(A/N: A very long chapter but please read all the way through. It will be worth it!)
Ron and Harry(Draco) sat in the back of the Grangers' car. Ron was enjoying being visible again, although the invisibility cloak made his shirt bulge strangely where it was wrapped around his middle. Harry(Draco) sat beside him still in a deep depression. Ron couldn't understand it. Draco had inflicted more revenge on the Dursleys than Ron had ever imagined possible. Draco should be happy, well happy for a Malfoy at least. They all seemed such miserable personalities, there was just no figuring them out.
"You boys must be hungry." Mrs Granger said.
"Starving!" Ron replied.
"MacDonalds alright?" Mr Granger asked.
"Mac What?" Ron asked puzzled.
"You'll see!" Mrs Granger told him and both she and her husband laughed. They kept forgetting that Ron didn't live in their world and wouldn't know many of the things they took for granted.
Soon they were seated at a table in the oddest restaurant Ron or Draco had ever seen. Mr Granger went of to talk to a young girl at a counter and was soon back with a tray piled with brightly wrapped packages.
"That was quick." Ron said.
"That's why they call it fast food!" Mr Granger said.
"Well it's fast" Mrs Granger said
"But is it food?" Mr Granger added and they both laughed.
"I got you both Big Macs" he said but this meant nothing to either boy. Mr Granger had to show them the burgers and fries and how to plunge the drinking straws into the strange cups.
Ordinarily Draco would have never dared eat muggle food of any kind but after his long fast curtesy of the Dursleys, he was hungry enough not to have any reservations. He sucked on the straw and a wondrously sweet and bubbly fluid filled his mouth. //Sugar, at last!// Draco thought happily to himself. It tasted odd, good but odd. It was nothing like pumpkin juice! But he felt the sugar hit working its way into his bloodstream. He now tried the food in the paper wrapping. He took a bite. This tasted all right, in fact it tasted pretty damn good. He picked up a long thin yellow stick thing that Mr Granger had called fries. Trying it, he discovered it was nothing more than a thin chip. He was kind of disappointed that it wasn't anything more exotic. Yes he could eat this food. He munched and slurped away happier than he had been for days. He would worry about his father later.
Ron was busily tucking into his burger too. It was nothing like food he had had before but he liked it. The Grangers exchanged amused looks over the slurping and chewing sounds coming from their two guests.
"Now boys, it is very important you don't tell Hermione we brought you here." Mr Granger said, "She'd be really mad as we don't allow her to have this sort of food. Too much sugar and she gets very hyperactive."
Draco filed that little piece of information away for the next time he wanted to get back at Granger for beating him at schoolwork. Ron saw the look on Harry(Draco)'s face and guessed what he was thinking. Draco saw Ron's expression in reply and the warning of dire consequences it held.
"Honey, I have got to get back to the surgery for the afternoon appointments." Mrs Granger said checking her watch.
"You take the car, dear. I'll take the boys shopping for some decent clothes and we'll catch a cab back." Mr Granger said.
"I'll see you later boys." Mrs Granger said and then she was gone.
"Mr Granger, thank you for lunch but I don't think you should spend money on clothes for us. After all you have done for us, it's too much." Ron said embarrassed
"Call me Sebastian, please. Guys for years I have been dragged to every bloody dress shop in thirty miles by my wife and my daughter. Let me enjoy buying some men's clothes for once OK. Besides we can't have you guys going back to school in those ridiculous rags." Mr Granger said. "I won't take no for an answer."
And so the three of them went shopping in a muggle mall. Draco and Ron had never seen anything like it before. Hundred of shops on many floors, all within the same huge building and they were selling the strangest things they had ever seen. Sebastian was having the most fun explaining all the different things in the shop windows like mobile phones, computers, and as for the televisions lined up in the front of an electrical goods shop, they absolutely fascinated Draco. "I thought muggle pictures didn't move?" He asked Ron with a puzzled expression on his face. "And why don't the people in them talk back to you?" Sebastian was trying not to laugh as Harry(Draco) began to talk to a soap opera star as they passed.
"Yes sir, can I help you." The shop assistant asked as the three of them entered the clothing hypermart. The boys were stunned with the number of items of clothing and its variety.
"Yes we need to reclothe these two lads. Jeans to start I think."
"Blue or black" The assistant asked as she began taking Harry(Draco)'s waist measurement.
"Black!" Harry(Draco) replied. It was after all his colour.
"Blue" Ron chose based on not wanting to be the same as Draco.
For T-shirts Ron choose a maroon one with a colourful surfing logo, Draco however fancied a black one with a hideous skull printed across the front and the word MEGADEATH underneath, then came muggle running shoes, white with blue strips for Ron and black for Harry(Draco).
"I know what you need to finish that look off to perfection" Sebastian said to Harry(Draco) and he went a got a couple of jackets for the boys. Ron was given a warm fleece lined tan leather jacket and Harry(Draco) was presented with a black army long coat. Draco liked it. It kinda looked mean.
"You look almost a Goth in that Harry." Sebastian said.
"Goth?" he asked.
"They're young people who dress in black and… well it's a little hard to explain. Why don't I show you when we are done here." Sebastian told the boys. They both got several more t-shirts plus underwear and socks, everything they would need. They changed into the clothes while the attendant settled up the bill. When the bill was paid (Sebastian had to explain the use of his credit card to the boys.) They headed out wearing the new clothes. Their Dudley hand-me-downs went into the first trash bin they passed. Both boys carrying their shopping bags were much happier in clothing that fitted well although they were still stiff from being new.
"You kind of remind me of Snape as you swish that coat around as you walk." Ron told Draco.
"That's Professor Snape to you Weasley and thanks for the compliment." Harry(Draco) replied smiling as he now consciously mimicked the way his favourite teacher had of walking.
"That wasn't a compliment!" Ron said with disgust at the vain boy flicking his long coat in an even more Snape-ish way.
The two boys followed Mr Granger through the mall until they came to a store they had never seen the likes of before.
"This is a music store that specialises in heavy metal and other alternative music." Sebastian told them with a somewhat disturbing glint in his eye. They followed him in to discover quite a few people of about their own age but looking very different. Ron thought he had walked into the muggle equivalent of a Dark Arts shop. Most of the teenagers in here were wearing black clothing like Draco and some even had T-shirts with the same slogan of Megadeath written across them.
"Sebastian! Good to see you again." The man behind the counter said.
"Boys this is Spike. He owns this fine establishment. Spike these are some guests of mine and I was trying to explain what a Goth was. Thought it best if I showed them." Sebastian said for all to hear.
Ron was somewhat taken aback. Spike looked like the vampire in his DADA books. The man was in his twenties with the palest completion he had ever seen. So pale he made Draco look well tanned. But his eyes were dark, black almost, as were his lips. And there were metal things stuck through his ears, eyebrows and even a metal spike though his bottom lip.
"Cool!" Harry(Draco) said as he looked closer at Spikes face, "How do you get your skin so white?"
"It's makeup!" Spike replied to the obviously envious boy. "I have some spare if you want to try!"
Harry(Draco) hurried forward and in a few minutes Spike had transformed him into a completely different person. Ron could not believe it. Before him stood the most evil vision he had ever seen. The skin now white as snow contrasting the black lined eyes. The dark décor of the shop with only a few ultraviolet lights giving everything a weird colour only caused the effect to be intensified. Draco on the other hand wanted to find a mirror so he could see for himself. He knew it must be good from the look on Weasley's face but he had to see for himself.
"Over in the toilets you'll find the mirror." Spike told them laughing.
"I'll catch up with you shortly" Sebastian told them and both boys ran out of the shop.
