Chapter 1

Chapter 1

-Decisions, Decisions–

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Disclaimer: Everything belongs to the Goddess J.K Rowling

Summary: When Harry finds Draco nearly dead on a battlefield, he decides to save his life. Will he become a friend or betray them all? Spoilers to OOTP, H/D R/H

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Harry looked around. There were scorch marks on the ground where curses had missed their targets and blood where they hadn't. Bodies of Death Eaters were lying scattered on the ground around him.

The Order had taken their dead and wounded back to Grimmauld Place. A makeshift infirmary had been set up on the first floor. Ginny had shown quite a bit of talent for healing, and she worked with Madam Pomfrey to treat the wounded.

Snape left Voldemort's service when the battles started. It was too dangerous to stay without betraying his loyalties. He made sure that Ginny and Madam Pomfrey received the potions they needed to keep everyone alive, and people started to realize that there was a rather decent guy under that prickly exterior. Horrified, Snape did his best to sneer at the patients as he gently helped them drink their potions. He made sure to stomp up to Madam Pomfrey at least once a day and ask her very loudly and angrily, which potions these useless, greedy bastards would need today. Then he waited patiently as she gave him a detailed list so they'd be ready for tomorrow. Harry didn't think he was fooling anyone, but they all made sure to glare at him when he walked by, because they knew it pleased him.

Harry took another look around the battlefield. Voldemort hadn't bothered to attend this battle as he hadn't any of the others, and Harry was tired of it. He stayed behind his fidelus protected wards, wherever they might be, and watched his Death Eaters try to take out as many of the enemy as possible. The trouble with this strategy was that the Order was slightly better than the Death Eaters. They didn't have as many people, but Voldemort was losing more than they were. In addition to that, the Death Eaters let their injured die on the field.

The Order has taken a few of these unlucky souls into custody at first. It turned out to be a waste of time, since they didn't know anything. They didn't even have information on when the next battle would be. It seemed that Voldemort was playing things very close to the chest. After receiving the same vague responses from multiple Death Eaters they stopped taking prisoners. They were busy enough taking care of everything else.

Harry was tired of all the dancing around. He was tired of the battles and skirmishes that seemed to wear down the spirit more than they wore down the body. What he wanted more than anything else was to cast a good AK at Voldemort and be done with it. Not that he thought it would be that simple, but by now he was willing to try.

Harry lingered in the battlefield today because he heard that Bellatrix had been killed. He had never forgiven her for Sirius's death, and wanted to make sure she was dead. And possibly spit on her corpse, thought Harry to himself. Ron and Hermione argued and complained, because they were worried more Death Eaters might return, but Harry wanted his closure to be private. He pointed out that they hadn't bothered to come back for any of their own before, so why would they now? The evil bitch had been the cause of so much misery. He turned to walk over to the section where the bodies were thickest, and tripped over the still form of Draco Malfoy. "Damn Malfoy, even dead you're still a pain in the ass," thought Harry somewhat callously as he pulled himself up.

He had gotten used to death over the last six months. The first person they hadn't been able to save was Seamus. He died protecting Dean's back from as stray curse. It happened months ago when they were all still very young and inexperienced. Seamus could have done things differently, but it was still very brave thing to do. The group had received a lot more practice since then.

Harry was sad to see a classmate dead, no matter how much of a prat they were, but when it came right down to it Malfoy was just another body added to the rest.

Harry was about to go when he heard Malfoy groan quietly. Looking down at the blonde, he considered leaving him there, and walking away. Malfoy would die, and that would be the end of it. No one would really miss him. He tentatively took one step away when Malfoy moaned again. With a sigh, Harry turned and knelt by the blonde. He didn't have as much experience as Ginny in this, but tried to get an overall idea of the damage. He raised a hand and checked Malfoy's pulse. It was there…barely, and his skin was very hot. Blood was dripping from the side of his mouth, and Harry could hear a gurgling noise when he breathed. 'Blood in the lungs,' Harry thought. Probably the only reason he had survived this long was because he was lying on his side. Harry gently separated his robes to check for other damage. His skin was covered in bruises. It looked as if he'd been stepped on, kicked, or hit with some serious hexes. Probably it had been all three. Broken ribs, thought Harry. It would explain the blood in his lungs. There was a dark scorch mark across his shoulder. His robes had melted into the wound. The heat had cauterized it to some degree, but liquid was still seeping out. Harry wasn't going to touch it if he could help it. If it had hit Malfoy dead on it would have burned right through him.

Harry inspected it more closely. It was probably the hex that got Malfoy into this condition. When he dodged the spell, he must have fallen on the ground, and then been stepped on and kicked in the melee. Harry would have been surprised if anyone had noticed him there with all the fighting going on.

"Ok Malfoy," he said. "This is going to hurt." Harry picked him up as carefully as he could and hoisted him over his shoulder. With a pop he apparated to Grimmauld place. Once he was there he realized that he didn't know how to get Malfoy in through the wards.

"Kreacher!" Harry yelled, calling for his crazy old house elf.

"What does dirty half-blood Master want with Kreacher?" asked a gravely voice by his knee.

