It was still dark enough that he had trouble seeing his companion's features. If there weren't so many trees, he may have seen the orange morning sun breaking over the horizon. It would still be quite some time before the light would permeate the forest.

They had run as fast as their legs would carry them until they could only just barely hear the shouts and screams far behind them. From there they had apparated to a mutually easy-to-access place. They could have gone somewhere further and more inconspicuous, he thought, aggravated, if only he had his apparating license.

They had hours, maybe days if they were lucky, before anybody would come after them. Both sides assumed that they had their loyalty for the time being. Only one person knew the truth. They had no way of knowing how long it would take Harry Potter to convince the others of what had happened, but they reasoned that they had until morning at least.

He ate the mysterious creature they had killed and cooked carefully, staring at the ground, brow furrowed.

"Why so tense, Draco?" asked Snape, eyeing him. "I've told you already; we have nothing to worry about. Not yet."

"He's going to kill me," Draco muttered absently.

"Who? The Dark Lord or Potter?" There was a hint of amusement in his voice but his face remained expressionless.

"Excuse my impudence, Professor, but-"

"I am no longer your professor, Draco."

Draco's eyes widened slightly at the implication, but he corrected himself. "… Severus, but Potter will want to kill you, not me. I spared our… beloved Headmaster."

"Your pathetic inability to take life does not register as an act of mercy," Severus sneered. "But you're right. Potter won't want to kill you. He will spare you out of pity."

Draco glared at the ground, not wanting to meet the man's gaze. He was probably right, but he wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing that he thought so.

"Potter was on the tower the entire time," he stated. "Does he have an invisibility cloak or something?"

Snape nodded. "It was his father's. James Potter left it to Dumbledore after his death. Dumbledore, in turn, gave it to the next Potter."

"Of course," Draco commented, rolling his eyes, "the Boy Who Lived gets an invisibility cloak from the Headmaster himself. He was probably out roaming the corridors every night."

"It would explain his abysmal performance in my classes, wouldn't it?" Snape said, lips twitching up at the corners. "I know for a fact that he used the cloak for a number of rule-breaking purposes, just as his father did. Neither of them got in half as much trouble as they should have for their deeds."

"Went to school with Potter's father, did you?" Draco asked.

"Yes, unfortunately enough, it seems as though I can't escape them. A position many would kill for." His face held a very nasty expression, indeed.

They fell silent.

"The Dark Lord will kill me to punish my father, as he had planned, and then he will kill you for helping me," Draco said after a moment, finally lifting his head and looking up into Snape's black eyes. Before he could stop himself, his eyes widened as he recognized something he hadn't yet considered. "But… that would be idiotic. He couldn't kill too people on his side. That would be two less people to fight for his cause. He'll torture us, but he wouldn't dare kill us."

For a moment, his heart held hope, but then Severus laughed. It was a cold, humorless laugh that made his stomach drop several feet.

"You don't know the Dark Lord like I do, boy," Snape said, clasping his hands before him. "He will kill us, if only for spite. We are, in every way you choose to look at it, a liability to him."

"I don't know why didn't kill him, but I could! Really!" Draco said desperately, as if the Dark Lord himself were in their presence.

Snape regarded him silently for a moment before continuing, "You're young and still easily influenced. The Dark Lord knows this and it will worry him that you were unable to kill his enemy."

Draco's features hardened as he glared defensively at his one-time professor. "I will not be influenced," he said through gritted teeth. "I was raised to hate muggles and mudbloods and I always will. I am not a liability."

"You're wrong," Snape said simply, "and now that we're alone and on the run, I have plenty of time to prove that to you."

Draco's eyes widened again, this time in disbelief. "What – what are you saying? What do you mean?"

"You heard me. I am going to influence you against your current opinions. I am a double agent," he paused dramatically, "working for the light side."

Draco's instincts kicked into high gear as he pulled his wand out of his pocket and pointed it at Severus Snape's chest steadily. "Tr-traitor! I'll tell them and… and the Dark Lord will spare me!"

"You will do no such thing," Snape spat, holding his own hand, wandless before him, "Sit." He waved his hand slightly in Draco's direction and an invisible force pushed Draco's arm back, placing his wand back in his pocket.

