Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Plot and original characters are mine and may not be used without prior consent.

Warnings: Not HBP nor DH compliant, Blood, Violence, Angst, Death (not HP or DM), Language, Slash (Dom!Harry, Sub!Draco), Anal, Oral, SoloM, AR, WIP

Rating: NC-17, Adult++

Summary: Three years ago, shortly after the war ended, Draco Malfoy fled from the wizarding world and has hidden since then among muggles. However when some muggles are after him as well and he needs to run again who else should save him other than a wizard that wants to be his personal saviour and has some secrets of his own to be discovered.

A/N: Hello! There's not much to say at the moment, just that it's the first time that I try to write such story. I hope you'll like all the twist and turns. The main points are all in my head, but still need to be written.

Please enjoy the first chapter and tell me what you think! ZooArmy (aka just-Felton)

Barking Dogs Do Not Bite

BETA: Chris (thank you, for your help and faith in this story)

Chapter 01

Walking between warehouses by night was nothing new anymore. Living for three years in the muggle world had taught Draco Lucius Malfoy a lot because he had needed to blend into a world he had never believed to be so complicated in a very short time.

His father had always taught him Muggles were, well… dull, but that was far from truth. By now he knew what warehouses were for and that not everyone used the rented space for storage purposes. There were as many second lives lived in the muggle world as in the wizarding world, everyone tried to hide secrets, he of cause was no exception.

He didn't like walking around by night, but recently some things had gone bad in his life… oh, who was he kidding? His whole life was a mess… but another pound was added to his ballast.

Not only was he hiding from the wizarding world now, but he had some muggles hounding him as well, it may be for entirely different reasons, but that was only a minor detail.

Since leaving the wizarding world he wasn't wealthy anymore and lived a pauper's life, only surviving due to temporary employments and in the end it seemed God hated him although he hadn't been reduced to a petty crook.

Through all the years, months and weeks, this way of living had caused no damage and he had managed – somehow – until now. Thanks to his lack of knowledge he had drifted into one of those dubious doorstep brigades which at first he had thought was the perfect job. Everyone was nice (in the beginning), he got board and lodging for free and only needed to go from door to door trying to get signatures from some stupid muggles on contracts that stated they would donate money for organisations (that never existed in the first place).

Draco thought that his Malfoy charm would open every door for him, even literally, and at first everything was fine and he brought home the expected signed contracts, but little by little the 'perfect job's' mask crumbled and Draco now realised where he had ended up.

Suddenly his boss got raving mad if he underperformed; sometimes he went to bed with a bruised cheek, a black eye or even a sprained hand, foot or knee. The money he earned with the exhausting task of walking from door to door never even crossed his way anymore. For everything in the house existed rules and if you infringed one rule your salary was cut shorter and shorter until, in the end, you were more in debt than the amount of money you actually earned.

After four months Draco had enough and in a cloak-and-dagger operation he forced the entrance door that was always locked when they weren't out for 'work' open and he did a moonlight flit.

He only had room in his rucksack for the most important things he owned for he could only take a small amount of his belongings with him. Everything else was left behind as he ran for his dear life.

And that is how he ended up in an area like this, a complex full of warehouses. Only one side of the ginnel was lit by lanterns, if you actually wanted to call that dim-something 'light'. Draco knew it was dangerous to walk through the cones of light, instead of choosing the dark side of the ginnel, but as stupid as it may sound, the small light gave him some security.

Footsteps echoed through the alleyway and broke the deathly silence. Draco winced and jumped away from one of the light cones and pressed himself flat against the wall in the darkness between two lanterns.

Were they already coming for him? How did they know he was here? The footsteps grew louder and Draco held his breath. He listened. It was only one pair of feet, in heavy sounding boots, but only one person nevertheless. Draco exhaled in relief. His boss, sorry, ex-boss was an arsehole through and through and would be sure to send a group after him, if not groups. They would grab him, beat him close to death and drag him back to his 'job'.

The ginnel wasn't wide, but he couldn't see the other when they passed him. Draco only listened to the noise of dull but heavy clonking boots. Were they limping? The sounds were definitely nonrhythmic. Anyway, why should he care?

He felt some tension let go of his tired muscles when the stranger went on his way without looking at him or at least not caring about him, after all it was dark and he couldn't see the other.

