**Read description before reading on**

Draco Malfoy was always a sensitive boy. Despite his bad boy façade, he really was a very caring person with a big heart. That's why when Harry Potter rejected his friendship, he was more hurt than anything. The hurt brought upon a lot of anger so he took it out on the other boy however, he never really liked being mean. Anyone who was close to him knew that.

So when he saw one Harry Potter was not at the returning feast, he began to wonder where he could be. He glanced at Weasley and Granger. They didn't seem fazed that he was gone at all. They even looked a little too relaxed that their best friend was not there. Draco furrowed his brow and turned to his best friend.

"Do you know where Potter is?" He asked. Blaise shook his head after taking a bite of his chicken.

"No but I heard that he was alone on the train today." Blaise told the blonde. Draco frowned at that. It was highly unusual that Potter was alone on the train. "Oh don't get that look, I know you want to go look for him."

"He could be hurt, Blaise." Draco told the darker boy. Blaise just gave him a look and rolled his eyes.

"I know you have this complex but it's not your business." Blaise replied and Draco sneered.

"I do not have a complex!" He retorted but Blaise wasn't having any of it.

"Do you remember in our fourth year when Potter got entered into the tournament? Do you remember what you said me?" When Draco shook his head, Blaise grinned. "You said 'Oh no Blaise, he is way too young for something like that, I hope Dumbledore lets him out of it'." Draco flushed. He had said that and he remembered being incredibly upset that he had to compete.

"Okay fair enough, I did say that." Draco sighed and chewed on his lip. He was silent enough for Blaise to groan.

"Fine go ahead, go look for him." Blaise sighed in defeat and Draco grinned because he won. He hopped up and then left the Great Hall.

He checked the abandoned bathroom first knowing that Potter went in there on occasion. He knew the boy couldn't be in the Gryffindor tower because he wouldn't have the password. When he didn't see him in the bathroom, he decided to check the astronomy tower because Draco himself knew that's where he would go. He enjoyed the solitude of being up so high.

He climbed the steps and was not entirely surprised to see Potter was there but he WAS surprised to see him hanging near the edge.

"Potter!" Draco gasped and Potter jumped in fright.

"Fuck." The boy cursed. "Leave Malfoy, I can't do this if you're here!" He cried.

"What are you going to do?" Draco asked stepping closer to the boy.

"I-I can't do t-this Malfoy." Potter sobbed. "I-I d-don't want to go back."

"Potter, what are you talking about?" Draco demanded.

"T-they hate m-me." Potter cried. "I-I c-can't go back." Draco stepped closer to the boy. "I-I don't wanna."

"Potter step down." Draco advised.

"N-no. I-I c-cant."

"Step down! Tell me what's going on." Draco was worried that Potter wouldn't listen to him so he grabbed the back of his robe. Potter had no choice but to step down and once he did, he pulled away from Draco, lied on the floor and curled into a sobbing ball.

"C-can't. Don't wanna." Potter sobbed. "C-can't."

"Potter, what can't you do?" Draco asked and Potter looked up slightly.

"L-live. N-not right Malfoy." Draco sat on the ground and then pulled Potter's head into his lap.

"Shh. Shh." Draco told Potter. "Take a deep breath and start from the beginning." He told him. Potter sniffled and then started to speak.

"I-I told them I was gay." Potter sniveled. "The Weasley's and Hermione." Potter started to cry again. "T-they said it was wrong and called me names. I-I'm not welcomed there. M-Malfoy, I-I can't go back to the Dursley's. I-I can't."

"Potter, surely it can't be that bad."

"H-he hurts me M-Malfoy." Potter admitted. "Down there." He added and Draco looked down at the boy. "I-it's my cupboard. H-he comes in there. B-but it's mine."

"What are you talking about Potter? What do you mean cupboard?"

"M-my bedroom. I-it's my cupboard." Draco was utterly confused.

"You don't have an actual bedroom?" He asked.

"I-I u-used to. B-but D-Dudley wanted his s-second back." Potter explained and started crying harder. "H-hurts me. I-I don't w-wanna go back. I-I have to d-die."

"No Potter." Draco spoke very gently. "It's okay. You don't have to die. Now tell me more about being hurt."

"H-hurts me. D-down there. And e-everywhere." Potter sobbed. "M-my c-cupboard. It's m-mine."

"It's yours Potter. When did this start?"

"W-When I was eight." He sobbed. So for eight years, Potter was abused and possibly raped. Eight years and it was gone unnoticed.

"Potter, have you told anyone this?" He asked gently and Potter shook his head.

"M-my cupboard. Don'...don't wanna."

"Shhh." Malfoy gently stroked this kid's hair. He felt for him. "The abuse started at eight?"

"N-no. I-I was four." He told Draco whose heart slowly ripped in half. "I-I can't g-go b-back. I-I have n-no one. C-cant g-go back." He sobbed and Draco gently pet his head in hopes that would calm him. It did eventually but he sobbed for a good hour before going to sleep.

