Harry, staring through the shadows of memory whirling around him, could see and hear flashes of screaming, whispered words, before it settled again, the world around the memory hazy.
Snape held the dead child in his arms, standing away from Draco. Draco appeared as if he was soon to join the baby, he gasped pitifully for breath and tears crawled down his cheeks.
"A handsome child," Snape told Draco. Draco's eyes were red from blood and judging by the unclear view of the memory Draco could barely see. "He has black hair, tangled, his face is very round, but he's very small. His fingers-"
"His eyes..." Draco whispered slowly, voice barely audible, "What color?"
"Gray," Snape said, "like yours."
Draco frowned at the floor, his eyes shut and the entire memory became black, only the words could be heard. "I'd hoped they were like his father's," Draco mumbled.
"Maybe the other," Snape told him, "just pray it's not a boy."
Draco screamed with pain.
"What?" Harry whispered.
With sudden, sickening disorientation Harry found himself back in the apartment in the Leaky Cauldron. It was the same, crowded, place, the afternoon light bursting in from the window. Harry gasped in shock, feeling like he'd been thrown into a dark pit for years and had just been unmercilessly released back to a world of color.
There was a crying sound coming from an open drawer in the dresser. Draco was standing up, reaching into it. Gingerly he lifted up a small form, a tiny child, wrapped in a worn blanket, kicking at his hands.
Harry jumped to his feet, rushing over to them. With a shaking hand he reached out and lifted a corner of the blanket from the baby's face.
She was perfect.
Her hair was as messy as Harry's, tangled and untamed even as young as she was, but it was blonde, as white as Draco's. Her eyes blinked up at Harry, brilliant and startling green. A tiny ear on her face was red as she whimpered and her round, cherry lips formed a pout. A hand, so small, every little detail, from the fingers to the nail immaculate, reached up and grasped Harry's shirt.
Before Harry could even stop wondering Draco placed her in his arms. Harry held her awkwardly, wrapping his arms around her to protect her from falling. His lips formed words but he couldn't speak them.
"I never through there would be two," Draco told him, "no one did. That was what protected her, and because she's a girl she was safe while Ada... Adam wasn't."
Tears fell down Harry's face and he looked at Draco, "She's beautiful."
Draco smiled sadly, "We lost a child but we got one too." He crossed his arms, shuffling his feet. He said his words rapidly to force them out, "I named her. She's about a week old and I had to, you can change it if you like, I don't think I was thinking straight..."
Harry smiled at him. He stared back down at the baby girl. "What's her name?"
"Vendetta Grace."
Harry frowned slightly. "Why?" he asked.
"I thought... Vendetta would be appropriate, I couldn't think of any Muggle girl names, and I didn't remember the one I'd picked last summer in case Adam..." his breath caught in his throat.
"Vendetta Grace Potter," Harry whispered. He grinned down at her despite the tears threatening to fall down his cheeks, "I like it. It really sounds... wizard-like, a name that isn't a name." Harry looked up at Draco, "What happened, with Snape, after you had her?"
Draco's brow furrowed in confusion. "It's foggy," he confessed, "Snape said something about the Dark Lord only asking for a boy-child, he took Adam's body, and he forced me to Apparate. I was... I forget, but I had to walk for a day to get to Diagon Alley, through Muggle territory." Draco was still Draco, and at the word 'Muggle' he visibly shivered with disgust. "I stole to get food, but I came here to the Leaky Cauldron and I got a room, I told Tom I'd pay when I left."
"I have more than enough money," Harry told him. Staring down at Vendetta's tiny form in amazement Harry whispered, "I have a baby girl."
"I'm sorry," Draco lowered his head, "I couldn't do anything about Adam, I tried, I tried to get away from the Dark Lord, I tried to hex him, but he was stronger, and faster, and I... my Occlumency didn't..."
