Sympathy Pangs
A/N: Hullo everybody. Whew, sorry about the humongous wait, school took over my life for a bit there. This is a bit of a segue to what's coming next, and you'll understand more about why this happens in later chapters. I have quite a bit more written, it just depends on when I find time to type. Do enjoy yourselves.
Draco was just as shocked as Harry was. He had never seen the over-sized muggle looking like this. The boy was usually so.proud, strong, and egotistical. But now, this was a broken wreck of a person. Dudley was curled up in a fetal position, looking very small for someone so huge. His only covering was a ripped undershirt and some torn boxers. He was covered from head to toe in bruises and scrapes and there were large amounts of blood trickling down his legs. Dudley looked terrible, Draco had seen slightly worse than this, in a Death Eater dungeon. The boy was emitting small whimpering sounds with every breath, like a wounded animal. What could have possibly happened to break him?
Harry knelt beside him, his face very worried.
"Dudley," he said softly, gently shaking him. "Dudley, it's me, Harry. Are you okay? Can I do something for you?" Dudley's eyes snapped open and he let out a keening moan.
"Harry, oh god, Harry, what did they do to me? Why? I didn't mean to do anything. Oh god, it hurts, everywhere. Harry, they raped me, god, everywhere, why? I didn't mean to!" Dudley broke of anything coherent and started babbling.
"Dudley, Dudley, look at me. I need to get you home, come on!" Harry was in hero mode now, and quickly organized it so they were sharing Dudley's weight and supporting him on the walk home. Each step was a shared agony for the three of them. Dudley seemed unable to support any of his own wait, and Draco and Harry were forced to practically drag the other boy along the dark streets back to Privet Drive.
Several hours and two cups of tea later, Draco and Harry were finally allowed to go upstairs. At first Vernon and Petunia had not wanted to believe that the boys were innocent of what had been done to their son, but Dudley was revived sufficiently that he was able to tell his story. Draco was appalled at the violence of these muggles. Dudley's connections had gone from bad to worse and he had gotten involved in a gang. When he had wanted out, the others wouldn't let him, but Dudley persisted and ended up this way. They had caught him on the way home from a friend's house, raping and beating him to "teach" him what real friends were for. They had left Dudley for fate to deal with as she wished and that's where Draco and Harry came in.
Dudley did not want the police brought in, it was one thing he was very fervent about, but Vernon was determined to find retribution. The Dursley's were still debating about what to do and told the boys to just go to bed. The room was filled with silence as Draco and Harry prepared to sleep. \ As they lay there Draco thought he heard Harry muttering to himself. Draco turned over. Harry was facing him, mumbling softly and looking about ready to cry.
"Harry," Draco said softly. "What's wrong? We saved him. We brought him home."
"But I didn't save him, what is this going to do to him, Draco? And I wanted him hurt, so many times, I've wanted to beat him and hurt him and, and, for a few seconds, when I say him lying there, I was happy, Draco, glad he had finally gotten what he deserved!" Harry's eyes were huge and Draco could see unshed tears. Impulsively he moved closer and put his arms around the other boy. Harry let out a little sob and snugged himself as close to Draco as possible.
"Harry, he was terrible, it was totally normal to feel like that. You did nothing to him and he did everything to you. You could have left him there, but did you? No! It was not your fault!" Draco could feel Harry nodding into his chest.
"I know, I know, but." Draco hugged Harry rather violently.
"So get it through you thick head that instead of being incredibility perfect, for once you were human! But.you went back to the Golden Boy way of life and saved him! So snap out of it!" Harry was shaking when Draco finished his little tirade. At first, Draco thought Harry was crying, but then his brain registered the sounds.
"Why are you laughing, you little bastard!"
"You were just so.vehement! It was so cute!" As he said that, Harry was nuzzling along Draco's chest and neck.
Draco wrenched himself from Harry and turned over, going into full sulk mode. Instead of being put off, Harry put his arms around Draco and got comfortable, which seemed to involve a lot of wiggling. Harry relaxed against Draco, who as finding it difficult to keep sulking with such a warm, malleable Harry pressed against him. So Draco gave up and wrapped his arms around Harry's and they slept.
That night they both slept better and there was a decided lack of "compromising" dreams.
The rest of the week passed rather quickly, and the seventh day snuck up on Draco. It had been wriggling about in his mind each day, trying to attract his attention, but he was to busy diverting his attention from other things.namely Harry. Draco knew the Death Eaters would be arriving around eleven p.m. He didn't truly want to go back to the Manor just yet. Number Four, Privet Drive was starting to feel almost homey, or perhaps, Harry was starting to feel safe. Draco knew he couldn't feel like this, if he disobey any of the plans he would have several rather wrathful Death Eaters on his tail. So he formed his plan, in the small hours of the morning, distracting him self from the gentle sounds of Harry breathing. Draco and Harry usually ended up dozing or talking in the bedroom after dinner. That would be when the final plan would begin.
