Breaking Down Walls

*!*!*

"Where's Malfoy gotten to lately?" Harry Potter asked his good friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, as they met at the great dinner hall at the renowned Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft one chilly Thursday evening in late January. "Not that I really care, mind you," he finished, semi-rhetorically. The trio hadn't seen Draco virtually at all during the current school year, other than at classes and meals, of course; and, truth be told, they were all rather enjoying the most welcome respite from him, and from his family's self proclaimed superiority over everyone who wasn't:

(A): a member of Slytherin House; and / or

(B): wealthy; and / or

(C): a 'pure born' wizard, (if such a thing even existed, as even the 'purest' wizarding families had become diluted by muggle blood over the ages, now, at best, currently being only about 50%!). In the Malfoy Family's collective mind, the only acceptable alternative was all three combined. Oh, bother! "Haven't you heard the rumors?" Hermione inquired; both boys shook their heads in reply.

Neither Ron nor Harry were bad students, but neither were they up to Hermione's academic level. Notwithstanding all the distractions in their lives, they both maintained, with difficulty, a grade of Satisfactory plus. They both had also been virtually sleeping, eating, and breathing their studies, because of the Ordinary Wizarding Level (OWL) Exams, in which all fifth years would find themselves embroiled at year's end; that, and their own particular involvement with the Order of the Phoenix this year certainly wasn't leaving them much in the way of free time for anything at all, much less socializing. They were extremely grateful for any and every break which they might enjoy this year!

"Draco is actually quite a good student, so he's got some reasonable amount of free time this year. I've heard he's been spending every moment of it with a tutor, who's been hired by his father to teach him how to Apparate. They've been having almost daily lessons in the distant forests out past Hogsmeade, since it's not possible to Apparate any closer to the campus than that," she informed them quietly, as she winked at them, but more especially at Ron, who was blushing and grinning at her news.

Ron had undergone an experience last August in which he had demonstrated sufficient skill, ability, knowledge, control and mental dexterity at Apparating to earn him, at just prior to his fifteenth birthday, the virtually unheard of achievement of acquiring an apparating license; one with full adult privileges, no less, since he'd blown away the Licensing Division of the Ministry of Magic with his inherent mastery of such a difficult ability! An Apparating licence was something that most wizarding kids didn't qualify for until age sixteen, and even then, it only came with age restrictions.

Apparating was actually tricky to learn properly and new licensees usually required regular practice, which Ron took as often as circumstances and travel would permit, due to school restrictions on students, and also the fact that Apparating about the Hogwarts' grounds was completely forbidden, and virtually impossible; plus, he had an understanding with Professor Dumbledore to read the Apparator's manual (which he'd done at least twice already!) and also to take the class when it becomes available.

"So he's jealous of Ron getting his license, then?" Harry inquired, a broad smirk on his face; he clearly remembered Ron's award at the sorting ceremony early last September, and Draco's barely contained raging and fuming during the sorting banquet over his perception of being outclassed, by anyone at all, but most especially by a Weasley, and even more so by any friend of 'the Great Harry Potter'!

"He was, and practically to the point of insanity, if the rumors can be believed," Hermione continued. "I've also heard that he spent a good two or three weeks in a right rage over it last fall."

"Fascinating." Ron said, smiling at Hermione; he wasn't thinking about apparating at the moment. Ron had come to see Hermione as more than a friend now, although their friendship had also grown. Neither of them was ready for anything more serious than dating, which they'd done half-a-dozen times this year, usually on Hogsmeade outings; and they'd also dated others. Add also the fact that Hermione was still corresponding regularly with Viktor Krum, the championship Quidditch player, and one of Harry's opponents in last years' Tri Wizard Tournament. Whether or not things between them got any more serious in the future would be entirely up to fate; but neither Ron nor Hermione was willing to push the envelope regarding something that could, quite literally, destroy their entire lives.

The three friends then settled down to their dinner and Draco Malfoy and his antics were quickly forgotten.

Harry smiled at his two good friends. He couldn't say that meeting them was the best thing that happened to him since he'd discovered Hogwarts', but only because so many incredibly good things had happened in his life since that time, as well as several he'd just as well have done without! Hermione and Ron were certainly right up there near the top of the list! He'd be lying if he said he wasn't at least slightly jealous of their evolving relationship, but he was glad the way things were going for them. He had fallen into the same trap with Hermione, seeing her only as a friend, but not necessarily as a girlfriend. She and Ron fit, though, really well.

Harry wondered if they knew that he'd also dated several times this year. Hermione sometimes seemed to know almost everything whether it involved her studies or not. Harry hadn't had the greatest first dating experience with Cho Chang at the Tri Wizard Tournament Ball last year, and, notwithstanding Hermione's explanations, he was still wondering why things hadn't been better between the two of them. He was, only now, beginning to understand the depth of her feelings for Cedric Diggory, who'd been killed when He Who Must Not Be Named had attacked Harry after spiriting the two of them away from the school with a sabotaged trophy cup / portkey.

Harry's social life (and skills!) were definitely improving this year, though, he having been out with several girls; and he was beginning to achieve a reputation around Hogwarts' as an 'acceptable' date. He wondered just how many levels he might yet have to achieve in that regard, and groaned within himself at the thought of yet more 'levels' to pursue. *Weren't the OWL's bad enough?* he thought, with minor irritation. *Oh, well, at least his heart was getting well more into dating than into his studies! Bad Harry!* He scolded, mentally slapping himself.

*!*!*

It was Friday afternoon, and they were in Professor Snape's double potions class. Surprisingly, even this class had been getting better this year. Professor Snape had not seemed any different at all, so Ron, Hermione, and Harry had just assumed that it was because they, along with most of the other children, had matured emotionally - they were now all middle teens, after all! What was especially impressive, although Professor Snape would certainly be loathe to admit it, was that even Neville Longbottom was gaining confidence and becoming more sure of himself, a virtual miracle! The fact that Neville had grown substantially over the year and was now almost as tall and nearly as heavy as the professor, certainly contributed to the fact that he felt far less intimidated by Professor Snape now, than he had previously.

*!*!*

Professor Snape had been placing a complex potion up on the board which the students had been copying. A very complex recipe that had to be placed and copied in installments, with explanations in between. What made this class particularly interesting, at least for Ron and Harry, was that every once in a while Hermione would perk up and look around the room, tilting her head in an odd manner, as though she were listening, intently, for something. This didn't seem to bother Professor Snape, because it usually happened when his back was to the class as he occasionally turned to the blackboard to emphasize some point of his lecture.

*!*!*

"DRACO!" Hermione suddenly screamed, about halfway through the class, startling the professor, although he stubbornly refused to show it; or so it appeared he thought. She simultaneously leaped upon her desk, then immediately spun around and cast the most powerful protective spell any of them thus far knew; a spell they'd learned only a couple of weeks previously! Ron and Harry had assumed she'd cast it at Draco because she called his name so urgently, but by the time they looked toward his desk, Draco was nowhere to be seen in the classroom. Hermione was also, oddly enough, pointing her wand at the nearly two meter thick wall of the ancient building, next to the main door of their classroom, rather than in the vicinity of Draco's desk, as one might reasonably expect from her behavior.

The class became quiet, all looking at the the wall where the spell's beam terminated, when an ear piercing shriek suddenly tore throughout the classroom. It happened so suddenly, and contained such horrendous heartache that it caused two of the students to actually wet themselves! Hermione shuddered violently, as though she was directly experiencing such pain herself!

"CLASS DISMISSED!" Professor Snape suddenly barked, after assessing the situation. "Everyone collect your belongings and leave the room immediately! You will use the secondary door behind my desk for reasons of safety."

The class was overjoyed at the unexpected termination of the lesson, and most were at least mildly curious about what was happening with Hermione and, ostensibly, Draco; however, everyone evacuated the classroom in an orderly manner, within a moment or two.

The lesson had thus far been a new spell introductory lecture, so there was no mess to clean up. Ron and Harry were very reluctant to leave Hermione, especially as she seemed in some distress maintaining the spell, but they filed out with the other students as Snape almost forcibly evicted all them from the classroom, guiding them safely away from the area where Hermione was directing her spell, and securely locking the doors behind him as he also hurriedly exited the room. Ron and Harry assumed he'd gone for some kind of help, although of what sort they couldn't be sure.

