Draco has been found severely injured outside his house and brought to the Burrow to be taken care of by Esmeralda.

Using her special skills and knowledge, she is able to save him but Arthur first strongly disapproved of the method she used, fearing of her father's reaction if he would ever find out what she did for him.

CHAPTER 3

His head felt heavy. His body felt so sore. He knew he must have been asleep for a very long time. But not on his bed. Not in his room. He could feel he was laying on silk bed sheets but could not recognize the decor around him. Only a little bit of sunlight was able to screen through the curtains. He scanned the room and noticed it had a little middle east vibe to it: lots of earthy and golden tones in it. A big mirror was placed against the wall in front of the bed, framed with what could only be pure gold. Next to the bed, on the nightstand, a jewelry box, made of massive gold, was opened and next to it were at least 15 golden bangles, some incrusted with precious stones. The only place he saw so much wealth in only one room was his home and his family's Gringotts vault.

Home. The fire. His mother.

He suddenly had a flashback of receiving the news his father had been found dead in his cell in Azkaban. Then, flames were surrounding him. Smoke was invading his lungs. He was running, looking for his mother. He finally found her in the library but then he could only remember feeling an excruciating pain on his arm. And a green flash of light. That was all.

He tried to sit but couldn't support his own upper weight. He just felt so weak, so dizzy. He tried to look for his wand but rapidly realized he didn't even know where he had left it. He probably dropped it at some point.

While making a last effort to remember any other detail, he was interrupted by a girl opening the door. "Let me make sure he's okay first. I'll let you come in in 10 minutes. He's probably hungry, you know..." she whispered to somebody probably standing behind the door.

That husky voice again. The girl approached him and presses the palm of her hand on his forehead.

"How do you feel?"

"Confused". His throat was sore as well, he could barely raised his voice louder than a whisper "Who are you? Where am I?" He asked her. "You're at the Burrow. Arthur, Harry and Ron brought you here a few days ago. You were in a pretty bad shape." He had no fever so she safely deduced his wound did not get infected and was in deed healing properly. ''Can you feel this?' she asked as she lightly pitched the skin in the middle of his hand. ''Yes'' he replied.

"Can you lift your left arm for me, please?"

He tried but he barely succeeded in putting a space between it and the bed.

"You're still not strong enough to move it. Let's do something more simple: move your fingers."

With great efforts he was able to move every finger of his hands. "They feel a bit numb", he said.

The girl smiled at him, revealing what he thought was a perfect smile. She was the girl he remembered seeing at some point while he was unconscious.

Seeing his fingers move confirmed to Esmeralda the skin graft was a success and his nerves and muscles were healing as well; it was just a matter of time for him to recuperate full mobility of his arm. She took his hand in hers and started to softly massage it. He felt his blood rushing through his body: her skin was just so warm and soft. He heard the clinking of the bangles around her wrist, identical to the ones on the nightstand, indicating he must be in her room.

"You did not tell me who you are. You definitely don't look like a Weasley." She was in deed lacking that fire-red hair characteristic of the family: hers was blonde, with some paler highlights scattered a bit everywhere, and wavy, reaching her waist. He noticed a few freckles under her big brown almond-shaped eyes and also dark circles, indicating she hadn't slept in days, probably taking care of him day and night. Her skin was fair and delicate like porcelain. Her clothes were out of the ordinary: she was wearing a white top that left her shoulders uncovered and a high waisted blue skirt. For a second he thought she might be a gypsy but that was impossible. Gypsies haven't been seen in the country in years now and even if they did, they would not be living inside a house. Even worse, a house full of wizards.

She hadn't yet answered his question, being too busy changing the bandage on his arm. She had taking it off and he glanced at what was under it. His skin looked raw and it actually looked like a piece of flesh has been placed there like to cover something. While she was busy working, he could not not wonder if all this had anything to do with the bandage she had on her arm too, at the same place he had his. That was more than just a coincidence, he thought to himself. He did not ask her about it since she had not answered all of his previous questions.

''You almost died you know.'' she said while wrapping his forearm with a clean bandage. ''Almost lost your arm.'' She used a safety pin to secure the bandage and started to put what was left of the material away. ''I am Esmeralda, by the way.'' Again, she put her hand on top of his and squeezed it a bit, like to give him kind of a handshake.

''What a pretty name. I'm Draco.'' He squeezed his hand around the tip of her fingers.

