Kyla: All right, sorry for such a delay in the update, and also sorry for the shortness of this chapter, but I hope it's somewhat decent. Lemme know if you find any mistakes.

"Trust Me"
Chapter 4
by
Kyla Mizuki

Harry sighed and flopped back onto the couch. "This is ridiculous.. how long can we go without talking to each other?" he asked the ceiling. "Well, in the meantime," he said, rolling from the sofa and to his feet. He perched on the floor in front of his trunk and threw open the lid. Digging through his worldly possessions, he sneaked a peek for Severus then withdrew a long hollow box made of oak wood.

Inside this box sat two wands. The Elder Wand sat heavy in Harry's hands first. He stared down with dull, thoughtful eyes as his finger trailed up and down the wood. His mind jumped to all the trouble this wand had caused, and for a moment, he tightened both hands over it, the box open in his lap. If he simply broke the wand, then that would be that... right?

Harry sat there staring hard at the Elder Wand, ready to snap it in half. But as his grip grew tighter, his knuckles paling, his whole body began to tremble from the warring emotions in him. He could break it and end it or... he could hide it.

The Elder Wand suddenly fell from his grip and bounced from his lap, clattering innocently to the floor. Harry was convinced that it was mocking him as he swept it up with a heavy sigh. He settled it back into the box in his lap, pulling out the second wand.

Draco Malfoy's wand.

Again, Harry confronted himself. Did he want to snap this wand? The wand of his school rival? His anger flared up against the memories of all the teasing he had endured from the blond Slytherin. He wanted so badly to get back at Draco, and snapping his wand would be only too easy. He could even send the broken wand by owl post with a vehement letter. His revenge would be swift.

Or would it?

Harry groaned and replaced the wand back into the wooden box. He stared down at the two wands, frowning thoughtfully. He puffed out his cheeks in yet another large sigh. "I'll figure out what to do later... Right now I need to get back to finding an apartment..."

"Talking to yourself, Potter?"

Harry glared out of the corner of his eyes as he hurried to tuck the old box back into his trunk. "Yes, actually, since you've got a stick too far up your ass to talk decently to me."

Severus scowled and marched right back out of the living room, his mouth pressed into a long firm line to keep him from snapping again. He had wanted to reconcile with Harry, in some way, but when he walked in and heard Harry talking to himself, it was like his tongue grew a mind of its own, lashing out.

Harry secured his trunk. He paused once he was back on his feet, then he decided that a locking charm wouldn't go amiss. He didn't know if Severus had seen the wands that he had, but he couldn't really trust the man enough to lay his trunk around unlocked.

The Gryffindor puttered around another few minutes by seating himself again on the couch. Gravely, he picked the papers back up and began his search for a flat again.

Severus strolled into the room a few minutes later. He bit his tongue to keep from saying anything rude, but it was proving to be much harder than he expected. He nodded stiffly to Harry when the Gryffindor glanced up at him. "Potter," he said in greeting.

"Snape."

Severus drifted over to his usual armchair by the fireplace. He placed himself down and grabbed a book from the arm of his seat. Flipping through it, he desperately tried not to look over at Harry, tried and failed. A question had been tugging at him for a while, but could he voice it politely? Or would he make the young man mad?

The Potions Master decided to go for it.

"Potter," Severus said. Once he was staring into Harry's green eyes, he held the ever brave gaze of the Gryffindor and asked, "Why are you searching for a flat? Didn't that mutt—I mean, Black, leave you Grimmauld Place?"

Harry wanted to flinch at that. He was still not completely over Sirius's death. A gaping hole still remained unfilled inside his heart, and no matter how hard he looked, he could find no replacement. Remus Lupin came close, but that was still not a dead ringer, just as Sirius had not been able to feel the empty space that Harry's parents should have resided had they lived.

"I thought he donated it to Dumbledore for the Order," Harry mumbled and decided to continue his perusal of the papers in his hands.

"Albus is dead," Severus stated through the pain rippling through his heart. He briefly stared into the flames jumping in the fireplace. He took a deep breath and started again, "Black more than likely handed it down to you, assuming you would want to offer the old hole as a continued home for the Order's headquarters. At any rate, you can owl the Ministry and ask for a record of your property deeds."

"Really?"

"Of course."

"Don't get snappy," Harry said with narrowed eyes, "I wasn't raised in the Wizarding World, so I have no idea about the basics of living in it."

Harry tightened his jaw and pressed his lips into a long firm line. He would not retaliate.

"That is woefully obvious," said Severus.

He would not retaliate, Harry chanted to himself, he would not retaliate. He would not—never mind, there was no way he could not retaliate in some form or fashion. "Instead of insulting me, why don't you teach me about the Wizarding World? You've always had a go at me when I don't know something! Well, why don't you try helping me like the teacher you're supposed to be?!" He had pushed himself up furiously to glare at the man across the room.

Severus traded a scowl for a scowl. He set his book back down on the arm. "If I thought your abysmally small brain could absorb anything, I would, but as it is, you could not handle the information," he bit back icily. His clenched fists were pale against the dark brown leather of his chair, and his eyes were sharp and contrasted sharply with his light skin of his cheeks.

"Try me."

"I'd rather not waste my time."

"Oh yeah, since your time is so precious."

"Glad you're finally starting to understand, Potter."

"You're so full of yourself."

"You're one to talk, Mr. Famous Harry Potter."

"Do not call me that, Snape."

"Then show me the proper respect by addressing me as Professor Snape."

"I'd really rather not."

"I do not care."

"Well neither do I!"

Harry, with the last word thrown into the argument, snatched up a handful of newspapers and threw them down to the floor in a tantrum. He glared daggers at Severus and stormed from the room, making sure to slam the door as hard as he could manage.

