Good news, guys! I'm lucid! I had a medical thing (Nothing serious at all) but I was on some serious knock-out drugs, so I didn't know if I'd be lucid enough to update, but I am! Hooray!
Anyways, hope you enjoy this new chapter! Disclaimer: I own nothing, though there is an OC named Anthea.
Chapter Forty-one
The next morning was the same as the night before in reverse. I got dressed, fought over the bathroom sink, spitting my toothpaste and water out of the window, and then we all met at the table for breakfast. I was much faster about gathering food this time. As soon as the others started to eat, I secured as many eggs, potatoes and biscuits as I thought I could eat before anyone else could get to them.
The family around me was just as loud and disruptive as the night before, but they quieted when George turned to me. "You're not gonna wear that, are you, Malfoy?"
"What?" I asked.
"We've got to work in the garden today," he answered.
"That's right," Missus Weasley added. And tomorrow's house work."
"Have you seen him at school?" Ron voiced, taking another bite of his eggs. "Black suits is his entire wardrobe. He can borrow some of mine."
"Nah. I think you're too big for him, Ron," George reminded . "Guess he's gonna have to borrow some of Harry's clothes. They're scrawny enough for each other."
"Hey!" Potter shouted, earning a snicker from George.
"Here," Harry muttered, tossing an old t-shirt and pair of trousers towards me. "Meet Ron and I out front when you're ready."
"Okay."
Potter left the room and closed the door behind him, allowing me some privacy as I changed. I tried not to think about the fact that they were not my clothes. They smelled clean, so I forced the fact from my mind.
I grabbed my wand and headed down the stairs to meet Harry and Ron outside as quickly as I could. Ron took one look at me in Potter's clothes and laughed wholeheartedly. "Never thought I'd see you wear his clothes. Despite what other people say."
"W-what do people say?" I stuttered, suddenly exceptionally uncomfortable in Potter's clothes as George's earlier comment came to mind.
Harry groaned and ran a hand down his face. "Trust me. You don't want to know. I've heard it all, and it's very weird. Let's just go."
Ron led us to the garden, and we got to work de-gnoming the grass and pulling weeds. It was dirty and I was covered in sweat after an hour in the summer sun. We pulled gnome after gnome out of the ground, throwing them as far as we could.
The Elves always did this kind of work when I was still at the manor. I didn't regret letting them go when I left, but I never wanted them back more.
It took all morning to de-gnome, weed and water the garden. It was mid afternoon by the time Ron said that we were finished. Molly allowed us back into her home, and I fell onto the sofa in their parlour, all lessons of manners and propriety leaving me instantly.
"Are you okay, Malfoy?" George laughed.
I glared at him, too drained to think of any sort of comeback.
"My gosh. Sor-ry," he responded, putting his hands up with a smirk on his face.
George walked off, chuckling to himself as Harry, Ron and Hermione appeared with glasses of lemonade.
"Ready to go again?" Ron asked.
"Nope!" I shouted as I sat up slightly, panicking at the thought of dealing with those idiotic gnomes again. "I quit."
The three of them laughed, and I joined after a moment, sitting back up.
Hermione handed me one of the two glasses of lemonade she was holding. "Don't worry," she said as she took a seat next to me. "We're done for the day."
"Thank goodness," I sighed, accepting the glass.
"Actually, it went a lot faster than normal," Harry pointed out, sitting in a chair nearby.
"Yeah. Usually it takes a lot longer than that. You helped a lot," Ron assured, taking a seat next to Hermione.
"Excellent job, kids," Molle congratulated, entering the parlour with a large platter of sandwiches. She held the platter out to the three of us, and we each took one or two. "Good work, Draco," she said as she passed me.
I froze at the compliment. It shouldn't be this strange for someone to say "good job", but it happened twice in one minute. It made my heart lighter, but it was also so foreign that I was scared to accept it.
"Hey, Malfoy!" George hollered, coming in from the hall. "You have a visitor."
"Uh. Who?" I wondered. Why would someone visit me?
"Just me," a voice said. One I recognized instantly. Anthea appeared around George and smiled at us all. "I hope you don't mind the intrusion, Missus Weasley, but I have something I need to discuss with Dra-Mister Malfoy."
"Of course not," Molly answered. "However, my I ask what it's about and whom I have the pleasure of opening my home to?"
"I'm Anthea, and as for why I'm here, Mister Malfoy can tell you if he wishes, but I have instructions from the Ministry to talk with only him," she answered.
"Are you alright with talking with her, Draco?" Molly asked, briefly taking my attention off of Anthea.
"Yeah," I said, straining to keep my voice steady as I became of how dirty I was. I must smell like I've been rolling around in the dirt all day-which I basically have been.
"Then may we talk outside?" Anthea requested.
I hummed in confirmation and got up from the sofa. Anthea smiled and nodded at Molly Weasley before turning around and walking back the way she came. I followed her out into the garden and closed the door behind me
She stopped and turned back to me, my heart beating faster with how close she was.
"What did you want to talk about?" I asked, taking a small step back from her in the hopes that my heart would stop racing.
Anthea held up an envelope. "Just this." She handed it to me. "You have no idea how many favours I had to pull to get here. Normally someone higher up on the Ministry food chain would do this, but I wanted to see you."
"Y-you did?" I stuttered, kicking myself for my unsteady voice.
"Yeah," she laughed. "It got quite boring after you left. I might be an Auror, but I'm just a guard, so it gets very boring very quickly. You might want to open that envelope, by the way."
"Oh."
I glanced down at the envelope in my hands and broke the wax seal on the back that had my family's crest burned into the middle. I took out the letter inside and read it. Then I read it again just to make sure I read it right the first time.
