Chapter 1 – Meetings
Draco sighed as he put down his cup of morning tea. The Daily Prophet had been delivered to him, as usual, but he was growing rather tired of all the glowing articles written about him. He felt so dead and empty having seen all the dead witches and wizards gathered up in the Great Hall the previous week. While he was glad that the wizard responsible for all those deaths was finally dead, his mind was still reeling from all the death and destruction witnessed. His father, Lucius Malfoy, had been killed shortly before he killed the Dark Lord. He killed the Dark Lord, the lord he had promised to serve not two years ago when his view of the world was so different than it was now. He had still just been a little boy at the time, but he knew he would have hurt anyone who told him as much at the time.
His mother had fortunately taken both her husband's death and her son's betrayal rather stoically. He was grateful for this because he really didn't think his mind could handle too much at the moment. She had actually confided in him after things began to settle down somewhat that she couldn't care what side she chose to be on, so long as she and her family stayed safe. Thankfully Lucius had been killed by a poorly aimed shot from another Death Eater so she blamed them for his death. She had been busy all week preparing her husband's funeral and Draco suspected that she spent the rest of her time in her chambers mourning his death.
Draco was reading through the obituaries once again. Even though the battle had been a week ago, the Daily Prophet had been overwhelmed due to the large number of deaths. For the most part they were going through the names alphabetically, although the obituaries for some of the more prominent participants in the battle had been published the following day. Even fallen Death Eaters had been allowed their spot since it was expected that their families were mourning them just as much as any other family. Both Bellatrix Lestrange's and Lucius Malfoy's obituaries had been published 3 days previously and Narcissa had carefully cut them out and framed them.
Finally, something in the paper caught Draco's attention. Harry Potter. He was honestly amazed that it had taken this long for his obituary to make it into the paper. Frowning, he realized that it was remarkably short, but fortunately gave the specifics to the memorial service, stating that it would be held in conjunction with Fred Weasley's. It was to be held at The Burrow the day after tomorrow. He needed to look up where this Burrow place was as he very much wanted to attend.
Still engrossed in his reading he barely noticed a small woman gracefully entering the room. She was rather short, but very slim, with delicate features. Her hair was white, but her face was unwrinkled. After a moment's hesitation, Draco stood up abruptly.
"Good morning, Mother. I hope you slept well?"
The woman stopped and beamed at him. "Good morning Draco. I slept well, thank you." She swished over to the table and gracefully seated herself before delicately choosing a pastry from the tray in front of her. A teapot floated over to her and began pouring tea into a cup before returning to its original place on the table. Draco frowned slightly, he doubted she actually slept well and was merely trying to put on a bright front for him. He had walked past her sitting room very early that morning and had heard racking sobs through the door. While he wished to do something for her, he knew that any attempts he made to comfort her would be poorly received.
Draco ran his fingers through his silky hair. He was still constantly surprised whenever he did this since cutting it three days previously. His father had had trademark long, platinum blonde hair and Draco no longer wished to be viewed as merely an extension of his father. His first step in doing this was to cut his long hair to a few inches. He was hoping that soon enough, after he had appropriately mourned his father, he would be able to do away with the black, somber robes Lucius had always worn. After those two changes to his appearance, he hoped his change in thoughts would affect the rest of his life and how people thought of the name Malfoy.
"Draco." Narcissa had a look of concern on her face. "Draco darling, are you alright? You haven't answered my question."
Draco's mind snapped out of his reverie. "I apologize Mother. Would you mind repeating your question? I'm afraid I didn't hear it."
Narcissa smiled sadly at him. His father's funeral would be held in two hours and she wasn't terribly surprised that he seemed lost in thought. "I was wondering if you would be comfortable reading the eulogy dear. I understand if you don't; I've already asked Lord Nott to read it if you would prefer to grieve."
Draco set his tea down again, wondering if he was ever going to get a chance to finish it before the funeral. He was shocked and pleased that his mother wanted him to read the eulogy. It was a piece of art she had been crafting since the day after Lucius died and he had pretended to listen to her ongoing revisions of it at dinner for the past week. "Yes Mother, I would be – honored to read Father's eulogy." He meant it whole heartedly too; he had loved his father even if he didn't agree with him and he was incredibly honored that his mother trusted him to deliver it. Glancing down at his watch, he decided that he should probably read over what his mother had written so it would be suitably delivered. Excusing himself from the table, he strode off to his mother's desk in her sitting room, reading what she had poured her soul into for the past week.
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"Lucius Malfoy, although viewed by outsiders as cold and unforgiving, was quite a different man to those who knew and loved him." Despite preparing himself prior to the funeral, Draco still felt himself choking a bit on these last words. Nothing could be truer, his father had indeed been a cruel, vicious man, but he loved his friends and family with a fierce passion. "Please come into the Manor, a luncheon has been prepared for the guests." He bowed after stepping away from the podium and walked over towards his mother.
