Chapter six – The Burrow.
The Burrow was as dangerous looking as Hermione remembered it, and she found that she couldn't keep the smile off her face as she watched Draco's expression as they approached it. He seemed wary, and glanced at Hermione to ensure that this pile of rooms and extensions was actually where they intended to enter.
"Is it safe to go inside there?" He asked. "I mean, has it ever fallen down before?"
"Once last year," Hermione lied. "But no one was seriously hurt, aside from Ron's sister Freda who died."
Draco stopped dead in his tracks, and Pansy who was walking on the other side of him paused too. Pansy realised that Hermione was kidding long before Draco, and started walking towards the house again. Draco reached out and grabbed Pansy's arm.
"Pansy, maybe that's not a good idea." Draco told her. "Perhaps we should just wait here, and hope we eat outdoors tonight."
"Draco, I wasn't being serious." Hermione said. "There is no other female Weasley aside from Ginny. Out of the past three generations, she's been the only one who was born into the Weasley name, not married. Freda doesn't exist."
"Because she's dead." Draco muttered, now knowing he was made a fool of, but not wanting to get embarrassed. Feigning stupidity was his safety net.
Pansy smiled at him, and they resumed walking towards the house. But after only a few steps her smile faded, and she made eye contact with Hermione. "What are his brother's names again?"
"The twins are Fred and George. Don't bother about trying to tell them apart. They're too identical for that, and they pretend to be each other anyway. They'd make sure you never got them right. The next one up is Percy, you probably remember that from when he was Head Boy."
Pansy frowned and shook her head. "Slytherins don't really bother with that. The Professors don't trust us to be fair to the other Houses, so we never get chosen as Head Boy or Girl, so we don't care."
"Fair enough." Hermione commented. "If I were you, I wouldn't bother trying to make conversation with Percy. People say he has a tendency to be snobby, though I don't really see it. Then there's the older two, Charlie and Bill, but they're not home at the moment. And you both know Ginny already."
"Right." Pansy said, beginning to look nervous as they got closer to the Burrow. "And his mum's name is Molly, and his dad is…Archie?"
"Arthur." Hermione corrected. "Don't worry. If you forget, just call him Mr. Weasley."
Pansy nodded, and then Hermione noticed that Draco did too. She smiled to herself, realising that this was probably one of the first times they'd be dining with a family that wasn't associated with the Dark Lord. Besides that, Pansy and Draco both felt the need to impress the Weasley family. Draco did because Hermione was like a daughter to them, and knew that Hermione wouldn't like it if they believed she was dating a loser. And Pansy did, because it was obvious to Hermione that she hoped to date Ron, therefore should get on his family's good side so maybe they'd encourage.
They reached the door and Hermione opened it without knocking. As she beckoned the other two to follow her in, she was suddenly engulfed in a pair of arms. Molly hugged her tightly and didn't let her go for at least half a minute. "Hermione, my dear. How close we came to losing you, and here you are, as healthy as ever. Come in, come in!"
Molly pulled away to allow the three of them to enter her house. Draco immediately began looking around to see how the place actually stayed together. When he was convinced that the absence of walls or posts in a few places made it technically impossible, he conceded there must be decades of spells over it to hold it together.
"Molly, this is Draco Malfoy," Hermione said, introducing her boyfriend to her for the first time. Draco began extending his hand towards her, but let it fall when he found he was being hugged tightly.
"Pleased to meet you," He said, his voice muffled as he spoke into her shoulder.
"And this," Hermione continued when Molly stepped away, "is Pansy Parkinson."
It took Molly only a moments pause to hug Pansy as well. Draco frowned at her ability to do that to strangers. As Molly pulled away from Pansy, Ron strolled into the room whistling. He froze with one foot off the ground and his mouth in an 'o' shape when he saw who his mum had just hugged.
"Hi Ron." Pansy greeted him quietly, causing the other three to turn and look at him.
Ron flushed and placed his foot back on the ground. "Hey Pansy." After a moments silence and a meaningful clearing of the throat from Hermione, Ron noticed the others. "And Hermione and Draco."
Hermione smiled at him, and Draco raised his eyebrows in amusement. Molly didn't seem to notice anything strange, and told them to follow her out to the kitchen. Draco expected to be led through a maze of wonky walls and perched rooms, and was mildly surprised when the kitchen was in fact the next room.
