Chapter 9

Draco was running blind. His breaths came in harsh panicked swells and his chest and throat burned from exhaustion but still he ran. He couldn't feel his legs but he could hear the destruction of the underbrush behind him. Gleeful howls echoed in his ears and startled and uncertain in the dark he tripped and fell. Scrambling to get up he ran through the dark woods guided only by the full moon that also guided the ones behind him. He'd had never felt this level of terror. He was a scared rabbit small and weak and soon to be dead. His burnt and blistered back screamed with agony and his wand was heavy in his pocket. There were no spells in the world strong enough to keep a werewolf pack from its prey.

Suddenly the forest fell away and he stopped at the edge of a gorge. The river had swelled from the recent rain and to his horror he turned to meet the teeth of the leader and he screamed a dark feral scream as flames gripped his shoulder in terrible pain unlike any other. He stared into the eyes of the one that escaped and he was falling back over the edge into the river. Or maybe he was falling into the dark eyes of the maniac as the sound of rushing water engulfed him.

Draco awoke tense and silent. He woke to the faded darkness of early morning, the sharp sense of pine and dirt clouding his senses and the roar of water really the pounding of blood in his head. He felt the rough scratch of cold water his skin and it took him a few moments to realize that the stinging water was soft sheets. His shoulder ached and ached and Draco curled up into a ball and cried and cried and cried.

On the other side of the house Harry woke from the same dream. He clutched his chest, the pressure from shock and grief reminding him too much of the time when he had his own nightmares. With each kid, came their own horrors and Harry was still shocked that each kid had managed to survive relatively alright. He wasn't even sure he came out alright.

Yes, watching other people's nightmares was a coplete and total invasion of privacy but anything he knew would help. He had examined the connection that brought on his nightmares in fifth year. He had invented a spell that not only alerted him to when a child was dreaming and then he would be in it too. Feeling the same emotions and experiences. Of course he only went into the dream if fear was present. Anything else and it would just be awkward. He rubbed the shoulder from where Draco had gotten bit. That had been the night that he'd been turned.

Harry shuddered and glanced at the clock. Three in the morning. Why must he always be woken up at that ungodly hour? Taking another moment to catch his breath and calm his heart he got out of bed and snuck down the hall to Draco's room. The door creaked when it opened and Draco's head shot out from underneath a pile of blankets.

Draco didn't ask how he knew and Harry didn't tell him. Harry just climbed up the ladder and sat on the edge of the bed. Draco uncurled from his ball and sat up to lean against him and Harry saw in the dim light that Draco had been crying. Harry wondered what had happened to the cool cocky expression he'd always worn when they were kids.

Then there was the loaded question. Who was Draco Malfoy? Who was he really? He had been a pig-headed kid, to being an angry depressed teen to being a righteous suicidal young man. He disappeared for six years and came back a gentle, paranoid mute wolf-man. When Harry took away the layers of mystery and illness from the blonde what would he find?

Harry curled Draco close to him and pet his hair as the man cried himself to sleep.

Draco was subdued most of the day talking in short spurts only when addressed, applying none of the humor he'd begun to show. Harry spent his time with him trying to coax the nightmare from out of him and succeeded only to cause the blonde to put his defenses up. He couldn't even get him to play chess even though the blonde always found pleasure in beating him soundly. He also declined writing to Severus and instead spent the afternoon reading. He fell asleep on the couch around five.

Harry decided to do some research. Snape had been a great positive outlet for Draco the past week so maybe if he found others; it could increase Draco's awareness and get him to open up more. Harry hadn't even known they were that close. He'd originally been planning to take Draco to find the Slytherin Common room and Draco just started running. Draco apparently had had the same bond with Snape that Harry had with Sirius and Remus.

So that's when Harry called in on his favorite pair of detectives, Oliver and Percy. He told Dobby where he was going and left a note on the table saying he might miss dinner and to go to bed at the proper time if needed. Kreacher was in charge and Damian had second in command.

He fire-called their private office, hoping that he wouldn't butt in on something he really didn't need to see and thankfully Oliver let him in with a grin and a pat on the back. Oliver Wood had had three good years on a professional team before a leg injury had him off one permanently. Harry (or anyone else for that matter) wasn't exactly sure how Oliver came to live in Percy Weasley's flat, or how professional their relationship was but they were a good team.

