A/N: sorry about the late update (as always). Thank you guys so much for 700 followers!!!! I genuinely never thought I'd get this far. Thank you for your continued support! Enjoy!

Luckily Draco managed to get Harry out of the room before his parents began to argue loudly, but he still caught on to the shouts, and turned towards the door, still relying heavily on Draco to remain upright. A worried and panicked frown crossed his face, and he lifted a hand towards the door, an attempt to go back in.

Draco shook his head. "Mum'll be okay," he said quietly, although he wasn't so sure. "It's getting late, we should get to bed."

Harry's frown only deepened, and he whined desperately as the sound of Narcissa's angry voice floated through the air, laced with fear. Draco pulled him away from the door. "Please, Harry, let's just go," Draco asked weakly, the name sounding odd on his tongue and his anxiety only growing.

Harry stopped fighting at heating the upset tone in the blond's voice, and his frown of worry turned into a look of saddened shame at knowing he was the cause of Draco's distress. Draco didn't have time to reassure him right now, and instead set about getting him back to his room.

One of the house elves must have stopped by during dinner, as a pair of black cotton pyjamas had been left on Harry's bed. Harry eyed the clothing nervously. He'd been quite terrified of the pair of jeans and plain shirt he was wearing now when presented to him, and Draco hoped it wouldn't be as difficult to get him into these clothes as it had been before.

Thankfully, it didn't take as long to help him into the pyjamas, lighting the lamp on the bedside table. He doubted harry would want to sleep in complete darkness. He pulled back the duvet and helped Harry underneath it, the boy looking confused. He tried to kick the duvet off, but wasn't strong enough, and gave a small whine of protest against the constraint.

"It's time to go to sleep, you'll be tired," Draco said, wincing as the boy shook his head. "Well, you'll fall asleep eventually."

He stood up, feeling all too eager to go to his own room and collapse in his bed. He was exhausted; it had been a long day full of stress, and he was anxious to slip away into sleep.

At seeing that Draco was leaving, Harry kicked furiously at the duvet and succeeded in getting it off him, shifting onto his knees and crying out Draco's name. The cry was filled with despair and fear, causing Draco to turn around.

How pathetic he looked, a tiny boy with wild black hair, tears glistening in his bright green eyes. He looked like he was about to burst into a full fledged tantrum, and no doubt there would be tears and screaming if Draco did leave. Draco knew, looking at Harry, he wouldn't be able to leave without feeling awful about himself.

"Okay, okay, I'll stay," Draco said, hurrying back over to console him. Some tears had slipped out of Harry's eyes and were trailing down his cheeks, which Draco was quick to wipe away. "I'm not going anywhere, I promise."

Harry was breathing heavily and struggling to calm himself down, quickly hiding his face in Draco's shoulder. Draco stroked his hair gently, feeling bad. It was stupid for him to think that he could leave Harry on his own, especially after that had just happened at dinner. Eventually Harry was quiet, his tears having stopped, his hyperventilating disappeared.

"Remember that elf that came in before?" Draco asked, Harry looking up at him and nodding shakily. "Well, he's going to appear, alright? And I need you to stay calm." Harry nodded again, shutting his eyes tightly. He really didn't seem to like the house elves.

"Dobby!" Draco called, Harry wincing at the louder noise, and flinching as a crack echoed through the room, the house elf apparating into the room.

"Yes, Master Draco?" The elf asked, seeming confused about the scene that was unfolding in front of him.

"Could you get my pyjamas from my room? I can't leave Harry on his own."

The house elf nodded. "Of course," he said, apparating back out of the room. He was back within a few seconds, Draco's pyjamas in his hands.

Draco set about putting them on whilst Harry carried on wiping away his tears, rubbing at his eyes. The crying seemed to have exhausted him somewhat, as he yawned a few times. Draco was glad he was tired, he didn't feel like having to stay awake with him all night.

Draco climbed onto the other side of the bed, pulling the duvet over them. Harry shuddered away from it at first; Draco assumed it had something to do with his fear of being trapped or held in place, but as soon as Draco settled underneath it Harry did too, realising that it must be safe.

It took only a few seconds for Harry to drift off to sleep, his eyes fluttering shut, breathing slowing into heavy, deep breaths. He slept silently, and didn't stir. At seeing that he was alright, Draco shut his own eyes and allowed himself to fall asleep.

******

Draco awoke suddenly, his whole mind coming to draw a complete blank, still stuck in that place between awake and asleep. It was still nighttime, that much was obvious from the darkness of the room, the only light coming from the lamp on the bedside table.

It took a few moments for Draco to regain all his senses; sight first, everything swimming into view. Harry was sitting upright, awake. Then his hearing returned gradually, and it didn't take long for him to understand that the boy next to him was in hysterics.

Draco sat up slowly to not shock him. He must have had some sort of nightmare; he was sobbing uncontrollably, arms wrapped around himself, the duvet having been kicked off to Draco's side of the bed. He was pale, but his cheeks were blotchy and red, face soaked with tears, eyes wide with fear, brow covered in sweat.

Draco felt stupid once again, he should have known this would happen. He had nightmares as a child after his mother told him a scary story before bed, a story that hadn't even been real. This boy had been part of a scary story; one that wasn't even a story, and one that was beyond scary. Terrifying would be a better word for it. He'd been experimented on and held captive for most of his life, fear and pain was all he knew.

"Harry?" Draco asked worriedly. It didn't seem that he'd noticed Draco awake, as the noise shocked him so badly that he cried out, a large bang echoing from the bedside table. The room was plunged into darkness, the shattered and broken remains of the lamp falling onto the carpeted floor. Draco jumped, nearly falling off the bed.

