Bent- By Hannah Davenport
Bent- By Hannah Davenport
Summary: Abused by his father, his mother unable to protect him, Draco Malfoy is a lonely young man. He is lost in a twisted world of his own fears and desires, his only solace - perhaps - lies in his cousin, who takes over the DADA position - yet that doesn't even work. It is another story, though, when Ginny Weasley tries to befriend a troubled Draco and tries bringing him into a better world.
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. It's just fan fiction!
Work Cited: Harry Potter Realm
"Lucius, can't you just leave the poor boy alone?" Narcissa asked, trembling at the rage of her husband.
"Shut up, woman." He snapped in response.
Draco watched in fear as his father glared at him, their features so alike . . . He seriously hoped he didn't look like that when he was angry -
"What did you just say to me, boy?" He asked, looming over his son like an indignant tower.
"I - I said - I said shut up, and leave me alone!" Draco yelled, ready to die fighting. "You don't have to be such a - a miserable git!"
Lucius swelled, and Draco knew immediately that he had said the wrong thing. "Please," He muttered under his breath. "Please - help -I promise I'll never tease another living soul if someone helps me - oh please, help me...!" He watched as Lucius flexed his fingers, as though itching to place them around Draco's neck...
"You obviously don't know whom you're speaking to, Draco." Lucius replied vehemently. "Let me remind you."
Smack. Thud. Crunch.
"Draco, what happened to your face?" Crabbe asked as he and Goyle ran up to him on Platform 9 and 3/4.
"Yeah, you look awful," Goyle added fervently.
"Shove off," he said briskly, turning his head slightly so they couldn't see the bruise as much. "I want to be alone. I'll let you know if I need you, just go away."
"But --"
"Go away." Draco repeated. They looked at him in bewilderment. "You know," He said, frustration mounting inside him. "Leave me alone. Go and sit with someone else."
Comprehension finally dawned on both of their faces, and they set off, having found some people they could bully.
Draco, meanwhile, loaded his trunk into a compartment, and sat down. He took a mirror out of his pocket, and looked at himself. He really did look awful.
As more and more people started boarding the train, Draco realized he had left his compartment door open. And as he stood up to close it, he heard what was quite possibly one of the most unwelcome voices in the world.
"I wonder where Malfoy is?" it asled as it drew nearer.
Draco recognized it immediately, and if Potter saw him looking like this, why, there would be no end to it. So he did the most logical thing he could think of. He hid behind the wall of his compartment.
"I know," Weasley chimed in. "But, hey, maybe he's been expelled!"
Draco felt himself redden at this, and had a hard time containing himself.
"I don't think so," Granger announced. "He was made Head Boy for this year. I don't think he could possibly be expelled."
"Blast it," Potter and Weasley said in unison.
After they had passed, Draco walked to the doorway, and was just about to close the door, when -
"Are you alright? You look like you're in a lot of pain."
He looked up from the ground to see who had spoken, and saw a girl. Her waist-length red hair was pulled into braided pigtails. Her freckled face wore a look of deep concern, and her eyes were behind a pair of rectangular wire-frame glasses. She was about five inches shorter than he was, and was reaching to close the door of her compartment as well. His jaw dropped.
"Are you alone?" She asked curiously. "Because if you are, you should probably ask someone for some medicine, or something. A bandage, maybe?"
He was completely speechless. No one had ever shown any concern for him at all. Not that he could remember, anyway. And his life had been so - awkward - that he could remember every detail.
"Er --" He stammered, unable to find the right words.
She walked over to him, sat him down in his compartment, and closed the door. She then began examining his beaten face, staying silent all the while. When she had finally finished doctoring him, she smiled.
"That should be better," she said, sitting down across from him.
"Er, do I know you?" Draco asked, feeling that he sounded very stupid.
"I suppose," she replied thoughtfully. "But, I'm not surprised you don't remember me. I mean, you haven't spoken to me since your second year." He looked at her in a confused manner, and she continued. "The last thing you ever said to me was, 'I don't think Potter liked your valentine much!' Does that remind you of anyone?"
He concentrated hard on that sentence, and the image of a very shy, very nervous girl came into his mind. "Ginny Weasley?"
She nodded. "Don't worry, I've grown used to people being unfriendly," Ginny replied comfortably as he raised his eyebrows at her. "I try to be nice to everyone. Especially people who aren't nice to others, Mr Malfoy."
A sinking feeling hit the pit of his stomach, and he ran a hand through his hair.
"Well, thank you for your service," he said awkwardly, not wanting to sound too friendly. "It does feel better now."
"Any time, my dear sir," Ginny said as she stood, and curtseyed. "Any time at all. I heard you're the new Head Boy," she giggled. "Good luck, sir." She saluted him, smiled genuinely, and went back to her own compartment, tossing her hair behind her.
When Ginny had left, Draco punched himself in the head. If she still remembered that day, that horrible Valentines Day... "Blast," He said aloud. 'I'm turning into Lucius. Blast, blast, blast!"
"Abbot, Jennifer!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Bronwen, Madeline!"
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Draco stared lazily up at the ceiling as the Sorting began. He had quite a bit on his mind, and not enough room to fit it all inside.
"Carlson, Samuel!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
There was too much going on. Too much to worry about, too much to do...
"Carlyle, Ethan!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
He lost himself completely in the stormy, gray-and-purple sky. He slowly felt himself begin to relax, and indulged it. After all, when you had too much to think about you, obviously, don't think at all. You just, are.
"Emmet, Fiona!"
"GRYFFINDOR!"
