Draco looked at Harry, speechless. "But you're the Golden Boy! The epitome of the light side. How in hell are you a Slytherin? And why are you in Gryffindor?"

Harry had to laugh again. "Damn Draco, you're more amusing than anything I've seen this summer. In no way am I a Golden anything. And I should have been a Slytherin, but there are a few reasons I'm not.

"First, there's the fact that my first contacts with the wizarding world were Hagrid and Ron, who both made it abundantly clear that evil wizards came from Slytherin. Then I met you, and you were an irritating, arrogant little prat, so certainly I didn't want to be a Slytherin. So I made the hat put me anywhere but Slytherin."

Running his hand through his hair for what felt like the millionth time that day, Harry sighed. "Masks are things you should understand, Malfoy. I've worn more than my share, and I'm sure you have as well. Thing is, I had to make my choice at eleven, with a grand total of less than ten hours experience in the wizarding world. I needed to be accepted, and it was apparent to me that I couldn't be a Slytherin without a great deal of acrimony. So I made my decision, and for five years I thought it was the right one."

Harry shifted in his seat under Draco's piercing stare. "Yeah, well, I didn't have all of the facts then. In fact, I don't have them all now. But I know enough now to know that I should never have trusted that manipulative bastard of a headmaster."

"Why not?" Draco had an honestly inquisitive look on his face. "I figured he'd be okay with you gryffs."

A bitter laugh rolled through the room. "Oh that's rich. Gryffindors are his biggest pawns. They suffer through more of his manipulations than anyone, although the poor bastards generally don't know it. He runs their lives from the moment they enter the school, and keeps the reins even after they graduate. At least the Slytherins know what's coming. The Gryffindors are absolutely clueless."

"True. But I want details, Potter. What has he done to you?"

Trust a Slytherin to go for the jugular. "Who do you think left me with the Dursleys'? If he knew what went on in that house, then he is as guilty as they are, if not, then it was a failure of judgement and criminally negligent for him to leave a defenseless magical child with muggles who hate magic and never check on him."

Harry jumped to his feet, unable to talk about the headmaster while sitting calmly. "Who keeps hiring DADA professors who nearly kill me? Even Remus, much as I love him, was a distinct danger, especially since he had to rely on a man who hated him for his potion. And you seriously can't convince me that he doesn't know everything that happens in that castle. Between the wards and the portraits, he knows. Hell, even I get some information from the wards, so I know he gets more."

"You get information from the wards? What the hell?"

"Oh, Hogwarts likes me. She always has. But over the last year, I've started getting a bit more from her. Never mind, it's not really important, except that he should get all of the information, being headmaster. So why the hell was I fighting Voldemort, or a Basilisk? Why didn't he know that Pettigrew was in the school as a rat? Why didn't he save Moody, or keep me from being in the Tournament?"

Harry whirled around, fists clenched. "Because it was training. Training in how to be a hero. More proof that I needed to jump in and fix things. Everything that happened was planned to make me his warrior of light, his pawn to die on the battlefield, taking Voldemort with me. Then he could again bask in the gratitude of the Wizarding world, and get even more support since the martyred hero supported him."

"I think you're right about Dumbledore, Potter, but why the change now? Did you just wake up to the manipulations?" Draco asked.

"No, that wasn't it. Last year was the turning point. You see, I had accepted the manipulations, I was playing my role... but I found out that he was hiding some things from me that made my role different. I have a connection to Voldemort in my head, Draco, and if he had told me why I needed to keep Voldemort out of my head, maybe I could have put up with Snape and learned."

"You have the Dark Lord in your head? Is that what makes you have those fits?"

"Of course. Anyway, they tell me nothing, give me nothing to work with, and it got Sirius killed." Harry stopped for a moment, swallowing with difficulty. "Sirius was the first person I ever considered dropping the masks for. My decisions, made with inadequate information, killed him. I am through with losing what I care for because that fucking old man is grooming me to be the light's sacrificial savior."

"So what are you going to do now?"

"Simple. I am going to survive. That's what I do. Since I have to kill the dark git to live, I cannot allow any more manipulation. The old bastard has no idea who he's dealing with." Harry flung himself back into the chair he earlier vacated in favor of pacing.

Draco was silent for a few minutes as he assimilated the information Harry had given him. Thoughts whirled through his head as he tried to reconcile the Harry Potter in front of him to the boy he'd antagonized for five years. Though at first he couldn't make the connections, after some thought he realized that there had always been signs of this Harry.

The determination that Harry had always had was what Draco remembered first. He then turned his mind to the fact that Harry always survived, just like he said. Most adults couldn't cast a corporeal patronus, but Harry had learned at 13, because he needed to survive. A pattern presented itself to Draco. Harry never trusted anyone to defend him or keep him alive. He would accept aid in preparing to defend himself, but when push came to shove, Harry expected to be alone.


With a sigh, Draco realized that Harry's expectation was justified. From everything he'd heard about Harry's adventures, he always ended up alone. Whatever battle he faced for the year, the final stage of it was always met with no one but himself to rely upon. Yet Harry always survived. A somewhat strangled laugh burst from Draco's throat as he realized that Harry was entirely correct in his self-assessment; Harry Potter was a survivor.

"So what now Potter?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Now, we eat, then we sleep. We can figure out where we go from here tomorrow."


That's it for now. Sorry that took so long, but I hate writing such dialouge heavy chapters. It would have been so much easier if they hadn't needed to have this talk. Sadly, there will be a few more chapters like this before things heat up. Expect flashbacks over the next few chapters, sorta how the boys spent the first couple weeks of summer.

Review if you want... I love them.