Chapter 9
The first thing that Harry noticed even before he opened his eyes was the lack of pain his body was in. He opened his eyes and winced when the light from the morning sun burned at his corneas. His eyes snapped shut and he could see dancing patterns behind his lids. He waited until that subsided to try again. This time he opened his eyes gently and turned his head away from the window a little. When his vision adjusted to the lighting, his senses came into play and recognized that he was no longer in the care of his relatives. The bed he was in was soft and the sheets tucked around him were made of fine silk and a pretty emerald green. Harry sat up and was pleased that he was able to move his back and feel no pain. Looking more around the room he saw so many toys as well as another bed on the opposite side of the room.
Speaking of, the room was absolutely enormous and was easily the size of the common room in Gryffindor tower. Even with the two beds there was plenty of floor space to walk around. There was a small corner that was filled with books of various sizes and what looked like a toy chest. It made him wonder where he was seeing as he didn’t personally know anyone with enough wealth to afford all of this. He pulled back the covers on the bed and was pleasantly surprised when he was hit with a warm breeze instead of a harsh chill. His naked feet touched the hardwood floor and padded over to the large floor length window by the end of his bed. The view was beautiful. The entire house seemed to overlook a large backyard that was precisely mowed down with a garden a little off to the right filled with flowers that were red and dark pink. There was a gate that stretched around the perimeter and cut off the property before there was a forest.
After standing there looking at the view, Harry moved to the corner that held all the toys. He caught sight of teddy bears and stuffies that resembled some of the magical creatures he had heard about as well as some he had never seen before. He picked up the hippogriff plush that was almost as big as Harry’s arm. He was a beautiful tawny color with patches of gold and red embellishments. His fur was soft to the touch and Harry felt the need to rub his face against the soft fabric. He sat down facing the corner with the stuffie in his lap, burying his face in the toy. For some reason the action made the boy’s heart feel heavy and Harry suddenly felt engulfed in a wave of loneliness, sadness, and guilt. He shouldn’t be here. He knew better to touch other people’s things, especially without asking. He also knew that freaks like him didn’t deserve nice things like this. Hell he was a freak for even wanting it. He was too old for stuffies and the years when he could have had one he never did since he knew his aunt would not be caught dead buying him anything .
Tears began to prickle in his eyes and he swallowed hard around the lump in his throat. Where was his professor? Why hadn’t they let Vernon kill him, or at least kill him themselves. He remembered his potion professor coming to save him the night before. He had assumed that he had been sent by Voldemort to either bring him to him or to carry out the task of killing him. The small boy wished that it had been the latter. Then there would be no need to fight this war. No need to be the headmaster’s plaything. With him gone the way could have been as good as over and yet here he was. All the times he had prayed for someone to take him to Death no one listened. They tortured and tormented him but even when he was on death’s doorstep someone always had to bring him back. Taking him away from the one peaceful thing he could ask for; the only merciful thing he had ever asked for.
Sobs left the small child and he buried his face within the fur of the stuffie in his arms. The soft fur gave him a sense of security he never had, and for some reason that made the pain in his chest all the more agonizing. Potter had been so enclosed in his thoughts that he was unaware that he had woken the other person who had been sleeping peacefully in the other bed. Draco woke up, not from the gryffindor’s sobs but from the overwhelming despair and pain radiating off of him. The little malfoy had watched Harry get up and move around, looking nervous as if he thought someone was going to yell at him or something. He didn’t move since he didn’t want to alarm his classmate that he was up. He saw Harry pick up his hippogriff stuffie and touch the rest of his stuffed animals that were all neatly arranged in his security corner. Normally Draco’s first instinct would have been to get upset at someone messing around in his place of homeostasis without his knowledge or permission. But there was something different. The Potter he had seen at school was always so sure of himself, boastful even. The Potter here in his room suddenly seemed so small and fragile.
With that he let the gryffindor sit in his safe space, but the more he sat by himself the darker his emotions got and Draco could feel every one of them. They made his heart hurt and he wanted nothing more than to jump out of bed and hug Harry for all of his worth. He wanted to protect him and make his pain and torment go away. And after that, he wanted to kill the person who had hurt him so. As soon as that thought passed his mind, Draco frowned as he realized that he too played a role in hurting Harry. He had tormented the boy as well and for the longest time Draco told himself that he was justified. He had wanted to be his friend and Potter had turned his nose up at him and looked down at him like he was a piece of filth on the bottom of his shoes. The disgust, while unpleasant, wasn't something he wasn’t used to. It had been the rejection that hurt the most especially when he genuinely wanted to get to know the boy. Draco had wanted to know Harry not Harry Potter the savior or The Boy Who Lived.
The longer Harry sat in the corner and sobbed, the harder it was for Draco to simply act like he was unaware. He felt tears prick his own eyes and he whimpered softly. He shifted a bit in his bed and rose slowly. Harry gasped as he did. The green eyed child immediately dropped the stuffie in his hands and began to apologize profusely for touching his things. Draco paid it no mind at all, but still slowly made his way over to Harry. He moved with caution as if he was approaching a wounded animal.
“I-I-I’m s-sorry M-malfoy,” Harry stuttered. “I d-didn’t know this was your room or your toys. I-”
“I’m sorry, Harry.”
A look of shock dropped over Harry’s face: one because when had Malfoy ever referred to him as Harry? Second, what was he sorry for?
“F-for what?”