He watched Potter, Weasley, and Granger applaud as a girl with curly brown hair joined them. Then he looked at Ginny.
"Holmes, Katrienne!"
"SLYTHERIN!"
Draco clapped as Katrienne joined the Slytherin table, but he was still looking at Ginny. Just then, she turned in her seat, and looked him straight in the eye.
"Iverson, Derek!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
She smiled, and gave him a small wave, which he returned. She really was a very nice person. He would have to start acting like her, at least, a little bit.
"Kline, Victoria!"
"GRYFFINDOR!"
He was snapped back into reality by Pansy Parkinson grabbing his hand. He didn't try and shake her off, as badly as he wanted to. Mostly, because people would wonder what the matter was. And people weren't supposed to wonder about the Malfoys.
After what seemed like hours, the Sorting had ended, and Dumbledore stood up to make his usual announcements. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts!" He said proudly. "Now, I have a few notices. As usual, the Forbidden Forest is forbidden. And we have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher! Please welcome, Professor Rhiannon Malfoy!"
Draco's jaw dropped at what he saw. His cousin, Rhiannon, was sitting at the staff table. How could he not have seen her?!
"And," Dumbledore continued, stopping the applause. "We have a new Head Boy, and Head Girl. Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger!" Draco smiled as applause began for Granger and himself. He knew most of it was for her, but he didn't really care.
After dinner, as he made his way down to the Slytherin common room, someone called his name.
"Draco!"
He turned to see Rhiannon, her silvery hair flowing behind her as she quickly walked towards him. "Hullo, Annie," he greeted halfway-warmly as she approached. Unlike most of his Malfoy family, she was friendly. In fact, she was the only relative that he truly liked, but his response still reflected his sour mood.
"Are you as excited as I am," she asked sarcastically, "or are you just pretending?" They smiled at each other and she put a hand on his shoulder. "How are you, Draco. You look awful! What happened?"
He had expected this. What else could he expect? "Well," he sighed, relieved to have someone to talk to who knew. "I was smart enough to tell Lucius to shut up while he was berating me for one of my thousands of faults."
"Oh, I really am sorry," she told him sadly, biting her bottom lip. She rubbed his shoulder and he nearly hugged her. He knew she, nor anyone else, could help him - for Lucius was more than a terrible man - but at least she was there for him, whereas his mother was not nor ever had been.
"It was worse than this," he replied calmly. "Someone fixed it up a bit for me. But, you know, I've had much worse than last night. Much, much worse."
She put a hand on his shoulder, and sighed. "I really am sorry." She was silent for a moment. "Anyway, your first lesson is with me, tomorrow." She smiled. "And since there are hardly any sixth years, they're with you, too. Slytherin and Gryffindor. That should be fun."
"Talk to Professor Snape," Draco said with a smirk. "He'll tell you how truly delightful it is for us all to be in one room together."
She laughed. "Well, I'll se you tomorrow then," And she turned around, and headed down a corridor by the kitchens.
"Granger, Hermione?"
"Present."
"Potter, Harry?"
"Here."
"Weasley, Ron?"
"Sorry?"
"Weasley, Ginny?"
"Oh, good morning."
"Malfoy, Draco?"
"I'm in the front row, for goodness sakes!" he exclaimed in exasperation as he looked up at Rhiannon who glanced at him. Her face was expressionless but he saw the twinkle in her eyes. "Well, it's not like you can't see me, Annie," he added, feeling completely undaunted. A few people glanced at him, as though he were doing something horribly wrong. "She's my blasted cousin," he said to Potter, who looked a tad confused. "I think she can recognize me if she sees me."
"Quiet, Draco, or I'll disclose something about you as child," Rhiannon said calmly, giving him a sideways smile. Everyone laughed. "Now, today our lesson is going to be on the Undetectable Curses." A few people gasped. "I'm sure you've heard of the Unforgivable Curses? Well, the Undetectable are just as bad, except there's no possible way to tell when someone's been put under one. There are five in all. The Veritas Curse, the Imobilus Curse, the Oblivious Curse, the Felispo Curse, and the Painudum Curse. Can anyone tell me what any of these do?"
Draco raised his hand, and said. "The Veritas Curse is like the truth serum, Veritaserum. The Imobilus Curse paralyzes you, somewhat like Petrificus Totalus, except for the Imobilus Curse uses pain. The Oblivious Curse is the most powerful memory charm in the world, and the Painudum Curse is - is the most powerful torture curse in the world."
He stopped talking, and everyone watched him, completely amazed. He chewed his tongue, and stared at the ground, hoping beyond all hope that no one had found that suspicious.
In his hurry to get away from Rhiannon after class, he accidentally ran into someone, and the both fell to the ground. On all fours, he looked over to the person next to him. She lay on her back, a foot away from him. It was Ginny, and her glasses were shattered. He stood up, and the whole corridor went quiet with apprehensiveness. He then walked over to her, and held out a hand. Some people gasped, and Weasley, Potter, and Granger were staring, open-mouthed, at the peculiar sight.
And Ginny took his hand, watching blindly as her glasses fell onto the floor as she was pulled upright. Draco took his wand out of his pocket.
"Oculus repairo!" he muttered, and the glasses mended themselves, and flew into his hand. Draco set them on her face gently, then gathered her books with a swish of his wand.
"Thanks," She said with a smile.
"Just consider it your payment for the train yesterday," He whispered back, and then louder, "Any time. See you." And he strolled off to his next lesson, which happened to be Potions, in a far better mood than you would normally expect, everyone still gaping after him.