Within ten minutes, Harry was standing in the Headmaster's Office at Hogwarts, having sent a letter to McGonagall to tell her what exactly he needed from her. Needless to say, she was not pleased to have been visited almost entirely unannounced in the middle of dinner. Still, she accommodated Harry and pulled the Pensieve out of its cupboard, setting it on the desk.
"What do you hope to find?"
"Answers," Harry said before plunging his face into the cold waters of the Pensieve. Just like every other time Harry had entered the Pensieve, he found the initial feeling of falling through nothingness to be unnerving, but by the time that Harry's feet touched the floor of the kitchen of Safe House Four, he was used to the sensation.
Once he landed, Harry moved to the far end of the kitchen as the memory played out in front of him. Memory Harry laid on the floor, the skin on his back scalding from the grease that Legion had poured down his back. Legion kneeled down in front of him, taunting his prey.
This was the first time that Harry had used a Pensieve to revisit one of his own memories and immediately, he found the whole experience to be startling. Imagine experiencing your own memories, but from a third person point of view that allowed you to pick up on things that you missed. Imagine being able to look at yourself, not through a mirror, but as you actually are.
To say it was strange would be a gross understatement.
"But you'll try, I'm sure" Legion said as Harry finally turned his focus to the two other bodies in the room, "which will just make it even more enjoyable when I take your loved ones from you. You'll fight and you'll fail, Harry Potter, and then as I kill everyone that you now and love, I will feed on their memories of you and the love that they hold for you. In their final moments, they'll know that their love for Harry Potter is what killed them."
Harry watched as Legion removed his hand from Memory Harry's shoulder and placed it on his head.
"This is the world as it will be."
When Harry had made the decision to return to this memory, he knew that there was no way of going through this without viewing the vision that Legion showed him, since it was effectively the opposite of the vision that Harry would force Legion to show him.
Still, that didn't mean that Harry was ready.
The kitchen of Safe House Four disappeared, replaced by the ruins of Hogwarts. At the far end of the hall stood Legion, dressed as Voldemort, easily identified as a mockery of Lord Voldemort, except for the smile. Harry closed his eyes and pressed on, knowing that they needed the answers that Harry sought, but terrified to see them.
"They all died for you, Harry."
With his eyes closed, Harry couldn't see the bodies fall from the sky, but he heard them land. One by one, they hit, each of them sending a deafening crack through the air as their bodies hit the stone of the Entrance Hall.
"First, I'll take the child."
Harry heard Teddy scream, his fists clenching as the sound of the flame that took him roared to life. One by one, all of them met the same fate: the same scream followed by the sound of fire raging up to take them from him.
"Then, when you are at your darkest point, I will take her and I will break her. Only then, at your lowest point, will I kill you, Harry Potter."
Harry opened his eyes just in time to see Memory Harry throw his arms out in front of him.
"NO!"
Just then, the memory warped from the halls of Hogwarts to the rolling waters of the open sea. A ship appeared on the horizon and Harry felt Memory Harry pull them towards the ship until suddenly, they were both standing side by side on the deck of the ship.
They were surrounded by men on benches, each of them pulling a large oar through the water. In front of them was a man standing in the center of a circle of others. He was tall, his features so sharp that you were afraid his cheekbones might cut you, and he had a thick, blonde beard that matched the short hair on top of his head. His right eye appeared blank and a large scar cut across it.
But most importantly, hanging from his neck was a large raven, the same necklace that Harry had seen when Legion took Andromeda's form. This may or may not have been Odin, but there was no question that he certainly fashioned himself after the Norse god.
There was also no question that this was their man and that the necklace was their best bet to stop Legion once and for all.
That's when Harry noticed the men standing in the circle around Legion. They all stood with their arms held to the sky, facing Legion in the center, who was holding the raven necklace in front of him. The men appeared to be glowing, pulsating in the same way that Legion had when Harry had hit him with the Killing Curse.
Then, the vision disappeared with a flash of light and Harry and Memory Harry stood outside of the employee entrance to the Ministry of Magic. Immediately, Harry withdrew from the Pensive, landing moments later in the Headmaster's Office once more.
As Harry composed himself, McGonagall approached him.
"Well, did you find what you were looking for?"
"I did," Harry said, although he still wasn't entirely certain how he felt about that. On one hand, they knew what they needed to do now. If Harry had to guess, he would say that what he had just witnessed was the ritual that had turned Odin into Legion. On the other hand, that meant that they had a very limited window for stopping Legion.
