Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter characters, I just love to play with them and visit every once in a while…

Chapter 3

Settling In

Draco woke up the next morning to Ron banging loudly on his door.

"What the bloody…" he murmured picking his head up and opening his eyes slightly.

"Malfoy! My mum said to tell you breakfast is ready!" Ron yelled on the outside of the door.

"Can you yell any louder, Weasley? I don't think they've quite heard you in the States yet." Said Draco irritably, dragging himself out of bed.

"Whatever, get up." Ron raced back down the stairs.

"Bloody Weasel's a pain in my arse." He mumbled walking over to the mirror in the room to check his appearance. His hair was a mess of blond tangles, and he had a large pillow mark on the side of his right cheek. Draco cursed. If he was at home he could at least have had the house elves make him look decent.

After about ten minutes of trying to tame his hair so it looked somewhat presentable, Draco gave up and walked very slowly down the stairs. As he reached the last step, he saw Ron walk out of the kitchen.

"Oh," said Ron upon seeing him, " I was just about to go get you again. My mum thought you weren't coming down." Ron looked at Draco's state and bit back a smirk. The 'I'm all powerful Draco Malfoy' was a mere mortal after all. "You learn new things everyday." He thought to himself. He then walked back into the kitchen.

Draco glared at Ron's back, he noticed Ron trying not to laugh at his appearance. "Not like the Weasel looked any better." He thought. Ron was dressed in gray, baggy, cotton pajama bottoms and a white T-shirt that looked two sizes too big. His hair didn't look any better. At least Draco was wearing silk green pajama bottoms and a white shirt that fit. He also managed to do something to his hair. "These Weasels have no shame." Thought Draco before entering the kitchen after Ron.

"Ah, Draco, dear. Have a seat." Mrs. Weasley said as Draco entered the kitchen. "Did you have a good sleep?" Draco nodded and sat at the table across from Ginny and Ron who were already digging into their plates.

Mrs. Weasley began piling Draco's plate with food. And piling. And piling.

"I think that's enough for me." Draco spoke up, looking at the gigantic mountain of food in front of him. Mrs. Weasley stopped piling pancakes onto his plate when he said this and ruffled his hair before walking away. Ron and Ginny snickered and Draco glared at them trying his hardest not to blush.

After breakfast Draco took a shower and got dressed. He stayed in his room for most of the day, until he got bored. From the window in his room, he could see a lake a little ways behind the house. It was a hot day, and he was bored. Swimming sounded like an excellent idea. Draco slipped on his swimming trunks and put a T-shirt on over it, he then grabbed a towel and walked out of the room.

As Draco passed the kitchen, he noticed that Mrs. Weasley was in it. He told her he was going for a swim and she nodded and told him to be careful.

Draco walked out into the backyard. The sunlight hit his face and he had to shield his eyes. It was a very sunny day. It was never very sunny at the Manor, the house blocked out almost all of the sun.

Draco walked through the forest that would take him to the lake. He saw something move over to his right, whatever it was had white fur. "Probably a rabbit." He thought and continued to walk. As he got closer to the lake, the trees became thicker until almost no sunlight was visible. Draco looked up at the looming trees. He was startled when he saw a pair of yellow eyes staring back at him, but he realized it was just an owl. "Get a bloody hold of yourself, Draco." He murmured. He could still feel the owl's eyes on him though, which only served to further creep him out.

As Draco reached the lake, he realized that the sun was slowly setting. He didn't realize it was late. He walked over to the lake and dipped his feet in. Fortunately the water was warm. Draco stood up and pulled his shirt off, dropping it by the water's edge. He stretched for just a moment before he jumped in. The water might have been warm but it was certainly cooler than the temperature outside. Draco swam ten laps before he became tired and climbed out of the water.

Draco toweled himself off and slipped on his shirt. He laid down in the grass to relax. For a while, the only things Draco could hear were the crickets. He realized he was becoming very tired but couldn't bring himself to get up. It was really quiet and peaceful near the lake. Plus, there was no one there to bother him while he was alone. Draco's eyes started to close and he was about to fall into a very deep sleep when he heard rustling in the trees.

Draco's eyes sprang open and he looked around for the owner of the noise. He stood up and brushed off his swimming trunks, peering into the forest. He couldn't see anything, but there was definitely something in the trees.

