Run

A/N: Hey guys this is a new story that kind of popped into my head. It’s not done yet, but since it’s winter break, I figure I’ll be able to pump out a pretty good multichap over the month. It’s not beta’d If you are interested in betaing this please email me. Basically this isn’t going to be one of those fluffy happy fics. Nor is it going to be one of those horrible angst abuse fics where either harry or draco turn into a vegtable. I’m tired of reading the same story over and over, hopefully this one is a little bit more original. It is very AU, so deal. I’m also going to be messing around with the way things work in Cannon. Be prepared. Oh and Chapters will be better, longer and faster if you review. I just need to know if people like what I’m doing, and suggestions are always taken into consideration.


Draco was fourteen when he left. His life had always been painful at home, right up until the moment he slipped out of the house and into the cold night. Even though it was august, the air still was uncomfortably cold. The young blonde, bruised and still bleeding from his busted lip sprinted through the community he had known his entire life. By morning he had reached the city.

He was exhausted, but finally free. He made plans to move on with his life. Hours later, as the sun fell, Draco realized that his dreams would have to wait. Sleep deprived and hungry, Draco wandered, trying to think of someplace to go. He had no money with him, and didn’t know the city very well. He’d only been a few times with his mother and father, to go shopping, or to a fancy restaurant.

By some act of fate, or sheer luck alone, Draco ran into a shelter. He realized what it was, by the line of people who looked worse of than he did waiting at the doors. He stood in line, for nearly an hour before he made it to the front desk.
“ I need you to fill out this form, and sign the bottom please.” The woman behind the desk recited quickly without looking up. “ If you have trouble with reading the form, there is an assistant waiting to help you. You may stay here until nine A.M. then you must leave. Check in begins tomorrow at nine P.m. Do you have any questions?”

“Uhmm I-” Draco stammered, his eyes suddenly filling with tears for a reason unknown to him.

The woman suddenly looked up and saw Draco for the first time.
“Oh honey!” She said softly as she watched him struggle against his tears. “ Shhhhh baby, it’s okay.” She stood up, and motioned to another woman who seemed to work at the shelter.

“Oh dear.” The new woman, this one very long and thin, murmured when she got to them. “ sweetie, what’s your name?”

Draco replied through his sobs. He was trying very hard to make them stop, not wanting to seem weak. His father had always told him that other people hated when you showed weakness, it made them want to hurt you, because they could.

“Draco, how old are you?” The larger woman asked quietly. Draco noticed that they had somehow moved away from the desk, and were now standing in a room similar to a doctor’s office. Except there were chairs in here instead of the big table.

“I’m fourteen.” He said, avoiding eye contact. He was starting to get scared. Why did they need to know these things about him.

“ Where are your parents?” She asked.

Draco waited a moment before responding. He considered trying to lie, but he couldn’t come up with anything plausible, especially since he didn’t know what the right answer was.
“ They’re back at home. I left last night.”

“ Did they hurt you?” The tall women asked. He noticed her staring at his lip, and the bruises he knew were on his neck. This time the lie came out smoothly.

“No. I was mugged while wandering around the city.” For some reason, Draco couldn’t admit that his father had been the one to leave finger shaped bruises around his neck.

“ I know that this is going to be tough for you sweetie, but we have to call the police. If your home isn’t a safe place, you should tell them and they’ll find somewhere safe for you, but there isn’t anything we can do.” the Large woman said sadly.

Draco’s panic started to set in as she left the small room. He couldn’t breathe. His mind was scrambling, desperate to find a way out of this. He didn’t want the police to come, they would take him home. His father would… He didn’t want to think about that. He just focused on finding a way out of this room. He needed to escape. Again. The tall woman was still sitting across from him, watching him closely. Her eyes were moist with care and pity. Draco realized instantly that she knew that going home was not an option for him.

“ Please don’t do this!” He begged. “ I’ll leave, you can pretend was never here.”
She looked at him for a moment. Then stood up.

“ It goes against all my training. All the regulations say we should keep you here until the police arrive.” She said more to herself than to Draco. She began to pace, obviously debating something in her head. After a drawn out moment she turned to Draco. “ When you leave, turn right onto pine, and go down three lights, then make a left onto 108th keep going until you see the Father McAvon youth shelter. Go in and tell them that you are seventeen. They will ask for ID, just tell them that you were mugged, and they’ll give you a bed.” She said very quickly. Then she opened the door and briskly walked him to the exit. “ Be safe Draco.” She whispered into his ear as she hugged him tightly.

