Christopher picked up Draco and walked over to the floo. Without further ado, he stepped inside and yelled "The Burrow." Within moments, he was standing in the kitchen of a cluttered, lived-in house. Sitting at the table were three small boys, all with messy red hair. The two younger ones, obviously twins, were banging on the table and kicking their feet while the older one glared at them and silently kept writing on the parchment in front of him. He must have just learned to use a quill, as he was spilling ink droplets all over his paper and the table. Before Christopher could say anything, a lady walked into the room. She had a toddler on her hip and another child only a little older was following behind her, pulling at her skirt.

"Oh!" She noticed Christopher standing by the fire, "You're here already. I must have lost track of the time." With this, she reached over one of the twin's heads and grabbed a paper off the table. Brushing some crumbs off of it, she handed it to Christopher. "Here's the papers. You might want to check to see if we signed in all the right spots. It was rather confusing." She clucked, bouncing the toddler on her hip. Christopher looked the papers she handed him and nodded his head.

"Everything seems to be in order. I guess all that's left to do is introduce you to Draco." Christopher motioned behind him to the little boy. Upon arriving at The Burrow, Christopher had set Draco down and he had immediately hid behind Christopher. Molly set the little girl she was holding on the ground and knelt in front of Draco.

"Hello Draco," She smiled at him. "You can call me Molly." Draco simply looked at her, his thumb persistently in his mouth.

"Well," Christopher clapped his hands together. "I best be off. Contact us if you need anything. We hope to discuss his long term arrangements sometime in the near future." With that, Christopher stepped into the floo and was gone, leaving Molly to introduce Draco to the rest of the family.

"Draco," Molly held out her arms, "Why don't you come here. Let me introduce you to everybody." Draco looked at her, confused. He made no motion to step forward into her arms or to be picked up. Seeing the open arms, the little girl ran forward.

"Mummy!" She shrieked, "Me up!" Molly brushed back the girl's hair from her face and kissed her on the top of her head.

"Not now sweetie." Molly turned back to Draco. Without giving him more choice in the matter, she scooped him up into her arms and stood up. As she did this, she felt Draco's body go rigid in her arms. She tried to move him around to make him more comfortable, but it was obvious to her that he had rarely, if ever, been held. "Draco, precious," Molly began, trying to soothe the child. "This is Percy, he's eight." She motioned to the boy who was writing at the table. "And these are Fred and George," She pointed to the twins, "They're six." She turned around to the two littlest ones, still on the ground. "That's Ron; He's four, just like you. And that is Ginny and she's only three." Draco continued to stare silently at Molly, without moving a single muscle. "Well, now." Molly looked at the oldest three, "You three continue with your school work, then."

Molly, still carrying Draco, walked into the den with Ron and Ginny trailing behind her. Molly set Draco down on the floor as Ron pushed past her, eager to get to the blocks that were in the middle of the room.

"Mummy," Ron stated seriously, 'I'm gonna build a castle." Molly grinned at her son.

"That's wonderful, Ronnie." Molly slowly set Draco down on the ground. "Draco, why don't you build with Ron? Do you want to play with the blocks?" Draco still did not respond, but he walked over to where Ron was sitting. He sat down just out of reach of the block and curled his legs up in front of him. He wrapped one of his arms around his legs and proceeded to watch Ron play.

Molly, trying not to worry, left the two boys for a moment to check up on the older ones. After praising Percy's attempt to write with a quill, cleaning up the spilled ink, and lecturing the twins for stealing biscuits, she walked back into the room where the little ones were. Not much had changed, although Ron's castle had grown quite large. Ginny was attempting to help him, but her building skills were not the best. Just as Molly entered the room, a misplaced block caused the entire tower to smash over. Draco, still sitting on the floor, visibly jumped and Ginny began to cry.

"Baby!" Ron admonished. "You broke it!" As much as Molly and Arthur had attempted to convince them otherwise, all of the boys called Ginny 'Baby.' They had given up persuading them, but Ginny was now at an age where she disliked the nickname and would get mad at them herself.

"Not a baby." She pouted. Molly, hoping to stop a larger fight, grabbed a book from the table.

"Here, children," Molly got their attention, "How about a story?" Ginny and Ron immediately rushed over, squealing in happiness. Ron was easily able to climb up on to the couch and he claimed the spot just to the left of Molly's lap. Ginny was up only a second after him and she settled herself on Molly's other side. Molly glanced over at Draco who was still sitting on the ground, still and silent.

"Draco," Molly called out softly, "Come hear the story." Draco looked up at her but didn't make any indication that he was planning on moving. Molly tried again. Pulling Ginny into her lap, she patted the spot beside herself on the couch. "Here, Draco," She smiled at the boy, "Come sit next to me." Draco slowly stood up and walked over to the couch, as he was climbing up to the spot next to her, Molly realized how different Draco was from Ron. While Ron had been climbing all over the furniture for years, Draco looked as if he had never been allowed to sit on a couch before. It made too much sense, with his wealthy parents, that he hadn't been allowed in any of the Malfoy formal living rooms. Holding the book in one hand, Molly began to read to the children. "Once upon a time…"

Draco was obviously enraptured with the book. By the fourth page, he was sitting closer to Molly. By the eighth page, he was leaning over her lap, just like Ron, to see the colorful pictures. Molly instantly decided that the children were going to hear more than the normal amount of stories for the next few days.

