Title: Heart Of A Lion
Author: Tuesdae, handsome-devil
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing(s): (slight) Harry/Draco
Summary: Just after the end of the last chapter, and just before the epilog, Draco comes to apologize to Harry.
Disclaimer: I do not stake any claim on anything Harry Potter or Harry Potter related, though I do own this itty-bitty bit of story. The title is not mine either (Heart Of A Lion by The Scurvies).

Once Harry had exited the at Hall, he finally felt truly free. He was glad he had listened to Luna when she had said she'd distract everyone in the nearby vicinity so he could escape. The first time in a long time, he felt he could breathe. He felt so happy, more so than he had been in a long time, but he was also sad and guilty, and so, so drained. That night had been so emotionally draining. He had sacrificed himself for everyone in the wizarding world, he had given himself so completely, he had, he supposed, died, and now all he wanted to do was run away for a while. It was nice, to be able to compress all his thoughts together finally. But as he had finally sat himself down to think, to be alone, he heard a pair of footsteps coming towards him. He knew they couldn't see him, but he drew himself closer to the wall anyways.

"Potter? Where are you?" It was Malfoy. Harry figured he'd probably seen him through on his cloak and ran out after him. "I know you're around here somewhere and… I wanted to apologize. I've been pretty cruel to you, Granger, and Weasley. But, you know, you saved my life tonight. Twice. I know you probably want to be alone now, after all this, but I just wanted to say it now, while everyone's away, since we're probably never going to meet again."

Malfoy shuffled around nervously for a second or two, almost as if he were hoping for some sort of reply, before he started heading back.

"Malfoy," Harry called out before it even occurred to him not to. Malfoy turned back around and started heading back in Harry's direction. He knew that it was probably a bad idea, but he slid the cloak off of himself and stood up, holding out his hand towards Malfoy, who stared at it nervously for a second before taking it.

"Apology accepted."

Harry knew that after that handshake, there was an unspoken truce between the two young men. They slowly slid their hands out of one another's and Malfoy looked down at his feet, obviously wanting to tell Harry something, but said nothing. Malfoy tilted his head back up and gave Harry, not his usual smirk, but instead, a half-smile, a smile of half truth, and one of thing that would forever leave certain feelings and the like unsaid. Malfoy turned around again, though this time, rather begrudgingly, almost still like he wanted to tell Harry what he had wanted to for a long time, but didn't.

Unknowing of both of them, those would be the last time the two would see or speak to one another for nineteen years.