Chapter Text
Fuck. That was the only thing Harry could think over and over, with every step he took. Fuck. Leaving the Dursley’s had taken a stroke of Gryffindor nerve Harry had never known he possessed until that night, but now all he felt was dread. He was truly alone.
The moon was hidden by cloud, and the only light Harry had to guide him were the flickering streetlights, whether they were flickering because of his own anger or of their own accord, he didn’t know. He sat down in front of the, now abandoned, playground, and held his face in his hands. He would have to sleep on the street until the time came to return to Hogwarts.
When he heard a low growl, Harry barely registered it until it came again. He looked up and saw a large black dog snarling at him from across the street, its fur matted and eyes glittering with hatred. He instinctively stuck his wand out and was shocked to find a triple decker bus speeding towards him, plucked out of thin air it seemed.
When he was settled on the bus, Stan Shunpike, the conductor, asked where he was off to. His mind raced as he frantically thought of somewhere, anywhere, he could possibly go. Ron? No, he was still in Egypt. Hermione? Camping with her parents. The Leaky Cauldron? Nowhere to sleep.
“The Malfoy Manor.” Harry blurted out, before he could stop himself. Stan raised an eyebrow and exclaimed “Blimey, that’s in the middle of nowhere, that is! What on earth would you want to go there for?”
“It’s the only place I can think of.” Harry said, and it was the truth.
The bus rattled onwards, dodging all kinds of obstacles. At last, they arrived in a secluded area. They were surrounded by dense woodland, and, even though Harry could see the Manor in the distance, there was a vast meadow separating him from it. The moon was now unobscured, and it might have been beautiful if it hadn’t looked so foreboding. Harry thanked Stan for the help with his trunk and, with a sigh, started the long trek up to the Manor.
Harry arrived at the door, disheveled and out of breath, ten minutes later. He briefly wondered why the Manor was so inaccessible, but then he remembered that magical families would be accustomed to apparition or floo powder anyway. It made sense for a rich family like the Malfoys to prefer seclusion.
Harry steadied himself and knocked with the ebony serpent shaped knocker three times. He heard muffled voices and after a tense few seconds, the door opened and Harry was face to face with Draco Malfoy.
His grey eyes swam with an emotion Harry couldn’t identify, but it was gone as soon as it had come, replaced by a look of disapproving indifference.
“Potter?” Draco spat incredulously.
“W-what are you doing at the door?” Harry blurted out, unable to hold back.
Draco lifted an eyebrow menacingly and sneered
“Because you lost us our house elf. Or had you forgotten? Now I have to do these things until we can find a suitable replacement. So thanks.”
“Anytime.” Harry bit back. They stared at each other for a few seconds until Harry gave up.
“Look,” he said, “I need your help.”. Draco’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, and a gleeful smirk was already playing around his mouth.
“I blew up my aunt, and now I’m homeless. I need somewhere to stay until we go back to Hogwarts. I couldn’t think of anywhere else to go, and believe me, if I could, I wouldn’t be here. But I’ve got no choice.” The words came out in a rush.
Then Draco did something that surprised Harry. He laughed. He laughed so hard that he had to lean against the doorframe. Finally, wiping tears out of his eyes, he said
“You blew up your aunt? And now you’re asking us of all people for help? Salazar Potter, you’re a mess!” and with that he descended into laughter once more.
Harry coughed angrily to hide the snickers building up inside him. He did suppose that it was kind of funny, and he couldn’t help but notice that the young Malfoy was acting exactly like Ron would’ve, although Harry would never risk saying that out loud for fear of being severely hexed.
It was then that Lucius Malfoy appeared at the door, looking impatient. Draco immediately straightened up, all traces of humour gone from his face.
“Draco, what is taking you so lo-” It was then he recognized Harry.
“Well, well, well. Look who it is. The boy wonder. I wonder what events could have taken place for his greatness to grace us with his presence this evening?” He narrowed his eyes at Draco, obviously expecting the answer to come from him.
“Er…” Harry had never heard Draco sound nervous before. “He… got kicked out of his muggle home,” he paused to shoot Harry a look of pure contempt.
“and now he’s stranded and alone. I’m sure there isn’t a thing he wouldn’t do for a bit of shelter.” Lucius gave his son an approving look.
“Well said my boy. Draco, are you tired of playing the part of a mere servant?”
Draco nodded enthusiastically.
“Yes sir.”
Lucius turned to give Harry a nasty smile.
“I should think so. It seems only fitting that the boy who cost us our house elf should show up at out door. I hope you know how to cook, Potter. You’re going to be doing a lot of it. You’re going to be our new house elf.” Harry couldn't help it. His mouth fell open in horror. This was the exact life he’d just run away from.
Draco, in his silk pyjamas, looked like all his birthdays had come at once. Lucius, on the other hand, simply gave him a cold smile and said
“Well? If you accept, we’ll take you in. If not, you’re free to leave.”
