Draco waved aside the trainee healer impatiently.
“Look, I’m fine! I don’t need a check-up.” To prove his point, he threw the covers back, and hopped out of bed. Or at least, he tried to hop. It was more like a hobble, and he nearly fell as his legs failed to hold him. But he grabbed the bedside table, and in stubborn Malfoy style, stood straight and glared at the trainee.
“Now, listen carefully.” The trainee stayed silent. “I. Want. Out. There is nothing wrong with me I can’t fix myself in the comfort of my own home.” The girl raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. “Get me my clothes, and I’m gone. Now.”
“Very well, sir.” The girl said, and quickly left to find Healer Smethwyck. She was done with troublesome patients. The healer-in-charge could take care of this guy.
As soon as she was gone, Draco collapsed into the bed, still fuming. “What?” he snapped at the only other patient in the room, who was staring. It really wasn’t fair of Draco, as it was just a teenage boy who had gotten injured in a wizarding duel with a friend. But Draco was too mad to care.
“Having problems?”
Draco turned to the doorway. Hermione, slightly concerned, walked over to his bed. “I passed your healer in the hall. She looked a bit harassed.”
Draco looked down, some of his anger melting. “I told her I was checking out.”
“Ah.” Hermione could imagine what had happened then. She knew her husband well. “I’m guessing she said no.”
“Yea, but,” Draco added quickly, “Look at me! I’m fine. I hate being treated like a child that can’t tell if I’m sick or not.”
“Anything else you hate?” she knew her husband very well.
He smiled faintly at that. Then he stopped. “I have work to do. I should be out there, helping Potter and Weasley find Lucius, or Shacklebolt gather info, or damit, even surveillance would be better than just sitting around here.” Draco hated feeling useless, as he did now.
“Draco, you got injured.” Hermione tried to pacify him. “You need to make sure you’re better before-
“But I am better! Here-” again, he tried to stand. But this time being more careful, he found it considerably easier. He even didn’t have to use the table. “See? I need to take it easy, I know that, but can’t I do that at home?”
Hermione sighed, then smiled. She backed up about six feet. “Let’s do this. If you can walk to me, without falling, I’ll talk to the healer. Maybe we can get you out of here a couple days early.” Still smiling, she held out her hands.
Draco stared at her a moment, then smiled back. With only a slight trouble in the first couple steps, Draco walked over. When he got to Hermione, he wrapped his arms around her. “Now do you believe me?”
She looked up at his face, then looked away. She loved him so much, and she knew he loved her, but… he looked so much like his father. And though Draco was a much better man than Lucius, parts of him were still, well, like a typical Malfoy. He was stubborn, and wily, and liked to be in control. She turned back to Draco. In the back of her mind, she heard Dumbledore’s words, something he had said to Harry while they were at Hogwarts:
Draco had chosen to fight Voldemort. He had chosen the Order. He had chosen her.
Hermione’s smile grew, and he grinned back. “Of course I do.” Then he bent down and kissed her, ending all further conversation.
The Burrow, same day
Ron opened the squeaky door. With a wave of his wand, the lights flickered on. With another wave, the shutters closed. Now no one could spy on them. A final wave, and the dusty kitchen table cleared itself. The table would be perfect to lay the papers out. After all, it was large enough to seat eleven people.
“Mum?” Ron called out, then turned to the others. “Come on in. Mum’s probably around, maybe upstairs.”
Harry, Remus, Tonks, George and Angelina, and Ginny walked in. Hermione had sent a message that she and Draco would be along as soon as he was checked out. Harry looked around. It had been a while since he had visited the Burrow. He knew Ms. Weasley still lived here, and her unmarried children (namely Ron and Charlie when he was in the country) took turns staying with her to keep her company. Harry also knew she had closed up the upper rooms, and lived only on the ground floor and the floor directly above it.
“Mum, we’re here!” George yelled. He dumped a load of papers on the table, and they began to sort through them. Footsteps started to come down the stairs. They were light and quick, almost as if a child was running down the stairs. Ginny and George stopped what they were doing to listen. That wasn’t their mom.
“Hide the papers, quick!” Ginny hissed. The others looked at her strangely, but picked up on the rush as the steps came closer.
They had collected the last papers and stuffed them in the cabinets when she came around the corner. It was a child- a little girl of about three with flaming red hair. They didn’t have long to wonder though, because right behind her- came Percy. Ginny gave a sharp intake of breath.
Percy hadn’t taken well to be wrong about Voldemort. Still furious, and ambitious as ever, Percy had refused to apologize- had even refused to see his family. When Arthur, then Fred, had died Percy had come for their funerals, but hadn’t lingered. Since Fred’s funeral, nobody had heard from him at all, except what they read in the papers. If the Daily Prophet could be believed, Percy Weasley was making quite a name for himself at the Ministry, now running his own Department. Once too angry to come back, Harry had wondered if he was now too ashamed.
Percy stopped, a few steps behind the girl. He gazed, open mouthed, at his siblings, then at the others. He seemed lost for words. So was everybody else. George was the first to finally speak.
