"I want to borrow your invisibility cloak," Draco told the boy stretched out on his four-poster bed in the third-years dormitory.

Harry's Divination homework was spread all over the coverlet, leaving no place for Draco to sit as he made his request. That was probably by design. Things between them had almost gone back to normal over the last week, the almost being Harry didn't seek out his touch or company any more. Draco had taken the change in stride, spending more time with his other friends and giving Harry the space he appeared to need. Everyone else was adjusting to their new knowledge of Draco Malfoy and he was happy to give them all the time they needed to adjust since they hadn't sent him packing, figuratively speaking.

Before he looked up, Harry finished drawing in Venus on his star chart. During the pause, Draco noted he had a smudge of ink across his cheek, but resisted reaching over to wipe it away. Normally the excuse to touch Harry would be too much to resist, but he held himself at the distance his friend wanted. It wasn't the first time he had had to, so even the wolf's clambering to be near didn't make his resolve waver.

It was easier once Harry met his eyes, the suspicion there an icy splash of water to even the wolf's intentions. "What for?" he asked, tucking his quill behind his ear and then smearing the ink further by leaning on his hand.

"George and Fred and I are off on an adventure," Draco said, smirking slyly. Harry just raised an eyebrow so the blonde gave up and rolled his eyes. "We're going to steal the Marauder's Map back from Filch."

"Oh," Harry frowned, glanced at his star chart and then asked, "And why wasn't I invited?"

"Didn't think you'd want to come," Draco said honestly.

"Oh."

It was Draco's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Did you want to come?"

Harry hesitated, then shrugged and returned to his homework.

"No. It's in the bottom of my trunk."

Keeping his opinion of Harry's response to himself – he could be a right mopey bastard – Draco pulled the cloak from its hiding spot and tucked it into his book bag.

"Thanks," he said. "Be back with your map in a bit."

"My map?" Harry repeated, suddenly interested again.

"Well, yeah," Draco frowned. "It was your dad's, your Godfather's, so….yours."

"Why are the three of you going to get it, if you're just going to give it to me? You can't buy my trust Draco."

This time he couldn't help it, Draco rolled his eyes and sighed heavily.

"I know that. We're going to go get it because," he began ticking the reasons off on his fingers, "we want to annoy Filch, we want to mess with the Slytherins, the Map is incredibly useful, and we're bored. Mostly because we're bored, but I'm not about to steal from you, though, so we'll give it to you when we're done."

"Done?" Harry finally cracked a smile and Draco grinned in response.

"Well, we might be smuggling in some contraband as well. Need the map for that."

"Ah, I have exposed your master plan after all," Harry said and Draco was relieved to hear the teasing tone. "Go on, but I want to hear all about it when you get back. And don't let the Slytherins know it was you; we don't need them seeking more revenge."

"Yes, sir," Draco laughed, snapping a sharp salute before he headed down to the Common Room. Fred and George were waiting for him with Lee Jordan. The latter would head to the library to offer an alibi should then end up needing it. The twins each had their book bags, but like Draco's it held anything but books.

"Alright, Draco?" George asked.

Draco nodded, slapping his bag with the flat of his hand.

"Brilliant," Fred stood and swung his bag over his head. "Let's be off then. No time like the present."

Together they made their way to the portrait hole, ducking through and setting off in their respective directions. George, Fred and Draco to the trophy room, Lee to the library. There he would set up the charmed stones that Draco had made for them. When activated, the stones would create images of Fred, Draco and George studying. Lee would be able to control them to a relative degree and hopefully no one would look too closely since if viewed at the right angle you could see straight through the projections.

The twins' mission was diversionary and, to Draco's way of thinking, the best part of the entire set up. They waited near the stairs to the dungeons for a Slytherin straggler to make their way to their Common Room from diner. Pretending to finish up whatever they were doing, they'd leave a large sweets box beneath their bench and go on their way. If all went well – and it was Slytherin, so there was little doubt it wouldn't – the student would snag the treats and continue on their way.

