It took a couple of minutes to realise what had woken him. There was a persistent knocking on the door, and he could hear Ron muttering something about '5 more minutes, mum, please'.

"Harry, come on, wake up! It's early! You said get up early!" Hermione's voice came shrilly through the door and Harry glanced at his watch. The battered face told him that it was 6 o'clock in the morning, and he groaned.

"This is too early, Hermione. Go back to bed and wake me in another hour or five."

"It's too late for that now, everyone else is up and in the kitchen waiting!" Harry clapped his hands over his face, wondering why on earth he'd asked Hermione to wake up early, when it suddenly hit him. Coldness rushed over his body and his skin prickled. He got out of bed and shook Ron awake, pulling on some clothes and opening the door. He stopped when he saw that Ginny was stood behind Hermione and blushed. Ginny did likewise, before muttering something about being hungry hurried downstairs.

"Honestly Harry, I know you're used to Ron and I seeing you semi naked, but I would have thought that you'd have at least got fully dressed before opening the door." Hermione regarded his naked torso as she spoke, neither disdainful or thrilled to see him wearing nothing but a pair of low slung jeans, the top of his boxers peeking out.

"If I'd have known that Ginny was there, I would have thrown a t-shirt on first," he muttered grumpily, "but I didn't know she was going to be there when I opened the door. I thought it was only you, and I only opened the door so that you could get Ron up while I went and sorted out what I need to speak to everyone about." Harry motioned to the still form of his best friend, who had buried his face under the covers, before picking up his t-shirt from the day before and throwing it over his head.

"Honestly Harry, you wore that yesterday." Hermione had crossed the bedroom now and was tugging the covers away from Ron as she spoke to him.

"And?" Harry shrugged his shoulders as he regarded the scene before him.

"Wake up Ronald! No, you can't stay in bed. And you wore it the day before that too. And the day before that. And I think, the day before that one."

"So what's your point?"

"So my point is – get UP Ron, or I'll hex you so you can never sleep again – my point is that perhaps you might want to wear something cleaner?"

"It is clean." Hermione glared at him, and Harry looked down at his t-shirt. Admittedly there were a few grass stains and it smelt a little bit, but that didn't mean that it wasn't clean. Looking up to find Hermione still staring at him, while at the same time forcing Ron into some clothes after successfully detaching him from the bed, Harry admitted defeat. "Fine, I'll put a different t-shirt on." He pulled it off while crossing the room and began to rummage around in the chest of drawers.

"Er, mum says that breakfast is ready." Ginny had reappeared at the door as Harry chucked his t-shirt back on the floor. Hermione gave an exasperated sigh as she hurried away for the second time.

"Can't you wear some clothes around her, for goodness sake? At least until you're back in a relationship. That way she might not find it so hard to be around you."

"I was wearing clothes! You were the one that told me to take them off and put different ones on!" Harry pulled a faded t-shirt out of the drawer and put it on. It was a little short, but it was at least clean. Hermione gave him a stare and started marching a now fully clothed Ron towards the door. "Just meet me in the kitchen, would you? I have to go and get everything sorted." Hermione nodded and Ron mumbled a sleepy assurance, before the pair of them descended the stairs. Harry picked up his wand and took a deep breath before heading in the opposite direction, up towards the room where Malfoy was. Harry stood in front of the door, breathing deeply. He half hoped that when he opened the door, Malfoy wouldn't be there and that it would all be a bad dream. This illusion was shattered, however, when Harry knocked on the door and was greeted by an angry shout.

"That better be you Potter, because my bladder is about to explode." Harry couldn't help but smirk at the discomfort Malfoy was obviously in, and unlocked the door.

"You could always use the window." Malfoy's lip curled in distain.

"Do I look like an uncivilised heathen? Just because that might be an acceptable alternative for you, Potter, does not mean that I would stoop so low." Harry could feel his anger rising as Malfoy stared at him.

"No, you stoop lower. You consort with Voldemort and his cronies, and then when things turn nasty come to me to save your back!" Harry's eye flashed dangerously, and Malfoy went even paler than usual, highlighting the bags that were under his eyes.

"It's not like that Potter. I had nowhere to go, and I wasn't thinking straight. Mother had just told me about the Elder Wand, and then… then I had to leave, and I ended up here. Believe me, I wish I hadn't." Malfoy's tone was sullen, tinged slightly with bitterness. Harry motioned for him to leave the room.

