A/N: All of these characters, except for Zeppie the house-elf, belong to J.K. Rowling. I am merely setting up a new stage for them to act upon. Thank you to everyone who gave me suggestions for Ginny's new pet. There were many good ideas and it was a hard choice, but I finally went with the one I thought would be very fitting. Thank you to mrsgeorgeweasley and padfoot36212 for suggesting it, and I hope you all agree that it is the perfect name. Thanks!!!!

"Gin," Harry said wistfully, "maybe you could call him....Padfoot."

"Padfoot is perfect. It's exactly what his name should be," Ginny said understandingly, nuzzling her new pet. "But, Harry, you shouldn't have bought me anything. It's not my birthday." Ginny looked at Harry sternly, waiting for an explanation.

"Well, Gin love, we weren't together last year when you made Prefect. He's a late 'Congratulations on making Prefect' gift."

"All right, Potter, but he's so great that you can call him an early birthday present too. I don't want to see any other presents from you on my birthday, got it?"

Harry's mind worked quickly as he thought of the other gift he'd bought for Ginny. "Don't worry, Gin, I promise that you won't 'see' any birthday presents from me." Padfoot began to squirm and yip excitedly at the smell and sight of food. Ginny walked to the table where everyone else sat eating and grabbed a sausage, feeding it to her hungry little pet. Padfoot swallowed it in one gulp, happily wagging his forked tail.

"Okay everyone, it's time to go. It's been a long day," Mr. Weasley said getting up. Everyone gathered around the Portkey and touched it, again feeling that pull behind the navel as they disappeared from the Leaky Cauldron and reappeared at the Burrow.

"Well, Arthur and Molly, we'll be leaving now that you're all back home safely. We'll see you at the Order meeting next week," Lupin said. "Don't forget, it's a VERY important meeting."

"Don't worry, Remus dear, we won't forget," Mrs. Weasley assured him. In a series of loud pops, Lupin, Moody, Tonks, and Shacklebolt Disapperated.

Snape eyed Draco, who was bent over picking a bouquet of buttercups in the yard. Skipping over, Draco handed the flowers to Mrs. Weasley. "Thanks so much for letting me stay in your home," he said with a smile.

"You're perfectly welcome, dear. Why don't you run along to your room and get some rest." Draco nodded and headed for the house, stopping by Ginny and Hermione.

"Will one of you come read me a story?" he asked of them. Neither Ginny or Hermione knew quite how to respond. Here was Draco Malfoy their enemy, the boy who tormented them every chance he got....asking them to read him a bedtime story. From behind Draco, Mrs. Weasley nodded emphatically, indicating that they should go along with it.

Ginny sat Padfoot down, and he immediately began to explore his new home. "Well.....er, sure," Ginny stammered. Draco flashed them a smile and trotted off into the house. As Hermione and Ginny moved to follow him, they found their way blocked by Ron.

"No, Hermione, I won't let you go."

"Ron, if you're so worried then come with us."

Harry looked at Ron. "She's right, what can he do if we're there?"

"All right, we'll go with you. But he'd better not try anything or he'll have to deal with me," Ron threatened, clenching his hands into fists. "He may be a bit loopy right now, but underneath it all he's still the same old Malfoy." Ron possessively put an arm around Hermione and the four entered the house. Their trip upstairs was slightly delayed as they entered.

The inside of the Burrow was immaculate. Mrs. Weasley had always kept a religiously clean house, but this went even beyond her normal standards. There was not one speck of dust to be found, and everything gleamed like it was brand new.

"Zeppie," Hermione said, shaking her head. "I knew I shouldn't have left without talking to him first."

"Wow!" Ron exclaimed, turning around in amazement. "This is the cleanest I've ever seen this place! Zeppie sure knows what he's doing! Mum will be beside herself....she won't have anything to clean."

"Zeppie! Zeppie, where are you?" Hermione yelled. Zeppie came in from the family room, still wearing his old rags.

"Yes, Missy Hermy? Is you needing Zeppie for something?"

"Zeppie, first off....why are you still in those rags? I spent an entire afternoon making you new clothes. And why did you do all of this cleaning?"

