Sparky checked on Harry in the morning to find that Harry was already in the shower. With a crack Sparky arrived in the kitchen to help start breakfast. One Harry finished eating and left, Sparky went back up the stairs to wake the rest. Hermione and Ginny were no problem. The twins put up a small fuss but got up anyway. Ron was difficult and put up a fight. Sparky became frustrated so he magically put Ron in the shower. Ron sputtered profusely, no matter how much he struggled to get out of the shower he could not leave. Once Ron was awake and clean he was then able to leave the bathroom and get dressed. Sparky had it easy with Remus since Remus was already up.
GRIMUALD PLACE
"Good morning." Sirius, Violet and Marie greeted Harry as he stepped out of the fireplace.
"Good morning. "
"When do you expect Draco to arrive?"
"Ten. I'm not going to worry, much, if he doesn't arrive right at ten. Now if it's nearing eleven that is another story."
Harry no sooner sat down on the couch when Dobby appeared with Draco.
"Thank you again Harry. Who all is not thrilled about this?"
"Ron is just being…well Ron. Stubborn as hell."
"So where are we going?"
"First read this." Harry said as he handed Draco a piece of parchment with the location of the Manor.
Draco looked up at Harry surprised.
"Sort of a long story but the priority is to ensure your safety."
"Okay, so shall we? Oh who all is there?"
"Remus Lupin, Hermione, most of the Weasley's children, the twins down."
"Remus Lupin? As in our Defense Professor from last year?"
"Yes."
Draco shrugged his shoulders and followed Harry over to the fireplace.
Harry tossed in a generous amount of floo powder and said, "Harry James Potter, escorting Draco Malfoy to Potter Manor." The flames shot up red then turned a welcoming green. Harry and Draco both stepped into the fireplace. Both were thankful when the spinning stopped and gladly stepped out of the fireplace. Draco was stunned at how plush the room looked and was curious as to what the rest of the house looked like.
"You have breakfast yet?" Harry asked Draco.
"Not really."
Harry motioned for Draco to follow him. The kitchen fell silent as they occupants eyes fell on Draco.
"No offense Draco but you look like crap."
"No offense taken Gra…Hermione."
"Help yourself, there's plenty."
Draco felt a little uncomfortable with the looks he was getting after eating a fair portion of food.
"What?"
"Draco when was the last time you ate a decent meal?" Hermione asked with concern strongly present in her face.
"Yesterday. Rosie brings me what she can when she can. She can't exactly disappear at every meal and not face consequences so she pretty much has to sneak it to me at odd times. I know it's not much but I am not going without food."
"Would it bother you if we sent you food?"
"I admit that it would be a little uncomfortable but I would appreciate it greatly. It will lesson my stress, at least where Rosie is concerned. I mean you all know how my father treated Dobby so I don't think that I need to explain further."
"Mas…."
"Sparky, this is Draco Malfoy…"
"Malfoy as in…"
"Yes Sparky, but he doesn't know at the moment."
"I don't know what?"
"He will find out at some point so you might as well tell him or show him." Remus suggested.
"Let Draco see for himself and then we can explain what we found out yesterday."
"I agree Hermione." Harry took a deep breath since he was concerned about how Draco would react to seeing his home down the mountain.
Harry led the way out side. Harry and Hermione were watching Draco as they reached the edge of the property that looked down at Draco's home.
Draco went pale. He looked as though he was going to pass out.
"Draco relax, it's okay. No one can see us. Potter Manor is under the Fidelius Charm." Ginny chimed in at seeing the fear on Draco's face.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. I wouldn't have brought you out here if I wasn't."
"Sorry…I just…"
"Relax Draco. I can understand to a degree why you would feel the way you do. I assure you that you have nothing to worry about."
Draco looked back down at his house and then back towards Potter Manor. He smirked and then laughed.
"We take it you have heard what your father has said about the house up the mountain."
"That I have. You know a while back my father was acting strange. The Minister of Magic had stopped by…I have no doubt that the Minister was telling my father about it all. But it's more than on the brink of getting caught at lying but I don't know what it is."
