Chapter one: Principium
At the end of July, a boy would be born. A boy with a great power. His parents would give their lives to protect him. The Dark Lord would vanish. But before that, another boy would be born. A boy whose parents were more than willing to give their baby to their lord. A boy who was meant to be turned into a weapon. A boy took his first breath on the fifth of June and experienced his first crucio only seconds later.
A boy's parents would be killed, the Dark lord would vanish. The wizarding world would celebrate. A boy would be sent to live with his aunt and uncle. Another boy's parents would bribe the Ministry, convince them of their own innocence. His parents would continue the torture and experiments of their now missing lord. They would continue to try and strengthen the boy's magic, to try and turn him into the weapon their lord would need once he returned.
One boy would grow up hated by his family, locked in a cupboard. The other would grow up terrified of his parents, feared by the wizarding world.
When little Draco was eight, he had long since adapted to the way things were. He knew very well what to expect. Which is why it surprised him when the other adults apparently did not know how things were supposed to go.
He was spending the day at the Parkinson Estate, his parents believed he should make connections and alliances as early as possible and had decided that young Pansy and her little sister Violet would be perfect for that. Draco didn't mind, any chance to escape his home was very welcome.
Draco and Pansy had been playing on Pansy's practice racing brooms, Violet to nervous to talk to the strange older boy and hiding with her mother. Draco enjoyed the flying lots, but as this was his first time on a broom, it wasn't very surprising when he fell off. As he landed on the ground, a very loud snap could be heard. Pansy watched in horror as Draco's arm broke and let out a loud scream at the weird angle his arm was now bent in.
Draco barely noticed as he got back up and went to get back on the broom. Before he could however, Pansy stopped him with tears running down her face. She dragged him all the way to her parents and demanded that they fix her new friend.
Draco didn't worry. Not when they vanished his shirt so they could better view his arm. Not when Mrs. Parkinson let out a loud gasp at the scars littering his body. Not when Mr. Parkinson went tense and swore. Not when Pansy started crying even louder and Violet covered her eyes. And when Mr. Parkinson asked him how he got the scars, he answered him honestly. After all, this was all very normal. It was strange the Parkinson's didn't already know about it, but that was the only strange thing there for little Draco.
After that everything happened really fast. Mr. Parkinson used the floo to travel to the Ministry and returned surrounded by aurors. Mrs. Parkinson healed Draco's arm and then took her daughters away.
The aurors asked a lot of questions and Draco got very confused. It was one thing that the Parkinson's didn't know how things were supposed to go, but why didn't the aurors know it either?
Within a month everything had changed. Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy were both sentenced to Azkaban for child abuse and the use of Unforgivable Curses.
The wizarding world had found a new topic to gossip about and it didn't take long before countless of different rumours had spread about what may have been done to 'that Malfoy boy' and what sort of evil thing he had turned into. Instead of feeling sympathy for the poor abused eight year old boy, most believed he must be some kind of evil and only felt fear.
Draco started living with his godfather and slowly learned that maybe things had not been normal after all. And while he slowly learned to stop expecting pain at every turn, his fear and nightmares only grew worse as he realised what kind of evil existed in the world.
Three years later
Screams rang out throughout the small apartment Severus Snape held within Hogwarts and before he knew it, he had reached the bedroom with his young ward in it.
"Draco, Draco," Severus called out as he shook his young ward awake, "It's alright, you're okay."
The eleven year old hugged his godfather tightly and slowly calmed down.
"Uncle Sev?" The boy whispered.
"Yes, Draco?" Severus answered.
"I don't want to start Hogwarts anymore."
"Why not? You were so excited before."
"What if I get another nightmare? I… I don't want them to witness that."
"You can't control your nightmares, Draco, you know that. But you know how to perform silencing charms and you can always come to me. Your room will still be here, even when you have a dormitory as well."
With that Draco's fears slowly grew smaller and he was nearly asleep when he spoke up again.
"Uncle Sev?"
Severus sighed, before replying "Yes, Draco?"
"I don't want to be scared anymore. Why can't I be brave?"
"Draco, you are one of the bravest boys I know. Bravery is not the absence of fear, it is continuing despite that fear. You've been doing that for as long as you've been alive. Now try to get some more sleep, okay? We have a long day tomorrow."
Draco nodded and his eyes closed again. Severus stood up and quietly walked out of his ward's room. Just before he closed the door, he heard a whispered "I love you.".
Severus hoped his fears about the upcoming school year would not come to realisation. He hoped the wizarding world be kinder than he knew it to be and that some first years would be able to look past the whispers and the fear that surrounded Draco.
A/N: This is my first time trying to write more than a one shot. I have some ideas/a basic timeline of how the rest of the story will go, but it is not written yet. I definitely plan on writing out the entirety of it, but I don't want to make any promises I might not be able to keep.
Next chapter: Draco will worry about making friends and do some school shopping
Latin translations: Nolo timere, amare volo - I don't want to fear, I want to love
Principium - The beginning
Thank you all for reading this! Please let me know in the comments what you thought of it