An Acceptable Risk

Chapter Twenty-Five

At the Burrow

"Now let me see," said Molly Weasley, pursing her lips thoughtfully. "Hermione, you'll be in with Ginny, and Harry, you're in with Ron, as usual. Percy, you're going to share with Bill, and Charlie, you and Draco will share a room."
"Great, someone new to listen to my dragon stories," said Charlie.
"Mother, I must object," said Percy. "I'll be bringing home far too much work to share a room with Bill. You know how he is. He'll keep me up all night talking about curses. I'm working on something very important for the ministry you know," he added pompously.
"Yeah, what is it this time Percy?" laughed George. "The length of the straws on broomsticks?"
"No," chimed in Fred. "He's got that report on proper wand waving procedures to finish."
"You're both wrong," said Ron. "He's got to write new regulations regarding the prohibition of flying vacuum cleaners.
"That was last month," said Percy earnestly. "And I'll have you know, that was a very serious situation."

"He isn't serious, isn't he?" Draco whispered to Ginny.
"Yes, I'm afraid he is," she answered regretfully.
"Mum, how about if I bunk in with Charlie and Draco?" asked Bill.
"I don't know," said Molly thoughtfully. "That room is a bit small for three. Maybe I could put Percy in there and the three of you can share his room?"
"We could always move Percy out to the shed," said George helpfully.
"Mum, why don't you put Draco in with us," said Ron in a resigned voice. "Charlie snores, and you don't want a guest to have to listen to that.
Harry leaned past Ginny to whisper to Draco. "So does Ron, but Hermione showed me a bloody brilliant snore blocking charm. Remind me to show you before bed."

Draco looked taken aback to be included so readily in the cheerful banter. It wasn't something he was accustomed to.
"Hey!" shouted Charlie. "We've got enough people here to make up a couple of mini-quidditch teams! Lets go get the brooms and go play."
"Really, Charlie," said Percy pompously. "I have far too much work to do. I'm not on vacation like the rest of you."
At the same time, Hermione tried to explain that she had a prodigious amount of gifts to wrap.
"Nice try, Hermione, but it isn't going to work," said Ron. "You're going to have to play. There's no getting out of it. Don't worry, you can be on my team."

Everyone stored their belongings in the appropriate bedrooms and trooped outside to the small paddock where the twins had set up a makeshift quidditch pitch. They quickly divided into teams, with Fred and George acting as team captains. Draco surprisingly suggested that to even things up, nobody be allowed to play the position that they played in school. What followed was perhaps the most humorous game of quidditch in the history of the sport. Hermione and Ginny were beaters on opposing teams, Harry and Draco were keepers, and Percy, and Ron were seekers, while Charlie and Bill were chasers. Several hours later, the tired group trooped back into the house where Mrs. Weasley had cups of hot chocolate waiting for all of them.

"Quiet down!" said Mrs. Weasley over the noisy retelling of the match. "You have three hours before dinner to take care of any wrapping you may have to do. Dinner is at 7:00 p.m. sharp tonight! Do I make myself clear?"
"Well, no, Mum, not really," said Fred. "You're not looking a bit clear to me. Actually, you look quite solid if the truth be told."
"Enough of you," said Mrs. Weasley, shooing them out of the kitchen.
"Ginny," whispered Draco, grabbing her by the hand. "Go for a walk with me?"
"Sure," she said. "Let me just run upstairs for a second, and then we can go."
"Grab that stone. Don't forget, okay?" She nodded reluctantly and skipped up the stairs. She scribbled a quick note to Hermione, grabbed the stone and headed back downstairs.
"Mum, Draco and I are going for a walk. We'll be back in a bit," she said.
"Well, okay," said Mrs. Weasley. "Don't be too long though, I'm going to need some help with dinner."

Draco and Ginny walked outside and started down the lane.
"Don't you have a house elf to help your mother?" he asked.
"No. Mum would love one though. We have a ghoul in the attic and more garden gnomes than you can imagine but no house elf. Listen, Draco," she said abruptly changing the subject. "I'm not to sure about this apparating business. I'm a bit scared."
"I was too," he admitted. "But Father insisted I learn. It's not hard, really. But listen, I have another problem. I need to go back to Diagon Alley. I forgot to get something."
"Oh, well how long do you think you'll be gone?"
"Not very long, I know exactly what I need to get. If I leave now, I can be back in about half an hour."
"Go ahead then," said Ginny. "I'll wait for you here. But why did you tell me to bring the apparating stone?"
"I couldn't get mine with Potter and your brother upstairs. Can I borrow yours?"
"Of course Draco, but be careful, will you?"
He took the stone from her and vanished.

