Chapter Nine

It was just a perfectly normal day when Draco's peace was shattered utterly. He supposed he had no right to complain, really. This was Harry's house. It wasn't Draco's place to decide who could or couldn't come to it. But he'd grown used to having it virtually to himself most of the time, with only Dudley and Kreacher for company.

It was the middle of the day, and Harry was at work. He and Dudley were eating lunch when the doorbell rang. They kept eating, assuming that Kreacher would tell the person that Harry was out, and they would go away.

But moments later, chatter filled the kitchen as a large group of people spilled through the door. Draco looked up in alarm to meet the gaze of what seemed to be the entire younger generation of the Weasley family.

They all looked very surprised to see Draco and Dudley sitting in the kitchen.

"What are you doing here?" George Weasley demanded. Draco did his best to put on his usual drawl.

"We live here, Weasley. Or did Potter not bother telling you that?"

"Shut your mouth, Malfoy," George growled, drawing his wand, "Harry might have forgiven you, but some of us would like nothing more than to–"

Draco never heard what George would like to do, because at that moment Dudley stood up with an exclamation of surprise.

"You're the one who gave me that sweet!" he cried, looking at George, "The one that made my tongue grow really long." George's expression turned from outraged to mildly guilty, and he lowered his wand.

"Yeah," he said sheepishly, "Sorry 'bout that."

"Don't be stupid," said Dudley, to everyone's astonishment, "It was a brilliant prank. And I was a greedy pig; I deserved it."

"Really?" asked George incredulously, "Most of the time people tend to be pretty pissed off about a lot of the things we do."

Draco didn't miss the "we" that George used, and Dudley obviously hadn't either.

"Oh yeah," he said, "There were two of you, weren't there? Where's your twin?"

The mood in the room changed abruptly, and Dudley seemed to sense it.

"Sorry," he said quickly, "I should know by now to think before I speak. I'm so sorry."

"That's okay," George said, "You couldn't have known. He'd have liked to know his joke was so well appreciated. It was his idea, you know."

"Come on, we'd better get started," Ron said, interrupting, "We're here to throw a surprise party for Harry," he explained to Dudley, "He's been working way too hard lately, and we've decided it's about time he took a break."

During this conversation, Draco had been sliding towards the doorway, unnoticed, and now he watched as Dudley was drawn easily into the group of Weasleys, already debating how extreme the decorations should be. How had that happened so easily? Clearly Dudley had bad history with the Weasleys, and they must surely have disliked him for how he'd treated Harry, but somehow all it had taken was a brief conversation and they were all best friends.

Was forgiveness that easy to gain? Surely not. Perhaps it had been easy for Dudley, but there was no way it would be so easy for Draco. It was different for him.

Leaving them to their preparations, he slipped away, making his way up the stairs to his room. He only realised he had been followed when he arrived at his door and somebody caught up with him.

"Do you have a moment, Malfoy?"

He swung round to face Ginny Weasley. For a moment he tried to come up with some witty insult, but gave up. He didn't have the energy for that right now.

"Why not?" he sighed, opening the door, "Come on in."

She made herself at home in his room, curling up in one of the chairs. He couldn't even mange to be annoyed about that. She was Harry's girlfriend, and this was Harry's house. She probably had more right than he did to feel at home in this room.

"I don't trust you," she said bluntly as he perched on the end of the bed.

"What's new?"

"I'm serious, Malfoy. Harry won't listen to reason when it comes to stuff like this, but some of us are worried about him. I didn't really agree with him insisting that the Minister prevent you from even having to sit trial, though I didn't argue with him about that. But actually having you to stay in his house is different. How do we know you won't murder him in his sleep?"

Draco barely heard the second part of her speech. His mind was reeling. Harry had spoken up for him? He'd actually gone to the Minister in order to protect him.

"Why would he do something like that?" he wondered aloud. Ginny gave him an annoyed look.

"I don't know, Malfoy. That's just who Harry is. He feels like he has to protect everyone. But you didn't answer my question."

Suddenly frustrated, Draco glared at her.

"How stupid are you, Weasley?" he snapped, "He's got a wand. I haven't. And he's Harry Fucking Potter. He's defeated the Dark Lord. I've got more chance of becoming Minster of Magic than murdering him."

Ginny seemed satisfied by that. In a sudden change of attitude, she laid a gentle hand on Draco's shoulder as she got up.

"He's given you a second chance, Malfoy," she said gently, "You may not have deserved it, and he may be the only one to think you did, but you should make the most of it. Having Harry Potter on your side isn't something most Death Eaters are blessed with."

She walked out of the room, and Draco glared after her. What right did she have to go around telling him what he should or shouldn't do with the rest of his life? Just because Potter had saved him again didn't mean some Weasley could start bossing him around.

She was right, though. And he still didn't understand why Harry would do something like that for him.