Nightfall came quickly, and Harry and Draco passed their evening with a long, relaxed supper, followed by a shared bath in the enormous tub. The day had been endlessly exhausting but they somehow managed to stay awake until midnight, when the moon was suitably positioned for the ceremony. Harry went down to the gazebo as Draco went out to the ornamental garden to light the fire. Hermione and Ron stepped through the Floo, and then Harry snuffed the pilot light.

"Ron, we'll need you to stay here," Harry was nervous. "Draco is prepared to let Hermione see him, but I can't ask him to let a second person look."

"No way, Harry," Ron said. "I'm not letting Hermione near this rite without me. Blindfold me, but I'm coming."

"Here," Hermione dug into her purse and pulled out a long silken scarf. She wrapped it around Ron's eyes and knotted it at the side.

"How do I look?" Ron asked.

"Swashbuckling," Hermione smirked.

"Now listen," Harry didn't have any patience for their blasé attitudes. "This is going to be very hard for him. He's going to think he's transforming when he sees you, Hermione. It's very real in his mind. He can see himself changing and it terrifies him. You need to be calm, reassuring, and let him know that you don't think he's a monster."

"I know."

"The first part of the ceremony is intended to release the unicorn blood and return its purity," Harry took Ron by the elbow and steered him towards the ornamental garden. "You'll face away for that part so he knows you can't see him. After that, you and I will need to join him at the fire pit. And then it's up to him to get through the rite all the way to the end."

"Okay," Hermione sounded nervous.

"Draco," Harry called as the glow of the fire pit came into view. "I'm bringing them now. Ron is blindfolded and Hermione has her back to you. I'm the only one who will see you." He turned Hermione by her shoulders and led her backwards by the arm.

"I'm ready," Draco's voice was loud and strong, but Harry could hear the quaver beneath his brave words.

Harry drew his two friends to the clearing around the fire pit and left them to stand just at the edge of the trees. He went to Draco's side and embraced him for a long moment, then checked his pre-ceremony preparation. All of the ingredients were laid out and the fire was low, just a few flames licking here and there above the glowing embers.

"I'm ready to begin," Draco said. He reached for the first stack of herbs, his fingers trembling a bit.

Harry stood aside and let Draco lead the rite. The blond Slytherin drew his wand and sketched an insignia in the air above the fire and laid the herbs across the embers, releasing a thick, sweet smoke that filled the air around them. He spoke the incantation softly, his pronunciation and inflection flawless. Gooseflesh raised along Harry's arms as he watched Draco work. He had always been skilled, with a natural affinity for magic that had so often seemed effortless. Watching him perform the unfamiliar and emotionally charged rite with comfort and ease was inspiring.

The flames guttered and spat, shifting color and lighting Draco's face in an ethereal glow. He recited the spell from memory, his hands moving with confidence, the wand a natural extension of his fingers. Finally he hefted the phial of unicorn blood and uncorked it while repeating a purification mantra. With his wand in one hand and the phial in the other, he sketched another pattern in the air and poured the blood onto the coals.

The fire doubled in size, blue tongues of flame licking the air as the blood seeped into the embers. Draco took a step back before steadying himself and raising his wand again. He finished the recitation and the flames flared to purest white, illuminating the clearing like midday.

"It's done," Draco called softly. Harry moved to embrace him but Draco stopped him with a raised hand. "Don't touch me yet," he murmured. "I can feel it inside of me. It's in my arm."

"Is it time?" Hermione asked from the edge of the clearing.

"It's time," Draco sounded less confident.

"Just remember it's all in your head," Harry said as she turned to face them.

Hermione and Draco's eyes met and the panic set in immediately. His pupils shrank to terrified pinpoints and his body trembled.

"Tell him, Hermione," Harry said.

"You're not changing, Malfoy," she said.

His eyes bugged out and he clutched his arm in pain. The dark mark glowed red and the curse sigil revealed itself as a tangled knot winding around the skull and snake. The white flames swirled towards him and crawled across his skin as though sentient. He bared his teeth and growled like a beast, his chest heaving for breath. His arm was engulfed in white flame, holding him captive as he struggled to contain the fear of transformation.

"You're still human," Harry said as he and Hermione spaced themselves around the fire pit. The white flames ignored their presence.

"No," Draco moaned, staring down at his free hand in horror. "It's happening, Harry. Help me!"

"You're still you, Draco," Harry insisted. "It's in your head. Remember that it's in your head."

