Hi! I'm still there so, as promised, here is the second chapter :)
"You're sending us to the Weasleys?" Draco asked, sounding horrified, and Hermione wondered why he seemed so appalled by the news: she knew that they were lucky to have successfully escaped the Death Eaters and that living in a house full of Order members might be beneficial for both parties in the end.
"Yes, Mr. Malfoy, the Weasleys," professor McGonagall confirmed with a long, exasperated sigh. "I suppose there's no need to remind you that Mr. Potter will be there as well?"
"Merlin, and I thought the Order actually wanted to help us," Draco moaned, reminding Hermione so much of a five-year old boy that she couldn't help herself from berating him.
"Honestly, Draco, don't you think you're overreacting?"
Both his eyebrows shot up, and he looked offended that she even questioned him.
"Overrea…"
"Your wife is right, Mr. Malfoy. I personally talked to Molly and Arthur and they are fully aware of your situation, yet the both of them agreed to shelter you despite the animosity between your two families."
"Alright, alright, the elder Weasley know and don't mind us, I get it. But what have they told their children?" Draco asked contemptuously.
The outraged shouts that greeted them a few seconds later told them that the Weasleys had, indeed, forgotten to mention a few details about the newcomers, their identity being the most obvious one. In the end, it took the intervention of one Alastor Moody – a strange man, who looked more like a broken puppet hastily repaired than a seasoned warrior to Hermione – to remind the Weasley children that everything wasn't black and white during a war and that if Albus Dumbledore had thought Draco Malfoy could be redeemed, then no one was to question his decision.
"Alright," the red-headed boy who seemed the youngest of the family replied angrily, "let's say we accept your arguments for the Death Eater scum. What about that one?"
He was talking about her, Hermione realized, and she was wondering what on Earth she had done to him to deserve such treatment when a girl's voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Honestly, Ron, haven't you listened to what professor McGoganall said? She's a Muggleborn, it's not like she'll ever be a threat to us."
Hermione could almost hear her roll her eyes at what she considered a stupid question, and she felt her cheeks burn in embarrassment at the dismissive tone coming from the girl. How dare she imply that Hermione was inferior to them because she had not received the same education that they had?
"That's my wife you're talking about, Weaslette," Draco replied harshly to everyone's surprise. "Do you really think that being a Muggleborn means that she is lesser than you? Just wait until she's had access to what was denied to her all those years and you'll see. She'll be better than anyone in this house, I know it."
He shouldn't be saying things like that, Hermione knew, and yet she felt her heart flutter in her chest at his declaration.
"Thank you," she whispered once she was sure that no one could listen. "For believing in me."
"I should be the one thanking you," he said. "After all, you're the one who made me a better man."
Cohabitation with the Weasleys was hard. Despite their promise that they wouldn't antagonize each other, it took Draco and Ronald no less than three weeks before they were able to stay in the same room without trying to hex each other. It wouldn't have been a real problem if they had just shared meals, there were so many people coming in and out of the Burrow that Molly Weasley usually made two services and everyone could eat whenever they wanted. No, the real problem was the meetings. They happened almost daily, and Draco was forced to attend each one of them due to his status as an ex-Death Eater. Every gathering ended in a confrontation between Draco and some members who still distrusted him and more often than not, Alastor Moody had to step in.
"Think of it, Potter," he had told the boy, who was still refusing to share what seemed to be the most important piece of information the Order had been able to obtain about the so-called Dark Lord. "If anyone can help with the Horcruxes, it's him!"
This declaration had led to the worst argument Hermione had seen in a while, and it had only stopped when Draco had asked what, exactly, is a Horcrux, and why is that thing so damn important to you, Potter? Moody seemed disappointed by his answer, but the rest of the group had looked completely stunned by the question.
"You… you really have no idea what a Horcrux is?" Harry Potter had asked.
"I may have been branded Potter, but that doesn't mean I know everything about the Dark Arts. And, if that Horcrux-thing has anything to do with the Dark Lord, then there's little chance that anyone but the inner circle has ever heard of it."