"Hurry up and get Dumbledore!" Harry said. "Malfoy needs help!"

"He is part of Mistress' family? Kreacher is honored to help Mistress' family!" The elf was practically bouncing up and down, and smiling, in a way that Harry found quite disturbing.

"Yes," he said quickly. "Now just go!"

In seconds Dumbledore was standing in front of him. "Yes my boy?" he asked, looking at Draco in concern.

"We have to get him in through the wards Professor. I think he's dying." At that, Malfoy choked and coughed. A bunch of blood landed on the back of Harry's robes.

Dumbledore wrote something out quickly. "Here, give him this."

"But Sir, he can't read it. I don't think he can even hold it."

"Dumbledore tucked the message into Malfoy's robes. That should do it for now. We can worry about the rest later. This will let him in, but he won't be able to get out.

Harry nodded and walked to the infirmary as quickly as his legs would carry him. He lay Malfoy down on a cot as carefully as he could and yelled for Ginny. She ran over and looked down at Malfoy in shock, when he began to choke and convulse. Harry quickly turned him onto his side and said, "Ginny!"

She snapped out of it, and grabbed her wand. Frowning, she quickly did a few scans. The results weren't good. Flicking her wand she cleared the blood out of Malfoy's lungs, and she and Harry rolled him onto his back.

She flicked her wand a few more times, but Malfoy didn't seem to be looking any better. She made an hmm-ing noise and flicked her wand past one more time. Harry was starting to get concerned when she spoke.

"It's not good Harry," she said. "I've cleared all the blood out of his lungs, so he'll be able to breathe, but he'll need skele-grow for his ribs, and we don't have any. I've set them, so they stay in place, but he won't be able to move until Severus can make some. The wound on his shoulder will have to be reopened so it can be cleaned. There's dirt, pieces of his robe, and god knows what else in there. We'll have to wait for Poppy to do that. I also think that there's some magical damage, because of this yellow pus leaking out of it.

I've bound him in place, so he won't damage his ribs trying to move. I know he's a git, but please try to get along. He's going to be upset enough about being here. If we're going to bother saving him I don't need to have him hurting himself in an effort to break your neck. I know what you and Ron can be like when it comes to Malfoy, and don't think for a minute that I won't ban you from the infirmary.

Ron ran to the infirmary when he heard that Harry was there. Thinking of everything that could have happened to his best friend he nearly fell through the doors getting in. He nearly fell over once more when he saw what Harry was doing.

"Harry," he asked. "Why is Malfoy here?"

"I found him on the battleground. I couldn't just leave him there to die."

"Sure you could've. He's a bastard. We've hated him since the day we met him. He's a Death Eater, he deserves to die."

"Ron," said Harry. "No one deserves to die."

"You're insane Harry," laughed Ron, and slapped him on the shoulder. "Only you would pull a stunt like this. So what are we going to do with him? You must have something in mind. Let's dose him with Veritaserum and ask him how often he jerks off in the shower. No wait; let's test all of Fred and George's new products on him."

"We're going to heal him," Harry interrupted.

"Great...What?" Ron looked confused. "What do you mean 'we're going to heal him' this is Malfoy!"

"Exactly that Ron," said Harry getting to his feet. "I didn't bring him here so we could humiliate him."

"Harry, sometimes you are just too damn noble," Ron muttered under his breath.

They ran into Hermione just as they were leaving the infirmary. "Harry!" she said hugging him. "I heard you were here. Is everything all right?"

Harry nodded. "Everything's fine."

"No, everything is not fine," said Ron with a frown. "Harry was in there because he brought Malfoy here to get healed. Malfoy!"

"Harry, tell me you didn't," said Hermione.

"I did."

"I think this is a very bad idea. We can't trust him. I know you like to think the best of people, but don't be surprised when I say 'I told you so.'"

The three of them walked to the Library. Hermione pulled out a book and she made herself comfortable on the sofa, while Ron and Harry set up a game of wizarding chess.

Three games, and three losses later, Harry suggested they play Exploding Snap instead. Ron was pulling out the cards when Ginny stuck her head in the door.

"Malfoy is awake, if anyone is interested," she said and left.

Hermione didn't even look up from her book.

"Why should we care if he's awake," Ron said, and finished dealing the cards.

Harry stood up and walked toward the door.

"Harry," said Ron. "You can't be serious. You're actually going to see if the slimy git is ok?"

"Ron, I don't know why I'm going, but he would have died if it wasn't for me, and I want to make sure it wasn't for nothing. So if I come back covered in hex marks, you'll know that Malfoy is his same old annoying self." Harry grinned, and walked out the door.

Harry walked into the infirmary, and quietly sat in a chair that had been placed by Malfoy's bed. He wondered if he should reach out and touch him to let him know he was there, but instead he watched as Malfoy rested. Except for a light scrape across one cheek, his face was about the only thing on him that wasn't covered in bruises. For a moment, Harry wondered if Malfoy's skin was as soft as it looked. What are you thinking? Harry asked himself. This is Malfoy. Looking back down he saw Malfoy was awake.

"Come to kill me off now that I can't move, Potter?" he rasped.

"If I wanted to kill you off, I would have left you on the battlefield where I found you."

