The Boy Who Loved

By

Belle. A. Lestrange

Chapter Thirteen:

Down and Dirty

It had finally started to rain.

It had been a long hot, dry summer with barely a droplet and now, somewhere during the course of their catastrophic dinner, a bulging black cloud finally burst overhead, bleeding down onto the baked pavements and burnt roads. The dying yellow grass crinkled and bent under the weight of fresh nourishment. The rain was not the cool refreshing rain, like so many had prayed for throughout the summer. No, this rain was the thick heavy droplets that pelted down against every surface, making your clothes irritably cling to your skin and stick there, making you feel as though you were thrown into a puddle of oil.

It was in this rain that Draco was stalking home to Spinner's end in. He's perfectly clean hair was now hanging in grizzly strings down his pale face flushed with rage. His fists were still clenched and his brand new clothes were ringing wet and clung heavily to every curve of his body. It was awkward and stiff to move and his feet felt heavy as his second-hand black shoes pooled with water. He grimaced. How did muggles live like this? With water sneaking in to every spare space of their bodies? It was horrible! His clothes were starting to feel like a thick layer of dead skin and he was aching to rip it off. Scorched lightning thrashed through the sky, illuminating the darkened horizon. His breathing was even and rough to his ears. He needed to find Severus -he needed to leave this place.

It wasn't for him.

The pavements and gutters were, by now, over-flowing with the thick, oily rain as it flooded the world beneath the Heavens. Draco grimaced as a car drove by, straight through the deep, black puddle and drenched him even more. He groaned and clenched his fists tighter as the greasy water ran down his neck, and soaked through into his skin. Merlin, he felt so dirty!

He had started to shake now, not from the temperature, which was decidedly still too warm for the amount of rain torrenting down upon him, but due to the sheer anger he felt towards Harry's Uncle. He had tried to be polite, and as gracefully impolite, as his father had taught him when he was young. Malfoy's were expected to have proper manners, after all, not act like some pleblian. He had been a perfect gentleman, up until his breaking point. He didn't care for his outburst, and the way his anger had gotten the better of him. It did that sometimes. He was used to it, most of the people he had known in his old life were used to it.

But Harry didn't know.

He stopped short, just underneath a large maple tree in front of someone's house. He was not a Malfoy any longer. That name had been ripped from him. He was no one to anyone anymore. The very thought made him shiver, and his insides knot around one another. He was starting to feel light-headed. The rain was making him feel lost and nauteous. He had never liked the rain.

He was nowhere near Spinners End, he realised as he glanced at his surroundings. His heart skipped a beat and his knees trembled vaguely as he realised he had no idea where he was. Fear began snaking it's way into his mind. He was lost and alone and could not even apparate anywhere to get away from it all -or even to Severus' house. There was nowhere to turn back to, either. He was pretty sure that, after his outburst, Harry was far from happy with him. In fact, he would even go as far to say that if Harry was standing with him right now in the downpour, they'd be a bloody lip and a broken nose or two. His heart sank at the prospect of disappointing Harry. He never liked to disappoint anyone, but right now Harry was his one friend -his only friend -in the muggle world.

He sighed wearily, stuffed his hands in the back pockets of his sodden jeans and began walking through the inch-deep river that had now replaced the pavements.

"DRACO!"

He stopped. His ears were now being cruel and decieving him. He was truly going mad in this world. He shrugged it off, bowed his head against the torrent and pressed on through the thick, stifling air.

"DRACO!" Again he was sure that it was Harry's voice, echoing out through the rain. Then again, he was mad now, nothing would make sense to him anymore. He growled low in his throat, not wanting to lash out at the phantom that was masquerading with Harry's voice. "Draco will you please slow down?"

This time he did stop. And he did turn around to peer through the dark gold strands of his soaked fringe. Harry was jogging in his direction, dark shirt clinging to every muscle and bone of his body, water gleamed on his features and glasses, his hair hung in wavy black tresses and a large spray of water was left in his wake as he hurried through the watered pavement. Draco stood upright and stiff, arms clamped down to his sides and shoulders tense at the rain. It didn't take long for Harry to catch up to him.

Harry was panting slightly from trying to find Draco and then chasing after him. It shouldn't have taken him that long, on any other day, but the rain had made the neighbourhood look the same around every corner and over every road. When he had finally spotted the lone blonde boy stalking through the streets, his clothes clinging to his body as though they were supposed to strangle him, Harry had felt his legs run of their own accord. He doubled over in front of the blond, breathing and gasping through the rain, clutching at his stomach. "W-why did you run off?" he gasped out.

