Author's note: I AM SO SORRY! I know I haven't updated in a LONG time. I've had a lot going on what with starting college and all that. But I finally don't have homework to worry about. Yay!
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Draco had woken at one point in the night, looking utterly terrified. It had taken about ten minutes for the twins to calm him down but they finally got him to remember that he was at the Burrow, not in the Malfoy dungeon. They had been rather confused for a minute as to what could've caused it. At first they assumed it was just a simple nightmare, but then they caught glimpse of the clock: it read 10:12. Draco had woken up at 10:00, the time he was usually tortured while imprisoned.
The twins woke the next morning relieved to see that Draco was still sound asleep, his face peaceful. They decided not to wake him as they got dressed to head down to breakfast. "Sleep will do him more good than food at the moment anyway…" George had whispered to Fred as they shut the door and headed downstairs.
They bumped into Mrs. Weasley who had just rounded the corner to call up that breakfast was ready. The twins explained that Draco was still asleep and she nodded. The three of them headed quietly back up the stairs to rouse the others.
Harry jumped as the twins shook him awake. "Whasgoinon?"* he said, fumbling for his glasses on the table beside the bed.
"It's time for breakfast." The twins' voices were soft as they said this. "Draco's still asleep so we didn't want to wake him by bellowing for you all." Fred tugged the blankets off the raven-haired boy. "So get your arse out of bed and come down." They did the same thing to Ron only they added in a threat to hex him if he decided to 'forget' that Draco was sleeping and do something to wake him.
Ron grumbled bitterly under his breath as the twins left the room. "Gits… Since when are they all buddy buddy with Malfoy?"
Harry gave a non-committal shrug as he pulled out his clothes for the day. "I expect it happened when they were imprisoned together. I mean, you heard what they said they saw happen to him."
"Yeah, I heard…" Ron said, his voice irritated. "But still, it's Malfoy! He's always been a spoiled little prat that's gotten everything he ever wanted in life without having to lift a bloody finger. It's about time he got some shit to deal with in his life."
Harry's temper began to rise. "'About time?' What the hell do you call this past year, Ron. He's already been dealing with plenty of shit. Or did you forget that I nearly killed him earlier this year?"
"Yeah, I remember," Ron said a bit darkly. "And if you ask me, you should've."
Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had always known that Ron hated Draco, naturally, but he never imagined his friend would actually want the blonde dead. He scooped up his things and started for the bathroom, pausing at the door to look back at Ron. "You say he's a prat… Well, right now, he has nothing on you." With that he left the room, feeling rather proud of himself for defending the blonde. After all, he actually deserved the defense this time. But the more Harry thought about it, the more he wondered how many times Draco had deserved a defense before and never got one.
Breakfast was quite a bit quieter than dinner the previous night. There was conversation, but it was typically short. No one really seemed too keen to be the first one to bring up the blonde.
Sirius broke the subject after a few more conversations passed awkwardly. "Do you reckon he's alright?" Nobody needed clarification as to who he was referring to. He continued when no one else spoke. "Naturally he'll be fine from a physical stand point. I mean, we all saw those potions he devised. What I'm worried about is his emotional and mental health. After all, he's never been the most stable about these things…" He allowed his voice to trail off, not wishing to elaborate. Lupin and Tonks nodded darkly in understanding.
"That's true…" Tonks said ,her voice almost sad. Ron, Harry and Hermione all exchanged slightly confused looks. Lupin caught them.
"Draco is Tonks' cousin and Sirius' cousin once removed," he said. "But even though they are related to him…"
"We don't know him any better than anyone else here does," Sirius finished Lupin's thought. "He has always kept to himself, a dangerous quality with him…"
"He'll also be a bit trickier to monitor now," said Tonks. "We won't be able to see if he's-"
"That's quite enough, I think," Mrs. Weasley interjected, cutting Tonks off with a stern look. And so the conversation went back to its previous awkwardness of short questions with short answers.
Harry and Hermione helped to clear the table after breakfast was over. Fred and George were talking with Tonks by the fireplace in the living room. They didn't seem particularly focused though. They kept casting glances toward the staircase to see if the blonde would be coming down.
