Life Renovations
Chapter Two
Alone
As Draco moved out into the entrance hall he heard a few pops that signaled the arrival of several people via Apparition and the rush of noise that indicated the Floo had been used. He stopped outside of the door where he heard voices coming from and hesitated before slowly pushing it open. The moment he saw who was in the room, which was the kitchen, Draco wished he hadn't gone in. The kitchen was swarming with Weasleys and one bushy haired, know-it-all muggleborn.
Draco scowled at all the red and frizz in the room and turned around to leave immediately, but before he could even take a step, a shout filled the air.
"Stupefy!"
Thankful for his Quidditch Seeker skills, Draco managed to dodge the curse with his quick reflexes and ducked next to the table.
"Ronald Weasley! Just what do you think you're doing?"
"It's Malfoy, Mum! You know with his kind, you curse first and ask questions later. He's here to spy on us."
"Honestly, Ronald! Do you really think someone could get in here if they weren't invited by Dumbledore?" Hermione said.
"That's right, dear," Molly Weasley said, nodding to Hermione, and then she turned to her sons and daughter. "You children behave, do you hear me? No cursing! Your father and I have a meeting with Albus. Come along, Arthur." Mr. Weasley nodded and led his wife out of the kitchen.
Ron, Fred, George, and Ginny were all looking at Draco but their expressions were all different. Ron glared at the blond with dark suspicion and hatred, while the twins were watching him with open curiosity and somewhat bemused expressions. And Ginny, well she was just looking at scene with open amusement. Draco watched them all for a moment, a cold mask firmly in place, sneer gracing his lips.
"What in the hell are you doing here, Malfoy?" Ron snarled. He was gripping his wand so tight that his knuckles had started to turn white.
"I don't see how that concerns you, Weasel." And then he smirked at the rest of them when Ron's face turned even redder. "But I bet I can guess why you all are here. You're always on the Golden Boy's beck and call," Draco started, knowing full well that Harry hadn't had a chance to contact his friends. "You've come to make sure he isn't going to die; though I'm pretty sure there's a good chance he may never wake up." Even as he said the words, he felt his world tilt and a sharp pain stab his chest.
"What are you on about?" Ron demanded.
"Harry?" one of the twins asked, and Ginny's eyes finally focused clearly onto the spoken subject.
"What about Harry? What happened to him?" she asked, and Draco frowned at the feeling behind her words for Harry, but before he could make a scathing remark, Ron once again spoke, and for the first time ever, completely surprised the blond Slytherin.
"Who cares what happened to him! Something is always happening to him! He probably deserved whatever he got! We all know how he thrives on the attention."
"Ron! You know that's not true. Harry hates being the center of attention!" Ginny snarled.
"From what I've seen over the years you are the one who craves the attention," Draco pointed out. Ron glared at Draco.
"Whatever, we're better off without him around!"
"Whoa, little bro! How can you talk like that about your best mate?"
Ron turned to his brothers. "He's not my best mate, not anymore. Come on, Mione. I can't stand to be in the same place as Potter and Malfoy!"
Ron grabbed his girlfriend's hand and started to drag her towards the fireplace. Draco watched all this, desperately trying to keep his chin from falling to the floor. Did he understand correctly? The Golden Trio was no more? He watched dumbfounded and with a certain mounting anger as Granger tried to pull out of the redhead's grasp but was unsuccessful and was manhandled into the fireplace to be whisked away by glowing green fire, closely followed by her dick head of a boyfriend.
"What the bloody fuck was that about? Are my eyes and ears deceiving me or did Weasel just renounce Potter?" he asked incredulously as his fury continued to build.
For some odd reason, he was angry for Potter, instead of just angry at Potter, like always. Weren't Potter's friends supposed to be loyal, standing by him through everything? Isn't that what the Gryffindors always spouted on about. And where were they when Potter was getting beaten all the time by his fat uncle? And why weren't they with Harry now when he needed them the most?
"Draco, please tell us what's wrong with Harry." Draco was surprised out of his fuming thoughts when the Weaslette softly addressed him by name. The twins were looking at him imploringly as well.