Harry nodded woodenly, already dreading what was to come. When Draco welcomed him inside with a mocking bow, it was all he could do not to cry.
He was back where he started.
***
Upon entering the Manor for the first time, Harry was taken aback by how… immaculate the place looked. Everything was ebony, emerald, or silver, but the large windows allowed enough light in that it wasn’t so sombre. Harry left his trunk by the stairs and was led into the kitchen, past the sitting area on his left. It was spotless, except for the full sink.
“Now.” Lucius prowled around him like a cat would a mouse, while Draco stayed in the doorframe, arms folded, looking bored.
“You will wash, dry, and put away these dishes to my satisfaction before you can go to bed tonight. Understood?” Harry, who was already swaying on his feet with exhaustion, felt his heart sink to his stomach, but nodded all the same. He couldn’t afford to make Mr.Malfoy even angrier with him than he already was.
“Get to work then. Draco will act as your supervisor to make sure you don’t try to use any magic.”
“But father-” Draco started to protest, but Lucius fixed him with such a dangerous look that Harry had to supress a shiver.
“No arguments. You will do as you’re told. I’ll be in my study.” Lucius was off, cloak billowing around him. Draco slumped the moment he was out of sight and glared at Harry.
“I can’t believe I’m stuck with you for the next hour! Ridiculous.” Harry grinned tiredly at him. It was so hard to take him seriously sometimes.
“Ah, but you see,” He said, pushing his sleeves up.
“I wash dishes by hand all the time. This lot should take no more than forty minutes, I reackon.” Draco sulkily slid into one of the chairs, and Harry could feel his eyes burning the back of his neck.
As he started the dishes, Harry willed his mind to go blank as it so often did at the Dursley’s, trying to focus solely on his task. But it was so hard to concentrate with Draco drawling behind him. Why could he ignore dudley so easily?
“-and then, of course, there’s this crackpot Lupin who’s supposed to be teaching us defence against the dark arts this year. I mean, anything would be better than Lockhart but still-” Harry let him chatter on, rolling his eyes, when suddenly an idea hit him. Draco Malfoy was lonely. Just like Harry. He sighed. Maybe paying attention to him would help his case.
“-I said of course, because what else could I say, and then he just went mad, saying all this stuff about how I need to be on top of my game and all of that.”
“Really?” Harry briefly turned around to catch Draco’s eye and show him that he was listening. Draco, who had been absently playing with one of the placemats, head resting on one hand, looked back at Harry, his mouth hanging open in surprise.
“Y-yeah. So then I said-” Harry turned back to his task, smiling softly to himself. He’d actually surprised Draco.
Maybe this wasn’t going to be as bad as he’d thought.
***
By the time Harry put the last dish away, he was so tired that he could feel his eyelids trying to close of their own accord. He’d been surprised to find that Draco readily directed him to where the dishes were supposed to go, without any hassle.
“You think that’s good enough?” He asked hesitantly. Draco just nodded, yawning, his silver sleeves swishing as he unfolded his arms and stretched.
“I’ll go get father.”
Harry waited tensely, back against the counter. He relaxed slightly when a stately woman, presumably Draco’s mother, strode in instead of Lucius.
“Hello Harry.” She said cooly, and merely turned to Draco.
“Well? How did he do?” Harry noted that Draco looked a bit caught off guard by the prompt.
“Uh, yeah. The dishes are… clean.” Narcissa nodded once and turned back to Harry.
“Very well. I shall escort you to your room.” Draco turned to leave but she grabbed his arm.
“Not you, Draco.” Harry heard that her voice softened a little when she spoke to her son, unlike Lucius.
“Your father wants to speak with you about earlier.”
Draco nodded and abruptly turned away to hop up the stairs, but Harry didn’t miss the flicker of fear in his eyes. Narcissa turned to him once more.
“Come. Don’t forget your trunk.” Harry followed her up the steps, and as they passed a bedroom decorated with several Quidditch posters, Harry realized it must be Draco’s room.
Narcissa led him to the one past it.
“This is where you will sleep. Set the alarm for six a.m. That is the time house elves naturally wake up. Good night.” And with that she was off.
Harry took a minute to explore the room. It wasn’t at all bad for a servant, Harry thought, as he sat on the four-poster bed. He quickly changed into his pyjamas and set the alarm for six o’clock. He shuddered. It was already one in the morning. He figured he’d get used to constant fatigue during his visit. Three weeks. He just had to survive three weeks.
He got settled and tried desperately to fall asleep, but he couldn’t. At first his racing thoughts wouldn’t let him, but then there was a sound. It wouldn’t stop. Harry got up and pressed his ear to his door. No better. He pressed it to the wall separating him from Draco and heared… sobbing. A horrid sound to be coming from Draco.
Back in his bed, Harry’s earlier words ran through his mind.
“Anywhere’s better than here.” Now, his bones aching and Draco’s sobs ringing in his ears, Harry was sure he’d seriously miscalculated the situation.