“What are you doing here?” The question was not belligerent- he was too shocked.
“I came-” Percy stopped, cleared his throat. “I came to see mum. I thought… well, I thought she might want to meet her grandchild.” He nodded at the little girl, who had walked back to her father, and was clinging to his leg.
“This-” Ginny stared at the girl, “this is your daughter?” Of course, it was obvious the girl was a Weasley. She had bright red hair, freckles, even Arthur’s nose. In fact, she almost reminded Ginny when she herself was little. Ginny walked forward, only a couple steps in front of Percy.
“Yes, this is Rebeka.” Percy kneeled down to the girl’s height. “Rebeka, these are your uncles-” he nodded at Ron and George, who looked stupefied. “- And this is your aunt. Remember, I told you about them?”
Silently, she nodded. Ginny knelt down, too, the better to talk to her niece.
“Hello,” she said quietly.
Shy, Rebeka buried her face in her father’s lap. Percy gathered her in his arms and stood up. Ginny stood up, still staring at Rebeka’s turned back.
By now, George had gained his voice- and his temper. He opened his mouth, probably to tell Percy where he could go next, but Angelina stopped him.
“Not now,” she whispered in George’s ear, so no one could hear her besides him.
“Not now?” he replied, staring at her in slight disbelief. “When then?”
“When it’s family only,” she said. “And not in front of his daughter.”
But Remus had heard. Thinking quickly, he said to the company, “Perhaps we better leave the Weasleys to talk things out. We can wait outside.” Percy nodded.
“And maybe Rebeka can come with Aunt Angie?” Angelina said, stepping forward. Again, Percy nodded.
“Show her the… the gnome garden. Uh, Harry knows.” Percy glanced nervously at Harry. But Harry only nodded. They could have their words later. Family first.
The door closed, if possible, even louder than it had opened. Now only Percy, George, Ron, and Ginny were left in the room. There was a brief awkward silence.
Percy started. “I guess I need to-”
“What the hell are you doing here?”
George, naturally.
“Well, I-”
“I mean, why now? After all this time, why come back? I would think that-”
“Just let me say my piece, okay?” Percy interrupted. “Let me get through this, then I’ll- I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll leave if you want. Just let me say this.”
George shut up. The three looked at him, waiting. Ginny really didn’t know what to expect.
“When we -at least, I- found out you-know-who was back, I really didn’t want to admit it. I guess I was... well… So I stayed away. I had to figure things out for myself, you know? Before I could come back. And before I could get over my pride, Dad died. And then I had to get past that. All I could think was, the last thing I had ever said to Dad, I said I hated him, that he was a disgrace, that, well, you know what I said.” Percy added ruefully.
“And I hadn’t meant it- well, for a second maybe, but it wasn’t the way I actually felt, and yet he died thinking that. And I couldn’t handle that guilt, on top of whatever I would get from the rest of you. I couldn’t stand to think of being with you all, and all of you hating me. So I had to figure things out for myself. Then when Fred died, it was the same all over again. I knew I couldn’t come back during that, I had to wait.”
Percy stopped, took a breath. Ron took the break to pose a question.
“So what happened now? What made you finally come here? It’s been a while since Fred’s death.”
“Yea, I know. Actually, I was already married when Fred died.” Ginny mouth dropped open. Ron and George wore similar expressions of surprise.
“Yea, that was another reason I wasn’t ready to come back. How incongruous would that have been? ‘Yes, nice to see you after a decade, so sorry about our brother, please meet my new wife you’ve never heard of, and she’s also pregnant with our first child’? That, above everything, was a big reason to wait.
“But a couple months ago, I was reading a story to Rebeka. It was about a little girl and her family. Not just her parents, but her siblings, aunts and uncles, cousins, you know, the whole deal. And when I was finished, she asked me where the rest of her family was. You know, she’s never met any of you, and Teresa only has a father, currently traveling down the Amazon. And it just got me thinking. Just because I’m reluctant to go back, I still shouldn’t let that punish my daughter. So I’ve finally gotten past my pride, and I’m here I apologize.”
A moment’s pause followed this. Percy stared at them nervously. He realized they could reject him. They might be, probably were, still mad. It had been a long time. Very long time. They could turn him out. They might-
But all thoughts were brought to a halt when Ginny stepped forward, and in one quick movement wrapped her arm around his neck, and gave him an astoundingly strong hug.
“You idiot,” she said into his neck. “Did you really think we would say ‘no’? You’re family. A Weasley, whether you like it or not.”
Ginny stepped back, tears on her cheeks, but she was smiling. Looking over her head, Percy saw Ron smiling too. George wasn’t.
“You were still an ass.” Ginny looked uncertainly at him.
“George, please-”
“Yes, you’re a complete git.” George overrode her plea. He
stepped closer to his older brother.
“And you better not ever change.” He held out his hand, and then gave a small grin. “Welcome back.”
Percy smiled, and shook his hand, which quickly became a hug
(A/N): okay, so not much happened in this chapter, but I’ll update soon.