Draco was absolutely stunned when he saw his reflection. He no longer looked like the Harry Potter he knew. He stood there admiring a dark vision of Potter. Eyes, snake green jewels set in black sockets, skin white as death itself, black lipstick pouted lips. Even the hair, that great-untamed hair of Potter's had been transformed. Spike had used copious amounts of gel and now it hung in perfect form around the face except for two shaped horns upon his head. Draco wished he had a camera.
Ron watched as the other boy stood transfixed by his own reflection. "That's the most disturbing thing I have ever seen." He said.
"Unbelievable isn't it" Draco replied, "It would look even better if I had a few piercings like Spike. This is what I think Potter would look like now if he had been sorted in Slytherin in first year."
"Harry in Slytherin! That's a laugh!" Ron sneered. "You had better wash it off now. "
"Why? I like it." Draco replied stubbornly.
"You can't go to the Granger's house looking like that!" Ron replied shocked that anyone would chose to look that way.
"Watch me!" Draco replied and walked out the door.
Sebastian was waiting for the boys outside with two more shopping bags for them. "I got you a couple of CDs each and some players." He had to show them how to insert the batteries into the CD players and how to insert the CDs and even how to put in the earphones. At the touch of a button on the muggle devices, music blasted into their ears. Ron was a bit taken aback but Draco loved it. The CDs he had been given had very dark evil looking covers just like he now looked. The songs were totally different to the sort of cultured music his parents had insisted he listen too. They were loud, rhythmic and the singers when he could understand them, were singing dark, bleak and even evil lyrics to the songs. He revelled in it all. If he closed his eyes he could escape this world for one much more suited to his personal taste. The sense of freedom that gave him was immense. All the way to the Granger's house Harry(Draco) sat in the back of the muggle taxicab with the music pounding in his ears and his eyes shut tight, letting the music wash over him and restore his soul.
Ron was looking dubious but Sebastian was calmly amused. "Looks like he's enjoying himself" he told Ron.
"That's what I am worried about." Ron muttered under his breath.
They all too soon had to tap Harry(Draco) on his shoulder to make him aware of the arrival at their destination.
The Granger's home was in stark contrast to the Dursley's house. The home was large and was set in a perfectly formed neat garden. There was even a fountain with a classical cherub statue sending a stream of water into the dappled pool below. The boys both laughed when they saw where in the statue the water came from. The little angelic statue was weeing into the pool. The whole effect impressed Draco. True, it wasn't as large or as opulent as the Malfoy Manor but where the Manor was decorated in order to intimate, this house was designed to invite and welcome and the fountain added a touch of whimsy.
The front door opened as they were walking up the path to the house. Mrs Granger appeared to welcome them and then she saw Harry(Draco). Ron was struck with how much her expression reminded him of Hermione whenever he was taking shortcuts with his homework.
"Oh shit!" The boys heard Sebastian mutter behind them.
"Boys why don't you go in and make yourselves at home while I have a word with Sebastian." She said in something of a strained voice. "Your room is at the top of the stairs to the right."
The boys thanked her and quietly entered the house. They heard behind them Mrs Granger say, "Sebastian, I leave you alone for a couple of hours with them and this is what happens."
"Now, Honey…" Sebastian replied but the boys didn't hear more as they climbed the stairs to their room. They found the guest room and entered. It was a complete contrast to Harry's room at the Dursley's. Two comfortable beds covered in warm inviting blankets. The house was centrally heated and toasty warm.
The two boys soon removed their heavy jackets as they started to sweat in the heat. Ron threw his on the floor while Harry(Draco) sneered at him, hanging his own coat in the wardrobe. "A fine way to treat a gift Weasley. Why don't you just go downstairs and spit in their faces."
Very chagrined, Ron picked up his new jacket. "Since when do you care about anyone else's feelings?"
"Its common politeness or were your parents too poor to teach you manners" he hissed back. Ron went beetroot red and would have probably hit Draco there and then but for the interruption of Mrs Granger.
"When you're ready, dinner is on the table." She said smiling. As the boys realised they were very hungry, the Macdonalds having worn off some time ago, they made for the downstairs dining room. As Harry(Draco) passed her, she stopped him and looked closely at him. The open radiant smile on her face beamed at Draco. He could see the resemblance her daughter bore but the smile was something else. Hermione Granger had never smiled at Draco like that, ever!
"I don't know what my husband was thinking having you dressed like that!" she told him.
"I… I quite like it." Draco stuttered out.
"Well… You do whatever you want to dear. You deserve a bit of happiness after what you have been through. You are alright about it all, aren't you?" she told him.
"Yes … Yes it's fine! Honestly!" Draco replied
Mrs Granger pulled him suddenly into another hug. Draco was as overwhelmed with the sensation as he was the first time. "You just remember you are always welcome in our house." And then the hug was over. Draco almost lost his footing as he tried to walk down the stairs thinking about it. He wondered if this was what other people's families were like. His certainly wasn't. His mother had never hugged him and his father would never have allowed him to dress in anyway out of the norm. He could imagine what would happen if he showed up at the manor wearing this makeup. It would almost be as bad as ruining his father's scheme to have Harry Potter committed in the muggle loony bin. Ah yes, he had almost forgotten what was waiting for him when his father found out what he had done today. Draco's appetite was suddenly gone and all through dinner he merely picked at his food, excellent though it was.
"Is everything all right Harry?" Sebastian asked.
"Yes, thank you. I'm just a bit tired." Harry(Draco) replied.
"Why don't you go have a nice hot bath. Use the spa in the main bathroom. Its big enough for two if you don't mind sharing" Mrs Granger suggested. "Then you can have a nice early night.
Ron came from a large family and as such was experienced at seizing any tactical advantage when it came to bathrooms. By the time Harry(Draco) entered Ron was already stretched out in the huge spa enjoying the bubbles. Sebastian had showed him how to turn on the bubbles and had added the bubble bath to the water. Ron was glad of that, as the foam was going to allow him to avoid having too much exposed around Draco. Ron was laying back enjoying soaking the grime out of his skin in the hot water. He had a wash towel over his eyes and was feeling nice and relaxed. When he heard Draco enter he said, "You'd better wash that makeup off in the shower before you get in the spa. He got no response except the sound of the shower a minute later.
A clean skinned Harry got out of the shower and was about to climb into the spa bath when something caught his eye. In the pile of Weasley's clothes dropped messily on the floor, a small object was sticking up. It was the end of a wand. Draco's chance had finally come. He walked over and pulled the wand free. He had it all now. No one would be able to stop him. He could blast them all and get out of here. And if he didn't miss his guess as to where Potter was, he might yet redeem himself in his father's eyes.
"Oh Weasley" he called but the boy in the bathtub ignored him. "Weasley look at me"
"I am sick of looking at you Draco" Ron replied without moving a muscle.
"Weasley, look at me now so I can see the terror in your eyes before I curse you!" Draco hissed.
Ron removed the washcloth from his face and looked at Draco standing there with the wand at the ready. "Oh you found it did you? So now what?"
"Time for a little payback for all the crap you have put me through this last few days!" Draco told Ron.
Ron looked at the boy holding a wand on him with steely eyes and said, "What are you going to do? Curse me and then go down stairs and stun the Grangers. Where will that get you? You're here with no means to get back to school."
Draco hadn't had a chance to think everything through and he kicked himself for it. It was not like a Malfoy to be without a carefully considered plan. He hated the thought of having to improvise as he went along but now he would have too. "Perhaps I'm not going back to school." He said trying to sound more confident than he was. Yes that was it! He would contact his father in the morning at the office. They had muggle telephones there and he would force Mrs Granger to make the call. His father would get here in no time. Draco stomach turned at the thought of what his father would do to muggles holding his son prisoner. Just like the thought of having Potter thrown into the muggle loony bin had unsettled him, so did the thought of his father getting his hands on the Grangers.
