Authors notes: Thank you so much everyone who reviewed my last chapter! The first part of this chapter sets up with Draco, but then we'll get to Zuko and their reunion right after. :)

OOOOOOOOO

"Mother, this is ridiculous. I am seventeen years old." Draco straightened his back and squared his shoulders, trying to put on the same air of adult confidence he'd seen his father do a hundred times before. Only it was hard to look at all suave and in control with his mother straightening his tie and brushing imaginary pieces of lint off of his robes.

Narcissa sniffed, and gave one final pull to Draco's tie, making sure it was not even a millimeter out of place. "I don't know how Professor Snape let's you dress in Hogwarts, but in our house you need to look presentable."

Left unsaid between them was for whom the Malfoys needed to present themselves too. Virtual prisoners in their own homes, neither mother nor son dared to step out of line and give the Dark Lord something to comment about.

Draco reached out, grabbing his mother's hand in his own and finding her fingers cold. "Mother, he is out of the country for now, and I doubt aunt Bellatrix will say anything to him if my tie is out of place." His eyes met hers, silver against hardened grey, and managed a weak smile for her benefit. "She has other things on her mind, you know."

Such as her endless, complete madness. That too, was left unsaid.

Narcissa could not quite smile back at her son, but the corner of one lip did twitch slightly and her fingers gripped his.

The Malfoys were not a family that liked to show their affection, even in private. But their love was there — quiet and strong, and at that moment, for the thousandth time since last summer, Draco wished that somehow things could have turned out differently.

What of the promises of honor upon completing his insane mission to kill Dumbledore? What of the prestige? The Malfoys were reduced to skulking around in their own home, to be treated almost as servants.

I wish I never did it.

The words, set in a scratchy tone of voice from the boy with the scar around his eye often came back to haunt Draco nowadays. Before, he had brushed it off as a disenchanted kid who couldn't deal with pressures and sacrifices. Now, he found himself in that same position and bitterly wishing he had thought on it more. He had even had the Vanishing Cabinet moved to his room, half in tribute over his extraordinary accomplishment and half as a reminder.

I wish I never did it.

Narcissa was looking up at him, an unreadable expression on her face, but before she could comment the wards guarding the Manor chimed. Someone was at the door.

Mother and son exchanged a look, before Narcissa pursed her lips, shaking her head, and answered the unsaid question. "No, the Dark Lord doesn't need to knock to get in. Go join your father. He's probably brooding by the fire again. I'll see to the door."

OOOOOOOOO

Crawling onto and out of a tiny cabinet aggravated Zuko's wound painfully. He grit his teeth, but couldn't resist a pained grunt as he righted himself again. He froze, and glanced about the room, aware for the first time that it was not at all like the one found himself in before.

Gone was the simple stone room with the blasted walls. Now he was standing in an ornate bedroom, easily on par with what he had at his palace. Only instead of the familiar deep reds of the Fire Nation, the curtains and the four-poster bed was decorated in dark green and silver. While it was early morning where he had come from, the windows outside only showed black sky.

But again, it was quiet. No crunches of earthbending or sounds of fire blasts. Maybe as a last resort he could bring everyone here.

"Hello?" Zuko called out, softly. Receiving no response he quickly untied, and then retied the sash that held his tunic together, making sure it fit snugly — almost painfully — over the knife wound in his side. Hopefully the pressure would stanch the bloodflow. He started moving about, gingerly at first and then with more confidence as the burning pain receded into an aching throb.

Where was he? Some kind of palace? Zuko about the room for clues, but finding none, went to the door. It opened easily under his finger-tips, the hinges apparently well oiled. The hallway beyond was dimmed with torch lights illuminated only every twenty feet or so. He padded along softly, calling from his experience as the Blue Spirit to keep to the shadows.

The cold silence didn't last long. Within moments, Zuko heard voices down the hall; the muffled rise and fall of anger followed by a feminine shriek.

He ducked instinctively as a low blast cut through the din, but then got ahold of himself and walked forward quickly. Within a few moments he was ducking down along the shadows of a doorway, surveying a scene in some kind of drawing room.

A crowd of people, all dressed in long robes, stood facing one another, and Zuko felt a jolt of realization as he recognized one in particular. Draco…

He was the youngest out of a group of adults; two sharing the same facial features and light hair to such a degree that they must be his parents. One darker woman with a crazed expression on her face held the room's attention. She was screaming something and pointing to some kind of strange creature and three bound teenagers about Zuko's age, and then to a few more men who lay unconscious on the floor.

In one hand the dark woman held a wand, very much like the one that Zuko had seen Draco carry. In her other was an ornate long sword, its hilt aflame with rubies. As she turned, pointing the sword towards a hideous grayed man who knelt on the floor, the light caught her hollowed features: her eyes were crazed.

"Where did you find this sword? Snape sent it to my vault in Gringotts!" she shrieked.

"It was in their tent," the man rasped, "Release me, I say!"

The answer seemed to be enough for the woman. She waved her wand, and the man nearly sprang to his feet. The woman then pointed to the unconscious forms on the floor. "Draco, move this scum outside. If you haven't got the guts to finish them, then leave them in the courtyard for me."

"Don't you dare speak to Draco like—" said the woman who was probably Draco's mother.

"Be quiet! The situation is graver than you can possibly imagine, Cissy! We have a very serious problem!"

As the women sniped back and forth, Draco stepped forward and waved his wand, his face expressionless. The three bodies rose from the ground and hovered in mid-air, limp as if completely boneless. With another flick of his wand, Draco walked the bodies out a side door.