Draco shrugged though Harry could barely see the movement from where he was leaning on his knees. "It was just the time to leave" he stated in a cold, clear voice. He shivered as the image of his father swam through his head.

Harry straightened up and wrapped his arms around his stomach, "look I know my Uncle was an arsehole to you, but you didn't need to just leave!" Harry felt his voice losing control already. He didn't mean for it to, but he didn't know what to feel other than anger. Anger at his Uncle for being ... well, his Uncle, angry at Draco for storming off, and angry at himself for feeling so weak and ashamed about what was announced over dinner.

"That was only a part of the reason I left, Harry" Draco stated matter-of-factly, though the coldness in his voice was gradually subsiding. He could not be cold towards Harry.

"Then what was the reason?" Harry shouted out, his temper rising. His fingers were tightening into fists as he tried to maintain his furiousness. He looked up at Draco's impassive features, the same expression Severus had worn the other night. He shuddered at the memory. "Well?" he snarled.

Draco shrugged again, turning his face to stare across the empty, rain-soaked road. "I just had to. Would you want to live where you live, Harry? If you had a choice, would you?"

Harry knew that if he had a choice, he would run as far from Surrey as possible and never return if he could help it. However, that didn't mean that he couldn't be annoyed and infuriated by Draco's abandonment attempt. "So that's it then?" he asked in a brutally sarcastic voice, a sneer on his mouth that did not belong there. "You're just going to leave? After everything I did for you?"

Draco bristled at his words and then sneered himself, "oh, it's all about you isn't it Potter? All about what you did for me. Well what about what I did for you, you ungrateful bastard?"

Harry flinched at being called a 'bastard'. Uncle Vernon had called him a lot worse, of course he had, but to hear it from someone who was meant to be your friend? His muscles tensed as he regarded the blond boy through the rain, "so that's it then?" he repeated, his voice failing him. Draco shrugged a shoulder a millimetre. Harry scoffed and shook his head, running his hands through his soaked hair. "You know, I thought you were actualy a descent human being -until tongiht!" he spat the last words, anger shaking his voice.

Draco ground his teeth together, the urge to lunge at the brunette before him was increasing with every second that passed between them. "Tonight was not my fault, and you know it" he seethed venomously, "you were the one who had to grow balls and ask your aunt to invite me for dinner. I could have survived another night in your room, Harry! I don't mind as much as you think! We could have eaten a larger meal this afternoon if anything!"

"Well excuse me for wanting to see you be more sociable!"

"With your family?" Draco exclaimed in outrage. He loathed Harry's family. He would have had more entertaining conversations with Harry's bloody pillow! "They're about as classy as cockroaches!"

"I was doing you a favour! I was getting some descently cooked food into your emaciated gut!" Harry shouted out as he shoved Draco's shoulder. The arrogant stance had being driving him mad since Draco had adopted it on his doorstep. It had irked him throughout dinner, festering at the back of his mind.

"Don't you think you should have asked me first?" Draco snarled, shoving Harry back just as hard.

"YES!" the word was out of Harry's mouth before he realised it. He lowered his voice and nodding in understanding, "yes you're right. I should have asked you, and I apologise for not asking. NOW will you come back with me?" he asked urgently, flaring his arms out.

Draco allowed his arms to roam over Harry's drenched figure. The only reason he would be going back would be for Harry. But Harry was not even grateful to him for being there -for helping him. He sighed wearily, not knowing what to do. The anger in his chest had barely subsided enough to allow returning. His fuse was too short. "I don't think that it's a good idea for either of us, Harry. I think I should go to my uncle's house"

Harry's mouth fell open at the blond boys' words. He shifted awkwardly. He didn't want to go back alone. If he did, Vernon might be there. And if Vernon was there -he suppressed a shudder at the thought at the risk of bringing up his dinner. He swallowed thickly, not wanting to be sick in the over-flowing gutter. "It was me, wasn't it?" he breathed, barely audible over the sloshing of the heavy rain. But Draco had heard him. He winced at Harry's word and the brunette boy took this as a signal that Draco was agreeing with him. "I ... I didn't think you were that shallow" Harry stated coldly, his hands clenching into fists yet again. His nails dug into his palms and the rain stung the fresh wounds. He winced vaguely.

