Title: Awkward Silence
Rated: M
Warnings: Eventually Slash, (maybe) non-con, and mpreg
Summary One: The Dursleys abandoned five year old Harry Potter at an orphanage. A year later he is taken by Lucius Malfoy to be the playmate of the pure-blood's son.
Summary Two: Harry loves words more than anything in the world they hold a special power to him, he rarely speaks because he feels his precious word will be wasted, only one other undersyands his passion for words and that is Draco.
Summary Three: Harry Potter belongs to Draco Malfoy he has every since they were six years old. Harry knows his place, but when he gets to Hogwarts he begins yearning for freedom from the Malfoy's possession.
Note: Poems within this story are copyright of their original owner.

0. Fairy Tale

Once upon a time doesn't promise
Happily ever after—and the princess
May not be saved by her prince
(Handsome and valiant that he is)

The boy sat soundlessly huddled in the cupboard under the stairs, trying to make himself as small as possible, wishing he could just disappear. Outside his small sanctuary the big people spoke. He knew they were speaking of him, though they never said his name, the only times the big people spoke so loudly was when it was about him. He hadn't done anything wrong, of that he was sure. He was just a small person compared to them, they barely noticed him around and he went out of his way to stay out of their way. He stayed as much as possible in his small cupboard under the stairs.

Once upon a time doesn't promise
Evil villains and dragons to be slain
The great quest may only be a simple
(Yet needed) trip to the market

The big people were talking louder, their voices raised to fearful heights; they yelled words that he could barely understand. The sound of creaking floorboards and loud thumping steps above him told the boy the littlest big person had come. He could say that the littlest big person was actually a small person like himself, but the difference in their size was to the point that he could only call him as a big person, though not as big as the others. The big people stopped their yelling when the littlest one came in; he'd expected that, for they never argued in front of their precious little one. The boy huddled smaller within himself and clutched to his chest his most prized possession. The biggest one would come for him soon, of that he was sure. The arguing was over, but the problem had yet to be solved because it was hiding in the cupboard under the stairs.

Once upon a time doesn't promise
Magic and mischief—a land far faraway
May only be as far as the next town
Or as close as the next room

He had known they wouldn't let him stay there forever. They had never wanted him in the first place; they only put up with him due to some promise the big people had made a long time ago. He wasn't scared that they were taking him away and he wasn't curious as to where he would end up. Anywhere would have been better than where he was at, of that he was sure. He was the child that nobody wanted. They'd made sure he knew that, but it really didn't matter at all to him. The boy stared down at his hands in his lap- there was dirt under his fingernails, the big people wouldn't like that but he didn't much care. Once there was a time he would spend rides such as this staring out the window in awe of the changing surroundings, but he had outgrown that long ago. Now he just sat staring at his hands in his lap and the dirt under his nails. He wouldn't be with the big people much longer so he didn't have to please them. He left the dirt under his nails.

Once upon a time…

The new place was large and full of people, some big, most small like himself, but none as small as him. Laughter and cries and stern voices filled the halls, he wondered what this place was. The big people were going to leave him here, of that he was sure. He would no longer stay with them and the littlest big person, he would no longer huddle in the cupboard under the stairs and wish he could disappear, he would no longer hear their raised voices or the creak and thumps of heavy footsteps descending the stairs, but he didn't care. He ran his fingers across the surface of his most prized possession and didn't even look when the biggest one departed. They could leave him here, he didn't much care. They could leave him here. He would survive.

Once upon a time promises
Joy and laughter with a spoonful
Of tears and pain—it promises
The tale of a life well lived

~R.R. Cannon