After Effects: A Draco Malfoy Fanfic

"It's my house"

They had apparated to a small muggle neighborhood on the outskirts of London. Draco had to come by side-apparition with Hermione since he didn't have a wand.

When they arrived, Draco shielded his eyes from the sun. This had been the second time that he had been outside of the Ministry and his eyes needed to adjust to the sunlight and the sudden brightness.

They walked down the street and stopped in front of a some old and black apartment buildings, at least that's what they looked like on the outside. Draco looked at the numbers of the houses and furrowed his eyebrows. 10, 11.... 13?

He turned to Harry but before he could speak a piece of paper was shoved into his hand. "Here," Harry said. "Read this and memorize it."

Draco looked down at the paper and read, number twelve, Grimauld Place, London. What?

He looked back up and, just as he did so, the buildings started to rumble and slide apart, revealing another building, number twelve he presumed.

The trio made their way up to the front door, Harry leading the way. Harry took out his wand and waved it over the door knob quickly before stashing it back into his robes. The door clicked and he opened the door, leading the way in.

Draco looked at his surroundings. The house was big, not as big as the manor, obviously, but big enough.  He saw a large chandelier covered in cobwebs and noticed a ghastly-looking troll's leg that was used as an umbrella stand. They continued down the hallway and once they reached the end, Draco looked up at the stairs and recoiled at the sight of a number of shrunken heads of House-elves.

"What is this place?" he asked.

"It's my house," Harry answered. "Well, it was my godfather's, Sirius Black's, place, but he passed away and now it's mine. Grimauld Place, or, if you want, the Black House."

"Black," Draco whispered, thinking about where he had heard that name before.

"I know it's not in the best conditions, but we did just finish a war so I think there's a lot of time to freshen it up."

Draco nodded but before he could say anything else a plump, red-headed woman coming towards them from down the hall.

"Harry, Hermione," she said, going to give them a hug. "You're back. I hope your business was fruitful."

"Yes, thank you, Molly," Hermione said as she went to return the hug. Harry nodded in agreement and went to do the same. It was then that Draco realized that Hermione had vanished the leash already.

Molly then turned to Draco who was standing to the side, watching the exchange and feeling awkward. He squirmed a bit at the newfound attention focused on him.

Then to his surprise, he felt two arms wrap around him and squeeze. Draco was taken aback at the hug. No one had ever hugged him like that before and he relished in the moment.

When Molly pulled away, she gave Draco a smile and Draco couldn't help but do the same.

"Thank you," Molly said. She had put everything into those two words and Draco could see it in her eyes. "You saved my life back there and I don't know how I could ever repay you."

"Oh, no, no," Draco declined quickly. "Mrs. Weasley, it was the least I could do after...well...yeah. It was the least I could do."

Molly put a hand on his right arm. "Not going to stop me from trying, dear. And it's Molly. Now, lunch is in two hours. Everyone's in the living room so you kids go on over there."

After she said that, she hurried off back to the kitchens muttering, "so much to do." Once she was gone, Draco turned to Harry.

"Everyone?" he asked warily. Harry had the decency to look a little sheepish as he answered.

"Yeah. I guess I should have warned you about that before we left the Ministry."

"Mhm," Draco murmured, nodding his head in agreement. "And how many is 'everyone?'"

"Don't tell me Draco Malfoy is scared," Hermione teased.

"Uh, no," Draco quickly protested. "First of all, Malfoys don't get scared. I'm just wondering how many people there are. And second, you didn't answer my question."

"Well, four for now," Harry said. "But I would, uh, be prepared for more company later."

Draco groaned. He didn't want to meet the people he, up till recently, despised and would most likely hate him with every fiber in their being. But it wasn't like he had a choice in the matter anyway.

"Fine," he relented. "Let's just get this over with."