The door closed behind him, and suddenly he was back on the street. He broke out into a run. This place wasn’t safe. Draco repeated that in his head, his own little mantra as he darted up the abandoned street. He tried to remember the directions that the woman had given him, but they eluded him. He couldn’t remember the street names. Ahead of him he could see a major intersection. Acting on instinct alone he turned left when he reached it.

As he ran, he noticed the street slowly starting to darken. The buildings here were further apart. They left gaping black holes along the sidewalk. The mouths of alleys opening, leading into steamy darkness. Draco started to panic again. He had no idea where he was, and doubted he would be able to even go back to the first shelter. He stopped suddenly at a corner. To his left he could see a busy intersection with a lot of cars just a few blocks away. He headed that way, more scared of being isolated than anything else. He was almost there when a noise made him stop. It wasn’t just a noise, someone had yelled at him.

“ Hey!”

Draco turned around and saw a group of boys, all older than him huddled around a warehouse entrance. He turned, trying to build up speed again. Something about them made him nervous. But it was no use, they were bigger and faster, and one of them caught up with him before he had reached the end of the street.
“ Don’t be scared.” The boy said as he grabbed Draco by the shoulders. “ We won’t hurt you. I’m Cedric.”

Draco turned to see a very tall and handsome boy behind him. He had golden hair and hazel eyes. He was big, his muscular body was obvious under his tight white shirt. Draco noticed two black lines tattooed on Cedric’s arms that started mid bicep and went into his sleeve. There was one on either arm. Even in the dark, Draco could feel the comfort that flowed out of Cedric.

“What’s your name?” He asked in a warm voice. The other boys hung back, watching intently.

“ I’m Draco.” He said, once again fighting tears. He was never much of a crybaby, but tonight he seemed to well up at the drop of a hat.

“ Draco?” Cedric asked, raising an eyebrow. “ What are you running from?”
The way the boy asked the question, Draco got the feeling that he already knew the answer, so it wasn’t shocking that Cedric didn’t seemed surprised when he said he had left home.
“ Do you need a place to stay?” He asked with an innocent look. Draco nodded, and looked back towards the other boys. Cedric must have noticed, because he also turned around. “ We all live together, it’s safer that way.” He explained. “ We all left home like you, or never had one to begin with. So would you like a place to stay?”

“ Yes.” Was all Draco could manage to say. Cedric nodded, and without another word grabbed Draco’s hand and led him back to where the rest of the boys were standing. Just as They got there, a dark colored car rolled up. Each boy looked at it, then back at Cedric.
“ Michael, you take it.” He said to the lanky boy with dirty blonde hair. With a nod, Michael cantered over to the car and started talking to the driver. “ I’m taking him home. Keep working.” Cedric said with authority as he led me away.

“Where are we going?” Draco asked as soon as they turned the corner.
“ Home. Where we all live. I need to talk to Tom about you.” He said.

After about twenty minutes of walking, most of which, Draco was studying Cedric. Something about looking at the tall boy made him clam. Finally they stopped. The building almost looked abandoned. Cedric pulled a key out of his pocket, and unlocked the large metal doors. With a small grunt he pushed it open. They entered a narrow hallway the led to a staircase. Cedric led Draco up to the third floor on which there was a single door at the end of the hall. Behind it was a very large room, with five or six beds strewn about, and a couch. The floor was covered in magazines, and empty food containers. There were empty bottles strewn everywhere, and the only light came from two lamps that were sitting on the floor, neither of which had a shade, and a few candles that were lit.

“ Welcome home.” Cedric said as he smiled down at the young boy. Draco managed to smile back.” Wait here for me.” He crossed the room, and knocked on a door that Draco hadn’t noticed. A gruff voice from the other side yelled come in, and Cedric quickly obeyed, leaving Draco alone in the big room.

After a minute or so, Draco noticed the muted words cease, and Cedric reappeared.
“ Tom wants to meet you.” Right behind Cedric, a man came out of the room. He was thin, and taller than Cedric, with short black hair.

“ Draco?” Tom asked with a smile. The blonde youth nodded. “ You are welcome to stay, as long as you are willing to work. Cedric here is willing to be a mentor for you. Do you think you’d like that?”

Without hesitation, Draco nodded again. Anything to be near Cedric. Tom simply smiled again, and returned to his room. Once he was gone Cedric took Draco by the arm, and led him to a bed in the corner.

“ You need some sleep.” He said with a gentle smile. “ We’ll start tomorrow.”

Draco immediately began to drift off. He was finally free, finally safe.


