Dragon and Angel

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

SLYTHERIN'S

Sunday rolled around much too fast, for Draco's comfort. He and Ginny had spent the last few days with the children. They had done everything together, from taking a simple walk to shopping in Diagon Alley. Well, Ginny and Angel shopped while Draco and Drake perused Quality Quidditch Supplies for the duration.

Now, he was eating breakfast at home, contemplating what might happen today. He knew very well Ginny's brothers would not be happy to see him and he could be subjected to some pretty harsh words, if not actions at their hands. Due at the Burrow by eleven, he still had a few hours up his sleeve to formulate his plans of retaliation for as many scenarios as he could imagine. He knew whatever he came up with would never be enough, not against a predominantly male family of that size. The thing was, over the last few days he had begun to realize whatever it was Ginny's brothers dealt him, he would deserve it and some. He was responsible for getting their baby sister pregnant and whether he knew about it or not, was irrelevant. Draco had begun to think about how he would react if it were Angel who was in Ginny's position and the thoughts that ran through his head at times, were frightening, even to him.

He sat with the Daily Prophet open in front of him, not really seeing the print on the paper. The morning was moving away quite swiftly -- too swiftly for his liking.

"What time are you due at the Weasleys?" enquired Lucius.

"Eleven, Father."

"Worried?"

Draco gave up the pretence of reading the newspaper and gave his full attention to his father. "A little. It is a large family of wizards."

"You have a plan?"

"A few, depending on the scenario, but I don't know if I should retaliate. I mean, if it were Angel, I'd kill the bastard that touched her and I would expect Drake to feel the same."

"You're a father," Lucius told him with pride. It was the first time he'd heard Draco express any form of paternal thought and to hear this now was a great relief. He had begun to think his son saw his children as mere playthings.

"Yes, I know."

"Daunting?"

"A little."

"Some advice -- get through today in one piece, with your dignity intact for the sake of your children. I doubt they will try anything too severe, with the children around. If they do, I cannot imagine Miss Weasley taking terribly kindly to their antics. I for one would not want to be on the receiving end of that woman's temper." Lucius smiled at his son. Today would be very important to any future relationship Draco had with his children, and it was vital that it go well, for his sake as well as theirs.

"Thank you, Father. I'm sure I'm worrying about nothing and you're right about Gin's temper, not a good thing to be on the receiving end of." Draco smiled in return. He well remembered all the times through school he had received the full brunt of her force.

"Darling, why don't you take some roses for Mrs. Weasley? I believe the pink blooms are stunning this morning?" Narcissa suggested.

"Thank you, Mother."

"Wonderful! I'll have Millie prepare them." Narcissa drifted from the room to arrange the flowers.

All too soon it was ten forty-five and time to leave the safety of the Manor, to face the unknown at the Burrow. Draco was standing in the foyer with his traveling cloak on and flowers in hand ready to go. He could not think of another thing to delay his departure.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ginny was helping Molly in the kitchen, with the preparations for lunch. She had been quite agitated all morning and with due cause. Ron would be back soon, from picking up Pansy. Draco was due at eleven. The rest of her brothers, their wives and children would be arriving around the same time. So much could go wrong. All she wanted was for everyone to get along with Draco and leave them to develop their relationship further.

The past few days had been wonderful. Most of the time it had just been the four of them, but sometimes Molly or Narcissa would be with them as well, depending on where they spent the day. Ginny was beginning to think that Draco was right about Drake though. It seemed that every time they got within a foot of each other he would pop up and remind Draco that he was watching. The child must have a sixth sense.

"Dear, is everything all right?" Molly's tone indicated her concern.

"Fine, Mum." Ginny forced a small smile at her.

"Ginny?"

"What if the boys--"

"I've spoken to each of them and explained the whole situation. They all know Draco didn't know about the twins. Plus I've warned them not to attempt any of their high jinks or they'll have me to deal with."

"That's not stopped them in the past."

"This is different and all the children will be around, so it's unlikely any of them will get the chance to pull any stunts."

"I guess--"

"Well, they'll start arriving soon. I think we're all done in here, for now."

It's almost ten thirty, another half an hour of peace. Ginny had barely finished her thought, when she heard people arriving in the front room, via the Floo network. As she went to walk through, to greet her family, the back door was flung open by Ron, who was followed inside by Pansy.

"Ginny, I haven't seen you in ages!" Pansy greeted the younger witch with a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Yeah, I've been busy."

"How busy?" Pansy asked cheekily quirking her eyebrows up.

"Not that busy." Ginny giggled as she playfully slapped Pansy's arm.

"I should hope not!" Ron interjected angrily. "If that slimy little ferret thinks, for one minute, that he can lay his hands on you he's--"

"Ron!" Ginny felt she needed to put a stop to this attitude right now. "I am a grown woman and I'm quite capable of making my own decisions. If I chose to shag the entire Puddlemere United team, there's not a thing you could do about it!"

Ron stared at her. He was bright red in the face, his mouth flapping open and shut, unable to articulate what was going through his mind.

"You know, he'd have less of a problem if it were the Chudley Canons you were going to shag, Gin," George said from the doorway.

