Harry, Draco, and George all simultaneously choked on their tea.
"I expect…" Professor McGonagall began, "That you all have some catching up to do…"
"B—But Professor…" Hermione began timidly, "I've kept in touch with her and she never mentioned—"
"As you well know, Miss Granger, there are some things best kept out of writing, but if you're really that upset about you can ask her why she didn't tell you tomorrow night when she arrives." Professor McGonagall replied sharply. "Now I really must be going."
With a swish of her cloak, she had left the room.
"Well—" Mrs. Weasley began awkwardly, "Narcissa, Arthur, if you could come with me upstairs for a moment…"
The three adults hurried up the stairs, undoubtedly to discuss what effect the arrival of Addie at the burrow would have on their children.
An awkward silence followed their departure.
Draco took the time to watch the individual reactions of the people sitting around him. Harry was making eye contact with Ginny, smiling slightly as if to say it's going to be okay. Ginny, in return, was smiling, though the worry in her eyes was evident. If Addie had not gone back to the United States with her mother after their fifth year (with little to no explanation) Harry may not have fallen for Ginny the way he had. Draco wondered if Harry had told Addie that he was involved with someone else or if she was going to arrive expecting a warm greeting from the man whom she left behind.
Next to Ginny sat Ron, who had taken Hermione's hand from across the table and whose ears had begun to glow bright red. Hermione seemed to be the least affected by the news of Addie's arrival, however, she looked extremely rebuffed that she had not been informed. By the way she had spoke to Professor McGonagall it seemed to Draco that she had been the only one of Addie's Hogwarts companions to keep in touch with her once she'd left for the States.
George Weasley looked positively frantic. He and Addie had dated over her year at Hogwarts, and as far as Draco knew of the situation he had taken their breakup pretty badly. Draco watched as George's twin muttered something under his breath, that seemed to cheer him for a moment, but still left him clearly distressed.
Then the was Draco himself. Draco had known Addie since the two of them were four years old, and since that day he'd been toying with the notion of loving her. Her sharp wit, her inherent charm, and her endearing self-absorption pulled at Draco's heart strings in a way that no other girl had managed. She of course, did not feel similarly, and he was almost positive that after the disastrous episode at Hogwarts she was sure to hate him more than when she'd left in fifth year.
"So…" Draco began, taking up his usual job as the first to speak, "Have any of you talked to Addie…er…recently?"
The rest of the table paused for a moment, wondering whether or not to answer Draco's question.
"I have." Hermione said. "I've sent her letters at least once a month, filling her in on what's going on…"
"I wanted to…" George began, "But it was too—too—"
"It was too painful, mate!" Fred butted in. "You had to move on! Get a hold of yourself! As far as we knew that girl was never coming back."
"Well…" Ron began, "You all know me…well…er…except for you Malfoy…but you know I'm horrible with letters. I'll go a whole year without sending me mum a single one."
"I started out sending them." Harry said quietly. "But then…well…you know…circumstances change…and well the last one I received from her wasn't too friendly."
Ginny looked up at Harry, and Draco was sure he caught a smile spread briefly across her face.
"So," Draco began, "Am I to understand that aside from Gra—Hermione none of you sent her letters?"
"What like you did?" George spat.
"Well of course not." Draco quietly replied. "Why would she have wanted to hear from me?"
"That's right she wouldn't have wanted to hear from you!" Fred said menacingly. "So keep your fat mouth shut!"
"I wasn't accusing." Draco said calmly. "I was just making sure I'd understood properly."
"We'll see how much you understand when I—"
"Did she ever tell any of you why she was leaving?" Ginny asked, speaking over her brother.
A chorus of "No's" spread across the table.
"Something to do with her mother I would guess." Hermione said. "All she ever told me was that her mum was up to something with the Order out there, recruitment I suspect, and she once briefly mentioned that she had an important task to do."
"She did?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "What could she possibly—"
"She's obviously bluffing." Ron laughed. "You know how she is, great girl, but a bit big in the head…"
"You've said that before, Ron." Harry answered quietly. "About people who keep bragging about important tasks they have to perform."
Draco coughed, "If you're referring to me, Potter…"
"And what if I am?" Harry retorted.
Draco paused for a moment, unsure whether to fight or to walk away. He looked around at the rest of the table. He'd once before come off worse in a fight with Ginny, and had no desire to repeat the experience, and though he hated to admit it, he found the Weasley twins to be quite frightening.
