Disclaimer: I sadly do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter Five: Quick Thinking

Hermione may have been shocked into doing nothing, but Harry was not. He held his wand so that it was an inch away from Draco's throat. Draco looked into Potter's eyes and saw a cruel determination that he had not ever noticed before. "Give me a reason," Potter growled, "and I swear I'll do it. Just because you're too weak doesn't mean that I'm not."

I am not weak! I'm here now, aren't I? Draco wanted to scream at the boy, but knew that hostility would get him nowhere. If he reached for his wand, Potter could obviously hit him with a curse of his choice first. Draco figured that his only chance was to try and get on their good side.

Draco had to resist a smile. Why hadn't he seen it before! All he had to do was come to them with some story about how he was sorry about what he had done, and Potter would forgive him. Potter and his friends were too "noble" to harm anyone who claimed to be feeling remorse.

"Why are you here?" Demanded the redheaded Weasley, who seemed to be feeling the same way as his best friend.

Draco knew he had seconds to pull something together, so he decided he would sort of base his story on a small bit of the truth. "I…I…couldn't kill Dumbledore. I realized that maybe I didn't want to do what the Dark Lord asked, after all that he had put me through, so I didn't return to him.

Draco knew his story sounded rather lame, but didn't care. Besides, in a way he was speaking a bit of the truth. He was not loyal to the Dark Lord in the way that he was supposed to be. He cared far more about his life and the lives of his parents than he did about Voldemort. But he mustn't let anyone know that. For a moment, Draco had a sudden urge to tell Potter exactly how he was feeling. About how he didn't really care for the Dark Lord, about how he wished he had never gotten the Mark now, even though he had been thinking the exact opposite a year ago.

Stupid! That would have been reckless! Not only would that have possibly ruined the whole mission, but….but…. Draco could not determine exactly why he didn't want Potter to know everything he had been thinking the past year, but knew that it would only lead to trouble.

Draco focused on the task at hand once more: getting Potter and his friends to believe his remorse. He stared Potter in the eye, and as he did, let all of his actual sorrow display openly on his face. Some people said that Draco did not have a conscience. That he still wanted to be a Death Eater. That he was fully evil. Those people were liars.

Potter stared at one of his worst enemies, his wand clenched tightly in his fist. He looked at Malfoy's pale face, trying to discover his true emotions. As Harry looked at him, he recognized a side of Draco he had only seen twice before. Once on the astronomy tower, when Draco had been unable to kill the headmaster. The other was when Harry walked into the boys bathroom and saw Draco crying……unable to do what was asked of him….

Harry lowered his wand slightly, although he didn't want to let his guard down just yet. He held out his hand and Draco accepted it, standing up.

Why did it work? Potter actually believes me, when I say that I don't want to work for Voldemort. Of course, it's true. But that doesn't mean that I'm not working for him…If I never did something I didn't want, I wouldn't have brought the Death Eaters into the school last year.

"You're just going to let him go! After all that he's done!" shouted Weasley. "How do we know that he's not still the little ferret he always was? He could still be working for Voldemort for all we know!"

I can be evil without wanting to be. Thought Draco, although he kept silent.

"No Ron, I'm not just letting him go. Malfoy, you want to work against Him, don't you?"

Draco nodded. It's not a lie. He thought. I do want to work against him. That doesn't mean that I can.

"Than it's settled." Harry turned to his friends. "Malfoy's going to help us. He's staying."

Author's note: Hope you liked it! I tried to incorporate Draco's feelings in this, but it's a bit difficult because Draco is confused, which pretty much means that the reader is too, about his feelings, I mean. Hopefully this makes sense. I know this is a bit confusing right now, but it is supposed to be, slightly. Please review and tell me what you thought!