"Don't look at me," Draco's eyes flicked fearfully to Hermione and he threw his right hand over his face.

"You are not a monster, Draco," Hermione raised her voice. "Please calm down and tell us what we need to do!"

With great effort Draco lowered his hand, his face twitching and his body convulsing in the pantomime of transformation. He snarled and moaned and curled over in agony, but the white flames kept his left arm steady and unable to retreat.

"I have to confess a way in which I've harmed you both," Draco gasped between growls. "And shed a tear for each into the fire. Then you need to shed a tear for forgiveness."

"Harry, I don't know-"

"You have to find a way to forgive him," Harry cut her off.

"That's not the hard part," she said. "I don't cry, not unless something is really bad."

"Just try," Harry begged. She pressed her lips together in a tight line but nodded.

Draco writhed and tried desperately to claw at his arm through the flames. He forced himself upright and took several deep breaths before he was stable enough to speak. "Harry, I was horrible to you. I knew you had lost your parents and I made fun of you for it. I tried to hurt you, I tried to injure you, I was cruel and I told myself it was okay because you had so many people telling you that you were brilliant." He paused and looked away, his face contorting in a beastly grimace. "I can never forgive myself for how I treated you. Even when I knew I loved you I showed you hate. I don't know how you can look past it-" his voice choked. He twitched and snarled and covered his eyes. "There's nothing I can ever do to make up for what I did, not if I spend the rest of my life trying."

"That's all in the past," Harry was overwhelmed by the sudden outpouring. "We were kids, for Merlin's sake."

"We weren't kids when I broke your nose," Draco's right hand clawed at his shirt with a life of its own, yanking the collar and ripping the fabric. "We weren't kids when I," he dropped his head to his chest with a strangled moan. "I've loved you almost as long as I hated you." He held his hand out before him, curled into a claw and offering it as evidence. "Look at me. This is what I am, Harry. I'm a monstrosity. You've always known that. You wouldn't take my hand on the first day of school," the words choked in his throat. "This hideousness, you've always seen it and I hated you for it." Suddenly he railed at the arm restraint, thrashing and clawing at the white flame and trying to free himself to no avail. "Let me go!" he wailed at the sky.

"Draco," Harry reached for him before stopping himself. "You're not changing. It's in your mind. I promise you that."

"It's in me, Harry," he moaned, surrendering and sagging towards the fire pit. "I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry I'm not a better person." Tears streamed down his face as he grimaced and convulsed.

"Catch one," Harry said softly as his own tears welled up.

Draco raised his clawed hand to his face and gently lifted a tear with one finger. He held it out over the fire and let it drop into the flames.

Harry quickly dabbed his own eye and flicked a tear into the flames, too. There was so much he wanted to say but couldn't find the words. He wanted to tell Draco again that he was sorry for the Sectumsempra, that he had nightmares about it, that he couldn't stomach the sight of blood, that blades terrified him, that he couldn't shave without a protection spell. He was sorry for giving as good as he gave, for never trying to get along, for not taking his hand on the first day of school, for following him and accusing him and confirming for him again and again that he wasn't good enough for Harry's friendship. How much of Draco's alienation did he own? The question kept him up at night.

But now wasn't the time. And even if it was, Harry wasn't sure he could get all of those words out. They would have to come out naturally, assuming this rite released Draco from his curse and they could have a chance together.

"Granger," Draco couldn't look at her. He crouched and tried to cover his face but the white flames kept their grip on his arm, lashed to his dark mark and the curse sigil. He wailed and pulled and tried to turn his back to her.

"It's okay, Malfoy," Hermione said. Her eyes were wide and for once she seemed to have no smart answer for what was happening to him.

"I'm sorry I called you mudblood," he whimpered. "I'm sorry for everything I said. You're the smartest person I know. I hated you for always getting better marks than me."

"Thank you," she said with dry eyes. "Harry, I can't cry over that. He may have hurt me as a child but it didn't stay with me. We're grown up now, I don't have any tears for childishness."

"I'm sorry for what my aunt did to you," Draco propped himself up on the edge of the brick fire pit enclosure. He flinched and trembled and growled ferally. "I should have been stronger, I should have said something. I didn't want to be a part of that." He doubled over and cried out. "Help me, Harry! I can't stay out here."

"I can't do it, Harry," Hermione's face was hard. "I can't cry over that. I'm done with tears. I've put a lot of energy and time into getting perspective on what happened and I won't cry anymore. And if I force it, it's all for nothing."

