This is my longest chapter yet :)

Just one thing to clear up...

willythenilly: No, I was planning on having Voldemort still alive and kicking in this to better fit my plot. However, my plans changed so I went back and change those moments in the past chapters so instead they were going to meetings with Death Eaters instead of Voldemort himself. Sorry for the confusion/irritation! And thank you :)


Previously:

"Harry? What's wrong with your face?" Damn, well that didn't work.

"Nothing, I just hurt my jaw this morning." With any luck, by 'face' Draco meant his mouth. There was still a chance he could simply not notice it…

"Harry?! Do you have a black eye?!" Double damn.


"W-what? N-no of course not, w-why would I have a b-black eye?" Draco didn't look fooled as Harry quickly slipped into his nervous demeanor. Harry brought his head closer to his chest and turned to avoid the blonde's gaze.

Harry saw a pale hand reach out and quickly grab his chin. He flinched away from it and tried to move away but Draco was persistent and eventually got a strong grip on the smaller boy.

As soon as Harry's chin was properly in his hand, Draco loosened his grip slightly and his touch became gentle as he turned his head to the right. The soon-to-be 7 year old frowned and shook his head at the large blue bruise surrounding the lower half of Harry's eye. It was maddening how the younger boy was treated in his own home. The fact that he was responsible for saving the wizarding world only intensified the hate Draco felt for the large man and his horse-faced wife.

No matter how much the Malfoys seemed to lean towards the dark, they never actually want total chaos and destruction. The pure-blooded family was just assumed to be bad now. Even if they don't particularly like Albus Dumbledore (because there's just something about that man that irks Draco's father) they still would prefer him to the late Voldemort.

Except Draco didn't think he was actually dead. While no one knew for sure, he had overheard his parents discussing it before. They seemed to think he was simply biding his time and waiting to see who his real supporters were. Of course, because of this, the Malfoys still had to keep quiet about the Dark Lord's plans because if he were to come back and realize that some of his most faithful servants turned their backs and spilled his secrets… well there would be hell to pay, for starters.

But "dark" or not, the Malfoys were not the kind of family to condone child abuse and what Harry's uncle does… well that's just wrong and there will certainly be repercussions.

"Have you iced this?" Draco asked and then winced. Of course he hadn't! From what he's seen, he'd be surprised if he was given a glass of water if he asked, so he definitely wouldn't be given frozen water that would just go to waste.

Sure enough, Harry shook his head pitifully but stopped as soon as he realized what he was doing. His head swiveled desperately as he looked towards his house. "But it's fine, of course." He babbled thoughtlessly as he seemed to say the first words that came to mind. "I don't need ice. I'm completely fine. It'll fade; I don't need to worry about it." His eyes never once left the home of his relatives. Draco saw why only a moment later when the door swung open to reveal who must've been Harry's cousin.

"Hey freak!" Draco's eyes narrowed immediately when he heard the baby whale speak. Was that a common insult to Harry? Was he called a freak every day? Then surely his relatives must know of magic and what Harry did for the wizarding world if they knew he was special. So why wasn't he treated better?

Harry internally groaned when he saw Dudley. He knew he was coming: the past few years of beatings hadn't been completely in vain. Harry was so used to the pattern of his relatives he could distinguish the sounds of their footsteps with ease. His ears were extremely good as well so while Draco probably didn't hear his cousin clomping down the stairs a minute ago, it was loud and clear to Harry.

It was around this time that Dudley saw the blonde standing next to his little cousin. He smirked and sauntered over to the stranger. "Who're you?" He asked bluntly, finding no need to push off the questions.

Harry watched Draco raise an elegant eyebrow before raking his eyes across the bigger boy's body. Harry mentally rolled his eyes as he sized up the bully. Harry wasn't sure what to feel. Was he about to lose the only friend he ever had? Or would he prove to be the person Harry's seen this far?

"I'm Draco Lucius Malfoy, son of Lucius Abraxas Malfoy and Narcissa Druella Malfoy née Black, heir of the Malfoy fortune. And who, may I ask, are you?" Draco took obvious steps to intimidate Dudley but Harry could see the greed in his eyes and knew it failed to work. Dudley was just like his father in many ways. His love of money was only one of them.

