New home
Draco Malfoy had been living with you in secret for some time now. He was still severely broken by the war. Your families had been meeting often in formal pureblood events and you had eventually started to form a friendship.
When you had heared what happened at the Battle of Hogwarts, you worried about him but had no way of helping him. You had read about his imprisonment. In your despair you decided to write a letter to him, asking him how he was and offered your help. But you never heard back.
It was a windy autumn afternoon in Toronto, the sun had already parted behind the clouds and its dark absence had made it look later than it actually was. You had snuggled in the reading nook of your Victorian townhouse with a warm sage tea, staring out through the tall window, enjoying the coziness and glad to be not outside in the chilly weather.
While your parents had settled down on the countryside, enjoying Canada’s lush nature, enjoying the lonesome and quiet life, you had looked for something else. When you had bought the old Victorian house in Toronto, you barely knew anyone in the area and most of your friends were caught up in the war. Still, you knew you wanted to build a spacious new home here, a return to Britain was not on your list and you wanted to settle. So, you had spent a large sum of money on the house, renovating it to your liking. You kept the overall Victorian interior design, including the molding on the ceilings and walls, but modernizing it slightly. The rooms were painted in a dark blue or scarlet, making them look cozy and warm.
As you absentmindedly looked at the leaves, colors varying in warm tones from deep scarlet red to warm amber, laying scattered on the ground and hurling with the wind, you heard a knock at the front door. It must be the postman, you thought.
But it wasn’t.
Opening the door, you immediately recognized him. You would recognize him anywhere.
It was Draco Malfoy.
You couldn’t believe it. But there he was, broken and bruised on your doorstep.
Taking in his appearance, you were immediately concerned. Deep slashes, barely healed covered his whole body. Some were oozing worrisomely. His once pristine pale skin was darkened by dirt and his hair almost looked brown. He was barely covered with a shredded shirt and some filthy jeans shorts. In brief, he looked like a man who had gone through hell.
In that moment you were perplexed and had no idea how he made it. Later, told you that he had kept a letter you had sent him to ask him how he was. It had your address on the envelope. Draco had managed to escape prosecution and after a risky escape and exhausting travel to Canada, as a blind passagier of a Muggle trade ship. He had hitchhiked from the port to your place, making his world through the Muggle world with only this piece of paper to guide him.
Right now there he was, standing crouched and staggering slightly in front of you.
“Draco? Is this really you?” You managed to croak out.
As soon as you recovered from the shock of seeing the disheveled and emaciated figure of your childhood friend, you fell into his arms. Or rather, he fell in yours and you both had watery eyes.
“Y/N. I’m … I’m sorry to come here but I didn’t know where else to go.” He croaked with a hoarse voice. “They are out there looking for me.”
“I missed you so much, I’m glad you are okay.” You heard yourself whisper in his ears.
“Can I stay with you? Only for a few days, until I figure something out?” Draco’s voice a cracked mutter.
“No way!” The idea of him leaving you again so soon made you raise your voice.
A deeply resigned look spread on his face and his gaze dropped to the ground. You couldn’t imagine the hardships the former Slytherin Prince had been through. His eyes had lost its gleam and he looked so broken and fragile, making your heart grow heavy.
Clarifying your reaction, you said. “No way, I let you stay only a few days! You will stay until you feel better and then I am not sure if I can let you go.”
His eyes shoot up to meet yours. You both shared a long gaze. His grey orbs invoked memories of your interactions in Hogwarts in you. The both of you had never been romantically involved, but there had always been a spark between you. Jokingly flirting between classes. You had always noticed his long gazes on you. Nothing serious but still …. But at that time, you had been with Harry. But not anymore. Now it had all changed.
And so had you.
A chilly breeze hurled through the air. You realized that Draco must be freezing and it would be better if nobody saw him.
“Let’s get you inside.” Your determined voice broke the awkward moment, and you pulled him in.
He had no bags with him, only the dirty rags on his body. His wand had been destroyed by the Ministry just shortly before he had managed to flee, he had told you later. This was mostly the reason he had managed to flee since no one suspected a wizard would be able to leave without their wand.
You grabbed his wrist, feeling the thin bones under his hands and dragged him up the stairs. Leading him into the guest room of your house on the second floor.
Without waiting you pushed him into the adjacent bathroom.
“Here, you need to sleep but first you need to shower and then I need to treat your wounds. There are towels inside. I don’t have any clothes for you, so, oh wait I might have something. I will lay it in your room for when you come out.” Draco seemed to be wanting to protest but before he could do so, you had already stormed out of the room on the search for some clothes that would fit him.
You heard the shower start when you finally, after some digging in your wardrobe, pulled out a shirt and a pair of trousers. That should do, you thought, hoping Draco wouldn’t ask where they were from.
They were from a former boyfriend of yours who had left them at your place. Not that you had to be ashamed of anything, but somehow, dating, while there was a war going on the other side of the Atlantic, made you feel a bit guilty. You thought back to Jerald, the tall, brown-haired alchemist you had dated for a few months, before deciding you couldn’t do it. You had felt so strange after moving here, having just lost your boyfriend you thought you would grow old with, and your friends who were in a war. You just wanted to feel safety.
Maybe it was true what Harry said, you were really just a coward.
Jerald was perfect, but you had felt like a traitor, so you left him.
But now, a piece of home was here again. You felt your heart beat a bit faster with the thought of Draco. You signed and pulled the clothes out to put into his room. You willed yourself to not think in that way, the poor man had just be severely traumatized and you knew it would be unhealthy to start anything. So you exited the room to go and look for some ingredients to make something to eat.
Draco’s bones ached. Warm water dribbled over his naked body, finally soothing his sore muscles. He was ashamed to look down at his miserable state. Long red slashes covered his skeletal body, the red appearing almost violent against his white skin. He didn’t remember where he got most of his wounds. Some were caused by Voldemort’s treatments, some probably still from Bella and Fenir, and then the ones from the battle and the torture afterwards… He willed himself not to think about it, nothing good would come from it. His thoughts came back to his current situation. Contacting you had been his only option. You were the only one he knew who had avoided the battle and who liked him well enough maybe to break the law for him to give him temporary shelter. Regardless of his involvement in the war.
He knew you hadn’t liked his actions, so he wasn’t sure how long you would have him. Going to you in clothes he had sweat in for weeks and weeks on his long journey and being a wanted fugitive was one of the most shameful things he had ever done.
Him, a Malfoy – not that this meant anything now – who had been taught that appearance and status are the most important things, reduced to this state he was in now. But he doesn’t plan on staying you.
He doesn’t want to bother you with all his problems and his shameful past.
He knew, you deserved better.