A Rose's Thorn

Malfoy

Blaise, Pansy, Draco, and Harry had spent summer in Grimmauld. Since Blaise's, Draco's and Pansy's parents were either dead or in Azkaban. Neither of the Slytherins wanted to go back to their own houses. Harry gave them the option to stay with him and they didn't hesitate to accept. Mid July Hermione and Neville showed up. Dean and Seamus arrived mid August.

Three days after the arrival of the last two Gryffindor's some Auror showed up at Harry's door. Hermione was the one who opened the door and let them in. Instantly Draco felt his heart drop. He knew they were raiding the manor since that's where Baldy Voldy had set up his headquarters. Throughout summer he hadn't heard a word about their search. Honestly he really didn't want to hear anything about it, but he knew they would look for him once they found his mother's body.

"Ahhh young Malfoy. Might I have a word."

Draco gulped. "S... Sure."

"Would anyone like some refreshments?" Hermione piped up hoping to defuse some tension.

The Aurors nodded. "Some lemonade if you have."

Hermione, Pansy, and Seamus (the designated female between Neville and himself) left to the kitchen. Harry laced his fingers with Draco's to stop him from scratching his thumb. A nervous habit Draco developed over the course of 6th year. Blaise, Dean, and Neville decided to hang back and give them as much privacy as they could. Of course within earshot of whatever conversation would take place.

"Young Malfoy we have some news for you. Now you must understand we were asked to hold back this information until we were certain of the outcome." The head Auror began.

"Sir may I?" A red-headed woman asked. She recieved nod and crouched down in front of the boys. "We know you have been dreading our arrival, but you need not. We actually come with good news. On our second day of the search we found your mother." Draco flinched. "Don't worry she was actually alive, however barely. She asked that we withhold the information from you until it was certain she will live. That is why we are here. Your mother is in a medically induced coma at the moment, however very soon she should be waking up. She'll be able to return to the manor before Hogwarts is back. I believe you have one more year, we wouldn't want to hinder that. That is why we chose today to give you this information." The lady offered Draco a smile.

Hermione and the others decided to walk in at that moment. She smiled at the Aurors and offered them their lemonade. They waited in silence for Draco to respond. Draco hadn't made eye contact with any of them. Harry sighed guessing at what was going through his mind. He gave the Aurors a warm smile.

"Thank you for the information. If there's nothing else I believe he needs time to process this." Harry said.

The Aurors said their goodbyes and quickly left. Once Harry got back from seeing them off Draco promptly broke down. He started crying just as Harry sat down. The others didn't say a word. Blaise disappeared and returned with a bunch of blankets. Neville quickly turned the couches into a comfy resting place. He took the back cushions from all of them to make a make-shift bed on the floor and pushed the biggest ones together to make another, more private (in his opinion) bed. Dean was helping Neville make comfy little beds. Harry lifted Draco and went to lay on the lone couch under a window.

This had become a thing with them since Harry had turned to a child. Whenever one was upset about anything they would all sleep in the same space. The cause of something like this was none other than baby Harry. Even though he was himself again, he was known to throw a fit every now and again. If the space they occupied in the moment was big enough for the group they would just make it more comfortable. If it was not they would find a space that was. They had all grown rather close so even if they were apart they'd come together just for such an occasion.