A/N: It's going a bit slow right now, and for that, I am deeply sorry. But we have to set up the story. Sorry to all you Ron fans: this is just the beginning of his asshole-ism
Draco blinked few times as a ridiculous amount of light shone into his eyes. He scowled and tried to sit up before wincing sharply. A pain shot up his side through his chest and he found it hard to breathe. The room spun and suddenly Draco was staring at the ceiling.
Molly Weasley rushed in, having heard Draco's body hit the floor. She leaned over the somewhat lucid boy and brushed the blond hairs from out of his eyes.
"Are you alright, dearie?" Molly asked softly as she assisted him in sitting on the sofa. He nodded slowly and leaned into Molly's chest, shivering as he inhaled her motherly scent. She began to stroke his head and rock slightly back and forth like she was holding her own child and not that child of a Death Eater.
"I'm fine, Mum. It'll take a lot more than a few Crucios to keep me down for long." Molly gasped softly, pausing in mid stroke. She resumed immediately until he was asleep again. When soft snores came from the back of his throat, she laid his head back on one of the sofa's pillows and went into the kitchen, face ashen with grief. Hermione and Remus were sitting at the table drinking tea and quietly discussing a few of the Ministry's new policies.
"Hermione, dear, can you sit in the living room and watch Draco for a few minutes while I prepare some more potions and some breakfast for everyone?"
"Of course, Mrs. Weasley." Hermione rose and went into the next room. Remus looked up at Molly, his face also showing a rare amount of emotion. With that look, Molly knew he had heard with his unnaturally sensitive hearing. Molly sighed heavily and sat at the table, putting her face into her soft and caring hands. She allowed a few tears to escape before clearing her throat and going to cook.
"I'm just hoping he was confused. I don't want to have to tell him that his mother is gone. I would be a coward and call Severus over here to explain what happened, but he'll be here sooner or later." Remus nodded, understanding that Molly didn't want a response, that she was doing as only mother's do: fretting. A loud bang came down the stairwell as a head of pink hair flashed down the stairs. Both Remus and Molly smiled at Nymphadora Tonks, who was on the ground looking momentarily dazed before coming to the table as if she hadn't just fallen down the stairs again.
"Wotcher, Molly! Remy, darling," She murmured as she hugged Molly and kissed Remus softly. Remus handed Tonks a cup of tea and rubbed her back gently and soothingly. Molly began to lay out breakfast and, as if by magic, all of the Weasley children began making their way downstairs almost unconsciously. Ron was the first to tuck in, eating rapidly and messily. Molly went to attend to Draco and sent Hermione in to eat.
"Hey, 'Mione, where you been? I haven't seen you since yesterday." Ron managed to say through a mouthful of food. Although it sounded as if he was speaking some form of Troll, everyone had known Ron long enough to understand him when he spoke with his mouth full.
"I was watching Draco and doing some research." Ron's head snapped up.
"When the hell did that ferret become 'Draco?'" Ron barked angrily. Hermione stood up and glared at him. She didn't answer and left the room.
"Good going, mate. You managed to piss her off before nine. I think that's a record." Harry said irritably. He then left the table as well, leaving Ron at the mercy of the remaining Weasley siblings, all of whom were fed up with Ron's treatment of his best friend.
When Harry got upstairs, he could hear soft sniffles coming from the door at the end of the hall. Without knocking, Harry entered the room and sat on the floor by the bed Hermione was sprawled across.
"Go away, Harry. I want to be left alone." She groaned into a pillow.
"Oh? And I want Voldemort go not exist, but we don't always get what we want, do we?" Hermione sighed.
"Sorry, Harry. I'm just so tired of Ronald always trying to dictate my decisions. I'm not his girlfriend, or his daughter, or his property!" Harry sighed heavily and patted her back sympathetically. When she sat up, Harry saw her face was red and blotchy from crying and her eyes were bloodshot. Harry moved to sit next to her and comfortingly rubbed her back in small circles. They say together in complacent silence, just enjoying each others' company. After a while, soft knocking interrupted their peace. Ginny Weasley poked her head into the room. Her eyebrows shot up as she saw the position her ex-boyfriend and best friend were in. Surely nothing was going on here? She turned around immediately and marched back downstairs, not even delivering the message that they needed to de-gnome the garden again.
