A Family Affair

Mrs. Jaffe insisted on letting Draco sleep for as long as he wanted. She knew first hand how draining jetlag could be and that uninterrupted sleep would cure it faster than anything. After a couple of days in which he spent more time asleep than awake, Draco began to wonder if his insomnia might be a thing of the past.

The little time that Draco managed to stay awake the first few days he was with the Jaffe's were spent learning first hand about Muggle Artefacts. The boy was rather impressed with television and video recordings, and he quickly discovered an aptitude for video games that delighted Chris. Draco's favourite piece of Muggle technology, however, was Chris' CD player. He spent hours listening to any kind of Muggle music he could find, often so caught up in listening that Chris would have to physically shake him to get his attention.

By Friday, when Bill headed back home, Draco was becoming quite familiar with his new surroundings. He had always been a quick study, especially in anything that caught his fancy.

Draco accompanied Karen and Chris to the airport to drop off Bill. Afterwards, the trio made their way to a shopping mall to put together Draco's Muggle wardrobe.

The shops in Houston were a far cry from the ones in Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley. Where the wizard shops were ancient brick and wood buildings, the Muggle stores were metal, glass, cinderblock, and sheetrock. The modern structures had none of the personality of the rambling old buildings that housed the wizarding shops.

Chris dragged his mother and Draco through the crowd of Muggles in the shopping mall in search of a particular clothing store. Draco followed slowly, looking around in interest at the various oddments in the shop windows and at all the Muggles.

"You look like a freakin' tourist," Chris complained, irritated at having to circle back for Draco yet again.

Draco said nothing. He merely fixed Chris with his trademark scowl and resumed his window-shopping.

"Come on, man. It's just right there," Chris said, pointing at a nearby storefront.

Sighing, Draco turned his eyes away from the katana he had been studying and followed Chris to the store. Chris was already among the racks of clothing as Draco stepped into the shop, his brows immediately drawing down into a frown. Draco hadn't realised that Muggle apparel was so... garish. Everything in the shop seemed to be brightly coloured and very shiny. It made his eyes hurt.

His frown deepening into another scowl, Draco wound his way through the store to where Karen and Chris were discussing what Draco could only term an abomination. The shirt Chris was holding up was very similar to a normal tee shirt, but it was gold and so shiny Draco was certain he could see his reflection in it.

Karen, Draco was pleased to note, was telling Chris that he did not need to purchase the shirt. In fact, she was pleading with him to go to a 'normal' store. Looking disgruntled, Chris let his mom lead them out of the over-bright shop and down the way to one that was much more sedate.

In the second shop, the selections were much more like the casual clothing Draco had worn back home. Of course, the logos and pictures on the clothing didn't move, and they weren't enchanted for temperature control or to stay free of wrinkles, but at least the colours and fabrics weren't gaudy.

After hours of searching, choosing, trying on, discarding, and starting all over again, the trio left the mall laden with purchases. During the process, Draco had learned a great deal about Muggle money, and had been very glad to learn that his pocket money had converted to a fairly sizable amount of U.S. currency. The girl operating the cash register in the clothing store hadn't seemed at all vexed by Draco's confusion over the money. His uncertainty had been chalked up to his being 'from overseas' and the young woman had giggled every time he spoke, delighted by his accent. Draco had turned on the infamous Malfoy charm to which the girl was quite obviously not immune.

Chris and Draco were still chuckling over the incident as they walked back to the car.

"One more smile from you and she'd have been asking you to marry her!" Chris laughed.

Draco merely smirked.

"You so could have gotten laid," Chris said, lowering his voice so his mom wouldn't hear.

Draco wrinkled his nose up in disgust. The girl was a Muggle, for one thing. Deciding against trying to explain that particular aversion to Chris, Draco said the first thing that came to mind: "She was much too thin."

"Are you kidding? She was hot."

"Women are supposed to have curves, Chris," Draco insisted. He recalled the way the flight attendant had looked - tall, slender but not skinny, well placed curves - and he smiled to himself.

"Your taste in women is probably as bad as your taste in clothes, Mikey," Chris jibed.

Draco's eyes narrowed to emerald slits. "I have impeccable taste, thank you. And if you ever call me 'Mikey' again I shall kill you in your sleep."

Chris thought that Draco was merely joking, until he glanced up and caught the hard look in the boy's eyes. At that point, he knew that the other boy was deadly serious. As he climbed into the front passenger seat of his mom's car, Chris' foremost thought was that the following weekend could not come fast enough. Eight more days and the incredibly weird kid his dad had brought home would be placed with a foster family, and he would be out of Chris' life forever.