"Come Mother - it's time." The burial, unlike the funeral, was a private affair with just himself and his mother. All of his grandparents were dead, but at the moment he desperately wished that Grandfather Abraxas hadn't come down with dragon pox two years ago. He desperately wanted to have someone other than himself and his mother bury his father. He offered his arm to his mother, which she took gracefully and they set off somberly across the grounds to the family cemetery.
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Two days after his father's funeral, Draco found himself growing more and more anxious as he prepared to go to Potter and Weasley's memorial service. Tradition demanded that he wear black for the next three weeks to properly mourn his father's death so leaving the manor dressed in somber black robes would not arouse suspicion. While Narcissa approved of his decision in defying everything his father stood for, he wasn't so sure if she'd be so understanding of his desperate need to see the Weasley's and apologize. He had finally managed to locate this Burrow place: apparently it was what the Weasley's called their house, if you wanted to call it that. He privately hoped that the service would be held somewhere in their garden since he wasn't entirely certain that the house was stable. He walked briskly out the foyer and apparated over to Ottery St. Catchpole.
Arriving with a small pop, he quickly observed his surroundings. He could see the rickety structured named the Burrow and to his great relief saw a large tent setup next to it. He strode quickly through the grass towards the tent, looking at the loose chickens at the front stoop rather distastefully. Although the tent was large, it was even larger on the inside than it was on the outside. There appeared to be seating available for roughly five hundred people and it was pretty crowded. Looking up he saw that the top of the tent had been charmed and showed dark, stormy clouds, quite a contrast to the clear sunny skies outside the tent.
The seats inside the tent had been arranged in a circle around a circular platform in the center that was revolving very slowly. One coffin was visible from his view; he presumed the second was on the opposite side of the platform. Nearly half the people there seemed to have red hair; he knew the Weasley's were renowned for large families but he never realized there were quite this many of them. Feeling quite uncomfortable and out of place, he found a seat towards the back where there weren't too many redheads. Glancing at the woman seated to his left, he bit back a shout.
"Pardon me, my name is Draco Malfoy." He stuck out his hand, hoping she would introduce herself. He just couldn't believe this woman was sitting here, he saw Mrs. Weasley kill her only last week. Even if she were alive, he could hardly imagine her sitting quietly at a funeral for Harry Potter and Fred Weasley.
She too looked taken aback. "Andromeda Tonks," she said in a surprised tone as she shook his hand. "I must say, I'm surprised to see you here." Gesturing to the baby she was bouncing on her lap she continued, "This is my grandson, Teddy Lupin. Say hello to Mr. Malfoy, Teddy."
The baby's hair turned from its rather strange turquoise color to a pale blonde matching Draco's and it gave him a toothless grin. "Oh thank goodness Teddy, please keep your hair that color until we get home!" Smiling she looked at Draco. "I'm afraid he's a metamorphagus just like his mother. It's very difficult at times to keep them tidy looking if they suddenly decide they need a new hair length and color."
Draco recalled his own mother trying to calm his hair at various functions when he was little and chuckled. He still had an important question for her. "Mrs. Tonks, please do forgive me for asking, but what was your maiden name?"
She looked at him incredulously. "You were never told? No, no I guess not." She sighed heavily. "Mr. Malfoy, I'm really not sure if I should be the one telling you that."
Draco was taken aback by her reaction; he hadn't expected anything like this. "I'm very sorry Mrs. Tonks; it's just that at first I thought you were my Aunt Bellatrix. I was wondering if the two of you were related in anyway." After realizing what he said, he winced inwardly. Aunt Bella never had many redeeming qualities: she was ruthless, cold, uncaring, had a thoroughly unhealthy obsession with the Dark Arts, and was considered by many to be insane.
She laughed rather hollowly, but it was still a much warmer and merrier laugh than his aunt's had been. "Mr. Malfoy, I unfortunately grew up with your aunt, and your mother too for that matter. My maiden name was Black, but I was disinherited many, many years ago for marrying a Muggleborn against the wishes of my parents."
Draco stared at her in shock, his mind reeling, and at the last moment realized his mouth was hanging open and he shut it. "Mother never said she had another sister," he all but whispered. "Even in childhood pictures, it was just her and Bellatrix..." He stopped and thought for a moment. "Mrs. Tonks, would you care to come over for tea today? The recent... events have brought it forth that my mother does not care about sides or politics, only family. Right now she believes I am the only family she has left, I'm sure she'd be delighted to see you again."