"Harry and I do."
Harry was smirking, everyone else looked at Hermione.
"I think Harry should be the one to explain."
"Hermione you found the information."
"Your house."
"I guess I can't argue with that."
"What are the two of you going on about?" Asked Ron.
"Well, the Malfoy's do not own their house. It's not paid off. In fact the last payment that was made was prior to my Grandfather passing."
"Are you saying that my family has been renting the place from your family?"
"Yes. Your family and mine have had dealings throughout the years. Things clearly changed when your father took over."
"What kind of dealings and for how long?"
"Don't worry just loans and renting properties and homes until paid in full."
"So my father owes you a lot of gold?"
"Quite a bit yes. I have yet to find out exactly how much."
Draco let out a laugh at this bit of information.
"Wait, that means you could kick us out of the house."
"I could, but I'm not going to. At least while you live in the house. This way I know where you are and if you need something I can help quickly."
"When you get ready to drop this on my father, let me know please. I want to see the look on his face, I want to relish in his reaction. It will be entertaining."
"That I would like to see as well so I will let you know when I plan on confronting your father. Not to worry I will not be alone, I may not even be noticeable."
"Harry couldn't we work on some things out here?"
"We could but I am sure that Draco would rather work on things inside."
"Thank you Harry."
They all headed inside and followed Harry and Hermione to where they would be helping Draco. Ron was behind everyone else scowling. A number of things were going through his mind. He wanted to say every single thought but since he had promised that he would give Draco a chance he chose to keep his thoughts to himself. He smiled at the thought that he could still keep an eye on Draco. Ron was also racking his brain for something that could prove either Draco's sincerity or deceit, some kind of oath of sorts but without anyone becoming outraged. Ron then recalled Draco's reaction to seeing his house down the mountain and his reaction to finding out that his family does not own the house and are indebted to Harry. Ron decided to actually put in more effort in giving Draco a chance, put in a bit of effort to see something genuinely sincere and not just dwell on the past. Though he decided to give the effort to give Draco a fair chance it was not going to be easy as Ron did not trust the Slytherin.
Ron shook his thoughts out of his mind so that he could truly observe what was going on. He had no intention on helping in the slightest at this point anyway. Ron found a corner where he could see everything and leaned against the wall.
"I think that for now we work on endurance and strengthening. Of course a few spells, stronger ones. I have been thinking about possibly Disillusionment but we will wait on that for now." Harry said but also thought about his Invisibility Cloak but did not want to hand it over to Draco, Harry was knew that there was not quite enough trust with Draco just yet to lend his father's cloak to him.
"Whatever you have in mind and are willing to help and teach me is just fine with me."
Hermione handed Draco a routine schedule for him to follow when at home. She also assisted Harry with explaining the spells and demonstrating the wand movement and proper pronunciation. Draco paid close attention to the wand movement and did his best to imbed the pronunciation of the spell into his mind. He practiced the wand movement without the spell then speaking the spell without his wand. Once he was certain that he was pronouncing the spell correctly he gave it a try with wand movement. Draco had not expected anything to happen on the first attempt, though as a precaution he did aim his wand into an open area where no one was standing or sitting. To Draco's surprise a deep green jet of light shot out of his wand. To Draco's shock and a bit of terror, hit Harry and sent him flying a foot in the air and several feet away from where Harry had been.
"Harry! I'm so sorry. Really. I did not mean to hit you. I honestly did not see you in time." Draco said immediately while dropping his wand.
Ron was so surprised that Draco managed to actually do the spell that well on the first try. When it sunk in that Harry had been hit by the spell, Ron's initial instinct was to retaliate but could hear the honesty in Draco's voice and the fact that Draco had dropped his wand.
"It's okay. I'm okay. Really I am. I hadn't realized quite how powerful that one is."
"How in the hell did you get hit with the spell?" Hermione asked trying not to laugh, the look on Harry and Draco's faces were a bit funny.
"My fault to be honest. I should have been paying more attention as to where Draco was going to attempt to cast the spell. I realize that I should have moved in the other direction."
"Are you sure you're okay?" Draco asked genuinely concerned.
