Chapter Text
One of the things that bothered Harry the most about the aftermath of closing the Chamber of Secrets was that Lucius Malfoy never received any retribution for his role in the attacks on several students, a ghost, and Remus. The closest thing to punishment the man experienced was quietly being voted off the board of governors for Hogwarts. Aside from that, there was no public denouncement, no fine, no stint in Azkaban.
In fact, it seemed that only Harry's circle of friends, their various guardians, and Dumbledore seemed to know he'd been involved at all. Harry's parents seemed bothered by this turn of events as well, but to his annoyance they did nothing to rectify the situation.
Sirius changed the subject every time Harry tried to bring it up. He would ask Harry about the books he was reading, or tell him to focus on his summer homework, or ask for his advice on the modified curriculum he was creating for Defense Against the Dark Arts, which he was to be teaching come September.
Remus was too busy with whatever it was that he'd quit teaching to do. He was often away from home for several days at a time, and when he returned he usually buried himself elbow deep in reference books and letters from Dumbledore and asked not to be disturbed.
That was another cause for Harry's annoyance. Remus appeared to be doing something dreadfully important, and neither he nor Sirius would tell Harry what it was.
On the bright side, Harry's friends were planning a joint birthday party for him and Neville, whose birthdays were a day apart, at the end of the month. After much begging, the adults relented.
They'd selected the Weasley house as the venue because the Burrow was in a semi-remote location and large enough to house that many people. Remus even took a few days off to set up a number of defensive spells, because after the school year everyone just had, nobody was taking any chances with the kids' safety.
By the time the day of the party finally arrived, Harry was starved of social interaction. He couldn't wait to see everyone again. Well, not everyone. Due to obvious animosity between Draco's father and everyone else, Draco wouldn't be attending.
"Have you got Neville's present?" Sirius asked as he lit a fire so they could floo over to the Burrow.
Harry grinned and held up the box wrapped in green paper patterned with toads. "Got it!"
"Then let's get going." Sirius grabbed a handful of floo powder from the jar on the mantle.
"What about Remus?"
"He's coming later."
"Oh." Harry frowned, but he took a handful of floo powder all the same. Sirius sent him through first and followed right behind.
Most of the other party guests were already assembled in the Weasley's living room when he stepped out of the fire. Mrs. Weasley took the present from Harry to put with the others, while Fred tackled him so George could force a party hat onto his head.
Harry extracted himself from the twins and made his way over to his friends. All of them were wearing party hats as well, though by the redness of Ron's ears it seemed like an involuntary fashion choice.
"Hiya Harry!"
"Hullo Harry!"
"Hi Harry! Happy birthday!"
"Same to you Neville!"
"Where's Remus?"
"Busy. Sirius says he'll be coming later."
"I'm sure whatever he's doing is important," Hermione said gently. Harry shrugged.
There was a knock at the door. Mrs. Weasley rushed to answer it. A minute later, she returned with Dudley and a blonde woman who looked mildly uncomfortable. Mr. Weasley offered her a party hat, which she declined, while the twins subjected Dudley to the same treatment they’d given Harry and the others.
Dudley led the woman over to the group of kids. "Mum, these are my friends. Friends, this is my mum."
"You may call me Mrs. Anderson," she added.
"Except Harry." Dudley dragged him to the front by his wrist. "He can call you Aunt Petunia, right?"
She nodded slowly. "I never met your father, but I suppose you take after him. You have my sister's eyes, though. Green."
Sirius appeared out of nowhere. "Petunia," he greeted her curtly.
"Sirius Black I presume?"
Mrs. Weasley shoo'ed the kids outside so the adults could talk. A table of snacks had been set up, and Harry and his friends happily munched their way through them while they caught each other up on their summers.
Generally, at thirteen, they would all normally consider themselves too old for party games. But as most of them were only children, they spent a glorious two hours learning all the best magical party games from Ron, Fred, and George.
Then, it was dinner time. The adults filtered outside to set up. Harry noticed that Remus had joined the group at some point, since he and Sirius were helping Mr. Weasley magically stretch the former snack table to fit everyone around it. Mrs. Weasley enlisted the kids in carrying out the various dishes, and then everyone could sit down and dig in.
Harry found himself sitting between Neville and Hermione. He avoided Remus's gaze from across the table because he was a bit put out that he hadn't come to say hi when he arrived.
"By the way, Neville, happy birthday. Sorry I was a bit late, I just had to finish something up before I could leave."
"S'okay, Remus. And thanks!"
Once everyone had eaten their fill, Mrs. Weasley fetched the cake. She was halfway through serving it when a large crack split the air not five feet from the table. Instantly, every adult wizard was on their feet. Aunt Petunia flung her arms in front of Dudley as if she could protect him from a magical threat with only her force of will.
A house elf materialized in the garden. In fact, Harry recognized him as the same one who had tried to send him home from Hogwarts last year. And he wasn't alone.
Draco Malfoy clutched the elf's small wrist in one hand and a small carpet bag in the other. He had a split lip and what looked like the beginnings of a black eye. He wore his school robes, which were considerably rumpled.
