Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. Only the general plot/setting is my own. All characters and other references to 'Harry Potter' are solely the property of J.K. Rowling.

Special thanks to TheNightmareBeforeDawn for being my much-loved Beta!

The Boy Who Loved

By

Belle. A. Lestrange

Chapter Thirty-Six:

A Head Full of Glass

Two pairs of wide silvery eyes watched as Severus and Sirius gripped the shivering body of Harry tightly by the arms and escorted him into the basement. With a flick of his wand, Severus made the potions supplies pack themselves away and tuck themselves out of sight. Remus hurried ahead of them to grab an ominous looking chair from a dark alcove that Draco had, up until that point, ignored. It looked terrifying; with thick leather straps that seemed to shimmer with strange magic. When Harry saw that, he stilled, his muscles tensing to concrete as Severus and Sirius urged him forward to sit in the chair. "No! I won't sit on it! What's it for?!" he snarled out of sheer fear as he dug his heels into the flag-stoned floor.

Remus came around to Harry and squeezed his shoulder, "This is my chair, Harry. Don't worry; we don't need to use the straps unless you lose control."

"Control?" Harry yelped his eyes so wide with fear that Severus could see the bright whites gleaming in the low light, "Control of what?!"

Remus squeezed his shoulder once again with a little more urgency, "Harry, trust me. Just relax a little bit. This will go a lot easier for you if you relax. We're only trying to find out what's wrong with you and why you're hearing these things." He locked eyes with the struggling teen, and there was no way of knowing how he did it, but something in those gleaming amber eyes pacified Harry just enough for Sirius and Severus to get him into the chair without much of a struggle.

Perhaps it was the raw honesty that seemed to roll off of the man.

Harry sat rigidly in the chair, his wild eyes darting from each of the faces looming over him. He was sweating profusely and twitching a little as he clenched his fingers around the arm of the chair. He was visibly shaking and all Draco wanted to do was hurry over and hug Harry against his chest. He stood stiffly on the opposite side of the room, watching with clenched, sweaty fists as his eyes darted from each of the men before him, and then over at his mother -his beautiful mother -with her pale hands shaking as they cupped around her mouth. He wanted to talk to her, say anything -but what could he say in this situation? Instead, he turned to look back at Harry.

"Severus?" All heads, including Draco's, turned towards his mother as her body shook slightly, "Severus, don't do this. It won't do anyone any good."

Severus kept his face blank before giving Sirius a nod, "We may need the straps just for a little while. Just in case," he added in a monotone reassurance with a soft squeeze to Harry's tense, shaking shoulder. With stiff hands that wavered slightly, and a sorrowful expression on his face, Sirius slowly drew each of the straps through their gleaming buckles and fastened them. Harry gave him a look of such pure fear that Draco felt his chest ache with pain.

An oppressive silence settled inside the room and pressed heavily against their eardrums.

Harry looked like a rabbit about to be devoured by a wolf as Severus strode several paces across the room and then pivoted in the spot, his tight black tunic flaring lightly at the bottom. He looked at Harry and wished more than anything that he could take his son in his arms and hug his ailments away. It would not be wise, but he wouldn't wish the haunts of the teenagers mind being ripped open by an almost-stranger on anyone. "Are you ready, Harry?" he asked, a note of concern shimmering through.

Despite the sweat pouring out of him and the smell of fear fumigating the room enough to make Remus' nose flare, he licked his parched lips as he looked up at Severus, and nodded. "Yes, I'm ready," he murmured.

Severus pointed his wand at Harry. "LEGILIMENS!"

"Stupid little freak! You wonder why you don't have a mummy and daddy. Because you're a freak!" the words echoed through the blackness that swirled before Severus' eyes as he was dropped into the very ugly mess that was a muggle school playground where a tiny version of his son was knocked over to the ground and having his head lull over and over onto the concrete as a meaty fist pummelled his small skull. "Freak! Daddy's right! You're such a little freak! Freak! FREAK!" Young Harry blinked up at the pearly grey sky and whimpered as blood dripped heavily from his nose.

