Okay my faithful readers, first I'd like to thank you so much for seeing this story through right to the end. I know I haven't made it easy for the boys and they should probably hate me for it but I think its been a wild ride. What's that saying... 'Nothing in life worth having comes easy'... I think Harry and Draco have something worth having and something worth fighting for and that's exactly what I made them do so I hope the bounty at the end is as worth it for you as it is for them.

Once again thank you so much to Alexis who beta'd the last few chapters of this story including this one and was intrumental in me piecing together Harry's reaction to finding Draco in the closet. It was pure chance and a few of my sleep-deprived reviews that got us chatting and now I can't imagine what I would ever do without her, so thank you.

On to the main event! This is the last chapter of this story and the longest I think...

Chapter 20

Professor McGonagall was slightly annoyed at the interruption to her morning, she was going over the final draft of her third years' Transfiguration exam when Professor Flitwick stormed into her office in a rage ranting about the lack of respect her students showed to others.

She tried to refrain from rolling her eyes and sighing dramatically as she rose from her chair to address the matter.

Harry Potter, Professor Flitwick said, toppled him over not once, but twice running like a lunatic through the castle corridors.

Potter? McGonagall thought to herself, he's supposed to be in Potions class, what on Earth can he be thinking?

She ignored the rest of Professor Flitwick's tirade and went off in the direction Harry had been apparently running in search of the troubled boy. She knew all about his heartbreak of late and she had seen him moping around the castle like an inferiusever since.

She rushed down towards the dungeons quickly, hoping Harry was okay and thinking how she might punish him for his behaviour without really punishing him; the boy had gone through enough already.

She walked straight past him without seeing him at first; it was only on her way back that she thankfully took a second look and spotted Harry crumpled in the middle of a rarely used corridor. The dungeons were deserted, most of the students were in class or in their common rooms and she couldn't think why Harry would be sitting on the floor like he was.

"Mr. Potter?" she called out to him, but he didn't respond, he didn't even look up at her.

Slowly she walked up to him and she was about half way there when she noticed that Harry was not alone; he was holding someone, hugging them close.

"Harry?" she said more urgently as she rushed over to him.

"My fault, my fault," Harry chanted. "They killed him, it's my fault. I'm sorry, so sorry. They killed him, they killed him."

McGonagall gasped when she was finally able to see who Harry was holding; Draco Malfoy. He was covered in blood; she could see it soaked through his robes and matted through his hair. It looked like Harry had pulled him out of the storage cupboard which stood with its door wide open just next to where Harry sat with Draco pulled up into his lap. Harry's face was buried in Draco's neck as he rocked, tears streaming down his face.

"Harry?" McGonagall said, gently touching his shoulder.

He finally looked up at her with surprised eyes; he didn't hear her approach. "They killed him," he said.

McGonagall muttered a spell to check for a pulse and it could have only been some kind of miracle that she found one; light and fading but there.

"Harry, let him go I'm taking him to the hospital wing," she whispered gently trying to pull Draco free but Harry held on tight.

"Draco. They killed him," Harry whined helplessly.

"He's not dead, Harry," McGonagall said much more firmly. "Let him go now, I need to take him to the hospital wing."

Harry did as she requested and Draco was soon hovering easily beside her as she rushed up towards the hospital wing with Harry following blindly behind her in eerie silence.

Madam Pomfrey went straight to work as soon as she had Draco on her examination table. McGonagall marveled at how well she kept her head in such a crisis, while the nurse worked quickly and quietly, fetching this and that, muttering to herself as she cast spell after spell.

Harry was ordered to stay away and Madam Pomfrey pulled the curtain around the examination area closed so he was no longer visible; Harry panicked. He started calling out to the unconscious boy and tried to wrench open the curtain as Professor McGonagall tried to calm him down.

"Harry focus," she instructed him. "Just calm down. Breathe. Breathe."

"What's she doing?" he shouted. "Draco! Draco!" he called out desperately.

No one would expect the boy to answer Harry's call in such a state, but his lack of response only seemed to frighten the young Gryffindor more.

McGonagall was having a difficult time trying to keep Harry out of the way so that Madam Pomfrey could do her job; he was pushing up against her trying to get around the screen hiding his love.

