12/18/05 - Wow. A whole year has passed oo;;;.

5/7/06 - : Few months passed and I finally finished the chapter. I want to thank everyone who has reviewd, faved, alerted, and even just read it. I ask for your patience n n;; I do intend to start working on this- especially with the upcoming summer. Thanks everyone.

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Once he got to Hogwarts, everything would be fine once he got there. If he got there that is.

Metaphorically speaking, the muggle Uncle believed that his ungrateful runt of a nephew bit the hand that has been feeding him. The very thought burned him to the very bit of his charcoal-black heart. How dare that little runt live under his roof? How dare he! That little runt had gotten off lucky with only welts, but this time- this time he was not so lucky or so Vernon thought.

Fleshy hands went through scores of locks on the day Harry was to return to Hogwarts, intentionally looking for the boy. He would not make the mistake on this sixth anniversary. Oh no, he would not let his nephew go to the school of freaks. He would force the boy to be normal- to be human.

To be muggle.

Though, this time, Harry was indeed lucky. His uncle had just seen the traces of Harry before he had been whisked away to the world where he was respected and most of all- Loved.

Harry had never been happier to see the train. As each year flipped past on the calender, his body became even more beaten and abused. He had more scars than he could ever count, all wrapped onto his skin. No one had ever seen the extent but if they had, Harry did not know. No one questioned his home life. Those who were not personally acquainted with him assumed, 'He's Harry Potter- treated like a king.' Harry wished.

It did not matter though. Hogwarts was a place of warm feelings. Happy memories. A home with family. As any malnourished boy, he grew and prospered under the light of his friends' and professors' love. The emotion was near like a drug to him. The boy craved for it. Though, he was smart as well. Like anyone, he made mistakes, but he tried not to take the emotion for granted. Potter knew well enough to cherish every minute of it.

Though, did others cherish his?

--

The train ride was like any year. Hugs and tales were exchanged between Hermione and Ron while they chattered over treats. Grinning, Harry would insert his own comments and witty thoughts that may have possibly occurred to him, but left out the gruesome details.

"I couldn't believe it!" Ron's arms flailed, showing his excitement, "The dragons were HUGE!" The red head fell back against the seat with an undignified plop, grinning ear to ear, "It was the best thing."

Hermione watched the youngest Weasely closely, a certain spark in her eyes, "You're going to lose your food if you wave all around like that. It'll fall out of the box."

Ron, on the other hand, did not believe her. He just wrinkled his nose, still grinning, "No way, 'Mione. I'm careful."

Harry laughed, quite delighted, "Careful?"

Ron's eyebrows shot way up, "You have no room to speak- every year you're in the hospital at least four times!"

Harry's expression was shocked, but also, he enjoyed this banter, "And out of those four times, you're in there with me every three!"

Hermione shook his head, looking out the window with a small grin, "Boys will be boys."

--

The golden trio climbed up towards their dormitory, elated to be back to their school-year home. It wasn't a year at Hogwarts without Malfoy's comments and this was no exception, "Hey, Potter, I heard that Weasely here found his cloak in a dumpster. Is it true?" Malfoy's eyebrows rose a little in mock-shock.

The easiest way to get to Harry was through his friends and indeed, that was true. Harry spun on his heel and so did Ron, but Hermione was the quickest of the three. Clearly used to this, she grabbed Ron's arm and gently tugged him away, beckoning Harry to follow.

Harry just wanted to punch in that weasel's face. He settled for a "Crawl back into the hole you came from" before he was ushered off finally by Granger.

--

Once inside their cozy common room, Ron let the whole area have it. He ranted and raved about how dirty and rotten Malfoy truly was. "He's horrible! 'Found his clock in a dumpster'," Ron mimicked with a pompous tone, "Really? Where does he get these things? His insults are no better than the ones in our second year!"

Hermione sat near the fire, watching Ron pace back and forth, "Just forget it, Ron. Malfoy has issues."

Ron wasn't one to listen and he continued on in the background as Hermione leaned over to Harry, "Save yourself while you can, you know how long it takes."

Harry smiled, grateful. He has been wanting to stretch his muscles out on the Quidditch field, "Thanks, 'Mione."

