A/N
We are coming to the end of this journey and I want to thank everyone who has read this far, especially those of you who have taken the time to review. As I wind this story down, I would like to find out if anyone would be interested in reading a sequel and what you would like a possible sequel to focus on. The ideas I had are: a) a story following the 'next generation' (ex. Jason, Jamie, Ron's kids, Vaughn, etc.) b) another adventure for Harry and Company (ex. tracking down Lucius) c) a story taking place prior to this one (ex. how Lori and Megan came in contact with Harry or what everyone else was doing while Harry was gone) or d) something else.

Please let me know if you would be interested in another story and if you have a preference as to what it should be about. Thanks! And now on with the chapter...

After awhile, Harry got up to leave the excited group. He told Jason he would come back and check on him later. On his way back to the waiting room, he noticed a light shining from under Draco's door.

He slowly pushed the door open and was surprised that Draco was not in his bed. The blond man was standing at the window and staring out into the night. Harry softly cleared his throat from the doorway to alert Draco to his presence.

"Malfoy," he quietly spoke from the doorway.

The blond man turned his head from the window and stared at Harry with an unreadable expression, "How are they?"

Harry smiled tiredly and made his way into the room, "They're going to be fine. Thank you," he reached a hand out to shake Draco's hand.

Draco nodded and silently shook Harry's hand.

"Will you tell me what happened?" Harry questioned.

"It's a long story, and it's not very happy. Are you sure you want to hear it?"

"Yes, I want to understand," Harry stated simply. "I want to know how I was so wrong about you for so long."

Draco gave a short laugh and limped back to sink onto the bed, "Well, you weren't always wrong. I was quite a snot to you back in school. We really hated each other, didn't we?"

"Well," Harry laughed. "Yeah, pretty much. What caused you to change?"

"It will probably be easier to show you rather than tell you. Professor Dumbledore left a pensieve here earlier so I could give him my memories of my father's crimes." He pulled a small container off of the bedside table and used his wand to extract several memories. He then motioned Harry forward to enter. The ground felt as though it had fallen away as Harry leaned forward and touched the substance. He then felt himself in Draco's memories.

Draco Malfoy was bored…again. This time the cause of his boredom was a dinner party his parents were having to celebrate his engagement to Pansy Parkinson. To the guests he played the role of happily engaged heir perfectly but inside he was plotting a way to escape the crowd of mostly his parents' friends. He finally was able to slip away from everyone and took his drink out on to the verandah to get some fresh air. After a few minutes he heard Pansy step out onto the porch and call his name. He was not sure why but he cast a disillusionment spell to hide himself until she went back inside. Ever since they had gotten engaged she had been annoying him more than usual, he did not know why this was, to be honest she had not changed and it had practically been decided when they had been born that they would one day marry. So he did not know what the problem was.

A voice in the back of his head kept telling him that yes, he did know why. After unsuccessfully trying to not think about it, he gave up and pondered the probable cause. He and Pansy were not the only couple from his year at Hogwarts to have recently gotten engaged. Only yesterday, he had run into the other couple; Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. As much as it pained him he had to admit, he was jealous of them. Jealous because he wanted someone to look at him the way Hermione looked at Ron and he wanted to get the same look in his own eyes that Ron did when looking at his fiancée. He was not dumb, he knew Pansy was in love with the idea of marrying the heir of the Malfoy fortune not with him personally. And he was not in love with her either, it was just that once again he was letting his parents run his life.

He only had a few more minutes of peace before his mother came looking for him, "Oh, there you are, dear." She came closer and pulled him by the arm back into the party, "Several people are getting ready to leave and want to tell you good-bye."

Once again he played the role that was expected of him and graciously bid everyone a good night with his arm around his fiancée. He told his parents, Pansy, and her parents that he was going to head on back to his flat because he had drunk quite a bit and had a slight headache. This was of course a lie, he had been sipping on the same drink all evening but they did not know that.

The next morning his feelings of frustration had increased and he felt restless so he decided to take a walk. He was surprised when after walking a long time, he looked up and found himself in the middle of Muggle London. A small pub was across the street from him and he realized he was hungry. He ordered a sandwich and a large mug of beer and waited somewhat impatiently for the waitress to bring them to him. His impatience must have made her nervous because she stumbled and the beer went into his lap. He closed his eyes and counted to ten before opening them. He had been all prepared to yell at her but her fear filled brown eyes stopped him.

"I'm so sorry…oh, my God…here, let me dry it for you," she started to wipe the wet area and turned bright red when she realized she was dabbing his crotch. "Maybe you should do it," she handed him the towel she was using. "I'll get you another…I'll be right back." She scurried off before he could reply to anything.