"Nevermind…" he said quietly, "I'm going to bed…"
The idea seemed to sit well with the rest of the group and a few moments after Draco went upstairs he could hear the others following him. The door to Ron's room creaked open as Draco slowly made his way across the tiny bedroom to his cot along the wall. As he was taking off his socks, Harry and Ron appeared in the doorway looking disgruntled.
"When she gets here" Harry began, "You'd better behave yourself."
"We don't want her all angry storming around the place." Ron said.
"I don't think that I'm the one that's going to make her angry." Draco replied coolly.
"And what does that mean?" Harry spat.
"It means" Draco said, positioning himself under the covers, "That I'm not the one left her for somebody else."
"I—I didn't—y—you don't even know—" Harry stammered.
"Goodnight, Potter." Draco laughed, waving his wand and turning out the lights.
The next morning the air was thick with anticipation. Though Mrs.Weasley tried to lighten the mood, ("How about a nice game of exploding snap?") the house remained eerily silent. Ginny and Harry kept exchanging nervous glances at one another, while Hermione and Ron attempted awkward, half-hearted, conversation. George Weasley was a wreck. He refused to talk to anyone, even Fred, and spent the entire day in his room pretending to be asleep.
Draco, on the other hand, maintained a stunning calm. The prospect of seeing Addie again had shaken him, however, he'd resolved that his chances with her were far lower than they'd ever been and there was no use in fretting over something that could never happen. While the others worried Draco enjoyed what would be by far his best day at the Burrow. The news of Addie's arrival had driven Draco out of the minds of most of the residents it's residents which resulted in Draco enjoying some much needed time alone. He began reading the novel that Ginny had lent him (The Mystery of the Vampire's Fang) and went out on his broomstick for the first time in ages.
The day quickly turned into night and the anticipation in the Weasley house grew as Mrs. Weasley cleared the dinner plates.
"She should be here soon…" She said, looking out the kitchen window.
"Maybe she won't c—" Ginny began, but was interrupted by a sharp knocking at the door.
George Weasley's head snapped up from his plate, and Harry dropped his fork.
"Oh dear…" Mrs. Weasley muttered, "Well, I'll go get it then."
Mrs. Weasley shuffled out of the room and the kitchen remained silent. Voices could now be heard from the living room.
"Molly darling it's been too long!" Sherri White's voice drifted across the house.
"Come in, come in, Sherri, you'll let in the draft." Mrs. Weasley said quickly.
"Alright, Addie move along, stop sulking." Sherri scolded.
Five large cases of luggage flew past the kitchen table up the stairs, among them was the all-too-familiar pink chest that Addie had brought to Hogwarts.
Close behind the luggage followed Mrs. Weasley, Sherri White, and her daughter, Addie.
Addie was trailing slightly behind them, dragging her feet and looking positively miserable. She had grown her hair out over the past year and it was pulled back into a thick black pony tail with pieces falling loosely into her deep brown eyes. She looked a bit tanner, and slightly taller, and still stunningly beautiful. At the moment, however, her naturally pretty face was contorted with anger as she stared around at the members of the table. She had no doubt noticed the lack of contact she'd kept with them, and from what Draco could tell from her face, the silence was not mutual. Her narrowed eyes rested, finally, on Harry and a small malicious smile spread across her face. Draco had seen this smile before, and it had never resulted well for him.
Sherri let out a big, fake yawn.
"Molly, I'm dreadfully tired, take me up to my room why don't you?" She asked.
"Yes…" Mrs. Weasley answered, surveying the scene, "That would probably be best."
Once the parents were safely upstairs, Addie cleared her throat and blew a piece of hair out of her face. She raised one eyebrow and flicked her wand, pulling a chair up behind her.
"We meet again." She said casually, sitting down.
"Look, Addie…" Ron began, "We understand you're probably upset…"
"Upset?" Addie asked casually, picking at her nails, "Why would I be upset?"
Ron looked confused.
"Oh, Addie don't play with us." Hermione said. "We know you're upset because we didn't stay in contact with you, well, not me, as you know I wrote you…"
"Hmm…" Addie sniffed, still occupying herself with her nails, "Didn't even notice."
"Addie, there's no need for—"
"No need for what?" Addie snapped, taking her eyes off her nails. "No need for what?"
"We had things!" Ron exclaimed. "We had things going on!"
