disclaimer: All characters and places in this story are the creation and property of J.K. Rowling and are being used here without permission. No money is being made from the writing and publishing of this fiction.

A/N: ron / draco. yep. weird ron / draco, but r/d all the same. *sigh* me and my plot devices...



What Goes Around


by adenosine, sophia3b@yahoo.com


Chapter 1: Comes Around

Draco stood next to his father, pompous and arrogant as ever with an extra little something that might have been smugness glowing on his face as Lucius laid a paternal hand on his shoulder.

Ron glared at him.

"Where's your proof. It's your boy's word against my son's." Lucius sneered at the auburn haired ensemble gathered before him.

"Ginny was there! She saw it all dad," said Ron tugging at his father's sleeve.

"That's right, my daughter witnessed it," said Arthur firmly. "We have one witness."

"That's not nearly enough Weasley. I'm not sure what your perception of your reputation is, but I assure you, your daughter's word would hardly be received as a reliable source."

Arthur clenched his fist along with every other male member of the family that joined them. With the Twins -- and even Percy -- that was ten fists clenched in anger held at their sides by that infamously weak restraint. Lucius was not impressed. He smirked.

"There have been a few stories floating around for the past few years about your daughter. Has she a new diary? Perhaps she'd like her old one back since she seemed to like it so much."

Arthur's throat quivered with a deep growl as Ginny gasped and turned her face away from the confrontation. Molly put a comforting arm around her and glared at the elder Malfoy.

"Really, who do you think they will believe?" continued Lucius despite the imminent danger that was materializing in his present company. "The son of the most respected pureblood family in Europe, or a girl out of sorts and a boy with a bad temper and a distinct proclivity for misdeeds. Who could forget the infamous flying Anglia incident?" he said lightly, smugness creeping all over his face like a rash that Arthur sorely wanted to scratch off of his pointy git visage.

"Everyone but you Malfoy," said the head of the Weasley household, glaring at the blond man and straining against the arm on his shoulder -- Molly's discretionary move from her place beside her husband -- the only thing that had kept him from leaping at the other man in a flurry of fists. "They can perform Priori Incantatem on the wand. It's irrefutable proof," he pointed out.

Lucius frowned deeply. He glanced for a moment at his son and raised his face to meet Arthur's angry brown eyes. "You would do well not to try to press charges Weasley. I'm telling you for your own benefit. You can't afford to fight the machine you'll set in motion if you choose to test my patience on this issue."

Arthur looked around at his children standing about him.

The Weasleys were out for a little shopping in Diagon Alley when the trouble started. Ron had gone off on his own to find Harry Potter -- his perennial best friend -- and had been gone for nearly two and a half hours when the family started to worry. A Ron-hunt ensued, their search ending with something completely unexpected. And immediately they had tracked down the Malfoys at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. The two families had quiet words and determined -- before they could come to fisticuffs -- to retire to a parlor at The Leaky Cauldron to talk it through, away from prying eyes...the civilized thing to do. And here they were now and the look on Arthur's face said very clearly that delivering a physical beating might be the only thing to resolve the issue for him and assuage his rage.

"Molly, take the children to finish the shopping."

Molly looked at him with worry shining brightly in her blue eyes. She shook her head and squeezed his arm gently. "Arthur...I don't think that would be a good idea."

Lucius snorted. "Safety in numbers eh, Weasley? Of course the Weasleys have never had any problem with that strategy considering all you have is your numbers."

Arthur ignored the comment and nodded to Percy, "Take this lot out and get them some ice cream will you Perc?"

Percy nodded and grabbed the Twins' sleeves and headed for the door amongst struggling and a number of 'Geroff's'. After a final interminable, 'after you, no after you,' debacle that made Percy bite his lip to keep from shouting at them to stop fooling around, he turned from the threshold and called back primly, "Come along Ginny, Ron."

Ginny rolled her eyes and turned to follow him out the door.

"No, not you Ron, you need to stay," Arthur said softly to his son, as he continued to glare at Lucius. Ron stayed put, standing stoically next to his father. They made two pillars of fire stretching towards the ceiling, seeming almost like giants next to the Malfoys with their pointy elfish faces and average height. And Molly standing next to them like a loyal disciple, her lips pursed and her attention focused on her men. Lucius was still not impressed.

"Well Weasley? What are you going to do?" he said flippantly.

"We'll press charges. What happened was wrong. Not that that word has any meaning for you Malfoy. I'm sure words like decency, honour, and morality hold no meaning for you as well. I wonder, is 'irrefutable evidence' in that truncated dictionary you've been using for the past four decades? Because that's what we have. You can't buy your way out of this Malfoy."

The elder Malfoy paled slightly and Draco tensed beside him. Lucius scowled. "How much?" he hissed narrowing his eyes at the redheaded man.

Arthur's brow knit, creasing along the world-weary lines crossing his forehead. He shook his head in perplexity. "What?"

Lucius' face twisted into a sneer as he narrowed his eyes a bit more. "How much do you want? 1,000? 5,000?" he ground out, his face melting into a look of utter disgust at being forced to make such an offer.