Instead of the normal contents of the Honeydukes chocolate box, the twins had engineered a special surprise as a replacement. When bitten into, the sweets reacted like a stink bomb, spewing forth clouds of foul smelling gas. If the Slytherin student was selfish, the dungeons would fill with the gas, if he wasn't the Common Room itself would be awash and there would be students to deal with along with a mess to clean up.

Draco hoped he wanted to share his find.

No matter what happened, Filch would be dispatched to deal with the ensuing chaos. That's where Draco and Harry's invisibility cloak came in. After his confession during the full moon, the twins had realized that the third-year wasn't just gifted in magic. This meant he could pull of spells no student had even heard of. Namely, he could break into the confiscated items drawer in Filch's office and retrieve the Marauder's Map.

Fred, Lee and George had the contents memorized by now, but it was always easier to sneak into or out of the school with the parchment handy. Draco wanted it back since he knew how handy Harry would find it in the coming years. Thus the plan was hatched.

Now all Draco had to do was wait. With hours spent on watch for the Order it wasn't much of a hardship and after only forty five minutes, he heard screams coming from the direction of the dungeons. Draco grinned; not too selfish after all, then.

The twins would be headed for the library already, so Draco was on his own. Filch burst from his office as he realized the noise meant trouble and Ms. Norris took off on his heels. Waiting until the last moment, Draco caught the door just before it slammed shut again. Easing it open, he slipped inside and used his pack to keep it cracked enough that the lock wouldn't engage. He didn't fancy spending his time waiting for Filch to return and then have to slip by him and his cat.

Whipping off the invisibility cloak, Draco tossed it onto Filch's desk and, wand in hand, advanced on the man's cabinets. Tracing a square in the air before his eyes, he whispered, "Visus verum," and watched the edges of the tracing flare with a riot of colors. Using the 'window', Draco was able to view any spells Filch had keeping students out of his personal things. Blue was helpful charms, yellow for locking charms, red for standard alarm spells, grey to black for curses and hexes of varying severity. Being that the caretaker was a Squib, there wasn't too much in the way of protection on anything in the room. A few drawers glowed a soft grey, but one in particular was a swirling mix of grey and yellow.

"Easy enough," the werewolf muttered to himself and began unwinding the charms placed on the drawer. Since Filch had no magic of his own, it would be a long time before he realized anyone had messed with his furniture, if he ever did at all.

Within ten minutes, Draco had the Map in hand and was slipping out of the caretaker's office. The commotion in the dungeons had spilled up to the Great Hall, so he kept the invisibility cloak on until he reached the library. Fred and George – the real ones, not the illusions – were whispering with Lee while a seemingly oblivious Draco worked on some Potions essay.

Making sure no one was within sight, he quickly disabled the enchanted stone, slipped into his seat and pulled off the cloak. "Success," he whispered, setting the Map in the center of the table.

Lee quickly grabbed the map and Draco stored Harry's cloak in his bag again.

"Well boys," he grinned, "we have a crate of fire whiskey with our names on it. Why're we still sitting here?"

It was well past curfew when Draco stumbled back to the Gryffindor Common Room. He was a little drunk, having stupidly allowed the twins to challenge him to a game of Truth or Shots. Since he wasn't willing to answer most of their questions, he had had one too many shots. Knowing his limit, he'd headed back to the Tower alone since George, Fred and Lee were still out finding a suitable hiding place for their stash. Over the coming weeks, they'd sell the lot throughout the school and Draco, having helped retrieve it, would get a share of the profits. Not that he needed a share, but it was always nice to have untraceable income.

Nearly falling head over heels to the floor as he crawled out of the portrait hole, Draco barely managed to keep his feet underneath himself. Grumbling to himself, he brushed off his robe and didn't notice he had an audience until he heard the distinct sound of the Potions Professor clear his throat. Freezing, Draco slowly looked up to find not just Severus Snape watching him with disapproval, but his father, mother, and Dumbledore himself. Nearby, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin watched him with barely concealed good humor apparently thinking his nightly wandering quite the lark.

"Late evening, Draco?" Dumbledore asked neutrally, an amused twinkle in the old man's eyes.