000
Draco didn't stir until late afternoon. He looked around for a moment before remembering where he was. He stretched lightly, his aching muscles screaming at him as he did so. He noticed a set of clothes laid out for him at the end of the bed as well as a fresh towel. He smiled lightly and scooped them up, making his way toward the bathroom that Mrs. Weasley had led him to the previous night.
His entire body held a dull ache as he stood in the warm stream of water. Every muscle felt as stiff as a board whenever he tried to move. It was as if he had been covered in weights, each movement taking a greater deal of effort than he felt it should. He stepped out of the shower after what felt like hours but, in reality, was only about 20 minutes or so. He dried himself off and wrapped the towel around his waist. Performing a warm air spell, he dried his hair. It had grown quite a bit longer than he usually allowed and was falling around his face.
Getting annoyed with it, he conjured a hair-band and whipped his platinum locks up into a somewhat messy ponytail. It was out of his face and, for the moment being, that was all he really cared about. He set about getting dressed for the remainder of the day.
000
Harry and Hermione had nearly completed the puzzle they had started a few nights before. It was nearly time for lunch. Fred, George, Sirius and Tonks were all looking slightly concerned. Lupin had tried to distract them with conversation, but it was short lived as Mr. Weasley asked him to help out in his shed with boxes of "fascinating muggle devices called, I believe, celery phones, which doesn't make sense at all. They don't even look like celery…" Lupin had gone to help with an amused half-smile on his worn face.
They turned when they heard footsteps coming down the stairs. The blonde descended rather quietly on the creaky old staircase. Moody started making his way from an adjoining room to start interrogating him once more but Tonks moved faster, reaching the blonde first. "How are you feeling, Draco?" Her tone was light. He gave a shrug with a small smile. "Did you sleep well?" He nodded. "Good. How about you come out and help me in the garden? Molly needs some veggies for dinner and keeps saying the sooner she starts preparing them the better they'll be." Again, Draco nodded and followed his cousin out the back door, Moody watching Tonks with annoyance.
"He's got to answer me eventually," he growled, stumping over to a seat in the corner of the room. "The sooner he does the sooner I'll leave him be. Molly and Nymphadora don't seem to understand that."
"I understand perfectly well, thank you," called Mrs. Weasley from the kitchen. "He needs to make peace with whatever happened before you make him relive it though."
There was a tension in the room at her words. Hermione, Harry, Sirius and the twins completely agreed with Mrs. Weasley, but both Moody and Ron's expressions had darkened. Without another word, Mad-Eye stood and left the room, his metal foot clunking the whole way down the hall.
Trying to diffuse the awkwardness in the room, the twins began speaking with Sirius about a new line of WWW products they were thinking about. Hermione and Harry managed to finish their puzzle and Hermione tried to get Ron to stop brooding. Harry decided to go outside "for a bit of fresh air", as he told Hermione. Once outside, he made his way toward the garden. He could hear Tonks chattering as he drew closer and thought the blonde would surely be annoyed.
This was not the case. He was a bit surprised to see the Slytherin smiling, nodding and occasionally laughing at what she had to say. Though, admittedly, he was far more surprised to see dirt on the 'Ice Prince's' hands. It seemed nearly impossible for such a thing to happen. Draco looked up and spotted Harry on the other side of the fence and gave a small wave.
Tonks looked over as well. "Wotcher, Harry."
He gave a small nod. "Do you want any help?"
"Sure, if you don't mind."
Harry walked around the fence and stood, slightly awkwardly, for a moment before asking, "What do you need me to do?"
"Could you help Draco with the oregano and basil? Not that he can't handle it, he's doing a great job, there's just a lot of it."
Harry nodded and knelt beside the blonde, the basket filled with the spices between them. He could see the basket full of carrots and other vegetables on the other side of Tonks. He watched as Draco plucked off the leaves of the spices, careful not to rip them. Harry decided it looked simple enough. He tore his first one, earning a light laugh from the Slytherin. The blonde took hold of Harry's hand gently, leading his fingers down to the point where the leaf's stem meets the main stalk. He pressed lightly on the Gryffindor's thumb and the leaf popped off cleanly. Harry dropped it into the basket. "Thanks," he said, a faint blush rising to his cheeks.
