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Chapter Seven

"What are they?" Draco murmured, staring at the creatures.

"Thestrals," Harry said, throwing one an apple.

Draco felt a nudge on his shoulder and turned to see one standing behind him. Draco tentatively reached forward and patted its neck.

"It likes you," a small voice said.

Draco peered around the thestral to see Luna sitting at the base of a tree, reading a book. She was peering over the book, a kind smile on her pale face.

"Hi, Luna," Harry said, walking toward her.

"Hello, Harry," she said. "Hello, Draco."

Draco nodded toward her, but said nothing.

"It's nice to see you out of the castle," Luna said to Draco. "I've noticed you don't like leaving it."

Draco felt Harry's gaze on him, but Draco refused to meet his eyes. Luna stood and walked toward Draco, also petting the thestral next to him.

"Only people who have seen death can see thestrals," she said softly. "You've seen a lot of death, haven't you Draco? More than any of us did, even during the battle at Hogwarts."

Draco looked at her.

"No one deserves that, Draco," she said.

"I'm sorry we held you in the dungeons," Draco said to her softly.

"It's quite alright, Draco," Luna said. "I wasn't harmed. But your father sure did yell a lot, especially at you. I could hear him."

Draco smiled an almost sad smile, letting out a slight chuckle and looking down.

"Maybe if I wasn't such a big disappointment, he wouldn't have."

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Draco sat silently at dinner, listening to the pointless chatter around him. His plate of untouched food sat in front of him,

"Aren't you hungry, Draco?" Pansy asked.

Draco shook his head.

"Still not feeling well?" she asked softly.

Draco shrugged. Then he pushed his plate away from him and stood.

"I'm going back to the common room," he said. Before anyone could say anything, he walked quickly away.

Harry watched him go before returning his focus to Hermione and Ron.

"So what did you do all day?" Hermione asked Harry, smiling. "It's not like you to miss out on Hogsmeade."

"I, uh, just kind of hung out in the common room, mostly. And went out into the woods to see the thestrals with Luna and Draco."

"Malfoy?" Ron exclaimed, choking on his drink. "Why in the bloody hell would you do anything with him?"

"Ron," Hermione scolded. "You saw Malfoy on the train. He's different…changed."

"Is he?" Ron said. "You saw what he did to that first year."

"That git deserved it," Harry said. "Besides, isn't the whole reason of coming back to repeat seventh year to have a chance to restart? Finish things the way they should have? Don't you think that applies to everyone, even Draco?"

"Yes," Hermione said after a moment. "…Since when do you call him Draco?"

Harry shrugged. "It's his name isn't it?"

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"You're not a failure, you know?"

Draco jumped as he heard the voice. He turned from where he was sitting on the window ledge in the owlry, working on his transfigurations paper, to see Harry standing in the doorway.

"What?" Draco asked, scanning over Harry.

"What you said in the woods the other day, about being a disappointment to your father," Harry said, walking closer.

Draco slowly closed his transfigurations book as Harry sat across from him in the window ledge.

"Why do you always come up here?" Harry asked, looking around at all the owls that filled the nests. "It's dirty. And cold."

"Exactly," Draco said. "It means no one comes up here. I like being alone."

"Why?" Harry asked. "What's so great about being alone all the time? Don't you ever get…well, lonely?"

"No one can hurt you when you're alone," Draco said softly.

"Do… do people hurt you, Draco?" Harry said.

Draco hesitated, eyes narrowing slightly as he looked at Harry. "No. Not anymore."

"But people did? What Luna said in the woods-"

"Was all true," Draco cut in. "Harry, you always hated my father; you always knew he was an awful man. I'm honestly surprised you never caught on sooner."

"Caught onto what?" Harry asked.

"That he didn't just treat you horrible. My father hated everyone. He wanted everyone to fear him. Including me. I was a piece of property to him, someone he could bend and control anyway he wanted to. But he was also a coward. He feared Voldemort more than death itself. So of course he instantly joined Voldemort's ranks. He was too afraid not to. I had no choice but to follow in his footsteps. If I protested…. there was consequences. Have you ever felt the cruciatus curse, Harry? It's unbelievable what it can make people do…same with the imperius curse. Anyway, I was forced to take the dark mark on my seventeenth birthday. That's when Voldemort himself gave me a mission. Kill Dumbledore. And if I failed? I'd be killed. I think you know how it goes from there."

Harry let everything sink in. "You didn't tell your father and Bellatrix that it was me, that one day at your manor. You knew it was me."

Draco nodded. "I did know it was you. Even if your face did look like you got in a fight with a giant."

Draco chuckled slightly, making Harry smile.

Then Draco continued. "Yeah, I knew it was you… but Harry, you were my only hope. You were everyone's only hope. I couldn't let you be handed to Voldemort. He couldn't win that easily. So I lied. I knew the consequences of my actions. And they came. But I don't regret it."

"The consequences?" Harry asked.

Draco sighed, before standing and lifting the back of his shirt, revealing that his skin was crisscrossed with scars.

Draco quickly put his shirt back down and sat, leaning back against the wall. Harry was sputtering, trying to form words.

"Your father… your father did that to you?"

Draco nodded, pulled into a memory.

"Draco," Lucius spat. "You knew that was Potter. You KNEW."

"You're going to get us all killed!" Bellatrix said, glaring at him with her wild eyes.

Draco remained silent, looking at the ground.

His father put a firm hand on Draco's shoulder, making him flinch.

"We need to chat," Lucius growled, shoving Draco forward.

Narcissa watched, helpless, as Lucius led Draco out of the room.

Moments later, screams of pain filled the house.

"I feel horrible for hating you before," Harry said, snapping Draco out of his thoughts.

Draco's old smirk drifted across his face. "It's not like I ever gave you a reason to like me."

Harry smiled slightly. "You got that right," he admitted. "You definitely were a fowl git."

Draco shrugged, still slightly smirking. "What can I say? It was kind of fun, actually. Seeing how mad you'd get, over the silliest remarks, which I never truly meant, by the way."

"How about we start over?" Harry said, leaning forward slightly.

Draco raised an eyebrow at him.

Harry stuck his hand out. "I'm Harry Potter. Nice to meet you."

Draco stared at his hand for a moment before looking at Harry.

"You're an idiot," Draco said.

But he was smiling.