A/N: I own nothing but an over-active imagination

A shorty chapter following that last long one. I wrote it all at once, but it was so much longer than my usual chapters, I decided to break it apart.

Quick Note: I know Rowling has stated before in interviews that Draco owed no life debt to Harry after the war, but I thought it was a good way for Draco and Harry to form some sort of 'relationship' post war. They aren't friends, but Slytherins don't really have friends, or do they? Hmmmmm. Read on!

The Life Debt

"Well, that's was, er, something?" With Malfoy gone, Harry had ultimately found his voice. Returning his glasses to his face, he ran a hand through his messy hair and slumped into his chair. Hermione walked to stand in front of him, returning her wand to its holster at her side. Crossing her arm, she faced her best friend, a stern expression on her face.

"Care to share why Draco Malfoy was in your office?"

"It was about the life debt," Harry sighed.

"Life debt?" Hermione questioned. She reflected back to her conversation with Narcissa at the manor. She had mentioned that Draco owed Harry a life debt, but she hadn't considered much about it at the time. "You mean when you saved him in the Room of Requirement?" Harry sighed against pinched the bridge of his nose, he didn't like discussing this. He found these involuntary bonds were archaic and, quite frankly, inconvenient. But he wasn't about to tell that her Hermione, especially in those words.

"Not exactly. I had no idea at the time, seeing as I was preoccupied with horcuxes and not dying. I'll give you the short version. It would seem that originally, I really owed a life debt to Malfoy."

"You WHAT?! But, how?" Hermione blanched and took a seat in the chair opposite Harry.

"Well, initially I became indebted to Malfoy when he refused to identify me at the Manor. The fact is that he knew who I was. And as he purposefully denied it, it was enough to envoys the life debt, seeing as how Voldemort would have been summoned and he surely would have killed me since we were unarmed and outnumbered. When I saved him from the Fiendfyre in the Room of Requirement that sufficiently relayed my debt to him."

"So, you're no longer indebted to him. The bond should be severed."

"No." Suddenly, something clicked. And Hermione thought back to that day.

LET'S GO!" Harry yelled, and he, Ron, and Hermione gathered the Cloak tightly around themselves and pelted, heads down, through the midst of the fighters, slipping a little in pools of Snargaluff juice, toward the top of the marble staircase into the entrance hall. "I'm Draco Malfoy, I'm Draco, I'm on your side!" Draco was on the upper landing, pleading with another masked Death Eater. Harry Stunned the Death Eater as they passed. Malfoy looked around, beaming, for his savior, and Ron punched him from under the Cloak. Malfoy fell backward on top of the Death Eater, his mouth bleeding, utterly bemused. "And that's the second time we've saved your life tonight, you two- faced bastard!" Ron yelled.

"Merlin, Harry!"

"That's what I said." Harry leaned his head back, closing his eyes.

"So what?!" Hermione suddenly shouted. Throwing her arms up, exhausted. "So what if Draco Malfoy owes you a life debt? I don't see how that's any real concern of yours. Or his, really. We aren't at war anymore."

"Exactly, Mione. Malfoy is indebted to me without knowing when, where, or even how he will be obliged to repay it. And from what he's told me, he WILL have to repay the debt. It doesn't have to be accomplished by him saving my life. It could be something else beneficial to me, something the bond will oblige him to do, against his will if needed. And this is Draco Malfoy. He's out from under someone's thumb for the first time in his LIFE, Mione. He hoped he was free from this kind of pressure, and he can't stand the fact the life debt might force him to act against his wishes in order to fulfill it, or allow the debt to be passed onto another member of his family, should he die before the magic is satisfied?"

It made sense, she supposed, that Malfoy would be eager to find a way to sever the bond as soon as possible. She knew that if she were in his place, owing such a debt to her enemy, she would do everything she could so that it could not be used against her. Maybe she should study life debt and she if she can find a quicker solution to satisfy the debt. For Harry's sake, NOT for Malfoy. She knew it was ancient magic, and no one had yet uncovered any options beyond performing a sufficient deed. But she also expected not many witches or wizards felt compelled to struggle against it.

"So, is this how you started having tea with BOTH Malfoys?"

"Basically. It was around the second or third time I was visiting Narcissa. She invited me to stay for dinner. I accepted without thinking about it. I guess I had kind of forgotten Draco lived there too and would be joining us. After dinner, Narcissa excused herself and Malfoy invited me for a drink in his study. He demanded to know if I was going to use the life debt against him. I was totally confused, Mione. I hadn't given one thought to it. I told him I wouldn't. I told him I would forgive the debt, do whatever I needed so that he didn't owe me anything, but obviously, that's not how that works. At first, I was a little frightful for my life. I haven't got any real family. If I died before Ginny and got married or had kids, the debt ends with me. There's no one else for the magical bond to transfer to."

"Malfoy is a lot of things, but he's no killer. The whole of England knows that after the war."

"Yea, I know. But it didn't stop the thought from entering my mind. You know, I really thought that life would be less complicated after the war." Hermione couldn't help but laugh.

"You know, me too!"

"So, what was it that brought you to my door this time? You know, before you and Malfoy decided to hold a battle of wills in the middle of my office." Glad to have something more pleasant to talk about, Hermione began to fill Harry in on her conversation with Shacklebolt.

A/N: Excerpt detailing Harry saving Draco's life is from J.K's Deathly Hallows. Chapter 32. I don't own it, I just enjoy reading it