Dear Draco,

I'm not going to say I wasn't surprised to receive your owl and I did consider incendioing, but alas, I didn't. After much thought I decided that it would be worth hearing you out. How does 3pm today at the Hogs head in Hogsmead sound?

Let me know.

Harry.

"I'm proud of you Harry. You've picked somewhere public yet not open." Hermione commented after reading Harry's reply. She smiled at him when he blushed with the positive enforcement. She remembered that it was only a limited amount of people that had ever told him they were proud of him.

He had broken down and told her when she told him how proud of him she was when he decided to testify at Draco and Narcissa's trials. He hid his face and tried not to let her know he had tears streaming down his face. At first she couldn't work out what she had done. She still remembered how the heartbreak felt when he eventually told her what was wrong. She insisted that he was a strong, loving and caring human being and that she was so insanely proud of him for everything he had achieved in his life.

Now she made a point of telling him every time she was proud of him.

"Well as I said, everybody deserves a second chance, and I guess this is Malfoy's." Harry commented bringing her out of her thoughts. "I mean, well you know what I mean. We already discussed this"

"Yeah I do babe, don't worry." Hermione ruffled his hair. "Do you want me to come?"

"Nah 'Mione. I'm a big boy now, I promise." Harry grinned slightly at her. She laughed and walked inside to the lounge room. The Floo went off and in walked Ron. Her smile faltered but remained slightly. Ever since Ron had accused Harry of wanting Hermione she had lost that little bit of respect for him that she had. She was angry because she wasn't a "Thing" that was there for the taking, she was a person. It was like fourth year Yule ball all over again. His emotional range wasn't even as big as a teaspoon.

"Hey baby. How are things today?" Ron asked as he walked over to kiss her. Just as she went to answer Harry walked in the room. "I thought he wasn't going to be here today."

"It's his house Ronald. Of course it was going to be here. Where did you expect him to be?" Hermione rolled her eyes. What an idiot, she thought, but thankfully didn't voice out loud.

"Don't fight with him 'Mione. Not worth it. I'm heading out now anyway to do that thing we were discussing earlier. I'll see you when I get home. I doubt I'll be too long." Harry walked over and kissed the top of her head. As he leant down he whispered in her ear. "Stay safe babe. Love you"

She nodded and mouthed that she loved him back. As he said, it wasn't worth the argument with Ron, and smiled at him as he turned on the spot and disappeared with a pop.

Harry reappeared at the hogs head with 10 minutes to spare and walked in to find a table. As soon as he entered he saw the tell-tale sign of the platinum blonde hair sitting facing away from the door. He walked up the bar and brought two fire whiskeys.

"Glad to see I'm not the only one who's nervous about this meeting then" Harry commented as he sat down and placed one of the drinks in front of Draco who looked up as Harry smiled at him.

"Can't say that you are. I've been dreading this since I got your letter this morning in a good way, and I realize how ridiculous that sounds" Draco grabbed the drink and tipped it slightly to Harry, in thanks, and took a mouthful. It was if he was trying to get the courage up to speak. "Harry, can I call you Harry?" Harry nodded. "I just wanted to, as I mentioned in my letter, say thank you for saving my Mother and I from Azkaban."

"Yes I gathered that." Harry laughed. "And you're welcome Draco. Honestly, at the end of the day you were only a child pulled into the throws of war. We all were. It was an adult war which unfortunately for us filtered down to the next generation."

Draco looked lost in thought at that. He meekly nodded and looked like he wanted to say something. "Spit it out Draco."

"I'm Sorry." He blurted out. "I'm sorry for absolutely everything I've ever done to Hermione, Ronald and you over the last 7 years Harry. I didn't deserve what you did for me, and I realize that. I deserved to be stuck in Azkaban, even when you said I was a child." He kept on when it looked like Harry was going to interrupt. "Please, just let me get this out. I was a child, and yes I was forced into getting the dark mark, but at the time I thought I wanted it. I realized after a few months that it was the wrong thing to want but by then it was too late to back out. I've thought of nothing else but apologizing to the three of you. I didn't deserve for you to save me from the Room of requirement. I deserved to die there with Crabbe."

"Stop right there Draco! I lost so many people in the war, hell, we all fucking did. But you did not deserve to die, and the fact that I could help one person, just one fucking person, and stop them from dying, then I'm glad. I'm glad it was you who I saved, because you've seen the light at the end of the tunnel. You've seen that you were on the wrong side of the war, granted you were on it for the right reasons. You were on it to protect your mum Draco, and inevitably, that saved me.

"You didn't have to pretend you didn't know who I was when I was bought into the manor at Easter, but you did. You saved me then. Then your mum saved the entire fucking wizarding world by pretending I was dead. She lied to Voldemort, which gave me the courage and strength to go on to kill him Draco."

Draco looked at him with a weird look in his eyes and his emotions showed on his face, none of which Harry could decipher because seeing it on Draco was just plain weird. Draco then smiled and took another drink.

"Another?" Draco asked pointing to Harry's glass. "My shout this round" Harry just nodded and watched as he walked over the bar to buy the drinks. It was weird, seeing Draco this open and honest, but Harry could tell he was sincere in his apology.

"It's okay, I accept and you weren't completely to blame for everything that happened at the school Draco so I apologize as well. I can't, obviously on behalf of Ron and 'Mione, but I can for me. I hope we can put it all behind us and move forward from this, perhaps we could even call a truce?" Harry blurted out as soon as Draco came back to the table with the drinks.

"Truce Harry." Draco smiled and extended his hand which Harry shook and smiled because he was sure that Draco was thinking of the first time he had rejected his hand. They stayed at the pub and talked for a few hours and it struck Harry just how easy it was to open up about things and just talk about everything but nothing at the same time.

"I'd better be off. I left 'Mione and Ron alone and things are pretty rocky. As much as I hate to leave because this has been an amazing afternoon, I need to make sure I still have a house." Draco laughed out loud.

"Sorry, not laughing at the fact their having issues, and I hope they get sorted. I'm merely laughing at the house comment. It's not as if you don't have enough money to fix it if they blow it up, or someone won't do it for The Chosen One for free."

Harry scowled as he put his jacket on as it was getting cold outside. He just watched on as Draco put his jacket on as well.

"But yes it is getting late and I had better make sure mother is alright"

"Send my love to her, will you? I'll owl you and we can work out a time to hang again yeah?" Draco smiled and nodded. As they walked out the door they nodded at each other and Harry watched as Draco turned on the spot and disappeared.

Harry followed suit and arrived in the lounge room of Grimmald place and just smiled to himself when he saw that his lounge room was indeed in fact intact.