A/N Sorry everyone for the late update. I will be moving at the end of next month, so was trying to find a nice place to move into for a lot of the weekend. Thank You everyone who commented on the last chapter!

THE BOY WHO LIVES IN A CUPBOARD

Harry Potter, 11, the boy who just at the age of 1 saved the whole Wizarding World from the clutches of Lord Voldemort and ended the Wizarding War, has spent the last 10 years of his life living with his Muggle Aunt and Uncle. Harry was forced to wear second hand clothing 5 sizes too big for him, do menial chores while his cousin was free to go out and play, and worst of all he has until very recently been living in a cupboard filled with spiders and dust. Mr Malfoy, said this to me when I asked him about Harry. "I was shocked when I saw Mr Potter in Diagon Alley while I collected books for my son Draco. He looked like he hadn't had a proper meal in 10 years and was wearing a hideous mismatch of clothing. If you had told me he was a homeless kid. I would of believed you."

This despicable case study of how these muggles treated Harry Potter was a huge blow for the Muggle Protection Act, that Ministry worker, Arthur Weasley is trying to introduce. Many in the Ministry are horrified that the saviour of the Wizarding World would be treated in such a way.

Petunia Dursley, Harry's Aunt, said this "I found him on my doorstep one morning with a letter…. It was from someone called Dumbledore." Mothers across the world would be furious if their baby was left out on a doorstep when a knock on a door was possible. It is clear that Albus Dumbledore did not take proper precautions in checking that the Dursley's were good people to foster Harry Potter. "He didn't even walk in and explain what was going on." Petunia added.

This has led to many in the wizarding world to question Dumbledore. Is he capable of looking after children in his care? Should a man like this be running Hogwarts? Especially as there are rumours that Harry was physically assaulted many times by his Uncle.

Rita Skeeter

Daily Prophet

Dumbledore put down his newspaper. He would be getting a lot of owls tomorrow. He pondered what to do. Likely Lucius was going to call a School Governer's meeting and ask for his resignation. He couldn't let that happen. He needed to be at Hogwarts. He sent owls to his key supporters in the Board of Governers.

/*

The next week at the Malfoys was the best experience of Harry's life. Harry never had a friend before and he really liked it. Draco had shown Harry around his house which was gigantic! He had never seen so many rooms before. Though, when Harry looked at it he couldn't help but frown. The whole place was bleak, it sort of reminded Harry of his cupboard. He had no real personal belongs to hang up when he was in his cupboard, no toys or games to play with. Just spiders and a big dark cupboard was where he slept. That was it. The Malfoy Manor reminded him of that. It was a house, not a home. Harry wondered what it would have been like to be brought up in a place like this.

The next thing that Harry noticed was Dobby, who was casually abused by both the Malfoy parents and Draco himself. When Harry called Draco out on this. Draco frowned and was a whole lot nicer to Dobby after this. On one particular day when Lucius had thrown Dobby out the window for forgetting to clean said windows and Dobby had received a bad head wound from it. Harry had decided to make a comfortable bed for him from bed sheets he had found in a cupboard. He hid the bed from Lucius' disapproving eyes in one of the attic rooms. But when he went to take Dobby up to the attic he found Draco with a bottle in one hand and a cloth in the other, dabbing Dobby's head with some sort of magical liquid. Draco's head shot up panicking when he heard Harry's footsteps, but he relaxed in a smile when he saw who it was. They nursed Dobby back to health and helped him with his chores for the rest of the week.

When they weren't helping out Dobby, Draco took Harry out flying, something that Harry immensely enjoyed. Soon they were spending more of their spare time off the ground than on it. Lucius would once a day sit outside and watch. Then after a while, he would call the boys down from their brooms and ask them to accompany him in the study. Harry had mixed views about their "study time". Lucius sometimes would tell them about some dark wizards in history, with lot's of cool wizard battles and fighting. Other times he would talk about the Dark Art and how weak men feared it because it mean't the most talented wizards could become more powerful, which the weak wizards tried to discourage because they were jealous.

In one of these lessons, they followed Lucius into the room as usual. He sat them at their desk, then walking to the other side of the desk, he pointed his wand at a box. It opened. Out, popped a ferret.

"Today I will be teaching you a spell."

Harry was sitting up straight now. Leaning forward slightly.

"Harry, I want you to command this Ferret to do something humourous. You will need to wave your wand like this, then point your wand at the ferret and say Imperio."

Harry did as he was told with flourish. Wondering what would happen. Lucius had to correct his technique a few times before finally the ferret had a dreamy look on his face.

"Now here is the fun part" Lucius smiled. "Tell the ferret to do something."

"Do a cartwheel" Harry whispered disbelieving it would. It did. "Chase your tail." Again it followed his command. "Run around the room". It did it again and again until it fell over with exhaustion. Harry smiled mischievously, before running out of the room. "Is this what Dudley feels when he beats up a little kid" he asked himself, as he remembered the growing sense of enjoyment he felt at making the ferret do stupid things. "Was he a Bully?" He stared out of his bedroom window.