...

"I feel stupid", Draco said after swallowing a spoonful of soup. He could only manage to sit with the help of Esme and now she was helping him to eat.

"You lost a lot of blood and haven't eaten in days: it is perfectly normal you feel weak", she said while bringing another spoonful of soup to his mouth. Draco opened his mouth and finished what was left in the bowl. He still felt hungry but knew he had to pace himself. Esmeralda was right: he had lost a lot of strength in the few days he was out and it would take him another few to be able to do simple things on his own again.

"I definitely need to eat more than just soup if I want to be able to do things on my own soon. And I de-fi-ni-tely need a shower. I stink!"

"Can you stop being so hard on yourself? Esmeralda got up and left the room to return with a bucket of soapy water and a rag. When Draco saw her come back in, his face turned red and he wished he could jump out of the bed and run far away.

"No! Don't even think about it!? he shouted.

"What?"

"I am not going to let you! I forbid you!" He tried to move but as soon as he tried to use his left arm he just collapsed, agonizing because of the pain his sudden movements caused.

Esmeralda looked at him, amused by how panicked he was. "You forbid me what?", she asked knowing exactly what he was thinking. She grabbed the rag and dunked it in the water.

"You are not giving me a sponge bath! I don't want to!"

"Then stop complaining!" She threw the rag at his face and then took out her wand for a pocket of her skirt. She pointed it at the rag who suddenly came to life and started to scrub Draco's face.

"You really thought I would give you a sponge bath?", she said in a serious tone, barely able to hide her amusement. "Arthur just got back home. He will come to see you after you're - I mean it's done", she said as she picked up the empty bowl of soup left on the night table and left him alone in the room, too weak to fight back the possessed rag, now scrubbing him behind the ears.

She found part of the family in the dinning room, almost ready to eat a last supper together before the boys leave the nest the very next day. Ginny was also leaving for Hogwarts the next morning. She hadn't come down when her mother called the family to the dining room and Hermione had gone upstairs to try to convince her to not skip this last occasion to be all together before most of them leave for a while. Even George had come from Diagon Alley to visit. Ron was already sitting at the table, next to Harry, munching on bread and butter.

''George! You're here!'' Esmeralda ran to him to give him a big hug.

''Of course! I wouldn't miss Ronny's departure from the skirts of his mummy!'' He approached Ron from behind and passed vigorously his hand through his hair, messing it more than it already was. ''When are you going to come visit my shop, Esme? It has been opened for 2 years now and you haven't set a foot inside. In fact, I don't think you have ever been to Diagon Alley!'' he said while still messing with Ron's hair and pretending to not hear his victim's complaints.

''One day, George, I promise. It's just that gypsies don't really associate with wizards.''

''Bloody hell! But you, you live with wizards! And, technically, gypsies are wizards as well! I mean, you have a wand for merlin's sake!'' George never understood why she was so stuck in her ways (it was comprehensible, as he himself never followed any given rules). Even if she had been living with them for quite some time now, she was still afraid to deviate from the path gypsies had taught her her whole life to follow. She was mostly scared of what her sisters would say: they liked to find anything on her that could be used against her and be reprehensible and dishonourable to the family name.

''How's the ferret doing, Esme?'' Ron asked in between two bites. ''Ferret? Why do you call him like that?'' Esmeralda asked.

''Ron! I had a chat with you already and forbid you to call him like that! Specially now that he is under our roof. Poor thing...he lost everything in one night...'' Molly said while a large pot of soup floated across the room to finally land on the table.

''So...the rumours are true?" It seems like George had already spread what he had heard in the streets earlier that day as Ron stopped masticating and Harry seemed to have stopped breathing. "What rumours?" Esmeralda asked Molly.

The matriarch took off her oven mitts and her apron and George pulled a chair for her to sit down. She pulled a tissue out of her sleeve and cleaned the tears that had started to appear at the corners of her eyes.

"Your father is going to tell Draco after supper. They found the body of Narcissa in the rubbles of the mansion".

...

The experience of being totally defenceless against a rag had been awful but Draco really needed to clean up. He hoped that soon someone would suggest to change his sheets: he felt like he would be abusing of the Weasley's hospitality and help if he asked someone to do it. Suddenly, he heard a knock at the door. That was odd since Esmeralda just usually barged in without knocking first: it was her room after all.

