"Son, wake up!"

Draco woke up to his Mother's worried face. Her urgent words still ringing in his ears.

He sat up in bed, surprised to find himself drenched in sweat. He looked at his Mother and gave her hand a squeeze.

"I'm okay, Mom," he said, trying to reassure her.

She looked at his face searchingly. "You were dreaming. Would you like to tell me about it?"

There was something he needed to remember from his dream, but now was not the time. Not with his Mother about ready to drag him off to a Doctor for a check.

"Just tired, Mom. Nothing to really worry about," he told her again.

"You know that I'm here if you want to talk, Son," said his Mom. She hesitated, "I know that we are still both struggling about your Father's passing. But, we will be okay. We'll get through this."

Draco gave his Mom a quick hug. "I know, Mom."

He didn't dare to tell her about the growing disquiet in his mind. Something that was starting to occupy his mind more than the recent loss of his Father.

The next few days proved to be even more confusing as he started to notice the influx of neighbor's visits. At first, he brushed it off thinking that it was the community's way of commiserating with their family's loss. Strangely though, it did not appear so.

From what he's seeing, it seemed to be his Mother comforting the visitors and not the other way around!

"Mom," he began as his Mother stepped back into the living room after showing one of their elderly neighbors, Mrs. Bates, out.

His Mom looked at him expectantly. "What is it, Son?"

Draco hesitated at first, seeing how his Mother seemed to have aged more these past few months. She and his Dad married young and were together their whole lives. How difficult it must be for her, to have lost her best friend and partner, much more so than he who lost a Dad.

He persisted to ask, however, needing to understand his Mother.

"Mom, please don't take it the wrong way, but, why do you seem to be taking on a lot of trouble for the people coming here? I hope they're not bringing you more problems than you can handle? What is it that they're coming here for?"

His Mom's eyes widened with alarm and she looked away hurriedly to cover it.

"Whatever do you mean, Draco? They're just here to see how we're doing. They're concerned about us," she replied unconvincingly.

His Mother was never good at lying. But, seeing her anxious and upset made him drop the matter for the moment. He reminded himself to be mindful of future visitors, however.

That night, it was him who met an increasingly familiar visitor.

It was the same dream, as always, of him standing on a hill that felt strangely like home. Then, the shadow covering the sky above him, circling a few times, before settling in a rush of wind a few yards away.

Feeling the creature's eyes on him, Draco turned to face it fully. He was unafraid.

"What are you?" he shouted at it. He needed to know why it kept drawing him here.

A deep rumble from the creature that somehow translated to him. And, Draco felt his heart lift in response as he realized...

"Dad?" he said in disbelief.

Then, just as he was starting to recover from his shock, he saw his Mother stepping down from the creature's back!

"Now you know, Draco," she said, coming nearer to embrace him.

"Dad, a Dragon? Is this real?" he clutched at his Mom's hand. His Mom in his dreams? His Dad alive in a Dragon's body? He wasn't sure if he was still sane and he really would prefer not to know.

The Dragon's large green eyes blinked at him as if in reassurance.

His Mother patted his hands. "Your Dad needed to meet you somewhere that you will not feel afraid or threatened. Dreams seemed to be a safe bet."

Another soft rumble from his Dad, the Dragon, and Draco finally laughed in relief and happiness at seeing his Father again.

"Can't we just stay here, then, Mom?" he asked her.

She gave a soft smile as she shook her head. "We are the Dragon family tasked to protect the humans, Son. Millions of years ago, your Dad and I took on human forms so we could be near them. They come to us with their worries and fears and we slay those monsters for them. They are real, Son, and humans need to be protected from them."

Draco leaned over to lay his head on his Dad's neck, the scales tickling him.

"But, why has Dad returned to his Dragon form?" he asked his Mom.

"We go back to our original form once we have used up our energy, Draco. Your Dad took on more than his share of battles so I could be with you longer. You have the best of our worlds, Son. You are both human and dragon and that makes you stronger than both your Father and I combined."

He nodded as he finally understood. His Mother needed him now to take on their family's duty to the world.

Wrapping his arms as best he could around both his parents, Draco replied in a strong, clear voice.

"Your Son says 'Aye', Mother."

#dragon #fiction #youngadult