Harry could feel everyone staring at him as he walked towards the group by the fireplace. He had no idea what the 3 Slytherin's were doing here, but by the way Neville had greeted them, he'd clearly invited them. He stopped in front of Draco, noticing the protective hand on his shoulder. He looked at the girl, who gave him a small smile, but continued her conversation with Zabini and Neville. At least she seemed to know that Malfoy and Harry needed to have this conversation.
Before Harry could say anything, Malfoy had started speaking. "I know I'm the last person you probably want to see. After everything I've done you have every right to hex me to oblivion." He muttered, clearly uncomfortable with the situation, but he still kept eye contact with Harry. "I want to put the past behind us. You won this war with the help of Granger and Weasley, and everyone from the Order. I want to start a fresh." Malfoy held out his hand. Harry had never seen him this nervous since their detention in the forbidden forest. Harry took hold of Malfoy's hand and shook it.
"You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort again. We can help you there." Harry tried keeping a straight face until both he and Malfoy started laughing.
"I suppose I deserved that one." Malfoy smirked as Harry nodded.
"You did. But Neville seems to want to put the past behind him as well, otherwise you wouldn't be here. If he's ready to forgive and forget, then so am I. We're not kids anymore." Malfoy nodded and was about to introduce Harry to the others properly when a voice made him stop.
"There is no way I'm forgiving you." Ron had come up to them, a scowl still on his face, looking at Malfoy with pure hatred. "After everything he and his family have done, I don't think so." Harry sighed and turned to Ron.
"You may not like it Ron, but people do change." Ron was about to argue when another voice was heard.
"Have you forgotten what happened at the manor?" A bushy main of brown curly hair appeared next to them. Hermione was staring at Ron, waiting for an answer.
"Of course not. It's hard to forget you screaming like that." He muttered, but Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Draco had every opportunity to say it was us, but he didn't. He stalled. And the night Dumbledore died Harry has always been adamant that Draco was lowering his wand; that he had no intention of killing him. I'm all for giving him another chance. Besides, he's had Aurora's influence over the past year by the looks of things, and she's a great judge of character." All three boys looked bewildered at Hermione's speech; even more so when she was pulled into a tight embrace by the brown haired girl who had her shoulder on Draco to begin with.
"You two know each other?" Draco asked, uncertain how that had happened. Aurora chuckled and ruffled his hair. He playfully scowled at her as she poked her tongue out at him.
"I used to help Hermione with her Ancient Runes homework sometimes at school." Aurora smiled at the group.
"You weren't in our year though, were you?" Harry asked. He'd have known her if she had been.
"No. The year above you. I kept mostly to myself anyway. Less drama that way." She laughed as Zabini, Greengrass and Neville came over to their conversation.
"Making friends are we Draco?" he drawled, knowing it would wind his friend up.
"Shove off Blaise." He muttered, giving him a half-hearted glare.
"I swear the only reason I was invited to be the referee or something." Aurora muttered, making Harry and Hermione laugh.
"Not for my birthday at all then?" Neville said sarcastically as Aurora leaned her head his shoulder.
"Of course not. I came here for the food." Neville chuckled just as Mrs Weasley said that the dinner was ready. The small group followed everyone outside where there were tables set up to accommodate everyone who was there
It was getting late. Malfoy, Zabini and Greengrass had decided to go home not long after dinner was finished. Ginny couldn't believe that Malfoy and Harry were able to actually hold a conversation during dinner without resulting in a duel of some kind.
There were many subdued conversations happening in the living room. Molly and Arthur were in the kitchen, making everyone hot chocolate before Neville, Aurora and Hermione made their way home. Ginny was glad the Neville no longer felt out of place. She had hoped that Luna would have come, but she'd been busy travelling the world and was constantly losing track of the time.
Ginny looked around the room. Charlie was talking to Aurora about the Dragon conservation project that he was managing back in Romania. She was surprised that Aurora was just as fascinated by the project. It was the first time all night that Aurora had showed any enthusiasm in anything. She was nice enough girl, Ginny couldn't really fault her. She'd held a conversation with everyone throughout the night, making sure the Slytherin's were behaving themselves, and to just get to know everyone.
Andromeda had stayed as well, and was currently talking to Harry and Ron whilst little Teddy was asleep in her arms. Ginny had phased out of the conversation as she was contemplating the events of earlier that evening, when she heard Andromeda mention Aurora.
"After everything that Draco told me about her, well, let's just say that I'm glad that she's become friend's with him. I don't know what he would have done if she hadn't started talking to him."