"Draco?" Remus asked, alarmed.
"Oh good, we made it," Draco said weakly.
“Dobby hates to ask at a bad time, but Master Draco promised…”
Everyone watched in confusion as Draco let go of the elf and dropped his carpet bag. He then used his now free hands to loosen his tie enough to get it over his head and presented it to Dobby.
“Thank you Master Draco! Dobby is a free elf at last!” Dobby burst into tears of joy and disapparated.
“Excuse me, but what exactly is going on?” Hermione’s mother asked. Harry was glad he wasn’t the only one who was confused.
“I promised Dobby clothes if he’d help me run away.” Draco’s voice was getting less steady. Harry nudged Remus, who also seemed to notice.
“Let’s get Draco a chair and some food before we start interrogating him,” Remus half-ordered.
Mrs. Weasley bustled off to make up a plate of leftovers while Sirius conjured a chair, which he placed between himself and Remus. Harry couldn’t help staring as Draco, usually the epitome of etiquette, wolfed down his plate of chicken and chips. Tentatively, Mrs. Weasley finished serving the cake. The party ate in silence, no doubt all wondering who would be the first one to question Draco.
In the end, Harry broke the silence. “Why did you run away?”
Draco stared at his plate. “Father and I argued.” His tone didn't exactly invite further questions.
"Is this something you'd rather discuss in private?" Remus asked gently. When Draco nodded, the two of them left the table.
"Let's do presents!" Mrs. Weasley attempted a cheerful tone.
Harry felt very weird opening his birthday presents in front of a crowd, especially while Draco was clearly having a crisis just inside the house. Neville clearly also felt awkward, however, so at least he wasn't alone.
And despite the awkwardness, Harry was genuinely happy when Neville opened the enchanted planter he'd gotten him. It was charmed to expand to fit the spatial needs of whatever plant was in it and glow blue when the plant needed watering.
The party was starting to break up when Remus and Draco returned with McGonagall and Dumbledore in tow. Sensing it was a serious situation, Neville, Hermione, and Dudley's families said their hurried goodbyes.
"We cannot make the boy return home, Albus. Arrangements must be made to house him for the rest of the summer," McGonagall appeared to be finishing an argument from earlier.
"We're happy to have him here," Mrs. Weasley said.
"Molly, I'm one of his father's biggest enemies. This is the first place he'll look."
"Our house is protected, right Sirius?" Harry piped up. "Mr. Malfoy wouldn't find him there."
"That's a good point, Harry." Remus looked impressed.
"I'd like to stay with Remus, if I can."
All eyes turned to Draco. He blushed.
"It sounds as though the matter is settled, then," Mr. Weasley smiled.
Harry caught a look that Sirius and Remus shared. He knew that look. It meant things were a lot more complicated than they wanted to let on, but that they weren't going to make a fuss just now. He figured it had to do with the upcoming full moon.
They took Draco home with them shortly thereafter. Luckily, McGonagall was on hand to tell Draco the address of the cottage, since he couldn't gain access without the secret keeper. Harry's room was too small to share, so Remus and Sirius converted the living room into a space for Draco to sleep.
Sharing his parents and his home with Draco was weird at first. It didn't help that Remus was no less busy than he had been before the party, because now his limited free time had to be divided between the two of them. Harry had always wanted a sibling, but now he wasn't so sure.
Sirius eventually found a way to ease the building tension. It was unlikely that Mr. Malfoy would look for his son in the muggle world, so Sirius took the boys in day trips to muggle spaces. Harry found he enjoyed showing off the environment he grew up in to Draco. It probably saved their friendship.
The other important hurdle for them to overcome was the full moon in mid August. Traditionally, McGonagall had watched Harry on transformation nights. But now, Harry argued, he and Draco were old enough to take care of themselves for one night.
And would they tell Draco what was going on? He might be overcoming his learned prejudice toward muggle borns, but would he cast a fear of werewolves aside as easily? Being privy to this argument made Harry feel grown up. Eventually, he suggested that Sirius and Remus pretend to go on a romantic getaway since nobody knew whether Draco would be with them for more than one full moon.
"You know how to floo call Minerva right?"
"Yes Sirius."
"And you'll call her at any sign of trouble?"
"Yes Sirius."
"Even if it's something small?"
"Yes Sirius."
"Even-"
"Stop fretting, Pads," Remus laughed.
"See you in two days," Harry smiled. "And have fun!"
Harry and Draco spent the next two days watching too much TV and eating too much junk food. Draco was particularly enthralled by cartoons. He still couldn't get over how many muggle conveniences they had in their home. Harry explained, for what felt like the hundredth time, that Remus was a half blood and grew up with a lot of it around and that they spent a significant portion of Harry's childhood in close proximity to muggles.
When Remus and Sirius arrived home, the former still a bit peaky but thankfully without any visible new scars, they seemed genuinely surprised to see the cottage still standing. Harry pretended to be insulted, but he knew it was a symptom of their constant worry over him.