Harry raised Malfoy's head slightly to give him a drink of water. Malfoy quickly snapped his lips tightly together, and a flash of panic went through his eyes.

Harry was confused for a moment. "Oh," he said realizing why Malfoy was concerned. "It's just water. Look I'll take a drink myself to test it." Harry took a drink. "My name is Gandalf the Grey. See… no Veritaserum."

Malfoy nodded and opened his mouth for a drink. Harry raised the glass carefully so he didn't pour too fast.

"So why did you bother to save me?" asked Malfoy. His voice sounded much better. "You don't give a shit about me, and we both know it."

"You might be an asshole, but we've gone to school together for six years. You're not some unknown Death Eater lying on the field in a pile of bodies. I wasn't about to stand there and let you die in front of me."

"Why not? I would've. That stupid hero complex of yours is going to get you in trouble."

"I'm glad that you would've," returned Harry. "Dying in a pool of my own blood is preferable to anything your boss could think up."

"So? You think that it would be much different that what your side is going to do to me? I'm surprised no one has tried to dose me with Veritaserum yet."

Their voices were getting louder, and louder.

Professor Snape swooped over like a large bat and said, "Mr. Potter, I think it would be best if you left."

"Yes, sir," Harry nodded. "Will I be allowed back in?"

"If you can be quiet, and Poppy approves, I have no doubt that you'll be able to run around creating havoc to your heart's content," The Professor said in distaste, but Harry could tell that he didn't really mind.

Draco watched in surprise. This was Harry Potter, The-boy-Snape-loved-to-hate, and he was getting along with their potions professor. The potions professor that should have been working for the Dark Lord, he realized.

"Severus, you betrayed the Dark Lord," Malfoy said in shock as it all sunk in. "You're a traitor. How could you do it?"

Draco, much like you, I followed my friends blindly into the hands of the Dark Lord. It didn't take me long to find out what he really was."

"But Sev…"

"No Draco," Snape said. "A leader who tortures his own people isn't a leader, he's a jailor. The Dark Lord wouldn't allow me to leave his service alive, so I made a deal with Dumbledore. The Dark Lord knows what I've done, and I'm stuck here until the war is over, but it's worth it. . Now open your mouth so I can help you drink this potion."

Draco swallowed it all obediently. "Will they dose me with Veritaserum?"

"I have no doubt that they will, but Mr. Potter will probably make sure that no one can ask you anything embarrassing. Much as it pains me to say it, Harry is a very decent man. Even if he is a Gryffindor."

A few weeks passed and Malfoy slowly healed up in the infirmary. Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting in the kitchen eating breakfast when Ginny came in and helped herself to some toast.

"Got a break from the Ferret this morning?" Ron asked as he shoveled scrambled eggs into his mouth.

"You know Ron, he's not so bad," she said. "And, don't talk with your mouth full."

"Not so bad?" asked Ron, this time with his mouth full of hash browns. "This is Draco Malfoy we're talking about."

"Ron, I know you have about as much compassion as one of Hagrid's blast-ended-skrewts, but try to understand how he must be feeling. He's here all alone, and dependant on any mercy we're willing to give him. He certainly won't admit that he's scared, but it's obvious that he is. I've spent some time sitting with him in the infirmary. Severus is too busy to give anyone personal time, and Poppy even more so. He hasn't said anything, but he knows that his own side left him in that field to die.

"Good riddance to bad rubbish, if you ask me," muttered Ron.

"Ron, how can you say that? His father was at that battle. One of the other patients told me that Lucius was the one to cast the cutting cure at him. His own father left him there to die, Ron! His own father!"

Hermione watched the interchange from across the table. "Ginny," she cut in. "I think helping in the infirmary is making you too compassionate. Even if Malfoy's situation it pitiable, trying to save him is a bad idea.

There's a story about a fox, and scorpion. The scorpion needed to cross a river, but he couldn't swim. When a fox came by, he asked the fox to carry him. The fox shook his head. "You'll bite me and I'll die," he said. The scorpion explained that since he couldn't swim he'd die as well. So, reluctantly, the fox agreed. Halfway across the river, the scorpion stung the fox, dooming them both. When the fox asked why, the scorpion replied 'I'm a scorpion, it's my nature'.

Ginny, you can't trust Malfoy. He was bred and raised to follow You-Know-Who. He'd betray you or any of us here if he has a chance. It's his nature.

Harry wants to help him, so I'll go along with it for now, but I'm going to make sure I watch Harry's back every step of the way. Make sure that you watch yours too."

Harry didn't say anything and just watched them talk it out. Hermione could be right and Malfoy would betray them at the first opportunity. Ron clearly didn't like him, just on principle. After the way Malfoy had treated them all these years, Harry wasn't so sure he was wrong. However, Harry felt that he couldn't let everything go so easily. It might be that the Chinese proverb, 'if you save someone's life, you are responsible for it' had some actual truth in it. He wanted to make sure everything worked out well. He crossed his fingers and hoped for the best.

"Harry, Harry!!"

Harry looked up to see that Ron had been calling his name for some time.

"I think we should give him a chance," said Harry quietly.

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