Chapter 2
. . .
Draco knew he had no right to ask Harry for help; he had been reminded several times what side he was supposed to be on, and it was always against him. Now he stood in front of this man, who was looking at a loss for words but nonetheless, moved out of the way quickly to let Draco inside, and then closed and locked the door behind the blonde.
Harry's green eyes cast Draco up and down before he cleared his throat to collect himself, seemingly unsure where to start. There was something else behind his eyes though, maybe suspicion? Either way that was fine since Draco didn't know if he could completely trust Harry either.
"Right, so… we should probably get you injuries taken cared of before anything else. Umm… follow me," Harry instructed as he led Draco through he small flat and into the bathroom where he motioned for Draco to take off his shirt.
At first the other man was taken back but realized what was happening and gingerly took off his shirt. He looked away; he didn't need to see the disgust at Draco's many scars that littered his body from curses, beatings, and punishments. He knew what was there.
He watched apprehensively as Harry started to take care of his immediate, bleeding wounds on his back and chest before he looked eye level at Draco and took out his wand. Instinctively, Draco took a frightened step back, flinching but not going for his wand.
The reaction made Harry stare at him with a sort of pity in his eyes. "I-It's all right, Malfoy. I'm… I'm just going to fix your broken nose, yeah?" He searched his grey, stormy eyes and saw the fear slowly disappear from them and he raised his wand once again, remembering the incantation Luna had used on him when this very man had broken his nose only a few years ago. "Episkey…"
Draco groaned as the bones in his nose quickly healed themselves, snapping back into place again. Draco coughed a little bit and the small amount of coughing snowballed into a long coughing fit. He soon found himself doubling over now, making sure to get himself near the sink as small flecks of blood stained the porcelain as well as Draco's alabaster chin.
Harry's body tensed up. "We… we need to get you to St. Mungos."
"N-No," Draco shook his head, coughing a little bit more before letting out a small wheeze. "No h-hospital…"
Harry didn't need to ask why not, and the answer seemed to hang in the air heavy between them; the undeniable reality that many people still saw the Malfoy name as a blight on their worlds, a threat, something disgusting and unacceptable. There was the very real possibility that if Harry did take him to St. Mungos, they either would choose not to help heal Draco, or Death Eaters still loyal to Voldemort would kill him for being a traitor.
"Right," Harry sighed, thinking. Then they both heard a noise from upstairs. Draco tensed again, ready to run out of the flat but Harry put out his arm, signaling for him to stop. "Wait, it's all right. I know who that is. Just… stay right here, okay? I'll be right back."
"I-I should go," Draco stammered, feeling flight taking over fight, afraid that this thing had been a trick and coming here was a huge mistake. Maybe Harry had lied before and he still was working as an Auror.
Harry seemed to be able to read his mind because he turned his entire body to face Draco and seeing the terror in the man's eyes made his own soften.
"I promise you're safe here, Draco. I just want to help you, I swear. Please… just stay right here, yeah? I'll be right back," he magicked a glass of water into his hand before he handed it to Draco and disappeared out of the room.
Draco took a sip of water and suddenly realized how thirsty he actually was. He couldn't remember the last time he even had a glass of cold water. He started to foolishly drink it all down quickly in one go, which proved to be a mistake because he started coughing and wheezing, spitting the water into the sink.
He gripped the sides of the sink with his fingers tightly as he coughed, his heart hammering in his chest at the amount of crimson that came up and soon his lungs weren't working anymore. He sunk to his knees, tears in his eyes as he gasped for air.
"Draco!"
He saw Harry on the tiled floor in front of him through his tears but the corners of his eyes were becoming dark with spots and he could feel himself quickly starting to lose consciousness.
"Calm down, Harry," a female voice echoed in Draco's head. "It's going to be all right. Draco… Draco, can you hear me?"
The blonde was having difficulty pinpointing who the voice belonged to but it sounded soothing so he nodded.
"Okay, we need you to lay down, okay? Harry, please grab a towel and lay it behind him," she instructed. Once he had done so, Draco laid down on his back on top of it, and suddenly, the world went away and everything went black.
….. … …..
When Draco woke up, he coughed a little but it quickly subsided and he realized that he could breathe better than before. He jumped now, looking around as he attempted to remember where he was.
He was at Harry's flat near Hogsmeade.
He took a deep breath, savoring the amount of oxygen pumping through his lungs again. He looked outside and saw the sun just coming up. He had been asleep for a while.
"Oh good, you're awake. Mind if I ask you a few questions, Malfoy?" Harry's voice was kind, but serious.
