A/N: Same warnings and notes as before.

Any comments would be gladly appreciated, as I have been working on this fic almost as long as Finding Harry, and had I not been publishing FH, it might have been done much sooner. If you would like to email me, my address is elfflame at hotmail dot com.

Thank you to so many people who helped me with this story. The first is Foodie, who read large chunks of this story for character purposes, and is always a doll when it comes to encouraging me to write. The second is to Dark Angel, who was particularly a major influence on the Lucius in this story. Without her, this Lucius would have been much wimpier. And the final thank you goes to my lovely Turtle Avenger, who tells me that she'd read the phone book if I wrote it. :D Love you, hon.

To my reviewers:

Pinksakuya: I'm glad you gave it a chance, and that you like it. I hope you like the ending.

Angel the Devil's Daughter: Thank you. Here's the ending.

Fifespice: Yes, he is. Hope you like the ending. :)

Grrrr: Thank you. I tried to think of the best memories to show, and tried to make them work well. The only one that didn't come out as well as I would have liked is the Marauders sorting scene, but there's a longer version at my lj if you're interested. The link to my lj is at my Bio page if you'd like to see it.

Angelkitty77: Yes. He did. Here's the last bit.

Darkagnelgep: Um, that's good, right? ;)

Meg Finn: Thank you very much. I hope you enjoy the ending.

And to everyone who read, thank you, and I hope you enjoyed the story.

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine. They belong to a lovely lady who seems to enjoy making us suffer. Hopefully the ending will turn out this nice… ;)

I hope you all enjoy.

What's Done Is Done

By Elf Flame

8 Mending

They crossed the hall in total silence. Draco wasn't sure he would be able to speak. At least Harry hadn't made a fuss. Draco looked around the room once they'd entered. He'd never spent much time here, usually talking to his father in his study when they needed to be alone. The room was wood-paneled, and filled with dark wood furniture upholstered in deep gold. It should have felt warm, but Draco couldn't help but shiver. He turned to his father, waiting for Lucius to speak.

Lucius looked at him for a long time, and for the first time, Draco could see the uncertainty on his face. Tears in the Pensieve, and now uncertainty. Who was this man? He certainly wasn't the man who'd raised him.

Finally, Lucius took a deep breath, and spoke quietly into the stillness of the room. "I realize that what I've done is unforgivable, Draco. I don't deserve understanding, but I want you to know—I had no choice. And beyond anything else, I do not regret your life."

"But when you killed him…"

"I didn't know. I am aware of how my belated understanding condemns me. But it doesn't change the fact that you would not be here now if I had. I would have been the next to die, regardless. Regulus…"

Draco looked at Lucius with new eyes. He recalled many times during his time at Hogwarts when he'd hated Harry as much as he'd wanted him. When, had Lucius asked, he would have helped capture him for the Dark Lord. Was he really so different from his father? "If you don't want forgiveness, or understanding, then what do you want, Lucius?"

Lucius looked away from him and crossed the room. "I want you to know that I have done everything since his death for you. To make sure you reached this point. To give you the chances he never had. To find some slight way to repay him for what he lost. For what I took." He turned and looked directly into Draco's disbelieving eyes. "I never understood that I loved him, Draco. I wasn't stupid enough to make that mistake twice. Or so I thought. You have been my only reason for existing for so long now…I had almost forgotten him."

Draco laughed sadly. "So, I should forgive you because I'm your son?"

"No." He turned to his sideboard, where a scroll lay. "I should have listened to you. Snape and Narcissa both said so. But I've been hiding from this for so long…" He picked it up, and brought it back to where Draco still stood just inside the door. "Read it," he said quietly as he handed it to him.

Draco unrolled it, recognizing it as the marriage contract once he had. "And why does this make anything different, Lucius? It hasn't been changed."

"I've asked Arland to come for a meeting tomorrow, Draco. I would like you to trust me. For once. I realize I have given you no reason to do so, but believe me, after he leaves tomorrow, you will understand. And no matter what, I promise that you will not have to marry his daughter. I can do that, at the very least."

"How? You said it yourself, the contract is unbreakable."

Lucius's mouth quirked into something not unlike a smile for a moment. "Arland is a clever man, Draco. But a Malfoy always has a way out."

Draco sneered down at the parchment. "I see none, father. You said yourself there was no way out."

"I was…less than pleased by your choice, at the time. I'd forgotten what it was like…" He swallowed. "Trust me. Tomorrow it will all be over. And if you find yourself unhappy with the outcome…"

"You'll marry the chit yourself?" Draco smirked.

Lucius smiled. "Better still, I'll buy the chit off. Go get some rest. And tell Mister Potter that I in no way harmed you. He was looking at me as though he would rend me limb from limb when we left."

The meeting the next day was awkward and overly formal. Draco and Harry sat close together while Arland and Pansy sat opposite them, glowering. Lucius did his best to offer pleasantries, but Arland seemed in no mood to be polite.

"Get on with it, Malfoy. What did you want?"

Lucius sipped his tea, then set it down, meeting the other man's eyes directly. "I simply wished to know if you still intended to push on the matter of this contract, Parkinson."

"Of course I do. I have every right. Either to expect your son to marry Pansy, and I assure you, Draco, you will not be allowed to have that…" he gestured at Harry, "in my daughter's house if you are married to her..." He turned back to Lucius. "Or, I expect you and your family to vacate the premises, as that would mean they now belonged to us," he smiled cruelly at Lucius.

Lucius sighed as though Arland had done no more than offer his regrets in the matter. "Ah, but you see, Parkinson, Draco's not interested in your daughter, and I find that this…avariciousness of yours has gotten old. I don't think we'll be having a marriage between our families. Not any time soon, at any rate."