Suddenly there was a bright red t-shirt clinging to the skeletal frame of Harry as he rested in the cupboard under, what appeared to be stairs, and rocked back and forth, both of his eyes turning purple with the black eyes that had apparently been dealt him whilst the angry voice of Petunia and Vernon resounded in muffled bursts. Clamping his thin hands over his ears, tears gleaming in his eyes as Petunia's sharp voice rang out, "HE'S ONLY A BOY VERNON! YOU DON'T TREAT DUDLEY LIKE THAT SO WHY IS MY NEPHEW SO DIFFERENT!" There was no response from Vernon. Merely a sharp meaty slap along with a shrill scream from Petunia.

A tug of scenery left Severus standing in a neatly groomed back garden. He saw a still black-eyed Harry in the clothes he'd worn from -assumed -the previous day, and looked anything but fit and healthy. He was plucking at dry blades of grass and watching them drift away in the sticky summer breeze. Severus could tell that it was a hot day, but Harry had no sun-cream on. He blinked against the searing sun that pierced through his glasses. Was he getting heat stroke? Something in the grass moved. Three grass snakes writhed closer and closer. The echo of numerous hisses burned through the air. Harry parted his lips and slipped into parseltongue so easily it was like he'd known it all his life. Severus felt his breath hitch just as Petunia slammed the French-doors open. Upon hearing the hissing she dragged Harry up by the scruff of his neck, her own black eye gleaming in the hot sun, and slapped him repeatedly on the bottom, "ONLY NAUGHTY LITTLE BOYS TALK TO SNAKES! ONLY BOYS WHO DON'T LIVE IN A NICE HOME TALK TO SNAKES! WHEN THEY TALK TO SNAKES THEIR FAMILIES GET RID OF THEM!"

A change of scenery brought Severus to see a slightly older Harry sitting in almost the exact spot. A snake happened to lazily slither buy only to be ignored when it hissed up at Harry. He merely blinked, clenched his jaw and fists, and continued to look back at end of the garden.

Severus hurried through another memory in a sickened daze of images including one of Vernon gripping Harry's hair when he was eleven -with no Hogwarts letter in sight -and forcing his head down into his meaty lap over and over against until the young boy was gagging to the point of simply blacking out in a mangled heap on the thin carpeted floor.

Then all of a sudden he was standing in the middle of a school disco, a mirror ball making glittering silver dots spiral around the walls. It must have been the final year of secondary school, he presumed. He felt his stomach lurch as Harry helped to carry some more refreshments inside from the back of the hall. Unlike the other teenagers he was not dressed in a cheap suit but simply tattered old jeans and a baggy hoodie. He kept his head down as though he wanted to remain invisible. The music seemed like the only sound there until a sharp yelp drew everyone to a stand-still as Harry was tossed to the middle of the dance-floor with his jeans around his ankles, bruises swollen and glaring in the multi-coloured lights, and someone choking him with the chords of his hoodie. Severus felt bile rise up in his throat as he it took three teachers and some screaming girls to get the boys away from Harry. Unfortunately it simply hadn't been enough; Harry had been on his back and had screamed, "GET OFF OF ME!" A flash of blue light had several of the bulking boys skidding backwards along the linoleum floors, into the teachers trying to pry them away from Harry. However, instead of just having them call the ambulance, Harry got up and staggered away, his hands rubbing at his throat and his eyes wide and gleaming with angry tears as he drank in what had just happened. Everyone was staring at him, the crisp whispers of his name floated to his ears. Within seconds he had bolted as smirks lit up on most of the thugs' faces, along with cries of, "FREAK!" as he fled the school.

Severus frowned as he watched the back door swing shut with a heavy slam. Harry had shown that he could do magic? Then how could he have re-suppressed it so well? How could he have blocked it all away?

And then he saw it.

A pair of blood red eyes burning through the gloom that was swirling around Harry's mind. A sharp, echoing hiss that ripped through the air and chilled his blood. "Harryyyy ..." it rasped, feeling like sandpaper running down a chalkboard.

And then he felt another tug on his body.

The scene before him blurred to one of a twelve-year-old Harry lying face down on his bed, his arms bound in front of him on his headboard and his legs strapped down with belts and a scarf tied brutally around his jaw. The rest of the house appeared silent and deserted. His pale back was raised with shining red welts and a spot of blood had dried underneath his spread legs on the mattress. Apparently he had simply been left there as Vernon was nowhere in sight. Severus knelt down beside the younger version of his son and felt anger and bile simmering within him, about to blow his top. He wanted to reach out, but he pulled back, not wanting to shatter the memory. "My poor baby boy. How could no one know?" he breathed softly, tears brimming in his dark eyes.

