Chapter 1: Chapter 1

To love and lost and love again, takes more than just the desire, but also the courage to take the first step again. -Jeanne Goh

A/N This is the revised edition of Somewhere Between Loving and Living. I hope you all enjoy the revisions, as I feel my writing has greatly improved since I first wrote this story.

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. I only own my ideas and the character Gabe so far. Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling and the various publishers and movie companies. I also don't own the songs used in this story. They are Who You'd Be Today by Kenny Chesney and I Do (Cherish You) by Mark Wills. I love both of these songs, and I highly recommend listening to them while reading those parts!

Warnings: This is slash. Guy/guy relationships. Don't like? I have one simple answer for that. Don't read. See? Simple!

Still here? Good! Please review and tell me what you think!

There comes a time in a child's life when they can no longer live under the influence of their parents. They reach a point where they must make their own decisions and face their own consequences. I feel I have reached that point, and I can no longer reconcile myself to living underneath my father's thumb. I must branch out and become the person I am truly meant to be.

The trouble is, escaping is not as easy as it sounds. For most wizards, it is as simple as completing their education at Hogwarts, or whichever school they may attend, getting a steady job, buying a flat, and eventually a house on the countryside where they can raise their own kids in peace.

This was never to be my future. I knew this from a young age. I am a Malfoy. I have expectations upon my shoulders. And I am honor-bound to fulfill them. I have even been threatened. For the longest time, I felt I was stuck upon the path my father set me. Until I picked up the newspaper one day and saw Saint Potter's face on the cover of The Prophet. It was some story about a giant Death Eater bust from the remains of the Second War. But all my mind took in was the fact that Potter had power. He had power I could use. Power to change my life path.

I refused to go to my schoolyard nemesis for over a year, but there came a time when I could no longer handle the pressure my father injected into my life. I felt my pride whimper as I closed my eyes and used the one trip via apparation my father allowed me every day. I prayed Potter would listen to me, or else I would have wasted a perfectly good opportunity to get pissed with the rest of the heirs.

I arrived in front of the Ministry for Magic and sighed. It was time for me, Draco Malfoy, heir to the Malfoy fortune, self-admitted prat, and arrogant Slytherin to grovel for help from the one person I terrorized for years on end. I knew my quest would not be easy, but I also knew exactly how out of other options I was.

I sighed once more and walked into the Ministry with the hood of my cloak pulled low over my eyes.

The first person I came upon was a young, ditzy blonde woman with bubble gum colored eyes and lips. I shuddered in revulsion and tried to keep the sneer out of my voice. I was here to beg, not to rule. It took all I had in me, but I managed. "Sir? Can I help you?" she said, as she popped, much to my chagrin, some bubble gum into her mouth. I almost snapped as she began to chew her gum as loud as she possibly could.

"I need to talk to Auror Potter," I only barely managed to keep my disgust out of my voice.

"He's like the Head Auror now," the bimbo replied to me.

"What?" Okay, not my most elegant moment, but I could not have heard her correctly.

"Auror Potter now leads his, oh, what's it called? His team-y thing. Like, everyone who works here," she paused and scrunched her face into what greatly resembled some wrinkled mammal, "Division!" she screeched so suddenly I nearly jumped. "Head Auror Potter was promoted two weeks ago."

"He's eighteen!" I felt my resentment of Potter rise in me again. His name got him there, nothing else. That had to be it. He had no talents. Just like how his name was the source of his fame, rather than his fortune, as it should be.

"Yes, that's right. He is the youngest Head Auror, like, ever! Now sir, can I ask your name?"

I hadn't thought this through. I panicked and told the girl the first combination of names I could think of. "Theodore Coy."

Blondie looked at me strangely, but continued on with the process. "Okaaayyyy. Please remove your hood now."

"I'm afraid I cannot do that."

"Why not? I gotta know if you have weapons on you!"

I held out my arms. "You may check me magically. I mean no harm." The girl looked at me strangely, pulled out a large book and read up on magical detection spells. As soon as she found the one she needed, she once again shrieked and excitedly stood.