"So you think you can stun me and the Grangers and get to your father. Is that it?" Ron said suddenly.
Could Weasley read minds? Draco thought in surprise. Perhaps even this dumb clod could foresee the obvious first steps of Draco's plans.
"That's just great! These people rescue you from those creeps, the Dursleys, and this is how you repay them. Stunned, tortured and murdered in their home they have welcomed you into. And you questioned my manners!" Ron said as he stood up in the spa.
"They welcomed Potter into their home, not me." Draco replied but there was a note of uncertainty in his voice.
Ron stepped out of the spa towards Draco as he said, "No! They know who you really are. I told them when I telephoned. They had the right to know what they were getting into. I'm the one who asked them to keep calling you Harry just in case anyone from our world was about. And they still came, Malfoy! They still came and rescued you, fed you, clothed you. And don't think that Hermione hasn't told them about you either. She tells them everything."
Draco was reeling. Was this some trick of Weasley's. It couldn't be true! Could it? He thought to himself. "They know… Then why?" he finally asked.
"Why? Because these are good people, Malfoy! They won't stand by while anyone is in trouble. Not even you." Ron said as he advanced on the boy holding the wand. "And what about Harry? You know where he is, don't you. Off pretending to be you at a death eater's meeting. He could have found a safer way to find out what You-Know-Who is planning but no! Ever since he found out about your summons to become a Death Eater, he's been worried about you. You probably think that's funny, Harry Potter being worried about Draco Malfoy. But that's the thing with Harry, he worries about everybody. The only person he doesn't worry about is himself. He has put himself in grave danger to save everybody else including you. And you've seen were he comes from. You've seen how his own relatives treat him. So go ahead and curse me! Go on! Do it!" Ron said, still stark naked advancing straight into the wand.
"Stand back… Stand back… " Draco yelled at the advancing Ron. He didn't know what he should do. He needed time to think. Potter worried about him!!! How could that be true? But Ron left him little choice as he advanced. "Crucio" Draco yelled.
Ron should have fallen to the fall screaming in pain but he didn't. In fact the only thing that did happen was the wand transforming into a rubber chicken. Draco couldn't believe his eyes.
"Good isn't it. My brothers invented them. Joke wands. 2 galleons each." Ron told him as he snatched the rubber chicken out of his hands. The confused boy's hair was beginning to lighten and the scar on the forehead had all but disappeared. Soon the familiar blond haired Slytherin stood in front of a very pissed off Ron Weasley. "Good. I would have felt bad about hitting someone looking like Harry." Ron had raised his arm with a clenched fist as he had said this. He drew it back and the now defenceless Draco shut his eyes and cringed at what was about to happen. But the blow never came. "What's the use? It might make me feel better for a second but then I would have to explain things to the Grangers tomorrow. You're not worth it." Ron said. He wrapped a towel around himself and gathered his things and left, leaving Draco in the corner where he stood.
Draco was confused, embarrassed, humiliated, depressed, scared, and angry. His head spun with ideas and memories of his family, Potter's relatives and the Grangers. He was shivering and slowly climbed into the hot spa. He told himself that the drops running down his face were splashes from the bubbles but deep down he knew the truth. A Malfoy could cry!
He was alone, utterly, totally alone. His body ached with the loneliness he felt. How long he lay there, how long he wept, he had no idea but his skin was very wrinkly and his eyes very red when he eventually climbed out. He had thought about many things but had reached no conclusion except that what Weasley had said about Potter being off to save not just the world this time but Draco too was probably the truth.
//Just the damn stupid kind of thing Potter would do!// he thought to himself.
Sebastian was settled in front of the television when a blonde head poke around the door. "Come in" he said and the blonde stranger slowly entered.
"I couldn't sleep… If I am disturbing you…" Draco said hesitantly. He had certainly not wanted to go back to the room where Ron was.
"Not at all. Come on, I have been curious about what you really look like." Sebastian said smiling. "Draco isn't it?"
"Yes" Draco replied as he moved within sight of the television screen. He was soon mesmerised. Sebastian explained that he was watching something called MTV. It was all about the muggle music he had experienced for the first time today. Draco sat on the lounge next to Sebastian and drank it all in with wrapped attention. It helped fill the void that gnawed at his chest.
"Hungry?" Sebastian asked and he offered half his bread roll that was stacked high with fillings. "It's called a Dagwood. My own special creation I start with salami then cheese, tomatoes, chillies, mayo, lettuce,… " on and on Sebastian rattled off ingredient after ingredient. Draco was getting hungry just listening. The house elves had never made anything like this. "You better have a can of coke to wash it down too."
"Coke?" Draco asked.
"It's what you drank at lunch. The fizzy stuff." Sebastian said as he returned from the kitchen with another plate and a red can. Sebastian showed Draco how to pull the tab on the can up to open it. Draco sipped at it and found it was indeed the stuff he had liked so much at lunch.
Draco sat eating the delicious Dagwood and drinking his coke watching music videos. He couldn't imagine his own father sharing his food in such a spontaneously generous, informal and friendly way with anyone including his own son. //Perhaps muggles weren't so bad after all, well some muggles. // Draco thought to himself.
"Oh we have got to change channels now if you don't mind. The Three Stooges Festival is about to start." Sebastian said as he clicked the remote. "The Three Stooges are an old comedy program that I love. Never miss a replay. Hermione loves it too although Maryanne doesn't approval of all the violence." Sebastian explained even before Draco had asked.
In a few minutes Draco knew he was in trouble. He was laughing so hard at the antics of the three idiots on the television that coke had come out his noise. He also couldn't get a breath into his lungs. Sebastian just roared with laughter beside him. Luckily there were regular breaks in the program for what Sebastian called commercials, that gave Draco a chance to breath again. He couldn't wait to get back to school and try some of those moves out on those two dolts, Goyle and Crabbe.
"Guess you like it?" Sebastian asked
"Funniest damn thing I have ever seen." Draco replied. "The way they hit each other all the time. And you say Granger… I mean your daughter likes this too?"
"Yes, Hermione laughs like you do." Sebastian replied.
Draco hesitated and then said "We don't really get on, your daughter… Ummm Hermione and me I mean, at school."
Sebastian looked at the boy and replied, "Yes I know. She told us about your beliefs and how you and she fight. Also told us about how you compete with her in schoolwork and grades. You even beat her in a few subjects last year, I believe. She wasn't very happy about that!"
"She won overall but yes in a couple of subjects I did finish higher." Draco replied.
"Good, Hermione needs someone to give her a push. She's very bright but if she doesn't have competition she could get to believe that everything in life will be easy and it won't be." Sebastian told the boy to his obvious relief.
"Thanks, I'll try to beat your daughter in a few more subjects if we ever get back to normal at school." Draco replied. He was thoughtful for a few moments and then continued. "And about my beliefs, I … I…"
"Its OK lad. I know how hard prejudices are to give up especially when you were raised with them. And I guess your stay at the Dursley's didn't help matters any. I hope you will find us a different kettle of fish." Sebastian reassured the boy.
"I am sure I will." Draco said and taking another bite from the sandwich which he really liked he chewed for a few moments and then having swallowed, was able to continue. "I guess I am going to have to think carefully about some of my opinions."
"Mmmm, we all need to do that from time to time." Sebastian said.
Draco lounged back and watched as another episode of The Three Stooges began.