"Draco!" he called out again. "Let me go!" he hissed at her.

"Harry, please," she begged. "You need to calm yourself so you can tell me what happened!"

"Draco!" Harry shouted, ignoring McGonagall's instructions or perhaps not hearing her at all.

Madam Pomfrey appeared from the other side of the screen. "Mr. Potter you need to leave!" she warned him harshly before turning to Professor McGonagall. "He's stable enough for now but he has extensive internal damage. You'll need to get Severus; I'll need a variety of potions, some no doubt he'll have to brew from scratch. Mr. Malfoy will need to be comatose to cope with the cocktail of potions he requires so I'll need a very potent sleeping draught right away."

McGonagall nodded and looked helplessly at the nurse as she tried to restrain a struggling Harry.

"Draco!" Harry yelled. "Can you hear me?"

"Harry! Control yourself!" Professor McGonagall scolded him; she was worried about him but she had reached her wits end with his frantic behaviour.

"Let him go, Minerva," Professor Dumbledore instructed as he swept into the hospital wing. "You don't mind if Harry sits with Mr. Malfoy, do you Poppy? As long as you aren't working on him, of course."

"Well, I-" Madam Pomfrey started to protest.

"Splendid! I knew you wouldn't mind," Dumbledore interrupted her grinning broadly.

"Albus, I don't think-" McGonagall began to add her objections to Pomfrey's.

"Harry," Dumbledore called out ignoring McGonagall entirely. He glanced behind the curtain and smiled softly as he watched Harry tenderly rubbing the back of Draco's hand and cooing at him softly, telling him everything would be okay. "Do you think you could fetch Professor Snape? It seems Madam Pomfrey needs some potions to assist in Mr. Malfoy's recovery."

Harry looked up with bright and clear eyes; it seemed the few seconds he had spent holding Draco's hand were enough to calm him and he nodded quickly before dashing from the room.

"That ought to give you a few minutes, Poppy," Dumbledore observed. "I understand this is your hospital and I wouldn't dare try to compromise your position here," he said, addressing the fretful nurse, "but I would consider it a great favour if, whenever he is not in the way of you treating Mr. Malfoy, you would let Harry sit with him as often and for as long as he likes."

"What!?" McGonagall exclaimed, before Madam Pomfrey had a chance to respond. "Albus, what can you be thinking?" McGonagall asked in disbelief.

"They are in love, Minerva," Dumbledore informed her, "and I would imagine Mr. Malfoy could do with a reason to fight for his life right about now, don't you?"

McGonagall nodded silently, agreeing that the boy could indeed use a reason to live right, but still suspicious of him in regards to Harry.

"I think love is reason enough for any person," Dumbledore added just to reinforce his point.

"I'm sure it is, Albus," she replied, "but surely you aren't actually encouraging this match?"

"And why not?" Dumbledore asked her defensively. "I think Mr. Malfoy has more than proven himself, don't you? Look at what he has endured to stand by Harry's side."

"He broke Harry's heart!" she exclaimed, shocked at Dumbledore's suggestion that Draco Malfoy might be in any way worthy of their pre-destined Saviour.

Dumbledore didn't reply and McGonagall shook her head trying to comprehend the Headmaster's declaration. "I don't understand. You think this relationship between the two of them is wise?" she asked more softly.

"I will admit I was cautious at first, I even discouraged it," Dumbledore confessed. "I was concerned about Harry's safety, particularly considering Mr. Malfoy's extracurricular activities, but the information he provided to the Order has been invaluable and he has done so at great risk. I should have known that Harry's genuine nature and pure spirit could thaw even the cool chill of the 'Slytherin Ice Prince'."

"Who?" McGonagall asked, rolling her eyes at such a ridiculous nickname.

"Some of the students are fond of calling Mr. Malfoy the 'Slytherin Ice Prince', I believe it refers to his infamous indifference and callousness towards others."

"Right," McGonagall replied unimpressed. "Well, I'm still not sure about this, Albus. I don't want to see Harry hurt again."

"We shall just have to wait to see how things play out," Dumbledore mused. "Either way their relationship, whatever it may be now, rests solely with them."

"Harry, wake up!" Hermione whispered while poking him in the side.