"Crap," Draco grumbled and made a half-hearted attempt to straighten his robes. "Emun...Er, emundet sanguinem," Draco stumbled through the incantation, too intoxicated to either cast silently or mumble while intoxicated. Immediately his fuzzy brain and good cheer vanished, his nerves spiked, and the hangover he would have slept off the next morning walloped him over the head. Wincing, he saw his father's hand tighten on his cane and his mother's lips pinch flat in a line. Likely they wondered just how he knew such an advanced sobriety spell and Draco couldn't blame them. Black looked impressed so at least there was that.

"Headmaster, Mother, Father, Professors, cousin," Draco said as politely as he could. "I'd like to hope this gathering isn't meant for me, but I imagine that would be impossible."

"Your parents have been informed of your condition, Mister Malfoy," Lupin said in his soft voice.

"No one else has been informed, of course," Dumbledore assured, "Your secret is quite safe, however it seemed most prudent to have everyone affected gathered in one place for this discussion. No sense in drawing this out longer than is necessary."

"Why have you asked these two to be present for what should be a family matter?" Narcissa asked pointedly.

Lupin spoke up, deciding to explain for himself instead of letting Dumbledore do the talking for him.

"Mrs. Malfoy, I too suffer from Lycanthropy. The Headmaster thought it would be best to have someone there to mentor your son through his change. It's much easier to go through this when there is someone to answer your questions who also knows what it is you're going through."

"And Black?"

"Really, cousin," Sirius grinned, "what a greeting after all this time. Considering the rumor mill has the two of you in my tarnished shoes, I'd think you'd be a bit warmer."

Narcissa's eyes flared and she only calmed as Lupin quickly stepped in; at least one of them had sense.

"Sirius Black is my mate, Mrs. Malfoy. As I'm sure you can understand that after so long apart I have trouble going far from him."

"And Draco will have a 'mate' now as well?"

"Yes," Lupin glanced at Draco briefly, "Eventually. There is little understood about why a mate is chosen, but once a werewolf has, there is nothing that can be done to change it."

"I assume, as Draco's mentor, you will be available to answer all of our questions as well?"

Draco felt like he could breath again and he let himself hope that this could turn out alright.

"Of course," Lupin smiled faintly.

"And I would like to offer to have him stay with us during any full moons this summer," Sirius Black said in a surprisingly formal tone. "That way he can be close to his mentor and still with family."

Lucius looked like he might have a fit at having Sirius Black, once again confirmed blood traitor, as family. It was all fairly surreal for Draco. He had expected more than this from his parents. Shouting, disgust, something. They were angry, that was certain, but the anger was directed at the Headmaster instead of at him.

"Who did this to you, Draco?" Lucius demanded, voice tight.

From where he stood, Draco saw the guilt cross Lupin's face and Sirius' arm tighten about his waist in support. He wasn't about to let the elder werewolf fall on his sword for him, however, and quickly stepped forward as he began to open his mouth. Both Narcissa and Lucius focused on him, their gaze effectively removed from his sire and the man's mate.

"Greyback," he answered slowly.

He heard someone, likely Lupin, suck in a surprised breath and contained a scowl. Really, did they think he would let Lucius fall on them for doing him a favor? Slytherins always repaid their debts. Besides, it wasn't exactly a lie; Greyback would have done this to him in a few years.

"Fenrir Greyback," he repeated and felt all eyes boring into him, not that he allowed his his expression to crack. He couldn't. There was the chance it would mean death for Remus Lupin if his father pushed for the werewolf to be punished under the traditional laws. Of course, to do that he would also have to expose Draco as a newly turned werewolf and he doubted the man would want that even if he was disgusted by what he had become.

A growing rage was building in Lucius' eyes, though Narcissa's remained distant, likely because of their audience. Draco didn't reach for his mother, however. If it wasn't an act, he didn't want to find out with the others watching. Losing his mother again, no matter what the form, would be heartbreaking. Professor Snape was as equally distant and silent, as was Professor Dumbledore and Sirius Black. He wasn't sure what either the former or the latter was thinking at his lie, but he imagined the Headmaster was waiting to see how this played out before he commented.

"Fenrir Greyback," Lucius repeated, his voice soft and gentle. That more than shouting spoke to the maelstrom building inside the Malfoy House head, though only the Slytherins in the room would recognize it as such.

