"What happened to 'I won't be staying for long'?" Ron asked as Malfoy put his bag down.
"It's very touching how you remember every word I say, Weasly." Draco sneered at him.
"Get out, Malfoy!" Ron barked at him, standing up, his hands clenched into fists.
"Ronald!" Mrs. Weasly warned sternly. "If_" she paused trying to pick the right name "_Draco wishes to stay then he is welcome to do so." she added with a tone of finality that didn't allow anybody else to argue with her.
"Oh, bollocks!" Ron muttered, ignoring the fiery look his mother shot him. He stomped up to his room and slammed the door behind him.
Mrs. Weasly blinked repeatedly for a moment, as if trying to control her reaction to her son's tantrum.
"You could sleep..." she started to suggest.
"Right here." Draco interrupted her "I'm sleeping right here, on that couch." he nodded in the direction of a couch that looked like it had seen better days.
He could transform it into something more comfortable but definitely not a bed considering the small space. Sleeping in the living room with absolutely no privacy seemed much more appealing than sharing a room with Potter or Weasly...or as a worst nightmare: both.
"Well, I just think that it's better if..." Mrs. Weasly argued.
"I insist. I'll be more comfortable here." once more, Draco interrupted her.
Hermione wanted to interfere, to tell him that arguing with Mrs. Weasly was not going to get him anywhere. But the older witch seemed to relent, she headed to the kitchen to prepare lunch.
Everybody seemed to loiter in the living room idly, looking at each other. Then Ginny followed her mother, followed by Mr. Weasly. Lupin and Tonks sat on the couch, chatting quietly.
"Harry, shouldn't we go check on Ron?" Hermione asked
"You go, I doubt he'd be willing to talk to me." Harry threw himself on a near chair, frustrated with the passive aggressive attitude Ron had maintained for too long.
"What? Why?" Hermione's brows drew together in confusion.
"It's been the same ever since we left you that day at the Malfoy Manor. He blames me for it." Harry explained.
"Didn't you tell him what I've told you before?" Hermione asked.
"Do you think he's even giving me the chance to explain anything?" Harry frowned.
"I'll try to talk to him then." and with that she climbed the stairs, two steps at a time.
Draco had never felt so out of his element before. He was sitting in a room with people he hardly knew, who had the worst possible idea about him and would probably hex him the minute he turned his back. And why was he putting himself through this when he could simply go back to the Isle of Wight mansion, read something completely uninteresting and then go to sleep out of sheer boredom? Because she'd really like him to stay. Stay alone...while she's comforting Weasly!
Draco frowned intently at the wall across the room. Wondering if they would declare him mental if he went over there and hit his head against it repeatedly in the hope of restoring some of his common sense.
Mr. Weasly was waving his wand at a line of empty plates that floated from the kitchen and landed quietly on the table. Cutlery followed and then Ginny came out, looking intently at a two bowls that floated before her, one of them contained mashed potatoes while the other contained baked beans. The bowls eventually landed on the table with a thud.
"Ginny is working really hard on practicing wandless magic." Tonks remarked as she and Lupin watched Ginny.
"She's making fast progress too." Lupin acknowledged. "Let's eat, I'm starving." he added as he popped the last piece of sandwich in his mouth.
Tonks stood up and looked at Malfoy over her shoulder "Aren't you coming?" she asked
"I'm not hungry." Draco shook his head, his stomach was tightening and eating never seemed less appealing to him.
"Are you trying to say that this smell_" she paused to sniff the air happily "_isn't slightly tempting?"she challenged.
"The food smells great, but..." he started to argue.
"Then it's settled, let's eat." Tonks interrupted him.
Malfoy remained fixed in his place for a moment, not showing any intentions to move.
"Molly would be offended if you refused to eat. Are you sure you want to offend her?" Lupin raised an eyebrow at him and Draco decided that he was in no place to offend anybody in this house.
Not only was he outnumbered, but he also didn't want to lose the very little acceptance he was receiving.
Hermione came down, nearly dragging Ron behind her. She took a seat next to Malfoy who was on the receiving end of Ron's glare. Mrs. Weasly started putting a slice of pork pie in ever plate and Draco noted that she was doing it herself, without using magic.
The bowl of baked beans moved around the table and when Hermione pushed it into his hand. He was about to push it pack but then he glanced over Mrs. Weasly who was watching him and decided against it. When everybody seemed to be busy chatting or eating, Draco finally relaxed and started forking at his food.
He almost chocked on a piece of pie when Mrs. Weasly started discussing his cousin's wedding. He didn't know what surprised him more, the fact that they were planning a wedding for an already married couple. Or the fact that those people were mental enough to plan a wedding in such circumstances. The rest of the meal was spent discussing the so called wedding.
When the meal was finally over, Draco couldn't stop himself from raising the plates off the table and sending them to the kitchen, without using his wand. He then looked directly at Ginny who stared at him briefly before her stare turned into a narrow-eyed scowl. Was he trying to show off? Maybe. Was he trying to provoke the youngest Weasly? Probably. But he definitely wasn't trying to be nice as Mrs. Weasly had pointed out.
"A wedding? A bloody wedding!" Draco scoffed as Hermione joined him in the far corner of the living room.
"What is wrong with you? Haven't you heard the word before?" Hermione frowned at him.
"Me? What's wrong with all of you! You actually think this is an appropriate time for a wedding?" Draco fought to keep his voice down. "And aren't those two already married?"
"How do you know?" Hermione's brows furrowed in confusion.
"Bellatrix knows, she was barking mad when she heard about it but I don't know who told her." he explained.
"Well, it's not a wedding exactly, it's just a small celebration. Tonks really wants this and...she deserves to have that memory." Hermione said.
"Yes yes this is very romantic and all, but..when a battle is probably in a few days?" he tried to reason with her.
"That's exactly the point." Hermione nodded "A battle is in a few days and nobody knows whether they're going to get out of it alive. If you knew you'd be dead soon, won't you try to live as much as possible?" she added st the puzzled look on his face.
"That's one way to look at it." he conceded "Nevertheless, you should have told me about that wedding earlier."
"What difference would it make?"
"I don't want to attend any weddings!"
"Why not? Do you have a moral code against fun?"
"No, I have a decent sense of timing where I know when to have fun. Plus, weddings are not my idea of fun."
"You are the most infuriating person I've known so far!"
"One more title bestowed on me by the mighty Hermione Granger." Draco waved his hands in the air mockingly. At this point neither of them cared to keep his voice down. Lupin, Tonks and Arthur Weasly seemed to be watching them attentively.
Molly Weasly came down the stairs, informing Draco that he could keep his broomstick and his bag in Harry and Ron's room. Reluctant as he was, he eventually obliged; the living room didn't look like a suitable place to keep his things. He took them and headed upstairs, entering the room to find Potter alone in there. He placed his broomstick carefully next to the other ones and looked around for a place to put his bag.
"Malfoy" Potter called after him as he was about to leave the room.
"The only reason I'm accepting your presence here, is because you lowered your wand that day at the Astronomy Tower" Harry admitted.
"How did you know?" Draco frowned at him.
"It doesn't matter. Why are you here now, Malfoy? And try to be honest for a change." Harry asked, looking directly into Malfoy's eyes as if this would help him determine how truthful the other boy's answer would be.
Draco studied the boy in front of him carefully. Did it matter whether he was honest or not? The boy in front of him didn't show any intentions of believing him, but he decided to answer him anyway. "Some of us have their mothers protect them, others have to protect their mothers." and with that, Draco left the room.