Zuko's gaze darted back and forth between the still arguing women and the retreating figure of Draco. The main source of light in the room appeared to be the great chandelier overhead, throwing the edges into dark shadow. It was those shadows he used, and the distraction of the bickering adults, to follow Draco outside, undetected.

The short hallway led to an arched courtyard outside. Zuko hesitated, very aware that he had somehow stumbled into a high pressure situation, and that Draco would be on edge and not very pleased at being surprised. But at the same time he could feel a silent clock ticking in his head. How long would Toph and Haru be able to keep Azula and the rest of the army out? Where they fighting for their lives right now?

"Draco," he whispered, hoarsely.

The other boy reacted just about as badly as he suspected. He tensed up and swung around. The men he had been hovering fell to the ground with low, wet thuds.

Draco had grown an inch or two since Zuko had seen him last, but his face had never looked so strained, so waxen. "Who's there?!" The tip of his wand lit and he raised it over his head, throwing light out over the courtyard. "Show yourself!"

"It's me," he stepped carefully into the light, palms up to show he was unarmed, "Zuko."

Draco stared at him, struck dumb for ten full heartbeats. Then his expression changed into a tight, completely humorless smile. "Zuko," he repeated, "Of course. Why not? It seems as if all of my former friends and enemies have decided to show up tonight—"

"Draco," Zuko took another step forward, palms still out in a silent plead. "I need your help. My… friends and I are under attack. We're trapped, and this is the only place I could come…" He hated debasing himself like this, nearly begging for help. It took only the thought of the rest of the gang, probably fighting for their lives right now to keep away the shame.

Unfortunately, Draco seemed less than impressed. "Are you mad? Do you see what is going on in there?" He jabbed a finger towards the door. "They've got Potter, and soon enough the Dark Lord himself will be showing up on our doorstep." Draco paused then, giving a breathless little laugh, "Then, it'll be all over, won't it? And the Dark Lord will finally win."

Zuko closed his eyes and shook his head. He knew what he had to do, but it wasn't going to be easy. He had known on some level that it would probably come to this if he was to seek any aid. "Draco…" he swallowed hard. "Please… I'll be in your debt."

Those words were not spoken lightly, and Draco's grey eyes focused on him fully for the first time with undivided attention. "Is that so?"

"Yes."

Draco stared at him for another few moments, his expression closed but clearly calculating. Finally, he gave a curt nod with his chin and stuck out his hand. Zuko wasn't sure what he wanted, but did the same and found his hand being shook once. Strange ritual.

"So it's a deal then. I scratch your back and you scratch mine, eh?" Draco's smile could only be considered oily, and he nodded towards the door. "Well, now's the perfect time to start working off your debt. You probably saw that they've captured the Chosen One and his little friends?"

"Chosen One?"

"Harry Potter. Don't you know anything? They say it's his destiny to fight the Dark Lord." He gave another laugh, almost as if he found this entire thing to be funny. But there was an undertone in his voice that gave Zuko the impression that Draco found it anything but humorous. "I didn't tell my father, but he's going to recall the Dark Lord back here all the same, and the more he's kept away from my family, the better."

Zuko hesitated, struck by a strange sense of daja-vue. "Look, I'll help you afterwards. Right now my friends—"

"No!" snapped Draco, "You're doing this now, or the deal's off!"

Both teens glared at each other, but Zuko felt the weight of time on his shoulders, and dropped his gaze first. Fine then. The sooner he did this, the sooner he could get back, hopefully with extra fire power. "Okay," he growled, fists curling. "But we need to make this quick. What do you want me to do?"

Draco flashed him a quick grin, all friendly and reasonable now that he was getting his way. "They'll put Potter and his friends in the downstairs cellar with the other prisoners. I need them to get away, but it needs to look like it wasn't in anyway due to my family's incompetence. Got it?"

"And how am I supposed to do that?"

Another quick smile. "I don't know. That's your job, isn't it?" Draco pulled out his wand. "I can cast a disillusionment charm, but it probably won't last long. You'll have to get down there quick."

Zuko's fisted hands heated up. He felt a strange sense of determination at Draco's words, not so much unlike when he was out hunting the Avatar. Only this was to help Aang. Maybe he just worked best with a clear set goal in his mind.

Something caught his eye and he glanced over. There, sitting above the doorway in an ornamental piece, almost like a sign from Agni himself, were two crossed swords. Zuko walked and unhooked them. They were nothing like his twin Dao. Whereas his favorite weapons were broad with wickedly curved edges, these were long, thin, and whippy with a sharp edged point like a stabbing needle. But they were light, and with his injury he would need all the help he could get. "Let's do it."

OOOOOOOOOOO

Thanks again for reading! Let me take a moment and address the cool people who reviewed last chapter.

TheDragonclawMistress: OMG, yeah your comment spawned a lot of plotbunnies on possible Momo/Draco crazyiness. I think almost being eaten by Sokka in the first season is going to be the least of our favorite lemur's concerns. I'm so dedicating anything like that to you for the idea.

angelthewriter: Thanks! I'm glad you liked it. I plan on updating very regularly, every few days or so and I'll never update one chapter without finishing the next chapter first, so there's always something in the pipeline.

Minathia: Yup, I decided to try my hand at a series and see where this takes me. I'm really glad you liked it so far!

burnin4Christ: Glad you liked it!

KASLiNN: Awwww! Well I'll do my very best to stay as in character as possible. It's hard because Draco really wants to be good, but canon Draco… isn't. I'll have fun with it!

Tege: Thanks, tege! I got some pretty fun stuff in store. I hope you guys like it.

Middykun: Lol! Yeah, I know. I wanted to do more reactions from the Gaang on Zuko's David Copperfield stunt, but I'll have to save that for some other time.

Thanks again, everyone!