"Wha-?" he groaned and tried to lift his head. Bad idea.

Pain shot ruthlessly down his spine and spread slowly from the base of his neck outwards through his upper back and shoulder muscles.

"Arrrgh!" he screamed and plunked his head back onto the edge of Draco's bed. "Ow! My neck! Hermione, I can't move my head!"

"Well, you know you can't sleep that way! It cramps up your neck muscles!" she scolded him.

"Not helping, Hermione," he informed her coldly.

"Alright, alright," she sighed and cast a warming charm on his muscles before trying to roughly massage them loose.

Her firm fingers kneading his neck and shoulders hurt so much Harry wasn't entirely sure Hermione wasn't making things worse rather than better.

"Okay, okay, that's enough!" he huffed, pushing her away from him before carefully, and painfully, stretching out his neck by tilting his head side-to-side and front-to-back. "What time is it?" he asked.

"It's just before breakfast so about half past seven," Hermione told him. "You really should start going back to your own bed, he's not going to wake up until Madam Pomfrey actually wakes him and that might not be for another few days."

"I know that!" Harry snapped at her, she had been nagging him about getting a proper night's sleep for the last two weeks, ever since Draco was put in a magically induced coma. "I meant to go back to my bed last night it's just that I was reading to him and I fell asleep."

"Alright well you better come down to breakfast we have our Charms exam this afternoon," she informed him with a sympathetic glance.

Harry groaned and reluctantly released Draco's hand, casting his worried eyes over him one last time before leaving.

"He's going to be fine you know," Hermione reassured him. "With the amount of blood he lost and the extent of the internal damage it's a miracle he's alive at all, you don't think he'd bow out on you now, do you?" she said nudging his side playfully.

"Yeah, I know," he said, "but even so, we don't know how it affected his brain. I heard Madam Pomfrey telling Dumbledore that he might have brain damage, he might not be my Draco when he wakes up."

"You can't worry about that until he's conscious and you know for sure, otherwise you might be worrying for nothing," she told him.

He just nodded; it was no use, he was going to worry whether it was logical or not.

Hermione had been very supportive of Harry over the last two weeks. He could tell she was concerned about the amount of time he was spending here with Draco but, thankfully, she had not voiced it to him. He knew how difficult it was for her to keep her opinions to herself, particularly when it concerned him or Ron, and he assumed she refrained because she thought he had enough to deal with right now.

"Malfoy's parents were here again yesterday, did you hear?" Hermione said softly. "Dumbledore had to have them forcibly removed from the grounds and Lucius Malfoy was screaming about suing the school for assault the whole way out, it was rather funny actually. Hagrid had a ball throwing him through the gate. Literally. I think he was airborne for a second!"

Harry smiled weakly; as amusing as it was visualizing Lucius Malfoy flying through the air, it unnerved him that Draco's parents were being so persistent. He just thanked the heavens that Draco had lodged his emancipation request with the Ministry when he did or the Malfoys could have had custody of him.

Harry bit his bottom lip as he thought about Draco alone up there in the hospital wing; he didn't like being away from him in case something happened. He felt like it was his fault Draco was attacked; Harry had left him out there alone for all those months as he was hit from all sides – light (for betraying Harry) and dark (for betraying Voldemort). He had been too busy thinking about himself and how much being around Draco hurt him and forgot to worry about who was protecting Draco when he had just lost everything and was at his most vulnerable. But he fully intended to make up for that now which is why he spent every spare second at Draco's bedside and only left when Hermione forced him to go to class or when he had an exam.

The Charms exam that afternoon was more painful than the vigorous revision session Hermione forced him and Ron to endure after breakfast in the hours before it. As usual the vivacious frizzy-haired brunette was finished before both her friends and they all got to watch her bounce from the exam room at least forty minutes before time was up. Harry groaned as he watched her but forced himself to stay for the remaining time no matter how tempting it was to hand in his unfinished exam and go straight back down to see Draco.

As soon as he left the exam room, despite not being able to answer at least two of the questions, he felt strangely light. Only one more exam to go and he still had a week to study for it. He chatted with Ron about one of the questions as they filed out but stopped mid-sentence when he spied a flustered and red-faced Hermione waiting for them.

