Me: Sup! So, sorry for the long delay. . .AP and sports kinda ruined my life for a while. . .

Shadow: A while? It's been what? 8 months since you updated?

Me: Heh- yeah kinda. . . I'll try to be better about updating now that AP is over though. . .

Shadow: Awesome! Update your kh fic next, I actually like that one!

Me: Thanks. . .I think. . .Anywho, on with the long-overdue chappy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I don't have the awesome British-ness for that. . .

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Harry sighed, annoyed at everything as he swept the floor at Borgin and Burkes. He had known when he took the job that it would be hard work. What de didn't know was that his job would consist of sweeping, dusting, shelving, inventory, cooking, scrubbing, mopping, accounting, and many other tasks. He even had to run all the way to Diagon Alley to buy Borgin his daily butterbeers! And to top it all off, he wasn't even allowed to use magic! Borgin had said it was something about learning "responsibility" and "respecting his elders" and "learning valuable life lessons". Personally, Harry thought Borgin was a sadistic psychopath who got enjoyment out of causing as much strife and conflict as possible for anyone who didn't buy something. This opinion was later supported when Borgin remarked to an elderly witch who entered his store that he was surprised she could see past all the wrinkles in her face after she looked at his merchandise for 20 minutes without pulling out any money. Needless to say that witch had had some choice words for Borgin, some of which Harry planned on sharing with Malfoy later that day.

'Damn." Harry thought. 'I was hoping I could forget about that.'

With another sigh, Harry placed the broom against the wall so he could send Malfoy his owl letting him know when he got off work. As Harry trudged toward the window in the back of the store, he heard the cheerful voice of Borgin himself.

"Hey boy! Where do you think you're going?"

"Um. . .to send an owl to a friend. . ." Harry replied, almost choking when the word "friend" came out of his mouth in reference to Malfoy.

"I told you yesterday boy! No benefits for this job! I will not lose money because of your lazy ass!"

"But I just need to-"

"I don't want to hear it! Now get back to work!" Borgin yelled again as he moved closer to Harry, raising his fist along the way. Harry flinched as he recalled similar scenes in the Dursley's house.

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Rain pelted the house as a 7 year old Harry heard the unmistakable sound of breaking glass outside his cupboard bedroom. Harry felt his heartbeat speed up in terror. He knew what was coming. It always came right after something broke. Sure enough, Harry saw the door of his cupboard shake as two fists pummeled the already cracked wood.

Harry backed away from the door as he heard the metal lock jiggling. Of course. Even drunk, his uncle could eventually figure out how to work a door. Harry shook as Vernon Dursley entered the small space. Harry tried to make himself as small as possible only to tense up as he felt his back hit the wall. A feral snarl spread across Vernon's face as he reached one large hand into the room and yanked Harry out by his hair.

Harry yelped as he crashed into the wall across from his one safe haven. Before it could even register in his mind that he was no longer in his "room", Harry found himself lying on the floor, already bleeding from the back of his head. The beating commenced. Harry saw nothing but spots of red and yellow as he was blinded from sheer pain. Soon enough, his whole world turned black.

Harry woke up in a pool of his own blood. As he tried to stand, spots appeared once again in front of his eyes and he collapsed on the ground dizzy with exhaustion and pain. Harry curled into a ball and did the only thing he could from his position: cry. The tears always came. No matter how much he tried to repress them, they always came.

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No sooner had Borgin raised his fist than he lowered it.

"Ah. . .Forget it. . .You're not even worth it. . .Just get back to work. . ."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. He had been sure he was going to experience the mind-numbing pain yet again. Harry sent one last forlorn glance at the window near the cages where Borgin's owls were kept before slowly trudging back to his "job" or as Harry put it "the child labor law infringement".

A few hours later, through all the verbal abuse and physical labor, Harry was done with his first day of school. Now was the problem of getting to the Malfoy mansion. Every time he had tried to send an owl to Draco, Harry had been caught and had experienced an ungodly amount of threats in exchange if he didn't get back to work. Harry quickly slid into the back room of Borgin's shop and quickly sent off the owl.

'Ha! Now that I'm off the clock, Borgin can't do anything about it!' Harry gloated to himself. He was wrong. As he walked out of the room, he heard what had somehow become a very familiar voice in the course of eight hours.

"What do you think you were doing back there boy!"

Harry flinched. How did this guy always seem to know where he was and what he was doing? Borgin had even remarked at one point that Harry wasn't being paid to take breaks when he had taken just a moment to stretch from his mopping. And Borgin hadn't even been in the shop when he did it! He had been outside trying to get people to enter the shop while Harry was behind the counter!

"Uh. . ." Harry replied.

"You're pathetic! I hired you out of the goodness of my heart! I have given you way more than you deserve as a new employee and all you do is take advantage of my charity!"

Harry had to restrain himself from raising an eyebrow in skepticism. This guy was unbelievable.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you are planning a takeover of my shop back there with your little friends! Well guess what you little twerp! You can't do it! This shop is unconquerable! No snot nosed little brat can take this shop! Not while I'm here! Now if I see you back there again, you're fired!"

