"Are you mad?" said Ron stunned by the news he just heard from Draco. "Why the hell would you go to France?"
"I have a business partner who lives in Ville D'Veela," said Draco. "He's offered to shelter Scorpius."
"How do you know this business partner will keep Scorpius safe?" asked Hermione.
"Look," sighed Draco. "I appreciate everything you two have done for my son, but I have to keep him safe, and the country isn't safe for him anymore..."
"No, absolutely not!" cried Scorpius, bursting through the door. Meanwhile, Rose, Hugo, and Hattie slowly creeped up to the door to watch the action unfold after they had stood behind the door to eavesdrop on the conversation. Meanwhile, the adults stood bewildered at Scorpius' sudden outburst.
"Son, let me explain," said Draco.
"Dad, I'm not abandoning my friends!" protested Scorpius.
"Scorpius," said Draco firmly. "Listen to me, many of your friends will abandon you soon, not because of you personally, but because of who you are. This happened to me, and unfortunately that will "
"No, I won't abandon him!" yelled Rose without thinking. "How can anyone abandon any one as wonderful as him?" Poor Rose felt her cheeks turn red as she saw Hermione's soft smile, Draco's amused expression, and Ron's confused face. Even Hugo was trying to stifle his laughter at his sister. The only one not looking at her was Scorpius, who was trying to stifle his own smile.
"Father," said Scorpius clearing his throat. " I know you want to protect me, but I'm not leaving Hogwarts."
Draco sighed at his son's decision. In many ways, Draco wished he had been more like Scorpius when he was younger. There were times when Draco wished he had stood up against his family just as Scorpius did today.
"If that's what you want, son, then I won't force you to leave," agreed Draco.
"And Scorpius will continue to stay with us," said Hermione. "We'll keep him safe, Draco." At that statement, Draco smiled and nodded his head in appreciation.
"Well, that's all well and good," said Ron. "But where's Draco going to stay? Our flat's already at mass capacity."
"Maybe Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny can help Mr. Malfoy," suggested Hugo.
"Any objections, Malfoy?" asked Ron.
"Fine with me," said Draco. "At this point, anything's better than what I've been living in the past few months."
Before he headed out, Draco hugged his son one more time, relieved to see Scorpius was safe with the Weasleys.
"Let's go, Draco," said Ron, rather impatiently.
"Is he always this annoying?" growled Draco.
"Yeah," laughed Scorpius. "But you get used to it after a while."
As Draco and Ron disapparated out of the flat, Scorpius felt his shoulders relaxed and a big grin on his face. Ever since he went into hiding, Scorpius All he had been preoccupied with over the past six months was his parents' location and safety. Now that he knew his father was safe, it gave him hope that his mother would be found next.
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" cried Lily, chasing the twins down the stairs at Grimmauld Place. Somehow, the twins had an experiment go awry that result in Lily's gorgeous ginger hair turn a gnarly green colour.
"What's going on - Lily, stop!" cried Ginny, grabbing Lily while the twins hid behind a stunned and surprised Albus who feared Lily's anger like every other Potter child in the house.
"Those little monsters ruined my hair!" said Lily. "I look like a troll!"
"A very pretty troll," offered Colin meekly. That only agitated Lily further as she lunged forward with such force that Ginny had to hold her back.
Just then, a loud pop echoed through the halls as Ron and Draco appeared in the room.
"Ron?" asked Ginny.
"Hey Ginny," said Ron. "Lily, what's happened to your hair?"
"Mr. Malfoy?" said Al, incredulously.
"Hello, Albus, Ginny,other Potter children," said Draco.
"Why is Draco Malfoy in my house?" asked Ginny feeling more uneasy than surprised at seeing her old school foe in Grimmauld Place.
"Draco's hiding spot was compromised," said Ron. "We need to hide him, so..."
"So you decided he was to stay here, without telling me first?" asked Ginny, annoyed with her brother at this moment. The children and Draco could feel the tension in the room. Lily was able to break away from her mother and hid with her brothers and stand slightly behind Albus.
"Please, Ginny," said Ron. "We can't keep him at our flat! We already have Scorpius there and with the new baby on the way..."
"Oh no!" said Ginny, wagging her finger in a way similar to Molly Weasley that sent shivers down Ron's spine. "You don't get to play the new baby card with me! If you think Harry and I will let him stay in this house for even one second, after what he did to us as kids..."
"It's fine, Weasley," said Draco slightly hesitant at interrupting Ginny. "I can find another place to stay. I've managed for this long. As long as Scorpius is safe, then that's all I need to keep going." At that moment, Ginny realized that Draco Malfoy was not the same school bully she had grown up with at Hogwarts.
"Draco," said Ginny feeling horrible about the things she said previously. "As long as Harry is okay with it, you can stay here if you like."
"Thank you, Ginny," said Draco, a soft smile. "I appreciate it, really."
"Ginny? Ginny, who's there?" asked Harry, who had just arrived back to the Ministry. As Harry walked him, he stopped in his tracks as he looked at Draco.
"Hey mate," said Ron. "Um, did you have a good day at work?"
"Ron, why is Malfoy in my house?" asked Harry.
"Because, um, we found him," said Ron as Ginny shook her head in disbelief.
"Yes, I can see that, Ron," said Harry. "Where did you find him?"
"In my apartment," said Ron. "The people hiding him also disappeared without a trace. Harry, those same bastards that attacked us on Boxing Day tried to kill Draco. "
"Oh bloody hell," groaned Harry rubbing the bridge of his nose so that his glasses rose up on his face.
"So, can Mr. Malfoy stay?" asked Albus.
"What did your mother say?" asked Harry.
"That he could stay," said Al.
"Alright," said Harry. "We'll hide him." Just then, Teddy appeared with Victoire, which neither Harry nor Ginny expected.
"Tori, what a nice surprise!" said Ginny although Victoire and Teddy were standing their stunned at Draco Malfoy in Grimmauld Place.
"Harry, why is Mr. Malfoy in your house?" asked Teddy.
"Oh bloody hell," said Ron, throwing his hands in the air. "I'm going home, good night everyone." Before anyone could say good night to Ron, he disapparated back to his London flat.
With that, Harry and Draco looked at each other. Both of them weren't exactly thrilled to see the other, however both understood the circumstances at hand and knew that right now, this was the best arrangement. Whatever childhood and juvenile thoughts they had about each other no longer mattered. The only thing that matter was survival.
"So..." said Teddy. "Is anyone going to tell me what's going on?"