This is a Draco & OC centric fic, but it will also have other pairings. Hope you Enjoy.

1

Harry hadn't seen Draco since the trials. He wouldn't say that he missed the Slytherin, that was far from the truth, but Harry had certainly come to feel as though he could understand the other boy better. Information about Draco had come to light and no one could certainly define their feelings about the boy, especially Harry. The only reason he was visiting Malfoy Manor today was because he felt as though it would be his job to inform him of Lucius's finalized sentence, especially after what happened at Draco's trial.

It had been weeks since Draco's father had been formally tried for his crimes, and as Draco's father, he had a right to be present for his son's trial as well. That did not mean that he was welcomed by the younger Malfoy. Draco hadn't looked at his father since the trial began, no matter the insistent eyes that bore into his cheek.

Draco stood before the council that would decide he and his mother's fates. Draco looked like a dead man walking; his face was skeletal and his eyes were dull with anger. He stood with his shoulders back and head held high as a way to portray his strength, but everyone knew the boy had been broken from the years he spent with Voldemort and his followers watching his every move. While the boy of only seventeen was hurt and scared, he still held vigilant and protective of his mother, just through his body language. Narcissa was sitting behind Draco, head bent slightly but still watching her son, protecting him from whoever she needed to. Her face held a ghostly sheen to it, with her sunken cheeks and the dark circles under her eyes. The Malfoy face was gone, but the grace she possessed never faded.

The council had been restless with their questions and the proof they held of Draco's guilt and innocence when it came to the crimes of his peers and himself, but they allowed him to speak before the council, to say what he wished, before they made a decision.

"I know I am guilty. Of breaking the trust of my fellow wizards and friends, and I know some of them may never forgive me, and I don't blame them. I never wanted to become a Death Eater, but it was either join or watch my loved ones be killed. Unlike my father, I love my mother and did everything I had to do to protect her, and because I wasn't brave enough to ask for help, I have to bear this mark of cowardice for the rest of my life."

The court was deadly silent with the heaviness of the emotion practically leaking from the boys words. That silences was broken by the screaming and curses that were flying from the corner of the court, right where Lucius Malfoy was standing in the custody of the Aurors. The older Malfoy was practically foaming at the mouth with rage in his dark eyes wide with fury and madness.

"HOW DARE YOU! YOU INSOLENT CHILD! I SHOULD HAVE SOLD YOU OFF TO GREYBACK AS THE LITTLE WHORE HE WANTED YOU TO B-" The Aurors silenced him, but the echoes of his rage were ringing in everyone's ears. Draco did not let his father's words deter his posture and grace, although everyone saw the way he flinched inward, as if to protect his body from harm. His head remained high and his eyes were locked on the council.

"As the head of the Malfoy family, I hereby renounce and disown Lucius Malfoy for his crimes against the wizard and muggle world. I and my mother have no objection to any punishment the council deems worthy for his crimes or my own," and with that statement, Draco and Narcissa Malfoy were escorted out of the court. No one objected to their statement ot their taking of leave.

That moment had been so heavy and thick, Harry could have cut it with a knife. The council decided not to punish Draco besides requiring a monitor to be placed on his person for the next two years. Narcissa and her son were seen as innocent, yet prejudiced, people that were forced into Voldemort's army under the threat of death to themselves and the people they cared for. All though Harry and his friends couldn't see why Draco or his mother didn't ask for help, he at least could understand why Draco did what he did, but Harry was still curious about Draco's loved ones. He wouldn't pry, but he was wondering who else the Slytherin was protecting, if not only his mother.

He was making his way down the long drive that went to the opening of the Malfoy Manor when something caught his eye. It was a child's tricycle. It was a very muggle object, something Harry wouldn't expect to see at the Malfoy Manor. Potter just brushed it off and continued with his accent up the steps to the grand wooden doors. He knocked twice and only had to wait a second before the door was opened by non other than the boy he was looking for, but this Draco was nothing like Harry had every seen before.

Draco was dressed down for once, no slacks or button up. He wore a simple pair of black shorts and a long sleeve cobalt blue shirt. It was so normal that Harry didn't recognize him at first, but that also has to due with the large smile on Draco's face. The aristocrat was covered with different shades of paint; some on his cheek his shirt and shorts. He looked like he was have having fun. And the thing that amazed Harry the most was that Draco's smile didn't fade when he saw Harry at his doorstep.

"Hello Potter, what can I do for you?" The greeting wasn't filled vexation as it had been years before hand. It was alien to Harry, but he wasn't upset with the change. He was able to visibly see the change in the other boys demeanor. Draco's smile was polite yet heartfelt; harry's natural instinct was to return the smile.

"Um, well, I'm here with some news." as soon as the sentence left Harry's lips, Draco's face darkened and sobered to the refined mask he held at the trials. He knew this was about his father, and that meant that he needed to be brave for her, for his mother.

"Come in." Draco smiled politely, yet is wasn't the same. This was the mask Harry had seen for all of those years. Hary entered the manor, but it looked nothing like what he had seen the year before. The sun was being let into the rooms, and the giant windows were open, allowing the cool summer breeze to flow throughout the house. The biggest change Harry could obviously see was the absence of furniture. The floors were cover with a painting tarp and the walls and ceiling were breathtaking. Out was the bland and cold green and white colors that had hung in the manor and in were amazing murals that covered the walls in bright colors.

The sitting room resembled the rest of the property, lush and hills of rolling green. The sky was wide and never ending; it looked real. All the other rooms the boys had to walk through to reach the office were similar but never the same. The wall lining the staircase was a reflection of the layers in the trees of a rain forest, and at the very top, where the canopy faded to sky, was the bright yellow light of the sun peaking above the trees. The halls were empty of portraits or vases or artifacts of any kind. It was barren, but the house was filled with more emotion that it had ever been before.

They finally entered the office and it was the only semi complete room. The walls had a mural of a pond with waterlilies and frogs and fish that would move as if it were all real. It resembled a Monet painting Hermione had told Harry about last summer. Harry's mouth hung open, slack jawed, at the wonder of the manor that had once been the headquarters that wanted nothing but his death. This room had a desk and a couple seating areas, as well and a tea table and door that lead to a balcony. It had a single portrait on the wall, and it was of a man and his wife, lovingly holding one another in a matching set of green formal wear. Both had a very strong resemblance to Draco and his father, so that lead Harry to believe that these were Draco's grandparents.

Draco turned to Harry as they both had fully entered the room. "Please take a seat anywhere you'd like. Tea?"

Harry was baffled. He didn't know what to do with himself. "Um, sure, I mean, yes please." Draco chuckled at Harry fumbling over trying to be socially polite. It clearly wasn't how the spectacled boy was raised, but he was trying his best to match Draco's social graces.

"There's no need for the formalities Potter. We have been schoolmates for the past seven years, even though we weren't the greatest of friends." Draco smiled and reassured Harry as he brought him his tea and took a seat behind the desk, mirroring Harry's position in the seat in front of the desk. The other boy flushed at being called out for his obvious lack of social intelligence, but he felt the good nature radiating from the Slytherin. "So," Draco placed his cup down. "You're here to tell me about the final decision on my father's trials."

Harry's mouth was dry all he could do for a few moments was nod, until one word left his lips. "Yes."

hope you enjoyed

-the gay 3