How I wish the escape from Malfoy Manner had gone. Then it travels into what would have probably happened if it had actually gone how I wanted it to.

If it hadn't been for Hermione's quick thinking, Voldemort would be well on his way to murder the boy who lived. Now the Malfoys weren't even sure if he was Harry Potter, or if he was a decoy. Luckily for them, Draco hadn't recognized them. Perhaps he had, but he lied. Harry wasn't sure at that exact moment. All he knew was that he had to get upstairs and save Hermione, but he also had to find a way out.

The Lovegoods had told them there was no way out. After a quick bit of searching the dungeons, and checking the windows, they found that to be true. The options were closing up, what was he going to do?

That was when they heard the door. When they looked over, Draco was standing there. He seemed thinner than he had been back in Hogwarts. 

"I want to make a deal." Malfoy spoke. "I'll help you out of here if you take me with you."

For a moment Ron and Harry gave each other a 'Seriously? Who does this guy think he is?' look, but a cry from Hermione quickly changed their minds. They two nodded. 

Malfoy handed back their wands before speaking, "I have a house elf who is willing to get us out, he can apparate through the enchantments without issue. I have a location picked out, but the house elf won't take us the whole way. The only thing I'm worried about is getting to Granger." That was the first time they had heard Malfoy speak her name without spitting it out as if it was a curse. That was a good enough indication that he was trying to help at the moment. "Burl." A house elf popped up. "Take the Lovegoods to the location we spoke of, and return for us."

"Yes sir." He held their hands and after the elf got the shock of Luna's kind greeting, they were gone.

Then Malfoy turned back to them. "So here's the deal, I'm going to go back up and tell them the Lovegoods aren't here. They'll send someone down, and you need to knock them out. From there things will become chaotic. You need to hold them off until Burl gets back, and stay close to Granger. If I recieve the opportunity, I will help with the attack, and apparate with you. If not, you may have to leave without me, and from there I sure hope I get out or..." Malfoy paused. "Nevermind, it's not important. If you need to, you can leave me behind. Just stop this war as soon as you can."

The next events seemed slow for them at the time, but looking back on it, they probably happened within two minutes. Two men barged into the dungeon looking for the Lovegoods, and they were knocked out by Ron, and Harry. They grabbed their wands and ran upstairs, sending spells in every direction possible the moment they saw people. The suprise factor worked in their favour, and they managed to get multiple wands from people, rendering them unable to help themselves. Soon they were beside Hermione, holding onto her while sending spells in every direction. Malfoy intervened when he heard the word "Avada K- Hey!" Draco ran to the trio with two wands and the fear of being caught. They held off the spells for a moment, and then Burl was there. The last thing Draco saw was Aunt Bella hurling a dagger at them.

Apparation was rougher than usual. They all fell to the ground in a pile of limbs, and bodies. When Draco felt blood he began to panic. Turning, he found his favourite house elf, the one who had tended to his every need, had been more of a parental figure than both of his parents put together, the one who played with him when he felt alone, was dead. 

"Burl!" Getting a closer look, Draco realized the dagger had gone straight through his head. Quickly he wiped a tear, and regained control of his emotions. As much as he would miss Burl, he knew he had plenty of time to come to terms with what had just happened if they stayed alive. 

To Draco's left the Lovegoods stood. Luna had a saddened look but she said nothing. 

When everyone had regained an upright position, they looked around and found themselves at the edge of some woods near a muggle town. To their suprise Draco pulled a small back pack from under his robes. He accioed a potion which he urged Hermione to drink. After a moment of glaring, Hermione found herself too tired to argue. To her surprise, she began to feel better.

"It's a blood replenishing potion. I figured you might need some after... that." To Hermione's shock Malfoy began to rub a cream of some sort on her injured arm. Instinctively she flinched away. "Relax Granger, it's to close up the wound. Can't be going into a muggle town bleeding, and barely standing."

He definitely had a point. Begrudgingly she let him continue. Harry watched as he accioed something else from the bag. Clothing. Muggle clothing at that. Then he asked everyone to look away for a moment. 

Ron decided he was done being told what to do at that moment. "And why should we look away Malfoy? So you can cast a spell, and hit us right in the back?"

"Ron, I'm not sure you're aware, but he just helped us escape." Luna spoke kindly "And healed Hermione's arm." This caused everyone to look over, and it was just a scar left in the place of the bleeding wound.

