The Last Wish

“You’re fucking with me, right?” 

“Ginerva Molly-Anne Weasley! Speak to me like that again and the only thing coming out of your mouth will be suds,” Molly gestured at her threateningly with her wand.

“Sorry Mum,  I just don’t see why he has to come here. Why can’t he go stay with Sirius at Grimmauld place? I mean, they’re cousins of some sort, they’ll get on famously! Besides, you know how he is with Harry and Ron, there will be nothing but fights all summer.” 

As she tried to reason with her mother, Ginny could see by the look on her face that it was getting her nowhere. Once Molly Weasley got it into her head that someone needed help, there was no stopping her. Even if that person was Draco Malfoy.

“Ginny, I am surprised at you. This boy and his mother risked their lives to bring us information that might help us stop this war from happening and save countless lives, and here you are wanting me to turn him out on his ear. Is this how I raised you? To be ungrateful and unkind? He has nowhere to go, and no one to trust, not to mention the fact that we have no idea what kind of hell those people have put him through. To answer your question, he can't stay with Sirius because that's the first place they'll look for him, for precisely the reason you listed. So I offered to let him stay here while the Order gets other arrangements sorted out. Is that really so bad? Is he really so bad?”

“Well, no…”

“Then it’s settled. Now, be a dear and help me make up the spare bed. He’s going to be here in two days and we have quite a bit to do.”

“How did the boys take the news that Malfoy is going to live with us?” Ginny asked after a moment, only really considering Ron’s reaction.

 “Well… I haven’t exactly told them who’s coming, just that we’re having a long term visitor. I’m sure they’ll handle it just fine. Speaking of your brothers, do you know where the twins hid the mattress?”

Shaking her head at her mothers' wishful thinking, Ginny went out to search for the decade’s old, worn out, mattress that their “long-term visitor” would probably find lacking.

Laying in bed that night, Ginny thought about what having Malfoy around might mean for her summer. More work and less time for fun, most likely she thought to herself, he’ll probably expect us to do all of the work like we’re his little house elves.   But then she remembered everything her mum had brought up earlier that day. If what she said was true, and it almost always was, maybe he deserved a little kindness. It couldn’t be easy to turn on your family.  He may not have been the nicest person in the world, but he’s not horrible. At least not to me, anyway, she pondered.

  “Yeah, but what about how he’s treated Harry, Ron, and Hermione?” she whispered to herself, “He hasn’t exactly been a peach to them.”  

Teenagers are arseholes, doesn’t matter how well they’re raised. And you know they egged him on, most of the time they were asking for it, her brain retorted. It was strange to picture the “Golden Trio” as being nasty to anyone, but now that she thought about it they had been pretty mean. And in any case, she couldn’t really blame him for how he acted when she considered how he was raised. Surrounded by Death Eaters, it would be easy to pick up a few bad habits. Not to mention that, but his father had notoriously high standards, and made his displeasure known when they were not met.

  If my father treated me like that, I would do whatever he wanted and act however he told me to. Even if it meant being an arse sometimes, she conceded. Mum was right, he really does have nothing. No one, except his mum. And soon, she’d be gone too. Well, in that case, I guess I’ll just have to be his friend.  With that final, half-formed thought, she drifted off to dreams of what her fifth year would be like.

-----

The next couple days were a flurry of activity, with Molly acting as if she were a drill sergeant and the children her foot soldiers. Everything had to be washed, scrubbed, polished, folded, organized, or mended. And then, once the task was done, Molly would go along behind whoever had completed it and redo it to her standards. By the afternoon of the day Malfoy was supposed to arrive, the four Weasley children who still lived at home were exhausted, slightly dusty, and more than frustrated with their mothers’ antics.

“I don’t understand why we have to do this much work for someone we don’t even know. It’s not like they’ll care whether there are dust bunnies in the attic or if the linens we haven’t used since Great Aunt Tessies’ time have been starched recently.” Ron, who’s special talent seemed to be always finding something to complain about, was unimpressed with his mums’ overly vigorous hospitality. “Who do you s’pose it is, anyway? It’s got to be someone important if its got Mum in this much of a tizzy, I think.”

“It’s a good thing nobody cares what you think, Ron,” Fred joked, causing the other two siblings to snicker. Ginny could do nothing but grin at Ron’s speculation. Self-important, maybe, she couldn’t help but think.

