Where's A Deserving Home?

"You are hereby condemned, exiled from this country, stripped of your title for crimes against the Ministry."

The words were spoken ruthlessly and without a hint of emotion. They were cold, brutal, and they shook the entire room by the core, no doubt the power of magic swimming behind the words despite no spell being cast. Kingsley just had that sort of voice. The minister looked down from his podium, staring at the man in the middle of the court room who stood passively, arms rigid at his sides and face blank as he took his punishment without a fight.

Draco Malfoy, at the tender age of 24, had been able to successfully get himself into so much trouble that he was getting kicked out of England. When it came to the rumor mill, the name Malfoy always came up some time or another. It turned out that Draco was somehow part of everything in some way. Black market dealings in Knockturn Alley, bribery deals with ministry workers, stealing, Draco was part of it all. Due to the fact of his past affiliations with Death Eaters, no one found it surprising that Draco had dabbled in all these things. And now he was finally getting the consequences of his crimes. He was getting exiled.

Harry Potter watched on from his position just inside the court room's open door, arms crossed against his silver Auror's robes, green eyes calculating. When he had heard that heard that it was Malfoy's court trial day, as well as exile, he rushed down to watch the proceedings with his own eyes. Harry could always say that it was because he was an Auror was why he was doing it, but for the past year or two, the young Auror had been keeping tabs on Malfoy as a side occupation. When he wasn't swamped with paperwork or out on the field, he was watching the footsteps of his old-enemy-turned-tolerable. And boy, did he find some incredible things.

Such as, for instance, everyone was wrong.

"As decreed by myself, the Minister of Magic, you have until this evening on July 17th, 2017, to collect your belongings and remove yourself from England. Your paperwork has been dealt with." There was a flourish as Kingsley signed a large contract recording the events, and with a cold eye, he turned his gaze to the blond. "Is everything understood, Mr. Malfoy?" He asked.

With a stiff nod, Draco replied, "Yes sir." before watching the signed parchment roll up and disappear.

"Court dismissed." The Minister turned his head, no doubt to tell the aurors to escort Draco out, but when his eyes landed on Harry, the brunet simply gave him a look that conveyed his intentions. Confused, but not questioning, he nodded and turned back to Draco. "Aurors will now escort you out."

Draco turned around and was about to confidently stride over to the door when he caught sight of Harry standing there with his arms crossed, leaning against the doorway almost in a relaxed manner. Surprise was written on his face for a fleeting second, but he schooled in and walked over, meeting Harry with a stoic expression.

"Potter." He greeted, a faint sneer on his lips. He didn't argue when Harry turned and began to lead the way out of the room though.

"Hello Malfoy." Harry said in civil reply, turning a corner and seeing the elevator come into view.

A slender blonde brow rose and Draco peered at the auror as they got onto the lift and made their way upstairs. "What are you doing as my escort?" He asked bluntly, fully aware that 'Auror Potter' wasn't assigned to his 'case'.

"I'm here to tell you that I know you didn't do any of it." Harry replied with ease, still looking straight ahead in the lift despite Draco's sudden stiffening and whipping his head to stare at him.

"What?" Draco hissed, brows knitting together tightly as he stared at Harry in shock. The brunet in turn twisted his head to look at Draco with passive green eyes.

"You didn't do any of it." He said again, a faint smile quirking at the edges of his lips. "The Clearwater Break-in, the Fletcher Bribes, those small black market deals and the curse-dealing rings you apparently ran. You didn't do any of it. And I don't understand why you're taking the blame for it all to the point of exile."

Draco's eyes blew wide as he listening to Harry's words, feeling the need to choke. "Potter, what the hell are you talking about?" He asked faintly, jolting when the lift stopped on the main floor and they both stepped out, pausing not too far away from the lifts to continue on the conversation. Draco suddenly looked extremely wary in contrast to Harry's analytical stare.

