Title: Like A Fairytale

Author: Stardrops

Genre: Romance

Rating: PG 13: Some violence and slash, precautions only.

Summary: Faced with difficult decisions about his future, Draco forms some unlikely friendships. A passionate romance is sparked – but is not as secret as he supposed. Someone is stalking Draco at Hogwarts – suddenly, keeping himself and Harry safe is more complicated than he imagined.

Chapter Two: The Forging Of Friendships

By late afternoon the next day, Draco still hadn't woken. This was slightly alarming, because school would be starting the next day, and he wasn't looking at all well. His face was still extremely pale, and though the cuts on his face (from trees, they assumed) had been magically healed, they could do nothing about all the bruising.

His bags did not have any money in them, and only the barest of necessities. They assumed he'd run away from home, though they couldn't imagine why he'd want to.

"Surely he'd be smart enough to pack some food and water, though, I don't think he's eaten for days!" tutted Madam Pomfrey, who'd been summoned by Dumbledore when he'd seen Malfoy's dire state.

Harry had, for some bizarre and unknown reason, been appointed to look after Malfoy til he woke up. He supposed it was because Ron would be likely to slaughter the unconscious boy in his sleep in an attempt of revenge for all the insults Malfoy had ever cast his way, whereas he and Hermione weren't quite as bitter when it came to the stuck-up Slytherin.

Ron and Hermione had gone with the Mr and Mrs Weasley and Ginny to Diagon Alley to get all the school requirements. Harry had given them enough money for his books, quills and ink as well as Draco's. He figured Draco could pay him back when he woke up.

Draco, however, didn't wake til much later. The house was quiet as the Weasleys weren't back yet and everyone else was down in the dining room discussing what the latest in the Order's plans were. Harry was reading a Quidditch book and occasionally glancing over to ensure that Draco was still breathing.

The sun had gone down when Draco regained consciousness. He wondered why the ground was suddenly so soft, and who had come and put a cloak or something over his shoulders. Either way, he was so warm and comfortable that he really didn't fancy moving. He opened his eyes a minute later to find himself in a strange place. In a strange bed. A room he didn't recognize. With Harry Potter sitting casually, reading in a comfy-looking chair beside his bed.

It was then that he first felt the hit of pain in his head and the ache in his stomach. He groaned involuntarily, alerting Harry to his consciousness.

Harry put the book down immediately and looked at Draco. "You all right?"

Draco licked his dry lips. "What the hell do you think?" he snapped. He couldn't remember ever being in such a strange situation with such hunger and pain enveloping him at regular intervals.

Harry grinned. "Good to see you haven't lost your attitude." He reached over to the pitcher sitting on the desk and poured a glass of iced water for Draco. "Here, you look parched."

Draco didn't need to be asked twice, he nearly pounced on the water and swallowed the entire glass in two mouthfuls. He was so thirsty that Harry had to pour him three glasses before he could lie back in bed with reasonable comfort.

"You got any food around here?" Draco asked, trying to ignore the screaming of his head. Harry nodded and left for a moment, returning with a tray of soup and toast.

As Draco was eating, Harry watched. "Can I ask – why were you lying on the side of the road covered in dirt, miles from your house with only two suitcases?"

Draco froze. "Shit. Did someone get the suitcases?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Relax, of course we did."

Draco nodded. He wasn't accustomed to thanking people, so he often didn't, though he appreciated it in his mind.

"Who found me?" he asked.

"I did."

Draco took another mouthful of soup and swallowed uneasily.

"Okay, I really hate this but – where am I and how did I get here?"

Harry tried to hide a smile. It wasn't every day that the famous Slytherin Prince needed help from Harry Potter, even if it was only information he was after. It would have been interesting to see what expression would have replaced the usually blank one on Draco's face if he realized he was in the headquarters of the Order, who was working against everything Draco stood for, but Harry knew he wouldn't be able to tell Draco where he was in case Draco somehow got it back to the Dark Side.

"Can't tell you much, sorry. Not til you tell me why you left home."

Draco glared at him. "That's my business."

"All right, calm down. Just eat. How long has it been since you last ate, anyway?"

Draco shrugged. "Couple of days."

Harry snorted. "No wonder you were unconscious."

Draco looked up. "How long have I been here for?"