It would take as many people as humanly possible to take Legion down.
That's why when Harry returned to Safe House Four, after briefly relaying what he had learned to Hermione and Malfoy, Harry retreated to his bedroom and began writing. For hours, he wrote letter after letter, urging as many of his former comrades to join him in this fight. Over the last decade, Harry had not necessarily been the best person and barely a good friend to those that were closest to him.
Still, he hoped that he could inspire others to take up arms one more time.
For nearly two days, Harry wrote non-stop, informing people outside of his small circle about the threat that Legion posed, and his general plan to take Legion down permanently. When the time finally came for everyone to meet, the meeting took place, not at Safe House Four, but at The Hog's Head in Hogsmeade, the most appropriate place Harry could think of.
Harry and Hermione arrived with Elaina and Malfoy, allowing them to see up a table in the center of the room for all to see. Within a few moments, all the members of the Weasley clan arrived as expected. As far as Harry knew, Luna and Gabrielle were the only other people that had confirmed their attendance.
The fact that the next person to walk through the door was neither of them truly shocked Harry. While it had only been a few months since Harry had seen him, it seemed like it had been ages. Thankfully, time had certainly been kind to Viktor Krum. He was still tall and a bit awkward on the ground, but the specs of grey that were starting to form in his hair and beard gave him a distinguished look that Harry imagined most women (and men, if Harry was being honest) would find incredibly attractive.
"Headmaster?" Harry said, extending a hand towards Viktor.
"On a normal day, yes. But today, I am vanting to be just Viktor, your friend. I am here to help."
"We'll gladly take it," Harry replied warmly as Viktor took a seat next to Hermione, who instantly began talking to Viktor in stilted Bulgarian. "Excuse me? When the hell did you learn Bulgarian."
Hermione smiled at Harry.
"Three years after the war, I spent the summer in Bulgaria. Didn't have much else to do so I learned Bulgarian. Of course, it's been seven years since then so I'm a little rusty."
Harry honestly hoped that they would defeat Legion if for no other reason than there were still so many things that he could learn about Hermione Granger.
Then, just as if someone turned on the water faucet, people came pouring into The Hog's Head. Former Order members, members of Dumbledore's Army, old classmates: they all arrived just minutes before the scheduled time to show their support for Harry. One of his former classmates approached Harry, his head down.
Of all the people that had arrived, his presence was the most surprising.
"Mate, I...I shouldn't have acted the way I did," Dean said softly. Harry could tell that his words were genuine. Still, Harry had no real issue with Dean, outside of one item.
"You don't need to apologize to me," Harry replied. "I think you owe Ginny an apology more than me."
"I know," Dean said before retreating back to a corner where Seamus Finnigan sat with his husband, Terry Boot. Just then, when Harry thought that everyone had finally arrived, Kingsley and McGonagall walked through the door and walked directly up to Harry, causing the room to go silent.
"Potter, we can't go with you on your mission," McGonagall said firmly, "but we wanted to be here to let you know that we support you. We'll offer any resources we can. Just say the word and it's yours."
Harry appreciated their presence. He hadn't expected either of them to come. Of course, he hadn't expected nearly fifty people to show up either.
"Thank you," Harry replied. "I think we have all the supplies and personnel we need. And since I am Head Auror, you've sort of supplied the rest of the manpower, sir."
"Anything else you need, Harry, you let us know," Kingsley said with a sad smile.
"Will do."
The two of them then turned and walked to one of the far corners of the room, blending in with the rest of them. There were so many people there that at least a dozen people were standing outside the windows, despite the frozen temperatures, listening to Harry through the windows.
It was far more than Harry could have ever hoped for. Now, he just had to make sure that they all made it home.
"Thank you all for coming," Harry said firmly, although he could have whispered and still been heard. The moment he started talking, the room went silent once more.
"Some of you know the whole plan, some of you know parts, and others know nothing. Yet, you all came. Before I get into anything more specific, I want to thank all of you for coming. I don't know what the next few days will bring, but I know that your presence means more to me than I can express."
Harry then aimed his wand at the table and the map came to life, creating a three-dimensional model of the castle and the surrounding forest so that everyone could see exactly what Harry was talking about. Harry spent about five minute briefly telling everyone what exactly Legion was and what it could do before going on with the plan in general.
