Author's note: Many thanks to those who reviewed, are following this story or listed it as your favourite: MirrorFlower and DarkWind, TearfullPixie,Ceti H. Black,Sabine Michaelis, violetkitty02, starinshadows, cynefull, Pinguin05 and CaptainSilverSparrow.

Disclaimer: I don't own the beautiful world of Harry Potter or anything in it.

Warning: Slash/ adult themes.

The fire was all around them and the smoke made it hard to breathe. Draco clutched his only hope, his saviour with all his might, all thought absent from his head, leaving a pure and intense instinct to survive. Did he shout, did he whisper? He could not recall; things were happening too fast. Suddenly his lungs filled with clean air and he was flung from the broom to the floor. One bold, overpowering emotion broke through – he was grateful that he was alive, and he owed his life to Harry Potter.

The next thing he heard was an explosion somewhere not far from him. This made him scamper in a hurry; Goyle was nowhere to be seen. As he turned the corner, chaos, people fighting, hexes flying, walls collapsing, appeared before him. A hooded death eater shot a spell at him, and he instinctively yelled "I'm Draco Malfoy, I'm on your side!" with his arms lifted above his head. As soon as the words came out, the death eater fell to the ground, stunned. While he glanced around looking for the do-gooder, he was rewarded with a punch straight to his face accompanied by words uttered by a voice he recognised as Potter's side-kick, Weasley. As he clambered up, he felt it again; the gratitude. He owed Potter everything. Everything that happened from this moment onwards he owed to him. The thought felt heavy; there was no time to dwell on it, however, he had to get out of the castle.

The next time Draco felt a strong emotion was in the wake of Voldemort's death. He watched, as if hypnotised, Potter's and the Dark Lord's duel, and even though he probably should have, he had no more energy to feel fearful. As the Dark Lord fell however, he felt some great, inexplicable weight leave his stomach and shoulders. For a moment he felt weightless and as cheers erupted around him, he was thrown back into his body with such force it made him double over. No more being forced to torture others, no more living in fear that he or his parents will be murdered or tortured at any moment. His body shook with emotion, shook with relief and at the pain he had to endure. He also felt the now familiar sensation of gratitude, gratitude to Potter, the saviour of the wizarding world, the saviour of him.


"Thanks for coming." Draco said awkwardly. He hadn't seen Potter since his trial and of course, Potter was the reason that Draco and his parents were free.

"No problem," Potter said, looking just as awkward as Draco was feeling, shifting his arms as if they were too large to fit anywhere. Evidently liberating the wizarding world, having been on the run for a nearly a year, and killing the most powerful wizard since Grindelwald has not taught him hold himself in a way that anyone within a mile's radius could not read his emotions, Draco inwardly scoffed. "Have a seat, please," he said out loud; Potter complied. "I'm surprised you were able to get away between all the press conferences and helping the Ministry."

"To be honest I'm glad to get away sometimes."

Draco again was surprised; surely being in the spotlight still would appeal to Potter and his craving for fame? "You're probably wondering why I invited you here." Draco said.

"Yes."

Draco reminded himself that he would have to have this conversation with Potter sooner or later, and it was better to just get it over with. This did not help now however, with Potter's inquisitive and completely unashamed look fixed on Draco's face. He willed himself to go on. "We both know that you saved my life at least twice."

Potter just nodded in acknowledgement.

"I cannot ignore this debt, so I want you to choose what you would like as payment." Draco would have covered his face at the next words had he not been raised a Malfoy. "Name anything."

Potter, the noble self-sacrificing Gryffindor that he was, started protesting. "The things that I did were not for payment, I did it because it was the right thing to do."

"I know," Draco said, while inwardly scoffing at Gryffindors' predictability, "but even so, I do not want to owe you anything".

"You don't, Malfoy, we're even, forget it."

"I can't forget it," Draco said. "It's not for you, it's for me. I have to do this, Potter!"

"I don't want anything from you."

Draco ground his teeth; honestly, how could anyone not feel infuriated with Potter? "You don't understand how it feels! I owe you my life! To you! The idiotic Gryffindor! I have to set it right! I can't live my whole life being indebted to you, Potter!"

Potter, the annoying creature that he was had the audacity to smile at Draco's words. Smile!

"Is something funny?" Draco said, trying to but failing to keep his voice level after his earlier outburst, intermingled with desire to hex Potter into oblivion.

"No, it's just that I'm glad that you're back to normal. It was weird to have you be civil and polite." Before Draco could retort, he stood up and said "You owe me nothing. It's not as if you didn't have your part to play in the war. You did not tell them it was me back at the Manor, and I know you wouldn't have killed Dumbledore. Goodbye, Malfoy." and he departed.


Draco stared at the door closed at Potter's departure, dumbstruck. How did he know? Draco always wondered… Then he groaned when he realised that the whole reason he had invited Potter here and undergone this was for nothing – Potter infuriatingly refused to accept what Draco was offering him. He could have had any of the powerful magical artefacts that had been in the Malfoy line for generations, anything at all, and he refused. However easy Potter imagined it would be for Draco to let this go, it was impossible. Draco could not live with this gratitude hanging over his head at every single moment. He wanted his life to be his, not owed to his school enemy, he wanted to be free. If Potter would not request something himself, then Draco would have to find a gift that he wanted and needed, but would not ask for; something big enough to pay off the life debt. And a determined Slytherin would not fail.

Author's note: This is the first part of a story I foresee to be made up of four parts altogether; I plan to upload the next part within the next 1-2 weeks.

Hope you enjoyed reading. Please review and let me know what you think. Constructive criticism is always welcome!