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The spacious corridors resounded with calm foot falls as a blond haired man made his way through the soon to be chaotic hallways to his office. The summer was the man's favorite part of his job because it was when the students left and the school was almost completely empty; no papers, no exams, no eyes that felt as if they were always watching; as if they felt he still could not be trusted.

Draco Malfoy had not planned on ever returning to Hogwarts but when professor Severus took over the school after McGonagall's temporary service, the man was not about to hand the position of potion's master to just anyone. Severus had contacted Draco while he had still been an auror, presenting his plan for Draco to assume the position in his promotion and return to the school. Draco was vehemently against returning to the school knowing that some of the teachers and parents of incoming students still considered him one of the dark side, the witches and wizards that killed their friends and family mercilessly. It was that faithful night when Draco lost composure that convinced him that his position as auror had to change.

Draco had not immediately considered returning to the school. He traveled into Germany, visited Berlin and Hanover, travelling all through Europe. He disappeared from the wizarding world much like Harry Potter had since the day Draco stormed from the auror's office although Draco was not aware of this. Draco traveled from city to city, picking his way through the slums, doing all the wrong things with all the wrong people to patch some hole he felt inside of him that grew with every meaningless fuck and additional dose of whatever the current favorite drug was. He was farther from ever returning to the wizarding world with the state he was in than when he had first run away. He had never planned on returning since he had left Germany until one evening, in a muggle bar, Draco was flirting shamelessly (as he had created the habit of doing) with a young muggle man who was grinding his hips and shaking the bag of cocaine between his thumb and index finger. Draco looked over the man with hollow eyes and smirked, which was all it took for the man to start leading him away past the other bar patrons and out of the building. As he approached the door of the hotel with nothing in mind but the drive to push back every churning thought, he was stopped by a rough hand on his arm. The blank faced wizard turned to the stranger and locked eyes with pitch black orbs and a deep sneer of disapproval. "Severus," Draco whispered and the wizard gripped him firmly by the sleeve, proceeding to drag him away from the bar and the hotel while the muggle boy shrugged and moved on to another lonely man.

Severus dragged a silent Draco all the way to his hotel where he threw him roughly on the bed and stood. Severus didn't move for what seemed like hours and neither did Draco. Draco just stared off into space while a feeble voice called out to go but was drowned by the heavy weight of drugs, depression, and denial. Severus looked over Draco as the boy lay frozen on the dusty mattress. He had grown dangerously thin, his silver eyes had become dull and his face an unhealthy grey with dark circles beneath his eyes. His hair, once beautiful silver-blond that radiated like a silver ring was now dull, greasy, and matted, a state the older man had never thought his godson would allow his hair to fall in to. Severus sighed, stepping towards the bed and sitting on the edge of it with no sign of movement from Draco.

"Draco, what has been going on with you?" the older man asked and Draco moved just a little bit, a stir to signal life but not much else. Severus craned his head so he could look into Draco's eyes and behind the emptiness he saw swirls of sadness and regret. The older man was unaware as to why, Draco had seemed to be doing wonderfully when he began his career as an auror yet now he was in this depraved state, silent and unmoving. Severus sighed and crossed the room to the closet where he pulled a blanket out and covered Draco before crossing the room to the second bed where he sat down, lost in thought.

The next morning Severus woke with a jolt and got the eery feeling that when he looked over Draco would not be in the bed and as he turned slowly his eyes were met with the sight of disheveled sheets flung over a used and empty mattress. Severus sat up and slid off the bed quickly running across the room to the bathroom, throwing the door open to be met with a deft yelp of pain and one of the most disheartening sights he had ever seen.

Draco was tangled around the toilet, head resting on its cool surface with his face flushed red with fever and glistening with sweat. He had removed his shirt and flung it to the ground, exposing his bare chest and back and had Severus wanted to, he could count every ridge in Draco's spine and every rib in Draco's chest. His skin had a sickly grey tinge to it and it was so pale it was riddled with veins, only broken up by the occasional bruise or cut. He had one long arm thrown across the toilet seat and as Severus took a step closer he noticed many little prick marks along his arm, more commonly known as tracks, where a needle, most likely not containing medicine, had been inserted and the contents injected. Draco's hair hung across his face in long oily tendrils and he had bits of vomit still clinging to his lips and chin. The smell surrounding the boy was awful; a mixture of sweat and dirt, alcohol, and vomit and Severus stood there, feeling as if his heart was going to fall right out of his chest like a stone. Draco began to shiver and murmur in his sleep and Severus was pulled out of his disheartened reverie to what was lying in front of him.

Removing his shirt, Severus approached Draco and touched the boys arm with no response from the blond. Sighing, Severus grabbed a band from his wrist and pulled his long hair back as he crouched next to the tiny man. Detangling Draco from the toilet, Severus laid him flat on the ground and reached over, turning on the warm water for the bath. As the water ran, steam gathered in the small hotel bathroom and Severus removed the clothes the boy still had on which were stiff with lack of washing. The more skin Severus uncovered the more he was shocked. The small man's body was riddled with bruises and signs of lack of care and Severus nearly cried when he saw his godson lying completely unclothed on the ground and the state he body had fallen in to. What happened to you Draco? The man thought before he gathered Draco up and placed him in the warm bath. Draco began to stir and he managed to open his eyes a little bit but was too weak to register or resist Severus's ministrations as the man took a wash cloth and began to rub away the film of dirt and grime over the boy's skin. When it got to washing Draco's hair, Severus was sure the boy had fallen asleep again as he kept slipping into the water, close to going under and drowning so Severus perched himself on the edge of the small tub, pants rolled up and feet in the water so that Draco rested between his legs where he could easily was the boy's hair. Severus didn't have too much experience with bathing someone else but he had seen movies and he knew that you didn't want to get sop in their eyes so he tilted Draco's head back as he rinsed the shampoo from his hair and the peaceful expression on the boy's face calmed him a little bit as he drained another cup of water in to the boy's hair. He shampooed and conditioned Draco's hair three times, until he could easily run his fingers through the long locks which had grown to be just past his shoulders.

