I figure I better put in the disclaimer because I haven't done it in like fifteen chapters. I don't own Harry Potter. I own nothing about Harry Potter except for the books and one action figure (don't make fun of me).


Harry stared at Malfoy for a few moments before the other boy spoke.

"Hello, Potter." Malfoy said with his usual sneer, but it was ruined when he winced at having to move his face that much.

"Malfoy. Can't say it's good to see you."

Malfoy nodded solemnly. "Agreed. You're the last person I wanted to see me like this."

Even seeing Malfoy in horrible shape like this couldn't completely erase the hatred Harry had felt for him for six years. "So, you finally decided to see the light, huh?"

"Screw you, Potter."

"Why you decide to join our side after all these years."

"I'm just looking out for myself, all right?"

Harry snorted. "Bullshit. If you were looking out for yourself, you would have stayed with the Death Eaters. They're winning the war."

Malfoy turned to Harry with a smirk on his face. "Look, I don't need to explain myself to you or to anyone."

Harry nodded and leaned on the balcony railing, looking out into the courtyard. "I'm sorry. I know what you did was hard."

Malfoy sneered. "I don't need you damn pity."

"Well, you have it, so get used to it."

Malfoy sighed and leaned on the balcony, next to Harry. He had to readjust his injured arm to be comfortable.

"Your dad did that to you?" Harry asked, trying to keep the pity out of his voice. Malfoy wouldn't appreciate it.

"Yep." Malfoy said matter-of-factly.

"Why?"

Malfoy laugh was devoid of all emotion. "I guess I wasn't the son he hoped I was."
Harry didn't know what to say, so he stayed silent. If Malfoy wanted to talk, he would do whether Harry helped or not.

Almost a minute past before Malfoy said, "It was horrible. Diagon Alley, I mean. My father decided it was time for me to get my Dark Mark. About twenty of us went, all young and wanting to do some damage. I wanted to impress my father so much."

Harry wanted to comfort Malfoy in some way, but he knew Malfoy wouldn't let him.
"But when it actually started, I froze. I saw death all around me... bodies everywhere...the Leaky Cauldron collapsed...I saw all those people get trapped inside...I wasnted to run, but I knew if I did that, they would kill me too...I watched...I never even raised my wand.

"When my father heard that I hadn't cast a single spell, he got angry. He smacked me around a little, nothing big. I went to my room and stared at my reflection. I looked at my hair. I had always wanted to grow it long, like my father's. But looking at it then only made me sick. I took a knife I had gotten as a birthday present a couple years before, and I cut it all off."

"My father saw it and asked why I had done it. I told him what I thought about his fucking cause. I told my father that I hated Voldemort almost as much as I hated him."

"He snapped. He came at me with his cane. My father's been beating me all my life, but I knew he was serious this time. He would've killed me. My mother watched, knowing that if she said anything, my father would beat her, too."

"I tried to cast a spell on him, but he hit my arm with his cane. I think it's fractured. Anyway, I knew that if I didn't do something, I was going to die. I limped over to the window, where my broom was lying. I grabbed it and threw myself out of the window." Malfoy laughed. "I bet he regrets the day he bought me that Firebolt. I heard him cursing as I flew away."

"I went to the first person I could think of. Dumbledore had always treated me nicely, no matter how horrible I was. It's almost like he's always known what I really felt about my father and Voldemort."

"Dumbledore took me in. He said that the Death Eaters would probably look for me at Hogwarts, so he called up your godfather. Sirius Black, I couldn't believe it. Anyway, he brought me here this morning."

Harry was sure that this was the most he had ever heard Malfoy say at one time. He didn't know what to say or do. "You should probably let Neville take a look at you. He could fix your arm in minutes."

Malfoy looked at Harry as if he were an idiot. "I'm not even gonna let that putz touch me, let alone use magic on me."

Harry smiled. "You've never seen him in Herbology. He gives Hermione a run for her money."

Malfoy suddenly paled drastically. "Granger. Is she here?"

"Yeah. She's in my room."

Malfoy brought his good hand up to his forehead. "I don't want to face her."

"Why do you care? You hate her." Harry's voice became hard and unforgiving. "She's a Mudblood, remember."

