The Contract

Thank you, Samayel, for going back and Beta-ing this for me! Hopefully I haven't missed anything else!



Chapter Seventeen – Flight or Fight





After finally getting both of them up the stairs and into his quarters, Draco closed the door and warded them against intrusion. Panting with the effort, he leaned his bruised face against the cool wood. Hearing a sob, he turned to see Harry sitting in the ‘position of servitude’ that his father had demanded. His head hung low, his breath quick as the pain seeped through his body. The trail of blood across the floor continued to leave Harry’s body.



The pain Draco had experienced was nothing next to the breaking of his heart as Harry’s tears fell silently. The silver collar tight around his neck covered only a few of the hand-shaped bruises, which seemed to go from his collarbone to his jaw line. The cuts down Harry’s torso and arms were not bleeding as bad, but there were bits of food stuck to some of his skin. His face was still blotchy from the terror of being taken. Harry’s sobbing was increasing as he came back to himself.





With a start of realization, Draco crossed to the kneeling man, intent on apologizing and healing him. Sitting in front of him, he reached to pull Harry’s arms down, and the brunette closer to him. He was met with resistance as Harry released his arms from ‘the position’ and pushed him away. “YOU ARE NOT MY MASTER ANY MORE! YOU LET HIM DO THIS TO ME!” With that declaration, he slumped to the floor, the pain in his heart much more than the pain in his bum or the cuts on his. Not sure if he was exhausted or if it was from the blood loss. Just before he lost consciousness, he screamed out “DOBBY!!!” Then fell back onto the floor.



Bewildered at Harry’s words, it took only a few seconds before loud pop behind them made Draco turn his head. “Are you Dobby?”



“I is. I is hearing Harry Potter call me. I is always listening…” Then Dobby saw Harry bleeding freely on the floor. The elf was suddenly angry. “What is you doing to my master? I knows you is a bad wizard. I knows… What is you doing to Harry Potter? What…”



Draco cut him off, a decision made. Trying to push the combined pain away for an instant, “Shut your mouth. I did not do it to him this time. It was Lucius. Now, you say he is your master?”



“I is taking care of Harry Potter. He is not taking me to be his elf, but I loves Harry Potter and serves him.”



“Then do this for him. Take him somewhere safe. Then return to me.” When Dobby hesitated, Draco yelled, “NOW, ELF. Take him somewhere safe. Then return to me quickly now.”



Dobby reached for Harry and with a click of his fingers, left the blonde alone in his quarters. Draco wasted no time. He took out his softest robe and covered himself. His heart beat with hope as he waited for Dobby to return. Moments later, he did.



“Dobby, thank you. Now, I want you to use your magic and do these things without delay. Take everything that is Harry’s out of these quarters and take them to…Hogwarts I guess. I don’t know where Harry has a place for them. But after you are finished, please, come back and remove anything of mine as well. Take it to Severus' house, or Hogwarts if he doesn’t want it there.” Dobby eyed his old master for a moment. “Then go to Harry and stay with him. Where did you take him?”



“You is a bad wizard from a bad family. I is not telling you. Why is you wanting your things out of this house?”



“Because I am leaving here and never returning. Not as long as my parents are still alive anyway. They hurt Harry. I can never forgive Lucius for that. Please, will you help me?”



“I is helping Harry Potter. I is helping Draco Malfoy, only because I is wanting to. You call out to Dobby when you is where you is going. I is taking Harry Potter’s things to him.”



”His wand is still in the Dining Room.”



“Don’t yous worry, Draco Malfoy, I is getting ALL of Harry Potter’s things from this house and taking them to him. Then I is taking Draco Malfoy’s things and taking them somewhere safe. You is needing to decide what you is going to do with Harry Potter if I let you near him again.”



“I love him Dobby. I am giving up everything to be with him. I need him safe and healed. But to do that, I need help. He can’t take care of himself right now. There are strange things happening with an arsed-up bonding ritual. I need to find out what happened...why Lucius hurt him. Just stay with Harry. He healed up all right the first night he was here. Maybe by tomorrow, he will do it again.”



“You is leaving Malfoy Manor? Where is you going? Is you going to a bad wizard’s house? Is you going to get someone else to hurt Harry Potter?”



Frustrated, Draco resisted the urge to swat the elf across the room. Trying to stay calm enough to get through the conversation, he counted to five before replying. “I will NEVER hurt him again. I will never allow anyone else to hurt him again. I need to get to someone who can help me help him. Things are confused right now and I need to get them sorted out. Then I promise, a Wizard’s Promise, that I will call you. Then, if he wants me, fine, or if not, I will release him from our bond. But I have to do the proper research before I do anything to make it worse for him.”



With a final nod, Dobby said, “Then I is helping you, Draco Malfoy. I is helping you help Harry Potter.”



Relieved, Draco walked to the mirror. Seeing the broken nose and bruising from the impact of his face hitting the wall, he placed a Glamour around him hiding most of his injuries. Taking one last look in the gilded mirror, he pocketed his wand, and left the room. His walk faltered a bit as the injuries touched the cloth he wore. He stood outside the dining room, his ear pressed against the door. He heard the grunting sounds of his parents having sex, and fighting the urge to sick up, he turned and went to the fireplace, which was attached to the Floo Network.



With a decision made, he threw the powder into the fire and said clearly “The Burrow!” And he left Malfoy Manor forever.





The Floo took him to the little house full of Weasleys trying to sort out what Ginny was telling them. Her words were disjointed and she could not stop crying long enough to tell them. Finally, Arthur decided that she would take a Calming Draught and a Dreamless Sleep Potion and go to bed. Ron and Hermione were instructed to take her up, get her ready and stay with her until she went to sleep.



When the teens were gone, Molly turned to her husband, “What did that child see that could effect her so bad? She wasn’t but twenty minutes behind us. I figured she was talking to Harry for a moment, but that wasn’t what I expected from her.”



“Molly, until she can tell us, we won’t know.” Replied Arthur as the Floo came to life once more. Both he and Molly raised their wands at the intruder.



Both were shocked to see the blonde hair of Draco Malfoy as he came to rest inside the fireplace. “Please, I need your help.” Was all he said just before he fell, face first on the hearth.