Alone

Chapter 6

Derek glanced at his friend over the rim of his mug. Jake, to put it gracefully, looked like shit. Derek sighed. Even though it was only last night that someone named Draco Malfoy had popped into the room, to Derek it had seemed like a few years. Derek sighed again, earning him a glance from Jake.

"You're taking it well," Jake remarked, taking a sip of his coffee. Grimacing, he nearly dropped his mug.

"Take what well?" Derek asked and watched in amusement as Jake fanned his burnt tongue.

"The fact that there is such a thing as magic and that your best friend has lied to you for as long as you could remember," Jake replied, taking another sip of his coffee. Derek shrugged.

"I understand your pain man," he offered as an explanation and whacked Jake on the back in a brotherly fashion. Jake flinched as coffee poured out of his mug and straight on to his T-shirt.

"I highly doubt that, unless you yourself got boiling hot coffee poured on you at seven in the morning," Jake grumbled under his breath not happy at all that he had a brown spot on his shirt. Derek waved his hand dismissively.

"The main question is - are you going back?" he told Jake sternly. Jake sighed deeply. He knew this was coming.

"Well I was thinking about it and I have absolutely no idea what I'm gonna do," Jake groaned into his mug.

* * * * *

Draco yawned. It was the dinner and he was hungry. Apart from not having any food for about twenty hours, he had finally gotten over his apparition-lag. Entering the hall, Draco made his way to the head table (A/N is that what it's called? You know the table where the teachers sit). Settling himself down, Draco yawned again. He hardly noticed anyone sitting down next to him until the person asked him something.

"So Draco, I've been wondering, why did you believe that Harry was innocent?" Sirius asked. Draco glanced at him; he could see it still hurt the godfather to talk about his godson.

"Well, it all began the night before he was arrested," Draco told him, wondering why he wasn't being his usual sarcastic self.

* * * * *

Draco couldn't sleep. He didn't know why, but he had a feeling it had something to do with his father.

Damn him, always forcing me to do things I don't want to do. Why do I have to be a death eater? Why can't I be normal and do what I want? I don't want to kiss the ground Volde-stupid-moron-mort walks on, Draco brooded silently. Being a prefect, he had his own room and no one to see him cursing his father soundlessly.

Sighing, he sat up. It was no use. He wasn't going to go to sleep anytime soon.

Going down to the common room,Draco sat by the dying fire. Staring at it, he let his mind wander off in all directions. As much as he liked to put it off, he knew he couldn't. His father expected him to join the death eaters' club after he finished his last year of Hogwarts.

Yeah right, as if I'm gonna do that, Draco thought with as much sarcasm as he could muster up. Sighing soundlessly, Draco was about to get up, when he heard someone, no, two someone's come down the stairs and he stilled. Shrinking back into the sofa, Draco melted into the shadows and willed the pair, whoever they were, to not notice him.

"What?" Blaise asked as he trudged down the stairs after Pansy. Pansy turned around and glared at him.

"Shut up! Do you want the whole house waking up?" she hissed at him. Blaise shrugged and glared back at her.

"It's bloody two in the morning, I doubt anyone's gonna hear us," Blaise retorted. Pansy gave him one more warning glare before turning around and going into the common room.

"So what time tomorrow?" Blaise asked. Pansy scowled and a piece of parchment from her robes.

"About seven in the morning, that's when Potter goes out for his morning run," she told him as they made their way to the exit.

"And at seven-thirty Potter's going down," Blaise said with an air of satisfaction before they left the common room.

Draco got up extremely perplexed from what he had just heard. What do they mean Potter's going down and what the hell does his morning run have anything to do with that?

Sighing, Draco went up to his room.

Whatever Blaise and Pansy had up their sleeves, Potter was not going to get out of this one untouched, Draco thought as he rummaged around in his trunk.

