A/N So… here is a chapter. I could say a lot of things about this chapter, but I will let everyone make their own assumptions. Draco makes an appearance, and he is very much himself. Harry proves that he is actually pretty mature. Brenna chews on things… it's all just… sigh. Currently I am staying in a hotel and have tons of time on my own until I get a house. Things are going… well. But I will have more time than I ever thought possible, so there might be another chapter coming soon.

I will make a few promises for the future chapters. I promise that you will find out what Ron finds in Malfoy Manor. I promise that there will be more about the pack. I promise that eventually you will find out what happened to Ginny.

Trinity DD- Yeah I'm fond of Percy myself. Even though he is a git. And Remus can take care of himself.

nycgyrl- thank you for the kind words. I appreciate it when people point out the bits that they liked. Hope this is to your liking as well.

starlitenight- No there really isn't a story before this. There are two little backstory pieces, one by me - Like a Secret and another by my bestfriend and cousin Dragonsbane1611- A Bruise and a Bracelet, but both of those are really fairly fluffy and not at all going to explain what happened. It's like a mystery. I hope you keep reading cause everything will become clear. I promise more clues in the future. And while I can't tell you who killed Ginny... the situation is not at all what it seems.

cho-look-alike- yeah it is pretty sad, and it's only going to get sadder before anything happy happens. But keep reading, I promise the plot is going to twist.

xx2krazi2luvxx- I did. Enjoy.

The day after Harry graduated from Hogwarts, Remus took him to see the White Dragon. It was not a living dragon, as Harry had anticipated, but a chalky outline carved into a hillside. He stared at it from across the muddy field and felt his heart skip a beat.

"Muggles say it's a horse." Remus said quietly, walking past his young companion and towards the hill.

"What is it really?"

"Don't fall behind."

A light rain was falling from the grey clouds that had covered the sky for nearly a month. Before he had taken five steps, Harry's trainers were soaked through. He winced as the water sloshed around his toes.

"It's a bit wet, don't you think?"

The older man turned and grinned, "Just a bit."

The ghostly white figure loomed closer as they crossed the meadow. A small group of tourists were huddled at the base of the hill, looking wet and miserable. They watched Harry and Remus intently as they began the hike up the rocky path.

"It's tough going." A man with an American accent said.

"We'll manage." Remus replied.

"Be careful, halfway up it gets slippery."

Not only was it slippery, but the rain grew harder the further they climbed. Each drop seemed to sink into his skin as he desperately tried to keep his balance.

"We're nearly there." The blurry form of Remus called back.

Moments later Harry found himself standing only a handspan from the dragon's snout. The chalk bedrock seemed to glow against the dark grass that surrounded it.

"This is the dragon."

"What's it for?" Harry asked, gazing at its long slender body and curving legs.

"Oh… many things." Remus said thoughtfully.

"Who made it?"

"There are many stories. Some say it is the goddess Epona, watching over her followers from her sacred hill. Others say it is the bones of St. George's dragon, bleached in the sun and buried over time. I've also heard it was merely a way of marking the territory of this land's current lord."

The younger man blinked, "What is it really?"

"Old."

Together they stared through the mist at the White Dragon. In the distance Harry could see strange markings in the earth, as though a giant had run his fingers through the hillside, creating deep, shadow-filled furrows. Further still was a mound of dirt that was strangely flat on top; in the center no grass grew.

"What are those?" He asked, pointing.

"Older."

"Why won't the grass grow in the middle, there?"

Remus tilted his head to the side and sighed quietly, "When powerful magic is destroyed there will always be a scar."

"What died?" Absently his fingers strayed to the jagged scar on his forehead.

As though he had not heard him, Remus pointed further up the hill, "There is more."

Frowning, Harry followed his friend back to the path. As he climbed, a strange feeling stirred in his chest, like a memory that he urgently needed to remember. Though the rain continued to pelt harshly at his face, he no longer felt it.

"Do not draw your wand." Remus instructed as they finally came to the end of the muddy trail.

Stretching out before them was a large expanse of grass, surrounded by a ring of earth long since overgrown with weeds and grass. The feeling in Harry's chest grew stronger as he stepped out onto the circle of muddy earth.

"This is the Castle." Remus said softly.

"It's magic."

"Yes."

"What sort of magic? It makes my chest ache."

"The oldest sort. Nearly forgotten, but very powerful."

"What does it do?"

"Whatever it pleases."

Harry waited a moment before carefully stepping down the embankment. The grass within the circle seemed thicker and softer than that which they had climbed through. Listening hard he thought he could hear someone whispering. It was an eerie, insistent voice that seemed to surround him.

"You can hear it, then?" Remus asked with a smile.

"What is it?"

"I suppose you could call it a memory."

"A memory of what?" The wind picked up and blew a few strands of hair into his eyes.

"Of a time when this was more than a tourist attraction. Legend has it, this is the site of one of King Arthur's greatest strongholds. Perhaps the voices are those of his knights and their ladies, or even Merlin himself."

Harry considered for a moment, pushing the hair from his eyes, "Is that true?"