Malfoy whipped around to face Harry, his face contorted in anger. "Don't you get it? My father has connections at Hogwarts. He hears everything that happens there. I had to treat her like that! If I didn't, my father would have been disappointed. And you don't want to see my father disappointed!"

Harry was shocked. "What about the way you've always treated Ron? He's a pure-blood wizard."

"Think, Potter! My father hates Arthur Weasley and his whole family. I had to treat Weasley like shit!"

"I suppose you always treated me badly because of who I am. Voldemort's arch-enemy and all that."

Malfoy sneered. "That's how it started, Potter. But, over the years, I have come to genuinely hate you."

"Well that's good." Harry said sarcastically. "At least it wasn't all an act."

Malfoy nodded seriously. "There's just something about you that gets on my nerves."

Harry stretched luxuriously. "Must be my superior Qudditch skills."

Malfoy glared for a moment, but then he smiled slightly. The change was amazing. Malfoy's usually hard, unemotional face became open and compromising.

Harry gestured back to the room. "Let's see Neville about your face. Maybe he can restore you to your normal, ugly mug."

Malfoy nodded.

Together, they walked back into McGonagall's room. McGonagall looked shocked that they hadn't tried to kill each other.

Harry walked up to her. "Go into the other room and get Neville. Tell him to bring his medicine bag. Don't tell him anything about Draco in front of the others."

McGonagall nodded and left the room.

Sirius, who was sitting on the bed, laughed openly.

"What's so funny?" Harry asked.

Sirius got control of his mirth and said, "I've just never seen a student tell Minvera what to do before. It's kind of refreshing."

Harry shrugged. "Whatever."

Sirius stood up and said, "I better get out of here. The Longbottom boy would get a shock from seeing me."

Malfoy laughed. "He would probably faint."

Sirius turned to Draco. "Are you going to be OK, here, boy?"

Draco nodded.

"All right, I should be getting back to England." he turned back to Harry. "I'll see you soon, Harry. And don't do anything stupid. I think you know what I'm talking about."

Harry did know what Sirius was talking about. Sirius didn't want Harry to try and rescue Ron. He thought it was too dangerous. "I can't make any promises, Sirius."

Sirius stared at Harry for a moment and then smiled. "Just like your father. No one could tell him what to do either."

With that, Sirius grabbed a broom that had been lying on the bed and jumped out over the balcony. Harry watched him until he disappeared behind some buildings.

Harry heard the door open and he saw Mcgonagall and Neville walk in. At seeing Draco, Neville dropped his bag and seemed about ready to bolt.

"Relax, Neville." Harry said, trying to calm the pudgy boy down.

"What's going on here?" Neville asked.

"It's OK. We need you do some healing." Harry said gesturing to Draco.

Neville's eyes steeled over. He smiled slightly as he said. "Good."

Neville walked over to Draco and grabbed a hold of his shirt. Neville forced Draco to sit on the bed. Not to gently, Neville examined all of Draco's cuts. Harry smile as he watched. It was Neville's way of getting back at Draco for all the years of taunting and torment.

Draco got angry as Neville roughly cleaned a cut on his cheek. He grabbed hold of Neville's hand and glared into his eyes. "If you mess this up, I'll mess up YOUR face."

Neville wrenched his hand from Draco's grip. "If you don't stay still, the magic might not work correctly. You wouldn't want to walk around with your face like this, so I suggest you shut up."

Harry laughed openly at this. Draco glared in his direction, but he didn't move or speak.

Mixing balms and ointments with spells, Neville was able to heal all the cuts on Draco's face without much difficulty. It was the fracture that demanded extra attention. After looking over the arm for a few minutes, Neville reached into his bag and brought out a red flask. "Drink this." he said, shoving the flask into Draco's hand.

Draco looked at it suspiciously. "What is it?"

"It's for the pain. We're going to have to reset your, Malfoy. It will hurt immensely unless you drink that."

Draco sipped on the liquid and his face constricted in disgust. "This is horrible!"

"I know. I made it myself. It might taste bad, but in a minute I could punch you in the face and you wouldn't feel it."

Draco drank a few more sip of the liquid. After a minute or two past, he started swayin back and forth and playing with his tongue. "I can't feel my tongue. Is it still there?"

Neville rolled his eyes and looked at Harry. "I'll need your help."

"Sure." Harry said.

"Just hold him down while I reset the arm."

