Harry bolted upright, his hand grabbing his wand before he was even fully awake. His other hand was reaching for Draco only to encounter empty sheets.

Scrambling out of bed shouting Draco's name, he scanned the room only to find him cowering beside the dresser. He'd obviously fallen out of bed and had tried to hide as much as possible but there wasn't a whole lot of options in the room.

Taking one last look around to make sure the threat was only in Draco's dream he put his wand down and carefully made his way around the bed. The screams had stopped when Harry has started yelling but Draco was still curled up between the bed and the dresser, whimpering pitifully.

Harry sat down on the floor in front of Draco and started talking quietly. "Hey Dray. It's okay. You're safe now, remember?" The whimpering died down as Draco listened to Harry's voice. "You wanna tell me what has you so scared?"

For a long moment Harry thought he wasn't going to get an answer but Draco finally sighed and then whispered. "Thought they were coming. Heard a noise. Still hear it."

Harry looked around, puzzled and then realized he could hear a noise too. It didn't take long to figure out that it was coming from the window and when he stretched his neck he could see Ron and Hermione's owl tapping at the glass.

"Draco, look. It's just an owl." When he didn't move, Harry stood up and walked over to let the bird in. It hopped onto the sill and dropped the letter before accepting the owl treat Harry offered him. It hooted softly and flew back out, obviously determined to make it back to the Weasley's as soon as possible.

Harry sighed in irritation and dropped the letter on the dresser unopened and then went back to Draco. Grabbing a blanket from the bed, he dropped down to sit in front of Draco again before reaching over to slowly wrap the blanket around the other man's shoulders.

"I'm sorry the owl scared you Dray. It was from Ron and Hermione. You remember them, yeah?" He waited for Draco to nod before continuing. "I think they're probably surprised because I just sent them a quick note before closing the floo so they couldn't visit unannounced."

Draco looked up at him. "You locked them out? Why?"

Harry reached over to push Draco's bangs back out of his eyes. "I told you. I'm gonna look after you. Having people barging in here all the time isn't going to make you feel any better, so people are gonna have to start using their manners."

Draco stared at him with wide eyes before launching himself across the short distance between them and crawling into Harry's lap. He curled himself under Harry's chin and settled down before pulling the blanket over them both.

Wrapping his arms around Draco, Harry sat and waited. It didn't take long.

"Big man had a cane. Tapped it. Walls…doors…to scare…" He swallowed and shook in Harry's arms. "Always smiled at me…evil smile Harry. D…d…dark lord smile."

Harry stroked his hair and rocked him. "You're safe now Dray. I've got you."

"Tapping…smiling…hitting…" Draco was shaking so hard Harry could barely make out the words. "Hurt…oh fuck Harry…hurt so bad. F…feet. So I can't run."

Harry's free hand found its way to Draco's legs, following them down until he could gently rub his feet, as if he could take away the pain of his memories. "Oh Dray. You're here in my house…I'm holding you and keeping you safe. You won't need to run here, I promise."

Draco clutched Harry's shirt and nodded. Harry needed to get him off the floor and back on the bed so he lifted Draco's face with one hand and looked into his eyes. "I'm gonna set you on the floor for a moment so I can get up. This will be much more comfortable on the bed."

Draco shuddered but scooted backward off Harry's lap so he could stand. Once he was on his feet, he helped Draco up onto the bed and under the covers before going back around to the other side and climbing in, before leaning against the headboard.

He held out his hand and Draco grabbed it immediately, holding on tightly. "Are you feeling better now?"

Draco shook his head and Harry smiled at him and gave his hand a little tug. It didn't take long for Draco to wriggle across the bed and plaster himself to Harry's side. Once again his head was tucked under Harry's chin and his arm was around Harry's waist as he clung to him like a child.

"This…" Draco cleared his throat and tried again. "This is better."

Harry wrapped his arm around Draco's shoulder and made sure he was covered and warm. "Good. Now try and go back to sleep."

Draco snuggled closer and hummed his agreement. After a few minutes the shivering slowed and then stopped. Once Harry heard the rhythmic breathing that told him Draco was sleeping he tried to slip out of bed, but was stopped by the grip the other man had around his waist.

