Chapter Two

When Draco came to, he was in a cold, snow covered alley in the outskirts of London. His body ached and he was still in pain. He was magic-less and alone, and Love had destroyed him...

The blonde leaned against the wall and used it to help him walk to the entrance of the alley, which lead him out to a residential street, something that Draco had rarely seen. The sun was just beginning to rise on the horizon and he could faintly hear people starting to wake up in their houses, ready for a brand new day. However, Draco was going to have to get ready for a brand new life. He heard some movement behind him and turned around quickly, eyes wide with fear. All he saw though was a muggle, sleeping in what could only be described as a bag in Draco's eyes. He had heard about them before, sleeping bags, they were make-shift beds that muggles used when they went 'camping'.

It seemed the person was starting to wake up as the sunlight tried to filter into the alley. "Excuse me, sir..." Draco whispered, slumping against the wall, his body was drained still and he mentally felt exhausted. "I need help... Please help me?" His voice was desperate, but at the minute the ex-wizard was a very desperate boy.

The man stirred even more awake as he heard a voice and eventually he sat up, blinking as the last remains of sleep left his body. "Who are you?" He replied, eyeing the blonde carefully. "You from one of the houses? You look like it." The man eyed Draco's clothes, and could easily tell this boy was from a wealthy background. Most homeless people probably would have mugged him for the clean clothes and any money that he had, but not this man. He'd been on the streets long enough to know that being a cunt wouldn't get you anywhere.

"No... I'm not from around here... I need, I need help," Draco whispered before he fell to the floor, shaking from the pain that still tingled over his body. The man's eyes widened as he jumped up quickly, escaping from his sleeping bag. "I should think you do need help, mate." He replied, gathering his sleeping bag and placing it over Draco. "Here, mate, keep warm. I've got a few quid knocking about; I'll go get us a cuppa. A good sugarery cuppa helps you feel better. Just wait here, I won't be long." The man explained, tucking the young blonde in the sleeping bag as best he could. He could see Draco shaking and his face said it all. The man could tell Draco was in pain and something terrible had happened to him recently.

"Thank you..." Draco mumbled. The sleeping bag wasn't the cleanest and it had a slight smell to it, but Draco was happy for the warmth. The cold had gone straight to him in his weakened state, and he was grateful for the help. "My name is Draco, Draco Mal-..." He glanced to the man, before shaking his head slightly, "My name is Draco."

"Nice to meet you Draco," The man replied, "Mine's Dom. But hush up for now mate, you need to rest by the looks of it, I'll be back soon." And with that Dom left to head to a small cafe he knew quite well. Cups of tea there were 70p and the sugar was plentiful. They didn't turn him away either this early in the morning. His clothes were slightly dirty, and he had a few holes in a few places, but he still looked slightly presentable for someone who was homeless. His brown hair was scruffy and speckled with snow, and stubble spotted his chin. Dom was 25, he had been on the streets for three years now, and he had seen many come and go. Some he even took under his wing and it seemed Draco was the next person Dom would have to look after. He was grateful for the company though, it was a hard life, living on the streets, a lot of people ended up insane and doing daft things, but not Dom, he had his head screwed on enough to know that killing yourself was not the easy way out.

Draco was drifting in and out of consciousness, especially now that he had some warmth. His thoughts kept straying to the previous day, though he wasn't sure if it actually happened yesterday, he didn't know how much time had passed since he lost his magic, since he was disowned. He needed to find a wizard who could help him, who he could talk to and explain what happened. He was pretty certain that Dom wasn't a wizard, but for now, Draco would have to accept Dom's help until he had the strength to try and find a solution to his problem. Everything had changed for the young Malfoy, except for the hatred he still felt for his father, which had only strengthened due to the circumstances. He wished that he could find Harry; he wished that he wasn't an ex-Death Eater so Harry would help him. All these wishes would never come true though, things were done and gone and Draco's mistakes and his family's now haunted him.

It wasn't long before Dom came back, two plastic cups in hand. "Here, Draco, drink this, it'll help you a bit", Dom said, sitting down next to the blonde. Draco opened his eyes and shakily reached out for the cup, thanking him quietly as he did so. "How'd you get here then, Draco? You look like death warmed up, mate, you certainly don't belong here." Dom asked, removing the plastic top off the cup and sipping the hot liquid.

