Hey Guys, this is just an idea I had and I kind of want to make it a full blown story. I'm just posting the first chapter, for now, to see how it's received and if people like it and want me to continue. Thanks xx
Draco
Draco stared at his mother; the last few months seemed to have aged her greatly. Her once youthful face was now ridden with worry lines and deep blue bruises. He felt guilty for not being able to help her but what could he do? He had already been forced to take the dark mark due to fearing the consequences if he didn't. The Dark Lord had even given him a job to prove himself, to make up for his father's failures and if he were to not succeed, his parents would be the ones to suffer, most importantly his mother.
"Draco please you must go with him. You're not safe here."She placed both her hands on his cheeks, and stared directly into his grey eyes. She had told him that she had recently met with his Godfather Severus Snape in Knockturn Alley who had promised to take him to live somewhere safe at least until the Manor was no longer under the authority of the Death Eaters.
"Mother, I can't! How can I leave you alone here!? Father's been stuck in Azkaban all summer, he's in no state to take care of you!" Draco shouted rather more loudly than he had intended, his heart growing heavier by the second.
"Neither are you young man! The Dark Lord has given you a job to do and, as much as it puts you in danger, I fear that if you don't go through with it the outcome may be much worse. Now, Severus has sworn to protect you," Draco shook his head, "and I trust him completely. And in case you have forgotten it is the parents who are supposed to protect their children, not the other way around." She leaned over and kissed his forehead, lingering for a few seconds, knowing that it would be a long time until they saw each other again.
"I'll get the job done mother." His mother looked at him once again, her eyes filled with worry.
"I know sweetheart, now come on, and get your things. Severus will be here soon."
Harry
Harry moved his final bishop 2 squares forward and huffed in defeat. Ron smirked at his best friends mediocre chess skills "queen to C3" he stated in confidence. Harry watched as Ron's white queen chess piece move towards his bishop, already knowing this match would end exactly the same way as all the other matches had that they had played throughout the summer. The queen smashed the bishop other the head, causing the piece to split down the middle and its remnants to fall all across over the board. Ron had Harrys king cornered, "Checkmate again Harry" he laughed.
Harry looked up at Ron with a sigh, "You know Einstein always said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Ron tilted his head in confusion.
"Then what would be the point of practice?"
"Fair point," Harry nodded and stood up from the carpet of the bedroom they had shared whilst at Grimmauld place. Both he and the Weasley's had been taken there from the Burrow for an urgent meeting with the Order, of course, Harry and Ron hadn't been included by order of Mrs Weasley despite their loud and continuous protests. Harry himself even considered pulling out the fact that he owned Grimmauld place now so they had to include, but he later figured that would just be a low blow. Anyway, Dumbledore had come by a few times and had even talked to him which was a huge step up from the year previous.
"Hey losers," Harry and Ron jumped in their spot and turned to see Ginny's fiery red hair and freckled face peeking out from behind the doorway.
"Bloody hell Ginny! Is there something wrong with knocking?" Ron huffed and folded his arms across his chest.
"Oh come on Ron, don't get your knickers in a twist. Anyway, mum wants you two down in the kitchen, apparently, they're gonna fill us in on some Order stuff for once." Harry's eyes widened in curiosity, he looked back at Ron who was already starting to lift himself up off the floor.
"Wonder what it's about," Ron said, brushing the dust off his jeans.
"Well if I knew I'd be telling you wouldn't I," Ginny snapped with a cheeky grin, placing her hands on her hips.
"Shut up Ginny, you know Mum is only letting yo-"
"Will you two stop bickering for once in your lives. It's driving me insane." Harry exclaimed but with a light chuckle still in his tone. Ginny stared at him and gritted her teeth.
"I'd watch that tone if I were you, Potter. Or I won't go so easy next time we play Quidditch." She gave him a wide grin. Harry laughed.
"Bring it on Weasley," with that the three of them exited the upstairs bedroom and headed down to the kitchen where Mrs Weasley was waiting for them, hands on her sides, mimicking Ginny's earlier pose.
"Come on you three. Everyone's waiting." She patted Harry on the back and ushered them all into the kitchen where most members of the Order were sitting along with the other Weasleys. Harry noted that even Snape had decided to make an appearance, sitting at the furthest away end of the kitchen. The two made eye contact for a brief moment before Harry nominated to sit beside Tonks and Ginny.
Opposite Harry, Lupin stood up in his seat and briefly cleared his throat to gather everyone's attention in the room, "Now there are only a few more weeks of summer left before most of you have to head back to Hogwarts"
"Just get on with it would you Lupin, some of us have things to get back to," came Snape's snarly toned voice, his greasy black hair pushed behind his ear on one side to reveal his worn out features. His eyes were notably far more sunken and dark compared to when Harry had seen him last year.
"Yes, yes alright Severus," Lupin scratched his nose. "Dumbledore has instructed that it would be best, with your permission, of course, Harry, that..well erm that Draco Malfoy stays here for a while." Harry's mouth dropped, along with several others in the room.