"Well, you'll be pleased to know that we've got a welcome committee waiting for you downstairs then. The sooner you get down there, the sooner we get rid of you, I hope." Malfoy shuffled out of the room, still in the clothes that he was wearing the night before. It was clear that he had been unable to sleep, because although he had Harry's wand pointed at him, he kept pausing on the stairs to yawn loudly.

"Come on Malfoy, hurry up. I don't want you here anymore than you want to be here, so the faster you walk down the stairs the better."

"If you're kicking me out, Potter, then perhaps you'd be so kind as to give me my trunk? I could really use it, you know. And now that I come to think about it, I could use a change of clothes. And I still need to visit the bathroom. I know you're a Neanderthal, but surely you'd allow me those common decencies before you abandon me at the gate?"

"Unfortunately, I'm not about to do that." They had arrived in the main hallway, and Malfoy started towards the front door. "No, we're going this way. I told you, we had a welcome committee waiting." Malfoy turned to see Harry pointing towards the stairs that lead down to the kitchen. There was a slight pause as the pair of them regarded each other, and then Malfoy shuffled towards the stairs, Harry following behind him, wand still raised. There were voices coming from behind the door, suggesting that any charms that had been placed on it during it's use as headquarters had been removed. Harry pushed Malfoy through the door and the room fell silent.

"Impressive, Potter." Malfoy mumbled, before the whole room exploded into sound. Hermione and Mrs Weasley were the two voices that were the most discernable over the racket.

"That's what you forgot, Ron? You forgot that you and Harry went for a walk and found Malfoy?!"

"How do we know that there aren't a group of Death Eaters outside right now, waiting to pounce and kill us?!"

"Way to go, little brother. This is shocking for even you." Harry heard George as the din died down. All eyes were on them as Harry forced Malfoy to walk forward, pressing his wand into his back and directing him to a chair that was in the middle of the room.

"Yes, so, Malfoy's here. He seemed really upset last night, and it was late, so er, I locked him in one of the bedrooms upstairs and left him there. I thought that we could discuss what was going to happen this morning, seeing as we're still the Order, sort of. Plus, I value everyone's opinion, so…" Harry looked sheepishly around at the faces that were there, the majority of them topped with flaming orange hair.

"Can we not turn them down, or something? A room full of hair this bright at this time of the morning is enough to make one quite nauseous. And I was not upset last night, I was in a state of shock, which any sane person would know does strange things to the mind." The tone of the room turned cold towards Malfoy, and Harry couldn't believe that he'd actually allowed him inside his house.

"So, you crying and gibbering about your mother was a state of shock, was it? You begging me to help her was all a strange state of mind, is that what you're saying?" Malfoy remained quietly defiant, pointed chin raised high, resolutely looking out of the window. Harry turned back to his audience, several angry Weasleys and Hermione. "The fact remains that he suddenly Apperated in front of me and Ron, and he had his trunk and he was crying. As much as the obnoxious little git wants to deny it, he was, and he was talking about his mother and how she needs to be saved. And there will be no Death Eaters outside the house, because only Yaxley knows, what with Snape being dead now, but he can't actually tell anyone because the only remaining Secret Keepers are in this room. Well, apart from Bill and Fleur, and Charlie, of course, but they're not going to go telling any Death Eaters, and they're too clever to get caught by any rogues that might still be out there. So, we're safe, Malfoy can't tell anyone, and what are we going to do with him?" There was a stunned silence after Harry's last question.

"Do with him? I say we use him as a Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes test subject! I could use another tester, now that… now that…" George trailed off, looking downcast. There was silence for a while, each person remembering Fred, leaving Malfoy looking very uncomfortable.

"Might I make a suggestion, master?" Kreacher appeared from his cupboard, breaking the silence as he eyed Malfoy with delight.

"What, Kreacher?" Harry's voice was thick with emotion, remembering that awful moment all those months ago, when he'd turned around to see Fred lying dead in the corridor. It played back in slow motion in his head, all the noise and the confusion, and then Percy laying over his brother's fallen body. Harry shook the image from his head, focussing his attention on Kreacher.

"We could let the young master stay. He is, after all," Kreacher closed his eyes, presumably thinking, "your third cousin twice removed, I believe master."