“Course, thinking would be easier if you actually used your brain once in a long while. It's painful just watching you try, what with the steam coming out of your ears and everything,” George quipped.

 “It’s probably dusty from disuse, clogging gears and all that,” Fred added.

 Ron, although used to his siblings' endless teasing, turned his trademarked shade of puce and stormed up the stairs. A minute later they could all hear the door to his room slam. With wide eyes and far too innocent expressions on their identical faces, Fred and George chimed “Was it something we said?”

“It’s always something you’ve said, Gred,” Ginny shook her head in response. No matter what kind of trouble they caused, her older brothers never failed to make her laugh.

At that particular moment, there were two distinctive pops heard from outside, and their mother came bustling through the living room dishrag and spoon still in her hands. “Now, no matter what, I want you children to be pleasant and welcoming. This boy has been through quite an ordeal, and I won't have you lot putting him through more.” Looking at each of them pointedly to make sure her message had gotten across, she stuffed the two items in a pocket of her apron and opened the door.

“Welcome to our home, dear. I know it’s not much, but you are welcome to anything we have while you stay with us,” she gushed, “Mrs. Malfoy, would you like to come in for a cup of tea before you leave? I know you would most likely want to spend a little more time with your son before you have to go.” The reply was muffled, but it came in the form of an airy, musical, voice that Ginny imagined belonged to a queen. Up until this point, Molly had been standing just outside the door, blocking the view Ginny and her siblings had of their visitors. Now, though, she began to usher them inside, and the children nearly tripped over themselves to get back to their previous spots in an effort to seem as though they weren’t eavesdropping. 

“Did she say Malfoy ?” George whispered. No one had a chance to answer his question, because the regal blonde woman who stepped into the room at just that moment did it for them. No one had hair that blonde unless they were a Malfoy. With it coiled up into an elegant braided bun, it almost looked like a white rose.  When she turned her head slightly towards the living room, Ginny could see high set cheekbones, a delicate nose and mouth, and longer eyelashes than she’d ever seen on a woman. All of this paired with her porcelain skin, blue eyes, and long slender limbs made her look like a china doll come to life. Although the light green dress she was wearing was a simple one, it did nothing to detract from the woman’s looks. Mrs. Narcissa Malfoy was easily the most beautiful woman Ginny had ever seen. Merlin, Morgana, and Circe, I don’t even want to think about what I would look like next to her, and she’s got to be over 40, she cringed inwardly. She vaguely remembered Sirius telling Harry that Draco’s Grandmother had been half veela. Well, at least that’s some excuse, Ginny sighed in jealousy.

 In a rude awakening from what felt like a dream, two large men who were presumably Aurors followed her in. The taller of the two needed to duck to avoid banging his forehead on the door frame. Sandwiched between the two, and looking rather uncomfortable, was none other than Draco Malfoy. Although many said he was the spitting image of his father, Ginny was of the opinion that he looked much more like his mother. The same eyes set into alabaster skin, the same white-blond hair, the same aristocratic nose, and chin tilted into the air with pride. If it weren’t for his jawline being slightly more defined, albeit a little too pointed to suit him, and his lips having less of a feminine curve than his mothers, he would almost look pretty. Looking over and catching her studying him, Draco winked at her as he followed the four adults into the kitchen. Her mouth fell open in disgust. Had he just winked at her?

 Ron had chosen this unfortunate moment to make his entrance to the living room, just as Draco pulled what Ginny was sure he thought was a sexy wink. Much to his dismay, Ron agreed. 

“WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS MALFOY DOING IN MY HOUSE?! GINNY, DID HE JUST WINK AT YOU? WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING FLIRTING WITH HIM? HE’S HARRY’S NEMESIS, AND YOU’RE FLIRTING WITH HIM!” 

“Ronald Bilius Weasley, stop that shouting at once! For one, I will not have that kind of language in what is not, in fact, your house, but MY house . For another, I am sure Draco did no such thing, and while he is a guest in MY house you will treat him with respect! Do I make myself clear?

“But Mum, he’s a filthy Death Eater! He deserves less respect than the scummer stuck in my a-” 

We never found out where the scummer was stuck, because soap suds had come piling out of Ron’s mouth before he could finish his sentence. Molly had had enough of her youngest son’s behavior and had used her favorite, and her children's least favorite, disciplinary spell.

“I told you, I will not have that kind of language in my house. When you are ready to use the manners I raised you with, you can come find me and I will fix your little… predicament,” she chuckled to herself, “but until then you’d better keep your trap shut unless you want suds all down your front.”