************

To the delight of both Chris and Draco - and to Karen's dismay - the next week flew by. On Friday night, one week after Bill's departure, Karen helped Draco fold his newly acquired clothing and pack it into boxes. The next day he would be meeting his foster family.

That night, Draco's insomnia returned with a vengeance. He tossed and turned for hours, finally falling into a fitful sleep just as the sun began to peek over the horizon. When the alarm clock began shrilling a scant two hours later, Draco picked the offending object up and hurled it across the room before burying his head beneath the pillow and trying to go back to sleep.

Less than a full minute later, there was a gentle knock on the door.

"Are you all right in there?" Karen called.

Bleary eyed and grumpy, Draco tossed the pillow aside. "Yes," he answered shortly. After lying on his back staring at the ceiling for a few minutes, he climbed out of bed and headed for the shower.

Over breakfast, Nathan briefed him again on the people he would be meeting.

"Danny and Jill are good people, Michael. I think you'll get on fine with them," Mr. Jaffe said as he buttered his toast. "They have two adopted children. There's a little boy who I believe is about six years old and there is a girl about your age - Kaitlyn, I think her name is."

Draco munched on his marmalade toast and tried to digest the information. He didn't want to admit it, even to himself, but he was nervous.

"Do they know about me?" he asked.

Nathan blinked at the boy. "You mean do they know you're a wizard?" Draco nodded. "No, no. They know nothing of wizards. They think you're really Michael Talbot - a boy with dual citizenship whose parents were killed in a horrible accident. Nothing more."

Draco merely nodded again.

***************

Not long after breakfast the doorbell rang. Draco rose from his seat in the living room, looking coolly poised and feeling anything but. When Karen ushered Mr. and Mrs. O'Brian and their daughter into the living room, Chris leaped to his feet.

"Hey Katie," he said shyly.

The girl looked a bit dismayed at being addressed by Chris Jaffe. "Hey," she said shortly.

Draco fought down a nervous impulse to push his hair behind his ears as Karen brought Jill and Dan over to meet him. Jill, a tall, slender woman, was dressed in slacks and a soft-looking jumper - sweater, Draco reminded himself mentally. The man beside her was only an inch or so taller than his wife. He was broad shouldered and clean cut. He, too, was wearing slacks, but instead of a sweater he was dressed in a long-sleeved henley. The couple were the picture of understated casual elegance.

"So you're Michael," Jill said with a smile as she shook his hand with one delicate long-fingered hand. "I'm Jill O'Brian. This is Dan. The sulking reprobate over there is our daughter, Kaitlyn." There was a hint of mischief in the brilliant sapphire eyes that met Draco's.

"I'm very pleased to meet you, Mrs. O'Brian," he returned politely.

To his surprise, Jill rolled her eyes. "None of that," she scolded gently. "I'm just Jill."

"And for that matter, Mr. O'Brian is my dad. I'm Dan, or Danny," her husband said, shaking Draco's hand. "We're looking forward to having you stay with us, Michael."

"Thank you, sir."

"Kaitlyn, come and say hello," Mrs. O'Brian said.

Kaitlyn O'Brian strode across the room to stand before Draco. Like Mrs. O'Brian, Kaitlyn was tall for a girl, being just an inch or two away from eye-level with Draco. Rather than being willowy, however, she had a more athletic build. Unlike her adoptive parents, Kaitlyn was dressed simply, in slightly baggy jeans, heavy lace-up boots, and a tee shirt topped with an oversized flannel button up shirt. Her cropped auburn hair looked as if she had forgotten to brush it.

Standing before Draco, Kaitlyn eyed him critically. Her eyes travelled from his new black loafers up over his well-cut slacks and oxford shirt to settle at last on his face. Nodding slightly to herself, she extended her hand. "Kaitlyn," she said. "Or Kate. If you ever call me 'Katie', I will eviscerate you." Her eyes flickered to Chris and then back to Draco.

"Kaitlyn!" Jill cried.

Draco took Kaitlyn's hand in his and shook it, a smile curling one side of his mouth ever so slightly. "Duly noted," he said. "Same goes if you ever call me 'Mikey'."

Kaitlyn laughed then. 'In spite of his preppy clothes, this kid just might be okay,' she thought. "Welcome to the family, Michael," she said.

*****************

"This is the den," Kaitlyn said, continuing the grand tour of the O'Brian home. Draco stepped into the room behind her and his eyes fell immediately on the upright piano situated at the far end of the den. He crossed the room to touch the instrument almost reverently.