Malfoy pushed off the wall when the footsteps died away and went into the direction the stranger had come from. He hadn't been walking for two minutes when he heard barking dogs which made him wonder what was wrong with this area; it seemed to be livelier than some of the high streets in the villages.

The dogs appeared to be far away to his left and so he decided to round the next right corner only to be confronted with men he never wanted to see again, less than two hundred metres away. His heart stopped beating for a moment and his mind stopped working, like his legs. Why were they looking for him here of all the places London could offer?

Four men, as wide and as tall as the build of a bear, and they were all looking for him. He knew them well enough to know one would be enough to kill him. He heard the whistling for the dogs of one of the men and it jerked Draco out of his fear induced petrifaction; he felt like his heart had just begun beating again.

He heard the dogs bark and realised with growing panic that the four men had noticed him and had started to move his way. With sudden clarity, he didn't know he could muster; he turned around and ran back the way he had come. He wouldn't go back to that bond service and work his arse off for nothing – no matter what.

He heard the men yell threats and obscenities after him and the barking of the dogs just added to the noise. Draco wondered how far away the dogs had been because they hadn't caught him yet and ripped his throat out.

Making sure the rucksack was firmly strapped to his back he looked back over his shoulder to guess how close his doom was getting and just like in a bad movie he faltered and almost fell. His hands grabbed something, or rather someone and he found his balance back.

"I'm sorry so sorry." Draco squeaked, his panic pitching his voice some octaves higher. He figured he must have caught up with the stranger that had crossed his path before. He quickly let go of the back of the other person, but found he couldn't run away, because his wrist was caught by the other bloke.

Panic doubled in the blond and he thought his heart would break free from its cage behind his ribs or he would start coughing blood to take the pressure from his veins, which were pumping his blood too fast. He was one of them! He was after him as well and everything was lost now, Draco thought.

He yanked at the annoying arm, but was instead spun around to face the other. He heard the four men, they were getting close, but for a moment Draco didn't care, he let out a cry of shock until a hand quickly clamped over his mouth.

"Over there!" he heard one man yell.

"Sshhh." the man that held him captive urged. Why was his captor wearing a dog's face? In what kind of freak show did he walk? Why was he looking at a dog's face? Draco asked in his mind again and again; his grey eyes were wide open in fear and he stared unblinkingly at the dog face until tears streamed down his face and his eyes stung.

"Be quiet and they won't find you." The stranger whispered. He let go of Draco and threw his heavy leather coat over Draco's form. "Get on the ground and stay under the coat. And make no sound!" Draco did as told, stunned into obedient submission. He crouched on the ground and pulled the coat over his head, not daring look at anything, not even peeking out under the collar. The sounds were enough.

He cowered in a dark corner and heard the men near. What was the stranger up to?

"Where's he?" One voice growled angrily.

"Who?" asked another and Draco knew it was the stranger's. His voice was deep and sounded quite intimidating, even though he wasn't yelling. The whisper had definitely sounded much warmer and emotional.

"Don't play dumb, dog-boy. Where's Blondie? Don't help him, he's not worth it and I'm sure you want to keep your body intact, don't you, dog-boy?" The other voice asked again and his fellows guffawed dumbly; apparently he was the leader out of the four and had his three muscleheads trained into obedience.

"Was that a threat?" Draco could hear the ridicule in the strangers' voice and winced inwardly. Was the 'dog' death hungry? Oh god, he wouldn't be able to live with the knowledge of someone dieing, because he had tried to help him. His conscious revolted, but he couldn't move. He was glued to the ground and couldn't make a sound.

"I warn you, dog. Tell us where Blondie ran or you won't say anything for a very long time."

"Nah, I can't do that. You see, the bloke was really scared of you and four against one wouldn't be fair." The dog-mask man said. Draco couldn't believe his ears. Did this bloke suffer some serious hero-complex or was he eager dieing a painful death or maybe he was simply thick as two short planks?

"Grab him!" the leader of the four yelled and seconds later a loud thud echoed through the ginnel, followed by a silent groan. Did they pin him to a wall? No 'niceties' were exchanged anymore and the air filled with groans and yells and mad barking from the dogs. Sometimes he could hear the punches and the following groans of pain and Malfoy begged and prayed that it wasn't only the pain filled sounds of his saviour he was hearing.

He couldn't tell who was who anymore, the ongoing barking hindered him, but actually he was somewhat grateful for drowning out the groans and occasional whimpers.