Their curiosity notwithstanding, most of the class dispersed immediately, glad for any excuse to be out of Snape's class. Ron and Harry made their way back out to the main hall somewhat slowly, waiting for the crowd to dissipate. They looked over at the area of the wall by the main door of their classroom where it seemed that Hermione had cast her spell. Curiosity overcame them, and also drew them inexorably toward the wall by the door.

"Do you suppose he's in there, then?" Harry asked, swallowing hard, wincing in perceived pain, not completely sure he wanted an answer. They both looked over the seemingly innocuous wall, outwardly appearing no different than usual.

"That'd be my guess," was the reply. "YIIEEE!" Ron touched the wall with his fingertips, then pulled back instantly, gasping, his eyes wide in shocked surprise at the pain which he felt, both physically and emotionally! He was holding his hand as though it had been bitten off!

"What?" Harry queried at Ron's reaction, concerned about his friend, as he glanced between Ron and the apparently normal wall.

"That can't possibly be true! It just can't be!" Ron said emphatically, trying to clear his mind by vigorously shaking his head, and seemingly speaking directly to the wall as he touched it again. It hurt like all holy blazes, but he forced himself to maintain contact though he was crying from the pain.

"What?" Harry asked again. "Are you talking to Hermione? Draco? Who?" Harry asked incredulously. He wondered if such a thing were even possible. There were times he really wished that he could pay more attention during at least some of his classes; not that he always had much choice in the matter!

There was no immediate response to his insistent query. Ron forced himself to keep physical contact with the wall, squinting through his tears, as though looking into, or perhaps through, the wall; then he slowly turned his head towards Harry. His eyes were open, albeit filled with tears, but he didn't seem to actually see his friend, as his concentration was still focused elsewhere. He took Harry's hand and placed it against the wall.

"HEY! Hold on a min; YIIEEE!" Harry cringed in fear after seeing what had happened to Ron, yet, inexplicably, he didn't resist Ron's actions. He wasn't at all sure that he wanted any part of this, even though he found the pain; Draco's pain, he realized; to be at an almost manageable level. He almost immediately forgot the pain, though, instantly refocusing, as his mind was suddenly flooded with unexpected images of Draco and his life!

*!*!*

Ron saw Draco being primarily brought up by his father, Lucius Malfoy; he saw Draco's mother and knew that her name was Narcissa. He sensed her to be a basically good woman, but having precious little input into her son's life, primarily at Lucius' insistence; nay, he commanded her thus! He saw Draco's love and worship of his father; he saw the mostly awful things that Lucius had taught Draco, and was astounded that any parent could ever bring up a child in such a manner. What was even more completely unbelievable, was that Draco had turned out as well as he had, considering the gosh-awfully horrible way he'd been brought up! One thing that Ron had been unable to sense, because his mind was in so much turmoil over everything else, was Draco's slowly burgeoning awareness, since attending Hogwarts', that his father maybe hadn't been so perfect, after all.

Ron was aghast to realize that Draco actually had no real conception of right or wrong, or good or bad! Draco treated people the way he did just because that's what he had always seen his father do, and also because it was how his father had raised him; that people and other creatures weren't good for anything at all; that they weren't to be trusted; Draco was taught to believe that other peoples' and creatures' only reason for existing at all, was to serve the Malfoys and their equals, as tools for their betterment.

Ron was suddenly reminded of an historical quote he had once learned in school. It was "Give me a child until he is five years old and he will be mine forever." He hadn't thought much of it at the time, but he did remember that the person to whom the quote was attributed had killed a great lot of people at about the same time in history that Tom Riddle had been mucking about at Hogwarts; but this thought now made Ron shudder in terror; here was Draco Malfoy as living proof that such an abomination of nature was indeed possible! Ron was suddenly terrified at what Draco had become under his father's tutelage, and what he might yet become!

Harry and Hermione seemed to be echoing Ron's feelings, he realized, and perhaps his thoughts as well. They all seemed to be linked mentally and emotionally through the 'Protego' spell that she'd cast at Draco, and possibly linked in other ways, as well, although Ron couldn't really be certain; he didn't seem to be sensing anything at all from either Harry or Hermione at the moment, yet they both seemed to be feeling the same as he was.

Harry became very puzzled about something. *Wait a minute,* he thought. *I actually paid attention during those 'Protego' classes; but I can't remember anything whatsoever about the sharing of emotions and experiences and even thoughts, he now realized, between the participants; and just exactly how was it that Ron and I are able to take part in this spell, anyway, since it's already been cast?*

Ron wasn't sure exactly how to answer him. The question became irrelevant, though, as renewed flashes of Draco and his life clamored for their attention.

Draco didn't really 'get along' with anybody; he was again just echoing the social behaviors that his father had taught him; after all, he still had to live in the real world and deal with people and other creatures, no matter what his personal feelings about them might be; and he also had to get them to do what he wanted of them, either by command, by deception, by coercion, or worse! Ron gulped hard at this thought.

It was just absolutely inconceivable to Ron that anyone could bring up a child in this manner! Harry's aunt and uncle and cousin seemed to be virtual saints in comparison to Lucius Malfoy! He smiled, feeling Harry cringe at that thought! *I guess I was wrong.* he thought. *I am sensing them, even hearing them clearly inside my head; WOW!* A small part of him marveled at this development.

Ron, Hermione and Harry became positively incensed at Draco's father for the way he had... he had... (Ron was so upset that he had to search for the appropriate word) so... absolutely... destroyed... Draco's life; whatever anger and dislike the three of them had previously directed against Draco, had been completely eviscerated from their souls by what they had just learned about him and his life; it just wasn't in any of their natures for them to hold a grudge against someone who was trapped by circumstances so completely beyond his control.

*!*!*

Hermione, Harry and Ron next saw a very lonely boy who never had any friends, because no one, even kids from other wizarding families, was ever 'good enough', according to Lucius; it was no wonder that Draco seized upon the likes of Crabbe and Goyle, the first people who had anything to do with him who hadn't been rebuffed by Lucius.

They finally saw the Draco they currently knew, fifteen years old, who still (as he had been doing ever since arriving at Hogwarts, they suddenly realized!), bawled himself to sleep every night wondering why he had no real friends; his heart desperately aching to be part of a group like Harry, Ron and Hermione had become over the years!

None of the other Slytherins had ever suspected anything like this went on every night, right under their noses, because, after he'd gotten through that first night four years past, Draco had taken the precaution of having a silencing spell placed around his four poster, and also had placed a sleep maintenance spell on the rest of the dorm room so that, once his bunk mates had fallen asleep normally, no nominal noise would awaken them until the next morning. It had taken him a couple of weeks to realize that he'd had to make an adjustment to that spell, so that the other boys would wake up immediately in the event of any unforeseen emergency. He had shielded himself with those spells every night since then. The person he'd hired didn't need or want reasons; it was only Draco's gold galleons that he cared about, which is why Draco had selected him for the project, the cost notwithstanding.

Their hearts literally melted within them and tears gushed down their cheeks. Only mere moments ago it would have been utterly incomprehensible that any of them would've had, or even wanted, Draco Malfoy as a friend, yet now it suddenly became impossible to them to conceive him as anything but!

*!*!*

Professor Snape had returned to the classroom with Professor Dumbledore, Madame Pomfrey, and her assistants; as they had arrived via the back hall and side door, they had not seen Harry and Ron's activities outside by the main classroom door. The members of the Hogwarts' staff knew that they could do nothing but observe Hermione, as any interference at all would collapse an already activated 'Protego' spell and doom Draco to death!

"What are those two up to?" Snape muttered suspiciously about Harry and Ron, as he knew that they were always up to some manner of rule breaking and 'troublemaking', as he considered it. He continued observing Hermione, and noted the unexpected appearance of tears. He then jumped, as she suddenly took a deep breath, and then knit her eyebrows in absolutely ferocious concentration, shuddering violently, as an unbelievably massive, albeit momentary, surge of power suddenly erupted forth from her heart and infused itself into the spell, her newfound feelings toward Draco coalescing into an unbreakable resolve to save him, no matter what!

