Harry was surprised for the first time in a while to wake up and see the glasses next to his bed on top of his book. Apparently, if there was hope of breaking the time loop, it wasn't enough to just know about all of the Horcruxes and how the time loop began.

He hadn't interacted with Draco at all his previous go, which meant simply not casting Sectumsempra might not be enough, either. To see if there was anything he might be missing, he decided to attempt consoling Draco before he would talk to Dumbledore again.

That evening, he waited until Draco had been in the girl's bathroom for fifteen minutes, then quietly entered.

Harry kept his wand at his side. "Draco. . ."

Moaning Myrtle looked up. Draco spotted Harry in the bathroom mirror, spun around, and cast a hex in his direction.

"Protego!"

Draco furrowed his brow, then threw another spell, and another as Harry continued to block them.

As soon as there was a gap in Draco's aggression, Harry disarmed him. He pointed his wand at Draco and crossed the room to retrieve the wand, before pocketing both. They were standing close, now.

Draco furiously wiped his eyes, widening his stance as though he expected Harry to lunge at him. "How did you know I was here, Potter?"

"Luck. I wanted to tell you that I don't want to be enemies anymore. I know you've been trying to kill Dumbledore, and seeing as you don't want to do it—you're just protecting your family and have tremendous pressure to follow through—I won't hold it against you. Assuming you do the right thing."

Draco's face was deathly pale. "What—how—"

"I found out by following you. No one told me."

At Draco's expression, Harry wanted to take it back, not add to his confusion. But he pressed forward. "I also know you plan to help Death Eaters into Hogwarts."

The fire in Draco's eyes lit again. "I can't let you leave, knowing that." He wound back his arm to throw a punch, but Harry saw it coming and dodged out of the way.

"Listen, even if you kill me, or erase my memory, I left multiple notes to Ron and Hermione."

Draco struggled to return to a defensive stance, waiting for an opening. "I wish I could kill you."

"It's not a matter of could. You wouldn't."

"What makes you so sure?"

"I know you, Draco, and I also know Voldemort wants me for himself."

"Since when do you call me Draco, Potter?"

"Draco Potter sounds odd, but so does Harry Malfoy."

"What the hell are you—"

Moaning Myrtle chose that moment to swoop down, flying past the two boys as she emitted a long cry. "Don't fight. Don't fight, it won't change anything!"

Draco scowled. "Butt out."

Myrtle's eyes started to well up. "You don't need to pretend we're not friends when Harry's here; he and I are friends, too."

To conceal his scoff, Harry cleared his throat. "Er, yeah."

Myrtle floated between Harry and Draco. "Will you kiss and make up?" She then shrieked with laughter and dove into the nearest toilet.

Ignoring her, Harry continued, "I can help you. You and your family would be rewarded. You could make up for everything you've done."

Draco's face was blotchy and his chin trembled. "It can't be that simple, Potter."

"Look, there are two things I can tell you, the rest will have to wait. First, Dumbledore—he's . . . he is going to die even if you don't kill him. Long story short, Voldemort cursed him but doesn't know he did, so even if you kill Dumbledore, he would have died soon anyway."

Draco narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out why Harry would lie.

"And second, because of a secret your mother told me, I will be able to defeat Voldemort. For now, you just have to trust me that the secret she's shared is enough to exonerate your family."

Harry stepped closer. Before Draco had time to process what was happening, Harry had wrapped his arms around him.

"Get off—what the hell?" Whatever magic effect Harry expected the embrace to have, he was grossly mistaken. Draco wrenched himself out of Harry's grasp, breathing hard. "I don't know what you're trying to do, Potter, but stay away from me." He began to push past Harry, who grabbed his arm to stop him.

"If you're going to tell anyone, just wait. Give it until tomorrow to be certain, before you do anything."

Draco tensed. "Why should I? You live to ruin my plans. How am I supposed to believe you won't stab me in the back?"

"As often as you've screwed me over, I don't want you dead." Harry lightened his grip, and Draco swung his arm back. "And conveniently, you don't want to kill anyone. What you do want is glory and safety, to be loved and understood, to have your family and your dignity; I can give you all of that."