"What's wrong 'Mione?" Ron asked her carefully, he was clearly unsure if her displeasure was his fault and was concerned he would be in for a very long lecture about precisely what it was he did wrong.

"I tried to tell them, Harry," she said quickly. "I told them they should wait, I even swore at them – I swore at a professor, Harry!" she ranted working herself up all over again.

"What is it!?" he asked urgently.

"They woke Malfoy up while you were in the exam, they didn't want you around in case something went wrong," she explained.

Harry didn't even wait to ask whether or not something had gone wrong, he just took off at a sprint to the hospital wing with Hermione and Ron running not far behind. He pushed into the wing with a loud crash and tripped over himself sending a nearby tray of Pomfrey's medical tools clanging to the floor before picking himself up and darting around to Draco's bed.

"Harry!" Draco gasped in surprise at the other boy's loud entrance.

He was sitting up in bed looking pleasantly flushed and alert with bright eyes and cup of hot tea in his hands.

"Draco," Harry greeted awkwardly, suddenly not sure what to say now that Draco was awake.

He glanced at Dumbledore who was standing at the end of Draco's bed grinning broadly and glancing between the two of them with twinkling eyes.

"Mr. Malfoy is doing just fine," Dumbledore told him happily. "He seems to remember everything; he was able to give us a full description of the attack and Severus has the culprits in his office being interrogated by Ministry Aurors. They should be charged with attempted murder and grievous bodily harm, two of them were seventeen and face time in Azkaban and the other three will be expelled and face a good few years in juvenile detention."

Harry clenched his fists. "Voldemort will have them out before school starts back," he spat out bitterly.

"Perhaps," Dumbledore agreed. "Let's hope not though. The good news is Draco's speech and cognitive skills seem to be unaffected, he is perhaps having a little difficulty with some motor functions but nothing that a little regular exercise won't cure."

"Okay," Harry replied glancing back up at Draco who looked more than a little annoyed at being spoken about like he was still unconscious.

Harry stared uncomfortably at Draco wondering what to say next. Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey, Ron and Hermione were all looking on expectantly.

"So you're feeling okay, then?" he asked.

"Um, yeah, pretty good I guess, you know… considering the circumstances," Draco replied just as awkwardly.

"Right," Harry nodded.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "I think we all have things to be getting on with, don't you?" he said before shuffling everyone out so that the two boys could have some time alone.

Draco smiled at Harry broadly. "I can't tell you how glad I am you're here," he said. "I mean these last few months have been – well, you know how they've been – and I didn't know if you'd ever speak to me again."

Harry just nodded; he understood but he was still at a loss for what to say so he just moved over to sit in his usual chair beside Draco's bed.

Draco huffed in a playfully childlike manner. "You're too far away!" he whined. "It's been months and we're finally back together, you think I'm going to let you sit so far away?"

Harry's head snapped up to look at Draco. "Back together?" he asked confused and a little nervous.

"Yeah," Draco replied, suddenly not so sure of himself. "Madam Pomfrey has been complaining since I woke up and asked for you about you being here all the time – sleeping here, studying here. She said you were always in her way holding my hand when she was trying to do check ups… I thought you wanted me back, that you still loved me."

Draco's forehead was creased in a deep worried frown, he was wringing his hands together and Harry knew he couldn't lie to him; hadn't there been enough lies between them?

"I do still love you," he admitted softly.

"So we can fix things," Draco stated, "get back together, back to how things were?"

"No," Harry said sadly. "I don't think we can."

Draco's face fell and his jaw set as he tried to be strong. "Why not?"

"I don't want to jump straight back into things, I think that was part of the problem last time," Harry surmised. "We got caught up in all the sex and never really got to know each other. I think I want to be friends first this time and see how we feel later on."

"Friends?" Draco asked gently.

"Yes, friends," Harry confirmed.

"Well, that's something I guess," Draco smiled weakly; he knew he should happy – 'friends' was more than he ever thought he would get – but he was still disappointed.

Harry smiled. "I think you've been exempt from exams this year, lucky bastard," he informed Draco with a grin, trying to lighten the mood; he knew Draco was upset Harry didn't want to get romantically involved again.

