Loaded Smile

Walking hand in hand
You are all I ever want
And when you're not around yeah
Don't even notice that you're gone
We are barely hanging on

Everything falls into place but I
Think I need a little more time
And yeah I know my life has changed but
Honestly I don't know if we'll survive

-Loaded Smile, Adam Lambert

As soon as Harry Potter walked into the Chemistry classroom, he knew this year would be different. The teacher stood at the front of the room and glared at each student that walked in, making it very clear he did not want to be here.

Harry sat in the front, as he did in every class. He had learned a long time ago that if he sat in the front, he'd be less likely to be harassed. He noticed all the tables had two seats and he prayed that nobody would sit next to him. By the time the bell rang, no one had and Harry was the only one without anyone sitting next to him. He sighed in relief until the door opened and another student walked in. "Sorry Professor Snape, I'm new here and got lost on my way."

Harry took a double-take at this new student. He was tall and pale (but not unhealthily so like Harry) with platinum blonde hair that was layered and nearly shoulder length. Bangs hid on of his eyes but Harry could clearly see that they were grey. He wore a simple white Oxford shirt and tight jeans.

"I will excuse your tardy just this once. Sit down." Professor Snape told the student.

The boy sat down next to Harry. "Hey. I'm Draco Malfoy." He said with a smile.

"Harry Potter." Harry said so softly that Draco had to strain to hear him. Draco took in the boy he was sitting next to. Harry was pale, even paler than Draco was, and his skin had an unhealthy yellow tinge to it. He had a bony face with the most beautiful eyes Draco had ever seen. They were the most gorgeous shade of emerald green and, Draco noticed with shock, practically lifeless. They were hidden by a pair of black wire-framed glasses with tape across the nose piece. His tattered jeans and overly large black-sleeved shirt added to the idea that this boy was poor, or perhaps even homeless. However, he seemsed like a nice enough boy so Draco decided not to get any ideas in his head until he knew Harry better. Instead he observed Professor Snape as he called attendance, taking note of the way he practically spat out Harry's name. It seemed as though there was bad blood between the two.

Severus quickly informed the class of his procedures before passing out an assessment. When he reached Potter's desk he noticed that the boy was dozing off. Not being able to resist humiliating the whelp he said right into his ear "Boy! Wake up!"

The reaction was not what he expected. Harry jumped so high that he fell of the seat and, instead of making an excuse while the class laughed like a normal person would, he pulled himself under the desk before curling into a ball, looking visibly shaken. "Class dismissed, go to lunch students." They all left quickly except for Draco, who was adamant on staying behind. "Draco, if you're going to stay, at least help me get him out from under the desk."

Draco sat on his knees and as he got closer he noticed that Harry was repeating "I'll be good, don't hurt me" over and over again.

"Harry, nobody's going to hurt you." Draco said as soothingly as possible, just wanting to pull him into a hug. He had only known the teen for maybe ten minutes but there was something in his guy pulling him towards Harry. He noticed Professor Snape on the phone and he hoped he was calling the nurse. Once he was off, Draco asked "Sir, do you know what could be wrong with him?"

"It seems he is either having a flashback or trying to get attention."

"Sir, why is it that you seem to hate him so much?"

"Draco, I told you. As long as we're alone, you can call me Severus. I am your godfather after all. And it's not really that I hate him per say. I've had him for two years and he's always been a slacker, never doing his homework but somehow passing the class. His relatives said he cheated but we could never prove it. He would also always show up late, and it didn't help that his father was one of the biggest bullies since---"

The nurse burst in at that moment with her bag of medical supplies. "Severus, I came as quickly as possible. Now move out of my way!" She crouched down next to the desk and, while gradually getting closer, said soothing words the whole way. Eventually she coaxed him out from under the desk and Harry looked rather embarrassed. "Now Mr. Potter, we need to bring you down to the infirmary. "

Harry looked horrified and struggled to get to his feet. The nurse grabbed his shoulders to keep him still. "Now Mr. Potter this is standard procedure. You are not getting out of this."

Harry began to panic as he realized what was going to happen. They were going to find out and call the Child Protection Agency, just like his third grade teacher had. And the results would be the same. He would pretend everything was fine and, once they left, Vernon would find a new way to torture him. After the first time, his Uncle had begun selling him to people as "payment" for everything. He couldn't think of anything worse than that, but Uncle Vernon probably could. "Madame I'm fine, really. You needn't waste your time."

She looked over at Severus. "Professor Snape?"

He quirked an eyebrow. "If Mr. Potter is 'fine' as he says, then he shouldn't be upset if we do give him a check out. I'll go with you. Draco, come as well." Severus could already tell that his godson wanted to be friends with the loner and, even though Severus didn't exactly like Potter, the boy reminded him of himself when he was younger. No one had helped him, but he would help Potter.

As the four walked toward the infirmary, Draco noticed an abnormally large boy waddling towards them. "Potter! What'd you do now, FREAK?!" He shouted at the group, emphasizing the last word.

"Mr. Dursley, detention after school for degrading another student."Professor Snape said, smirking at the surprised luck on the boys' face.

Harry was practically in shock. No one had ever bothered punishing his cousin before, even when Dudley and his gang would beat him up in the halls.

After Dudley ran off, Draco turned to Harry. "Friend of yours?"

"My cousin." Harry muttered. Draco was rather surprised at that bit of information but didn't say anything. Quite a few kids gave Harry glares as they walked through the hall and Draco took notice of how much everyone at Hogwarts High hated Harry.

When they reached the infirmary the nurse gave him a white paper gown and practically shoved him into the bathroom to change. Now that Harry was alone, he could think, and the thoughts were not good.

A/N An idea that has been in my head for awhile. Updates may not be often as a warning. Please review 3.