Draco cried in pain as the whip, enchanted so that it burst into flames when it came in contact with skin, came down on his back again.
"Father…please…stop! Stop! " His voice was hoarse from screaming to much, and his body was covered in blood, burns and deep cuts. He was crouched on the floor, curled up in a ball, his shirt ripped off of his body and thrown to the corner of the room.
"Son, the-only-way-to-toughen-you-up-is-this!" said Lucuis Malfoy, accompanying each word with another hit from the flaming whip. Draco ground his teeth together in pain and tried not to scream.
"I…I have to leave now…to go to…school."
Lucuis's eyes narrowed.
"Very well. Get your bags and apparate there. "
"But I haven't passed my test yet…"
"Do you think I care, boy? Heal yourself up and go."
Draco nodded, though he had no intentions of healing himself. Today was the day that he would Rebel. Today, he would seek protection from the only place he could truthfully call home: Hogwarts.
He limped into his room and pulled his clothes and worst robes (which where still quite expensive) over his damaged back, trying not to cringe. He put a shrinking spell on his suitcases and popped them in his pocket, then apparated to platform 9/3 quarters. No body guessed what had happened to him as he took a seat in his compartment, though some did comment on how messy his normally perfect hair looked. Granger came and reminded him about his duties as head boy, and he shrugged.
"I need to talk to you, Granger." He said quietly. She looked surprised at the hoarse quality of his voice, but nodded and led him to an empty compartment.
Once they sat down, he cleared his throat uncomfortably before saying:
"Look, I don't like you, you don't like me but unfortunately I need your help."
Hermione raised an eyebrow.
"What would you need my help for, Malfoy?"
He glanced around wearily before rolling up his sleeves to show her the deep cuts and burns on his arm.
"I need to know…how you tell someone about stuff like this. You're annoying, but smart, and I thought…I thought you would know how."
"Malfoy…how did you get those?" she asked, unable to take her eyes from the grotesque cuts.
He hesitated and took a long, shaking breath.
"My parents." He said quietly.
Her eyes widened. The great Draco Malfoy, whom everyone thought was a spoiled, pompous brat, was abused by his own mum and dad.
"How long has this been happening?" she managed to say
"As long as I can remember." He admitted
"You git! Why didn't you tell someone before?" she yelled
He cringed.
"You really are a mother hen, aren't you?" he asked "Look, Granger, I just…I need to know who can fix my parents."
"Fix them?" God, could this boy be any more thick?
"Yes, you know, someone who won't send them to jail but will help them to see that…that It's not right to umm…you know."
"No, Malfoy, you need someone who will send them to jail."
"But …"
"No buts. You will tell Dumbledore as soon as we get to Hogwarts. And I'm coming with you to make sure you do."
Draco took another deep breath. He knew she was right, knew that his father was an evil, heartless git , knew he should be happy to turn him in…but he wasn't, he loved his father, always would, and there was nothing he could do about it. His mother he hardly knew, she came home once in a while, normally drunk, beat him to a pulp and then left again. His father would satisfy his needs with mistresses while she was gone. Despite this, he loved his parents, but he wanted the pain to end. And this was the only way.
He nodded.
As soon as the sorting feast was over, Hermione dragged Malfoy to Professor Dumbledore's office. The old wizard looked surprised, but gestured for them to sit down.
"Malfoy has something to tell you." Informed Hermione
Draco glared at her, then turned back to face the Headmaster.
"Professor, I…" his voice caught in his throat and he turned to Hermione again.
"I can't do this." He whispered.
She gave him a look that said 'you can and you will.' When he remained silent, she grabbed the sleeves of his robes and sweater and pulled it up, revealing the cuts and burns on his arms.
"This is what he needs to tell you about. How he got them-who gave them to him."
Professor Dumbledore made eye contact with the platinum blonde for a split second before Draco looked away.
"And who might that be?" he asked curiously.
Draco gulped and fought back tears.
"My parents." He whispered, his cheeks burning bright red in shame. Regret filled him immediately. What had he done? He rated out his own parents, for goodness sake! They thought that torture would make him a better person, and he had betrayed them.
"Do not be upset, Draco. Your parents where arrested shortly after you boarded the train and sent to live there remaining lives in Azkaban."
"What? Why-how?"
Dumbledore took a deep breath.
"7 years ago your mother got pregnant with her second child." He paused for dramatic effect, then watched as the eyes of both teens widened. "After your father found out, they both agreed that another child would be a waste of resources and time. Your mother left for 9 months, and when the baby girl was born, she gave her to lord Voldemort as a sacrifice. He didn't care about the baby much because it was a girl, so he put her in a garbage can on a muggle street corner to die. The baby was found, however, by a muggle by the name of Breeze White, who named her Prudence. Breeze knew of the magical world, and even knew where the baby originated, though we have no clue how, and decided to allow the girl to keep 'Malfoy' as a last name. She wrote all of this in a diary and showed the girl photos of her brother and real parents. Yesterday at 2 AM, she came to my office in a near-death condition with Prudence by her side. We offered to heal her but found no magic of ours could have any effect on her. She told us her story, gave us her diary and died, leaving us with a 7 year old child. We did a thorough investigation and found out not only about your torture, but the fact that your parents where long time death eaters. Draco, you are the only living relative that Prudence has at this time. I am trusting you, with the help of Serveus, to raise this child. Do you accept this responsibility?"
Draco, too shocked to speak, only nodded. Hermione looked frozen to her chair.
"Very well then. Now, before you meet your sister, let's make you presentable." Dumbledore said, and with a wave of his wand, all of Draco's cuts where healed, and the blood that had finally managed to soak through to his robes disappeared.
"Prudence, you may come out now."
Seconds later, the door in the corner of Dumbledore's office opened, and a girl with curly ringlets of hair the same platinum blonde color of Draco's hair walked out. There was no doubting she was a Malfoy. Her eyes where the same deep gray color, she walked with an air of importance and she wore the same half-smile half-smirk that Draco wore most his life. She wore light purple pajamas with the words 'Girls Rule!' written in pink all over them. She took one look at Draco, squealed and jumped into his arms.
"Brother!"
She hugged him, and to his surprise, he found himself hugging back. One sentence just kept replaying in his mind. I have a sister!