Disowned (Drarry/Pansmione)

Chapter Twenty Eight

He was standing under a tree. He was looking into his eyes. He smiled.

"I love you," he whispered.

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Draco woke up feeling happy, though he didn't quite know why. Maybe it was the excitement of finally being able to go back to Hogwarts to see his friends. He had missed them, especially Harry. Dumb, stupid, idiotic obsession. It was verging on unhealthy at this point. He knew the kid in person and he was still a fanboy!

Draco had packed his bags last night so that he could sleep in this morning. He had probably missed breakfast, but he was okay with that. He could have an apple or something on the train.

As he got dressed, Draco wondered about Athena and Aphrodite. Should he take one of them to Hogwarts with him? Would the other be jealous? Would they be lonely? He had had this same fight with himself before he left to start the year, and that had ended with leaving Aphrodite at the manor. Not this time.

He hurried down the creak steps - no longer scared that he would fall through - and into the kitchen. Sure enough, Mrs. Weasley was cleaning up. The others could be heard outside.

Draco gently stroked Athena and Aphrodite. "I'm going to let you both stay here, alright?" he said quietly. "I want you to stay together."

"Hoot."

"Hoot."

Draco scratched under Errol's beak. Errol hooted in delight at the attention. "Take care of him for me, will you girls?"

"Hoot."

"Hoot."

Draco smiled and turned to go back upstairs to get his things. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough.

"Draco, darling, I've kept a plate under a heating charm for you. Come eat!"

Draco turned in defeat and sat at the table in his usual seat. Mrs. Weasley placed a plate before him: fried eggs and sausages.

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it dear. Now eat up; we need to leave in an hour."

Draco found it easier to eat than he would have thought. Mrs. Weasley really was an excellent cook, despite not using the very best ingredients money could buy. He really needed to stop expecting that. He didn't even get food that good at Hogwarts. It was just something that he had to leave behind, like most of his toys and other belongings.

Being disowned sucked.

Once he finished eating, Draco headed up the stairs and into his room - it had become his room in his mind recently - to gather up the few things he had left out of his bags. He hadn't packed his pyjamas since he had been wearing them, so he folded them neatly and shoved them into his too full clothing bag. His presents were in another, smaller bag. He hadn't had a chance to use the practice Snitch yet. He hoped he would soon. Harry seemed interested in Quidditch; maybe he could teach him how to play.

"Draco, hurry up mate!" Fred yelled.

"I'm coming!" Draco yelled back. He slung his bags over his shoulder, made sure he didn't leave anything behind, and ran down the stairs and outside.

The group packed their luggage into Mr. Weasley's car and then took hold of each other. Draco was between Fred and George, gripping their hands loosely. He had Apparated so many times in his life he was pretty sure he could do it by himself, but since he had the trace on him and the Weasleys didn't have preventive wards around them, he couldn't try.

Mr. Weasley grabbed hold of the car and Apparated away with it, probably to that busy parking garage near the train station. Mrs. Weasley checked to make sure that everyone was holding hands, then Apparated everyone to the train station. By the time they got there, Mr. Weasley was pulling up in the car so they could grab their luggage. Draco thought it would probably have been easier to just Apparate with their luggage and not even bring the car, but however they wanted to do it.

"Alright, you have ten minutes to get on that train so grab your things and lets go," Mrs. Weasley said.

Draco grabbed his bags and hurried through the wall without saying goodbye. He wanted to find Hermione, and to be honest, he was sick of the Weasleys. He didn't want to spend another minute with them. He appreciated them taking him in, of course, but he still had standards and that family did not meet them.

"Hermione!" Draco greeted, having found her already sitting in a compartment. "How was your Christmas?"

Hermione grinned at the sight of him. "It was great! Did you get my book?"

"I did. I already read the whole thing, too."

"Did you like it?"

"Yeah! It was super cool. Did you like your present?"

Hermione pulled the bejeweled notebook out of her bag. "Yes! How much did this cost?"

"Not that much actually," Draco shrugged. He didn't exactly want to tell her that he already had the notebook from a few years ago. He just thought it was perfect for her, since her favorite jewels were sapphires and the notebook was mostly sapphire.

"How was your stay at the Weasleys?" Hermione asked.

Draco grimaced. "I don't understand how Ron survived so long with them. They're crazy!"

"Well, would you rather have stayed at Hogwarts?"

"Yes, to be honest. I mean yeah, it was nice of them to take me in, but ugh. The only decent one is Ginny. She and I went stargazing a lot and just talked normally. It was a nice break from the rest of the family."

"Well that's nice," Hermione said with a smile. "I hadn't realized how much I missed my parents until I saw them. It was so nice to spend time with them again."

Draco faked a smile. He kind of missed his ex-mother. She was always much nicer than his ex-father had been.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Draco, I didn't - "

"It's fine, Hermione, I'm glad you're happy," Draco said truthfully. "I'm just so ready to get back to Hogwarts."

"You want to go back to school?" Hermione asked. "What on earth did they do to you?"

Draco chuckled. "Hey, my grades are almost as good as yours."

"Almost."

"Shut up."

"So why do you want to go back so badly?"

Draco shrugged. "I don't know. Just missed the freedom of it, I guess. I don't know. It feels more like home."

"I guess I get that. I missed Ron and Harry."

"Me too," Draco said. "I missed my old friends too. I mean, we don't exactly hang out anymore, but it's nice to see them around."

Hermione nodded. "Did you get anything from them?"

"Pansy, not Blaise."

"Well, that's something."

There was a knock on the door. Draco opened it. "Pansy?"