A Crown of Thorns

**DISCLAIMER** All characters etc. belong to J.K. Rowling and I am making no money from this. Don’t sue because I’m sure that I don’t have anything that you’d want anyway. The basic plot for the story was a challenge presented by ArienAstera.


A/N -Woohoo! For those of you following my computer drama, I finally got my new computer! Well, not all of it, have to pick up the rest on Monday since the twits at UPS shipped only two of my three boxes and now I have to trek down to the warehouse to pick up box number three, but...yay me anyway!

Chapter Fourteen – Things Can Always Get Worse

Ginny, Draco and Dumbledore apparated directly into the study at Grimmauld Place andly Wly Weasley looked up, startled.

“Albus, how nice to see you!” she noticed the young couple standing behind the Headmaster and looked confused, “Ginny, is everything alright, we weren’t expecting you until the weekend?”

“Molly, it’s always a pleasure to see you,” he ushered Ginny and Draco over to the couch and indicated for them to sit. Turning to Mrs. Weasley, “I have already summoned Arthur at the Ministry and he should be here any moment now. I believe that we should probably wait for him before we begin.”

Mrs. Weasley rounded the couch and eyed Draco suspiciously before looking at Dumbledore, “Correct me if I’m wrong Albus, but isn’t that Lucius Malfoy’s son?”

Arthur Weasley strode through the door and stopped in his tracks at the sight of the familiar blonde wizard sitting on the couch next to his only daughter. Whatever was going on, it could not be good.

Dumbledore greeted Mr. Weasley with a smile, “Arthur, good to see you! How are things at the Ministry?”

Joining them in front of the fire, Arthur looked at his old friend, “Good to see you as well Albus, things are fine at work, thank you.” He looked from Ginny to Draco who were both trying very hard to avoid his gaze, and then focused on Dumbledore, “What’s going on?” he asked bluntly.

Not able to contain herself any longer, Ginny opened her mouth and let it all come out, babbling for close to fifteen minutes, telling her parents everything. When she was finished she collapsed into her mother’s arms and began to sob.

Draco stood and faced his girlfriend’s stunned parents, “Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, you know who my father is, and I know what you think of him…and of our family. However, you must realize that the type of life that my father has laid out for me is not the life that I desire. In my mind, I have always known that my father’s beliefs about the wizarding community and our place in it were completely absurd, but because of who my father is, I have always been expected to act a certain way. But then I met your daughter, and really got to know her,” he looked shyly at Ginny, “and love her.”

Arthur and Molly looked at each other in shock. Draco Malfoy loved their daughter?

He looked at them almost pleadingly, “I want to help, please let me help. I know where Professor Snape and Hermione are. I’ve seen them both. Let me prove to you that I am different from my father.”
the the first time in her life, Molly Weasley was at a loss for words. She actually believed the boy. Surely the world was coming to an end.

Arthur removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyest. t. This was all too much for him; not only was Lucius Malfoy’s son was standing in front of him, professing his love for his daughter but he was claiming to know where Professor Snape and Hermione Granger were. Opening his eyes he put his glasses back on and looked to Dumbledore for some guidance.

Dumbledore cleared his throat (although it sounded very much like he was attempting to conceal an amused chuckle) and further explained the situation. He reassured them, telling them both that Draco had willingly taken the Veritaserum, proving that he had indeed seen Hermione and Severus and that his intentions were honorable. Dumbledore also confessed to using Legilemency on the young man, providing them with even more reassurance that Draco wasn’t here on an errand for Voldemort and that his feelings for Ginny, were indeed genuine.

The Weasleys had always trusted Dumbledore, whether it was with their lives or with their children’s lives and this time was no different. They watched as Ginny returned to her spot next to Draco and took his hand as a show of confidence.

Arthur stepped forward and extended his hand to the young man. Draco looked relieved as they shook hands, “Thank you sir, I promise, I will do everything that I can to help bring Professor Snape and Hermoine home safely.”

Arthur smiled at Draco, this was going to take some getting used to, seeing his Ginny with the son of Voldemorts’ most loyal follower. But he knew that no matter how bad things seemed, they could always get worse.

