Beginnings Harry had found him! He had finally found him! Now he would enjoy watching the white haired bastard pay! Harry had bound Draco to a tree out in the forest right where he had ambushed him. It had taken him 5 minutes, but he had used every bit of rope he had brought with him. There was no chance Draco was getting out of this. Not that the git hadn’t tried like hell. He had fought the restraints for a good 30 minutes before going limp with exhaustion. Harry had thought he would fight longer; but from the look of things Draco had hardly eaten much at all in the few weeks he had been running since he failed to kill Dumbledore. If Harry wasn’t so full of hatred for the bastard he would have felt a bit sorry for him. After about another hour Harry decided he had ‘rested’ enough and threw a pitcher of cold creek water onto the Draco’s limp body. “HOLY FUCK!” was Draco’s response. The temperature of the water had snatched his breath from his body and he was struggling to figure out what was happening. Why was he tied to a tree?! Who on earth had just doused him with ice cold water?! He looked up a fresh line of explicatives escaped his mouth. “Really, Draco, is that the way aristocrats are taught to speak?” Harry asked with the smirk on his face growing in response to Draco’s reactions. “Did you really think you could hide from me you stupid, arrogant git? Did you think I would not come looking?” Harry was on his feet now, only a few meters from his catch. Draco finally got his bearings and his typical façade fell into place. “Don’t tell me you are still upset about the old goat, Potter.” Draco replied as his own smirk found its way onto his face. “I can promise you that he is not thinking about you. In fact – he is not thinking at all anymore is he?” As soon as the last comment was out of his mouth Draco knew he had went too far. Within a fraction of a second Harry was up against him and had his wand poking into Draco’s cheek so hard there would be a bruise later. Draco, back to his old self, did not miss the chance to remind Harry that the wand would do him little good. “You’d better act carefully, Potter. You are still underage. If you so much as make a wart grow on my nose your arse will be in the cell next to mine in Azkaban.” Harry knew this already, but the fact that Draco remembered it and was using it to goad him further was more than Harry could handle. He threw the wand to the ground and put his hands around Draco’s throat. “I don’t need a wand to kill you, you piece of toad shit! I will do it with my bare hands!” Harry tightened his grip around Draco’s neck and started to squeeze harder. Seeing the panic in the other boy’s eyes only seemed to drive him faster towards the ending he so desperately wanted. Desperation winning in the end, Draco turned his pleading grey eyes towards Harry’s emerald green ones and waited for the moment when their eyes would meet. As they did, he whispered “Harry, please… give me a chance to explain!” This was the closest he had EVER come to pleading and, truth be told, he would take that step next if it was what was needed to save his life. The use of his given name startled Harry enough that his grip loosened a bit. “Why should I give you any chance at all?” he asked as he continued to hold his hands around Draco’s neck. His grip remained loose, but that could be changed in a heartbeat if he didn’t like what Draco had to say. “Because Dumbledore was willing to give me a chance,” was all Draco could get out of his lungs. He was barely able to take any air in and making words was hard with Harry’s hand still clamped over his voice box. Harry went pale at those words. He remembered Dumbledore offering Draco that chance. He felt he had no other choice. He dropped his hands from Draco’s neck and crossed them in front of his chest. “Fine – what is it that you have to say that you think will spare your life?” Draco, forgetting his predicament for the moment smirked and said, “Is this really the best you can do Potter? You planning to leave me attached to this ‘overgrown weed’ throughout this conversation? At least the old goat had some class…” Harry was up against him again in a split second. He could never stand it when Draco talked shit about Dumbledore; but now it was even worse. “I swear to Merlin himself Draco – if you don’t tell me what you think might save you right now – it will be too late!” Draco decided he had played his last ‘snarky git’ card and squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to yell above Harry’s voice: “I had to Potter! The Dark Lord was going to kill my parents if I didn’t promise to take out Dumbledore!” Again Harry felt his grip on Draco’s throat loosen and he stepped back this time. He didn’t know whether to kill Draco for his attempt to mock his own life or to acknowledge the fact that his eyes appeared truthful. “Do you really expect me to believe you?” Harry asked incredulously. “You can give me Veritaserum if you want.” Draco said. Harry could hear the defeat in his voice. Harry rummaged through his backpack and found a vial of the truth serum and mixed a few drops in a small bottle of water. He then held the bottle to Draco’s lips and made sure he drank every drop of it. They sat in silence for a few moments before Harry looked over to Draco expectantly. Draco took a deep breath and told him that between fifth and sixth year, Voldemort had personally threatened to kill Draco’s entire family if Draco didn’t agree to kill Dumbledore for him. “Think about it Potter – you are more than willing to kill the Dark Lord to avenge your parents are you not?” he asked. There was no bite in his comment – Harry could tell it was an honest question so he answered it. “Of course – this is not news to anyone in the wizarding world. What is your point Malfoy?” “My point Potter, is that if you are willing to kill the Dark Lord knowing that it won't bring your parents back; then why it is so hard to believe that I would be willing to kill Dumbledore in order to save my own?” he asked. Harry could not argue that logic. He didn’t like to admit it, but it made sense. He started to wonder if he could get Malfoy to change sides like Dumbledore had been attempting before his death. He thought about this for a few minutes – long enough that Draco was starting to worry that even telling the truth was not going to save his neck. Harry stood and looked Draco right in the eye. “If you agree to help me destroy Voldemort; and agree to seal the pact with a binding spell - I will undo the ropes. But do not misunderstand Draco; if you do anything that can be mistaken as a betrayal of our pact – I WILL kill you.” Draco thought about it for a moment. He had nothing to lose really. He had heard that Voldemort had indeed killed his parents upon hearing of Draco’s inability to kill the headmaster. In fact, he and Potter now had a common goal. They both wanted revenge for their parents’ death, and Draco knew that with Potter by his side he was sure to know victory. Draco nodded his head and Harry untied his right hand so that they could shake hands and seal the pact. As the magic dissipated Harry removed the rest of the ropes and, after collecting all their things, he apparated them back to Grimmauld Place. With all the wards in place, Harry knew Draco could not leave without him. He took him to a room and showed him where to shower and said he would go find something for them to eat. 20 minutes later, Draco walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table. The timing was perfect as Harry was putting the food onto plates. As they sat eating quietly; Harry and Draco were both thinking the same thing… “This could be the beginning of an interesting friendship.”