Fred and George called them 'Sherlock and Watson' for Percy was the perfectionist observant brains and Oliver was the resourceful people person. Percy had access to the special files in the Ministry for he was the one who put the Ministry back on its feet with the help of Kingsley. Together, the security was upgraded, the worker's background's checked and the trial's fair.

Oliver, after rooming with Percy, had them team up together to find his grandmother's stolen necklace. That sprung up into "221 B" their private detective agency. They were cheaper than the Auror's and just as efficient. They found missing persons, stolen items and once even teamed up with the Auror's to uncover a crime ring of illegal potions.

Compared to their past work this would be trivial but it would be faster than if Harry tried to do it himself. He sat down in one of the plush chairs in the cluttered space and politely turned down the tea.

"This'll be quick. I just need information preferably sooner rather than later. Where's Percy?"

Oliver rolled his eyes and spun in his rolling chair. "Somewhere in the department of mysteries looking up an old file. Probably lost in that spinning room though. No sense of direction that one." He mocked fondly. "Anything I can do for you? Got another kid have you?"

Harry tugged on his hair. "Something like that. Olli you have to promise me that anything I say will not be revealed to anyone else but Percy."

Oliver nodded seriously. "Of course mate. Confidentiality and all that."

Harry put his arms on the desk wondering how to phrase this. "I need all the information you can get about the Malfoy family from the time of The Burning to now."

Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy had disappeared after their son's suicide. They were in France at the time and some say they never had left. There wasn't a funeral for there wasn't a body or parents to claim it. The Burning was literally the burning of Malfoy Manor that killed a good part of the death eaters that had been using it as a hideout. The Burning was Draco's legacy for it was the beginning and the basically the end of the second war. It didn't even deserve to be called a war if you consider a war the Light army tracking the dark magic residue and ambushing the hideout.

Oliver whistled low and raised an eyebrow. "That's a big order. We can do it but do we have the right to know why? Got the Ghost of the Burning in your House?" he asked with a cheeky grin.

Harry gave a wry smile back. "Something like that." Oliver's smiled disappeared. "He's alive Oliver. Draco Malfoy is alive. Auror's found him a few months ago and handed him to me. Said he was a mute that needed help. I've been working with him ever since."

Oliver blinked at a loss for words. He seemed to collect himself and finally found words.

"Alrighty then… when do you need the info?"

Harry's second stop of the night was one he was dreading. He had gained a new level of respect and sympathy for Severus Snape, one for his position as a spy and two for his compassion and understanding with Draco.

But that didn't mean he had to like the man.

He knocked politely on the door preparing patience for barbwire sentences and scathing insults. If he could deal with the bullshit of teenagers he could certainly deal with Snape. Just as he secured himself with this knowledge he walked into the office alone, without Draco as a buffer and realized his trustworthy Gryffindor courage was severely lacking.

He was immediately pinned by Snape's gaze that made Hufflepuff first years cry. Harry took pride in the fact that he didn't falter the slightest. "Potter." Came the dry tone. "What a pleasant surprise. And since it seems that Draco is not here I have a feeling this is a little more personal… Is Draco alright?"

The words were careless but the merciless stare had wavered. "Draco's fine. He has had a few nightmares about when he was turned but that is not why I'm here… please, may I sit down?"

Snape gestured impatiently to the chair and nodded for Harry to state the reason why he was disturbing the professor's evening. Harry was slightly caught off guard that the man was still reasonably polite even without Draco. Oh how times have changed in such a few short years.

Harry decided to be abrupt. Dancing around it would only annoy the man. "Did Draco's parents love him? I need to know everything about them and their relationship. Everything you know."

Whatever Snape was expecting Harry to say, that wasn't it. The man gaped a little and blinked shocked. He rubbed his left hand. "Yes and No I believe can be the best answer to that question. Yes they loved him but they weren't affectionate.

Lucius and I have known each other for many years. He was older by two years but took me under his wing you could say." Snape seemed incredibly uncomfortable sharing this story and he hesitated. Harry prodded. "I wouldn't be asking if it wasn't important Sir."