"Hello Draco – may I call you Dray?" He didn't even pause for confirmation before he continued to speak. Harry knew what he was doing right away: Uncle Vernon spoke like this when he was trying to get deals from other companies. "It's lovely to meet you. My name is Dudley Dursley and my dad might have a few ideas you'd be interested in. Perhaps your dad and mine could meet sometime to discuss business?" Harry was grudgingly impressed. Dudley didn't do half bad, would that impress Draco too? Would he leave him for his larger and more powerful cousin like everyone else?

Draco was going over his options as quickly as he could. Should he just refuse this idiot right now? He could flat out reject his offer and have him gaping like a fish. But maybe that's not the smartest move. Maybe he could use this to his advantage? Draco decided he would need his parents' opinions before doing anything too drastic. He gave this Dudley Dursley boy a smile he had difficulties delivering.

"Perhaps so, allow me to speak with my father about this tonight and I will visit again tomorrow." Dudley smiled in satisfaction and nodded quickly. Draco bid him farewell and began to walk away. The blond heard footsteps running to the door and Draco spun around when he was sure the boy had left. Harry alone stood by the fence, paintbrush forgotten in his lowered hand, biting furiously at his already swollen lip.

Draco grimaced. He knew talking to his cousin would make the boy feel betrayed but Draco didn't wish to lose the only friendship he had that didn't revolve around money. The older boy walked back to Harry and ducked a little so he was on the neighbor's lawn, hidden by the fence.

"Harry," he hissed and Harry's head snapped up. He leaned over the fence and caught the eye of Draco.

Draco sighed inside. Harry looked distraught and Draco knew it was his fault.

"Harry I'm not actually considering working with him, you know." Harry's head tilted the way a six-year-old's head should.

"You're not? Then why did you say you would?" Draco gave a small smile and motioned towards the paintbrush lying limply in the boy's palm.

"Maybe you should continue that, I don't want to get you in trouble." The again wasn't spoken, but it was certainly implied. Harry flushed and dipped the brush into the glossy white paint. "My father has some… influence in matters. I don't like your family very much, Harry, so hopefully he'll be able to bring them down a notch or two." Draco was blunt but Harry appreciated that. He gave a quick smile as best as he could with his sore jaw and nodded.

"Okay, so I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" Draco saw that he was nervous as he looked at the rest of the fence. He could tell he was behind so he took the not-so-subtle hint and nodded.

"Yes, tomorrow I'll be here with my father. We'll come when we can, but I suppose you should expect us around eleven o'clock." Harry smiled; it would give him something to look forward to.

"Goodbye, Draco"

"Until tomorrow, Harry." And he smiled and left.


Draco half ran, half crawled back to his home. He wasn't sure how his father would react to being spoken for but this was important to Draco, it simply had to be done. When he reached the manor and the house elves let him in, he walked briskly to the sitting room in hopes that one or both of his parents would be there. To his great relief, he found his mother leaning against her husband on the sofa – both with a book in their hands and smiles gracing their faces.

"Hello, Draco, how was Harry today?" His father asked without ever raising his eyes. The young heir decided again to tell them everything.

"He looked awful, father. He had a huge bruise below one of his eyes and he could hardly move his jaw! And I don't know how he holds himself up… I don't know if he even noticed but he was swaying really badly. I doubt he ate any time recently." Draco sighed and shook his head. "He also has really bad bags under his eyes, but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

At this, his parents looked up from their respective books. "Oh?" His father asked and Draco nodded before shifting uncomfortably.

"I, well, um-" Draco was cut off from further stuttering by his mother rolling her eyes and quirking her lips up.

"Spit it out, Draco; Malfoys do not stutter." She admonished slightly and he grinned, knowing she was making fun of her husband (not that he realized). The blond boy started again.

"I was talking to him when his whale of a cousi-"

"Draco-"

"Sorry, when his pig of a cou-"

"Draco-"

"Okay, okay! When his hippo of a-"

"What in Salazar's name is a hippo?" Draco laughed and shrugged as his mother cut him off for the third time.

"Some muggle animal I presume." Narcissa shook her head softly at her only son's antics.

"Anyways, you were talking to his cousin…" She trailed off, waiting for him to continue.

