The next morning, Harry woke on his cot with a headache and a sense of foreboding, still thoroughly exhausted. He put on his glasses and looked out the window, noticing it was rather bright outside. He assumed it was at least 9 o'clock, and was amazed Mrs. Weasley had allowed them to remain sleeping for so long. He glanced over at Ron in the bed next to him, still sleeping soundly. The rest of the house also seemed uncharacteristically quiet. Gradually, memories from the previous night began seeping into Harry's thoughts, and he felt his body tense up. He let out a quiet groan, and wondered how long he could stay here, in Ron's room, and just pretend Draco Malfoy wasn't downstairs. His quiet noise did nothing to disturb Ron's sleep, and Harry decided after a moment to leave him be. He was almost out the door when he realized he was still wearing his pajamas. Usually he would not have thought anything of it, but today was not going to be a usual day. He changed quietly, and with one last look back at Ron, slipped out the door.
As Harry slowly descended the stairs, he realized the house was even quieter than he originally thought from Ron's bedroom. It was, in fact, dead silent, and his steps on the stairs echoed through the house with deafening loudness. All the bedroom doors were closed. Harry debated turning back and waiting until Ron woke up so they could face the upcoming unpleasantness together, but dismissed the thought and continued his descent.
As he neared the bottom of the stairs, Harry slowed. He still hadn't heard a sound in the house, but he knew he couldn't be the only one awake. He assumed the Weasleys would have gathered in the kitchen and cast some charms to keep their conversations private. Harry wondered briefly if this was for their comfort, or Malfoy's. Just as he was about to turn the corner to enter the kitchen, Harry hesitated. The only way to the kitchen was through the den, where Malfoy presumably was still sleeping on the couch. Brushing off his feelings of unease, Harry slowly entered the room. It was still rather dark, Harry noticed, and all the curtains were drawn. He felt his eyes pulled as if by magnets to the sofa where Malfoy had been last night.
Malfoy was still there, on the sofa, sleeping.
Harry watched him curiously for a few moments, feeling a complicated mixture of feelings rush through him at the sight of his Hogwarts rival. After seeing him last night, seeing his injuries and his vulnerability, Harry was having a hard time finding the hatred he expected to feel. Harry lifted his foot to take a step closer, but thought better of it and turned to enter the kitchen instead.
It appeared that he and Ron, and Malfoy, had been the last ones still asleep in the house, and his assumption that they were using silencing charms was correct. Mrs. Weasley and Fleur were making themselves busy in the kitchen, while everyone else was seated at the table in discussion. In unison, they all glanced up at Harry's arrival, and one by one he saw a flash of relief color their faces. Harry gave a small nod before joining them at the table next to Hermione.
"Good morning Harry, dear." Mrs. Weasley said coming up beside him. "Is Dra- oh. Hmm. Is Mr. Malfoy still asleep?" While she asked this, she placed a full plate of eggs, sausages, and toast in front of him and took a seat at the table.
"Thank you Mrs. Weasley. And yes he was when I came through. Ron is asleep as well. I thought about waking him but I figured after last night he could do with the extra sleep." Harry responded, glancing over at Hermione and giving her a small smile, which she returned. He took a small bite of his breakfast. He knew he should be hungry after the events of the previous night, but he had a strange feeling in his gut that he couldn't shake.
"That's very kind of you Harry, dear." Mrs. Weasley said distractedly before taking a bite of her own breakfast.
For a few minutes, there was nothing but the sound of utensils scraping and chewing, the previous discussion temporarily abandoned. Harry became lost in thought, and soon left his breakfast forgotten. No one seemed to notice, however, as they were also still processing this new factor in their lives.
After a while, Mr. Weasley broke the silence. "Harry," Harry was pulled from his reverie and looked at Mr. Weasley intently. "Before you came in we were discussing last night. We realize now that in the midst of everything, we were not appropriately mindful of our safety precautions. Now, seeing as Mr. Malfoy has not turned into someone else, it is safe to say he was not under the effects of Polyjuice potion. However, we were very lax with other measures such as checking for the Imperius curse. Based on his condition and actions, I do not believe he is under the effect of anything, but we cannot be too careful."
Harry stared at Mr. Weasley and looked around the table, wondering how they could all have been so careless. Why had that thought not crossed his mind?! A fully cognizant Draco Malfoy was bad enough. But before Harry could start to beat himself up too much, Mr. Weasley continued. "After Mr. Malfoy has woken and we have checked his injuries, Kingsley and Remus will be here to check for any curses he may be under."
Harry nodded, but his hands were balled into fists in his lap. Hermione noticed and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Harry," she said softly. "None of us thought to check Malfoy last night. Everything was chaotic. Don't blame yourself." Sha gave his arm a soft squeeze and removed her hand. Harry nodded again and forced himself to relax.
"We also need to discuss the modified sleeping arrangements now that we have an extra guest." Mrs. Weasley said. "Fred and George have offered to stay in the flat above their store for the time being, but I'm not sure that is the safest option right now…"
"Don't worry, mum." Said George looking at his mother with a strangely serious look. "We stay at the shop all the time."
"Yeah. We can take care of ourselves." Fred added. "And we can come right back if anything strange happens." He gave Molly a soft and reassuring squeeze on the shoulder.
Mrs. Weasley pursed her lips, but ultimately gave in with a resigned sigh. "With that being the case then." Mrs. Weasley continued. "I suppose everyone else can simply stay where they are and Dra- oh…Mr. Malfoy will take your room." She finished with a slight indication towards Fred and George. When no one had any opposition to this theory, the conversation fizzled out into silence.