"Does this mean what I think it means?" I asked, looking back up at Anthea.
"Yeah," Anthea confirmed with a warm and congratulatory smile. "Your parents supposedly aren't...gone, but they are fugitives from the law. And because they're Death Eaters, the Ministry counts them as enemies of the Wizarding World, and you were exonerated, so all of their assets just transferred to you."
"The house, too?"
"Yes. Whatever was theirs is now yours. And if you don't mind my asking, why aren't you staying there? At the manor house?" Anthea asked.
I sighed as I debated if I should answer. Harry, Ron and Hermione already knew, but I wasn't sure I should tell her. She might hate me if I told her that I allowed my house to be used for Death Eater meetings, but I trusted her, and trust was so hard to come by.
"I just...couldn't stay there with all that happened. Death Eaters liked to meet there often, so…" I trailed off as memories resurfaced again, my heart beating faster. Memories of Voldemort torturing Ollivander, me and my father and slaughtering those goblins.
"Hey," Anthea's soft voice called, a snapping in my ear bringing me back to the present. "Where'd you go this time?"
I didn't answer her. I might have told her, but she didn't need to know the details.
"Look. Whatever happened wasn't your fault. You didn't have a say or a choice," she assured, placing a hand on my arm.
Her touch made my heart rate skyrocket, but it wasn't from fear. She smiled softly at me, and I tried to smile back, but my stomach was in knots.
Anthea laughed lightly before letting go. "I've got to go back to work."
I nodded. "Okay," I said shakily.
Anthea smirked oddly before walking off down the path, and I ran back inside Molly's house and leaned up against the door, straining to get out of the heat and to find a moment alone to kick myself.
"Was that her?" Ron questioned, coming up to me from the hall with Hermione, Harry and George in tow. "Was that the Anthea?"
I was too stunned to answer.
"Red face says it all," George mocked before raising his wand and Disapparating to who knows where.
"So that was her," Harry voiced.
I rubbed the back of my neck, my nerves from talking to Anthea returning in a different way than before. Why was it so hot in here?
"She seems nice," Hermione said. "And Molly seems to like her."
"Yeah, well, my parents would hate her," I said, the words coming out before I could stop them.
"Why?" Harry wondered, his eyebrows drawing together in confusion. "Like Hermione said, she's nice. Why would they hate her."
"She's not a PureBlood from Slytherin; that's why," I answered, standing up.
"Well, don't tell me she's a MuggleBorn from Gryffindor because then I'll know that you really lost it," Ron laughed, getting me to smile a little.
"Actually she's a HalfBlood from Hufflepuff," I revealed, receiving a mocking mixture of gasps and laughter from the others. "Come on," I said as I started down the hall, my mouth turned up at the corners.
"...don't think we can afford to send her this year, Molly," Arthur Weasley's voice said.
"But Ginny's been begging to go back, and the danger's over," Molly returned.
"Yes, but the economy's down because of the war," Mister Weasley countered. "I'm getting paid less and have to work double overtime just to maintain my normal paycheck."
"Mum and Dad don't know if they can send Ginny back to school," Ron voiced. "Ginny wants to go for Quidditch, but we might not be able to afford it."
"I think I can help with that." I held up the parchment that contained both of my parents signatures. "Anthea just told me that all of my parents assets have been officially transferred into my name."
"So that means-"
"I'm a millionaire," I finished.
Ron caught my arm and dragged me into the parlour where Mister and Missus Weasley were talking. "Mum. Dad. Draco has something to tell you."
"I do?"
"You do."
"What is it, Draco?" Molly asked, both of them staring at me.
"We couldn't help but overhear your conversation as we were coming back," I began. In proper society, you weren't supposed to bring up finances with any adult. Even your parents. But I marched forward anyways, "and if you're having financial issues, I can help you. Anthea just said that everything my parents owned is now legally mine, and that includes their money. I can pay for Ginny to go back to Hogwarts."
"Well, that's wonderful, Draco, but we can't have you do that," Mister Weasley declined.
"No, I insist," I countered. "Its the least I can do for you after letting me stay here."
Molly looked like she was about to argue, but Ron cut her off. "Think about it. If Draco pays, Ginny can resume her education and even get scouted for pro Quidditch. Paying will make Draco happy, and we'll be under less financial strain. Everyone wins."
Molly and Arthur hesitated, but after a quick glance at each other, they looked back at me and nodded in approval.
I smiled bigger than I had in a while, my chest lightening with their acceptance. "Has Ginny gotten her book list yet?" I wondered.
"Arrived while you were working in the garden," Molly answered, approaching me with the parchment letter.
I glanced it over and found that it was a simple list of books that wouldn't be all that expensive, even for a new set. "We can head to Diagon Alley when you're ready. We'll need to stop by Gringotts, though so I can get the money."
Molly pulled me into a tight embrace, whispering thanks. I tried to return it, but being hugged was still uncomfortable.
We played Quidditch on a makeshift pitch in the back garden for the remainder of the day. We formed two teams out of the large family. Harry and I were both Seekers. Ginny and Molly were Chasers. Ron and Arthur were Keepers, and George was the Beater for both teams-which didn't work out well for me.
At least it allowed me a chance to see how Ginny really played. She, actually, was a great player. She scored most of the goals, and after the game, I was convinced that she could play professionally, but she needed a better broom if she wanted to.
The routine of dinner and getting ready for bed was the same as the night before, but I wasn't scared when I went to bed. I was excited. So excited that I couldn't sleep, like when I would toss and turn the entire night before Christmas when I was young.
Tomorrow, we would be going to Diagon Alley to get Ginny's things for school, and I was unbearably excited for her.
Hope you guys enjoyed! See you soon for the next chapter!