While she was gone, he subtly used a drying spell to dry his pants. She hurried over carefully with a new mug, "Here you go…you're food will be done in just a minute…hey, you got your pants dry already…I'm so sorry about dumping that on your lap."

He glanced at her nametag, "It's okay, Anna. No harm done," he flashed her a smile. For a Muggle, she was very cute, he thought. "I'm Draco," he stuck a hand out to shake hers.

She gratefully shook his hand, "That's an interesting name…I don't think I've ever heard it before."

"It's a family name," he told her.

"It's nice…unlike my boring name," she made a face.

"No, your name is lovely which is fitting for a lovely girl," he assured her.

She blushed, "That is so sweet of you."

He noticed he was still holding her hand and let go of it. She stepped back, "I'm going to go check on your food." She scampered back to the kitchen and returned with it a few minutes later, "Here you go…you made a good choice…this is one of my favorites."

"Then I'm sure it will be wonderful," he smiled before taking a large bite. "You have good tastes…this is superb."

"I'll let the cook know," she grinned. "Well, I have to go check on my other tables before I get off. It was nice talking to you."

"Yes, it was," he realized that it really had been nice talking to her if for no other reason than she had no preconceived ideas about him based on his family name. He surprised himself by calling out to her, "Anna, would you like to hang out some more when you get off?"

She beamed at him, "That sounds great…I'll be done in about thirty minutes."

He finished his food and wondered about what he was doing. Before he could ponder it too much she returned with her jacket over one arm.

"Ready?" he asked and offered her his arm.

"Yep, what are we going to do?"

"I don't know…do you just want to take a walk?"

They did walk a while until they came to a small park where they found a bench to sit on. For several hours they sat and talked. Finally, she looked at her watch, "Oh my goodness, I was supposed to be at my mum's an hour ago." She quickly pulled her mobile phone from her purse and dialed her mum. After a hurried conversation involving several made up excuses she hung up and grinned at Draco, "Do you think she bought any of that?"

"I'm going to go with a no," he laughed at the face she made.

"Well, I better get over there before she kills me. Will I see you again?" She scrawled a phone number on a scrap of paper she had pulled from her purse, "This is my mobile number, that's the best way to reach me…leave a message if I don't answer and I'll call you back."

He looked at the number for a few seconds and hoped she did not expect one back from him since he did not have one, "Thanks…I'll be in touch soon, I promise."

She hugged him quickly before hurrying toward the underground. Before entering, she turned and waved at him.

The next day, he went back to the pub where he had met her, he did not have a phone and figured it would not be a good idea to send an owl, he had to wait nearly an hour until her shift started. He used the time to think about what he was doing, he was engaged and here he was waiting for another woman. A Muggle woman at that, he laughed to himself as he imagined the conversation if he were to tell his parents that he was breaking up with Pansy for a Muggle.

"What's so funny?" Anna had snuck up on him.

"Nothing," he smiled down at her. "Just thinking about a conversation with my dad."

The pub was busy and she did not have much time to visit with him but he stayed at the pub all day. He passed the time by reading the paper, watching some of the televisions playing above the bar but mostly by just watching her. After a couple of days spent in that same manner, she asked him to come to her flat for dinner on her day off. He happily agreed and now found himself waiting nervously for her to open the door. The sight of her at the moment when she greeted him made him realize that he had to break things off with Pansy, the love of his life was standing in front of him right now.

"Hi," she smiled warmly. "I hope you like spaghetti…I'm not much of a cook but I figured it would be hard to mess that up," she giggled.

"It smells great," he embraced her. "You look lovely," he complimented her.

"Thanks," she stepped back toward the kitchen. "Have a seat and dinner will be done in about five minutes."

He took the time that she was in the kitchen to explore the living room. A few photos were scattered around the room. He was looking at one of her with another young woman that resembled her and two small children.

"That's me and my sister with her kids," she explained as she came up behind him. "Dinner's done…do you want some wine?"

"Sure," he followed her to the table. The simple pasta meal was the best he had ever had because she had made it special for him. After dinner, he helped clean up which was a first for him. Once the table was cleared and the dishes in the dishwasher, they settled on the couch. It was not long before his lips were on hers. Their kisses quickly became more passionate. She pulled back slightly, "We need to stop." Her voice was breathless.

He groaned slightly and sat back up, "Are you sure?"

She smiled at him and rested her head on his shoulder, "Yes, I don't even know your last name."

