A/N

New chapter! Still have two more chapters written, and it's not gonna be a long fic, so you won't have to wait too long for an update.

Chapter title is a song by the band Halestorm.

…

"So how did you know this kid again?" Noel asked, shoving the burger into his mouth. He had been passed out all day, sleeping off his hangover, so he had forced Draco to stop by McDonalds on their way to Potter's place. Draco looked straight ahead, looking for the street Potter lived on.

"We went to school together." Noel had finished his burger, and was now attacking his chips.

"You've never told me anything about your school," Noel complained, and Draco sighed. Noel could be a pain in the ass sometimes. Suddenly Draco saw the name of the street Potter had written on his card, and the signalled right. He slowed down, and peeked out of the window to watch for the apartment number from Potter's card.

"Here it is," Draco mumbled, before stopping the car. There were plenty of parking spaces in front of the apartment building, so that was not a problem. While Draco lived in Ashford, Potter lived in Canterbury, only twenty minutes away. The apartment building was old, but well kept. It was beautiful. Draco and Noel got out of the car, both of them looking up at the building. Noel walked around the car, and stopped next to Draco.

"Damn, this looks fancy. Bet your friend can afford it though, owning the most popular club in Kent," Noel said, grinning down at him. Noel was a typical tall, dark and handsome guy. He was an idiot, sure, but his looks made everything easy for him. He was also the best friend anyone could ask for.

"Let's go inside," Draco said, his heart pounding. He was pretty sure he knew who Potter's friends were, and he also knew that they would not be as forgiving as Potter. At least not Weasley. They walked up to the front door, and rang the doorbell. A moment later someone picked up.

"Hello?" Potter's distorted voice said, and Draco cleared his throat.

"Hi, it's Draco and Noel." Potter didn't say anything – they heard the buzz from the door a moment later, so they walked inside. The entrance was in same style as the outside of the building – old, but grand. And well-kept. It was what muggles called 'vintage'. At least Draco thought it was – he didn't want to ask Noel in fear of sounding completely ridiculous. They walked to the elevator, and took it to the top. When they stepped out of the elevator, Potter was already standing right outside his apartment, smiling awkwardly at them. Noel, of course, didn't catch up on the awkward. Or he just didn't care.

"Hi! I'm Noel – but we've met before, though I can't remember it at all." He held out a hand, which Potter shook. He smiled at Noel, obviously feeling the soothing effect Noel had on people. Draco stood beside him, fumbling awkwardly. Potter then turned to him, still smiling, though he looked as awkward and out of place as Draco felt.

"Nice of you to come – come on in, the others are already here," he said, holding out an arm. His other hand rested on his thigh, above a small, thin pocket. Draco knew he had his wand there, and he sighed as he realised Potter still didn't trust him at all. Noel obviously didn't catch any of this, because he just grinned at Potter, stepping right inside. Draco followed, keeping his eyes down. It felt really strange, visiting Potter.

They all stepped into the living room, where four people sat waiting – three Weasleys and Granger. Draco recognised the oldest of them as one of the twins – he knew the other twin died during the battle for Hogwarts, but he wasn't sure which one of them he was. Then there was Ginny Weasley, Potter's girlfriend. And of course Ron Weasley, who was sitting next to Granger, holding her hand. They all stared at Noel and Draco as they entered. Noel grinned at them all, while Draco tried not to look any of them in the eye.

"I'm Noel!" Noel said. Nobody answered for a minute – it was clear that nobody knew exactly who was coming. They were all staring at Draco. Draco felt extremely uncomfortable. When nobody answered, Noel looked over at Draco, raising an eyebrow. "What did you do, Draco?" he asked, feigning shock. Draco just mumbled something in return, keeping his eyes on the floor. Suddenly Ron Weasley got up from the sofa, his wand out. Draco froze – not because the wand was pointed at him, but because Noel was there. If Noel found out who he really was… Draco could lose his only friend.

"What the fuck is he doing here?" Ron sneered. Potter held his hands up, trying to keep the situation under control.

"Ron, put it down," Granger whispered intently, casting worried glances at Noel. Noel just looked like he was about to burst out laughing. He looked from Draco, to Ron, to Draco again.

"Is this guy for real? What is he going to do – poke me with a stick?" he asked, incredulous. Potter walked towards Ron, laughing.

"Come on, enough joking around. Sit down, Ron," he said, his voice stern though his face was smiling. Ron hesitated, but did as he was told. Draco almost sighed with relief. He looked up at Potter, furrowing his brow.