Draco smiled back but didn't reply and the two boys sat in silence.

"Harry?" Draco asked trying to look innocent. "Do friends kiss?"

Harry couldn't help himself, he had to laugh. "Oh yeah," he replied cheekily. "Ron and I make out all the time!"

Draco was bored.

He had been cooped up in the hospital wing for a week now and while Harry visited him every day, he had only been able to see him for five minutes before breakfast that morning because he had his final exam in the afternoon That insufferable nurse blatantly refused to release him and he had been told he would be staying under her care until the Hogwarts Express arrived to take them all back to Kings Cross Station which was still another three days away!

Draco groaned as he picked up his book again; he had been reading it all morning and even though it was one of his favourites he'd still read it more times than he had fingers and toes and even the detailed battle scenes got a little tedious after several hours.

"I can't believe you'd groan at reading that book!" Hermione chastised him as she strode into the room. "It's a classic!"

"This coming from a muggle?" Draco retorted.

"Doesn't mean I haven't read it at least a few times by now!" she quipped.

"So where's our Harry?" Draco asked keenly. "As close as we are Granger, I much prefer his company to yours."

"Ditto, Malfoy," she replied. "And he's in an exam, you know that."

"So he sent you to check on me?"

"Of course, not that you deserve it," she replied teasingly.

Draco wondered how much of it was teasing and how much she actually believed it.

"How are you feeling?" she asked eventually.

"Fine mostly," he replied. "My muscles are still a bit sore, this physical therapy Pomfrey has me doing is punishing!"

"I'm sure it will get easier," she tried to reassure him. "Actually, Harry didn't send me, I wanted to talk to you without him around," she confessed suddenly.

"You did, huh?"

She nodded, but didn't elaborate.

"Are you going to make me guess?" he asked after a while.

"Did you know that before I came to Hogwarts I never hated anybody?" Hermione began. "Of course with everything that's happened over the years that has changed rather dramatically but I think it's safe to say that you were the first person I ever truly hated."

Draco raised his eyebrows curious as to where this conversation would go, especially as there was no anger or bitterness in her tone. "Glad to be your first," he replied sarcastically, not sure what else to say to such a confession.

Hermione ignored his quip and continued speaking. "So you can imagine how difficult it was for me to try to understand and accept your relationship with Harry," she said almost inquiring if Draco could understand; he did and he nodded to demonstrate this.

"Now that everything has come out," she continued, "you can imagine my surprise when I found myself thinking that despite your despicable history, extremely poor judgment and horrid decision-making skills, you may in fact be the right person for Harry after all."

Draco's jaw dropped; he wasn't entirely sure what he was expecting her to say but he was definitely sure it wasn't that.

"Umm," was all he could manage to reply.

"I realize he is attempting to forge a friendship with you, but in all honesty he still doesn't trust you," she informed him, "not in the way it counts, not with his heart."

His elation at having someone else agree that he was perfect for Harry died quickly at these words and he felt sick at the idea that Harry didn't trust him; didn't Harry know he would rather die than hurt him again?

"But I think if you could manage the practically impossible task of getting him to trust you like that again, you might be able to make him happier than anybody else could ever hope to," she finished.

"I don't understand what you want," Draco mumbled still shocked at her words.

"I have come to this conclusion just from watching you and Harry – apart and together – over the last few months," she said, ignoring his comment. "I've been thinking about what you did and why and while I think you're an idiot who made some bad decisions, I don't think you did it maliciously. You've paid a high price to side with Harry and you stuck by it even when it looked like he would never even speak to you again, let alone forgive you."

"Are you serious?" Draco asked, still unsure of what she wanted him to say.

"Dead," she replied. "Ultimately – however it came about - you switched sides and I respect you for that. You gave up a lot and so far haven't received much more than a beating for it. Maybe you should have been honest from the start; perhaps you wouldn't be in this mess."

"I've been thinking about that," he admitted, finally able to say something substantial. "What I should have done differently – and I just can't see a moment where I made a decision that I could have made a different way. Does that make sense?"

Hermione frowned. She had come to Malfoy to seek some kind of confirmation of her stance, some sort of proof that she was right, that Draco was right for Harry and it didn't look like she was going to get it. If she had she would have assisted him in some way at winning Harry's trust back.

