The whole day, Draco watched Harry like a hawk. Harry didn't say or do anything that would give Draco any indication that he would see him tonight. At least Harry was eating, and Draco took that as a win.

At 7:30, Draco was nervously bouncing his leg, waiting to see if Harry would show up. They weren't scheduled to meet until 8, but Draco was too anxious to sit in his room any longer. Instead, he began collecting ingredients, trying to find something to occupy his time.

Imagine his surprise when he heard the door open five minutes later while he was grabbing ingredients from the closet. Draco rushed out, almost tripping over his feet.

Harry greeted him with a raised eyebrow and a faint look of concern.

"Alright there Malfoy?"

"You're early."

"Not early enough apparently. How long have you been here?"

"About five minutes."

"Oh."

Draco watched as Harry toed the ground with his scuffed up sneakers and looked anywhere that wasn't Draco.

"I really am sorry Potter," Draco began quietly. "Talking to you like that has yielded successful results in the past. I didn't even think that it would remind you of Snape. My intention believe it or not was not to upset you, I was trying to help."

"Look Malfoy, we have a very complicated relationship. I don't respond well to being yelled at at all. It's one thing if we're going at each other, but it's another when I'm trying to learn something. That doesn't work for me.

It brings up too many memories and too much trauma. I don't know what we're getting at, but if we're moving past this rivalry and you feel the need to help me with my classes, you can't do it like that."

"Okay, that's fair. What potion do you want to start with?"

"Something simple."

Draco's new approach was doing a demonstration and having Harry following along. It seemed to work better, and Harry has finally let his shoulders drop.

"Thank you."

"I told you I'd help you," Draco brushed off, carefully bottling the potions.

"No, I mean for apologizing. And the chocolates and flowers."

"You seemed to really like flowers, and I wanted to show you that I meant it. Words are empty promises."

"I do. Really like flowers, I mean. No one's ever bought me any," Harry replied quietly.

"I hope the chocolates are up to your standards. They're my favorites."

"I haven't tried any yet, but I'm looking forward to them."

"If you don't mind my asking, where did you go yesterday?"

"Why, were you looking?"

"Yes actually. I checked everywhere, and made it to a window in time to see you disapparate."

"I went to see my parents. I just needed to go somewhere and talk. I was there for hours. Cleaned up their graves. It was nice to go, before Halloween. A lot of people try to wait and meet me. I always try to stagger when I go but there's always someone there."

"I'm sorry. If you ever need a death eater to scare people off, let me know," Draco joked, but the joke fell flat.

"I would never do that to you. There's no need to also put you into an uncomfortable position."

"It shouldn't happen to you either," Draco replied with a sigh. "We're done for today. Good job Potter. Same time tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Goodnight Malfoy."

"Goodnight Potter."

Slowly, Draco and Harry were able to build up a tentative friendship. Harry was actually starting to look forward to his company. Draco had such a special sense of humor, and Harry couldn't get enough of it.

It was now the night before Harry was supposed to teach his first defense lessons, and to say he was stressed was an understatement. He couldn't sit still, and Draco had had enough.

"That's it! Let's go Potter."

"Huh?"

"Now."

"Okay?"

Harry wordlessly followed Draco downstairs to the defense classroom.

"What are we doing here?"

"Teach me your lesson."

"What?"

"You're stressed out and by default you're stressing me out. Your magic can be unpredictable when you get like that. So, teach me your lesson."

"I'm sure you have-"

"Potter, I mean this in the kindest way possible. Shut the fuck up and teach me something."

"Okay."

If Harry could teach Draco Malfoy, he could teach anyone. Draco let Harry correct his wand movements as needed, as well as his stance.

"What's the end goal here?," Draco asked curiously.

"I'd like to teach everyone to cast a patronus. I don't know how possible that is though."

"I know that I won't be able to, but I'm sure most others will."

"What do you mean?"

"I have the mark Potter. What happiness is there for me?"

"Hey," Harry interrupted softly.

"I've accepted it."

"No, Snape could cast a patronus. Just because you're marked doesn't mean that you can't. The patronus isn't always fueled by happiness, you know. Almost any strong emotion will do."

"Have you cast it... well, I don't want to be insensitive."

"No. Not since before... I tried once, after, but I wasn't ready. There were too many emotions, I couldn't focus on a single one. It was a bright blue mass."

"What do you normally think of?," Draco asked, sitting on top of one of the desks.

"Happy memories. But after so many deaths, it feels like those memories are tainted. I see Sirius, strong and smiling, promising me that I could come and live with him, and for the first time in my life I felt so hopeful. Then that changes to me watching him fall to his death.

I see Remus, offering me chocolate. Telling me about my parents. Teaching me to cast a patronus. Making me a better man. Asking me to be Teddy's godfather. And then I see his lifeless body. Remember that Teddy is orphaned, just like me. But at least he'll never go one day feeling unloved like I did. It's why I'm here.

There's so much I need to push through and work through, but it's not something that's easy to get past. Music helps, but I don't think it's enough."

"If I've learned one thing, it's that it has to be enough. You need to find one thing to live for, until you can live for you. Maybe for now you live for Teddy. Maybe that's enough to get you to eat and sleep and make it through the day."