And suddenly everything was quiet. An extremely loud thud followed by the deathly silence just like the one he had wandered in before and Draco didn't know if it was a good sign or a very, very bad sign.

"Let's get away from this freak." The leader of the small gang yelled and his voice hadn't that holier-than-thou ring to it anymore, but sounded almost strained. He whistled for the dogs and Draco listened to every retracting footstep.

They were gone! He didn't know how long he would find peace, but for tonight he was safe, of that he was sure, but what about the stranger? Panic flared up in his chest again and his body took revenge when his windpipe constricted for a moment and forbade him to breathe.

Was the other still alive? Could he help the stranger now that he had helped Draco? Draco tried to move and this time it worked, as though a spell was taken from him. He peeked out under the coat and saw no one. He lifted the coat from his head to get a better view and saw his saviour lying on the ground, spread-eagled in the centre of a cone of light from one lantern.

Draco quickly stood up, the coat resting on his shoulders, and winced when the nerves in his legs protested against the move, he hadn't even noticed them going numb. Hurrying over to the stranger on shaky legs, he saw the damage the others had caused; torn clothes, bruises and blood, but the stupid mask still in tact and in place.

Draco dropped to his knees, next to the young man and heard his heavy breathing. "I'm so sorry, so so sorry. I didn't know they would… You shouldn't have… I'm so sorry." The blond blabbered, too shocked to end one sentence properly, but he searched for the eyes of the stranger and looked into warm, chocolate coloured ones to show his honesty. "Oh God, how can I make up for this? I can't give you anything."

"No need. It's okay." The stranger said quietly and his voice was filled with that certain warmth again, but missed anything that showed he was in pain.

"It's not okay, at least let me take you to a hospital."

"NO!" that one word was spoken with total determination and Draco knew it was final.

"Then let me dress your wounds. Please. I've nothing here, but I'll find a chemist. Please!" Draco begged sincerely. He didn't give a damn about Malfoy pride at the moment, especially when someone could die right in front of him. He heard a soft chuckle, but didn't comment.

"Okay. Take my hand." The stranger said and lifted his hand from the ground. Without a second thought Draco grabbed it, thinking he should help the other up from the ground, but all of a sudden the world was spinning and he apparated for the first time in three years again. You couldn't forget that feeling; as if your bowels were pressed to a quarter of their usual size.

They landed and Draco thanked everybody, anybody that he had kneeled or he would have fallen face first to the floor. "You're a wizard" the blond whispered and looked down at the other man that still held his hand. He didn't know where he was, but it was as badly lit as the ginnel before, only warmer, A fireplace. They must be in a room to be feeling the warmth and light from a fireplace.

A swing door was pushed open and Draco's ears were filled with deep angry snarls. The blond turned his head slowly around and came face to face with three big dogs. No, they weren't big, they were gigantic and quite intimidating when you kneeled in front of them and they snarled at you angrily so that their flews revealed sharp teeth.

"Girls!" The stranger said firmly and snapped the fingers of his left hand. The dogs fell momentarily silent and sat on their hind legs, begging with puppy eyes for praise.

Draco's eyes switched to and fro between the dogs and the bloke on the ground. One snap and the killing machines turned into little lambs?

The other let go of his hand and sat slowly up to stand up completely. His movements weren't fluent, but he didn't make a sound or show otherwise that he was in pain. "I think you shouldn't stand until I've taken care of your wounds."

"It's okay. You can take care of it after I've introduced you." The stranger said and still Draco couldn't see anything of his face except for his brown eyes, but he knew he was smiling when he went to the three dogs. All three sought his attention, but didn't dare stand up and waited with madly wagging tails until they got their fair share of tender loving care and words of praise.

"Girls," the stranger said and Draco noticed once again that this stranger was indeed STRANGE, with his dog-mask and his perfectly trained she-dogs. Did he stumble from one nightmare into another? "This is Draco Malfoy. Malfoy, these are Lilith, Scylla and Ammit."

Draco however didn't register the names of the dogs. His mind got stuck at the moment when his name rolled from the tongue of a total stranger. He was doomed. This meant nothing good. He had never mentioned his name around this bloke. Never! Malfoy looked up from the floor, where he still kneeled and looked at – how had the other idiot called him again – dog-boy.

"How do you… How… Why do you know my name?" Draco asked and his voice got quieter the more he allowed panic to overtake him.

