A/N Only plot mine please vote...
Harry thought that he should not have been surprised at how the summer played out. He had lived it all once before, why was he shocked at the events that had occurred over the last month? When he got home, his uncle and aunt had acted less than happy about his return and had quickly given him a long list of chores for him to do. His aunt acted very scared of him, which he could not understand because she should have known he could not practice magic over the summer. The law against underage magic had not changed in over a millennium. Did she really think they would change it in twenty years?
However, Harry did not have much time to think about this. He was constantly cooking the meals, gardening, cleaning the house, and ensuring his aunt and uncle never had a reason to be upset with him. The day of the big dinner party came and Harry was unsurprised when he was told to go to his room and act like he did not exist. He thought that he had become pretty good at this over the years and even wondered if he did exist, or if he maybe he got so good he had stopped existing.
When Dobby arrived, Harry did try to shut him up. However, the little house elf could not be persuaded out of trying to "help" the great Harry Potter. When he levitated the dessert over Harry's uncle's guest, Harry cringed. That night was not a pretty one for Harry. He awoke the next day not able to move, and he was almost certain his uncle had broken something.
Harry was surprised, however, when he awoke the evening before his birthday to find a shock of blond hair outside his window. He limped over to the bar-covered windows and struggled to unlock them to allow Draco to open it with his wand. They at least got the window open and Draco began to talk to Harry.
"Wow, you look like you went a few rounds with a hippogriff." Draco commented. Harry frowned. "What happened to you? Your uncle got frustrated again?" Harry scowled.
"What are you doing here?" Harry whispered back.
"I overheard Dobby bragging to the other house elves how he helped the great Harry Potter and I got nervous. Dobby does not know the difference between helping and hurting. Anyway, when I flew to all the windows, I couldn't find you. Why do you have bars over your window?" Draco asked curiously.
"I'm a criminal, apparently. At least, that's what my aunt and uncle say. Didn't you know I'm going to St. Brutus' School for incurably criminal boys?" Harry teased. Draco rolled his eyes and sighed. He pointed his wand at the bars and disintegrated them.
"Where are your things?" Draco asked as he climbed through the window. Harry motioned toward the door.
"They're in the cupboard under the stairs." Harry replied. Draco whispered a quick Alohomora and opened Harry's door. He looked down at near the ground.
"What's with the cat flap?" Draco asked. Harry shrugged.
"How else would they get food to me once every few days?" Harry asked indifferently. Draco scowled. He ran down the stairs and opened the cupboard door. He levitated Harry's trunk and was about to close the door when he noted a paper hanging on the wall. Draco shook with anger as he read, Harry's Room.
Draco stomped up the stairs, not afraid of waking anyone up anymore. He barged into Harry's room.
"They kept you in a cupboard under the stairs?" Draco spat out furiously. Harry cringed a bit.
"Shhh, do you want to wake up the whole household?" Harry whispered, trying to calm down his friend.
"Let them hear! I want to have a few words with them anyway!" Draco exclaimed loudly.
Right then, they heard a rumbling sound coming from the hallway. Suddenly, the door slammed open and Draco came face-to-face with what he was sure was a purple walrus. He looked over confusedly at Harry, who was pale and shaking.
"Freak! How many times have I told you to be quiet?" The walrus screamed at Harry. Then, the man looked around the room and took in the sight of the bars gone and a blond-haired boy standing next to his most despised nephew. "Who are you?" The walrus whispered dangerously. Draco squared his shoulders and mustered up a very brave and proud look.
"I am heir Malfoy, scion of the great Lord Malfoy. I have power you could only dream of, and I have training you could never imagine. I think I should be the one asking you who you are. Who do you think you are, treating a better as though they were a slave? Harry Potter is the wizard who defeated the Dark Lord. You are only alive by his great mercy..." Draco looked over at the cowering Harry and thought for a moment. "Or maybe his great stupidity. I can't decide which." Draco returned to his rant. "But that doesn't matter. What does matter is this great wizard has allowed you to breathe the same air as he and yet you have the audacity to treat him like some worthless house elf. If it were up to me, he would never return to this house again. As it is, I will do everything in my power to protect the great scion Potter from walruses like you." At this point, Draco shrunk Harry trunk, grabbed Harry, grabbed Hedwig, and hopped onto his broom, motioning for Harry to do the same. "You will not be seeing Harry again if I have any say in it." As he flew off, Draco realized he did not have any say in it. However, he had made an impression and that was what counted. He made sure the shell-shocked Harry had a tight hold of his broom, and accelerated toward Malfoy Manor.
Once they arrived at the Manor, Draco realized he had not thought all this through. How could he ensure Harry's safety for one moment with his mother and father around? He put a still shocked Harry in one of the guest bedrooms and turned out the lights, hoping Harry's state of mind would eventually lead him to nod off so that Draco could put precautions in place.
