Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

This story seems to be going a little slowly, but please keep reading, it'll pick up later on.

CHAPTER THREE

"Harry!"

As Hermione threw her arms around him, Harry smiled. After being isolated from the rest of the wizarding world for a few days, Harry was glad to see his friends once again, although he knew that this happiness would be short-lived.

When Hermione let go of him, Harry grinned at Ron, before giving Ginny a hug. He loved Ginny, but, he thought to himself rather regretfully, he had ended their relationship soon after it began, because he wished to protect her. Had Voldemort heard of his love for her--and hewould have, the snaky bastard had his ways and means of finding out information--then Ginny would have made a very good target. Harry didn't want any more people to die because of him.

''Ello 'Arry!" Fleur called, and when Harry released Ginny, Fleur took his face into her hands and gave him a kiss on each cheek. His smile fading slightly, Harry turned to look at Ron, who looked hopefully to Fleur, before smacking himself on the forehead. "We are so glad zat you could make eet to our weddeeng."

After Mrs. Weasley made a fuss about how thin Harry was (and force-feeding him before she was satisfied he had had enough), Hermione and Ron saw him upstairs where he dumped his trunk in the room he was to share with Ron. They looked eager to talk to him about the Horcruxes, but he was definitely not in the mood to think about them, not yet. He wanted to enjoy himself as much as possible--after all, life was too short.


Snape returned to find Draco sitting up in his bed, looking tired but haughty. The lack of gel in his hair was definitely an odd sight (though Snape always secretly thought his favourite student looked better without the slimey stuff), and bags were beginning to develop on his pale face underneath his eyes.

"Draco," Snape said, his voice not unkind. "How are you feeling?"

Draco looked up at him, his silver eyes shining--and were thosetears in his eyes? He shrugged, and then looked away from the former Hogwarts professor, instead staring at the wall.

"Draco, don't make the same mistake as you did before," Snape said, moving closer and sitting in the wooden chair beside the bed. "I want to help you, if you would only let me. You can confide in me."

The boy closed his eyes for a moment, and the room remained silent. Finally, Draco opened his eyes.

"I don't want to be a Death Eater." As he said the words, Draco looked a little stunned, for at last, he had voiced his thoughts. The realisation hit him then--that what he wanted to become when he had been a naive boy of eleven was not what he wanted for himself now. The realisation that he no longer wished to follow in his father's footsteps, to be the right-hand man of the Dark Lord. "I don't want to kill anyone, or hurt anyone. I just ... you saw what happened with ... with ... with Dumbledore." The more he spoke, however, the easier it became, Draco found, and before he knew it, he started to ramble. "I didn't want to do it--at first I thought it was wonderful, the Dark Lord giving me this important mission. To kill Dumbledore. But--afterwards, I realised--I was going tokill someone. Kill! But the Dark Lord had already made it plain, if I didn't carry out my mission, he'd--he'd kill my mother and father...and me. Ihad to do it, I didn't exactly have a choice, did I? But--"

Snape held up a finger, and the boy stopped talking, his shoulders dropping slightly. "Draco, I need to talk to you about your options..."

"What options?" Draco spat, and for a moment, he looked livid--but the moment passed, and his shoulders drooped even further.

Severus ignored the outburst, and continued talking as though nothing had happened. "You've reached a point in your life, Draco, where you reach a fork in the road...and you must make a decision. It'll be the most important decision you'll ever make in your life, so choose wisely which path you decide to take."

"Get to the point," Draco snapped, looking annoyed once more. "Just say it in plain English, would you? And stop beating around the bush!"

Severus looked angry for a moment, but managed to keep in his temper when he saw a tear start to trickle down Draco's cheek. He sighed as the boy angrily wiped the tear away. "You have to decide now...where your loyalties lie, Draco."

The boy frowned. "You mean..." He trailed off into silence, pausing to think. "I already have the Dark Mark on my arm," he said, trying to sound indifferent, but his voice wavered slightly. "It's quite obvious which side I'm on, isn't it?"

"Things aren't black and white, Draco," Snape said softly. "I'm risking a lot in telling you this, Draco, since you are still unsure of which side you are on, but I'll tell you in the hope that you will make the right decision. Though I bear the Dark Mark on my left arm, I'm not truly on the Dark Lord's side at all."

Draco frowned. "You mean--you were spying for Dumbledore all along?"

Snape nodded, and the boy stared at the wall again, thinking. Seeing that Draco still wasn't entirely convinced, Snape tried again. "Besides, you can't kill or hurt anyone--you said so yourself. Do you think the Dark Lord wants someone like you in his ranks? You'd most likely die in his hands if you remain on his side."

Draco still said nothing. Severus decided it was best for Draco to make the right decision on his own, so he gave the boy an affectionate squeeze on the shoulder, before leaving the room.


Smiling widely, Harry watched as Bill and Fleur made their vows, and then kissed. He clapped along with everyone else, and Ron wolf-whistled while Hermione laughed merrily. Mrs. Weasley was beaming, and Harry was glad to see that she'd finally accepted Fleur as her daughter-in-law. Anyway, he was sure that Fleur would make a good wife to Bill, and he wasn't sure why Mrs. Weasley had been so against their marriage in the first place. It was so obvious that the two loved each other very much.

"Come on, Harry!" Ginny said suddenly, and Harry snapped out of his daydream. "They're taking wedding photos!"

He let her drag him off to take wedding pictures, glad that he had been a witness to such happiness in such dark times. He only wished that he would live long enough to see another happy day such as this.