Sure enough, after dinner found Harry napping and Draco reading. Straying a bit behind Harry as they had gone down to dinner, Draco had performed a nifty bit of magic his mother had taught him. Soon it would begin to emit a sound almost like people apparating, to create a skin-ruffling feel of magic. There, that was it, a popping sound. Draco shut his book sharply, causing Harry to sleepily lift his lids.
"What was that," Draco said quietly, looking alarmed. "I thought I heard someone apparate."
"That's impossible, besides, all I heard was your book slam."
"No, shhh, listen, there it was again. I'm sure of it." Harry had begun to look a bit frightened.
"You don't think it's Voldemort do you? Or the Death Eaters?"
"Stay here, I'll nip down the stairs and see if there's anything to see."
"I'm coming too," Harry said, the hero-edge popping into his speech.
"Fuck no, if it is Death Eaters, you'll be what they want. Don't be stupid enough to make it easy for them. Besides, it could just be the Dursley's tele," Draco hissed and slipped out the door before Harry could reply.
Draco navigated the stairs as quietly as possible. Peeking around the edge of the wall between the end of the hallway and the living room, Draco saw the Dursleys watching television. Carefully, he performed a silencing spell about the room. Then, he aimed stunning spells at all three, firing quickly so none had a chance to react. Vernon, Petunia and Dudley all slumped together on the couch. Draco turned around, to start running up the stairs to alert Harry of the imminent "danger" when his mind flashed on the memory of Dudley. Turning around again, he caught sight of the bruises and cuts still very visible on the other boy's face. Had Draco helped save this boy, only to condemn him to an even worse fate? Who knew what the Death Eaters would do to the Dursley's.
Draco swore softly and walked into the room.
"Ennervate," he whispered at Dudley. The boy woke up, confusion in his eyes.
"Imperio." Quickly Draco made the huge boy get up and walk to the front door. He gave Dudley instructions to go to Piers Polkiss's house, whom Draco had met briefly.
There, Draco's weaknesses had taken over and he had saved one of the muggles. It seemed that the Golden Boy was rubbing off on him. He created a few more suspicious noises with his wand and ran back to Harry.
"Fuck," he breathed, faking panic. "It is Death Eaters, they're surrounding the house. I counted about seven but there may be more."
"Shit! We've got to get out of here!"
"I think I know a way, Malfoy Manor is under the protection of Dumbledore. If we can get there we should be safe for a bit. I know how to get there by broom. But, how to hide ourselves," leading Harry to the conclusion of his invisibility cloak.
"Come here!" Harry led Draco over to the closet and pulled out his trunk. Swiftly, the cloak was revealed.
"Perfect, here, I'll send all our stuff to the Manor, my mother taught me how." Draco quickly sent the luggage off, following the plan to perfection.
"Okay, I don't see anyone outside the window just now. We must hurry!" Draco was amazed, everything was going perfectly, and Harry believed him so easily! Draco felt some thing akin to triumph, until guilt nearly chocked him.
Ignoring his warring brain, he threw open the window and punched out the screen, tearing up his hand in the process.
Draco practically pushed Harry out the window and onto the roof, quickly following, giving the other boy no time to think about anything. Draco snatched the cloak from Harry and threw it over them both. Mounting the broom, Draco felt Harry's hands clutch about his waist. Silently they rose into the air. With a furtive swish of his wand, Draco created the illusion of several figures sneaking around number four.
"Fuck, Draco, we have to go back! The Dursley's are still in there!"
"Damn it Harry. You are the important thing here, if we loose you, everything is lost. You are not going back!" Draco said, steel in his voice.
"We have to! I can't leave them for the twisted pleasures of Deeath Eaters!" As Draco started to reply, Harry bit down rather sharply into Draco's shoulder, causing the blonde to whimper abit. Thinking fast Draco aimed his wand over his shoulder and sharply sent a stunning spell at Harry. With a small groan Harry was out. Landing for a short while in a small copse of trees, Draco moved Harry to the front for a better grip.
Just before taking off, Draco impulsively laid a kiss on the back of Harry's neck.
A/N: So that was the in between bit. Coming up next we have the rest of the flight to Malfoy Manor, squabbles, some leather pants, and ice cream. Please review, they make my day (and writing) ever so much better. I love you all.