"Answer my question first," he demanded and crossed his arms over his chest. Ginny sighed and rolled her eyes, but did move to take a seat at the kitchen table closer to where Draco was standing. The others did the same with Draco being the last to sit.
"It's not really our place to tell you what happened. It's really Harry who should do that."
"Yeah, or the bastard that is our brother, Ronniekins," George said.
"But he would never say a word 'cause the git knows he's in the wrong!" Fred put in.
"Yes, that makes it all very clear now, thanks," Draco sneered, his impatience clear in his silver eyes.
"Hold on there, blondie. Don't get your ponytails in a twist," one of the twins, Fred or George said and they were grinning maniacally. Draco frowned and looked over at the youngest Weasley when she started to snigger.
"What are you three on about? Just hurry up and tell me!"
After a few moments of more laughter, the three red heads turned serious again after they heard the hurried footsteps over head and the slight cry of their mom.
"As you know the Wizarding World is full of different people with different magic. And you also know that most wizards and witches have very open minds when it comes to people connecting to, being attracted to, or falling in love with someone from the same sex. Only about ten percent of our population has anything bad to say about same sex relationships," Ginny explained, though she was pretty sure the pretty boy before her knew this, and was almost doubly sure that Draco did in fact look to his own side of the field when it came to lovers.
"It seems our dear little brother is part of that little percent," one of the twins said.
"Your brother is a homophobe," Draco said nodding. "I saw that one coming a mile away. But what does this have to do with Harry?"
The three Weasleys blinked at him in surprise at how casual the blond had said Harry's name. And then the entire situation seemed to have dawned on them. Here they all were at Number 12, sitting down in the kitchen and having a very civil conversation with Draco Malfoy of all people, and the git wasn't being a git at all. He seemed to truly want to know what was up in Harry's life, and it didn't look like he wanted the information to hold over anybody. None of the Weasley kids had ever seen Malfoy's face so open before and a thought dawned in the twins' heads at the same time. They turned, nodded, and then smiled at each other before facing Draco again.
"What now?" Draco demanded to the two identical grinning fools.
"Oh nothing, nothing. We just…"
"Realized something is all…"
"No need to worry. We're just going to see…"
"How things turn out!"
"Yes, okay, whatever." Draco turned to what seemed like the sanest Weasley, and looked at her expectantly.
"Well Ron found out Harry is gay and he sort of flipped."
"Gin! You weren't supposed to tell him that part."
Ginny shot her brothers such a withering look that Draco found himself looking at the little Weaslette with just a little bit of respect.
"I know you two are thinking the same I am. This will just make things easier, don't you think."
Since Draco didn't much care to listen to the Weasleys inane bickering, he tuned in to his own thoughts about the news he's just discovered. Weasley, Granger, and Harry were no longer talking because Ron didn't like homosexuals. But there had to more to it than that. It couldn't have been just that to make him turn his back on his best friend. But then again, this was Ronald Weasley, and everyone knew how stupid he was. Aside from all that, he'd just found out that Harry was gay! Harry liked males! This… this was excellent news!
"Malfoy, you smiling like that is creepy," Fred said.
Draco wiped the smile off his face. "So your brother turned his back on Harry just because he's turned out to be gay? There has to be more to it than that."
"Well also… Ron has been jealous of Harry for years and I think he's using Harry's sexuality as an excuse. Our brother has become an arsehole. We three are still Harry's friends. We would never turn our back on him. Even if he were to switch to Voldemort's side, we'd still be here for him." Draco's eyebrow hit his hairline at that, even as he watched the twins nod in agreement with their sister. "Now, Draco please. Will you tell us what's going on with Harry? Were you telling the truth about how serious his condition is? What happened anyway?"
Draco nodded. "He was…" he stopped here because he didn't know how much Harry wanted the people around him to know how he was beaten at his home. It was another surprise to realize Potter never complained about the abuse. Otherwise rumors about The-Boy-Who-Has-Turned-Into-Obsessive-Thoughts-In-Draco's-Head would have moved like wild fire throughout the school.
