Part 2

Arguing voices woke Draco the next day. Alone in bed, he sat up and looked around. The curtains still covered the window and sunlight trickled in between the edges, but without a clock he had no idea of how late he'd slept in. Harry's voice grew louder, and Draco woke up a little more. If there was trouble, he needed to be alert. He didn't see his robes anywhere so he gathered the sheet around himself and walked towards the door, carefully opening it a few inches as he listened.

"You can forget about taking him back!" Harry said. "I bought him legally, he's mine."

"A noble gesture in the name of charity, I'm sure, but the hero of the wizarding society cannot be expected to take in a criminal--"

Draco swallowed reflexively. He didn't know the man's name but he knew his voice. It belonged to a Ministry official who often visited the cold dungeon beneath Azkaban where he and the other slaves had been kept, always walking between the tiny cells, commenting on how much he expected each prisoner to fetch at auction, which ones he would personally bid on and taunting his favorites. He especially loved to watch Draco as he sat shivering in the corner of his cell. The dementors floated amongst the condemned and he had used every bit of training Severus had taught him, concealing his emotions as the tall black creatures hovered around the Ministry official, all of them watching for the smallest sign of life from him.

"If you would simply be reasonable, we would be willing to reimburse you for your trouble--"

Trying to buy him back...they were trying to buy him back, he realized. He closed his eyes and leaned against the wall, breathing hard. Foolish to think he'd escaped, he thought. The Ministry was full of spiteful, vengeful creatures eager to see a Malfoy, any Malfoy, on his knees and obedient. Not wanting to listen anymore, he crossed the room and sat on the windowsill.

Suddenly there was a burst of light and sound below. Eyes wide, Draco hurried to look through the curtains as the Ministry official flew backwards through the door, screaming as he cleared the gate and fell several feet to the hill that gently sloped down towards the village below. Head over heels he tumbled until he came to a rest at the bottom, and he staggered to his feet trying to brush the dirt and mud from his clothes. Harry's footsteps came up the stairs but Draco didn't turn to greet him, too entranced by the sight of the man running after his briefcase and hat as the house elf sent them sailing.

A warm body pressed against his and he leaned back, sighing as lay his head on Harry's shoulder. He didn't say anything, just closed his eyes and reminded himself that he was truly out of the Ministry's grasp as long as Harry had him.

"Are you all right?" Harry asked.

"He'll be back, you know," Draco whispered.

"I know." Harry put his arms around him as he looked through window. Finally off the manor grounds, the man apparated away. "And I'll send him out again."

Draco glanced over his shoulder at him, but didn't answer

"I'm sorry," Harry said, tracing the dark circles under Draco's eyes with his thumb. "You should go back to sleep. There shouldn't be anymore shouting until this evening."

Frowning, Draco pulled away slightly to look him in the eye. To his dismay, Harry looked embarrassed. He'd discovered that an embarrassed Gryffindor meant that Harry had done something stupid and knew it, but was still going to do it because it was noble or loyal or some ridiculous mix of the two.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I've invited Ron and Hermione," Harry said, speaking faster when he saw the horror spreading over Draco's face. "I had to, we're already in today's Prophet and I need to explain everything to them."

"The Weasel and the mudblood?" Draco gasped, backing out of his arms. "In the manor? Why? So they can gawk and laugh at me? See the Malfoys brought low?"

Harry grimaced at hearing his lover's language. During the war, Draco had caused more fights in the order's headquarters than they waged against death eaters, all because no matter what side he fought on, his hatred of muggles and blood traitors was firmly entrenched.

"It's not like that--" he started, but Draco cut him off.

"You know what Weasley's like! You know Granger will rub it in my face! They hate me, they've always hated me and now you're bringing them here when I can't fight back and -- oh God, I don't even have my wand!"

His lover had thrown tantrums before, but never like this. Harry stared in surprise as Draco's outburst turned shrill, but for all the shrieking he saw the tears welling up in Draco's eyes and saw how the sheet was going to tear if he pulled it any tighter around himself. He grabbed the sheet and yanked him forward against himself, wrapping his arms around him and refusing to let go as Draco squirmed. After several seconds of struggling, Draco stopped yelling and stood still, not crying yet but breathing unevenly.

"No one will see you," Harry said soothingly. "I'm not bringing them up here."

"Don't bring them here at all," Draco muttered, without much of a hope he'd be listened to.

"I have to," Harry said. "I lied to them and I have to explain why."

Draco's breathing stayed harsh but he didn't pull away either. "You lied?"