A/N: Hullo everybody. Whew, sorry about the humongous wait, school took over my life for a bit there. This is a bit of a segue to what's coming next, and you'll understand more about why this happens in later chapters. I have quite a bit more written, it just depends on when I find time to type. Do enjoy yourselves.
Draco was just as shocked as Harry was. He had never seen the over-sized muggle looking like this. The boy was usually so.proud, strong, and egotistical. But now, this was a broken wreck of a person. Dudley was curled up in a fetal position, looking very small for someone so huge. His only covering was a ripped undershirt and some torn boxers. He was covered from head to toe in bruises and scrapes and there were large amounts of blood trickling down his legs. Dudley looked terrible, Draco had seen slightly worse than this, in a Death Eater dungeon. The boy was emitting small whimpering sounds with every breath, like a wounded animal. What could have possibly happened to break him?
Harry knelt beside him, his face very worried.
"Dudley," he said softly, gently shaking him. "Dudley, it's me, Harry. Are you okay? Can I do something for you?" Dudley's eyes snapped open and he let out a keening moan.
"Harry, oh god, Harry, what did they do to me? Why? I didn't mean to do anything. Oh god, it hurts, everywhere. Harry, they raped me, god, everywhere, why? I didn't mean to!" Dudley broke of anything coherent and started babbling.
"Dudley, Dudley, look at me. I need to get you home, come on!" Harry was in hero mode now, and quickly organized it so they were sharing Dudley's weight and supporting him on the walk home. Each step was a shared agony for the three of them. Dudley seemed unable to support any of his own wait, and Draco and Harry were forced to practically drag the other boy along the dark streets back to Privet Drive.
Several hours and two cups of tea later, Draco and Harry were finally allowed to go upstairs. At first Vernon and Petunia had not wanted to believe that the boys were innocent of what had been done to their son, but Dudley was revived sufficiently that he was able to tell his story. Draco was appalled at the violence of these muggles. Dudley's connections had gone from bad to worse and he had gotten involved in a gang. When he had wanted out, the others wouldn't let him, but Dudley persisted and ended up this way. They had caught him on the way home from a friend's house, raping and beating him to "teach" him what real friends were for. They had left Dudley for fate to deal with as she wished and that's where Draco and Harry came in.
Dudley did not want the police brought in, it was one thing he was very fervent about, but Vernon was determined to find retribution. The Dursley's were still debating about what to do and told the boys to just go to bed. The room was filled with silence as Draco and Harry prepared to sleep. \ As they lay there Draco thought he heard Harry muttering to himself. Draco turned over. Harry was facing him, mumbling softly and looking about ready to cry.
"Harry," Draco said softly. "What's wrong? We saved him. We brought him home."
"But I didn't save him, what is this going to do to him, Draco? And I wanted him hurt, so many times, I've wanted to beat him and hurt him and, and, for a few seconds, when I say him lying there, I was happy, Draco, glad he had finally gotten what he deserved!" Harry's eyes were huge and Draco could see unshed tears. Impulsively he moved closer and put his arms around the other boy. Harry let out a little sob and snugged himself as close to Draco as possible.
"Harry, he was terrible, it was totally normal to feel like that. You did nothing to him and he did everything to you. You could have left him there, but did you? No! It was not your fault!" Draco could feel Harry nodding into his chest.
"I know, I know, but." Draco hugged Harry rather violently.
"So get it through you thick head that instead of being incredibility perfect, for once you were human! But.you went back to the Golden Boy way of life and saved him! So snap out of it!" Harry was shaking when Draco finished his little tirade. At first, Draco thought Harry was crying, but then his brain registered the sounds.
"Why are you laughing, you little bastard!"
"You were just so.vehement! It was so cute!" As he said that, Harry was nuzzling along Draco's chest and neck.
Draco wrenched himself from Harry and turned over, going into full sulk mode. Instead of being put off, Harry put his arms around Draco and got comfortable, which seemed to involve a lot of wiggling. Harry relaxed against Draco, who as finding it difficult to keep sulking with such a warm, malleable Harry pressed against him. So Draco gave up and wrapped his arms around Harry's and they slept.
That night they both slept better and there was a decided lack of "compromising" dreams.
The rest of the week passed rather quickly, and the seventh day snuck up on Draco. It had been wriggling about in his mind each day, trying to attract his attention, but he was to busy diverting his attention from other things.namely Harry. Draco knew the Death Eaters would be arriving around eleven p.m. He didn't truly want to go back to the Manor just yet. Number Four, Privet Drive was starting to feel almost homey, or perhaps, Harry was starting to feel safe. Draco knew he couldn't feel like this, if he disobey any of the plans he would have several rather wrathful Death Eaters on his tail. So he formed his plan, in the small hours of the morning, distracting him self from the gentle sounds of Harry breathing. Draco and Harry usually ended up dozing or talking in the bedroom after dinner. That would be when the final plan would begin.