"About a day. Not that long."

Madam Pomfrey came in just then for her usual hourly checkups, and upon seeing Draco awake, immediately began to fuss over him. He kept insisting that he was fine, but when she fixed his headache and offered him a hot bath, he couldn't help smiling in unspoken gratitude.

Harry couldn't help noticing when Draco smiled, it made his whole face look happier. He'd rarely before ever seen Draco smile, and whenever he had, it was usually a smirk rather than a smile.

It made the Slytherin more attractive.

Draco was led carefully to the bathroom, though he kept insisting he could walk fine and that he didn't need help, and Madam Pomfrey ran a hot bath for him. He was left in there for an hour while Harry and Madam Pomfrey went downstairs to inform the others that Draco had woken.

The Weasleys and Hermione were home now, and they were all curious to know why Draco was there.

"Did he say anything?" asked Hermione.

Harry grinned. "He told me basically to mind my own business." It was such a Draco thing to do that he couldn't help but smile.

"So what are we going to do about it?" asked Ron. He was trying his best to keep his dislike of Malfoy beneath the surface at the moment for the sake of everyone else there.

"There's not a lot we can do," said Mrs Weasley. "If he wants to keep it to himself, then I think that is exactly what he is going to do."

By the next morning, Draco was much better. They had to leave for school at ten-thirty, but Harry, Ron and Hermione still asked Draco at breakfast why he'd come.

Draco shrugged. "I didn't mean to come, I sort of just walked in the direction the Knight Bus had gone in."

Ron frowned. "Why didn't you just catch the Knight Bus? Seems like the logical thing to do."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Well, of course I tried, but they kicked me off because I couldn't pay them."

Hermione asked softly, "But why were you out on the streets with no money, food or water?"

Draco didn't answer, and at that point Mrs Weasley, fussing that they were all going to be late, interrupted them.

There was no more time to converse on the way to the station, and it wasn't until they were on the train that they noticed that Draco had disappeared.

"Probably gone off to join his Slytherin mates," Ron said scornfully. "Shows you how appreciative he is, didn't even say thank you to us for looking after him."

Hermione looked around. "I can't understand why he was there though!" she exclaimed. "He wouldn't even tell us with no adults around."

Harry was about to pitch in the conversation when loud voices came from the corridor.

"Why don't you just leave us alone?" It was Pansy's voice.

"But – what? Why?" Draco sounded utterly confused.

"Look, you may still consider yourself either as one or above us, but in our opinion, you suck." Pansy sounded really vicious. They could hear Crabbe and Goyle agreeing in the background. "You don't just leave like that, if you really cared about anything we've ever stood for, then you'd still be on our side."

"What do you mean?" Draco was utterly perplexed.

"I mean that your family is connected to ours by our beliefs! That made us nearly family! When you left, you threw away that connection too. So get lost. We don't want you around."

"Wait, this is totally unfair!" Hermione peeked around the door to see Draco grab Pansy's arm. "I didn't throw it away, they threw me away!"

Pansy wrenched her arm out of Draco's grasp and glared at him. "You had a choice. You could have stayed. But you had to go soft."

They walked off down the corridor, leaving Draco standing alone, looking aghast and bewildered.

Hermione put her head back in the carriage to find a shocked looking Harry and a stunned Ron.

"Should we ask him to sit in here with us?" Hermione whispered.

"Do you have a death wish?" Ron whispered back. She rolled her eyes at him and slipped out of the carriage. She wandered back a bit, he was still staring blankly down the corridor in a daze. Hermione pretended to have just come back from visiting another carriage. She turned and gave a start, as though seeing Draco for the first time.

"Oh, Draco!" she said. "Are you waiting for someone?"

He shook his head mutely. He looked really shaken by the fight, though he was desperately trying to bring his usual blank expression back. Hermione took pity on him, though she certainly wouldn't let it show.

"Come and sit with us then!" she offered. He followed her into the cabin and sat down.

Harry and Ron tried to smooth everything over by offering Draco some of the sweets they'd bought earlier. He took some chocolate and Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans and ate them, even though he really wasn't hungry.

Hannah came to the door. "Hermione! Thank God I found you, Susan and I really need your help with this translation, can you come with me?"

