Harry brings Draco Malfoy back to the hotel and has an unexpected confrontation with his dad. Decisions are made, they are returning to Germany.

A/N: I own nothing, it's all Rowling's

Chapter Ten – A Plight in Circumstance

Harry and Draco arrived back at the hotel just as the clock in the lobby sounded that it was eight o'clock in the morning. Harry had been gone much longer then he had expected to be, but hopefully his dad wouldn't scold him too much. Not that a scolding from James Potter was anything to be frightened off, especially compared to Molly Weasley, and it didn't help matters any that Harry could only crack up laughing when he tried.

Harry was about to open the hotel door when he turned back to Draco. "You may be in some shock after this, just remember that the world thinks I'm dead too," Harry said and as he opened the door and shifted back into his Harry appearance.

"Exactly what's that supposed to mean? And how long have you been a metamorphmagus anyways?" Draco asked but Harry ignored it as he unlocked the door with his key and opened it. Harry stepped in and was immediately accosted by so many questions that he grabbed his head with his hands as if he were in agony. The questions stopped abruptly.

"Harry, are you alright, is it Voldemort?" Remus asked immediately and Harry lifted his head and smirked.

"No, Remus, remember I'm free of that bastard. I just wanted you to all shut up. Now that you have, I have had a very busy morning, Death Eaters and all, and would like to come into my hotel suite and relax for a moment and then perhaps I'll explain," Harry said as he moved further into the room. "Come in Draco, I think I've got the mutts to settle down," Harry murmured the last under his breath, so that only Draco could hear and the blond boy smirked as he took in the people in the room. "I did say it was crowded."

"Where have you been? And what do you mean your Hotel suite; it's paid for out of…" James started, but Harry interrupted.

"My Gringotts volt, that I so kindly allowed you access to," Harry said as he led Draco to the couches.

James scowled; there was no argument to be had there. The volt did belong to his son, as he had left it to him in his will. James just shut up for the moment.

Not everyone was there, Harry noted. Though, with the interrogation he got when he walked into the room, they might as well have been. It looked like only Remus, Bill, Aska, and James were up; the doors to the girl's rooms were shut and Nemaek was probably still sleeping in James' room, as was Cin in Harry's room.

Harry sat down on one of the couches and Draco joined him, while the four adults took up the other two. "So now that we're all comfy, care to explain where you've been, and why you've had a busy morning, Death Eaters and all, and who that is?" James asked, eyeing Draco suspiciously.

Harry smiled. "Sure, but first. Draco, you know Remus Lupin, of course. The red head sitting next to him is Bill Weasley, Ron's oldest brother. That," Harry pointed to Aska. "Is Aska de Aker, an Aker, one of their princes actually; and the dark haired one that looks so much like yours truly, is my father, James Potter."

"James Potter!" Draco exclaimed and then he stopped himself from getting too excited over the fact that James was alive. Harry nearly laughed at the abrupt change in manner. "I understand now, though I am curious as to how, but you can tell me later, as well as how you are alive."

Harry nodded and was about to go on when Remus spoke interrupting him. "What is Mr. Malfoy doing here, Harry?" James face started to turn red at hearing Draco's last name but no one noticed.

"I was just about to explain that. I went for a run this morning after having a talk with Cin, he was supposed to tell you all where I was, or at least Ashea, but apparently she's not up yet, or I'm sure he would have," Harry said nonchalantly.

"Who's Cin?" Draco asked.

"Cin's a snake, a really large one and about as big as Nagini; but much older and much more powerful. Probably smarter too," Harry quickly explained. "Anyways, I get to Sedes Isle and decide that I was going to stop and have breakfast before coming back here. So I did and who do you think comes strolling into the very tavern where I am eating; Lucius Malfoy and a bunch of Death Eaters. So I over hear that they are there to collect something for our dear friend Lord Voldemort and decided to follow them. Actually, I probably would have had no idea what they were up too if Draco here hadn't been whining about lack of information…"

"I don't whine. I…" Draco couldn't think of a good comeback. "I don't whine," he repeated as he crossed his arms over his chest. Harry smirked as the boy almost appeared to be pouting, in a manly way of course.

"As I was saying, had Draco not been whining about lack of information I would have not known that they were after anything. So I followed them, being a seer really comes in handy when following people, by the way. I made it look like they were following me. So I find out that they were heading to this shop. Curious, I go inside and hide in one of the rows. You see, they were after something that I bought, just two weeks ago." Harry held up his right hand and revealed the ring.

"Is that what my father was after? Awfully small, is it really that powerful?" Draco asked as he surveyed the ring.

