Dumbledore looked up from the letter he was writing at the sound of a soft knock at the door and quiet arguing from the other side of the wall.
"Harry I don't wanna do this anymore. He's got better things to be doing." Said a harsh whisper.
"Dray, don't be stupid. I've come to see Dumbledore loads of times."
"But Harry..."
"Draco – " Harry was interrupted in his answer by the door being opened.
"Ah, Harry, Mr. Malfoy. Come on in." Harry moved to enter the office and turned with an exasperated expression when Draco stayed where he was, looking nervous.
"Oh, for Merlin's sake Dray." Harry grabbed Draco's hand and pulled him in with him, giving him a reprimanding look. "Stop being pathetic." Draco scowled.
"I am not being pathetic." Harry laughed at the pouty expression his boyfriend was making.
"Sure you're not. Sit down." Dumbledore took his place behind his desk and looked at the couple with an amused expression.
"What seems to be the problem, boys? Oh, and, might I add, congratulations." He winked, making the both of them blush. "Never have I thought two less likely people to wind up together. Well, aside from... never the matter. What brings you here?" Harry looked pointedly at Draco who seemed very interested in the pattern of the rug at his feet.
"Draco?" The blonde's head snapped up.
"Do I have to?"
"Yes." Harry said shortly. "You came into my room upset again last nigh-"
"I was not." Draco's protests were cut off by a look from Harry, who finished his sentence.
"You came into my room upset again last night and it's not healthy nor okay. You were the one who said you couldn't stand it down there anymore and you're going to be the one to ask." Draco stared at his hands.
"Idon'twannabeaSlytherinanymore." He mumbled. Dumbledore seemed to catch it.
"Ah, and, why is that, Mr. Malfoy. May I say, that I cannot simply move students into the house of their boyfriend or girlfriend for the sake of love." Draco shook his head.
"That's not it... I..." Realising that Draco wasn't going to say it, Harry answered this for him.
"They've been tormenting him, professor." Dumbledore raised his eyebrows.
"Mr. Malfoy, is this true?" Draco reddened.
"Yes, sir."
"He's been coming into my room crying at night. I want him out of there." Draco blushed even harder at this and gave half a glare at Harry whom he thought was being rather tactless in admitting to – in his mind a stranger – that he'd been being so weak.
"Mr. Malfoy?" Draco was now paying rapt attention to the shelves on the office walls. "Mr. Malfoy?"
"Yes." He said with an air of exasperations. "Yes, it's true, okay? I'm just that pathetic." Harry Potter rolled his eyes and put an arm around the blonde's shoulders.
"You're not pathetic, baby." Draco only pouted.
"Draco, why haven't you told anyone if your roommates have been treating you like this?" The Slytherin shrugged, staring once again at the floor.
"IthoughtIcouldhandleit..." He mumbled quickly. Harry rolled his eyes.
"Oh, yeah. Where have we heard that before, Draco?" The blonde glared at his boyfriend for a moment.
"Would you like to move houses Draco?"
"Yes, sir."
"Alright then, Mr. Malfoy. You understand that your schedule will change?" Draco nodded.
"Please."
"Okay. Harry, I expect you to assist Draco in moving his belongings from the dungeons to Gryffindor tower." A grin spread across Draco's face.
"Thank you, professor." Dumbledore smiled and nodded. Harry grabbed Draco's hand and they moved to leave.
"Uh, boys," he called. "Behave yourselves." He said with a wink, causing both boys to blush deeply and stammer incoherently until Dumbledore, appearing amused, shooed them from his office.
When Seamus Finnegan entered Gryffindor tower later that night he discovered Harry Potter lugging a large pile of clothing up to their dorm.
"Uh..." he asked, confused. "Go shopping, Harry?"
When, at the sound of footsteps, he turned around to see a blonde-haired teenager sauntering down the stairs, his confusion only increased.
"Draco switched houses" Harry said with a grin.
"Uh..." Seamus was unsure how to react. He wasn't necessarily happy that the blonde was moving in, but he still remembered Draco crying a few days before. So Seamus forced a smile.
"Great." Draco paused in the stairwell, staring at Seamus, his expression becoming worried.
