Endgame - A Drarry Fanfic (Harry Potter x Draco Malfoy)

Chapter 6: A Drink Between Enemies

Harry was surprised how well the Weasleys had taken it. Not just him being gay, but forgiving him for everything that happened with Ginny. Harry could tell they still weren't happy about the divorce, especially with the kids, but they didn't seem to blame him anymore. Harry felt like they should blame him though, after keeping it from Ginny all those years. Even though he didn't have it completely figured out, he should have been honest with Ginny how he was feeling.

But the Weasleys seemed to accept even more than he could that he didn't want to split up his young family, since he told them he hadn't really figured it out until after James was born, and still didn't accept it for years after, which was true. Molly apparently had spoken to her older sons, as per Harry's request she didn't mention his sexuality, but she told them they ought to forgive him. Harry hadn't seen any of them since, but he did make his way down to Diagon Alley one day to see George and Ron at Weasley Wizarding Wheezes.

They showed him lots of new pranks and candies they had been working on: Gummy Balloons that you ate and then they blew you up so you started to fly into the air, they reminded Harry of the time he had blown up his Aunt Marge; Tik Tok Ticks that bit onto someone and make them hear a ticking in their ears that would drive them mad; Karaoke Bombs, a new type of fireworks that broke into song as they exploded and the sparks would spell out the lyrics; and much more.

Afterwards, he leisurely walked around Diagon Alley, which he hadn't done in quite a long time, in fact he couldn't remember that last time he'd done it besides when he stayed in The Leaky Cauldron prior to third year at Hogwarts. When he saw the sign for the bar/motel, he decided to head in for a drink.

He walked up to the bar and ordered a mead. There was a man sitting on a stool a few seats to his right. He thought it looked like... he looked closer, "Malfoy?"

The man looked up at him. "Potter! What are you doing here?" Draco asked without the sarcastic tone Harry was used to hearing from his Hogwarts days.

"Just uhh... grabbing a drink." he said just as the bartender placed it in front of him.

"Same. Here," Draco patted the seat next to him, "Sit."

Harry was a bit surprised. Him and Draco had been amicable since after the battle of Hogwarts, and even more so since their boys became best mates, but Harry and Draco never really became friends. Harry cautiously walks over and sits himself down next to Malfoy. There was an awkward silence for a second.

"Heard about the divorce." said Draco.

"Ya."

"How you doing?"

"Alright, how have you been, Malfoy?"

"Eh, haven't been doing much. With my wife gone and Scorpius at school I'm all alone in the house. I see mother sometimes."

"How is she?" Harry asked just to be polite.

"Alright, I think. She seems to be taking dad being in Azkaban pretty well actually. Like she's finally free of him. We both are, in a way, but I still don't wish he was there."

"Ya... sorry about that." Harry said awkwardly. Harry had been a leader in the team at the Ministry that rounded up all the Deatheaters and locked them away and he actually wasn't really sorry about it at all. He thought they all got what they deserved.

"Not your fault," Draco said to Harry's surprise, "They would have locked him away with or without your help. After the Dark Lord fell, it was inevitable. I'm still surprised mother got off and I didn't even have to go to trial."

"Ya... that was lucky." said Harry looking at his drink.

"No, see that's the thing, one of my father's old friends in the Ministry told me someone - someone important - vouched for us. Couldn't tell me who it was though."

Before Draco had even finished that sentence, Harry spit his drink across the bar. "What?" Malfoy asked. Harry dabbed his mouth with his sleeve and looked up at him.

A look of realization spread across Draco's face, "It was you. Wasn't it?"

For a moment Harry thought about lying, but he didn't see the point. "Yes." he said.

Draco looked stunned, "But why?"

"Why didn't you identify me at the manor?" He didn't even have to say anything more about that day. They both knew he was talking about the time that snatchers had brought Harry, Hermione, and Ron to Malfoy manor while they had been on the run destroying horcruxes. Harry had a disfigured face and Draco was asked to identify him so he could be given to the Dark Lord, but Draco didn't.

"You know, I'm still not sure. Maybe I fancied you, Potter." he laughed at his own joke.

"Ya, right!" said Harry laughing along. "I just... wanted to be square. You saved me, I saved you."

"But you had already saved me from that fire during the battle of Hogwarts." Draco pointed out.

At this Harry just shrugged. "And what about my mother? You vouched for her too - why?"

"She also saved my life."

"What are you talking about, Potter?"

"She never told you? Always thought she brag about it one day, 'if it wasn't for me Harry Potter would be dead.'"

"Don't mock my mother, Potter!" said Draco, be he didn't really seem too angry about it. "Now tell me what you're going on about."

Harry didn't really like to talk about the battle of Hogwarts. I was a dark day, he lost a lot of friends, family even. He still blamed himself for not acting quicker. Maybe he could have prevented some deaths if he figured out he was supposed to die sooner.

He wasn't sure why he told Draco anyways, "When I was pretending to be dead, your mother was the one Voldemort sent to check if I was still alive. She knew I was alive, but she told Voldemort I wasn't."

Draco again was in shock, "Why though?"

"She asked me if you were alive, I told her you were."

"She never told me," Draco said looking down at his own drink, "She doesn't talk about the Dark Lord at all anymore. She'll speak of dad and where he is, but never why he's there."

"Ya.. well that's why I did it. I owed her, I owed you. Not just for my own life, but for the defeat of Voldemort. Otherwise I would have been dead before I got to kill him. So I figured I could at least keep you out of Azkaban." Harry also didn't believe that Draco or Narcissa were truly bad people, but he wasn't about to admit this is Draco. They were both forced into service with Voldemort by Lucius. They didn't really deserve Azkaban in Harry's mind.

To this, Draco had no words. He never thought about how saving Harry ended up with the defeat of Voldemort, which he was grateful for, his life was much better now. Most of his youth was something Draco wished he could redo, but there was no changing what's happened.

Eventually the topic changed to the kids, and so on to other things, how their lives have been since those old days. Both men had much more fun chatting and laughing about things from Hogwarts than they ever thought they would.

When it had gotten quite dark, Draco pulled out some money and paid for both their drinks, "Let's do this again sometime?" he asked, a bit apprehensively.

But Harry happy agreed, "Ya, for sure."

Draco smiled in a way Harry had never seen Draco smile before. It was a real, happy smile, before he turned and walked out the door.