Draco's head snapped in the rain, to look down at Harry, his eyes glaring and cold. Like silver flames, Harry thought absent-mindedly. "What did you say?" Draco spat, "you think I'm shallow, do you?" Harry could only nod slightly as he tried to remember why he was feeling so angry at his friend. He winced as Draco shoved him throughy the rain, the water splattering up his legs as he stumbled back a step. "You think I don't give to fucks about you, Potter?"

"Well if you do you have a funny way of showing it!" Harry ground out, shoving Draco's offending hands away.

"So I didn't help you after your uncle RAPED YOU?" Draco shouted against the wind that was picking up gradually, accompanied by the heavy downpour.

"SHUT UP!" Harry snarled, grabbing Draco's wrists as he aimed for another shove, and dragged the blonde down onto the flooded pavement. Harry was much faster than Draco had first thought as he soon found himself straddled by the other boy in a pool of gritty water. He hissed in pain as he tried to wrestle Harry off of him. He gasped for breath as the air was knocked from his lungs.

"Get off!" he snapped, trying to dislodge the boy on top of him.

It was not that easy, as he soon found out, and was soon having the wind knocked out of him as Harry began drumming his clenched fists roughly onto his chest. Draco shifted awkwardly, winded and sure that he was going to have bruises the following morning as Harry's broken-hearted face loomed over his own, shimmering with the oily rain that drenched them both.

"Harry? Harry?" he attempted as he tried to slither out from underneath the frustrated boy, who had tears running down his voice and mingling with the rain that trickled down from his soggy tresses. He finally grabbed Harry's pummeling fists in his own and stretched his arms out to the side, drawing the pounding to his chest to stop. "WILL YOU QUIT AND LISTEN TO ME?" Harry merely trembled and struggled in Draco's grasp but could not free himself. "Why are you hitting me?" he asked, spluttering slightly through the rain that dripped into his mouth.

"You ... you're leaving because of me. Because of what my Uncle did to me -you think I'm a dirty little freak!"

The words were like a slap in the face to Draco. Freak? His anger faltered slightly. Harry was not a freak in his eyes -he had hoped Harry knew that by now. He exhaled tiredly. "I don't think you're a freak, Harry" he stated softly, doubting that Harry could hear him due to the lashing rain.

Harry frowned, looking as though he thought Draco had lost his mind. "What do you mean you don't think I'm a freak? Of course I am!"

Draco shook his head, the gritty water sliding in and out of his ears as the rain continued to pool around him. The temperature was cooling down slightly and Draco wanted to get indoors in the warm as soon as possible. He was beginning to tremble from being in water too long -he could feel himself turning into a prune. He grimaced at the thought. "Harry you're not a fucking freak but I swear to Merlin that if you don't get off me right now I will leave you out here to be a prune!"

Harry frowned down at the blond. He would hate to be stuck in a growing puddle as Draco was, with the dirty water soiling his hair and clogging up his ears and creeping higher over his skin and clothes, but was the water making his friends go batty? "Merlin?" Harry frowned, "what the Hell does he have to do with anything?" he felt so confused right at that moment. Draco was about to defend himself, having realized what he said, fear freezing through his heart. He pressed the back of his hand to Draco's forehead, "hmm you're alright come on lets get out of this rain"

Harry stood up from the puddle and extended his hand to the blond, watching as the droplets dripped from his fingertips. Draco looked up at the hand and frowned, unsure of what to do. It was not that he trusted Harry, he just felt as though he was stuffed in between a rock and a hard place. But at the pleading look in those bright emerald green eyes, he knew that Harry was the lesser of two evils. At least, he seriously hoped that he was. He raised his hand and slid it into Harry's own slippery one. It was hard work pulling Draco up to his feet as both of their hands were close to slipping apart several times, the water running their skin silky smooth.

Finally Draco was on his feet, their hands still grasped tightly together. Now that he was standing upright, Draco had to admit he felt uncertain of Harry. He felt as though he had no idea how to act anymore. "I'm going to see if I can find Severus' house" Draco stated after a few moments with only the descending of the rain to fill the tense silence.

Harry looked as though he wanted to object, but quickly clamped with mouth shut against the stale taste of the rain. "Alright then, I guess I'll ... er ... see you around or something?"

Draco looked exasperated as the rain lightened a little. "Harry -just come to my Uncle's house. You'll catch a cold"

Harry shook his head, "can't. Aunt Petunia will be worried"

"Call her when you get to Sev's house. Come on, we're already soaked and it would be best if we all just calm the Hell down. Otherwise you'll argue again and won't be able to run off"

Harry shuddered slightly as the ran continued to trickle down his skin, making him feel itchy. Finally he relented. "Alright then" he sighed in resignation as he started to cross the distance between himself and Draco. Draco turned as Harry came side-by-side with him. They kept a good meter apart between them as they started heading in the direction that Draco had been walking.