"Not really," she replied. "I can see a thousand bad decisions that you made."

Draco laughed bitterly. "So can I," he agreed, "but I meant decisions I made about Harry. Sometimes I wonder if there was a way I could have hurt him less but still managed to have what we did."

"You could have said something at the beginning," she offered.

"I didn't trust him enough to tell him at the beginning," Draco declared. "When this started I," Draco paused, almost thinking better of what he was about to say. "God, I'm going to sound like a monster, I didn't mean it that way but-"

Hermione didn't respond, instead she just waited for him to gather his confidence and continue.

"When this started I thought I could use him to please the Dark Lord, I guess essentially hand him over," he described cringing at the thought. "I never wanted him to die though not once ever have I wanted him to die – even before we..."

Hermione saw Draco blush for the first time and she softened at the sight.

"But I was so scared and so desperate I never even thought about what would happen to Harry if I did let them have him, I just thought about what it would mean for me; the Dark Lord's good graces, my family's safety, my safety," he continued, ashamed at his words. "Then I started to fall for him and I started to realize just how much trouble I was in. If I told Harry the truth I would lose him, he would hate me and at that stage I wasn't even sure he would help me – maybe he would just cut and run leaving me to the Dark Lord's mercy or lack thereof."

Hermione nodded to show she understood what he was saying and to encourage him to continue.

"So telling the truth was out," he concluded. "I thought about ending it, hurting him but not exposing myself, just getting on with my task and living the life I was raised to live; the life I'd been prepared for. But every time I decided I was going to end it and tried to tell him, there he would be just standing there with his crazy hair, wrinkled uniform and this ridiculous smile on his face and the words would sit there at the back of my throat and they wouldn't come out. In my head I would say 'Harry, I can't see you anymore' but my mouth would say 'Harry, you look incredible.'"

Hermione smiled at this and she felt herself melt at how adorable that sounded.

"Sorry, I'm talking too much aren't I?" he said, blushing again with embarrassment. He had just let himself think about how much he'd said and he froze up. His Malfoy instincts told him he'd revealed too much, but when it came to Harry he just couldn't control himself. Besides, he'd had all these thoughts bottled up inside him for months with no release and part of him needed to share the burden.

"Malfoy, please keep going," Hermione encouraged him. "I want to hear this; it's why I'm here. I want you to prove to me that you are good enough for him, that you'll love him the way I think you will."

"No one will ever be good enough for Harry," Draco said with a shy smile, "least of all someone like me. But I can promise you that I will love him with all that I am, I can't help it; I'm addicted to him."

"I hope so," she smiled as she felt tears well up in her eyes. "Keep going. You were just saying how you knew you loved him but couldn't let him go."

"Right," Draco nodded. "Okay, well the day I realized I was in love with him was the day I realized I was in more trouble than I'd ever been in my whole life."

Draco smoothed out his bed sheets as he watched Hermione look on like a fascinated child being told an exciting bedtime story. He felt a little silly talking to her this way but he would do anything to get her on his side; it could only help him in his quest to win back Harry's heart.

"I was left in a position I couldn't see my way out of," he continued to explain. "I could keep going with the relationship which at this point was my only lifeline to my sanity after living in a dorm full of Slytherins and Death Eaters with the Dark Lord and my father breathing down my neck all the time. But the longer we continued the relationship the more we risked getting caught which could only lead to either Harry's demise or my own."

Hermione nodded, she knew well the dangers the two of them would have faced had they been caught by the wrong people.

"Or I could end the relationship," Draco continued, "which would mean a life as a Death Eater for me, but it would keep Harry safe. Or I could confess to Harry and beg for sanctuary which would condemn my parents to death as the Dark Lord would see my betrayal as their fault. Stupidly I convinced myself I could keep Harry a secret and choose my fate when school was over and I wouldn't have to face a house full of angry Slytherins when I switched sides."

Hermione sighed as she began to understand the full weight of his dilemma.

"I also thought it would give me time to somehow find a way to save my parents, who I still love despite everything; they are my parents after all," he sighed.

