WAS

AN: I LOVE YOU ALL, THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERONE WHO HAS REVIEWED! Sorry for the wait! I've been really busy, and I will be agian at least until january, but I'll try to have another chapter or two ready for uploading by then.

There's been a disaster! My notebook with all of my detailed chapter summaries for this story were lost! So that said... I'm open for new suggestions on where to go with this. I still know what's going to happen, but I don't have a lot of details. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, It'll be good to flesh things out more with fresh ideas. yup! (sad)


Chapter four

Draco awoke to the silence that always came in his few moments peace. He had taken to sleeping in the Bedside Inn. The rooms were cheap, and if he happened to bring one of his customers, then they were willing to pay the charge. Afterwards of course he would sleep till noon whenthey insisted that he leave or he would wake up and pay for the next night.

Sometimes the silence woke him, the sheer loneliness of waking up alone when you had been with someone before. Sometimes the honking of car horns or squeaking of tires on the street outside. On occasion it was the smell and he would awake with the realization that he hadn’t been the only one to use those sheets.

Today was similar, but different. The first thing he noticed of course was the loneliness, but he pushed that aside quickly, breathing in the scent of fresh fabric softener in clean sheets, and a more mild scent of cologne. Draco pushed his face into the pillow breathing it in deeply and became aware of the complete silence around him. Slowly he sat up.

He pushed out of the blankets, sure that he was alone here in Harry’s apartment, and glanced around the room for the first time.

A bedside table with a half empty glass of water and a book, a wardrobe, the bed was the main attraction however, large and comfortable that had sucked Draco into unconsciousness as soon as he’d fallen into it, but he found what he was looking for behind the door.

Feeling a little foolish he stood in front of the mirror and straightened his hair in the off chance that Harry was still in bed sleeping, then cautiously he peered out side of the bedroom door.

“Harry?” he called cautiously.

He stepped out into the chilly hall, glanced into the washroom and paused in front of Harry’s door. He knocked gently, but knew before he pushed the door open that the room was empty.

Very empty. There was only a bed in it and an empty bedside table. Clearly Harry had taken the guest bedroom.

His face unexpectedly flushing, Draco shut the door and walked the short distance to the kitchen. He stopped at once, and then sped forward lifting the note Harry had left for him from against a bowl of cereal.


Draco,

I have to attend to some business. I’ll be back around 3:00.
Wait for me,

Harry


Draco sighed. Did he have to be so vague? He felt tempted to ignore the cleverly arranged cereal and orange breakfast that Harry had arranged on the counter for him, but decided to eat it instead.

Okay, so he would wait then. But not for long. They had only met again hours ago, Harry had no right to start ordering him around already.

He glanced at the time; one-thirty. Harry was going to be home soon. Feeling at a loss, Draco began to explore the apartment, all the nooks and cranny’s. Harry seemed to have an affinity for shiny and silver; in every corner was a hidden gadget of some sort that Draco was sure served little purpose as he had yet to run into them before. He found four remotes, and nearly had a heart attack when music began to blare loudly from a speaker Draco hadn’t noticed. Shaking, he finally managed to turn on the TV, and sat staring at it until he couldn’t take it anymore.

It was five to Two. He couldn’t just sit here, waiting for Harry’s return, he didn’t even have anything to repay him with. Well, except for his usual techniques. He shook those thoughts from his mind and distracted himself with a shower.

Draco revelled in the warm water. For what felt like an hour he stood under it, rinsing his body and using all of Harry’s shower gels and shampoo’s.

Feeling immensely relaxed he pulled open the mirror revealing an array of hair products. Draco tried not to laugh, but couldn’t help it. Potter still couldn’t tame his hair with all of this?

Draco returned to Harry’s bedroom, dry and fresh. He sat for a moment before giving in and pushing his face deep into the pillow, breathing in. The scent was soft, very masculine, but sort of peaceful. It made him sleepy.

What was the time? Five after three.

Draco sat up immediately, straightening himself off. He checked his reflection and went to the living room to wait.

Why was he so nervous? He turned on the TV and sat down attempting to be calm.

Three-thirty. The garden decorating show really wasn’t distracting enough. Where was Harry? Four-Thirty he was running out of patience.

Why did Harry want him to wait anyway? What would it accomplish? Would they talk and have dinner? It was ridiculous. He couldn’t have meant what he had said yesterday about Draco staying with him. They couldn’t live together. They had never gotten along.

Draco stopped moving, realizing that he had been pacing. Why was he so anxious? Why was he waiting? For a sudden moment of crushing clarity, Draco realized that he wasn’t going to be taken care of. That was his own job, to do for himself. Harry wasn’t capable of sweeping him away and erasing all of his troubles, or else if he was, he had no reason to.

Well, if he was going to leave and spare Harry Potter, he had better do it before he came home. Feeling a rising disappointment, Draco scrawled a little note on the back of Harry’s and turned to the front door. No sooner had he placed a hand against the knob then a sound akin to thunder sounded behind him. Popping thunder.

“Don’t move, Malfoy!”

Pop. Pop. Draco swivelled in time to see a horde of aurors aparating into the small room. He froze, raising his empty hands slowly, a nauseous dread rising in his stomach.

“No! Leave him alone!” Draco watched as Harry fought his way through the thicket of bodies and ineffectively blocked Draco from the pointing wands. “You’re not here for him! He’s mine, that was the agreement!”

Draco raised his eyebrows. “I’m yours?” he asked quietly.

“Do you want me, or Dementors?!” Harry hissed.

“You,” Draco said quickly.

His heart was pounding, but was it relief or fear? Harry had come to protect him… but with Aurors.

“You do your wards and reinforcements, he’s mine to watch.”

The crowd dispersed into groups almost immediately at Harry’s firm orders, but a group of three approached at once.

Harry stiffened.

“We need to check him,” one man said while the other two seized Draco and began to poke and drag their wands along his skin.

Harry watched, his eyes wide and apologetic as they prodded him.

Draco couldn’t help but grin shrewdly.

“I’ve had worse,” he said.

Harry frowned.

Finally they pulled back nodding to one another.

“One last thing.” The Auror pushed his wand against Draco’s right arm and a gentle shock ran into him.

Draco glared.

“He’s safe Mr. Potter,” the boy said.

Harry sighed, frustrated.

“I know he is, that’s why I’m defending him.”

Draco sat down numbly on the couch and Harry fell with a flop next to him.

They sat in silence until each group reported with Harry the completion of their task and dissaparated from his apartment.

Finally they sat alone, suffocatingly close to one another, the apartment ringing with silence.

“What’s going on?” Draco finally asked.

“Well, the ministry--they wanted--they’ve appointed me to be your guardian…for now.”

“For now? For now until what?”

Harry hesitated.

“Until your trial.”

Draco shut his eyes.

“You promised you wouldn’t turn me in,” he said. Why was it so hard to speak?

Harry shook his head.

“Draco, I didn’t.” He grasped his arm tightly. “I mean--I tried--you’re not going to Azkaban. There’s no way!”

Draco’s breath was coming out hard, uneven.

He stood up.

“What kind of dream world are you living in?!” he asked. “Just because you’re Harry Potter--”

“Draco--”

He turned on his heel and fled from the room. It seemed Harry Potter was really as stupid as he’d always thought he was. As blissfully hopeful.


AN: PLEASE REVIEW >_<