A thought then niggled at the fringes of her consciousness: wasn't it her that had so recently criticized Harry for his seeming fixation about saving people? She obviously owed him an apology, now having some idea of what drove him in these situations!

It felt to Ron and Harry at that moment as though they'd been hit by lightning!

Professor Dumbledore, also observing Hermione, smiled broadly and nodded knowingly at this new development in the situation.

*!*!*

"NOOOOO!"

Apparently, the massive surge of power had been every bit as overwhelming as the boys had thought, because Draco had, obviously, felt it as well. Ron, Harry and Hermione all virtually jumped out of their skins at the unexpected telepathic shriek; and the inconceivable anguish it contained!

"I'LL DIE FIRST!" Another unexpected outburst, which made them shudder; and an extremely unexpected reaction from Draco!

"Draco?" Hermione, Ron and Harry echoed together uncertainly. It had taken them a moment to recover their wits. "It is you, isn't it?" Hermione queried.

"LET! ME! GO! Hermione!" Draco responded with some effort. "Let me die! Now!" He commanded; or... could it be? Was he actually begging them?

"I... WILL NOT BE... THAT... THAT... THING... of my father's any longer, nor will I be Voldemort's puppet!" Draco was so disgusted that he actually spat out that last statement!

Hermione, Ron and Harry were absolutely stunned by the unexpected response. They had been quite certain that Draco had been unconscious and suffering badly from his accidental Apparition into the wall. The 'Protego' spell was far, very far, stronger than they'd ever dreamed, for, though they could feel much of his pain, both physical and emotional, Draco was now, inconceivably, able to participate actively in the spell, and even to communicate with them! There also, astoundingly, seemed to be no longer any trace of the Draco Malfoy that the three of them had come to know over the past five years... and had, up 'til now, essentially despised.

"I... we... you know we can't do that, Draco," Hermione said firmly. "What... thing?" She ventured, cautiously.

"I just saw myself, and my father, as you... as everyone... sees us; through your eyes, through your minds. I know that none of you are lying to me. Deception, of any kind, just isn't possible within a successful 'Protego' spell; and it's obviously successful, since I'm still here! Please, Hermione, let me die." He begged them, all of them, although his remarks were mostly directed at Hermione, she being in command of the spell; and he seemed to be crying, even sobbing in despair. This was something that the prideful Draco they had all previously known would not ever have allowed any of them to see, no matter how badly he might have been hurting, and even more especially for any emotional trauma, as he now seemed to be experiencing.

Yet Draco was denying his true self. Had he really given up and had truly wanted to die, the 'Protego' spell would never have taken hold of him to spare him and to sustain him, or would have collapsed shortly after being cast. The fact that it was still functioning, and even stronger now than when originally cast, spoke volumes to them about the heretofore unknown, unexpected and unbelievable strength of character of the son of Lucius Malfoy!

"Everyone in the school hates me, even the professors," Draco continued, sobbing even harder. "Why are the three of you even wasting your time with me?"

"WHAT?" they all replied, astounded. None of them had realized the true extent of how nearly all the other students at the school had felt toward Draco, even his superficial Slytherin cohorts (although he was wrong about all of the teachers). Compared to what they now knew to be the truth about the entire situation, the three of them had treated him best, of virtually all the students at the school (depending upon how one might interpret completely ignoring him). This was why Draco so desperately ached for their particular friendship!

"That's not true, not any more!" Ron interjected sharply, his mind now reeling from this new knowledge of Draco's hidden reservoirs of character and willpower. "Nobody's dying! Not here! Not now! Not today! Not ever, if I have anything to say about it!" It took him a moment to realize exactly what he'd just blurted out. "Well, you know what I mean!" He corrected his outburst. "Nobody's wasting their time here, Draco. It's not a waste of time when you help your friends!" he stated unequivocally.

Draco's heart jumped! "F - Friends?" he queried cautiously, terrified at being rebuffed.

"Friends!" they all chorused, steadfastly and unabashedly!

"We've all learned so much more about each other in these last few minutes than we've known in the almost five years we've all been acquainted; and a lot about ourselves, as well! I, for one, have no intention of giving that up, Draco, or of giving up on that! Now, c'mon, we've taken too long already; let's get you out of here! I don't know how much longer Hermione can keep the spell going," Ron said, withdrawing his wand while still forcing himself to maintain physical contact with the wall.

"Why are you all doing this?" Draco asked, still uncertain, still consumed with doubts, still... scared; scared to death! He continued finding it difficult to trust them, their mutual ordeal and it's odd and unexpected mental and emotional exchanges notwithstanding. He desperately wanted to trust them, with all his heart, with every fiber of his being!

"C'mon, Draco," Hermione replied gently, though beginning to sound exhausted. "After what we've been through here today, I think it's impossible that we can't actually be friends now; real friends. Right, guys?" She queried Harry and Ron, who both 'nodded' their assent, and then focused their attention on Draco's predicament.

"You know what to do, right, Harry? Ron queried, looking over at his friend, taking the lead in this, their latest endeavor, because he strongly sensed Hermione's imminent collapse.

"Huh?" Harry responded with a blank look, and then searched within himself for a moment. He looked at his hand on the wall, and then at the wall, and then he understood, via the spell, what Ron needed of him. "Right! Got it!" Harry replied.

"Ready, Hermione? Harry? Draco?"

He sensed their agreement to his direction. "Harry, don't let go of the wall until you've completed casting your own spell. On three."

Harry had taken his cue from Ron and had his own wand at the ready. They were going to infuse their own 'Protego' spells with Hermione's. How this was to be done, Harry hadn't a clue; but he trusted Ron, and Hermione, and their professors, implicitly, almost instinctively now after five years together; and he somehow knew, nothing doubting, that if there was any way that such a thing could be done, it would be done, and that they would do it! Right here! Right now!

"One... " Ron continued. "Two... THREE! 'Protego Addendae!' the two boys commanded, casting their spells into the wall at Draco, simultaneously adding their own powers, mights, abilities and knowledge to the spell that Hermione had been maintaining now; for far too long.

The beam from Hermione's wand had been the most beautiful golden amber, yet so unbelievably brilliant that its only rival would have been the summer sun at noonday! Harry added to the mix a beam of the most stunningly bright emerald green, and of equally blinding brilliance; while Ron's contribution was a blistering beam of the most ruby red, completely the equal of the other two beams, the only thing brighter, were such possible, was his own shock of flaming red hair!

Draco screamed. He was almost quite literally knocked senseless at the power involved from the fusing of the three spells; and the fact that it could even be done at all made his mind boggle. "What did these three know that he didn't?" he wondered, deeply grateful for their knowledge.

Due to the properties of this 'Protego' spell, Draco had almost forgotten the horrendous pain he'd been in, due to his botched Apparition; pain which, though it had flashed brightly again, lasted only a brief, albeit excruciating, moment; and now it all seemed to be washing away out of him, causing him to feel warm and fuzzy throughout. He 'gasped' several times as the relief washed into him and over him and completely throughout his body, and he began to be aware of the stone around him starting to glow and becoming slightly warmer, and he knew that it had begun to break up and dissolve away as the combined onslaught of the three spells was now far more than sufficient, both to continue to protect him and maintain him, as well as to release him from the thick stone prison which had very nearly become his tomb.

*!*!*

Hermione faltered momentarily from the unexpected results as the three spells combined, almost collapsing. Knowing, however, that she couldn't terminate her part just yet, she found more strength to continue, again, both in her newfound feelings towards Draco, and in the fact that the fusing of the two fresh spells with her own had also fed back into her, temporarily rejuvenating her. Her miniscule lapse did not escape Professor Snape's aquiline gaze, nor did the surge he saw shoot out from the wall back through the beam of her own spell.

"I knew it!" Snape cried out. "They're here, close by, somewhere! Potter and Weasley; and they're interfering with the spell! Draco will die because of their meddling! I shall put an end to this business immediately!" he spat angrily.