Draco sat up a bit, doing the same and sipping his drink. He felt the warmth of the tea slip down his throat and it seemed Dom was right, the sugar was making him feel a bit better and the caffeine was helping him perk up slightly. He thought to himself about what he should say, "I was disowned. My father and I had an argument and it ended up in a fight. The next thing I remember is waking up here. He obviously dumped me here after it all happened," Draco explained, choosing his words carefully, "And, well, now I suppose I need to find my own way…"

The older male listened, Draco's story was perfectly normal; he had spoken to many homeless people who had had the same thing happen to them. "Well, you're at the bottom of society now, mate. People tend not to care about us lot, we're nothing. You look like you're from wealth, and no offense, I doubt you've ever lived in the real world." Dom shrugged, sipping more of his drink, and he was surprised to see the other nodding in agreement. "I suppose I haven't," Draco replied, though it was a slight lie, war forced him to live in some kind of a real world, but he knew it was a very different world to what Dom was talking about. "You probably wouldn't survive a week, Draco, and again, I mean no offense. Luckily for you, I'm a nice guy and I'll have to show you the ropes." With that, Dom smiled at the blonde. Draco knew he would never be able to show his proper thanks to Dom and despite all that had happened, Draco cracked a smile back.

And so, a couple of months went on, winter finally became spring, the snow finally melted and Draco's pain went away with the help of Dom and a few others. Dom showed Draco a few good begging spots and showed him how to make the most out of his young looks, which resulted in Draco often getting the most money out of begging. Living on the streets had affected Draco's appearance though. His nice clothes became ragged and dirty, his skin became paler, and his hair unkempt and he looked more skinnier and gaunt then ever from not eating properly. The past few months had been hard for Draco though, his physical pain went eventually, but not his mental pain. He often woke up from horrible nightmares, the events played in his dreams nearly every night. When he woke, he would often be covered in a cold sweat, the tingling of pain in his body. It was almost like his magic was trying to recover, but was too weak and would just leave his body again. He had been on the streets since January, and finally, nightmare after nightmare; it was in April that Draco finally decided that he had to find Wizards and Witches to help him.

"Dom, here's your cuppa, mate." Draco whispered, heading into their alley patch, two cups of tea in hand. Dom was still sleeping in his sleeping back, but started to wake when he heard Draco's voice. "You didn't have to do that, Draco, but cheers." Dom replied, shifting and sitting up in his bag to grab the cuppa, "You're up early, Draco. Makes a change!"

The blonde laughed at his companion, "Well, Dom today is a busy day, and I need to speak to you about a few things," He whispered, sitting down in his own sleeping bag which he had acquired on his first week. "First of all, Dom, you've been a great help to me in my time of need. I wish there was a way I could repay you for all your kindness towards me. If it weren't for you I doubt I would have lasted… But I think it's time for me to move on, I know enough to make my own way and I need to attend to things. I need to find a solution to what happened to me and if there is anything I can do…" The ex-wizard explained, his voice remaining quiet and soft, it would be hard to leave Dom, he had been a great help to Draco.

Dom listened quietly, sipping on his tea. Even Dom realised that it was time for Draco to go. He heard Draco every night, he heard him waking up from what must be hideous nightmares. He understood that Draco needed to sort out some personal demons and try to find solutions to personal goals. "There's no need to thank me mate, you're a good lad Draco. And you're right, you need to try and sort things out with your family and that. You'll be fine mate, you'll sort something out, I'm sure of it!" Dom smiled brightly at the younger male, it was sort of a fake smile though, as Dom was slightly saddened to see Draco leave. He enjoyed his company, his humour and even his good looks, being homeless had dirtied Draco slightly, but Dom could still tell he was good looking underneath the muck and grime.

The blonde smiled back, he too saddened to leave the older male, his teacher and good friend. "Yeah, I need to try and sort things out with my family," Draco replied quietly, but he knew that was a complete lie, he would never go back to his father now, not after all that had happened. He was off to find Diagon Alley to try and find some help, and possibly try and access his account at Gringotts if that was even possible.

The two finished their cup of tea in a comfortable silence, just taking in each other's company for the last time. Draco realised how similar and yet how opposite this moment was to the time where he first met Dom. It was hard to believe it had only been a few months, it had seemed like years to Draco, but there was no time or place to dwell on it any longer in Draco's mind.

He stood up slowly, reaching for his bag which he had already packed. He slipped the bag over his shoulder, grateful for the lightness of it; luckily he owned nothing which weighted it too much. Dom also stood, his sleeping bag falling from him. They both looked at each other before they embraced each other in a long hug "Good luck, Draco, look after yourself," Dom whispered into Draco's ear. "And you, mate, and you!" Draco replied back, squeezing his eyelids together to stop a small tear from leaving. "I'll see you around, Dom," Draco added quietly, as he pulled away. The blonde turned and left the alley, pausing at the entrance to wave goodbye to Dom before he left the alley where he had originally started his new life.

A/N: Thank you for the few reviews and to everyone who has favorited my story. Chapter 3 should be up within the next week. Harry will finally make an appearance in the next chapter. I just wanted to try and get most of Draco's story done first :) Please review, reviews help inspire me :D