Harry blinked rapidly as tears dribbled through his lashes, his eyes flashing between green and red, his skin sweaty and grey and his breathing rough hisses through his teeth. "Dirty boy," he seemed to hiss in a detached voice, "Dirty filthy muggle boy. Very dirty. You deserve pain and punishment. You're weak! You're pathetic! No one loves you, not even your stupid mudblood MOTHER!"

Severus lurched back feeling sick and ashamed. Lily would be so ashamed of him for letting this happen for so long.

It jerked as though he was speeding along a hallway, with snapshots of Harry's mood growing darker and gloomier, isolation being his top priority and his playlist of music growing louder and more aggressive with the lyrics. Books growing thicker and straying from general fiction to thrillers and crime drama's as well as his jogs away from home lengthening until he was close to running at least six to seven miles away from home before finally relenting and going back. There was an awkward kiss and unwarranted grope with some dark haired boss-figure where Harry had worked -Tesco's wasn't it? -and then he jammed to a sharp stop.

The memory of bright sunlight and dried grass shooting up into the sky and soft musical laughter rising up and drowning out the birdsong and the soft hush of a nearby brook, Harry's face bright and speckled with a few light freckles over his nose, and Draco in muggle clothes leaning on a crooked arm and gazing at Harry as he laughed, adoration pooling from his silvery eyes. It was like time had stopped, as the happiness swelled within the sunlight, pouring out and tinting all the previous snapshots of horror, with hope.

With a sudden tug of his abdomen, he found himself blinking and stumbling a step forward as he tried to steady himself in the basement of Grimmauld place. He frowned, wondering how he had gotten back so suddenly, only to have his bubble of confusion shattered by Harry's screams of pain as he writhed and rutted against the leather bindings.

His wand cluttered to the floor, the twang ringing out through the air.

It was all too much for him.

Despite the thrashing of the arms and the sheer strain of the red, sweating muscles against the leather bindings, Severus snapped the buckles open and let the young boy lurch away from the wood as though it were burning. He stumbled over the flagstones and Severus caught him against his body, his strong, pale hands grasping the damp fabric of the boy's shirt, before the weight of him made them both sink down onto the floor. Draco watched with a sickly wet fear swirling around in his stomach as he watched Harry's greyish sweaty hands clinging to the black of Severus' shirt with such strength that thin blue veins pressed up against his skin.

He was shaking so badly that Draco wasn't sure what was going to happen.

"Severus?" all heads turned to Narcissa's whisper. "Take him into the lounge. Lupin can brew us all some tea and someone will need to go and fetch Molly to watch over him."

"No," Severus sighed darkly, his long fingers massaging Harry's thick black hair in a soothing manner, "We don't need Molly smothering him with concern right now. Remus and Sirius can watch over him."

"You're not going to stay?" Sirius asked in a soft voice, concern scribbled over his face, "Harry needs you right now, Severus. Stay with him." A comforting hand on Severus' shoulder seemed to settle a dilemma in the potion masters mind. With a sigh, he nodded his head. "Good. Now Remus can make some tea and something to eat, I will take Harry into the lounge and Draco can help me watch over him. You need some rest, Severus. This boy needs you right now, but you can't help him in the state you're in."

Severus hugged Harry's limp body tighter and sighed. When he looked down he saw that the young boy was unconscious from the sheer effort of having someone rooting around within his head. He nodded, "Alright, but I won't be asleep for long. I want someone to wake me up within two hours at most, understand?"

"I'll wake you up, Uncle Sev," Draco promised his voice tight and strained to his own ears. He felt stiff and his muscles ached for some reason. He couldn't take his eyes from Harry's grey tinted face. Severus looked long and hard at his son lying limp in his arms, before hugging him again and then gesturing for Sirius to help get Harry off of the floor. It was a bit of a struggle, but along with a levitation charm from his wand, Sirius was able to gather the young boy into his arms. Severus watched with a heavy heart as Sirius carefully took Harry up the few steps and into the kitchen, Draco following close behind them.