"What do you mean?" Ron asked. Ginny's interest had also been captured. Andromeda seemed to hesitated before answering.
"How well do you know Aurora?" she asked. The three of them shrugged. "Tonight was the first time you've actually spoken to her, isn't it?" she asked instead. When the three of them nodded, Andromeda sighed.
"Well, according to Draco, his 6th year was terrible for him, as you well know. His attempts to save his family weren't working." Ron face turned hard. It had done every time Malfoy was mentioned, but Ginny could see that he was just as intrigued as she was. "He told me that he didn't see any way out and he'd tried to stop it all." Her eyes fell to the floor, as if she was debating whether or not to continue.
"When you say he 'tried to stop it all' you mean he tried to... kill himself?" Harry asked. He was uncomfortable about asking, but it was what Ginny was thinking as well. When Andromeda nodded Ginny gasped.
"It had really gotten that bad?" she asked. She'd never liked Malfoy much, but she would never wish that on anyone. Andromeda nodded again.
"He had no one to talk to; his attempts on the vanishing cabinet weren't working, as were his other careless attempts to get at Dumbledore." She paused slightly, gathering her thoughts. "According to Draco, he was about ready to take a potion that would have killed him when she came out of nowhere and slapped it out of his hand. They got into an argument about it and she practically dragged him to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey gave him a dreamless sleep potion, and when he woke up she was still there. I don't what she said to him, he wouldn't tell me, but he never tried it again. When things became difficult he talked to her. He said that she'd known something was up, and kept telling him he should do what he felt was right, no matter what the consequences." Harry was frowning, trying to take everything in. Ron's scowl was still in place, but Ginny could tell that he was having a hard time to actually hate Malfoy now.
"So," Harry started, once everything had sunk in. "You think she may made him think twice about Dumbledore?" he asked.
"I like to think so." All 4 of them jumped, and looked up to see that Aurora was standing there with a tray of mugs, all steaming with hot chocolate. She smirked as she handed out the drinks before sending the tray back into the kitchen and taking a seat on the arm rest next to Ginny. "I think all I did was just talk to him until he was sick of hearing my voice." She laughed before taking a sip of her drink.
"Now that can't be true." Andromeda smiled at her. "You must have said something to him to make him re think what he was doing. And you stopped him from killing himself, so for that, I'm grateful." Ginny could that Aurora blushed slightly.
"What did you say to make him not try again?" Ron spoke up. Aurora frowned and bit her lip slightly, trying to figure out how to say it. She sighed and shrugged before turning to face them.
"I told him I'd been in a similar situation, but I couldn't use any magical means to do it. Told him it was the worst mistake of my life, but that now I've got plenty of time to make more." She muttered, not looking at any of them.
"You tried..?" Harry started, not able to continue. "Why?" he asked, not wanting to believe what she was saying. How could this bubbly and talkative girl, who laughed easily and joked around with everyone, be so low as to do anything like that?
Aurora looked straight at him. "You came out of the maze clutching the dead body of my best friend." There was silence between them; you could have heard a pin drop. Harry was looking at her, his eyes wide, no knowing what to say. Ginny's mind had gone completely blank. It was Ron that spoke first.
"Wait, I knew I recognised you." He said, pointing a finger at her. "Aurora Simmons, Hufflepuff Beater?" he asked. She smiled and nodded. "Fred and George always said that you were the best beater they'd ever played against. They were always impressed that you were the only girl beater in their time at Hogwarts." Aurora laughed slightly before silence fell between them again, but it was a comfortable one this time. Harry still looked like a deer in the headlights, but Ginny curled up to him, drinking her hot chocolate and smiled. Aurora would fit in well with the Weasley's.
George was leaning again the door frame, taking in the scene. Everyone looked happy. Neville, Hermione and Charlie were talking in one corner, his mum and dad were talking about Bill and Fleur's first anniversary, and Ginny, Harry, Andromeda and Ron were on the sofa's near the fire, talking to someone with her back to him.
When he heard Fred's name from Ron, George had stiffened slightly. He still found it hard, hearing his brother's name. He was still grieving, even a year later, when the rest of his family seemed to have moved on. He knew he should too; he knew that he was hurting his mother by the way he distanced himself from everyone, but he couldn't help it. Fred was his twin; a part of him. He couldn't just forget about him and move on like the rest of them. They just didn't understand.
"Fred and George always said that you were the best beater they'd ever played against. They were always impressed that you were the only girl beater in their time at Hogwarts." Ron's voice drifted over to him. He frowned slightly. Simmons? What was she doing here? He's only ever spoken to her once in his time at Hogwarts, and that was when Hufflepuff won the Quidditch game against Gryffindor in that storm. George was about to make his way over when Mrs Weasley spoke up.