Taking the boy from the soaking bath was difficult but Severus managed to stand him up and rap him in a towel without incident before gathering him up again and taking him to the bedroom where he laid him carefully on the bed. With a second towel he dried the young man and wrapped his long hair up so the towel would soak up most of the water and not the pillow. Taking a step back, Severus wasn't sure to be a little happier that the grey tone was disappearing from Draco's skin or frown at the fact that now, with al the dirt removed, the bruises seemed darker and more violent against the boy's body. Snape sighed and threw the towels to the floor of the bathroom and grabbed an extra blanket from the closet to cover Draco so he wouldn't catch a cold. Severus didn't have any extra clothes with him and from the state of Draco's he knew they could not be saved and he figured he had no extras either so, making sure Draco was warm and comfortable, Severus left the hotel room, locking the door and sealing it with magic just in case.

When Severus returned with a whole new set of clothes for Draco, he found the boy to be sitting up and staring off into space with tears falling from his eyes unaccompanied by sobs. The blond turned and when he saw Severus, surprise shook his features and he glanced back down at his naked body. Severus dropped the clothes at the door and rushed to the boy's side, placing a soothing hand on his arm and peering under his face to look into his eyes.

"Draco," he whispered and the boy turned to him, eye showing a shine of life they hadn't had the night before and it made Severus heart jump a little with happiness. The boy lifted one hand and placed it on the side of his godfather's face and shut his eyes.

"You're real?" he replied and Severus took Draco's hand and nodded. With a small sob, Draco pulled Severus's hand to his cheek and began to sob lightly. "I am sorry," Draco sobbed. "I am sorry you had to see me like this," he said quietly which made Severus's heart lurch.

"Draco," Severus began sincerely, "I am just happy to see you at all, do you know how worried I have been? You ran away and no one could find you. I had to ask Minerva to come back for a term so I could search for you. I thought maybe you had run off with Potter," and at the mention of Harry's name, Severus watched Draco tense up, his features stiff before the sobs rushed out faster than before. Now Severus wished that he had found Draco with the Potter boy because it seemed whether he was with him or not, Draco's disappearance was related to his. Severus grabbed Draco and held him while he sobbed longer, trying to ignore how frail the blond felt in his arms.

After crying for a while, Draco's sob became less frequent until they stopped all together and his breaths deepened, and Severus lifted the boy off him and laid him back on the bed to let him sleep. He crossed the room and removed the clothes from the bags, removing the tags and setting them out for Draco when he awakened. Severus watched the boy fondly for a while, recalling the light he had seen in those eyes. Severus didn't know what had led Draco here but he knew that one day Draco would tell him, when he was ready.

Draco opened the door to his chambers and went in silently. He looked around the room fondly as he set his satchel down on the desk by the door. His broom was propped against one of his many bookshelves that lined the walls in his entry room. He walked in and sat on the comfy couch that faced his fire place which caught flamed and burned a small, crackling, fragrant fire as Draco opened the book. Usually he settled down with a book on potions during the school year when his thirst for knowledge was high because of the excitement of the school year but during the summer he sat down with novels from any genre. Right now he opened up to the dog eared age of the ages old wizard romance and stopped for a second to glance up at the book centered above his fire place. It was no special book, just one of his old history books but there was something inside of it that was in it wasn't the thousand pages of the history of the wizarding world.

Draco had been a fifth year when he read the book. He had been carrying it with him from the library as he made his way back to his dorm. As he ascended the stairs, a number of photographs flew down at him and out of some odd impulse, as one went fluttering over the edge of the shifting stairs, he let his arm reach ou and grasp it. As he turned it over he heard the shrill cry of Ginny Weasely and she began to gather up the photos as quickly as she could while Hermione stilled all the ones fluttering over the edge with her wand. Seeing these two, Draco slipped the picture into the book and didn't open it up until safely sitting on his bed away from everyone. As he opened his book, the face of Harry Potter stared back at him, eyes bright with laughter and a smile so big it looked like it might rip his face. He was covered in tinsel and he was wearing the ugliest sweater Draco had ever seen with a great big 'H' on it. Draco stared at that picture until Blaise came in to fetch him for dinner and he stared at it many times after that, attracted to it by the expression of pure happiness on the boy's face. It was the picture that started Draco's crazy crush on the boy who lived.

Draco tore his eyes from the book on the shelf and back to the one in his lap. He had never had the courage to face the picture nor the heart to throw it out so there it rested. Forget it, he thought to himself and began to read. School started in a week and there would not be much time for leisure reading once it did. Draco began to read the novel intently, entirely unaware that the godfather that rescued him long ago was now speaking with the boy who started it all about his return to the school as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

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