Muttering under his breath, he maneuvered himself down so that his head was on the pillow. "Never going to be able to sleep properly after this."

He knew he was only trying to fool himself. Sleep hadn't been easy for Harry to find for a long time and the few hours he managed to get in with Draco had been the most he'd had in a while. Resigned to spending a lot of time in bed until Draco was healed, he decided to lie back and enjoy it.

As he drifted back to sleep, he told himself that it didn't mean anything that Draco's hand had slipped into his and lay tangled together on his stomach. He wasn't sure that he believed it.

Harry awoke to weak sunlight peeking through the curtains and Draco still curled up beside him, awake and looking down at him with a look of childish confusion on his mostly healed face. He was lying on his side with his head propped up on one hand while the other was sitting over Harry's heart, pressing down like he was feeling the beat.

"Morning Dray. What's up?" Harry didn't move. Draco looked like he had something he wanted to say and Harry didn't want him closing himself off again.

"In bed with me." More confusion, like he was trying to work out what he wanted to say.

"Yes I am. Do you want me to go?" Harry wondered if Draco was feeling uncomfortable about being in bed with a man now that he wasn't so dazed with pain and lack of food.

Draco's hand curled into Harry's shirt and held tight. "No." He cocked his head to the side like a curious puppy and Harry couldn't help but smile. "Does it….bother you? In bed with me?"

Harry was starting to feel a little confused himself. "No. Why would it bother me?"

Draco blushed and looked down at his hand on Harry's chest. "Not a girl."

Finally getting it, Harry chuckled and put his hand over Draco's. "No Dray. It doesn't bother me. There hasn't been girl in my bed for a long time. And there never will be again. Does that bother you?"

"Oh." Draco's eyes turned back to Harry's. "No. No girls in my bed. Like Harry."

Harry grinned and patted Draco's hand and then turned on his side. Draco let his head fall on his pillow so he was face to face with Harry. "So we both don't have girls in our beds, huh? One more thing we have in common."

Draco smiled that shy smile at him again and Harry was struck again by how beautiful it was. The idea that he was attracted to Draco suddenly made him frown. It was inappropriate and the other man was in no state of mind to have Harry lusting over him.

Soft touches on his forehead pulled him from his thoughts. Draco had reached up and was running his fingers over Harry's frown lines. "What are you thinking?"

Harry tried to smile. "I'm thinking you're looking better. I'd like to do some scans if you don't mind."

Draco shook his head. "No. There's more here." He gently ghosted his fingers over Harry's eyes. "Please don't hide."

Gripping his pillow so that he didn't reach out to touch, Harry closed his eyes and considered his options. Really, there weren't any. If anyone deserved the truth it was Draco, after all he'd been through.

He opened his eyes so Draco could see he wasn't lying again. "I was thinking that you're beautiful and that I shouldn't be thinking that at all."

Draco's eyes filled with pain and it made Harry's heart feel like it was going to stop in his chest. "No you shouldn't. Draco's not…" Draco pulled his hand back and curled up into himself. He closed his eyes and Harry could see him swallow before he tried again. "I'm not beautiful. Broken…used, nothing beautiful about me."

Harry couldn't stop himself from reaching out and carefully touching Draco's cheek. "Everything is beautiful about you; your strength that helped you survive and the way that you can still find a smile for me." He pushed the hair off Draco's face. "Yes, they used you, but you're not really broken. You'll mend and I'll help you do it."

Draco's eyes opened and they shimmered with unshed tears. "You're so nice to me. I was so bad to you. You should hate me, like you used to."

Harry smiled. "I don't think I really hated you. I was mostly jealous I think and maybe a little obsessed for reason's I hadn't really thought about at the time."

Shock cleared the sadness from Draco's face. "Jealous? Of what?"

"You had a family who loved you." Harry stopped at the look on Draco's face and tenderly caressed his cheek. "Even your father. He loved you the best that he knew how and you had friends and you knew that you had a place in life, even if you didn't always like it."

"My mother."

