Family Secrets
By Keara
Part Seventeen
Draco grimaced as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed. It hurt to move.
Still, Madam Pomfrey has said that he was well enough to leave, and so he was
going to leave. He really didn’t want to stay in here any longer than was
necessary. He looked up as the door opened, and he smiled as Ron walked in.
“Hello, Ron.”
Ron smiled back. “Hello, Draco. Madam Pomfrey said that you could go,
right?”
Draco nodded. “To tell the truth, I’m relieved. I know you came to visit
often, but this place is dreadfully dull.”
Ron smirked. “I think it’s supposed to be dull so that any patients will get
well fast just to get out of here.” Ron walked over and helped Draco to stand.
“Anyway...I’m here to bring you to Gryffindor Tower and get you settled
in. You’re supposed to take it easy today before you can return to class, you
know.”
Draco rolled his eyes and sighed. “I’m getting rather sick of being in bed
all the time.” He muttered, taking a moment to be sure he wouldn’t fall over
before he removed himself from Ron’s arms. Not that he didn’t like the feel
of Ron’s arms, it was just that he wanted to actually do something on his own
for a change.
Ron’s eyes softened. “I understand. Look at it this way, though. Things
won’t be as dull as they were here.” He said, offering a smile.
Draco couldn’t help but to smile in return. It was bound to be interesting...Draco, in Gryffindor Dorm...he doubted he would find a single peaceful
moment today. At least it wouldn’t be a tedious day.
“Come on, let’s get it over with...I’m certain I won’t get a warm
welcome from my new house mates.” Draco said, slowly beginning to walk. Moving
hurt, but he had to get used to it again. He held his injured arm close to
himself, frowning when his head began to ache once again.
“I’m sure things will settle down as they get used to you being there.”
Ron said, walking along beside Draco as they left the Hospital Wing.
Draco hoped that Ron was right about that. He was worried that they wouldn’t
get used to him, that they would continue to hate him throughout his stay in
Gryffindor. But he wouldn’t give voice to his fears. No, he didn’t want to
bother Ron with his foolish concerns. It wouldn’t do to worry Ron as well.
They walked quietly to the dormitory. The pace was slow, since Draco still felt
sore and a bit dizzy sometimes...he didn’t want to end up falling down and
have to go back to the Hospital Wing. Draco paid attention as Ron gave the
password to the portrait of a fat lady in pink, knowing that he would need to
know it should he decide to leave any time soon. He didn’t really want to get
stuck outside.
Draco lowered his eyes as he followed Ron into the Common Room. He was aware of
the stares and whispers directed his way, yet refused to look at anyone. No, he
just wanted to get past this, to give everyone time to adjust to his presence.
There was no need to make trouble so early on.
Ron led him upstairs to the boys’ dorm room, showing him where his bed was. He
was grateful to be away from the others, from the way they were all looking at
him. At least up here, he didn’t hear the rumors they were spreading, the
quiet little whispers that they passed back and forth to each other. It wasn’t
until someone spoke to him that Draco finally raised his gaze.
“How are you feeling, Draco?”
Draco blinked as he looked up, surprised to have heard that question coming from
the lips of none other than Harry Potter. “I...I’m okay.” He replied,
deciding it would be best to be civil. True he had never found Potter to be an
agreeable person, but things had changed ...Draco’s entire life had been
upturned...he truly didn’t know what to believe about anything anymore. He
was confused and tired, ready to go to sleep even though it was still early in
the day.
“Here, why don’t you sit down?” Hermione Granger’s familiar voice said,
just as a pair of gentle hands urged him to move, helping him to sit on the edge
of his bed. He vaguely wondered why she was in the boys’ dorm room, but
decided not to question it.
Someone held a glass in his line of sight, and he looked up to see Potter
smiling kindly at him. He took the glass and sipped at the cool water, just
hoping that he wouldn’t drop it. He was feeling quite weary and the dizziness
had returned to him.
“Thank you...but how come you’re both being so nice to me?”
Hermione smiled, and looked as if she were amused with the question. “Because
we think you’re going to need friends.”
Harry nodded. “Besides...I always felt that we could have been friends if
not for the bad start in Diagon Alley.”
Draco ducked his head in embarrassment. “Sorry about that, by the way.”
“Ron was right...you HAVE changed.” Hermione’s voice was tinged with
pleasured awe. “You never apologized for anything before.”
Draco drank some more water and sighed. “I feel I’m going to be doing it a
lot now.” He whispered, not really meaning to say that out loud.
Ron spoke up this time. “Maybe...but you won’t have to stand alone. Now,
I think you should lie down. You’re white as a sheet.” He gently took the
glass from Draco’s hand.
Draco nodded numbly. He wouldn’t put up an argument. He was quite tired. Draco
didn’t know who helped him, but in a matter of moments, Draco was lying in
bed, his robes and shoes having been removed at some point. He still wore his
clothes, probably because of Hermione’s presence, but it didn’t truly matter
to Draco’s weary mind. He simply drifted off to sleep, vaguely feeling as the
covers were brought up over his body.
The next day, Draco found things to be quite different. He awoke in the morning
and he dressed, with Ron’s help anyway. Moving was still difficult since his
body was sore, but he was dead set on going to classes today. He wasn’t so
tired...he could handle it. He found it odd that only he and Ron were in the
dorm when he awoke, but didn’t think about where the other Gryffindors were at
the moment.
He found out just where the others were as soon as he stepped into the Common
Room. All of the sixth year Gryffindors were gathered there in front of him, as
well as a number of students from the other years as well. Draco stepped into
the room nervously, wondering what was going on. Surely there wouldn’t be a
mass beating or anything, he hoped. However, seeing the smirks on Harry and
Hermione’s faces, Draco was left even more confounded. They had been nice to
him yesterday, surely they wouldn’t change their ways so abruptly.
“What’s going on?” Draco asked, feeling uncomfortable under the stares of
the other students. Behind him, Ron stood, laying his hand on Draco’s
shoulder.
“I-Is it true?” Asked Neville Longbottom, after a lingering length of
silence. “You being pregnant...is it true?”
Draco gulped and nervously nodded. Pansy must have spread the word about his
condition. “Yes, it’s quite true.”
The group immediately broke out into whispers. Draco frowned, not liking this.
It was making him uncomfortable. He had the brief urge to turn and run back up
to the dorm, but Ron led him further into the Common Room, sitting him down in a
comfortable chair before joining Harry and Hermione nearby.
“The guys just want to ask a few questions, Draco.” Ron stated, crossing his
arms over his chest. “No one’s going to do anything harmful.”
Draco forced his lips to twist in a small smirk, but felt sure that the
expression could clearly be seen through. “Okay.” He replied quietly,
folding his hands in his lap, not sure what to do.
One of the boys...Seamus Finnigan...took a step forward, biting his lip
before speaking. “What's it like? It's not painful, is it?”
Draco shook his head. “No...it doesn’t hurt. I can’t really explain
what it feels like. Strange, but not uncomfortable...yet. The nausea is
unpleasant, but so far there isn’t anything terrible about it.”
Seamus smiled, apparently satisfied with that answer. The questions continued
from there. After a while, Draco got used to the interrogation. They weren’t
demanding answers, or asking stupid things, but were posing actual well-thought
out inquiries. Draco was more than happy to answer what questions he could. He
had never really expected any Gryffindor other than Ron, Hermione, and Harry to
ever be so...thoughtful, so tolerant of his presence. Things were certainly
looking up for him.