''Draco, may I come in? It's me, Arthur.''

''Yes'' was all Draco was able to say loud enough for Arthur to hear through the wooden door. ''Ah, you look much better Draco!'' Arthur said as he entered the room. ''I hope you feel better as well. You gave us a good scare when we found you.'' He took a sit on the armchair and leaned back to stare for a few seconds to the ceiling. He reminded him of his dad, sitting on his imposing dark emerald velvet armchair in the main room of the mansion, thinking ahead of how to report events to Voldemort without provoking any sudden burst of rage from him. ''I spoke with my wife and we think it would do you no good if we wait a few more days before telling you...'' Arthur paused to clear his throat, still not sure of how to break the news to the boy.

''It's about my mother, isn't it?'' he said, trying to hold back his tears. What he remembered of that night was vague but he was sure of one thing: his mother was dead. Despite his efforts, a couple of tears fell down his cheeks.

''I am so sorry, son. They found her under the rubbles. It seemed like your mother died asphyxiated by the smoke. There was nothing that could be done to bring her back.''

That's how she died. What a relief it was for Draco.

''Listen, you can stay with us as long as you want. You have done so much for our family, we owe you so much. We are here for you, Draco.'' Arthur leaned forward and put a hand over his. ''There's an investigation being conducted by the Ministry and they will come here to question you. Kingsley Shacklebolt knows you are here and how severely injured you were. I think they will give you a few days to recuperate before coming to meet you.''

Draco remained silent. Of course they would come: he was probably a suspect in the whole thing. ''I will try to answer their questions as accurately as I can but sadly I do not think I will be of a great help in the investigation...Until now, I thought I killed her. I remember a green flash...I thought I had ended her life...''

''They found your wand and your mom's in the rubbles. They are currently trying to extract every single piece of information from them, trying to figure out which were the last spells thrown from them. Until now, they haven't found anything incriminating against you, rest assure.''

In a certain sense, Draco wanted the Ministry to come right away to interrogate him so he could ask his own questions to them. Arthur had gotten up and was walking towards the door, feeling Draco needed time to process what he had just told him. ''Do you know what happened to me? To my arm?'' he asked him before he opened the door.

''We don't know what exactly happened to it, we found you like that. It seemed like somebody tried to rip the dark mark off your arm but by doing so, he or she almost killed you. Esmeralda saved you. She refused to amputate you and risked her own life to heal you.''

''What did she do?''

''We don't really know but that is why we brought you here instead of St. Mungo's. She's a gypsy you see and their knowledge in healing magic is far more extended than ours.''

Draco had heard of the reputation Gypsies had as healers but also of their refusal to share their knowledge with the wizards, as it was intended only to heal their own people. A few wizards, mostly purebloods, had spent extravagant sums of money to receive treatment from them. He remembered reading in the Malfoy family history book that the first Malfoy to be born in England after they had immigrated from France had apparently been delivered by a gypsy midwife.

''Esmeralda had been living with us for a while now. She tried to save Fred's life but it was too late...'' Arthur said while letting go of the door knob to awkwardly scratch his arm. He then stopped to look one last time at Draco. ''I am very happy it wasn't too late for you''.

...

George had changed the mood in the room during supper by telling his family how one of his employees at the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes tried to steal one of his secret prototypes before he had the chance of patenting it and ended up with an extra ear and eye on his forehead. Everybody laughed at how George imitated the distraught face of the thief, everybody except Molly of course.

''Well Molly my love, Arthur said as he pushed his chair back, everything was delicious, as always but I think I will skip dessert for this time. I have to go talk to Draco. So far, I have no idea how I am going to tell him the news...''

''If you want, I can come with you'' Harry proposed.

''It's ok...'' he just said leaving the room.

''Ok girls, help me clean up here. Boys, not to fast!'' Molly had just time to grab Ron by the collar before he disappeared in his room with Harry. ''I want to see all your things packed and ready to go. And sweep your room!'' She handed them a broom and let them go.

Esmeralda brought the dirty plates to Hermione who had already started to place them in the dish washer, the latest muggle appliance Arthur had installed in the Burrow. At first, his wife did not want any of his new discoveries installed in her kitchen but after giving it a chance she secretly fell in love with it.

''I'm going to go see how the boys are doing'' Hermione told Esmeralda after closing the dish washer door. ''You're coming?''

