Safety You Crave

By Tarklovishki

Harry longed to take the invisibility cloak to tail Draco on the Hogwarts Express to see what he was up to, for there was no doubt in his mind that Draco would divulge important information to his friends, but something held him back when his fingers brushed against the satin cloak.

Would Draco Malfoy be stupid enough to tell his friends of the plan that Lord Voldemort had for him? Draco wouldn't be dumb enough to do that, would he? After all, he came second in the entire year, beaten only by Hermione, except he excelled in Potions and received marks better than hers.

"Harry?" Hermione asked worriedly as the train wobbled its way through the countryside. "Harry, what is it? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," said Harry, his mind spinning as he turned away from the invisibility cloak. "Just … Just wait there, I'll be right back."

Ron and Hermione shared bewildered looks.

"But aren't you going to see what Malfoy is up to?" Ron asked, his brows climbing his forehead. "I mean, the ferret-face has to be up to something, right? You said so yourself."

Harry couldn't tell them what he was going to do, because he had no idea what he was going to do himself. Draco wouldn't exactly be skipping for joy at the thought of talking to him, as their history had pretty much been settled in legendary fights the school would probably remember for decades.

Offering Ron and Hermione a comforting smile, he left the compartment, allowing the door to swing back on its own, for when it properly shut he was halfway down the train, heading toward the compartment he'd seen Draco enter.

He'd be lying through his teeth if he said he wasn't nervous; Draco came from a family of dark wizards, and therefore had been taught a range of spells that would no doubt be that of the dark. He probably knew more spells than Hermione, and that was saying something.

In Draco's compartment sat Pansy, Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle, the four of them were entertaining each other with a range of jokes about politics, and a number of other topics that anyone else would have found boring and irrelevant. Draco, however, had his elbow propped up on the ledge of the window, his chin resting in his hand, and a very bored and sallow look on his face.

Summoning up his courage in a deep breath, Harry threw open the compartment door perhaps using a little bit more force than what was necessary, as everyone jumped and looked around at the door with their hands reaching for their wands.

Pansy's face curled in disgust. "What do you want, Potter?" she spat venomously. "Don't your little friends want to hang out with you anymore? Mudblood and Weasley give up on your or something?"

Harry chose to ignore her, though he really would have liked to push her off the train.

"Malfoy," he said, "I need to talk to you."

He ignored the shocked and angry looks from the other four Slytherins, who looked as though they would have liked nothing more than to leap on Draco to make sure he didn't go with them. Draco, however, looked like a deer caught in headlights before he finally managed to control his expression.

"Oh, really, Potter?" he sneered, jutting his chin up into the air. "And what makes you think that I'll talk to you, then? As if I want to be seen with vermin like you."

"Well, I find myself to be better company than Borgin, but I'll leave that for you to decide. I could easily ask what you were doing down in Knockturn Alley."

Draco's already pale skin went whiter, until he looked so alarmingly pale he could have been dead.

"Fine," he snapped briskly, standing up. "You lot, stay here."

Pansy leapt to her feet. "Why are you going off to speak with him? What's so secretive that you can't even tell your own friends about it—and why does Potter know?"

Draco sent her a glare so cold she should have turned to ice.

"That's none of your business, Pansy," he whispered menacingly, though his voice carried through the compartment. "If you know what's good for you, you'll stay here."

Then he left the compartment, seizing Harry by the arm and pushing him roughly ahead of him. They walked down the end of the train side by side, attracting odd stares off of everyone they passed. What was the Slytherin Ice Prince doing with their Chosen One?

Draco saw a lonely second year right at the end of the train, and with one withering look he made the second year running away so fast he could have had a demon on his heels. Well, Harry thought, stifling a laugh, Draco was known to have that effect on people.

"What do you know of Borgin?" Draco demanded, slamming the door shut once they entered, and spinning on his heels to face Harry, a wild expression dominating his face. "How do you know that I went there? Have you been spying on me, Potter?"

"Which question do you want me to answer first?" Harry quipped, and Draco cracked his knuckles in either anger or agitation, his left hand twitching toward his wand. "Fine, Ron, Hermione and I saw you enter Knockturn Alley and we followed you because you looked suspicious."

"Why is it that whenever I try to do something private, the Golden Trio always catches me?" Draco muttered to himself, messing up his hair inadvertently by running a hand through it. "What do you know of what I am doing?"

"Are you doing something, Malfoy? I was under the impression that you were simply there to bargain for an item, but now that you've brought this up, I'm curious," Harry said.

"Fuck it all to hell," Draco growled. "Don't play mind games with me, Potter, I am not in the mood."

"It's about Voldemort, isn't it?" Harry asked, and Draco winced at the name.