"Well, Missy Hermy, Zeppie is having nothing to do, so Zeppie tidied up a bit. And Zeppie didn't want to ruin his beautifull clothes that Missy Hermy gave him." Zeppie looked down at his feet as he said this. He looked rather like a child being scolded for getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Is Missy Hermy mad at Zeppie?"

"No, Zeppie, of course not, but I DO want you to put on your new clothes. And you don't have to spend all of your time cleaning. There's so many other things that you could do. For instance, if you like, I can teach you how to knit. I think you'll find it quite enjoyable, and it is kind of like work. You can even take some of the money I pay you and buy some nice wool to make more clothes with."

"Missy Hermy is too kind to Zeppie. Zeppie will do anything Missy Hermy asks of him."

"All right, Zeppie, now will you go change clothes?" Zeppie nodded and ran up the stairs.

"Well, let's go humor Draco," Hermione suggested. She and the other three went upstairs.

Outside Molly and Arthur were talking to Snape, as he was preparing to leave.

"Severus, are you quite sure he'll be all right?"

"I have no way of knowing," Snape said with indifference. "The Calming draught should be wearing off any time. I will leave behind extra in case you find it necessary to sedate him again. When he comes out of it, he could react many different ways. He may be very angry, very quiet, very sad, or hysterical. Do you have the means to control him no matter what?"

"Don't be silly, Severus, of course I do. After having seven children I can handle-"

Mrs. Weasley was cut off by a piercing scream which originated from the attic.

Ron was covering his ears with his hands. "Why is he doing that?" he asked, indicating the screaming Draco. Draco's screams suddenly stopped, and his face took on a look of absolute terror.

"Blood! So much blood; it's everywhere! Why did he do this to you? He.....he's murdered you! What will I do now? Where will I go?" Tears began to slowly trickle down his face.

"What should we do?" asked Ron, as Draco again began his babbling to no one in particular.

"Mum...why won't you move? Why can't I get to you? We have to get out of here before he comes back. Please get up and let me out, Mum, PLEASE!" Draco quickly looked around as if he heard a noise.

"He's here! Hurry, Mum, get up and let me out! He's coming for us.....HURRY!"

"Ron, go get your parents and Professor Snape!"

"No need, Miss Granger. We're right here," Snape said as he and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley entered. Snape pulled a vial from his robes and strode over to Draco, forcing him to drink it. Within minutes, Draco was fast asleep.

"I've just given him a sleeping potion, so he should rest through the night. I will leave some of this behind as well, in case you have need for it. However, I must be going. If you find handling him to be too bothersome, contact someone from the Order and different arrangements will be made. Although from what I hear, he's now your responsibility."

Mrs. Weasley took the vials that Snape held out to her. "Thank you, Severus, we'll manage. I've dealt with difficult boys before."

Snape sneered. "Yes, I'm sure you have," he said, glancing over at Ron. Without another word he strode from the room. A loud pop a moment later assured them that he was gone. Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny all stood quietly still trying to process all Draco had said.

"How much did you hear?" asked Mr. Weasley.

Ginny was the first to be able to recover enough to answer. "Dad....he was talking about blood and someone being murdered. It sounded like he was talking about his Mum."

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley exchanged concerned glances. "Well I guess it can't be put off any longer," Mrs. Weasley said. She walked over to make sure Draco was sleeping soundly. "You four come downstairs. I'll fix you some tea and sandwiches and we'll tell you about it."

Once they had made it downstairs, and everyone was sitting at the table with a steaming cup of tea and a sandwich, Mrs. Weasley continued.

"Now you all know that Lucius Malfoy, along with many other known Death Eaters, has been in Azkaban. A few days before Draco was brought here, Lucius had managed to escape." She paused and took a sip of her tea.

"Apparently Lucius was in Azkaban long enough to snap. He had failed several mental evaluations prior to escaping. Upon his escape, he headed for Malfoy Manor. When he got there...."

Mrs. Weasley took a deep breath. "-he murdered his wife Narcissa. He didn't use his wand....instead he used a dagger to slit her throat. It looked as though he intended to kill Draco as well, but he couldn't find him and it's assumed he left in a rage."