"Oh yeah, right, well so his name is Dudley – which is a ridiculously stupid name by the – yes, yes, I know – Draco Lucius Malfoy, mind your manners – but come on, you have to admit that a name like Dudley is a terrible, terrible name." By this point, even Draco's father was chuckling faintly.

"But so he came up to me and asked who I was – rather rudely, mind you – and so I told him my title and he got the look on his face – you know, the one Goyle's dad gets when talking about stocks – and told me that his father might have a few ideas you would be interested in – his words, not mine." Lucius was amused when Draco kept interrupting his own explanation with comments but he said nothing until his son finished.

"So what did you say?"

"Well, I told him I would speak with you about it. But really I just wanted to talk to you guys and figure out the best way to reject him. I don't like that family at all. What they do to Harry is awful." His dad nodded his head thoughtfully.

"Indeed. Which way do you think is the best way to approach this, my dear?" He asked his wife and Narcissa made a show of stroking her chin while she thought it over. Draco giggled endlessly at their display and the adults fought hard to keep their own broad grins off of their faces.

"Well, we could talk with them and get them excited, just to refuse them in the end, but that's much too boring, wouldn't you agree, love?" Lucius smirked and nodded. Narcissa went on. "Or we could just not show up, but I think Harry would be disappointed."

Draco's father took over after this. "Of course, darling, so what do you propose?" Lucius knew it was times like these that his wife's slytherin traits took over.

"We could go to their home and flaunt our money and stocks. We could criticize their home and their behavior. But still, that's much too juvenile for my mind. So Draco, dear, tell me what you think of this plan..."


Dudley told his dad the minute he got home of what he managed to do.

Of course, Vernon Dursley was ecstatic. He marveled at the thought of making a deal with "the bloody Malfoys" who were apparently filthy rich and had a copious amount of influence. And Petunia Dursley figured that since they had money, the wife must be a snob but very informed. She was hoping for a new gossip buddy and she wanted new information to tell the neighbors.

They both wanted Dudley to become best friends with the son. Draco, Harry thought to himself, he has a name and it's Draco.

Harry wasn't sure if he was dreading the meeting or looking forward to it. Of course he wanted to see Draco and watch the Dursleys be rejected, but he wasn't sure who else was coming. Was it only Draco's dad? Was his mother coming too? Did he have any siblings? Would they love him? Would they hate him?

Harry fought a sigh and finished his dinner – half of a sandwich and what was left of the milk – and did the dishes quickly. Would they end up making a deal with his relatives anyways? Would they decide Harry wasn't good enough for their son? After all, there was a Malfoy fortune and Harry was just a boy without parents or money or a future.

The night passed by slowly. Harry was so worried about losing his only friend it wasn't until well after the hallway clock chimed 1 o'clock that Harry fell asleep.


Draco couldn't have been more excited. He was going to see his friend and get the satisfaction of annoying the Dursleys. Now he just had to wait for his parents to be ready.

The boy woke up at seven that morning (much earlier than his usual 9:30 awakening) and rushed to get dressed. He looked for his best muggle clothes and pulled them on as fast as possible. Of course, once he saw what a mess he looked like, he ended up taking the clothes back off and getting a shower first.

But then he pulled his pale blue dress shirt pack on (they made his eyes seem more blue than usual) and tripped while trying to don his black slacks (one leg at a time he reminded himself with an eye roll) and was down the steps for breakfast.

His mother figured they would offer food so she told Draco to eat lightly. He had a chocolate chip muffin from the pile that was always on the table and eyed the others undecidedly. After looking around for any witnesses, he ran and grabbed a napkin from the kitchen. When he got back to the dining room, he wrapped two of the muffins into the paper and slipped them into the bag his mother was bringing to give to Harry later.

After a while of waiting, the family decided it was time to leave and discussed how they would arrive. While they used some muggle materials, they certainly never used an automobile, nor did they want to. But that would've been the easiest way to make an impression. After much debating, they decided to apparate as close as they dared and then would cast a spell to make it seem like they arrived by car.

And so, with one final excited bounce, Draco allowed his father to apparate him to about a street from Harry's house. Draco led the way, knowing the easiest way to make it there.

By the time they were on the Dursley's driveway, there was still about five minutes to waste. The Malfoys liked to be exactly on time, it improved their image. So Draco turned and reminded his parents (for the eighth time) of what he knew.