Draco came in "Are you ok?"

"Did Father send you?" Harry spat out. "Come to check if I'm one of those weak wizards?" Harry spat out.

"No, I came because I wanted to."

Harry felt guilty for lashing out. "Sorry Draco, It's just…. I feel free…. For so long I felt like I was the Dursley's slave. Just there to do their bidding… now I'm free to be whoever I want… I just don't know who I will become…. It's scary… I'm worried I'm becoming someone I don't want to be."

"But you aren't doing it alone" Draco whispered as he put his arms around Harry. "I'm here to help you become whoever you want to be."

"Thanks Draco."

/*

Lucius Malfoy gave his wife a disapproving look when she gave Draco a large hug. They were on the Platform 9 and ¾ and Harry and Draco were buzzing to go to Hogwarts. Lucius gave both Harry and Draco a stiff handshake before rushing off the platform with his wife. He needed to talk to Fudge at the Ministry apparently.

"Is he always like that?" Harry asked as he lifted his suitcase off the trolley. "Or did he forget to take his kindness pills this last week?"

"Yes, that's my father for you" Draco replied, trying to help Harry pick up his case which was really heavy. He wondered absentmindedly what a Kindness pill was. With the two of them lifting it, they eventually managed to inch it onto the train.

"Well- Well, what do we have here?" A familiar voice outside the carriage commented. "An unattended case?"

Draco shot his head out of the carriage door. "That's mine!"

"It would be such a shame if respectable pranksters such as ourselves did not do something when fortune has bestowed this opportunity on us" someone else said. Draco recognised the voices from his future life; the Weasley Twins.

"A Great insult to whoever gave us this situation" His twin added. They were ignoring Draco.

"That is not yours." Came a voice from behind Draco. Harry had come to investigate.

"We are terribly sorry" Said one of the twins with an exaggerated bow.

"No, we did not mean to offend...you" His twin added. "However this little git is Draco Malfoy and we have just a little bit of history with him. Well his father to be more precise."

"Our families don't get on at all" The other said conversationally, sitting on Malfoy's trunk.

"So you decide to bully a first year?"

The twins looked a bit guilty at that. "Normally we won't but this first year is a special case."

Harry stared at him. The twins looked bored at being judged by a first year that was until they looked at his forehead.

"Oy, what's that" The first twin said pointing at Harry's scar.

"Blimey" said the second twin "Are you…?"

"What?" Harry said feeling miffed that the twins had changed the conversation.

"Harry Potter" they chorused.

"Oh him" said Harry. "I mean, yes, I am."

"Phew and you're defending the Malfoy kid" First Weasley smiled sadly. "You'll soon learn that this snake isn't worth defending." He added before he and his twin walked away.

Draco wondered if there was anyone who would approve of his relationship with Harry. They picked out an empty carriage and dumped their suitcases there. From outside the window they could hear a family outside.

"Ron, you've got something on your nose."

Draco watched as Ron Weasley struggled to free himself from his mother's grasps, while she viciously attacked his nose. Draco was wetting his pants.

"Mum- geroff"

"Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie" said one of the twins.

"Shut up" said Ron.

"Where's Percy?" said Molly Weasley.

"He's coming now."

Draco watched Percy Weasley stroll up the platform like he owned the place. He had a thickly polished prefect badge on his cloak. Draco probably disliked this pretentious Weasley the most.

"Can't stay long, Mother" he said. "I'm up front, the prefects have got two compartments to themselves -"

"Oh, are you a prefect Percy?" said one of the twins with an air of great surprise. "You should have said something we had no idea."

"Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it" said the other twin. "Once..."

"Or twice…"

"A minute…"

"All summer"

"Oh, shut up," said Percy the Prefect.

Draco looked behind him. Harry was trying to silently howl with laughter on his seat. This was until the twin said "Hey, Mum, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?"

Harry immediately stopped laughing and tried to hide in his chair.

"Who?"

"Harry Potter, and guess who he was with?!"

"Who?"

"Draco Malfoy"

Little Ginny Weasley was pulling on her Mum's sleeve asking " Oh, Mum, can I go on the train and see him, Mum, oh please…."

"No Ginny, the poor boy isn't someone you goggle at in the zoo." Then turning to one of the twins she asked "...and what would be wrong with that Fred, You really shouldn't let your father's feud influence you. The Malfoy boy might be really nice" Molly commented though she did look worried.

Fred called Draco something so bad that Mrs Weasley said "FRED"

Draco closed the window. He was seeing window had a silencing charm on it so he and Harry now couldn't hear the conversation going on outside. The War had given him a large pool of suppressed anger that was at risk of erupting. Draco forced a smile and said. "Exploding Snap?"

Harry leapt on that suggestion.