In the next advertising break Draco suddenly asked, "If my father throws me out, can I come and stay here? I'm sorry I shouldn't have said that…" Draco's face had turned bright red with embarrassment. It was not something he had meant to say. It just slipped out.
Sebastian knew that the boy was bursting to talk to someone and it appeared he had chosen him. "Why would your father throw you out?"
"Well," Draco began slowly unsure of how much to share. "That whole thing of having Potter sent to a muggle loony bin, I think my father was behind it and when he finds out I was the one who… who…"
"He'll throw you out!" Sebastian prompted.
"or he'll just kill me." Draco said in all seriousness. The fear of it had been gnawing at him all day.
"I'm not the one to ask about fathers," Sebastian said, "After what happened to mine."
"What happened?" Draco asked.
"I don't think I should tell you. It might not help when you have a problem with your own father." Sebastian began but then he looked into the boy's eyes and saw that unless he was open and honest, the boy would withdraw too and Sebastian had a hunch that this was important. "Alright I'll tell you but I don't want you teasing my daughter about this OK?"
"Ok" Draco said and he meant it for once.
"I killed my father when I was 12." Sebastian said.
Draco was stunned. His jaw had dropped open in his surprise. "How?" he asked.
"Most people ask 'WHY?' not 'How?'. Anyway the 'How?' is, I beat him to death with my cricket bat, the 'Why?' is, because he was beating my mother in a drunken rage and I had to stop him. You see he was a mean drunk and he use to come home and hit my mother, and me too for that matter, all the time. Well that's why I am hardly the world's best expert on fathers."
"Wow, what happened then?" Draco asked
"I told you the first part of my story, now it's your turn. Tell me about your father and why you think he'd kill you?" Sebastian countered hoping to draw more from the boy.
Draco studied this man. He was shrewdly trying to get him to talk. "Very well, I'll tell you about him but you can't repeat this to anyone OK."
Sebastian replied, "If you don't repeat what I told you about my father especially to Hermione, it's a deal."
"Fair enough I suppose." Draco told him and then continued, "Father wants to have total control of the company that Potter has stock in. He'll do anything to get it. It's already arranged for me to marry a girl just so he can get control of her family's stock in the company. It's part of the dowry. And everything else he does is the same. It's all about the Chimeria Corporation. He even married my mother for her family's stock. It depended on having an heir, which is me, but if I were to die before my mother, he would gain nothing. That's why he hasn't had my brother pronounced dead yet. He'd lose half the stock if that happens before my mother dies."
"You have a brother and you think he's dead?" Sebastian asked.
"He died when I was very young but no one knows." Draco said. Sebastian could hear the reluctance in his voice.
"Your father?" Sebastian asked.
The look on Draco's face told Sebastian his guess was the right one.
Draco finally spoke daring, "David wasn't his son you see. My mother had David when she was very young and unmarried. That's why the Swan family was so glad when my father came along and was willing to marry her. Half the Swan family stock is rightfully his." Draco told Sebastian. He stopped, not willing to continue and said, "Its your turn again. What did you do after…?"
Sebastian regarded the boy carefully; they had made some sort of connection and the only way he was going to maintain it was to tell the boy about some things that he usually didn't share with others.
"Very well, after the police and ambulance had arrived at our house, my mother was taken to hospital but she died later from her injuries. It was obvious that my father had been beating my mother and that I had acted to defend her but there was no other choice but to put me into the boy's home. They tried to get a foster home to take me but no one wanted a killer in their house. That is until about 3 years later when Ma came into the picture. Ma Granger, Maryanne's mother! They say that Hermione is the first witch in the family but I think her grandmother was too. She certainly had a presence about her. She was like an irresistible force. Took one look at me and decide I would do. She must have been mad. By that time I had become the most evil little shit in the boy's home. Even the guards were scared of me. But there was no stopping Ma! So next thing I know I am at home with the Grangers, Ma and her stuck up, prissy little daughter Maryanne. And if you repeat that to my wife you are going to die!"
Draco laughed. "I think I know someone like that too."
"You wouldn't be referring to my daughter Hermione now, would you?" Sebastian replied with exaggerated shock. Draco laughed. "Anyway it's your turn again!"
Draco became very serious again "My father and brother always fought. David wouldn't do what he was told if he thought it was wrong no matter the consequence. I think he would have been sorted into Gryffindor if he had made it to Hogwarts. He was only 10 when he decided to run away. I was three and I didn't want him to go so… so… I told father. It's all my fault. I got him killed." Draco put his face in his hands and was silent. He had never spoken of this before to anyone.
"You were only three, it wasn't your fault. What happened, how do you know if it was your father that killed your brother?" Sebastian said
"I followed father to see what would happened. He caught David in the garden. I saw everything. They argued. David wouldn't return to the house. He said he was going to Dumbledore and tell him about father and the Death Eaters. Father killed him right there. The body is still buried in the rose garden, unmarked. I saw what my father was that day. What I will become. What he will make me become! I am not as brave as David was. I don't want to die!" Draco replied.
"I think your brother would be proud of how brave you were today. You did the right thing and I think you are as different to your father as I am to mine. It is our choices that determine who we are, not our fathers. I would never hit my wife or my daughter. I made the choice to do the opposite of my father. You are not responsible for what happened to your brother, your father is. Just make sure you make the right decisions in your life. Its up to you! OK?"
"I suppose so." Draco said slowly. Was it really that simple. Just make your own decisions, different to fathers. Draco would have to think about this. In the mean time he was still intrigued about this man next to him. "So its your turn again! You thought Mrs Granger was… "
"Prissy! Oh yes!. She would follow me everywhere and reported back to Ma everything I did wrong. I hated her and was very mean to her, called her all sorts of names. She'd scream back at me that I was evil and ungrateful after all that her mother had done for me. Well, I really was I suppose. Then one day when she was following me across town, I heard her scream and I go back and find some men have grabbed her and dragged her into an alley. You can guess what they were trying to do. Next thing I know I am laying into them with everything I got but they were too many and too big. Maryanne had managed to escape though and got to the police. By the time they found me I was in pretty bad shape, more dead than alive. I spent several months in hospital and Maryanne was there everyday. She tutored me in my schoolwork and when I got better, I became her constant companion and bodyguard at school. No one is ever going to touch her again. We have never been apart since. When we got married I changed my name to hers instead of the other way round. I didn't want my father's name anymore. It was a new beginning for me. Then I almost lost Maryanne when Hermione was born and it scared me shitless. I would have liked to have had more children but we didn't think it was worth the risk. So that's all I guess. I just glad that Hermione takes after her mother and not me."
"Oh I have seen your side in her too, you know!" Draco added remembering the time Hermione Granger had hit him. The fury in her eyes had scared him then.
"Oh, was it you she was angry with at the time?" Sebastian asked intrigued.
"Yeah, I kinda deserved it too I guess. You don't need to worry about your daughter, she can look after herself!" Draco said as he rubbed the side of his face she had hit him on.
"Your not interested in my daughter are you?" Sebastian asked curious about the similarities between this boy and himself.
"No, I'm gay!" Draco answered without thinking. Horrified he added, "I didn't mean to say that…"
"It's Ok, I don't have a problem with other people's orientations. In fact my best friend is gay. We were in the boy's home together. Toughest guy I have ever met! Still is. I won't tell anyone if you don't want me too." Sebastian told the boy to his relief.
"That's the first time I have ever said I'm gay to anyone. That's another thing father would kill me for." Draco replied.
"Sounds as if you have already started to make different decisions to your father." Sebastian told him. "I hope you aren't interested in Ron. I think my daughter has him firmly in her sights."
