The Summer That Changed Everything ⤘ DRARRY

T W E N T Y - E I G H T

Draco lit up almost instantly. He was alright. Harry was going to be okay.

"Come with me dear," Molly smiled, making way for Draco. "I'll take you to him."

Draco followed behind Narcissa down a set of stairs and around a corner. A hallway surrounded by doors and people. Great. They wove their way through the crowd, finally making it into the room. Surprisingly, only two people were in the room: Ex-Professor Remus Lupin, and Dumbledore.

Harry was talking quietly to Lupin, and didn't seem to notice Draco's presence.

"How have you been holding up?" Lupin asked, a look of sympathy shadowing his face.

"I don't know…" Harry sniffled, wiping his eyes. "I miss him, Remus. He didn't deserve it… I wanted to kill Belatrix. I almost did…"

Lupin nodded sincerely. Were they talking about Sirius?

"What about you? You don't look well," Harry said.

"It's been rough. I wasn't able to sleep for weeks. It was odd not having him there. Everything felt empty. He was my best mate. I don't think I'll ever recover from it…"

"You loved him, didn't you?" 

Lupin nodded. "I did."

Harry wrapped Lupin in a hug. "I loved him too. He was like my father."

The two stayed that way until Dumbledore cleared his throat, alerting the two that Draco was here. Lupin stood up and ran a scarred hand through Harry's hair.

"I'll see you later, Harry."

Harry nodded, saying goodbye to Lupin. He and Molly left the room, shutting the door behind her. Draco could hear her shooing the other's away, telling them to come back later.

"Take a seat, Draco. We need to talk." Dumbledore ordered.

Draco swallowed, moving to the chair Lupin had previously been sitting on. He nodded a hello to Harry, complete with a small. Which Harry greatly returned.

"Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore started. "The stunt you pulled the other night was incredibly stupid."

Draco resisted rolling his eyes, though it was a hard urge to fight.

"Not only did you risk your life, in fact you were very close to dying, you risked the lives of others. Do you understand how dangerous this was? Mr. Weasley, Ms. Granger, and Harry all could have died. You deliberately disobeyed my orders to stay at 4 Privet Drive! Do you know the reason you were put there, Mr. Malfoy? To keep you safe and away from Death Eaters. However-"

"That place wasn't safe in the first place," Harry exclaimed. "Professor McGonagall even told you so! The day you dropped me off there!"

"I was trying to get him away from that house," Draco defended. "I didn't expect to be surrounded like that. I couldn't bear to stand there idly and let Harry be forced around like that."

"I wasn't finished," Dumbledore said, calmly now. "However, you did what you thought was best. You found yourself in a situation similar to your own, as I have been informed. And, better yet, you rescued a person you cared about."

Draco could feel Harry's eyes on him. He didn't dare look back. There would be time to talk later. Draco didn't want to confess anything to Harry in front of Dumbledore. In fact, it was the last thing he wanted.