Tears continued to fall down the gryffindor’s cheeks and it only proved to make it harder for Draco to control his emotions. The blond child reached down and gave the hippogriff back to Harry.
“I’m sorry I was so mean to you at school.” Draco choked out which only further shocked Harry. “All I had ever wanted was to be your f-friend,” talking about it out loud seemed to be more painful than he thought it would be. A lump formed in his throat and he pushed down the sobs that wanted to escape.
“I wanted to be your friend and you didn’t want to be mine. I’ve never hated you, but you hated me the minute you met me, and I didn’t know how to deal with it.”
Tears were fast falling down Harry’s cheeks as he listened to his school rival, or former rival? The blond boy had his head bowed and had wrapped his arms around his torso as a means of protection. Harry knew that form, he did it himself.
Draco looked back up at Harry and the look his eyes caused a sob to escape the child’s mouth. His tears only seemed to be a catalyst as Harry felt his lower lip tremble and was unable to stop his own tears. Neither one knew what to do and seemed content to simply stare at each other as they cried. Draco hugged his arms around his torso tighter, and for some reason that didn’t sit well with Harry. Despite all the drama the two had put each other through seeing the slytherin prince look so broken and disheartened hurt Harry. So he did the only thing he could think of. He put the stuffie down on the bed and reached his arms out to give the blond child a hug.
Draco stiffened at first and Harry was quite jerky in his moments, but eventually Draco removed his arms from around his torso and returned the hug. This seemed to open up a floodgate and the boys let out their ailments and tears on one another’s shoulder. That was how Severus and Lucius had found them.
Severus had been worried when the trio walked down to the dining room for breakfast and noticed that Draco wasn’t there. He expressed his worry and offered to check on him, and since they all knew of the relationship between Draco and Harry Lucius offered to come along with him. Whatever they had expected to walk into it certainly wasn’t their son standing in the middle of his room with his arms wrapped around his rival, both red faced and crying. Severus cleared his throat gently causing the two to jump apart and Harry to fall back on his bottom. The potion master walked over to the fallen boy and Lucius walked over to his son. The slytherin head of house looked into those saddened green eyes and blotchy face and wondered what exactly had happened up here.
He didn’t say anything as he and Potter looked at each other, but he noticed the boy’s lower lip trembling. He reached out his arms to pick him up making sure to keep his movement slow and his hands where Harry could see them. Placing his hands under the child’s armpits, he sat himself on the floor and placed Harry in his lap. The boy didn’t have the energy to fight him so he laid his head against his teacher’s chest and sighed when he felt long fingers card through his hair. Draco was the mirror image of Harry, but Lucius opted to sit on the bed rather than on the floor.The men looked at each other before Severus looked down at Harry. He took a handkerchief out of his robe pocket and gently wiped his face clean while Lucius worked on their son. Despite this though, the tears continued to fall.
“What’s all these tears about, hmm?” Severus asked gently. His words only caused Harry to cry harder. It was Draco who answered his Daddy’s question despite his own want to give into his emotions.
“Harry’s sad.” Lucius looked down at his son and silver grey eyes looked into his own. “I hear h-him get up this morning,” Draco hiccuped. “And he was playing with Zeus. I was gonna come get you, but then he got really, really sad, Papa. And it hurt so bad.”
His words tapered off as his sobs clogged his throat and Lucius hugged his child close to his chest. He shushed him gently.
“Shhh, Dragon. It’s okay. Shhhh you’re alright.”
His son shook his head even as he buried his face in his chest and cried.
“But I’m not. I hurt him too Papa.” The malfoy heir looked at his father. “I hurt him and he was already hurting and I just wanted him to like me and he didn’t. But I hurt him so bad and he’s so sad. I don’t like that he’s sad. It makes my heart hurt.”
Lucius, Severus, and Harry looked at the blond while he spoke and both parents could feel their heart break as they listened to their child cry. If anything, this seemed to confirm to them that Draco was an empath. He seemed to be feeding off the emotions that Harry was giving off and if he had to guess Severus would say that Harry was doing the same. The dour man shared a look with his husband before Lucius rose with Draco in his arms. He walked towards the door with the intention of separating the two until they were both calm enough to be in each other’s presence.
This seemed to be the wrong thing as it only caused a new bout of tears and the two boys looked at each other as if they would never see each other again. Lucius began to walk around with his son while Severus rocked Harry all the while whispering sweet nothings in his ear.
“Shush now. You’ve had a busy morning haven’t you?” He crooned. “It’s alright, darling, hush. You’re okay, sweet boy. No one is taking Draco away.” Severus cradled the child’s head to his chest as he rocked him back and forth. The rhythmic thumping of his heart soothed Harry along with the deep rumbling of the man’s silky voice. Severus looked down at the raven in his lap and said child looked back up at him. He ran his finger gently down Harry’s face and the child closed his eyes at the touch.
It caused something to stir within his chest and he watched the child in his lap soak up the comfort he was giving. He had not felt this way about anyone since Draco and now all he wanted to do was protect Harry the same way he would his own child. He knew their relationship was not the best and he would try his absolute hardest to make up for it, all while vowing to be the guardian this child needed. He would give Harry the reassurance and guidance he needed to strive. He swore then and there that he would be one of the few adults in Harry’s life that he could finally trust. Severus would allow Harry the same life of innocence and childishness that his son had and he was sure that his wife and husband would be there to help him along the way. He swore it.