Disclaimer: I own nothing, I own nothing! I am just borrowing JK Rowling's characters! OK, well, Xenophon belongs to me, but I don't want him. XP

First of all, thanks to all you reviewers who told me how to make words bold and italics and stuff, but I think I'll stick to the simple way of typing in notepad. (so mind the unchecked spelling arrors too!) Thank you for the trouble! T_T I'm soooooooo sorry.....

I don't think I'm typing(or thinking) properly with those workmen smoking outside my window. The house opposite mine is being renovated. No offense to smokers, but I really dislike the smell.
remember that the [[ ]] is Xenophon, ok? And one last thing. If you think Draco is OOC, and behaving funny... wait till the next chapter... the reason why will be staring you in the nose. :)

CHAPTER 6-

*****

Malfoy's two greatest worrys were present at the moment. One was in his head, and the other was standing, or rather, filling up the doorway of Harry's room. [[You're in trouble~]] the first worry sang. The second worry, with an ugly moustache quivering fiercely, looked ready to blow up. "Harry!" Vernon Dursely shouted, as if the small room was at least 10 square miles in area. Malfoy stayed in his place at Harry's table, while Harry got up from his place at his bed to face his uncle.

"Would you like to know something interesting, boy?" Vernon Dursely asked in his dangerous voice. "Not really." Harry answered boldly. It was lucky that the Dursleys still believed in and feared Harry's godfather, a 'murderer'. Uncle Vernon was tapping his foot slowly, but it sounded like a one-legged elephant crashing up a flight of stairs. "You will have to know anyway, boy." he paused. "because I'm sure that it concerns you. And... your sort."

Harry felt the fear that usually comes between a blinding flash of lightning, and the deafening crash of thunder which usually came about two seconds later.. "Been playing any tricks lately?!" Uncle Vernon suddenly barked out. "Any pranks that I should know of?! Such as how did he," and he pointed at Malfoy. "How did he get here?"

Harry was confused. "He was with Aunt Marge. Aunt Marge brought him here." Uncle Vernon's face was the colour of the sky outside. It was nighttime. "Oh did she?!" he roared. "And why is it that when I called her up just now, she had no apparent memory of him?!" he pointed at Malfoy again. "Could it be that those... people came again, and wiped her memory? Because it was something that she should forget? Explain!" Uncle Vernon didn't wait for an explanation, or even an answer. He slammed the room door shut, and Harry heard a key being turned in the lock. "I'll find out soon enough, boy!" he heard Uncle Vernon declare, voice muffled by the shut door.

Harry turned to Malfoy. "Now what?" he said. "I don't want to seem helpless or anything, but something tells me that we better escape from this place. Fast." Malfoy looked thoughtful. "I suppose we could go to that Weasley's house. You've been going there to stay for the last few summers, haven't you?" Harry felt guilty. It was only one week into the holidays, and surely he didn't expect the Weasleys to provide food for two extra people. They needed every knut and sickle, and even a galleon, if they happened to have one. Besides, the whole family would have to get used to Malfoy, and his... new relationship with Harry.

Hermione was on holiday in Switzerland with her family, so they wouldn't be able to stay with her, even if her parents allowed it. Then, Harry remembered what he had been planning to do for the last couple of days. Write to Sirius. He snatched the piece of parchment and a quill on his table. [[What's Potter doing now? writing a love poem to his beloved?]] The irritating voice was ignored. Then as the tip of the quill met the paper, Harry stopped. He wasn't about to give Sirius away. Not to anyone he could trust more than his best friends. Not Malfoy. Although he had admitted that he felt a strange sort of attraction to the other boy, he didn't actually trust him any more than he would trust uncle Vernon.

"Who are you writing to?" Malfoy asked. But Harry shook his head. Maybe they could escape to Diagon Alley, and stay in the leaky cauldron...

A tattered, dark shadow suddenly appeared outside his window, and for a moment, Harry thought it was Errol... but then it revealed itself to be a slightly smaller owl, and a brown one too. Its feathers weren't in very good condition, but it was able to perch quite steadily on Harry's desk lamp, watching him out of its large yellow eyes. Harry grabbed the parchment which was attached to its foot and read.

Dear Harry,

I know that Draco Malfoy is with you, but everything is too complicated to explain now. Both of you have to get out of your Uncle's house as soon as possible. I think it would be best if you came straight to my house before anything is decided, my address is written at the bottom of the letter. If you're worrying about Snuffles, he's fine. He reached my house about three days ago. Seeing that you can't use magic, the next best way to get there would be by the Knight bus. If you don't know how to call for it, just stand on any open road, stick out your wand arm, and it will come.

If my owl hasn't lost it on the way, you will also find a small parcel attached to her foot. It contains a small box with some powder in it. sprinkle the powder on anything you wish to bring along, and it will be kept in the box. Send a reply and leave quickly, because you honestly cannot afford to waste any time.

Remus J. Lupin

"He knows?" Harry asked no one. Malfoy, who had been reading the letter over his shoulder shrugged. "I don't know anything either." [[You're running away.... naughty boys...]] Xenophon hissed. [[And little Draco has something that he's not telling...]] "You do?" Harry asked Malfoy, not bothering in the least about actually having payed attention to what Xenophon was saying. "I might have," said Malfoy, frowning at the voice in his head. "But it's not important now."