Swiftly taking out his wand, Professor Snape moved to charge right out of the room; but he was instantly halted by Professor Dumbledore's firm hand upon his shoulder; Professor Dumbledore's very firm hand; Professor Dumbledore's compellingly firm hand.

"Leave them be, Severus. Do not interfere. You'll only cause more damage than you'll repair." Professor Dumbledore was simultaneously gentle yet completely inflexible in his admonition. "There are properties peculiar to the 'Protego' spell that neither you nor I know; properties that no one has discovered, as of yet; properties which, you fully well know, only reveal themselves within the actual context of the performance of the spell, and only to those with enough faith to push into, and even beyond, heretofore unknown boundaries. There has never in history been two identical 'Protego' spells. Trust the children, Severus! Have a little faith. All will unfold as it should." He smiled imploringly at Snape, who very begrudgingly yielded to his wisdom after several long minutes of waging war within himself.

*!*!*

Another momentary and unexpected white hot flash of pain engulfed Draco, who again nearly collapsed from the relief, as he felt himself now completely freed from the grip of the rock, and realized that the rest of the wall was continuing to dissolve outward before, and away, from him. He looked down, lifting each of his feet gingerly, though with some difficulty because of the lingering pain, then looked over the rest of his body, moving his arms as well, now that he could, also with great reluctance, to make sure there would be no lingering aftereffects from his misconducted Apparition. There was no part of his body that had ever felt this inexplicably terrible before, of that Draco was absolutely certain!

There was now an adult sized hole stretching completely through the two meter thick wall from the hallway into the classroom; it was empty, save for Draco, with Ron and Harry being visible at the far end thereof.

"As I thought!" Professor Snape exclaimed, as his attention was diverted from Hermione to the gaping orifice which suddenly appeared. Yet even he, Professor Severus Snape, Head Potions Master at the Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, was beginning to feel a grudging admiration for their abilities; as, even with all his knowledge, he couldn't conceive or understand how Ron and Harry had been able to combine their own spells with the one that Hermione had already cast. Such a thing had never been recorded in all the annals of wizarding (which cover at least the last thousand years since the founding of Hogwarts and the other great wizarding schools of the world)!

Professor Dumbledore had been about to admonish Professor Snape against interfering with the spells again, or with the children, but realized that such was not necessary, seeing, even through Snape's usually imperturbable grimace, the awe that he was beginning to feel for the astounding accomplishment of these three exceptional students! This would be one for the books, certainly, perhaps ever worthy of a note in A History of Hogwarts.

*!*!*

"OK, Harry, release your spell first, on three, then go over and get ready to help Hermione. When you're in position, we'll drop our spells and I'll grab Draco. Ready, all?" They mentally assented again to Ron's lead. "One.. Two... THREE."

Harry ended his spell, and, though quite weak and drained and a bit woozy, he slowly staggered through the relatively large gap which they'd just magically bludgeoned through the classroom wall. "You OK?" he asked, smiling at Draco as he carefully passed him through the tight quarters, avoiding the beams of the remaining two spells. He actually had to get down on hands and knees and crawl out to avoid them safely, especially Hermione's.

Draco gave him a wan smile, though he was emotionally beaming. He looked to Harry to be in remarkably good shape, considering the unbelievable torture he'd just undergone (had anyone ever survived such a thing? He'd have to look into it); but Harry knew that the only reason Draco was still conscious at all was because of the spells; and that he'd drop like a rock the minute they ended. He'd probably be in hospital for at least a week, recovering from the exhaustion, both emotional and physical, of the whole ghastly ordeal.

Harry had the feeling, though, that there would be no lasting emotional scars for Draco; just the opposite, in fact; because of the way they had all been connected throughout the spell, Harry was quite certain that Draco was probably far more emotionally sound now, than he had been in years. He'd finally been able to break free of his father's corrosive influence, although he'd nearly had to die to accomplish it!

*I guess a near death experience will do that to a guy!* Harry mused to himself as he arrived at Hermione's side. "I'm here, Hermione." Harry almost whispered as he reached her side. It was not hard at all to tell that she'd about reached her limit and was far more than ready to end the spell now that she was certain Draco was safe.

"I'm here, Ron!" Harry called his friend.

"OK, Hermione, ready to drop the spell?" Ron already knew that answer, even before she so vehemently assented! "One... Two... THREE!"

Hermione and Ron quit the spells simultaneously; and although he was also still very dazed and quite unsteady from his own exertions, Ron rushed into the hole, barely in time to keep Draco from suffering a concussion from hitting the very hard stone beneath him as he collapsed, which he did immediately, just as assuredly as a house of cards in a hurricane might have. Hermione also collapsed, into Harry's waiting arms, and he, with some difficulty, got himself safely down off the desk, and laid her out to rest comfortably on the top thereof, using her handbag as a pillow. He was momentarily distracted by the close physical contact with Hermione, although this certainly wasn't the first time he'd held a girl close.

*Liar, liar, pants on fire!* Harry's brain teased.

*What?* Harry responded curtly. *I am not!*

*Never mind.*

*HUH! Where did that come from?* Harry wondered, perplexedly, although much too exhausted to be overly concerned about his personal life at this point.

"C'mere, Harry!" Ron called for help as soon as he saw that Hermione was resting safely. He could barely support Draco at this point, because of his own exertions during the spell. Ron and Harry then carried Draco out of the wall and lifted him carefully, but with difficulty, onto another desk. It was only when Harry and Ron had both collapsed onto chairs, barely conscious themselves, their heads drooping onto the desktops, that they became vaguely aware of their surroundings, and that several people were milling about the room, coming to their assistance. The last completely conscious thought that Ron had, was that he really needed a shower and a clean change of shorts!

The members of the faculty present in the room had known that they could not interrupt or interfere with the spell in any way at all, even as Ron and Harry had appeared; and, although they were all completely astounded, they were also most deeply gratified, even professor Snape, to see that they had a very much alive, though completely insensate, Draco Malfoy in tow! The seemingly omniscient Professor Dumbledore was only slightly less astounded than the others at the outcome of the situation, but he always felt especially, exceptionally, gratified, whenever his students excelled!

Thank the good Lord, he prayed, in deepest gratitude, as it was his own interference that had brought them to this point in the situation, very nearly costing Draco his life!

*!*!*

Draco awoke with a start, having felt that he'd had what could only be described as the absolute worst freaking day of his life. He'd been sleeping on his stomach and knew now that he hadn't been dreaming, because he found himself to be in hospital.

*Had it been an hallucination then?* he wondered. *It had to have been. Hermione Granger? Ron Weasley? The Great Harry Potter? Why would any of them have even bothered with him! They hated him! The entire school practically worshipped them, while he was such a worthless piece of garbage that most, if not all, of the students could scarce stand to be around him, including most of his alleged Slytherin 'friends.' It had only taken him five years (and an uncountable hundreds of galleons of (completely wasted, it now occurred to him!) allowance funds!) to arrive at that conclusion! Was he quick, or what?* He asked, cynically berating himself. He realized then that he was crying and hoped, and even prayed, that nobody was nearby, as he buried his face deep into the pillows, desperately trying to stifle a sob of despair.

*Could it possibly have been real?* Draco so desperately wanted the whole affair to be real, even as he thought he had dreamed it. *Well, OK, of course the part about Apparating into the wall had been real enough; he was in hospital, after all, and the memory of it was so vivid that it still burned hotly within every cell of his body even to think about it; but... how had he survived? No one ever survived a badly botched Apparition before; and even the not so bad attempts usually resulted in one (or more) lost limbs; or sometimes worse! This was documented fact!*

"Draco?" Hermione inquired, somewhat groggily, surprising him and interrupting his reverie. "Are you alright? Why are you crying?" She seemed completely awake now. "You're not still in pain, are you?" She was becoming really concerned.

*Hermione was here! And she was concerned! About him!* Draco realized, as his heart somersaulted into orbit, and even beyond!

"Harry! Ron! Draco's awake!" she called out urgently, but quietly, not wanting to create any disturbance. Their beds were opposite hers, with Draco's between them.

