Snape escorted Draco into the common room. Snape looked around to see if at least the majority of his house was there. As Dudley stumbled in Snape addressed the common room.

"Malfoy is still feeling a bit under the weather. No one is to bother him or disturb his rest."

Snape stayed and watched as Draco went off the boy's dormitories. He turned to leave and saw Crabbe and Goyle heading in the direction that Draco had just gone.

"Crabbe! Goyle! What did I just say?"

"But we wanted to…"

"I don't care. Leave him be. You can talk to him some other time." Snape said cutting off Crabbe.

"Sir, we're sup…"

"Silence Goyle. If I find out that anyone has gone into the third year's dormitory and it is not time for bed you will lose house points and received a weeks worth of detentions. Is that clear? One last thing, you will inform those currently not present what I have said." Snape turned to leave and saw Dudley standing there. "Evans come with me. I need to have a word with you."

"Yes sir." Dudley was a little scared but followed Snape out of the common room.

"Find a way to find out what happened to Malfoy. When you do try to convince him to talk to me. If he won't consent to speak with me then try and see if he'll talk to your cousin. I have a feeling Malfoy is not like his father. Oh, and Evans when those in your house talk about the Dark Lord they are talking about the one that killed your cousin's parents." Snape said softly.

"I will do what I can. I can tell you that Draco has been beaten. It's obvious to me sir. Also, I am sure what he has gone through is worse than what my dad did to H…my cousin."

Snape's eyes opened wide as he nodded before walking away. He thought about how he could get Harry on alert without anyone suspecting. He knew he couldn't use the cover of the detention he tried to give Harry, as it had been too long and also the talk he had with Dumbledore. He went to his office, paced, looked through everything and paced some more. Snape came across an essay, Harry's essay. He looked back over it; he had to admit that Harry had done really well. Then it hit him how he could speak with Harry.

Tuesday morning Draco knew that he had to change the bandages covering the gash on his left side. He knew it would take time to heal, if it would without a healer. With all the moving he had been doing he could feel small tears that had formed. As Draco carefully sat up he realized that he had over slept a little and saw Crabbe and Goyle sitting on the nearest bed to his.

"Do you mind?"

"Draco…" Said Crabbe

"I'd like to change without an audience."

"We're not leaving." Said Goyle

"What is this? Have both of you been waiting to see me naked?"

"No!"

"Then leave so that I can change of out my night clothes."

Crabbe and Goyle looked at each other and reluctantly left the dorm.

Draco waited a few minutes before undressing. He just barely managed to clean the gash, re-bandage it and get dressed the pain was nearly unbearable. It took him several more minutes for him to leave and go to class, as there was no time to have breakfast. When Draco entered the common room he saw Crabbe and Goyle waiting.

"You didn't have to wait for me. And don't even complain to me later about being hungry. It's your fault you missed breakfast."

Draco, followed closely by Crabbe and Goyle, left the common room. Shortly after entering the hall that led to their first class Draco nearly walked into Dudley.

"Hey Draco. You feeling all right today?"

"Just fine Evans. So what do you want?"

"Oh, I just noticed that you weren't in the dining hall. I though I was hungrier than I actually was. I was going to toss this breakfast sandwich out. It only has bacon and eggs between two pieces of toast. But, now that I have bumped into you, I thought you might want it." Dudley stretched his arm out towards Draco.

Crabbe and Goyle both started to reach out to grab the sandwich. Draco quickly took the sandwich from Dudley and nodded a thank you. As Draco, Crabbe and Goyle headed in the opposite direction of Dudley, Draco slowly ate the breakfast sandwich. It had been a while since he had eaten and wanted to savor the food. He also wanted to torture the other two and it was the only way he could and get away with it.

As they reached the corridor that Potions was held in, Draco could hear the voices of Harry and Hermione.

"Harry, you said you had a headache so I got this for you."

"I don't care if you got me a pain relieving potion. I'm not drinking it. Any way, I didn't say I had a headache, I said that my head hurt. Come on, potions first thing. Any way a pain relieving potion will not help. Now a body double would be great."

Draco stopped walking. All he could think about was how much he would love to take that potion. He sucked in a breath and winced when Crabbe and Goyle walked into him.

"You two go on. I'll be there in a minute. Just go. If you two are late you'll be in trouble. Snape will probably give both of you detention."

Once Crabbe and Goyle ran off to class, Draco resumed walking and Harry and Hermione came into sight.

"Potter…"

Harry turned round to see that Draco was still favoring his left side and a grimace of pain on his face.