"Maybe we should just go…" he started, but Potter shook his head.

"No. It's over and done – they don't have any right to mistreat you," Potter said, shooting Ron a look. Ron mumbled something, deserving a smack from Granger. Noel just looked over at Draco, tut-ing.

"I don't know what you did Draco, but I'm guessing you used to be quite the asshole," he said, and Ron snorted.

"I'd say," he mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. Potter held out a hand, smiling at Draco. There was so much kindness in his eyes, looking into them hurt. Noel walked over to the sofa, and sat down next to Ron, grinning at him. Draco slowly walked over to one of the two free armchairs, and sat down. Potter sat down in the other.

"Now, what are we gonna watch?" Potter asked, looking at them all. Ron and Noel pulled their shoulders, Draco didn't say anything and Granger looked like she started thinking hard.

"Do you have Insidious?" Noel suddenly asked, looking at Potter with bright eyes. Draco groaned silently – he could only guess which genre it was. Potter furrowed his brow, shaking his head.

"Don't think so. But we can check the TV if you can rent it from there. What's it about?" Noel grinned and winked at Draco. Yup, he definitely knew what genre it was.

"It's a horror movie, about this little kid who gets lost in his dreams. He's a natural lucid dreamer. It's a great movie, really terrifying." The others looked like they thought it was a great idea, so Draco didn't say anything. After all he had been through; he didn't want to come across as a whuss. But Draco really detested horror movies – he couldn't understand why muggles wanted to scare themselves. And they were really good at scaring – since Noel was a big horror fan Draco had watched a whole bunch of scary movies, and he found them extremely frightening. It might also be because he had been so close to such a dark person, and he had seen so much horror up close. Of course Noel didn't know.

"Ah, here it is! Everyone ready?" Potter asked everyone, but his eyes were on Draco. Draco forced a smile to his face, and nodded. He would get through it.

…

"So you all went to school together?" Noel asked. The movie was over, and they had all started talking. Draco didn't say much – he just answered when someone asked him a question. It seemed like the three Weasleys mostly tried to ignore him, while Potter and Granger were trying to include him in the conversation. Noel just talked as much as he always did.

"Yeah. George's two years older than us and Ginny's a year younger." Noel pointed at Granger and Ron, squinting.

"Aaand you two are a couple, right?" Granger and Ron smiled and nodded. Ron looked down at their joined hands and squeezed it slightly.

"Since we were seventeen." Potter looked over at them, smiling. Draco just twisted uncomfortably. He was really worried about how they would handle it when Noel eventually asked more complicated questions – like why they all hated Draco so much. That would be a difficult thing to explain.

"Are you guys siblings?" he asked, pointing at all the Weasleys. They all nodded, smiling. Draco couldn't help but notice how lifeless George Weasley seemed – it was as if he was still alive just because he had to. He tried not to think too hard about it – he could only imagine how much he must hate Draco for letting in the Death Eaters who killed his brother.

Draco hadn't been following the conversation, so when all eyes were suddenly on him he felt his heart beat rapidly in his chest. He looked at Ron's judgemental stare and Granger's pitying stare before looking desperately at Noel for an explanation. Noel nodded towards his left arm.

"Your tattoo, I just asked you why you got it? It's really cool and all, it's just not… you," he grinned, while looking at the others for confirmation. The others just sat there, quietly. They had their jaws locked tight, and they all looked like they really did think it fitted Draco. Draco looked down at his arm, which was covered. It was always covered these days.

"It was a stupid mistake," he mumbled, clenching his hand over his forearm. Ron scoffed loudly, and Draco looked up at him without thinking.

"A mistake," Ron repeated, and Draco felt colour drain from his face. Potter leaned forward, putting a hand on Ron's shoulder.

"Ron, it was a mistake. We all make mistakes." Ron looked over at Potter, furiously. He looked like he was somewhere between crying and shouting. Draco got the feeling Ron would like nothing more than to hex Draco into the next century.

"Yeah, everyone makes mistakes, but that's a bloody big 'mistake' if you ask me! And Fred, and Tonks, and Lupin, and Sirius, are they all part of that 'mistake', huh?" Ron shouted, and Draco sank down in his chair. He didn't know why he was here, why Potter had invited him. Maybe this was why he had invited him – he wanted Draco to feel small and terrible, and to feel the guilt weigh down on his shoulders. To feel the weight of all the loved ones they had lost.