"Malfoy…my last name is Malfoy," he tried to pull her over onto his lap.

"Well, Mr. Malfoy, I'm afraid I have to stick with my first answer. I have to leave you with a reason to come back."

"You're a tease," he hugged her good-naturedly. "And I will definitely be back."

As promised, he did return…often, nearly every evening in fact. It was one of these evenings when they were cuddling together on the sofa when he knew without a doubt what he had to do. He had to tell her about his heritage and why he had to walk away from that very heritage to be with the one person he had ever loved.

"Anna, sweetie," he spoke quietly and twirled a lock of her hair around one of his fingers.

"Hmm?" she turned slightly to look up into his eyes.

"There's something I need to tell you," he scooted himself to a sitting position and settled her against his chest.

"This sounds serious," she gripped his hand. "You're not married or something, are you?"

"No," he began. "I was to be married to the girl my parents picked out for me long ago. But then I met the only woman I want to spend my life with."

"You are going to have to explain a little more," she said with a slight warning in the tone of her voice.

He sighed, "There's a lot I need to explain to you. I guess I should start with the basics." He let out another deep breath, "I'm a wizard."

"What?" Anna looked at him with bewilderment.

"I know it probably sounds crazy to you but I'm telling you the truth," he stood up and grabbed his jacket and pulled his wand out of the pocket. "Here, I'll show you," he muttered an incantation and she was showered with flower petals.

"How did you do that?"

"That was nothing," he winked at her and leaned down to kiss her. "I'll show you some real magic."

"As appealing as that sounds, you still have some explaining to do," she pushed him slightly.

He sat back down next to her, "Like I said, I am a wizard, just like my dad and his dad and his dad…you get the idea. I went to a school for wizards and witches…there's a whole magical society right here in England." He proceeded to explain the current situation to her and why it was that he had to abandon his roots in order to be with her. "Anna, darling, I can handle anything and leave everything else behind if I have you with me."

"Whoa," she bit her bottom lip. "This is a lot to take in…I'm not sure what to think." She laid her palms against his chest, "But I know what I feel and I know that I have fallen in love with you."

He gathered her close to him, "Baby, I love you so much."

The couple soon settled into a simple Muggle life. Anna got a job in a small law office as a secretary and her father hired Draco to work at his bookstore. Anna's family loved their youngest daughter's new husband and it was not long before they welcomed what they hoped would be the first of many children. Vaughn Alexander Malfoy was the spitting image of his father and the light of both of his parents' lives.

The little boy grew quickly and was almost two years old when one day his father took him to the small local park. The little boy toddled along holding his dad's hand. A little girl about his own age who was playing in a sandbox captured Vaughn's attention.

"Twuck," he pointed to the toy she was playing with. "My twuck," his bottom lip stuck out.

"No, Vaughn. That's her toy…your truck's at home," Draco patiently explained to his son. "But if you ask nicely she might let you play with her," he bent down to talk to the two toddlers.

"Me play, too?" Vaughn asked.

"Kay," the little girl nodded and reached one of her toys toward him.

Draco smiled at the two kids playing happily together and settled his tall frame onto the ground next to them. Something about the little girl was vaguely familiar to him but he could not put his finger on what it was about her.

"Georgia, honey, it's time to go home," a woman's voice called out.

The little girl playing with Vaughn looked up, "Mummy!"

"Did you make a new friend?"

Draco recognized the voice and swallowed hard before looking up at her. He was unsure of what her reaction would be. "Granger," he nodded at her.

Hermione's eyes widened, "Actually, its Weasley now."

He grinned at her, "Doesn't surprise me too much. I take it this is your daughter."

"Yep, she's mine," Hermione smiled warmly down at the little girl before looking at Vaughn, "And he has to be yours, he's the image of you."

"And excuse me if I'm being forward but it appears you are trying to follow in your husband's parents' footsteps," he looked pointedly at her very pregnant belly.

She laughed and laid a hand over her stomach, "I don't know about that…I may stop after this one is born." She looked at him thoughtfully, "You look different. You look…happy."

He chuckled, "I am…happy, that is."

"What…um, what happened to you? I mean…you just kind of disappeared."

"I got married," he explained and nervously ran a hand along the back of his neck. "She's…um, well, you see, she's a Muggle. So as you can imagine, it was best for me to walk away from my family." He looked at her intently, "Please don't tell anyone that you saw me, I don't want my wife or son in danger."