A year ago he would have looked upon the small kitchen and cramped wooden table with distain, but now he accepted it as it was. Molly quickly pulled up three extra chairs and squashed them in between the eight chairs that were already sitting there. "That should be enough." She said, walking back into the kitchen to check on her cooking.
Harry was sitting at the table next to Ginny, and Percy was at the other end reading the Daily Prophet. "Hey guys, how are you going?" Harry greeted them, standing up to give Hermione a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Hermione then sat next to Harry, and motioned for Draco to sit next to her.
Pansy stood awkwardly, obviously unsure of where to sit. Ron stood a few meters away, appearing abnormally uncomfortable for a person in his own home. Pansy glanced at him, waiting to see where he was going to sit. When he made no move but to look down at his feet with new found interest, Pansy sighed in resignation at abandoning subtlety. "Which is your chair, Ron?"
He looked at her. "Do you mean generally or for tonight?"
"Um…" Pansy thought for a moment, obviously confused by the question. "Generally."
"Where Draco's sitting." He told her, smiling slightly. "But tonight I think I'll sit here." He pointed to a chair on the opposite side of the table, made his way over to it, and sat down.
"Breaking tradition." Pansy noted, trailing after him and seating herself on his right. "Rebel."
Not long after, Molly called out that dinner was ready. Those seated at the table stood and walked over to the kitchen to assist Molly in bringing all the dished to the table, but the mayhem that occurred after that caused Draco to sit down hurriedly. People were suddenly everywhere. Fred and George ran down the stairs and right into their mothers arms, loudly exclaiming "Oh mother, how wonderful! We are overjoyed that our evening meal is prepared!" Arthur walked in from the alcove that posed as his study, and sat down at the head of the table. Harry paced back and forth, carrying plates and cutlery from the kitchen to the table. Hermione rushed off to wash her hands because she had been holding an excited Pigwidgeon, who was now zooming about the room. Pansy stood around trying to help, but didn't know where anything was, so mainly got in the way. And to top it off, Ginny began ordering Ron to use his wand to carry the large pot of stew, not carry it himself.
"You'll drop it everywhere! Just use your wand, you idiot." She exclaimed.
"Ginny Weasley!" Molly scolded. "Do not talk to your brother that way!"
"But he will mum." Ginny defended herself. "He's only carrying it himself to show off, and that's stupid if it means there's no stew for dinner!"
"I am not showing off Ginny." Ron said quickly, walking out of the kitchen with the pot and heading towards the table. "It's not that heavy."
"Ron, I know you're strong and masculine and all that crap, but that won't stop you tripping over something." Ginny explained, realising that it would be too mean to embarrass Ron in front of Pansy. Then she spotted the something on the floor that Ron was destined to trip over. "Like that handbag!"
But it was too late. Ron tripped over the handbag that was sitting by the doorway dividing the kitchen from the dining table. Everyone froze and looked over to see if the stew could be saved, but it was clear the moment it became airborne that it was doomed. However, Draco was not so sure. In one fluid motion he whipped out his wand from his pocket.
Aiming it at the falling stew, he shouted, "Suspendium!"
A yellow flash of light later, the stew hung in the air, millimeters off the ground. Unfortunately, in his haste, Draco had aimed the spell badly and hit Ron as well. Although his face was stuck in an expression of alarm while looking down at the stew, his aurora became more hostile.
"You didn't have to do that." he told Draco through clenched teeth. "I could have saved it."
Ginny's loud scoff was easily discernable amongst the large group of people. Molly bustled into the kitchen and came out a moment later with a large clean pot. With a bit of maneuvering, she placed it underneath the suspended stew. Glancing then at Draco, she nodded her head.
He said the counter charm, and the stew plopped quickly into the new pot. Fred snatched the old pot out of the air before it hit the ground, then raised the new one with his wand and placed it on the table. "Wouldn't that have been easier, Ron?"
Ron muttered under his breath, and sat down at the table.
"Good job on your quick thinking, Draco." Arthur said to him. His tone was impressed, yet there was still a slight wariness in his gaze, obviously due to the fact that Draco was the son of a Death Eater who had given him much grief over the years.