They enter the kitchen, being sure to wipe their feet as they come in, and set the baskets of ingredients on the counter by the stove. "Oh, bless you…" Mrs. Weasley said, seeming slightly frazzled. "I still need to finish up lunch but those carrots really need to be prepared so they're done in time for dinner…"
Tonks excused herself from the room: she was a total menace in the kitchen and everyone knew it. The other's all cast glances at each other, none really wanting to help with the preparations. Everyone did a double-take when Draco stepped forward. Mrs. Weasley beamed up at him, looking somewhat amused. "You cook?" He gave a small shrug like 'a little'. She nodded. "Alright then. If you could give the carrots a good scrub down and slice them that would be fantastic. I'll fetch you the pot they should go in." Draco moves the basket over near the sink and Mrs. Weasley sets a pot, a cutting board and a knife next to him.
It was a rather odd sight: the Malfoy heir helping to prepare dinner at the Burrow. And without magic, too. Hermione seemed fascinated. She and Tonks both donned slightly nervous looks as the blonde picked up the knife to begin cutting the first clean carrot. They needn't have worried though. It became rather plain that Draco did, in fact, know what he was doing.
Hermione and Ginny started whispering about something, Ron stalked out of the room, and Sirius and the twins were brain storming. Harry wasn't paying attention to any of it, though, he was too focused on the Slytherin. He couldn't help but notice a certain stiffness to his movements that had never been there before. He wondered just how much he had been through while imprisoned.
A few minutes after Draco put the now full pot of carrots onto the stove Mrs. Weasley called out "Time for lunch!" Draco seemed far more engaged with the conversations today, though he still could not speak. Even so, he seemed uncomfortable around the large group. After lunch everyone went off to do their own things. Once again, though, Draco was the one to volunteer to help Mrs. Weasley both with the dishes from lunch and continuing the needed preparations for dinner.
000
The Slytherin seemed off again at dinner, more timid and drawn into himself. He would nod and give light smiles but there was a frightened glint in his eyes. After dinner Harry found him, once again, by the fire with his knees pulled to his chest. He sat beside the blonde. "You ok?" Draco looked up at him and gave a small nod. The Gryffindor didn't buy it but decided not to press the subject. "So, what do you think of the Burrow?"
Draco grabbed his notepad and quill and scrawled "I think it is fantastic." across the page in his flowing script. He let out a small scoff before adding "Is it sad that I feel more comfortable here than in my own home?"
Harry shook his head. "No, it's not a bad thing. I mean, I feel more comfortable here than I ever did with the Dursley's." But the more he thought on it, he realized it was sad. Harry had never liked his aunt and uncle and it wasn't really Harry's true home. Draco was losing everything he had grown up with and, supposedly, loved.
He was saved from having to acknowledge this realization when Lupin called for him. He stood from the couch, muttering a small "I'll be right back" to the blonde before heading to meet the werewolf. He passed Tonks who was just leaving the room. She looked slightly worn but gave him a smile as she left.
Lupin was leaning against a desk. He appeared to be looking over plans. Harry cleared his throat and the older man turned. "Ah, Harry. I need to talk to you…"
000
Tonks sat beside the blonde teen on the couch. "How are you feeling?"
Draco scrawled, "I'm fine," on his note pad.
She gave him a somewhat stern look. "I don't buy it, Draco. I may not know you as well as I ought to, but I still know when you aren't being honest with me." Her tone wasn't harsh, just concerned. "Please, tell me the truth. You don't look well…"
The Slytherin let out a light sigh. He picked up his quill once more. "I'm not alright… I know no one here would ever do anything, but…"
"Draco, what all did they do to you?" Her voice was sad as she asked. "They didn't… didn't… You know…" The blonde didn't respond and she bit her lower lip, understanding. "Right…" Out of nowhere, she pulls him into a hug. "Draco, I'm so sorry… You shouldn't have had to deal with that."
She was slightly surprised when he didn't move to pull away from her. Not nearly to the extent when he hugged her back, however. She wasn't sure, but she thought she could feel him shaking lightly.
Note: Hope you liked it. This is just a filler chapter, so I'm sorry if you found it boring. I just wanted to make sure people knew that Draco wasn't resisting the process of the Weasley's being nice to him and was actually trying to return the favor. Again, Sorry that it took me so long.