*Hermione was here!* Draco exulted. *She seemed to know what he'd been through, and was concerned about his welfare! And Harry! And Ron! It hadn't been a dream!* He was bawling openly now, and didn't care even the tiniest bit, because he was suddenly happier than he could ever remember having been at any point in his entire, he now realized, miserable life! He felt people sitting down on either side of his bed, putting their hands on his shoulders. He turned over and looked up to see Harry and Ron, also in pyjamas, looking at him most curiously.

"What's wrong, pal?" Ron asked, his face concerned, yet smiling.

*Smiling at Me!* Draco exulted. *At Me! It was utterly inconceivable! Just yesterday, or so it seemed, they'd all been worst enemies, hating each other to the very core, and now they were all just as concerned for him as they might be for each other!*

He rolled over to a sitting position as Ron handed him a towel with which to wipe his face. "It really happened, then? I'm not dreaming? You... you don't hate me any more?" Draco badgered them, desperate for confirmation, still afraid it wasn't real, that they weren't really here, and that he hadn't actually woken up yet. He was terrified to have asked the last question, but it got away before he could stop it. There were still tears in his eyes even though he'd wiped his face.

Ron, Hermione and Harry let their collective breath escape. They hadn't expected Draco to wake up quite like this, and had been holding their breath in expectation of something far more dreadful.

"Whew," Hermione gasped after a moment. "After what we all just went through, Draco, none of us can hate you any more. You said it yourself: there can be no deception at all during the performance of a successful 'Protego' spell; and it was definitely successful; even beyond my wildest dreams I never expected it to work that well! We know now that you weren't at fault how you treated us, and everyone else, and we're all really, truly, glad that we were able to be there for you when you really needed someone. When you needed a real friend." She beamed at him.

Draco looked at Hermione, then at Harry, then at Ron. The boys nodded, and all their faces were also beaming, echoing Hermione's sentiment.

"I am so sorry for all... for all..." The dam ruptured and tears flooded from Draco's eyes. "I'm sorry!" he bawled into his pillows. "Oh, Gawd, I'm so sorry!" His sobbing continued for several minutes, unabated.

Hermione, Ron and Harry had also teared up. Harry and Ron changed position, moving to either side of Draco at the head of his bed and placing their arms across his shoulders. "It's OK, now, Draco," they all quietly told him, "it's OK." The three of them thought it would be really difficult for any of them, including Draco, to feel any happier than they all did then!

It was rather fortunate for Draco that Madame Pomfrey and the rest of her most excellent staff were all busy elsewhere at this time, as Draco continued to sob uncontrollably into his pillows for several more minutes. They all knew he would still feel exceedingly embarrassed had anyone else seen his current behavior, but they also knew that now it would have been a good form of embarrassment, and that he would no longer lash out angrily at people when caught in such a 'compromising' situation, as he might have previously referred to such.

Hermione had slipped next to Ron and put her arm around his waist and laid her head on his shoulder as they waited for Draco to recover.

*!*!*

The change in Draco had been absolutely remarkable, to say the least! More like unbelievable; even inconceivable! Yet though it had only taken them just a few days to recover from their terrible ordeal (Draco recovering last, as he'd taken the brunt of the punishment, followed by Hermione), it was already almost impossible for any of them, including Draco himself, to even want to try to remember him as he had treated them, and everyone else, for the past five years!

*!*!*

It had been about three weeks since Draco, Hermione, Harry and Ron had been released from hospital. The entire school was still in complete shock and disbelief at the 'new' Draco Malfoy. He had even successfully petitioned to be removed from Slytherin house and placed in Gryffindor. His father, Lucius Malfoy, had become positively incensed when he'd heard that news, along with the news of Draco's 'accident' (although there was also the decided possibility that he may have actually been more concerned over the money he'd 'wasted' paying for Draco's Apparating lessons!)

So complete was Draco's change of attitude that he opted for a spare attic room in the Gryffindor Tower, rather than cause complications for any of the other students; a room he chose to clean out and fix up by himself, although Ron, Hermione and Harry (and even some of the other students) had pressed him sorely with offers of assistance, especially once the other students had become convinced of his change of heart.

Draco, for his part, really, really, really wanted their help, most especially with the cleaning, but he had been acting the part of the haughty, overbearing, prideful git for most of his life, and felt very strongly compelled to do everything in his power to prove to everyone (including himself!) that he was completely quit of all that useless garbage!

It had taken almost three complete months of cleaning, renovating, and decorating, doing nothing else other than classes and homework, but the hard work had been exceptionally rewarding for Draco, both creatively and physically, as he had done something he had never been able to do before, around his father; he had created something wonderful, something of his own, almost completely by himself! After he'd taken care of every bit of the cleaning (it was really, truly a mess, having been directly below the owlery (!), he relented on the letting all his new friends help with the remodeling and decorating, which they were very glad to take part in!

Draco had a deeply held secret desire of woodworking, building and remodeling for the past couple of years, something his former incarnation would not have ever shared with anyone (nor would he ever have done anything about it, or with it. *Yet he couldn't keep himself from learning everything there was to know about it. Why?* He wondered. He'd studied the craft intently, incessantly, hiding out, stealing away every chance he'd got, to learn everything he could, about this fascinating subject! He just knew that, if he ever got the chance, he could put together something really wonderful!

He did! It was so well done, in fact, that 'El Cadre' (all the Gryffindor fifth year boys (and Hermione, of course!) had recently taken to referring to themselves in that manner) spent most of their time up in the attic with him, rather than in the tower's common room! The smell was even gone, although he'd had to finally relent, and resort to especially potent magical means to successfully beat down that little difficulty!

He now had himself a comfortable, quite large, apartment, that impressed even most of the school's staff, so much so that Headmaster Dumbledore decided to turn it into special guest accommodations when it came time for Draco to leave school! He had enough room to actually create three large bedrooms and two full baths, but only needed to make use of one of each of them for himself. He had invited Harry and Ron to move in with him, with Dumbledore's permission, and was deeply gratified when all three responded most affirmatively. It was a complete apartment, and Harry turned out to be a tolerably good bachelor chef (no microwave here!). It wasn't long before students were virtually lining up for dinners and parties with them on most Friday and Saturday nights!

The most difficult thing that faced him at school now, would be not having girls up here alone with him; but as long as El Cadre his roommates were about, he felt tolerably safe in that regard; that, and he'd requested the same magical safeguards for his stairwell that the school had employed on all the girl's staircases!

Draco's new friends had, initially, been somewhat put out by his insistence on doing all the work by himself, but immediately forgave him upon realizing the true extent of the stench! Draco had almost completely collapsed in the hall several times, eyes stinging and gagging for breath, during the cleaning, it was that horrible! After learning of that, several of his friends had really felt bad, when they realized that he was completely committed to doing the job, and had snuck in several nights while he slept, tackling a big portion of the cleaning, almost completely unbeknownst to Draco (although they eventually owned up to the fact.

Draco's apartment was a truly an astounding accomplishment, something which no one at the school ever would have expected him to be even remotely capable of!

*!*!*

Lucius Malfoy had been attempting every conceivable avenue, legal and not, to get Draco completely removed from Hogwarts' and into some form of 'treatment', as he referred to it. Hermione, Ron, Harry and Draco all shuddered in terror at the thought of what such 'treatment' might entail, and what terrible consequences might possibly be in store for Draco should his father be successful. He wasn't completely out of the woods quite yet.

Draco, however, was not exactly stupid. He was almost sixteen and had found himself a job, tutoring kids after school, on weekends, and full time during vacations; and, at 35 to 60 gold galleons for a forty five minute lesson in most cases, he felt that he could sustain himself quite comfortably; actually, far more comfortably than the average almost-sixteen year old who was constrained to completely support himself while attending school. He was certain that his father would disown him, and would thus cut him off from any future inheritance, or even allowance; and even if his father didn't, Draco no longer felt he could live in that house, with that man, or that he wanted any more part of him, including his money!

"Can you believe it!" was the talk around the school about Draco now. Such chatter was primarily confined to Slytherin House, as the other houses had almost completely embraced the 'new' Draco by this point.

"How the mighty have fallen!"