"Fine. You better not try anything Malfoy." Ron threatened. Then he went to go sit with Hermione, after glaring at Malfoy one last time. 

There was the sound of clothing being moved, dropped, and most likely clothing being put back on. A moment later they heard a swear. Harry turned around, and noticed him struggling with a button up shirt. It seemed Malfoy had never put on a muggle button up shirt. So without a thought, Harry went over and pried Malfoy's hands off of the shirt, and undid the mess that Malfoy had made of the buttons. Of course he had fought Harry off, but after a look from Harry, Malfoy let him continue. Harry paused a moment when he saw the scars, but then he began to button them up properly. 

"Come on this way," Malfoy told them after he'd put away his wizard robes. He led them down the hill into the town. They made a number of turns until they made it to a bar with a hotel attatched. "Hi Fred, could I exchange my hours for three hotel rooms now?" he spoke to a guy behind the bar.

"Unfortunately most of the rooms are taken tonight, but I have a room in the back with a couple beds. Will that be alright?" The man's black hair moved as his head moved. He was quite animated so that was a lot."There's a washroom for you to share across the hall, and a couple foldable mattresses in case there's not enough beds."

Malfoy gave a smile. Which was rare for them to see so it seemed to shock the majority of the group. "That's perfect thank you."

The directions to the room were given, and Malfoy seemed to understand them, so they followed. 

The room itself wasn't lit all that well, and it was obviously a storage room of some sort, but inside they found multiple beds, pillows, and a couple mattresses. They sat, and got comfortable. For a moment they were silent before Malfoy spoke, "You must all be hungry." Then he proceeded to take multiple types of food out of his bag. 

Despite the kind gesture, Ron demanded Hermione test it to make sure it wasn't cursed or poisoned before anyone ate. Malfoy rolled his eyes and nodded at them to do so. Although before he got to it, Luna and Xenophilius had already dug in. Malfoy smirked as he too took a bite. Hermione still did the spell for Ron's sake, and then they too dug in.

Besides the obvious questions they had, collectively without speaking they all seemed to decide they'd had a long day, and they were all tired. Well except the Lovegoods. They were quite well rested, but they could tell the best option was to let everyone get sleep.

There were two beds and a cot big enoug for two. Having six people with them, they would have to share. The Lovegoods didn't mind sharing. Ron had previously hated Malfoy, and Hermione hadn't exactly been treated the best by him, so Harry settled down in the cot with Malfoy. 

Harry was still having struggles sleeping. He was trying his best to sleep, but he found he simply couldn't. First he heard Ron's loud snores, before he heard Xenophilias begin to snore as well. You could tell Hermione was asleep by her loud breathing, and he wasn't sure about Luna, but she seemed to be asleep as well. Draco was quiet for a while too. That is until Harry heard a sniffle. Then another. 

"Hey, what's wrong?" Harry whispered.

Draco seemed to wipe his eyes before rolling over. "Nothings wrong."

Knowing that was a lie, he pushed on. "You can tell me. I know it's better to share the things that weigh you down."

"How would you know that Potter? Your life was perfect before the Dark lord started hunting you down."

Harry was silent for a moment considering his next words. "I grew up wishing my parents would save me from the place I barely called home. In fact, I called it 'My uncle's house' most of the time. They didn't like me there. They hated magic. Since I had it, they overworked me, and kept me in a cupboard."

It was dark enough to not be able to see each other's faces, and it was bright enough for them to see the other's body shape from the little light they had from the laundry machines. For about twenty seconds there was silence, and Harry felt extremely vulnerable. Then Malfoy responded. "That house elf that died? He practically raised me. He was more of a parent to me than my actual parents."

"I'm sorry Draco."

For the next twenty minutes they talked until Draco fell asleep. Shortly after, so did Harry.

<<<<<>>>>>

That night, Draco had a nightmare. The death eaters had gotten in and Draco had told them to climb out the window as he distracted them. Harry tried to make him come too, but he refused. They wouldn't make it away in time if they stayed to help. So he had been captured, but at least the others had escaped. 

Draco was apparated back to Malfoy Manor. His father was the angriest Draco had ever seen him. Then in his nightmare, his father had come down and cast a Crucio on him.

He'd woken up with a small gasp, and sat up knees bent. His head in his hands, he was gasping, and could swear it felt like he was actuallu being cruciod. Apparently Harry had been woken up by him, and began to rub his back. He kept telling him to breath deeply. The feeling faded, and his breathing slowly went back to normal. Harry was whispering comforting things in his ear. Things like, "Its okay, it wasn't real", "Just keep breathing", and "Focus on my hand on your back. It helps to focus on surroundings.