"You, Malfoy, I'm talking about you. All these crimes, all these charges pressed against you, and you haven't actually done anything. What the hell do you think you're doing, just accepting these punishments for things that people only pin on you because you're some kind of scapegoat to them?" Harry wasn't exactly yelling, but he was speaking in a tone of voice that demanded answer.

Draco, however, did not look willing to give them. Instead, he outwardly tensed and crossed his arms, his eyes narrowing. "Potter, what the hell makes you so sure that-"

"You haven't done any of it and I have proof," Harry countered quickly, ignoring the suspicious look of surprise on Draco's face. "But the point is that you're taking the grunt of it. Why?"

With an exasperated huff, Draco rolled his eyes and tried to push past Harry who unfortunately wouldn't let him leave. "I have no obligation to answer any of your questions, you know. So you should just drop it and let me go, I need to leave tonight." Draco said coldly.

"No, you don't!" Harry protest, grabbing Draco's lapels and holding him steady. "You're bloody innocent so WHY the hell are you not fighting back against all of these stupid crimes when you haven't done a thing? They don't even go deep into investigations because you just willingly accept the accusations! Maybe, maybe if you'd just fight back, then they'd see that you're innocent!"

"Well maybe I don't want to fight back!" Draco snapped, grabbing Harry's hands and shoving them off of him. "Maybe I want them to see me as guilty for whatever stupid reason they come up with."

"Malfoy that is the stupidest thing I have ever heard-"

"Potter, you don't understand to you?" Draco sneered, taking a step back to glare at the auror.

Green eye stared at him in confusion. "What?" Harry asked, crossing his own arms as well.

Disgusted by the fact that he'd have to explain, Draco pulled on a repulsed expression. "Maybe I just don't want to see me as innocent. Maybe I've been trying to find a way to compensate for my actions during the war and before. Maybe I'm allowing myself to be punished once and for all since I can't handle the stupid whispers behind my back of 'Malfoy this, Malfoy that' and I should just leave and restart all over again. If I'm not exiled, I'll end up coming back. And how do I come back to a name as ruined as mind? Potter, leave me alone, and let me go. I deserve this, even if it's through a roundabout way, and by hell are you going to stop me from leaving."

With that, Draco took one last look at Harry who was stunned for words, and brushed past him, heading to go. Harry didn't follow him, but instead turned around and watched the blond leave. The man, who sought for his own redemption through discreet means. A man with a dirty plan that still somehow ended up clean. Draco always knew how to think up plans like those.

3 Years Later

Draco looked up when his floo roared, setting down his magazine as a familiar face stumbled out of the fireplace, brushing soot off of himself. Harry Potter, his long-time friend and prospective love (they were flirting. But either was too stubborn to make a move) had been visiting him in his flat in New York ever since Draco had been exiled. In the beginning, it was extremely weird, and Draco tried everything he could in order to get Harry to leave. He didn't want reminders of his past life. He was trying to start anew. However, Harry was persistent, and over time, he became a permanent fixture in Draco's day, starting from visiting for tea, to the occasional attendance to the Mets game. Draco toured him around Manhattan and Harry gave him tidbits about the wizarding world's state. The blond found himself starting to slightly miss his old world, since Harry conveyed its changing heart towards many things over the years. However, his exile was still in place and Harry made sure never to talk about the ministry in Draco's presence. But it did not stop him from missing the feel of magic surrounding him and the sense that the people around him were the same as he was. He felt slightly out of place here, in America, and in a muggle-community, but he had to take it.

Quirking an eyebrow at Harry, he was about to offer him the usual cup of tea when Harry grinned suddenly and threw himself at the ground at Draco's feet, reaching up to grab his pale hands and clutch them tightly in his own. Shock ran up Draco as he stared at the brunet before him, looking way too giddy for his own good. Was something happening? "Er, Hello Harry, what's going on?" he asked warily, unsure if he even wanted to know.

But Harry's grin simply got wider, and his hands grew tighter. In an overly-happy voice, he opened his mouth and the words spilled out. "The charges are dropped. You can go home."

Draco cried.