Smells Like Teen Spirit

"Hey Mum!" Ron shouted as he walked into the Burrow on the first day of the Christmas Holidays, Hermione on his arm. Closely following behind were Ginny, Harry, and Draco. Draco didn't originally want to come to the Burrow, preferring instead to stay at the Manor, but Mrs. Weasley had sent him an invitation and Harry had insisted he went, so he had begrudgingly sent a reply back saying he would stay. Secretly however, he had been looking forward to it.

Mrs. Weasley came bustling out of the kitchen, an apron around her waist and a tea towel in her hand. "Hello my dears. Had a good time at school?" She asked as she hugged them all in turn. "You are too skinny Harry. I don't care if you're been building up your muscles slightly, you're still thin. I'll have to feed you up. And Draco dear, it is so glad to meet you properly without your parents."

"Mrs. Weasley, it is a pleasure to meet you also. Thank you for having me in your home."

"Please, call me Molly. And it's not a problem Draco, not a problem at all. Nobody should have to spend Christmas alone." She wrapped her arms around him too, and to everybody's shock, he reciprocated. The hug may only have been brief, but it happened anyway. Once they let each other go, Molly usured them into the dining room, where everybody was seated chatting to each other, waiting for the meal to be served. At the Head of the table sat Arthur, with a space at his right for his wife. To his left sat Charlie, back from Romania for the holidays, Ginny, Percy, Hermione, Ron, Gabrielle, and Fleur. At the other end of the table, as he was the oldest, sat Bill. To Bill's left sat Angelina, George, Draco, Harry, Teddy, and next to where Molly would eventually sit, Andromeda. Suddenly, food in plates and dishes galore suddenly stated arriving on the tables, flying through the air from the kitchen. Molly herself eventually appeared, carrying the meat for her husband to carve. Once she had sat down, Arthur stood.

"Let's tuck in shall we?"

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Once everybody had eaten, Arthur rose once more, this time with a glass in his hand. "If I could have your attention for just a few moments?" All eyes turned to him. "Thank you. Well, this is not how I planned on celebrating my Christmas this year. For one, I didn't plan on having one of my sons missing. Merlin rest you Fred, my son." A chorus of 'Merlin rest you's went around the table, even from Draco, who felt especially guilty. Molly, Ginny, Hermione, Fleur and George started to well up with tears, but they all held it together. Arthur cleared his throat and continued. "Secondly, I did not expect to have Angelina here, although, of course my dear, you are very welcome any time." He smiled at her and she smiled back, then shared a smile with George. "And finally, I certainly did not expect to see, next to Harry of all people, Draco Black sat in my house, having dinner and staying with us like a proper member of the family. However, Draco, you are as welcome as anybody here. Welcome to the family son." He smiled again and raised his glass to the boy, who smiled and nodded back in return, before speaking up himself.

"May I say something?"

"Of course my boy." Arthur sat and Draco rose. All eyes were on him, especially Harry's. Even he didn't know what Draco was going to say, though he had an idea.

"First off, I would like to say thank you to yourselves, Molly, Sir, for allowing me to stay here. I really do appreciate it." Molly and Arthur nodded in return.

"Please Draco, call me Arthur."

"Of course. Second, I would like to thank Harry and his friends for giving me a second chance. And third, I would like to apologise to you all. My behaviour over the years has been appalling. I could claim that I was only young and knew no different. I could claim that I was only doing as I saw fit, but at the end of it all, I could have been different. At the end, I chose to say and do all that I did, and I should not try to blame it on anyone, or anything else. It's my fault, and for it, I am sorry. I am sorry also, because if it wasn't for me, Bill, then you would not be scarred. If it wasn't for me, Greyback would not have been able to get in the school. I'm deeply sorry Bill, and I hope you can accept the apology of an idiotic child." Draco had the grace to bow his head when he finished.

"I forgave you ages ago Draco. I know you had to do it, I know you had no choice. You had no idea he would come through there. I forgive you."

"Thank you. I have done many things in my life, and apologising is the least I can do to make up for it. To you all, I am very sorry." He sat down when he was finished, still with his head bowed. Harry put his hand on Draco's leg as a sign of comfort and offered a small smile, which the other boy returned.

