Hey, guys, hope that you aren't too dissappointed with what I cut out. There was just too much going on, and I couldn't go into any of it enough to satisfy me. Editing, I would decide to cut something out or add something and have to go back and change things in previous chapters to support it, so I decided to give you the entirity of the edited portion in one big heap. So I have no backlog of story to post, and it'll probably take a while for me to get another update to you. But you have a lot to read to make up for the wait, so enjoy.

Cheers,

Aralia Tutela

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Harry walked slowly through the old park. It was twilight, the sun was nearly swallowed by the horizon, but he hadn't been able to stand being in that house one minute more. Faded laughter echoed through his mind, memories from when he was a child, and the park was a place of happiness. But it had been years ago; there was nothing here for him anymore except memories. He sat tiredly on one of the swings, lazily moving from the impact, but making no real effort to do more than that, or to stop.

A sound caught his attention, drawing him away from his study of the ground at his feet. There was something over by the old merry-go-round, but he couldn't tell what it was. Curious for the first time in days, he stood to investigate.

As he approached, he could see that it was a person, huddled on the ground, apparently swathed in concealing black fabric. They were shaking, almost as though sobbing, but there was no sound. Hesitantly, Harry knelt beside the person; they didn't seem to notice. A hand on one shoulder, however, resulted in a flinch, as though they expected to be hurt.

"Shh, it's ok. I'm not going to hurt you. It's ok." Harry caught the other shoulder, and pulled the person close; never mind that he still had no idea who it was, they were hurting, and he couldn't just leave them here.

"No it's not. It'll never be ok." Harry sighed; he had to get inside before an Order member came looking for him. They seemed to think that someone would attempt to kidnap him or something, which had the unfortunate result of having people popping up to 'check on him' if he was outside more than five minutes at a time. Making a decision, he stood abruptly, pulling the other to their feet.

"C'mon, I got to get inside." He wrapped an arm around their waist before they could think of bolting, and guided them back down the street to his aunt and uncle's house. The mass of fabric had, upon standing, revealed itself to be a set of elaborate robes and an enveloping cloak. He guided his guest in through the backdoor, so there would be less chance of one of his relatives seeing them. They made it to his room without incident, and Harry locked the door before releasing the other person. "Here, let me take your cloak," he said softly, and was slightly surprised when it was pulled off and handed to him. He turned to hang it up on the door, and turned back before it registered who was standing awkwardly next to his bed. "Malfoy?" The blond looked up at him, his face clearly stating that he had just realized who he was with, seemingly unaware of the tear tracks down his face. "Have a seat, sorry I don't have any chairs." He gently pushed the other boy down onto the bed, climbing on the other side and sitting cross-legged facing him. "So what were you doing at the park, Malfoy?" The other boy looked at him, obviously wondering whether to answer him or not, then decided it didn't matter.

"Mother used to take me there when I was a small child, and my best friend used to meet me there. But when I turned 7, father decided it was time for him to start my education, and I wasn't allowed to go back. I don't even know his name to find him now. We were little, you know? We never used real names. He called me Co. But from the time I was 4 to the time I was 7, I played with him every afternoon, and he spent every weekend at my house. I went back there because I wanted to remember being happy, and having a friend. I've never had any real friends since." He looked sad, and Harry felt obscurely guilty for pushing him away first year, never mind that it had been the blonde's attitude that had caused it.

Harry wrapped an arm around his shoulders, causing him to start with surprise, but for whatever reason, he didn't pull away. "I know what it's like to have no friends. Most of my childhood, my cousin threatened anyone who looked like they were going to try to befriend me." He didn't mention that there had been one child who had stood up to his cousin, or that they had been friends until a couple weeks before his 7th birthday. Draco had relaxed against him, and looked to be holding in tears. "It's ok to cry, I won't think less of you. Everyone needs to cry sometimes." Draco shook his head.

"I have to be strong, for my snakes."