"Fine, Potter," he spat, "I'll wait. But only because I have to figure out why you're doing this." And with that, he stalked out of the room.

Harry left soon after, instead heading in the opposite direction to Dumbledore's office.

As he had nearly every time previously, Dumbledore looked up from his desk in mild surprise. "Good evening, Harry. Is everything alright?"

"I need to talk to you. And Snape, too. I know you try to limit what he knows, but it's important that he's here as well."

Dumbledore studied Harry, able—as usual—to sense something deeper had changed. He told one of the portraits to fetch Snape, then returned to his desk.

"I know the location of all of the Horcruxes."

Dumbledore blinked. "Are you sure? How is that possible?"

"The locket is in Grimmauld Place, the cup is in Malfoy Manor, and the diadem is in the Room of Hidden Things. I'm guessing Nagini is with Voldemort."

The Headmaster tapped the table, the most perplexed Harry had ever seen him. "But how do you know?"

"It's a long story. But I think once I explain, we should plan to take out his Horcruxes—and him—within a day."

"One day? I can see the advantage in doing so, Harry, but being too hasty may jeopardize what you have discovered. There may be hidden factors we have not yet considered. . . It would be nearly impossible to implement."

"I know, but the locket and the diadem would be easy to destroy. We can send some members of the D.A. to take care of them. And at the same time, we rally the Order, send some people to Malfoy Manor for the cup and Voldemort will probably follow, along with his snake."

There was a knock on the door, and Snape entered the room. "You sent for me, Albus?" He looked at Harry. "Potter. Has something happened?"

Dumbledore turned to Harry and motioned for him to sit.

Harry did so, and took a breath. "All right. I'll start from the beginning." He limited his explanation to his hunt for the Horcruxes and his efforts to figure out how to restore time, avoided mentioning Severus' memories, and ended with the revelation about Dumbledore's impending death.

"Do you have a theory about why you triggered the time loop?"

"No, sir, only what you told me: that Snape had tried it before."

Harry felt Snape's eyes bore into his head, so he put walls up in his mind. The only way it would be worth telling them was if he explained Draco's involvement, otherwise there could be no useful advice.

"There is no need for Legilimency, Severus. If Harry conceals information, we should trust that he has weighed the consequences of doing so. He knows more than we do about his situation, after all." He stood up and paced. "I think properly timing the destruction of Horcruxes will be critical; I understand you have galleons that you can use to communicate with members of the D.A. We must get to the cup before anyone destroys a Horcrux, and Voldemort cannot die before every Horcrux is destroyed."

They discussed various modes of action, deciding to inform McGonagall as soon as the time loop ended. She would coordinate the Order's movements, Harry would coordinate the D.A.'s. Together, they would stagger informing people based on their individual risk (Mundungus and anyone working in the Ministry would be informed last) and commence the plan first thing the following morning.

In the event that the time loop continued, Harry would report to Snape and Dumbledore every day going forward. With a plan in place, Harry returned to Gryffindor Tower to tell Ron and Hermione about the time loop. That conversation went as it usually did: apologies for not believing Draco had a nefarious plan, shock in response to the time loop, encouragement with the hope that this must be the last day.

"Do you feel any different?" asked Hermione, peering closely at him.

At his core, no, but when he blinked, an image of an unrecognizable expression on Draco's face burned into his vision. And when he tried to fall asleep, his heart would not slow along with his breathing.

The next morning, Harry woke up and took his glasses from the side of the nightstand. There was a sluggish moment as he processed the series of motions: the peripheral glance at the blurred frames, the small metal sound against the wood of the table's surface as he picked them up, the clarity of the book on the opposite end.

Time had not reset.

"Ron," he croaked, glee swelling in his chest.

"What? What is it?" said Ron over the groan of protest from Dean's bed.

"The loop's broken. Bloody hell, it's broken."

"You're serious?" Ron's bed creaked as he leapt up and rushed to Harry. "Well, I remember, don't I? So what's it mean?"

