Disclaimer: see story details for all disclaimers.

- - -

Draco paced back and forth between the beds in the school hospital, waiting for Snape to arrive.

"Draco, stop pacing." Lucius sighed from where he sat on one of the empty beds.

"I'm sorry, Father, but I'm worried."

"Severus is fine."

"Do we know that for sure? His note was very vague."

"Think about it son. What possible reason could he have for such a clueless note?"

"I don't know!" Draco exclaimed, fisting his hands in his hair. He paced past Lucius, who grabbed his arm and yanked him down beside him.

"Calm, my Dragon. You'll find the answers you seek when you calm down."

Draco nodded and struggled to control his racing pulse and thoughts.

- - -

When Draco and Lucius had arrived at Hogwarts earlier in the evening, Poppy was running about in a frenzy, checking medical books, potions, the bed linens and extra clothes.

That's when Draco felt a slice of fear for his godfather.

He knew Snape could take care of himself in tough situations, but with the Death Eaters still running loose, Draco didn't want him to take unnecessary risks, like Harry usually found himself in.

- - -

That's when Draco's thoughts slammed into a brick wall.

Harry! Oh dear Merlin! Something has happened to Harry! He gaped.

It was at that moment that the port key dropped Snape and Harry into the room, Snape shouting for Poppy even before he landed.

Poppy came on the run, several potion vials already in her hands as Snape gently placed a convulsing Harry Potter on a bed.

"Hold him, Sev!" Poppy cried, prying open the young man's mouth.

"Lucius, grab his hips, Draco hold his legs down!" Snape shouted, spotting the two Malfoys. They did what he asked of them, holding their breaths as Poppy poured 3 potions down Harry's throat.

After a moment, Harry's convulsions slowed then stopped and he was trembling, drenched in sweat. Poppy waved her wand over him, drying him and the bed and changing him into the standard issue hospital garb.

It was then he saw the state Harry was in.

A sharp sob caught his attention and he realized it had come from his own mouth.

"Severus, Healer Lansing said his uncle did this to him. What happened?" Poppy asked. Sighing heavily, keeping an eye on the young man who'd done more for the wizarding world than he should have, Snape went into detail, not leaving anything out. His voice broke when he told the three of them about Harry's newest condition, a testament to how little control he had left on his emotions.

When his story ended, Poppy was livid.

"I told that barmy old goat about Harry and his relatives! I told him each year Harry comes to school thinner and more sickly looking than the last year! 'He's a growing boy, he's going through puberty.' he said. My arse!" Poppy whirled around and aimed a blasting hex at an empty cabinet, shattering it to bits.

"Are you saying that Dumbledore knew how those muggles treated Harry and did nothing?" Lucius was stunned.

Another warning bell went off in Snape's head.

"Healer Lansing indicated that every time he filed a complaint, it was somehow ignored. Someone from child services would go to see Harry and would always report that things were fine, that they saw no signs of Harry being abused or neglected."

Draco picked up on it immediately.

"Glamoure Confundius." he whispered. Snape looked at him sharply.

"What?" he hissed.

"The Glamoure Confundius Charm. We learned about it in Charms last year. It combines elements of a glamor charm and a confundus charm. It can be placed on a person or place, and whoever is in the vicinity of either of those, sees what they want to see instead of what's really there. My guess is, it was on the muggle's house."

"Wouldn't that interfere with the protection wards?" Poppy wondered.

"Not unless there weren't any wards in the first place." Lucius answered.

Everyone was stunned into silence.

"Excuse me." Snape stated, gliding to his feet. He swept from the room in a flurry of robes.

"Oh, shit!" Lucius stated, seeing the look that had been in the Potion Master's eyes. Draco stared at his father, goggle-eyed. He'd never heard his father curse like that before, if ever.

"I'm guessing we should go after him before he does something incredibly stupid, right?" Draco asked. Lucius nodded. Poppy went to her fireplace and immediately contacted Minerva in her office.

"Min, Draco and Lucius Malfoy are flooing up to you immediately. Severus is on his way up there and he's not in the best of moods."

"Step through, gentlemen." Minerva nodded.

Both Malfoys took up posts just besides the office doors. After a moment, the door blasted open and Snape charged through, his face red with fury.