"Here, you can have this. I don't want or need it." Harry said as he gently thrust the potion into Draco's hand before walking into class.

When Hermione realized that Harry had left, she quickly took off after him.

Draco as quickly as he could, drank the potion. He felt he had found true love as the potion began to work before he had finished it. He made his way into the classroom and stood in between Crabbe and Goyle.

Harry looked over his shoulder at Draco and held his breath so he didn't laugh. Draco had a goofy grin on his face with a dazed look in his eyes. As Draco looked in Harry's direction and saw that Harry was watching him, he mouthed a 'thank you' to Harry. Harry nodded and turned around.

At lunch Harry glanced over at the Slytherin table. He saw Draco and could tell that the effects of the potion were wearing off.

The rest of the day Harry could only think about how he could get more of the potion and get it to Draco without it being suspicious. Nothing came to mind. Then a thought came to him. He decided to send a letter with a school owl to Dudley telling him that if he needs any help to call on Dobby and have Dobby get him.

Draco woke up early on Thursday in severe pain. He felt nauseous and was sure he was going to vomit. Though he could hear his roommates rising and dressing he laid very still with his eyes closed.

"Draco. Draco get up." Said Goyle.

"No. I'm not feeling well. Go ahead without me."

"We'll stay with you." Said Crabbe

"Go! All I need is some quiet and rest. If you two don't go how am I supposed to know what happened in classes today?"

Crabbe and Goyle did not make a move to leave. They were thinking over what they had been instructed to do and what Draco had said.

"You don't have to worry, I'm not going anywhere. You won't get in trouble for not babysitting me. I'm not stupid you know. I mean come on, you've both been really obvious and I am sure that is not part of the deal."

Crabbe and Goyle paled and stared at each other.

"If the two of you leave me alone, all day, I won't tell any one that you did. I promise."

Crabbe and Goyle shrugged and left the dormitory.

Once Draco was alone he gave into the pain and cried out. Once the tears subsided he sat up and pulled up his shirt to check the bandaging. He let his shirt fall back down and braced himself for the pain as he stood up. He nearly fell back down. After a few minutes he grabbed together some clothes, more bandaging materials, left the dorm and went into the bathroom with the showers.

After bathing Draco felt a little better. With only a towel wrapped around him, he stood in the main part of he bathroom as he assessed the gash and the tears.

Dudley stepped out of a bathroom stall and saw Draco standing there in only a towel. His eyes fell down to the area Draco was focusing on. Dudley felt sick when he saw the gash, it went from just above the middle of Draco's left buttock and wrapped around his side to the front of him stopping about the middle of his abdomen. The gash was wide open and looked as though puss was oozing from it.

"How and when did that happen?" Dudley asked without thinking.

Draco quickly twisted his body around to see who was there. He did this quickly and without thinking, he was afraid that it was Crabbe or Goyle. When he saw that it was Dudley he felt relieved and regretted moving the way he had. Searing, burning pain shot through him so fiercely he automatically grabbed the sink in front of him to keep from falling over. This only added to the pain and made it impossible to hold on and he began to fall to the ground.

Dudley quickly moved over to Draco and brought him slowly to the floor.

"Should I get someone?"

"NO!" Draco panted through the pain.

"What can I do?"

"I don't think that there is anything you can do Evans." Draco said through clenched teeth.

"There has to be something that I can do to help. Let me go get Professor Snape."

"No, please don't."

Dudley didn't know what to do. Several thoughts were going through his mind. He decided he should try to find out what happened to Draco before he did anything else.

"Draco, what happened? Who did this to you?"

Draco looked up at Dudley wondering if he could trust him. He did not want his father to find out he told someone, or as his father would put it go crying to someone. Draco decided to find out some important things about Dudley first.

"Are you going to tell me?"

"It depends."

"On what?"

"Your views and beliefs of the wizarding world."

"Huh?"

"Do you…" Draco swallowed, "Do you believe that pure bloods should rule the wizarding community?" Draco gasped for air before continuing, "Should only those with magical families be allowed to learn magic and attend Hogwarts?" Draco paused to hold his breath in an attempt to prevent himself from sobbing, "Do you fell muggle borns should be banned from Hogwarts and all magic as well as witches and wizards?" Draco took a deep breath as he closed his eyes, "How do you feel about the Dark lord? Do you think his way is the way to go?" Draco could say no more as he began to hyperventilate from the pain and trying not to cry.

"No. The Dark Lord is a murdering psychopath. He murdered members of my family. Blood status does not matter to me. I'd love nothing more than be completely positive that the Dark Lord is truly gone for good."