Sure enough, after dinner found Harry napping and Draco reading. Straying a bit behind Harry as they had gone down to dinner, Draco had performed a nifty bit of magic his mother had taught him. Soon it would begin to emit a sound almost like people apparating, to create a skin-ruffling feel of magic. There, that was it, a popping sound. Draco shut his book sharply, causing Harry to sleepily lift his lids.
"What was that," Draco said quietly, looking alarmed. "I thought I heard someone apparate."
"That's impossible, besides, all I heard was your book slam."
"No, shhh, listen, there it was again. I'm sure of it." Harry had begun to look a bit frightened.
"You don't think it's Voldemort do you? Or the Death Eaters?"
"Stay here, I'll nip down the stairs and see if there's anything to see."
"I'm coming too," Harry said, the hero-edge popping into his speech.
"Fuck no, if it is Death Eaters, you'll be what they want. Don't be stupid enough to make it easy for them. Besides, it could just be the Dursley's tele," Draco hissed and slipped out the door before Harry could reply.
Draco navigated the stairs as quietly as possible. Peeking around the edge of the wall between the end of the hallway and the living room, Draco saw the Dursleys watching television. Carefully, he performed a silencing spell about the room. Then, he aimed stunning spells at all three, firing quickly so none had a chance to react. Vernon, Petunia and Dudley all slumped together on the couch. Draco turned around, to start running up the stairs to alert Harry of the imminent "danger" when his mind flashed on the memory of Dudley. Turning around again, he caught sight of the bruises and cuts still very visible on the other boy's face. Had Draco helped save this boy, only to condemn him to an even worse fate? Who knew what the Death Eaters would do to the Dursley's.
Draco swore softly and walked into the room.
"Ennervate," he whispered at Dudley. The boy woke up, confusion in his eyes.
"Imperio." Quickly Draco made the huge boy get up and walk to the front door. He gave Dudley instructions to go to Piers Polkiss's house, whom Draco had met briefly.
There, Draco's weaknesses had taken over and he had saved one of the muggles. It seemed that the Golden Boy was rubbing off on him. He created a few more suspicious noises with his wand and ran back to Harry.
"Fuck," he breathed, faking panic. "It is Death Eaters, they're surrounding the house. I counted about seven but there may be more."
"Shit! We've got to get out of here!"
"I think I know a way, Malfoy Manor is under the protection of Dumbledore. If we can get there we should be safe for a bit. I know how to get there by broom. But, how to hide ourselves," leading Harry to the conclusion of his invisibility cloak.
"Come here!" Harry led Draco over to the closet and pulled out his trunk. Swiftly, the cloak was revealed.
"Perfect, here, I'll send all our stuff to the Manor, my mother taught me how." Draco quickly sent the luggage off, following the plan to perfection.
"Okay, I don't see anyone outside the window just now. We must hurry!" Draco was amazed, everything was going perfectly, and Harry believed him so easily! Draco felt some thing akin to triumph, until guilt nearly chocked him.
Ignoring his warring brain, he threw open the window and punched out the screen, tearing up his hand in the process.
Draco practically pushed Harry out the window and onto the roof, quickly following, giving the other boy no time to think about anything. Draco snatched the cloak from Harry and threw it over them both. Mounting the broom, Draco felt Harry's hands clutch about his waist. Silently they rose into the air. With a furtive swish of his wand, Draco created the illusion of several figures sneaking around number four.
"Fuck, Draco, we have to go back! The Dursley's are still in there!"
"Damn it Harry. You are the important thing here, if we loose you, everything is lost. You are not going back!" Draco said, steel in his voice.
"We have to! I can't leave them for the twisted pleasures of Deeath Eaters!" As Draco started to reply, Harry bit down rather sharply into Draco's shoulder, causing the blonde to whimper abit. Thinking fast Draco aimed his wand over his shoulder and sharply sent a stunning spell at Harry. With a small groan Harry was out. Landing for a short while in a small copse of trees, Draco moved Harry to the front for a better grip.
Just before taking off, Draco impulsively laid a kiss on the back of Harry's neck.
A/N: So that was the in between bit. Coming up next we have the rest of the flight to Malfoy Manor, squabbles, some leather pants, and ice cream. Please review, they make my day (and writing) ever so much better. I love you all.
