Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling; therefore, it's not mine.

Waking up on the morning of September 1st was as hectic as it always was when the Weasleys were involved. Harry had, in a moment of brilliance, packed the night before and as such was able to spend his morning in relative peace while he watched Ron run himself ragged trying to find his belongings. Harry was amazed at how far scattered Ron's things had become.

Harry used his spare time to reflect on all the things that had kept him awake late into the morning. All his tossing and turning had unfortunately reminded Harry of the numerous welts on his back which didn't seem to be healing very well. Pomphrey had assured him they would heal within his first week at Grimmauld place, but after four weeks they still ripped open easily. Harry didn't mention them again, as he didn't want everyone to fuss, so the wounds remained untreated. They had finally started healing or so Harry had thought until last night. However, with all the things on his mind right now, the welts were definitely not Harry's priority. The main thing on Harry's mind was the upcoming return to Hogwarts.

Harry had some good reasons for worrying about going back to Hogwarts. First of all, Harry was definitely not looking forward to seeing Snape and Malfoy. Now that Snape knew about Harry's crush on Draco, Harry was sure he would use it against him somehow. Or else, Snape would mention it to Draco and Draco would use it against him. Either way it wasn't a very happy prospect. Harry wasn't exactly sure what he was going to do about this whole soul mate/Draco thing. With Draco not knowing anything about Harry's traumatic summer, he would surely not treat Harry any differently then he normally did. Although, come to think of it, Harry could distinctly remember Severus mentioning something about Lucius not being entirely happy with his heir. Regardless, Harry was sure whatever was going on between father and son would have little bearing on Draco's thoughts of Harry. How Sev expected Harry to be able to 'woo' his godson was beyond Harry completely. The worst thing was that Harry's feelings towards Draco had only gotten stronger over the summer and Harry wasn't sure if he could go back to being treated like dirt by the Blond boy.

Secondly, Harry was, per usual, worried about the new DADA professor. With the exception of Prof. Lupin, Harry didn't exactly have a good track record as far as DADA profs went. Even with all Harry's new concerns, he couldn't help but worry about what challenges this year would undoubtedly bring and what kind of nutcases he would have to deal with.

But mostly, Harry was afraid of how the school and students would react when they found out he had been abused. It was inevitable that they would find out, him being the boy-who-lived and the fact that the unofficial motto of Hogwarts was 'It's a secret, so naturally, everyone knows.' Harry could only imagine the pity of the Hufflepuffs, the helpful book recommendations from the Ravenclaws and the cajoling taunts from the Slytherins. He was grateful to think that at least the Gryffindors would have his back.

When Ron had finally found his last textbook and packed his elusive tie (somehow it had ended up in a kitchen cupboard), the group was ready to head off and meet the train. The trip was pretty uneventful as Dumbledore, finally acknowledging the danger, allowed an illegal portkey to transport them directly outside Kings Cross Station. After getting on the train the Gryffindors split up, Hermione and Ron heading to the prefects' meeting and Ginny going to meet her friends. Harry headed off down the train to find a compartment, hopefully occupied by some other Gryffindors. As Harry approached the end of the train, Harry felt like he would never find a place to sit. Luckily as he approached the last two compartments Harry recognized Neville's voice floating out from behind the door. Harry opened the compartment and happily stepped inside.

"Neville! Luna! Good to see you! How were your summers?"

"Hello. You don't happen to have a Snarkle with you, do you Harry?"

"Umm, no?"

Harry turned to roll his eyes with Neville as Luna turned back to her book, but he was assaulted by the nervous look on Neville's face.

"H...Harry. You c...can't sit in here. L...look, when Gran found out about the ministry – well, you just can't be near me anymore. No hard feelings, eh mate?"

Harry, who had definitely not expected that, stammered a "no, no offence Nev." and backed out of the compartment. Harry hastily rubbed at tears now gathering in his eyes and headed to the final compartment. He entered it without knocking and found himself face-to-face with a room full of Slytherins. The Slytherins quickly slid from the compartment and Harry was left alone with the one person he did not want to see right now – Draco Malfoy.

"Potter? Just the person I wanted to see."

"Can... can I sit in here? Wait, you wanted to see me? What for?" Harry's heart leaped into his throat. Had Snape said something?

"Go ahead take a seat. Potter... are you crying?"

Harry swiped traitorously at the tears now spilling over.

"No, it's nothing, just why did you want me?"

"Where are the weasel and mudblood?"

"Don't call Hermione that! She's a better person then you'll ever be, Malfoy! And anyways, they're at the prefects' meeting where you should be, shouldn't you?"

"Don't worry about where I should be Potter; just mind your own business."

"Wait a second, you asked me a question first!"

"Look, let's just not talk."

"Fine by me!"

Draco had never stayed quiet for such a long time. He was bursting to say something. The tension in the compartment was almost palpable. Looking across at Harry, it looked like he was a lot more affected by the silence than Draco himself was. Draco had never seen Harry's eyes as haunted as they were right now. 'He doesn't look to well,' Draco thought to himself. 'He looks like I did that time dad – no Lucius – used me to vent on, but Potter has the perfect life! No one would ever dare to do that to the precious Boy-who-lived. Maybe if I say something he'll spill his secret!'

"I refused the dark mark."

"Huh?"

"I refused the dark mark. I was supposed to be marked this summer, but I told Lucius I didn't want to be Voldemort's slave like he is. Lucius is giving me until Christmas to change my mind and join the Dark Lord."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"You asked me why I wanted to see you; that's why." 'I trust you.' "I need your help. I can't let Lucius or the Dark Lord get me. I figured the Golden Boy would be able to protect me."

Draco watched as a slight disappointment flashed across Potter's face. But it was gone as quick as it appeared and Potter slipped in to a thoughtful trance. Eventually Potter seemed to come to some sort of conclusion because he nodded and turned back to Draco.

"I trust you, Draco. We'll need to talk to Dumbledore; he'll know what to do."

"Dumbledore? Will he help me?"

"Dumbledore trusts me and I trust you. It'll be fine. But I need you to understand what you are asking for. Are you really prepared to give up your family... your home?"

"I have to. I can't live my life as someone else's lap dog. I am a Malfoy, and a Malfoy bows to no one!"

"Good. Now, what would you say to a round of exploding snap?"

A/N: Well, there you go. Another chapter and Draco interaction! Anyways, the next couple of chapters are typed up so they should start appearing. I have two essays on the go, though, so I can't give you an exact guess of when I'll be uploading. I would say the next chap should go up next weekend!