So Long Sweet Summer
Author: xxinifinitemoment
Rating: this is PG but it will go up in later chapters
Warnings: none yet. other than slash ofcourse.
Word Count: 1500
Summary: Things have gotten pretty bad in the Wizarding World and it's spreading to the Muggle World. Draco Malfoy shows up on Harry's doorstep with Snape one day. From there, everything takes a wild turn. Secrets are revealed. Perspectives change. How will it all end?

The next few days passed by not quickly but not slowly either. Harry and Malfoy did their chores everyday and read every night. Not much conversation passed between them. The Dursley's basically ignored the two unless it was to tell them to do chores. Friday came with the largest list of tasks. The worst was that the boys had to go into the attic to clean and organize everything. They saved that for last and trudged up to the attic mid afternoon. It was warm and musty up there. It obviously hadn't been cleaned for a long time. Harry never was given this job before. If he hadn't seen the small door at the end of the hallway, he would never have even known there was an attic.

There was dust everywhere and boxes were stacked up taking up nearly the entire attic. In the dark, Harry could make out words on the boxes. Most of them were labeled 'Dudley'. Harry guessed they were filled with his clothes that he out grew and all of his toys that he broke or got sick of.

Harry and Malfoy started at one end and worked towards the other. They dusted everything and rearranged the boxes so it looked neater. Harry glanced at his watch and saw that it was nearly dinnertime and they weren't even half done. There goes dinner. Wonder how Malfoy will take it. At the thought of the blonde, he began thinking of how even though Malfoy hated muggles and complained every chance he got, he still completed the chores with Harry. It stumped the dark haired boy because Malfoy never so much as lifted a finger at school and there was no reason for him to oblige to the Dursley's so willingly.

Dinnertime passed without a word. The boys continued to clean the attic. It was late and they were almost done when Harry noticed a box in the corner labeled 'Lily'. Harry's heart jolted. It couldn't be. He opened the box slowly, his heart racing. On top was a muggle picture of his mother and father on their wedding day. Harry began to look through the box. There were his mum's old report cards from primary school, countless amounts of pictures of her growing up, and little objects that Harry could only guess belonged to his mum. He dug to the bottom and found a book. It was red leather and the binding showed that it was used often. He opened it up and saw that the first page read 'this diary belongs to: Lily Evans.' But Evans was crossed out and Potter was written below it with a heart. Harry's heart was now practically beating out of his chest. He turned the page and a voice interrupted him from reading it.

"That's enough for tonight," Aunt Petunia's voice echoed in the attic, "You will have to finish tomorrow." She looked at Harry, sitting on the floor with a book in his lap.

"What's that you have on your lap boy?"

"Nothing," Harry said quickly and attempted to put the book back in the box. Aunt Petunia grabbed it out of his hands however. She saw what it was and her face fell for a moment, then the usual hard look took place again. Without another word she left the attic. Malfoy followed her and Harry did too after one last glance at the box.

Once both boys had showered, they took their usual places in Harry's room to read. Harry's mind wasn't on the book in front of him though. It was on his mum's diary that his aunt took away from him. Why did his aunt take it away from him? Shouldn't he be allowed to read it? It was his mum's.

"What about dinner?" Malfoy interrupted his thoughts.

"We're not getting dinner. I told you that sometimes we don't get dinner. I won't be surprised if we don't get breakfast tomorrow too."

"What?" Malfoy said incredulously. "I can't go that long without food!"

"Well you're going to have to."

"I don't understand how you could survive here Potter." There was no sympathy in his voice, just fact.

"I got use to it, and you will too."

A silence settled over the boys for a long while. It was getting dark out. The streetlights had turned on about an hour ago. Harry didn't feel like sitting inside anymore. He stood up and Malfoy looked at him.

"Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"Just come on Malfoy. Let's go." Harry walked out of his room and crept down the stairs. Malfoy followed him. He tripped over a broken controller that Dudley had left in the hallway. Harry caught him and covered his mouth before he could make a sound. With his free hand he put a finger up to his lips to tell the other boy to be quiet and then motioned for him to follow. The Dursley's were in the living room watching the telly. Dudley's obnoxious laughter rang through the room into the hall. As quietly as possible, Harry and Malfoy slipped out the front door and out onto the street.

Once on the street, they walked through the neighborhood in silence. It was dark out now and the streetlights were producing spots of light on the road. They would pass under each one and their shadows would cast across the ground then disappear in the darkness between. The air was comfortable for the slacks and tee shirts that the boys were wearing. They reached the park that Harry usually went to when he felt like getting away. He sat down on a swing and at first Malfoy stood there stiffly but finally caved and sat on the other swing.

Harry broke the silence. "What's going on in the wizarding world Malfoy?"

The blonde sighed. He didn't answer right away and when he did, Harry could barley here him. "The Death Eaters have been attacking muggle and wizarding villages and towns. Sometimes it will be a house, sometimes a whole neighborhood. Sometimes people are warned about them; other times it's a complete surprise. A lot of people have gone missing or died." He paused and exhaled a breath. "No one knows what the Dark Lord is up to. The mood is always intense and full of fear and anticipation for the worst. The ministry is going out of their mind trying to keep the people calm but nothing is really working. But hey, the Ministry put an article in the newspaper saying how the Boy Hero was telling the truth the whole time. Now no one will hate you anymore and you can go back to being the celeb that you are at heart."

"Ha. Brilliant. Just what I wanted. They needed to see Voldemort in order to believe me that he was back. Stupid gits." He stared out across the park thinking about what Malfoy had said. So things really were getting bad out there. Why wasn't anyone telling him this? "So, Malfoy, what have you been up to? Why does the great Malfoy heir need protection?"

"That's none of your business Potter."

"Oh, but I thing it is. See, you were the one that was brought to my house, by Snape nonetheless, needing somewhere safe to stay. Why is that?"

"Because of circumstances it was no longer safe for me to stay at the manor." The look on Harry's face proved that he was not content with that answer. Malfoy sighed. "The Death Eaters were planning on taking me away. Because they lost my father to Azkaban, they planned on taking me into their ranks. Since mother disappeared after the incident at the Ministry and father is in Azkaban, Serverus took me under his care, being my godfather. He didn't want me to fall into the trap of the Death Eaters so he took me away. Then I ended up here."

Harry didn't know how to respond and before he could say anything Malfoy spoke again.

"Just because I'm telling you this doesn't mean we're friends Potter. Don't think I'm on your side now. I just need protection and Serverus said here was ideal, I'm still the enemy."

"No, you're not." Harry stood and started walking back to the Dursley's house before Malfoy could reply.

They went back to reading when they returned to the house. Dudley's laughter still filled the first floor as they crept up the stairs. Neither boy spoke for the remainder of the night, but both their minds were on overdrive replaying the conversation from earlier.

Harry couldn't understand why no one had informed him about what was going on now. He had gotten letters from Ron and Hermione and even a few from Remus but none of them seemed to mention anything bad going on. They were all just letters, most of them telling Harry to stay safe and everything would be alright. Why hadn't he been told about the Death Eaters? It frustrated Harry beyond belief that no one was telling him anything. It was just like last summer. He was sick of it. Another thing that stumped him was Malfoy. Why was he here? Why didn't he join the Death Eaters like he always claimed he was going to? But did he ever actually say he was going to? Harry was becoming more confused as the night progressed and decided to just go to sleep.

Malfoy on the other hand was perplexed with Harry's last statement. 'No, you're not.' Did Potter think that he was on the Light Side? Because he most certainly is not. But is he on the Dark Side? Malfoy just didn't know anymore. But what had Potter meant when he said that? Was Potter unsure of who the enemy was anymore? No, that couldn't be possible, he was Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, the one who was the wizarding hero. Malfoy spent a while thinking about what Potter had said and all the possible meanings until he saw the wizard lay down and he followed suit.

TBC…