Draco's hear started hammering its beats. He felt relieved and a little elated; he would finally be able to talk to someone safely. Draco knew he could trust Dudley and could tell him everything. He knew he could and that it was okay, he could hear the honesty and sincerity in Dudley's voice.

"Okay, Evans I'll answer your questions. But first could you please help me re-bandage the gash? I'd also like to get dressed so I'm not spending all day in a towel."

"I'll do my best with the bandage and I understand wanting to be dressed."

Dudley did his best to bandage the gash. He assisted Draco with putting on a shirt. Dudley followed Draco into the common room. Once they were comfortably sitting, Draco told Dudley everything. Not just what happened recently at the hands of his father but how he had been feeling about his life and what he had been thinking since Harry saved him. He went on to tell Dudley that he wanted a better life, a different life.

"I just don't know what to do anymore. Other than you, I don't know who I can trust, I do know who I can't."

"I know someone you can trust. He might be able to help you."

"Who is your cousin?"

Dudley took a took a deep breath and said, "Harry Potter."

Draco stared at Dudley for a while and then chuckled.

"You know Evans I think I will talk to your cousin. There are a few things I'd like to say, I'd like to apologize to him and his friends. And hopefully get to explain."

"Dobby!"

'Crack'

"Who dare call Dobby?"

"I did. Harry said I could call on you to help me."

"You mean Harry Potter?"

"Yes. Harry is my cousin and my friend here is hurt real bad."

When Dobby saw Draco his eyes welled with tears and his body started to shake.

"Dobby, please focus." Draco said barely above a whisper.

With Dudley's help, Draco showed Dobby the gash.

"Dobby I need you to take us somewhere safe and then get Harry and bring him to us."

"Dobby know of a place." Dobby grasped both boys' hands.

Seconds later they were standing in front of a wall on the seventh floor.

"What is this?" Asked Dudley.

"Come and go room. Also known as Room of Requirement." Dobby then explained in detail about the function of the room.

Dudley walked past the wall three times while saying 'I need a safe and secure place where unwanted persons can't find us.'

"Evans look." Said Draco in a raspy voice.

Dudley looked at the wall to see a highly polished door. He reached out, grabbed the brass handle and opened the door. As the door opened it revealed a spacious room with a plush couch and a couple of plush, fluffy armchairs. All three entered the room and walked around a bit.

"Dobby please get Harry and bring him back here."

'Crack'

Dobby was gone.

Draco not wanting to sit down, knowing he would just have to stand back up to show Harry, remained standing. The movements he made were from breathing.

Dudley paced the length of the room.

Dobby checked every classroom, hall, corridor, passageway and Gryffindor Tower. He could not seem to find Harry anywhere. Dobby then checked the hospital wing and still no Harry. Dobby was nearly to the dining hall when he saw a young girl with hair the same shade as Ron.

"Miss."

"Hello. Who are you?"

"Dobby Miss. Must find Harry Potter."

"Well he's in the dining hall having lunch. Would you like me to get him for you."

"Please do Miss."

Ginny briskly walked through the doors and over to the Gryffindor table.

"Hey Ginny. What? Is there something wrong?'

"Well, there is a house elf just outside of the dining hall. He say's his name is Dobby. He seems really shaken and anxious. He was really happy when I offered to get you for him."

"Thanks. I know what this is about, or well sort of. Ginny, Ron and Hermione come one. I have a feeling we're all needed on this. Oh and Ron, be nice."

The four of them met Dobby in a hallway near the dining hall.

"I don't know about this. Cousin only said to get Harry. Nothing about others."

"Dobby, it will be fine. What's going on?"

Dobby thought a moment longer and then reached out and grabbed hold of all four and took them straight into the room of requirement.

Dudley looked up and froze when he saw Harry plus three.

Draco was not sure about seeing Harry and the other three. He had wanted to talk to Harry first and then possibly Ron and Hermione.

"What is Malfoy doing here?" Ron asked skeptically

"Ron, just wait a moment."

Ron marched over to Draco with his wand drawn.

"I'm gong to…"

"I swear if you touch me Weasley…" Draco said as he pulled out his wand and pointed it at Ron.

Harry ran over, grabbed the back of Ron's robes and tried to pull him back. Since this was not working at all, Harry gave up the attempt. He positioned himself a distance away but able to point his wand in the small gap in between the two and gave a flick of his wand. Draco and Ron both were forced back away from each other. Draco winced and sucked in a ragged breath.

"Harry why did you do that? Why does it seem like your shielding Malfoy and not me?"