"As long as they didn't lose afterwards," Fred added with a chuckle.

"What-- I-- you--" Ron spluttered, absolutely beside himself with rage.

"I think, I'll take him for a walk. See if I can't calm him down a bit," Pansy suggested quietly as she took Ron's arm and began to lead him out of the kitchen.

"Has he been like that all week?" Fred tossed his head in the direction of Ron's departing back.

"Yeah, every time we see each other," Ginny responded. Thankfully, she hadn't run into Ron to often that week, she was either out with Draco or Ron was off with Pansy somewhere, but every time they did come face to face an argument had ensued.

"Morning everyone!" Harry called as he walked through the back door.

Various mutterings of 'morning Harry, Hermione' followed from the ever-increasing occupants of the Weasley kitchen.

"What's up with Ron and Pansy?" Harry had noticed them on the other side of the yard talking intently.

"Malfoy!" Fred supplied for him.

"Oh." Harry had listened to Ron rant and rave about the man all week. No amount of telling him that it wasn't any of his business, seemed to help.

"All right boys, can you set up the outside table? I think we might eat out there seeing as the sun is warm today." Molly started issuing orders as she walked into the kitchen, after thoroughly greeting each and every one of her grandchildren.

"Right, Mum. Come on boys, let's get it done," Bill said as he took charge.

The men filed out into the back yard and began to levitate garden furniture from the barn. Ron slowly wandered over, after Pansy had calmed him down a little.

"You're going to hold that temper down when he gets here, right?" Bill asked his youngest brother as he clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"It's Malfoy, Bill," Ron protested.

"Listen, little brother. It's Gin's choice. Mum said she really likes him and, slimy git or not, we have to accept it. All right?"

"I know all that, but-- Malfoy?"

"Ron, you know what Mum said."

"Yeah, yeah-- she doesn't want to see us do anything to him." Ron gave Bill a look worthy of any Slytherin.

"Yeah, but I'd be really careful, if I were you. He's a friend of Pansy's, isn't he?" Bill said as he watched his wife, Fleur, walk into the yard talking animatedly to Pansy Parkinson. "Sure you could live on rations, mate?"

"She wouldn't, it'd kill her to go without."

"Don't be so sure, mate. Women have evil ways."

The yard was now filling fast with Weasleys, as everyone moved outside into the sunshine. The adults took up residence around the long table with the babies and the older children ran around the yard yelling to each other. Ginny was watching the road leading to the Burrow intently, waiting for Draco to show.

"Hey, Gin! How's it going?" Charlie said as he dropped himself in the chair next to her.

"Hi, Charlie," Ginny responded warmly.

"So, you been seeing a lot of Malfoy, then?" Charlie already knew the answer, having been fully filled in by his mother.

"Yeah, it's been good." Ginny she knew of all her brothers that she could count on Charlie and Bill to support whatever decision she made, despite how they might feel personally.

"Good, so long as it keeps going that way."

Ginny smiled warmly at him as he drew her into a warm hug.

"You know, we just want you to be happy."

"I know."

"Daddy!" Angel shrieked as she took off down the road towards Draco.

"I'd better go meet him, before Ron gets any ideas."

Angel had run all the way to Draco. He had picked her up and was now carrying her towards Ginny.

"Good morning," Ginny said smiling brightly, belying her true feelings.

"Morning, beautiful." Draco leaned in to place a chaste kiss on her lips.

"Are you ready?"

"Not really, but lets get it over with."

"Mum has warned all of them to behave," Ginny told him. "But whether they do or not, remains to be seen."

"It's fine, Gin. I can handle anything they dish out," he assured her with false bravado. "Where's Drake?"

"He's fighting with Beau," Angel said matter-of-factly.

"He's what?" Draco looked questioningly at Ginny.

"It's all right. They wrestle whenever they get together, it's all in good fun." Ginny couldn't help but laugh at the expression on his face.

"Who is Beau?" Draco asked.

"Bill's son, he's six this year."

Molly and Arthur had walked as far as the edge of the yard to greet Draco.

"Draco, lovely to see again," Molly exclaimed.

"Mrs. Weasley, err-- These are for you. Mother thought you might enjoy them." Draco passed her the large bunch of roses.

"How beautiful! Well, be sure to thank your mother for the kind thought."

"I will. Mr. Weasley, sir." Draco offered his hand to the older wizard.

"Draco, hope you're ready for this." Arthur smiled knowingly at him. Merlin only knew what his boys might get up to.

"Absolutely, been looking forward to it." Draco embellished the truth for the sake of politeness.

As they walked closer to the house all eyes were on Draco. Each member of the family was waiting for someone else to make the first move.

"Daddy!" Drake threw his arms around Draco's legs.

"Hey, Drake." Draco greeted him with a ruffle of his hair and put Angel on her feet beside him.

"Umm-- You all remember Draco." Ginny sounded a little nervous as she clutched his hand. "Draco, this is Bill, his wife Fleur and children Beau, Courtney and Eloise. This is Charlie and Anya and their kids are Matthew, Colin, Declan and Jelena is the cutie Mum's got. You remember Percy and Penelope; their children are Britany and Aiden. Fred and Angelina you would know, their twins are right there, Harley and Ramsey. George married Katie and this little cutie in Alastair. Of course you know Ron, Pansy, Harry and Hermione. I think that's everyone."

