"You filthy mudblood, it'd be one thing if you were at least slightly less hideous, then you'd be good for a shagging or two, but you have dirty blood and your ugly. Truly a useless piece of trash littering the world for the rest of us." Draco spat out these words like venom, his eyes looking cold and heartless. "Oh sod off Malfoy." Hissed Hermione as she spun around and continued on her way.
"Great, now I have to pat him on the back and reassure him that it's alright" I thought. And sure enough once we turned the corner Draco looked back at me tears starting to form in his eyes. "Alright, there there. I know you did what you had to do" I assured him while patting his back. "I-I don't like it, being mean. I don't like saying the words that you wrote for me to remember. They're hurtful and will stay with her her whole life" sobbed Draco. "I know I know. Shh Shh."
I've said these words too many times to count. This is the real Draco, a big crybaby and a kind soul. He wouldn't have to fake it every day if it weren't for his sadistic terrifying father. He made Draco into the man that he is today and he's the one to blame. Who knows what would've happened to him if I hadn't been there that day. I can still remember it like it was yesterday.
That day I was visiting Draco's family at their manner. We were only six years old at the time. Draco and I had never really liked each other, we didn't have a reason to. We were sitting on the floor being forced to play wizards chess when Mr. Malfoy called Draco into the kitchen. I got bored and decided to get some juice. So I asked Dobby where the kitchen was and proceeded to walk there when I hear a noise.
A dog maybe? No, a human. And it's…crying? I continued further not knowing just how much this moment would impact my life. I stopped in my tracks when I heard another noise. However, I didn't question this one, I knew exactly what it was. Screams. I'd heard all sorts of screams coming from the basement of my house.
I would curl up in a ball on my bed with my tiny hands covering my ears. My entire body shaking. I was stiff at first, at only six years old I've had enough experience to know that if you move you'll end up hurt. I had made up my mind to run away, I knew in my head that it was the best course of action. However, something willed me to continue moving. It was the sobs that I heard on the other side of the door.
I recognized them, they were the tears of someone that was being forced to do something horrific, something so inhumane that your body shuts down and all you can do is cry. I knew those sounds all too well. I crept forward, slowly pushing the door open. Only open enough to see what was going on without being seen. I looked in and saw it. There was Draco, sitting with a bloody knife at his feet, and a dead man tied to a chair above him.
He was sitting there, shaking, staring at his blood stained hands, and all of the innocence of that child had left his body. I remember feeling a burning sensation in the back of my throat, I wanted to puke. Draco's father had made him torture someone. Little cuts here and there, Draco wasn't strong enough yet for them to cause any major damage, but it was clearly done against Draco's will. I couldn't move my body or my eyes, I was petrified. Scared for Draco and scared of the dead man in the chair.
After an excruciatingly long five minutes of silence something snapped me out of my scattered thoughts, a voice. It was a voice that was way too familiar, the one voice that I wished with every ounce of my being didn't belong to that person. However, no matter how much I wished, no matter how long I tried to will it not to be true, it was still the voice of my father. "Look at him, shaking. What a pathetic child." Said my father "He'll be fine, he just needs to learn that it was a necessary skill to learn" said Draco's father. They looked at him, seeing themselves at that age and just how foolish they were to care about another human being. There wasn't an ounce of guilt, or grief, or sympathy across their faces or in their eyes. They were truly insane.