"We're not just talking about a tattoo anymore, are we?" Noel asked, carefully. He seemed to be finally picking up on the dreadful mood that was weighing down upon them. Ron's head snapped around, and he laughed humourlessly at Noel.

"Why don't you ask your buddy? Ask him what he did," Ron sneered, looking over at Draco. There were tears in his eyes. "Ask him how many people died for his 'mistake'." Then he got up, and stormed out of the room. Granger followed, shooting Noel an apologetic look. She didn't look at Draco at all. Potter got up too, but he did look at Draco.

"Malfoy, I'm really sorry. I didn't know he'd react this strongly," he said. He really did look sorry, but it didn't help the fact that seeing Draco had forced his best friend to relive all of those terrible memories. And Draco felt awful about it. It was the worst confrontation he had had to this date – he had been blamed for so many deaths, had been hated by so many people, but seeing the hurt in the remaining twin's eyes as his brother shouted at Draco had been the worst thing Draco had ever experienced. Including all the times he had been tortured for not doing what he had been told during the war.

Draco and Noel were left with George and Ginny, who were fidgeting uncomfortably. Then Ginny sighed, and looked over at Draco.

"Look, I know you were a prick in school, and I know people blame you for the battle. Thing is, it would've happened anyway. They just need someone to blame. And, well… you did save Harry's life by lying about who he was. And your mother saved him too, in the woods. And we all saw how you hesitated when your mother called you to her side." Then she smiled a little. "I know nobody else knows, but I saw you fighting. For us." She stood up and walked over to him. She bent down, and gave him a quick hug. Then she walked out of the room to join the others. The room fell quiet again.

"We should probably go," Draco mumbled, and got up from the chair without looking at George or Noel. He walked quickly towards the front door, and put on his shoes in a hurry. He could hear Noel following him, and he just hoped they would be out of there before Potter came back.

"Malfoy, Ginny was wrong," George suddenly said. Draco froze, and slowly turned around. George was still sitting on the sofa, his hands in his lap and his head bent down. Draco couldn't see his face, but he could only guess what was coming next. Of course he wouldn't agree with Ginny had said that Draco wasn't the one to blame alone.

"I'm really sorry," Draco said. He didn't know what else to say. George shook his head, and then he looked up. He looked incredibly sad, but at the same time there was a tiny bit of that fire Draco remembered from their school days. That fire that made them create that ruckus at Hogwarts when Umbridge worked there.

"She wasn't the only one who saw you fighting for us. I saw you, after… after Fred was killed. You saw it too – I saw you following that Death Eater, so I followed you. I saw what you did – I saw you kill him." George got up from the sofa, and walked towards Draco. Draco was frozen – he didn't know how to react. He hadn't realised that anyone had seen that. George stopped in front of him, and put a hand on his shoulder. He was smiling. "Thank you." He held his eyes for a little bit longer, then he walked away to join the others. Draco stood frozen in that spot a little bit longer, before he quickly grabbed his jacket and hurried out.

Noel got into the elevator with him, and they stood in silence all the way down. Draco was terrified of what he had to tell Noel now – he had heard so many things it was really hard to explain, and though he could just obliviate his memory he didn't really want to do that to his friend. They walked to the car in silence, and they both got in. Draco didn't start it up straight away. Instead he took a deep breath, held it in for a little while, then he turned to Noel.

"I know it must be really confusing to hear all of those things, and I'm not gonna say I can explain. But… you're the best friend I've ever had, and I don't want to lose you. If you're willing to keep an open mind, I can try to explain it. Just… promise me you won't hate me afterwards." Noel was silent for a little bit. He was staring at the dashboard, his brows furrowed. Then he looked up at Draco, and grinned.

"Mate, I don't care who you've killed or what you've done. It all sounds a little too crazy to be true, but you've been a good mate. One of the best I've ever had, actually." Then he put his arm around Draco's head and pulled it closer, rubbing his hair furiously with his knuckles. "You're too small and scrawny to be scared of, anyway!" He let go, and kept grinning at Draco. Draco almost felt like hugging him – he really was the best friend anyone could ask for. He put the key in the ignition, and then they were off.

"Dude, what's a Death Eater?" Noel suddenly asked, and Draco sighed. He realised he would have to tell Noel a whole lot about a world he didn't even know existed.

"I'll tell you all about it once we get home – all right?" Noel looked at him, and smiled. A genuine smile, instead of the usual grin.

"All right, mate."

…

A/N

This was where it started living its own life – usually when I write I have one small idea in my head (we're talking real small here – like one sentence), and the story just grows as I write. So I hope it grows into something good this time!