"Draco Malfoy, actually working to earn his own keep!"

"It still seems like a bloody nightmare! He'll wake up, one of these days!"

Once he was able to prove that he was gainfully employed, Draco had also petitioned the Ministry of Magic for emancipation, which would free him from control of his father; actually from both parents. He really wasn't sure where his mother stood, on anything! He never really had been, but it had never mattered to him before, since he had always blindly followed his father's lead, he who never seemed much concerned about his mother at all. He wondered if he ought to talk to her about such things, and was puzzled why she hadn't yet contacted him at all in the many weeks since his 'accident'.

Draco had found it exceedingly painful explaining to the Ministry how he had been raised, and all the evil and illegal things he had seen, and helped, his father do throughout his life, and had heard his father plan, and with whom; but he had felt that making all those depositions had been as completely cathartic as when he sat bawling his eyes out in front of his new friends.

*Friends!* Draco considered the term. *What a concept! People who he really cared about, and who cared deeply about him! How could he have ever believed that his father loved him, or that the Slytherins had been his friends, now that he knew what real love and friendship was.*

The Ministry of Magic had informed Draco that, because he had been, and still was, a minor in the eyes of the law, and because of the extreme control which his father had wielded over his upbringing, that he could not be held responsible for any criminal acts which his father had coerced him into committing, or assisting in. Draco was visibly relieved to hear that news, although he had previously made the decision to serve whatever sentence they would require of him for his part in his father's evil and illegal machinations. He thanked the Lord that he, himself, had never had any personal or direct involvement with Lord Voldemort!

It had been several months since his botched Apparition, and the threats from his father had thus far been empty ones. Draco and all his friends dearly hoped they'd remain that way. Lucius was now exceptionally busy defending himself before the Ministry against all of the accusations based on Draco's testimony, and would remain so, at least into the foreseeable future! Draco, it turned out, had an uncanny memory, and could recall things from as young as four or five years old; so his father would have precious little time to concern himself with Draco, a fact that, sadly, Draco had already learned to live with.

*!*!*

The only problem he thought he had left was paying for the balance of his schooling at Hogwarts'; but Professor Dumbledore had been becoming ever more impressed with how Draco was now comporting himself, and also how he was looking ahead and confronting his fate, and the professor had already let Draco know that the entire seven years had been paid for in advance; and no refunds! Draco's case was even more exceptional, as his father had basically given him triple additional funds, over and above every bit of his school related costs, as a contingency so that Draco would always have plenty of galleons upon which to get by while he remained at school. Bribery could be a very costly proposition, after all!

Draco had considered long and hard whether to keep the excess funds, because of his current feelings regarding his father, finally deciding to fall back on his inbred pragmatism and hang on to it, just in case he ran into problems. It was actually quite a considerable amount, two full years of untouched allowance still being left, and far, far more from his first five years than he'd expected. Draco had thought that he had wasted a considerable number of galleons buying the loyalty of his Slytherin friends during the past five years, which he had, but it turned out to be nowhere near the excessively extravagant amount he'd originally thought; thus far he'd only spent what amounted to about a single year's worth of allowance, a fact he was happy to have discovered.

Having all seven years of school completely prepaid was somewhat unusual, as most parents generally paid for their children's schooling at Hogwarts' on a year-by-year basis. It was somewhat surprising to Draco how Professor Dumbledore could accomplish things that were seemingly impossible, even unknowable, both magically and otherwise! How could Draco have possibly ever not cared about, or trusted, such a great and good hearted man!

It was because of Draco's new feelings toward Professor Dumbledore that the professor had such a difficult time explaining to Draco how he had nearly killed him, when the dreaded time arrived.

*!*!*

Draco had been able to Apparate at Hogwarts' because he had been given a new talisman at the end of his lessons, ostensibly a gift from his father, and which he had received gladly at the time. It had been explained to him that this talisman had the power to completely obviate all the anti-Apparating charms that had been installed about the Hogwarts' campus; so, of course, Draco couldn't wait to use it, to rub Ron Weasley's face in it, as it were (although the fact that Ron's Apparating incident had occurred at the school was still a closely guarded secret, still known only to the four people who had been directly involved in the incident!).

It had only taken three or four uses of the amulet for Professor Dumbledore to target it and to completely destroy it. He had failed to take into account, though, that it might not necessarily have been one of Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters who had been making use of the device. Not that it would have made any difference, because the device had been charmed in such a way as to mask, or disguise, the person using it, making him appear simply as an unknown adult to anyone, such as Dumbledore, with the ability to locate and analyze such things. The professor had no reason to question his findings, and had timed his destruction of the device such that he knew that it's user would be in transit when it was destroyed, and would thus be destroyed himself, in any one of several gruesome manners peculiar to misdirected Apparitions.

Draco was astounded at the story. 'Old' Draco would have been so completely incensed as to have wanted Dumbledore's head on a platter! 'New' Draco hadn't been particularly thrilled about the situation, but knew that Dumbledore had done the right thing. It had taken quite some time for Professor Dumbledore to complete an investigation into the matter (and to regain his composure) before he could tell Draco about his own part in the incident; even then, he was on the verge of tears because of what had almost happened to Draco.

His investigation had confirmed his fears, though, after discovering that Draco had, indeed, been the scapegoat, as it turned out, to test the device, in order to discover just how quickly and thoroughly Professor Dumbledore could locate and 'neutralize' it.

"I am so deeply, deeply sorry, my boy, for causing you so much grief and pain," the professor said, hugging Draco tightly, as he finished his monologue. "But I am so very, very glad that you have suffered no lasting injury."

"You felt this way about me even before you knew everything that happened to me?" Draco asked, a bit surprised, returning the hug earnestly. This was almost the first time in his life he had ever been hugged by someone who had really meant it.

"Yes, of course! I care deeply about every one of my students, Draco. The only difficulty I ever experience is that they can, on rare occasion, be so terribly, terribly, disappointing."

"Well," Draco pondered thoughtfully for a moment. "Considering the end result of this whole affair, I, for one, think I'd have been 'terribly disappointed' if you'd done anything differently!" Draco smiled at Professor Dumbledore warmly and looked him fully in the eye with a gleeful twinkle every bit the older man's equal!

*!*!*

Draco had decided to so much distance himself from all that he had been, that he'd gone so far as to magically change his hair color to a permanent sandy brown, allowed it to grow out about four inches, and parted it down the middle. He didn't go really dark, because he thought that would be too much like Harry, and while he really did like Ron's red hair, he felt that would also be too 'over the top', as well, both literally and figuratively in this case. The intermediary part, and lengthier style, Draco felt, were quite a sufficient honorarium to both.

*Not that he'd be willing to admit such a thing publicly,* he thought with a slight twinge of comfortable embarrassment. He hadn't yet settled on a way to 'honor' Hermione for her part in his 'rebirth'. It was most decidedly unfortunate, he felt, that she was already dating Ron, but Draco was never one to give up hope; well, almost never.)

Draco was both astounded and befuddled by his newfound freedom! He could never say "I like this" or "That's cool!" about anything before, without incurring his father's (quite severe) wrath. He could never be a kid before, never even act like a real kid! He had unconsciously and unwittingly buried himself so deeply into his father's shadow that he was now finding it somewhat difficult to extricate himself.

It was all an internal struggle, though, fortunately; and after the way Hermione, Ron and Harry had bailed him out of that severely aborted Apparition several months ago (risking their own lives; for what he had been; inconceivable!), and how they all (and almost everyone else, once they'd realized that he had seriously changed his attitudes!) had treated him since, he now found it completely impossible that he could ever again treat anyone badly at all, no matter how rude they might be to him; and danged if some of those Slytherins couldn't be downright rotten at times!

He'd also learned to be a bit more careful at school, as his former cronies, Crabbe and Goyle, along with their new 'leader', had gotten the drop on him twice already, and beaten him up, and that just in the first week after Madame Pomfrey had released them, no less! It had hurt quite badly, but both times they had chosen their location poorly (fortunately for Draco), and had been scared off by approaching groups of people during their assaults, and before doing him any serious harm. The most surprising thing about these incidents was that Draco had felt more badly for Crabbe and Goyle than he had for himself! He wasn't sure how he felt about the other kid yet, as he'd never seen him before, and didn't know anything about him, save that he was at least a year below them! Draco hadn't a clue why those two would follow around a younger kid like that. Oh, well!