"Whether it is or not, this is a place of power. A place where old magic hides."

"What is old magic?"

"It's deep and twisted, like tree roots. Very difficult to understand."

"Is it evil? It doesn't feel evil."

"It is not evil. It is not good. It simply is."

"What would happen if I drew my wand?"

The older man smiled again, "There is a good chance that nothing would happen. That you could cast whatever spell you liked and obtain the desired result. However, it could also wake something that ought to be left sleeping."

"Why did you bring me here?" Harry asked.

The older man hesitated, choosing his words carefully.

"Remus?"

"It is tradition that a father shares something personal with his son after he has come of age. I don't know what James would have shown you, and I'm not sure that Sirius ever gave it much thought. I thought, perhaps, you might… enjoy this." Remus suddenly seemed uncertain.

"What is this place to you?" Harry gave his friend a searching look.

"My family home is not very far from here. When I was young… and scared… this place was everything."

"Thank you. For sharing with me, I mean."

"You like it, then?"

"Yes." He looked up at the overcast sky, "I could touch the clouds from here."

"You might."

Remus smiled as Harry reached as far as he could, finger tips seeming to brush the heavens.
"What brings you by in such poor weather?" Remus asked, years later, as he sat a cup of hot tea in front of Harry.

The younger man smiled and wrapped his cold fingers around the warm cup, "I was going taking Brennie to see the Dragon. You were on the way."

"She's a bit small for that."

"I suppose."

"Not to discourage you, but that's quite a climb for a toddler."

"She can make it. I'll carry her. Besides, it's the perfect day for it. What with all this rain and fog, the magic in that hill should be almost radiant." Harry sipped his tea and glanced at the child sitting in the chair next to him.

She was paying no attention to the adults in the room and was content to chew on the fingers of her bright yellow gloves.

"Brenna, please don't chew on your gloves." Her father asked, pulling her hand from her mouth.

"Gov?" She questioned.

"Yes, don't chew on them. Your grandmother just gave them to you a week ago. I'll not be the one to tell her you've ruined them."

"Shew?" She replied, frowning.

"Don't. Don't chew."

The small child nodded and immediately shoved the shredded glove back into her mouth.

"I give up." Harry sighed, patting his daughter on the head.

"I would say she gets that from her mother." Remus suggested with a grin.

"Oh, definitely. Certainly not from me."

They chuckled together and the younger man took another sip of his tea.

"Was there something else on your mind, Harry?" Remus asked.

"Actually, there was…" He paused to pull Brenna's gloves off her hands and shove them in his pocket. She blinked at him and carefully climbed down from the chair.

"Where are you off to, little one?" Her grandfather asked as she toddled past his chair.

"Bye." She waved to them both and disappeared into the hall.

"Perhaps I should go and get her. No telling what she'll get into." Harry went to stand but Remus motioned for him to sit.

"She'll be fine. I'm sure the furniture could use a good chewing-on. What did you have to talk about?"

"I received this yesterday." Suddenly serious, Harry produced a small piece of folded parchment from his trouser pocket.

Remus looked it over carefully, running a fingertip over the broken seal, "This is the Malfoy crest."

"Yes. Open it. I wasn't sure what to make of the thing."

"I didn't know you were on speaking terms with Draco." The older man said as he unfolded the paper. His eyes scanned its contents quickly and then gazed up at Harry expectantly.

"I know. Hard to believe, isn't it?"

"Are you going?"

"I'm not sure. It isn't every day your childhood enemy asks you to lunch, now is it?"

"No… it isn't."

"That's why I wanted to talk to you about it. The whole thing seems fishy. Draco Malfoy, son of a Death Eater, wanting to share a meal with Harry Potter. It's put me on my guard."

"That's Ron talking." Remus said, looking at the letter carefully.

"Yes, but he would have a point. I killed the man's father. Not in a fair fight, either. He was unarmed and I killed him. If anyone has a right, to seek revenge it would be Draco."

"I see your reasoning, but perhaps he's decided to try and fix the damage his father did. The Malfoys have never been very good at apologies. He might simply feel bad about everything that happened."

"I had thought of that. If anything this meeting would give me a chance to explain myself."

"Yes. It might do you both some good to discuss the past and, if possible, to come to an understanding."

The young man took the letter from his friend and read it over again. There was nothing sinister in the words, nothing to raise an alarm. Had it been from anyone else Harry would not have thought twice about his reply.

"It had to be from him, you know." He said with half a smile.

"Why is that?"

"He's one of the people I never really understood."

"I see."

"He was never anything but obnoxious and cruel. I suppose I never took the time to try and see past that. To be honest, I never took the time to do much of anything useful." A sad look came over his eyes.

"You've accomplished many great things, Harry."

"I have accomplished many things, few of them were great. I think I might have been a better person without the battles and deaths, even without vanquishing Voldemort. I think, maybe if I had taken more time to know the people around me, I might feel more like the hero everyone thinks I am."

"No matter how you feel about what's happened, it has happened."

"All I can do now is try and make up for lost time. Brenna is the first thing I've ever been truly proud of."