Severus was busy stoking the fireplace in his front parlor when a terrific banging started away at the locked front door. He growled low in his throat, getting a snappy retort ready on his tongue if it was Narcissa on the other side of the door. He couldn't deal with her right now. He slid the brass bolt back, hearing it grate against the withered wood, and swung the door inwards. He met two bright green eyes and blinked in confused, "Lily?"

~0~

Harry frowned up at the man after a few seconds looking as dazed and confused as Severus did, "no ... I ... do you -do you know my mum?"

Severus shook himself, avoiding Draco's scrutinizing gaze, "I went to school with her. Come inside, you're both frozen" With questioning expressions, Harry and Draco shuffled off of the cramped doorstop and into the warm dryness of Severus' house. Severus stood upright and allowed them to walk past him, before turning to close and bolt the front door once again, keeping the chill and the rain outside where it belonged. He turned to the two boys dripping in front of the fireplace. "Get upstairs both of you!" he barked harshly, "I will not have either of you flooding my house! Go and have a hot shower, and towel dry yourselves. I'll leave some clean dry clothes for you"

Harry flinched slightly at the older mans raised voice but nodded meekly nonetheless. He turned and and ascended the stairs alongside Draco, both avoiding the other's eyes. On the first floor landing, Harry took in the narrow hallway, the dark wood banister and the dark wooden door frames and skirting boards that ran throughout the house. The house was so boxed-in that even with the lights on, the corridors and rooms were gloomy and dark. He felt shivers running through his cool limbs as he followed the tall blonde boy to the back of the house and into a large master bedroom with an en-suite.

The tiles reflected the black night, and even with the dull light illuminating the room, the small black square where the window was sent a cold shiver running down Harry's spine. Draco turned to Harry, staring down at him, his eyes tired and his shoulders sagging. It was an unspoken agreement. Harry lowered his eyes and nodded, swallowing slightly, before turning around and leaving for the bedroom. He flinched when Draco clicked the door closed between them. He sighed and eyed the pristine bed, with it's two-toned, black and purple cover. Feeling awkward, he perched himself on the very edge of the bed, trying not to disturb the covers too much.

He listened as damp clothes smacked onto the tiled floor.

The shower was turned on, the spray smacking onto skin as Draco stepped inside.

Harry flexed his neck muscles; it would not do to eavesdrop on his friend taking a shower.

The hot water felt lovely to Draco's frosty skin. He shivered and hissed as he scooped handfuls of hot water all over his body. He trembled in the steady stream of water, thankful for some time alone to gather his thoughts. He had caused too much of a scene at Harry's house. He did not know if he wanted to return there now. It was awkward and he knew that Harry would be under scrutiny. He shuddered, twisting the hot water knob further.

He was trembling badly as the water cascaded down upon him.

As the hot water drowned the agonizing thoughts from his mind, he began to feel a little bit better about the situation. He could stay here with Severus. That was one upside to this mess.

He sighed, snapped the shower off, and groped around for a towel just outside the soaked curtain.

Within five minutes he was stepping out of the bathroom, and as soon as his eyes landed on Harry, he faltered. His good mood dissipated and he motioned towards the door with a vague twitch of his hand. Harry barely made a motion with his head as he stood from the bed and walked past Draco's steaming body and into the bathroom just beyond.

The door clicked shut in the screaming silence.

He shrugged and turned towards the chest of drawers that sat opposite the bed, glaring up at him, the multiple glinting doorknobs staring up at him like the eyes of a spider. He sneered and wrenched a drawer open. He plunged his hand inside, ignoring the hissing spray of the shower from the room next door, and tugged out a pair of fleece pyjamas. He made short work of drying off his skin, and stepping into the warm pyjamas, stuffing his feet into some warm socks as he did so. He vigorously towel-dried his hair and made a move to the bathroom door but stopped halfway.

If Harry want to see him, he'd have to find him.

He tip-toed down the now dark staircase. The lower region of the house was drenched in the black night, water hammering down against the windowpanes. The only reprise from such gloomy weather was the roaring red fire in the grate, crackling away at a curling copy of the Prophet, and charred logs. At the back of his mind he knew he should have been worried about Severus not being present, but he was too engrossed in the warmth the fire let off, that he found he couldn't care less. He sat himself on the plush black sofa in front of the fire, and curled his legs up underneath him, resting his head on the arm of the chair as he did so. He sighed inwardly, not knowing what to do.