"It's not over yet. I'll explain everything after breakfast."

Hermione ran to hug him as soon as he came into view. "Harry! Thank Merlin! Are you sure there won't be another one?"

"Ah, I hadn't thought about that, thanks."

Hermione released him, smiling weakly. "It seems unlikely. Given the amount of magic required to create the time loop, it wouldn't stop unless you broke it. What did you do differently?" Over the course of the morning, he caught them up on what he had discussed with Dumbledore and Snape. They agreed with everything that had been planned, and Hermione suggested bringing Felix Felicis with them to help. At lunch, Harry stared at the Slytherin table until Draco finally met his eyes. He looked even worse than the day before, a blaze of anger the only emotion lighting his exhausted features.

Harry gestured to the left with his head and raised his eyebrows, repeating this a few times until Draco rolled his eyes, muttered something to Crabbe and Goyle, and got up.

"I'm going to talk to talk to the Headmaster again," Harry lied easily to Ron and Hermione. "I'll meet you after in the common room."

"If you want us to come with you, mate, we can," offered Ron, accompanied by a nod from Hermione.

"Maybe later." He was too worried things would go wrong, and Draco already presented too much of a risk. With the time loop over, anything that happened would be permanent.

When he left through the main doors of the Great Hall, he caught a glimpse of Malfoy walking briskly down the corridor and set off to follow him. Finally, once they were far enough away, Harry said, "Are you going to let me—"

Draco glanced around, then grabbed Harry by the front of his shirt and pulled him out of sight, around the corner. "You have to tell me how you know what you know." He was breathing hard, clearly panicked.

"You've studied Legilimency, haven't you?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Use it, now."

After a moment's confusion, Draco stitched his brows together and stared, much as Harry had seen Snape do for years.

The memories of Draco feeding Harry information floated to the surface. Dozens of snippets of their conversations, of parallel moments, of Harry finding the Horcruxes. He couldn't control the bits of his plans with Snape and Dumbledore that mixed in, nor could he control his most intimate moments with Draco, which looked as though Harry had not been the one to initiate them . . .

As though an electric shock passed through him, Draco let go of Harry. "How did you do that, Potter?"

"Do what?"

Draco swore and pulled at his hair. "None of that happened. I don't remember—did you erase my memories? Use the Imperius Curse? You—you have no idea what you've done . . ." Overwrought with emotion, Draco could only search Harry desperately for an explanation.

"I do know. I was trapped in the same day for a year, I found the Horcruxes—er, the objects Voldemort's created to keep himself alive—and you helped me. We're going to kill Voldemort very soon, and he won't see it coming. If you think of telling him, or anyone, the plan will fail, and you could endanger your family . . ."

"Why would I have possibly helped you?"

"I, er, forced you to help, at times. And I figured things out indirectly. But that's what you've really wanted, deep down, isn't it? For Voldemort to be dead, so things can return to normal, and you'd be free."

Draco's face contorted with rage. "And my father will rot in prison, and when you fail, I'll be killed." He grabbed Harry's arms and pushed him against the wall, pinning him. "You cannot kill the Dark Lord. He is too powerful, he's using some kind of magic to make himself impossible to kill."

"But I'm the Chosen One. If I could nearly kill him as a baby, why shouldn't I be able to do it now?" As Harry smirked, he became self-conscious at his own false bravado, a similar confidence to what Draco had plastered over his doubts about killing Dumbledore.

Draco drew his wand and pointed it at Harry's throat. "Even if you succeed, the Dark Lord's death will not get my father out of Azkaban. You had no right to involve me in this."

"You're the one who chose to be a Death Eater. Or were forced to become a Death Eater. Regardless, this is your way out. Even if you don't remember, you already did nearly everything you have to do. There's just one thing left."

"And what's that?" Stubbornly, Draco kept his wand raised.

"On the day we carry out the plan to kill Voldemort, you can choose to fight with us, or against us. If you fight against us and your side falls, your family could end up in prison. If you fight with us, you'll be on the winning side."

"And if I fight against you and you lose?"