Once they were all settled down at the small table, everyone began dishing up their plates and eating. Draco and Pansy found it a very interesting experience. They'd never eaten a meal with such a loud and boisterous group of witches and wizards. Fred and George talked consistently throughout the whole meal, to everyone and no one, but mainly to each other. And Ginny continued scolding Ron, often repeating the phrase, "I told you so."
Draco turned to Hermione. "This food is really good." He was surprised at how delicious it all tasted.
"Molly's always been the best cook I know." She said. Apparently hearing her name, Molly looked up at Hermione, then to Draco.
"How are you feeling, my dear?" She asked him with genuine concern.
Draco frowned slightly, then realised she must have been referring to recent events. "I'm getting there." He replied, glancing at Hermione to ensure he had given an appropriate answer. Hermione smiled at him, and placed her hand comfortingly on his knee under the table.
"If there's anything you or your mother ever need, don't hesitate to ask." Molly told him, then turned her attention to Percy as he began reading an advertisement for second hand clothes from the newspaper.
Draco only had time to ponder Molly's considerate offer for a few moments before one of the twins started talking to him. It's Fred, he guessed. No, it's George. Hold up…Draco examined his face carefully. No, it is Fred. Wait a second…that was definitely George. Whatever, thought Draco, I'll just call them both Twinny Boy.
"So Draco," Twinny Boy started. "You and Hermione, huh?"
Frowning at the obvious statement, he nodded, "Yep. Me and Hermione."
"You've been together for a long while now." Twinny Boy stated, a small mischievous grin spreading on his face.
Before answering, Draco glanced at Hermione to check how safe he was. Her eyes were cast downwards in ignorance of the conversation, but her lips curled upwards slightly in a tiny smile. Draco knew that a conversation with the twins must be a standard procedure at the Burrow, and Hermione wasn't going to bail him out.
"Yeah, we have." He replied, before shoveling a spoonful of the stew-that-nearly-lost-its-life in his mouth.
The other twin, who was sitting next to his brother, turned his attention to the conversation at hand. "Surely a long while is enough time to have…achieved a few things." He said to Draco, raising an eyebrow up and down a few times so Draco couldn't miss his point.
Draco's mouth dropped slightly, and he scanned the table to ensure neither of the Weasley parents had heard. When he saw them absorbed in a conversation with Percy, he figured that the twins would know better than to bring up such a topic with their mother listening.
"Um, I suppose you're right." Draco conceded. "We developed a deadly potion, a killer of a spell and overcame Voldemort." At the mention of Voldemort, Harry's head snapped up and began listening in to their conversation. "I suppose that could be considered achieving a few things."
"No, no, I think Fred's right." The first twin said to him, and by doing so uncovering himself as George. "After all those stressful events, you'd need to relax a bit. And what better way to do that than with each other…privately."
"True, true." Draco nodded, now starting to grasp the concept of this game. Don't let them force you into admitting what they're hinting about. Everything has a double meaning. "Hermione would massage my neck, and I would rub her feet. After she washed them, mind you."
Fred and George exchanged a glance with raised eyebrows, and growing grins. "Massages are very sensual, so it only makes sense to give them to each other when you've just finished the Supreme Sensual Deed."
"You're right." As Draco said this, the twins, Harry and Hermione all leaned a little bit closer to hear how Draco could possibly make that ambiguous. "I cooked for Hermione on several occasions, and in return she'd give me a massage. And vice versa. Hermione makes a mean chicken stroganoff."
Harry raised his eyebrows at that one, the twins smiled in disbelief and Hermione forgot to be unaware and turned to watch the discussion. George said, "You think cooking is the Supreme Sensual Deed? I thought you were an eighteen year old male." He paused for a moment, then winked at Hermione. "I suppose you've had sex too, though?"
Draco nearly laughed at George's blunt question. He'd apparently gotten sick of beating around the bush. However instead of answering, he decided to remain silent so George would justify his assumption. After half a minute, George realised Draco wasn't going to reply.
"I mean, you've been together many months, have faced death together (apparently that brings people closer) and Hermione's evasiveness about sex has surely made you more determined. I know she can hold out a long time, but gives in eventually."