"Mom teaches piano lessons," Kaitlyn explained. "She tried to teach me, but I don't have the patience to learn. Do you play?"

Draco nodded. "Not that well, but yes, I do."

Kaitlyn raised the cover to expose the ebony and ivory keys. "Show me," she said with a grin.

"No... I..."

"Coward," she shot.

Green eyes narrowed to slivers. With feline grace, he rounded the piano bench and sat down. He paused a moment with his eyes closed and his fingers poised above the keys. Then he began to play.

"I love that song," Kaitlyn whispered breathlessly. She had been expecting Bach or some other classical piece. Hearing a current pop song coming from the old upright was quite a surprise.

As the last notes of the song died away, Draco sat frowning down at the keys.

"What's wrong?" Kaitlyn asked, nudging him over to sit beside him on the bench.

"It wasn't quite right," he said.

"It sounded right to me," she insisted.

"It wasn't. It's been a while since I heard the song, though. I'll have to hear it again to work it out."

"Wait a second...are you saying you know how to play that song from listening to it on the radio?"

Draco gave her a quizzical look. "Of course," he said.

"Of course," Kaitlyn repeated, rolling her eyes. "You say that like everyone can do it. Mom can, sometimes, but she says it's pretty hard to do."

Draco shrugged.

"You play very well, Michael," Jill said from somewhere behind him. Draco turned to see her standing in the open doorway, smiling at him.

"Thank you," he said. "Mother taught me when I was very small."

Uncomfortable with the sadness in the boy's voice, Kaitlyn nudged his shoulder. "Come on, Mikey," she teased. "Time to finish the tour."

Grinning wryly at her jest, he closed the keyboard cover and let her lead him away.

*********

"This is my room," Kaitlyn said, tapping on a door bearing a sign reading "Danger: Keep Out". "Heed the sign. Adam's room is across the hall. And this is your room," she concluded, throwing open the door to the room adjacent to her own.

The bedroom was much like the one at the Jaffe house, comfortable and neat with a large bed and very little to give it any real personality. Unlike the Jaffe's guest room, there was no bathroom connected to it. Since the room on the other side belonged to Kaitlyn, Draco was certain that could only be a good thing.

Her tour complete, Kaitlyn helped Draco fetch his boxes from the car, and then left him alone to unpack and settle in.

Overwhelmed by the situation he had landed in, Draco sprawled on the bed and stared at the ceiling. He lay there for a long time, feeling lost and a bit hopeless. Without the aegis of the Malfoy name, without Crabbe and Goyle for backup, and without the ever-watchful Professor Snape to guide him, he felt powerless. It was not a good feeling.

**********

Monday came all too quickly, and Draco found himself sitting in a hard chair in the main office of the local high school. A sheaf of paperwork and numerous pointless tests later, Michael Talbot was officially a student in the Lufkin Independent School District. The thought did not exactly thrill him.

The next morning he began attending classes. The subject matter bored or vexed him by turn, and he wished fervently that he could be back at Hogwarts learning Arithmancy and potion brewing. He missed the classes, he missed his friends, and he missed his professors. Hell, he even missed Potter and Weasley. American public high school was nothing short of dull.

The teachers were happy to have the intelligent, attentive boy in their classes. Draco was an excellent student. The other teenagers, however, were not so thrilled with his presence. Most of them had grown up in the same small town they now lived in and were xenophobic at best. Very few of the students were willing to get to know the 'foreign' boy.

Still, Draco managed to get through the days at school without too much trouble. At night and on the weekends he played Jill's piano, played chess with Dan, or hung out with Kate and her weird friends. He didn't really fit in with the O'Brians or with Kaitlyn's crowd, but they accepted him, and so in turn he accepted them as well.

And so the days turned into weeks, and the weeks drifted by....

***************

Within two weeks of Draco Malfoy's mysterious disappearance, Lucius had given up the search for his son. He knew that meddlesome old fool Dumbledore was somehow responsible, but he had more immediate concerns. Somehow, Lucius Malfoy had to get back into the Dark Lord's good graces.

"My Lord," he said to the man-thing called Voldemort. "There is no trace of Draco anywhere. There is, however, an alternative. It will take time, but I beg you to let me show my faithfulness to you, My Lord," he grovelled.

Lucius was, of course, punished for letting his son slip away and ruin Voldemort's plans. In the end however, Malfoy's suggested alternative was accepted, and the new plan was put into action.