"Thank you, Draco," Harry hugged him strangely, still holding Vendetta in his hands. They stayed there for a long moment, reveling in the warmth of their touch, before Vendetta let out a shrill cry.
Harry started to panic. "What do I do?" He stumbled around, holding her tightly in his arms, "Does she-"
Draco snatched her from his hands. "She's hungry," he told her, "I haven't fed her lunch yet and she knows it." He pulled open another drawer on the dresser, revealing a number of child supplies. A bottle, prefilled with a white liquid which wasn't quite milk, was inside. Holding Vendetta skillfully in one hand, he held the bottle up to her lips and the cries stopped immediately.
"She's going to be a handful," Harry said happily. "How're we going to take care of her at school?"
Draco had no answer.
Harry wrapped his arms around Draco's shoulder. "It'll be alright," he whispered against Draco's ear, "I promise."
Draco leaned into his touch, clutching Harry's shirt with a free hand. "I know," Draco said quietly. Their eyes met, Draco's full of pain and fear, but there was trust as well.
"I'll protect you," Harry promised, and he meant it.
0
Hermione and Weasley spotted Draco as soon as he spotted them.
They'd just come out of one of the firepits, and Draco had been waiting for them by the door. Making no motion to them, he'd walked away, leading them to an abandoned classroom well enough away from the activity of the students returning from break so that they would not be overheard.
It was Weasley, not Hermione, who noticed the difference immediately. "How you improved your Concealing Charm or are you just thinner?"
"Thinner," Draco frowned at him, "Though I was pregnant before so it doesn't constitute as being fat."
"Merlin," Weasley mumbled.
Hermione let out a happy noise and she wrapped her arms around Draco's neck. "Congratulations!" She shouted, "I can't believe, is that why you sent for Harry-"
"No," Draco told her, "I had the children in the Dark Lord's fortress."
Hermione was speechless; it was only because Weasley still disliked Draco that he was able to speak. "More than one?"
"Twins," Draco said, "A boy and a girl, Adam died but Vendetta is alive, Harry's with her, he's testing the Room of Requirement."
"'Vendetta'? That's not a name." Weasley informed him.
"It is now," Draco drawled, "considering that's what we named her."
"Harry agreed?" Weasley's nose wrinkled.
Draco glared at him, "Yes, Harry agreed."
"The Room of Requirement?" Hermione spoke up, "Why don't you just ask Madam Pompfrey?"
Draco raised an eyebrow.
"Madam Pompfrey's taken care of babies before," Hermione explained, "every once in a while a Hogwarts student gets pregnant, and it's written into the school's system that the children of the students are taken care of in the hospital wing until the student graduates, so they don't miss any education. I remember, third year, a seventh year girl had her son there, but I'm pretty sure no one's there now."
0
Draco asked Madam Pompfrey and she readily agreed to take care of Vendetta. From the maternity room, next to her bedroom, and its colorful, moving paintings of giraffes and penguins, the small garden off to the side of room, to her overwhelming enthusiasm, Draco got the impression that she loved taking care of babies even more than she did the students of Hogwarts.
He and Harry were still a secret, so Draco couldn't tell her who the father was. He just agreed to visit Vendetta every day and to learn, from Madam Pompfrey, how to manually change a diaper to avoid giving the baby a magic-induced rash, how to hold her properly, what she would do when she got a bit older, and so many other things Draco didn't even know were involved in the care of a child.
If Harry wanted to see her he would have to sneak in, under the Invisibility Cloak, late at night.
Harry did, every night.
Draco, between classes and after classes, whenever he could take even five minutes away from studying, went to the hospital wing to talk to Madam Pompfrey and to hold Vendetta.
Harry and Draco hardly saw each other anymore. It was so difficult to find time that many days the closest they got to each other were sitting in classes. It was so hard to find a moment when they weren't studying, trying to see Vendetta, or Harry was at Quidditch practice, a game, or with Dumbledore. Draco would have given every bit of his time to be with Vendetta but at the cost of being with Harry he didn't know what he could do. The pressure of school mounted on him like a terrifying load, and Draco spent his nights sleepless, trying to avoid the memory of torture at the hands of Lord Voldemort.
