The ride to Hogsmeade was silent. Draco spent most of it staring out of the window, wondering about this "Twelve Grimmauld Place" where he'd be spending the next two weeks. The apparation went smoothly, despite Draco not liking side-along apparation at all. As they arrived in Grimmauld Place, Draco looked around. He could see number 11, and number 13, but nothing in between. Dumbledore had tricked him – there was no 12 Grimmauld Place. He'd walked straight into a trap. He turned angrily to Snape, but before he could say anything, Snape spoke.

"Remember the parchment."

Draco thought hard, and stared at the place where number 12 should be. As he did so, another house appeared, seeming to push the houses either side apart, but nobody seemed to react. It was as though Draco (and perhaps Snape) were the only ones that could see this happening. They walked up to the house and knocked on the door. A short red-headed woman opened it, looking mildly surprised at Draco's presence, then ushered them in, instructing Draco to be quiet. This must be Mrs Weasley, he quickly realised, but didn't understand the need for all the quiet. He soon did, when Ron wandered past to go up the stairs.

"Mum! What's the ferret doing here?"

Draco opened his mouth to reply, but before he could do so, a dreadful screeching came from behind him. He turned around to see where it was coming from, and found it was an old portrait, his great aunt, he believed. It was strange how the curtain over the painting had moved by itself, but then portraits could do that if they were especially temperamental. And it seemed this one was.

"Blood traitors! Scum! You are not fit to be in this house! How dare you besmirch the noble House of Black?!"

People came charging out of nowhere and began pulling at the curtain, desperately trying to close it. Eventually, they managed, and a collective sigh of relief went round.

Mrs Weasley led everybody into the kitchen, closed the door, and turned to face Ron.

"How many times have you been told to keep the noise down in the entrance?"

"But mum, that's Malfoy. What's he doing here?"

"Have you given him and Professor Snape time to explain?"

Ron looked sulky. "No."

Draco was enjoying this. It wasn't often that he saw Ron Weasley cowering like this, and he realised that he couldn't get on Mrs Weasley's bad side, or he'd be kicked out. She seemed to be in charge here.

"Mrs Weasley," he began nervously. "I'm here because Professor Dumbledore sent me – he said it was for my protection."

"Why's that, dear?"

On hearing Malfoy being referred to as "dear", Ron exploded again.

"Don't you realise, mum, that he's here to spy on us all for the Death Eaters?"

"Ronald Weasley! Upstairs, now!"

Draco suppressed a snigger at Ron being sent to his room. It wouldn't help him to be seen laughing. That didn't bother Ginny and her other brothers though, who were sitting at one end of the kitchen table chuckling.

"Now then, you were saying?"

"Professor Dumbledore sent me here because he thought it would be safer – it's to stop Lucius forcing me to…" He paused. This was not something he wanted to be saying in front of everyone – he didn't want to see their reactions. Luckily, she seemed to realise, and ordered everyone else out.

"I told Dumbledore that I didn't want to be a Death Eater and he was worried about what Lucius might do." He rushed through this sentence, trying to get it out quickly before he lost his nerve.

"Well, it isn't going to be easy for you here, as I'm sure you know, but it will keep you hidden from your father."

"That's all I'm expecting."

………………

Days passed, and Christmas drew nearer. Everyone in the house was roped in to help clean rooms that hadn't been used since the Order moved in, and were unlikely to be used now (Mrs Weasley wanted the entire place spotless). This usually involved the younger inhabitants pairing up and working together to get the job done faster. As no-one other than Mrs Weasley and Ginny would actually speak to Draco, he either worked with Ginny or by himself. On one of these occasions, Ginny announced that she was fed up, took Draco by the arm and dragged him out, telling him that he should stop too.

They managed to find a quiet room away from everyone else, and Ginny apologised for her brothers' attitudes towards him.

"Don't apologise, Gin, what they do is up to them."

"But it's not fair," she protested. "You've done nothing wrong." To his surprise, she hugged him, then kissed him on the cheek.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…"

Draco cut off her protest by pressing his lips gently against hers, and pulled her into his arms.

AN: OK, so it wasn't actually Christmas at Grimmauld Place - that's coming next, I promise (if you leave reviews to encourage me).