"What?!" Harry and Malfoy both yelled, as the rest of the room looked dumbfounded. "Yes, master, yes!"

"Kreacher, please explain this." Harry spoke through gritted teeth as Kreacher nodded excitedly.

"Follow Kreacher master, and he will show you!" Kreacher swiftly left the kitchen and Harry followed him as he walked up the stairs and into the drawing room, Malfoy following closely behind.

"Since when have you had a house elf, Potter? I thought you were against that sort of thing, seeing as you were friends with the Mudblood that had her blessed elf thing."

"Shut up Malfoy, before I make you." The pair entered the drawing room together, and saw Kreacher pointing at the tapestry.

"Look Master, see here? Dorea Black and Pollux Black were brother and sister. Pollux Black had three children, one of which was Cygnus Black. He also had three children, Missy Bella, Missy Cissy and Missy Andromeda. Missy Cissy married Master Malfoy and they had one child. Dorea Black married Charlus Potter, who had a son, who also had a son called James. And then James Potter-"

"Had me." Harry breathed heavily, following the family tree as Kreacher explained it. "Which means that Tonks was my third cousin twice removed, which means that I'm Teddy's third cousin three times removed, as well as his godfather. And that means that you're his first cousin once removed, I think." Harry furrowed his brow. "My head hurts." Malfoy stood, opened mouthed, staring at the tapestry.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Malfoy ran out of the room and along the hallway to the bathroom, where Harry could hear retching noises similar to the ones that Malfoy had made last night. Harry sank into the sofa, dumbfounded, brain spinning. This was all very wrong.

"Kreacher, that's a very dubious family link."

"But he is family, master. You cannot refuse family. Mistress Walburga found that out the hard way."

"Kreacher, I'd like some paracetamol, please." Kreacher scurried away as Malfoy came back into the room. They stared at each other for a while, and then Malfoy's lips curled into a snarl.

"This family link is very tenuous. For which I am glad, because it means that I can still hate you without having to worry about what implications it would have on my family loyalty values."

"Ditto that, Malfoy." Kreacher came back with a glass of water and some paracetamol, which Harry gratefully took. No sooner than he swallowed them and thanked Kreacher, everyone else came bustling in.

"Is it true Harry?" He nodded, and Ron scowled and rolled up his sleeves.

"Don't you dare start a fight, Ronald. All the pureblood families are related in some way, so there's a chance he's your cousin too." Mrs Weasley sighed as she spoke, and Ron blanched, staring at the tapestry.

"Please tell me that you've reached a conclusion about what we're going to do with him." Harry spoke through his hands, his head resting in them.

"Well, Harry, even before we heard this… announcement, myself and Arthur decided that it would be a good idea to keep him here. For the meantime, anyway. Obviously he'd have to be watched, and we'd keep his wand away from him. I don't think he should be allowed outside on his own, either. He should have a chaperone. Harry, seeing as you're the most likely to be able to restrain him and the least likely to attack him, I think it should be you."

"What?!" There were four voices this time, Ron's and Hermione's adding to the chorus.

"Mrs Weasley, please. Is this really a good idea?"

"Mum, how can you do that?! It's Malfoy, for God's sake! Who knows what he'll do!"

"I assure you that I do not want to stay here anymore than you want me here, although it appears that this house should befall me."

"I don't think so, Malfoy. Sirius left it to me so it's mine. My dad was a pureblood too, so it's doubly mine. And I don't want you in it, let alone to be following you around to make sure you're not being Death Eatery."

"Harry! Ron! Hermione! Please! You asked for our advice, and you said that you valued our opinions. Here they are." Mrs Weasley looked harassed as she spoke to them, as though she'd suddenly gained a few extra children that she couldn't afford to keep.

"Good one, Harry. 'Dumbledore saw good in him, I'm determined to keep that faith.' Brilliant plan." Ron glared at him, before leaving the room, Hermione following, trying to calm him. The rest of the Weasley's slowly filtered out, leaving Harry and Malfoy alone in the living room.

"I cannot believe that I am to live here, let alone be chaperoned by you." Malfoy spat, glaring daggers at him.

"Welcome home, cousin." Harry retorted. Suddenly, he had a vague idea of what it was like to be Sirius.