Narcissa came over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Severus, go and get some sleep. I'll stay with the boys for a little while longer."

With a heavy nod, Severus dropped his gaze and then sighed heavily. "Your stomach is blue, Narcissa. You're pregnant," he stated dryly.

Narcissa nodded, "I thought as much. How long before I can take the potion to be rid of it?" she breathed softly, her voice catching in her throat.

"You have exactly one week. Any longer than that and you will be causing yourself more pain as the child develops," he looked up at her, both their eyes red and scratchy from lack of sleep and too many tears, "Are you sure you don't want to keep it Narcissa?" he asked softly, despite knowing the answer.

The blonde woman inclined her head, "There's no doubt in my mind, Severus. That man who assaulted me is not my husband; this child was created under the pretence of dominance and a wounded ego that needed rubbing. I refuse to bring a child into this world if he is ruling like the New Lord and this child will not be used as a weapon against me," she drew in a deep breath and blinked away a few stray tears, "I already have one child in this world who I can't see or love or protect as much as I want, Severus. I refuse to bring another one into it."

Severus noted the deep anguish swirling instead Narcissa's pearly blue eyes. He nodded, "Very well." He turned to one of the counters across the room and fetched a small colourless phial and handed it to her, "Seven days. That's how long you can wait, Cissy." He pressed it into her palm.

"Thank you, Severus," she murmured softly squeezing his fingers softly, before pocketing the phial.

Severus nodded and together they walked out of the basement; she to the lounge where her son now was, and he upstairs to his bedroom to get his two hours sleep.

~0~

Harry looked like a sweaty pale mess as he lay on the embroidered pillows of the chaise he was lying on. A throw blanket had been draped over him and tucked around him. Sirius had pulled up a chair beside the end of the chaise where Harry's head was. He stroked the sweaty strands of Harry's hair out of his eyes. Draco was sitting beside him, a hand resting softly on Harry's shoulder. Silence hung around them until Sirius cleared his throat, "He was just a little baby when his mother died," he spoke softly, quietly, not wanting to shatter the dark calm that had settled over them. Draco made a non-committal noise in the back of his throat. "Everyone thinks I was the first one there, but I wasn't," he looked up, "Severus was. He was there within moments of it happening, the atmosphere only just turning cold. He walked up those stairs but he didn't care about James. That man had changed from when he was seventeen. He'd changed for her, but then as soon as they were married, he changed back. Worse, if possible."

Draco watched as the older man's eyes glimmered with tears. He licked his lips, stroking a thumb in circles on Harry's shoulder, "W-what did he do?"

"He went straight to the nursery. There was no doubt in his mind where she would be. When he walked in, it was like he was almost knocked over with the sheer agony that pierced through his heart," he mumbled drawing in a deep breath. "He was there for about an hour before I got there, crying the entire time."

"Severus cried?" Draco asked in a soft, amazed tone as he stared down at Harry's sleeping features. He had never seen his godfather cry.

Sirius nodded, "The love of his life had been murdered in cold blood and left to rot in a house that, not two hours later, was almost destroyed. He held her for so long, ignoring Harry crying."

"What did he do then?" Draco breathed.

"Well it was only when I got there that I managed to peel him away from her body. I told him to take care of the baby and I made sure that Lily was settled in the bedroom. It was strange, seeing her so cold and still and lifeless. I laid her out on the bed, leaving James where he was. He didn't deserve to lie next to her. When I eventually came back into the nursery, Severus had taken Harry out of his cot and swaddled him up, and had managed to get him to stop crying." He gave a fleeting smile, "It was sweet actually, seeing him in the nursery she'd painted, and rocking Harry in his arms. He'd only gotten to hold him a few times before then, but Harry didn't really take to James. He seemed to feel a bad vibe from him."

Draco gave a dry huff of a laugh, "He seemed to know what was good for him."

"Despite what anyone may think, he is a smart lad. He just hasn't found his niche in the world."

"I know how he feels," Draco muttered dryly.

Sirius breathed softly as he drew the throw blanket up higher around Harry's shoulder. "I'm not going to pretend to know what Harry is going through. I don't. But I want you both to know that you will always have a home here, a safe place."

