Disclaimer: Not mine
Chapter 1
"Severus, Draco, good to see you well again."
"Good to see you too, sir," Draco replied.
"We would have been here sooner, but those bores in St. Mungo's insisted on us being hospitalized for two bloody months while that Potter brat went to indulge himself in the pleasures of tropical islands."
"Severus," Albus frowned.
"I know, Albus. I'm sorry for swearing but it was downright infuriating seeing photos of that brat all over papers, while you're not allowed to go to bathroom on your own."
"And all the time we were there he hadn't visited once," Draco added. He was quite hurt with Harry not visiting him. After all, last time they saw each other, they agreed to be officially a couple, and they parted with a kiss.
"And don't try to defend him, Albus, because…" Severus started but was interrupted when, with a flash, Fawkes appeared, startling him and Draco. The golden-red phoenix flew to the headmaster and landed in his lap crying. Albus immediately started petting him.
"Hush, hush. You went to see him, didn't you, Fawkes? I know. I feel the same way."
"Albus, is Fawkes crying?" asked a confused Severus, not believing his eyes.
"Yes, Severus. He is indeed crying."
"But why?" Draco finally found words.
"Harry. He's not well. Harry's not well."
"What are you saying, sir? Of course he's well. He's enjoying himself all over the world, making all those reporters happy."
"It is Tonks impersonating Harry with the aid of some polyjuice. Harry is currently hidden in a safe house and is still recovering from the final battle. He is not well. He is not well at all," finished Albus, never stopping comforting the crying phoenix.
"Albus, tell us the real story," Severus asked quietly.
"When you two were captured, the Order organized a rescue mission. It went wrong. We encountered many more Death Eaters than we had expected. We were outnumbered, and we decided to retreat. Needless to say, Harry did not listen. He continued on his own before we could stop him. He managed to find you and as he was activating a Portkey to send you to safety, he was stunned, which caused him to lose touch with the Portkey. While you two were transported to headquarters, he stayed captive."
"They told us it was Kingsly who rescued us," Draco whispered, tears appearing in his eyes.
"Indeed it was Kingsly that brought you to St. Mungo's from headquarters. The Order decided to keep Harry's capture a secret for the time being, not wanting to alert the ministry right away. We knew if Fudge was involved, chances for his rescue would have been lessened."
"What happened next?"
"Harry was kept captive for almost a week. It was a week of never-ending torture. He was hit with so many dark spells and curses and violated repeatedly in so many ways…"
Severus paled. "They didn't…"
"They did, Severus."
"Did they…"
"They did, Severus."
"But surely not…"
"Everything you can think of and more, Severus."
"Merlin, Albus! How could they…"
"What?" Draco interrupted.. "What are you talking about?" he asked, slightly panicked.
"You don't want to know," was only answer Severus gave him.
"They ripped him apart, his mind, body and magic. They damaged him so badly that his own magical core started cracking. And then he was presented to Voldemort, and he held him under Crucio so long that his magic core cracked and his mind snapped. Harry cast Avada Kedavra towards Voldemort, using his broken body to channel his cracked unanchored raw magic wandlessly. Having no wand to even anchor it a bit, his magic exploded killing everyone in range of couple of miles catching himself in it as well, taking him into death. He didn't survive the killing curse this time. He died. When Minerva, Poppy and I found him, he wasn't alive. But as we watched, he came back. In a flash of Avada green, he started breathing again. We hid him then, and we have been trying to patch him and heal him ever since."
Draco was now sobbing in Severus' arms. Severus, on the other hand, was for the first time in his life allowing tears to fall freely down his face.