Disclaimer- I do not own any of the characters or any part of this world. Harry Potter and all the surrounding belong to JK Rowling and company.

Chapter 2- Malfoy

Harry woke up to a large commotion. After being too irritated to fall back asleep he stormed toward his door to the hallway. Grumbling in an annoyed and sleep-deprived fashion, he was ready to curse whoever was in the hallway. He would never understand why people didn't have the decency to put up silencing spells. Just as Harry opens the door a bright yellow stream of light passes his nose. He spun to evaluate the sender but stopped in his tracks. Draco Malfoy was standing at the end of the hall; an exceptionally smug smirk appears on his face. Hearing a string of profanities behind him, Harry whips back around to see Blaise on the ground. The assumed cause of the commotion, a couple pieces of parchment, were on the ground forgotten. With his shoes stuck to the floor, Blaise shot Draco a resentful-glare. "Really Malfoy? Colloshoo? I didn't realize we were still in 2nd year," Blaise spat. Draco was still snickering as Blaise was trying to unstick his shoes from the floor when he realized they weren't alone in the hallway.

"Potter?" Draco questioned, surprise evident in his voice. Harry pulled himself from what he witnessed and turned toward Draco. The young Slytherin attempted a snarky look, but something was off. This was not the intimating rival Harry remembered from school. "Harry Potter, all alone?" But again, Harry couldn't find any fire behind his words. Even so, Harry couldn't help his face faltering at those words. Draco's attempt at a smirk became more convincing and Harry cursed himself under his breath. He should have stayed in bed. "Come to act as Dumbledores little spy? Or did those filthy muggles finally kick you out of that sad excuse for a home?" Harry started to retaliate before he could notice that Draco's words were laced with more concern than fire.

"Shut up Malfoy and will both of you sod off? I'm trying to get some sleep," With that, Harry slams the door marching back into his bedroom. After putting up some noise reducing wards, Harry settles back into his warm sheets. Before sleep can claim him, Harry's mind is flooded with questioning and seemingly pointless thoughts. It didn't matter if Draco was different or had changed, he was still the boy that tortured the young Gryffindor and his friends for years. None of it mattered, it was all irrelevant, and this is what Harry was going to keep telling himself. It didn't matter if Malfoy was less cruel, or if he was somehow easier to look at. Harry was not going to let this get to him. These days he tended to overthink things, but not this time. No matter what.

"I just don't understand, I- "

"Shut up you prat," Lucius Malfoy spat at his son, backhanding him across the face. Desperate and pleading eyes shot toward his mother, but Narcissa just faced away knowing her husband was only doing what was necessary.

The head of the Malfoy house had never been kind to his son. Believing that he was a coward and failure, Lucius did what he could to turn Draco into a proper man. Draco, on the other hand, had no interest in ever being head of his house or the proper man his parents so badly wanted him to be. Draco wanted to be free. Free from his fathers' rule and the inevitable fate of joining the death eaters. And this was the last straw. This is the last time his father would hit him. The last time he would be talked down to.

Draco moved from where he had been standing in the parlour. He silently walked up two flights of stairs toward his room. His father and mother paid no mind to him, he would be back down to apologize before dinner, he always was. But this time would be different, Draco would not apologize. Once he reached his bedroom he became frantic, he had to do this before the house-elves noticed. They would take any opportunity to report to his father in exchange for backhanded praise and one less chore. In his closet, he pulled out his half-packed trunk he used for school and filled it with his remaining clothes. Draco had never been allowed to decorate his room and besides a few toys as a child, he never had possessions that meant anything. As he finished packing, he quickly sent out his private owl. He knew he couldn't stay with Blaise. The Zabini's would be thrilled to earn his father's praise for returning his disobedient son, but Blaise was the only one Draco trusted enough. Draco couldn't do this on his own. At least not yet.

