Another very short chapter. On another note, I am taking my stories off a weekly schedule. I am finding it very hard to write that way. I'm going to start posting when I have a new chapter ready, which may be more or less often, we shall have to see. I do however, want this story done by September, when university starts. So fingers crossed.

Harry awoke, warm and comfortable. He opened his eyes, trying to figure out where he was. His memories came flooding back to him. Right. He had been sold. Harry wondered what he was expected to do, but decided that he should get dressed in Ron's clothes again and wait for his master to call on him. As he sat up to do this, he noticed Mr. Malfoy watching him intently from the end of the bed.

Harry yelped, scrambling up against the head board, curling up in a protective position. As his senses returned to him, he realized that his master would probably be insulted and angered by his response. If his master wished to make use of his purchase right away, there was nothing he could do about it. Harry relaxed his posture and dropped his head, doing his best to appear submissive. "Please forgive me master, I was startled."

"Look at me." Harry did as requested, surprised by Mr. Malfoy's soft tone. He didn't appear to be angry. Harry was very confused.

"First of all, you do not need to call me master. You may call me Draco." Harry became even more confused. His master was allowing Harry to call him by his first name? Was it a trick? Would he be punished as soon as he tried it for being disrespectful? There was only one way to find out.

"As you wish Draco." Harry braced himself for the blow, but none ever came. He glanced at Draco, but the blonde had not moved. Instead he asked Harry a question.

"And what may I call you?"

"Anything you like, M-Draco." Harry was quick to reply.

Draco sighed. He wished that his mate wasn't so afraid of him, what had the boy faced to make him this way? "What is your name?"

"Harry, sir."

"May I call you that?" If Harry had been surprised before, now he was dumb founded. His master was asking his permission?

"If you would like sir." At this Harry bowed his head once more.

"Look at me." Again, Harry was quick to obey. "I want to know what you want. Would you like me to call you Harry?" Harry paused. Was this a trick? The last one hadn't been.

"Yes." He answered quietly, lowering his head.

"Then I shall." Harry looked up, surprised. Draco sighed. "Harry, you do not have to be afraid of me. I will not hurt you. He continued to stare at Harry, contemplating him for a moment. "Come out from under the covers, let's have a look at you."

Instantly Harry was frightened again. Draco may seem nicer and to care, but he was no different than Harry had first expected. All he wanted from Harry was a sex toy. He felt betrayed, but he knew he should have expected it.

Draco was confused as to why Harry's heart rate had spiked again. He had finally gotten his lifemate to calm down and now he was terrified again. As Harry struggled to quickly get out of the blankets, keeping his head bowed once more, Draco realized how his last request had sounded. Reaching forward, he placed his hand on Harry's knee, wincing when Harry flinched away from his touch.

"Harry." Draco said, as gently as possible. "I am not going to hurt you. I promise. I just want to look over your injuries."

Harry's head shot up. Draco wasn't going to rape him? This was news. What did he want from him then? And how did Draco know he was injured?

Draco crawled across the bed, immediately noticing Harry's bruised chest. "That must hurt." He commented. "The ride can't have helped either. I am sorry for that." Harry was shocked, to say the least. Why was Draco sorry? He hadn't caused it, and the ride wasn't necessarily his fault either. "I'll get some cream that should help with the bruising," He said, gently pressing on Harry's ribs to check that they were only bruised, not broken. It disturbed him how thin his lifemate was. His ribs stuck out, and he seemed to be mostly skin and bones. Something that Draco would have to rectify soon enough. "Let me see your cuts."

Draco gently pulled one of Harry's arms towards him. Once he was content that none of the cuts were serious, or had glass scabbed into them, he switched arms. He then examined Harry's face. "Where did this scar come from?" he asked, curious about the lightning shaped scar on Harry's forehead that he hadn't noticed before.

"I don't remember." Harry answered, surprised at how gentle Draco was being with him. Draco suddenly crawled off the bed and headed for the door. HE returned minutes later with a cloth, some water and some jars. He soaked the cloth and gently cleaned away the excess blood that had dried on Harry's face and arms. He then applied an ointment to the cuts. Once he was content that the cuts were cared for, he applied the cream to Harry's chest as carefully as possible. Content that that was done, he checked over the rest of Harry's body, healing the other bruises that he found there. Draco then carefully bound Harry's cuts, so that the ointment wouldn't cause them to stick t the sheets.

"I'll be back in a bit. I have to go to town and get you some food. We'll talk more once I return.

As Draco left, softly closing the door behind him, Harry pondered his bizarre choice of wording. It almost sounded as if Draco didn't need the food. Strange. He curled back up under the covers. It was also strange how gentle his new master was being with him. He had even promised not to hurt him. Not that promises meant much that were made to servants, but still. Harry decided to sleep and think about it later.