When Draco woke up, he was aware that it was still dark. The reason for that had an easy answer- the curtains around his bed were closed. Why were they closed? He rose up on one elbow, rubbing the sleep from his eyes with his free hand. Which he had to untangle for some strange reason. Why was the bed so cramped, anyways?

And then he looked down. And he remembered. Draco flopped back down onto his pillow, nuzzling into the warmth that Harry's back provided. Harry was still Harry, and while that was good, it posed a serious problem. They needed to go see Dumbledore to tell him this. Except for the fact that getting Harry Potter out of the Slytherin common room was going to be a bit of a challenge. They could always wait for everyone to be gone to breakfast, but then Dumbledore would be at breakfast, too. There was only so much time they could spend loitering in a hallway until someone noticed.

They didn't have any of Harry's things, least of all his wand. Draco didn't know how to perform a Disillusionment charm, so that was out. They didn't have the time to turn him into someone else with a Polyjuice potion, and Draco's half-asleep brain was running out of ideas.

Oh. Wait. Duh. Why didn't he think of that earlier?

Draco maneuvered so that he was hovering over Harry, who was closest to the rest of the room, twitched the curtain aside just a smidgen. Just enough so that he could peek out. No one else was awake yet. Thankfully. Draco let the curtain fall back into place, and hoped that the silencing charm he'd cast before they went to sleep still held.

"Harry. Harry, wake up." He hissed, shaking the raven's shoulder a little.

Harry stirred, mumbled incoherently, but did not wake up. Draco shook him again, frowning a little.

Finally, Harry's eyes blinked open. It took them a moment, but they finally focused on Draco.

"Draco, what-?"

"Shhh!" Draco hushed, twitching the curtain aside again to make sure their dorm mates were still asleep. "C'mon, we've got to get to Dumbledore."

Harry nodded, everything coming back to him. They eased out of bed together, getting ready as fast and as silently as they could manage. Draco left off gelling his hair, deciding that it would take too much time, time that they couldn't afford. If they weren't careful, some of the others could already be down in the common room by now. Draco dug around in his trunk for a moment before producing a black cloak that would completely conceal Harry's identity.

"Put this on." He hissed. Harry nodded and draped it around his own shoulders, clasping it shut and putting the hood up.

His face now entirely shrouded in shadow, Draco took Harry's hand and began to tug him along. The blonde didn't want to leave anything to chance. They exited the common room, where a few students were. Draco held his breath while they walked, but none of them shouted or found anything odd. If anything, they only got stares because of their joined hands. Draco hurried them down the hall, Harry keeping pace easily. Draco tried to remember the way up to Dumbledore's office, but Harry was the one who actually got them there. And then they were hanging around outside for a few moments while both of them tried to remember what Snape had said to get them in all that long ago.

"Was it 'exploding snap'?" Draco mumbled.

"No, I don't think so." Harry shook his head. "I think it might have been 'yellow umbrella'."

"Well that's about as likely as 'rubber duck'." Draco huffed.

"Yeah, you're probably right about that one. Uh… 'candied apple'?"

"Why in the world would that be it?" Draco was more than skeptical.

"I don't know, it just sounded-" Harry was cut off as a familiar voice came from behind the pair.

"Draco? Who's that you've got with you?" They whirled around as one to see Dumbledore himself striding towards them, a small smile on his face.

"Ah, Headmaster, do you mind if we talk in your office?" Draco asked hesitantly, the politeness foreign to him. It rolled off his tongue easily, though. Draco decided he didn't mind.

"If that is what you prefer." Dumbledore nodded, but something told Harry that the man already knew exactly what had transpired between Draco and himself, and knew exactly who was under Draco's borrowed cloak.

The thought made him blush, and he suddenly wasn't able to meet Dumbledore's eyes.

"Puffskein earmuffs." Dumbledore enunciated, stepping on to the now-moving staircase.

Harry and Draco shared a look.

'Puffskein earmuffs?' Draco mouthed as he stepped onto the stair case as well. Did those even exist?

Harry shrugged, stepping on behind him, tugging the cloak so that the edges wouldn't be caught between the stairs and the wall. Although he seriously doubted that it would happen, he'd lived in the muggle world for the majority of his life. The staircase greatly reminded him of muggle escalators, and he'd actually seen one woman get her dress stuck as she was stepping off at the top of one. It had not been pretty.

