August 7th 1995
When Ron and Harry woke up in the morning, there was no Draco Malfoy on the floor next to the bed. Instant panic.
In their frantic search of the small room, Harry discovered Malfoy's soiled clothes in a heap in a corner. To Ron this was cause to go absolutely ballistic. "The bastard's walking around naked in my house! With my parents home and everything! And my sister!" his eyes were flicking around. "Ginny! By now Malfoy could have raped her or murdered her or something! We've got to do something!"
When they raced downstairs, they didn't find Ginny's body, but instead, they saw Malfoy, backed up against one of the kitchen walls, with Ginny holding a poker to his throat. Malfoy was actually clean, and this made his injuries stand out even more clearly. He was also, to Ron's fury, wearing a pair of Ron's best jeans, and a green shirt. And he was grinning.
Malfoy said to Ginny, "I don't believe we've met. I would have remembered such a bewitching lady as yourself. My name's Draco Malfoy, but you can call me Draco." Ron rolled his eyes and mouthed, "Womanizer" at Harry.
Ginny was not charmed. "What the hell are you doing in my house?" she growled. "I thought I saw you last night. Explain why you're here then get out."
Malfoy… oh, let's call him Draco…
Draco went, "Um…"
Harry, snapping out of his staring mode, said hastily, "We asked him over to stay with us."
Ginny turned her head as much as she could without budging the poker the merest fraction of an inch. "Of course, Harry, you suddenly realised that Draco Malfoy is your best friend and so you invited him over to Ron's house!" she said brightly, meaning, Try again.
Ron said, "Gin, put down the poker then I'll explain."
"Why should I?"
"Good point," said Ron fiercely. "Stab Malfoy through the throat with it then let's leave him to bleed to death and we'll go for breakfast, shall we? God knows it's all his fault anyway."
Ginny put down the poker.
There was a tense silence.
It was Harry, in the end, who explained what had happened.
* * * * * * *
Ginny said, "Wow." And then, thoughtfully, "Wow."
Hermione smiled benignly, having joined the four of them at the breakfast table. "It is rather hard to believe, isn't it? That we would put our lives on the line to save such a scumbag…"
"Hey," Draco protested, "Watch which scumbags you insult. Some of them might bite."
Harry said, "I think this particular scumbag has had his poison sacs removed permanently."
Draco bared his teeth. "Anyway, I don't bite." He waited a beat, then added, "Hard."
Everyone groaned at this lamest of jokes. While they were still feeling amazed at how natural it seemed to be for Draco Malfoy to be with them, footsteps were heard at the top of the stairs. George's voice floated down. "Morning, folks."
This galvanized the five into action. Ron jumped, saying, "Into the front room!" Harry grabbed an arm and pulled a startled Draco in Ron's wake. Hermione and Ginny tried to look innocent.
George padded lazily down the stairs. "Anyone know what time it is?"
Ginny, glancing at the hourglass on the cabinet, said, "Ten."
George nodded, and went into the kitchen for breakfast, emerging a couple of minutes later with a slice of jellied toast. As he did so, he spotted Harry and Ron coming out of the front room.
"What were you two doing in there?" he asked, puzzled.
"Um…"
"Um…"
"They were… they were… getting something that they left there last night!" Hermione almost shouted.
"That's right," improvised Harry. "Our… magazines."
George raised an eyebrow. "And these magazines are… where?"
Ron screeched, "Ha ha!" causing everyone else to jump.
"Ha ha!" echoed Ginny, pointing. "They've forgotten to bring them out!"
"Ha ha," mumbled Harry and Hermione.
George was going round and putting his hand on people's foreheads. "Are you chaps feeling alright?"
"Fine, fine," insisted Ron, and mouthed to Hermione, "Keep him busy."
* * * * * * *
Thanks to a clever diversion on Hermione's part (she dramatically 'felt faint' in George's arms, then told him that she was rehearsing for a Muggle play in the summer), Ron and Harry smuggled Draco upstairs and into Ron's room.
"Do you realise what you nearly did?" Harry demanded, after sitting Draco down onto Ron's bed. "You could have gotten yourself killed!"
Draco deadpanned, "You sound like my mother."
"This is no time for jokes, Malfoy. You can't let any, and I mean ANY of the family see you, or they'll garrote you and put the corpse on display."
"What about her?" Draco said, meaning Ginny.
Ron said, "If you mean my sister Ginny, she can keep a secret."
Harry said, "Look, Malfoy, I don't want to be bossy, but…"
"I'm a prisoner here," interrupted Draco tiredly. "I know what you're trying to say, okay? Stay in the room, don't breathe unless you tell me to. Potter, I told you you should have killed me while you could. Now I've survived and I'm not going to stay in one room with my hands folded, like a good little boy."
Harry said, "Well, when you put it that way…"
"What you should do is come down for meals at, say, five in the morning, while everyone else is asleep, and others we'll bring up," suggested Ron.
Draco narrowed his eyes. "I don't recall asking for your help, Weasley."
"You're going to get it. Nothing personal, this is just so I can crow over you in the near future. You can't hide forever, you know. Sooner or later you have to go back to school."
"I'll stay here for the summer, if it's okay with Potter."
"But this is my house!" raged Ron.
"Um, please, Weasley. I would really like to stay at your house, if you don't mind. I'd really appreciate it and be in your debt forever." Harry watched Draco's grey eyes widen cajolingly, and thought he'd never heard anything sound less sincere.
"Fine, fine," grumbled Ron.
"Are we agreed or not?" Harry asked. Then, gleefully, "Malfoy, shake hands with Ron."
"What?!"
"Why?!"
"Because," Harry smiled, "That's how you seal a pact."
Draco gritted his teeth but gracefully extended his hand. Ron took it and pumped it up and down, pulling all the while. Draco was yanked off the bed and onto the floor, where he landed in a tangle of legs - he'd knocked Ron over too.
"Oh, boy," Harry rolled his eyes up to the ceiling. "This is going to be a long summer."
--End Chapter Four--
I realise that I've forgotten to respond to reviewers, so to all those people who reviewed Chapters Three and Four…
Heart of Pop Tart - I don't know what Apocalypse Now is, and I am a she.
vmr - Thank you!
DevilChild - Wait and see. You may like what's coming, oh, about three chapters from now.
JediGinny - If you're giggling, then I did something right. :)
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