September 1, 1991

Iris slid open the train compartment door and was greeted with the sight of two boys covered in a mountain of wrappers and flashy cardboard boxes.

One wore an awfully large pair of round glasses and she enjoyed the way his hair stuck up at all angles. The other had a frog-shaped chocolate in one hand and an overweight rat in the other, a cheeky twinkle ever present in his sky-blue eyes.

The bench opposite the two boys was decidedly empty but Iris still asked, "Can I sit here with you two? Everywh-"

"Everywhere else is full?" The boys cheered.

Their cheeky grins chipped away at her anxiety.

She smiled weakly at their synchronicity. "You called it."

The boy wearing the glasses motioned towards the empty bench, "It's all yours."

"Thanks, I was beginning to think I'd have to sit up front with the conductor."

She slid the compartment door shut behind her and threw her luggage next to the others up on the shelf. She sat close to the window and met the startling green irises of the boy with the glasses.

"Harry Potter." He extended his hand.

Iris wondered if he was always this friendly.

His warmth made her feel welcome.

She enveloped his hand with hers. "Iris Sinclair."

As Iris released Harry's hand, the boy with the rat mumbled, "Ron Weasley," through a mouthful of jellybeans. He gulped down the candy and held up the rat in his hand, "This is Scabbers. He's ancient, and a bit ugly, but my brother Percy took care of him before me so he's basically a family heirloom."

After being introduced, Scabbers leapt from Ron's hand and stuck half his body into a red-striped angular box.

"Would you like some jellybeans? It's all up for grabs." Harry waved his hand over their varied collection of candies and chocolate. "Ron said some of the jellybeans taste like soap and earwax so I would be careful if you choose those."

"That sounds horrible." Iris cringed at the thought of eating something earwax flavored. "I'm not sure how I feel about magical candy just yet. I'd be just fine with a Mars Bar."

"I love Mars Bars!" Harry exclaimed. "Whenever my aunt and uncle got me one, which was rare, I had to eat the whole bar in one go or my cousin Dudley would snatch it out of my hands."

Iris' eyes lit up as he shared their common interest.

"I have no idea what you two are on about. And Dudley is a horrible name." Ron interjected as he popped an orange jellybean into his mouth. His face screwed up in disgust as he bit into it, "Vomit flavored."

Iris glanced at Ron sympathetically and then shifted her gaze back to Harry. "Are you Muggle-Born as well?"

She was desperate to find students that had grown up similarly to her. She wasn't sure how many Muggle-Born students studied at Hogwarts in comparison to those from magical families, but she was sure she was part of the minority.

Her parents, Martha and Peter Sinclair, had only just learned of the existence of the Wizarding World a few months prior. A professor from Hogwarts, a witch named Minerva McGonagall, had shown up on their doorstep to inform Iris of her acceptance into the school and had spent hours explaining how her magical ability had come to be to her parents.

"Not exactly, apparently my mum was, but I didn't know about any of this until about a month ago. I guess I didn't really know who I was until a month ago." Harry fiddled with his glasses nervously. "It's a long story."

"Since you're Muggle-Born, that means you probably don't know about Harry!" Ron shouted.

"What do you mean?"

"Another long story." Harry groaned as he parted his hair to reveal a lightning bolt scar on his forehead.

Her eyes went wide but she feigned composure.

"We've got the time for a few stories, yeah?" She smiled at Harry and then her eyes were drawn towards Scabbers laying belly up on the floor of the compartment. "Ron, I think your rat ate too many jellybeans."

Ron's face twisted with confusion and Iris pointed at Scabbers.

"Bloody hell." Ron grumbled as he laid eyes on the rat.

Scabbers had rested one pink paw on his bloated stomach in an amusing humanlike manner.

The three First Years descended into a fit of laughter at the sight.

September 4, 2000

As Draco shut the door to Harry's office, Harry quickly cast "Muffliato" around the room.

"I'm going to have to reschedule my meeting." Hermione mumbled with disbelief.

"This has got to be a fucking joke." Ron's eyes burned holes into Draco as he addressed Harry, his cheeks red with rage. "I mean, you're taking the piss, right? You have to be or else I'd consider admitting you at St. Mungo's."