''I think I'm going to stay in the living room. I'm a bit tired...''

''By the way, where are you going to sleep tonight? You can't keep sleeping in the armchair in your room, now that Draco woke up.'' Ginny asked before starting to go up the stairs after Hermione.

''She will sleep with you and Ginny!'' Molly said while still being in the kitchen.

''I'll go then prepare the bed!'' Hermione said running upstairs while Esmeralda stayed in the living room, getting closer to the fire that had been lit before. August nights had been rainy and a bit chilly this year and it had been announced they would have a cold and humid autumn this year. Soon Esmeralda would have to trade her long dresses and skirts for jeans and sweaters. Usually, with her people she would leave and spend the cold seasons in the south of Spain and Morocco but now after two years she was getting used to cover up a bit more during those few months.

''Do you need something?'' George asked before sitting next to her on the couch. He had already taken a blanket laying on another couch and put it around her shoulders. ''Thank you'' she said. ''How are things going with Angelina?''

''It's been a few weeks only but all good so far'' he replied. ''I love her cooking...'' he leaned over her and whispered: ''...I think it's better than mum's''. He raised his eyes to make sure his mother did not hear him. Esmeralda smiled and leaned back on the couch, fixing the logs slowly burning and turning to ashes. ''I am happy for you, George. Your business is doing good and now you have a lady in your life.'' she said.

He did not say anything for a moment, which was odd considering George was always ready to say something. ''Well, the business is more of a passion turned into a way of making a living out of it. As for the lady, well, I could of had her beside me a bit earlier in my life".

Esmeralda turned red hearing him say that last sentence and felt like her heart dropped on the floor. George saw he had put her in an embarrassing spot. "I'm sorry, I brought it up again, didn't I? Don't feel bad, it's in the past."

"I wish I had the same feelings for you when you told me you loved me...I hate how I made you feel after…specially now that your brother is gone…" she said nervously touching her hair.

"It's okay, really. And now that I think about it, I realized I am way out of your league" he simply said with a smirk. They started laughing when they heard a door upstairs closing and steps coming down the stairs.

"Well, it's done. He already had a hint about what happened to his mother" Arthur said while taking a seat on his armchair in the living room.

"I think I'm going to go to bed. Good night." Esmeralda sensed he wanted to speak with his son so she preferred to give them some privacy.

As she was going up the stairs, Esmeralda could hear the voices of Ginny and Harry coming from the room he shared with Ron. A bit further, Hermione was instructing Ron on how to fold his clothes properly so they would not be any wrinkles on them. She was debating if she should go to her room first to go get what she needed for the night.

As she approached her door, she hesitated in opening it. She could definitely hear Draco crying. She felt uncomfortable going in: she did not know what she should say to him. Maybe she could pretend she just wanted to check on him one last time...

"Draco, can I come in?" she asked softly but loud enough for him to hear her through the door. At first, there was no answer. She waited a bit more...still nothing. "I just want to know if you need anything before we all go to bed." Still nothing.

In a certain way, she was relieved he wanted to be alone. She was about to leave when he finally answered back. "Yes, come in".

She first saw the bucket with the rag she charmed earlier to clean him. She felt bad for using that method on him but at that time she had no idea he would be receiving such terrible news. He was still laying on his back but his head was turned the other way, hiding his tears from her. If only there was something she could do to make him feel better...

"If you want, I can change the bed sheets" she suggested rapidly after seeing the blood stains on the ones he was laying on. She did not expect an answer right away, she just asked him the first thing that came to her mind, just to break the silence in the room.

"That would be great, thank you." he said as he turned his head to face her. Tears had reddened his eyes but did not masked the beauty of his grey eyes.

She smiled and went to grab the bed linen on the top self of her closet.

Hello! Oh my gaaaaddd, I am so sorry! First I could not upload the next chapter in the doc manager, for some reason the website was crashing every time I tried to save! Then when finally I was able to, I realized I did not like the ending of this chapter, so I changed it! And then again! I could not upload the chapter in doc manager! It would just copy the whole thing without any spacing between paragraphs! It was soo frustrating but finally I did it!

Special thanks to everybody that leaves a comment :) And also for those who follow or/and favorite this story! I just love receiving notifications telling me one more person wants to know what is going to happen next!

I haven't written the next chapter yet :s I hope it will be ready for next week...