Draco Malfoy woke up screaming.

Crying in the middle of the night was nothing new in the Dursley household. In fact, Dudley Dursley had come to expect to hear crying coming from the rooms down the hall from his at night. But screaming was something else entirely. A figure came hurtling from the smallest bedroom.

Harry Potter was quite glad to have been woken from his own dreams. Only a moment before he had been seeing the inside of what he could only assume was Draco's former residence, Malfoy Manor. A woman that was vaguely familiar had been floating above a table, surrounded by faces of those he knew to be Death Eaters. He shuddered. By now she was dead.

Draco woke abruptly at Harry's touch. He sat up and stared for a moment, gasping as if he had just run a marathon, before collapsing into the bed with tears running down his cheeks.

Harry sank down next to the bed and breathed deeply. He and Draco had been at the Dursley's for three weeks, since the end of the school term. The Dursleys had not been happy to accept the boys back into their house, but the Order had insisted that it was the safest place, and eventually Aunt Petunia had given in. The arrangement wouldn't last for long anyways; that afternoon the Dursleys would be going into hiding and members of the Order of the Phoenix would be arriving to transport Harry and Draco to a safehouse.

Slowly Draco's sobs subsided and his breathing steadied into a gentle rhythm. "Sorry for waking you."

Harry rested his head in his hands. "Do your parents have a big fireplace with a mirror above it? In a really big room."

Draco turned to look at Harry. "In the drawing room. Why?"

"Someone named Charity Burbage is dead. The snake."

Draco gulped. "The Muggle Studies teacher?"

Harry looked up. That's why he had recognized her. "Think you're going to be able to sleep?"

"I doubt it. Maybe I'll read for a while."

Harry nodded. "Me too." He walked back to his room and collapsed in bed. He was nervous about the coming afternoon. He and Draco were both safe here in Privet Drive for exactly four more days, until his seventeenth birthday. But the Order had decided to move them away sooner, hoping to avoid Voldemort. None of them knew if their plan would work.

The Dursleys left that afternoon. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were more upset about leaving the house than they were Harry. Dudley, in an unprecedented show of kindness, actually said goodbye. Harry had felt pleasantly surprised as the Dursleys drove off, accompanied by a pair of aurors.

It wasn't long after the Dursley's departure that the Order arrived at Privet Drive. Thirteen people, fifteen including Harry and Draco, crowded into the small living room as Mad-Eye Moody explained the plan. Before Harry knew what was happening Hermione had ripped a chunk of hair from his head and was adding it to a vial of polyjuice potion.

"All of you will be wearing clothes matching Harry's," Mad-Eye explained. He gestured to a large bundle of clothing before turning back to the line in front of him. "Fleur, Fred, George, Ron, and Hermione, you will be disguised as Harry, and each of you will have one escort. We will be taking a variety of transportations including Thestrals, broomsticks, and Hagrid's motorcycle. Draco, you will be disguised as Harry as well. You'll be coming with both me and Mundungus."

Draco grimaced. "You want me to spoil my good looks with his face?" He smirked as Harry threw a shirt at him. "Alright Potter, I'll do it."

"Yes, you will," Mr. Weasley said sternly. "I don't think we need to remind you that you are in just as much, if not more, danger than Harry at the moment."

Draco looked at the floor still smirking.

"Hopefully we have succeeded in fooling Voldemort and this will be an easy trip," Mad-Eye continued. "However we must all be prepared for attack. Draco, when was the last time your Mark was active?"

Draco looked up, his face red at the mention of the Dark Mark on his arm. He pulled up his left sleeve. "I haven't felt anything for almost a week."

Mad-Eye nodded curtly. "That's a good sign, but we still cannot relax our guard. Constant vigilance!"

Each person took a drink of the polyjuice potion and transformed into Harry. After dressing quickly they paired off and departed, hoping for the best.

But all was not well. A group of hooded figures, at least thirty of them, was waiting when the group rose up from the ground. Voldemort himself was with them, and quickly identified the real Harry. By the time that Harry reached the Burrow Hagrid was injured, the motorcycle was destroyed, Hedwig was dead, and Harry had lost his Firebolt. He just managed to save his rucksack and his own life.

Over the next hour the other members appeared two at a time. George was bleeding; his ear had been cut off by a Sectumsempra curse cast by Snape. Soon only one group was missing: Mundungus, Mad-Eye, and Draco.