Molly gasped beside her husband, as Arthur's frown grew only deeper. "You're trying to buy us off? Weren't you listening to a word I said?!" he asked in disbelief.

"Fine. 10,000."

"No! This is not right! It's not about money!" Arthur shouted. Molly nodded and grasped his arm tightly in support.

"Then what the hell do you want Weasley? A new house? A better job? What?! How about a bit of liposuction for your wife?"

"Now see here--!" Arthur moved forward only to find his path blocked by aforementioned wife.

"Arthur, no!" she cried, effectively holding him back with the whole of her body weight (which, as Mr. Malfoy had so astutely observed, was quite a lot.). Ron was bright red next to his father. He would have been happy to see his father beat a Malfoy into a fine pureblooded pulp and was somewhat peeved that his mother had interfered, but he knew better than to try to hit Lucius himself. He opted for shifting his gaze to Draco who had lost some of his colour when Arthur had moved to retaliate, and was now looking somewhat perturbed and disturbed by it all. They both glared at each other as their fathers had, and as they always did.

"You don't seem to care much about the seriousness of your situation Malfoy. Your son could go to Azkaban and you're making flippant comments. I knew you were a prick but I didn't know you were a heartless prick." Molly bit her lip to restrain herself from chastising Arthur's language. She watched Lucius, wary of any reaction, but it seemed slow in coming.

Draco, on the other hand, had paled considerably more at the mention of Azkaban and was now looking quite worried. Ron noticed and smirked. Draco's mood worsened, and he tugged at his father's arm with a look of panicked consternation on his face. Lucius gave him a quelling look and put a hand on his shoulder once again. "My son is not going to Azkaban," he said with finality. Draco's face softened slighly with relief at his father's words.

Arthur frowned. "He provoked my son in an alley and then he cast the Cruciatus on him! It's an Unforgivable...an Unforgivable he shouldn't even know. What do you think that implies Malfoy? And Ron...he could have been seriously hurt. Thank god we got there in time to remove it before anything permanent set in. Another few seconds and he would have been in the hospital! He could have died! Your son would have gotten the Kiss! You fucking idiot...take some responsibility and raise your goddamned kid right! This amounts to child abuse...teaching him an Unforgivable!!! You should be in Azkaban for this! You should get the fucking Kiss!!!" Arthur's shouts rang throughout the low ceilinged parlor room, bouncing off the closed in walls, making the air reverberate with his quaking voice. Molly had long since, covered her mouth with her hands in shock and the two boys stared at the man with various degrees of surprise and on Draco's part, horror mingling in between.

Lucius' calm composure shattered in an instant. "How dare you! How dare you judge my parenting and my family!!! You, a muggle-loving fool who can't even afford to buy clothes that fit for his children, who can't even manage to handle a middle position job in a inconsequential department without bumbling up, you have no right!!! You're filth compared to me...don't concieve to tell me what to do!" Lucius' face had gone red in his tirade, a colour that didn't suit him at all and made him look like a lobster in a blond wig. He heaved angry breaths, his teeth clenched and his lip curling up in a snarl. "Just. Take. The money, Weasley. Name your price," he concluded calmly through his teeth.

Arthur looked to Draco who was looking cowed and slightly vulnerable, having had taken a step back from his father during his outburst.

"I don't feel right about sending children to Azkaban," he said at last. "Children shouldn't even be in contention. You brought this about Malfoy...you used your son for your own purposes -- teaching him these things -- and now it's come around to bite you in the arse. If your son goes to Azkaban, I'll not be the one putting him there...it will be you."

Lucius trembled with anger, his nostrils flaring, but he kept his composure this time, obviously disappointed at himself for allowing himself the previous outburst...letting Weasley affect him. He would not do that again. He only allowed himself a low growl.

"But..." Arthur continued. "Like I said, I don't feel right about this...this whole situation." He paused and bit his lip thoughtfully, looking to Molly who patted his hand and smiled an encouraging smile. He nodded resolutely. "Malfoy, we'll make a deal." Lucius nodded slightly and Arthur continued. "We won't report this..."

Draco visibly slumped and relaxed slightly, letting out a breath he had obviously been holding for quite a bit. Ron's eyes went wide and he gasped, "But Dad!"

Arthur held up a halting hand. "Just wait a minute Ronny, we're going to do the right thing here. Right?" he asked eyeing his son with a slight smile. Ron turned to look at Draco and found the blond giving him a very dirty look. He scowled back, but nevertheless, his shoulders sagged in defeat. He nodded.

Arthur mirrored the movement and turned back to Lucius. He thought a moment before an idea flashed through his mind. Lucius didn't like the look in his eyes. "We won't press charges, only if...if you send Draco to stay with us the rest of the summer."

"Arthur!"

"Dad!"

"What?!"

A chorus of shocked voices sounded throughout the room. The only one who had remained silent was Draco, though it might have been bacause he was too close to fainting to form any coherent syllables.

Lucius shook his head as if he'd just suffered a concussion and looked to Arthur again trying to determine if this was some kind of weird Weasley humor or if the man had merely lost his mind. "Are you serious?" he asked in a strained voice, choking back his surprise.