They seemed to lose interest in him after that, probably because Draco mostly refused to defend himself; at least he'd learned that much from his association with them; it wasn't any 'fun' when the victim didn't at least try to fight back. The very thought of those things now made him cringe in disgust. Draco did find it somewhat interesting that Crabbe and Goyle would much rather exercise their fists than their wands; something he'd never considered in the past (though now that he'd thought about it, that was exactly the reason he'd always kept them around).

He was indeed grateful for this, as he shuddered to think what their warped minds might have turned him into. That one time that Professor Moody had turned him into a ferret and had bounced him about the room, still stung a little. "Ouch!" he muttered, rubbing his jaw at the now almost two year old memory; but then he realized that he was at least at the same magical level as his former sidekicks, and, actually, he was quite probably a good deal better; he most likely wouldn't have much difficulty defending himself against them in that arena.

*!*!*

"YAGGHH!" Draco yelped as he was rudely awakened very early one truly great Saturday morning very late in May; actually the last Saturday of this year at Hogwarts; next Friday evening all the students would be on their way home for summer break! Draco was torn about that. He had finally decided to go home, Professor Dumbledore himself volunteering to chaperone him, to ascertain just exactly what was now going on there, with both of his parents; but he also had arrangements in place just in case he had to bail suddenly and unexpectedly, whether he opted to stay at home for any length of time or not.

"GO AWAY you... you... you..." He had been ready to scream at the bloody owl which had awakened him so unexpectedly, but held his tongue and his temper, such as it had become, as he was suddenly quite taken by the creature, which he just admired for several minutes; or would have, had his eyes not been flooded with tears for all the owls he'd destroyed in the past, and all because of his stupid, worthless, garbage temper! "Thanks a whole freaking lot, dad!" He muttered, recovering after several minutes, only then being able to appreciate one of nature's works of art. "You're really quite handsome, aren't you?" He queried, beckoning the great bird to his arm.

Huge mistake!

"OW! YOW! OUCH!" Draco gasped several times as it took him a good bit of time and strength to acclimate himself to the pain of the owl's claws clamped tightly around his arm. He frantically clawed at his bedside table with his free hand for some treats for the great bird. He located a handful at the same moment he realized why the bird had awakened him in the first place; a message, obviously intended for him. He handed the owl a few treats, removed the message, and shooed the bird away, gasping again as the owl released it's extremely tight clamp on his arm. No blood had been drawn, but the bird's grip was far greater than Draco had ever conceived, as he'd previously never even wanted to be near one of the creatures, much less actually touch one!

He read the message, trying to ignore the tingling in his arm as the blood flow restored itself.

Master Draco Malfoy;

Boy's Dormitory, eighth floor;

Gryffindor House;

Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft;

Master Malfoy;

Your presence is immediately required in the office of the headmaster. Thank you.

Professor Albert Dumbledore

Headmaster

"At 6:30 in the morning? On Saturday?" was Draco's first thought, immediately followed by a miniscule flash of dread; but what had he done? He'd been a model student, and a model person, since his 'accident' back in late January. What could the professor possibly want with him? It was obviously important, for him to be summoned so early, and on a Saturday to boot! Well, enough pondering; he'd better take a very fast shower and get going!

*!*!*

Draco was hurrying down the stairs toward the Gryffindor common room; as he reached the bottom, the entire room suddenly exploded in his face! He leaped back, startled, bruising himself hard on the sharp edges of the stone stair treads.

"SURPRISE!"

The smoke cleared quickly as Harry walked over to help Draco up when he also saw Ron and Hermione; all three of them were smiling broadly. A veritable rainbow of balloons floated all about the room.

"It's definitely that!" Draco said to them, a little irritated, but returning the smile wholeheartedly. "What's going on?" He inquired, looking around the festively decorated room, his interest piqued. "Oh, wait! I've got to go; Professor Dumbledore's expecting me!"

"Actually, he's not," Ron informed him.

"No, look, I got his letter, owl post, just a few minutes agoh" he said, showing them the letter.

"His name's Albus, Draco, not Albert." Hermione said, paying no attention to the letter. "We did that to get your attention and to get you up and ready quickly."

Draco was obviously puzzled. "We? Why? What's going on, then?"

"Silly, it's your birthday, isn't it?" Hermione chided.

Draco was absolutely dumbfounded! "Mu... Mu... Mu..." He stammered, closing his eyes tightly and swallowing hard to stop the tears and to regain his composure. "My birthday?" he squeaked finally, still in disbelief.

Now they were all concerned. "It is your birthday, isn't it?" Ron asked.

Draco was quite taken aback by the question. He thought for a long, hard moment, and his response was unexpected, to say the least.

"I'm... not... sure, actually. It was always just another day at home," he said, somewhat sadly; so sadly, in fact, that he couldn't stop a few more tears from dribbling down his cheek. Harry put his hand around Draco's shoulder. "Oh, wow," he said, his own eyes wet. Draco realized this after a moment. "Why are you crying?"

"Believe it or not, Draco, I know exactly how you feel right now." Harry sniffled.

"You're a good guy, Harry, but how could you possibly know anything like that?" Draco asked, recovering.

While Harry thought for a moment, Ron interjected:

"Tell him, Harry; he'll remember it, once you remind him," said Ron.

"Huh? Remember what?" A slightly confused Draco asked Ron.

"From our connection through the 'Protego' spell back in February. I recently learned that memory exchanges during such a spell become quite murky once the spell has been terminated; but if he tells you about it, you'll remember it more clearly, almost as though you'd been there, yourself," Ron responded, while Hermione looked at him appreciatively. She was quite proud of his newfound love of learning! "We already know the story, so you might as well, too," Ron finished.

Harry sighed deeply, shuddering at the old, bad memories, then began, as he and Draco took seats on the couch. "My parents were killed by Voldemort when I was about a year or so old. Professor Dumbledore knew what had happened and thought it was best to completely shield me from the magical realm, so he sent me to live with my muggle aunt and uncle and cousin in Little Whinging. Dudley, my cousin, and I are about the same age."

"Well, my aunt and uncle always hated my mom, her sister, because she was magical. They hate everything to do with our world, and they focused that hatred on me as I grew up. They fed me, only because they had no choice, and the only clothes I ever owned were Dudley's old, badly kept hand-me-downs."

"I always knew what birthdays and Christmas meant, at least to 'normal' people, for lack of a better way to explain it. Dudley always had tons of friends to hang with, both at home, or with them at their homes; I just went to school, came home, and stayed in my closet, unless -"

"What? Closet?" Draco, surprised, interrupted; then the memory fragment connected and he realized what Harry was saying. He looked at Harry wide-eyed, thinking of the huge suite of rooms he'd had all to himself all his life at home!

"Yeah," Harry continued, not looking at Draco right then. "I never even had a real bedroom until I was eleven, when the school contacted me. The Dursleys finally moved me upstairs into Dudley's 'extra' bedroom at that point."

Draco looked in disbelief to Ron and Herimone for confirmation; they nodded their heads.

"Anyway, that was their way of dealing with me; 'out of sight, out of mind'; unless, of course, there were any chores to be done; we couldn't very well have precious Duddy getting his hands dirty, after all." There was still a tiny trace of bitterness in Harry's voice, even after five years of relative freedom, and most definite happiness, at Hogwarts'.

"Sorry, I'm drifting," Harry apologized, taking a deep breath. "I knew what birthdays were, and Christmas, from seeing how Dudley was virtually worshipped every year. He not only got presents, he got lots of presents, and really nice presents besides; really expensive ones. I never saw a birthday present of my own until four years ago, when Hagrid showed up to take me to Hogwarts. He gave me a cake! A cake he made himself!"

Draco finally understood, after five years, why the three of them had such affection for their large friend and teacher. He groaned quietly within, mentally committing himself to righting yet another batch of 'old' Draco's stupidities!

