Tell me, why are we too blind to see, that the ones we hurt are you and me?

-Coolio, Gangster's Paradise

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~Chapter Four~

He remembered gazing at his former classmate in shock. Draco Malfoy stood glaring at him indignantly. His blonde hair was now short, it looked a little uneven as if he'd taken scissors and cut it himself. He was thin and gaunt and had a look of hunger in his eyes that so many others in this area displayed. His cheeks were flushed with what could be exertion or fever.

"Come to gloat did you? Well, where are the rest of your goody-goody friends?" Malfoy dusted off his ragged muggle clothes. It was almost laughable seeing the pureblood in a pair of patched jeans and a loud Hawaiian with no buttons over a ripped black turtleneck. However, his much too thin form left little room for laughter.

"I-I'm lost. " He replied rather dumbly. He didn't know why he was so surprised, after all, isn't this what he had been hoping for? Why else would he have come to the park if not to look for Malfoy?

"Lost." Malfoy snorted raising an eyebrow. " Still as bright as ever, I see. Well, are you going to get your jollies or just stand there catching flies? Figures, you Gryffindors can't even kick a man when he's down with any kind of finesse."

" Oh, but you're great at it, I'm sure." Said Gryffindor answered finally finding his voice.

"According to people like you, that's all I'm good at." Malfoy answered mockingly.

"That and being Daddy's little lap dog." He sneered back at the former Slytherin, then immediately regretted it as hurt flashed in Malfoy's eyes. How could he say that after the way Malfoy's parents had abandoned him like they had?

"I don't have time for this." Malfoy whirled around and started walking away.

"Wait, I'm sorry!" He yelled, running after Malfoy.

Malfoy turned.

"You are saying sorry to me? Did I hear right? Have I been some how transported to an alternate dimension? Have I been in a coma for six years and now my grasp on sanity is starting to slip? A Gryffindor apologizing to a Slytherin, oh, and not just any Slytherin, the bitter childhood enemy of Harry Potter the bloody boy-who-will-save-the-world. Why the very epitome of evil himself-" Malfoy broke off from his dramatic tirade and sighed. " You know, I really don't have time for this. Go play your little practical joke or do your little good deed for the year somewhere else. I don't need you hassling me and I certainly don't need any of your misguided pity."

"I didn't come here for any of that." Malfoy just turned to leave, and glared back with anger and frustration when he was pulled back to face his most current pit in the cherry bowl of life.

"Look!" Malfoy shouted with exasperation. " My life is miserable. Is that what you came looking to hear? Well, you can leave now and laugh with all your friends at how I make barely enough money to eat, singing and selling drawings like some circus reject. How I spend my days dodging pimps who think I'm "sweet looking."How I spend my nights in an abandoned warehouse hoping no cops come looking for squatters. How my one and only friend, yes friend, has been missing since last night and I don't know if she starved to death, od'ed, or got picked up. So you can go back to Hogwarts and tell them all about how much my life is hell. How this finally proves how much better than me you all always knew you were. Meanwhile, I have to go find the one person in my life who ever had the courage to take a chance on me."

As Malfoy walked away from him, he could only watch while one dumb thought echoed in his head. "I didn't know Malfoy could sing."

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A/N: I know the whole Malfoy as a street busker may may sound kind of funny, but he has way too much pride to be a prostitute or into drugs unless it was the ultimate last resort, plus he has no marketable jobskills, so.... Also, someone mentioned that the canon birth dates are more 79/ 80ish, but I changed it cause otherwise they seem too old to me, especially for a story that hasn't ended yet. So sorry if that bothers anyone. I hope you liked this chapter. : )