Harry nodded and pushed Draco down onto the bed. Draco was still mumbling. "It's not there. My tongue's gone."

Harry tried not to laugh at him. He pinned him to the bed until he heard Neville mutter, "Fractura Setre."

Harry felt a sharp jerk and knew that Draco's arm had been reset.

"OK, Harry you can let go, now." Neville said, examining the arm.

Harry climbed off the bed and looked back at Neville who was muttering more magic. "Ebrakium Emendia." he said. Draco fell back onto the bed and seemed to be sleeping.

He stood up finally and turned to Harry. "It's done. Everything should be in order."

"Thanks, Neville. I know how much you hate him."

Neville nodded. "What is he doing, here. Who roughed him up?"

"His father." Harry whispered. "He said some things his father didn't like."

Neville nodded. "Is that all you want me for? I don't really want to be here when he wakes up."

"How long will he be asleep?"

"About an hour. He didn't drink too much."

"Don't tell anyone about this. Ask Parvati if she'll come over here. Tell her to bring all her cosmetic stuff."

Neville nodded and left the room.

Harry turned to McGonagall who had been silent through the whole operation. "Bring over a chair and put it in front of the mirror in the bathroom."

McGonagall nodded and did as she was told.

Harry lifted Draco's sleeping body and carried him over to the bathroom. He put him into the chair and sat him up. Draco's head lolled to one side, but he didn't fall out of the chair.

Harry heard the hallway door open and McGonagall talking to Parvati. After a minute to two, Parvati came into the bathroom. She was carrying her cosmetics bag in one hand. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw Draco, but she didn't say anything. McGonagall had obviously explained the situation to her.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked.

"Fix his hair. I don't think he would want anyone to see him like this."

"Who cares, Harry? It's Malfoy."

"Just do it, Parvati." Harry said in an exhausted voice.

She nodded and put her bag on the sink. She opened it and pulled out a pair of scissors. She began cutting Draco's hair, making it even.

"Just come to my room when you're done or if he wakes up. Don't tell anyone else about this." Harry said and walked out of the bathroom.

Harry walked over to McGonagall who was staring out the balcony window. "I'm going back to my room. Come get me if there are any problems."

McGonagall nodded and Harry walked towards the door. He had almost reached it when McGonagall said, "Why are you doing this, Harry. Why are you taking care of him?"

"You asked me to."

"We asked you to watch over him. Why are you cleaning him up. I know you hate him."

Harry shrugged, suddenly uncomfortable. "I do hate him. But we need all the help we can get, right? Draco knows a lot about the inner workings of the Death Eaters."

McGonagall nodded and Harry opened the door.

"I know what you're planning, Harry. I know you're going to try and rescue Ronald."
"Don't try and stop us, Minerva. We've waited and they still haven't let him go. We need to try."

McGonagall sighed. "I know. I had hoped they would release him. They always do. They must have some special reason to keep him."

"They're holding him against his will." Harry said.

"I won't stop you."

Harry nodded and left the room. He walked down to his room and opened the door. Once inside, everyone looked up at him.

"That took a while." Fred said. "I hope she didn't yell too much."

Harry walked into the center of the room and said, "Sit down, everyone. Something's happened."

Harry explained to them what had happened to Draco. He explained what his father had done to him. He even explained why Draco had been acting the way he had for the last six years. They listened quietly until he was finished.

"I can't believe Malfoy gave up the life as a Death Eater." Fred said. "I was sure he was going to go all the way."

Susan and Quentin had no idea what they were talking about, but hey seemed to have picked up the gist of what they were talking about.

"If you're supposed to be keeping an eye on this Malfoy character," Quentin said, "how are we going to rescue Ron. From the way you're talking about him, he doesn't seem like someone we could trust."

"He's not coming." Harry stated definitely. "I don't think he would betray us. I just don't like him." he laughed suddenly. "Besides, I don't think Ron would want to owe Draco anything."

As time past, the teens broke up into smaller groups. Fred, George and Quentin worked on creating tools to be used for the mission. Hermione and Ginny looked on a map and tried to find Los Almitos, New Mexico. Susan, who had been acting strangely, stared out the window. Harry went to his trunk and got out his broom and Invisibility Cloak. He would need both of them.

About a half-hour later, there was an urgent tap on the door. Harry opened the door to find an excited Parvati.