But then he realized he could at least be honest with these people, as they seemed to have been to him. He thought the whole situation was ludicrous. Here he was sitting and talking almost pleasantly to three Weasleys. And what was worse was that he didn't mind talking to these three. They were the most open minded Weasleys he'd ever met. So he told them about how he and Severus had to go check on Potter and about how they found Potter with his family. He kept details out, just explained how they'd found him and how they'd Portkeyed out of there.
"He never said how bad it was there," Ginny whispered. "He did say he wasn't liked by his relatives, but that was all he ever said."
"Idiot Gryffindor," Draco muttered.
"Hey!" the surrounding Gryffindors exclaimed.
"Well he is! He should have said something! Anything! He should have told someone! I could have-" he cut off, choking on his words and glared hard at the table while trying to push down that irrational rage again.
"Yes, but Harry isn't like that," Ginny said quietly, watching Draco with a soft expression. "He keeps all his pain inside. That's why we worry about him so much. He's always putting others before him. I think…I think it's because he feels guilty about things. Things that he never had any control over, you know. Still, you're right. He should have said something." Her voice had lowered into a whisper at the end, and her eyes shone with unshed tears.
"Malfoy, you sound like you care about what happens to Harry," Fred said, his grin back into place. Draco opened his mouth to deny, but something was caught in his throat, making it impossible to deny it. He suddenly popped up from his chair and backed away from the table. Afraid of what he truly wanted to say. He'd kept that secret since fourth year and he wasn't sure if he was ready to give it up. Not now. Not until he could wrap his mind around everything that had happened recently.
"Er...Right…I've got to go!" Then he retreated as gracefully as he could.
Ginny, Fred, and George continued to sit and look at each other. "That was weird," Ginny said. Her brothers nodded in agreement. "I mean… that was Draco Malfoy, right?"
"Well I certainly hope so lil sis, especially after what you did with his hair!" Fred said.
"It seems little Malfoy Jr. isn't the cold meanie we all thought he was. And did you get the impression that he did in fact care about what was happening with Harry?" George said, Ginny and Fred nodding their agreement.
"It was even stranger that Malfoy seemed to get angry on Harry's behalf for Ron's betrayal."
"Perhaps, Harry isn't the only one here with a heart full of unrequited love," Ginny said dreamily.
"They'd make one hot couple, yeah?" George breathed and his brother nodded. They were definitely not bothered with the idea of same sex coupling, especially since they themselves were both bisexual.
"Maybe a helping plan would be in order here. If we're sure we can trust Malfoy." Ginny said thoughtfully, and her brothers grinned. The three red heads bent so their heads were touching and began, and they discussed until their parents returned to give them news of their adopted brother.
Draco escaped from the kitchen and quickly made his way upstairs, following the noise to the third floor landing. He quickly found himself outside of what he thought was Potter's room. He stood in the shadows watching four people discuss something in hushed whispers. He recognized Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Weasley, and Dumbledore. Severus must still be inside the room with Madam Pomfrey. And standing beside the Headmaster was…. Draco's eyes widened. Was that? Was that Sirius Black he was looking at? As if hearing his thoughts, Black's head snapped up and searched Draco out in the shadows.
"Dumbledore, what is Malfoy Jr. doing in my house?" he growled, taking a threatening step forward. "Is the little Death Eater here to finish off Harry? And what in the hell have you done with your hair, little Malfoy?"
Draco would have asked what the man was talking about, but before he could find out what Black was talking about, another voice interrupted.
"I'm still amazed at how little of your brain you actually use, mutt," Severus' silky voice came from the doorway. Draco moved a little to see if he could get a glance inside but his godfather quickly shut the door and glared at Black.
"Should have known you would be behind it, Snivelus."
"We're not here to fight amongst ourselves. We're here to talk about Harry Potter," Dumbledore said.
Draco glared and stood straighter as he carefully moved closer to the adults. "If that's the case, would you care to explain to us, Headmaster, why you continued to place Potter in a home that was clearly unhealthy?"