Harry's mouth was open in astonishment. This guy was officially insane. Not only was he convinced that he was a good guy, but now he thought a twelve-year-old kid was planning a coup d'état with the purpose of taking over a shop full of dark artifacts they didn't even know how to use. Shaking his head Harry strode past Borgin on his way out of the shop.

"Hey! Don't you dare walk out on me! I know what you're planning! Just wait until tomorrow! I can guarantee you will wish you'd never been born!"

Harry shivered in dread. He already wished he'd never been born. If only for the reason he was currently working for a crazy old man who didn't know right from left, was forced to live with his worst enemy, had been expelled from the best school in the world, had no friends, and to top it all off he was still broke. Life currently sucked.

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Harry tapped his foot impatiently as he waited outside Flourish and Blotts. Where was that blonde bastard? Harry had told him to be here 20 minutes ago! Harry groaned and turned around, punching the wall in impatience. Finally, after another 30 minutes had passed, Draco walked up to Harry.

"Potter." He said. Harry felt his anger rise even more. He was 50 minutes late and all he had to say for himself was 'Potter'?

"Where have you been!" Harry demanded, his green eyes narrowed in irritation.

"Calm down Potter. Something important came up. . ." the blonde replied examining his fingernails disinterestedly.

"What came up?" Harry asked, purely bewildered and (although he would never admit it) a little bit interested as well.

"My house elf didn't fold my socks properly"

Harry had to restrain himself from smacking himself in the forehead or, even better, strangling that arrogant prick until he was gasping for air.

"Ugh! Never mind. Let's just go. . ."

Before Harry could follow his own advice however, he heard an unfamiliar voice behind him.

"HARRY POTTER! DEAR GOD! IT'S HARRY POTTER!"

Harry felt himself immediately freeze from shock. No. It couldn't be. The Ministry couldn't have found him! When Harry felt a hand grasp his shoulder and turn him around to face the source of the voice, however, he saw someone he definitely hadn't expected to see. It was not a scary, hostile wizard glaring at him, but a handsome, blonde, smiling wizard who looked anything but disappointed to see him.

"HARRY POTTER! I MUST SAY IT'S A PLEASURE TO FINALLY MEET YOU!"

"Ummm. . .thanks. . ." Harry asked, unsure of this reception although admittedly, he was used to random people he'd never seen before knowing who he was.

"AND OF COURSE YOU KNOW WHO I AM! AFTER ALL, WHO DOESN'T?"

"Uhhh. . .sorry, I don't know who you are. . ." Harry relied, slightly annoyed by this mystery wizard's arrogance.

"WHAT? DEAR GOD, MY BOY, HOW COULD YOU NOT KNOW? I'M GILDORY LOCKHART! AUTHOR, TEACHER, PROTECTOR FROM THE DARK ARTS EXTRAORDINAIRE, AND FIVE-TIME WINNER OF WITCH WEEKLY'S MOST DAZZLING SMILE AWARD!"

Harry blinked. Did this guy ever speak in a normal tone? Why was he shouting everything he said? If he didn't calm down, surely the ministry would catch him. Maybe if he pretended to know what Lockhart was talking about, he'd go away. Operation Ditch the Creepy Dude was a go.

"That was you?"

"WHY YES, I KNEW YOU'D HEARD OF ME! AFTER ALL, I'M THE ONE WHO KILLED THAT VAMPIRE IN TRANSLYVANIA!"

"And that werewolf in Scandinavia?"

"WHY YES MY BOY! YOU SEE? YOU DO KNOW WHO I AM!" With that said, Lockhart turned back toward Flourish and Blotts.

'Thank God.' Harry thought. 'He's leaving!'

"WITCHES AND WIZARDS! I WOULD LIKE TO DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TOWARDS MYSELF AND MY NEW YOUNG FRIEND, HARRY POTTER!"

Harry blanched. He did NOT just do that! No way. Harry quickly turned and ran the other way, grabbing a smirking Malfoy's hand on the way as dozens of heads started to turn in his direction.

"WAIT! I WAS GOING TO GIVE YOU FREE BOOKS! DON'T GO!"

Harry continued to hear Lockhart's affronted and flabbergasted voice until he and Draco were far enough away that his cries faded into oblivion.

"God, Potter, you can't even go home from work without having to show off can you?" Draco sneered once Harry had finally ceased sprinting.

"I didn't ask for that Malfoy!" Harry replied, annoyed and taken aback that Draco truly considered him an arrogant bastard who sought out attention. Sure, he expected that opinion from Snape, but somehow he had considered Draco different. Maybe because they actually somewhat knew one another from all their arguments and fights the previous year. Maybe just because Harry didn't want Draco to have been right about him when they met. Possibly even because Harry considered him to be more of a friend now that he was staying with him. Wait. Scratch that. He would NEVER be friends with Draco Malfoy. Not if they were the last two people on earth and Draco was actually civil to him. Not even then. It must have been because of the rivalry that Harry was offended. Harry was drawn out of his thoughts by Draco's aggravated voice.