Harry nodded. "Yes, she lied to Voldemort for you and bound Snape with an unbreakable vow to protect you. She would have died for you."

"The ministry…the guards. They didn't let me say goodbye to her. We were supposed to have visits. I never showed up. Got grabbed right away. Don't know what she thought." Harry could see that it was the fact that his mother died not knowing what happened to him that was bothering Draco the most.

"I'll talk to some people later today and see what I can find out, I promise." Harry's heart broke all over again as Draco curled in and rested his forehead on Harry's chest as he cried for the loss of the only person who had ever loved him unconditionally.

Heartbreak over their mother's death was a bond he wished they didn't share.

Once the sobs had quieted, Harry eased Draco back a little. "I have to use the loo and then it's your turn, ok?"

Draco nodded and Harry slipped out of bed, careful to not let the blankets slip down and leave Draco cold. He could feel the other man's gaze on him as he made his way to the bathroom.

He used the toilet before washing up and brushing his teeth and then went back to the bedroom. He was pleased to see that Draco had managed to sit himself up on the edge of the bed and was waiting for him to return.

"How do you want to do this? I can transfigure a wheelchair or something if you're tired of being carried." Harry knew that it could be hard to accept help from people all the time and he didn't want Draco to be uncomfortable.

Draco shook his head and looked at him shyly from under his lashes. "No, I don't mind." He bit his lip and looked down at the floor. "I like it. Feels safe…when you carry me."

"Now, let's get you to the loo, shall we?"

Muttering the lightening charm once more, he lifted Draco into his arms, making sure he was covered and carried him to the bathroom. "Do you want to stand or sit?"

Draco hid his face in Harry's neck. "Sit please."

Harry left him and went to tidy up the bed. He knew that Draco would need time to himself, even if he wasn't quite sure he wanted it yet. After a few minutes, the bathroom door opened and Draco stood shakily in the doorway.

He wasn't standing straight by any means, but he was doing much better than the day before. "I think I've gone as far as I can."

Crossing the room, Harry lifted him carefully and set him on the edge of the bed. "Would you like to sit here, or go out to the sitting room?"

"I don't…" Draco looked so torn Harry almost took back the offer. "Can you see outside from there?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, there are big doors that open onto the balcony. The sun should be shining in there if there is any."

"Will you sit with me?" He could see fear and worry in Draco's eyes and sought to put it to rest.

"Yep. Thought it might be nice to have some breakfast there. What do you think? Pancakes? Waffles? Eggs and toast?"

"I can have pancakes?" Draco looked so pleased at the prospect and Harry was happy to have thought of it.

"Pancakes and real maple syrup. Kreacher is a whiz at them."

"Please Harry. Let's do that!" Draco's face was lit with child-like anticipation making Harry chuckle.

"I think maybe we should get you something else to put on…"He stopped when Draco clutched at the front of the hoodie and crouched down in front of him. "I just meant you need something covering your bottom Dray. I wasn't going to take the sweater, I promise."

Draco blushed and looked at the floor again. "Sorry. Stupid, I know."

Harry took Draco's hand in his. "It's not stupid if it makes you feel better. Whatever you need, okay?"

Draco's fragile-looking fingers squeezed around Harry's as he nodded. "Okay."

Harry smiled and stood up to walk over to the dresser. He grabbed the softest pair of cotton underwear he could find and took them over to Draco. "I hope this is okay. They're mine, but they are clean, I promise."

It was his turn to blush and it made Draco grin. "It's fine. Harry's things are fine."

"Good." He crouched in front of Draco again and carefully slipped the underwear over his feet and up his legs. "Put your arms around my neck and I'll lift you a little so I can get them all the way up."

When he was ready, Harry stood a little and quickly pulled the cotton up over Draco's arse, making sure to touch him as little as possible. Once they were on, he sat Draco down again.

Draco lifted the hoodie and looked before starting to giggle. "They're too big."

Harry finally let himself look and couldn't help but laugh. If Draco had enough strength to stand, the underwear would fall down around his ankles immediately. "Well, that I can fix."