"Harry, have you requested a transfer?" Hermione asked, eyeing Draco carefully as if he was a rabid animal primed for attack. "If not, I can go with you to see Kingsley right now and we can figure this out."

Harry, expecting this reaction, looked over to Iris for help but her eyes glued to Draco.

Draco leaned against the closed office door with his arms folded across his chest. His lips were curled with delight as he observed the scene unfolding in front of him, enjoying every second of the turmoil his presence was causing.

"No, it's not a joke and I'm not requesting a transfer." Harry slid from the arm of the sofa to a cushion and Hermione left Iris' side to sit beside him. "Malfoy, this would be an opportunity to speak for yourself?" He motioned to Draco.

"I don't feel the need to defend myself." He drawled.

Iris rolled her eyes at Draco's response before shifting her gaze to the spilled tea on the carpet. She retrieved her wand from her trousers and cast a silent "Scourgify" to clean the floor, herself, and the splatters that had landed on the cuffs of Hermione's pants.

Afterwards, she drifted around to the back of Harry's desk as the others continued their flurry of words.

"No need to defend yourself? Are you mad? You're a fucking Death Eater." Ron spat.

"Ron." Hermione warned.

"Former Death Eater." Draco held up a finger.

"Once a Death Eater, always a sick fucking Death Eater." Ron growled. "You taunted the four of us relentlessly at school and when that wasn't enough your family tried to murder us and the people we love." He pointed at Hermione. "Do you remember what your dear aunt did to her? You must since you just stood there and stared as she begged for her life."

"Ronald!" Iris hissed.

"What?" Ron raged as his eyes darted to hers.

His chest heaved up and down ferociously and she was surprised there wasn't smoke coming out of his nose and ears.

A brief period of tension ensued where Iris silently dared the redhead to direct more of his venom towards her. A few more seconds passed before Ron resigned his anger, his expression transforming to regret as he noticed Hermione shifting her body uncomfortably on the couch.

"I'm sorry, 'Mione." Ron sighed as he met Hermione's eyes. "I shouldn't have—"

"No harm done." Hermione interrupted.

Ron spun around, turning his back on everyone but Iris. He placed his hands on his head and closed his eyes before beginning his usual breathing exercise to calm himself down.

Iris' heart felt ten times heavier at the sight.

"Granger." Draco spoke up, previously rendered speechless by Ron's outburst. "It pains me to admit it but Weasley is right. I should've done something to stop her that night. I was a coward and if I could change the past, I would. For what it's worth, I am truly sorry."

Iris curled her fingers into the wood of Harry's desk, her nails leaving a mark on the finish.

Ron opened his eyes once his surname left Draco's lips, but he'd kept his eyes trained on the ceiling.

Hermione scrutinized Draco suspiciously, seeking any hint of disingenuity.

When she seemed satisfied with her investigation, she accepted his apology with a defiant "Thank you," and then sipped on her coffee.

Iris smirked at the attitude threaded within her best friend's tone as she reached into one of Harry's desk drawers. She snatched the Muggle scotch and glass hidden inside and everyone's eyes snapped towards her as she shut the drawer with a bang.

"Iris, I assumed you would've had much more to say?" Harry questioned, singling her out.

"Oh, trust me, I do." She replied haughtily as she placed the glass on the desk and popped open the bottle. "But I need a pick me up first."

"Isn't it a little early to be drin—" Harry began but Iris fixed with him a cold stare, putting a halt to his concern as she poured the scotch into the glass.

She lifted the glass to her lips and cheered Harry before taking her first sip.

As the scotch burned its way down her throat, she met Draco's eyes and her heart twisted painfully.

"Potter, it seems my entrance has had its expected effect and I see no reason to stick around. I'll wait outside until you're ready." Draco announced, slowly tearing his gaze from Iris. "Granger. Weasel. As always, it was a pleasure." He bowed mockingly.

Before exiting, Draco took a few steps forward and seized the remaining tea off the coffee table, the other tea Iris assumed Harry had brought for her.