This led Draco into a dilemma. He didn't know how to handle a situation like this. He thought about going to Dumbledore but he was sure that the man knew about it. He was Dumbledore for Merlin's sake! Dumbledore, Draco's opinion, was worse than the Dark Lord. Unbeknown to many of the people in the wizarding community, the Dark Lord actually wasn't that bad. He just wanted to keep the Muggles separate from the Wizards. It wasn't his fault that there were muggleborns out there. He really wasn't all that bad.

Draco debated on who to tell for a while. He thought about Severus, his godfather, and if he should tell him. The only down side was, Severus was not too keen on Potter and Potter downright hated him. As he debated to tell Sev or not, he ended up falling asleep as Potter slept on his lap.

Harry woke up on the top of the astronomy tower by himself. He tried to make sense of it, wondering what happened the night prior. His eyes were raw and crusty which indicated he was crying. Then he remembered. He told Draco Malfoy everything about his life... well not everything but he told him what he endured.

He looked at the edge of the tower. He could jump and end everything. The Weasley's hated him, Hermione didn't approve and Sirius was dead so he couldn't go to him. He was utterly alone. He couldn't jump though. It was too light out. He had planned it the nigh prior because he figured it would be too dark for someone to find his body that night. But now it was too light out so anyone to see him.

So with a heavy heart, he made his way to the Gryffindor tower. Once he approached the tower, he realized that he hadn't been at the feast so he didn't know the password.

"It's okay Harry." The fat lady said. "You look like you've had a rough night, go on in." Harry, for once, was incredibly thankful for the fat lady. She swung open the portrait and he stepped in. There were some people littered throughout the common room but he went straight to his room. He was happy to see that Ron's bed was vacant and the only other person there was Neville.

"Hey Harry." He greeted. "You alright?" He asked and Harry just shook his head. "Ron told us... he's real disgusted but you know, I'm not. It's perfectly fine with me and the others." He explained and Harry could cry with relief.

"Thank you Neville." Harry said to his friend.

"You had a rough night?" He questioned and Harry nodded. "You should rest then, I'll bring you some food if you'd like." He told him and Harry could kiss Neville for being the sweetest.

"I'd really like that Neville. Thank you." Harry told his friend. Neville nodded and then went to leave but Harry stopped him. "Wait what's the password?"

"Oh it's wormseed." He told him and Harry nodded. Neville left and Harry took this opportunity to shower and get some cozy clothes on. By the time he was finished, Neville came back with food and a surprise.

"Potter, I was wondering if I could talk to you." Malfoy asked stepping into their bedroom.

"Sorry Harry, he was very adamant about coming to see you. I'll be in the common room if you need me." Neville left leaving the two teens together. Harry sat his bed, eating a bit at a time, as Malfoy made himself comfortable. Harry looked at Malfoy and took a deep breath.

"So have you told everyone and are here to rub it in my face? Because if that's the case, you can leave and I'll just kill myself in the bathroom." Harry bit but Malfoy rolled his eyes.

"Please Potter, if you were really gonna kill yourself, you would have done it before I found you." Malfoy spat. Harry stopped eating and looked down at his lap.

"I didn't have the courage." He whispered. He snapped his head up and sneered. "Why do you even fucking care Malfoy?"

"Because Potter, I'm not heartless!" Malfoy growled. "You were practically inconsolable last night!" Harry didn't say anything but looked at his hands again. He knew how upset he was last night. He didn't need Malfoy throwing it in his face. Malfoy took a deep breath. "I told Snape."

"You did what?" Harry met Malfoy's eyes and glared. "That wasn't any of your business!"

"It became my business when you threw a tantrum on my trousers last night Potter." Malfoy hissed. "Together, we've come up with a plan."

"Oh brilliant, and what are you going to do? Go to Dumbledore? He knows about everything and doesn't fucking do anything about it!" Harry burst out.

"No because the old coot doesn't know how to do shit so I took the initiative to do something." Malfoy smirked. "How would you like a redo?"

"What?" Harry inquired. "What do you mean?"

"Snape and I demised a plan to have our potions class create a deaging potion. You and I can put on a little show for everyone. You get covered in the potion and get deaged." Malfoy explained.

"How would that work?"

"Because you'd remember all the good memories that are created over the bad ones."

"What would I be deaged to? I-I was so youn- Why do you care anyway?" Harry hissed and Malfoy rolled his eyes.

"Like I said Potter, I have a heart. We wouldn't want our Golden Boy to be so glum." He expounded. "We'd deage you to probably three because that's before everything happened and then steadily age you back to sixteen." Harry studied Malfoy intently. Why on earth would he want this to happen? And Snape too?

"You just want to distract me from fighting Voldemort." Harry said and Malfoy snorted.

"Yeah right Potter. The Dark Lord is much less sadistic than that old man we have as headmaster. He only tried killing you because he was under the imerpius."

"He can throw that off."

"Dumbledore told you that, didn't he?" Malfoy challenged and Harry just blinked at him. "Come off it Potter, Dumbledore is the bad one here. He uses you as his pawn and you know it. Now what's it going to be? Will you follow our plan or not? I don't have all day." Malfoy spat. When Harry didn't say anything, he rose from the bed he sat on and walked towards the door. Just as he opened it to leave, he heard Potter speak.

"I'll do it." He spoke softly and Malfoy grinned. Without turning around, he spoke,

"Brilliant."