Pulling out a watch, he smiled. Perfect he still had it. It was a port key that took the person to muggle LA. During the holidays had needed time to himself so Draco had gotten a port key to muggle LA. It was conveniently halfway across the world where no one knew who he was.

* * * * *

Sirius looked at Draco in disbelief.

"What, they planned this?" he asked, his voice starting to get louder with anger. Draco shushed him and nodded.

"Yeah they did, and when they accused him the next morning, I knew that was what they planned last night," he said. Sirius was still looking quite furious and like he was about to go and personally straggle Pansy and Blaise, after he found them.

"Calm down Black," Draco said as he took a drink from his goblet. Sirius sighed and slumped in his chair.

"Did you talk to him?" he asked. Draco nodded.

"What was he like? Was he well off? Healthy? Happy?"

"Yeah he was healthy and he looked reasonably well off and well happy? He was happy, that is until I showed on his doorstep and that's when he turned into Harry-I'm-gonna-kill-you-for-showing-up-in-my-life-again-Potter," Draco answered.

"Did he say anything about anyone?" he asked uncertainly as if he wanted and didn't want to know the answer and the same time.

"Yeah, well, basically he was just pissed off at everybody," Draco replied.

"So, he's gonna think about coming back?" Sirius continued to prod. Draco nodded.

"Yeah."

"Do you think he's going to come back?"

"Seriously?"

Sirius nodded, eager to hear what Draco had to say.

"Yes, he'll come back, eventually, but not because he misses everybody, but because he wants to save his friends," Draco answered truthfully. Sirius looked as confused as he felt.

"Friends? Us?" he asked. Draco shook his head.

"No, all his friends are muggles, hell, he's a muggle," Draco said. Sirius didn't say anything and was so deep in thought that he hadn't noticed that Draco was preparing to leave the table.

"Hey what do you mean he'll eventually come back Draco?" Sirius asked remembering what Draco had said before noticing that the blond had already disappeared out of the hall.

* * * * *

"All you going or not?" Derek asked. Jake sighed. He himself had asked himself that question about a million times that day.

"I seriously don't know. I don't want to see those bastards again, but I can't bare the thought of Voldemort killing you or Lizzi or Matt or anyone for that matter," Jake answered. Derek patted his friend's shoulder sympathetically.

"Whatever you choose, I'm here for you man," he told the black haired male. Jake smiled weakly and nodded.

"What do you think I should do?" he asked suddenly. Derek backed away slightly in his chair.

"No way am I gonna answer that. This is your decision and I don't want my opinion swaying your answer," Derek said as Jake's face fell.

"I know," he told him as he continued weighing the pros and cons of the situation.

Pros - he would save a lot of innocent lives if he worked with the order again. He would save his friends lives. He could live relatively safe now without fearing for his life.

Cons - he would have to endure all the publicity of his innocence. He would have to put up with people apologising for doubting him and telling him that they always knew that he was innocent. He would have to see his old friends again. He would have to face Voldemort. He would have the fate of the world resting on his shoulder, again.

Why is it always that the cons list is longer than the pros? Harry thought dryly as he traced the list in his mind.

"If you do leave, then you'll have to take an indefinite leave of absence pay thingy from the firm," Derek's voice dragged Jake back to reality.

"Yeah, I know," he answered. "But that shouldn't be hard should it?"

"No, not really," Derek replied with a shake of his head. Jake was a good lawyer and someone that the clients actually trusts. The firm couldn't afford to lose him.

Let's just hope they think of me in the same way when I decide to tag along after Jak- er, Harry. I'm still not used to that name!

"Yeah, but I don't really want to go," Jake whinged slightly, wondering if he believed what he was actually saying.

Of course I don't, why would I want to help those arse-kissing, not-believing-own-best-friend, pathetic excuses for human beings, bastards that used to be my friends? Jake thought bitterly as he watched his friend start on his dinner.

"So is that what you're going to do?" Derek asked finally as he set his fork down. Jake sighed. That was the question of the century, what was he going to do?

* * * * *