Harry picked up his quill again and started writing a reply while Malfoy removed the small parcel which contained the box. As Harry started to tie the parchment onto the owl's foot, the realization of what their mode of transport was came back to him. He remembered the conductor Stan Shunpike, and groaned to himself about what might happen if Stan saw him again. "Why does it have to be the Knight bus?" he grumbled aloud. "What's wrong with the Knight bus?" Malfoy asked. Apparently, he had never heard of it before, which wasn't hard to imagine, because the Knight bus wasn't one of the most reliable or comfortable modes of transport for wizards-in-training who had rich fathers.

"You'll find out," Harry said, feeling like a crocodile which had all its teeth removed. He sort of absent-mindedly snatched the tiny box from malfoy, and started by sprinkling some of the powder inside onto his trunk. It got sucked into the box and disappeared. Then, stranglely feeling very bored and empty, he started telling Malfoy about his first time on the Knight bus...

*****

Harry and Malfoy were standing on the road five streets away from Privet Drive. They had escaped from the room by the very muggle method of knotting sheets together, and then using them as a rope to climb out of the window. Harry used his free hand to check that the box, as well as his glasses were still in his pocket. His other hand was being held by Malfoy, who insisted that he needed to be helped around like a blind person. According to Malfoy, Harry looked much better and a lot more different without his glasses, increasing the chances that both the Knight bus' driver and conducter wouldn't be able to recognise him.

"Alright," Harry said, blinking. "Which one of us is going to wave for the bus?" "Me", Malfoy answered, then added almost immediatly,"You know Harry, maybe you should put on your glasses. I can't stop looking at you, and wanting to kiss you, and wanting to..." Harry stuck his hand into his pocket and hurridly put on his glasses. He had tried to be honest with himself, and admitted that Malfoy did scare him, aside from being able to kiss like nobody's business. And what scared him the most was the capability of getting what he wanted...

"Fine," Malfoy said, not smiling. He removed Harry's glasses gently. "Well, at the very least, don't you want a kiss?" he asked hopefully, with a tinge of playfulness. Harry folded his arms, tried to look cross, and tripped over a kerb. Malfoy grabbed him by the hand he had stuck out for balance and in panic, and they both fell hard on the pavement. Neither of them realised that Harry had just accidentally waved for the Knight bus. "I might. And if I do, I'll tell you. Besides, my vision is so bad that I'll probably even miss your face."

"You have SUCH a sense of humour... by the way, you won't miss, because all you have to do is close your eyes, and I'll..."

"LOOK OUT!!!" Harry suddenly yelled, as the unmistakable form of the Knight bus flew over a bump and landed with a crash a short distance away, given it's violently record-breaking speed, it reached him in half a second. Harry waited for the vaguely familiar speech Stan had greeted him with two years back, when he had accidentally hailed the bus by also tripping, but over his own school trunk and sticking out his wand arm for the exact same reasons.

"Welcome to the Knight bus..." Stan started, and Harry waited patiently for him to notice him, and Malfoy, who was still directly on top of him where they had fallen. "What're you both doin' down there?" Stan inquired, and both boys hurridly got up, and dusted their clothes. "We fell over." Harry explained, keeping his head lowered. Malfoy grabbed hold of his arm with both hands, and noticed Stan watching them in curiousity. "He's been partially blinded," Malfoy lied, but quite truthfully "We're going to get him fixed up." He told him the address, paid the exact fare not including hot chocolate or a toothbrush, and dragged Harry up the narrow wooden stairs to the third and last deck. "We'll find ourselves an empty bed!" he called down.

Stan turned towards Ernie Prang, the hardly qualified driver of the bus. "I was just wonderin', Ern, why'd that boy said he wanted only one bed, when he'd paid fer two?!" Ernie took his eyes of the road to answer, but it made not much of a difference. "Them teenagers now," he said slowly and seriously. "Strange at their age, they are."

Upstairs, they had found an empty bed right at the end, and were sitting on it side by side. Harry felt like screaming in frustration. He had left his glasses lying five streets from Privet Drive, on a patch of grass covered with overgrown weeds. "It's all your fault, Draco!" he whispered angrily. "Now I am REALLY partially blind, and will have to deal with the unfortunate embarassment of having to be led around by you like a poodle!"

"In that case, I would be the guide dog, and you would merely be a blind person, not a poodle."

"Still..." Harry tried to argue.

"Has living with those muggles permanently left you a pessimistic person, Harry? Why can't you be an optimist for once. I'm optimistic by nature, so why don't you let me take advantage of the situation?"

Harry wanted to protest, and found himself, again, being captivated by the pair of slightly blurred grey eyes. He squinted. "It's like you have magic in your eyes" he mumbled.

*****

Yes, yes, Xenophon is appearing less and less!!! Want a hint of the next chapter? He is appearing less and less, so that the 'something else' can begin to take its full effect. No, it has nothing to do with Draco's eyes.

READ AND REVIEW!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!! I don't spend hours in front of the eyesight-damaging white glare of the computer screen typing fics for people who won't even leave a short note, be it good or bad.