Before Draco could even explain his intentions as he entered the hole, he was shoved against a wall, the hard dirt poking into his back and he could feel a wand pressed against his throat.

"The bloody hell are you doing here?" Ron hissed, his left hand holding onto Draco's collar, the other gripping his wand.

"At ease, mate!" Theo hollered, holding his hands up in defense.

Ron whipped his head to look at him, his eyes narrow, and reluctantly let go of Draco's collar. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't hex him into next year," he murmured, his wand still raised.

Draco Held his arms up slowly, showing he had no wand in his hands and looked to Theo for help.

"He wants to join," Theo replied, staring intently at Ron. "He knows he was wrong. He knows his father is wrong. He knows that spawning is just wrong. He wants to help us."

Draco turned with confusion to look at Theo. Where had Theo been all these years as the war had raged on? As Draco and Lucius stood by Voldemort, he realized that he couldn't recall Theo or Pansy at the meetings, just Blaise. Eventually, Blaise had stopped coming as well. Draco had thought nothing of it , but now, as he stood in front of a very pissed off Ronald Weasley, he found that Theo was the one protecting him, even though they both had been in allegiance with the Dark Lord.

Or had they?

"Theo, you've been helping them?" he asked in a low gasp of astonishment.

Theo shrugged. "I've never been known for following the rules, Malfoy," he retorted, making Ron slowly lower his wand, tucking it into his belt loop.

"How do we know he's not one of them?" Ron questioned, eyeing Draco up and down. "How do we know he's not a spy?"

"Because apparently, there is a spy amongst one of us," Theo said, his eyes flicking around the room. "Our fathers have intelligence about your movement. That can only be from someone feeding them information. Who it is, we don't know, but for now the safe house is no longer safe, and we need to get you all moving."

Apparently, this was a good enough explanation for Ron and he turned to the group of people huddled behind him, barking out orders. "Right, don't drag your feet, get moving," he commanded, to which everyone began to move, murmurs fluttering throughout the group in tense, excited tones.

A woman with short hair and pale eyes walked up to Draco, grabbing him by the sleeve. "M-my daughter, s-s-she was kidnapped, by your father," she whispered, tripping over her words. "Is she, is she alive? My Maisie, is she okay?"

Draco stared at her incredulously, and he was able to see where Maisie had gotten her features from; she had her mother's eyes, but her brows were thicker, probably from her father. "She's alive," he replied stiffly, glancing at Theo, unsure of what he should do. He paled at the thought of having to go into detail, of having to tell this woman that her daughter was thinning every day, probably starving, and that she had not cried as Cho's arm was drained.

"Penelope!" screamed a brunette girl, running up beside Maisie's mother, her hands clasped. "Is she okay as well? She stopped coming to ballet and I couldn't get in contact with her mum. Is she...?"

"She's alive, yes," Draco huffed, feeling an irritation bubble in his chest. He knew that was cruel; these people were concerned, rightly so. He needed to be more patient if he wanted to prove he was a changed man. He was no longer the same person who stood still as his aunt destroyed the Great Hall; he needed to show them he could be good. "Yes," he repeated, more slowly this time, and looked at the girl who returned his answer with a smile.

"I'm Hannah. You probably don't remember me," she said. "We went to Hogwarts together."

"Right."

"Penelope's my girlfriend."

"Er...right." Draco shifted again as he tried to hold Hannah's gaze. He felt awful, looking around the dingy cave these people had called home for months now. He was afraid to give her hope. If Penelope was dead, it was most likely by the hand of his father. How was he supposed to tell her that and how was she supposed to forgive him?

"We don't have much, so I think we're about ready," Ron said, walking up to him with a burlap sack in his hand.

Theo took out his wand, turning to the small group of people. "I've been in communication with the Longbottom's. They have another safe house near Saint Mungo's. We're going to take you there."

Draco stepped near him. "I thought they were..." he whispered, trailing off.

Theo turned to face him. "Batshit crazy? Yeah, they are, but Neville apparently still owns his parents' house. He's put it to the cause."

Draco nodded but said nothing. In this crowded room, he felt like the odd one out, like a misplaced child who was unsure of where he belonged at the birthday party. He knew all his years of prepubescent bullying and Death Eater status was still alive in the minds of the others, but with the news of being removed from the basement, it looked like they might gloss over that fact.

In a single file, they all marched out of the basement and to the surface and Draco watched as the unkept wizards and witches blinked at the brightness.

"I forgot how good the sun feels!" Alicia laughed, opening her arms wide, casting her face upwards.

Draco glanced over quickly to where Augustus laid unconscious and flicked his eyes over to Theo.

"The bloody hell," Ron muttered, following Draco's line of sight. "What's he doing here?"

"That's unimportant," Theo replied. "What are we going to do with him is the real question." Theo rubbed his jaw lightly and Draco bit the inside of his cheek in frustration.

"Kill him," Draco blurted out, but was met with many disapproving looks. "What? If we don't, he'll come after us or report back to my father."

"We can't just...kill him," Hannah retorted, shifting uncomfortably in the grass.

Draco sighed in frustration. This is why they lost the war, he thought.