"But where was Draco when his mother was killed?" Hermione asked.

Mrs. Weasley sighed. "Narcissa had sequestered him in a secret chamber in the manor that Lucius didn't know about. When she heard of her husband's escape and state of mind, she hid Draco in that secret chamber and sealed it using a Fidelus Charm. The charm would keep him in until she or the Secret Keeper came to let him out. Unfortunately, the chamber was behind a two-way mirror, where no one cold see in, but Draco could see out. He could see the whole time his father was killing his mother."

"But, Mum, I don't understand one thing. How did anyone know that much about what was going on?" asked Ron.

Mrs. Weasley looked over to her husband and smiled sadly. "I was with the members of the Order who went to retrieve Draco that night. I had to be. Back when I was a young girl at Hogwarts, way before I dated your father, Narcissa and I were the best of friends. Back then money and social status didn't matter as much to her. When she started dating Lucius, she began to change so much, until she finally stopped speaking to me altogether. That is, until last week. Last week, Narcissa feared for her son's life and turned to the only real friend she ever had.....me. She pleaded with me to remember our past friendship. She begged me to be her Secret Keeper, because she knew no one would suspect me. And now, that's why Draco's here. Narcissa asked me to take care of him if anything should happen to her."

"But, Mrs. Weasley, what about Lucius Malfoy?" Harry asked, sipping his tea.

Mr. Weasley shook his head. "Unfortunately he's still out there somewhere. We have patrols seaching, but no one has seen him. Until he is caught, Draco is not safe. The Burrow seemed like the perfect place to hide him, because to everyone else it would seem like the least likely place he would go."

Ron looked thoughtful for a minute. "Mum, does this mean that Draco Malfoy is going to live with us?"

"Right now we just don't know, although we do know it's what Narcissa wanted. She said as much in her will....a will she kept secret from her husband," Mr. Weasley said. "But it's getting late and you four should probably go to bed. It's been a long day."

After a quick round of good night hugs from Mrs. Weasley, the four tired teens went upstairs. Instead of splitting up however, they all went to Ron's room. Once Ron and Hermione were seated on Ron's bed and Harry and Ginny were seated on Harry's bed, the four talked abut that discussion downstairs.

"Well," Hermione said, "I never thought I'd say this....but poor Draco."

"Even for as awful as he always is, you know he probably really loved his Mum" Ginny said quietly. "I don't even want to think about how it would be to have your mum killed right in front of you like that!" At Ginny's words, Harry's face fell and he looked down at his lap.

"How insensitive am I?" Ginny thought. "Did I really just say that out loud in front of Harry?" Quickly she grabbed Harry's hand. "Oh, Harry, I'm SO sorry....it just slipped out."

"It's all right, don't worry about it," Harry said sadly. "I'm kind of tired. Think I'll go to sleep." Harry took back his hand, rolled over, and lay on his bed facing the wall.

"Oh.....okay. See you in the morning, Harry," Ginny said quietly. Hermione wished Ron a good night and the girls left to go to Ginny's room. Once they were in and the door was shut, Ginny began to berate herself.

"Hermione, how could I have been so stupid? How could I have said something like that with Harry sitting right there?" Tears of frustration and regret began to trail down her cheeks. Hermione grabbed her little friend in a comforting hug.

"Don't beat yourself up about it, Ginny. You just caught Harry a bit off guard when you said it. He knows you'd never intentionally say anything to hurt him. He loves you so much, Ginny. Just give him the night to calm down. I'm sure he'll be over it by morning." Ginny nodded, not really believing, but only hoping. Hermione guided Ginny over to her bed.

"The best thing you can do right now is get some rest. I promise things will all work out in the morning." After Hermione was asleep, Ginny still lie awake in bed, unable to get over her feelings of guilt. When she had tossed and turned for over an hour, she heard the now familiar sounds of Harry having a nightmare.

"This is all my fault," Ginny thought. "But I'm going to fix it." Quietly she slipped out of bed and went over to let Hermione know she was going. Hermione gave her a sleepy nod and set an alarm to wake herself up early.