"Yes I know Potter. Don't interrupt." He snapped. Sighing he rubbed his bad hand again. "We were friends for many years. I was his best man and Narcissa was like a sister to me. Lucius… was a dreamer. I know it's hard to believe but he had these ideas and the way he said them was like he knew they would come true. And it was then that the whole death eater business started. I followed them into the ranks as a spy for Dumbledore to make sure they were not hurt. Lucius was a young man full of big ideas to make the Wizarding world a better place… well during the first War he became subdued and clouded and quiet. Narcissa seemed to fade too, like the life had been sucked out of them. They had only truly glowed when Draco was born but by then it was too late. They were afraid to show affection. For affection in Voldemort's eyes was weakness. Weakness was not tolerated. Even after he was destroyed… like I said, it was too late.

Yes they loved him. Cared for him deeply. But they hid their affection with gifts. Prizes of all sorts. In Draco's childhood he learned that to earn his parent's love he would say what his father said and play with the toys he was given. It was a lonely childhood. And I did what I could. He didn't have pets though he always wanted a cat. He hated animals for the Manor's peacocks chased and nipped him." There was a small amount of amusement. "He still has a scar. So I gave him music. He would play the piano for hours and hours and found beauty in the melody. As he got older, he tried harder and harder to win his parent's affections. It was when Voldemort came back that they became even colder. They worried for his safety. Voldemort might've exploited their love for their son. Turning all attention to pleasing the maniac that was the dark lord, Draco thought that maybe if he pleased him too, his parent's would finally see him.

And you must understand that they did see him. They watched him, were proud of him loved and cared for him but never really showed it. Not enough for Draco to understand. And unfortunately after Lucius made all the wrong decisions and was arrested, Draco saw that pleasing the dark lord would end badly but displeasing him would be worse. He was marked and the Manor taken over. Draco was sent to school with an order: to sneak the death eaters into school…" a breath "And to kill Albus Dumbledore."

"What!" Harry yelped. "That's insane! He was sixteen! Dumbledore was the only one Voldemort was afraid of and he wanted a sixteen year old to kill him?"

"Yes Potter." Snape said irritated. Suddenly the anger dissolved into sadness and strangely guilt. "Unfortunately at that time, my position as a spy was dearer than ever and I had to separate myself from Draco. Yet that contradicted with what I had sworn to Narcissa. Narcissa came to me in the summer with Bellatrix and made me swear an unbreakable vow that I would protect Draco to the best of my ability. She loved him but couldn't protect him and came to me for help. It was a stressful and chaotic time. And all the while Draco looked worse and worse. I thought it was his plans for the murder but really he had been planning the Burning. He'd orchestrated the whole thing… I still write to Lucius and visit them occasionally but they never tell me where they live. They prefer their privacy."

Snape looked him straight in the eye and Harry could never describe the raw emotion he found. "Can- potter- can you just tell me why he did it? I know why he planned it but do you know if he wanted to abandon his life and appear like he died or did he really plan to burn with the mansion? And if not, what stopped him?"

Harry paused then answered truthfully. "I don't know Sir. I wish I knew but I don't. But I'm going to find out and I'm going to make sure it never happens again."

"Protect him potter. Do a better job than we did. But I swear to all things powerful that if I lose him again because of you then my second years will be using you in a wart-removing solution. Do I make myself clear?"

Harry smiled. "Perfectly Sir." The times may have changed in a few short years, but somethings never will. And it's those things that you count on to make everything normal again.

/

That was a dozy. We see our lovely boy Sev again and I just love Oliver and Percy for some reason. And with my recent addiction to Sherlock… what can I say? I am SHER- locked. Anyway… a look into Draco's childhood. I find this the best explanation to why he was a prick when he was a kid cuz let's face it; he was a prick, cute but a prick. And this is where they say the plot thickens. The game's afoot!

Anyway… Review and you get my unwavering love? (Thank you to other's who review constantly. Coughattagirl/tonks-666cough.) Or… review and you get my motivation to write more. You will have to wait a few extra days than I planned to get this. I have no internet here… sad face… I'll just shut up now…

REVIEW AND YOU GET THEIR FIRST KISS

…but you don't know when… mwhahaha….