Hermione shrugged apologetically to the boys and left with Hannah. Ron, Harry and Draco looked at each other awkwardly. Luckily for Ron, another knock came at the door. Dean wanted Ron for a game of chess. He invited Harry as well, but Harry declined, thinking it would be rude to leave Draco by himself.

So Ron nicked off gratefully, leaving Harry and Draco behind.

Draco looked at the floor. "You heard them, didn't you?"

Harry tried to play dumb. "Heard who?"

Draco gave him a withering look, and Harry relented. "If you mean Pansy and them, then yes. I did hear them."

Draco nodded slowly. "So now you know why I was there, don't you?"

Harry frowned. "Not really."

Draco rolled his eyes. "I got kicked out of home and disowned because I didn't want to be a Death Eater." Saying it all in one breath made it more manageable for Draco to deal with it.

Harry arched a brow. "Really?" Draco nodded. Harry's other brow went up to meet the first. "Wow. And I thought living with the Dursleys was bad."

Draco looked at him. "Who are the Dursleys?"

Harry sighed. "They're my aunt and uncle, the only living relatives I have. They hate me and wish I'd never plagued their existence, but tolerate me because they're afraid of what the wizards will do to them if they don't."

Draco watched his face with interest. "Do they treat you badly?"

Harry shrugged it off. "They used to. They don't dare anymore."

"What kinda things would they do?" Draco found it fascinating to talk about someone else for a change. He'd been being pressed for information the past two days and it was refreshing to do the questioning for once.

Harry paused for a moment, remembering. "Nothing too awful, they didn't like to feed me much, and whenever something went wrong, they'd lock me in my bedroom." He looked at Draco. "My bedroom was the little cupboard beneath the stairs."

Draco's eyebrows shot up. "Really?"

Harry nodded. "Yep. Bit cramped really."

Draco found himself not feeling as bad now, he at least had had a good existence up til now. He'd never really stopped to think about what had happened to Harry in his life, more just made fun of Harry for whatever he could think of.

"Didn't you ever wish you'd never have to go there again?" Draco asked. He couldn't help himself, he had to know these things now. He was aware that he was being civil to the person he'd spent nearly six years being an arsehole to, but for some reason, he just didn't have the energy to be a prick today.

Harry grinned. "Yeah, I used to dream that a relative would come and take me away. Someone who was related and could take me, but people had forgotten about – so it would be a surprise."

Draco snorted. "That sounds like a lame fairytale thing."

"I was young!" Harry defended himself.

"What was your favourite fairytale?" Draco asked, regaining some of his former confidence and draping his legs over the entire seat so he was lying on his side watching Harry.

Harry shrugged. "I always liked fairytales, but I didn't really get the chance to read them. Whenever I could, I'd nick into Dudley's – that's my cousin – room and steal some books. I really liked The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe."

Draco frowned. "That's not really a fairytale, is it?"

"Nah, but I loved it anyway. Think it had something to do with the whole me living in a cupboard thing. I used to dream I'd walk in one day and it would be like walking into Narnia."

Harry felt a bit weird confessing all this to Draco, but he could see Draco was trying to build up his confidence, and he couldn't see the harm in assisting.

"What about fairytales, though, like Snow White and all that?" Draco asked again.

Harry thought for a moment. "I always liked Cinderella," he remembered. Draco grinned.

"What, so you thought that maybe a Prince would come and fit a shoe onto you and take you away from your evil family?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Not exactly, Malfoy, but I did like the story." He settled back in bit seat, crossing his legs at the knee. "What about you then? You must have had a favourite fairy tale."

Draco looked slightly embarrassed as he admitted, "Sleeping Beauty."

Harry couldn't help it, he had to laugh. "Oh, do you know how many insults I could come up with now?"

Draco crossed his arms. "Hey, its not as bad as Cinderella!"

"No, actually, its worse." He giggled. "Sleeping Beauty is woken by a kiss from the handsome prince - how romantic."

"Oh, shut up." Draco started to examine his nails, once so perfectly filed into little ovals, now chipped and ragged from his three-day venture in the wild. He made a mental note to take a nail file next time he was going outdoors alone for more than a few hours.

Harry surveyed Draco. "You've changed."

Draco swung his head around. "What?"

"You've changed. You're not as sarcastic and not as much of a dickhead anymore."