"Good god no. She can have him!" Draco replied.
"It's Harry Potter!" Sebastian suddenly exclaimed in a moment of insight. Draco blushed bright red so there was no point in denying it.
"He's straight though." Draco complained.
"The right guy will come along!" Sebastian replied.
The commercials over the program started again and they both turned their attention back to the television knowing that the brief conversation was now over.
Draco awoke in the morning, nice and warm in one of the guest room's beds. Sebastian must have carried him here after he fell asleep watching Three Stooges programs. In the other bed Ron Weasley slept soundly emitting little snoring sounds. Draco got up and stretched as he looked out the window on the cold and frosty garden. The sun was rising and it promised to be a fine, if cold day. Draco felt free of the fears that had plagued him over the last few days. Talking to Sebastian last night had opened new possibilities to him and freed him from the weight of being the Malfoy heir for the moment. Draco felt he was on his first ever holiday in his life, completely free of the usual demands of being a Malfoy and having his ever-overshadowing father judging his every move. To put it simply, for the first time in his life Draco was happy!
Ron was sound asleep when he felt the sudden weight across his chest and arms. He woke up suddenly to find himself pinned to the bed and the leering face of Draco Malfoy inches from his own.
"Wakey, wakey!" Draco said smiling evilly.
"Get off me Malfoy!" Ron snapped.
"I have been thinking of last night and I have decide to forgive you for what happened." Draco continued.
"Forgive ME!" Ron said angrily.
"Apology accepted! Now get up, it's time for breakfast!" Draco replied as he swept from the room.
"Barking, absolutely barking mad!" Ron said in the shock of what he had just witnessed.
By the time Ron had gotten dressed in his muggle clothes again and wandered downstairs to the kitchen, Mrs Granger had given Draco a stack of flapjacks with maple syrup. This was a very strange breakfast for Draco but he was demolishing the stack with gusto.
"Good Morning Ron" she greeted him as he walked in.
"Morning, Mrs Granger" Ron replied.
"Ron, I have told you before, call me Maryanne." She replied placing a stack of flapjacks in front of him.
"What's this?" he asked curiously starring at the flapjacks.
"Mmrph! They're really good." Came the muffled words of Draco as he tried to talk with his mouth still full of pancake. He loved the syrup especially. Draco thought to himself chewing the food down, //What would father say if he had seen that, more importantly what would he have done! Another little painful reminder of proper manners! Stop it! Remember, you are not to think of him. Not until you're back at Hogwarts.//.
Ron used a fork to cut a small piece and try it. As much as he hated to admit it Draco had been right. "Where's Mr Gran… Sebastian?" he asked.
"He'll be back in a little while. He went to pick up Harry's things from the Dursleys. I just hope he manages to not PUSH anyone this time!"
"I hope he gives them all a number of PUSHES!" Draco said suddenly spraying bits of pancake out towards Ron.
"You know this is beginning to frighten me. That's the second thing in two minutes you've said that I absolutely agree with, Malfoy! These are delicious pancakes and I hope the Dursleys get all the PUSHES they deserve." Ron said.
"Don't call me that!" Draco said sharply.
"What?" Ron said surprised. He could not remember calling Malfoy anything bad.
"I'm on holiday! So either call me Draco or don't call me anything at all." Draco replied puzzling Ron even more.
"Holiday?" Ron asked.
"Yes, that's what I have decided to call this little escapade you have dragged me into. Do you have a problem with that?" Draco replied between mouthfuls of flapjacks.
"No, no, fine by me!" Ron said now utterly confused by Draco's ideas but knowing better than to upset things further.
"So what are we going to do with you today?" Maryanne Granger asked.
"Some more television?" Draco asked hopefully.
"I think you had more than enough for a while, besides there is not much to watch this early. " Maryanne Granger said to the blond boys obvious disappointment. "How about some more flapjacks?"
"Thank you, I'd love some." Draco replied brightening.
Maryanne Granger smiled back at him an open, warm smile as she put a tiny piece of butter into the frypan. It melted noisily in the pan and just at the moment it had fully melted Maryanne poured in more batter to form a perfectly round flapjack. Draco watched every move carefully. He had never seen even a house elf cook before much less a human. Maryanne Granger flipped the flapjack over in the pan with a flick of her wrist. In no time at all it was cooked through and she dropped it onto Draco's waiting plate. She was about to begin the whole process over again when she noticed his curious stare.
"Would you like to make the next one yourself Draco?" Maryanne asked the blond boy.
"I have never cooked anything before. Well except at the Dursleys and that didn't exactly go too well." Draco replied.
"Yeah, he smoked us all out of that house yesterday." Ron added in.
"Well then its time you learnt to cook. You never know when it will come in handy again and don't worry I'll show you how to do it without burning anything." Maryanne told him.
Draco bounced of his stool and was soon pouring the batter into the frypan under the experienced eye of Maryanne Granger.
"This is kinda like potions." Draco stated after he had flipped his first flapjack over.
"Watch it! You nearly put me of these delicious pancakes." Ron complained.
"You like potions, do you?" Maryanne enquired.
"Yes, it's my best subject and the teacher is really great." Draco said.
"Ha!" Ron injected.
Ignoring him Maryanne continued, "Well then you should be a very good cook. You have just got to learn how to use the right ingredients and what to do with them. If your interested I could teach you a few simple dishes while you are with us."
"I think I'd like that." Draco said quietly.
Ron shook his head. Draco Malfoy learning to cook! In a muggle kitchen as well! Unbelievable. He turned back to his pancakes.
Sebastian had arrived unannounced at the Dursleys much to their displeasure. Sebastian had gotten into Harry's room after pushing aside that blabbering oath Vernon Dursley. He hadn't wanted to give Sebastian anything but had realised what would happen if he got in Sebastian's way again. Sebastian had kept his temper but barely, especially after seeing Harry's room with the bars on the window and the locks on the doors and its mean little bed with thin blankets. There wasn't much beside what had been in the trunk from Hogwarts except for the photo album of Harry's parents. Sebastian knew Harry would want these safe. He had left the Dursleys with some well-chosen words shouted loud enough for the entire neighbourhood to hear and to know just what sort of things these people had put the boy through.
After a long drive that gave him time to calm down a bit, Sebastian finally arrived at the front door with Harry's trunk and entered the house. The smell of fresh pancakes hit is nose making his mouth water. He entered the kitchen expecting to see his wife busily cooking for their guest but was surprised by the blond flipping the pancake into the air.
Maryanne smiled at Sebastian with a little knowing smile.
"Do you want some flapjacks, Sebastian?" Draco asked, "I can make you some in a jiffy!" Draco had found he enjoyed cooking. He had made several flapjacks already and was even getting the hang of flipping them over. Even Weasley had eaten one he had made without compliant. Mind you, he had watched very carefully to make sure nothing was being added to the batter mix.
"Yeah Ok, thanks Draco!" Sebastian replied.
"How was the trip dear?" Maryanne asked him. She could tell her husband was more agitated than she had seen him in many years.
"The trip there and back was just fine. The destination on the other hand…" He told her stopping before he said anything more in front of the young boys. Had Maryanne and he been alone he would have used words far more colourful than usual.
"That bad?" Maryanne said.
"I tell you Maryanne, Harry Potter will never have to go back to that house ever again or it will be over my dead body." Sebastian said quietly but in a tone that conveyed his utter disgust of the Dursley's.
"You didn't…?" she asked him, concerned that his temper had flared while he was there.
"I should have, but I didn't" Sebastian said sheepishly to his wife.
"Good, now calm down and try one of Draco's pancakes" Maryanne told him. And he did complimenting Draco on his cooking. Draco had blushed red at it but looked pleased that his efforts were appreciated.