"We won't."

"If I fight with you and I die?" The watchfulness in Draco's eyes seemed to indicate a test, perhaps an unconscious one; how much did Harry really care about him?

"You won't be fighting on your own. Snape vowed to protect you, and I'll do my best to do the same."

"I'm not weak, Potter."

"I never said you were. Why can't you just do the right thing for once in your life?"

Draco finally lowered his wand. "You talk as though there's no risk."

"My whole life has been a series of risks, and I've made it this far, haven't I?"

"Like you said, you're 'The Chosen One.' You won't die until the Dark Lord . . ." Catching himself, Draco looked away, briefly.

Harry laughed, catching them both by surprise. "This is unbelievably messed up." Even so, Draco's anger had faded into irritation, and the almost intentional weakening of his counterargument gave Harry hope. "You've kissed me, you know. In your memories. More than once, actually."

"That's impossible." Draco looked as though he'd be sick.

"You saw it yourself."

Alarm widened Draco's eyes. "You could have tampered with them, altered them . . . and if that's the case, I fail to understand why you would invent such perverse memories, except to mock me."

"And I fail to understand why you thought kissing me was the best way to prove I wasn't attracted to you."

"Don't—"

"Lie to you? I've heard that before."

Draco's face went a mottled red color. "Well, what do you expect me to say, Potter? You are clearly trying to manipulate me into keeping what you know a secret as you sabotage me." Thinking he had encountered the truth, Draco continued, "That is why you have invented this story, to save your own neck, you know the Dark Lord is invincible—"

"Stop, that makes no sense. If I thought it would take something so unlikely to keep you quiet, why would I have bothered telling you in the first place?"

"It would not be the maddest thing you've done, Potter."

Harry crossed his arms. "No madder than what you've been planning."

Draco closed his eyes, wavering on the spot, so that Harry was tempted to grab his arm to steady him. "You must understand how much you're asking me to sacrifice."

"I do. I get—for you—it's quite sudden, but think—Dumbledore says it'll work, and he's the one person Voldemort fears, right?"

Rubbing his face with his hands, Draco exhaled. "Does anyone else know?"

"Snape knows the majority of the plan, yes. He's helped, too; none of this would be possible without him. We should talk to him together, if you don't believe me."

Paling, Draco hissed, "You idiot, he works for the Dark Lord. He has promised to—anyhow, he can't be trusted."

"I'm certain he's a double agent for Dumbledore, not Voldemort. I had a year to make sure. You needn't worry about him."

"If what you say is true, he will die. He made an Unbreakable Vow, if he doesn't—"

". . . kill Dumbledore, or the Vow will kill him. I know. He knows, too."

"And he's okay with dying?"

"I don't know, actually. Best if you talk to him about it."

"Care to mention anyone else who has to die for your plan to work?"

"Of course there's a chance, but no one should have to die. We have that in common: not wanting anyone to get hurt, wanting ourselves and the people we love to survive." He hadn't intended this last bit, "the people we love" to include Draco, but the longer the silence after this stretched, the more the words wrapped around both of them. The clarity sharpening Draco's eyes whittled Harry down, so that his voice was quiet when he asked, "Do you hate me?"

Scoffing, Draco shook his head. "What in Merlin's name happened to you, Potter?"

"More than I can explain." He stepped forward, back from the wall, and Malfoy jumped back, making both of them realize how close they'd been. "We should talk to Snape."

It wasn't until they had knocked on the door to Snape's office that, with a sickly unpleasant feeling, Harry realized he forgot to tell Draco not to mention their . . . past encounters. He had grown so accustomed to time restarting that he needed to remind himself that his words and actions, or lack thereof, had consequences. Hopefully Draco had enough sense to keep quiet.

"Potter told me what you are planning to do, ambushing the Dark Lord. He says he's doing it for me, but—"

Harry cleared his throat, feeling the heat rise to his face. "What he means is, he doesn't believe that it's in his best interest."

"Why would you reveal what you're planning?"