"Dad, you can't! He can't! Why..." Ron trailed off seeing the look on his father's face. There was a certain amount of absoluteness there. Though Arthur was a cheerful mischievous man, friendly to the extreme and a wonderful father, he still had a temper the size of the whole Weasley clan (second cousins and in-laws included). Ron knew when it was time to shut up.

Molly looked to her husband with questions in her eyes, but she didn't contradict him. Arthur sighed. "Look Malfoy. We don't want your money or any favours. What we would like is for your son to make up what he did. We've been lacking hands around the house lately and we could use the extra help. Your son will come stay with us and help with chores and other errands and he will go to Kings Cross with us at the end of summer. I think it will be enough atonement and you will be spared a media circus."

Lucius had the wild look of a coyote caught in an iron-jaw trap without any means of escape. Except to do the unthinkable and chew off his own foot. He looked to Draco.

"You'll keep it quite. The press..."

"The press doesn't have to know."

Lucius rubbed his chin thoughtfully, looking slightly calmer. Draco watched him in horror. "Father...you can't be serious! They want to make me their servant. I won't do it! Faaatherrr..." Lucius looked sharply at his son shutting him up for the moment.

"Or we could just let the authorities deal with the whole mess," suggested Arthur.

"Or I could just cast a memory charm on all of you," countered Lucius with a smirk.

Ron watched with wonder as his father smirked back. "Wouldn't work. Percy, the Twins, Ginny...there's too many people to know. But you're already perfectly aware of that."

There was a great pause broken only by a slight distressed murmur from Draco's direction. Lucius looked up, his chin high and his proud composure regained. "Fine. No charges, no press, you get Draco for the last weeks of summer. If any of this gets out I will collect your children one by one and skin them alive. And make myself designer robes out of their hides. Understand Weasley?" His eyes flashed angrily.

Arthur glared, ignoring the morbid comment (though he had no reason to suspect that Lucius didn't mean it), and nodded. "Fine."

"No! It's not fine! I'm not going with them. Father, do something!" cried Draco pathetically. Arthur felt a twinge of pity for the boy.

Lucius turned and glared coldly at his son, a gaze that caused even Ron to shiver just for being in proximity to it. "You. You will use your time off to think about what you've done and the trouble and embarrassment you've caused me. And you will think of a way to make it up to me. I was never half as much trouble...I don't know what went wrong with you. No son of mine will drag his family name through the mud. Think about what you've done. Look at what you've been reduced to!"

Draco opened his mouth to say something but Lucius' glare cut him off. "I have no desire to listen to your excuses right now. Your essentials will be sent along when I get home. I am very disappointed in you. You have failed me and your name. Your mother would cry if she were here. What kind of son makes his mother cry? Think about that, Draco." He looked to the Weasleys. "I assume you do have a way to contact me if need be?"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Yes, we do have an owl," he said with a sigh.

Lucius nodded, pushed past the three Weasleys, and walked out the door. Three coppery heads turned from the door to Draco. The pale boy stood with his mouth hanging slightly open as if it were gearing to say something, but anyone could tell with one look at his blank expression that the words would never come.

Arthur gave him a strained smile and went to stand next to him putting an awkward hand on his shoulder. Draco remained staring at the door his lip now quivering slightly. Arthur looked to Molly and shrugged. "Well, let's get the others and then off to the Burrow." Ron made a noise of derision and dejectedly clomped out the door with Molly trailing after him, sighing. Arthur followed close behind leading Draco who didn't seem to have the will to fight it as Arthur's arm guided him after the others.

They paused at the threshold and Draco seemed to snap out of it, the blank of his face turning to ultimate despair. Arthur bit his lip and smiled tentatively. He sighed as the boy jerked from the arm on his shoulder, glaring at the man with a peculiar kind of loathing that contained many elements of a slow boiling fury. Arthur chuckled internally. The boy already had one qualification to be a Weasley for sure. This was going to be interesting.

Draco harrumphed at the smile on Arthur's face and stalked off after Molly, leaving Arthur to follow with a sigh, shaking his head. Interesting indeed. He chuckled out loud this time.

"Welcome to the family, Draco Malfoy."


E/N: My Arthur's pretty bad. The way I wrote him is how i actually imagine Charlie. Actually all of them are pretty bad...i'll try to improve them next time. if anyone has suggestions i'd be more than grateful for the help. I'm sorry about all the Molly stuff. It was mean...it's just I couldn't help it...the Slytherin in me. It cannot be repressed. I feel bad now. Ha, serves you right Sophie you horrible person! This is weird isn't it? Yeah I thought so too. I wrote it on my one hour break in between classes so i was in school mode and not thinking straight. cause school can do that to you. Next chapter: we go to the Burrow, get a better explanation of the incident that led to all this, and learn why Arthur named the price he did, and what is Lucius up to (you don't think he would just let things go that easily do you)? And more Draco and Ron interaction (obviously), though the negative kind. The relationship doesn't come easy with me so it should take a bit. I'm busy, so it will also be bit for the next one if i ever get the time. Thanks for reading!