A Whole Lot Of Capitals - AKA The Potter Problem Project - Drarry

In Which Shit Goes Down

Harry began the second half of his life by owling Ron and Hermione on his way to Malfoy Manor to tell them to meet him there. If he was correct, he'd need people to be on his side.

When he got there, Draco let him in and led him to his mother with only a, "She thought you'd come by again."

When he got into the room, he looked at Narcissa and said, "Do you want him to be here for this?"

"You think he should know?"

"I think he deserves to know."

"What are you two on about?"

Harry turned to Draco. "I've figured out the identity of your father's killer."

"Was it paperweight guy? It was, wasn't it?"

Instead of answering, Harry held out the bouquet of flowers for Narcissa and she took them. He'd put a cut of Pieris japonica in there too and when she saw it she breathed in sharply and brushed her finger against it. She smiled at him for the first time.

"Tell him," she said.

Ron and Hermione appeared in the doorway and he gestured for them to stay there.

"I realised the main problem I was having with this whole thing was thinking like a person instead of thinking like an Auror. I might not be one anymore," he quieted the noises of concern from everyone, "but that doesn't mean I was any less brilliant at my job." Malfoy scoffed at this.

"When I first opened the case file for the Malfoy Murder Mission, I knew a few things. Number one, there were two samples of DNA from the crime scene and Number two, Narcissa Malfoy had been absent on the night of the murder so there were no witnesses. Then, I learned a few more things. I learned that Narcissa cared for her son more than anyone on the planet and that she'd do anything to keep him safe, even from her husband." He ticked this off as three on his fingers. "I learned that Draco was engaged to Astoria Greengrass after the war and only broke it off because of her health, even though she was the only woman he would have been happy marrying. I learned that he then got engaged to a new woman he'd never met in order to produce an heir upon marriage, an engagement that dissolved with his father's death. I visited Finnley Shaw in New York and learned that he was close with the Malfoy's when they were young, and he wanted to keep the killer's identity from Draco as well. I wrongly assumed this made him the killer. I tested DNA sample after DNA sample that all, yes all, came up negative, and I learned that no matter how pureblooded the pureblood DNA was, it was never as close of a match to Draco's as the original DNA had been. And finally, upon visiting Narcissa, I learned that Draco was right in his estimation about how much she cared for him. She wanted to keep Draco from knowing the identity of his father's killer because it would only hurt him more. Why would this information hurt him? It wouldn't if it weren't for the fact that the killer was-"

"Her," Draco said.

Harry stopped and Draco looked at his mother without speaking.

"Harry, mate," said Ron, "What's been going on?"

"You..." Draco trailed off, not leaving room for Harry to respond.

"It was the only way, love. You were setting yourself up for a miserable existence, married to a person you could never truly love. No one should have to suffer that. He'd already taken your childhood from you, I couldn't let him take the rest of your life too." Narcissa's voice was remarkably steady through all this, though her hands shook as she placed them on Draco's arms.

"You killed him," he said. His voice didn't show any hint of emotion at first and then his face morphed into a mask of anger. "You're.. you killed him!"

Draco's shout echoed in the silence that followed.

Finally, Hermione broke it. "What do we do now?"

"Well that all depends on Draco," Harry answered. "Technically, I'm not an Auror anymore, so I couldn't arrest her even if I wanted to."

"But you'll still report it, won't you?" Draco looked unsure. He wasn't yelling anymore. 

"Not if you don't want me to. They won't either." Ron and Hermione nodded their agreement after a lot of pointed eyeing from Harry.

"She's my mum," he said, and that was enough. He collapsed into her arms.

Draco had already lost one parent. He wasn't going to put the other one away.

'So what now?' Hermione's words tumbled around in Harry's head. He'd spent the last few months falling arse over tea kettle for Draco Sodding Malfoy, and there was no going back now. He'd committed crimes, he'd lost his job, and he'd mourned the death of a loved one and the first chapter of his life. Now was a time for new beginnings, now was a time for moving on.