"Why were we not informed immediately upon his being bitten?" Narcissa asked coldly, her gaze including Severus in the question before settling heavily on Dumbledore.

Again, Draco stepped in before anyone could speak up.

"I asked them not to."

His mother's distant gaze settled onto him and he saw a flash of anger as her facade cracked for the briefest moment.

"And since when do children decide what should or should not be told to their parents?"

Holding his mother's gaze, Draco didn't flinch as he answered.

"Since said child was unable to deal with his mistake, his 'condition', his parents disappointment in him and the change occurring within only a few days. In other words, I needed the time, mother. I couldn't have…" Draco swallowed and forced his back straight. "I was not prepared to face the possibility that you would disown me when the first change was so near at hand. As I'm sure you know, the...full moon is a very emotional time for people with my condition."

Out of the corner of his eye, Draco saw Severus and Dumbledore exchange glances at his flawless deliverance of a frightened, yet determined child confronting his parents. Again he found himself annoyed. He had told them his age and his previous affiliation with the Slytherin House. What had they expected? Blood traitor or no, he was a Malfoy and his father's son to boot.

"Oh, darling," Narcissa's hard mask crumbled further as she reached out and cupped his cheek, "This isn't your fault. We know that."

"But it is," Draco took a deep breath before continuing his 'confession', "I went out into the Forbidden Forest alone. I knew it was dangerous and I went anyway."

Unable to remain silent any longer, Lucius burst out, "But why?"

Draco was prepared for this question as well. Ever since the full moon had ended he knew it was only a matter of time before his parents were informed of his new status as a werewolf. Letting the Headmaster and Professor Snape do that for him had been the cowardly way out. If he hadn't been so afraid of their reaction - Okay, it wasn't all an act - he would have told them himself. Admittedly, he was surprised it had taken them this long, though he still wished the confrontation hadn't occurred for several weeks yet.

"I was sneaking out to Hogsmeade."

It was the only excuse Draco had managed to come up with that wouldn't inspire more questions. He'd thought of saying he was out to meet a girl, something his parents would readily believe, but then they would insist on knowing who the girl was. As there was no girl, he wasn't sure how long his lies would hold up. If one crumbled, there was as good a chance as any that they all would before long.

Hurrying on as if nervous his statement wasn't enough of an explanation, Draco said, "With my extra lessons I thought I would be perfectly safe, but Grayback came at me from behind. I didn't even hear him. It wasn't the first time I'd made the trip and -"

"Not the first time!" his father exploded, surging to his feet and rounding on Dumbledore. Draco winced, but he was counting on the Headmaster being capable enough of handling an irate Lucius Malfoy. "What is the meaning of this, Dumbledore? Are you so incompetent that you cannot keep one child safe? How could he possibly have snuck off into the woods without your knowing?"

"I assure you, Lucius, we were quite aware," Dumbledore said calmly, "How do you think we arrived in time to return with Mister Malfoy still alive?"

"You should have noticed he was gone before he even got into the Forest!" Lucius shouted, unswayed by the Headmaster's quick explanation.

"As you well know, Lucius," Severus spoke up, much to Draco's surprise, "the boy is quite exceptional in his spellwork. He managed to deceive the wards into thinking that he was in one location when he was actually in another. We are all lucky that we noticed this time considering the consequences of this trip."

Keeping his back ramrod straight, Draco said, "That's why it's my fault. I chose to sneak out, I didn't protect myself well enough, and I knew you'd...I'm a...a werewolf. A monster."

"Draco," Lupin admonished gently and he saw his mother's eyes travel to the two men standing off to one side.

All eyes returned to Draco as he asked softly, "You're not...angry with me?"

"You're grounded for the summer," Lucius responded immediately, but he smiled as he did and reached out to squeeze his son's shoulder. A lump formed in Draco's throat and he couldn't have spoken if he wanted to. Bowing his head, he started as Narcissa cupped her son's cheek, sighed and leaned in to kiss him on the forehead. Sucking in a breath, he felt tears pool in his eyes and barely held them back. No matter the displays of affection they were offering, they wouldn't approve of him crying in front of an audience.