Draco smirked. "Thanks, Potter. Really appreciate the sentiments."

Harry shrugged. "Dunno if you've noticed, but it's true."

"Well, maybe it's just from being in your wonderful company," Draco said sarcastically.

"There's the old Malfoy again."

"Did you miss him?"

"Not really." Harry yawned. "I'm going to sleep. Wake me when the train gets to Hogwarts."

"Yes sir," muttered Draco. Harry chose to ignore this, and set about making his cloak into a pillow. He fell asleep within minutes.

"Harry. Harry! HARRY!" Harry awoke to find Ron and Draco standing together in the carriage. Ron had just yelled Harry's name in an attempt to wake the sleeping boy.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts," Ron said, grinning. "Sleep well?"

"The train is still moving. Why am I being woken?" Harry groaned. He looked at his watch, they still had another hour left til they were scheduled to reach Hogwarts.

Ron shrugged. "We got bored. We've been waiting for you to wake up naturally for about, oh, I don't know – maybe half an hour? We got tired of waiting, so we decided to help nature out."

Harry threw a chocolate frog at him. "Right, well I'm awake now, so what do you want?"

"Let's play a game or something – anything to pass the ride!" Ron got out the chess set. "Game, anyone?"

Draco sat down to watch Harry get smashed spectacularly by Ron. It was a very exciting game, filled with lively bishops who liked to yell out obscenities to the queen who got her revenge by knocking them over with her staff when she was told to capture them.

Eventually the train pulled into the Hogwarts station, and Harry smiled at the familiar sight of the lake. Once they were around the corner, they'd catch a glimpse of the castle in the early evening. It was his favourite part of returning to school.

Aware that Draco was looking at him oddly, he turned and walked with the two boys towards the horse and carriage that was waiting for them to board.

He hadn't wanted to mention it or make a big deal out of it, because he knew that would have made Draco uncomfortable, not to mention he wasn't too big on the whole dramatic scene thing, but it wasn't the fact that Draco had been kicked out that astounded him. He always wondered how the Malfoys could live so harmoniously, considering they were all as stuck-up and prejudiced as each other, and even though he'd known Draco was the apple of the eyes of both Lucius and Narcissa, it didn't surprise him to learn that Lucius was such a malicious toad as to throw his son out. He'd seen the nasty streak that Lucius had before, in the way he'd treated Dobby, his old house-elf, bashing him and kicking him around in an attempt to get his own rage out. It was the sort of behavior that was expected of a man who was considered one of Voldemort's closest and most loyal followers.

No, it wasn't that his parents had thrown their only son and heir out as well as disowning him.

It was why Draco had been thrown out. Harry was finding it an incredibly strange revelation to find that Draco did not want to be a Death Eater after all. It proved that the boy must have some decency in him somewhere. But it was strange to comprehend – sort of as if this was all some plan to fool the Order to get someone close to their side. However, Harry didn't think that was the case this time. There was sincerity in all Draco's looks, and although the Slytherin was probably an excellent liar, Dumbledore himself seemed to believe there was no harm in keeping him with the Order, and had even asked Harry and Ron to take care of him at Hogwarts.

It was a very strange start to the new year.

TBC

A/N: Yay! Second chapter! Very proud. I know Draco isn't exactly in character, but it is sort of hard to keep him in character for something like this. He's going to be in character for another story I'm writing, and that is going to be hard enough without trying to keep him in character twice. Anyway, I'm so glad you liked it! Thank you so much to the reviewers!

Please continue to read and review my story, and feel free to drop by any comments or suggestions for improvement! I'm completely open to suggestions from you all.

Jadestonedreams – thanks for your review! Don't we all ;)

Hp-Azn – Here's an update just for you!

Rapid Typewriter – Thank you so much! I'm glad you approve, and even gladder that you like it! ( thanks!

CarlyHP - And this update is for you as well. Glad you like it!

Dobbiessweetie – hope you continue to like it – keep me posted on how its going!

Sak – thanks, the story came to me when I was reading Cinderella again for some bizarre reason, and I just thought it would be cute. :P keep reading and find out!

Conan – mate, you've got it all wrong. :P you can be unconscious in other ways than being asleep man. We will continue this conversation on Tuesday. Thanks for the review!