And at that exact moment, they did.

~~~~

“Draco Malfoy. Is dating my sister. Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy, it doesn’t even sound right when you say it.” Ron Weasley looked at his parents and Harry accusingly before sitting down in one of the large, overstuffed chairs, shaking his head in disbelief, “And you lot don’t seem to have any problem with it.”

Ron and Harry had decided to stop by Grimmauld Place that evenifterfter Quidditch practice in search of a home-cooked meal, but instead, they had found Ron’s dad and Draco Malfoy shaking hands while Dumbledore, Ginny and his Mum watched with stupid grins plastered onir fir faces.

Of course, Ron had overreacbefobefore giving anyone a chance to explain and a scuffle ensued. Mr.Weasley and Harry had to pull Ginny off of Ron, who was on top of Draco, but not before Ginny had a chance to hit Ron with one of her infamous Bat-Bogey Hexes. In the end, Dumbledore and Molly managed to calm everyone down and explained the entire situation to Ron and Harry. However, it appeared as though Ron was going to need a little more convincing as he had always thought that Dumbledore was a bit off his rocker. And to be completely fair to Ron, there was probably some hint of truth to that sentiment.

Ron watched in disgust from his chair as Draco and Ginny entered the room, hand in hand and joined everyone else at the kitchen table. His stomach turned at the thought of that whiny little ferret touching his sister and he decided that rather than saying something he would regret, he needed to leave.

As he stood, Ginny spoke, “Ron, please don’t go. We need to talk about this.”

He tried hard to control the anger quavering in his voice, “Ginny, I can’t do this right now. I mean…of all people,” he glared at Draco, “If it was anyone else but him, maybe I could understand.”

“But Ron, he wants to help us.” Ginny pleaded with her brother, but quickly fell silent. She knew that he needed some time to process everything, and decided to let it go for now. Draco’s actions would eventually speak much, much louder than words ever could.

~~~~

The following evening Dumbledore summoned a meeting of the Order and as the commotion died down and the meeting was called to order, Tonks rushed in to the kitchen, knocking over a chair in her haste.

Clutching a stitch in her side she panted, “Diagon Alley…just saw her…think it was her…” she paused, out of breath, and Dumbledore took her by the arm to steady the young witch and led her to a chair so that she could catch her breath.

“Who did you see?” She She took a deep breath before speaking, “Hermione Granger and Lucius Malfoy, together, I saw them going into Knockturn Alley.”

Dumbledore met Arthur Weasley’s bewildered gaze and whispered, “We must act quickly. Bring him in at once.”

Arthur rushed out of the room as the rest of the members whispered amongst themselves, but the room fell silent when the door opened and Arthur returned, with Draco Malfoy following close behind.

Several hours later the meeting arnedrned and one by one, the members of the Order departed. Draco and Ginny said a tearful goodbye before he turned to leave with Dumbledore, but as they were leaving Ron came striding through the door and walked directly up to Draco. Ginny, fearing the worst drew her wand and pointed it at her brother, but much to everyone’s surprise, Ron put a hand on Draco’s shoulder and looked him squarely in the eye.

“You know that we have never been friends, Malfoy, and probably never will. But I want you to know that I think that what you’re doing is…well…thyou.you.” Ron had always had a special place in his heart for Hermione and it had hit him especially hard when she had went missing.

Understanding how hard it was for Ron to come to him like this, Draco simply nodded, showing that he understood. Ron went over to Ginny and put his arm around his sister, who was silently crying, and they watched together as Draco and Dumbledore left.

~~~~

Apparating directly to Malfoy Manor, Hermione suddenly felt very vulnerable as she realized that with the exception of a handful of house-elves, she was going to be completely alone Luc Lucius Malfoy.

He eyed her disdainfully, “Welcome to my home Miss Granger. Please, follow”
”

She noticed that he emphasized the word ‘my’ and rolled her eyes, typical Malfoy.

Ignoring her, he continued as they walked, “Although your stay here is going to be rather brief, I feel the need to lay some ground rules,” he smirked, “Dinner will be served here, in the main dining room, promptly at six-thirty.” He swung open a pair of heavy mahogany doors to reveal a huge dining room with a table that appeared to be large enough to seat twenty people. They continued down the long corridor to a small hidden stairway that led down to an enormous kitchen that rivaled the one at Hogwarts. She looked around in disgust as the house-elves scrambled to get out of their Master’s way.

“While you are here, the house-elves have been instructed to follow your orders as well, so if there is anything that you need, just let them know.” He turned and they backtracked down the hallway and he led her throughout the rest of the house. He showed her several more rooms; portrait galleries, sitting rooms, a sun room, the ballroom and the green house. He made clear to her which rooms she was allowed in and which were off limits. She felt very much like a small child in a museum, don’t touch this and don’t touch that.

Finally he led her to another set of large doors and he opened them, sussinssing a grin as he heard gas gasp. Oh yes, Lucius knew all about her passion for books and had purposely saved this room for last.

“It’s…it’s beautiful. I never knew…” she said in awe.

“Yes Miss Granger, even I read.” He replied with a hint of sarcasm.

Before her was one of the most magnificent libraries that she had ever stepped foot in. It had to be at least twice the size of her library at Voldemort’s castle, she could get lost in here. Hermione looked at Lucius for permission and he nodded. She walked over to one of the many shelves and gazed over several of the titles, recognizing most of them. Perhaps her stay here wasn’t going to be so bad. After all it was only going to be for a few days, and having access to a library like this definitely lifted her spirits.

Lucius cleared his throat before speaking, “However, this room is strictly off limits.”

Bastard.