Mrs. Tonks' mouth now was hanging slightly open in disbelief. "Mr. Malfoy," she began gently, "I'm really not sure that's the best idea…" She was cut off by a voice coming from the center of the tent. A wizard had gotten on the spinning platform and cleared his throat to begin the eulogies. All the quiet chatter throughout the tent died away quickly; only sobbing from the center of the tent could be heard. Draco peeked around the side of the aisle and saw that the sobbing was coming from a plump redheaded woman. He breathed a sigh of relief; that was Mrs. Weasley and seated next to her was her tall, thin redheaded husband. Now he knew where to find them later.
The eulogy for the two wizards was nearly as long as his fathers had been but very enlightening to him. He hadn't known either wizard particularly well and drank it all in. He was rather unsurprised that Fred was a natural born troublemaker and had been finding ways to play pranks since he was a baby, always with his trusty twin, George. While he had always heard about Harry in the press, he was utterly unaware that he lived in a tiny, spider filled room under the stairs for a decade. What Draco had always interpreted to be an incredible amount of arrogance turned out to be an incredible meekness at learning his role in the world just before coming to Hogwarts. He felt a sudden surge of regret: he had always been nasty to these two wizards and his final glimpses of them and what he was hearing now he felt that he should have been nicer, or at least not given Harry such an ultimatum on their very first trip on the Hogwarts Express.
"The burial is private, only family is invited. Guests are welcome to visit the refreshments tables located near the house." The man stepped off the slowly spinning platform, performing some sort of spell on himself. Draco guessed was a charm to ward off any dizziness and nausea from spinning in a circle for so long. Voices started murmuring again and people began standing to walk over to the refreshments.
"Mrs. Tonks, please consider my offer to come to tea today." Malfoy stopped for a moment as she looked ready to protest. "I know that you may have been disowned years ago, but I think that you'll find my mother's views have changed since then. Even if they haven't, she is no longer living up to any obligations that she privately disagrees with."
She looked taken aback which pleased him. He honestly thought that Narcissa would be delighted to see her sister again. "I need to go speak to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, if you could stay here, I'll return and bring you back to the manor." He strode off to meet up with the Weasley family as they rather dejectedly left the grave sites.
"Mr. Weasley," said Draco once he had caught up with them. "I've come to extend my condolences for your losses. I've always liked Fred, even though it probably didn't show, and I came to have a deep respect for Harry Potter." The others, who had been standing behind their parents looking forlorn and dejected, looked very much so surprised at this statement.
"Hold on," said one of them angrily. He was rather short and stocky for a Weasley, although that description wouldn't apply amongst the rest of the population; he looked to be just shy of six feet and rather thin. He was also missing an ear so Draco surmised this must be George, the recently deceased Fred's twin. "How can you say that you've always liked Fred? You were always picking on him when you were a prefect!"
One of the brothers snorted. This one was decidedly tall and lanky, even for a Weasley. Draco was a bit uneasy, he really wasn't sure if they'd understand the reasons for his actions and was beginning to wonder if this whole chat was a waste of time. "Well, that was almost always so I could see what pranks you'd pull on us." He smirked, remembering the brilliance they'd had his fifth year. "It actually worked rather well, if I picked on the Gryffindors, you two would start handing out your joke stuff, and even though a lot of it was directed at me, I always thought it was a great laugh. The work you two did was bloody brilliant. I did have to keep up appearances for my own housemates though."
Hearing this, George actually showed a shadow of a smile on his face, as did the red haired girl with them. She was in the year behind him and he thought her name was Ginny or Winny or something like that. He hadn't really kept track of all their names. Another stab of guilt shot through him as he realized that he barely knew these people. He cleared his throat and continued. "Well, I'm not sure if anyone else is aware of this, I certainly haven't seen it in the papers."
He glanced around them nervously. Potter did seem to share everything with his two sidekicks, both of whom were staring at him at this moment. Did they already know? He'd feel like such a fool if he had come here to tell them something they already knew, but if he didn't, he'd look like an even bigger fool. "Well, Potter, Weasley, and Granger had saved my neck twice already that night. I was sitting in a deserted corridor trying to calm down when I heard someone running towards me. It was Potter and he seemed to be in a hurry. I don't exactly remember what he told me, but the general gist was that in order to destroy the Dark Lord, he needed to be killed first. He said something about me being the only one who could win a dual against the Dark Lord. I really don't remember the details as to why, but I remember being so surprised that he was willing to walk to his death and entrust me with that when my loyalties had never been with his that I felt obligated to him to at least try."
Draco swallowed nervously. He had babbled out everything all at once and no one had interrupted him. In fact, every single person standing there had a look of incredulity etched on their faces. Finally Mrs. Weasley burst into tears again.
"I-I-I always knew *hic* that Harry would do something *gasp* like that!" To his great surprise, she ran up to him and engulfed him in a tight hug, wetting the front of his robes with her tears, and he expected a few bruised or broken ribs with the way she was squeezing him. His own mother had never demonstrated such affection towards him and he stiffened in surprise. Breathing was starting to become difficult, so Draco began tentatively patting her back, desperately hoping that she would relinquish her death grip soon.