"Thanks," Draco breathed softly, not taking his eyes off Harry. "I'm scared for him, Sirius. Whatever Severus saw, it was bad. It was like he'd been in a hall of mirrors and just smashed his way out of it, letting everything inside there crumble around him."

Sirius eyed the young blonde man for a few minutes before breathing out softly, "Draco, there's something that I think you need to know. About what your father is up to." Draco frowned in confusion as he eyed the older man.

He listened as he was told of what his father had planned and the use of the Horcruxes.

He listened as he was told that there were muggles who had been kidnapped by his father and most likely imprisoned in the manor.

He listened as he was told of Vernon Dursley's murder.

He listened as he was instructed about the precautions that they needed to take if it was confirmed if Harry was, in fact, a Horcrux.

A cold sweat began to bead on his forehead as his grey eyes dropped to Harry's pale form. Did he know? Why was all this only happening now? Was all the magical energy causing these problems for him? His felt his palms begin to sweat. Sirius seemed to notice his discomfort, "I'm sorry. I wasn't sure if I should tell you. This doesn't change who he is, Draco. It just means he needs a lot of help in dealing with this and hopefully -getting rid of it."

Draco nodded, "No, I know that. I'm not going to give up on him Sirius." He turned his determined gaze to the older man, "Do you have any idea of where the other one is? The one my father's looking for?" he asked, a tremor in his voice.

Sirius hummed softly, "Severus has a few thoughts and Remus is putting his mind to the matter. We have a few ideas but nothing concrete yet. We thought we were done with this, after all." He gave a dry, humourless laugh, "Although I can honestly say that it'll be a lot easier than last time."

"Which ones have you destroyed so far?" Draco asked softly, stroking Harry's clammy neck as he shifted weakly under the blanket.

"There was the stone in your first year, that a teacher tried to steal, a diary of the Dark Lord that we destroyed some years ago when Weasley's dense daughter decided to report it in at the last minute," Sirius shook his head with disgust, "There was his grandfather's heirloom ring, Hufflepuff's cup, Ravenclaw's diadem -that was a bloody tricky one to find I can tell you, and that great bloody snake of his. It was only Remus who had the idea the other one might have been in our old sneak away room. There are now only two left. Slytherin's locket ..." he turned his gaze to the young man lying prone on the chaise, "And Harry."

Draco swallowed past the lump in this throat, "He shouldn't stay here," he found himself saying.

To his surprise, he found the older man agreeing with him. "I know," he murmured before clapping a hand on Draco's shoulder and leaning close, "But try telling that to Severus."

Draco bowed his head a little, "I just want to make sure he's safe."

Sirius watched the blonde boy, "We all do, Draco. I hope we can live up to that promise."

Forty minutes later, after a few cups of tea and light conversation with Remus and Sirius, Draco found himself alone with Harry. The sky was still dark outside and after getting a little uncomfortable; Draco shifted two of the chairs to align beside the chaise and took Harry's clammy hand in his own, their entwined fingers resting in his lap. He tilted his head to the side to watch Harry as he slept. It was almost calming to be able to hold Harry's hand. He pressed the clammy fingers against his warm dry lips and watched as the frown smoothed itself off of his grey tinted features. "I'm going to keep you safe, Harry. I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe." He could feel his muscles trembling as he kept the fingers pressed to his mouth.

Harry's long black eyelashes fluttered softly in his sleep.

Draco drew in a deep breath and relaxed back against the plush cushion. It was true that the Horcrux needed to be found but all of the magical energy that was surrounding them was making Harry's condition worse. He had survived so many years without it being much of a problem already, so why should it change now? If he could just get Harry away, then he would be safe. But where? Where could they go where no one would find them and there was limited magical essence for miles around?

They just needed to get away for a little while, away from the magic and away from everything and just focus on making Harry better again and to find a way to get that bastard out of his mind forever.

He sighed heavily and ran his free hand down his face before nudging Harry's hand in his lap, "What are we going to do with you, Harry?" he mused before letting his head lull against the back of his chair and stare off into the distance.

The night wore on and soon the pearly grey colours of dawn lightened the sky through the gap in the curtains.

