Slytherin Adoption

Safe

Draco stood there for another moment before grabbing his trunk with one hand, Harry's hand with the other one, and walking down the corridor. They passed several compartments before finding one that was empty. Draco pulled Harry in and quickly shut the door, letting go of Harry's hand to put his trunk in the rack above them. When he had finally sat down, he looked at Harry, who was looking around uncertainly.

"Come sit next to me," Draco instructed and then winced internally at how demanding that had sounded. "Please," he added softly. After another moment of looking around, Harry finally sat next to Draco. He grimaced in pain. "Are you okay?"

"Y...yes," the ravenhaired boy replied. Draco knew he wasn't but decided not to say anything. Instead, he began telling Harry about the Wizarding World, Hogwarts, Quidditch, and whatever else he could think of. Since he'd never seen anything in the papers about Harry since he'd defeated Voldemort when he was fifteen months, he was pretty sure Harry had grown up in the muggle world. And the way his face would light up at certain things, he knew he was right.

About two hours into the trip, the door banged open. Harry yelped in fright, eyes wide as he stared at the two newcomers standing in the doorway. Unconsciously, his hand reached for Draco's and Draco squeezed back reassuringly before turning to the door.

"Draco!" the girl whined. "We've been looking everywhere for you." Draco rolled his eyes but gave a smile before turning to the boy next to him.

"Harry, it's okay," he said softly. "These are my friends. They won't hurt you. I promise." Harry finally looked up.

"H...hello." He held the hand that wasn't holding Draco's out. Pansy practically melted at how adorable Harry looked and gave a bright smile, shaking his hand.

"My name's Pansy Parkinson," she introduced herself, letting go of his hand and pulling the boy she was with further into the compartment. "This is Blaise Zabini." Blaise nodded at the boy and took a seat across from him, Pansy sitting across from Draco. It was silent for a moment until Draco remembered that Harry didn't even really know his own name.

"This is Harry Potter." Blaise blinked a few times and Pansy's breath hitched but other than that, they didn't show their surprise, which Draco was grateful for. It took several minutes of useless chatter before Harry finally started to relax and let go of Draco's hand. Slowly, his eyes started to droop, as he hasn't a proper night's sleep in forever. Laying his head on Draco's shoulder, Harry allowed the rocking of the train and the soothing motions of Draco's hand as he ran it through the black locks to lull him to sleep.

"So that's Harry Potter," Blaise said quietly after they'd saw that the boy in question was asleep.

"Yeah..." Draco sighed as he continued running his fingers through Harry's hair. He gently maneuvered Harry so he was laying down, his head in Draco's lap.

"He's nothing like I thought he'd be like," Pansy commented.

"There's a few things you should know," Draco began slowly. He took a deep breath and quickly explained how his father and him met Harry at the train station and what happened.

"I think he's being abused," Draco whispered, showing them the bruise on Harry's shoulder and neck.

"He's really shy and skittish. He seems to have developed a stutter, though I don't know if that's something he was born with or if the abuse caused it. The worse thing is he didn't know his name until my father told him." Blaise and Pansy stared at him in shock.

"So you're telling me that the whole world knows his name, except for him?" Pansy asked, horrified. Draco nodded just as Harry started whimpering in his sleep.

"No...please stop...please..." He began to struggle, as though someone was holding him down. Draco gently brushed a hand through Harry's bangs, revealing the lightening bolt shaped scar, and leaned.

"Harry, it's me," he said softly. "It's Draco. You're on the train to Hogwarts. You're safe." Harry stopped moving. Slowly, he opened his green eyes and focused on Draco.

"I'm safe?" he asked, his voice small as he searched Draco's face for any signs of dishonesty.

"You're safe," Draco replied and Harry's smile was so bright it lit up the compartment.