WheeeeEEEEeEEEeeeEEEEEEEeEeEeeeeeeEEeeEEEEEeEEeEEEEeeeeeEeEeEeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEeeeEEEEEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeEeeEEeeeEEEeeeeEEEE!! WhhhOOOOOoooooOOooOooooOOoooooOOOOOOoooooOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOHHHhhhhoOOOooooOOOooooOOOooOoOoOoOoOoOooooO!! Enjoy this chapter, reviews make me smile…freshly-baked cookies for every reviewer!!

Chapter 17: In Here

"Boy!" Vernon Dursley roared when he came through the door. "Come and get this shit out of the front walkway before somebody trips and breaks their bloody neck!" Harry slowly picked himself up from where he had been scrubbing the kitchen floor and walked over to look where his Uncle was pointing. Dudley's bike and his friend's scooter were lying on the freshly mown grass. Harry wiped the sweat from his brow and nodded obediently, resigned to being berated for something he had not done. "I never want to see that again, ungrateful little…" Vernon continued to rant as he slammed the front door shut behind him, walking into the family room to find Petunia.

Harry gnashed his teeth together furiously and took a deep breath. Only for a little while, then we'll be out of here and at Grimmauld Place. He occupied his time sweeping the front walk of its shavings and moving the bicycle that had to be large enough to support Dudley into the garage with thoughts of Sirius, Ron and Hermione. Even Draco flitted through his mind several times. Harry opened up the link to find how his Slytherin friend was faring. Oy, Draco…what's happening up there? The response was immediate.

'Bout time you talked to me, Harry. You have no idea how boring it is up here, and why did you close the link? Draco's thoughts came very fast and Harry's mind was overwhelmed.

Stop it, I had work to do, and don't you think I know how boring it is? He snapped back, irritated by Draco's curiosity. There was a pause before Draco came back.

Sorry, I know, he sighed deeply in Harry's mind. You're treated like a bloody House-Elf here; you know that, don't you?

Yes, Harry sighed back and hung up the broom. It's not for much longer though; the Order is getting things ready for sure…

How long can it take them to organize the house for us? Draco asked, a bit skeptically. It's already been…

A day, Harry finished for him, walking inside the house to coil the cord of the vacuum.

Time flies when you're having fun, the sarcasm practically dripped from Draco's thoughts.

And crawls when you're not…Harry concluded, putting the vacuum cleaner into the attic. How did you spend your day? He asked a moment later, returning to the kitchen to put away the dishes he had put out to dry.

Draco shifted slightly from his seat on the floor. He threw the brightly colored bouncy ball against the wall adjoining Dudley's room once again and grinned when he heard a frustrated pounding on the other side of the wall. Draco's door was locked, and Dudley did not have the key…neither could he be bothered to get up from the video game with his friends to tell his mother about the ruckus Draco was causing. I've been annoying your fat lump of a cousin, Draco laughed in Harry's head. He's really too easy Potter, reminds me a bit of you.

Harry rolled his eyes. Please don't say that, he started before inhaling sharply when he dropped a glass onto the floor. It shattered into a million different fragments which flew across the floor.

What? Draco had sensed his immediate anxiety and became instantly concerned, dropping the ball on the floor with a thud.

Shit, Harry cursed in his mind, transmitting it reflexively.

What? Draco asked again, standing up.

I broke a glass, Harry moaned. His favorite shot glass. Harry reached for the dustpan and got down on his hands and knees, ignoring the biting pain felt when a shard stuck in his palm. He began to sweep hastily, hoping nobody would walk in on him and discover the broken cup before he could replace it. I can run to the store, say I have groceries to pick up…He began to plot a cover story that would let him be in town for a few hours. Draco kicked the bouncy ball against the wall again before falling onto Harry's bed with another deep sigh.

"Stop it you!" Dudley whined, pounding on the door once again. Vernon swung open his son's bedroom door and beamed at him and his friends. "Father," Dudley stood up and scowled, making sure his friends had plenty of sodas and the game was still on. "Potter's guest keeps making noises."

Vernon frowned and his face turned even redder than usual. He pulled Dudley outside into the hall and pointed to the smallest bedroom door. "This freaky friend of his is trying to hurt you?"

Dudley nodded. "He might even have his…thing…out!" He squealed, acting terrified. The second his father turned away, a malicious grin spread over his face. Vernon pounded on the door hard enough to make the hinges rattle.

Draco jumped off the edge of the bed and bit back a yell. Harry!

What? Harry was trying to make as little noise as possible; he continued to find little pieces of glass in parts of the floor he never knew existed.

He's pounding on the door! Draco panicked. What do I do if he comes in?

Good, Harry muttered, distracted. Keep him busy until I give the all-clear. Now all he had to worry about was Aunt Petunia, who was talking to a neighbor over the back fence. He could just see the top of her sunflower gardening hat as she boasted about her tulips. As if she really planted them…Harry thought to himself.

Keep him busy? Draco repeated nervously. Dudley had returned to his friends and suggested they have a water fight outside. The others had happily obliged; for Dudley had practiced for so long on his game, he knew all the secrets, yet refused to tell them.

Vernon unlocked the multiple padlocks on the door and kicked it in so it ricocheted off the wall. Draco plastered a bored look upon his face and stood bravely, facing the largest scariest Muggle he had ever imagined. "Boy! What is the meaning of this entire bloody racket?" Vernon yelled, his rancid breath making Draco cringe slightly.