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"No, I think I do. You've never been that much of an evil person that you would join up on Voldemort's side—no, you talk about Voldemort a lot, but come on. We both know you haven't got it in you, right? You're not Death Eater material—you're not a killer."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Draco whispered, terror in his eyes.

Harry took a step closer to Draco. "It's right there in your eyes, Draco, you're frightened. There is no more gloating, there is no more taunts. If you were truly happy with becoming a Death Eater, you'd be rubbing it in my face right now as if I wanted it." He shook his head, refusing the temptation of putting his hand on Draco's cheek. "Has he got you cornered, or something?"

Turning away, Draco sat down on the seat once his knees started buckling alarmingly. Why couldn't Harry just leave him be? Why did he have to know everything that was going on? Harry sat down beside him, his green eyes fixated on Draco's trembling form.

"You don't have to join him, you know," he said, and Draco looked up, his storm grey eyes almost begging for someone to help him. "The Order of the Phoenix can protect you from him if you stop pretending that this is what you want. Come over to the right side, Ma—Draco. Come over to the right side and stand up to Voldemort. I know you're afraid, because I am, too. But there is a difference in our fears; you're trying to run away, I'm trying to fight. You've got to fight him, Draco, you've got to fight your fears otherwise you'll be running for the rest of your life."

"M-my family …"

"Put your faith into the Order, Draco. You may be a cocky, arrogant bastard, but you're not a killer. You wouldn't have the guts to torture me right now. I know now that you are the way that you are because that's how you were raised to be. But I'm giving you an opportunity to get away from all of that."

Gaining courage from the fact that Draco hadn't yelled or hexed him yet, Harry reached out and took Draco's hand in his own. The contact made Draco jump and gasp. He stared at their hands as if he'd never had anyone touch him so gently before, never had anyone show him how much they cared.

"You can be your own person," Harry breathed. "Isn't that what you want?

Draco shook his head frantically, though he clutched hold of Harry's hand tightly. "The Death Eaters will be after me, they'll kill my parents. And what will happen to my friends? You're not offering them a chance for a different life. Why aren't you doing that for them?"

Harry smiled. "Well, let's just say I know a hopeless case when I see one." He took a deep breath that forced him to sit back for a moment. "You're not like them, Draco. They're self-assured when you pretend to be. I know for a fact it's to cover up your uncertainty, your … v-vulnerability."

"I'm not vulnerable, Potter," Draco whispered, unable to summon his regular bite. "I don't know if I can leave my whole life behind—"

"But you want to," Harry intercepted with a nod of his head. "I know it'll be difficult, taking a massive step away from your life won't be easy, but I'll be there for you if you let me. It'll take everyone else a long time to warm up to you, I know that, but once you show that you're truly on their side, they'll be settled with the idea of you. Oh, and just so you know, there's no initiation into the Order. So there's no worry of having the word 'Order' branded onto your skin, or a Phoenix."

His words had the desired effect he wanted; Draco laughed. It was a slightly wet, choked sound, but one could not mistake that it was a laugh. Harry grinned as well. Draco should laugh more often. Even when he was close to tears, the sound of his laugh sounded angelic.

"Can you do it?" Harry asked after a couple of silent minutes.

That was the one question Draco didn't know if he could answer. He brought his hand up to his mouth and bit down on one of his knuckles, deep in thought. Could he do it? Could he abandon everything he had, everything he thought he would become, in the hopes of leading a better, safer life? From a young age he'd been settled with the fact that he would never be offered what Harry was offering now. He thought he'd be okay with going through life with the morals his parents had raised him with.

Harry placed a hand on Draco's shoulder, giving it a friendly squeeze.

"You can move on from this," he whispered. "You can be a greater person."

Draco looked over at Harry. Here was his chance at the friendship he'd offered five years ago, Harry was here, trying to help him out as though he were a friend instead of his enemy as they had been all these years. They were being almost … civil with each other, which anyone would have said was a miracle, given their history.

"I'll be here whenever you need me," Harry added.

That did it. Draco offered him a tiny smile and nodded.

"I can do it," he whispered.

The End

Yeah, this is probably shit. But every time I read in HBP how Harry literally stalks Draco to find out what he's doing, I get pissed. This was kind of how I wanted Harry to deal with it. We all know Draco is using his arrogance as a cover, take that away and we get a Draco who wants out.

Please review and tell me what you think. If this is bad, please know that it's a murky Sunday evening, and I'm literally sweating bucket loads where I'm sitting right now. Besides, I'm watching Biggest Loser; Family. I'm glad these families have their shirts on when they run. XD It's probably horrible of me to say that, but honestly, you don't want to see them wobble.

Love always,

Tarklovishki.