He only had rest in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor Snape didn't count any poor grade Draco received, he didn't ask for Draco's homework, and he conveniently forgot to report any time which Draco wasn't in class. Draco could not thank Professor Snape enough, for what he did for him in saving Vendetta's life and for being, as he'd always been, one of the few people Draco could count on to be kind to him.
But Draco missed Harry with every fiber of his being.
A stolen kiss as they rushed off to classes, an hour scraped together where they rushed to get all the words in, glances during class when they needed to pay attention, those were all Draco and Harry could get, although they longed to be near each other all of the time, to touch, to talk, to hold Vendetta's tiny hands and to bask in silence, they couldn't. No matter how hard they tried everything was tearing them apart.
Time passed quickly for them. Hours were nonexistent. Days were meaningless. Weeks made momentary presence. Months flew by with barely a notice.
Before Harry even understood what was happening, he left Hogwarts, in the middle of the night, with Dumbledore to find a Horcrux.
0
Draco was terrified of Lord Voldemort. The Dark Lord's shadow hung in his nightmares, his form like a ghost haunting Draco. He knew that if he had Harry everything would be alright, but it was the all-too-often time without Harry that scared him. It was the time where he'd remember how close he'd been, where paranoia seeped into his mind.
The Dark Lord could send things through the Dark Mark. Messages transmited only by pain. If the Mark ached he was displeased with you, if it burned he was calling you.
For Draco, the pain transmitted through the Dark Mark was incredible. Voldemort reminded Draco for hours every day that Draco belonged to him through the Cruciatus. Every day.
These were the times when Draco, in panic, worked on the Vanishing Cabinet until it was finished.
It was Professor Snape who told Draco that Dumbledore was gone for the night, he told Draco he would be coming back later, and by that time a team of Death Eaters would easily have taken the school and would be waiting for Dumbledore, waiting for Draco to finish him off.
Professor Snape told Draco to use the cabinet, he told him to do it right away.
Draco listened to him.
1
Hogwarts was under attack.
Harry held Dumbledore, supporting his weight. He wanted to rush inside the castle to see why the snake and skull hung over it, but Dumbledore's shaking frame gripped onto him. Dumbledore held the locket in his only good hand.
Harry saw a shadow, someone coming from the stairs. He was about to shout a warning to Dumbledore when he found himself falling down, sliding across the room. The Invisibility Cloak lay on top of him and Harry's arms and legs were tied with invisible cords, his jaw clenched shut of its own will.
Dumbledore, bravely, wheezing as he stood, straightened himself to face the person entering.
Draco Malfoy. Pale, hair slicked back with magic. In the moonlight he was illuminated, being something so white he looked unreal. His gray eyes were bright and concentrating, his hands shaking as he held his form straight, playing the part of the triumphant Death Eater.
"Expelliarmus!" Dumbledore's wand flew out of his hand and Draco caught it.
"Draco, so is this what it has come to?" Dumbledore frowned sadly at him, "You've managed to find a way to let Death Eaters into Hogwarts."
Draco smirked, "It's not a great achievement, you already let us in. Professor Snape's a Death Eater too. I'm a Death Eater, the youngest ever, and I just walked back into Hogwarts."
"Severus is my informant, and Draco, I knew about you," Dumbledore said.
"He works for the Dark Lord," Draco insisted. He stepped forward with Dumbledore's wand, threatening, but immediately stepped back.
Dumbledore shook his head, "No, Severus is on my side." He was so weak, so fragile. He clung to the edge of the tower, his half moon glasses sliding off his face as his eyes looked at Draco with gleaming pity.
"Sides!" Draco growled. "What do sides of the war even mean? On one side you blindly follow Lord Voldemort and on the other we follow you? Do we all just pick whether we're black sheep or white and then let the two of you play your war game?"