"What do you live for?," Harry asked curiously, striving to get the attention off him. 

"Hope for a better tomorrow. It's all I've got."

"I think we'll be okay."

"If you're going to be cliche and say 'together' you can leave."

"Two ex-rivals taking on the world. Now that's a story."

"Please, don't give the Prophet any ideas."

"You're right. That's your job isn't it?," Harry teased.

"Mark my words Scarhead, one of these days you're going to get an in-depth apology letter discussing every single thing that I'm sorry for, and then you can no longer hold it over my head."

"And why wouldn't I do that?"

"Because you'd forgive me. It's part of your insufferable Gryffindor nature."

"I would, eventually. We have a lot of things to work through and I've forgiven you for most of them. I think the worst part is trying to forgive myself."

"Scars build character Potter. They're a tale of survival. Every time I see mine, it's a reminder that I'm not that boy anymore. I survived, against all odds. I hoped you would have killed me, you know. I wanted it to end. I thought that I could be free, that maybe my mother could have been safe."

"For the record Malfoy, I'm glad that you didn't die. I didn't know I almost killed you. The spell said for enemies. I didn't know what it did. I was reckless and it almost cost you your life.

Besides, your death almost certainly would have caused my death. You didn't identify me in the Manor. You kept Crabbe and Goyle from killing me. If you had died, your mother wouldn't have lied on my behalf.

Everything fucking sucks, but it happened like it was supposed to. We all had our parts to play. What happens to the hero when the war is over? The story always ends before we get to see it. Or if we do see it, it's a sequel to the original. Do you know what my sequel would be Malfoy?"

Draco thought about it. If this was a poorly written screenplay, there would be more battles. More loss, more grief, more trauma.

"You'd join the Aurors," Draco said slowly. "Keep fighting the bad guys because that's all that the hero knows how to do."

"Precisely."

"And that's what they want of you. To keep using you."

Draco was putting the pieces together, and he didn't like the picture that was forming.

"As some kind of weapon, yes. I think they just want my face. How could you put someone like me in the field? I have so much anger, so much trauma. Why do they want to add onto it?"

"Potter, I promise you that you've done enough. You were a child, leading an army of children. There are adults who can deal with these issues."

Draco felt like he was pleading now. He knew Harry would do the "right" thing. Not for himself, but for everyone else. That's what he was conditioned to do.

"We're 18. Legally, we are the adults now. And I feel like I've missed out on so much living. I don't know what I want to be when I grow up. I grew up a long time ago."

"Then be Harry. Fuck Harry Potter. I've been saying that for years."

Harry laughed, and it was a sad, defeated kind of laugh.

"I'm going to the art room. I'll see you tomorrow."

"If you think I'm going to leave you alone in this state, you don't know me at all. I can paint. Let's go."

"You're just going to follow me if I say no aren't you."

"I learned that from an old enemy once you know," Draco retorted with a grin.

"Prat," Harry said goodnaturedly, bumping into Draco.

"Specky git."

"Bottle blond."

"What does that even mean?"

"There's a rumor that you dye your hair that color."

"There is not!"

"There used to be."

The two men argued back and forth until Harry made his way into the booth. Draco couldn't help it, he was incessantly nosy, and pressed the broadcast button. He wanted to hear what Harry had to say. Or rather, what he had to sing.

Yesterday I flew across the world
And started a revolution
Truth be told, I'm tryin' to find myself
In a lovesick evolution

Oh, somebody tell me I'm fine
And that I'm gonna be alright
Oh, 'cause nobody's lookin' to die
When they're happy inside

But it is what it is
And it hurts, make it fast
Well, it is what it is
It gets worse and it lasts
Never had the chance
To promise I'd never let go
You let go
But it is it what it is
And it hurts, make it fast

Today's the day I'm comin' home again
But I'm further and further away, now
I won't leave my bed 'cause a part of me is dead
I forgot to face all your pictures down

Oh, somebody tell me I'm fine (somebody tell me I'm fine)
And that I'm gonna be alright
Oh, 'cause nobody's lookin' to die (lookin' to die)
When they're happy inside

But it is what it is
And it hurts, make it fast
Well, it is what it is
It gets worse and it lasts
Never had the chance
To promise I'd never let go
You let go
But it is it what it is
And it hurts, make it fast

Never got the chance
To promise I'd never let go
Oh, I'll never get the chance
'Cause you'll forever be the reason why
I'm not happy inside

But it is what it is
And it hurts, make it fast
Well, it is what it is
It gets worse and it lasts
Never had the chance
To promise I'd never let go
You let go
But it is it what it is
And it hurts, make it fast (make it fast)

But it is what it is
And it hurts, make it fast
Well, it is (well, it is) what it is (what it is)
It gets worse (so much worse) and it lasts (and it lasts)

The pain came through Harry's voice, and Draco couldn't help but feel like he was intruding on a private moment. He knows he said it was cliche, but he really thought that together, they could make it out of this.

Like Harry said, it is what it is, and it does hurt. Something was telling him that the end to this year, the end to some of their pain, wouldn't come fast. That's what terrified Draco. It was only October.

{Song credit: It Is What It Is by Mayday Parade}