Ginny slipped out of her room down the hall and into Ron's room. Harry was calling out in his sleep, his body twisted in the blankets from his movements. Ginny climbed into bed next to him, straightening the blankets and arranging them over Harry and herself. After using the Engorgement charm on her ring and slipping Harry's finger into the ring with hers, she settled down resting her head on his chest. Harry's erratic breathing calmed almost instantly, and his yelling and thrashing stopped.

Just as she was about to drift off, Ginny felt Harry's arms creep around her and pull her tightly against him. In his now peaceful sleep, Harry mumbled, "Love you, my Ginny." Ginny smiled and drifted off to sleep, Harry's deep, even breathing ruffling through her hair.

Ginny woke to the feel of Harry's fingers running through her hair. "Did I ever tell you how beautiful these silly purple streaks make you look?"

Ginny smiled and slowly opened her eyes, languidly stretching her well-rested body. As she raised her arms over her head, Harry's hand followed. Ginny realized they were still bound by her ring and sat up to slip it off Harry's finger. After returning the band to it's normal size and slipping it back on, Ginny glanced at Harry nervously.

"Harry, I have to tell you I'm sorry. I should have thought before I opened my big, insensitive mouth. I didn't mean to-"

Whatever Ginny was about to say was cut off by Harry's lips against hers.

"Yay! He's not mad at me!" she thought, as she responded to Harry's kiss with a new urgency. The door to Ron's bedroom flung open and Hermione ran in looking panicked.

"Ginny, wake up! The alarm didn't go....oh, you're awake."

"What's all the noise about?" Ron asked, rolling over and opening his eyes. Hermione realized she was still in her pajamas; a pair of short, cut-off pink sweatpants and a ratty old t-shirt of her Mum's that said 'Co-ed Naked Dentistry~Drilling and Filling is Our Pleasure'. Ron grinned widely and waggled his eyebrows at Hermione as he eyed her appreciatively.

Hermione let out a small, "Eeek!" and ran out the door.

Ron slipped out of bed. "Maybe I should go see if she needs any help changing," he said with a naughty grin.

"You'll do no such thing, Ronald Weasley!" Hermione shrieked from down the hallway. Smiling, Ginny hugged her boyfriend and thanked her lucky stars that he was so understanding.

The next few days passed without much incident. True to her word, Hermione taught Zeppie how to knit. Mrs. Weasley had given him some extra skeins of yarn she had, and Zeppie could now almost always be found knitting new and vibrant clothes for himself. He was currently working on a set of bright red pants and a purple jumper.

Padfoot had adjusted well to his new home, and had surprisingly become fast friends with Crookshanks. They were, after all, both very intelligent animals. Most afternoons they could be found chasing gnomes around the garden, or curled up in a little bundle napping together.

Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny spent lots of time walking and having their now regular talks. The biggest topics of conversation were about Mrs. Weasley's confession of being friends with Draco's mother back in school and how to handle the situation with Draco. They decided it would be best to leave Draco to himself, to allow him to work through his grief in his own way.

Draco stayed shut up in the attic. The only one who ever saw him was Mrs. Weasley. She would take a tray of food and drink up to him three times a day, most of which came back untouched. Mrs. Weasley spent a little time with him each day while he drank his tea, trying to earn his trust. Whether she had been successful or not was information she was keeping to herself.

Finally the day of the special Order meeting rolled around. Mr. Weasley had secured a Portkey to take them to Grimmauld Place. Everyone was ready to leave except for Draco, who Mrs. Weasley was now trying to coax downstairs. After a few moments she descended leading a very quiet, sad-looking Draco. Everyone touched the cut-off electrical plug that Mr. Weasley had turned into a Portkey. With the ever so familiar pull behind the navel, they left the Burrow and appeared at Grimmauld Place. Once the swirling of their surroundings stopped, Harry noticed that the house was quite dark.

All of a sudden the lights flipped on, and Harry found himself surrounded by all of his friends and adopted family.

"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HARRY!"

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. There was a lot to explain and I hope it all made sense. Thank you to every one who has left a review....You guys are awesome! And a big round of applause for Chelsea the super mod for getting my chapters validated so fast :)