He pointed his wand at Dumbledore's portrait, the Incendio curse on the tip of his tongue.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" Lucius shouted, catching Snape's wand with ease. Snape snarled angrily, ready to charge Lucius to get his wand back, when Draco crept up behind him.

"STUPEFY!"

Snape froze in place and Minerva levitated him to one of her settees. She eased the spell on his mouth and face so he could talk. His eyes swiveled to Dumbledore's portrait, where the man was currently hiding behind his favorite neon purple chintz chair.

"How could you, Albus? You knew! The whole fucking time you knew and you did nothing to stop it! Just what the fuck were you trying to do?"

"I was making young Harry a stronger person. If he could face this adversity in his small life, then he would have no fear when he went up against Voldemort. And that's exactly what he did."

"At who's expense? He's broken, Albus! And I don't think either Poppy nor myself will be able to put him back together."

"He'll be fine. Just give him a couple of days to deal with-"

"HE WILL NEVER BE FINE ALBUS! THAT GREASY FAT WHALE MUGGLE UNCLE OF HIS DAMN NEAR RIPPED HIS THROAT OUT! HARRY WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO TALK AGAIN! AND IT'S ALL YOUR. FUCKING. FAULT!" Snape roared, the last line holding his emotions in check suddenly breaking free.

Draco was stunned at the force of his godfather's care for Harry. And so, it seemed, was Lucius. Snape wasn't done yelling though.

"Thank Merlin, Lily isn't alive right now, she'd kill you herself. She made you promise her that if anything happened to her or James that Harry was to come live with me, and as usual, you overrode her wishes."

"Is that why you gave him shite his first year?" Draco wondered. Snape looked at him and nodded once.

"That's not the whole truth, Sev, is it?" Lucius wondered, starting to figure out some things.

"No. Shortly after Lily found out she was pregnant, she came to me. She asked me, as her friend, that should something ever happen to her, that I was to protect Harry in any way I could. Right bang up job I did of that now, isn't it." he snorted.

"You took an Unbreakable Vow, didn't you?" Minerva asked. Snape nodded, his eyes slightly watery, but no tears fell.

"I was only doing what was best for our world. You must understand that." Dumbledore stated.

"What was best for our world? WHAT ABOUT WHAT WAS BEST FOR HARRY?" Snape shouted. "He was only a child, Albus. A fucking child! He should not have been exposed to that! He should have been raised with a wizard family who could show him all the love he's been missing for years! He's not some – some thing to control and mold and shape into what you want him to be! He's just a fucking boy! Hell, I would have raised him! Damn you, Albus! Damn you hell!"

It was the sight of Snape's tears leaking from his eyes that shocked everyone in the room. Draco wordlessly ended his spell and Lucius went to his friend and pulled him into a hug, Snape clinging to Lucius like his life depended on it, his sobs muffled by Lucius's cloak.

Even Severus Snape could be human when he allowed himself the chance. Draco was humbled by the experience.

"I honestly don't know what to say." Minerva stated in a solemn voice after some time had passed. Snape got his emotions under control but he was still feeling pretty raw.

"Minerva, surely you understand-" Dumbledore began, but she cut him off.

"Albus, it's best for everyone you don't finish that statement." she snapped. He quieted. "Right now, we need to concentrate on Harry and making him well. Has Poppy learned anything, anything at all?"

"He could be fitted with a voice spell, but it wouldn't be his own voice we hear. And knowing Harry, he wouldn't want that." Snape sighed, his voice raspy.

"Then it would be best to wait for him to wake and go from there." Lucius stated.

Draco took that moment to slip from the room unnoticed.

- - -

The hospital ward at night during the summer was a quiet place, he realized. Madame Pomfrey glanced up from a medical book she was reading.

"Mr Malfoy, what are you doing here?"

"I-I just wanted to sit with him. Please?"

"All right. Just don't disturb him. And if you get tired, you have free use of a bed."

"Thank you." he smiled. She nodded and went back to her book. He paused and turned back to the nurse.

"Why was he convulsing like that?"

"Port key travel is not the safest way to transport an injured party but it is the fastest." she answered.

"Why couldn't Uncle use a Floo?"