"Hermione, please," panic rose in Harry's throat. The unicorn blood was already in the flames. If they didn't complete the rite there would be no more opportunities.

"I can't," she shook her head apologetically. "I wish I could, but he's done nothing that could bring me to tears."

"I can," Ron said from the edge of the clearing.

"No, Harry, please," Draco's eyes bulged and he clawed at the brick fire pit. "Don't let Weasley see me like this."

"You have to," Harry begged. "You can't live with the curse forever."

"Let me do it," Ron tore the scarf from his eyes and strode to the fire. Hermione stepped back to give him room. "I have something you can apologize for, Malfoy."

"I can't, I can't," Draco buried his face in his arm and howled like a beast, dropping to his knees and pulling against the fixed white flames..

"You get up and look me in the face," Ron said. The tension around his mouth betrayed his outwardly calm demeanor.

Draco froze, then with tremendous effort raised his head and obeyed. He pushed himself to his feet and leaned heavily on the brick enclosure. The white flames licked up his arm to his shoulder.

"My brother."

His words hit Harry like a palm strike. Hermione slipped her arm around Ron's waist and tried to lead him away.

"No," Draco's body trembled but his expression was steady now, no sign of the twitching monstrous convulsions from a moment ago. His right hand clenched and flexed, still clawlike, and he hunched as though his spine were curving beneath the force of transformation. But he faced Ron with acceptance. "Let him speak."

"You didn't kill my brother," Ron said, his voice resonating with pain. "Do you even know that I lost a brother? Is your world big enough to care about that sort of thing, Malfoy?"

"I know about your brother," the effort to remain upright and facing the ginger Gryffindor was tremendous. Sweat beaded at Draco's hairline and trickled down his face as his legs threatened to buckle.

"You didn't kill him, I know that," Ron's cheeks flushed. He swallowed hard and touched his mouth as though he could contain the grief by blocking it with his fingers. "But-"

"Ron," Harry interrupted. "Don't do this to yourself. Don't do this to him."

"Don't protect him, Harry," Ron turned on him with blazing eyes. "He needs to hear what he did. I don't blame him for Fred's death. And I don't blame you for forgiving him for everything he did. He's suffered, I get that. And you've been in love with him for ages, pretending you weren't. And I haven't said one word about it, have I? But he needs to know how what he did affected my family. He can hear it and apologize for it, and maybe I can forgive him tonight."

"He's right," Draco gasped, the white flames licked higher, spreading to his neck and chest. Harry was scared of what might happen if he was fully consumed.

Ron bowed his head and gathered his composure. He peered at Draco with loathing. "You've always been an arsehole, Malfoy. You and your father. You have no idea how much people hate the mere sound of your family name. You tried harder than anyone at school to tear me down and make me ashamed of my life. But like Hermione said, that was childhood. I don't need your remorse for that." He stopped and looked heavenward for help. "You didn't kill him," he repeated. "I keep telling myself that. I've told myself that for two years. Draco Malfoy didn't kill Fred. It was those other Death Eaters, the ones who destroyed Hogwarts and killed everyone. You weren't even there."

Draco nodded silently, and seemed to know what was coming. A tear rolled down his cheek and plunged into the flames that licked at his face.

"You weren't there, Malfoy," Ron's voice choked. "The other Death Eaters were. They got through. My brother is dead because they got through." Tears were streaming down his face now. "They got into Hogwarts, and he died defending it."

"I'm sorry," Draco whispered. The white fire wrapped fully around his body now. Harry wanted to run to him, to push him free. But he knew he shouldn't touch him, not until the rite was complete.

"They got through, Malfoy," Ron swallowed a sob. "They got through because we weren't powerful enough to stop them. We tried, but it wasn't enough to keep them out. There was only one wizard who could have kept them out, but he wasn't there. He wasn't there because he was dead."

"I'm sorry," Draco's face was barely visible through the fire.

"Professor Dumbledore could have kept them out," Ron said. "But he was killed by Death Eaters who entered the school." He leaned forward and raised his voice to be sure Draco could hear him over the roar of the fire. "You didn't kill him, Malfoy. Just like you didn't kill Fred. But if they hadn't gotten in, if they hadn't killed Dumbledore, maybe he could have stopped them from taking Hogwarts, and maybe my brother would still be alive. You didn't kill him, Malfoy, but they got in and he died nonetheless." His chin wrinkled as he struggled to finally release the words that threatened to overwhelm him. "You let them in."