He must have dozed off at one point, because when he opened his eyes, the fire had died down slightly, and there was a warm weight nestled alongside him, a large blanket draped over both their forms. Straining his eyes through the dull glow of the fire, he can make out Harry's curled up figure, neutral and soft in sleep. Draco felt his own features soften.

He couldn't be mad at Harry for something that they were both at fault for -not as much as the Walrus of an Uncle -but still, they had said things they hadn't meant. At least, he hoped Harry hadn't meant them. As he looked over at the features glowing in the fire-light he felt a knot subside in his gut. He couldn't leave Harry.

He adjusted himself beneath the blanket and resumed his position, his eyes drooping to sleep.

~0~

Petunia rubbed at her eyes as Vernon grumbled away upstairs, packing his things. She needed to be strong, to make him leave. A knock resounded from her front door. She frowned. She was not expecting anyone, especially not at this hour.

She made her way to the front door and opened it, unprepared for what was waiting for her in the dark. "You?" she exclaimed in a shrill voice as Severus Snape loomed over her on her own doorstep.

He inclined his head, "Hello Petunia"

She bristled at his voice, "what do you want? Lily's gone, I want nothing more to do with you"

Severus hardened his eyes and glowered down at her, "I know she's gone, Petunia! I held her in my arms!" he breathed harshly through his nose, "look, we'e both hurt over what happened with Lily, but right now I need to ask you a favour"

"Why should I do anything for you?" she hissed sharply.

"Because this isn't just about us anymore, this is about Harry"

Her shrewd eyes narrowed into tiny slits, "what about him?" she sniffed.

"I know"

Her posture grew rigid, "know what?"

"I know that he is my son"

To his surprise, her head lowered to avoid his gaze, "how did you find out?"

"Memories" She eyed his carefully, neither really knowing how to continue into such dangerous territory. Thankfully, Severus decided to continue, "what your husband has done to my son is intolerable, Petunia, but unfortunately, Harry needs to stay here"

Petunia nodded, "I didn't expect him to stay anywhere else. It's Vernon that is leaving, not him"

"I know that. However, there is a situation. Concerning the Dark Lord's right hand man. Lucius Malfoy"

"Hm" was all Petunia could say, the referrance to the Dark Lord already chilling her blood. "What of him?"

"He intend to finish what Voldemort could not finish"

Petunia shivered, leaning uncharacteristically against the hideous floral wallpapered hallway. She folded her arms over her chest and gnawed her lower lip. "Does he know any of this? Harry, I mean"

Severus shook his head, "thanks to Vernon drilling his obscene bullshit into his head, no -he doesn't"

Petunia sighed inwardly, "all Lily managed to get through to me was that there was something in the blood that was suppressing his ability for magic to come through. Maybe it was because you were a half-blooded thing or whatever you call them, and she was a 'muggle' as you lot say"

Seevrus hummed, "it would not be illogical for Harry to have become a squib if anything, but even then, he would have gotten a letter from Hogwarts. He has magic in his blood stream, live magic that has been wrestled down into submission -it just doesn't add up"

"Would your head office people know anything? The Minister?"

Severus stared down at the woman who had called his beloved a 'freak'. Could the Minister know about any of this? Fudge was an idiot at the best of times and was known to make double his salary in bribes. And if Fudge knew something about this then that would mean that Dumbledore had known as well. He felt his chest constrict. "Perhaps" he breathed in the cool air. "I shall look into it further, but for now I need you to do something else for me?"

"Fine" Petunia sighed, feeling tears brim her eyes. It was all too much. She had prayed that one day Harry's magic would come through but for his magic to not even glint in the night? There was definitely something wrong. She wiped at her eyes and frowned at Severus as he reachede into his long black coat, "What are you do-?"

"Obliviate"

A/N: Slightly shorted than the other chapters, I know, but hopefully you like the twist. Just to bring you uo to speed;

1. Harry is a muggle who has Lily and Severus as his parents. He does not know this, nor does he know anything about the magical world. His magic is suppressed both mentally and by a secret that will appear later in the story.

2. Lucius, though barely present in this story, is a high-class nut-job. He may be humorous at the moment, but he will gradually grow even darker as the story progresses.

3. Narcissa is a go-between for Severus to gain information on Lucius for him, or information about Draco for herself.

4. Draco is now tehnically a muggle. This may/may not be altered later in the story. You'll have to wait.

5. Anita has a secret of her own ;)