"We will speak of this soon," she promised.

Getting to her feet, she touched her husband's arm and both turned to the Headmaster and Severus. They offered the expected farewells and platitudes, then took their leave through the portrait hole. Draco previously would have never guessed he would witness that sight, but his parents reactions left him too constricted to find it funny. They were accepting that he was a werewolf, though they had never seen the consequences of what that really meant. If he could help it, Draco would never let them. The knowledge of what he was and the reality were two completely separate concepts to accept and while he knew his parents loved him, Draco doubted they would ever truly accept he was cursed. It wasn't like he looked it.

"That went better than I expected," Sirius broke the silence after the elder Malfoys left.

"They had time to compose themselves," Draco said flatly. "Did you inform them personally, Severus?"

Feeling Lupin, Black, and Dumbledore's eyes on him at the familiar address didn't pull the grey gaze from the Potions Master. It was reckless and foolish, but he didn't care what they thought of him right now. His parents accepted him, even if there was a good chance it was mostly denial, but he wanted the full story.

"Yes," Severus said and Draco held in a sigh.

"And I take it they were not as...calm...at that time?"

Pressing his lips together, Severus looked at the portrait hole the two purebloods had left through. His simple shake of his head confirmed what Draco had guessed.

"Then they'll accept it so long as they never see it and no one ever finds out."

"I'm sure it's not like that," Lupin tried, but frowned as his mate gave a sharp shake of his head. "Sirius?"

"They're certainly not so bad as my folks," the animagus said, "but they've still got the mindset of the hard line purebloods. Draco's a sharp kid, but you know how people think about werewolves better than anyone else. Blood traitor is one thing when it's The Boy Who Lived involved and the family comes out on top. This? This is something else entirely. If his curse is made public, they'll disown him just to save face. They'll have to."

"They still love me," Draco cut in a bit sharply, not liking how Sirius was talking about his parents, "and that's all I really care about right now."

"You could have told us about your ruse, Draco," Dumbledore said pleasantly. "A little warning next time, perhaps?"

"If we're lucky, Headmaster," the blonde smiled tiredly at the old wizard, "there won't be a next time."

"Oh?" Dumbledore's twinkling blue eyes sharpened and even Lupin looked at Draco with razor focus.

Pressing his lips together, Draco thought of Harry as his distrust warred with his returned instincts. These men would help him keep his mate safe if he let them, but to do that he had to trust them. Draco didn't like that. He had been fighting with little hope that someone would watch his back for a long time and keeping his secrets close - and safe - died hard. Unlike his twitchy reflexes which seemed to have vanished with his nineteen year old body, he couldn't escape that influence remnant from the war.

"Peter Pettigrew would have escaped," he said, making up his mind, and saw Severus' wand appear in his hand, twitching to set up a Muffliato spell to keep their conversation private, "and gone on to find, then assist Voldemort," he ignored most of the twitches at the name, "in returning. If we're lucky, no one will even look for what is left of him with Pettigrew in Azkaban. Then I won't have any more of the future to predict or ruses to perpetrate."

"Let us hope," Dumbledore said slowly, "that we are lucky, then."

It was late when Draco made it back up to the dorms. The Headmaster had wanted a detailed explanation of the ritual used to bring Voldemort back from half-life, Lupin had wanted to make sure he was alright with going to Grimmauld Place during the summer for his transformations, though Sirius and Severus had mostly just sat by and glared at each other when conversation turned to things neither cared to pay attention to. Unlike with Lupin and Severus, Draco held no hope that those two would ever come to friendly terms. The past was often too heavy to shake off.

Exhausted with the late hour and grateful it was a Saturday and he didn't have to wake early the next morning, Draco dropped his clothing haphazardly onto the floor and climbed into bed before he realized it wasn't as empty as it should be.

Pajamas, Draco thought distractedly as he stared into Harry's wide, green eyes, I was supposed to put on pajamas.

"I, um," he tried for nonchalance, but his own blush was probably destroying that illusion, "I lost the habit of going to sleep dressed during the war. I forget sometimes that I'm supposed to, you know...pajamas…"

"Least you have underwear on," Harry muttered.

