Prince and the paupers

Disclaimer: I'm just borrowing them for a time... don't mind me, I'll give them back when I've finished

Authors note: Now my friends have started on the 'Where's the next chapter?" bandwagon, so I'm hurrying a long

I finished TAFE a few months ago, and out 'puter has FINALLY been fixed, so I promise (Send me angry emails if I break it.) that the chapters will be flowing thick and fast. I don't think there are many more to go, anyway.

Oh, and sorry people. For doubling up on the last chapter. it wasn't showing on my computer, so I thought I hadn't uploaded it.

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He was thoroughly disgusted.

There was barely a thing on the table. One tiny turkey, a few home made things, a handful of tarts and cakes, and one medium sized plum duff.  Nowhere near the size of his Christmas feast at home. Sure, there weren't the same number of relatives, but really- some of Draco's lunches at home had been bigger- and there were only three in the family.

Not to mention the heat. It was humid in Mrs. Weasly's hothouse bubble, and they were all sweating an indecent amount.

"Alright, tuck in!" Mrs. Weasly announced, enchanting a knife to cut up the turkey.

"Tuck in? Tuck into what?" He sneered quietly as the rest of the extended family started dishing themselves up as if they hadn't eaten in years.
He sighed, feeling a sullen rumble in his stomach. RON'S stomach to be correct. He limply picked up a spoon to a tureen of roast potatoes.

"You are invited dear- here, let me- oh don't look so sad." Mrs. Weasly reached across the table, taking Draco's sullenness as unhappiness. Well it was- but a completely different reason.
Molly piled his plate up inconceivably high, giving him an encouraging smile. "There you go dear, now eat up- can't have you starving on Christmas." Noting his slightly chagrined expression, she patted his hand
"Oh, don't worry, you'll be back with your family quick as, dear, I have every confidence in Arthur. Now eat up." She turned to her own plate.

Draco sniffed disdainfully and stabbed a soggy looking carrot.

All in all, it wasn't bad- Mrs. Weasly was a better cook then he had thought (Although he'd die before he admitted it, even to himself) and as small as the set up had seemed to him, it was rather filling. He sat back, satisfied, full and contentedly warm- making him uncomfortably sleepy.  He caught Granger staring at him with a faint, malicious grin. Draco's expression snapped into a stony disapproval. She simply smiled more and he resisted the tingle in his hand, tempting him to throw a bowl of custard at her.

"Well- seems we're all full up. Now.." She slapped her palms against the table, making Draco jump slightly

"Twitchy, isn't he?" Hermione said, with a smirk to Harry. He made a slight face at her and she made one back.

"Children!" Mrs. Weasly scolded, giving the three of them a hard glare. He smiled with cold satisfaction as Hermione blushed and Harry looked ashamed. He caught her eye however, and shrank back slightly. How DARE she treat him like her own son? She had not authority over him, she wasn't even..

"Arthur?" Mrs. Weasly broke off her hostility, looking at her husband. Mr. Weasly hmmed and looked up with a mouthful of Pavlova*.
Draco sneered. Disgusting pig.

"Why don't you try and contact the Malfoy's again, dear?" She suggested affectionately. Mr. Weasly nodded, quickly spooning up the last of his dessert and eating it speedily
"Capital idea, love." He said, wiping his chin with a napkin, getting up heavily and stretching. "Fabulous tea, as usual dear." He patted his stomatch.
Mrs. Weasly smiled indulgently "Thank the children too, dear, they were a marvelous help."
Arthur inclined his head to Hermione and Harry, then Draco. "You'll make chefs out of them yet, Molly!" He said cheerfully before heading back inside.

Chefs? Draco shuddered at the idea.

"Come on now children, let's move inside." Mrs. Weasly said, getting up. "We'll see where Arthur gets then clean up the dishes.
Draco almost choked on the sip of pumpkin juice he had just taken. CLEAN the dishes!? This was going way too far.
"I'll stay with Mr. Weasly." he assured Molly "Just incase he gets through to my father." He said quickly

"No you won't. Arthur will call you if he gets through to your father, and a little bit of hard work won't kill you." She threatened, looking annoyed.

He opened his mouth to protest hotly, but she turned her back on him and went inside. He hurried after her, anger at being ignored burning inside of him
However, he was shoved rudely out of the way as Hermione and Harry walked past.
"Afraid of a little dishwater and some grime, Malfoy?" She hissed, her eyes malicious. He sneered at her, wanting rather desperately to curse her into tiny little pieces. She saw his hatred and grinned, moving on

Once inside, they found Mr. Weasly with his head in the fire, a small pot of floo powder beside him. His neck was moving slightly, indicating he was talking animatedly to someone on the other side.
Draco paced the room, casting frequent, nervous glances at Mr. Weasly's progress. A little evil voice in his head hoping the floo powder would run out while he still had his head in the flames.
Presently, with a little pop that made Draco jump about a foot and a half, Mr. Weasly came back through the fire, a regretful expression on his face
"I'm sorry, Draco, I just can't seem to get to your father- or you mother for that matter. I think I might have to go to the Ministry" He said, shoulder's squared. "We're either going to have to take you to some magical reversers or St. Mungos." He took a pinch of floo powder and tossed it in the fire regretfully "I'll be back. Ministry of magic!" He announced, stepping into the emerald hued flames.