"Remember, I don't think he knows of magic so don't mention that. Also, anything we say directly towards him will probably make the walrus angry and he'll probably just take it out on Harry later. I wouldn't suggest asking the woman of anything relating to-" Draco would have continued if it weren't for the large crash coming from inside the house.

"YOU DAMN, NO GOOD, WASTE OF SPACE! GET BACK TO YOUR CUPBOARD BOY, AND DON'T EXPECT TO BE LET OUT BFORE THE WEEKEND!" Draco paled. He was kept in a cupboard? It was only Tuesday! And the weekend could mean either Friday or Saturday! That's outrageous!

Apparently, his mother was thinking much of the same thing. Her lips were pressed into a thin line and she stared hatefully at the door. This ruined everything. Their whole plan was revolved around Harry being there! As the blond family heard a clock chime, Lucius stepped forward and knocked stiffly on the door.

"Oh, how I want to hex them already…" Draco heard his mother mumble and couldn't help nodding in agreement (it wasn't until later that he remembered he was six years old and didn't know an ounce of magic).

A tall, thin woman answered the door and Draco recognized her as Aunt Petunia. She was staring at her driveway bug-eyed and Draco reminded himself that she was probably seeing a really nice muggle automobile. With obvious effort, she looked away and towards the aristocratic family on her doorstep.

"Good morning, my name is Petunia Dursley. Please, do come in." She almost sounded pleasant, but Draco knew it was all an act.

"It's lovely to meet you Mrs. Dursley. My name is Lucius Malfoy, this is my wife, Narcissa," he motioned to Draco's mum, "and my son, Draco." He put it hand on Draco's shoulder and looked up at his father. He could tell the oldest Malfoy was still upset, but to the untrained eye he probably looked completely normal.

Draco almost frowned. The plan was to not be hospitable. But the young boy saw his parents' eyes flicked and meet each other's and realized they just came up with a new, and probably better, plan.

The horse-faced woman moved away to bring them inside and Draco's mother spoke quickly into his ear.

"When I tell you to, make an excuse to go to the bathroom. Check all of the supply cupboards you can find and try to get to Harry. Make sure he's alright. We're going to do what we can from now on to get him away from this house. You need to publically become his friend, and then we'll be able to have him spend some time at the manor. Of course we would have to explain magic, but I'm not going to let the savior grow up with no knowledge of what he's done."

Draco nodded quickly as they reached the living room and were introduced to the male Dursleys.

Draco's thoughts wandered as he waited for his mother's signals. He had the bag (with a small invisibility charm on it, so the muggles wouldn't notice it) in his hands with the materials for Harry. His mother added some objects to the bag. She didn't say what, but she told Draco he would recognize them and asked to explain them to Harry.

Draco heard his father's voice break him from his reverie.

"Draco told me there were two boys here yesterday; where's the other one, may I ask?" Vernon Dursley failed to hide a scowl.

"That was Petunia's nephew. He isn't here at the moment." He looked like he was going to refuse to say anything more about the subject so Narcissa locked eyes with her son and inclined her head marginally. Draco took his cue and turned to the female Dursley.

"Mrs. Dursley? May I ask where the restroom is located?" Petunia nodded.

"Well aren't you just the most adorable thing, and you have such manners! Just like my Dudley over here! The bathroom is through the kitchen there and straight into the hallway. It's the second door on the left." Draco hid a grimace and thanked her.

As he passed through the hallway, he opened every door he passed. He hoped one would end up having Harry, but he was having no such luck. As Draco walked pass the bathroom for the third time, he was going to flush the toilet and walk back to the sitting room to tell his mother that he was unsuccessful. But before he managed to do so, a small whimper distracted him.

Draco immediately perked up and walked back to the hallway. As he failed to find a cupboard again, he decided to call for his friend.

"Harry?" He whispered with no triumph. "Harry, where are you?" A noise sounded from Draco's right side and he walked towards it.

"Draco?"

The blond boy stopped. That was definitely Harry, but where the sound was from confused him. Was it from… the stairs? Abruptly, however, he realized. There was a bloody cupboard under the stairs.

With the stealth of a proper slytherin, Draco found the door and pulled slowly, hoping no sound would be made. The sight inside made his stomach clench.

"Harry?"