Three years later.
***********

It was cold. That’s all my mind seemed to be able to process, the cold. It hurt. My fingers seemed to burn from the cold. I couldn’t feel my face, and the constant wind from me running was no doubt making things worse. Still, I couldn’t stop running. I needed to put as much distance between me and the ATM as possible. The dursley’s would be able to see where I was when I withdrew the money from the card I’d stolen. It was still late, my aunt wouldn’t go to wake me for a few more hours, and it would probably take another hour after that before she noticed that her debit card was missing. Then it was just a quick phone call to the bank to cancel the card and check on the charges. I continued to run. The farther I was when I did stop the better.

I pulled away from my thoughts for a moment to look around me. The street was dark, I had noticed it transition from office buildings and night clubs to warehouses. I was starting to get nervous, when I saw the neon lights of a diner two blocks down. I took the right, and sprinted to the restaurant. I was panting as I rushed through the doors. The “ Bad Dog” Diner was empty, the waitress behind the counter was filing her nails. I guessed that 2 am was not a busy time for them. She looked up as I approached the counter, her face oddly curious as she looked at me.

“ What can I get you?” She said quickly, pulling out her notepad. I sat down and ordered a cup of coffee to start. I wasn’t planning on buying any food. I was hungry, but I also had a limited amount of money. Food would come when I couldn’t put it off anymore. She brought over a cup, and after watching me for a second, returned to filing her nails.

I don’t know how long I sat there before anything happened, but after what felt like an hour or two in my head, the door to the diner opened again. My eyes first caught the waitress’ look up, and then back down, almost disappointed. That’s when I turned around and saw him. He was incredibly blonde, his platinum hair cut short and purposefully messy. His clothes had seen better days, but somehow he managed to look good. He must of noticed me staring, because he flashed a sly smile.

“ Is this seat taken?” he asked as he pulled out the chair next to me. He didn’t wait for me to answer, and sat down. “ I’ll have a coffee and a slice of apple, Bella.” He ordered, then turned to me when she went back to the kitchen. “ Want a cigarette?”

“ No thanks, I don’t smoke.” I answered. He gave a short nod, and lit one for himself. I tried my hardest not to stare at him, but it was difficult. There was something about him that I couldn’t figure out. He was dreadfully pale, and had dark purple shadows under his eyes. His eyes were steel gray.

“ Not hungry?” He asked as his pie was laid in front of him. I tried to deny it, but my stomach was rumbling noisily. “ This ones on me.” he said after eyeing me for a moment. Before I could argue a slice of warm apple pie was placed in front of me. I looked up, and met Bella’s knowing gaze, then stuffed the slice into my mouth. It was warm and sweet. Beside me, the blonde boy laughed. “It’s good huh?”

I nodded, trying not to choke. He laughed some more, and then waited silently for me to swallow.
“ Thank you.” I muttered as I wiped my face. “ I didn’t realize how hungry was.”

“ It’s fine. That was rather fun to watch.” I blushed bright red, which caused him to laugh again. Bella then came over and handed me a tall glass of milk. I thanked her, and she smiled at me, then looked to the blonde next to me.

“ Draco, I just got a delivery.” She said with a small smile. Suddenly his face was alight. She handed him a small bag, and then he jumped up and ran through a door, into the bathroom.
“ I can’t stand to watch him do it.” She muttered. I was about to ask what she meant, but she just walked back into the kitchen, leaving me alone.

I sat for nearly ten minutes before Draco reappeared from the bathroom. He was shining from sweat, and seemed much more jittery than when he left, but besides that he seemed the fine.
“ What’s your name?” He asked as he sat back down.

“ Harry.” I answered with a small smile. He told me his name was Draco, and informed that the waitress was actually married to a friend of his, Tom.

“ So do you have a place to crash tonight?” He asked after a moment of silence.

“ No.” I answered.

“ I could give you a place to crash tonight, maybe for a while if everything works out,”
I didn’t understand what he meant, but I was willing to take the bed. We got up, and Draco took my hand, leading outside. His place was only a block away, it took less than a minute to walk there. He took me up a flight of stairs to the third floor, into a dingy room with half a dozen beds, and trash strewn about everywhere. “It grows on you.” he said noticing how I reacted. “ I just need to talk to Tom about you staying here.” He walked over to a small door that I hadn’t seen, and knocked. Someone let him in, and he disappeared for another few minutes. I was starting to get nervous, but then he came back out, followed by a tall man, who had to be in his mid thirties.
“ Harry?” Tom asked simply. I nodded and watched him scan me with his eyes. “ You can stay. Draco will show you the ropes. Don’t cause trouble.” Then he turned and went back into his little room. Draco walked over and grabbed my hand again. He led me to a bed, and sat me down.

“ Get some sleep.” He smiled. “ We’ll start tomorrow.”