Terminus Est

Chapter One

"But what is to be done, Dumbledore?" asked Professor McGonagall worriedly.

"We shall send the boy to the Order Headquarters."

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Snape and McGonagall together.

It was two o'clock in the morning, three weeks after the students left Hogwarts for summer break. An owl had come into Albus Dumbledore's office, waking him from his sleep. It contained news of a most confusing manner. Professor McGonagall was at first inclined to be joyous, for one of the most evil Death Eaters had been killed by none other than Remus Lupin. But then there was the boy. What measures would be taken to insure the safety of the now orphaned Draco Malfoy?

Yes, Draco Malfoy. Evil, nasty, scheming, smirking Draco Malfoy. Harry Potter's worst enemy Draco Malfoy.

The son of a Death Eater, sent to live at the headquarters of the Anti-Voldemort movement? With the very werewolf who had killed his father? What could
Dumbledore be thinking?

"Albus, are you quite sure about this?" McGonagall asked him.

"Yes, Minerva, I am quite sure."

Minerva McGonagall could have sworn she saw his eyes twinkle.

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"WHAT?!" exclaimed Draco Malfoy. Snape had to be smoking Billywig stings. Draco's father could not be dead. Draco's father was the evilest of evil Death Eaters. No stupid Order member could kill him, much less a mere werewolf. In addition to that, Snape had just informed him to pack his bags, because he was leaving Malfoy Mansion. Ridiculous, Malfoy Mansion was his! He inherited it from his father. He told Snape that, but the hook nosed professor just looked resigned.

"Yes, Draco, I understand. But you are still an underage wizard, who needs a proper guardian."

"So I can just live with you!" Draco replied, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world.

"That's what I said, but apparently Dumbledore thinks you should go live with Harry Potter."

Draco wondered if he should reserve a bed at St. Mungo's for his apparently mental professor. Harry Potter? Not just Harry Potter, but those awful Muggles he lives with?

Even Dumbledore wouldn't do that to him. But Snape looked awfully serious.

"Dumbledore wants me to live with Muggles?" Draco asked tentatively.

"No, Draco. He wants you to live at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix."

"The what?"

"Order of the Phoenix. The Anti-Voldemort alliance."

Okay, maybe it was Dumbledore who was smoking Billywig stings.

Evil Draco Malfoy, go live with the people who hated everything Draco stood for? Maybe there should be a special "Hogwarts Professors" ward at St. Mungo's.

Snape's voice interrupted Draco's thoughts. "So pack your trunk, Mr. Malfoy, because you're leaving as soon as we can get you an escort."

Bugger.

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"WHAT?!" exclaimed Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and Ginny Weasley.

"But Professor," said Ginny angrily, "You're talking about Draco Malfoy. The boy who hates Harry, makes fun of Ron and me, and calls Hermione a Mudblood! His father is -was- the evilest evil Death Eater that ever was evil! How can he be expected to live at headquarters?!"

"Miss Weasley," said McGonagall, "Please calm yourself. I have no idea what Dumbledore is thinking. But please keep in mind that Dumbledore never does anything without a reason. There has to be an explanation. Just because Dumbledore didn't see fit to inform you of that explanation is no reason to get in a huff."

"But Professor," said Hermione, "Draco can hardly be trusted! What if he escapes, and tells the Death Eaters all of our plans!"

"Perhaps, Miss Granger," said McGonagall, "You can remember that Dumbledore is the secret keeper for the Order. He has also taken many other precautions to ensure the saftey of the Order. Draco couldn't tell the Death Eaters anything."

Hermione swelled up, looking as if she were going to argue back. Then Ron put a restraining hand on her arm and, to everyone's surprise, she sat down, looking sheepish.

"I suppose you're right, Professor. But I just can't help it. It's Malfoy, after all."

"Yes," said McGonagall, somewhat more kindly. "We'll have to learn to put aside our prejudice and try to be kind to Draco."

"Yeah," retorted Ron. "Bloody git that he is."

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Draco took a deep breath. Mad Eye Moody, his escort, handed him a small piece of paper reading "The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix can be found at Number 12, Grimmauld Place, London." As he said the words in his mind appeared. As Moody unlocked the door, Draco prepared for his first encounter with the people he had been taught to hate. Potters, Weasleys, and the obligatory Mudblood.

Throw in a werewolf, assorted Aurors, and a Death Eater turned spy, and he figured any chance of being remotely civil flew right out the window. He was entitled to be angry, wasn't he?

Then Moody opened the door, and Draco walked into the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black.

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Ginny walked into the kitchen. "Ferret Boy is in the house," she announced.

"I heard that, She-Weasel," Malfoy stated, following her into the room.

Ginny blushed hotly. "I...Malfoy...umm...."

"No problem, Weasley, none at all," Malfoy said, clearly amused at her loss for words.

Bloody hell, when had she ever been at a loss for words? Well, in her first year, all Harry had to do was look at her and she wouldn't be able to form a proper sentence for days.