"Now, most of you are going to be crowd control," Harry explained, drawing a circle around the property. "I don't mean crowd control in the literal sense, of course, but you'll be there to ensure that we have backup should we need it and to act as a lookout in case Legion tries to escape."
"Before any of that happens, myself, Hermione, and Malfoy will Apparated to the house and approach the house on foot. Once we are in position, we'll have everyone else Apparate to the assigned point. We'll wait another ten minutes and then Hermione will take down the wards."
Harry then waved his wand in a circle around the castle and the map zoomed in directly on the castle itself. There were roughly six glowing spots that encircled the castle.
"Each of these are watchpoints. That's where you will be split up along with the Rookie Aurors. Each watchpoint will be led by one of my Junior Aurors. All these groups will fall under the command of Senior Auror Morgan Fawley. The rest of my Junior and Senior Aurors will form up with a select group of yourself to join me in storming the castle. Those people are Hermione, Dawlish, Ginny, George, Malfoy, Fleur, Abbi, Bill, Elaina, Collin Law, Manuel Collins, Emmett Davies, and Viktor. Once we are inside, the Aurors will take the castle, ensuring that there is no way in or out of the castle without Legion making a bunch of noise. Once that has happened, my team will find Legion and break the phylactery. In theory, this should allow us to Stun him and take him back to the Ministry."
Harry turned away from the map and looked around the room.
"I want to be clear. There is no telling what can happen once we've broken the phylactery. Legion might die, it might get even more powerful, it might pass out. We honestly have no idea. This is the moment when having so many of you will be helpful. You need to be prepared for anything."
Suddenly, Ginny stood up at the front.
"What happens if we're able to Stun Legion?"
"We bring Legion back to the Ministry," Harry replied. "All of the Aurors will immediately report to the Department of Mysteries along with my team. The rest of you will be dismissed at this time."
"We're not going to fight any more?" Seamus asked. "You've got us playing lookout and then going home?"
"We're not children anymore," Cho Davies protested.
Almost immediately, the room got too loud for anyone to hear themselves as they began to protest Harry's decision. It took Harry firing off a loud crack with his wand for the room to go silent once more.
"A few things I would like you to remember. First, you are right, Seamus, we are not children anymore. As such, you aren't volunteering to just do what you want. You are volunteering for a Ministry-sanctioned mission led by the Head Auror. Second, the people that I have chosen are the people that have the greatest understanding of what Legion can do. For most of them, they've been working with me for weeks to try and figure out a way to stop Legion. They are as prepared as any of us can be, which is to say, not at all."
That seemed to placate most of them. While Harry was pleased that so many had shown up to help, he was not about to allow anyone to second guess him. If he showed that anyone could push back now, he would spend every minute until they attacked fielding questions about his plans, something he simply did not have time for.
"Now, before we do this, I want to say one last thing," Harry said, his voice suddenly somber. "Legion has already taken people from me, people that I love. Some of you loved those same people. That's why you're here. It is a being of such immense magical power that I recruited all of you plus the entirety of the Auror Office to take it on. Still, it might not be enough."
Harry knew that they needed to hear this. This wasn't like the Battle of Hogwarts. They weren't children and they weren't pressed into a battle against their will. They were leaders now and they needed to be aware of the fact that Harry couldn't guarantee their safety. Of course, he would do everything he could, but in the end, there was a likelihood that at least some of them wouldn't return home to their families.
"We're going to meet at the staging area twenty-four hours from now," Harry said firmly. "Take that time to be with your family and to really, truly consider if this is something you want to do. If you show up, then I'll be glad to fight alongside you one more time. If you don't, none of us will think any worse of you. But if you show up, you do that understanding that you are putting yourself on the line."
There was a nervous calm in the room as Harry looked at each and every one of them. Finally, Augusta Longbottom stood. Ten years had passed since the Battle of Hogwarts, but she was just as fiery as that day.
"I think I can safely speak for everyone in the room when I say that we are with you until the end."
Harry smiled and nodded softly.
"Even so. Take this time. Be with your loved ones and I'll see you in the morning."
Harry spent the next several hours coordinating the attack on Legion's castle before following his own advice. He returned to Safe House Four and spent his evening making dinner for most of the house. Harry was a better cook than he let on and more than anything else, the act of cooking dinner for a dozen people offered a good distraction. It took him nearly three hours to complete dinner, eat, and wash up afterwards, which meant that it had achieved what Harry had wanted: wasting time. After that, he watched as Teddy jumped into Hermione's lap, grabbing one of the books that she had read before coming to Hogwarts that she had gone and taken from her parents' storage locker in Chelsea.