"What? Why? No way!" No way in hell had Harry planned to spend his last few weeks of summer with Draco Malfoy, especially in his late Godfather's house who had been killed as a result of Malfoy's father and his aunt Bellatrix.
"Harry…please, I cannot disclose why right now but it is completely important that he is kept safe and watched over this year." Lupin looked down at the table and fell back to his seat looking beat.
"What do you mean you can't disclose why!? I have a right to know!" He felt his friend's eyes on him "we all do."
"Actually Potter we are under no obligation to tell you anything." Snape spat.
"Excuse me but last time I checked Sirius left this place to me so I have a right to know who I'm inviting into this house. Come to think of it I don't recall inviting you over." Harry hissed back, maintaining eye contact with Snape despite the urge to look down at his hands.
"Why you lit-"
"Severus!" Lupin raised his voice cutting Snape off who then huffed and leaned back in his seat.
"yes, yes you're right Harry, but I'm asking you to trust Dumbledore on this… to trust me." Harry looked back to Lupin who seemed desperate. He sighed.
"I..I suppose if it's important."
"You got to be joking," Ron said, his mouth still open and eyes in shock. Lupin ignored him and gave a weak smile.
"Thank you, Harry."
Suddenly, there was a loud creek at the end of the room. Turning, Harry noticed Snape was now on his feet, his long black robe covering the majority of his slim figure. "I will bring him tonight. Thank you for the hospitality, Molly." He noted, drifting past Mrs Weasley to the kitchen door, not even lifting his head to glance at Harry or any other individuals in the room.
There was a brief silence for a while until there was the sound of the front door to Grimmauld place clanking shut. Ginny let out a deep breath and turned to her mother who was leaning against a counter. "Well, he's not getting my bed." Tonks laughed and Harry gave a small smile, appreciating any attempt to lift the mood in the room.
"I better get going Molly, as should you Kingsley, we have a meeting with the minister in an hour." Moody got up from his seat along with Kingsley soon after.
Once the majority of people had left, Harry himself got up off his seat, suddenly feeling extremely worn out and tired. Mrs Weasley gave him a warm smile before turning around to face the counter and begin peeling potatoes. Harry looked down at Lupin who was still fixed in his seat.
"Erm I'm sorry for shouting Remus," Harry scratched the back of his neck. Lifting his head, Lupin smiled.
"It's quite alright Harry, Sirius wouldn't have liked it either. I just hope Dumbledore's right on this one." Harry nodded before turning to follow Ron up the stairs who was waiting quietly for him in the doorway.
Draco
Draco stood hesitantly at the front door of 12 Grimmauld Place, hoping to any Gods that it would be someone other than Potter or the Weasleys to open it. Once Snape had told him that this was where he would be staying, he wondered perhaps if it would be worse than his previous living situation. He wasn't sure if he could handle the mental battle of seeing and arguing with Potter every day, especially when he was alone without his fellow Slytherins.
Suddenly, the front door swung open in one loud creak. Draco looked up at the figure in the dim lit hallway, "You're expecting me?" he stood up straighter, hiding his tiredness through his posture.
"Yes, yes, of course, come in Draco. Snape has filled us all in. I cooked you some food, it's on the kitchen table. I hope you like pie." The figure revealed itself to be a short, frumpy woman with bright auburn hair, Weasley's mother, Draco assumed. She ushered him into the house, closing the front door behind him.
"Erm yes. Thank you…"
"Molly, Molly Weasley. But please, Molly is just fine. How was your trip? You don't live too far from what I remember, Wiltshire isn't it? Still, I imagine on brooms, 2 hours is a lot." As they entered the kitchen she diverted to the left and began washing some dishes left on the side. Draco took a seat at the dinner table and grabbed a pie of chicken pie which had been left for him.
"Oh well, actually Snape apparated me here." He took a bite.
"Snape! Oh well, did he not want to come in?" She turned to look at Draco who was gorging on the pie, it had been a while since he had, had homemade food.
"No, I think he's quite busy." He mumbled with a half-full mouth.
"Right. Yes, of course." Molly scratched the back of her head, "you'll be staying in one of the spare rooms upstairs by yourself. After what Ron tells me it seems it would be uncomfortable for everyone if you shared." Draco felt himself grow hot and awkward. "Unless of course you thin-"
"No erm, a room alone is just fine. So where is everyone." Draco coughed, trying to compose himself. Molly smiled.
"They're in bed. We all thought it would be more comfortable for you this way." Draco gave a weak smile in appreciation. He truly was glad he didn't have to deal with Potter's remarks as soon as he stepped through the front door. "Sadly, I can't say the same for tomorrow morning." She noted. Draco bit his lip and yawned. She was right of course, he just hoped a full night's sleep would better prepare him for it.
Draco
A slow hum of distant voices, coming from downstairs, stirred Draco awake. He had fallen straight to sleep as soon as his head had hit the pillow, the night previously, it turned out he was far more tired than he thought. Turning to the clock on the wall, he saw it read 10:34. Damn, he had hoped he would be able to skip the morning rush of breakfast and grab a quick slice of toast before anyone was awake. He supposed he could wait until he couldn't hear anyone downstairs, but he didn't know when that would be and he was starving.