"What is it, Parvati?" Harry asked.

"Oh, my God, Harry I was trimming his hair and then all of the sudden-" she broke off when she glanced inside the room. She gasped when she saw Ginny and the twins, who were waving at her. "What's going on? What are you all doing, here?"

Harry grabbed her shoulders and got her attention. "Parvati! What's the problem?"

Parvati seemed to gain her concentration and began chattering at a hundred miles an hour. "What? Oh! The problem, right. Well I was trimming Draco's hair and he started to come around. He's mumbling and thrashing and stuff. He knocked my blow-dryer off the counter! It broke! I was like 'Oh, my God. That blow-dryer was really expensive!', but he didn't say anything because he's like really out of it."

Parvati fell silent and Harry stared at her, thanking the powers that be that he had never fallen for Parvati. Life was complicated enough without a girl like that on his arm.

"OK, Parvati" Harry said slowly, enunciating ever syllable. "You can go back to your room, now. Don't tell anyone about what's happened."

"OK, Harry." she said and left.

Harry turned back to the the interior of the room. "I'm going to go check on Draco. Stay here and figure out the plan. I have to figure out how we're going to ditch Draco, for tonight."

Everyone nodded and Harry left.

Whe Harry got back to the bathroom, Draco was rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Harry had to admit that no matter how annoying Parvati was, she knew how to weild scissors. Draco's hair had been frayed and uneven when Harry left the bathroom, but now it was smooth. Parvati had even atken the time to style his hair. Draco's hair was gelled and his bangs were pushed up like some male model. Harry forced himself not to laugh when he said, "Beauty sleep does wonders, Malfoy."

Draco glanced at Harry and said, "What the hell am I doing in a bathroom."

"We had you fixed up. We figured as long you were unconscious, we might as well have some fun."

Draco looked in the mirror and gasped. He began rubbing the gel out of his hair and pushing it into a style that he preferred. "Who did this to me?"

"Parvati."

Draco froze. "Parvati Patil?"

"Yep."

"Why would she help me. I've done nothing but taunt that girl for years."

Harry smiled. "I guess that one of the benefits of being on our side. Forgiveness."

Draco stared at Harry for a moment. "Whatever."

"Nicely put."

Draco tried to push himself out of the chair, but he was still too weak.

"Now, listen, Malfoy. I know, I promised to look after you a while, but I have some pressing business elsewhere. I'm sure you can look after yourself for tonight. Have fun. Go out and get drunk. I really don't care."

Malfoy looked at Harry and smiled. "Are you planning on rescuing Weasley, tonight?"

Shocked, Harry asked, "How the hell do you know about that?"

Draco tried to push himself out of the chair, again, and succeeded. He stumbled out of the bathroom and over to the bed. "That's all McGonagall and Black were talking about before you showed up. They're really worried."

"Yeah, that's what we're planning. We're going tonight. You'll have to stay here."

Draco shook his head. "No, I'm coming with you."

Harry laughed. "Not a chance, Malfoy! Not in a million years."

Draco rubbed his temples. "I don't care what you say, Potter. I'm coming."

"Why would you even want to come?"

"From the sounds of it, it'll be pretty dangerous. I can't let you and Granger run off and get yourself killed. I left the Death Eaters. If we lose this war, my death will be worse than even yours. You have to be alive to fight Voldemort. If you don't- we lose and I die. My interest in this mission is purely selfish."

Harry stood is silence.

"Besides," Malfoy continued sarcastically. "I'm with the "good guys", now. I have to start doing noble deeds and shit like that, right? I might as well get started."

"There's a good chance we'll die, Malfoy. You know that, right?"

"Then I better come. Without someone with intelligence, you'll get yourself killed."

Harry thought about it. Draco sounded sincere. He covered it up with a lot of bravado and sarcasm, but maybe for the first time, he really cared. Harry couldn't deny him the chance to change. "I can't believe I'm agreeing to this.'

Draco smiled. "You're smart when you have to be, Potter."

Harry wondered how he was going to explain this to the others.



The mission will begin next chapter, I promise. It just seemed like a big deal for Draco to get cleaned up and see that people could forgive on this side of the fence.
I know I've gotten away from the cute, fuzzy relationship problems that Harry is haveing, but it seemed out of place in this chapter. I want a bijillion reviews! Now!