"I don't..." Dumbledore coughed, his entire form rattling with agony. "I don't play games with lives."
"Well, you're about to loose yours. I was trained all last summer as an assassin, the best the Dark Lord had, and I was sent to kill you." Draco raised his wand level to Dumbledore. His eyes hardened.
"You're not a killer, Draco," Dumbledore entreated, "I know about the child in the hospital wing. No killer visits their baby every day or loves like you, you cannot do this." He looked up at Draco, his eyes seeming to pierce straight through him.
Draco stepped back, frightened. Of course he was frightened, this was Albus Dumbledore. But Draco took a deep breath, gathering strength. "Do you know who her father is?"
"No," Dumbledore said, "I do not."
"That's your problem then! You don't know how desperate I am. My daughter will be marked by Lord Voldemort; she'll have to suffer like I did unless I do something! And the only thing the Dark Lord has asked of me is to kill you!" Draco shouted, "Avada Kedavra!"
Nothing happened.
"Draco, you don't want to do this." Dumbledore told him, "We can find a place for your family, a safe place, for your daughter and her father, you can be together."
"That's a lie." Draco said calmly, "You'll never protect Harry Potter. Every time you see him you're throwing him into danger, forcing him to be your greatest weapon in the war and he just follows you blindly because he respects you. Where's Harry now?" Draco's entire form shook dangerously, but he continued to stand strong. "I know he's with you, otherwise he would be downstairs fighting with all of the Gryffindors and those Order members, Avada Kedavra!" Only a wisp of pathetic smoke came through Draco's wand.
"Harry?" Dumbledore repeated with surprise. His eyes widened considerably, and they flashed for an instant to where Harry was hidden under the Invisibility Cloak.
"Harry," Draco nodded, "everything I've ever done is for Harry. You claim that but you know it's not true. I'm the one with the Dark Mark, I'm the one the Dark Lord tortured," he raised his wand. "I can't summon the hate for Avada Kedavra, but I'd be a pitiful killer if I didn't know other ways to kill you."
"Please, Draco, don't do this to yourself, you'll be hated by everyone, and you will never be able to be with Harry," Dumbledore pleaded with him, "it's not worth it."
Draco kept his wand level to Dumbledore. He thought for a moment, a spell which would kill Dumbledore coming to mind, "You like Mudbloods, don't you? Nothing more fitting then, it'll kill you right away, you won't have to suffer." Draco's eyes widened at his own words. His fingers clenched and relaxed on the wand, as if he was trying to find just the perfect place.
"I am so sorry, Draco," Dumbledore whispered.
Tears started falling down Draco's face, but he wiped them off with his sleeve. He refocused himself on Dumbledore, aiming his wand. His free hand clutched at his stomach. Draco took a deep breath, "Grangsirpia!"
A pale white light shot out of Draco's wand and hit Dumbledore square in the chest. He fell against the wall, leaning precariously over the edge. His body was lifeless. Something like mud trickled at the edge of his mouth, and his eyes, eyes which had twinkled with life, were dull and stared out blankly at nothing at all.
Draco stumbled backward, barely able to believe what he was seeing. Horror crossed his face. His knuckles clenched painfully white around Dumbledore's wand. "I... I killed him," he whispered, falling to the ground. Draco's wide gray eyes were locked on Dumbledore's empty form.
Noises and people appeared from the stairs, the first of them a large, tattooed Death Eater. The Death Eater immediately rushed to Dumbledore. "He's dead!" He announced to the others, turning to look at Draco with surprise.
"Dead?" Bellatrix Lestrange asked. She rushed into view, her hair as wild as ever, a burn mark adorning one cheek. She breathed in relief when she saw Draco alive on the floor. Her gaze turned to Dumbledore and then she hooted in glee. "Dumbledore is dead! My son killed him!" She pulled Draco into her arms.