Sighing, they both headed downstairs to diffuse the situation. It was completely empty downstairs. Remus was the only Order member who stayed with the Weasleys. They all felt much more secure with the seasoned fighter in the house with them. They moved to the yard where they could hear grunts and the sound of gnomes being thrown. Ginny was standing out by the fence, arms crossed and scowling at the low-risen sun. Hermione approached her slowly and leaned against the fence, allowing the light breeze to ruffle her bushy brown hair. Finally she turned to the younger witch in her presence.
"Ginny, whatever it is you think you saw in my room, it wasn't what you think it was. I was angry, and Harry was being the ever-supportive brother I always need him to be." Ginny huffed and faced Hermione ever so slowly.
"I don't care about whatever thing you two have going on. I just can't help but feel a little jealous of you guys. Like, you know things about him that he will probably never tell me. I just get frustrated, sometimes." Hermione nodded and opened her mouth to respond when there was a crash from inside the house. Hermione drew her wand and ran indoors.
She saw Draco Malfoy being held at wand point by Ron, whose face was bright red in anger. Draco was sickly pale and slightly shaky, still. His eyes were unfocused and bloodshot. It was obvious he had not been the starter of the fracas. He probably didn't even know where he was. Ron raised his wand even higher, so it was pointed directly at Draco's heart. Draco's eyes darkened to a near black as Ron approached him
.
"You may have everyone else fooled with this pathetic little game, but not me. Once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater." The redhead was nearly growling as he got closer and closer to Draco. Hermione could feel the magic radiating off of Draco in waves and realized she needed to get involved.
"Ronald! Are you out of your bloody mind?! Get away from him!" His head snapped to meet Hermione's eyes. Unfortunately for him, the youngest Malfoy still felt threatened.
A loud crashing sounded through the living room again. Hermione could not see through all of the dust but she heard several sets of feet approaching the room.
"What in Merlin's name is going on in here?" Mrs. Weasley shouted as she cleared the dust with a wave of her wand. Ronald WEasley was lying unconscious against the wall and Draco Malfoy was trembling violently, almost seizure-like before he collapsed. Hermione rushed forward to catch him. Stunned by the amount of weight he had, she stumbled and fell. George Weasley leaned in and lifted Draco as if he weighed five pounds and not 160. Fred carried Ronald upstairs where he was sure to be chewed out later.
"So, Hermione, would you mind telling us what the bloody hell happened in here?" Harry asked exasperatedly.
"I came in here because I heard noise. When I walked in, Ronald," she spat the name angrily, "had Malfoy at wand point. Poor Malfoy looked like he was about to collapse. I yelled at Ron and when he looked at me, I assume Malfoy did a wandless Knockback Jinx. It was too dusty for me to tell." Mrs. Weasley looked angry enough to spit fire. Mr. Weasley didn't look that much more calm. The only one in the room with a rational look on his face was, of course, Remus Lupin.
"I understand we're all a little upset at Ron's lack of... well, common sense. But let's first make sure the both of them are okay. Young Mr. Malfoy has been through enough in the past couple of days, plus the use of wandless magic can be exhausting to one's magical core." The adults in the room nodded and left the room. Mrs. Weasley began performing spells and different colored lights shone from various places on Draco's body. She bustled to the kitchen and carried a tray of different colored potions and began to pour them in Draco's mouth. His color slowly became less sickly looking, although it was still rather pale.
After about an hour, she was finished. Mrs. Weasley looked outside and saw the sun was low in the sky and got up to make dinner. It seemed her work was never finished. And, frankly, she liked it that way.
A/N: I'm sorry, I guess I should warn you that the Ginny-bashing is gonna be pretty bad for a bit. In fact, she's gonna be worse than Ron for a while. Ron's just stubborn, he can't help it. Next chapter: The Dragon Awakens.