Severus sat there momentarily. He blinked, and the expression on his face shifted to one of self-disgust. He had told himself he would not get into another argument with Harry, and look what happened. "Stupid Gryffindor brat," the man snarled under his breath and flicked his wand, sipping gratefully and liberally at the Firewhiskey bottle that appeared in his free hand.

Meanwhile, Harry sighed and collapsed against the dungeon wall. Footsteps surprised him, however, and he snapped his gaze up to see someone walk around the corner and stop dead in his tracks.

It was Draco Malfoy.

The blond Slytherin looked more than a little worse for the wear. Bags clung under his dulled, gray eyes, and his skin was paler than it normally was. His face was frozen in a frown, and it looked as if he might not ever be sufficiently happy again. He hesitated, shifting back as if he would like nothing more than to flee around the corner and back out of Harry's sight, but he forced himself to remain standing there, chin tilted up bravely.

"Potter," Draco greeted politely.

"Malfoy? What are you doing here?"

Draco relaxed when the tone in Harry's voice reflected interested confusion instead of the angry spite he had feared. "I need my wand back," he said.

"I'm surprised you're not in Azkaban," Harry said idly, his voice holding a cold edge to it, "since you have the Dark Mark on your arm."

"I made a mistake, Potter," Draco said warily, "but I had no choice... The Dark Lord threatened to kill my parents, and even you should know that, to Pure-bloods at least, is everything. I couldn't just let them die."

"There's always another choice."

"Well, either way, it's too late now," Draco spoke, his lips twitching up into a bitter smile, "so just let me have my wand. I have to turn it in to be snapped. And then, I'm off to Azkaban with the rest of the Death Eaters. You won't have to worry about me anymore."

The grim acceptance of his fate startled Harry. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously and said, "If I give you your wand back, you could just escape."

Draco shook his head sadly. "No," he said, "the Ministry is holding my parents in the Great Hall with about 16 wands pointed and ready to kill my parents without a moment's hesitation. Those Ministry oafs play just as dirty as the Dark Lord." His face twisted into a distant expression, not caring to lose focus in front of his school rival. It didn't matter anymore anyway.

Harry found himself feeling sorry for Draco. The blond had believed that he could only either become a Death Eater or die along with his parents, and Harry wasn't sure how he would feel in such a situation either. Would he have chosen to join the ranks of Voldemort if it was a choice between his parents' life or his servitude?

"Just... can I have my wand, Potter?... Please?"

"You're just going to accept this?"

"What?"

"You're just going to give into the Ministry without a fight? Like you said, you had to choose between keeping your parents alive and dying along with them... The Ministry might take that into consideration and at least shorten your sentence," Harry said and pushed himself away from the wall to stand square with Draco.

"No, Potter, the Ministry isn't going to listen to me. Don't be stupid. Just give me my wand and let me get this over with quickly... You never know, maybe once they get the Dementors under control again, I'll get lucky and receive the Kiss."

"You're suicidal, Malfoy."

"No," Draco replied, face a blank mask, "if I were suicidal, I would have gone and drowned myself in the Lake instead of coming down here to get my wand."

The utter lack of emotion in Draco's voice throughout their whole conversation worried Harry. He never thought he would see the day when he was worried about Draco Malfoy of all people. "All right then, Malfoy," he said cautiously, "come inside... Your wand is stashed in my trunk."

"Severus won't mind?"

Harry's frown deepened. "I don't see why he would. You're one of his Slytherins," he said.

Draco stared at Harry blankly for a few seconds. Then, he strode forward, robes settling as he came to a halt in front of the Gryffindor. "Just please give me my wand," he said.

Officially uncomfortable with the situation now, Harry could only nod and mutter the password. He led Draco through the entrance and then through the kitchen and to the living room.

"Draco?" Severus was surprised to see Draco Malfoy stride in behind Harry, but not surprised in a bad way. To be honest, he was thankful to see Draco.

"Severus," Draco said hollowly, making sure to keep a good five feet of distance from the Potions Master.

"Draco, what are you doing here?"

"I came to get my wand," Draco answered, watching as Harry opened his trunk and dug through its contents, "then my parents and I get our wands snapped and we're off to Azkaban... I would say I would see you there, but I heard that you've got Potter helping you."

Severus desperately wanted to say something but no words could be found. He frowned instead and watched as the blond watched Harry.

Meanwhile, Harry felt his brain working a mile a minute. Is there a way I can help Malfoy? He wondered about the possibilities, even as he drew Draco's wand from its resting place. "Here," he said gently and tossed the wand up.

Draco caught it. A dreamy smile tugged at his lips as his fingers trailed up and down the wand. "This will be the last time I'll get to hold this wand... It's been with me for so long. I can't believe it's going to end like this..." He spoke quietly, as if he were talking to himself, but both Harry and Severus heard him, word for word. "Thanks, Potter," he added to the Gryffindor, "And good bye to the both of you."

Draco turned and left the room, running his fingers continuously up and down his wand, as if wanting to memorize the feel of it. He wished that Harry would stop him and offer to help him and his family just like his reputation said. He even walked slowly, hoping Harry would break down and stop him, but with each step, the blond felt more of his hope dwindle as the silence chased him from the living room and out of Severus's private quarters.

Kyla: Okie dokie! What do you guys think? Should the Malfoy's get Harry's help? Or should they be thrown to the Ministry dogs? I thought I'd as you guys what you thought. Persoanlly, I think I want to have Harry help them too, but maybe Harry and I both have the whole people-saving thing, haha. xD Review and lemme know whatcha think about the Malfoys!! Thanks!