"He came from a muggle hospital, Mr Malfoy. I'm pretty sure Healer Lansing doesn't have a fireplace in his office, either."

"Oh." he replied. "Thank you for explaining it to me."

"You're welcome, young man. Go have your visit."

"Will he hear me?"

"It's been my experience that Mr Potter hears everything going on around him while he's here. You'll be fine." she smiled. He nodded and turned back the way he'd started.

Draco moved down the row to the last bed on the left, beneath the window. It was a full moon night and a shaft of pale light illuminated the boy in the bed.

He pulled up a chair and gently took the raven-haired boy's uninjured hand into his own pale one, wondering how they had gotten to this point in their lives.

- - -

Flashback, four weeks prior...

When Snape had gotten both Harry and Draco in the same room, he explained to Draco about Harry's letter writing project.

At first, Draco had balked...and quite loudly, too.

"Absolutely not! He's a moron!"

"If that's the best insult you can come up with, then I don't know why I bother." Harry snorted. He'd been silent up until then.

Draco stared at him. There had been no malice in Harry's tone, only resigned indifference. That made Draco pause.

And then he thought about it in his own Slytherin way.

Maybe we can finally become the friends we should have been first year. He stated to himself.

So Draco had agreed...

Harry's first letter to him had been a short, four-worded statement:

You are a git.

So Draco sent one back:

I may be a git, but you're a four-eyed prat.

The next day came Harry's reply:

If I'm a four-eyed prat, then you're a poncey pouf who cares more about his hair than anything.

Draco couldn't let that one go without a reply:

At least my hair doesn't resemble something a kneazle would sleep in. Tell me, Potter, do you have fleas?

Of course, Harry had to get in another dig:

You know bloody well I don't have fleas you pouf! Do you stuff your trousers with rolled up socks?

Draco snorted at that one.

Maybe you ought to come around one day and I can show you, if you're so inclined.

Harry's reply shocked the hell out of Draco:

No thanks. I like my men a lot less poncey.

Draco couldn't believe it!

Potter, are you gay?

When Harry's reply came, it was in a much more civil tone than Draco was used to from the Gryffindor.

I am. Have a problem with it?

No, Draco did not have a problem with it, and told him that in his next reply. When Harry sent another reply, it was well into their second week, a week before Vernon's attack.

Look, Malfoy. I don't care if you're gay and I'm sure you don't care if I am. I just want to get through this summer, back to Hogwarts, and away from my uncle for good. I think I deserve a bit of a break after the shite I've gone through in the last 5 years. So maybe, we can be friends this year instead of enemies? Quite frankly, there's not much fun in teasing you anymore.

It was so straightforward and factual, Draco found himself smiling, a warm feeling in his chest.

I'd like that. If we're going to be friends, maybe you should start calling me by name.

Harry's reply came with a small smiley face in the bottom left corner.

Okay, Draco. So, what have you been up to so far this summer?

Soon Draco's afternoons were filled with answering Harry's letters, learning much more about his newest friend and his life before school.

The afternoon of the attack on Harry, Draco had received the second letter Harry was supposed to write him for the day, a thick scroll delivered by Hedwig. He took it from her and stroked her soft feathers before she nipped his fingers affectionately and flew back out again.

Draco,

This may be the hardest letter I've ever had to write. Talking with you this summer, getting to know you better, has been one of the best things to ever happen to me. But there are things going on that I've never told you before and I think I should so you can understand where it is I'm coming from.

Things have not been...pleasant lately because of my uncle. He lost his job recently and has been spending more and more time at home, drinking and staring at me when he thinks I'm not looking. It's unnerving.

I think he's plotting something, with my luck, my murder.

Please don't be shocked. I've known since day one that Vernon has had murderous tendencies towards me and up until now I've done all I can to protect myself. In all honesty, I don't think I'll live to see my 17th birthday at the end of the month. Sometimes I wish the MoM would lower the age restrictions on magic, but with that cum-swilling twat, Fudge, in office, that will probably never happen.

Draco struggled not to laugh out loud at the insult, in spite of the seriousness of the rest of Harry's words. He reluctantly continued to read.

If something...unpleasant...were to happen to me, I want you to know that your friendship has meant the world to me, and I can die happy with that knowledge.