"Ha!" The stranger laughed forced and Draco sensed the nervousness. Why should he be nervous? "I know you won't like this, but it's just fair to know who I am, right?"

With a practised movement that showed the routine of the same, the stranger reached behind his head and Draco heard a zipper being pulled open. The dog-mask man dropped his head forward and Draco saw dark locks seeking their way out of the open zipper at the back of the head. Strong hands grabbed the ends and pulled the mask from the face.

Messy black locks fell over the whole face so that Draco didn't see anything, although he looked upwards into the lowered face. The hair was pushed out of the face and Draco gasped in shock when he stared at a faint smile and glowing green eyes.

"Potter"

"In the flesh." Harry said slightly amused. No wonder that he had thought the bloke had a hero-complex; Potter was the epitome of hero-complexes.

"What were you doing between the warehouses?"

"Oh, I could ask you the same, Malfoy. And while we're at it, where have you been for the last three years?"

"It's none of your business, Potter." Draco retorted defiantly. Never in a million years would he have thought Potter was under the mask.

"Fine." Harry huffed and rested his hand on one of the dogs head. "So, why did those wankers try to beat me into a pulp to get to know your whereabouts?" Ouch, that struck a cord. Now Draco felt guilty and his conscious chided him.

"Come on, Potter. Let's get this over with and I'll leave again." Draco said calmly, completely ignoring Harry's question and the burning gaze sent towards him. "Do you have a first-aid kit or any healing potions?"

"I'm okay. I don't need anything. I just brought you here to talk."

"But I won't talk. And maybe your bloody ego is too occupied with praising yourself to notice, but look at yourself, you're bleeding, bruised and I wager there're at least two broken ribs." Draco stood finally up from the floor and reached out to touch Harry's ribcage. The brunette tried to suppress a hiss, but his face scrunched up in agony and all three dogs growled threateningly. "Am I right?" Draco asked with a sneer.

"Fine, you git." Harry growled like his dogs, and turned around to leave the dimly lit room, only one dog (the biggest) following him. Draco looked down at the two remaining dogs, but they didn't move. He went over to the door and followed Potter and finally he heard paws tapping behind him on the wooden floor.

"Potter?" he called, when no one was in the hall.

"Upstairs!"

The blond followed the voice and he was followed by two watchdogs on eight paws. The first floor was lit by small wall lamps and again no sight of Potter. The dogs trudged around him and through the only open door.

Draco shrugged and followed slowly, but stopped again when he could see into the room. "POTTER! What are you doing?"
The brunette looked at him with huge confused eyes.

"I, er, getting undressed?"

"What, why?" The shredded shirt lay already on the floor, which allowed Draco a proper look at Potter's upper body at least what he could see through the blood.
Draco's breath stuck in his throat, Potter had really taken a serious beating for him. Everything was black and blue and swollen and covered in red liquid.

Potter opened his belt and Draco squeaked. "What are you doing?" He asked again, his panic only visible for those who knew him well. The saviour sighed and sat on his bed to untie the bootlaces of his heavy boots.

"Didn't you listen yet? I said I'll take a shower to get rid of the grime and blood to clean the wounds.

"Oh, ooohh." Draco said, his mouth forming a perfect 'o' in realisation.

"You can wait here." Potter said and went into the attached bathroom, his jeans still resting on his hips, which Draco mentally thanked him for. The door shut with a quiet click and the blond was alone with three huge dogs.

At least they weren't snarling anymore. Fortunately he wasn't scared of dogs and knew what he needed to do to win their trust. Draco went slowly into the room, looked at the dogs, but not directly in their eyes and stretched his hand out towards the monsters.

All three girls began sniffing at his hand and accepted him, when they began to lick the hand affectionately. Draco smiled and patted the dogs. "You three are real snuggle-bugs, huh?" He sat down on the floor, leaned his back against the bed and waited for the dogs to settle down as well.

"I need to ask Potter about your names again. He really shocked me back then, you know?" Oh God, he wasn't five minutes alone with the dogs and talked to them already. But they were lovely and cute, when they didn't snarl at you, weren't they?

He heard the water running in the bathroom and let his gaze wander through Potter's bedroom. Who would have ever believed that some day he would sit in Potter's bedroom? Too lazy to stand up and switch on the ceiling lightning and too occupied with patting three dogs, Draco decided to be nosy with only the light from the floor, coming through the open door, and the small bedside lamp.