But that was because she fancied him. She didn't fancy Malfoy. Did she? Well, Malfoy was totally hot. Not that she'd ever admit that to anyone else. When he was younger, he looked like a little girl. But he had finally grown into his features, and with all that
platinum blonde hair, his liquid silver eyes, and cheekbones that could cut ice he became every teenage girl's fantasy. Not that she'd ever admit that.

Lost in her thoughts, she was unaware of the fact that she was staring at Malfoy with a particularly pensive look on her face.

"Weasley," Malfoy said, with his trademark Malfoy smirk. "I know I'm hot. But it's disconcerting to have you drooling all down your front. Could you possibly confine your dirty fantasies to the privacy of your own room?"

Ginny blushed again. How dare Malfoy assume she was fantasizing about him? She opened her mouth to make a scathing remark, but Ron beat her to it.

"Malfoy, you bloody git, let's get some rules straight here. You are not to talk to Ginny. You are not to look at Ginny. Cutting to the chase, you so much as bloody breathe in my sister's direction and I will punch that face you're so vain about into a pulp."

Everyone looked surprised, but Malfoy was the first to recover. "Well, Weasel King, I had no idea you thought I was attractive. If you are jealous of the attention I pay to your sister, you could just say so."

Ron looked like he was about to explode. But, in the tradition of the Terrific Trio, Hermione beat him to the punch. Literally. She walked up to Malfoy and smacked him across the face. Harry grinned.

"Bit of deja-vu, huh Malfoy?" Harry said. "Lovely Gryffindor student slaps twitchy ferret with the stick up his arse. Gotta love it."

Ginny stared in horror as the place where Hermione slapped Malfoy quickly turned red. But as she stepped forward to defend him, Malfoy turned to Hermione and said coldly, his face devoid of expression, "Well, Mudblood, you've proved you too can lose your temper. Proud of yourself?" he sarcastically applauded her, clapping his elegant hands. "Yippee, the perfect Gryffindor prefect sinks to my level. Now, if you will excuse me, I'm going upstairs to wherever you people put my trunk."

Ginny stood gaping after him. The thought crossed her mind, unbidden; there goes one really messed up boy.

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Draco raced up the stairs to his room. He finally found the one with his trunk in it, after passing a messy room that had to be Harry and Ron's, and what he assumed was Hermione and Ginny's room, since it had a bra lying across one of the beds. If it yffindors were a very surprising lot. As soon as that thought crossed his mind, he felt guilty.

Why? Why did these people have to make him feel guilty? He was raised to be this way. His father always told him that he was special, he was better. He was a pureblood. But now, after five minutes with the Fantastic Four, he felt like there was something wrong with him.

But he was right. Stupid Mudbloods shouldn't have the right to practice magic, they were practically second class citizens. But now he was questioning everything he had been raised to believe. It felt like an insult to his father. Oh bugger, his father. Who was dead. Draco felt the tears well up in his eyes, and couldn't control them. As awful as his father was to him, the man was still his father. Draco missed him. He sunk onto his bed, and didn't get up for a long time.

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Ginny turned to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, a frightful scowl on her face. It was scary how much she looked like her mother at that moment.

"How dare you!" she said, seething with rage. "That boy's father just died. His whole world's been uprooted, and you three have the nerve to stand there and...and...egg him on! Don't you think he's had enough trouble already?!"

The trio stared at her, identical looks of astonishment on their faces.

"Ginny," Harry said tentatively. "Er...are you okay?"

Ginny looked at him, with utter disbelief on her face. "Am I okay?" she said, her voice strangely calm, then, "AM I OKAY?!" she shouted. "HOW DARE YOU ASK ME THAT! YOU THREE WOULDN'T KNOW TACT OR SYMPATHY IF IT COVERED YOU IN BITS OF PARCHMENT THAT SAID 'WE'RE TACT AND SYMPATHY!' YOU ALL ARE SO CONCERNED WITH HOW EVIL AND AWFUL DRACO MALFOY IS THAT YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT BOY IS GOING THROUGH!"

Harry, Ron and Hermione glanced at one another, looking sheepish.

"HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF YOUR PARENTS UP AND DIED ON YOU? WHO WOULD YOU BE ABLE TO TREAT NICELY?"

Then Ginny looked at Harry. She blushed. " I mean...."she stammered, "Harry, you of all people should know. Look at how you were after Sirius died." At this, Harry flinched. But he didn't say anything, so Ginny continued. "You didn't treat any of us all that well, when all we wanted to do was comfort you. Now imagine if we went out of our way to harass you, while you were going through that. How would you feel?"

Harry looked remorseful. "Okay," he said. "I'll make an effort to be nice to him. Seriously, this time." He and Ginny looked at Ron and Hermione. "Okay," they said together.

Ginny sat down hard in a chair, staring off into space. She just defended Draco Malfoy. Draco Malfoy, who went out of his way to make her life hell. Who teased her mercilessly every chance he got. Who was so stuck up he thought every girl in the world wanted him. She defended him. Someone had definitely spiked her oatmeal.