"She sounds very nice," Hermione said. "And your secret is safe with me. It was good seeing you. I'm glad you're happy." She reached a hand out to shake his, "Take care of yourself. Come on, Georgie girl. We don't want to keep your daddy waiting too long."

Draco watched the two of them walk away before swinging Vaughn up onto his shoulders and walking home. When he reached their small house, something in the air made his heart speed up and the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He pulled Vaughn down from his shoulders to hug him tightly to his chest.

"No…no," he desperately said under his breath. He closed his eyes briefly before pulling the door open, "Anna! Honey! Anna, are you home?"

"Mummy!" Vaughn joined his father in calling for his mother.

Father and son continued through the house, calling for Anna. When they reached the kitchen, Draco felt his body go numb except for his fingers and toes which tingled. Lying motionless on the kitchen floor with lifeless eyes looking at the ceiling was his beloved Anna.

"No!" he choked on a sob as he dropped to her side. "Wake up! You can't be dead…you can't," he whimpered.

Vaughn struggled to be released from his father's arms, "Mama?" He patted her face with his chubby toddler hands. "Mama!" he started to shriek when she did not answer him.

Draco pulled the little boy close to him again, "Shh…it's okay little man…daddy's got you. It'll be okay." He murmured into Vaughn's hair and kissed the top of his head. He noticed a paper on the table out of the corner of his eye and pulled himself up to read it.

No one disobeys me without facing the consequences. You cannot hide from me.

He panicked when he recognized the handwriting as that of his father. He knew he had to get Vaughn somewhere safe, he would not let his father get his hands on his son. It was a few days later when Draco knocked on his sister-in-law's door with Vaughn in his arms.

"Draco," the woman looked surprised to see him. "Come in," she stepped back to let him in.

"Heather, I need you to do something for me," he unconsciously tightened his hold on his son.

"I'll do anything for you," she assured him.

"I need to leave Vaughn with you for a while. I have to take care of some things and it will be safer for him to be here with you."

"Of course he can stay here," she looked at him with sincerity and compassion in her eyes.

"Thank you," he pressed a kiss into the little boy's soft hair. "Vaughn, you going to stay with Aunt Heather for a little while," he started to explain. "Daddy loves you and I'll be back for you as soon as I can. Be a good boy." He transferred the child to Heather's waiting arms. "I love you, son," he ran a fleeting hand over the blonde hair.

As he walked out the front door, he could hear the little boy's wails, "DADDY! DADDY!"

It took all of his strength to keep walking away from his son but he knew this was the only way to keep Vaughn safe. A single tear escaped as he rounded the corner and apparated away.

Harry felt himself land hard on the tile floor of the hospital room. He looked at the other man with sympathy shining in his eyes. "I'm so sorry. She seemed like such a wonderful person." He replayed a few scenes in his head, "That was why Hermione tried to save you last night. She knew you had changed. I don't know if it means anything but I'm glad she did. You've already suffered more than enough, I'm glad to finally know the true you."

Draco swallowed hard and turned his head to stare out the window. He was silent for several seconds before speaking again. Harry intently watched his former classmate as he continued his story, "I realized how evil my father was. Harry, he killed her," his voice cracked and he buried his face in his hands. He roughly wiped at his eyes and looked back at Harry, "I didn't know what to do. I remembered that I had family in America. So I located one of my cousins, I knew that she worked for the wizard protection program and even if I could not use that, I figured she could give me some advice on how to keep my father from finding me and my son. Harry, I'm so sorry, my father followed me and killed Megan. I was able to escape because of her." A painful look came into his silver eyes, "I did the only thing I could to insure Vaughn would have a better childhood than I did. I left him with Anna's family, they love him and he's happy." He smiled slightly, "Dumbledore told me that he was accepted at Hogwarts and he's starting this year. I'm going to go see him there. Hopefully he will understand why I did what I did and will forgive me."

"I'm sure he will," Harry assured his former nemesis. "How did you end up where Percy found you?"

"After Vaughn was safe with his aunt, I became reckless. I wanted nothing more than to make my father pay for what he did. Unfortunately, it was not a good idea to try to fight him and all of his minions by myself. They captured me and kept me at the manor for several years. A while ago, they transferred me to where Percy was. I imagine he already told you what happened from that point."

"Yeah, he did."

There was a soft knock at the door. They both looked up to see Julius standing in the doorway.

"Hello, Harry. How are you doing, Draco?" he greeted them both.

Harry stood up to leave so Julius could visit privately with his nephew, "I'm going to go check on Ginny." After shaking hands with both of the Malfoys, he walked towards Ginny's room with his heart feeling lighter than it had in a long time.