Arland stood, and pulled Pansy to her feet. "Then we have no more to discuss, Malfoy. I assume you will be gone in a week?"

Lucius laughed. "Why would you assume that, Parkinson? I simply said we would not be having a marriage any time soon. I do think you'll find that I'm perfectly within my rights to do so."

"And," Arland said in a smug voice, "if you pull out of the contract, your Manor is mine, I believe."

"Oh, but I haven't withdrawn from the contract, Parkinson. In fact, I think you will find if you read it, that Draco no longer fulfills the terms of the contract, therefore, Pansy can't marry him."

Draco looked at his father, startled, but kept quiet. Whatever Lucius was up to, it was best to let him keep going.

Arland was scowling. "And what does that mean, Malfoy? It clearly states that Pansy here will marry the Malfoy heir when both have finished with their schooling at Hogwarts. Are you telling me the boy has yet to finish his schooling?"

Lucius grinned, and Draco could feel his brain trying desperately to work out the riddle that his father had created. How could he possibly back out of such precise wording? "Ah, but the thing you do not understand, Arland, is that my son is no longer the Malfoy heir. As of yesterday evening, all the Malfoy monies reserved for the heir were put into an account for my grandson."

Draco and Harry shot each other a look, but remained silent. Arland Parkinson, on the other hand, looked livid. "Your grandson? What sort of mental difficulty is this, Lucius? You don't have a grandson."

Lucius nodded. "Well, granted, he isn't born yet, but I assure you, Parkinson, he will be. You see, Draco here is carrying him. And I don't know if you know much about Veela pairings, but in the case of male-male pairings, the chance is three out of four that it will be a boy."

"Are you telling me, Malfoy, that you have named…a…a zygote your heir to release Draco from this contract?"

"Well, not so much a zygote as an embryo." He turned to Pansy, smiling. "I think the choice is yours, now, my dear. You can wait until Harry and Draco's child comes of age…or I could offer you a little wedding present. On the day you marry someone else, I will present you with a house as a gift," he smiled.

"You mean," she snarled in a choked voice, "that I have two choices. Wait twenty years for their brat, or marry someone else, right?"

"Smart girl you have there, Parkinson," Lucius smiled.

Arland went scarlet at this. "You'll pay for this, Malfoy," he snarled through clenched teeth. "I'm going straight to my solicitors. Don't think you can get away with this."

Lucius stood, and for once, his smile was gone. "I think you'll find that I can, Parkinson. There was nothing in the contract mentioning Draco's name at the time. Therefore, it applies only to whomever is my heir. And he has not been born at this present time, so he certainly cannot have finished Hogwarts."

Arland was livid, but there was nothing he could say to dispute this, so he turned stiffly to his daughter. "Come, Pansy. I think it's time we left."

She got to her feet, but shook her head. "I'm not quite done yet, father. She moved to where Harry and Draco were seated. "I bet you both think this is a fun little joke you've played. I hope someday you find out just how much you've lost for doing this to me." She scowled at them for a moment, then turned to Lucius. "I assume that you will be returning our manor to me upon my marriage?" she asked him calmly.

Lucius inclined his head. "Of course."

"Good. It may not be Malfoy Manor, but it is my home." Her chin went up, and she turned back to her father. "I'm ready to leave now," she said regally.

Arland nodded, and took his daughter's arm. Draco watched them go, a bit astonished. He had expected a much bigger fight on their hands. When they were out of sight, he turned to his father. "I'm no longer the Malfoy heir?"

Lucius smiled. "No. I'd say you've grown past that, Draco. I had the paperwork drawn up in the last few days. I hope you don't mind," he said, raising an eyebrow. "Of course, it means that you will have to vacate the heir's rooms." He was silent for a moment, and Draco felt Harry's anger building at what Lucius was saying, but he squeezed his hand to restrain him. Whatever else, he was sure Lucius wouldn't simply abandon him.

"And where will Harry and I go, father?" he asked as calmly as possible.

Lucius brushed a speck of dust from his robes, avoiding his son's eyes. "I've had your grandmother's suite aired out. The elves are moving your furniture as we speak. Your allowance has been increased as well. I've set up an account under your name at Gringotts…"

"Father…" Draco was astounded. Grandmother Leena's suite was second only to Lucius's in size. "You did this for me?"

Lucius sighed. "There is hardly need for astonishment, Draco. You are my son. Even if you are no longer legally my heir." he asked blandly.

Draco stood and moved to his father's side. "Thank you."

Lucius looked at him solemnly, then nodded stiffly. "I cannot change what has happened. I will simply do what I can to make sure that you have what he would have wanted for you."

Draco took a deep breath to calm the roiling feelings inside him, lost for words.

Lucius sensed his hesitance. "Perhaps you and Harry should go make sure the house-elves haven't made any blunders in moving your things. We wouldn't want there to be any problems, now, would we?"

Harry looked at Lucius for a moment before moving to Draco's side. The look on his face was cautious—Draco wasn't sure he'd ever truly forgive the man for some of the things he had done both before and during the war—but there seemed to be a willingness to deal with Lucius in Harry's eyes that simply hadn't been there when speaking with him before. "No, sir, we wouldn't want that."

Lucius looked at the young man his son had chosen, and Draco couldn't help but want to stand between them, sure they would come to blows with the way each measured the other. Then Lucius shook his head, smiling slightly. "We're all family here, Mister—" He stopped mid-sentence and corrected himself. "Harry. Do call me Lucius."

Harry nodded once. "Lucius." He turned to Draco. Shall we?"

Draco smiled. It wasn't perfect. But things were better than he'd ever imagined they'd get. And with time, there was no telling what might happen.

Fin