Victoria rolled her eyes.  "Would you relax?  I was just thinking that it's time you maybe started breaking away from your father.  Besides, he doesn't even have to know."  She giggled conspiratorially even though Draco was looking distinctly non-conspiratory.  "You're 17, Draco.  It's time you took your life into your own hands."

                "You're 17, and you're still living with your parents," he retorted.  He looked absolutely smug in the knowledge that his point was indisputable.  His smirk said it all.

                Then, Tori opened her mouth and ruined it.  "My parents aren't trying to turn me evil.  Plus, I'm not legal in the muggle world for another month and 17 days, and my parents won't accept that I'm officially an adult as far as the wizarding world is concerned."

                Draco sighed again, falling back into his stupor.  "I won't have any intelligent conversation next year.  If I rebel against my father like I know I should this summer, I won't have anyone next year."  He dropped despondently onto Tori's bed.  "Being alone is not something I'm used to."

                She sat next to him and looped an arm around his shoulders.  "Well, then.  You'll just have to hook up with that special someone, and let him be your constant companion.  Then you won't be alone, and I won't have to worry about you.  I'd know he would take care of you."

                "Oh, hell no.  Tori, I believe you are completely delusional today.  It's all that graduation crap going to your head.  No matter how much I change this summer, that 'special someone' will never want me of all people."  Draco looked vaguely depressed but hid it well.

                Tori, on the other hand, was looking happy to the point of being completely giddy.  "Aw, you never know.  Just give it some time.  And come visit me this summer."  She turned on her best 'innocent little angel' face and looked pleadingly at him.  When he didn't respond immediately, she began to whimper pathetically.

                "Okay, okay!  I give up."  He tried his best to hide his smile behind a stern yet defeated tone.  Tori simply smiled and scribbled down her address.  "39 Chestnut Court.  Little Whinging, Surrey.  Great.  When do you want me there?"

                "I don't know.  When can you get away from Hell House?"

                Draco thought for a few moments before replying.  "Let's go with July 25.  That'll give me enough time to get home, come up with a logical cover story, ask my parents, then convince my parents."  The excitement of getting away from home for the summer shone through his hesitation.  Tori nodded her agreement and continued packing.

►◄►◄►◄

                July 25 couldn't arrive quickly enough for Draco.  Home had never been a particular favorite of his, but it became even more unbearable once he knew there was someplace else he could be.  And he couldn't lie to himself, living in the muggle world for the rest of the summer semi-intrigued him.  Though Tori could never know that.

                So, with all the constant waiting-for-the-day, Draco could hardly believe when it finally arrived.  He waited until the agreed-upon time then flooed directly into Tori's living room.  "Draco!  You're here!"  Before he'd even properly found his ground, the petite witch had thrown her arms around his neck.  "Come on, I've already got one of the guest rooms all ready for you.  You're room is across the hall from mine, 'cause one of the neighbors will be staying right next to me.  He'll be here later today and stay for three weeks, I think Mom said."

                "Tori, calm down.  Must I remind you to breathe?"  He simply smirked when she threw a disgruntled glare his way.  Her incessant babble had taken them all the way to the door of what was to be his room.  He opened the door and set his bags inside before joining Tori in the hall again.  "So, what's the name of this neighbor-boy staying with us?"

                The two had started walking back down stairs.  Tori's step faltered just slightly.  "Well, Draco, that's the thing.  He--"

                "Tori!  Come down now.  Harry's here!" her mother called.  Without waiting for Draco's reply to that statement, Tori latched onto his arm and walked into the living room.  The sight that greeted them was not what Draco had been expecting.

                Granted, his expectations for the Boy Wonder of Hogwarts were fairly high.  Relatives that fawned all over the little celebrity, giving him everything he could ask for before he asked for it.  Family that loved him and praised him, the exact opposite of Draco's home life.  What Draco actually found was a woman who looked suspiciously like a praying mantis, a man easily as wide as he was tall, and a boy no older than Draco who should have been in the circus as the fattest being ever to walk the face of the planet.  And the great Boy-Who-Lived, standing meekly behind them all.

                The bug-woman was speaking apologetically to Tori's mother.  "We are terribly sorry to ask you to take such a burden on.  But of course, we couldn't just leave the boy at our house alone.  Who knows what trouble he might have caused, and Mrs. Figg has of course been ill for so long now."

                "It's not a problem, Mrs. Dursley.  I'm sure Harry will be just fine here."  Tori smiled warmly at the small wizard.  Abnormally small for his age, in Draco's reasoning.  Harry pulled at the collar of his over-sized shirt self-consciously, revealing scratches along his throat and dark bruises around his skinny wrists.  Draco shot a concerned, questioning look at Tori who discreetly shook her head.

                Draco tuned into the conversation again just as Harry's uncle dragged him into a more deserted corner of the room.  The blond immediately focused his attention there.  "I'm warning you, boy.  If we get one word about anything out of the ordinary, you will be locked in that cupboard for the rest of your miserable existence.  Understand?"  Vernon waited for the quiet 'yes, sir' before the two joined the group again.

                Draco felt a sudden rush of protectiveness towards Harry.  He didn't understand how anyone could treat family so horribly.  Even his own simply ignored each other at the worst of times.  It was unheard of in his world for civilized people to resort to physical violence.  And that's when the teen-aged wizard understood.  This was exactly why Tori had so desperately wanted him here this summer.

To be continued…