"What does he mean, Albus?" asked Molly, frowning a little at Draco.
"What I mean, madam, is that Harry has been beaten regularly for years by his Uncle. Mrs. Dursley and her son are down stairs. I'm sure they wouldn't mind being questioned. They confessed to me easily enough. Not to mention the fact that I saw it with my own eyes. His uncle trying to beat him to death."
Draco smirked and stood back, watching as Black and Mrs. Weasley's anger punched through the roof and they were verbally attacking Dumbledore. Draco saw this as his chance and he slipped into Potter's room almost unnoticed. Severus saw him but did not stop him. He was surprised when he was allowed to go in, but didn't think too much on that, because now he was approaching the bed. Harry lay there, paler than death and looking more defeated and helpless than Draco had ever seen him.
Harry had been cleaned; his wounds washed and smothered in healing balms. He lay on his back, the white sheet pulled up to his naked torso, and upon looking closer, he was disgusted to see how thin Potter was. On top of it all, the Dursleys had been starving him too. It's muggles like the Dursleys that deserve to be destroyed.
"Mr. Malfoy, I'm glad you are here. I would like to talk to you about something," Madam Pomfrey said as she pulled the comforter up to Harry's chin. Then she straightened and faced the blond. He noticed her lips twitch as she looked at him and he could clearly see that she was trying to keep from laughing.
"What? Do I have something on my face?"
The question seemed to bring the woman to her senses because she shook her head then gestured for him to take one of the two chairs positioned beside the bed. Once they were seated, Draco tried to keep his eyes off of the Gryffindor lying beside him, but he was failing miserably. He wanted to see those jade eyes open and on him.
"What did you want to speak to me about, Madam Pomfrey?"
"Severus said you were there with him when you found Mr. Potter, is that correct?" Draco nodded. "He also said he saw you do something to Mr. Potter, and that it seemed to help with his pain. Is that also correct?"
Draco suddenly found himself embarrassed, but nodded anyway. Poppy gave the young man before her a small smile and continued with her questions. "Have you ever done this thing with anyone else?"
"No. It was the first time, and I didn't even know what I was doing at the time. All I could think about was his pain, and I wanted…." Draco stopped and frowned. He looked down at his hands in his lap and pressed his lips together.
"You wanted to what?"
I wanted to take his pain away. I couldn't stand to see him like that anymore. But instead of answering he only just shook his head.
"All right. What happened when you touched Harry?"
"I felt his pain. I don't know how he wasn't screaming with it. It was worse than being put under the Cru…the pain was horrible. When I touched him the first time, I could feel that the pain in him receded. But I had to let go fast after that. I wasn't prepared for anything to happen. Then I did it again after I prepared for the pain."
"Do you mean to tell me that when you touched Mr. Potter, not only did you help with the pain, but that you took his pain into yourself?"
"Yes and no. I did help with the pain but I didn't take it all away. I took the pain into myself and held it, as much as I could—honestly I don't really know what was happening. It made him feel better though…. Is he going to be alright?" Draco asked suddenly, not being able to stop himself from asking. It didn't make him feel any better when Pomfrey frowned and turned sad eyes on her charge.
"I'm afraid Mr. Potter is in a magical coma and I can't be sure if he'll pull through this. He's been through so much, more than we ever knew. It will be his choice whether he comes back to us or not."
"What do you mean you don't know if he'll pull through this? He was awake and talking when you brought him up here!"
"Yes, but he had a seizure and fell unconscious." Pomfrey sat with Draco for a moment, the both of them with their eyes on Harry. Then Pomfrey seemed to pull herself together and she stood and pointed her wand at Draco.
"Up please." As soon as he stood, Pomfrey transfigured his chair into another bed and then ordered Draco to undress and climb into the bed. She waited until he was undressed before heading to the door. "Do something about your hair, Mr. Malfoy. I'll assume you didn't do it and that the Weasley twins got a hold of you. I'll be back in a moment and you had better be in that bed when I return."