It was kind of Harry to do so, but Draco felt undeserving. So he grabbed a sweater and left for the washroom. He got ahold of himself and went to go talk to whoever was onshift tonight. 

Jessica. She was speaking with one of the men who got flirty when he got drunk. She was flirting back a bit. That was a bad habit of hers. She would flirt with guys and then turn down any prepositions they made. It would get her in trouble some day. 

Then Jessica noticed him. "Hey! There's my darling David! You've been away a while, and you didn't even contact me." She pouted. Going out into the muggle world, Draco had wanted a nickname. Something that no one would recognize him by if anyone from the wizarding world came looking for him. He'd done some research, and he'd decided 'David' was perfect.

"I assumed you wouldn't care if I was gone. You flirt with everyone after all." He leaned on the counter, "or are you secretly in love with me?" He flirted back. 

The joy in flirting with Jessica was that both knew the other didn't mean it. Jessica had made it known to other staff that she was a lesbian, and Draco had shortly thereafter confessed he was gay. They could flirt as much as they want, and neither had to worry about it going anywhere. Although, it was just the way Jessica communicated, so it was easy to talk to her like this. 

She snorted at Draco's question. "Only if you're in love with me. Found yourself a guy friend yet?"

He shook his head. "I might not be, but I'm finally free of my parent's reign."

Jessica clapped her hands together excitedly. "Good for you! You finally moved out! That means we can be together!" Then she looked past him, and looked back. "It seems someone behind you has the hots for you."

Looking back, he was petrified to see death eaters. Instead he found Harry. He must still be paranoid from that dream. 

"That's Harry. He's a friend." He told Jessica.  "Actually, he helped me move out. We're staying here the night with a couple other friends."

Smirking, Jessica raised an eyebrow. "You like him don't you?" She whispered.

"Maybe a little." He confessed.

"Oooh! He's coming over! Act natural! I'll be your wing man. Or woman!"

Draco shook his head quickly. Then Harry was there before he could tell her not to. 

"Hey, you okay?" Harry asked. Jessica was giving him a look, and he wanted to tell her to shut up.

"Yeah, I'm fine. This is my coworker Jessica. I used to work here for a while." Draco gestured to her. "This is Harry."

"Nice to meet you Harry. David should have told me he had such a hot friend!"

Harry stumbled, and nearly fell. Luckily Draco caught him.

"I umm... Thank you." Harry responded. "Nice to meet you too."

"Where are you from Harry? David has always been very secretive about his upbringing. He's only brought up tidbits, but not much. If you can tell me anything about David as well... That would be lovely."

Harry was a little flustered by her flirtatious nature, but answered nonetheless. "Little Whinging in Surrey. David went to the same school I did."

"Are you dating anyone Harry?" Jessica tried to ask innocently.

At first Harry didn't respond, he just scratched his neck. "Well I was dating a girl named Ginny, but I broke it off not too long ago after I figured something out. Either way she was pissed, and I'm not looking forward to seeing her again." Looking into the distance he seemed to be thinking things over.

Giving Draco the 'he's into you, go for it. He's single for petes sake,' look, Jessica tilted her head towards Harry.

"Lets go back to sleep David." Harry spoke quickly. "Nice to meet you Jessica. If anyone asks, we weren't here." With that Harry pulled Draco back to their room without giving Jessica a chance to say anything. 

Before they got to their room, Harry told him why he made them leave so quickly. "I saw a death eater. Pack up, and I'll wake everyone up."

Within five minutes they were gone. The death eaters hadn't caught them.

<<<<<>>>>>

The trio became a group of four from then on. Slowly they forgave Malfoy. Then soon he became Draco to them. There were struggles of course, but what friendship didn't have struggles? 

They found themselves hiding in a large scale horse barn who needed workers. Draco had surprised both them, and the barn managers with his knowledge, and skills. They'd put Draco on every single horse that you could sit on, and ride if you knew how. He'd aced every test thrown his way, whether it was tack, riding, or grooming.

Promising to teach the others to take care of the horses, they all got jobs there. Draco working double shifts, and they had weekends off. Which was perfect for planning. They would get a brain break, and go to work. They'd plan in the evening, and attempt their plans on the weekend if they felt ready.