“At least now you can wash out all the filth you spew every day. You may think I’m a Death Eater, but at least I have class,” Draco said breezily from his reclined position at the kitchen table. His mother shot him a disapproving look and he sat up slightly straighter. The two men who sat at his side grinned at his immediate obedience, then stopped when she, in turn, glared at them.

Ron tried to respond, but the only result was more and more clouds of soap bubbles shoving their way out of his mouth. Getting angry, his attempts got more aggressive as he tried to tell Draco exactly where he could stick his class, but Molly stopped him.

 “Don’t you dare drip on my floor, I just mopped.”  He shut his mouth with a decisive snap and for the second time that day retreated upstairs with a face redder than his hair. “I am so sorry about his behavior, Ron can be rather hot-headed sometimes.” Looking embarrassed Molly wiped an imaginary smudge off of the table.

“It’s understandable, Mrs. Weasley. Draco has informed me of his and your son’s… disagreements at school. It’s perfectly reasonable that he be uncomfortable with Draco staying here,” Mrs. Malfoy finally spoke up, her voice even more melodic now that they could hear it clearly. “Draco has similar issues with his temper, but I can assure you he will be on his best behavior while he stays here. Right, Draco?” Her tone implied that it was not a request, but a command.

“Of course, Mother.” 

While listening to all of this happen from her position at the door to the kitchen, Ginny just so happened to look over and catch the twins having one of their silent conversations, then just as silently follow their little brother up the stairs. I wonder why they’re not putting up a fuss like Ron… They must be up to something. Ginny had no time to further ponder the twins' schemes because Molly was speaking to her.

“...  and of course you won’t mind that, will you dear?” Her mother looked at her, expecting an answer that she didn’t have.

“I’m sorry, mum, I didn’t catch that. What did you ask?”

“I said that since it doesn’t seem to be the best idea for Draco to room with Ron anymore due to their, er, differences, he’ll have to stay in your room since you have the only other spare bed.” Her mother turned to address Mrs. Malfoy, “It will only be temporary, of course, while we work things around and add a new addition on to the ground floor, and we can add a dividing wall if Draco is uncomfortable sharing a room with a girl…?” Molly trailed off, but the way her voice raised at the end turned it into a question.

“Oh no, I’m not uncomfortable with the opposite sex at all,” Draco replied candidly, sending Ginny a look that could only be described as devilish. His mother smacked him upside the head.

“Of course, I’m sure it will all work out fine.” Mrs. Malfoy said through a tight-lipped smile.

Although she hadn’t been exactly pleased with the sleeping arrangements before now, something less appealing occurred to Ginny that hadn’t previously. “Wait, Mum, you said Luna could stay with us this summer, and she was supposed to sleep in my room. If Ma-, er, Draco is sleeping on my spare, where is she going to sleep?” 

“I’m sorry dear, but since we’ll already have Draco staying, and that's another mouth to feed, I’m afraid we just can’t afford to have Luna over this year.” Although she could tell that her mother was apologetic, Ginny was still furious that she had broken her promise.

“But Mum, you promised she could come this summer! We’ve been planning this for three years, and now it all gets thrown out the window because Ron can’t handle his temper? We all know he’s a little baby,” she caught Draco smirk at that, “but does he really need to be coddled this much? It’s not fair that Ron gets to have Harry over here during the summer all the time, but the one time I get to have a friend stay it’s canceled!”

“Ginny I’m sorry, but there is just no way we can afford it this year! What with the four of you, plus Draco, plus Harry in a week, plus your two oldest brothers coming to stay in August for your birthday, on top of everyone's school expenses this year, we just can’t. You know how tight money’s been lately, if there was any way we could I would, I promise, but we can’t. I’m sorry, love.” Seeing her mother was close to tears Ginny let it go. She knew how much it hurt her mother not to be able to give her and her brothers all the things they wanted.

“I guess it’s alright, Mum, I get it. Like you said, maybe next year, right?” For her mothers' sake, she managed a weak smile. Molly smiled back, though she could tell her daughter was still upset. 

“Maybe I can help.” This came from the tall, lanky Auror that until now had been silent. While his counterpart was built like a boulder, short and broad, this man was more like a tree. Each of his limbs seemed slightly longer than what was proportionate, and no bigger around than Ginny’s were. This was saying something, since she was only about 5 '4, and the man was well on his way to seven feet tall. Another oddity that stuck out to Ginny was that he had an American accent. Odd, because not many Americans became Aurors with the British Ministry of Magic.