Snape was next, and he observed the scene. Distraught, ill-hidden, he stared at Dumbledore. "Draco?" He turned in surprise, staring at him, eyes heavy with question.
"The Mud Blood Curse!" Bellatrix Lestrange laughed.
The tattooed Death Eater searched Dumbledore, a grin on his face. "Taken down by a sixteen year old," he mumbled. Turning back to the others, he said, "We have to go, there are too many Order members here, we've done what we came to do."
Bellatrix Lestrange pulled Draco up, forcing him to stand. "Come on," she told him, "I know it's a bit of a shock but you can do it."
Snape looked rather sick. "Draco killed Dumbledore?"
The tattooed Death Eater glared at him, "I know you worked for the man but this isn't time to be sensitive, brewer."
"I am not, Rudolphus. There are two brooms here, meaning Dumbledore wasn't alone when he came here, I want to be sure there's no one else here." Snape snapped.
"No one else," Draco lied, "Dumbledore was alone, he had two brooms because he was being careful." His eyes stared in fear at the Death Eaters around him. He was lying to them. Harry was somewhere nearby, but no matter what happened Draco was not giving Harry away.
Rudolphus Lestrange stared at Draco with open contempt, although he had some respect for the boy for who he had just killed. "Well," he turned to Dumbledore's body, with one finger he pushed him and the lifeless corpse tumbled over the edge, "let's get going."
1
Not Draco, not his Draco. Not Draco with the wide gray eyes and the pale skin. Not the Draco who had touched Harry so lovingly, who had whispered words of adoration, who held his daughter with tenderness written in every expression.
Draco Malfoy, a murderer.
Harry's heart ached. He should have known. Voldemort had promised Draco freedom if he'd killed Dumbledore, he'd promised to leave Vendetta alone. Why wouldn't Draco jump at the chance? His Draco Malfoy, his Draco Malfoy turned into Voldemort's tool.
Draco Malfoy had been Voldemort's chess piece, but Voldemort hadn't been playing to kill Harry, not when Dumbledore was still alive to oppose him. Voldemort had won. He'd killed Dumbledore, turned Draco into a murderer, and the pain Harry was feeling hurt worse than even Sirius' death. Draco had killed Dumbledore.
Harry felt the spell wearing as soon as Dumbledore had died, only seconds after Draco and the other Death Eaters left he threw off the Invisibility Cloak and jumped to his feet. Limping, he crossed the Astronomy Tower, but the limp was gone by the time he reached the stairs. He rushed down.
His hearting heart pounded in his chest as Harry ran as fast as he could. He had always been fast, only now he pushed his body to its limit. He had to reach Draco, before the Death Eaters took him away and before the… before the Aurors got to him. Harry barely saw the other signs of the fight, even Ginny who he ran by and Neville. A few people shouted at him, asking him what he was doing, but Harry didn't stop to speak.
Draco wouldn't be safe, not as Dumbledore's murderer. He couldn't stay with the Death Eaters; Harry would not let that happen. Not after what Narcissa had done to him when Draco was pregnant, not when Draco was set free. But Draco wasn't going to be safe with the Auror's either, or even with the Order of the Pheonix. Draco had killed Dumbledore, he loved Harry Potter. Draco wouldn't be safe anywhere.
Faster than he had ever been before, Harry ran. He saw Rudolphus, last, ahead of him, and Harry shouted out the paralyzing hex. Rudolphus didn't have time to pull up a shield; he didn't know Harry was behind him. He was toying with Professor McGonagall when Harry's spell struck him in the back and he crumbled.
"Potter-" McGonagall had just said but Harry flew past her. She followed him, seeing by Harry's grim expression that something was very wrong.