"Yeah. Yes I will take a pain potion soon if not more than that if I need it. Once I am out of the way, try it again. All though if we only had something to use as a target…" Harry trailed off as an odd looking dummy appeared in the middle of the room and began to advance on him, Draco and Hermione.
Draco quickly scooped up his wand and gave the spell another attempt. The same effect happened without it being Harry on the receiving end of it.
"Harry…" Hermione yelled as she saw him on the floor with a grimace of sorts on his face.
"I'm all right. I admit that I am a bit sore."
"Muri!" Hermione called out
With a pop Muri appeared in the room.
"Yes Miss."
"Could you please bring some pain relieving potion. A…minor accident happened and Harry could really use some pain relief."
"Yes Miss. Muri return quickly with potion for Master." Muri disappeared with a crack and returned seconds later with several vials of pain relieving potion.
Muri set all the vials down except for one, headed over to Harry, uncorked the vial, tipped it so that the contents emptied into his mouth. It was obvious that if Harry had not been quite so co-operative, Muri would have forced the potion down his throat.
"That's much better, thank you."
"You's be more careful."
"I will try Muri. Thank you for bringing the pain relieving potion."
"Humph…no thanks needed Master, you's was in pain. Muri always help Master and Master's friends. Muri always try her best to always please Master. Sparky too."
"Thank you anyway Muri. I know you both do. I know both of you are annoyed with my thanks all the time, but it is always a good thing to thank another for his or her help or assistance."
"Master too kind as always." Muri muttered with a light pink tint to her face before disappearing once again.
"Merlin!"
"Harry, what is it?" Asked Hermione.
"It's nearly two, any one hungry?"
"Starved actually." Ron muttered.
They all left the room and went to the kitchen to find that Muri and Sparky had made what looked like a Hogwarts feast. After each had his or her fill of lunch they slowly retired to the library for a while.
"Draco are you alright?" Asked Hermione.
"Yeah…well as much as I would like to stay and work more I really should get back. My mother by now I am sure knows that I am not in the house. I don't want her to worry for no reason."
"When would you like to meet again?"
"As soon as possible. How about in a few days? I should be able to get in contact with my mum."
"Okay. Just let us know when you are ready to meet again."
Draco nodded and then called for Dobby to take him home.
"Do you think he will be okay? Should we have convinced him to stay longer and work a bit more?" Ginny asked concerned.
"I hope that he will be okay. I don't know if we should have tried to convince Draco to stay longer. I would have liked to have worked some more today, but his mum should know that he is okay and possibly have some kind of knowledge that her son is getting help."
"But…"
"Ginny if you were not at home and in the situation that Draco is in, you mum would go nuts with worry. Hermione's mum would about her and I know without a doubt that my mum would go crazy herself if…"
"I know, it's just…." Ginny trailed off as she caught sight of the expression on her brother's face, an expression she could not read and directed her attention on to him, "Ron, what is your problem? You have been completely silent, you always have something to say even if it's just that you are hungry."
"Nothing."
"Don't give us that."
"I'm just thinking is all."
"Thinking about what?" Ginny asked suspiciously.
"Malfoy has managed to be just fine for a while now, it doesn't make sense to be so concerned…"
"Ron…"
"Let me finish please. It's not like he showed up here bruised and bleeding. Therefore he has been able to avoid his father's cruelty. I am not saying that I have changed my opinion of him, I'm just saying that there doesn't seem to be anything that would have anyone overly concerned about Malfoy. Granted with what seems to have happened in the past is something to have concern over but Malfoy hasn't been harmed in quite a while…"
"I know what you are saying mate." Harry said cutting Ron off as he knew Ron was having difficulty with what Ron was saying.
"You might but…"
"Ginny, in other words your brother is giving Draco a chance. Ron is giving his best effort to be open minded where Draco is concerned. Your brother is going to be keeping his eyes open for any sign or indication of any kind…negative or positive."
"You figured that out?"
"Why so surprised that I did, Ron?"
"I fully expected to have to try and explain myself further."