Hermione's head snapped over to look at George, while Draco did the same thing in Hermione's direction. Breaking the silence a few seconds later, Draco asked quietly, "And what makes you so sure of that?"
"Well, I'd know, wouldn't I?" George told him, and then he lowered his voice. "Hey, this means you've seen the scar she's got. Looks like it would have nasty before it healed over, doesn't it?"
Draco sat frozen for a while as George continued. "You know the one she's got right about…here." He stood up and put a finger on the point just above his backside. When he sat down again, he looked at Hermione, who was barely repressing a smile.
Draco turned to her and whispered, "I don't think this is very funny. Make them stop."
Hermione nodded and looked at the twins. "That's enough guys. You've won."
Both the Twinny Boys whooped in success and slapped hands. "Every time!"
After that conversation, Draco remained silent. He knew he had been part of the twins' joke, but he couldn't stop wondering how George could have known about Hermione's scar. Not long after they had all finished dessert, the table was cleared and people scattered about the house.
Hermione and Draco sat in the lounge room on the couch, with Ron and Pansy playing chess at the table. Harry and Ginny had gone outside to ride Harry's Firebolt, the twins had disappeared somewhere, and Percy remained at the kitchen table talking to his parents.
"Molly and Arthur seem to like you." Hermione stated to Draco, hoping to bring him out of his silence.
"Mmm." He agreed, keeping his eyes on Ron and Pansy's game of chess. Hermione frowned at him and poked him in the stomach.
"What's wrong with you?" she asked him bluntly, causing him to finally meet eyes with her. "If this is about Fred and George, you just have to ignore them. They try to make everyone one feel uncomfortable."
"It's not that." Draco told her, turning his eyes away from hers once more. "It's just…" Suddenly he frowned as a thought reoccurred to him. "Sorry for my prying, but how did George know about your scar?"
Hermione lowered her eyelashes for a moment, "He did make it sound like we'd been together before, didn't he?"
Draco nodded, waiting for her explanation. She continued, "Well, he would know the scar was there, considering he put it there."
Draco's eyes widened, "How?"
"Practical joke gone wrong." Hermione stated, then said "And I don't like talking about it."
"Fair enough." Draco wrung his hands in his lap, and Hermione looked at him in confusion.
"Draco." She started, "You said that George knowing about my scar wasn't what was bothering you. So what is it? Because you look nervous."
Draco swallowed his nerves and decided that if he didn't ask now, he never would. "Well, Hermione my love." As he said this he took her hand in his, and turned to look at her. "I've been thinking that your stay at the Manor made me feel so happy. You seemed to just fit right in with the swing of things, and you brought at least one smile to our morbid home. I know you're not completely better, and may need some rest and caring for occasionally, but I'm willing to do that for you myself."
Hermione looked at Draco with a slightly stunned expression, however the tiny flicker of a smile underneath gave Draco the guts to finish off.
"What I'm getting at is, I love you, and want to see you everyday. I want to see you the moment I wake up in the morning, before I leave for work, the moment I get home until I close my eyes each night. Hermione," He took a deep breath and looked her in the eye. "Would you like to live at the Manor with me?"
Hermione smiled at him so wide he knew immediately it was a yes. "I would love to." She whispered, before Draco leaned towards her and covered her mouth with his own.
They were left alone for a few minutes longer before Ron made a sound of exaltation. "Thank god." he said, standing in relief.
Hermione and Draco pulled apart and looked over to where Ron had been playing chess with Pansy. By the look of the board, Pansy had almost won, but Ron had pulled through in the end and caught her in check mate.
"You were nearly beaten Ron." Hermione commented. "That never happens. I think you've finally found yourself a rival in chess."
Ron turned and regarded Pansy in contemplation. "We'll have to play again sometime. It has been many years since I've faced a challenge."
"Most certainly." Pansy agreed. "I haven't been beaten since I was thirteen. Revenge will have to be delivered." She paused for a moment. "Perhaps at the reunion?"
"Deal." Ron extended his hand and Pansy shook it. Draco and Hermione both noticed they held each others hands a fraction longer than was necessary, and shared a smile. Ron wouldn't be alone for much longer.
A/N – Only a few chapters left. Thanks for allowing me to finish this fic. Happy reading and reviewing! Halfling.
