Disclaimer: I don't own anything you may recognize…I only wish I did.

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Out On My Own

Lucius took long, slow deliberate steps towards his only son. Draco wanted to back away, to shield himself but that would show weakness and Draco had learnt long ago that his father fed off weakness. When he reached Draco he looked directly into his son's eyes, ice blue like his own. His expression was unfathomable, something that really scared Draco.

Lucius stood tall over his son and said "What did you say boy?"

Draco gulped and replied cheekily "Turn your hearing aid up old man, I said no!"

By now, Draco knew his father was furious. Draco had never back chatted his father before and Lucius was sure he never would. But right at this very moment, Lucius was beginning to realize a lot of things. That his son wasn't as perfect as he had thought. That he was growing up. That he could no longer beat his son and expect him to take it. He was too stunned to respond so Draco went on.

"I am so sick of you constantly beating me and abusing me, I have had enough of this and I am out of here. I don't consider you to be my father and I don't need you anymore"

And with that, Draco Malfoy walked out of his home of 17 years, never looking back. He walked out into the cold snow with determination. He walked out into what he thought would be a better life.

Five weeks later

A cold and hungry Draco Malfoy sat on the streets of Little Whinging, Surrey, begging passersby for spare change. Many walked on, convinced he would just use the money for drugs and alcohol. Some were kind, throwing various coins into a small tin can he had sitting beside him. Draco emptied the can out and counted the change he had collected that week. Almost five dollars. Enough for him to buy a half decent meal at the local café, Jazz Coca.

As he stood up weakly, a young, obese hoodlum skated past and stole the can right from his hands. He shouted out angrily and chased the young hoodlum. He kept up the chase for as long as he could. He needed the money to make it throught the week alive. Finally he came to a small cul-de-sac where the boy ran inside a very posh looking house. Well, posh from Draco's point of view anyway. He staggered up to the door, weak from hunger and rang the bell. A rather large man with a moustache came to the door, bewildered to see Draco standing there in rags.

"What the hell do you want?" he asked, rather rudely.

Draco stammered "Please sir, your son just stole my money and I need it to get through the next week"

The man looked annoyed at the presence of a homeless person but he decided to let him in anyway. Draco walked into their lounge room and sat down on a squishy, comfortable chair while the man disappeared briefly. Draco was convinced that his life could not get any worse when, rather suddenly, Harry Potter walked into the living room, in clothes that were much too big for him. Draco looked at him and he looked back, seeming surprised at both his enemy's presence and Draco's condition.

The large man walked back in and barked out "Get back to cleaning the bathroom boy, I want it too sparkle. And if it's not done by the time 8:00 p.m. comes, you won't have any meals for a week!"

Harry nodded but Draco was shocked by this and said "How dare you treat Harry like that" more angrily that he should have.

The man looked at him and said "How do you know Harry?"

Draco was about to respond when Harry cut in "He's a friend from Smeltings, Draco Malfoy, his father is rich and is very generous. He always loves to give out rather large amounts of money to people whom he is friends with and who treat his son nicely"

Draco looked at Harry, wondering why he had said this but then realized the change of expression that had occurred on the large man's face. "Well then," said the large man "May we offer you a place to stay for tonight?"

Draco nodded, feeling relieved. He had somewhere to stay at least for now. He was about to say thank you when Harry cut in once more "His parents are out of the country for a few months on an important business trip so he might prefer to stay here for a while, considering his mansion is much too big and lonely for just one person"

The man agreed almost instantly and asked Harry if he could "please take Mr. Malfoy up to your room and set up a camp bed for yourself". Once they were there Draco turned on Harry almost instantly "Why did you do that?"

Harry shrugged as he set up the bed and flopped on his own "I did it, not because I like you or anything, but because I know that something must be wrong and I always try to help out people who need it, even if I hate their guts and they feel the same way about me. So don't go thinking you're special or anything, because, fact is, you're not!" And with that Harry turned over to face the wall.

Draco said nothing but instead climbed into his own bed and rested his head on the pillow. His newly grown beard itched him a little and he was hungry, but he didn't dare ask Harry for a little food. Harry had already acted so kindly towards him tonight that he felt it would be taking advantage of the situation. So, instead of asking, he tried to ignore the pains in his stomach from not eating and tried to focus on falling asleep.

At around midnight, Harry crept out of bed and down the stairs. Draco wondered what he was doing but he didn't call out, afraid of waking the whole house. Harry crept back a few minutes later with a bottle of soda water, three re-heated bits of BBQ chicken pizza and a piece of garlic bread. He took one slice for himself and put the rest on Draco's bed. Harry ate his and fell asleep but Draco was touched by his kindness. When he finished eating he finally lay back down, brushed away the crumbs and tried to catch a bit of sleep before dawn.

That night as he drifted off to sleep on the camp bed, Draco thought of Harry in a way he shouldn't have.

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