"Meow." Draco looked down to see a black cat at his feet. "Meow." It said pawing at Draco's leg.

"Bloody cat! You scared me half to death." Draco whispered sitting back down on the grass. There was no way he could go back to sleep, he wasn't entirely sure that it was the cat he heard.

"Meow."

Draco turned to look at the cat; it was licking its paw. It stopped when it realized Draco was looking at it. It swiftly put it's paw down, and Draco got the idea that it was embarrassed. He quickly dismissed it as a trick of the light. The cat circled him once before stopping in front of him and staring at him with its piercing yellow eyes.

Draco reached out his hand to touch the cat. As his hand touched the soft, black fur, Draco felt a shock of electricity and jerked his hand back. "What the…" he whispered, staring at his hand. Clearly the cat had felt the shock, too because it leaped back suddenly.

Everything was quiet (even the crickets) and after a while Draco just dismissed it as body friction or something. He looked up to find the cat still staring at him, but he found it extremely odd how it was so still. Like a statue. The cat walked forward a little towards Draco and then stopped and stared again. Thinking he knew what the cat wanted Draco reached out his hand to pet its fur, when his hand touched the cat a soft blue light glowed and then dimmed slowly until it was dark again. This time Draco was sure he hadn't imagined anything.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" he questioned aloud. The cat purred and bowed its head slightly. All of a sudden Draco's stomach grumbled. Loudly. He hadn't even realized how hungry he was, it had to be near dinnertime. The cat made a noise that sounded oddly like a laugh. But he dismissed that as well. Cats just don't laugh.

"I must be pretty tired, I should go back." Draco said aloud. He didn't know why he was speaking and to a cat no less! But for some odd reason he thought it understood him. Draco stood up and walked toward the forest.

"Meow!" Draco looked down to see the cat following at his heels.

"You can't come with me." He whispered. "Go away."

"Meow!"

"Go." He used his hand to shoo the cat away and started walking through the forest. Now that there was practically no light, the forest was pitch black and Draco cursed himself for not bringing his wand.

He walked slowly through the trees trying to avoid being scratched by loose twigs. He heard rustling behind him. Unlike before, the rustling sounded like it was coming from a much larger animal. Draco quickened his pace, whatever was behind him seemed to quicken as well.

There was a growling sound behind him and Draco moved his jogging pace to a full on sprint. As he reached the clearing to the Burrow Draco stopped to catch his breath. His legs were scratched and sore and his arms were badly scratched as well. Draco rested his hands on his knees and took a deep breath.

"Grrr…"

Draco jumped at the noise he heard. He turned around, eyes wide. There was a fully-grown wolf standing directly behind him. It had white fur and crystal blue eyes and it didn't look too happy. Draco backed up, now extremely mad that he didn't have his wand. The wolf growled again.

"Meow!" The black cat that Draco had seen by the lake emerged from the forest. It hissed at the wolf. The wolf growled back at it. The cat hissed again and bared its teeth. The wolf barked, but reluctantly walked back into the forest.

Now Draco was extremely confused. Did a little cat just scare away a fully-grown wolf? There was definitely something odd about that cat, but he couldn't put his finger on exactly what it was.

Draco knelt down and scratched the cat behind its ears. This time when he touched the cat, a soft green light shone before dying out. Draco felt a tingling in his arms and legs and looked to find that the scratches that were once there were…gone.

"Huh?" He asked in disbelief. "How did you…I don't know what's up with you, cat." The cat leaped into his arms and cuddled close to his chest, it's tail moving back and forth slowly. "I guess I'm taking you with me, huh?" The cat purred and nestled closer to him.

Draco walked into the backdoor of the Burrow and was greeted by the voice of Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen.

"Draco, is that you? I was just about to send for you, dear. Dinner is ready."

"I'm going to go wash up." Draco stated, carrying the cat with him without Mrs. Weasley noticing. As he was walking up the stairs he heard a voice call him.

"Malfoy? What are you carrying?" Draco turned around slowly to face a curious- looking Ron and a bewildered Ginny follow up behind him.

"Ron, what's going…" She saw the cat Draco had in his arms and squealed. "Oh my gosh, Malfoy where did you find such a pretty kitty?" Ginny breathed, staring at the cat in wonder.