The only thing Draco could think of was to write to his godfather. He remembered Harry saying once that Severus had charged himself with the protection of Lily's only child. Maybe this counted as a time Harry would need his protection.
Draco sent a quickly written note to his godfather outlining the basic events of the night (excluding the mention of the bars on the window or the cat flap) and then went to bed. His godfather would hopefully be there in the morning and would sort this whole thing out.
The next morning, Draco awoke and laid relaxed for a moment before he remembered the events of the previous night. Then, he took a pillow and forcefully placed it over his face.
"What was I thinking?" Draco mumbled to himself. "Oh, right, I wasn't thinking. Stupid Gryffindor traits bleeding through."
Draco sighed and got out of bed. He walked over to Harry's room and knocked on the door, hoping that Harry had not gone wandering. He said a quick prayer of thanksgiving when Harry opened the door and let him in.
"Draco, last time I was saved, I was taken to a place where I knew no one wanted to kill me." Harry reminded him as they sat down together on the edge of the bed.
"That's why I already have a plan in place." Draco partially lied. The fact that Severus was his only plan remained unsaid.
Harry sighed. "Okay, I'll trust you, but remember, I can't use my wand to defend myself."
At that point, Dobby came in, trying to find Draco to inform him his godfather had arrived. He let out a scared squeal when he saw Harry sitting next to him.
"Mister Harry Potter, sir. You is not supposed to be being here. You is in grave danger." Dobby warned, oblivious to the fact Harry was scowling at him.
"Dobby, why are you here?" Draco asked the scared little house elf.
"Oh, I is giving a message to little master. Mister Severus Snape is being here to talk to young master." Dobby announced. Draco gulped. Harry looked over dubiously at Draco.
"That's your plan?" Harry asked accusingly. Draco shrugged sheepishly.
"It sounded like a good plan at the time." Draco confessed. Harry sighed.
"Come on, let's go see the greasy bat." Harry suggested. Draco glared at him.
"Didn't he give you your beloved photo album?" Draco questioned. Harry blushed and looked down sheepishly.
"Not the first time." He mumbled under his breath. "Besides, he's still greasy." Draco sighed and rolled his eyes as he helped Harry to his feet.
They walked down numerous corridors until they came to the guest living room. Draco stopped Harry for a second.
"Just remember: Uncle Sev will protect you if he must, but it would be best if you keep your mouth shut." Draco warned. Harry nodded and squared his shoulders. Draco opened the door.
The sight they found beyond the doors was almost comical. Professor Snape was glaring at both of them, but Lucius and Narcissa looked completely dumbfounded.
"Draconis Lucius Malfoy. What in the name of Salazar is that boy doing in our house?" Lucius gritted his teeth and snarled. Severus sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I-I-I..." Draco started, but then realized he had no good answer. If he told his parents that Harry's uncle and aunt were abusive, they could use it against the child. They might even sue for custody so that they could have control over the Boy-Who-Lived. However, any other explanation would be scorned and heavily punished.
"Dumbledore told me I had to fetch the boy, for whatever reason he may have. I told Draco I was planning on getting him today, and he must have taken the liberty of doing it for me. Since it was a task that was more pleasurable for him than for me, I must say I thank him." Severus lied flawlessly. Draco smiled in gratitude, but the look on his godfather's face told him that they would be talking about this sometime later. "However, I must take Mister Potter back with me."
Draco frowned. This was not going to end well in his mind, but at least Harry was safer with Severus than he was with the Malfoys or Dursleys. Harry slightly glared at Draco. Draco shrugged and went to grab his things. He handed Harry the shrunken trunk and Hedgwig's cage, as well as his broom.
"At least I know you'll come back to school alive." Draco said weakly. Harry sighed.
"We can hope." Harry rebutted. Draco gave Harry an exasperated look.
"Didn't you tell Mione and me that you had a nice talk with Professor Snape. What happened to that?" Draco asked him knowingly. Sometimes, it was just hard to let go of old grudges.
"Well, he still thinks of me as James Potter. Perhaps I should get my eyes fixed so my glasses aren't hiding them." Harry joked as they walked back to where the Malfoys and Professor Snape were waiting.
"Give him a chance. He did still give you that photo album." Draco reminded him. Harry sighed.
"Yeah, and I do respect him. It's just hard to let go of last time." Harry explained as Draco stopped in front of the door.
"Well, good luck." Draco replied to his friend and opened the door. He nodded his head to Severus' unasked question of whether they had everything.
"Well, we best be leaving. Come along, Mister Potter." Severus implored the boy. Harry nodded obediently and began to follow Professor Snape out.
Before they actually left the house, Severus grabbed Draco's arm. "We will talk about this when you arrive at Hogwarts." He hissed into Draco's ear. Draco nodded in agreement. Boy, did he have a story to tell his uncle!
CHAPTER END
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