"Look," Harry said angrily, "I don't care if you don't like him. He's my boyfriend, and he's a Gryffindor now." Draco glanced down at the red and orange tie he was wearing. His heart leaped a little. He was really out of there... He watched Seamus with apprehension.
"I... fine. But if he says one word..." Seamus trailed off. "I have a hard time believing he'd change himself that completely." He said shortly, as though Draco weren't there.
"I haven't." Draco told him from the stairs, causing Seamus to wheel around. "This is the real me." He said definitively. He crossed around Draco behind Harry, wrapping his arms around his waist. Seamus still appeared unsure. "I can't stay down there..." he trailed off. "I can transfer to Ravenclaw if you don't want me here." He felt like crying.
"No..." Now the Irishman looked uncomfortable. "No... don't do that." He sighed. "Alright, fine. I guess if Harry trusts you..." A smile lit Draco's face. "Thank you!" Seamus returned his thanks with a half-hearted smile.
"Come on, Dray." Harry said, stepping in, "let's get the rest of your stuff upstairs. Merlin, you've got too much crap." Draco smiled. "I know, but you love me."
"I do." Harry said with a smile. And together, they moved Draco in.
A few hours later, when Draco had officially moved all of his possessions to the Gryffindor dorm, Hermione was walking past a group of Slytherins in a corridor outside the Great Hall.
"He's actually moved out?" One of them was saying. Hermione paused. They were talking about Draco. She ducked around a corner to listen.
"Yeah!" Whoever was talking was clearly amused. "He grabbed his stuff and left. He's actually moved to Gryffindor now." Hermione could hear sniggering from around the wall. She glared, anger flooding her.
"This is great." Someone said animatedly. They snorted. "He's a pouf, and a Gryffindor now." The others laughed alongside her. "It's like another Potter." A sick feeling settled in Hermione's stomach now. Draco left the Slytherin common rooms to get away from the teasing...
"It's not funny." Someone around the corner had spoken loudly, voicing Hermione's thoughts. She poked her head around to see who. Blaise Zabini was glaring at the lot of them. "You tormented him to the point where he had to leave his own room." He was answered by a handful of glares, and one or two looks of shame.
"He's a bloody pouf, Zabini. What do you care?" Blaise glared.
"It's doesn't matter. You've know Draco for years. You all have. Just because he's gay, you're suddenly torturing him to the point where he's in tears every night." An older Slytherin, in what Hermione assumed to be 7th year punched Zabini to the floor, and was a second later stunned by Hermione's own spell. She left her hiding place to stand, glaring, in front of the group of surprised Slytherins.
"You all sicken me." She told them in a voice that was so quiet it could be considered deadly. She helped Blaise to his feet. "You touch him again, I will hex you all until you cannot walk." She drug Blaise with her around the corner. He seemed surprised to say the least.
"Er... Thanks...." It was an awkward statement.
"You're welcome." Hermione answered resolutely and continued to walk straight ahead, with an unnecessary force in her step. "Bastards." She muttered. And then she stopped in her tracks, causing the darker boy to nearly run headlong into her.
"Why do you care?" she asked Blaise, accusations dripping through her tone. "What does Draco matter to you?" The Slytherin only shrugged.
"I just don't see a point in attacking him. He's always been a good friend to me." Hermione opened her mouth to speak. "No, I'm not gay." He said, answering her question before she'd even asked it. "I just see a problem with him being." She stared at him silently, trying to make sure he was being truthful. Determining that he was, she walked on, saying nothing. The thoughts in her mind were not pleasant ones. Dinner tonight was not likely to be enjoyable.
Harry walked into the Great Hall hand in hand with Draco, now with both of them wearing matching Gryffindor ties. They were met immediately by applause and cheers from the Slytherin table at the far end of the room. The only ones who didn't seem to be cheering were Blaise, who was scowling and looking uncomfortable, and Pansy Parkinson, who was too busy pouting much to care.
The smile that had been on Draco's face vanished.
"Oh, look, it's the Gryffindor." Someone said mockingly, across the room. Harry couldn't make them out through the crowd. "Please come back Malfoy," they pleaded dramatically. "We miss you oh so much!" They faked tears.
Draco, who was near real tears himself, was holding tightly to Harry's hand, reminding himself that no matter how cruel this lot may be, he didn't have to sleep with them. He felt Harry practically growling beside him.
