Misery and Grief

The first thing he noticed was the presence of a blanket. Draco clinged to it for a moment before he even opened his eyes. Analyzing himself, he felt that his body felt broken, however the searing pain seemed to be missing. The blonde was also aware that he was still naked. Sighing momentarily, he opened his eyes to find that he had never been here before. It was a dusty sort of place that made him cringe out of habit of scorning everything that wasn't to the Malfoy standard. Clothes were laid out for him, he noticed, but they weren't really on his mind. There had to be only one outcome here, and that was that he had been sent to one of the homes of the Death Eaters. As if Snape would have let him go so easily. His mind ticked with panic as he got up, feeling dizzy almost immediately as he did.

His knees bucked beneath him and he fell to the ground, weeping uncontrollably. So this was it, they'd keep him to abuse over and over again. He wouldn't be allowed his wand, it was too dangerous. What would become of him? Everything in his life had been crushed, and he had been tarnished. Though his skin seemed clean now, he felt disgusting. He would never be clean again, he was ruined. Draco could not help but be utterly devastated. Up until now his troubles have been few and far between. He was wealthy, he was proud, and he had power. The only real issue until now had been the ever so blessed Harry Potter. Now, though, his life was in ruins and everything he had was no more, and the only thing he now had to look forward to was another segment like last night. It was so hopeless and he was so powerless. Tears flowed endlessly as he got up and looked around.

"Th-th-they can't take one thing from me..." He said as he went to the desk and rummaged inside it. Finding a pair of scissors, he opened them and stared wildly at the blades. In a moment he had one pressed firmly against his wrist. He could end it now, take one thing from him. Himself. Malfoy closed his eyes, breathing deeply, sure he could do this, he just needed a moment.

"Ahem." A voice from behind him caused him to spin around, making him fall with a dizzy head. The scissors flew elsewhere in the movement and Draco was left looking up at the intruder. Something wasn't right here. "I rather hoped you would get dressed if you woke up." No, no. The person above him, staring at him with emerald eyes peeking from a mess of dark hair and behind glimmering glasses couldn't be who he thought it was. He was seeing things. The figment of his imagination placed a platter on the dresser and stared at it for a moment before sighing and turning to face him again. Draco crawled backwards, away from him. This simply couldn't he happening. Harry then took a step back then, as if he got the hint. "Listen-"

"What are you doing here?!" Draco screamed, making Harry jump slightly. Draco's knees lifted to his chest as he leaned back against the drawers of the desk. "How-!"

"I live here." That seemed to shut Draco up. "I live here and I open my door this morning to find what seemed to be a corpse in my hallway. This is a safeguarded house, no one should have been in my hallway. Much less the son of a death eater, who happens to be battered and naked. So really, the question is what are YOU doing here?" Rolling his eyes for a moment, he pulled the blanket off the bed and threw it towards Draco. "However, I think I have a pretty good idea of what probably happened, so I thought I would be polite and not ask." He watched as Draco covered himself properly.

Draco gripped at the blanket, staring intently at his childhood rival with disbelief. "You live here? Why does Snape know where you live?!"

Harry opened his mouth for a moment before closing it, not really sure how to answer. "I don't think I can tell you..." He scratched his head and frowned. "I can tell you that it's not really my choice that he knows where I live and that he had been to this house multiple times before it belonged to me."

Draco didn't know what to think anymore, his head hurt. "Sn- Snape is a death eater."

Things were getting awkward for Harry. He couldn't very well tell the son of Lucius Malfoy that this was in fact the hideout for the Order of the Phoenix. That Snape is a spy. He rubbed his scar with aggravation. "I know... And I don't particularly like him knowing where I live but I haven't died yet. This place is safe, even if there's a few rough edges. He stepped towards Draco slowly, the pale boy fearfully trying to wriggle away. "Malfoy," another step "you've had the privilege of calling me a lot of things. And I know you dislike me. However, you nor anyone has thought me suicidal. No one dreams that much, it'd be just too easy for all the people who hate me. And it would steal Voldemort's chance of... watching the light disappear from my eyes." He knelt on one knee and stared at the boy for a moment. "I know it's painful, and while I've never experienced anything like what you have, you cannot deny I've had my share of pain and suffering. You're safe now so there's no reason to kill yourself." Harry left his place in front of Draco and walked over to where the scissors were and picked them up. He stared at them for a moment before speaking once more. "You don't have to like me, I suppose, but I'll ask you to trust me. And I'll ask that you stay here..."

Malfoy couldn't help but glare at the boy who wasn't even looking at him now. As if he had anywhere else to go, and what gave Harry Potter the right to tell him what to do? Now his mind seemed to split. It was his habit to have done the direct opposite of what Potter had said or wanted before, however right now it was that he had no other option. Did he really want to kill himself, now that he wasn't trapped in the claws of Voldemort's underlings? Could he really trust Potter? Despite the fact that it was the last thing he wanted to do right now, the blonde began to cry. He burrowed himself into the blanket. Suddenly, there was an awkward tension in the air and Draco knew that Harry knew he was crying, and also knew that the dark haired boy had no idea what to do about it. And despite this, or perhaps because of it, the boy cried harder, sobs echoing in the dingy room. The blonde could feel Harry look at him, and move towards him, before moving back away slowly and inching out of the room.

The door closed lightly and Draco was left to himself, allowing himself to bawl harder into the blanket. Harry stood in the hallway, listening and feeling just as helpless as the man inside the room.