Ginny walked around for a while, and then sat on the bank of a small stream that ran through her parent's property. She leaned against a large oak tree and watched as the swirling eddies of water carried leaves from the tree away. She sighed and absentmindedly twirled a strand of her red hair around her finger.
"Ginny, Ginny, wake up," a voice whispered. She opened her eyes to find Draco standing in front of her.
"Oh, you're back," she said, her sleep-fogged brain not thinking clearly.
"I need your help to get these things back into the house," he said.
She looked to where he was pointing and saw a huge pile of parcels.
"What?" she asked, shaking her head to try and clear it. "What did you buy; all of Diagon Alley? We're going to need help to get all of this inside. We can't do it alone."
"Who are we going to ask?" asked Draco. "Potter and your brother?"
"Not even close," snorted Ginny. "Something this big requires experts in the field. We'll get Fred and George to help us of course," she said with a grin.

Ginny pressed Fred and George into service, and with their help, they managed to smuggle all of Draco's parcels into the house unseen. He refused to tell them what he had. Ginny tried unsuccessfully to sneak a peek, but found that all the packages had been gift-wrapped already. Dinner proved to be an interesting meal with everybody crowding around the table in the Weasleys small kitchen. Draco was quite, but the smirk that he perpetually wore was missing. Everyone but Hermione tried to engage him in conversation with little success. He wasn't rude, and answered everybody politely, but all attempts to draw him out met with failure.

After dinner, everybody moved to the sitting room, where talk inevitably centered on the attack of Hogsmeade.
"It happened so quickly," said Arthur Weasley. "And it was totally unexpected. "An entire wizarding community destroyed. "Owls started coming in as soon as the attacks started, but we weren't quick enough. All those people," his voice trailed off and he shook his head.
"Well it seems to me that He-who-should," began Percy, when Harry interrupted him rudely.
"Voldemort!" he shouted and everybody winced. "His name is Voldemort. Every time you refuse to say his name, you give him more power. If you name your fears, you can conquer them!"
"A lot you know about it Potter," said Draco, with a trace of his former nastiness."
"I reckon I know a lot more than you ever will," said Harry. "Do you remember the year the Dementors were at Hogwarts? You thought it was so funny how they affected me, but do you know what I heard every time I saw them? I heard my mother. I heard her pleading for my life and Voldemort laughing at her. She died to save me, so I reckon I know just a bit more about it than you do!"

Everybody in the room, except Draco and Harry looked at the ground.
"I-I didn't know," said Draco softly. "You heard that? I," he stopped suddenly. "If you'll all excuse me, I, uh, I have a few more things to wrap." He stood up and left the room quickly. An awkward silence filled the air and the all avoided looking at each other.
"Harry," said Mrs. Weasley suddenly. "What about that black dog you, Ron and Hermione used to see when you went to Hogsmeade – the one you used to feed. Has anybody seen him?"
"Oh, you mean Snuffles," he said, his face cheering immensely. "Yes, actually, I received word that he was safe."
"That's good to know," she said. "You know, if you ever want to bring him home with you, he's always welcome."
"I always knew Mum loved Harry best," said George, nudging Fred with his elbow. "None of us was ever allowed to have a pet." Everyone laughed, and the awkward moment disappeared.

Not long after that, the evening came to an end, and one by one, the others went upstairs to go to sleep. Ginny stayed downstairs to help her mother with the rest of the cleaning.
"Ginny dear," said Molly. "I'm worried about you. You look so pale, and you've lost weight since I saw you last."
"I'm ok Mum, really. It's just that this is,"
"Harder than you ever thought possible?" asked Molly.
"Yes, exactly," she admitted. "I'm finding that nothing is as cut and dried as I thought. Draco's actually turning out to have some rather redeeming qualities. He's not the pure evil monster that I always thought he was."
"I'm going to tell you something Ginny," said Mrs. Weasley. "He did used to be an 'evil monster," as you called him. I honestly think that your friendship with him is showing him that things can be different. And I've noticed a great change in Harry as well. He's been a bit more outgoing than he was earlier this fall. I think, perhaps its time to call an end to your scheme. You may not have accomplished all you have set out to do, but you have done a lot for one so young."
Ginny hugged her mother tightly. "I'll give what you said a lot of thought Mum," she said.

Molly kissed her lightly on the cheek and sent her off to bed. Upstairs, Ginny undressed quietly, so as not to disturb Hermione. She climbed into her bed and pulled the covers up around her neck. Rolling over onto her stomach, she slid her arms under her pillow to raise it up a bit when her hands encountered two packages under her pillow. She sat up quickly and looked at the packages. One was rectangular, and flat, and looked like it could be a book. The other was very small, and looked like it was in a box. She tore the wrappings of the rectangular package and saw that it was a journal. She opened it up, and inscribed on the front cover was a message

Dear Ginny,

I know I'm probably the last person you would ever want to receive a journal from. I promise you that this one is safe. I know I can't ever make up for what my Father did, but I want to thank you for being a friend to me,

Draco

She smiled and put the journal aside and opened the other package. The cheerful gift-wrap hid a small box. She lifted the lid, and found, nestled on a bed of cotton, a gold chain with a small gold star attached to it. There was no note, but none was needed. Her mind flashed back to her dance with Harry at the Yule ball, and she had no doubt whom the gift was from. She touched the small charm, closed the box, and set it with her journal on her nightstand. Lying back down, she drifted off to sleep, with a smile on her face.