On the Run

For a few moments, no one uttered a word. Breaking the silence, to no one's surprise, was Ron Weasley. "Malfoy, you--

He was stopped by one of his mother's famous looks. Molly Weasley calmly stated, "We will give him a chance to explain himself. If we didn't, we would be just as bad as his evil, good-for-nothing--

"Molly," Mr. Weasley cut in. "We will allow Draco to give us an explanation."

Everyone looked expectantly at the young wizard. He was still disheveled from his months of running. He was dirty and looked in need of a bath. A patch of dried blood was visible in his platinum blonde hair. He must have hit his head when he fell the night before. Draco didn't find much opportunity for sleep while he had been on the run and it showed. He had dark circles underneath his gray eyes. He looked even more pale than usual. He looked somewhat frightened standing in front of many of the members of the Order, yet he still retained a small air of confidence, attained from being raised at the top of the social ladder.

Draco closed his eyes, swallowed his pride, and started to speak. "I know that you all despise me. That is no secret. But I ask you to judge me fairly and realize just why I acted as I did. I was put in a position that I could not find a way out of. My family was at stake. I was protecting my mother. I know that I have done some terrible things and I will take responsibility for my actions."

"Well, yeah, you are responsible!" yelled Ron. "You were going to kill Dumbledore! Harry saw the whole thing. He was in the tower with you. He saw you corner Dumbledore."

"Wait. Potter, you saw what happened? Tell them what you saw. Tell them that I didn't hold any intent of harming the headmaster."

Harry glared at him and coldly stated, "I saw Draco Malfoy put his wand up to Dumbledore's chest and say 'I am going to kill you.' Snape came in and killed the headmaster before Draco could accomplish his greatest dream."

Draco could hardly breathe. He couldn't believe what Harry was doing. The Boy-Who-Lived was lying about the events of that horrible night. "Potter, you obviously don't understand the gravity of the situation. I am being accused of attempting murder. Tell them I didn't do it!"

"But Malfoy, you did. Can't you just own up to your actions? Why lie about it now? You are already in the custody of the Order of the Phoenix. It's over."

"But I didn't--

Draco once again felt the hand of Kingsley Shacklebolt grab his collar. The auror pulled the boy out the door and down the hall, stopping suddenly to throw Draco back in his room. He collapsed onto the floor and let out a sharp yell of frustration. He was being accused of something that he didn't do. Yes, he had threatened Dumbledore, but even the old man had known that Draco would never kill. Draco had never thought for a second that he could kill Dumbledore. He had been pushed into a corner. He had hoped that Dumbledore would kill him before he had a chance to fail. The Dark Lord had entrusted him with an important task and if that task had not been accomplished, his mother would have been in grave danger. They had to realize that he'd had no choice in the matter.

Draco was still extremely tired. He tried to fight the drooping of his eyelids but the urge to sleep was just too strong. He fell asleep right where he was.

When he awoke, two big, brown eyes were staring at him.