A/N: Late Bday drabble for gloster on tumblr (babyvfan on ffnet ) - who requested a remix of the ending scene on the bridge (after the final battle), between Draco and Harry.

Love ya!

Xoxo Chise (tumblr: Chiseplushie)

The Bridge

The sun was warm on their backs as it travelled lazily across the sky. Though Harry spoke to Ron and Hermione, part of his attention was drawn to the lone figure carefully making his way towards the trio.

"... Until the other night, when I disarmed Draco." Harry pulled the hawthorn wand from his pocket, feeling its gentle hum between his fingers. In his other hand, he held the elder wand. "At Malfoy Manor."

"So that means…" Ron's face lit up with understanding.

"It's mine." Harry finished. His eyes darted from his best friend to the long shadow that had finally reached them.

"Potter," Draco ignored Ron's scowling, and Hermione's look of open curiosity. "You have something of mine." He tipped his nose in the direction of the black wand in Harry's hand, his pale face still smudged in soot from the Come and Go Room debacle.

"Harry doesn't owe you -"

"Ron," Harry stepped down from his perch upon the broken pillar.

"Mate! It's Malfoy. Whatever he has to say can't be good."

"Ron! You haven't given him a chance to say anything yet." Hermione pointed out. "How do you know it can't be good?"

"Guys! I have something I want to tell you. Both of you. I'll meet you inside, yeah? Just wait for me near the entrance." He said fondly, exasperated by their concern. He still had to tell them about Snape.

"We can't leave you alone with him." Ron spat.

"I want to talk to him before the Aurors take him." Harry crossed his arms and sighed, then turned his tired eyes to Hermione.

Draco scrunched his nose at the thought of being led away by the Aurors. "I'm not going to attack him, Weasley." Draco's voice sounded brittle.

"Don't take too long." Hermione bit her bottom lip and nodded as she dragged Ron and his protestations away in the direction of the castle. Harry watched his best friends walk away, sending Hermione what he hoped was an encouraging expression. It felt like a grimace.

Finally left alone, Harry turned from Draco and leaned his forearms against the bit of bridge that wasn't a pile of rubble. He heard gravel crunch underfoot as Draco came to stand next to him.

Harry transferred the hawthorn wand to his other hand, so that he held both wands in his left hand. "Why didn't you do it? At the Manor. You knew it was me."

Out of the corner of his vision, Harry saw Draco swallowing heavily. Draco expelled a shaky breath. "I'd like my wand back."

"Tell me what I want to know Draco, then I'll give you back your wand."

Draco's jaw clenched, mirroring the tension in the lines of his body. He kept his eyes on the mountains spread out before them. Finally he said quietly, "It was my choice to make."

"So?" He pressed.

"It was the only choice I've made that felt right; a choice that wasn't already made on my behalf. I was allowed to decide upon on my own. I did what I wanted to do." Draco said slowly.

"You could have ended the war right then. Just like your father said. But you chose not to. Why?"

"No one knew if you were alive or dead before you were captured. I didn't feel like the war would truly have ended if I had identified you. When I saw you, I felt…" Draco trailed off and was quiet for a moment as he worked out what he wanted to say.

"What did you feel then? When you saw me at the Manor."

Draco closed his eyes and scrubbed at his face, smearing the dirt and soot. When he met Harry's gaze again, his expression was no longer resigned. "I felt like I had a better chance of staying alive. Hope." He sighed. "He… You-Know-Who… he isn't the sort to sit back on his glory just because he's won. Life would just have gone on as it had been. The things… the things I had done… I didn't want…"

"I saw, Draco." Harry turned at Draco's quiet gasp, and met his wide grey eyes.

"You didn't," he protested.

"I did."

"I... I didn't mean them. That is to say… You-Know-Who, he forced me. It was me or them. My family or them. You have to understand, Potter. I'm sorry that I did… those things. I'm sorry about what happened sixth year." For trying to crucio you. For attempting to murder Dumbledore. Draco had to ask, "How?"

"I don't want to talk about it more than once." He could clearly see the protest on Draco's bruised face. The wind whipped around them, clearing the air of fear and desperation that Voldemort and his followers left behind. "I'm sure the media will want to know. Or something.

"I'm sorry too, for using that spell on you." Some things could be as simple as that if they let them.

Harry nodded to show that he had heard enough, then transferred the hawthorn wand to his right hand. He turned it and held the handle towards Draco in offering.

"Thank you, Potter." Draco grasped the wood with a trembling hand, feeling warmth spread through his fingertips.

"Harry. I'm just Harry."