—those were facts every old pure-blood family remembered.
Darren had her softness but tempered by Malfoy elegance.
His green eyes were too bright, too piercing. The kind of eyes that would make the world kneel.
Lucius felt something bloom painfully in his chest.
This is a born Malfoy.
His gaze slid to Draco.
And his soul cried.
How did Draco inherit nothing?
Not his sharp mind.
Not his cunning.
Not even his cheekbones.
How incredible would Darren be if he were the child of both him and Narcissa?
Lucius grit his teeth hard enough to hurt and smiled stiffly at Dumbledore.
"Ah… yes. Narcissa is right. There is no need to escalate the matter so seriously. Draco—apologize."
He shoved Draco forward.
Draco staggered, bewildered, indignant.
Apologize??
Him??
But he called his parents here to humiliate Darren! Not to grovel!
Narcissa stepped closer, voice smooth and warm as honey—yet laced with steel.
"Yes. Draco, I raised you to be polite. How could you behave so poorly toward your classmates?"
She said it calmly, but her eyes never left Darren.
Her heart had nearly burst the moment she recognized him.
That face—
The face she had once carried through alleys and rivers, pale with exhaustion, trembling with fear yet still urging her to live.
She would never, not even in death, forget those green eyes and that voice:
"You go first… I'll be fine…"
He had survived.
He was alive.
And standing before her.
A wave of emotions crashed through her—relief, disbelief, a fierce maternal ache she hadn't felt since Draco was small.
But she buried it instantly.
She couldn't expose him.
Not now. Not ever.
Lucius had been asking questions lately about nobles with "children outside their marriages."
He had been trying to find a way to legitimize an illegitimate heir.
He nust be having an affair.
Lucius had faded to her.
He probably had an illegitimate child outside.
So can he still listen to her and take good care of the child?
He can't!
But Narcissa couldn't risk it.
If Lucius saw Darren as leverage…
If other nobles saw it…
If Voldemort discovered it…
Darren would be devoured whole.
No.
She would protect him—from everyone, including Lucius.
She cooled her expression, watching like an uninterested aristocrat, even as her heart hammered wildly.
"Draco," she said softly, "apologize."
Draco swallowed.
"S-sorry…"
He looked humiliated beyond belief.
The Weasley, the Mudblood, and Longbottom were all watching.
They'd remember this forever.
He was going to explode.
His ears were red. His cheeks puffed. He looked like a small blond teapot about to boil over.
Darren watched him with harmless curiosity.
He wasn't worried.
Lucius would never actually expel him—not now that he knew the truth.
A pure-blood heir with an unassailable public identity and the Potter name as cover?
A son who could switch sides depending on advantage?
Lucius could play the righteous man or the loyal Death Eater—whichever benefited him more.
Darren was the perfect insurance policy.
Draco apologizing wasn't for justice.
It was Lucius's attempt to curry favor.
But the "Holy Father System" required Darren to escalate, so…
Darren turned to Dumbledore, eyes full of hesitant sorrow.
"Professor… I don't know if I should accept Malfoy's apology," he whispered. "I don't feel sincerity. And I'm afraid he'll continue hurting other students."
His shoulders slumped.
"And if that happens… I'm worried I'll act again. Maybe even worse. So… perhaps it's better if you let me leave Hogwarts."
He looked like a martyr ready to sacrifice himself to protect everyone else.
"I don't want to make trouble. I don't want the professors and my classmates to worry. I really… don't."
Light seemed to gather around him.
Pure.
Genuine.
Selfless.
He stood there like a flame in the darkness—soft, trembling, but bright.
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[Ding. Father Points +50]
[Ding. Father Points +80]
[Ding. Father Points +70]
[Ding…]
The entire room glowed with admiration.
Darren Porter was blinding.
Like a light.
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