"Sir," Draco choked out, disgusted by the man. "I do not know what you're speaking of." The words were barely out of his mouth before Vernon backhanded him viciously across the face.

"Bullshit!" he screamed as the blonde fell back against the desk, grasping onto the wall. "Practicing your madness under my roof, as a guest!" Spittle flew out of his mouth as fast as the lies did.

"Guest?" Draco sputtered, hanging onto that one word. "I've seen prisoners treated better than this!" His face stung and the breath left him as Vernon sent a right hook into his stomach. Draco sunk to the ground and moaned quietly.

"That'll teach you to threaten my family!" Vernon was in a blind fury. He spotted Draco's wand hanging out of his robe sleeve and pulled it away. "I'll be taking this."

Draco opened his mouth to protest and scrambled to his feet, wishing he had taken wandless magic seriously when his father had tried to teach it to him. "That's mine, you ugly Muggle!" He immediately regretted the words as Vernon rounded on him once again.

"Care to repeat that, Freak?" He hissed coldly.

Harry! Draco cried out in pain as Vernon clobbered him upside the head. His nose felt as if his brains were dripping out of it, and he suspected it was broken. His eyes were watering madly and he tried to pinch the bridge of his nose closed as he defended himself to no avail.

Harry lifted his head from the trash can in the basement where he had been dumping the splinters in relief, having managed to get most of them up off the floor. His nose suddenly ached and he nearly dropped the dustpan as his head pounded.

The world spun dangerously around Draco and he stumbled against the door, leaving a bloody handprint on the knob.

Draco? Harry asked fearfully. He took off at a sprint when there was no response and he felt the link close off. He leapt up the basement stairs two at a time, flinging open the door to the kitchen, only to find his aunt standing there with broken glass in her palm.

"Did you break something?" She asked shrilly. "You broke something expensive, didn't you? Thought you'd hide it from us, did you?" Harry shook his head mutely and tried to open the link again. Petunia stepped closer to him and loomed over his head. "Have you been drinking?" The question threw Harry off balance.

"Huh?"

Petunia shook her head in disbelief and smacked Harry forcefully across the cheek. "I can smell the alcohol on your breath."

That's probably your husband's breath you've smelled, Harry thought, but kept himself in check from blurting it out loud. He shuffled nervously and resisted the urge to massage his face. Aunt Petunia let up her glare a moment later and stepped back.

"Get back to work, and don't let me catch you lollygagging around. I will already be having a discussion with Vernon about you, and that other boy….can't imagine…" She trailed off as she stepped back outside.

Harry waited until she had ventured back into the garden before he ran into the living room. Draco?! He tripped on the edge of the rug and stood up, cursing and pulling out his wand as he began the ascent up the stairs, hoping Draco was alright.

Harry flung open his bedroom door. "Stupefy!" He yelled without hesitation, watching Vernon's motionless body fall to the floor with a loud crash. "Draco?" He ran into the room, closing the door behind him with his foot. The other boy was curled into a protective ball on the floor underneath his desk. Harry jumped to avoid stepping on his friend's wand, which he had just barely seen in time, picking it up and shoving it into his pocket; he hesitantly touched the Slytherin's back. Draco fell against him limply. Harry gently lifted him from under the desk, rolling him onto his back. The blonde's face was a bloody mess, and one of his arms looked nearly broken. Harry held back the urge to hurl and babbled an apology. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have let him get to you, and I knew he was dangerous, we shouldn't have come to my house."

"Shut it, Potter," Draco groaned, keeping his eyes closed. His breathing was shallow and quick. "I'm fine."

Harry shook his head stubbornly and picked the other boy up by draping one of his arms over his shoulder and hooking his knees over his elbow. Harry stumbled slightly under his weight, but Draco was not much larger than he was, and it was still early in the summer, so the food from Hogwarts was still keeping Harry at an average size.

"Wh-huh?" Draco asked, dizzy from the sudden movement.

"We're leaving," Harry said shortly. You need help." He kicked Vernon's body out of the way as Hedwig chirped from her cage.

"Let out the bloody owl," Draco said, thinking rationally. "She can fly faster than we can walk." It hurt him to simply breathe, and talking was draining his energy. He opened up the link he had not realized he had closed. Harry stumbled against the door, immediately hit by the pain the other boy was feeling. Sorry, Draco closed it again.

"No, give me some." Harry insisted. "You can talk to me that way, and we can share it."

Draco shook his head painfully. "Stop being a bloody Gryffindork and start moving," he gasped. "If you were a Slyth, they'd eat you alive." He smiled faintly.

"And Slyths do whatever they need to in order to get ahead." Harry continued stubbornly, unlocking Hedwig's cage. "So stop playing like you want to protect me, and do what feels right."

Draco was angry and the pain was overwhelming. "Fine," He opened the link again. Thanks…He added; looking away as a tear rolled down his face.

Harry nodded and squeezed his eyes shut tight. "Go to the Order," He told Hedwig. The owl took off through the hallway and Dudley's open bedroom window. Harry could no longer support Draco's weight, and his plan for flight was ridiculous. He laid the other boy on the bed, and Draco whispered his gratitude with an ashen face.

How fast does she fly?

Very fast, we'll be out by tonight, Harry assured him, even though he was not completely positive himself. It was nearing dusk already. Vernon shifted on the floor and Harry cast the curse again and put his wand into his pocket, before freezing. The magic, they'll detect the magic! He pulled out his wand again. "Wingardium Leviosa," He repeated multiple times, watching various objects fly about the room, and hoping that the vast onslaught of underage magic would only call the officials faster.