Teddy and Hermione had always gotten along pretty well, but over the last several days, Teddy had taken to spending more time with Hermione than he did with anyone else, which couldn't have made Harry happier. He shouldn't have been surprised. They were kindred spirits in a way, both of them outcasts and extremely bright. While Harry would always have Quidditch to share with his adopted son, there would be so many things that Harry had no knowledge of, things that Hermione knew a great deal about.
There was a lot to figure out when all of this was over. Harry was ostensibly Teddy's father now. Hermione was Harry's partner and he hoped, someday, more, but that didn't necessarily mean that Teddy would see Hermione as anything more than Harry's friend. Teddy's already growing affection for Hermione would make any sort of potential transition ahead much easier.
That was assuming there was a transition to be made. They still had to get through tomorrow.
That night, Harry and Hermione made love for what felt like the first time in ages. It was quiet and tender, nothing like some of their more wild romps in the sack. Afterwards, they each laid next to the other, staring up at the ceiling. For nearly an hour, both of them laid there in silence.
It was Hermione who eventually broke the silence with the only question that could be asked.
"Do you think there's a chance?" she asked cautiously.
"There's always a chance," Harry replied, although he wasn't just certain that he believed the words coming out of his mouth.
"Our plan isn't all that good, you have to admit," Hermione replied. "I mean, it basically amounts to ambushing Legion and praying that we can take him down."
"Is there any other way to do it?" Harry asked.
"I don't think so," Hermione admitted. "I just wish we had something better."
"Me too," Harry said as he turned over to Hermione. The moon shone in through the window behind her, creating a silver silhouette around her that made her look like an angel. Harry could barely see her face, but it was clear that she was just as frightened as Harry was. For weeks, they had been the head of this mission, the two of them. They had been strong and confident while burying any feelings they might have had to the contrary.
Now, for just a moment, they could admit to each other that they were afraid.
"Listen, this plan...it's not great, but it is the best that we could do," Harry added. "If we get in there and it's clear that we were wrong about the phylactery or if it does nothing, then we bail and we try again. But if we are right, then we can end this."
"And what happens then? What happens if it doesn't work?"
"I don't know," Harry admitted, "but I'm not thinking about that right now."
"Because if it fails, then we lost and the rest of the wizarding world is now at the mercy of Legion."
"Right," Harry said after a beat. "That's why we have to win and that's why we have to try and catch it off guard. We can't even begin to compete with it on a magical level. The only way to win is to surprise him. Then, we just have to hope that everyone is ready to do what is necessary."
This had been the one point in the plan that Hermione had originally pushed back against. It was widely assumed by all of them that one simple spell wouldn't break the phylactery. Either, they would need something to break it like a Horcrux (they were bringing the Sword of Gryffindor, just in case) or they would need an immense amount of magical power, likely from multiple sources.
In Harry's mind, the only magic that powerful, that destructive was the Killing Curse. Harry believed that if you hit the phylactery multiple times with the Killing Curse, then it would break. He believed that the phylactery had weakened when Harry hit Legion with the Killing Curse in the Riddle House.
That's why he had reverted back to his original form, albeit momentarily. If they could keep doing that, then, in Harry's mind, they stood a chance of breaking it.
Hermione believed that any spell of a sufficient magical level would work. Specifically, she believed that a Patronus would work just as well, if not better. But Harry had never seen a Patronus destroy anything, which was what they needed to do.
"Harry, when you needed to defeat Voldemort, you could have tried to kill him," Hermione replied. "You could have tried to cast the Killing Curse on him and you would have failed. It wasn't your ability to destroy things that led you to defeat him. It was your compassion, your love of others. That's what helped you beat him."
"But we're not fighting Riddle. Riddle was a man. He may have been incredibly powerful and morally bankrupt, but he was still a man. Maybe Legion was a man at one point, but he isn't anymore. Plus, consider this: if we don't take Legion out tomorrow, how many people will end up dying? Hundreds? Thousands? More?"
"You can't think like that," Hermione countered. "Worry about tomorrow. Worry about making sure that Legion gets put back inside the Arch. Just don't make this about getting revenge for Ron or for Andromeda."
"This is exactly about getting revenge for them," Harry replied as he sat up. "There's no other way to look at it in my mind. Legion killed my son's grandmother. It killed my best friend and it killed one of my oldest friends. This will be my revenge, Hermione, but it's not going to be sloppy. We're going to go in there, we're going to destroy that phylactery, and then we're going to throw that bastard back in its cell where it belongs."