The rest of the afternoon passed in the same manner. When the older boys had finished their schoolwork, Molly sent the entire group of them out to the garden to play. She reminded Percy to watch after Ginny and she set about to finish some housework while the children were occupied. "Seven," She thought to herself, "No, eight, children make quite the mess."

Out in the garden, the twins were chasing after some garden gnomes. They were unable to get rid of them; that was a job for the oldest boys, the ones in Hogwarts. However, they still enjoyed chasing them and often tormenting them, when they could catch them . Percy was pushing Ginny on the baby swing that hung from the lowest branch the gnarled apple tree. This left Ron and Draco to entertain themselves. At Ron's initiative, they began a rousing game of tag, or as Ron called it "you're it." The twins soon joined in on the game. The garden was filled with sounds of children happily playing, until a rather forceful tag of Fred's knocked Draco and himself to the ground. Fred laughed and climbed up, but Draco sat on in the grass, his eyes slowly brimming with tears. Fred and George both noticed that this was different from when Ron cried. Ron cried noisily, getting the attention of everyone in the area. Draco, on the other hand, cried silently. He wasn't looking for someone to come running to comfort him. Deciding quickly, Fred and George both yelled.

"Mummy!"

At their shouts, Molly quickly came running. When she saw Draco sitting on the ground, she quickly picked him up and set him on the old picnic table that wobbled on one side. After inspecting him for any scrapes or bruising, she declared him healthy.

"You are quite fine," She laughed, kissing him on top of the head, "Go and play." Molly soon walked back inside, but she stayed by the window, watching the boys playing. Draco was once again hesitant to join in, but soon enough, the other boys had him running around once more.

The boys played outside for many hours, only coming inside for a snack and some juice. They were quick to return to their playing. Molly allowed them to spend as much time as they wanted in the fresh air. Winter would soon be approaching and the nice days would be rare. Arthur arrived home just before dinner and the boys were eager to introduce him to their new friend and cousin. Ginny, in typical little sister fashion, was running along behind them, always trying to be part of the mix.

"Papa, Papa," the twins chorused. "You gotta meet Draco."

"He's our cousin." They ran over to Arthur, pulling on his jacket sleeves and trying to climb up on him. Ron came running behind them, shouting

"He's my cousin too, papa. We played tag in the garden." Molly walked out of the kitchen when she heard the boys' shouts. She greeted Arthur warmly and helped him to convince the twins to stop climbing on him. It was a moment before anyone noticed that Draco was nowhere to be seen. A quick search found him in the garden where the boys had left him as they ran to greet their father. He was introduced to Arthur, but he quaked in fear as Arthur attempted to introduce himself. Trying to calm the child, Molly laid a hand on top of his head. He jumped at her touch and tried to scoot away.

"Draco," Arthur said in a comforting but firm voice, "We're not going to hurt you. There's no reason to run away." Draco looked up at Arthur and Arthur met his gaze. For a moment, nothing changed. But then, for only a second, there was a glimmer of something in Draco's eyes: something akin to hope.

Dinner that night was as rowdy as ever. The boys and Ginny were as messy as always and Molly made way too much food. Fred and George were attempting to switch places, but their parents saw right them. Much to his dismay, Percy did not. His complaining didn't stop until Molly threatened him with no dessert. Calls of "Mummy, Papa," were heard from Ron and Ginny as they requested more food and drink. Despite all the noise and laughter at the table, Draco sat there silently. He ate with impeccable manners, but he lacked all the social skills that even Ginny possessed. Molly and Arthur shared a glance over the heads of their brood. It was clear to them that this job would not be an easy one.

After dinner came baths and after baths was bed. It took quite a while for all the boys to finish in the one bathroom, and Ginny was long asleep by the time Percy was done. Arthur and Molly went from room to room, giving goodnight kisses and reading stories. Percy, the eldest, had his own room as did Ginny. The twins shared the next room, and the last belonged to Ron and now Draco. In the youngest boys' room , Arthur chose a quick story. Once again, Draco's face lit up as he saw that another book was going to be read to him. Arthur read the book out loud, using funny character voices and pointing out the pictures. However, before long, both of the boys had drifted off to sleep in their bed. Closing the book, Arthur walked to their beds and kissed each one on the forehead before shutting off the lights and leaving the room.

As the lights clicked off, Draco's eyes snapped open. He thought to scream for a moment, but he first noticed where he was. In the room, he could hear the quiet noise of Ron breathing. He could feel the warm, thick, hand-woven blanket on his bed. Rolling over to fact the other side, he fell into a comfortable sleep.