Hermione frowned sadly; she felt so sorry for him. She couldn't imagine what it must be like to have parents that were willing to hurt or kill you and here Draco was experiencing just that and he didn't even hate them; he wanted to save them.

"I guess there it is, the moment I made the wrong decision; I should have ended things with Harry. Although knowing Harry it would have been messy and I would have had to confess everything to him anyway," Draco laughed bitterly.

"Yes, knowing Harry that's probably true," Hermione said. "But I disagree with you, ending it wouldn't have been the right decision. How would living life as a Death Eater be the right decision?"

"I wouldn't have been alive long enough to live the life of a Death Eater," he shrugged.

"Then how is your death the right decision?!" Hermione snapped, outraged at his indifference to his death.

"Better than Harry's death," he stated.

"You were right the first time, there was no 'right' decision, you had to make some impossible choices all by yourself. You did the best you could Draco!" she said harshly still angry that he would throw himself away like that so casually.

"Draco?" he smirked, teasing her for her slip-up.

"Yes, well," she blushed. "Harry calls you Draco all the time. Perhaps it's something we might try; after all we are fighting on the same side now. You can call me Hermione."

Draco smiled, glad she had finally warmed to him and even more pleased that he had managed to win her over by being honest with her. Perhaps Harry would see it the same way if he ever got the chance to explain it to him.

Maybe he wasn't such a monster after all.

"You ready to go?" Harry asked him with a smile. "Or do you want to stay a bit longer?"

"God no," Draco groaned. "Get me out of here!"

Harry laughed as he picked up Draco's bag and headed for the double doors that led out of the hospital wing.

"My God! What do you have in here? Bludgers and bricks?" he asked referring to the weight of the bag.

"Just a few books," Draco admitted sheepishly.

"A few? Or an entire library?"

Draco just rolled his eyes and they walked in silence. As they neared the Entrance Hall Draco suddenly stopped.

"Harry," he said catching the Gryffindor's attention. "I know you'll be fine with it but I feel weird not asking first, you know?"

"Just ask!" Harry laughed.

"Dumbledore has found me somewhere to stay for the summer, I'll be with Order members so I'll be protected, well that's what he says," Draco scoffed as though he didn't know how protected a former Death Eater would be with the Order. "But he says the house is yours and I just wanted to make sure you knew I was staying there."

Harry laughed and gave Draco a playful punch. "Of course I know! Dumbledore would never have offered if I didn't approve, besides I was the one who suggested it. We had it all planned even before-" Harry paused abruptly mid-sentence.

"Before we started talking again?" Draco asked.

"Yeah, before you got hurt," Harry whispered, looking away uncomfortably.

"Thank you," Draco said genuinely, his voice full of emotion. "Harry," he whispered as he gently ran his hand down Harry's arm towards his hand so he might grasp it and pull him close.

Harry pulled away sharply. "Don't," he said firmly. "We need to go, the train-" he said, but he walked away before finishing his sentence.

The train ride was an awkward affair after their exchange and Draco regretted his small action enormously. He had hoped Harry would at least kiss him before they parted, after all they wouldn't see each other for months while Harry was with his muggle relatives over the summer. Draco didn't understand why Harry would stay with people he hated so much when he had his own house, but from what he'd heard Harry say to his friends he didn't understand either. It sounded like a case of Dumbledore at his finest; vague and confusing, half explaining things and expecting everyone to follow blindly.

As the train pulled in Draco felt dread clench at his stomach, he'd had no success making amends with Harry for crossing the line before and he was scared they would leave things this way over the summer. He bid Hermione farewell and, much to Ron's obvious disgust and his surprise, she even hugged him. He said goodbye to Ron and was rudely snubbed, not that he cared much. But when it came time to leave Harry his throat closed up with emotion and he had to forcefully push it away.

"I'm sorry about before, I shouldn't have done that," Draco said after staring at each other for a few awkward moments.

"That's okay, I know why you did, it's just... I can't handle that right now," Harry replied. "It's just as hard for me, Draco," he huffed when he noticed Draco slump his shoulders in disappointment.

"I know, I'm sorry," Draco apologized again.

"It's okay."

"Look, I know you don't trust me yet," Draco said, shaking his head as he saw Harry try to object, "not completely anyway. Don't deny it."