Draco hopped himself off the bed, threw on some dark wash trousers and a long-sleeved white shirt, ensuring his Dark Mark was hidden as Snape had advised him to do, before heading to the door. He opened it slightly, just enough to hear what was happening downstairs a little clearer.
"Ron for goodness sake, stop hogging the sausages!"
Draco recognised the feminine voice instantly as Ron's sister, the Weaslette.
"Harry dear, how do you like your eggs?"
"Scrambled would be great thanks," Shit, that was definitely Potter's voice, Merlin, how was he supposed to face him at breakfast? Of course, it would have been fine at school, where it was neutral territory and he had some of his own friends to back him up but here!? Here, seemed like a dog pile with him at the bottom, not only was it in Potter's Godfathers house, but he was also surrounded by Potter's blood traitor minions, the Weasleys.
Draco sighed in defeat, thinking back to what Mrs Weasley had said last night when he had arrived, he would have to face them at some point, there was still a couple more weeks before school and he was pretty sure he couldn't survive not going downstairs for that long. He closed his eyes and with a deep breath exited his room.
Harry
Harry sat down next to Ginny and Fred at the table and began digging into his scrambled eggs on toast almost feeling content, yet the feeling that there was a Malfoy in his Godfather's house made him feel sick to his stomach.
"Harry, you fancy some wizards chess after breakfast?" Ron asked, his mouth showing chewed up sausages and bacon.
"Ron that's disgusting." George snapped, doing a large burp shortly after causing everyone except Mrs Weasley to erupt with laughter.
"George! Manners!"
"Yeah sure Ron," Harry chuckled in reply.
"I don't know why you two even bother playing it always ends the same," Ginny noted sticking her fork into a cut up piece of toast.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry asked nudging her with his elbow.
"I'm just saying logic has never been a strength of yours." She laughed.
"Oh but you think its Ron's?" Harry asked.
"Fair point."
"Hey! I can hear you, you know!" Ron threw a slice of toast at Ginny.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Mrs Weasley retorted in annoyance at the brewing food fight.
"Sorry mum," Ginny said.
"Honestly you lot, you are all old enough to stop bickering." Mrs Weasley placed her hands on her hips and pushed a strand of red hair behind her ear. Suddenly she froze in place staring at the doorway. Harry turned to see what she was looking at, along with the others who also seemed to have noticed.
Malfoy. There he was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, his head bowed. Harry noted his slim appearance and tired looking features but he didn't care enough to ask. He was the first to turn back around from staring and continued eating his eggs. He made a promise to himself that he was going to ignore Malfoy as much as possible throughout his time here, figuring it would be best for everyone involved.
"Hello dear, would you like something to eat?" Mrs Weasley asked, breaking the silence and offering Malfoy a warm smile that Harry thought looked slightly forced.
"Just some toast would be fine thank you."
"Don't be silly dear, I'll make you some eggs and bacon to go with it. Have a seat." Harry had never felt more annoyed at Mrs Weasley in that moment. He would much rather finish breakfast alone in his room if he had to sit and face Malfoy. With a tired sigh, he heard Malfoy drag his feet to the opposite side of the table, 2 seats away from where Ron was sitting. Ron raised his eyebrows at Harry who did the same in response.
"How did you sleep Draco?" Mrs Weasley asked, placing a plate of eggs on toast with bacon in front of him.
"Okay, thank you."
"I'm glad dear." She turned back to the countertop. Harry looked up from his eggs to see Malfoy playing with a slice of bacon on his plate.
Suddenly, there was a slight pain in Harry's side, he turned to see that Ginny had nudged him and was giving him a stare, he mouthed the word what in response, she rolled her eyes.
"Mal-Draco would you like to come help me clean my broom later, maybe we could play a quick game of Quidditch afterwards?" Ginny asked placing her cutlery down onto her clean plate. Harry looked at her in shock, but at fear of being spotted by Malfoy just angrily poked his fork into his eggs in annoyance. Why would Ginny even ask him to do anything? He thought she hated him as much as he did.
Draco looked as though he was about to say something but quickly stopped himself, "I'd rather not Weasley, thanks."
Harry could feel himself boiling with anger, Ginny had just done something nice for him and he says that. "I guess you'd rather stay in your room thinking up evil schemes." Fred joked.
"Fred!" Mrs Weasley snapped. Harry looked to Malfoy who had a smirk on his face.
"Yeah, something like that."Draco was now looking directly at Harry who did his best to remain straight-faced, trying not to lash out for Mrs Weasley's sake.
"Got something to say, Potter?" Malfoy asked taking a bite of toast.
"Ron, you ready to go?" Harry said, completely ignoring Malfoy and turning to his best friend. Ron looked surprised and quickly swallowed the food in his mouth.
"Oh, er yeah let's go, thanks, mum."
The two exited the kitchen.