"To make sure you don't get in the way, or do the wrong thing once we show up at the manor! I had to tell him, sir, if you wouldn't." He addressed Draco now. "If you turned against us in the battle and we won, you'd be in Azkaban for life. Or at least your parents would be."

"Is that a threat, Potter?"

"No, of course I don't want you to go to Azkaban, I just—"

Snape held up his hand, glaring at Harry. "Enough. The last thing we need is any unnecessary variable in the plan, and informing Draco puts us all in danger."

"What I don't understand," interrupted Draco, having turned red with the desire to speak, "is why you made that vow if you knew you wouldn't kill Dumbledore."

"That is none of your concern."

"So then, do you hate your life enough that you're willing to throw it away? Or are you hiding something?"

"You will follow this plan," said Snape sharply. "The time for coddling you has passed. Your mother asked me to protect you, so that is what I am doing." He glanced at Harry. "Wait outside, Potter."

Harry was relieved to do so. If anyone could talk sense into Draco, it was Snape. Ten minutes later, Draco came out of the office and shut the door behind him. Barely glancing at Harry, he said, "Fine. I'll go along with this."

"That's great—"

"But I have trouble believing what you have claimed to feel, and I suspect you are deluded by whatever magic allowed you to repeat time."

"That's fine, I know it's a lot—"

"So you have to wait."

"Right. I'm used to waiting."

"Well. Good luck," said Draco, extending a hand.

"Yeah. You'll be alright," said Harry, and they quickly shook hands, the touch already seeming too formal.

After talking to Draco, Harry used the Marauder's Map to find Luna, Ginny, Cho, Dean, Seamus, and Neville and gathered them in the Room of Requirement, along with Hermione and Ron. He didn't want to implicate all of the D.A. members, but he could at least gather those whom he could count on the most. He grouped Luna, Seamus, and Dean together to retrieve the Diadem; Ginny, Cho, and Neville to retrieve the locket; and Hermione and Ron to go to the Ministry to inform a list of trustworthy people what was happening. He explained where everything was, how to destroy the objects, and where he would be as all of this happened.

"What if you need help at the manor?"

"I don't want more people getting involved than necessary. There's no reason to put yourselves at risk."

Cho crossed her arms. "Harry, if there's more people on our side, we'll be able to defend ourselves."

"We don't know how many Death Eaters will be there. Besides, the Order should be sufficient." "We can't stand by and do nothing while others are risking their lives," said Seamus.

If time were repeating, he could test different arguments, even prevent their getting involved in the first place. Now, the best he could do was manage the fallout of a possible mistake. "If you join, you have to swear to me you will not bring any other members of the D.A. with you."

They all nodded.

"We'll meet in the Hog's Head at eight tomorrow morning. If anyone asks where you're going, say you're going on a walk, or want to get some last-minute assignment done, something that will be inconspicuous. It'll be easy enough for the five of us," he looked at Ron, Neville, Dean, and Seamus, "so we can count on that." After answering their remaining questions, the group began to head off to their respective dorms.

"Ah, Ginny, I wanted to talk to you before you go."

Ginny glanced at Hermione, but hung back.

"I just want to tell you that I was stuck in time. I lived out the same day over and over again for a year."

Once shock had run its course and he'd explained the situation while reassuring her that he was alright, she said, "Whenever you want to talk about it, I'm here."

What he hadn't told her was that they'd gotten together in the time loop. "Once this is over, I'll explain everything properly, but that's how I knew about these objects. A lot has changed." He searched for a hint of recognition in her.

Her eyes narrowed slightly, though only for a moment. "I can only imagine."

That evening, Harry went with Ron and Hermione to retrieve Basilisk fangs—two for each of the Horcruxes. When he and Ron returned to the fifth year boys' dorm, the other three were still awake.

"Not to put a damper on your plans, Harry," said Seamus, "but it would've been better to find out tomorrow. I'm not going to sleep a wink."

"Sorry, I assumed you'd prefer to know sooner than later."

"S'fine," said Dean, meeting Seamus' eye.

How odd it felt to live with every small decision. The time for do-overs had passed.