Ginny had rattled all their names off so quickly, Draco couldn't possibly keep up. There were so many children and by the looks of it a few more were about to enter the family. All of a sudden Bill was standing in front of him with his hand outstretched. As Draco shook it, he noticed Bill's grip was a bit firmer than was probably necessary.

"Draco, welcome to the Burrow, mate." Bill smiled warmly at him.

"Yeah, thanks." Draco smirked. He wasn't about to let Ginny's oldest brother know he was crushing his hand.

"Why don't you come and take a seat?" Bill led Draco around the table to a vacant seat near him.

"Draco." Charlie stood near his chair offering his hand.

"Charlie, right?" Draco said smiling.

"That's right, mate," Charlie said as his grip tightened on Draco's hand.

Charlie, that's right he's the Care of Magical Creatures Professor at Hogwarts and he used to be a dragon keeper, Draco thought. No bloody wonder he's got a good grip.

"You're working for Malfoy Holdings, Draco?" Percy asked in his usual pompous tone.

"Yeah, I work there. You're at the ministry, right?" Draco replied smirking at him.

"Mmm-- Still there. We're watching you." Percy informed him; as if this were something he didn't know.

"We are aware of that, but you should be aware that you are wasting your time. There are no illegal dealings going on at Malfoy Holdings, or any other company we have interests in," Draco informed him in his best superior tone.

"Yes well, we'll see about that." Percy was quite disgruntled that he was unable to get a rise out of him.

"Percy, do you need someone to keep a closer eye on the ferret, do you?" Ron asked from the other end of the table.

"Ron!" The voices of Molly, Pansy and Ginny came down the table all at once.

Despite the warning he still sneered at Draco. He had at least gotten one dig in.

Lunch was served shortly afterwards and Draco very quickly learnt with this many people around, if you hesitated you missed out. He had enough to eat, but it astonished him to see how fast the large dishes of food were disappearing.

During lunch, Draco discovered that Bill's wife Fleur was due to have her fourth baby in about a month and Katie, George's wife, was due with twins at any tick of the clock. There was also an announcement as everyone finished eating.

Fred got to his feet and yelled for a bit of quiet. "Okay guys! Angelina and I have got something we'd like to say."

"Get on with it, Fred," George complained.

"All right! We are expecting our third child in September."

Molly was straight to her feet. She embraced Fred and Angelina with tears of joy streaming down her face. Then as the men in the family dragged Fred away she began questioning the younger witch on her health and giving out advice. All the wizards were slapping Fred on the back and passing out the congratulations like there was no tomorrow. Merlin, thought Draco, you'd think he was the only wizard to ever impregnate his wife! This lot should be used to it by now.

After the lunch dishes had been cleared by the women everyone returned to the table, to sit back and talk. Angel had taken up residence on Draco's knee. He was discussing the nature of different dragons with Charlie.

Drake sidled up beside his father. "Daddy, can we go flying today?"

"No, Drake. There will be no brooms today, understood?" Ginny answered for him.

"Sorry, mate. We'll have to see if we can't convince Mummy to let us get the brooms out next week," Draco said as he wrapped his arm around Drake's shoulders. "Hey, did you ever ask your Uncle Ron what he thinks of Slytherin's?"

"No, I haven't."

"Now might be a good time." Draco winked at him.

"Okay." Drake left his father's side and walked to where Ron was sitting with Pansy draped over him.

"Uncle Ron?"

"Yeah, mate."

"Uncle Ron, what are Slytherin's like?" Drake smirked at his uncle.

"What?" Ron paled at the thought of revealing his true feelings about his old rival schoolhouse, especially with his girlfriend on his knee.

"Can you tell me what you think of Slytherin's?" Drake rephrased his question.

"Slytherin's-- well, let's see-- they're beautiful people, smart too." Ron smiled broadly in Pansy's direction before leaning forward to place a kiss on her nose.

"But that's not what you said before."

"Sure it is, mate."

"No. You said all Slytherin's are slimy little gits and bouncing ferrets."

"No, no mate you've got it wrong." Ron's face had begun to color.

"RONALD WEASLEY!" Pansy leapt from his knee and stood over the reddening wizard.

Draco merely sat back and enjoyed the show. As Pansy tore into Ron verbally, he observed that her temper certainly hadn't mellowed since school. She marched Ron across the yard and around the side of the house for a bit of privacy, where she continued to tear him apart. Such a shame everyone could still hear her.

Looking up the table Draco noticed Molly Weasley looking directly at him with a mischievous glint in her eye. She knew it was him that set Ron up. He could do nothing more than smile sheepishly at her and hope it would be enough to exonerate any wrong doing on his part. Molly smiled and nodded when she saw the guilty expression flick across his face. Ron had been needling Draco since he arrived and unless Draco stood up for himself now Ron would continue, relentlessly. She hoped this would be enough to keep her son's mouth shut for the rest of the day, at least. Of course, she knew Ron would seek revenge, eventually.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*