"Sure Potter, I saw the way you were milking that attention.'That was you?' 'How about that werewolf?' If you didn't want the attention, Potter, why the sudden interest?"

"Because I thought that maybe if I buttered him up, we could leave!"

"Psh- sure. . . As if a bastard like that would fall for something so stupid. . ."

"I was kind of surprised that I was right about the werewolf. . ."

"Because he never did it! The only werewolf he probably knows is the one hanging on the wall of the Hog's Head! He would take credit for anything and you played right into his little game!"

Harry's opened and closed his mouth in fury. That did make sense, but not if it proved Malfoy right! He refused to lose to the little prick, although at the same time he couldn't think of a comeback for the life of him.

"Whatever. . .let's just go. . ." Harry said as he turned away from Malfoy, arms crossed across his chest.

"Whatever you say your majesty. . ." Draco responded with a smirk, knowing he had won.

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"Well what now genius?" Harry asked the blonde scornfully. He should have known. He should have guessed that the aristocratic idiot wouldn't have had the mental capacity to realize that Harry Potter, the boy who lived, couldn't just waltz into the home of a loyal death eater unless he was chained or decapitated.

"Well I figured since I'm ensuring you don't die on the streets, you would be responsible enough to figure out this dilemma for yourself. But then again, how could I ever think a pathetic Gryffindor would figure that out." Malfoy replied with a smirk.

Harry clenched his jaw in anger at that comment. 'No, I need him. I can't kill him. . .yet.'

"Well anyway, I'll see you when you get inside. . .That is, if you get inside. My room is right there." Malfoy explained, pointing toward a window towards the top of the manor as he began to walk to the front door of his house. Harry swore to himself as he glanced up at the window.

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'This just might be the worst idea I've ever had. . .' Harry found himself thinking. After Draco had oh-so-kindly abandoned him outside his manor, Harry had wasted about 20 minutes staring at the house trying to figure out how he could possibly get inside. Finally he had come up with the only logical explanation: climbing. Unfortunately for Harry, Draco's room was not only on the highest floor of the manor, but it was also surrounded by nothing even resembling footholds and handholds except for a few scattered vines of ivy and even those hadn't looked to stable.

Harry was now reduced to a panicky, apprehensive mess with little to no hope for surviving the night. Harry gasped as the vine he was currently clutching for dear life began to give way and struggled not to cry out in despair as he felt his body sinking ever lower toward the ground. Hands shaking, Harry reached out and grabbed a new vine just seconds before his previous one tore free of the side of the house.

Harry glanced down toward where the vine had fallen and quickly looked back up before he lost his lunch. It was a long way down and the vine was swinging violently back and forth as if mocking him to just try and make his way up the side of the manor in one piece. To distract himself from his thoughts of death-by-falling-miserably-to-his-doom, Harry distracted himself by looking up and sighed in relief as he saw the window was nearly in reach. Bracing himself, Harry continued his upward ascent.

Within minutes, Harry was outside Draco's window, gasping for air and knocking softly on his window so as not to draw any unwanted attention to himself. Soon, the window was opened by a scowling Draco. Draco glanced at the still-panting boy outside his window and his mouth turned into an even fiercer scowl.

"Potter, what do you think you are doing?" came the condescending voice of Harry's new "roommate".

Harry bared his teeth and growled, "What does it look like I'm doing Malfoy, I'm trying to get into your room. Now would you please move so I can get on solid ground?"

"Why didn't you just use magic to get up here?"

If he hadn't needed both hands to keep himself from falling, Harry would have smacked himself in the head. Why hadn't he thought to use magic? Harry shook his head angrily and had to restrain himself from trying to wipe that superior smirk off Malfoy's face as he finally climbed into the paler boy's bedroom.

"Maybe I didn't feel like it Malfoy." came Harry's pathetic attempt to salvage some sort of dignity from the situation. Apparently it didn't work so well because it only caused Draco to smirk victoriously.

"Well Potter, I have to admit, you're even stupider than I thought. Did you really forget you could do magic?"

Harry scowled. That wasn't a fair accusation. After all, he had only known for a year that he could even do magic. It was perfectly normal for him to forget simple facts such as his ability to fly into high places.

"Well Potter, since you obviously don't know how to handle any situation on your own, I guess I'll have to be the one to find a place for you to sleep." Draco said as he walked to a closet to grab a few spare blankets. Harry sighed in annoyance.

'This is going to be a long night.'

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Me: So there it is! In my opinion, it sucks, but at least I finally updated! You should reward me by reviewing!

Shadow: Or they can boycott you as revenge for not updating sooner. . .that's what I'd do. . .

Me: Well you're much meaner than my nice readers! They'll show you! And if they don't review, it just means I'll think of myself as a failure and wait a long time to update again just because of lack of confidence! Trust me. . .it's happened before. . . So plz plz review!