Dumbledore entered his office, Draco and Harry following somewhat hesitantly. There was a certain amount of awe that entering the Headmaster's study evoked, and even Harry, who had been there at least once a year, could not deny that he felt it.

"Now, what is it you wish to discuss?" Dumbledore turned once he was a sufficient distance inside the room.

"Well, sir… Um…" Draco turned to Harry, unsure as to how to begin.

Harry pulled the hood down on the cloak. He didn't exactly like hiding things from Dumbledore. It had always given him a bad taste in his mouth.

"I appear to be back to normal. Er- permanently." Dumbledore nodded, winking.

"I knew you would be, at some point." He smiled. "So now what do you plan on doing, now that you're human again?"

"… I hadn't thought much about it." Harry answered honestly, somewhat embarrassed by his own answer. "Catch up on school work. Work with the Order more." He shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. "Somehow avoid the Daily Prophet."

It had never occurred to Draco that Harry didn't like publicity. As a Malfoy, and therefore part of one of the most influential families in the European Ministry of Magic, publicity came with the family. And he liked it enough, so long as they didn't poke into his personal life. He didn't think of it until now, but being Harry Potter would be worse, in a way. Being Harry Potter would mean that everyone wanted to know everything about you. Where did you go yesterday? What did you eat? What time do you brush your teeth?

He imagined that it had to get extremely old extremely fast. And Harry, being a boy who grew up in a Muggle family, never knowing paparazzi and annoying reporters, was probably even less accustomed to it. Draco blinked, and suddenly saw a Harry in a new light. He looked away, holding his left forearm, right over the Dark Mark now obscured by long sleeves.

Harry was pure. Harry was kind, innocent, handsome, yet unmarred by the Dark Lord for all the meddling Voldemort had done in his life. Not like him. Draco was tainted, spiteful, scarred. He was a Death Eater. A symbol of everything Harry should hate.

Draco knew Harry had seen the mark. But he hadn't said anything about it, so the blonde wasn't about to, either. The longer he could avoid the subject, the better. The longer he could pretend that things were still alright, that he still had some control over what happened to him.

"-raco. Draco!" Draco's head snapped up, and he blinked at Harry.

"Yeah?" He asked stupidly.

"Dumbledore asked you if you minded me still sharing a dorm with you, since it's a little late to be switching back to the Gryffindor common rooms?" Harry was giving him a funny look.

Draco had spaced out much longer than he had intended.

"Oh, yeah. I mean, no, no, it's fine, I don't mind." Draco shook his head. What was he saying? Couldn't he even get a coherent thought out anymore? Or was that still too complicated?

He sighed. He needed a therapist or something. Whatever those Muggle healers were that helped with one's head instead of one's physical injuries.

"Well then. Off you go- I imagine that breakfast still has yet to end. I'm sure your friends will be pleased to see you again, Harry." Dumbledore shooed them off, and the two enjoyed a silent walk to the Great Hall.

On Draco's part, the silence was tense and heavy, but Harry was walking along like he hadn't a care in the world. Draco took a deep breath. It didn't matter if he spiraled down- he just couldn't bring Harry with him. So he'd pretend like nothing was bothering him for now. For now, he would make believe that he was happy and that everything was alright. Because that's what mattered.

Little did he know that Harry had a foreboding feeling erupting in the pit of his stomach, though he couldn't place where exactly it was directed. The moment they entered the Great Hall, Harry was buried under hugs and high-fives and 'where were you's and 'we were worried's. He noticed Draco slip off to the Slytherin table, but couldn't get away for an instant to go and sit next to him.

He was herded to the Gryffindor table, where Ron forced him into a seat with a clap on the back. He was facing Draco, who gave him a flash of a smile across the Great Hall. Harry barely kept eye contact long enough to return it before he was pulled into conversation that he could really care less about.

And there were questions. Questions about the strange collar around his neck and his muggle clothes. Harry did not answer them.

He couldn't tell his housemates that he still belonged to one Draco Malfoy.

Ohmygod. I am so sorry this is so late. ;.; I was going to upload it sooner, but Henry (my muse) put his cigarette out on my brain. I'd go to the word document and stare at it, as if words were going to magically appear.

I forced this one out of myself, so if it's bad and entirely plotless, I'm sorry. T_T

I am going to attempt to update again soon, but beware that there is a timeskip coming. Quite a large one, if I'm not wrong.