The door creaked open and Remus' red-rimmed eyes peeped into the lounge. He had a tray of hot tea and some dry toast with a cold plate of butter -just in case -in his hands. He cleared his throat and knocked on the door, trying to rouse the two boys from their sleep, to no avail. With a soft yawn, he entered the room and cast a mild stasis spell on the food to keep the temperature the same until the boys' woke up and touched the tray. Once done, he turned on his heel and eased the door back into its frame behind him. Those two needed their sleep after all. It had been a never-ending night for the majority of them.

Normal life continued beyond the lounge door, the two boys seemed to be living in their own personal bubble, isolated from time.

It was only nine o'clock when they both eased themselves out of their sleeping state. Draco woke up only by the slight nudging motions to his elbow. He must have slept deeper than he thought, because when his eyes finally focused to his surroundings, he noticed a small coffee table had been dragged over towards them with tea and toast and a little tray of butter under what he could only assume was a stasis spell. His mouth twitched into a smile. He hadn't been able to dream up a solution, despite his desperate attempts. "How did you sleep?" he asked Harry, feeling how bone dry his throat was and praying the warm tea would soothe it.

He watched Harry shake his head, "Like shit." Dull green eyes fluttered over the tapestry laden walls. "I want to get out of here," he rasped, his lips resting on the brim of his tea cup.

Draco nodded, "I know how you feel."

Harry scoffed dryly as he sipped his tea, "No you don't. You grew up here. You don't get it. I need to get out and away from all of this. I can't be here, Draco."

Draco rolled his eyes and made his voice firmer, "Believe me, Harry, I don't want to be here anymore than you do. But right now you need Severus' help and we're going to damn well get it before we do anything rash, do you understand me?" He hadn't meant to sound so firm on the matter, but he had slept too heavy and his mind was censoring his thoughts as well as it could have been. He sounded like his old self, he mused. He turned to Harry and said a little softer, "Sorry, but I meant what I said. We need as much information about dealing with this as possible. I want to help, Harry, but even I have my limits. Severus knows a lot more than I do."

Harry watched the blonde boy before him with a hard gaze. Eventually, he nodded before gnawing a chunk out of a piece of toast, "Fine, we can get the information but I can't stay here too much longer, Draco." He let out a shuddering breath, "I'm scared."

Draco reached over and squeezed the wrist of the younger boy's hand. "I understand, Harry. I'm scared too." He drew Harry's limp hand from around his cup, and pressed his warmed lips to Harry's palm and watched as a sleepy smile graced Harry's soft lips. "You're not going anywhere, Scarhead. And if you do, I'm coming with you, got it?"

Harry grinned a little wider and nodded, "Deal."

Within the hour they had gained enough energy and to retreat from the room and head into the kitchen to see what the newspaper had to offer and for something called a 'Pepper-Up Potion' for Harry, despite him not knowing what on earth it was. It tasted like peppery pasta if nothing else, and made his sneeze at the tingling sensation in his nose before he handed the phial back and suddenly felt well-rested and awake.

There was a lot of noise and bustling around from the front hall as Ron, Hermione and Ginny got all of their bags down to return back to Hogwarts. Molly's voice rang out up the stairs demanding that the rest of her boys' hurry up and get everything out of the rooms before Remus chased them out. It was a weak threat, that only made the twins laugh from three floors up, but Remus had slept even less than Severus and was not in the mood to deal with more crowds. He had had a personality swap and was suddenly snapping at everyone. Sirius seemed to be taking it all in his stride, absurdly enough. Harry could hardly believe this was the same man, who not twelve hours ago, was hurrying around and making tea and sandwiches for late evening snacks.

Another loud bang resounded from the hallway and Remus' strained composure snapped, "MERLIN'S BEARD MOLLY GET YOUR BRATS TO SHUT UP!" he hollered at the top of his lungs, his face flashing an ugly shade of red and veins throbbing in his neck.

The whole house fell silent.

Wide eyes stared down at the end of the table where Remus' forehead dropped into his folded arms, narrowly missing his steaming goblet. He groaned and dragged his hands roughly through his hair. Sirius leaned over in his chair, so close that he was almost resting his head on Remus' shoulders, and murmured, "Come on, Remy, don't snap. Take your potion, you'll feel better."

