A/N: I do not own Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, or any other character/object in this fanfiction. It all belongs to J.K. Rowling. Please Read and Review!
New Life
Harry quietly walked through the silent halls of Hogwarts, not really paying attention to where he was going. It was somewhere around one in the morning, so he hadn't even bothered with his invisibility cloak. Most of the teachers stopped patrolling the corridors around midnight so that they could get to sleep. It wouldn't do to have them teaching with only a couple of hours of sleep. Harry couldn't sleep. He had laid down at about eleven, but all he managed to do was toss and turn. He had this feeling in the pit of his stomach that something bad was going to happen, but he couldn't figure out what it was. So he figured he would walk around some and try to clear out his head.
He looked up and stopped just in time to avoid smacking into the wall that was inches in front of him. He stared at it for a minute, then shook his head and turned to the left, wondering where he was. Then he realized that there was a staircase at the other side of the hallway that led up to the astronomy tower. He debated about going up the stairs, because he knew that the tower was a make-out spot for couples. He turned and started to walk back to his dormitory, when the bad feeling hit his stomach again. He looked at the stairs again and decided to take a chance and go up them. Slowly he walked towards the stairs, pausing at the bottom to listen for any sounds that meant a scene he didn't want to walk in on awaited him at the top. After hearing nothing, he started up them.
When he was a couple of steps away from the top he saw the shadow. It was just the top of a head, the person being too far away for him to see the whole thing. Something didn't seem right with that picture though. The astronomy tower wasn't that big, and for someone's shadow to be that far away, the person would have to be standing on the window. Harry took a few more steps up, now standing one step away from being at the top and stopped. Standing on the windowsill, looking down, was a slim, but muscular figure. The boy was standing with poise and grace, even though he only had to lean forward to fall to certain death. It took Harry only a second to realize who it was. He could pick that shoulder length, platinum blonde hair out of a thousand blonde males. The boy leaned forward just barely, and Harry held his breath. Then, the boy leaned back and stepped off the windowsill and turned around, facing Harry, and froze. The silver-grey eyes widened and stared at Harry, almost frantic looking.
"What are you doing, Malfoy?" Harry asked, finally finding his voice. Malfoy just continued to stare at him, frozen in place. Harry took a few steps forward, then lunged to grab Malfoy as the other boy took a step backwards and almost toppled over the edge of the window. Harry steadied both of them, then dragged Malfoy away from the window before letting go of his arm. Malfoy let out a shaky breath and licked his lips nervously. Both boys stared at each other for what seemed like an hour.
"You know, Malfoy, even though you were thinking about jumping out of the window, you should still use your manners and say thank-you to me for saving your life just now," Harry told him angrily. He knew they were enemies, but he could have just watched as the blonde plummeted to his death.
"It's Draco, not Malfoy. And thank-you," the blonde said in almost a whisper. Harry raised an eyebrow at him.
"Thought you were proud of your last name? And I didn't know you considered me close enough to use your first name," the brunette questioned. Draco looked away, his silver-grey eyes looking empty.
"I've been disowned. You'll be happy to know that I told Lucius Malfoy that I wished to remain neutral in the war. Contrary to whatever you may believe, I have no wish to join that mad man. I would rather side with Dumbledore, but had no wish to tell Lucius that and be killed. He disowned me this morning, and stripped me of the Malfoy name. I am no longer a Malfoy. I'm Draco, just Draco," Draco told Harry, his voice trembling slightly. Harry took a moment to process this information.
"So if you made the huge decision to tell Lucius that you were going to remain neutral, then why would being disowned affect you enough to make you want to jump off the astronomy tower?" Harry questioned.
"Because, you idiot, I was disowned," Draco exclaimed, his eyes lighting up with fire. "But I guess you have no idea what that actually means, growing up with muggles. I have nothing. Nowhere to go after this year is over, no money to get even a hotel room at the Leaky Cauldron, no way to pay my tuition for my final year at Hogwarts, nothing. The only reason I'm not being kicked out right now, is that my tuition for this year was paid in full and there's no refund. If not I would be on the streets right now living like a rat! Jumping off the astronomy tower to my death would be better than living like that!"
Draco's voice had risen to a scream by the end of his rant, and now he breathed heavily. Both boys stared at each other for minutes, not knowing what to say. The silence between and around them began to get slightly awkward. Finally, Draco spoke up, his voice barely above a whisper.
"If you have nothing else to say to me, then why don't you just go back to your friends? I'm sure by tomorrow every student at Hogwarts will know about this, so don't be surprised if you find me at the bottom of this tower tomo- " Draco didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before he was being wrapped up in two strong, tan arms. The arms rested around his shoulders, a hand resting right below the center of his shoulder blades. Draco stood there, arms at his side, for a minute, and then hesitantly wrapped his arms around the thin waist in front of him.
"I'm sorry. I won't tell anyone, and I'll help you out. I'm sorry," Harry murmured into Draco's shoulder. Draco rested his head on Harry's shoulder, and after a second Harry felt the slim body begin to slightly shake. He continued to hold the blonde as Draco let go of everything he had ever been taught and sobbed shamelessly into Harry's shoulder.
After what seemed like hours, Draco lifted his head from the soaked shoulder, and pulled out of the embrace. He opened his mouth to speak, and then promptly shut it and frowned. He searched Harry's face, looking for any sign that Harry was playing a cruel trick on him. He finally found his voice.
"Why?" Was all he said, his voice hoarse.
"Haven't you heard, Draco? I have a hero complex. I have to save and help anyone I can, no matter if I hate them or not," Harry told him in a snide tone. Draco slowly shook his head.
"No. That's not it. I know people say that about you, but it's not true. There's another reason. There has to be," Draco said, still searching Harry's face. Harry looked down, and then moved quickly.
He grabbed Draco's face and without a second thought leaned up and pressed his slightly chapped lips firmly against the blondes' soft ones. Draco stood still at first, then slowly began to respond to the kiss. He pulled Harry closer, wrapping his arms around the slim waist for the second time that night. He tilted his head to the side slightly and deepened the kiss. Harry slid one hand into the soft, silky hair, and placed one on the back of Draco's neck, firmly securing him in place. Eventually, the two boys pulled away from each other to breathe, but kept their faces close enough to share each other's breath. Harry gently and quickly pressed his lips back to Draco's, then pulled away enough to look at the other boys face. Draco's cheeks were flushed pink, a stark contrast to the pale skin. His eyes showed the shock and confusing that was running around in his head.
"Why?" He asked for a second time that night.
"Because I've thought you were beautiful since the beginning of this year and haven't been able to keep my mind off you. Parents always say that young boys pick fights and tease the girls they like, and apparently boys who like other boys torment the one they like. Because opposites attract, and we're opposites in every way possible. There's something about you that draws me in, intrigues me. I want to be with you, help you, hold you, and be there for you. I'm guessing from the way you kissed me you feel the same," Harry inquired.
"I won't deny that I like you, and that I have been thinking about you lately. But I'm still not sure about my feelings. I haven't figured them out as much as you have yours. But I do know that I like you, and want to be with you," Draco said quietly, the shine back in his eyes. Harry smiled widely, bringing the taller boy closer.
"Then let's give this a try. You have nothing to lose, so why not? You have nothing, so let me be the first thing you have in your new life," Harry told him. Draco smiled softly.
"You already are, Harry," he said, before pressing his lips against Harry's and getting lost in the kiss.