Going Home With Harry Potter

Chapter 2: Another Day, Another Job

Draco woke up to yelling. He lifted his head up to survey his surroundings. He was still under Potter's bed, on top of a makeshift mattress made out of Potter's generously donated jersey. Two pairs of feet could be seen from where he was hiding, one was Harry and the other was most likely his aunt. "Be grateful that we are even thinking to give you food! We have given you everything we have to offer; Dudley's second bedroom, a plate of food and the opportunity to get out of the house a few times a week. In return for all of this you do the chores. Have all of them done by lunch or else you'd wish you were sent somewhere else, Freak." Petunia threatened before slamming the door closed.

Draco carefully crawled out from under the bed. Potter was sitting there, silently, holding a small plate of food which consisted of a piece of ham. Harry caught sight of Draco and forced a smile. "Morning Malfoy. Here's your breakfast." He said, sadly, as he put the plate on the floor. Draco tilted his head in question. What are you going to eat then? Harry walked over to Hedwig's cage and held out a palmful of owl treats for her, which she ate happily.

"If you're wondering about my breakfast, then I don't normally eat in the mornings." Potter whispered, and Draco started eating the ham. He knew Harry was lying but he couldn't point it out since he only spoke ferret. He noticed that the bruise over the black haired boy's right eye was fading slightly and wondered why he had it in the first place.

"I have to take the plate down now. I'll be back once I've made everyone else's breakfast. They're all getting up and ready for the day so I have to do more jobs in the meantime . See you in a bit. Stay quiet, hide if you have to." He reminded before taking the ceramic dish and locking the door behind him. Draco swallowed the remainder of his ham and looked at Hedwig. She shrugged her wings, indicating that this was normal. Draco was starting to get even more concerned.

Harry continued to pop in and out of his room, to feed both the animals residing there with some food he managed to sneak from the pantry or the fridge. It was lunch time and Draco was quite bored, sitting in the plain room with nothing to do other than squeak at Hedwig. Draco decided to be a bit daring. He climbed on top of the chest of drawers, jumped on the bed and started bouncing. It didn't make any noise thankfully, but it did when he slipped off and landed on the floor.

Downstairs, the Dursleys looked up in the direction of Harry's room. Harry had heard the thump as well and carefully put the kettle down. "That was most likely Hedwig's food bowl. She's probably hungry. Is it ok if I go feed her?" Harry asked nervously as he set down their hot drinks, scared that they were going to find out about the ferret he smuggled into the house. Vernon scowled and shooed him away. Harry let out a sigh of relief as he climbed the stairs, but frowned when he opened the door to his bedroom. Ferret Draco was running around, for absolutely no reason, and the snowy owl was hooting as quiet as possible at him, as if disappointed.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Malfoy?" Potter whisper-shouted and Draco froze. "I could've gotten in so much trouble for that. I was going to come back up in a few minutes, then you just had to make some noise. I told you to be quiet, I thought you understood." Harry made sure to keep his voice down, but he didn't hide the small amount of betrayal he felt. He thought that Malfoy knew there were consequences for the little things, even if he didn't know what the consequences were. Draco felt incredibly guilty, he did know the first part. He knew that Potter would be held responsible for everything he did, but he still let his restlessness get the better of him.

He bowed his head in shame. Harry felt a bit of remorse for making him feel bad, since he himself had been yelled at countless times, but Draco had to realise that this was non negotiable. "I have to go back down. I'll be back in a bit." Harry murmured and walked away, closing the door behind him. Dudley pushed past him on his way upstairs. "Hey Freak! Go clean the toilet!" Harry paled slightly, but nodded and went to go do as he was told.

The smell was horrible but Harry managed to get the job done without vomiting. He took a deep breath of fresh air when he stepped out of the tiny room, only to be dragged into the kitchen. He sighed and grabbed the dish wash and filled the sink with hot water, so he could start doing the dishes. Once he was done he received a slap upside the head for not doing it quick enough. His stomach rumbled but he ignored it. He'd eat at dinner.

Draco let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding, when Harry opened the door. The blond ferret was worried about the ravenette. He hadn't seen him eat since the last day of Hogwarts and even then, he had only eaten a biscuit. Hey Potter, can you take me to the bathroom? I really need to go... Harry looked at him and frowned. "What?" Draco rolled his eyes. He pointed to the door, then to himself and started hopping around. "Are you busting? Do you wanna go to the toilet?" Potter asked and Draco nodded rapidly. Harry picked him up, checked outside the door and ran to the bathroom. Luckily the upstairs loo wasn't occupied, so they went in.

Harry stifled a laugh when Draco tried to sit properly on the toilet seat, earning a glare from the furry wizard. Potter rolled his eyes and held him above the toilet. Draco was extremely embarrassed, he had to get Potter to help him use the loo! He was thankful however that Harry had closed his eyes and looked away, giving a small amount of privacy. Draco doesn't want to talk about that subject anymore.

Once they got back to the room, Harry lay on his bed and closed his eyes for a moment before checking the time. "Shit!" He swore before leaping up, leaving a confused ferret on the floor and a white owl who hooted softly.

Posted: 1st September 2019