Grabbing his wand, he shrunk the cotton until it fit properly and then tossed it back on the nightstand. "Now that we've taken care of that, let's go out to the sitting room."

He carried Draco to the small sofa in the sitting room and covered him with a blanket. "Hold on." Jogging back into his room, he grabbed his wand and went back to Draco. "I just want to do something."

Using his wand, he carefully lifted the sofa and turned it around so that it was facing the big glass doors, then swept back the curtains to let in the weak sunlight that filtered in. "How's that then."

Draco smiled and lifted his face to the sun and Harry wondered how long it had been since he'd felt it's warmth on his face. He restrained from asking, not wanting to mar Draco's enjoyment.

"So, pancakes then." Turning away, he walked to the top of the stairs and yelled down. "Can we have some pancakes please, Kreacher and some tea and juice as well?"

"Yes sir, Harry Potter sir. Kreacher will send them right up." The old elf answered right away, confirming his suspicion that he'd been faking his deafness in their earlier days together.

When he looked back over at Draco, the other man was smiling as he sat curled up in the sun. "You look more like a cat than a dragon I'm afraid."

Draco turned to him, smiling curiously. "Never much of a dragon I think."

Harry walked over and sat beside him. "Oh, I don't know. You were fierce as a dragon when we were younger. Always growling around and I can almost imagine smoke curling out of your nose when you were like that."

Draco laughed, to Harry's surprise. "It felt like it when I was angry. And that was a lot then."

Harry shrugged. "You had a lot to be angry about.

Draco's smile faded. "Maybe. But I was still bad."

Harry took his hand and held it between his. "But you're not now. You're different…we all are."

Draco opened his mouth to say something but at that moment, a small table appeared before them. It was set with two covered plates and a large bowl of fruit, as well as a steaming pot of tea and two glasses of orange juice.

Harry couldn't help but be amused by the awed expression on Draco's face. He looked like a kid on Christmas morning. Reaching up, Harry lifted the covers off the plates and set them aside. Underneath sat three perfectly fluffy pancakes and a small pot of warm syrup. Draco sniffed appreciatively and licked his lips, but didn't make a move toward his plate.

"Go on Dray. Try it, it's wonderful I promise." Harry couldn't figure out what he was waiting for.

"This is for me?" Draco's breath wasn't much more than a breathless whisper. "Really?"

Harry was confused and could only nod. Reaching for the syrup, he looked at Draco and the other man nodded. He drizzled it over the pancakes and then handed Draco a fork. "Here you silly man. They're meant to be eaten."

He watched as Draco gingerly cut a piece from one of the pancakes and lifted it to his mouth. When he finally pulled the fork from his mouth and began to chew, his eyes fluttered closed and he smiled.

When the bite was finished, his eyes opened and Harry could see that they were a bit glassy. At his enquiring look, Draco, sighed. "Mom. She used to make these for me. Only thing she could cook."

"Oh." Harry wasn't sure if he should feel bad or not.

Draco grinned and took another bite before mumbling through his stuffed mouth. "Thank you."

The next half hour was spent eating and drinking. Draco couldn't finish everything, but he loved the fruit as much as the pancakes, especially the strawberries. By the time he was finished his lips were stained red from the juicy berries and Harry was having a hard time not being distracted by it.

When they were finished, everything except the tea vanished as quickly as it had appeared and the two men were left alone on the sofa.

Draco looked adorable cuddled under the blanket. He was obviously warm, sleepy and comfortable and Harry hated to have to disturb him. "I'm sorry, Dray. But I'd like to move you back to the bedroom now. You need more potions and I'd like to do a full exam on you."

Draco pouted but nodded his agreement. "Okay. I am tired now."

Harry stood and moved the table back before lifting Draco, blanket and all into his arms. He didn't bother with the charm this time but it hardly mattered, the man was so underweight.

He carefully deposited Draco on the bed and then sat beside him. "I need to check you everywhere, Dray. It's up to you if I do it when you're still awake or when you're asleep. The potions will knock you out for most of the day, so you'd never know it happened."

Draco shook his head. "No, please, let me be awake. I know it's just you, but it's scary, someone touching you there when you don't know."