"Draco, you have done more than enough already to atone for your sins, but thank you nonetheless." Arthur spoke. "Now come on, all of you. Bed methinks. It's been a long day."

"Yes, bed!" Molly immediately jumped up and started to give out instructions. "More rooms have been added, so Bill and Fleur, you will be on top floor, room on the right. Opposite you will be George and Angelina. Next floor down, we'll have Andromeda and Teddy on the left, Hermione, Ginny and Gabrielle on the right. Percy, you will be in your old room in the floor below. Audrey, when she gets here, will be with you. Opposite you will be Charlie and Ron. And right at the top, in the attic, will be Harry and Draco. Got that? Good. Now go to bed, all of you. Goodnight."

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Once upstairs, Harry turned to Draco. "That was a good speech you did earlier. What possessed you to say it?"

"I felt I had to. I've apologised to everybody I can already. I spoke to Katie at the party. But the one family I hadn't yet said anything to, the one who deserved it the most, was this family. Not only did they suffer at the hands of Death Eaters, but my father made their lives hell, and I made the lives of everyone from Percy down hell. They deserve an apology. After all, they are distant family."

"Are they?"

"Seriously Harry, you didn't know that?"

"I've probably heard it in conversation or something, but I don't remember. How are you family?"

"Molly's uncle on her father's side married a Black, who in turn was Sirius' aunt. Through Sirius' uncle on his mother's side, we have my mother. Ron, his siblings and I are related because their paternal great-great grandfather, and my maternal great great-great-great grandfather were the same person, Phineas Nigellus Black, one of the former Headmasters of Hogwarts."

"Whoa. That is weird. Am I related to you?"

"No Harry, you're not. You are a descendent of Godric Gryffindor. Somewhere down the line, I am a descendent of Salazar Slytherin. Gryffindors and Slytherins hate each other. We may be very far back, but that bloodline has probably ran out by now. So no, we're not."

"Oh ok. Shows how much I know about the Wizarding World, even now." Harry said in a sulk as he climbed into bed.

"It's not your fault. You weren't raised with it thrown down your throat every five minutes like me. It's like Hermione, she doesn't know, and she's read every book in the school library twice." Draco consoled with a chuckle, a chuckle that soon turned into a laugh as Harry laughed.

"That's about right actually. Anything to do with lessons has been read about ten times. She can quote some of them off by heart. She classes Moste Potente Potions as light reading."

"Light? Does she realise how big that book is? I mean don't get me wrong, I like to read, and will sometimes read more than necessary if something interests me, but MPP is not light reading! I swear, that girl should've been a Ravenclaw."

"She'd have been the only known Ravenclaw to break every rule in school if that was the case. Some of which were her doing might I add.

"Yeah whatever Harry. I know that was all your doing."

"Was not."

"Was so. I can just imagine it. Sitting in the common room, after Hermione's chained you to the tables to finish your work. All three of you sitting bored, coming up with different rules to break."

"We did not."

"Really? So how do you explain breaking so many rules over the past few years?"

Harry shrugged. "Collateral damage."

"Collateral damage?" Draco repeated incredulously.

"Yeah. We were on important missions."

"Bullshit. At the end, maybe yeah, I can run with it. But at the age of eleven and twelve, you were not on important missions. The teachers could've dealt with it all, but no, you had to go running in all guns blazing. Important missions and collateral damage my arse. You just like causing trouble."

Harry grinned. "Maybe. Now I'm going to sleep. Goodnight Draco." He turned off the light and lay down, the glow of the moon highlighting his face. Within no time at all, he was fast asleep.

Draco, on the other hand, didn't fall asleep for ages. Instead, he simply watched Harry sleep. The way the moonlight bounced off his face and hair, giving him a celestial glow. It picked up the sharp edge of his face just right, making him look, in Draco's eyes, more handsome than was possible. Seriously, what was he running from? What was stopping him? He and Harry knew each other well enough now, he could safely say that. And it wasn't as if he was scared about what people would say anymore. Being the Malfoy heir had meant he was constantly being judged by people as it was, especially in the latter years. He could handle what was thrown his way. He could handle being in a relationship. And he was determined, before they went back to school, to get what he wanted…

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