You Won't Ever Get Too Far

Diagon Alley was full of excitement again. It felt magical and warming and no longer lonely and frightening. Almost all the buildings look like new again. People were huddled and celebrating. The boy who lived had saved us all again. This time, for good.

Kingsley Shacklebolt was promoted temporary Ministry for Magic. Things were still being sorted out, even after a month. Trials were being given, death eaters being put in Azkaban. Things were better this way.

Although, it wasn't just happiness in the air. There was a mixed in sadness from the mourning of those lost in the Battle of Hogwarts. Most of them were young, fighting for their future. Their future never got to come. It was quite tragic.

At the end of the Alley, Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes stood bright. It wasn't opened but, there were people inside. Most of the Weasley family were there; Mrs. Weasley with her arm around Percy, George's face was drained of all color and tears stained his face, standing in the background was Ron, Ginny, and... Harry Potter.

I swallowed. It was certain that my face was the last that anyone in that family would want to see. I turned my back and started in the other direction. I stopped in front of Ollivander's Wand Shop. Well, what used to be Ollivander's. The windows were still broken. The door was off its hinges. I stepped inside the frayed building. On the floor were wands, broken and not. I picked one up and held up. A few sparks came from the end.

Smiling, I tucked it away into my robes beside my mother's. It was high time for me to have a wand of my own. Potter still had mine...

"Malfoy?" a voice...the voice of an angel...said.

I turned around. Harry Potter was standing in the doorway looking at me, puzzled. Ron Weasley stood behind him muttering, "Don't talk to him."

I nodded at them.

"See you," Ron said, taking off.

My angel, my savior, stood in the doorway still, lighting up the dull, empty store. I stared at him. My hands were shaking.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I was...just needing some time alone," I told him.

"Me too, really," Harry said, shoving his hands in his pockets, "I thought the Weasleys might need some time together, just them."

I nodded, "Didn't they lose..."

"Fred," Harry muttered, "It kills me."

"Sorry," I said looking to the ground, "I never properly thanked you... for saving me."

"Well, I couldn't just leave you there to die," he told me.

"But I almost got you killed," I let the guilt spew.

"Actually, if I remember correctly, you were buying me some time," he smiled weakly.

I brushed past him, "Yeah, bought you some time to live just so You-Know_who could kill you," I muttered.

"You wouldn't have done that if you were alone," he said.

I stopped.

"I saw you that night you were trying to kill Dumbledore," Harry said, "You wouldn't have done it."

I turned around, "The guilt would've killed me if I had. It still kills me now..."

"Can I tell you something?" Harry asked, "It'll make you feel better about that."

I nodded.

"Dumbledore was going to die anyway," Harry said, "There was curse that was killing him. He and Snape had the whole night planned. Sort of."

"...Really?" I asked, feeling a small amount of weight lift.

"It's a long story," Harry said.

"I-I've got time," I said, "I mean, you know, I'm not busy..."

"Want to go to London and have coffee?"

"Um, sure," I replied.

I was going to have coffee with Harry Potter? He was befriending me? We were going to muggle London to have coffee.

"You've changed. I can tell," Harry told me.

It was true, I had.

Side-by-side, we exited the Wizarding World and entered the muggle streets outside of Diagon Alley. London was busy, as always. I like muggle London. Although, the warm feeling it had given me when I was younger wasn't flowing through me lately.

I was never able to fully explore London. Too many muggles.

"I know the best place," Harry said, "Follow me."

I stayed close to him to avoid separation. Well, at least that's what I kept trying to tell myself.

We went down the stairs to the Underground [subway] system. I'd never been through this muggle train system. He bought my ticket. He went through first, and then I went only two seconds slower than everyone else, which seemed like a lifetime. Around another corridor we went, then in front of the track, we waited.

When a train arrived, it stopped. The doors opened, and he pulled me in quickly. I was surprised at the small amount of time in which passengers were expected to get on. I suppose after getting used to it, it wouldn't seem so fast.

Two empty seats awaited us.

"7 stops," Harry said, "Chancery Lane."

The train wasn't crowded, but after the second stop, it began getting increasingly more crowded.

My hand was clutching the bottom of my seat, as the train took off. Harry's hand was resting very, very close to mine. I tried not to notice.

"Why did you come talk to me?" I asked him.

"I just wanted to see what you were doing, really." He kept watching out the window, as the blurs of tunnels and posters, bricks, sometimes sky, and graffiti flew by.

When we reached our stop, we got off in a rush like the rest of the people. He kept hold of my wrist to be sure I was with him.

"That was your first time on the tube," Harry said, as he dropped my arm.

"Maybe," I replied.

He smiled at me. That smile.

We started down a street, then another. The buildings were tall and old. All of them were old and I'd never seen this part of London before. We reached a place called 'Caffe Nero'.

The place was filled with muggles, most of them with a book or a newspaper, with their coffee steaming in front of them. It was small, but cozy. The tables weren't too close together. Everything was a deep shade of brown or red. Harry lead me towards the back, where a a lone table was, with a painting of a lady wearing a red dress over it. We sat.

"Let me order you something good," Harry said.

"Sure," I said.

After he placed our orders, I sat quietly.

"I was supposed to tell you some things, wasn't I?" he asked, looking at me.

"Yes, about Snape and Dumbledore," I replied.

"Alright," Harry glanced around a muttered, "Muffliato. Had to sort of keep it private. It would sound a bit odd if someone overheard us talking about magic."

I nodded.

"Snape has been on Dumbledore's side since I was born," Harry said, "Snape was sort of in love with my mother and when she was marked for death he asked Dumbledore for help. Since then, Dumbledore has trusted Snape.

"But, anyway, before our 6th year, Dumbledore found this cursed ring. He knew it was likely cursed, but he had the urge to put it on anyway. It nearly killed him, but Snape saved him. Dumbledore had this curse still draining him. He was going to die anyway and both of them knew it. Around the same time, Dumbledore found out that you were being forced to kill him by Voldemort. He had Snape agree to make the unbreakable vow, because he wanted Snape to kill him not you. To save you the guilt and to keep your soul pure."

"To keep my soul pure," I whispered, "But if he knew then why..."

"He had a feeling that you weren't going to be able to do it anyway," Harry said, "Just in case, he wanted back-up. He didn't want the guilt on you."

I exhaled, "It does feel better knowing this. But how do you know?"

"I thought you'd feel better," Harry said, "Well, I went through a year thinking Snape was evil. The night that Voldemort attacked Hogwarts, he killed Snape. I was there...hidden. And when Voldemort left, as Snape was dying, he gave me his memories."

The waitor sat down two coffees.

"I'm really sorry," I muttered, unable to control myself, "I shouldn't ask you to tell me things like that."

"It's okay, really." I could hear a small amount of pain in his voice.

"I can't believe you saved me," I said, "I'm nearly as big of a coward as my father."

"The day that I was captured, Ron, Hermione, Dean, Griphook and I, and they brought us to your house," Harry looked at his cup, "You didn't say it was me."

I avoided his gaze when he looked back up, "Yeah, well...I didn't want to be the reason you were dead."

He took a sip of his coffee, "Try it."

I did. A warmness ran through me, and sort of made me feel a bit better. It tasted like bitter chocolate. It was nice. I smiled at him.

He smiled back.

"Where have you been staying?" I asked.

"With the Weasleys," he replied, "I'm trying to find a place to stay. I might rent a place on the west side of London."

"Sounds nice," I said, "Living in London."

"Are you still staying with your parents?" he asked.

I nodded.