"I found it outside." Draco stated. "He wouldn't leave me alone so I brought him with me." The cat hissed angrily. "Excuse me, I brought her with me." The cat purred. "That was odd." Thought Draco. "How did I know she was angry about that?"

"You're going to have to ask my mum if you can keep him." Stated Ron, very put out that his sister was breaking down so easily over a cat.

"Fine." Draco said before walking back down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Mrs. Weasley was setting the table for dinner.

"Hello, Draco. Anything wrong?" She said as Draco walked in.

"No. I wanted to ask you if I could keep a pet." Mrs. Weasley then noticed the large ball of fur Draco had in his arms. She walked over to Draco and looked at the cat.

"I don't know, Draco, we haven't got anything for keeping cats here. No cat food either, I'm afraid." Mrs. Weasley stated looking at the cute kitten. "But I suppose she can always eat a little of our food until we go to Diagon Alley. But, Draco taking care of a pet is a big responsibility. Are you sure you can handle it?" She asked looking Draco square in the eyes.

"I'm sure." Draco replied honestly and for the first time since he'd been at the Burrow he was genuinely happy.

"Ok, you can keep it, dear. Now, hurry and get washed up for dinner." Draco nodded and headed upstairs.

At the dinner table, Draco gave his cat some of the chicken Mrs. Weasley had made and a bowl of water. That's when Ginny spoke up.

"Malfoy-

"Ginny." Said Mrs. Weasley sharply.

"D-Draco?" said Ginny, disliking every letter she sounded out.

"What is it?" Draco said irritably.

"What's her name?"

"Who's name?"

"Your cat." Ginny pointed to the black cat by Draco's feet.

"Oh, um…I hadn't really thought about it." Draco said blushing slightly. How could he have forgotten to name his cat?

"Would you mind if I named her?" Ginny asked earnestly. Draco calculated this for a moment, he really wanted nothing to do with the little Weasel but he wasn't very good with names.

"Fine. Whatever." Draco said reluctantly.

"Oh, good." Ginny said excitedly. "Um…I think I'm going to call her…Mystery. Does that sound alright?" Draco shrugged, but Mystery purred. "I guess she likes it then." Ginny said petting Mystery behind her ears.

Draco noticed that nothing happened when Ginny touched Mystery, no soft light, and no shock. "How odd." He thought.

After dinner, Draco went back up to his room and sat Mystery on his bed as he went to get his nightclothes. He stripped out of his swim trunks and put on his silk blue pajama bottoms and a white T-shirt. When he turned to get into bed, he noticed that the cat was turned toward the wall, as if not wanting to see him getting undressed. (A/N- Cat's loss…)

Draco shrugged and climbed under the covers of his bed. Mystery turned when he climbed into bed and settled onto the pillow next to him. Mystery. As much as Draco hated to admit it, the youngest Weasel was right on target with naming the cat. She really was some kind of a Mystery.

Draco turned out the lights and settled in for a much-needed rest.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"What are you doing here?" whispered a voice. "Do you realize what you are risking?"

Two people were standing outside the back of the Burrow, speaking in whispers.

"Look, I can't leave him." Said another voice, sounding more desperate than the other did.

"Why not?"

"He's it." Said the person quietly, but the other person still heard.

"How do you know?" She whispered quickly.

"He tried to pet me and I felt the charge."

"What are you going to do?" Said the other earnestly.

"I don't know…I…I don't know. I can't leave him it's my priority, but I have a job to do, as well."

"Are you going to tell him?"

"Not yet…I can't. Please, just bare with me okay? I'll figure something out."

"Okay, but what am I going to tell her?"

"Tell her I'm sorry for snapping at her earlier, I couldn't let her hurt him."

"I'll tell her, but she won't understand. We're all in this together, you know."

"I know."

"Good. Take care of yourself, okay?" They hugged.

"I will. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

The person nodded and disappeared into the forest. The other person sighed and stretched before she, too, disappeared.

A/N: I know it took me like forever to write this but I had to figure out my plot, plus I'm working on another story at the moment as well. But don't worry I plan to have the next chappie up by tomorrow! Love you guys! (Crowd goes AWWW!)