"Right, just lemme get changed."

Draco didn't even get a chance to put his feet on the floor because Harry's hand was so warm against his bare arm as he caught a hold of him it halted him in place.

"No, it's okay, not like...I haven't seen you in your underwear before…"

"Right," Draco muttered again. Leaning back, he pulled the curtains closed about them, sealed them closed, and cast a silencing charm for good measure. He figured Harry had to have snuck into his bed for some reason. Yet, when he sat back to look at his mate, the dark-haired boy was sitting on the far side of the bed, knees pulled up to his chest, and staring at him. When he didn't speak for nearly a minute, Draco sighed and broke the silence for him.

"Why are you in my bed, Harry?"

"I wanted to know what you'd been up to for so long and I figured there was a good chance I wouldn't wake up when you came back so I went to sleep here."

"Oh," Draco chuckled, "Well, we got your map, it's in my robe pocket, and then the guys and me got the crate of firewhiskey from Hogsmeade, and then I met my parents who now know that I'm a werewolf. Afterward Dumbledore wanted a debriefing."

Expecting Harry to want to talk about the debriefing, he was pleased when he said instead, "Jeez, your parents? How'd that go? Your dad pissed at you again?"

Smiling, Draco shook his head as he made himself more comfortable under the blankets. He also made himself more covered, but that wasn't the point.

"Surprisingly, he's not. More relieved than anything."

"So why don't you sound happy about that?"

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Draco sprawled on his back and sighed deeply.

"Because if they'd really absorbed what I am now, it wouldn't have gone so damned smoothly. I love my parents, but they're pretty stuck in their ways. Accepting you, becoming blood traitors, and now this? No way. There should have been...some hiccup. Remember when I was accepted in Gryffindor? That howler?" Harry nodded; like anyone would forget. "Not even a shout and they left smiling."

Harry frowned.

"How can you be so sure? I mean, maybe they're really okay with it."

"Okay with it?" Draco blurted. "Harry, I turn into a blood crazed monster every thirty days. If it wasn't for the wolfsbane potion, I would literally need to rip and tear apart something, even myself, during every full moon. There's a werewolf registry for a reason, but the wolfsbane potion has mostly made us easier to be around. However, there's also a huge problem with the perception of werewolves because the wolfsbane potion is such a recent innovation, not to mention it's pretty difficult to brew in the first place. Only twenty years ago, being infected with lycanthropy was practically a death sentence since the only solution was to lock the infected up in a room, by themselves, so they had no one to take out the bloodlust on them but themselves. And if you didn't...If a werewolf kills or infects another, they're put down."

"That's...that's horrid," Harry whispered. "But...you came back to us fine…"

Draco let his hand fall to the bed and didn't look at his best friend.

"I'm...used to dealing with injuries, plus they were relatively minor since I had the wolfsbane and a werewolf and an animagus to watch after me. On my own? It would have been bad. You should talk to Remus about it, he became a werewolf before the wolfsbane potion."

"I will," Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You're...you're gonna be okay, right?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna be fine. I can walk, right?"

That got a smile out of Harry, if a small one.

"Yeah, that's true, I guess….Um, tell me about that prank you guys pulled to get the map?"

Glancing at Harry, Draco slowly smiled. Rolling onto his side, he saw Harry had stretched out on top of the covers and looked eager to hear about their earlier antics. Grinning, Draco launched into the story. Even if his parents were in denial, it was alright when his best friend, his mate, tried to make him feel better.

kurosakiami01: Thank you! I promise, I get just as angry with Harry as anyone else, but Draco really does have some trust issues he needs to deal with. Plus, Harry's kind of young and we all made some dumb mistakes when we were that young.

specialbus: Many, many more chapters. It's really kind of daunting, but I've got most of the story played out in my head. Just gotta keep my fingers going.

rebelghost85: It's not too bad, right?

.Rose: I'm glad it's still entertaining you! Though I'm not sure if I should be worried that my Hermione is so predictable or pleased that I got her down enough that she says what you'd expect.

Prince of Enchanters: It's a little too early for another Aside, but I'll see if I can get his opinions across.