She ground her teeth at the that memory resurfaced as he took his first sip, a memory of an accidental trip to the Hogwarts kitchens that had resulted in her being introduced to the superiority of honey as tea sweetener.

Iris downed the rest of the scotch in her glass and the action prompted Draco to address her for only the second time since he'd waltzed into the room.

"Watch the booze Sinclair." He sneered over his shoulder. "You don't want a repeat of the Fifth Year Halloween Ball, do you?"

Iris' jaw went slack, her blood boiling with fury.

The office door had only just closed behind Draco when Iris sent the glass flying.

It shattered against the wooden surface, a sense of satisfaction fulfilling her as as the shards rained onto carpet.

"Iris!" Hermione, Ron, and Harry shouted aghast.

She shrugged her shoulders.

"It slipped?"

The tension eased significantly once the weight of Draco's presence disappeared.

Iris cast Reparo on the glass shards and returned it back to its place in Harry's desk drawer while Ron and Hermione sent Patronuses to various locations to excuse their late appearances.

She then grabbed the bottle of scotch by the stem and sat on the sofa opposite Harry. Ron joined her when he was finished, Hermione joined Harry, and then, without pause, The Boy Who Lived let loose his explanation for bringing Draco Malfoy back into their lives.

He explained that when Kingsley and Gawain Robards, the Head of the Auror Office, mentioned who they had in mind for his first trainee, he hadn't been surprised and he'd been more than willing to give it a try.

Two years ago, when Narcissa Malfoy lied to Voldemort and saved Harry from a third and final round of the Killing Curse, Harry had convinced himself that he owed her, and by extension Draco, a life debt.

Not only did he testify at her Wizengamot trial but he testified at Draco's as well.

If not for Harry, Narcissa could've faced time in Azkaban instead of the measly six-month sentence of house arrest she was awarded. If not for Harry, Draco's six-month stint in Azkaban, and his year and a half of house arrest, could've easily turned into a life sentence within the prison.

Iris took a large swig from the bottle of scotch as Harry continued.

He recounted that he'd requested a meeting with Draco before his position as his mentor was finalized. Life debt aside, he knew that taking Draco on as his trainee was going to be challenging and would disrupt his life as well the lives of those closest to him.

He wanted to be sure that Draco was going to be worth the upheaval.

Harry detailed the way Draco swaggered into the meeting and how, at the sight of his innate Slytherin arrogance, he'd been skeptical of his initial willingness to accept the arrangement. That was until Draco offered his sincere gratitude to Harry for saving him in the Room of Requirement and for saving his mother from the isolation of Azkaban.

At the mention of yet another instance of Draco displaying a sliver of humanity, Iris took another sip of scotch.

Kingsley, Robards, and the rest of the Senior Aurors sat in on the meeting and, after an in-depth discussion over how the mentor/trainee program worked, Harry and Draco mutually agreed to the arrangement.

"I know you guys aren't happy about the situation but it's my decision and I ask that you respect it. Unity is needed now more than ever and I'm willing to give anyone a chance that has a desire to change." Harry's eyes flitted between his friends and found their resting place on Iris.

"I'm sorry I didn't come to you first." Harry said to Iris. "But I think this could be good for you too."

"I doubt that." She scoffed but the concern within his eyes softened her tone. "It's alright, Harry. I can deal with it."

"I support you, Harry." Hermione laid a hand on his shoulder. "But don't bring him to Friday night at the Three Broomsticks? That's sacred ground." She arched an eyebrow daring him to contest her.

"I would never." Harry laughed.

"I respect your decision mate, but I still would kill to watch him crash and burn." Ron snorted. "Not just from my own issues with the bastard but for everyone else he's hurt." He met Iris' eyes and she squeezed his hand.

From her peripheral, Iris noticed Harry fidgeting with his glasses and dread washed over her as she realized that the reveal wasn't yet over.

"Spit it out." She looked at him pointedly.

Harry smiled sheepishly. "There is one last thing."

"Bloody hell." Ron covered his face with his hands.

Harry's gaze swung towards Iris again.

"He'll be living with Iris and I until he's finished his training."