From the tone of his voice, Harry understood that it was just one more atrocity that had been visited upon Draco during his capture. "Okay. We can do that."

Standing up, he closed all the curtains and closed the door before warming the room with a charm. "I'm gonna take the blanket off now, okay? I'll start with your feet and legs and we'll go from there."

Draco's eyes were wide and frightened, but he didn't flinch when Harry lifted the blanket off of him. Quickly but efficiently, he ran his hands over the muscles in Draco's feet and calves, happy to feel that the muscles had loosened quite a bit. He was hoping another round of healing potions would do the rest and then they could begin some therapy to begin teaching Draco to walk again.

He worked his way up Draco's knees and thighs, smiling when a giggle slipped loose from Draco's mouth. He looked up at him. "A little ticklish, are we?" He trailed his fingers over the same spot, happy when it got him another small laugh.

When he'd checked as far as he could without removing Draco's boxers, he stopped and looked up again. "I need to remove the hoodie for a few minutes. You can have it right back after, I promise."

Draco closed his eyes and chewed on his lip for a moment before nodding. It hadn't escaped Harry's notice that the process had caused Draco to revert to his previous non-verbal state. "I won't hurt you Dray. You know that, right?"

Draco sighed before reaching for the zipper of the jacket. "I know." He pulled the jacket open and sat up so he could slip his arms out before lying back on the bed.

Harry gently felt Draco's ribs and stomach. "I know the scan is running for Poppy but sometimes our hands can tell us more. And it's good to see that the bruises are almost gone." He could feel a few bulges in Draco's ribs that he was hoping the next round of potions would heal.

After lifting Draco's arms and checking the cuff and collar marks, he urged him onto his stomach. The cuff marks had disappeared, but the back of his neck was still a little red and raw in places. It made sense, the damage had been deep. "Your back is looking better." He pressed on Draco's lower back. "Any pain or tenderness here?"

Draco shook his head and Harry could feel him tensing up as he moved lower.

"I'm so sorry, Dray, but I have to check. I need to make sure you're healing everywhere and that includes your groin and the damage from the things they shoved in you." He petted Draco's back soothingly, trying to offer as much comfort as he could. "Will you let me?"

Draco shook as he nodded, but didn't protest when Harry eased the cotton down to his thighs. He checked the tearing and bruising quickly and was pleased to see that the skin that had been rubbed away by the chastity device had grown in without too much scarring.

"It's looking good Dray. If anything hurts, though, I hope you'll tell me." Draco shook his head and Harry carefully helped him turn back over. "I'm almost done. One quick check here and I'll cover you up, okay?"

"Okay." It was quiet, but the fact that he'd actually spoke was encouraging.

Harry used the gentlest of touches to inspect Draco's penis and scrotum and he was relieved at the complete lack of scarring. Once he was satisfied, he pulled the underwear back into place and then sat down on the edge of the bed. "Can I help you put the hoodie back on?"

He reached out his hand and Draco took it, letting Harry lift him up so that he could get his arms back in the sleeves. After easing him back down to the pillows, he did up the zipper and was unsurprised when Draco pulled the hood back up over his head.

Harry reached over and grabbed the potions off the table and handed them to Draco one at a time. When they were finished, he went to move off the bed so Draco could sleep but was stopped by a hand on his arm.

Draco didn't say anything, just looked at him pleadingly and slid over to the middle of the bed. Harry climbed in and it didn't take long for Draco to wrap himself around Harry's body once more. He didn't cry, but it took longer than it should have for the potions to work their magic and send him off into a dreamless sleep.

Harry just lay there awake, his mind whirling with so many emotions he didn't know how to sort them out. Anger, sadness and fear for Draco were the main ones, but in a place in his head he didn't like to acknowledge, there was happiness at the feeling of being needed by someone…and satisfaction with the fact that his presence was the only thing that Draco needed to feel safe and taken care of.

Harry was aware that it was a selfish feeling, but he couldn't help it. Never in his life had Harry felt like he was everything to someone and now, for however short a time it turned out to be, he was Draco's world and that was something.