So sorry for my long absence! I had a bunch of things going on, but now that those are all taken care of, I can focus again! :D

"So," she began, "are you going to tell me what you need that potion for?" Andromeda Tonks asked the gleeful boy. His green eyes seemed to take in every detail of the tiny vial; the muddy looking liquid that was so valuable. He hardly noticed when she nodded her head and headed out of the thrashed room. Harry tore his eyes from the vial to the rest of the slightly dark room. He stood and advanced on the shelves, finally taking the time to look about instead of being focused on a single objective. He found pictures of baby Teddy scattered throughout the bedroom, as well as older pictures that must have come from one of the side of the family or the other, either Lupin or Tonks. He pocketed a few of the baby pictures he found and went to the bookshelf, his eyes scanned over the titles of books he was sure Hermione would love.

As Harry left the room, he shut the door behind him and headed into the living room. He found Teddy on his back, staring up at a small, colourful ball, which was floating a foot above his head. He kept reaching up, trying to grab for it, but the ball managed to be just out of reach at all times. Harry smiled as he walked over and picked up the infant, held him out, and gave small raspberries onto his belly, which caused high pitched sequels of laughter from the boy, whose hair was turning purple. Harry was careful to keep a hand on the back of the small boy, to help support his head.

"You should come around more, become a father figure in his life." Tonks spoke from the connecting kitchen, watching the two with a smile across her face. Harry had a difficult time watching her; the resemblance between her and her sister, Bellatrix, was disturbing. He figured it would just take some time to get used to it, is all. He heard little Teddy laugh at him once more before placing him down on the soft blue mat once more.

"Thank you, Mrs. Tonks. I really appreciate your help." He strode over to the doorway and opened the door to leave. "I promise I will come around more; help take care of Teddy." He smiled at Andromeda and left the house, shutting the door behind him, heading into the setting sun to the apparation point.

He apparated at his front door, box of vials re-sized and safely under his arm. Opening the door, he found the inside was dark and quiet. He went inside, headed through the living room into the kitchen, placing the small wooden box onto the table, before creeping softly into the living room and leaned over the back of the couch. There, curled around a big pillow, was Draco, sound asleep. He smiled, watching the blonde sleep peacefully, realizing how relaxed his features were, strands of hair scattering over his pale cheek. Harry turned on the spot and walked softly upstairs, taking caution with every step he took so as not to make the wood creek. He invited himself into Draco's room and reached over for the top blanket. He was pulling the soft throw toward him when he saw it: a blinding gleam that was pulled along by the blanket. He half held the blanket in his arms as he walked around the side of the bed, not wanting to accidentally break anything of the other man's. He gently took the source of the shine and slid it fully from under the blanket.

He stood, staring at the crimson stained glass for what seemed like ages. Why was this still in Draco's room? And under his blanket of all things...he just didn't want to believe what his mind was shouting at him to understand. The blonde seemed depressed on occasion, but he wouldn't...would he? He thought back on the day that he dragged Draco to Diagon Alley; he had seen this very same piece of glass then to, but hadn't thought anything of it. Draco had said it was nothing, and he had believed the Slytherin! He realized now how stupid that had been: he should have demanded to know what was going on, why the glass was still about, and why the rag was so bloody.

"Kreature..." Harry called softly. The word was hardly out his mouth when the small, old elf popped into existence at his feet.

"You called for Kreature?" the shriveled thing asked.

"Search this entire room," Harry ordered, "search it for any stray glass, and for anything with blood on it. Once you have everything, dispose of it."

"Yes, master."

Harry's journey back downstairs was one filled with worry and dread. Every step seemed to make as much noise as the Hogwart's Express. He was so sure that Draco was going to awaken at any moment, ask him what the elf was doing in his room, and they would have a row. But none of that happened. He reached the bottom of the stairs and turned the corner, approached the couch, and there was the blonde, just as Harry had left him. He unwrapped the throw from his arms and softly covered the blonde with the fluffy, black blanket. Instinctively, the upturned nose dug its way into the fluff and the man sighed contently. Harry was half turned when he heard a soft noise coming from the still sleeping boy; he paused, fearful of moving in case the blonde was waking up.

"Ar-e" the man said, still deep in sleep, but even that soft noise, hardly loud enough to hear, meant that Harry was not going to allow himself to leave the other boy alone. He pulled off his cloak, draped it on the floor in the front of the couch, and laid himself down after removing his boots. The floor was wooden, and very hard to lie upon, and his cloak did little to help him feel snug or warm. He was willing to tolerate it, though, when he looked up and found the pale face snuggled against the fresh blanket, half visible from the upturned angle. He didn't snore loudly like Ron did when he was asleep, the Slytherin was as quite as a sleeping cat, or in his case, wolf.

Harry didn't know when he had fallen asleep, but he was aware that rays of light were cutting across his closed eyes. He groaned and turned over on the hard wood, feeling sore the entire length of his side. His eyes peeked open and he tilted his head upward, to take in his surroundings. He was expecting the sight of the couch, the plain wall behind that. What he was not expecting, however, was the gray eyes a foot from his face, staring into his own like they were connected.

"Potter?" the voice said softly.

"Hm?" his reply came, still half asleep.

"Why are you sleeping on the floor?"

"Because you took up the entire length of that ugly couch." His eyes were fluttering shut once more, struggling to stay awake.

He knew he took a bit to respond, but he finally jerked himself a bit more awake and continued, "and besides, Malfoy, why are you sleeping in the living room anyway?" But when he opened his eyes, he found that the curtains were drawn shut, the thick blanket was draped over him, and soft music was playing in the background. He stretched, grabbed his wand, which was lying next to him, and cast a quick Tempus; it was nearing noon.