For the next several minutes, the table returned to its state of not-quite-comfortable silence. No one seemed to know what to add to the conversation. Harry nibbled more on his toast, Hermione shifted in her seat, and Molly went back to bustling around the kitchen. It wasn't until they heard a small sound from just outside the kitchen that the atmosphere in the room changed. Harry stood up cautiously, and he noticed many others at the table imitate his actions. But, before anyone could move, Ron walked in quietly. Just like when Harry had walked in, he felt the tension in the room wuickly deflate. Ron glanced around the table with a puzzled expression, but shrugged it off and walked to the table to grab a piece of toast.
"Good morning, Ron." Said Hermione giving him a slight look of relief which stayed on her face as Ron took a seat on the other side of Hermione. He muttered "morning Hermione" in return. Harry could hear them whispering quietly but couldn't make out what they were saying. Presumable, Hermione was catching him up on the morning's discussion.
"Ron, did you notice whether Mr. Malfoy is awake yet? It's getting quite late." Mrs. Weasley asked while scooping eggs and sausage onto the plate in front of him.
Ron leaned away from Hermione and shook his head. "Nah. The git's still sleeping."
Harry considered that for a moment before standing up from the table and walking back towards the den. He didn't much fancy the idea of having to wake up Malfoy, but he also didn't think 'the git' would actually still be asleep. He heard some others come up behind him and he opened the door.
OooOooO
Draco knew they were talking about him. He couldn't hear their voices, but he knew. Why else would they put up silencing charms? Surely not as a courtesy. It took considerable control for him to keep himself from walking straight into the kitchen and breaking up their little party.
Not that he cared what they were saying, of course.
He had been woken by the insufferable Weasel thundering down the stairs like a drunken troll. He heard him snort when he reached the bottom of the stairs and could only imagine the sneer that must have taken over the Weasel's face. He almost laughed at the image in his head of the giant drunken sneering troll Weasel, almost, but he remained still and feigned sleep, not wanting a confrontation with such a creature just yet.
Once he was sure he was alone in the room he sat up carefully. His ribs, while still tender, weren't screaming at him as they had been the night before. He gently prodded his leg and noted similar progress, while reluctantly appreciating that the Weasleys seemed to know their way around healing charms. Unfortunately, his headache from the night before still persisted. He was in the middle of attempting to stand and test his leg when he heard the kitchen door open. He turned, and saw Potter's face quickly change from mild surprise to annoyance. Draco managed to stand up entirely and face the hoard of people moving into the room.
No one said anything, and then tension grew palpably thick.
"Your leg seems better, then." Potter said, stupidly, in an obvious effort to break the silence. Draco quirked an eyebrow at him. The silence returned.
He saw one of the older Weasleys turn and whisper something to their father, who promptly left the room.
The silence was broken for a second time when Mother Weasel said "We have breakfast in the kitchen, D- Mr. Malfoy, if you would care for something to eat. You certainly look like you could do with a good meal."
Draco, ignoring the fact that he was very hungry, looked at her in disdain and replied, "I would appreciate it if you wouldn't insult my own family's ability to nourish me."
Mrs. Weasley was about to reply when one of the twins interjected "Don't speak to our mother like that Malfoy."
The other followed up with "Yeah, mate, you'll regret it."
Draco gave no response. He wasn't about to pick a fight against what looked like the entire Weasley clan while he remained wandless. He flicked his eyes to the doorway where the Father Weasel was returning.
"Kingsley and Remus will be here any minute now." He said. Draco narrowed his eyes, but before he could interject Mr. Weasley continued. "Mr. Malfoy, in order to ensure that you do not pose a threat to our family we are having two trained individuals come to…"
"Yeah, I know who those people are. Members of your precious Order." Draco spat back to him. "You can't just bring people here to do whatever they want with me! I won't allow them near me." Draco turned around to hide the look of panic he was worried they would see on his face. He was done being a guinea pig for others to treat as they wished. He headed for the door.
"Remember, Mr. Malfoy, that you are warded in this house and unable to leave." Mr. Weasley replied. Draco narrowed his eyes but did not move away from the door. "I assure you that no one intends to do you any harm. They will simply run some spells over you to check for any curses or dangerous objects that you may be carrying."
Mr. Weasley's words did nothing to slow Draco's thundering heartbeat. He wondered if they could possibly hear it. He didn't believe that he was safe here. He didn't like that everyone in the room was staring at him. He knew it wouldn't work, but he reached for the door; he needed to leave with or without his wand.
To his amazement, the door opened. He stared outside for a second and took a step forward without looking back.
It was like he hit a brick wall, except it wasn't. It was more like a solid force was pushing him backwards without moving him at all. He certainly couldn't progress forwards. He resigned himself to this god-forsaken house and shut the door, trying to compose his dignity.
He heard Weasley snigger behind him.
"Mr. Malfoy." Said a new, yet depressingly familiar, voice. "If you will please come with us."
Draco turned and saw Remus Lupin, their old DADA teacher, and werewolf, standing next to an enormous and intimidating looking black man.
The other man spoke in a deep voice "You can resist, but really, what would be the point?" Draco frowned at him. Even with a wand he wouldn't want to take this guy on. And, despite knowing that he didn't have a choice but to comply, he stayed rooted to the spot.
"Arthur, Molly, why don't we just use this room? Is that all right?" the werewolf asked. The Weasel patriarch nodded and ushered everyone out of the room.
Potter was the last to leave. He met Draco's eyes with an unreadable expression before turning and following the others into the kitchen.
"Right then, let's get started shall we?" The werewolf said. Kingsley nodded, and together they raised their wands.