I think I can even safely say that...I...care about you, Draco, beyond the simple bonds of enemies and friends...possibly lovers, if I had the time to explore it, and if you were willing. I wouldn't force you to this. It's my own Gryffindor bravery, I think, making me reveal these things to you now when I wouldn't have otherwise. If I'm honest with myself, I can probably say that I love you in some small way.

Don't look so shocked, I know your mouth is hanging open (laughs).

Indeed, Draco's mouth was gaping open like a fish out of water. Harry thinks he loves me? Oh, please Merlin, please let it be so! He thought to himself. He continued reading.

You're probably wondering how I know I love you, even though we've only written letters and it's only been three weeks. It's just something I know deep in my soul. I pray these feelings are genuine. And if by some miracle, I do make it back to school, I would like to see where our relationship goes. And I hope you do, too. I feel like you know me better than Ron and Hermione do. Seven years in the making, Draco. Maybe it was sexual tension the whole time. Think about that when you get a chance.

Please take care of Hedwig for me. She's grown to like you in the last few weeks and she would serve you well. Anything in my school trunk is yours to do with what you will. You may come across a seemingly blank sheet of folded parchment with my belongings. It belonged to my father. He and his friends made it when they were students and called it The Maurader's Map. Simply tap your wand to it and state "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." and a map of Hogwarts will appear, showing where everyone in the castle may be. To deactivate the map, simply tap again with your wand and say "Mischief Managed" and it'll be blank again.

I am trusting you with my family's legacy, small as it is.

I do trust you, shocking as that may seem, and I know you will treat these items with respect.

All I ask is that if a day should come, that these items be donated to a museum honoring those lost to The Wizarding Wars, especially James and Lily Potter.

Take care of yourself, Draco Malfoy.

Please don't mourn me too much. Dumbledore once told me that death is not an ending but the beginning of the next great adventure. And I go to it with my head held high with a "Fuck You Very Much!" to whatever awaits me.

And for Merlin's sake, don't antagonize Ron too much when school starts. I'd hate to see you join me, you have too much to live for.

And so I end this, yours now and in my next life,

Harry.

P.S. There is a free house elf, employed in the kitchens of Hogwarts, who would serve you if I asked him to, and I've already sent him a letter. If he's agreeable to it, he would serve you as faithfully as he served me and your father. I think you know him. Cute little elf, goes by the name 'Dobby'.

Draco gaped in surprise. So that's where the little devil had disappeared to! He continued to read.

Now you're probably wondering how he became free. It happened our second year. I'd just rescued Ginny Weasley from Voldemort's basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets and Lucius came to see Dumbledore about it. I confronted your father in the hall about the Horcrux he left for Ginny to find in the form of Riddle's Diary. When Lucius wasn't looking, I slipped one of my own socks in between the pages and returned it to Lucius. Not realizing it, Lucius gave the book to Dobby who was immensely pleased when he opened it and saw the sock. Your father was angry and tried to use the killing curse on me (yes, in the middle of the hall in front of Dumbledore's office!) and Dobby stopped him, tossing him back about ten feet, mussing up his hair (laughs).

It was funny seeing your father all mussed up like that. I doubt I'll see it again.

I must end this now, Vernon is bellowing from the sitting room and I think Petunia took Dudley for an outing of some sort to get away from him, so it's left to me to attend the bloated buffoon's needs.

Stay strong, Draco. And remember me.

It was the last letter Draco got. Later that evening, Hedwig had appeared in his bedroom, one wing nearly broken and bloodied. It was four hours later when Dobby popped in with a message from Snape for him and his father.

- - -

Draco came back to himself, his thumb stroking Harry's hand.

"You best come back here, Harry. School will be boring without you and I don't fancy shagging Weasley or Granger any time soon." he whispered. Only silence answered him.

He reluctantly released Harry's limp hand and got to his feet. Taking one last look at the young man on the bed, Draco left the infirmary and headed for bed in Slytherin quarters.

He nor Madame Pomfrey noticed the bright green eyes slowly opening to follow the blonde as he left. They closed just as quickly and Harry's body relaxed back into a healing sleep as if he'd never been awake.