Fallen Angel

Ch. 7 – Monday Morning Part 1 – Before the Meeting

"Good morning Mr. Malfoy," Hermione said politely as she stepped into Lucius Malfoy's office. The man in question sat at his expansive, yet surprisingly simple, desk. He was busily reading over a document and occasionally writing something on a pad to his right.

"Ah, Miss Granger," he replied without looking up. "Have a seat." As Hermione sat down on a plush red chair in front of his desk, Lucius continued. "Now, what do you need? And at 6:30 in the morning no less. You usually aren't here at this time. Actually," he said, pausing to grab another document from the pile on his desk, "no one's usually here at this time."

Hermione shifted in her chair slightly, reaching up a hand to adjust her glasses as they slipped down her nose. "Well sir, I came to speak with you about Harry Evans." Lucius nodded for her to continue, still absorbed in the papers in front of him. "I'd like to speak with him first thing this morning. I…think we may need to push back to launch of the project."

That got Lucius' attention. His hand immediately halted in its progress across the page and he slowly lifted his head to stare coolly at the woman before him. Straightening himself he carefully placed his pen on top of the pad and leaned forward only a fraction.

"And why is that, Miss Granger?" he asked dangerously, prompting Hermione to not give the wrong answer.

Hermione looked away from those frosty eyes as a shiver went up her spine. Collecting her thoughts quickly she gazed back with determination.

"Because it has come to my attention that Mr. Evans is displaying…curious behavior. This may be due largely to his sudden relocation to a completely new environment, coupled with the stresses and emotional scars most definitely left by his previous, well, occupation. One that I have only very recently become aware of."

"Yes," Lucius cut in, folding his hands together. "Harry Evans was a prostitute. I didn't mean for you to be unaware."

"Well, yes, in any case, in light of these facts it is very probable that the boy has suffered severe emotional trauma, leading to the development of schizophrenia, multiple personality disorder, an extreme phobia to people, heightened dependency on others, or quite possibly any of the other conceivable disorders out there. As it stands I wish to properly assess him and see if he is mentally, and physically, capable of undergoing what it is you have planned. After his current state had been determined, I would come straight to you and inform you of my findings."

Hermione stopped her speech and watched as Lucius gazed at her silently. After several tense moments the man finally spoke.

"Tell me again, Miss Granger, how it is you discovered his odd behavior, when he has yet to come to the building."

"Oh," she said, unprepared for this question, "well, I saw Draco at Wal-Mart and he informed me of his behaviors."

"Wal-Mart…?" Lucius asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. I believe he was buying a toothbrush, among other things, for Mr. Evans."

"I see. And what, exactly, did my son say to you?" Hermione shifted uncomfortably.

"He…he said that the young man in question was 'bubbly,' but that he had an aversion to being touched by strangers. However, at times he seems to switch into a…persona of sorts, which enjoys in engaging in sexual activities." The blonde man nodded again and stared thoughtfully onto the pad of paper that he had just been writing upon.

"Very well. First thing when Draco brings him in I'll have him sent to your office." Hermione let out a relieved breath.

"Thank you, sir." She stood up to take her leave when blue eyes bore into her brown ones.

"But you let me know the results as soon as you have them. And you tell me how long we'll have to wait, if at all. Understood?"

"Yes sir."

"Then you may go." And with that he picked up his pen and waved her away. She wasted no time in hurrying out of the office either. As soon as she was out the door she quickly made her way to her own office to prepare for Draco and Evans' arrival.

(break)

Draco woke up Monday morning at 5am to find a bright pair of green eyes looking intently at him.

"Evans...wha…what are you…doing?" the blonde asked, stretching his arms and rolling over. Harry continued to blink down at him.

"I'm hungry." Draco groaned into his pillow and turned his head so he could see the smaller boy.

"You're always hungry." This caused Harry to smile and jump on to his back playfully.

"Which is why Malfoy should wake up and feed me! I think Bennie's hungry too. She's looking at the bag of food funny. With an evil glint in her eyes. Like she's about to attack…" And he trailed off, sitting aimlessly on Draco's back and staring thoughtfully into the bedpost.

"Well," Draco started, rolling over again and causing Harry to slip off him, "as lovely as having you sit on me is, I think I'll get up now. We've got to get to work early today."

As he got up and began walking towards the bathroom he saw an apprehensive look cross Evans' face.

"…Work?" After entering the bathroom and pushing the door to a more closed position Draco began his morning ritual and answered the softly voiced question.

"Yeah, you meet Daddy Malfoy today. Isn't that exciting?" he asked sarcastically. He stuck his expensive electronic toothbrush into his mouth and began removing all the germs collected there overnight when he saw the bathroom door open behind him from the mirror.

Spitting out some toothpaste he watched curiously as a shy looking Harry inched his way into the room. Just as he was about to ask what was wrong he found two arms securely wrap around his waist from behind and a head borrowed between his shoulder blades. They stood like that for a few minutes until Draco decided it was time to speak.

"Evans? Are you okay?" He felt the head on his back nod but the arms around him tighten.

"I'm just…scared." Draco felt his shoulders droop, feeling ill equipped to handle the situation, before sighing in resignation and washing away the rest of the toothpaste.

As he turned around he felt the pressure on his waist loosen until he was facing Evans and the arms firmly reattached themselves and the head planted itself on his chest. He leaned back against the sink and gently returned the hug.

The past couple of days had passed without incident. After the Wal-Mart fiasco things had calmed down and aside from sleeping very little, and at odd times of day, and eating almost twice his weight in food, Evans had behaved normally. But all good things had to end it would seem.

"What are you scared of?" Draco asked softly, rubbing small circles into the trembling boy's back, remembering when his mother used to do it for him after he'd had a nightmare as a child.

"I…I don't know what's going to happen. I like it here. With you and Bennie. I won't have to leave, will I? Nothing's going to change, right?" Harry asked, looking hopefully into Draco's eyes. And as he stared back Draco had the strangest urge to push the black hair from those frightened emerald eyes and hold the boy in front of him and tell him everything was going to be alright.

But he did none of those things.

Instead he sighed again and carefully removed the arms from around his waist.

"I don't know Evans. I don't know what my father has planned or what's going to happen," he began. However, when he glanced again at those wide eyes he couldn't bear to say that Evans probably wouldn't be returning here, or that they may never see each other again. It felt almost cruel to tell him. "But I can tell you that whatever it is, it will be nothing like the life you had before. You're free of that and now you get to live."

He watched silently as Harry nodded his head and smiled half-heartedly before shuffling toward the door. And he felt his heart clench painfully at having lied to the boy before him. For all he knew his father would makes Harry's life exactly how it was before. Trapped away from the world; the world that he had every right to be a part of. Draco didn't dwell on these feelings, though. No matter how much he thought Evans should be able to stretch his wings there was nothing he could do if his father deemed otherwise.

"I'm gonna go feed Bennie," Harry said softly. Draco nodded but before he could turn back around to the sink the smaller boy's face lit up and he began to jump up and down excitedly. "Can I have pancakes again?" And Draco felt a smile tugging at his lips as he nodded once more.

"Sure. I'll even put in chocolate chips."

The expression of pure glee that grew in those green eyes did make a small, almost sad smile make its way onto Draco's lips.

"Yes!" And Harry was out the door leaving Draco to turn silently back to his routine and trying not to think about how, after this morning, Harry would most likely be gone from his life forever.

Not that it particularly mattered.