Harry nodded slightly. "It is for me, gives me loads of abilities, but I don't think that it would help Voldemort in the least. It seems only to have one master, so I guess it's stuck with me as I'm stuck with it. I can't take it off." Draco nodded. "So, I decided that I was going to pull a Merlin on Lucius and his flock of Death Eaters and lassoed and bound them and left them for the Aurors to claim, and then we came back here, end of story," Harry finished his story.

"With a big sign pointing at them that said 'Voldemort's Death Eaters, You're Welcome,' floating above them," Draco put in with a snort. Aska, Remus, and Bill choked on a laugh at that. "I don't think I've ever seen my father so livid. You are sure that he won't be getting out of prison, aren't you?" Draco asked after a moment with a slight nervousness in his voice.

"With the way my life is going I can't be certain of anything Draco, but I can guarantee that he will be stuck there for quite a while," Harry said.

"You still haven't explained why a Malfoy is sitting in our hotel suite," James said quite stonily and Harry was surprised and angered by that. His dad didn't even know Draco. Remus, Aska, and Bill looked at James with the same surprise; none of them had expected it either.

"Draco is not his father. We may not be best friends, but we aren't enemies! I gave him another chance and now he doesn't really have anywhere else to go. If he goes back to England, Voldemort will find and kill him. I for one don't want to see that happen, enough people have died because of Voldemort already!" Harry stood up for his old dorm mate, literally. Harry had stood from the couch and towered over his father.

"He is a Malfoy," James spat icily standing as well. Harry couldn't believe his dad was acting like this.

"So what, that automatically makes him a bad person, does it?" Harry nearly growled. "Compared to me, your own son, Draco has done little wrong!"

"This is not about you…" James began, but Harry cut him off his voice raising with his anger, that was no longer just smoldering.

"It may as well should be. You don't know half the stuff I did while under Voldemort's control. I killed people, I tortured them to death! I enjoyed it!" Harry spat. "Merlin, I even raped a girl in front of her mother and then I left her an orphan…" Tears came to Harry's eyes as he remembered what he had done. Even Draco didn't know of that incident and Harry had, short of using the Obliviation Charm on himself, tried to block it from his memory. He had never even told Dumbledore.

Those around him looked at Harry as if they didn't know him, Harry didn't look at any of them though; he didn't want to see the looks in their eyes.

"Draco has done nothing compared to me. If his father was good for anything it was sheltering him from what real Death Eaters do," Harry said the last quietly as he looked back at his father.

Draco had remained quiet throughout the whole shouting match and was looking shaken, between Harry, who was trembling with his fists clenched, and James who was looking rather pale and shocked at Harry's words. "I never knew," Draco said quietly. "I never knew you had to do that. I never knew you went on that many raids."

"More then I care to remember," Harry said quietly as he sat back down. He shifted slightly as Slytherin's Sword, which was still disillusioned on his back, prevented him from sitting fully. Aska noticed the movement and looked to his bag and sword on the floor at the end of the couch Harry and Draco were sitting on.

Mikhail and Ashea, who had been awoken by Harry and James' shouting came out of their rooms at that moment, followed by Nemaek who landed on the couch in back of James, which was why Harry didn't hear Aska's question about the sword the first time he said it, but Remus did and he looked between Aska and Harry questioningly. Harry stood as the two women came towards them, Draco did as well.

"What on earth is going on here?" Ashea asked quietly. "Why are you shouting?"

"I brought back a friend and Dad doesn't seem to like him because of his name," Harry said angrily. "I thought, of all people, my dad wouldn't have prejudices with a name, after all his best friend was Sirius Black!"

Ashea walked over to Harry and put a calming hand on his shoulder Harry calmed down considerably at her gentle touch. "Please calm down, Harry. I'm sure he has a reason." Ashea said and looked to James.

James was still looking at his son as if he had never seen him before; he had no idea Harry had been forced to do all that. He knew he was a Death Eater, but he never considered how much of a Death Eater his son was.

"He's a Malfoy," said a small voice, very quiet that not everyone heard. Harry did and he looked to Mikhail, who had been the one who said it.

"How did you…" Harry began, but was cut off by Draco.

"Hello, Mikhail," Draco said quietly looking the girl straight in the eyes.

Mikhail backed up. "Harry, how could you bring him here?" Mikhail's voice shook as she continued to back away.

Harry shook his head; he was at that moment very confused. How did they know each other? "What, how?" Harry looked at Draco and noticed that the blond was shaking and had gone very pale.

"I didn't want too," Draco said quietly, his voice not showing the tremble that was shaking his fists. "It was part of my initiation. Both my father and Voldemort were there. I was supposed to kill her, I couldn't and I was punished for it," Draco sat back down on the couch and put his head in his hand. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Harry suddenly understood, but he didn't hold it against Draco, he had done worse, even if it were while he was consumed in Dark Magic. It was still him and he remembered all of it. Harry had a choice to make. His father was still looking at him with a repulsed expression on his face and Mikhail looked like she now hated him because he had brought Draco here. Did he stand beside Draco or stand beside Mikhail and his father?