The loud noise and loss of light seemed to only further his panic, and Draco cursed the fact that he couldn't use magic outside of Hogwarts. A lumos charm would have been helpful.

Instead he took Harry's hands in his own and held them tightly, eyes becoming accustomed to the darkness. Harry pulled against him for a few seconds, his attempts weak and frail. "Harry, it's me, it's Draco," the blond tried to reassure him desperately. He didn't want Harry to end up hurting himself.

He stopped fighting after a few seconds, shaking, going rather limp as Draco pulled him closer, holding him tightly. He hid his face in Draco shirt and cried weakly, whilst Draco just held him. He sounded so afraid, so hopeless. "It's alright, you're safe here," Draco promised, making that promise to himself at the same time. He was safe, he wasn't going to allow anyone to hurt him. "You're never going back there, no one's going to hurt you again."

Harry looked up at him with wide, green eyes. Draco saw so much in them, in the tears that fell from them, clinging to his black eyelashes. So much pain, torment, anguish, longing. Longing for a safe place place, longing for people who loved him. Draco doubted he could remember his parents, he'd been taken from them at a young age, which meant he'd never had a family before.

Eventually his crying slowed again, and now he looked fully spent. His eyes were puffy and had dark circles beneath them, and his eyelids looked heavy. He didn't want to go to sleep though, that much was obvious.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Draco asked, having not let go of Harry's hands. The boy nodded. "What was it about?"

"Monster," he murmured, a word Draco hadn't heard from him yet. "Bad." His voice was shaky and hoarse.

"No monsters can get you here," Draco said softly. "None ever will again."

Harry's gaze was tired and weak. It didn't look like he believed Draco much, the atmosphere surrounding them seeming defeated and resigned.

"Let's go back to sleep," Draco murmured. Harry shook his head furiously. "Those are just nightmares, Harry. Bad dreams." The boy looked confused at the term: he didn't know what a nightmare was. He must have thought whatever he'd dreamed about was real. "While you're sleeping, your mind makes up little stories and plays them. Sometimes they can be confusing and scary, but nothing that happens in them is real," he tried to explain it in a way that he would understand. Harry looked contemplative, taking in the information, still looking unsure. "I promise they're not real."

There was a long pause, Draco watching Harry through the dark. "Okay," he finally whispered through his cracked and broken lips, wiping at his eyes. Draco smiled at him, lifting the duvet to pull it back over them. Harry refused to let go of Draco, arms still wrapped around him, moving to hide his face in the crook of Draco's neck. He was still scared, Draco could feel him shaking slightly, and his ragged breath on his neck.

Draco pulled him closer, holding him and pressing his face into Harry's unkempt hair. He calmed eventually, his shaking stopping, drifting back off to sleep, his breathing returning to a deep, slow rate. Draco allowed himself to do the same, and neither awoke until morning.

******

Draco awoke slowly, letting himself waver between that peaceful, drowsy line that was between being awake and asleep for awhile. The room was awash in the warm colours of the sunrise which filtered through the curtains, Harry still curled up in Draco's arms, asleep. His tear stains had long dried away, and he had slept through the rest of the night.

Draco pulled him closer, relishing in the warmth under the duvet, content to stay there forever if the option was available. Mornings were the best time of day in Draco's opinion, at least mornings like these. Quiet ones, where there weren't any noises except for his and Harry's breathing. Quiet ones, where his parents hadn't begun fighting yet.

Harry awoke eventually, and looked confused for a few moments before he seemed to recall the events that had happened yesterday; his freedom. He settled against Draco's chest, seeming to find no reason to try and move. He was warm, and after waking up in the middle of the night, was tired, and he felt safe.

And so they lay there, in comfortable silence. Harry seemed to be one of those people who you could be silent and quiet around without feeling awkward, and not many of those existed.

Eventually Draco found himself getting hungry, eager for breakfast. He shifted, and Harry just whined, clutching onto him tighter.

"We've got breakfast to eat, Harry," Draco said, voice hoarse from sleeping. "C'mon, lemme go, I'm hungry."

Harry whimpered, falling back against the pillow. His green eyes were misted over with a hazy tiredness and longing, it was clear that all he wanted to do was go back to sleep with Draco.

"You don't want to eat? You're seriously not hungry?" Draco couldn't quite believe it, because harry always seemed utterly ravenous.

Harry just whined, reaching out an arm, seeming more desperate for attention than food. Draco sighed and went back to him, unable to deny Harry of anything when his large eyes had that sad look in them.

Harry eagerly curled up against him, and Draco stroked his hair gently. He'd never met anyone so utterly starved of affection, and who was so willing to take it.

A knock on the door made Harry gasp and hide his face in Draco's shoulder, clearly the whole knock thing hadn't gotten through properly, especially after last night's incident, he was probably much more on edge.

The door opened slowly, and Narcissa poked her head in. She smiled warmly at the two, and revealed that she was holding a tray of toast in her hands. Harry, at seeing the woman, gave a small, anxious smile, Draco coming his fingers through his hair absentmindedly, taking a piece of toast from his mother and biting into it hungrily.

Naricissa sat down on the bed and offered the toast to Harry, who took a piece  gingerly and huddled back into Draco's shoulder. Narcissa didn't seem to mind their closeness, and instead frowned at the shattered remains of the lamp on the floor.

"What happened?" She asked worriedly, frowning.

"Harry had a nightmare," Draco said, Harry watching Narcissa apprehensively, as if he expected to be told off.

"Aww, you poor thing," Narcissa crooned, shifting closer. "Maybe we can find you a dreamless sleep potion, I know we have one somewhere. That'll make it better."

It was clear Harry didn't entirely understand the meaning of the words, but he relaxed at the comforting tone, and smiled.