Potter had glanced in the direction of his best friend and, after a moment of hesitation, explained what the object in question was, and why it was so important to the Order. Hermione had listened, disgusted, to the description he had found in books and saw that Draco himself seemed troubled by what he was learning. Then, Harry Potter had concluded his explanation by the tale of the last search he had done with Dumbledore, and by the disappointment he had felt when he had learned that the Horcrux they had found was a fake.
"The letter was signed R.A.B," he had told them, "but we haven't been able to find out who it might be."
There was a moment of stunned silence, and then Draco had burst into laughter.
"You can't be serious," he had managed to say between two gasps for breath. "Half of the Order is made of Purebloods, and you're telling me that no one knows about Regulus Arcturus Black?"
Hermione had been reading through the third-year Transfiguration book when she heard a soft knock. Intrigued, she took her wand – vine, with unicorn hair, provided by Mr. Weasley during their first week at the Burrow – and pointed it at the door.
"Alohomora," she whispered, and she was rewarded by the soft click of the mechanism.
"Nice," the newcomer said, and Hermione was surprised to recognize Harry Potter at the doorway. "Professor McGonagall said that you had already mastered the second year's curriculum?"
"Yes," Hermione confirmed, hoping she did not sound too unfriendly – ever since Ginevra's comment about her status, she never knew if she was insulted or complimented by the others. "I've been practicing every time I get the chance, I have a lot to catch up on and I don't want to be a deadweight if something happens."
"A bookworm and an overachiever, eh?" he asked with a soft grin. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that," he added when he saw her eyes flash indignantly. "It just reminds me of what people say of my mother."
"What do they say about her?" Hermione asked, suddenly intrigued. Not a lot was written about Lily Potter in the books she had read, and she was almost sure that the fact she had been a Muggleborn had something to do with it.
"They called her the Brightest Witch of her Age," the boy answered proudly. "She knew nothing of Magic when she arrived at Hogwarts, yet she bested almost everyone in her year, including Pureblood children who were supposed to be better than her. She loved reading new books and writing long essays that drove her teachers mad, and she was always the first one to defend her fellow students against the bullies."
"I would have loved to know her," Hermione told him quietly, "It seems that we had a lot in common."
Harry just nodded, a mixture of sadness and grief on his face that made her feel as if she'd suddenly swallowed a rock. How hard it must be for him, to know that both of his parents had died to protect him and to have no memories of them to cherish.
"Why don't you take a seat, Harry?" Hermione asked as she put her book away and chose a more comfortable position on the bed. "I'd love to hear more about your mother if you have a little time to talk about her."
The smile that rewarded her was the brightest she had ever seen on his face.
"First, Potter's birthday and now, Weasley's wedding?" Draco grumbled as he buttoned his transfigured set of robes. "Don't they think I've got better things to do than to spend the entire day surrounded by redheads?"
"Draco," Hermione admonished. "I understand that you and Ronald will never be friends, but what had Bill done to you?"
"He's a Weasley," Draco shrugged as if it explained everything, and Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, biting the inside of her cheek as she tried to tamp down her annoyance. Boys, she thought to herself.
"It's not even an argument," she replied coldly. "Face it, Draco, the Weasleys are nice people. Exception made of Ronald, none of them have insulted you for what your family did to theirs over the years and, from what I've heard, it was a lot. Why can't you see it and stop that nonsense of insulting them every chance you've got?"
"But I'm trying," he almost whined, quickly stopping when he saw the dark glare she sent in his direction.
"I'm not asking you to try, Draco, I'm asking you to actually do it. You want to prove that you've changed? Then show them, show me you really mean it, be the better man," she concluded.
She was met with total silence, but she could see that her words had had an effect on him and that he was considering them seriously.
"You're right," he told her after some time. "I am not the boy I was back in July; no more than I am the boy I was when I first met you. I am proud to be the man I've become, and I want you to be proud of me, too."
Note about the characters:
The Tonks are not in this story because Ted is a Muggleborn and would have been forced to leave the Magical World once the laws were passed. The whole family left England a few months before the anti-Muggle-born law and emigrated to the USA.
Sirius was kissed, yes. It's the only major change to Hermione not being there since she was the one with the Time-Turner (or at least the only one I thought of).