<<<<<>>>>>

Draco continued to have nightmares. Every night in fact. They progressed to become worse, and worse. It almost seemed like an alternate timeline where he hadn't escaped. Where he had been caught, been tied up in the dungeons, and got cruciod every night by his father. Then in the nightmares it went further, and further. There was emotional, physical, and eventually sexual abuse. The dreams became shorter, yet more extreme. Harry helped him remember it wasn't real. That it was all just a dream. At least Harry always told him so.

Then one day the dreams changed. 

<<<<<>>>>>

"How was tonight's nightmare?" Harry asked as he came into the barn. He was already there cleaning out the shavings.

Shrugging, he said," Actually not that bad of a nightmare. People came flooding in, and brought me to Saint Mungos.. The weird phantom pain is gone."

"Well that's good isn't it?" 

Draco shrugged. "I don't know." I guess we'll see."

<<<<<>>>>>

Every night, Draco dreaded sleep. The dreams began to get more confusing. 

The woman he knew as Miriam Strout came around. Urging Draco to get dressed, she told him to meet her in her office. Slipping in, she already sat waiting in her chair. 

"Have a seat Draco." She motioned to the chair. "We left off talking about what the world is like with the horses, and you successfully escaping the death eaters. How about you tell me about the other dreams you were having."

"This is just another dream. Why should I?"

"It may help you get rid of the nightmares completely." Strout explained. "Besides, how could it hurt to talk about it?"

She had a point. "Well the night mares became shorter, and shorter as they came. There were phantom pains, and it seemed quite real. Harry would assure me it was just a dream. Just like this is. I remember them coming during the night, and I held them off long enough for them to get away."

Strout tilted her head. "Who was the 'them' you are referencing to?"

"Harry, Hermione, Ron, Luna, and Luna's father. That was the first dream. Also the longest. In the dreams I was taken to the Malfoy Manor dungeons. They tortured me there. Various ways, whether it was crucio, or a more extreme method."

"More extreme than crucio?"

Draco nodded before continuing, "You see, crucio is just a spell. The others disfigured, scarred, and physically harmed me in the dream. This is actually damaging, while the crucio just... hurts your nerves."

"And you were just dreaming this, so how would you know if it truly hurt more than crucio?"

That was when Draco woke up. Harry was smiling at him telling him he'd be late if he didn't hurry up.

<<<<<>>>>>

Draco was beginning to get confused. Especially after a certain dream.

Walking towards the cafeteria, he heard one of the healers speaking with another. So naturally being the Slytherin he was, he decided to listen and gain intel.

"The Longbottoms have shown signs of improvement with the newest methods."

"Yes, I heard. It's too bad we can't use it on Malfoy. His state just didn't fall under the same category apparently. Theirs was damage to the brain by crucio, while his was simply burying himself in a fantasy world in response to crucio."

"Oh my, that's what it was." The healer paused. "Did you hear about Harry Potter requesting to come visit him?"

"No, I didn't. Why would he visit?"

"Malfoy helped him to escape the death eaters, but in doing so he was caught. He knew he would be caught too if he stayed to help. He wanted to thank him, whether or not he was in a state to accept. Poor Malfoy thinks it was a dream."

"Right that was part of his condition wasn't it? He fell into his own fantasy not long after he was caught, and then abused by his own father."

"Maybe his visit could help him come into reality a bit more. I've heard he is improving."

"I sure hope so. Those blank stares he gives when he's out of it are rather unnerving. Not to mention when he starts mumbling to himself. Sounds like he's going crazy."

"I know, and the main healer still refuses to tell him that it's fake. She claimed that he needed to figure it out on his own time, otherwise it would be too shocking. I think someone ought to straight up tell him."

<<<<<>>>>>

Eventually Draco decided thorough investigation was necessary. He began watching both worlds closely. Watching the details, listening to the words, and remembering the past of both. The past in one was worse than the other, yet he found it necessary.

At the beginning each seemed very much possible. Although one seemed more likely despite his hope that it wasn't. Phantom pains in 'the real world' that originated from 'the dream world'. The likelihood that he would get caught was high from the moment he planned his escape. He'd known from the start that he could be found, and considered a traitor. The world where he hadn't been caught was far too perfect. Almost everything had gone his way there. Well except for the fact that he'd always felt it wrong to ask Harry to take a step further in their relationship. Somehow it just seemed wrong.

So the solution was clear. Draco would have to begin living in the world where he hadn't escaped. The one that seemed the most real. If for whatever reason it treated him badly, he could simply delve back into his 'fantasies' as the healers had called it.

