Hi again! I know I just finished wrapping up "It's More Complicated Than That" (check it out if you haven't yet), BUT I saw this story lying around when I was looking through my folders.
Anyway, without further ado, here is the first chapter of "The Homecoming." Hope you like it!
Chapter 1: Coming Home
October 2002
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Ginny whispered furiously as she saw the person standing before her childhood home, keeping the door closed enough to block everyone's sight of him.
Draco Malfoy looked at her with what looked like an expressionless face, but his eyes betrayed his amusement.
"I was invited," He said civilly, discounting Ginny's apparent ire towards him.
As if on cue, Mrs. Weasley bustled towards the door to see why it's taking so long for Ginny to answer the door.
"Ginny, who's at the door?"
Mrs. Weasley took the knob from Ginny's hand that had slackened and ripped the door open. Expecting her mother to go mental, she did not prepare for the reaction that was to come.
"Draco, dear! How nice it is to see you!" Her mother somewhat shoved her out of the way to give Draco a bone-crushing hug which rendered Ginny shocked and speechless.
What the actual fuck is going on here? She thought trying to come up with a logical reasoning behind this, what she considers, odd reaction towards Malfoy.
"Molly, you're-crushing-me," Draco's voice squeaked, indicating that Mrs. Weasley's iron-gripped hug has made him breathless.
Maybe that will kill him, who knows? Ginny thought cruelly.
"Now, let's get you in here since it's freezing out there. Ginny," Mrs. Weasley called Ginny, which brought her out of her murder plotting stupor. "Do close the door and come to the table so we can eat."
Ginny did what her mother told her to and followed them to the table. What surprised her even more was that everyone seems to welcome Draco Malfoy with open arms, including Ron.
Confused and frustrated, she couldn't help but voice out her thoughts with contempt. "I'm sorry, but since when do we have a bloody Malfoy over for dinner?"
Everyone stopped their movements to look at Ginny. Nobody dared to look her in the eye. Instead, her family looked at each other, willing the other to explain. Even Malfoy refused to look in her direction. Seeing this hesitation annoyed Ginny even further so she called out the person who she thought would tell her what's going on.
"For Merlin's sake. George, what the hell is going on? Why is he here?" Her voice was teetering on the edge of calmness, which signified that she's about to lose her temper.
George sighed deeply and faced Ginny. "You were gone for a long time, so we never really got to explain. But, Draco has been adopted by the family. You know, kinda like Harry is." He said this last part slowly and carefully to gauge her reaction.
It seems like the family was holding their breath as she tried to process this information.
"Adopted? Like Harry, you say?" Ginny said in a deathly calm manner. "And nobody bothered to owl me about this development in the last, I don't know, 2 years?" Ginny screeched that last part of the question, making everybody recoil in their seats.
Deciding that enough was enough, Mrs. Weasley stood from her seat and went to stand in front of Ginny. She held her daughter's arms in an attempt to get her attention and placate her.
"Ginny. I understand why you're angry, but we can talk about this later. Right now, everyone's starving and the heating charms can only last so long. I promise you we'll explain everything after dinner. Can you manage that?" Mrs. Weasley said affectionately, but the hint of firmness was not missed on Ginny.
Calming herself with a deep breath, she looked at her mom with piercing eyes. "Fine. I'll sit through it."
Mrs. Weasley tucked a strand of Ginny's loose hair behind her ear and ushered her to the table. "That's my girl."
When everyone was settled, Mrs. Weasley announced the start of dinner and everybody dug in. Although the tension from before didn't entirely dissipate, everyone tried their best to keep the atmosphere as light as it can be. Everyone, including Draco, was conversing with each other, catching up on news and life updates, but not Ginny. Ginny kept to herself, eating her fill, all the while her thoughts filled with questions about Malfoy's relationship with her family.
At the moment, most of the family we're in the family room playing or talking. However, Arthur and Ginny were in his office to talk about Draco. Mrs. Weasley was cleaning up on the kitchen when she heard somebody come up to her.
"Molly."
She folded the rug she was holding and placed it on the counter before turning to Draco.
"Is something wrong, Draco?"
Draco leaned on the door frame to the kitchen and sighed.
"I just wanted to apologize for what happened. I ruined dinner for all of you."
Mrs. Weasley waved her hand in front of her to disagree with his statement. "Pish posh. Ginny's temper can blow things out of proportion. We're used to it, so don't worry about a thing," She finished with a smile.
Draco nodded as Mrs. Weasley turned back to resume cleaning. However, she continued speaking.
"Initially, I thought Ron and Harry, maybe even George, would have the hardest time accepting you here. But, imagine my shock when they paled in comparison to her today. It's almost like she has an unfathomable grudge against you, but, from what I know, you two barely spoke a word to each other in Hogwarts. So, I'm just as shocked as you are, really."
Draco started feeling uncomfortable, but not because of Mrs. Weasley. "Yeah. I guess so," was his meek reply.
Finishing with the counter top, she looked back at Draco, her hands on her hips and a smile on her face.
"She'll get used to it. Just like everybody else in this family. I am sorry that you have to feel like this again," she said with a motherly voice.
Draco gave her a small smile and shook his head lightly. "It's alright. I didn't expect any less from her."
Mrs. Weasley patted him on the shoulder. "Let's go back to where everybody is."