"Would you guys like to see the surgery?" Sebastian had asked after breakfast was over. Draco hadn't known what he meant but had been eager to explore more of the muggle world. Ron had to come too, if for no other reason than to keep an eye on Draco. Soon Sebastian lead them into a wing of the house that looked like business offices and on into the surgery.
"When did you have your last check up Draco?" Sebastian asked.
"Check-up?" Draco asked confused.
"You do have dentists in the wizarding world?" he asked.
"You mean like teeth doctors, no but the magic doctors can pull teeth if there is a problem. And we have potions that can grow teeth bigger or smaller. And Madam Promfrey usually gives me oil of cloves if the pain gets bad." Draco replied.
"You have pain in a tooth?" Sebastian asked with an intense look on his face.
"In a couple but I'll get them pulled when I get back… maybe" Draco said uncertainly.
"Mmmm, Hop up here in the chair and I'll have a look." Sebastian told him.
Draco looked at the odd chair with the bright light above it. It looked far too similar to ones he had seen in the manors torture chamber. He shook his head as he backed away from Sebastian.
"Go one Draco, Sebastian won't hurt you" Ron told him smiling at the boys distressed expression.
"You do it then Weasley" Draco shot back.
"Good idea" Sebastian said before Ron could reply, "Hop up Ron and we'll do you first and show Draco there is nothing to fear.
Ron was trapped and had no choice but to sit in the chair. His confidence wasn't helped when Sebastian put a tray of evil looking instruments onto the small table attached to the chair. He also put on a mask and clear goggles then pulled on rubber gloves. He had given some to Draco and soon he had them on. Sebastian did something to the chair and it began to go back so that Ron was lying flat on his back. Sebastian sat on a stool and moved in over Ron. Draco did the same on the other side and lent in the red head in the chair.
"Open wide Ron" Sebastian told him.
"Not bad Ron, No real problems that I can see except for the tartar build up." Sebastian said after he had thoroughly prodded the teeth in Ron's mouth.
"Tartar?" Draco asked.
"This yellow build-up around the base of each tooth. I'll scape it off and then give the teeth a good clean." Sebastian replied as he set to work.
Draco was fascinated as he watched the procedure. Sebastian had soon removed the yellow junk from each tooth and then with an instrument he called a drill, he polished each tooth in turn. The end result was Weasley had a mouthful of bright white teeth.
Ron was able to get out of the chair once he had rinsed his mouth out and spat into the bowl next to the chair. His teeth felt so smooth against his tongue and in the mirror they looked so white.
Draco slid into the chair without further prompting wanting the same white smile.
Sebastian examined the boy's mouth. "We have a bit more of a problem here Draco. You have a number of cavities. Now I am going to use a special instrument called a laser to get rid of the decayed areas and then fill the holes. But first I am going to give you a little injection to numb the area around your teeth so you won't feel anything."
Draco thought Sebastian sounded comforting but the needle he held up looked awfully big! Draco was thinking of jumping off the chair but his expression must have given him away because Ron had moved in to cut off his escape route.
Soon Sebastian had injected Draco and he felt half his face go numb. Sebastian went to work with his strange muggle instruments. All up it took almost an hour before Draco could get up. He tried to rinse his mouth and spit in the bowl like Ron had done but dribbled most of the rinse down his front. Sebastian led the boys back into the living room and put an unhappy Draco in front of the television to recover. Ron sat next to him still happy about his white teeth.
Maryanne had come into the room and brushing Draco's hair out of his eye's said, "Oh you poor thing, you just sit there and wait for the anastatic to wear off. Just be careful not to bite your own tongue. I'll make you some nice soup and fresh bread for lunch."
Draco sat there watching the television without any real interest. He must have fallen asleep sometime because the next thing he knew he was woken by Maryanne for lunch. His mouth felt better as the feeling had returned. His tongue felt a little furry. Lunch helped restore his spirits slightly and as he got to spend the rest of the day watching television he was satisfied. He had the feeling he had forgotten something but he felt too sorry for himself to care.
The next morning dawned and Ron woke Draco up this time.
"What do you want?" Draco said sourly.
"Well good morning to you too sunshine." Ron said back to him sarcastically. "Oh and merry Christmas."
"Christmas? It's Christmas eve!" Draco realised what he had forgotten.
"Come on, Maryanne and Sebastian are waiting for us downstairs. We are going to church this morning so dress nicely."
"Church?" Draco said as he dragged himself out of bed.
"Doesn't your family go to church on Christmas eve?" Ron asked.
"I have never been inside a church ever." Draco said.
"Well Draco I guess this is another new experience for you." Ron said. "And you better have some of the polyjuice potion just in case we are not the only wizards there today."
The church turned out to be quite interesting for Draco. The choir especially, as their music lifted his spirits in a way he had never imagined possible. The church service was interesting and the things the minister had said during the service reminded Draco of Harry's insistence to help everyone regardless of the risks. The minister sounded very Gryffindorish. There was a procession of young children carrying gifts to the alter that Draco thought was cute. The children were obviously the apples of their parents' eyes. The parents made fools of themselves taking pictures of the children as they walked down the aisle. But it was something that touched Draco. It was the same as when he watched the family arguments of the Weasley's at school. It always brought back to him how sterile his own family was and how alone he felt since David had died.
Most of the people seemed to know the Grangers and after the service on the way out of the church many families wished them Merry Christmas.
"Maryanne, Sebastian! How are you? Merry Christmas." The man said to them.
"Minister, Merry Christmas." Sebastian replied shaking his hand. "Let me introduce these two fine young men. This is Ron Weasley and Dra… hmm hmm Harry Potter!" Sebastian caught himself in time, just. "They're friends of Hermione from school."
"So this is Harry. I've heard about him already, as the people from family services have been in contact about a reference for you two. Told them that I would be glad to give one as they couldn't find two better people in the whole world." The minister told the Grangers and then to Harry he said "These people will love you and care for you better than anyone I know. And if you ever need to talk, or if there is anything I can ever help you with just ask. Harry, you are a very lucky young man to have people that care for you enough to include you into their own family."
"We best be going Minister, Merry Christmas" Maryanne said as the look on Harry(Draco)'s face soured.
They were on their way to the car when Sebastian pulled Harry(Draco) aside and asked, "Draco, what's wrong?"
Draco at first shrugged it off but Sebastian wouldn't let him go till he answered. "It's Potter! He gets everything because he's goody goody and I always get left in the dirt because I'm evil."
"You're not evil and you are not going to be left in the dirt. I thought we already talked about you making your own decisions in your life." Sebastian said
"I am evil, I was raised to it." Draco replied "You don't know what I have done."
"You're not evil, at least not anymore evil than I was. We two will always have our dark sides but you can use that darkness to protect the ones you love from true evil. It's all a matter of choice. It is up to you but you don't have to face it alone. You have good friends that will help you face it." Sebastian told him.
"I don't have any friends, not really." Draco said as that feeling of emptiness filled his chest again.
"What about me and Maryanne, we are your friends, and then there is my daughter Hermione and Ron. And Harry, don't forget Harry Potter." Sebastian said.
"My friends, they're not…" Draco protested but was cut off.
"They could be. You have to choose friendship like every other important thing in your life." Sebastian told him. "Come on the others will be wondering what happened to us."
Ron was puzzled by the strange look he got from Harry(Draco) on the drive back to the Grangers. When they had just arrived back at the house and Sebastian and Maryanne had gotten out of the car Draco stopped Ron and asked suddenly "Weasley, are we friends?"
