Draco Malfoy, Boy Who Turned Against His Own Father

Chapter 4: Draco's Misery

'Good morning, everyone!' said Harry cheerfully as he stepped into the kitchen.

Mrs Weasley had invited Harry to stay for a few days at the Burrow after he had brought Ron home. And of course, Harry readily agreed. Ever since he left his horrible Muggle relatives, the Dursleys, Harry had been living alone in the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade. Both Mr and Mrs Weasley had offered Harry to live with them as long as he wants, but he had refused, insisting that he wants to be independent and would only stay for a few days, which only makes Mrs Weasley fuss over him even more. She was rather determined that Harry was not eating well, and was resolute to 'feed him up'. Ginny knew that her mum was fond of Harry, but she suspected that her mum was even fonder of him since he brought Ron home. Mrs Weasley showered Harry with increasingly smouldering affection during his visit, not that it was any different than her usual treatment towards Harry. Ginny could remember that once she had questioned herself if her mother loves Harry more than her and her siblings.

'Morning,' greeted everyone else in the kitchen, except Draco, who was standing in a corner of the kitchen, quietly eating his breakfast.

Ever since Harry had defeated Lord Voldemort, he had been cheerful and merry everyday. It was as if the burden he had been carrying for the past seven years of his life had vanished, as if it had never existed. He was no longer moody and depressed, and although everyone else found this new attitude of Harry a great improvement, Ginny could not help but felt alarmed. How could he act as if he did not pass the last seven years living in fear of being killed by Lord Voldemort? How could he act like he had never lost his best friend and father to the forces of evil? How could he act as if he did not just defeat the most fearsome and powerful dark wizard in history? How could he act like he had the happiest life a person could ever hope for? These thoughts swam in Ginny's mind, as she watched Harry, who was smiling brightly.

'Perhaps I am thinking too much,' muttered Ginny to herself. 'It makes sense that he's happy. He's finally had the burden lifted off his back, after all.'

'Did you say something, Ginny?'

'Huh?' Breaking out of her reverie, Ginny smiled, 'Oh, I didn't. You seem happy today, as usual.'

Harry smiled contentedly. 'Why shouldn't I? It's a wonderful morning, and I'm just glad to be here.'

If only Draco was half as cheerful as Harry was, thought Ginny. Not that it was possible, of course. Draco Malfoy, cheerful? The possibility of that happening was about as high as... as the possibility of Hermione being dim-witted. Ha!

'What's so funny, Ginny?' asked Ron.

Ginny shook her head. 'Nothing.'

Her brother gave her a dubious glance, but decided not to pursue further. Ginny smiled to herself, oblivious to the pair of eyes that followed her every movement.

*

Ginny was watching Fred and George, who were trying to test some of the prototype products for their joke shop on the garden gnomes, when Bill stormed into her room. He was clutching a pile of newspapers in his hands, and from what Ginny could see; they were all that day's copies of The Daily Prophet. He forced a smile when she looked at him, but she could see that he was actually very angry by the way his eyes seemed to be ablaze.

'Do you have any copies of The Daily Prophet?' asked Bill, his eyes scanning her room.

'Um, yeah,' replied Ginny, standing up from her seat by the windowsill to walk towards her dresser. 'Fred and George came in and gave me a copy. Why do you want it?'

She gave the newspaper to her eldest brother, and looked at him for an explanation.

Bill looked at her. 'You haven't read the newspaper yet?'

Ginny shook her head. Her brother showed her the front page of The Daily Prophet, and her eyes grew wide as she read the headline: Death Eater Lucius Malfoy To Receive The Kiss. She looked at Bill, and caught a look of pity on his face.

'Does he know?' she asked, when she found her voice.

'Hopefully not,' said Bill. 'That's why I'm looking for all the copies of The Daily Prophet in the house.'

'Did Fred and George...?'

Even without Bill's reply, Ginny already knew the truth. Her twin brothers had intentionally left copies of the newspaper around in the house so that Draco Malfoy would see the headline. She could not believe how cruel her brothers were being. Was it revenge? Was it because of the fight? Ginny did not like Draco either, but she would never do anything like that.

'I am going to kill them,' Bill hissed angrily. 'No, Mum will kill them first if she finds out.'

'How could they...?'

She did not finish her sentence, but her brother knew what she meant. A tear rolled down her left cheek, and another rapidly followed. Ginny wiped her tears off hastily, not wanting her brother to see them. She never thought she would cry for Draco Malfoy. It was the first time she shed tears for the boy she considered her enemy. It would not be the last time.

*

Draco sat on the bed, and for the first time since he came to The Burrow, scarcely noticed the unfamiliar bouncy spring of the bed. He stared at the newspaper that had been pushed into the room from underneath the bedroom door twenty minutes ago. Someone had folded the newspaper into half, and had strategically left the top part of the newspaper facing upwards, just so that the words in the headline would be seen clearly.

Death Eater Lucius Malfoy To Receive The Kiss.

'Just eight words,' Draco muttered bitterly to himself. 'Merely eight words can ruin lives.'

