Voldemort frowned as he watched the youngest Malfoy walk around, head held high. He had known that his master would move on but seeing it himself was something else entirely. His room in the Malfoy Manor had been ready for him the moment Lucius had brought him from the graveyard. Now, during winter vacation, he watched as the little guardian walked around with his master's mark on his neck. A simple branding spell and now Draco had replaced him. Voldemort gently fingered the identical mark on the back of his neck, the symbol of the Deathly Hallows branded into his skin. He had been branded so long ago, he couldn't remember what he had looked like then. His master had found him and loved him. He had taken Death's heart. Now Voldemort held his heart in his own hands and he was unsure what he should do with it.

Narcissa watched as her son sat in the library, gazing out the window at the gardens below with a forgotten book in his lap. She knew what the mark on his neck meant and she was not happy. When her husband told her that their master had left Death she did not believe it and yet here stood proof in the shape of her own son.

"I raised you better than this." Draco startled at the sound of her voice, turning towards the woman in the doorway.

"Mother, I did not know you were here." His hand moved to cover the mark on his neck, eyes ashamed. He knew what she thought of him.

"How could you do this?" Draco snorted. As if she understood. She was a Malfoy by name only. She had no right to make assumptions.

"Should I have said no?" Narcissa's face twisted in disgust as she stared down at Draco. She could not believe this was her son. Before she could think her hand shot out, coming into sharp contact with her son's face.

"You are not deserving of that mark!" An angry cough alerted the two to the figure in the doorway. Harry frowned as he watched the two blondes before him. He'd known that Draco would have a hard time with others after he took the mark but he hadn't expected this kind of abuse from his mother.

"Narcissa." The woman bowed to him and Harry sneered. "Leave us."

She scurried past him, eyes averted to the floor. As soon as the door was shut Harry rushed to Draco's side. His hands ran through the teen's fine hair gently, watching Draco's every move.

"Has she done this before, little dragon?" Draco shook his head, trying to push down the tears that welled in his eyes. He should have known his mother would do this, everyone else had shunned him as well.

"They all think I've stolen you." Harry cupped the boy's face gently as Draco burst into tears.

"You know that is not true." Harry seethed quietly on the inside. How could anyone hurt this little guardian? Did they all think the boy had seduced him away from Death? Did they all treat him as his mother had?

"I know." It hurt to think that everyone he cared about would abandon him like this but he knew those who truly loved him would never leave. "At least Father still cares for me."

Harry sighed and pulled the boy into his lap. He wondered if he should just let the boy go, if any of this was worth it.

"They will understand." Draco knew he should trust his master. The man would never hurt him but being branded was too much for him. He didn't want this.

"Why must we do this Master? Is there not a better way?" Harry stroked the boy's hair softly, watching as Draco calmed. He knew this was straining the guardian but he had to teach his pet a lesson. Hopefully Death would learn quickly and Draco would no longer have to suffer.

"I'm sorry dragon. He needs to learn." Draco nodded, curling closer to Harry. He trusted his master. He knew that the man would never let things go too far.

"I know." He would be fine.

"Master." Harry paused, ignoring the shiver of delight that ran through him and turned towards his former pet.

"Hello Voldemort." Voldemort shuffled awkwardly, there was a pain in his heart that wouldn't go away. His master had abandoned him. He should be happy.

"Master I-" He paused, looking away from his master. This man had haunted him since he was a child. Everything he'd done was overshadowed by the need for his master. Well no more. He was finally free and he would take advantage of it, no matter how much it hurt. Voldemort pulled himself to his full height, hoping that he could at least make himself feel stronger. "You are not welcome here."

"Young Draco invited me." Harry watched as an angry flush spread across Voldemort's face. It was intriguing. The man still cared how Harry felt.

"That whore holds no standing." Harry growled, hands curling into tight fists that had Voldemort taking an apprehensive step back. He may have once been sure that his master wouldn't hurt him but Harry was no longer his master. Harry no longer cared.

"You will not speak of him that way!" How dare he speak of Draco that way! From Voldemort to Narcissa to the whispered conversations the wind carried to him Harry knew exactly what everyone thought of the blonde guardian. And to hear Voldemort speak so casually about Draco's disgrace, as if Draco was at fault was more than he could bear. Voldemort watched as his master grew angrier and angrier, wondering if he had gone too far. He hadn't expected the man to care so much about his new pet. He must be far better than Voldemort ever was.

"Why do you care for him?" He didn't want to hear this. Didn't want to know why this whore had captured his master's heart so fully. The pretty, young, blond was everything Voldemort wasn't and hearing his master throw that back in his face would be too much. But he'd asked for it and Voldemort braced himself for the pain Harry was about to bring.

"Because he cares for me." Harry sighed softly, turning away from his pet and moving down the hall. He knew the man expected something else. Something worse but he had to be honest. Draco cared for him, not as a guardian but as a friend. Draco cared and Harry honestly couldn't think of the last person who had truly cared for him. Maybe Voldemort, all those years ago, but things were different now. Draco was the only one.

Draco smiled to himself as he heard the door open and a heavy earthy scent flooded him. He was still in the library, his master's angry magic leaving a slight crackle in the air. Fenrir shut the door behind himself, watching the little guardian warily. Things were exceedingly tense in the Manor and he wasn't sure how the teen would react.

"Draco? Is that you?" Draco laughed to himself, not daring to turn around. He didn't want the werewolf to see the tears in his eyes. If he let them see him when he was weak who knew what would happen.

"Fenrir, are you cross with me as well? Am I the whore you thought I was?" Fenrir sighed. He knew the others were upset with Draco but he hadn't understood their anger. He was more angry with his master than with Draco. The blond had done nothing wrong. Still he hadn't thought the insults would affect Draco. He had always brushed off the disdain of others easily.

"I never thought you were a whore." Draco snorted. How idiotically noble.

"Then you are a fool." The teen finally turned towards the werewolf, looking like the weight of the world weighed on his shoulders. In a way it did. "Master has claimed me."

Fenrir looked away at that. Anger rose in him once more and the man clenched his fists to keep from lashing out.

"I know." Draco nodded softly, moving to stand closer to the enraged werewolf. If he were lucky the man would kill him in his rage.

"You wanted to court me." Fenrir nodded, breathing deeply. Draco's scent wafted towards him and it took all of the man's strength not to claim the teen then and there.

"Yes." Draco wrapped an arm around the wolf's neck, pulling himself up to the man's level. He had loved Fenrir for so long. It was a shame the man didn't want to hurt him. He deserved it.

"Why? What could a little slut like me do for you?" Fenrir shook as he restrained himself, trying to ignore the teen wrapped around him and the anger that still managed to grip him. How could Draco think so lowly of himself? Did he not see how precious he was?

"Will you stop that!?" Draco flinched, arms momentarily slipping from the wolf's shoulders. Fenrir's hands shot out, gripping tightly at the teen's waist and Draco nearly groaned at the heavy grip. Fenrir let his head drop to the wizard's shoulder, shuddering softly at how close he was to Draco. "You are not a whore."

Draco smiled weakly, tightening his arms around the wolf's neck. He wished things could be different. He wished he could court the wolf with no worry about his master or Death or his mother or anyone.

"You're such a fool Fenrir. A kind fool."

He wished that fool could be his.