"Fags!" Someone shot out. "You've lost any dignity you might've had left now. You're worse than Weasley." Ron stood up, wand clenched in hand.
"You're the pathetic one." Draco said much more calmly than he felt in the direction of the table. His eyes were blurred, but he wasn't crying. He wouldn't give them that.
"You're the bloody pouf!" this response was met by an entourage of agreeing voices and an even louder uprising from the remainder of the Great Hall.
"SILENCE!" The hall fell deathly quiet as the students looked to Professor Dumbledore standing at the head of the Staff table, looking furious. Draco shrank back, feeling that this was somehow his fault.
"This is not," he said in a tone that sent shivers into many of the students, "something that I will tolerate in my school. Mr. Malfoy has decided to change houses for reasons that are confidential between him and myself." Draco buried his face in Harry's shoulder. "This school is based on acceptance and unity." Dumbledore chanted angrily. "If I hear of any further slurs on not just Mr. Malfoy, but any student based on race, blood status, or sexual preference, the one who slipped it out will serve two weeks detention with myself. Do I make myself clear?"
The hall remained silent. The Slytherins sat down and stared at their plates.
Draco followed Harry to the table and sat down beside him, returning his face to Harry's sweater, feeling quite possibly more embarrassed than he'd ever felt in his life. He just wanted to go bed.
"Don't listen to them, Draco." Hermione spoke across the table, softly. Draco seemed to be the only one in the Gryffindor house not to notice that he was shaking rather badly.
"Of course not." He snapped. "I don't. I'm fine." She sighed and turned back to Ron. Harry tightened his grip around his boyfriend's shoulders.
"Why don't we head upstairs to bed, okay?" He asked him, for which Draco was immensely grateful. He quickly followed the darker haired boy upstairs.
Draco had begun changing into his pyjamas when Harry spoke to him with a sigh.
"Dray..." he said quietly. "Are you sure you're alright? You're shaking." Looking down at the trembling fingers that were trying to button his shirt, he realised that Harry was right.
"I-it's nothing. I'm fine." He stumbled over his words and Harry, clearly not believing him, approached him, placing his hands over Draco's shaking ones, and guided the Draco's fingers through the process of pushing each button through its hole. And then Harry's bright green eyes found Draco's grey ones. And soft lips met ones that were chapped from constantly being bitten in anxiety.
"It's not fine." Harry whispered between kisses. "But it will be." He felt Draco's lips tremble beneath his. "I promise."
And then Harry took the candle from Draco's trunk, placing it lightly in the holder over what was now Draco's four-poster and lit it with his wand.
"Lay down." He instructed the blonde, who was now in silent tears. Draco started to protest.
"Lay down." Harry repeated. Draco wiped at his face and did as he was told, grabbing the lion in the process. Harry sat down on the bed beside Draco and gently rubbed his back.
"I'm proud of you, you know?" He said in a comforting tone. "You've been through a lot since school started and you handled it well..." He heard the boy on the bed snort disbelievingly. "You have," Harry continued. "You could've gone and done something stupid to yourself..."
"I wasn't going to..." Draco began and trailed off.
"But you thought about it." Harry countered gently, now wiping at Draco's cheeks. "I know you did. But you didn't do anything." Draco sniffed. "And for that, I'm proud. You're stronger than you think Draco. You're gonna be fine."
"My father..." He whispered.
"You won't be going back to your father's house." Harry said shortly. "I'll make sure of it."
"Thanks..." Draco sounded far away. He'd stopped crying and was starting to fall asleep.
"I'm glad you woke me up that night, Draco." He said softly as the boy's eyes closed. He gave the blonde one last kiss on the head before closing his hangings and climbing into his own.
Draco was going to be fine.
I AM SOOOOO SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG TO UPDATE!!!!
I lost my motivation halfway through writing this chapter for some reason. I've been working on another story on called See No Evil, Taste No Sin, which is about a gay kid in a small, religious community who falls in love with the preachers son. If anyone wants to check it out, i have the same pen name on that website. So anyway, I've been distracted.
I PROMISE I WON'T TAKE SO LONG TO UPDATE AGAIN!
PLEASEEEE REVIEW. I know I don't deserve them now, but please? The next chapter should be the last. I'm just about done with the this fic.