The Last Year

Confronting Draco

Sunday came and went, and sooner than they hoped, they were back in potions. Harry no longer had the Half-Blood Prince to help him, and Slughorn was quickly realizing Harry was not as talented as he had come to believe he was.

Now, truly, if Harry concentrated, he was more than decent in potion-making, and with no Snape to antagonize him, he did better. But he was not as good as he had been before, and this hurt his track record with Slughorn.

However, the same could not be said for Transfiguration. Harry was discovering he was much better at Transfiguration than he thought and predicted that if he continued to train privately and incorporated transfiguration into his practices, he would improve exponentially.

His improvement in his schoolwork not only made him feel better, but it also made Hermione happier. He was aware that her biggest issue with him and Ron was their lack of attention and care towards their education, and while they still did not view it as affectionally as she did, Harry at least was gaining a new appreciation for it.

Nonetheless, as the day progressed, he became more and more excited. Tonight, he would be announcing the dates for Quidditch Tryouts. He still loved Quidditch more than anything else school-related. Of course, this year would be special. It was his last year of Quidditch at Hogwarts, as well as his last year as Captain. It wouldn't only be his last year. Many of those a year behind him such as Ginny, Neville, and Luna had decided to continue to their seventh year as well; meaning Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Luna, and others were all in the same year for once. Therefore, it would be his, Ron's, and Ginny's last year of Quidditch as well.

As soon as Defense Against the Dark Arts dismissed Harry pushed his way through the hallways until he reached the Gryffindor Common Room. He found the announcement board and posted a flyer. This flyer told readers that next Monday through Wednesday would be tryouts for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team from six to seven each night. There was only a small group of people in the common room, most likely people would see this later tonight.

Harry decided to return to his private training spot and continue working on levitating objects while fighting. He exited the portrait hole and began ascending the stairs. Once he reached the seventh floor he turned left and walked towards the wall that held the door. However, before he could reach the door, he heard grunting from one of the empty classrooms to his right.

He silently raised his wand and quietly opened the door to the dark classroom. As he entered, he found two Slytherin boys taking turns beating Draco, who they had suspended between two desks. Harry cleared his throat loudly and the two turned around simultaneously.

"Expelliarmus!" The one on the left cried.

Harry blocked that spell quickly.

"Levicorpus!" The other one yelled.

Harry easily blocked this one as well. He flicked his wand, and both began to levitate.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Suddenly, both boys froze while in the air. He lifted his levitation spell and both boys fell to the ground.

As Harry approached the two, he realized these two had been the same boys who had been pestering Draco on the first day of classes. He stood over them.

"I told you there would be issues if I even saw you look at him, and now you're hitting him? Fifty points from Slytherin for each of you and I will recommend a month of detention for both of you. Let's see how much your housemates like you now."

He unfroze them and handed each their wand before pushing them out the door. He watched to make sure they descended before entering the room once again to check on Draco.

When he entered the room, Draco was huddled in the corner, small sniffles coming from him. Harry slowly walked towards him. He reached his huddled form and crouched down.

"Are you okay?" He asked quietly.

No answer came.

Harry paused a moment, "Draco, it's okay. I'm asking if you're okay, do you need to go see Madam Pomfrey.

Draco stood up and pushed Harry to the ground. He glared at him and turned on his heel, walking away. For a moment, anger boiled to the surface and Harry contemplated hexing him right there. But he remembered everything they had been through in the past, and everything Draco was being put through right now. Yes, Draco had made mistakes, they both had, but he did not deserve to be treated like this.

Harry waited a few moments and finally got up. He closed the classroom door behind him and descended the stairs until he reached the medical wing. He found Madam Pomfrey and told her what had happened.

"I asked if he needed to see you and didn't answer, but those two guys got him pretty good. I would feel better if you went and checked on him privately."

Madam Pomfrey agreed and Harry thanked her. He left to eat dinner in the Great Hall with Hermione and the others.

Dinner that night was exceptionally good. The food was perfect, and everyone ate seconds and thirds of everything. Once they had finished, Harry and the other two decided to recline by the lake to watch the sunset. They had just managed to find their favorite spot and begin getting comfortable when Draco came out of nowhere, marching towards them. They could see the anger blazing on his face from a hundred meters away.

As Harry stood to greet him, Draco grabbed him by the collar and pushed him into the tree they were sitting under. He raised his wand to Harry's chin.

"You sent her to check on me? She came into the Slytherin Common Room and asked to see me in front of everyone! You humiliated me, Potter! What is your deal with trying to help me? Leave me alone!"

Ron was up and had his wand to Draco's head in a flash. Harry looked at Ron and waved him off. He slowly dropped his wand from Draco's back.

"Look, I thought you could have been hurt. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I wasn't trying to humiliate or embarrass you, I'm sorry."

"You don't know what it's like. I was a king, I ruled Slytherin, even in the second year, I had control! I did what I wanted, and people got out of my way! Now I can't walk down the hall without someone heckling me. My family is a mess, my father is a disgrace! I carry around all this guilt! I never wanted to be a death eater, I just wanted to do whatever I wanted! Then I almost killed Katie Bell, and she won't look at me, and I came this close to killing Dumbledore! I was going to kill him, and he offered to help me, to forgive me! You don't know how my house works, every time someone see's you near me they call me a turncoat. You checking on me, watching out for me is making it worse!"

"You're right, everything you said is true, and I'm sorry. I just, after all this time, I don't want things to be like they always have been. I see good in you Draco, and I don't want to fight you anymore. I killed Voldemort and I died. Once you die, everything changes, you gain perspective. Look, we don't have to be friends, even though I wish we could. But I will watch your back, but I will try to do it more privately."

Draco looked up at Harry, who he still had wandpoint, and looked at the other two. He slowly let go of Harry and straightened his robes. He looked around once more and awkwardly backed away, muttering sorry a few times, before disappearing into the dusk.