"This is why I love this job! I get to learn knew things every day." I rolled my eyes and wondered if this girl had even made it through school and, if she had, what house she was in. I scoffed to myself. My money would be on Hufflepuff. The secretary finally waved her wand, and I felt a tingling go down my body. "You are clear. I will contact Head Auror Potter and have him meet you in Room number 3. "

"Thank you." As I walked away, I took a deep breath, preparing to go through the hardest experience in my life.

Five minutes later, Potter walked in, his wand drawn. I kept my eyes trained on the ground, as a sign of submission and of respect. "My secretary said you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes, sir."

"Do I know you? She said your name was Theodore Coy?"

"Yes, sir."

"Will you please look at me? I don't like talking to someone so downtrodden, although your humility is quite refreshing around here."

Making sure my hood was kept in place, I looked up. Potter looked me in the eyes, and his widened. "Malfoy!"

Shit. Of course he would recognize my eyes. I sighed and dropped both my hood and the act. "Potter, I need your help."

I saw Potter's revulsion well up in his eyes at the slightest idea of helping me with anything. "Why do you want my help all the sudden? I never liked you, and you always hated me. Why me?"

"Potter, even my name suggests I am evil. I am determined to change that, I need to change that. I need your help."

"You terrorize me for years both during and after school, and now you're asking for help?" Potter raised an eyebrow.

"I know. I regret that I terrorized you for so long. I'm sorry. I-I can't do this anymore. I will get down on my knees and beg if I have to." I began to lose my composure as my desperation began to overwhelm me.

Potter seemed impressed, but he continued on as if he weren't. "Is this a trap? How did you even get in here? There are supposed to be wards against the Dark Mark."

"Why do you automatically assume that I have the Dark Mark?"

"You're a Malfoy!" Potter regretted his words as soon as they passed from his lips, but I honestly could not blame him for his outburst. He composed himself before continuing. "No, that's wrong of me, I'm sorry. That was wrong for me to assume. Didn't your father force the mark on you?"

"I refused to take it. I was tortured for my denial of what he called my 'birthright', and I had a week to change my mind. I refused again. The torture was worse the second time around, but after the fourth time, I hardly felt it."

"How many times were you tortured?" Potter seemed genuinely interested and horrified, along with some other emotion I was unable to identify.

I refused to relive that part of my life, and I felt like Potter was making this way too personal for what I was trying to make happen. "More than enough. Potter, I really need your help. I know you can protect me. You're the,"

"If you say Boy-Who-Lived, I will not even consider helping you."

"I was going to say best known wizard, second to Merlin, but I won't go there."

Potter smiled and reached out his hand. "I will help you, with some conditions."

"Name them." I felt relief crash over me.

"You will completely submit to questioning, and you will be under constant surveillance until I deem it not necessary, and you will not leave wherever I place you without my permission. Fair?"

I didn't like it, but it seemed like the best deal I would be able to bargain for. "I agree." I shook Potter's hand and laughed. "I'm getting flashbacks from our first year."

"What do you mean?"

"When I offered you my hand in friendship, you refused."

"You had just insulted my first friend ever. I wasn't likely to be all friendly to you after that."

"And every day since then, I haven't wondered what would be different if I hadn't—" Potter's words caught up to me, "first friend?"

Potter flinched.

Now I had to know. "What do you mean by 'first friend'? Didn't you have any friends before Hogwarts?"

"No. My relatives wouldn't allow it."

"What do you mean?"

"It means nothing! I will contact you shortly with information. Where are you staying?"

"The Hog's Head under the name I gave you."

"Good day Mr. Coy." Potter stormed out, and I was left very confused, but relieved. Potter had both helped me and gave me a mystery to solve. And how I loved mysteries.

A/N Please review. Also, I will be leaving the first edition of this fiction up, at least for a little while, so that you can all see the changes I have made. If you have any questions about why I did one certain thing or another, or liked something better in the first edition, please send me a message or a review, and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible! Thanks for reading you guys!