Rushing out, he had managed to grab his broom with Ron's words biting at his ankles as he left, "Where is he going? Malfoy is out there!"

--

Quidditch always made Harry feel wonderful. The wind through his hair, the exhilaration of being up so high.

He was so wrapped up into the acts of taking dramatic dips in the air that he hardly noticed another broom that had joined him.

"Harry!" A thick, Irish accent greeted him, "How has summer been treatin' you?"

Harry smiled warmly, "Seamus!" It was nice to see his friend who.. Kept flying really close.

"Yes, that is my name, Harry." They were now close enough to touch as they flew at a leisure pace.

Harry brushed off the closeness, returning to his earlier question, "Summer was fine but I'm glad to be back at Hogwarts." Was that.. Whiskey on Seamus' breath?

"Likewise, Harry. You look well. Very well."

Was he wrong to be set uneasy by his words? Harry shied away, looking baffled, "Uh.. T-thanks, Seamus.." Sure, Harry was attracted to the same sex, but he kept to himself. He didn't want to comment about Seamus.

"Well enough to.." He pulled in close, wrapping an arm around his waist, "To.." He whispered in his ear, "To fuck."

The Golden Boy instantly freaked, pushing his Captain's chest, "Don't get so close!" Seamus on the other hand was quicker, snatching Harry off his broom, bringing them both to the ground quickly.

"Seamus!" Harry shrieked, going for his wand, anything.

"I want you, Harry." He drawled on his name, eyes watching his body before pressing him to the ground, ripping at his clothes. "I've always wanted to get close to the person better at Quidditch than me. I want you to know the pain I've had at your expense.."

Was it the matches he couldn't play when injured? He had no idea but he clawed at the ground to get away but felt his pants being ripped off his lower half, leaving him completely naked and utterly vulnerable.

Seamus had a hold of his broom, grinning down at Harry, "Ready?"

Harry's eyes widened and he struggled, but Seamus quickly spelled a binding to keep his legs useless. Without them, he couldn't leave and the Captain could perform his duties by putting his 'underling' into his place with the instrument they all knew well.

Without further pause, Seamus put a hand on his behind, pressing the tip of the broom down, "Seamus!" Harry shrieked for all the world, his eyes ablaze with fear.

The Irish pressed the broom the whole way in roughly, grinning at his fellow Gryffindor, "Scream all you want, no one can hear you."

No one? A certain blonde haired boy heard enough. Sure, he was a pompous ass, but to hear someone scream out in such pain? It sent the boy running to the field, dropping his broom far behind him. He expected maybe a monster out on the field attacking a student but never anything like this. In fact, he would have preferred a creature. This type of monster was just.. Low.

Harry, down on the ground, caught the sight of something coming close to them. It took many moments for him to realize that it was none other than Draco Malfoy. Malfoy. Harry was so exposed; he couldn't even mask his pain with a look of disgust for the boy.

The raw emotions in Harry's eyes shocked the Slytherin. He found himself pulling out his wand, aiming it at Seamus, "Get off of him!" Was he actually defending him? "I said, get off of him, you git!" Yes, he was. Every human deserved at least this much.

Seamus seemed to pause in his actions, "Malfoy?" He spat out the name, "Like you could do anything. Run like your father does."

"Furnunculus!" Absolutely disgusting if you ever have to witness it. Seamus looked horrendous with boils breaking out on every square inch of his skin. The captain screamed, dropping his broom before running, not quite literally, for the hills.

Once the back of the boy disappeared, it was then that Draco remembered that his supposed enemy laying face down, body bared to the world. He looked around, contemplating to help. This is the sixth year of ongoing contempt. They've been through so much. Though, did they really hate each other? This moment seemed to pull things into prospective.

No, they did not.

Draco had so much to live for. School mates, most of them, ended at Hogwarts. It's time to do something worth-while for a change.

He bent down, taking his cloak off and wrapping it around Harry. Draco bit his lip, looking down into the intense eyes, "Truce, Potter. We're in our sixth year, it's time I do something good."

Harry gave a slight pained smile, "You confuse me, Malfoy." He laid his head against a cool, pale hand, his eyes closing off to the darkness.

'So do you, Harry. So do you.'