"But you… you killed him."

"Dumbledore, you mean?" he asked, showing no sign of even noticing Draco's angry, betrayed expression. "I would have died if I hadn't. I made a… deal with your mother. To help you, or else I would die. Dumbledore knew about this deal. You should not judge a situation based only on what you see and hear," Severus was fingering his wand thoughtfully. "Not all words are spoken aloud."

"So… so he knew he was going to die the whole time," Draco breathed, as he was suddenly overwhelmed with a very unwelcome emotion. Respect; admiration, even. Dumbledore had reasoned with Draco to spare his life, even though he knew he'd die whether it be at the end of Draco's wand or Snape's. He had done it because he hadn't wanted Draco to become a murderer.

"Albus Dumbledore was a selfless man. He was willing to die for the cause. The Dark Lord, however, is the complete opposite. His cause itself is to ensure his own immortality. He makes offers to his followers, but they are all empty promises."

Draco nodded reluctantly. He felt like he was seeing the situation for the first time, as if he's been looking through a foggy glass that had finally been wiped.

"I don't know what to think," he admitted after a few moments of heavy, uncomfortable silence.

"It may be hard, and you may not want to, but you're going to have to choose a side here and now, once and for all."

Draco gulped, considering his options. If he chose the dark side, he would surely be killed. He didn't know what would happen if he joined the light side. They might kill him, too, but that wasn't a sure thing. They'd at least try to milk him for information first.

"If I choose the Dark Side, what will you do?" Severus was watching him intently. "Will you kill me?"

The man considered him. Draco felt awkward under his scrutiny.

"Albus saw promise in you."

Draco snorted. "He saw promise in everyone," he said dryly. "Blind trust. Father has always said…" His voice trailed off and he mentally kicked himself. Did he always do that, quote his father as if he were some sort of omnipotent rulebook?

"That's what the paranoid will tell you," Snape said, nostrils flaring. "To answer your question, no, I will not kill you if you choose the dark side, but I'll leave you here, alone, to approach the Dark Lord, alone. And he would kill you. You would die a pointless death for a cause that would have gotten you nothing but an extended period of time if your life was spared for that time being."

Draco stared at the ground again. As he'd assumed.

"And if I choose the light, what will become of me then? Will I be a double agent like you?"

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Think about what you are saying. Did you hear what I just said a moment ago? He'll kill you. You couldn't possibly be a double agent. Quite the opposite, actually."

"What, then?"

"You would be hidden somewhere and probably thoroughly trained. I would tell the Dark Lord that I had killed you before you could escape."

Draco clenched his jaw. "So you're saying that I'd be made a captive for the rest of my life."

"In theory, captive only for a time," Severus reasoned. "But I assure you that you'd be made comfortable and it would be for your own protection. They'd come up with some sort of purpose for you to serve, and when it came time for you to do it, you'd be released. Until then, you'd be kept somewhere safe, away from Death Eaters who would try to kill you."

"I guess that's better than death," Draco sighed.

"You should not choose the right side for the wrong reasons," Snape warned.

"You don't think my life is a good enough reason to choose the right side?" Draco asked, annoyed.

"No, I don't. You should choose the right side for the lives of everyone. Do you know what the world would be like at the Dark Lord's mercy? Under his complete control?"

Draco nodded and took a deep breath.

"Do you understand?"

"Yes."

Severus leaned back and surveyed him. He seemed satisfied. "You're intelligent and powerful, Draco. We can expect great things from you, I'm sure."

Draco nodded. He knew he should probably smile or thank him for the praise, but couldn't bring himself to do it. "Do they know that you're still working for the light?" he asked instead.

Severus closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. "By now Potter had told them what happened. They think I'm a traitor."

"Then how am I supposed to be protected or whatever anyway?" Draco glared, wondering why Snape would go through the trouble of convincing him to join the light if they had no way of joining them, anyway. "Do you have any ideas of how to gain their trust again?"

Severus shook his head. "I'm working on it. We'll think of something. Both of our lives depend on it."

FIN