“I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t catch your name earlier,” Molly said hesitantly. “And I’m not quite sure how this is a matter the Ministry can help with. More of a family matter you see.”

“I’m Auror Heinemann, but you can just call me Bill,” the Auror replied, “I say I can help because there is a fund for situations just like this. Well, maybe not just like this, but similar enough. I suppose they weren’t taking into account teenage girls and sleepovers, but I’m sure they won’t-” 

Molly interrupted, “If you wouldn't mind getting to the point, Bill?”

He smiled at her use of his name. “I’m talking about the WIZWITSEC fund. It’s an idea borrowed from the American Auror program and just recently implemented. It’s meant to help families who want to help others but maybe don’t have the funds. All it means is that each month you would get an allotment of funds meant to help you deal with the burden of having extra persons in your household.”

“I don’t understand, what is WIZWITSEC?” Draco butted in.

“If you had paid attention during the meeting earlier darling, you would know. It stands for Wizard Witness Security Program, it's for people like us who are in trouble and need to hide. The government helps them in exchange for information,” Narcissa explained. Hearing all of this, Ginny felt a little hope stirring.

“Mum, please? And it would make it easier on you and Dad.” 

Molly thought it over. “Why don’t I make some more tea and we can all sit down and talk about what this would mean and how it would work and all of that lovely business. Ginny, dear, go upstairs and make up the spare in your room while we work this out,” Ginny had nearly tackled her mother in a hug before she even finished the sentence.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!!” After thinking about it for a split second, she gave Bill a brief hug too. “Thank you, sir, this means a lot.”

Under his heavy tan, she could have sworn the man blushed. “Oh, well um, I’m just doing my job, Miss Weasley,” he sounded slightly startled, and Ginny could hear a twang in his voice that hadn’t been there before.

“Ginny, this doesn’t guarantee anything--”

“I know mum, gotta go, bye!” and she was out the door before any of them knew what had happened. As happy as she was, she didn’t even mind having to do extra work.

“Well then, let’s see about that paperwork,” Bill said, still pinkish and smiling slightly.

-----

After a few hours and more than a little paperwork, Molly thought they had gotten the situation sorted quite nicely. They would work on getting the upstairs rooms in the barn fixed up for him to stay there. Although it had once been a hayloft, after being kicked out of the house more than once Mr. Weasley had converted it into a set of rather nice living quarters. It had heat, electricity, and running water. The boy would even have his own loo. The only problem was that her husband was a bit of a pack rat, and nearly every muggle artifact he had ever collected was jammed into the three small rooms. And although Molly was quite serious about keeping her home clean, she rarely ventured up into the Loft. She shuddered to think of the state of things. Yes, it would take a little time to fix the place up. Still, it would be less work than an entirely new addition. In the meantime, Draco would sleep on the spare in Ginny’s room. Once that was all settled and Draco had moved into his new home - even if it was temporary Molly did consider this his home now - Luna would Floo over and spend the last two months of summer vacation with Ginny as planned. I think this will all work out just fine, Molly sighed contentedly.

Moving to look out the window, she saw that Draco and his mother were making their goodbyes in the front yard. From her angle the pair was in profile, and slightly silhouetted by the setting sun. Mrs. Malfoy, ( Narsissa, she told you to call her Narsissa), was speaking to her son in a way that implied she was relaying something important. Something vital. Something he might not get to hear again. The thought made Molly’s heart ache for the boy, and it reminded her that he was only 16. Still a child, really. Now, with everything that had already happened to him, he was also forced to say goodbye to his mother with no idea when, or if, he’d see her again.  She straightened her spine, and resolved to do everything possible to give Draco as much stability and love as she could while he was with them. And Merlin knows, once Molly Weasley decided to do something, even the Heavens themselves could not get in her way. She watched as the pair hugged tightly, and could have sworn Draco’s face was wet as he turned his head. She moved away from the window to give them some privacy. 

Bustling around the kitchen a few minutes later, she heard the front door open, then close again gently. The pops of apparition followed from outside a second later. Turning, she saw Draco standing in the entrance to the kitchen, looking red around the eyes and like he didn’t know what to do with himself. 

Without missing a beat, or acknowledging the tear tracks still on his face, she offered the only thing she could.

“Cuppa tea, dear?”