"Bite me!" Remus snapped his voice muffled in his sleeves.

Sirius spared a glance with Severus and Harry had to suppress a smile as both men rolled their eyes. All of a sudden it looked as though two children were trying to cure 'daddy' of a hangover. It was almost surreal. Remus' hand reached out and grabbed at the goblet, before downing the contents and swallowed stiffly, with an exaggerated, "BLEURGH!" that seemed to clog his throat. Harry caught Draco's gaze over the table and frowned.

Sirius caught the surprised look, and cleared his throat, "Don't mind, Remus, Harry. He's a little bit angsty. It's sort of his ... Time of the Month."

A punch in the shoulder and a bedraggled glare from Remus made Harry's eyes widen even more in surprise, "I told you, NO MORE PERIOD JOKES!" He turned around and threw his shattered look at Harry from beneath his ruffled fringe, "Should have told you this a lot sooner, Harry. I'm what muggles commonly refer to as a werewolf. That potion I just took; that controls my more dire urges and renders me as normal as a large dog when I change. Thank Severus for that." With that, he dropped his head back into his arms and continued to whimper weakly as he clawed at his hair.

Harry turned wide eyes to Draco and Severus across the table but at their gentle nods, he swallowed his thoughts on the matter and turned his attention down to his slightly larger breakfast.

Order restored outside once again as the last remains of luggage was brought down and the small crowd came shuffled around the edge of the kitchen table so they could stand in front of the fireplace. It was after a few flashes of green that Harry felt a tap on his shoulder and all of a sudden his iPod was hovering beneath his gaze. He looked up to see Hermione with a weak smile on her lips, "I'm sorry for what I said. It was uncalled for. I fixed your iPod so it can play in the magical world as well as the muggle one." He blinked up at her, feeling stunned. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he felt Draco's eyes boring into the back of his head. "Truce?" she asked softly.

He could only nod as she placed his iPod on the table top and walked over the fireplace, ducked inside it with a pinch of floo powder in her hand and said, "GRYFFINDOR COMMON ROOM, HOGWARTS!"

In a flash of green she was gone.

After breakfast and after a good several long hard hours of comforting Harry, in which Draco had informed him everything that Sirius had done the previous evening, and watching the younger boy go through the slow process of acceptance, both were in Harry's cool bedroom lying on his head, each with an ear-bud in their ears and listening to 'muggle music' as Draco dubbed it. He had taken the iPod from Harry's limp hand as he stared up blankly at the canopy over their heads and scrolled through a few songs until he found a slow song. The twang of the guitar was oddly soothing as a song called 'Chasing Cars' filled their ears.

The lyrics were good, if a little sombre in a way, but it seemed to match the mood perfectly.

He turned his attention to see Harry's face silhouetted against the silvery night light poured in from the window that stared out down at the street. He had spent a good half an hour crying again, they had missed dinner, in which Sirius had come up to see them. After informing him that he had divulged the information to Harry -only as far as the situation with the Horcruxes -Sirius had settled himself behind the muted teen and is soothing tone had seemed to calm the brunette a lot more than before. He explained it as well as he could and told Harry that with some sleep, some lessons and some concentration, he could successfully block out the voices like he'd done when he was younger.

He didn't tell him what Severus had confessed he'd seen. He returned back downstairs once Harry was calmer.

A few ham sandwiches later had led them to now, where they were slumped down on the piled pillows of the bed. Draco had lain there for a little while, his arm over Harry's waist, stroking the brunettes limp hand as the brunette teen stared off into the distance. That's when his gaze had fallen on the iPod on the bedside table. It had taken him a little while to get the hang of it, before slipping one of the buds into Harry's ear at an awkward angle.

As he lay there, Harry cuddled up into his chest; he breathed in the scent of the younger man and pressed a few tender kisses to his temple and ear and jaw line.

He knew Harry was even more scared than before. He didn't blame him. He may not understand what he was going through, but he would damn well be there for the younger man through whatever he would face.

Somewhere in the black lonely night, a werewolf howled a long, mournful note up at the moon.

A/N: Please review if you liked this chapter! The next chapter will have a wee bit of a time jump. Also, I apologize for anyone who was offended my Narcissa's decision against having the child, but surely her reasoning is sound.