He thought of his mother, who was in St. Mungo's. How would she react? Then, he thought of himself. Would his life be better from now on? Or worse? Many more questions grilled his mind, and Draco sat numbly on the bed, still staring at the newspaper. He would not, dared not go near the newspaper. He did not want to know more. It was too much. It was much more easier to sit there, and pretend that he was dreaming, and that he would wake up to his usual life. But Draco knew that he was not dreaming, and that the headline of the newspaper was indeed true, and that he was about to lose his father forever.

'Damn you, Father!' he cursed. 'Why should I care about you, you heartless bastard?'

Draco cursed and swore vehemently, but inside, his heart was bleeding.

*

'Fred! George! What the HELL did you two think you were doing?' Bill growled angrily, waving a copy of The Daily Prophet before his twin brothers.

Harry and Ron stared curiously at Bill, both wondering what Fred and George had done. They were used to the twins playing all sorts of pranks and jokes, even on Bill, but they have never seen Bill so angry before. Bill has always been cool, calm and collected. No matter how hard Ron tried, he could not recall a time when his eldest brother has been this angry.

'We didn't do anything,' said Fred, feigning innocence. His twin put on a mask of innocence as well.

Needless to say, Bill was not fooled. He had, after all, seen them grow up. He knew when his brothers were up to mischief. He also knew that 'We-claim-we're-innocent-but-we're-not' look. It is a bit hard to forget a look that you have seen on an almost daily basis for around two decades or so of your life.

'What's wrong, Bill?' asked Ron. 'I'm sure whatever Fred and George did, it's not that serious.'

'Yeah,' Harry chipped in. He had always enjoyed the twins' jokes. 'I'm sure it was harmless.'

Bill suddenly turned to Harry, and snapped, 'Oh, are you sure?' Seeing the alarmed look on Harry's face, he sighed. 'I'm sorry, Harry, but this time, those two have gone too far.'

George chortled, 'C'mon, Bill. It's not like he doesn't deserve it.'

'Deserve it? Are you out of your mind?' roared Bill.

'No, we're not,' said Fred grimly. 'This isn't a joke, Bill. We're serious. We don't want him in the house, but we let him anyway. But does he appreciate it? Huh?'

Bill let out another sigh. 'Boys, I know how you feel, but this is not the way to go about it.'

'No? Then what should we do? Shower him with affection? Tend to his every need? Oh yes, I'm sure that's the best way to go about it,' said George sarcastically.

Bill merely looked at his brothers; he knows that they do not understand, and they would refuse to even listen if he tries to explain. He shook his head in dismay and left. Fred and George, who were both fuming, turned the other way and left, too. Harry and Ron could only stare after them, confused by what had just happened. Neither Harry nor Ron had seen Bill and the twins so angry at each other before.

'Boy, they were really angry,' commented Ron after a short silence.

The copy of The Daily Prophet that Bill had brought with him was on the grass by Harry's feet. Harry bent down, and picked it up. When Harry started reading the newspaper, Ron leant over so he could see what was on the newspaper too.

'Fred and George left copies of The Daily Prophet all over the house so Malfoy could see it,' said a voice suddenly. It was Ginny. She had followed her eldest brother into the garden, and watched quietly as he fought with Fred and George.

To both Harry's and Ginny's surprise, Ron laughed. 'That's what they did? This is why Bill is so angry about?'

'What is so funny, Ron?'

Ron looked at his sister. 'Don't you think this is funny? Imagine the look on Malfoy's face when he sees this all over the house!'

'You are cruel,' said Ginny slowly, narrowing her eyes at him. 'You are mean, Ronald Weasley.'

Ron was taken aback. Was his sister, his own sister, accusing him of being cruel? Was she taking Draco Malfoy's side? He looked at her, her eyes full of accusations.

'Hey, that's not fair!' he protested. 'I'm not mean, or cruel! Compare me to Malfoy, and I'm practically a saint!'

Ginny merely said, 'That's no excuse, Ron. You are spiteful.'

Ron snorted, 'Now I'm spiteful too? Anything else?' Then, he turned to Harry, 'Talk some sense into her, Harry.'

Much to his dismay and great shock, Harry shook his head.

'I agree with Ginny. You should not think that what Fred and George had done is funny,' said Harry, his eyebrows knitted into a worry knot.

'Wh-what? You too?' spluttered Ron.

Harry looked at his best friend with a slight frown. 'Just because you don't like Malfoy, doesn't mean that you have to be happy about his suffering. Hasn't this war with Voldemort teach you anything?'

'Teach me what?' Ron asked in a bewildered tone. 'That if you lost all your evil power once, and you try to resurrect your power, you'll come back as a hideous monster with no hair?'

'C'mon, Harry. He'll never understand,' said Ginny, shooting a glare at her brother. 'Let's go.'

With that, the two of them left Ron alone to puzzle over what he had done wrong. He stared at their backs stupidly, still baffled over what had just happened.

'Why is everyone so angry today? What did I do?'