"Well, to be honest…I am shielding Malfoy from you."

"Why? He drew his wand and pointed it at me!"

"What did you expect Ron? You were advancing on him with your wand drawn. Of course he's going to draw his own wand. Any one would."

"Ronald Weasley lower your wand! Take a seat and wait to find out what is going on and why we are here." Said Hermione in a very Mrs. Weasley-ish tone of voice.

"Obviously it's a trick."

"I don't think so Ron. Okay Draco, Dudley what is going on?"

Ron started pacing and at each pass brought Ron closer to the shield.

"Ro…Weasley please give me a moment to explain. Look, I put my wand away. First of all I apologize, for everything I've said and done to you, Harry and Granger. Go ahead keep your wand on me Weasley, if it makes you feel better so be it. All I ask is that you hear me ou…" Draco had taken a step towards the shield and what color had been in his face drained. He instinctively reached for his left side, his eyes rolled back into his head and he started to fall over.

Dudley, being on the same side of the shield as Draco, quickly ran over and stood behind Draco and slipped his arms under Draco's armpits and slowly guided Draco to the floor.

"Harry, keep the redheaded boy away but let the girls over here. They might be able to help. I can't do what needs to be done, I've already seen the…" Dudley shook his head in an attempt to shake the image out of his head, "The girls can take his shirt off so you all can see…the girls will have to be careful and as gentle as possible."

Hermione and Ginny walked over to Harry. Harry lowered the shield only long enough for the girls to step pass. Once they had passed him he put the shield back.

"Harry are you mental?"

"No. I want to know what is going on. It's obvious that Draco is severely injured."

When Draco came to, he was a little disorientated and confused.

"Draco are you okay? Do you think you can stand? Or get to the couch to sit?"

"I'm okay, I think. Help me up."

Once Draco was standing and steady on his feet, he tried to undo the buttons on his shirt. Without thinking he reached out and grabbed the closest shoulder to steady himself.

"Get your hand off my sister!"

"Ron shut up! He's not hurting me. It's obvious that he just needs a little extra support you git."

"Sorry, I didn't mean…"

"Don't worry about it. As long as you need the extra support your hand can remain. I take it that it's your left side that is the problem."

"Yeah." Draco said breathlessly while frowning.

As Ginny and Hermione unbuttoned Draco's shirt a distant look, on the dreamy side, washed over his face.

Harry smiled and looked away. He had to; he knew roughly what was going through Draco's head. Harry, unlike Draco, did not have pain to dilute the picture and prevent natural reactions occurring. Harry put his all into thinking of anything that did not involve two girls removing his clothes.

As the girls slid the shirt off Draco's arms, Hermione noticed the bandage. To her it looked saturated with puss.

"Uh…Draco how long ago was this bandage put on?" Asked Hermione.

"Not long. I don't know exactly, maybe an hour or more or less."

"I'm going to have to take it off."

"I know, just be quick about it. Oddly enough it hurts less when the bandaging is removed quickly."

Ginny braced herself for having to support extra weight, Dudley stood behind Draco and took hold of him as Hermione took in a deep breath and quickly ripped the bandage off. Draco nearly passed out.

Ginny gasped and grabbed Hermione's arm while still holding on to Draco. Hermione gripped Ginny's arm and covered her mouth with her free hand.

"Oh, good grief! What in the name of Merlin's pants…how?"

Harry looked over at the group around Draco and saw the gash. He dropped his wand and the shield disappeared. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Ron moving towards the group. He quickly ran over and stood in front of Ron and was able to hold him in place.

"Hermione, Ginny could you both please move out of Ron's line of sight for a moment. He needs to see…"

Hermione leaped out of the way, Ginny stepped to the side but kept a hold on Draco. Ron froze in mid step, dropped his wand, stumbled backwards and fell, hard, on his ass.

Harry walked over and took a closer look at the wound.

"It looks like this has been done magically."

"How can you tell? Who would…why would...?" Stammered Ron.

Draco said nothing. Hung his head as he was rapidly losing all strength.

"His father." Harry said questioningly.

Draco nodded his head, using his last bit of strength.

"We need to move him. He can't hold himself up at all, Dudley and I can only do so much." Panted Ginny

Harry and Hermione quickly assisted Ginny and Dudley in moving Draco to the couch. They made sure that Draco's left side was easily accessible.

"KREACHER!" Screamed Harry.

'Crack'

"Master Harry call Kreacher?"