"I know. Just make sure that you don't lose yourself in the process."
"I won't," Harry assured her. "And if I do, then I know that you'll pull me back."
"Damn straight," Hermione said before planting a kiss on Harry's cheek. While they could have laid there and talked for hours, they knew they needed to get some sleep. It was already late and they were getting up early to begin preparations for the attack. Both of them laid on their back and spent quite some time simply staring at the ceiling. It was quite a while before Harry heard the sound of Hermione's breathing slow, indicating that she had reluctantly fallen asleep.
Hours later, Harry still hadn't managed to get to sleep. He watched Hermione sleep restlessly. Even though she was asleep, it was clear that sleep wasn't coming easily to her either. Finally, Harry couldn't stand it anymore. He threw on a robe and grabbed a bottle of firewhiskey, intending to go and have a drink of the balcony, thinking that maybe he would fall asleep out there again.
Unfortunately, there was someone already there.
"Trouble sleeping?" Harry asked as he approached Malfoy, who was leaning over the railing. There was nothing much to watch. It was that time of night when the world seemed to stop. All you could hear was the gentle hum of the city and all there was to look at was the lights of Central London in the distance.
Harry took out his wand and waved it over his glass, instantly duplicating it. Then, he poured a healthy portion of firewhiskey in each before passing one of the glasses to Malfoy, who took it skeptically.
"Trouble sleeping would imply that I had slept at all," Malfoy replied.
"Same here."
"I figured you would be sleeping like a baby in there," Malfoy shot back.
"Why is that?"
"Well, you've already saved the world once. What's the big deal about a second time?"
Over the last several weeks, Harry and Malfoy had maintained a cordial relationship. They rarely spoke outside of meetings for work, despite the fact that they had lived together for weeks. They didn't interact and when they did, it was usually awkward, but brief.
However, that hadn't stopped Malfoy from being Mafloy on a few occasions. So far, Harry had done a good job of ignoring the greasy git, but with the pending assault on Legion's castle just a few hours away, Harry could no longer stand it.
"Merlin, you are a fucking ass," Harry mused as he took a swig from his glass.
"Excuse me?"
"You stand here, clearly worried about something, and yet you have the audacity to try and shame me for feeling concerned," Harry growled. "Last I checked, your father was still in prison for war crimes. Last I checked, your mother was still hiding at Malfoy Manor."
"What the hell do they have to do with this?"
"Because you think that I'm here trying to save the world," Harry replied. "I'm not trying to save the world. Hermione reminded me earlier that I can't do that. So I'm trying to protect her. I'm trying to protect Teddy and the rest of the people that I care about. What the hell are you even doing here?"
Malfoy was clearly stunned by the question as he physically withdrew from Harry in response.
"What?"
"You helped us with the runes, fine. You've been helpful in looking at the ritual, great. But why are you still here? This kind of thing isn't what a Malfoy does."
"What kind of thing is that?"
"Risking yourself for others," Harry said coldly. "You could have walked away two days ago. You helped us figure out the runes and the ritual. You could have walked and we would have said that you did plenty. You would have done more than anyone would have ever expected of you. So why are you still here?"
Malfoy paused for a moment and then sat down on one of the chairs behind him. Before he answered, he drained the glass in his hand.
"Because you were right."
Of the list of things that Harry never thought he would experience in his life, hearing Draco Malfoy tell him that he was right (and mean it) was right there with catching a unicorn barehanded and beating Ron in wizard's chess at the top of the list. But he hadn't imagined it. It was clear that Malfoy had given this a lot of thought.
Hell, it might have been why he was out here in the first place.
"Right? How?" Harry asked apprehensively.
"It was what you said to me at Malfoy Manor, the first time you visited a few months back," Malfoy said as Harry refilled his glass and took the chair to his right. "You told me that I had been a coward. That I hid behind others. You told me that I had refused to truly stand up for what was right."
"When I sat in Azkaban, I seriously thought about what I would do when I got out. And every time that thought crossed my mind, I answered the same way: I was going to restore the Malfoy family to its former glory and I was going to make you pay. There was only one problem with that."
"What's that?"
"I wasn't going to have the ability to do that," Malfoy mused. "The Ministry stripped my family of everything. They took our gold, they took our privacy, everything. The only thing they didn't end up taking was the house. When I got home, I was the only one there. For three years, I lived in that house alone and in that time, I realized that the rest of the world didn't care about the Malfoys. They had never cared about the Malfoys."