"Prior to that, all I could ever do was to secretly swipe a piece of Dudley's cake and sing 'Happy Birthday to me'. Of course, I would have had to face being locked away in my room had I been caught with a piece of Dudley's cake!" Harry finished. He was still crying, but they were happier tears at the memory of Hagrid's, and Hogwarts', first appearance in his life.

"Of course, Dudley, being Dudley, had sneaked into the corner and had begun eating my cake, as Hagrid was explaining about me, my background, and the school. Up to this point I'd had no clue about anything. My aunt and uncle told me that my parents had died in a car crash, if you can believe it! When we caught Dudley helping himself to my cake, Hagrid performed a small spell that left Dudley with a little piggy tail! They had to take him to hospital to have it surgically removed!"

All four of them smirked at that picture, the other two boys hardly stifling a guffaw, as Harry continued. "Sorry, I'm going off track again. Hagrid's cake was the first present I'd ever gotten from anyone. I wonder, sometimes, why I didn't bawl like a baby at the time; I certainly wanted to. My insides were like jelly, I was so... so... overjoyed... overwhelmed... that someone had remembered my birthday! I didn't care if it was a complete stranger! I didn't care that he'd sat on it accidentally!"

"This revelation got their attention and raised some eyebrows! Harry went on. "Somebody knew me, knew who I was; and they brought me a present of my own!" Harry exulted. "I didn't think anyone else had ever gone through anything like that."

"Wow. That's... unbelievable," was all Draco could say. He sat there for a moment with a lump in his throat, sharing the pain and joy with Harry; even Ron and Hermione had teared up a little, though they knew of the situation.

"I actually think it might have been better for you, in a way, Draco, that you never had friends at that point in your life, so you never really knew what you were missing, rather than having your face rubbed in it twice each year," Harry concluded with a heavy sigh.

Ron lightened the mood... considerably. This was supposed to be a celebration, after all! "Well, today's your birthday according to school records, so HAPPY SIXTEENTH BIRTHDAY, DRACO!" The three of them launched into a chorus of 'Happy Birthday', and brought out the handful of presents that they'd collected, made, and / or purchased over the past few weeks for Draco. There wasn't anything fancy, or terribly elaborate, just typical gifts that teenage friends (who happen to be wizards) might normally give to each other. Simple or not, though, Draco realized that these few gifts meant more than anything that his father had ever given him, even his garishly expensive Firebolt©, even a vault filled to bursting with gold galleons!

*!*!*

The party was finished and they were about to adjourn to the school's main hall for breakfast. "Don't eat anything too heavy," Harry warned the others. They all paused.

"Why not?" asked Ron.

"Well, we're not quite finished yet," Harry said with a devilish grin.

"OH?" Draco queried, again astonished, pulling up short and turning to face Harry. "Come on, Harry, Ron, Hermione. You guys have done too much already! This is, undoubtedly, the absolute very best birthday I've ever had!" he said, beaming at all of them.

"Well, truthfully, Draco, it's not just for you, it's for all of us. I've thought really long and hard about this; none of us have ever done it, and I'm certain we'd all like to, and that we'll all enjoy it a lot," Harry teased.

"OK." Draco no longer had any problem with sharing. "So?" He inquired as they all looked questioningly at Harry, who responded by pulling what looked like a large, four-tailed firecracker out of a pocket of his robe.

Ron looked skeptical. "This isn't one of Fred and George's little 'specialities' is it, Harry?" he inquired cautiously.

"No," Harry responded, smirking broadly and sniggering at the thought, then explaining: "I conjured it up myself. It was a great deal more difficult than I expected, and I only finished it last night. Everyone grab a tail. Stand back as far as possible and cover your faces. When we pull, take a couple of steps away from it, just to be safe," Harry instructed, holding it out in front of him over the sofa table.

When each of them was set and had grabbed hold of his respective tail, Harry continued, "One... Two... THREE!" They pulled and jumped back, per Harry's instructions. There was the expected bright flash and loud bang, followed by a very great cloud of wonderful smelling rainbow smoke which congealed as it settled onto the table in front of them. The smoke had resolved itself, after a few moments, into a static, three dimensional replica of an amusement park, approximately a meter cubed.

They all looked between Harry and the model. Only Hermione knew what it was, besides Harry, of course, since the others had been from magical families which usually had no dealings with the non magical 'muggles', or their hobbies and entertainments.

Draco squatted down and began looking at the model very intently; apparently, his curiosity had been piqued! "Doesn't it... shouldn't it be making noise... or something?" he inquired uncertainly.

"It should, indeed," Harry replied, taking out his wand and directing it at the model. 'Repondit!' he commanded. The model then burst forth with all the sights, sounds, and even the smells, of the best amusement park in all of England.

Draco threw himself back onto the couch, eyes wide, gasping, almost in a panic when the model began to perform. He appeared to be experiencing both joy and agony simultaneously, as memories seemed to be flooding through him, crashing hard over him. Tears were again on his cheeks, but he slowly mastered himself, shuddering terribly, but without breaking down too badly this time. He was finally getting a grip on himself, emotionally. *About bleepin' time,* he mentally scolded himself. Harry became suddenly concerned that he'd mad a huge mistake.

"We're really going here?" Draco squeaked, really torn between pain and joy.

Hermione, Ron and Harry waited, watching Draco, unsure what to do. Draco sensed their concern, and continued after a moment.

"When I was about nine," Draco told them sadly, "I badgered my father to take me to a place like this. He always took me on trips with him, as far back as I can remember, trying to teach me his way of doing things, about 'the way life is', as he phrased it. We often flew over this place, or one like it, usually low enough to hear the sounds and even smell those incredible..."

He paused a moment, closed his eyes, and leaned in close to the model in order to deeply inhale the realistic scents.

"... aromas." He moaned and shuddered, then went on, the deep breath and / or the smells steadying him and lightening his mood considerably.

"I guess I pushed him too hard, or something, because he really lost it that day and threw such a screaming, cursing fit at me that I spent the rest of the trip, and the day, bawling. I vowed that I would never, ever ask him for anything ever again, no matter how desperately I wanted it. I guess... that was probably the day I kind of turned myself off, at least emotionally. My father seemed really pleased with my behavior after that, at any rate.

Joy slowly returned to Draco's face as he sank to his knees in front of the model and longingly scrutinized it's every feature. "We're really going here?" His face was positively beaming at the prospect!

"We're leaving right after breakfast!" Harry exclaimed, slowly releasing the breath he'd been unconsciously holding in concern for Draco *I've been doing that quite a bit lately,* it occurred to him. He was happy now, though, both that Draco was OK, and that he had made the right decision, after several weeks of pondering and making the requisite arrangements; he was also thrilled that he had finally found a way to share some of his largess with his friends, especially Ron, because he knew that money was exceptionally tight for him and his family, and he still felt guilty, even after five years, for having such an incredible treasure essentially dropped in his lap, as it were.

Hermione knew what to expect, of course, and was appropriately excited, but Ron was puzzled, both by the model and by Draco's reaction to it. She quietly explained it in more detail, while Harry continued.

"I spent almost a month researching this and made all the arrangements and reservations for the four of us over three weeks ago! They're usually quite busy, even though they don't officially open until next weekend. Opening day is usually the worst for crowds and delays, this place is so popular! Thankfully, the weather is also cooperating!" he finished, looking out the window at the absolutely perfect day that was shaping up ahead of them.

"OH! We'll need to bring some things with us," Harry continued, explaining things that they'd all need to know about amusement park comportment, since none of them, including Hermione, had done this kind of thing before; primarily because of the heavy load they all carried at Hogwarts. Harry had obtained his information from research, and also (primarily) from information he'd garnered from Dudley about several trips that the Dursleys had taken him on, though not Harry.

Hermione, of course, knew what amusement parks were, but had never before gone to one, just because it had never occurred, either to her or to her parents. This would be a day to remember for all of them; even Ron was getting excited, now that he was beginning to understand what was in store for them all! He was especially looking forward to that 'haunted house' thing, as Hermione explained that this park was the best, and had the best of everything in the entire country! The trip sounded absolutely fascinating!

*!*!*