Ron was struck at the strange look on Draco's face. This question was obviously important to Draco. "Well a few days ago I would have said no right away but now, I don't know Draco. Most of the time you're fine but then you seem to go into evil git mode, like when you grabbed that wand and it makes me angry. I just don't know. But I will tell you one thing. If I have to call you Draco then you have to call me Ron and not Weasley."
Draco nodded and got out of the car. It was a start he supposed. He made up his mind to try and avoid getting into evil git mode as Ron had called it. Draco helped Maryanne prepare lunch in the kitchen as the other two sat watching football on the television. Sebastian was trying to explain the rules to Ron but Ron didn't understand a game that could only be played on the ground. Lunch was served informally in front of the television. Draco liked this informal approach to meals. He, like Ron, couldn't follow a game like football and Sebastian teased them about it, jokingly calling Quidditch players a bunch of pansies. Ron pointed out that it was the football players who acted like pansies whenever they scored a goal. The good-natured argument raged back and forth all afternoon until…
"Boys it is tradition in our family that we open one present each on Christmas Eve." Sebastian said as he handed each of the boys a gift.
"We've got presents?" Draco said "Thank you."
"But we weren't able to get you anything!" Ron said sorrowfully.
"Yes you did, you both gave us your friendship and that is the greatest gift you could have brought into this house" Maryanne replied. "Now aren't you going to open those presents?"
Smiling the two boys ripped off the bright wrapping paper. Draco had received a box full of the makeup that Spike had used. Ron's was a set of dress robes, maroon with black piping. Both boys were soon wearing their presents to the amusement of everyone.
"Oh!" Draco said looking at Ron in his dress robes, "They've forgotten the frilly lace!" and he roared with laughter. Ron looked at him but saw that Draco had meant it as a joke.
"Draco you are a big makeup wearing girl's blouse!" Ron replied. Draco just laughed harder.
Draco picked up the lunch plates and carried them back into the kitchen. The others heard the plates smash on the floor and a worried looking Harry(Draco) reappear. "Death eaters in the backyard." He hissed.
Ron jumped up and ran to the front windows and peeked out. Three death eaters were coming up the drive towards the house. They were surrounded.
Ron knew it was hopeless. Only one wand between them and he had it. His face hardened as he decided on the only course of action available to him. "I'll try and draw them off while you three make a run for it."
"I don't think so Ron. This is my house and I am not leaving it without a fight" Sebastian said in almost a feral growl. He went to the closet and opened the door. Pulling out a concealed panel he reached in and withdrew a pump action shotgun and a belt of cartridges. "Maryanne get in the closet and stay quiet."
"Like hell!" she said as she picked up the carving knife they had used during lunch. "It's my house too!"
Draco saw this and realised these people like all Gryffindors intended to fight even hopelessly outnumbered. He had no weapon of any sort. He would be slaughtered the moment they saw Harry Potter standing there. The potion still had some time before it wore off.
"Is this small table valuable?" Draco asked.
"What? No it's just a cheap table. Why" Maryanne asked.
Draco didn't answer but upended the table and tore off one of the small wooden legs. He had a wand now for what it was worth. It wouldn't allow him to cast a spell but it might just be enough to bluff with he reasoned.
"You three stay behind me." He told the others and taking a deep breath opened the front door.
"That's far enough, scum!" Harry(Draco) roared at the three death eaters standing in front of the house pointing his fake wand at the middle death eater. One was tall and thin but the one's either side were shorter and fat. Ron appeared at Harry(Draco)'s side and pointed his wand at the death eater in front of him. Sebastian was on the other side of Harry(Draco) with his shotgun levelled at the last death eater. Maryanne stood behind the three men with the carving knife ready in her hands.
"Potter! What are you doing here?" The thin one shouted. Draco knew that voice only too well.
"Why Lucius, I was going to ask you the same thing." Harry(Draco) sneered back at his father.
Lucius was taken aback by the sudden appearance of Potter and the Weasley boy. What had started out as a simple surprise attack against defenceless muggles suddenly turned into a deadly business.
"Well Lucius did you just drop by with Goyle and Crabbe to sing Christmas carols or what? Oh by the way your little scheme to get my Uncle to have me committed backfired. He's the one who got committed, committed to stand trail that is." Harry(Draco) said in what he could manage as a calm level voice. On the inside his heart raced madly and his palms sweated. The trick he knew was to keep his opponent off balance , uncertain how to proceed. The longer the standoff lasted the better. He was after all just pointing a table leg at the man in front of him. Draco knew the theory all right but he also knew the theory had been taught to him by the man he now faced. Draco knew as soon as the curses started, he was going to die. All he could do was bluff.
Lucius was rattled. They were equally matched. What should he do?
"You've seen me in action against the Dark Lord Lucius, do you really think you and your two sidekicks are a match for me?" Harry(Draco) had to push his advantage while Lucius looked to be wavering.
"You haven't heard the last of this Potter!" the thin death eater yelled as he and his companions disparated.
"I'll check around back." Ron said and went carefully to the side of the house. The others had gone as well. They were safe for now.
Ron came back and slapped Draco on the back. "Bloody brilliant again Draco. You saved our arses!"
Harry(Draco) just dropped his table leg and ran to the bathroom. The other three could hear him throwing up as they re-entered the house. Ron walked into the bathroom and told the boy with his head in the toilet. "Draco I have decided! After that we are absolutely, positively friends!"
"If this is what it's like being friends with you Gryffindors I think I'll stick to being enemies." Draco replied.
"Too late! Once a Weasley gives their friendship, it's forever!" Ron told him as he threw up more of his lunch. "It could be worse, those could be slugs you know!" Ron said as he left the boy to it.
"Sebastian, Maryanne, he be alright in a minute but I think it's best if we get you somewhere safer for a while." Ron told the Grangers.
"Where?" They both asked.
"The burrow!" Ron said, "Dad will know what to do!" he reassured them.
"We will get packed." Maryanne said as she went get it done. Sebastian hung back for a moment and as Harry(Draco) appeared from the bathroom he said "I want to thank you both for saving us. I know we would have not stood a chance if you hadn't been here. I want you both to consider this house your own home anytime you need it. I mean it!" and with that he was gone to help his wife pack their things.
It took them most of the night to drive to the burrow. Ron insisted Draco take more potion to maintain his appearance as Harry Potter. They kept a close lookout for anyone following either by car or by broom but they were alone. Ron had never been gladder to see the burrow before in his life.
"Ron!" his mother screamed. "What have you been doing? The clock had you in mortal peril all night. You said you were staying at school. Maryanne, Sebastian! What's wrong? Harry, tell me what's going on?"
"Mum, can we talk about this inside with Dad please. We have been travelling all night looking out for death eaters!" Ron yelled to get his mother's attention. The words death eaters had done it well and truly.
"Death eaters! Oh my god! Come in Come in. Your father should be home any minute." Mrs Weasley said as she led them into the kitchen. A red headed girl wearing a pink dressing gown wandered into the crowded kitchen before she realised how crowded it was. And HE was there looking right at her. "Ginny! Put the kettle on." Mrs Weasley instructed in her no nonsense voice. Soon everyone had a nice strong cup of tea and some scones in front of them. Ron's father suddenly popped into existence in the kitchen and was surprised by the crowd.
"Sebastian, Maryanne, Harry, Ron! What's going on?" he asked. "What's wrong with your hair Harry?"
Before everyone's eyes, Harry Potter turned into the last person they expected to see. Ginny screamed and dropped a plate. Draco Malfoy sat at the table looking unnaturally pale and deathlike with black eyes.
"Draco, you forgot to take more potion." Ron said. "Ginny, Dad, Mum you can't tell anyone that Draco is here."