"I told them I was fetching something from my old house. They didn't know I was..." His voice trailed.

"That you were going to an auction?" Draco whispered. He leaned back as far as Harry would let him and looked into his eyes. "To buy a slave?"

"That's not fair--" Harry protested.

"No shit." Draco leaned against him again and closed his eyes. Although his voice wavered, it was calm again as his panic abated. "You have to face it. You bought me."

"I didn't have a choice!" Harry grimaced and tried to reign in his temper. "That bastard nearly won you! If I hadn't bought you, you'd belong to him now and God knows what he'd do to you."

"You wouldn't have tried to save me?" Draco whispered. "You defeated a dark lord but you're afraid of what the Ministry would say?"

Sometimes Harry forgot that his lover was a Malfoy. Never for long, though. Even under duress, there was always an agenda, and Draco's love for him only included him in his plans. And the Malfoys had always hated the Ministry.

"It didn't come to that."

"But--"

"There are laws," Harry said, "laws we fought to save. So many people died to keep this world safe."

"Doesn't mean we can't improve it." Draco sighed and stepped back. His face was flushed and dark circles visibly ringed his eyes. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have...I...I'm tired."

"It's all right." Harry brushed the blonde hair with his fingers. "I promise, it'll all be all right. I won't let anything bad happen to you, I swear."

Weary of his lover's loyalty but knowing he couldn't fight it, Draco nodded. "I believe you." And as devious and scheming as Malfoy could be, Draco's gray eyes held nothing but a trust so absolute that it almost frightened Harry. It was the same unwavering belief that let them swear allegiances to dark lords at the cost of nearly everything they loved. Being loved by a Malfoy meant they would scream at you, demand things of you, kill in your name and yet understand you more completely than any other person in the world. And Harry knew if he ever betrayed that, Draco's heart would not only shatter, but he'd never be able to mend it again.

After a moment Draco broke away and sat down on the edge of the bed. "I think I need more sleep. I normally don't throw tantrums so early in the morning."

"Yes you do," Harry said, but there was no anger in him. He sat down beside him and touched his hand. "But you've been through a lot. I can hardly blame you for being scared."

Draco didn't respond. He squeezed Harry's hand once as if to reassure himself that it was real and then lay down in bed, pulling the blankets over himself. Harry's fingers brushed over his hair again and he sighed.

"Do you think I could visit my mother today?" he whispered.

"I..." Harry hesitated. "Tomorrow. The new clothes I bought for you haven't arrived yet and I don't want the press to know where we're going, so I'll have to set up a distraction and--"

"I know," Draco said tiredly, upset by the usual tricks Harry had to play on the Daily Prophet simply to go out. "But...tomorrow then?"

Harry nodded once. "I promise."

Satisfied with that, Draco turned his head slightly toward the pillow and stared out the window. Blocked by the curtain, the sunlight only made the room a little brighter, just enough to know it was day outside. Which wasn't right. His old curtains were thick enough to block out all of the light so that he'd needed a candle to see. Somewhere his curtains hung in someone else's house, next to the antique furniture. The Persian rugs his mother bought were gone, leaving the floor's original wood revealed. Even the light fixtures had been stripped down.

He was proud that he held back until Harry had left the room before he started crying. No gulping sobs or loud wails came out, just uneven breath and sniffling. He turned over onto his stomach and buried his face in the pillow. He'd helped save the world, risked his life and protected Harry's during the final fight. He hadn't even been a death eater. And this was his reward?

As he cried, his hands tightened into fists and his eyes narrowed even as he curled up. Maybe Harry would rather retreat into seclusion and ignore the rest of the world forever, but Draco knew that would be impossible. The Ministry's inevitable return to attempt to claim him aside, he knew that no matter how deep and dark the hole Harry dug for himself, the world would find him and drag him back out again, if only to parade him around like a hero. They would make pretenses, claims for a good cause, promises to try to change society if he would just make an appearance, give an interview, say a word.

He lightly touched the velvet collar running around his throat. The good wizards of the world had taken nearly everything away from him and given him a year of slavery in return. No doubt they wanted him to suffer, wanted his father to suffer, wanted to destroy the Malfoy legacy and erase their name from memory. But no matter how they stripped bare the manor or attacked his family, they couldn't take away his pride or his nature. And he had not only Harry Potter as his lover, but he had Severus and his father as well.

He stroked the velvet collar thoughtfully. They had given him a year as a slave, forgetting in their zeal to humiliate him that they had given him the strongest protection against them possible.

Harry would keep him safe. And Draco swore he would make the Ministry scream.

TBC...