Draco shook his head. If it meant that he had a safe place to stay away from Death Eaters, then he felt like he would answer anything Harry asked him. He ran his hands through his hair before cringing; he never truly cared about how his hair looked but feeling the dirt and oil in it was enough to put him off.
"You can use my shower after you answer some things for me first, okay?" Draco nodded, not trusting his voice just yet. "Good. So… Hermione told me your lungs were punctured. Do you have any idea what happened?"
Draco tried to think back to the day when it had happened, and he remembered the pain so violently, that it almost made him want to cough again. It wasn't that he hadn't felt the sharp, cold pain from it, but he had been focused more on hiding and getting away from enemies that he didn't let himself think about it.
"It was about… four days ago?" Draco questioned to himself in thought. "I… I was trying to get away from someone and he threw a curse at me, but I rolled out of the way and hit the wall pretty hard. I guess it's been a busy few days, I didn't think much of it."
He despised himself for being so talkative.
You can't trust him. He could still be an Auror, no matter what he says.
"Sounds like you've been keeping busy. What have you been doing this whole time, Malfoy? Just… jumping around from place to place?"
Draco sighed, straightening up in bed now so he was in a sitting position. He rubbed his eyes but was quiet now, afraid to rat himself out to him. He looked at Harry unsurely before he looked down at his slender hands.
Merlin, when was the last time he even ate anything?
Harry saw him shutting down and he sighed softly but turned to him, deciding to try a different question. "Do… do you still have it?"
Draco looked at him and searched Harry's eyes before he pushed his sleeve up that covered the entangled snake on his forearm. "Still there."
Harry looked down at it, quiet for a long time before he stood up and suddenly looked conflicted. His calm demeanor changed and there was an almost angry panic on his face. Draco blinked, his emotions soon reflecting Harry's.
"Did you expect it to be gone, Potter? Don't think I haven't tried…"
This rhetorical answer made Harry do a double take now and he stopped pacing before he looked down at him. "What? What do you mean? You've tried to take the Dark Mark off? How?"
Draco sighed heavily before he lifted his forearm up. "I've tried spells to make it disappear but… it came right back again."
"That's completely and utter bollocks, Draco. You really think I'm going to believe you tried spells to get rid of it? You're still so full of it, after all these years."
That made the blonde ex-Slytherin quickly jump to defensive mode, suddenly feeling anger build up inside of him. He stood up, squaring up to Harry now and narrowed his eyes as he set his jaw. "No, Potter. You're the one still full of shit. Why the fuck would I want to keep this forsaken Mark on my skin? Do you think I'm proud of it or something? That would be bollocks, because I'm fucking not!"
"Yeah, sure. Whatever you say. I don't know why I'm still letting you even stay here! You're a bloody Death Eater, just like you're good-for-nothing father! Things didn't end too well for him, and from what I understand, not too well for your mum either…"
Draco clenched his hands into tight fists. "You can talk shit about my father but don't you dare say a fucking word against my mother, Potter."
"Why shouldn't I? Your whole family area bunch of low-life Death Eaters who kissed Voldemort's arse for too long and paid the price for it!"
Before Draco knew what he was even doing, he felt his fist collide with Harry's face and then felt Harry grab his shirt and pin him hard to the wall. He tried to struggle against Harry's hold on him, but his weak body still wasn't strong enough to fight against him and he found himself already exhausted by the struggle.
"Harry! Let go of him right now!"
Her voice made all the fight leave Draco's body when he saw her. Her hair was shorter, but her curls still dangled past her shoulders. She looked a bit smaller and the dark circles under her eyes made his stomach clench with uneasiness, but it was definitely Hermione Granger.
Harry reluctantly did let go of Draco and turned to look at her, breathing raggedly as he tried to calm down, running a hand through his hair. "We can't keep him here, Hermione… he's still the same as he always has been."
He had turned back and looked at Draco, but he was talking to her. For not having said a single word to Harry since Merlin knows when, his words had cut Draco close to his heart. He just shook his head, unable to help but glance over at Hermione.
"You can't just throw him back on the streets, Harry. You know that he's in danger now more than ever. He still needs time to heal, get stronger," she insisted, appearing to ignore Draco's presence as she talked to Harry.
Harry had a hand still against Draco's throat, but he released it reluctantly before he gave a frustrated huff and took a step away from him.
"Fine. Go take a shower, Malfoy. Then… do whatever you want." He walked out of the room, leaving Hermione and Draco alone.
A heavy silence filled the room and Draco swallowed hard, unsure what to say to her. The last time he had seen her, he had been forced to listen to her screams of pain as Bellatrix scarred her arm up with a spiteful name that Draco himself never used again since. It made sick to remember that night.