"They had cared about the power. Once that power was gone, everyone left. Three years I lived there by myself and I had not a single visitor. Not one friend from school. None of the other Death Eater's children. None of them."
"Are you expecting me to feel bad for you?" Harry asked honestly. "I don't mean to be cruel, but if you are expecting to be a shoulder for you to tell me how lonely you were, you are going to be sorely mistaken."
"No, I don't expect that from you, Potter," Malfoy snapped, showing just a hint of the old Draco Malfoy before resuming his story. "I tell you that so that you understand. I understood that there was no way back. Sure, Purebloods may still hold large levels of influence in our world. But the ones who supported the Dark Lord publicly, like my family, we lost it all. I'm certain there are some out there who are probably still trying to get it back, but I decided that I didn't want that anymore."
"I made a promise to myself that I was going to live a normal life. I was going to go get a job and work hard. I was going to hopefully start a family. Over time, I hoped to forge a new reputation for the Malfoy family. We weren't going to be the type that would save the world, but we wouldn't be the monsters that the world sees us as now."
Malfoy suddenly laughed at some thought that popped into his mind. Then, he turned to Harry.
"Then, you came to my house and turned me inside out. When I had informed you about Legion, I honestly hadn't done it out of any sort of honorable intention. I believe that, as an Unspeakable, it is my job to prepare the world for the worst. Orson Welles does not share that belief. So I told you about Legion and about the havoc that it was going to create."
"When you came to my house, you might have been talking for yourself, but what you told me was that I did owe the world for my behavior and the behavior of my family. I needed to do more than simply do my job. So, I helped Weasley and Granger with the runes and then I helped with the ritual."
Harry was well aware of the fact that the Draco Malfoy that sat before him was not the same boy that had let Death Eaters into the school as a sixteen-year-old. But Harry hadn't put much thought into just how much Malfoy had changed since that day. While it had cost the wizarding world its greatest champion, that night was the beginning of an evolution that had taken Draco Malfoy nearly ten years to complete.
"You're here because you want to be," Harry said confidently.
"I am," Draco admitted. "But over the last few weeks, this has become more than simply making up for my family's faults and it has become more than just my job. This is something I believe in. I believe in what we're doing, which is something that I've never been able to say about anything."
"Not even all that Pureblood nonsense?"
Malfoy considered that question for a moment before giving a simple answer.
"It is what I was taught," Malfoy said, deliberately punctuating the final word in that sentence. "I honestly still believe that magical people are better than Muggles. Do I believe that means that we need to exterminate them? No. But I know that all that bullshit that my parents taught me about Muggleborn witches and wizards being less than Pureblood is bullshit. Look at Granger."
"Yes," Harry said. He had to admit that he was somehow a bit disappointed in Malfoy. While he supposed that it was too much for Malfoy to completely change, Harry had hoped that this new outlook on life that Malfoy had adopted would affect how he viewed the world around him a bit more drastically.
Still, Malfoy had come a long way in the last decade. Maybe he would go even farther in the next ten years.
"If you had told me a year ago that I would be sitting on a balcony in the middle of the night with Harry Potter, baring my soul, I would have told you you were insane," Malfoy said.
"I would have been surprised myself," Harry admitted. "But, here we are."
"Yes, here we are."
Harry and Malfoy sat in silence for a few minutes before Malfoy turned to Harry once more.
"Thank you, by the way. Your inspiration may have been...unusual, but without it, I don't think I would have ever gone down this path."
"You're welcome."
"And thank you for trusting me. I know it can't have been easy."
"It wasn't," Harry said in agreement, "but I guess there was some part of me that wanted to believe that you could change. I haven't exactly been the best version of myself either. If you could change, then maybe I could as well."
Draco nodded his head and then refilled Harry's glass before raising his own.
"To our best selves," Draco suggested.
"To our best selves," Harry echoed before clinking his glass against Malfoy's and then taking a deep drink from his glass. As he sat there, looking out over the city, Harry could only hope that he could be his best self tomorrow when it would really matter. He honestly believed that he could. With that thought in his mind, Harry bid Malfoy goodnight and returned to his room where he almost instantly fell asleep, his mind momentarily calmed by his conversation with Malfoy and the hope that it had given him.
All he could do now was trust in those around him. That, in the end, would be the only way to see this through.