"Neville, Hermione, Aurora, you really don't have to go tonight. There's plenty of room here, and it's getting quiet late. Neville can stay in Charlie's room with him, and the girls can have Percy's old room. We really don't mind at all."
Aurora had turned round, her eyes wide in fright, making George frown. When Neville started speaking, George saw her relax slightly. "That's really kind of you Mrs Weasley, but..." But his mother was already shaking her head.
"No buts. As I said, there's plenty of room. Now I suggest you head off to bed now..." George didn't hear the end of her sentence. He'd made his way into the kitchen and out the back door. He didn't want anyone seeing him. He didn't want to talk to anyone. He was better off alone. He heard the muttering from everyone in the house and lay in the grass. He'd given them all time to settle down, and fall asleep before he went back inside.
George must have dozed off; when he looked at his watch it was half one in the morning. He sighed as he got up, his joints stiff from the hard ground, and made his way into the kitchen. It didn't register in his head that the light was on until he walked in and saw her sitting at the table, a steaming mug of tea in her hands.
She looked up in surprise, her baggy tea shirt falling of one shoulder. She blinked a few times, as if trying to decide whether or not he was really there. She sighed and set her mug on the table. "Do you want one?" she whispered. He frowned at her, not knowing what to say. She had slight bags under her eyes, and she was shivering slightly, despite the warm night that it was. He sat down opposite her, but declined the cup of tea.
"You look like shit." He muttered when she took hold of her steaming mug of tea again. She looked him up and down, and shrugged slightly.
"So do you." She muttered before taking a gulp of tea. She sighed and seemed to relax a bit in the chair. She was still looking at him, debating whether or not she should ask him a question. He didn't need this, not from a stranger anyway. He was about to get up when she whispered something that made his stop. "He wouldn't want this you know." He frowned at her, unsure of what she was trying to say. "Fred." She clarified.
"What would you know?" he muttered as he got up from the table.
"More than you think." She mumbled as he left the kitchen. He knew it was a mistake to have sat at the table with her; knew she'd say something about Fred, everyone did. He was about to make his way up the stairs when he noticed that blankets on the sofa. He turned back towards the kitchen, a frown on his face.
"Mum offered you Percy's room, why are you sleeping on the lumpy sofa?" he asked. She looked at him in shock, not knowing what to say.
"Why do you care?" she asked as she walked past him into the living room. He followed her, and sat in the chair, looking at her as if she'd gone mad. No one in their right mind would choose the lumpy sofa over a comfortable bed. She was avoiding eye contact with him, which just annoyed him all the more. He didn't say anything, knowing how annoying it is when people constantly ask questions you don't want to answer. He stared into the dying embers of the fire when she finally spoke in a whisper.
"Nightmares." It was all she needed to say. George nodded, knowing what that was like. He looked at her, clocking the dark circles under her eyes, the way her hand fidgeted with the blanket over her legs, how she looked so scared when his mother had offered her Percy's room. This wasn't a one off. These nightmares where a regular occurrence and she didn't want to wake anyone up.
She quickly wiped away a tear that had escaped, and before George even knew what he was doing, he'd moved to sofa and took hold of her hand. She looked at him, confusion on her face, as he started rubbing circles on her wrist with his thumb. She closed her eyes as George put his arm around her shoulders, comforting her as the tears started to steadily fall down her cheeks. It was then that he realised that he wasn't the only one who was still suffering.
Here was this fragile girl next to him, who was still tormented by the horrors of the war, and she was trying to face it alone, just as he was; but she couldn't. He realised that he'd been a fool as Aurora rested her head against him. He lay down on the sofa, bringing her with him and wrapped his arms around her completely. Slowly, they both fell asleep, and George knew that he wasn't alone in this anymore.
A/N: I'm think that new updates are going to be posted on Sunday evenings. I tend to write up during the week, and then edit them on the Sunday, so it makes sense.
This chapter was a heard one. I knew I needed a way to make the other accept Draco, but I didn't intend for that conversation around the fire to happen. My mind just runs away from me sometimes, but I'm glad it did. It made a nice segway to Aurora's meeting with George in the kitchen (in my mind at least - just trust me on this.)
I just hope that all my ideas for this to flow easily into one another. I know what I want to happen, and how things happen, but I always find it difficult for the journey. I always suck at that filler parts of a story, so seriously, you're gonna have to bare with me
Also, everything belongs to JKR, apart from my OC Aurora, but man we all wish we had her imagination!