Harry was exhausted. Keeping Sasha calm and hidden while being harassed on all sides because of his supposed fame was certainly taxing, and doing so on top of trying to look at everything at once took remarkable skill.

After everything he'd been put through, it was no surprise that, unlike most boys his age, he gratefully stumbled into the quiet robe shop.

Madam Malkin appeared before he could properly collect himself.

'Oh, dear god, not another one!' Harry thought frantically.

"Hogwarts, dear? Got the lot here – another young man being fitted up just now, in fact."

Harry was made to stand on a footstool beside and blond, pointy boy that Sasha described as very rodent-like. Harry was just relieved there was someone his age and not another insane adult.

"Hello, Hogwarts too?" Asked the boy.

"Yes," Harry muttered distractedly, taking advantage of the moment when the adults turned their backs to quickly remove Sasha from his clothing and hide her in a bag before Malkin came back with pins. That wouldn't have ended well.

The boy caught a glimpse of Harry's companion, but to his relief appeared more interested than afraid.

"What's your name?"

Harry winced and braced himself, "Harry Potter."

To his immense relief the kid did not descend into a mess of fan boy. Harry liked him immediately.

"You, Dark-Lord-Destroyer-Extraordinaire, have a snake?" The boy's tone was incredulous, but Harry wasn't focused on that.

"Oh, Hagrid mentioned something about that."

"Why were you with him?"

"He works at Hogwarts. He came to tell me last night that I'm a wizard."

"What?!" The boy completely lost his composure, "You didn't know?"

Harry was startled by the enraged reaction. "I didn't. I suppose I should've suspected. In hindsight it is rather obvious, considering how fervently my relatives denied it."

That may have been the wrong thing to say. The boy's grey eyes flashed and took on a steely appearance, making the small boy appear far fiercer, and his suddenly mellow voice only added to the effect.

"My name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy. My father's currently buying my books and my mother is waiting in the wand shop. I would like you to meet them, I believe Father would be able to direct you to information that could assist you."

Harry, feeling very out of his depth, hadn't considered that, and was immediately relieved.

…

Harry said goodbye to a suddenly blustering and worried Hagrid, who'd decided it was his duty to go along with Harry to meet the elder Malfoys. Harry spent the next ten minutes trying to convince the huge man that he would be fine, and eventually he succeeded.

"Alright, I'll meet yeh here at 5 to take yer home."

Harry was confused, "Home? I'm not going back to the Dursleys."

"Yeh have to, Harry, they're still yer guardians."

Harry made a show of giving in to placate the man, but his mind was turning and Sasha was already whispering escape ideas. He had money now, how hard could it be?

Mr Malfoy exited the bookshop at that moment, tucking a shrunken package into a pocket as he did so. He took in the black haired boy, the retreating groundskeeper – who levelled him with a squinty glare – and his son. He waited for an explanation with a pointedly raised eyebrow.

Sasha was impressed. "It is powerful, P.T., play this right and I'll bet my last toad it can get us out of there."

"Hello, Father. I would like to introduce you to Harry Potter. His guardians –" his nose scrunched unpleasantly at this, "– neglected to tell him about his heritage and he is woefully uneducated about our world."

The blond man's face betrayed no emotion. "You did well to bring this to my attention, Draco. Would you come to lunch with me, Mr Potter, so we might sort this business out?"

"I would like that, sir."

…

Lunch with the Malfoys was more nerve wracking than pleasant, and Harry had a hard time stumbling his way around how to use all the cutlery. The Malfoys didn't seem to mind, especially after Draco explained about how Harry was forced to live with muggles ("how ghastly!").

"What is living with them like?" Mrs Malfoy asked. Harry liked her, she was seemed cold but he suspected she was kind.

Harry noted that the Malfoys did not seem to be very fond of muggles, but were making an effort to stay polite in consideration of his feelings. As Sasha pointed out; he could use that.

"Oh, it's not so bad now. I mean, Sasha –my snake, that is– bites them when they try to hit me and I get a meal at least every couple of days," Harry widened his eyes innocently and discreetly poked Sasha when she sniggered a contemptuous, "Don't overdo it".

Mrs Malfoy was politely horrified, Draco stewed angrily but Mr Malfoy, to Harry chagrin, seemed to catch on immediately to what he was doing. To his surprise, the elder Malfoy was not angry with his clumsy attempts at manipulation, but rather amused, even pleased.

"Mr Potter, the wizarding world would be outraged to hear of this. If they could find evidence of child abuse, you would likely become a ward of the Ministry until you could be emancipated at fifteen." Mr Malfoy's eyes glittered at the prospect.

Harry's eyes widened, he'd never considered himself a victim of abuse. Although, he figured that Dudley used to beat him, and the others made him think his name was Freak until he started first grade, locked him in a closet, denied him basic human rights and he forced him to act as their personal slave…

"The Family and Management section of the Ministry are bound to secrecy about these things," Mr Malfoy continued persuasively. "Cases may be swept under the rug, but your fame should counteract this. I work at the Ministry, I could easily pass them my concerns."

"I sense revenge, little human. A public thrashing would be no less than what they deserved," the brown snake muttered ominously.

A little uncomfortable, as always, with the snake's… enthusiasm, Harry smiled shakily. "Actually, Mr Malfoy, is there a wizarding newspaper I could get in contact with?"

"So long as you do not mind significantly increased sympathy from your fans." Mr Malfoy's answering smirk was vicious.

Yes, that would be a drawback, but a bearable one. Especially if Harry was a widely loved as he was beginning to suspect.