"Right!" Mrs. Weasly announced, clapping her hands together "Time to clean up the dishes, come on kiddy winks!" She announced, and Draco wasn't the only one to groan in consternation
"C'mon Mum!" Bill complained "It's Christmas! Can't we do them on boxing day?"
"Or maybe next Christmas?" George groaned, looking into the kitchen where the cooking utensils piled precariously high next to the sink
His mother shot them a stern glare and they slumped their shoulders, dragging their feet to follow her out to the hothouse bubble where the tables still groaned under the weight of the now filthy dishes.

Draco flinched. When eating off of them, he hadn't really been quite aware of how many there were- there had seemed, to his pampered senses, to have been a miniscule amount.
Now, as the prospect of washing them all came up, they seemed to have tripled in amount between leaving them, and coming back. 
"How can we help?" Hermione asked, Draco turned his back and sneered at her simpering tone- sucking up, as usual.
"You and Harry collect all the dishes dear, and bring it into the kitchen. Bill and Charlie can move the chairs, Fred and George can come inside and help me dry and put away, and Draco dear." She conjured up all manner of containers "Put the leftovers in these- and." She again conjured up a bin "All the scraps in here. Fred, George, come along!"
"Awww Mum! Can't we stay out here and help the ferret with the food?"
"Yeah! We'll make sure most of it gets in the containers."
"MANNERS boys!" She scolded, brandishing a dish mop at them "You're coming inside. I don't wan a repeat of last Christmas' little food fight, now come on!" She gestured them follow her with her little mop and they followed, complaining every step of the way.

Draco sighed and set his shoulders, clenching himself. That filthy Mr. Weasly should be back soon enough to get him out of this hole. He disdainfully picked up a plate of scraps scraping it into the bin, and stacking the plate to one side. He was half tempted to put the scraps in the containers and leftovers in the bin- in fact, he almost did with the next plate of scraps, but the thought of Mrs. Weasly bearing down on him like the Hogwarts express cowed him- there was no way to be sure exactly how long Mr. Weasly would be.
"How you going, garbage boy?" Hermione quipped as she picked up the empty plates he'd left. Draco ignored her with some difficulty. He noted it odd however, Hermione seemed to be the more vocal then Harry. The solution was simple though- he mused as he scarped the plates off. Despite who he was really, he LOOKED like Ron, and Harry probably couldn't get around that. Draco smirked. Stupid Potter.

He had moved onto carefully scraping leftovers into containers when Arthur Weasly banged the back door open.
"Draco?" He called. Malfoy gratefully put the plate he was emptying down and hurried over, probably the only time in history a Malfoy was glad to see a Weasly.
"Ah there you are lad- keep forgetting you look like Ron. silly me- whole reason I'm doing all this, isn't it? Come with me, lad, I've got a magical reversal unit quite happy to give us a hand, got them calling your father right now. Follow me. Say goodbye to Molly and we'll be off."
Draco really wished he didn't have to. A silent exit would be far preferable, but Arthur was already back inside before Draco had a chance to object. He gave the wizard's back a disgusted look and scurried after him.

"Molly!" Arthur called, sticking his head in the kitchen. "Got on to a magical reversal unit, taking the lad now, shouldn't be too long." he grabbed Draco unceremoniously and pushed him into the room.
"Uh- thanks Mrs. Weasly." He said dryly, with a hint of sarcasm. Yeah, thanks for making the stay here hell.
"No worries Draco dear- now you take care." She gave him a hug which he protested about rather strenuously, and she ignored, absently wiping his face with her apron.
"I'm sure we'll see you come school time and we drop the children off. Lovely having you."
"Can we come too, Mr. Weasly?" Hermione asked innocently as she brought in a stack of plates.

"Yeah, we'd like to see Ron as soon as he changes back." Harry added, equally as innocent. Draco started to get suspicious.

"Sure, sure children- come on then, follow me." Arthur said merrily, ignoring Molly's rather hard look for taking her helpers, leading them to the fireplace. "I'll go through first, and then you follow, okay?" He explained needlessly. Draco nodded. The only thing that kept him from retorting was the thought he'd be back- HOME- very soon.

"Alright. Ministry of Magic!" He announced with his sprinkle of floo powder. With that, he vanished.

"You go next, Draco." Hermione said with a slightly wicked grin "Don't keep your father waiting."

"What's you're game, Granger?" He snarled, not trusting her smug tone one little bit. She shrugged, her smile a little evil as she held out the floo powder.
Draco took a pinch, watching her with narrowed eyes as he tossed the powder into the flames and stepped in.
"Ministry of magic!"

*Pavlova: I'm not sure it's a dessert used in many other countries, I know it's apparently of Australian origin. It's a meringue cake topped with cream and sliced fruit, usually kiwi fruit, passion fruit and strawberries, and sometimes flaked chocolate.

Eeeek! Finally done. I had so many difficulties making this chapter WORK.