"Yes. Look at this wound. I believe it was created magically. I need you to find all that you can that will cleanse and hopefully mend it. Think of what you would bring if I had a wound like this. Whatever it is, bring it all here to me. Please hurry Kreacher."

"Yes Master." Kreacher said softly before leaving with a 'crack' sound.

A few minute later Kreacher returned with a medium sized box.

"Where do you want Kreacher to put this?"

"Right here." Harry said as he indicated a spot next to the couch.

Kreacher placed the box where Harry had indicated.

"Thank you Kreacher. You don't have to stay here, you may return to the House of Black."

Kreacher bowed and left.

Harry opened the box and saw several vials full of some kind of potion, empty vials, what seemed to be an unending supply of various ingredients and of course a thick book.

"Hermione, would you mind trying to make sense of all this? Most of the vials are full of different potions, none of the vials are labeled."

"I don't mind doing that Harry. Thank you for asking."

Hermione looked through the book, found a page that indicated what color of potion did what to what kind of injury or whatever.

"The light blue is a cleansing potion, according to the book it stings a bit. Right now, it's the only one we can use. Well, there is one that is a red color. It's a testing potion. You drop three drops of it on a wound and then when it turns a different color you have to look that up to find out what caused the wound if made by magic, and what to do to heal the wound if healing is possible. I just…I really don't want to use it. Draco is in enough pain as it is. According to the book it's really painful. I can't find any pain-relieving potion in the box but the book does have directions for making it. It's easy to make. It will only take two hours before it can safely be consumed."

"What exactly do you mean by easy?" Asked Harry.

"We have all the ingredients we need in the box as well as something to mix it in, plenty of empty vials…in other words we have everything we need to make it…I'd already be working on it, but since I can't access the box…"

"Sorry." Harry said as he slid the box over to Hermione.

"Um…we can't all stay here. It will be noticed that all of us are missing from classes." Ginny said

"I really don't care about classes right now. We can and will stay here and while we are here we can figure out our story or stories. Or we refuse to explain why we skipped classes."

"I can see that working for most of us. Draco will need to be back in his bed before anyone returns to our house."

"Evans don't worry about me getting back to Slytherin House. All that matters that no one finds out that the six of us are here together."

"I agree with Draco."

"Harry…"

"Ron, Harry and Draco are right. It's best that no one knows what's happening right here, right now. I don't know all the details but still all the same."

"You know Ron, you don't have to be here. You can leave if you want but I'm staying here with Harry, Hermione, Dudley and Draco."

"No. Wait. I did apologize, but I want to explain and Ron should be here to hear it."

"Draco save your energy, just rest for now. You can talk later." Ginny said in a soft calming voice

"In the meantime, use the cleansing potion and then the testing…"

"Draco it can wait until I…"

"I won't say that more pain won't matter, because it will. I'll try to handle it. The sooner all of you can try to heal…the better. If we…you are not able to then…I'll have to see a healer…a certified healer. Still make the pain-relieving potion, it works wonderfully fast, I just wish that it lasted longer. I'll take what I can get though."

Hermione and Ginny cringed at the thought of putting Draco through more pain.

Harry looked around and spotted Dobby who was trembling from head to foot.

"Dobby you don't have to stay for this. I can tell you are not taking what you've seen so far well. It's going to get worse before it gets better."

"Dobby feels he needs to stay." Dobby said while trembling and grabbing his ears trying to pull them down to muffle what was to come.

Harry quickly poured the light blue potion over the gash.

"Well the book is right…this shit stings" Draco said through gritted teeth.

Harry waited a few minutes before using the red potion.

"Um…Draco before Harry uses the other potion…I think you should figure out now where your hands are going to be. We have no idea how much more pain this is going to cause you, so it would be a good idea to figure out ahead of time what you plan to grab hold of. Hermione said that only three drops of it would do, I personally don't want to find out what would happen if more than drops were to come out." Said Ginny

"I have a feeling that Draco's lung power will be tested and pushed to the maximum limit. We might want to have him hold a cushion over his mouth to muffle any possible scream. I don't know about all of you but I personally would like to still have my hearing."

"Granger has a point." Draco said as he carefully rolled over on to his back.

Ginny quickly pulled a cushion off of one of the armchairs and gave it to Draco. Once Draco had the cushion over his mouth, he used both hands to hold the cushion in place, he did his best to brace himself."

"Here it goes." Harry said as he put three drops of the potion on the gash.

Draco screamed into the cushion, gripping it with everything he had, his back arched up off of the couch and his whole body shook. Draco's body begun to relax after a few minutes

Ginny quickly pulled the cushion out of Draco's hands so he could breath.