"Do you see any of your snakes here? It's just me. Go ahead and cry." Draco shook his head stubbornly, but was rapidly loosing his battle. Harry wrapped his arms around his shaking form, and stroked his hair, just as he did for the Gryffindors who came to him needing comfort. This seemed to break the floodgates, as the blond clutched the front of his shirt and sobbed into his shoulder. The storm was fierce, but quick to pass. Within 10 minutes, Draco sat up, and dried his eyes, acting as though he had not just been sobbing his heart out. He looked at Harry curiously.

"Why are you acting like this, Potter?" At Harry's confused look, he added, "Why are you acting like you actually care about me? You never cared to try before. Always listening to that Weasel and fighting with me."

"Number 1, Ron's my friend and I would appreciate it if you didn't call him names while you're here." Draco nodded reluctantly; it was unpardonably rude to insult your host's friends like that. "Number 2, you always started the fights. If you hadn't always been sniping at us, I might have tried to be your friend. And number 3, you're hurting, and I can't just leave someone to hurt by themselves. It's just not in my nature." There was a knock on the door before Draco could reply, and Harry's face went blank as he stood to answer it.

"Harry, I saw you brought someone in here, but I couldn't tell who it was. You know we need to know these things if we're going to properly protect you. So let me in to see who it is."

"Hello to you too, Tonks." Harry said dryly. "Who said they're in here?"

"Well, where else would they be? Somehow, I doubt that your aunt and uncle would welcome someone in robes and a cloak into the parlor." Harry sighed. "Now let me in, Harry. You know I don't like sticking my nose into your business any more than you like having your business gone through. Would you rather I got someone else? Like Molly?"

"No! Alright, come in then." Harry sighed, holding the door open. Draco was still sitting on the bed, looking amused, though he still had tearstains on his face.

"Hello cousin," Draco said politely, smirking at the look on her face as she turned to face Harry, who had once again shut and locked the door, putting several charms on it this time. Draco raised an eyebrow but made no comment, as it didn't appear that Tonks had noticed.

"You expect me to believe that you willingly brought Draco Malfoy home with you?!"

"Yes." Harry answered flatly. Raising an eyebrow at Draco, he added, "Cousin?"

"Her mother is my mother's sister. Therefore, she is my cousin."

"I see."

"But why did you bring him here, Harry?" Tonks interrupted anything else that Draco might say.

"Because he was hurting and I couldn't just leave him at the park by himself."

"What was he doing at the park?"

"Crying." Tonks looked rather taken aback.

"Well, I wasn't expecting anyone to be there, now was I?" Draco asked sardonically, not appreciating being talked about like he wasn't in the room. Tonks flushed and turned to him.

"But why go there? To a muggle park?"

"Mother used to take me there, so I could 'learn to deal with others my age in social situations'," he mimicked his mother's voice, "And the one friend I've ever had, met me there. He always left whatever he was doing whenever I showed up, and I protected him from this fat kid that was something of a bully. We had so much fun together, and he came to the manor every weekend." Tonks' eyes widened, and Harry shook his head minutely at her with his most pleading eyes; Draco was so wrapped up in his reminisces that he didn't notice. Tonks nodded slowly, more of Harry's reasoning explained to her. If they had been childhood friends, Harry would feel he could trust the other boy, especially if Draco had protected him from his cousin. But Draco obviously hadn't put everything together. He didn't realize the little boy he had protected was Harry. And for some reason, Harry wanted to keep it that way for now.

The three of them sat talking long into the night, only stopping when Harry announced that he'd have to get up early to cook breakfast. Tonks bid them goodnight, noting with amusement that Draco had fallen asleep sprawled across Harry's bed. Harry held the door for her, and watched as she Apperated away, then locked the door again, making sure none of his relatives could get in to see him with a boy in his bed. He didn't feel like dealing with their prejudiced and spiteful comments if they did. He returned to the bed, curling up into a ball with his back against Draco's side, and fell asleep.