Harry looked down at Draco and knew. They would never be best friends, but Harry connected with the boy. Draco knew what it was like to be a Death Eater, he knew because that was what his father had always wanted him to be, and like Harry, he didn't have a real choice in the matter. It was either go against his father and the Dark Lord and run, or do what he could with what life gave him. Harry put a hand on Draco's shoulder as he stood beside him.

Harry looked back to his father. "He had no choice, he's lucky the Dark Lord didn't kill him for not killing her." Harry knew he sounded cold at that, but it was the truth. Draco looked up at Harry; this was three times today that Harry had stood up for him. "I've seen initiations that ended with them being killed because they couldn't or wouldn't do as he commanded. I'm sorry Mikhail for whatever he was forced to do to you, but he deserves another chance. If you can't except Draco for who he is and not what he was then we'll leave, and I mean him and me," Harry said resolutely.

He was tired of all the prejudice against him and others that came from the group around him. The only one's who didn't share with their ideas was Ashea, Cin, and Nemaek. Harry didn't want to know how the other young Death Eaters, who Harry had gotten to know well, would appear in their eyes or the Order's for that matter. It was why Harry didn't tell Dumbledore their names.

There was complete silence at Harry's words; they weren't harsh; they weren't angered; they were calm, and they were certain. He would leave if he had to.

James looked between his son and Draco and then to Mikhail. Mikhail looked at Draco and saw nothing of the boy that had harmed her. The sadness in his gray eyes she remembered well. Then, she had been too scared for her life, but now that she saw it again, she could tell that he had not wanted to do it. It had been true; his father had given him great pain when he had not killed her. She hadn't understood it then, but now she did.

"You are no longer a servant of that vile creature." It wasn't a question that came from Mikhail, it was a statement. "I can not forgive you for what you did then, but I can accept that who you are now is not who you were back then."

Draco nodded and James was about to give his own apologies but was suddenly interrupted by Aska as Nemaek flew from James' room.

"Where's your sword, Harry?" Aska asked for a second time, but this time Harry heard.

"Sword?" asked James. "What sword?" Of course James didn't know that Aska had been carrying Slytherin's Sword for Harry. Harry had only taken it with him this morning because their practice swords were back in Germany and he wanted to practice with something on the roof after his run. It fortunately had also provided Harry with a means to scare the Death Eaters.

"The sword Riemann gave him before he left the grove. Your sword, my father's sword," Nemaek answered from behind James. Draco eyed the bird with wide eyes; of course he'd never seen a talking ash phoenix before.

"Salazar's sword? What are you doing with that?" James asked Harry.

Harry disillusioned the sword on his back. "I was going to practice with it up on the roof, but ran into Draco instead, I'll have to practice in the Dueling room when we get back to Germany tomorrow," Harry stated and everyone stared at him. "What? Oh come on. You all don't think I've turned dark again do you? It's only a sword, granted a powerful one and an old one, but still just a sword."

"No, Harry, you just said that we were going back to Germany tomorrow," Nemaek said and Harry nodded.

"That I did, and once the summer is over, and not sooner, I will be returning to Hogwarts. I proved to Cin and myself this morning that I no longer have any excuses," Harry stated with a sigh and Remus and Bill smiled. "Though that doesn't mean that I want anyone to know I'm coming back before hand. I believe that life has thrown at me many… surprises, and that it is everyone else's turn to be surprised."

"Surprised, they're all going to go into shock, and it will be even more hilarious when you bring back your dead dad," Draco couldn't help blurt out.

Harry looked at Draco with a raised eyebrow as did James. "Who said anything about me going back to Hogwarts," James said a little irritated. He was still uncomfortable with all he had learned about his son and having Draco there with them.

Harry looked to James. "You know dad, with two heirs of Merlin at Hogwarts, Voldemort will have no chance in hell, and even as a Gryffindor I know you can't wait to see all of their faces. You are a Marauder after all."

James looked at Remus and then his son and everyone else, he rolled his eyes. "I'll think about it, until then, it's back to Germany with us. Though I'm not so sure everyone will fit in my flat."

Harry chuckled at that. It didn't completely alleviate the tense environment, but he had slipped that they were going back just for a way to change the subject. No doubt, they would all be sitting down and having a serious discussion either at some point before the day was through or as soon as they returned to Germany. Harry in some ways hoped it was the latter.

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A/N: I know, not much happened in this chapter, but next many things will ensue and they will have returned to Heidelberg.