The rest of the group said nothing and spent the rest of the day outside. Or well all but Hermione who decided to stay inside. She was in the library going over the journal she had found to see if she could at least figure out what languages the author had used. She recognized French, German, Spanish and Latin. There were entries written other languages that Hermione did not recognize but was sure that she would be able to in time. She created magical tabs for each entry, coded to each entry and language that had been used. After some time Hermione gave up trying to decipher the languages she recognized. She knew some French but it was not enough to completely translate the language, the other languages she recognized she knew very little only a few words. She wrote to her parents requesting certain books that would help her translate the languages she recognized as well as a book or two to help her figure out what the other languages were. Once the letter was written and sent off she made her way down to the kitchen to find everyone else there about to eat.
"Hey, Mione. Sorry for not getting you."
"It's okay Harry. I probably would have chewed you out for interrupting me."
"So what were you doing anyway?"
"Looking through that journal I found. All was able to do was determine a few of the languages. There isn't really much that I can do until I have…"
"Books."
"Yes Ron, books."
"You need books having to do with different languages so you can figure out what languages were used when the author wrote in the journal and to be able to translate the words so we can read them."
"Exactly Harry." Hermione said as she sat down and filled her plate with food.
After dinner everyone settled in the library.
"So how did it go with Draco?" Remus asked.
"Fine." Harry replied with a smirk on his face. He elaborated further at seeing the look on Remus' face.
Once Harry finished Remus joined Hermione, Ginny and the twins laughing. Ron failed miserable in faking a laugh as he had not found it funny at the time nor did he find it funny now.
"I think that we all should get to bed." Remus said as he noticed the time.
Harry did not argue and headed up to his room. The twins, Ron, Ginny and Hermione followed without a word.
The following morning arrived too soon for the occupants at Potter Manor. The seven of them ate breakfast in sleepy silence. A 'pop' from the entryway woke them up completely. Though knowing that it could only be someone that knew the location of the Manor, they were still startled. Remus stood and headed towards the entryway. He paused, looked over his shoulder and gave a look that told them to stay put for now. When Remus returned to the kitchen he was not alone, Draco was with him.
"Is everything okay?" Harry asked genuinely concerned.
"Yes. Sorry. I was bored to be honest. I did manage to get the opportunity to talk to my mother. She is relieved and fully supports you and your friends helping me and to know that if she finds out I am not at the house that I'm alright. Although she also wishes that she didn't know. Not that she thinks anyone would be able to find anything out form her, if she didn't know then it would be guaranteed that my father would not be able to find out what is really going on. No one will think for a second that my mum would know what was going on, as it is I am sure my whole house knows that I am hiding from my father. Can't really say that I am looking forward to when school starts but I'd rather be there than at home. At least at school there are teachers that can do something to help and be able to use the excuse as being a teacher and such. No one is at my house at the moment. If I'm going to roam around freely I'd rather do it somewhere that is impossible for my father or any of his friends to get a hold of me. Not that I would be anything to worry about it was Sev…Professor Snape that got a hold of me."
"Draco you nearly called our Professor by his first name." Hermione said with a chuckle in her voice.
"I realize that. I would never make that mistake at school, trust me. When not at school I'm used to not referring to him as Professor. He's my Godfather, away from school he's Uncle Severus to me. "
Part of that day they worked with Draco on defensive spells since he was there. They also worked out a schedule for helping Draco through the summer. Harry assured Draco that before they returned to school that they'd have a schedule for while at school. The rest of the day or most of what was left they were outside exploring the grounds. Muri and Sparky brought them lunch outside. They had dinner inside and then hung out in the library. Draco noticed Hermione looking through what looked like an old journal.
"Why are you looking through an old journal? I would have never thought you of all people would be invading another's privacy of course unless you have the owner's permission…"
"The owner is deceased. I'm looking through it…well…um…though I don't have a clue really how to decipher the languages…I recognize some of the languages…"
"Would you mind if I took a look at it? I promise I won't read any of it. I honestly doubt I would be able to but I might recognize the languages you don't."
"Well, I suppose it wouldn't do any harm." Hermione said as she slightly reluctantly handed the journal over to Draco.