Mr. Weasley came over smiling gently and patted him on the back, gently trying to pry his wife off of Draco. "Thank you so much for telling us this… Draco. You have no idea how welcoming it is to hear someone's selflessness being reaffirmed for you."
"Yes, yes," gasped Mrs. Weasley shakily. "We're rather busy today as you can imagine, but would you like to come over sometime this week for dinner? As a thank you for telling us this information and lightening our hearts." Two of the boys behind her glowered but she didn't pay attention to them. "Just floo us anytime to tell us when to expect you."
Draco was so surprised he actually took a step back. As much as he distrusted their house, he desperately wanted to learn more about this family he seemed to be so wrong about. "Absolutely, I'd love to do that." Inwardly he smirked, wonder what his father would have thought of him going to eat dinner with the Weasley's.
Mr. Weasley smiled gently at this. "Draco then, we'll see you later in the week. I'm afraid we have to go see the other guests now. But thank you so very much for coming to tell us everything." Shaking his hand, he turned and walked to the refreshment tables with the rest of his family following behind him.
Watching them leave, Draco supposed it was time for him to leave as well. He scanned the crowd for Mrs. Tonks and her grandson, hoping they'd still be there. After desperately searching the rather large crowd for a few minutes, he finally found them where he had last spoken to them. His face lit up that she had finally agreed to come to tea with him then. "You're coming then?" he asked excitedly when he reached her.
She smiled nervously. "Well, Mr. Malfoy, what you said earlier was very much in-line with your mother when she was a little girl. If she's still like that, then I'd love nothing more than to become re-acquainted with my little sister."
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Draco had been absolutely delighted at the recent events. He had found a long lost aunt, spoken to the Weasley's without making a fool of himself, and had been invited to dinner with the Weasley's and would be able to learn more about them within the next week all in one afternoon. Leading Mrs. Tonks in the front door, he gave the waiting house elf his cloak.
"Millie, I've brought guests for tea. Would you make sure another setting is out and arrange for some food for a baby?" Draco spoke kindly to the elf, the elf he had growing had been poorly treated by his father and it managed to gain the freedom it so desperately yearned for. Showing kindness for other creatures was also a trait Lucius did not have and he hoped to set himself apart by doing the opposite.
"Of course master Draco! Would you like me to inform mistress Narcissa of your arrival?" The elf, apparently a female, had an extremely high pitched, squeaky voice that made Draco's ears want to bleed from time to time, but the elf was incredibly kind to himself and his mother.
"No, no thank you Millie." With that the elf snapped its fingers and disappeared from the foyer.
Draco turned to Mrs. Tonks and offered her his arm. "My mother should be in the drawing room, I'll show you up there." Smiling nervously again, she took his arm and they began to walk through the halls.
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Narcissa was sitting in the drawing room wondering where her son had gotten off to. She knew that he had become quite popular in the past week since he killed the Dark Lord, but he had always arrived earlier than this for afternoon tea. Frowning slightly she glanced at a two handed clock. Both hands pointed to a position labeled "Home" and she debated calling a house elf to go find him. A sigh caught in her throat as she glanced at a frame containing what appeared to be another hand of the clock. It was labeled "Lucius" and had fallen off the clock face last week, but she couldn't bear not seeing it quite yet.
Her examination of the clock was interrupted by footsteps outside the entrance to the drawing room. She sat up straighter and smiled expecting Draco to walk in, but suddenly the footsteps stopped and she heard whispering.
"I think I'll just go in and explain to Mother that I have a surprise guest and then come back and get you. Hopefully it will be less of a shock…"
"What surprise guest?" Narcissa drawled as she stood up and walked to the entrance. She stopped when she got to the doorframe. "Oh… my… Andy?" Her normally pale face lost any color that it had a moment ago.
"It's me, Cissy. This son of yours talked me into coming over for tea…" Mrs. Tonks sounded very nervous again.
"I did, Mother," interrupted Draco, trying to make sense of what was happening. "I know how important family is to you and while I was out today, I ran into Mrs. Tonks and mistook her for Aunt Bella. I know you've had your differences in the past, but given recent events I thought you two might enjoy each others company again."
Narcissa didn't seem to have heard a word her son said, she was still staring at her long lost sister in wonder. "Andy… Andy… I never, never thought I'd get a chance to see you again."
Mrs. Tonks smiled nervously. "Well, Cissy, here I am." With that she stepped forward to give her sister a tentative hug. Narcissa responded by clinging to her like a drowning woman clinging to a lifeboat.
"Oh my, Andy, I can't believe it's you," sobbed Narcissa. "I never thought I'd see you again after that fight with Father. Would – would you like to stay for tea?"
"I'd love to," Mrs. Tonks sobbed back. "It's so good to see you again Cissy, really see you."