Harry was pacing up and down the garden path. Hermione and Ron were sitting on the front steps of the house, holding each other as they gazed hopefully down the path. Finally a solitary figure appeared, riding on a broom.

Harry ran towards the broom. He caught a glimpse of white hair and felt a knot of tension come undone in his stomach.

"Draco!" he yelled as the figure wearily dismounted. He grabbed Draco around the shoulders as he swayed on his feet. "What took you so long?"

Draco turned a tear-stained face toward his friend. "My father," he whispered. His face contorted, and he fell to the ground.

"Draco!" Ron and Hermione yelled in unison. "We have to get him into the house!"

Gingerly Harry and Ron picked Draco up and carried him towards the door. Hermione ran ahead, returning a second later with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Lupin. They took Draco inside and laid him on a couch across from George.

"He should wake up in a minute," Mrs. Weasley pronounced after a quick examination. "He's just exhausted. Ginny, get him a glass of water."

Harry watched as Ginny ran out of the room. He felt a twinge of guilt knowing that soon, he had to have a conversation with her that neither of them wanted to happen.

Draco's eyes fluttered open. He took a gulp of air as his eyes darted around the concerned people above him. Ginny pressed a glass of water into his hand.

"Mad-Eye-" Mrs. Weasley shushed him before he could say any more.

"Drink the water, then tell us what happened," she said gently. Draco looked at her and sat up.

"Mad-Eye is dead," he said after draining the glass. A shudder went through the crowd. "Mundungus panicked and apparated and a curse hit Mad-Eye. He fell."

Mrs. Weasley pulled Draco into a tight hug as tears rolled down her face. He sat stiffly, obviously unsure of how to react, before relaxing into her arms.

"I'm so glad that you made it back here," Mrs. Weasley said. "It can't have been easy all alone."

Draco shook his head slightly. He stayed silent. Harry walked around the group clustered at the couch and through the door. He couldn't put these people in danger for him any longer.

Harry was sitting at the edge of the Burrow's protective barrier, staring into the night, when he heard footsteps approaching. He didn't turn around as someone sat down beside him.

"You're thinking of leaving, aren't you?" Harry turned, surprised to hear Draco's voice.

"How did you convince Mrs. Weasley to let you out?"

Draco shrugged. "I told her I had to find you. She was pretty distracted by George anyways."

Harry nodded. "Do you know if he's going to be okay?"

"They can't put the ear back, not after it's been cursed off. But I think they've stopped the bleeding." Draco paused. "You didn't answer my question. Are you leaving?"

"I can't. Not until my birthday. They would find me in an instant."

"I have to come with you, you know."

Harry sighed. "I can't, Draco. I know Hermione and Ron are going to say the same thing. But I can't keep letting other people put themselves in danger for me."

"I'm in danger no matter what," Draco answered. "I might actually be safer with you."

Harry looked at Draco. His face was set, as if he had reached a new determination.

"It's going to be hard. And eventually I'll have to stop running and face Voldemort."

Draco nodded. "I know. And I'll be there with you." Something glistened in his eyes.

Harry slowly shook his head. "Draco, I'm going to fight against Voldemort. I'm fighting for muggles and muggleborns, and against everything you've ever been taught. I can't take someone who doesn't believe those things with me."

Draco ran his fingers through his hair. "I never told you how Snape found me that night, did I?"

Harry glanced at him in curiosity. "I just assumed he brought you from your dorm."

"No. He caught me in a third-floor corridor, yelling at students to get back to their common rooms. Some of the younger Ravenclaws were missing. Half-bloods and muggleborns. I went looking for them and found students everywhere. I hid as many as I could in the Room of Requirement and the Gryffindor common room before I headed down."

"That's why it was mostly Hufflepuffs and Slytherins outside," Harry mused. He looked at Draco. "Why are you telling me now?"

Draco sighed. "I saw my father tonight. He followed me. He caught me. He was going to kill me." His face was deathly white as he relived the events. "Right as he grabbed me I started changing back, into myself. He let me go." He ran his hand through his hair again, forcing it to stand on end. "I've been thinking for a long time Harry. And I do believe that my parents are wrong. And He- the Dark Lord, is wrong. And I want to fight him. Not just because I'm friends with you, but because I believe it's the right thing to do."

Harry gave him a surprised look. "Are you really sure? If you do this, everything will change. Forever. You'll have to fight your own family."

"I'm sure." Draco set his jaw in determination. "I'm not running scared anymore. And after tonight I'm ready to fight. Even if it is my family."

Harry couldn't help but smile.