"Potter, will you get up already? Prat, just lying about all day long. Lazy lion..." Harry heard the hint of mocking in the cool voice, but he smiled in spite of himself. He fixed his glasses upon his face and looked up to see the blonde looking down at him from across the room. "Come on, you. Up!" the snake tried again.

"Geez, what has your robe in a knot?" Harry asked while standing, picking up the blanket and his robe, and piled them on the spare chair.

"Oh, don't act like you don't know, Potter." At Harry's confused glance, Draco spoke again, "The wolfsbane! I found it in a little wooden box, which wasn't there when I fell asleep last night." The hope that filled those gray eyes was enough to make it worth it for Harry. Draco looked so happy, like he was saved from the fire all over again.

"Yeah, I found it at Remus's! I also got to see Teddy, that was fantastic!"

"Teddy?" the blonde asked.

"Yeah, Teddy. He is the son of Remus and Tonks. He is..." Harry had to pause and think about it a second. "Your mother's sister's grandchild..."

"Cousin then," Draco piped in.

"If you say so." Harry laughed, "He is about a month old."

"Once removed." Draco smirked when Harry gave him a confused look. "You learn all of those important terms when you grow up in a sophisticated family." Draco had turned his nose up once more.

"Yeah, those are important to know when you are marrying within your family, huh?" Draco's smirk fell and he glared at Harry, while the offending wizard was laughing at his own joke.

"Go take a bath, Potter, you stink." And Draco disappeared around the corner leading into the kitchen.

Harry huffed for a second before smiling and heading up the stairs to go take a shower as the blonde suggested. He was just entering his room when the small elf popped into the hallway. Harry turned around to look at Kreature.

"Kreature has done what the master asked of him." The elf bowed his head.

"Very good, Kreature," Harry praised, "Keep an eye on him for me; make sure he doesn't try and harm himself again. But," Harry added, "just like in sixth year: he isn't to know. No notes, no warnings, nothing."

"Kreature wouldn't want to see the young Malfoy hurt, sir, he is favorable with Kreature's Mrs. Black." The elf bowed lower.

Harry rolled his eyes: yeah, sure, it takes years for Kreature to finally stop insulting him, but give Malfoy one month in the house and suddenly he is acceptable of people living in Mrs. Black's old house. Figures.

The next few days flew by in a non-existent breeze. Draco seemed a lot less depressed, and there were even times where Harry would come back from Hermione's or Luna's early and Draco wouldn't realize Harry was standing in the doorway until he was half way through the Wicked Sisters latest song playing through the radio, at which point he would cut himself off mid-word and clear his throat, continuing with cooking, or potions, or what have you, like nothing in the world happened.

The morning of the full moon, Harry found the blonde sitting at the dining room table, tea cup in hand but hardly a drop missing.

"You alright there, then?" the raven eyed man asked, while scanning him up and down.

"It's today," was all the reply Harry got.

"I know it is, and we will be ready. We already have the wolfsbane, and so everything will be fine." He tried to sound reassuring, and thought he did a better job sounding like it than what he was actually feeling.

Every hour that ticked by seemed like an entire day in itself. The clock tick every second sounded loud and clear throughout the small house. Draco was hardly drinking, and getting him to eat anything was impossible; Harry even tried to make a nice steak for him but it was left forgotten on the table as the man crawled himself back under the bedsheets in his room.

"Malfoy?" Harry invited himself into the depressing room, and found Draco by a large lump under the bed spread. "Malfoy, it's almost five, you need to take your potion." He watched as a pale, small hand slip out from the bundle of covers and waited, palm up, waiting. He sighed and put the small vial into the waiting palm, which started to curl as soon as the vial touched it, and their fingers brushed together slightly. The hand tucked back under the blanket, and Harry heard the blonde shudder and the vial was thrown out from under the blanket onto the floor.

"Tastes like I just drank essence of Weasley!" the hidden lump complained loudly.

"I know, and I'm sorry. You have to drink it straight, mixing it makes it useless." Harry watched as Kreature came in through the open doorway and snapped his fingers, making the broken glass that scattered the floor by the bed disappear instantly, and leaving again without a word. He sat down on the bed, next to the lump, and waited. He wasn't sure what he was waiting for; he didn't want to have to watch the Slytherin change again, and he knew there would be no conversation beforehand. He just knew he should be there, just for him.

The minutes ticked by, and around the six o clock hour Harry noticed that Draco would shudder for a few seconds every ten minutes or so. He ignored the first shudder, but took notice when they started recurring. They only came more often, and sounding more painful, the more time passed by. Draco yelled out a cry of pain, which caused Harry to immediately put his hand on the blonde's back and rub gently, whispering about how he was going to be fine, and nagging Harry before long. The clock from the living room announced that the seven o clock hour hit and Draco was calling out in constant pain, going from groaning, gasping, screaming, and Harry knew, at some point, the Slytherin had started sobbing, but he wasn't going to mention it if asked later.

Harry was still rubbing the blonde's back when he felt the rib cage pop out of place and shift. His hand froze as he felt the change of the bones and Draco's cries became more feral. When a sharp growl came from the shifting lump, he snatched his hand back and stood, walking back toward the door. The lump finally stopped shifting under the covers, looking larger than it once had. Harry watched as one side of the lump moved up, and he was able to see the silhouette of the wolf's head. The animal threw its head back and Harry found his eyes locked with beautiful, icy blue ones. The eyes didn't look as cold and distant as they did the first time Harry had seem them. Instead, they looked understanding, and questionable. The massive head cocked to the side, ears perked upward.

"Mal..Malfoy, is it you?" the one question asked would determine if Harry would have to flee or fight the wolf that was staring at him.

His reply came as the pure white head lifted back, exposing the soft fur of the throat, and a long, sorrowful howl filled number twelve, Grimmauld Place.

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