Harry gazed at his feet as Draco spoke.

"I was wondering if you might let me earn it back though, all of it," Draco asked determinedly, "your trust, your heart. I'll earn it little by little if I have to, even if it takes the rest of my life, which I'm now fully expecting to be long and healthy!" he added, jokingly.

Harry smiled weakly. "It's not an easy thing, Draco," he said. "With everything that happened, you know…" Harry sighed, running a hand through his unruly hair. "It hurt."

Draco cringed as he felt guilt wash over him afresh.

"I'm not trying to make you feel bad or anything, it's just the truth," Harry stated. "You broke my heart so it might take me a while to trust you enough to let you have it back."

Draco nodded sadly.

"But I'll try," Harry finished with a small smile. "If you'll try, I'll try too."

Draco grinned in undisguised happiness and almost hugged Harry right there on the platform until he thought better of it.

"Right," he said instead. "Right. Good, good. Um, I guess we should be going?"

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "Um, have a good summer, Draco."

Harry turned and began walking over to a group of unpleasant looking people; a big fat man, a portly boy about their age and a skinny woman with a crinkled nose who looked as though she was standing in a sewerage tank and not a train station.

Draco felt anxious as Harry walked away, they'd patched things up as much as they could for now and Harry had promised to try and trust him again, what more could he ask for? He didn't know what it was, but it just didn't feel right.

"Harry!" he yelled out loudly. Harry turned to look at him, but so did half the people in the train station, most of them Hogwarts students. He cupped his hands around his mouth in a funnel shape to make sure the Gryffindor heard each word. "I love you!!" he shouted across the platform.

The world seemed to pause for moment. Everyone stared, including Harry's family, but Draco barely noticed as he waited to see what Harry would do. He seemed to be trying to decide something and after a few seconds he smiled and dropped his trunk where he stood and began to sprint back over to where Draco waited for him.

Draco grinned as he realized what was coming and he dropped his luggage too, running forward until he had Harry wrapped tightly in his arms. He wanted to pick up the slight boy and run away with him, but he knew he couldn't; he knew this was a gift Harry was giving him and he couldn't hope to have him again this way for a very long time, especially as they were about to spend the summer apart.

Harry crushed his lips up against Draco's hard at first before loosening his tight hold and kissing him tenderly. Draco forced himself to let Harry lead, the last thing he wanted was to push him too far again; something he seemed to do too well and too often.

Harry kissed him lightly, sucking on his bottom lip and dipping his tongue just barely into Draco's mouth to taste him. Draco tasted him back and held him close, trying to remember every last detail, not knowing when or even if it might happen again. Harry pulled back and kissed him one last time.

"This doesn't change anything," he said finally.

"I know," Draco replied – and he did know.

He watched Harry walk away, but this time it didn't feel so wrong. That kiss was like a promise that things would get better, that even though it didn't seem like it now, things would go back to normal and together they would be happy.

Draco felt someone come up behind him. "You okay, Cousin?" they asked.

Draco turned around to see a woman he had only ever seen from a distance and never been introduced to; his cousin, Nymphadora Tonks. Her hair was bright pink and she wore a sympathetic smile.

Another ally in the Order, he thought. Perhaps things won't be so bad after all.

"I will be," he answered as he turned back around to watch Harry walking away with his muggle family.

She smiled and looked at him as though she knew what he meant. "Come on," she urged him, "let's get you back to headquarters."

Well thats it. The end. I've left the ending open deliberately because I think that Draco earning Harry's trust back completely will be a whole story on its own! There's another saying that goes 'It takes a second to betray someone's trust and a lifetime to earn it back'... Hopefully it wont take Draco a lifetime, just another fic, as in a sequel if you want one...

Do you want a sequel? Hands up if you do!

I only get a handful of reviews for each chapter and I know from the amount of alerts and favourites that I get that there are so much more of you actually reading it so I'd like to implore you to review now since this is the last one. I've put alot of effort into this story and your reviews are the only thing I receive in return, its the only way I can gauge how its being received.

Thanks again so much to all of you that liked my story enough to get this far. Thanks again to Alexis. And I hope you keep reading my other work and look out for a sequel if you all want it!