She took a cautious step towards him. "He just needs time… to take all this in. He'll come around," she said in a soft voice. "I healed your punctured lung for you. You also had a fractured rib, and… I healed that as well."
Draco wet his lips, this whole conversation feeling surreal, having so many questions that he wanted to ask.
"Why? Why are you helping me? I… I haven't done anything to deserve it."
She searched his face. "I was at the trails with Harry… I could see it in your eyes, the regret, the pain. I could see that you're suffering, the same as us. We're all adults now, Draco. I believe it's time we start acting and treating each other as such. I think… sometimes Harry forgets we're not in school anymore. Our past doesn't matter. It's what we do right now that matters."
Draco nodded in agreement and gratefulness. He wanted to say so much more to her, but he found his words failing him. He was in awe at her forgiveness, at her acceptance of him being there. "Well, thank you."
She gave him a weak smile before nodding. "Go ahead and shower. Then, come eat something." She didn't wait for his answer before she walked out.
Draco let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. He headed back to the bathroom and closed the door before stripping off his clothes and then hopping in the shower. He washed his body, letting the hot water relax his nerves and clean the grime and grit off of him. Draco stayed in there probably longer than he deserved to, unsure when the next time he'd be able to shower again would be.
Once he had finished, he shut the water off and dried himself off before taking a look at his body in the mirror.
Scars littered his body and he was reminded once again how revolting he was. He diverted his eyes and he only just realized there was a set of pajama bottoms and a shirt on the toilet; Hermione must have snuck in and left it there for him.
He put the clothes on, ignoring how everything hung off his body. He stepped out of the bathroom and walked towards the kitchen, smelling sweet and savory smells coming from it. Draco froze when he saw Harry tense up as he entered and quickly took a seat on the end of the table, feeling like an intruder.
Hermione placed a cup of hot coffee down in front of Draco before setting two plates of food in front of both men before speaking again.
"I'm going back upstairs so… behave yourself, Harry," she warned before giving him a small smirk and headed upstairs.
Draco sipped the coffee tentatively, letting it warm up his cold bones. He was starving as well, but he felt weird eating in front of Harry. He cleared his throat. "Do you mind if I ask a question?"
"I suppose not," the other man shrugged, taking a bite of his pancakes.
"How long have you two been living here together?" Draco asked, genuinely curious. It didn't surprise him that they were both living together, but it did surprise him that Ginny and Ron Weasley were both nowhere to be seen.
"Not that it's any of your business, but we've been living here since the War ended. We were both alone, and it was convenient that we lived together."
"What about the Weasleys? Weren't you both with one?" Draco dared to ask, taking another sip of coffee. He immediately regretted asking when he saw Harry's face pale, and a part of him felt the need to apologize automatically. "Fuck, I'm… sorry. That's also none of my business. Forget I asked."
Harry looked surprised at Draco's apology but seemed to relax slightly, the tension in the room easing up a bit. He scratched his cheek. "Umm… i-it's fine. Hermione and I sort of… grew apart from them, I suppose. Turned out they were both emotionally and mentally stronger than the two of us but… they just couldn't help us. They both got frustrated, and… they left. Then it was just… the two of us and we grew closer."
Draco nodded as he listened to Harry. "That… that must've been difficult for you, Potter."
"Yeah," he cleared his throat. "It was, for a long time… but… we had each other, and life somehow seems a little easier for us now without them."
Draco took another sip of coffee. "I… I can kind of relate to that, not having someone in my life and feeling better off without them."
Harry looked up at him finally, searching his face again. "Your father…?"
Draco thought back to their fight earlier, trying to forget the fact that Harry had made those comments about his father, but it made sense that that would be the one that Draco wanted to be without; he was rather close to his Narcissa.
The blonde nodded. "Y-Yeah. It took me a long time, but… I woke up and realized just how fucking toxic he was and somehow all the abuse over the years made sense to me. All that shit he drilled into my head every day made sense, and… it made me despise him."
Harry appeared to relax more now and guilt touched his eyes. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier about him. You seem like you had a tough relationship with Lucius and… I didn't even realize."
Draco looked at him, giving him a hard stare. "You didn't… but maybe you should also realize that you don't know me as well as you think you do, Potter. I'm not the same person as I was in school anymore. I'm different now…"
"We'll see about that, Draco. Let's just… take this one day at a time, yeah?" Harry asked. There wasn't such a sharp anger to his voice this time as there was before, just caution.
Draco nodded and started to eat.