Complete trust between two Slytherins is very rare, Draco didn't know anyone he trusted fully, but Blaise was the closest thing he had. Blaise knew Lucius was cruel and abusive, after all, it was common nature for a death eater. Blaise did not know anything more than that, Draco never told anyone about his plans to run away and never be a death eater. His plans to travel the world and become a chef. His plans to have a family, a loving family, with his loving husband by his side.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Draco grabs his trunk and heads for the fireplace. Leaving by floo is the best option. Taking his wand, he casts an untraceable charm on the powder and a powerful ward on the fireplace. Draco takes one last look at the home he grew up in. The foul memories leave a sour taste in his mouth, but something catches his eye before he steps into the green fire. On his bed is the hand-sewn blanket he got as a child. His grandmother had made it right before she passed away, charmed to be comforting. Draco, knowing he would regret if he didn't, grabs it before vanishing into the fire.

Draco woke up early the next morning, a familiar owl tapping on the dirty window of his dimly lit room. In the other bed, Blaise was still slept, snoring loudly. Opening the window, the small owl landed on Draco's hand. He knew what it was before he untied it from the bird's leg. The Malfoy Family seal prominent on the note. He opened the letter, while the small brown owl hopped onto his shoulder, nibbling his ear.

Draco,

By running away, you have proven to your father and I that you are not capable of any responsibility. Such a little argument and you just run away. How pitiful. We have no choice but to remove you as proper heir to the Malfoy name. Your inheritance will also disappear, but we have no access to it. So, it will sit there untouched and a complete waste. You were always wasteful as a child too. If you are lucky, The Dark Lord may forgive you for this. Until that, you are hereby banished from Malfoy Manor and all associates. You cannot go running to another one of our properties. With reluctance, I would like to inform you that your Hogwarts letter arrived. I assume they will find you, after all, how hard is it to figure out where you are. The Leaky Cauldron is the stupidest choice.

Send Blaise my love,

Narcissa Malfoy

Draco knew he should have felt something, anger or sadness, he should have thrown a fit and demanded his inheritance. But all he could do was shrug. He would just have to go into the real world like most everyone else, broke and clueless.

Blaise stirred as another bird tapped on the window. This owl had two letters and once again Draco knew exactly what they contained. He grinned at the thought of going back. No matter how much he tried to hold up his Slytherin mask, Hogwarts would always be a second home to Draco. Though now, he didn't really have a first.

Deep in thought, Draco hadn't noticed Blaise getting up. By the time Draco noticed him, Blaise had a devilish look in his eye. Within the same instance, Blaise had both letters and was running out the door. Springing into action, Draco followed. In the hallway, he fired the first harmless spell he could think of. "Really Malfoy? Colloshoo? I didn't realize we were still in 2nd year." Blaise was struggling to get his shoes off the ground when Draco realized that one of the doors had opened and someone else was in the hallway with them.

"Potter?" Draco was momentarily stunned. Before anything else, he had to recover his mask, but since last year Draco noticed the lack of authenticity behind his once threatening look. Draco couldn't help but notice Harry had really grown up over the summer. He realized that the silence had gone too long, and he needed to recover. "Harry Potter, all alone?" Harry's face falters. Draco feels momentarily panicked when he realizes that Harry is alone. Harry was the one person that should always have protection, at least that's what Draco thought, being the boy who lived and all."Come to act as Dumbledores little spy? Or did those filthy muggles finally kick you out of that sad excuse for a home?" Draco internally groaned, why the did he say that. Draco wasn't sure why he was concerned, he was talking to his rival for Merlin's sake, but he couldn't help it. Too focused on holding his barely apparent mask, Draco barely heard Potter retaliate.

"Shut up Malfoy and will both of you sod off? I'm trying to get some sleep." The door slams and just like that he's gone. Blaise, who had just silently watched the whole thing, came to stand next to Draco.

"What's up his arse?"

A/N- Yay! This chapter was so much fun to write, hope you all enjoy it and thank you to the people who have followed this story! Leave a review if you want, I'm always looking for feedback!