And with that she was gone. Draco would have demanded to know why he was being sent to bed, but his mind was more occupied with what was wrong with his hair. He ran over to the mirror on the wall and his mouth dropped open in a silent scream.
Three floors down in the kitchen, the Weasleys were just about ready to leave when they heard a shriek come from up stairs. "WEASELS!"
Molly Weasley turned to her grinning twins, and their smiles immediately disappeared.
"What? We…"
"Didn't do…"
"Anything!"
"I was wondering why that boy was walking around with his hair all up in girly little pony tails. I told you three to get along."
"But Mum, we were getting along!" Ginny said, trying to keep a straight face because she had been the one to hex Draco in the first place.
"Weasels! I can't fix it! Fix my hair now!"
Draco came running back into the kitchen in nothing but his boxers, and Ginny couldn't help herself, she nearly swallowed her tongue. A pale Adonis was now standing before her and she couldn't stop her face from turning red. Not even the stupid pigtails she'd put his hair into could detract from the whole ensemble. It was no wonder Harry was so obsessed over Draco.
"Wow, Malfoy! Now we understand where all those rumors were coming from," Fred said and nudged his brother, who nodded before quirking his eyebrows at Draco in a suggestive manner.
"Draco Malfoy! You get upstairs right now and get some clothes on!" Molly shrieked like the true mother she was, and despite being a Malfoy, Draco cringed under the Weasley matriarch's look. He had to fight to keep himself from fleeing.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Weasley, but my hair!Please, make them fix my hair. Please!"
His father would be appalled at his actions and outburst, but at this moment, Draco couldn't find it in him to care. It was his hair, for Merlin's sake! Only Draco's closest friends and his father knew how much he loved his hair. Well, Harry also knew about Draco's obsession with his hair, but the blond didn't know this. He loved his hair more than even his family's fortune. His friends all decided that it was a good thing that Draco only had the one insane quirk- all the rest were only slightly insane- otherwise he would have lost his fortune years ago.
The Weasleys stared at Draco in shock, never having seen a Malfoy act this way before. He was… to put it bluntly, he looked so human and approachable. Mrs. Weasley was reminded that even though Draco was a Malfoy, he was still just a child, a child like any of her children, except he'd probably had no real family love in his life, just like poor Harry. She smiled kindly at him, and promised herself that she would enfold him in her care and spread out her nurturing love. The twins were thinking that this bloke could be some real fun, once they and of course Harry, could get friendly enough to melt his icy and uptight exterior. And Ginny was just drooling on the floor.
"What are you all staring at? Mrs. Weasley, please. Don't make me beg." Draco turned watery eyes to Molly, and she felt like she wanted to laugh. Who knew a Malfoy could simply be adorable?
"Make him beg, Mum!"
"Yeah, I'll get a camera. Should cheer Harry up when he sees it."
"Fred, George, that's enough. There, Draco love, it's all right." Molly lifted her wand and swished it around his head, making the blond boy flinch every time the wand came close to his hair. Then he nearly wept when the spell Mrs. Weasley used didn't work. She tsked and turned to glare at her sons, who were quick to point to Ginny as the culprit. "Ginny! What were you thinking? Now I expect this kind of thing from your brothers, but not you…"
"Oi!"
"What did you use? Finite doesn't work!" Draco's eyes were squeezed tight by now. He was trying not to have a panic attack.
"It's just a spell I created for a new product for Fred and George's store. It's harmless, I promise."
"You call this harmless! Weaslette, if you don't fix it right now, I will hang you by your long fire hair!"
"Merlin, Draco. Calm down. See, it's gone." Ginny did some elaborate waving with her wand, and Draco clutched at his hair when he felt some movement. When he found it back to normal, he dropped his hands and glared at Ginny.
"I'm going to get you back for that."
Ginny grinned and winked at him. "I really hope so."
Draco was so surprised that he dropped the glare and stepped back. He thought he should get out of there before he was embarrassed any further.
"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley." He gave her a small smile that she reciprocated with a smile ten times brighter, and then the Weasley family watched him point his chin up in the air and saunter out of the kitchen.