"Perhaps this thing with Draco will be the second."

At that, Harry smiled.

"I must say, your letter came as a surprise." Harry said, attempting a smile.

The other man spread his napkin in his lap and smiled a little in return, "I didn't mean to alarm you."

"I wasn't alarmed. Just surprised."

Draco gave a derisive snort, "You never were a good liar, Potter."

"No," he replied thoughtfully, "no, I never was."

"I imagine you had that bit of parchment tested for every jinx and curse imaginable before you ever broke the seal."

"Actually, I opened it immediately. Didn't think about having it tested until much later."

The blonde man shook his head slowly, "Perhaps I should have included something nasty, if only to teach you to be more careful when opening letters."

Harry smiled in earnest, "That was something Mad-Eye could never seem to get through to me."

They sat in silence for a moment, listening to the sounds of the people around them. Their table was near the back, far away from the other patrons. It was not until after they had been seated that Harry felt very foolish for agreeing to sit there. He did not completely trust Draco and knew he should have requested a seat closer to everyone else.

"If I'd wanted to hex you, I would have done so already. Please, stop looking so anxious." Draco said quietly.

"Sorry."

"No need to apologize. I understand your discomfort."

"Yes, well…"

"My family has not the unblemished reputation that yours does."

"I didn't mean…" Harry felt a bit queasy at the mention of Draco's family. He had hoped the subject would not come up.

Again there was a silence and neither man seemed sure how to fill it.

"I need to apologize." Harry said suddenly.

Draco raised an eyebrow curiously, "For what?"

The words dried in Harry's throat, incapable of making it past his lips.

"Potter?"

At last he managed, "Your father."

"I see." The blonde man folded his hands in front of him and waited expectantly.

Looking at those perfectly manicured hands, Harry was suddenly very aware of the dirt packed beneath his fingernails and the rough calluses that covered his palms. He frowned and tried to remember what he had practiced saying.

"What happened was not intentional. I didn't mean for it to happen like it did. Everything was moving very quickly and I didn't see that he had dropped his wand. I'm sorry for what I did." As he finished, his elbow hit his glass of water and nearly sent it tumbling from the table.

For a long moment Draco said nothing. Then, "He would have been executed, you know."

"What?"

"If you had caught him and had him brought to trial, he would have been executed."

"We don't practice the death penalty."

"Not in so many words. Perhaps they would not have said anything then. Later, the message would be sent and something special would have been mixed in with my father's dinner or they would simply say he took his own life. Either way, the report would have read a different story entirely."

"I… I didn't know."

"Now you do. So far as I am concerned, you did him a favor. You killed him outright, in battle. He would rather have gone that way than alone and broken in some dirty cell."

Harry blinked and scrutinized the man in front of him very carefully. There was a hardness to his features and lines around his eyes that had not been there when they had last seen each other. Time had done its work on both of them.

"I just… I needed to explain it to you." He whispered.

"Thank you for the offer, but no explanation will be necessary. My father was a fool. He was brash and unorganized, never thinking twice about the consequences of his actions or what it might mean for the rest of his family." A hint of repressed anger had edged its way into his voice.

"Excuse me." Said another voice entirely, startling both men.

Harry smiled up at the waiter and accepted the food placed in front of him. They both said their thanks and waited until the man had gone out of earshot before speaking again.

"You still haven't explained why you wanted to meet with me." Harry mentioned as he began cutting his chicken into smaller pieces.

"I thought we might be of some help to each other."

"How so?"

"My father left me a legacy that I find difficult to live up to. His reputation for cruelty and dark magic has outlived him."

"I'm not sure I understand." Harry chewed thoughtfully.

Draco sipped his wine, "I find myself unable to escape his shadow. There isn't a single person in all the wizarding world who would give me the time of day, save for fear I might kill them."

"How am I supposed to fix this problem?"

"You are the Chosen One. The golden boy of the prophecy. You saved the world."

"Yes." Harry shifted uncomfortably

"If I am seen with you, if they assume that we have become acquaintances, perhaps I might be able to shed some of the stigma that surrounds my family name."

"I don't know if it works like that. I mean, there isn't so much press about me anymore. It certainly wouldn't make the first page or anything. I'm not all that special these days. Not that I ever was to begin with."

"Precisely. This will bring you just the amount of publicity you need."

"I don't want any publicity. I've got a family now, a baby. I don't need reporters and journalists hiding in my garden or following my wife when she goes out. We've had about as much of that as we can stand." Suddenly his chicken did not taste as nice as it had.

"You too have certain things that are expected of you. Most of the world considers you a great hero. You see yourself quite differently. Perhaps this might ground them a little. Make them see that you really are human."

"I can see the headlines now: Chosen One Forgives Son of Death Eater. This can't end well." Harry took a sip of his water and sighed.

"I've done quite a lot of thinking about this. I suppose it might fail, but that is chance I am willing to take. Anything to be seen as myself."

"I'm still unsure, you know. I have my doubts."

Draco's eyes lit, "So you will, then?"

"Yes. You have a deal."