Draco had to be safe, he had to. Harry had promised him he'd protect him. And Harry'd promised that before and he'd failed, he'd terribly and miserably failed. And Draco should have been safe when he'd gone back during the break, except Harry hadn't guessed how the bond between he and Voldemort worked. Voldemort probably saw flashes of Harry's life, just like Harry saw Voldemort's. But Harry wasn't going to let Draco go. He wasn't letting him go back. Harry was going to protect Draco this time, he had to protect Draco.
They were out of the doors. Harry was gaining on Snape and Bellatrix Lestrange. Draco was between the two, Snape gripping his elbow.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted at Snape. Snape let go of Draco, sending a wordless curse at Harry.
Harry collapsed, his stomach stinging, but he shouted out a hex instinctively. Snape easily blocked him. Bellatrix Lestrange, pausing with the others, took a gleeful moment to light Hagrid's hut on fire, but she was through the gate quickly, away from Hogwart's wards, and she Apparated. "Sectumsempra!" Harry shouted.
"You dare to use my own spells against me?" Snape yelled, "Potter, I-"
"Crucio!" Draco shouted behind him.
Snape had just enough time to jump out of the way of the hex. Breathing heavily, he glared at Draco. "Black hair, green eyes," Snape mumbled, staring for a moment at Harry, "Of course, Potter." Snape's lip curled at the revelation.
"Imperio!" Draco shouted.
Snape struggled to block the Unforgivable Curse, but he managed, glaring at Draco. "This is where your loyalty is, Draco? Then stay here!" He shouted a hex, forcing Draco to the ground. "You did your duty as you vowed to the Dark Lord, so run into Potter's ungrateful arms!" His face screwed up in a sadistic humor, "You're a Death Eater, Draco Malfoy, through and through you are one of us, no matter how hard you may try."
He waited for a moment, looking for Rudolphus. No one came and Snape stopped hesitating. He backed out through the gate, following the others who had slipped through. Snape Apparated, disappearing into thin air.
Screams were heard from Hogwarts. The students who were panicking. Hagrid's hut was on fire, and Harry, with his a gasping breath, put it out. "Augamenti."
Despite everything, it was over.
Harry heard a sob, and he turned to Draco. He was hunched over, shaking. "Draco," Harry whispered.
"My... my mother... and Dumbledore..." Draco mumbled, trying to say something coherent. He didn't manage.
Harry had nothing to say. He pulled Draco to him without a word, holding him in his arms. Quietly, they sat there. They didn't have anything to say, they didn't know what to say. Draco had killed Dumbledore, but he'd set himself free. The black of his Dark Mark was fading to a dull gray already. Draco buried his head into Harry's shoulder, his form shaking like he was crying, but there were no tears. Harry pressed his lips against Draco's forehead.
Someone grabbed Harry's shoulder. "Hurry," Professor McGonagall said, "Dumbledore is dead, Hagrid's bringing the body inside, we need to get you somewhere safe." She forced Harry to his feet and her eyes fell on Draco.
Draco, miserable, looked back up at her. His sleeves were rolled back on his left arm, the Dark Mark, though fading, clearly visible against his pale skin.
"It was you," Professor McGonagall breathed.
"Wait! It wasn't his fault!" Harry defended, "Draco didn't mean for any of this, he was only protecting-"
"I know about the baby girl in the hospital wing," Professor McGonagall interrupted. Disheveled, her entire form tense, she looked around Hogwarts with commanding eyes. "Mr. Malfoy, you need to come with me as well."
She led Harry and Draco into the castle, not pausing to speak to anyone. They made their way to the gargoyle outside the Headmaster's office. It was cracked open and Professor McGonagall didn't say a password as she guided them inside, her wand on Draco.
Kingsley, Lupin, and another member of the Order were there. Collapsed, in a corner, was Rudolphus Lestrange, the only Death Eater captured through the entire invasion.
With a start, Harry realized that Rudolphus Lestrange was the husband of Draco's mother.
"Expelliarmus," Professor McGonagall announced.
Draco's wand flew out of his pocket and Dumbledore's wand, clutched in his hand, did so as well, hissing through the air.