<<<<<>>>>>

Narcissa had began visiting him. He'd get flashes of it, and try to force himself out of the dream to at least talk to her. Twice he was successful now. The healer told him it was improvement. He had come to the conclusion that he needed to investigate on his own, and she was proud. Why she was proud, he didn't know. She could have easily just told him and wasted much less time. 

Coming back into the real world, he sat next to his mother who looked sad. She was speaking over something. What, he didn't know at first, but he caught on. Out loud she was wondering If she should let Harry Potter in to visit him or not. After all, he was part of the reason Draco was like this. 

Luckily for Draco that was when he came around. He explained to his mother that it wasn't Harry's fault. It was his own choice to leave, and he was well aware of the risks that he would face.

So she agreed to let Harry in. On the condition that she was allowed to tell him of Draco's condition. 

Draco felt the need to see Harry in the real world. To have his suspicions confirmed that it truly was the real world.

<<<<<>>>>>

Somehow Draco didn't know what to expect. Instead he decided to ignore it, and focus on being present. The more he stayed in the real world, the easier it became. His made up world was still a comfort, but it held no surprise, no truth except the ones he had made for himself. As it was, it was only truth in his mind, not in this world.

This world at least was allowing him to recognize this world was the real one, while his imaginary one constantly told him the real world was just a dream. It was all a bit confusing for him. He was figuring it out though. This is the world where he'd actually feel. The pain from the 'dreams' had transferred into his imaginary one. If that wasn't good enough evidence, he didn't know what was.

He'd been deep in thought over these things when Harry came in. Assuming it was just another healer with his medication, he hadn't even bothered to look. There was a soft cough, and somehow he barely noticed it. Most healers made their presence quite well known within seconds. That should have been his warning that it wasn't a healer.

"Ummm, are you busy Malfoy?" 

Draco whipped his head around, and then shook his head  to say no. 

"Can I... Umm, sit?" Harry spoke as eloquently as he used to in school. In his imaginary world he spoke firmly, and knew what he wanted. This somehow seemed more realistic. 

In response he gave a nod. He felt the bed sink in further from the extra weight.

"You're mother told me I could come see you, although she told me some other stuff too."

"Like my condition?" Draco asked. 

Harry scratched his neck. "Yeah."

It was quite obvious that Harry didn't know what to say. It was also quite amusing to watch him flounder around trying to find the words. 

"Well umm, I wanted to say thank you for what you did. Do you remember?" Harry questioned. 

"Helping you escape? Yeah, a little." Draco admitted. "I remember a dream like version of me telling you to go without me. Then fighting them off for a while until I heard you apparate away. I tried to escape then, but it was too late for me."

Harry looked at his feet. "I still regret that you know. Leaving you behind."

Scoffing, Draco frowned. "Why? We were enemies for years. I would leave me behind."

"You were trying to be a better person. You helped us escape, and we were supposed to take you with us. It was part of the deal."

"It's not like you're the first person who's let me down Potter." It felt so weird to say 'Potter', in his imaginary world they'd long ago started using first names. "I forgave you a long time ago anyway."

"But I treated you horribly for years, and then I broke a promise I made to you-"

"Which you neither tried to break, nor wanted to. I was horrible to you for years as well, I think you're forgetting that."

Somehow Harry had managed to put the whole blame of everything that had happened to Draco on himself. Draco easily recognized that by the guilty looks, and the amount Harry looked at his feet. What else did Harry blame himself for?

"Do you blame yourself for everything?" Draco asked. Then he decided to clarify. "That happened in the war? Because it wasn't your fault. It was the dark lord's." When Harry looked away, he knew he had to continue. "He was the one who gave out the order to kill, not you"

"I need to go." Harry suddenly proclaimed. 

So he left. 

It was funny how seeing real emotion on Harry's face helped tremendously to figure out which was real. The Harry from his imagination was unable to express emotions like that.

<<<<<>>>>>

From then on the two became friends. Harry helped to clear Draco's name, which truly wasn't difficult. At some point Draco, and Harry moved in together to help each other with their nightmares. Draco's memories of what happened in the dungeons were resurfacing in his dreams, and Harry's general memories of the bad things that happened in the war.

Harry was also sorting out his sexuality. This was something he'd never had time for considering the fact that he was usually either trying to stay alive, or kept busy by school. It really hadn't been his priority earlier, but now he had time.

They were still figuring things out, but at least it was real.