"I know," Draco collapsed against the brick ring. The fire billowed around him and engulfed his body completely.

"Draco!" Harry shouted. "Ron! Help him!"

"Ron please!" Hermione yanked at Ron's arm as Draco's body curled in on itself on the ledge of the fire pit and rolled into the center of the embers

Ron raised his hand and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He leaned forward and held out one finger, and with a tiny glimmer in the firelight a droplet rolled off of his fingertip and fell into the flames.

The fire flared and shot high into the night sky. Harry, Ron, and Hermione staggered backwards as it spat and sparked like fireworks. Harry's heart had stopped, he was certain. It was too late, he told himself. Draco had been consumed by the ceremonial pyre and would never emerge.

"Hermione," he croaked, too scared to say any more.

Slowly the flames shrank, withdrawing into themselves and dying down. Gradually they made out the shape of Draco's body and Harry feared with a sick stomach that he would be burnt and shriveled from the intense heat. Finally the fire quenched completely and the three former Gryffindors stared, frozen, as the last lick of flame dissipated.

The air was silent, and the heap that was Draco's body lay motionless inside of the brick circle. Harry's head swam and his vision grayed. He couldn't be-

"Harry," Draco's voice called from somewhere within the heap.

Harry's mind snapped back into place and he ran to Draco's side. He rolled him over and nearly wept at the sight of his perfect, unmarred face. He patted down his arms and hands, down his body to his legs. There were no burns, no wounds. And not even a lingering shadow of his Dark Mark remained.

"Open your eyes, you git," Harry's voice was shattered.

At first Draco didn't move, and then his eyelashes twitched and he looked up as though nothing had happened. He smiled shyly and touched Harry's face.

"Is it over?" he asked.

"I think so," Harry buried his face in Draco's neck and hugged him so tightly that the other man grunted.

He helped Draco to his feet and watched with breath suspended as Draco turned to look at Hermione and Ron. He didn't tremble, he didn't twitch or try to hide. His hands were relaxed and his posture was calm. They eyed him warily, unsure whether to approach or stay away.

"Ron," Draco said, stunning Harry with the unprecedented use of his best friend's name. "I'm sorry for everything I did. I've hurt your family in an unimaginable way, and I can never make up for it. I understand if you can't forgive me."

"The rite wouldn't have worked if I hadn't forgiven you," Ron said. "Blaming you won't bring him back. Fred never let himself feel down for even a moment. I can't honor his memory by dwelling on what might have happened differently."

"I'm sorry nonetheless," Draco bowed his head.

Ron extended his hand and raised his chin challengingly. Draco looked up and glanced over his shoulder at Harry, before clasping Ron's hand in truce. Hermione offered her hand, too, and accepted Draco's apology with equal grace.

They gathered their belongings and trudged back to the gazebo. It was late, and the third day of the auction would be a busy one. Hermione and Ron departed by Floo with a promise to meet up in the morning. Harry turned the gas line off to extinguish the flame, then slipped his hand into Draco's and walked with him to the house.

They went upstairs in the dark, and Harry considered pointing out that they would have light to go by if Draco hadn't auctioned off all of the lamps and fixtures on Friday. They undressed clumsily, exhausted and drained by the intense ceremony and shuffled towards bed. As Draco laid his shirt neatly in the hamper the gold and ruby signet ring fell out of the breast pocket and clattered across the floor. He picked it up and studied it in the glow of a candle on the fireplace mantle.

Harry stepped up behind him, slid his arms around his waist, and tucked his head over his shoulder. Draco leaned into him and sighed.

"What do you think?" Harry asked, eyeing the ring.

"It's yours if you want it."

"Do you want me to have it?"

"I gave it to you before."

"I said I would take it back if you still wanted me to have it."

"I want you to have it."

"Then I want it."

Draco turned in his arms and raised an exhausted eyebrow in the closest approximation of haughtiness that he could manage. "Don't mess about, Potter," he said.

Harry grinned and held up his left hand with his ring finger extended.

"That hand?" Draco's other eyebrow ascended.

"Why not?" Harry shrugged.

"Okay then," Draco slipped it onto his finger and kissed him sweetly. "I do," he whispered in Harry's ear, then turned on his heel and climbed into bed.

Harry stared down at his hand in dumbfounded confusion. "Oh," he breathed. "That hand." He climbed into bed and spooned up behind Draco, his knees tucked gratefully behind the other man's thighs. "I do, too," he said in his ear.