"I think you had better start at the beginning Ron and tell us everything." Mr Weasley said.
So Ron started. Somewhere in the middle of Ron's tale, Draco slumped forward into his plate of scones. He had been using the adrenaline of his fear to keep going all night but now he was relatively safe that left him to his fatigue. He was not therefore awake when the Weasleys heard of his bravery in saving the Grangers and Ron's lives by facing down three death eaters armed with only the leg of a table. The three Weasley's stared at the sleeping boy in disbelief.
Ron had avoided mentioning where Harry had gone, knowing full well his parent's reaction.
Ron and the Grangers looked like they were about to follow Draco's lead by the time the full tale had been told, so Mr Weasley sent them off to bed, even carrying the blond boy himself up to Ron's room. He then left for urgent talks with Dumbledore.
Draco awoke but thought he must be dreaming. He appeared to be in some sort of red haze. Ron Weasley slept soundly in a bed next to him. Everything in this room was the same violent shade of maroon. It made Draco almost nauseous. He stumbled from the bed and went out in search of a bathroom. Ginny saw the blond walk out of her brother's room.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
Draco looked at her and asked, "bathroom?"
"It's here." She said indicating the door behind her.
Draco said, "thanks"
Once he had finished splashing cold water on his face he walked back out into the hall. Ginny was still there waiting for him. "You saved my brothers life!" She stated as a fact, watching his reaction.
"I think I did it to save my own life really." Draco said unsure of how to respond. He wasn't use to dealing with genuine gratitude. If he had been on his Slytherin form he would have used it to gain some sort of advantage with the girl but he was still in shock at the turn of events.
"We fight a lot, Ron and me but I still wouldn't want to see him really hurt so thanks." Ginny said blushing a deep red. "Oh! They're waiting you. In the kitchen." She then turned and went to wake her brother.
Draco peered around into the kitchen. At the table sat Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall. "Ah! Young Draco, come in come in." Dumbledore said as he spotted the blonde's head at the doorway.
"Headmaster, Professor!" Draco greeted them as he came forward. //At least HE isn't here// He thought to himself. But Draco was wrong.
"And what about your Head of House, Mr Malfoy? Doesn't he rate a greeting?" a voice came from behind Draco causing him to jump.
"Professor Snape, sir. I didn't see you there. Good morning." Draco responded quickly.
"Sit Mr Malfoy, we have many questions to ask you." Snape told him.
A few minutes later a still groggy Ron wandered into the kitchen. "What time is it?" he asked without looking up.
"Time you were asked some serious questions!" an icy dungeon voice he knew well told him.
What word of surprised Ron chose as his reply was as unfortunate as it was rude. He soon realised his situation as he looked around the room now wide-awake and saw the three guests sitting across the kitchen table from Draco.
"I'm very sorry, you caught me by surprise." He told them red faced. Snape looked angry but Dumbledore spoke first.
"I think we can give you some latitude this time Mr Weasley, considering all you and your partner here have achieved over the last few days." Dumbledore said.
The boys had a hard time under the questioning that day. Dumbledore had them go over everything a number of times in what had happened in the last few days. They had to tell him what they had seen, hear and even thought or suspected. And everything the headmaster asked they answered but still made no mention of where the real Harry was.
Finally, as the boys were growing hoarse from speaking, the questioning was over. Dumbledore sat deep in thought. Professor McGonagall looking at Ron with her severest stare. The one she usually reserved for those that interrupted her classes. Ron knew he was in big trouble. Snape glared at Draco. Draco couldn't bear to meet his eyes. He knew he was in trouble too. The more people who knew about what he had done in the last few days the more chance his father would find out.
"Headmaster," Professor Snape said breaking the silence. "There are two questions that are as yet unanswered. Firstly how Mr Malfoy was convinced to take part in this absurd endeavour and where is the real Harry Potter?
"Ah, Severus, I believe we can all guess where Mr Potter has gone. He seems to be destined to undertake tasks few other mortals would even contemplate." Dumbledore looked older than the boys had ever seen him before, his face lined with worry. After a few minutes he shook it of and said. "He is beyond our aid at the moment, let us trust to his luck. No, what surprises me is your involvement in this Draco. Perhaps it was not willing at first but at some point you seem to have made a decision to change the path of your life. Well done, Well done indeed."
"I still believe we cannot ignore the rule breaking if not illegalities that have occurred Headmaster. I certainly believe that a severe punishment is called for although I believe that Mr Malfoy was not an entirely willing partner in this and should therefore be exempted. Much more than a single detention I think is warranted. I would be happy to volunteer to take Mr Weasley for them if you liked. And Mr Potter too, should he return."
Ron stared at the Professor Snape with loathing. Snape met his stare with evil amusement.
"A thousand I think." Dumbledore muttered, "for both! "
"A thousand detentions!" Ron exclaimed loudly in shock. Draco jaw hung open in disbelief. It would take years to do that many.
"No, not detentions Mr Weasley" Dumbledore said laughing at both boys distress, "house points! One thousand house points each and awards for special services to the school too. I believe those are the largest amount of points ever awarded. Congratulations. And Mr Weasley do try and not break many more school rules for a while."
"Thank you Professor and I'll try." Ron was very chagrined at this turn of fate. Draco just looked stunned.
"And Severus WHEN Mr Potter returns it will be up to me to tell him of these events." Dumbledore said.
"Ummm Headmaster" Draco said in a very quiet voice.
"Yes Draco, what is it." Dumbledore replied looking down at the boy.
"I don't think we should tell Potter about any of this." Draco said. Snape was glaring at him. Draco knew he was going to be spending a lot of time in the potion masters office in the coming weeks getting talked too in that deathly quiet commanding voice.
"And why not?" Dumbledore replied intrigued.
"Well the Dursley are rotten sods but they are his only family. He doesn't need to know of their treachery. You can just make sure he never goes back there, can't you. He doesn't need to know about any of this." Draco wasn't sure why he said this but he knew it was important. "He doesn't seem to like them and that is understandable but I think he would still care about his family. I do about mine and I guess they kind of the same. I think he would be better off not knowing. For now at least! After the war, if we survive, we can tell him, maybe."
Dumbledore regarded Draco for some time. "You have grown a great deal in these few days young Draco. May it not fail you in the future. Very well if we all agree, we will not inform Mr Potter of his families actions in this matter until it becomes necessary. Well we had better make the arrangements to get you two back to the school before you manage to get into any more trouble."
"Headmaster, what about the Grangers?" Ron asked.
"You need not worry about them. Special protective wards will be set up around their house in the next few days and a constant watch kept for danger. We will also be installing a fireplace with a flue connection so they can get back here to the burrow if necessary. Might come in handy that connection for certain others." Dumbledore smiled at a red flushed Ron, "Until then they will be quite safe here. Now if you collect your things we will be off." Dumbledore said.
Ron's mother cried out as she rushed into the kitchen. "There's been an attack on Diagon Alley!" she said showing Professor Dumbledore and the others the Special Edition Daily Prophet.
(A/N: Well I hope the wait for this chapter proved worth it. It is the longest I have ever written and the most difficult. I hope I didn't make Draco too nice. I thought he needed more than a kiss to turn to the light but at the same time remain basically dark in nature, even if he has made some good friends unexpectedly. Wait till Hermione finds out about what he did. I might include that in a later chapter. He still has evil git mode too so that is something. I wanted to let him have a good muggle experience after his time with the Dursleys. He has also found someone he can relate to in Sebastian. How did I do, leave a review and tell me. Also check out my notes at the start of the story. I need more codenames for characters. )