"Oh?" Addie raised an eyebrow. "Things? You had things? Oh, I'm so sorry. I must have forgotten, you see, I myself didn't have any things…"
"What Ronald means" Hermione cut in, "Is that, as I'm sure you know, it was a very busy year."
"Yeah" Ron said, "Fred and George were working all year, you know, and there was a lot going on at Hogwarts."
"Business booming, then?" Addie asked, directing her attention to the twins.
"Even better." Fred answered quickly.
"How—How are you—George?" Addie asked after a moments hesitation.
George looked up, his ears going red, "Fine…" He mumbled.
"And you?" Harry piped up from the far end of the table. "How are you?"
Her eyes narrowed as she turned her attention to Harry, and the same malicious smile she'd entered with spread across her face once more.
"Me?" She asked, flabbergasted. "If you'd wanted to know about me you would have written."
"Well, after that last letter—"
"Oh? The one after you told me you had a new girlfriend and that you were very very sorry? My response to that letter? Is that what you're referring to?" Addie's voice was growing with her anger.
"W—Well y—you didn't have to call me a—"
"How are you two then?" Her eyes darted between Harry and Ginny.
"We're not." Ginny replied frankly. "We're not…together…anymore."
The smile Addie had been wearing widened across the entirety of her face, and her eyes flashed.
"You dumped her, Potter?" Addie laughed. "After all you said about her in that letter, you dumped her?"
"It was for my safety!" Ginny shouted.
This news seemed to be too much for Addie to bare, and her laughter filled the kitchen.
"It was for your safety?" She laughed, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Potter, do you use that line on every girl, or only the ones that are really special?"
Harry's face flushed scarlet, "I'm a dangerous boyfriend to have, Addie."
"Yeah, well…" She went back to picking at her fingernails, "He'll keep on protecting you, until the letters stop coming that is. After that he wont give a rat's—"
"Now that's just not fair!" Hermione interrupted. "Harry has just as much a right to break it off with you in a letter as—as you did to do it to George!"
The table went silent. Draco, who had until that point tried to remain unnoticed, made a move to leave the room.
"You're still here, then?" Addie called after him.
"Yes?" Draco answered, raising an eyebrow. "Surely they told you I would be."
"They did," Addie began, "But I just figured that if Harry didn't kill you, Fred or George would."
"As I've already explained to Potter," Draco responded coldly, "Murder is not as easy as you think."
"Right…" She laughed, "Well then, get on to bed. I have nothing to say to you, I didn't really expect you to write."
"I—I think I'll be getting to bed as well." Harry said, standing up.
"Yeah…" Ginny agreed, "Yeah, me too."
The rest of the table murmured agreement as each member motioned to leave it.
"Hey Ron!" Addie called after him. "Where is the best place to set up a tent?"
"A tent?" Ron asked. "Well, right underneath my window…its surrounded by trees you see and the ground is pretty flat but…why?"
Addie laughed a loud, hearty laugh, "You didn't think I'd be staying in a room with Harry's new girlfriend, did you?" She cringed at the word "girlfriend".
"So you're going to set up a tent?" Draco laughed. "Very resourceful."
"Thank you, Draco." She smiled. "And by the way, Hermione, I think my trunk mistakenly settled itself in your room, if you could just send it on down when you get up there that would be great. I'd rather not have to go in, you see..."
"Fine then!" Harry yelled. "Go—Go outside and do whatever you'd like just don't come storming around in here all the time like a—a—"
"Like a what, Potter?" Her eyes narrowed.
"Like a God damned princess!" Harry yelled. "I dealt with it then but I am not doing it now!"
"Fine" She replied, "Then stay out of my way, and I'll stay out of yours."
Harry marched up the stairs and the rest followed, until the kitchen was empty except for Draco and Addie.
"Addie?" Draco began, tentatively. "I know you probably hate me even more than you did before but—"
"I don't hate you, Draco." She said quietly. "I'm proud of you."
"What?" Draco asked, taken aback.
"I knew this was who you really were, it just took you some time to get there." She smiled her first true smile of the evening and Draco's heart skipped a beat.
"Goodnight, Draco." She said, turning to exit the room.
"Addie! Wait!" He called after her.
"Yes?" She asked.
"I just wanted to say, that I—I would have written you…" Draco flushed.
Addie gave him a sad sort of smile and said, "I know, and that's why this whole thing is just killing me."