Draco was not surprised that Hermione recognized Latin, he was surprised that she recognized the other two. He did recognize the other languages to be German, Russian and Hebrew.
"How do you know what the other languages are?" Hermione asked truly curious.
"Not that I know how to translate any of it but there are a several books in the library at my house that are devoted to foreign languages."
"Thank you so much. This is going to be a little easier now. I just have to write mum and dad to see if they can send me books on translating the other three."
"I'm sure there is a book on assisting with translation…"
"Even if there is Draco, I don't want you to go through any trouble and I certainly wouldn't want you to risk getting caught…"
"I can have Rosie retrieve it for me. It might take a bit of coaxing but I am sure that Dobby would get it."
"True…n…"
"It's nothing, really it's nothing. It's the least that I can do. You are helping me, it's only right that I help you."
"Thanks Draco."
"You don't need to thank me." Draco said exasperatedly
"It's still good to do so." Hermione insisted with a scowl.
Everyone except Remus rolled their eyes, though Draco did have a small smile on his face that Hermione did see. Though Draco felt that she and the rest did not need to thank him for anything since he was being helped by them he agreed with Hermione and it was good to hear not that he would admit to that at least not right now.
"Hermione is right about it being good to thank another being for something regardless of the situation. It is good manners." Remus said proudly of his former student.
"Moony, are you alright?" Hermione asked as she caught a flicker of sadness flash in his eyes.
"I'm fine Hermione. Thank you for asking. I am curious as to why you asked though."
"It just seems that you're down about something."
"I suppose I should tell you now, you'll all find out when you return to Hogwarts."
"What?" All seven kids asked.
"I won't be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year."
"What?" They asked.
"Why?" Hermione and Ginny asked.
"Did they sack you for some reason?" Asked Ron.
"No I was not sacked Ron. I actually stepped down for this year anyway. Alistor Moody will be your Defense teacher this year. There is something special happening this year at Hogwarts and there are several who feel that having the extra protection around will be good. Just as a precaution of course. Alistor will only be teaching for the one year. As long as things go as well as they have I should be able to return to the Post of Defense Against the Dark Arts the year after."
"What are you all talking about?" Sirius asked as he reached the library before anyone could inquire as to why Remus wouldn't be able to return to teach.
"Sirius." Harry exclaimed.
"I was just telling them that I won't be teaching this year at Hogwarts but that I'll return the following year as long as things go as well as they have been."
"I see. You didn't…"
"No, of course not."
"Oh, Draco. What brings you…"
"I was bored is all."
"Oh good. Not that you were bored but…"
"I know what you meant. I should really go though." Draco said just before calling Dobby to take him to his sanctuary in the attic of his house.
"It seems you stopped by for a reason but didn't want to say in front of Draco."
"You are as perceptive as ever Remus. I was thinking about making another trip to Aviemore, but…"
"No but. When? Now?" Harry asked excitedly.
"Not now Harry but tomorrow morning. And I mean early tomorrow morning."
"How early is early?" Ron asked with a frown on his face.
"Eight."
"Eight?" Exclaimed the twins and Ron questioningly.
"Yes, eight. As I recall there are two houses to take a peek at and we are not completely sure as to how to get past what protective enchantments that very well could be in place at each house. We can plan out what to do in the morning. I should have elaborated that the eight in the morning is to be up by and eating breakfast."
"We will be up and at least having breakfast if not done with breakfast by eight tomorrow." Harry said grinning before standing up and heading to bed.
Sirius and Remus both were chuckling at Harry's response. Remus was also chuckling at the twins and Ron's reaction to the time. Sirius was glad to see that the rest of the kids headed off to bed. Remus pulled out his and summoned a blanket and pillow. Once he had the blanket and pillow he got comfortable on the couch he was sitting on in the library. Sirius disapparated and went straight to bed.
A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. I do have a new computer but no internet so I can only upload/update when I can get to the library….free WiFi. In my defense as to not getting to the library more often is 'stupid car.' It shouldn't take quite so long on the next chapters…at least I hope it won't.