Everyone in the resistance was so meek, so lighthearted. When it came down to it, they all still valued life, even the lives that had murdered others. He knew that this factor alone is why he would be able to work with them, why most likely they would forgive him. It was in their nature. He thought back to Penelope and Maisie, their sunken in eyes and bloodied clothing, and his blood boiled. Those two girls were in the position they were in because of how soft they all were. They couldn't do what needed to be done.

Draco removed his wand from his coat pocket and with a flick of his wrist whispered, "Diffindo."

A slice was cut along Augustus' throat and he sputtered, gagging on his crimson blood as it spurted from his neck. Draco could hear Ron and Hannah gasp and Theo swore under his breath. Draco could feel his irritation rise. Of course they were horrified, how could they not be? He had just spared them the interaction of a drug addicted Death Eater, yet he was somehow still the one in the wrong.

"Got something to say?" Draco sneered, turning his attention to the shockingly silent group. "He would've told. He would've.... hurt someone." Augustus had stopped gasping, and blood oozed from his wound like lava, slowly spreading across the ground.

"Like you haven't," Ron muttered, his eyes glued to Augustus' corpse and Draco gave a laugh, crisp with annoyance.

"You fucking idiot," he seethed. "Do you not understand what he would have done, what he has done? I know, I know, every Death Eater is the same, so if that statement is true, why should I let him live?"

Theo put his hands up as Ron walked a few paces, standing directly in front of Draco.

"Always the high and mighty, eh, Malfoy?" he snapped, resulting in Theo standing between them, his hands pressed against either chest. "You think you have the right to take a life?"

"Enough," Theo ordered, shoving Ron away from him. "We need to get moving. The longer we stay here, the more dangerous it is. So shut the fuck up and help me divide these people into groups."

Ron nodded once and turned to the group of people once more. Draco stared at the back of his head, imaging hurtling his fist into the redhead's face. He clenched his fists at his sides, trying to take a breath.

He could never be one of them, that was for certain.

"Right, here's what we'll do..." Theo started to instruct how they would apparate to each location. Draco listened intently, but his eyes kept wandering to Augustus' dead body, which casued a feeling of pride spread through his chest.

He could do what needed to be done, even if they excluded him from their little club. Even if they hated him for keeping them safe, he would do it.

Even if she hated him.

It was eventually decided that Draco and Theo would take Hannah, Ron, and Kelly back to the Black mansion. Due to the Black house already being a tight fit, Alicia would apparate the rest of the group to the Longbottom's cottage.

"I've been there before," she said. "I'll be able to get everyone there alright."

Theo and Draco had agreed and waited until Alicia's entire group was apparated away. She held onto the hand of a young girl, wand tight, and apparated, returning moments later alone.

"I think that's everyone," Draco stated, watching as Ron handed Alicia a water flask.

She was sweating slightly, her cheeks a light pink color and she drank from the flask gratefully. "You all be careful," she told them once she finished her drink and then pulled Ron into a hug.

Draco looked away, squinting his eyes over the rolling hills. He felt uncomfortable watching their embrace; it seemed odd for them to touch if they were not involved. He couldn't remember the last time he had been hugged.

"You be careful, too," Hannah responded, giving Alicia's hand a squeeze. Alicia let go of her hand, took a few steps back and raised her wand.

"We can finish what Harry started," Alicia added, giving the remaining crowd a once over. "We can end this war." With that, she apparated away.

Ron sighed. Theo cracked his knuckles.

"Alright, kids, let's all hold hands now," Theo spoke up in a sing-song voice and Draco groaned internally. "What can I say, I have a lovely voice."

They all linked arms and Draco raised his hand high while holding his wand. "This might be slightly uncomfortable," he said and ignored Ron's snort. He shut his eyes, trying to picture his mother's home.

Her white picket fence with matching shutters. The brick fireplace with the ugly moss-green loveseat in the corner. He almost grinned at the thought of the leaky faucet in the kitchen that they could never quit getting to stop dripping, even with magic, and it had driven his mother into hysterics.

He thought of his mother next. Her black and silver hair with her hard eyes that only really softened when she looked at her father or him, the way she carried herself, always graceful. Then, he apparated.

Draco landed with a crunch but did not fall over, the nausea rolling in his stomach like a storm during hurricane season. He opened his eyes just in time to watch Kelly keel over, emptying the contents of his stomach on the dead grass.

Craning his neck, Draco breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at his mother's childhood home, relieved that he had not gotten the memory wrong and it was exactly how he remembered it. He suddenly felt tired, like his bones were heavier than normal and he slumped slowly to the ground next to Kelly, lightly placing a hand on the other boy's shoulder.

"You alright, mate?" he asked quietly, to which Kelly wiped his mouth. Draco looked around to find Hannah leaning on Theo and Ron was laying on his back, breathing heavily. His eyes flicked over the group and stopped at the chipped porch steps, with a bushy-haired girl sitting on them.

She was thinner than he remembered. Still pretty, with her high cheekbones and angled brows, but her clothes seemed to hang off her and her eyes were closed with deep rings underneath.

"Granger." He had not realized he said the words out loud and watched her open her eyes. She looked at Theo, the shock so plainly written on her face.

He wanted to hold her, to feel that her soul was still here on earth and not floating somewhere above him.

"Granger?" he said again, louder this time, stronger.

She looked around, her eyes scanning over the group of people that had just apparated into the lawn in front of her and she held a bundle in her arms closely as her eyes landed on him.

"Draco?"