AN: How will the guests take to the arrival of Draco Malfoy? Betaed by Ripped of Sanity.

Disclaimer: Don't own any of the characters or anything even remotely related to the Harry Potter Franchise, except my own copies of the books and some merchandise.

Arrival

Late on Friday afternoon the guests began to arrive at the Potters' house in Godric's Hollow. Each was greeted warmly by the Potter family, which included Teddy, and introduced to Scorpius. It was no surprise to Harry that everyone took to the boy . . . Except Ron and Rose. Ron had never forgotten what Draco had been like during their school days, and had never quite forgiven him. What was worse; nobody had told Ron that his old nemesis would be joining them for dinner. Rose, on the other hand, hadn't really liked Scorpius from the day they'd met on the train. Taking after her mother and being 'bookish', Scorpius (and Albus') antics in the classroom bothered her. She got attention by being clever; it annoyed her that they got attention by being naughty.

At last, Malfoy Senior arrived. Ginny, being a good hostess greeted him at the door and took his coat. She offered him a glass of Mulled Mead and led him to the living room where everyone was sitting together, talking animatedly and laughing at each other. When Draco entered, all eyes turned to look at him and all conversation died. The room went silent and Harry was sure he saw Ron put his hand in his robes, ready to draw his wand at a second's notice.

"Daddy!" Scorpius yelled and ran to him, flinging his arms around his father's waist. Even the coldest of hearts would have been warmed by the smile that graced Draco's face when his son embraced him. It lit up his features, shining and radiating on everyone in the vicinity.

"Hi, Mr. Malfoy!" exclaimed Albus enthusiastically, never more than an arm's length from his best friend.

"Good evening, kids" Draco greeted, ruffling Albus' hair gently while letting go of his son; Albus looked pleased with himself. Harry, witnessing the exchanges and not missing the silence that threatened to engulf them all, decided to intervene.

"Draco. Welcome! So glad you could join us," Harry announced, trying his best to sound sincere.

"Not at all; thank you for inviting me, Harry, Ginevra . . ." Draco replied. The forced politeness was getting on Ron's nerves.

"Wait, you invited him?!" Ron yelled rudely. Hermione gave him a death-glare.

"Not fit enough to meet your social standards, am I, Weasley?" Draco retorted calmly. Ron's ears went pink. Luckily, some light conversation had once again erupted around them, the novelty of Draco's presence having worn off. It was awkward enough as it is.

AN: At least Draco and Harry are both adult enough to be making an effort. P.S. I've noticed from the charts that the vast majority of my readers are from the USA. USA is 10 hours behind South Africa, where I am, so I'm going to be updating late in the evening so that it shows up for the Americans in the early afternoon. I find I read in the afternoons, so it's just for convenience's sake. (Considering that I've been updating in the afternoon for me, when it's early hours of the morning for USA). A lot of readers are also from the UK which is 2 hours behind . . . so it'll be early evening for them. (o0,) Sorry, Australia . . . you get the morning update

Next Chapter: Chatting

Draco was left to converse with a thirteen and a nineteen year old. He was surprisingly not bothered by this.

. . .to be continued!