"Dumbledore's wand?" Professor McGonagall mumbled.
"Wait!" Harry said, "I can explain-"
"No need, Harry," Lupin stood. He was covered in tattered rags, a large bruise purpling on one of his eyes and he heavily favored his arm. Lupin glared at Draco, "we know who brought the Death Eaters into Hogwarts. There's no one here to help you, Mr. Malfoy, we have your daughter downstairs, and she'll be sent to your aunt, Andromeda Tonks."
"What?" Harry shouted. "Professor, Lupin, Draco was only trying to save her!"
"The punishment for murder is a life sentence in Azkaban, the punishment for use of the Unforgivable Curses is a life sentence in Azkaban, the punishment for bearing the Dark Mark is a life sentence in Azkaban, and the punishment for letting Death Eaters into a school, I am certain, is a life sentence in Azkaban," Lupin said. "Mr. Malfoy, if you struggle to cooperate with us we will use force against you."
"You're arresting me?" Draco asked dully. He crossed his arms, still shivering as if against the cold.
Kingsley nodded seriously. "Yes."
Professor McGonagall grabbed Harry's wrist. "I think it's best if we left," she started to say.
"No one is arresting Draco Malfoy!" Harry shouted. He clenched his hands into fists, his wand still ready in his right hand.
"Harry, I was under the impression that you did not like Mr. Malfoy, frankly, there is no other way to deal with the charges against him." Lupin tried to say comfortingly, but the hard gaze of battle hadn't left him, "I'm sure you had a trying night, I think you need to rest."
Draco was not leaving him. He was not going to Azkaban, not with the memories of torture, not as a Death Eater. Harry was not going to stand by and let this happen. He set his jaw, frowning at them. "Vendetta is my daughter," Harry told them all.
Professor McGonagall choked. "Yours?" She'd known the two for six years. She'd been the first to give them detention, she'd been the first to shout at them for trying to kill each other. The shock she felt caused her to visibly step back, and she pressed her hand against her hard.
Harry took Draco's hand, entwining their fingers together. "Mine," and he glared at them all, daring them to take Draco away. If Harry had to, he was ready to fight.
Lupin noticed; he took the scene in stride. "This makes things more complicated." For a long time, Lupin just stared at them.
Overcome by impatience, Harry demanded, "Well?"
"We have to proceed carefully then," Kingsley said in his thick accent, folding his arms, "Mr. Malfoy needs to be taken into hiding, along with the girl."
McGonagall nodded. Her gaze slid questioningly over Draco, but she nodded. "The Tonks' are too obvious, they can't be sent there."
"If the Dursley's is safe enough for me, then it's safe enough for Draco," Harry said definitely. Draco moved closer to him, clutching Harry's robes.
"This is not up to you," Lupin told him.
"It most certainly is," Harry snapped, "he's my family, they both are, and I am going to take care of them."
"With all due respect, Harry, you need to take care of yourself right now, with Dumbledore gone the Dark Lord is even stronger than ever." McGonagall ordered, "We need to protect you until we have a plan."
"I already have one, Dumbledore entrusted it to me, and me alone." Harry said. He gripped Draco's hand strongly, reassuring him.
"The Dark Lord promised to leave me," Draco said quietly, "if I killed Dumbledore."
McGonagall scoffed. "Do you honestly trust You-Know-Who's word?"
Draco allowed a hint of a smile to cross his face. "I trust him more than the Minister of Magic; the Dark Lord always keeps his promises. He said he'd kill all the Muggles and he's well on his way too, he said he'd never die and he didn't."
Dumbledore for Draco, Harry thought with a start, Voldemort, he'd been manipulating this for a while. He thought Draco would tell me and then I would have to chose, Draco or Dumbledore. Harry's free hand clenched, his eyes flashing.
If neither can live while the other survives, I will do all in my power to kill Voldemort.
Then Draco and I can have our life together.
…
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