Disclaimer: The ideas are mine, the characters are not... I did miss spending time with them

Every night Draco heard the screams.

And then he heard them arguing. His parents, arguing in the living room below.

"This is my house. MY HOUSE! This has to stop." Lucius insisted.

"You're not being reasonable, Lucius…" Narcissa started in a low voice

"Reasonable? The woman spends every night screaming her lungs out! She stops everyone else from sleeping, it's absurd! In my own house!"

"It's my house too, Lucius…"

"She's a wanted woman! Any time now the Ministry could knock on that door demanding to search the house, and then what do you think will happen to me? What do you think will happen to you when I am not around to pay for your every whim."

"I have plenty of my own family money, Lucius thank you very much,"

"It's not safe! You are endangering the life of your own son by insisting to keep her here. She belongs in a hospital, a mental institution, something!"

"Don't you dare talk about Draco to me, don't you dare bring my son into this."

"My son, Narcissa, my son! My boy, that I see walking around with that mad woman, listening to her evil tongue! What am I to do watching her poison my own son's mind, turn him against me?"

"Bellatrix loves Draco. He is like a son to her…"

"She has been in jail most of his life! She is a criminal! A wanted felon! She has breaked out of Azkaban for Merlin's sake!"

"She is not guilty of anything you have not done a hundred times over."

"Shut your mouth!" Lucius demanded.

Draco knew they were talking about his father's years as a servant of the Dark Lord… He knew nothing but the most superficial details of what had happened… He read the charges against his aunt on the papers, and it was not difficult to guess a lot of the rest.

Down in the living room, his father lowered his voice, and continued.

"Shut your mouth, woman. Are you insane? Did I not tell you I am worried they might be watching us? Have you lost your mind?"

"You will respect me Lucius."

"Respect…" he mumbled, and before he could finished another tortured scream came from Bellatrix's room. "There she goes again! Screaming like a mad woman."

"Oh, stop it!" Narcissa yelled at him. The sound of her sister`s suffering, coupled with that senseless argument was finally starting to get to her. "She is my sister. She is staying and I won't hear another word on the matter. Go into your room, muffle the sound with a spell and be quiet! If you don't stop this madness I will take my son and my sister and walk away from your life and you never see any of us again!"

Draco was very surprised. He had never seen his mother stand up to his father like this. She was strong. He didn't like to see them arguing, but he liked that he saw this other side of her…

And yet, while the two of them were arguing selfishly against one another, no one bother to go upstairs and check on aunt Bella.

Every night had been like this since he'd gotten back home for the Easter break and found his aunt living at Malfoy Mannor. Whenever she fell asleep she had nightmares. Nightmares about her time in Azkaban, Draco assumed. And whenever she had nightmares she screamed.

He wanted someone to do something about it. Walk in her room and wake her up. Hug her and tell her that everything was going to be okay. He did not want her to suffer.

The night before he had almost entered her room. And again the night before that. And every time he failed. Her screams pierced through his heart like a long spear and at the last minute he lost his courage and walked away. He tossed and turned on his bed listening to her sleeping agony. He could have muffled the sound, but it did not seem right. He did not want her to suffer alone.

No he was standing in front of her door once more. His hand was shaking but he had to do something. The two people downstairs certainly would not. He had to be a man. He knew what it was like to wake up in the middle of the night, soaking in his own sweat, and not having anyone by his side. He wanted to be there for her.

Draco finally opened the door and rushed towards his aunt Bella. He did not give himself time to process what he saw. Instead, he simply rushed towards her and kneeled next to her bed. She was shrivelling, curled up on the edge, almost falling off, and the boy immediately stroke her hair and her right arm.

"Shh… Aunt Bella it's just a nightmare… Shhhh, it's okay, it's going to be okay…"

"Huh? Draco?" She opened her eyes, hazed and confused and tried to stand up. "What's wrong, child?"

"You were having a nightmare, aunt Bella. But it's okay. I'm here now."

"Draco? I'm sorry. I am so sorry I woke you up. Go to sleep dear. Please don't worry," she said, rather desperately, still grabbing his arm firmly, as if she was afraid to let go.

"Aunt Bella it's okay," Draco insisted, stroking her hair, "it's okay. I am not going anywhere."

"I—" she had been trying to raise her body but now, low on energy, she fell back down, "Draco…. I don't… I don't want you to worry. I should be the one taking care of you."

"Shhhhh. Don't talk aunt Bella, please. Shhhh. Let me be here for you. I am not going anywhere."

He kissed her forehead softly and held her hand.

"Everything is going to be okay. You are safe now. You are not going anywhere. Shhhhh…."

It took a few minutes, but Bellatrix finally fell asleep again. She was holding Draco's hand. And that seemed to work. She didn't scream anymore. She was agitaded. She mumbled and kicked the covers away, and when that happened Draco was quick to stroke her hair again, gently so as not to wake her up while he whispered in her ears, trying to make her calm down.

"Shh, it's just a dream aunt Bella. You are the strongest woman I have ever known. You will get through this,… Shhhhh…. I missed you… I wish you could have been here when I was younger… Shhhh I know you'd do the same for me, please let me be here for you…"

He didn't know what he was doing, but it seemed to work, and so he remained there, watching her sleep, making her calm. She was so thin… Prior to the Easter Holidays he had only ever seen her on the Daily Prophet and she looked like an entirely different woman then. Derranged, yes, but also young and full of life. But Azkaban had taken its toll. The woman in front of him now was but a shell of what she had been. Her hair had lost its shine and she was so skinny it would not have been difficult for him to carry her on his arms. Why had they done this to her? How could they have hurt her so much?

A single tear fell from his eye. They would never touch her again. He would not let them. he would protect her.

He shouldn't think about this right now though. He was agitating her. She started mumbling again.

"Shhhhhh," he said while he wiped his own tear away and kissed her softly on the forhead. "shhhh, sleep aunt Bella… it's just a dream… I love you… Let me help you... I am right here..."

Author's note: This is another in a series of oneshots I am writing to explore Draco's relationship with Bellatrix... It's rushed and someowhat unpolished, but after a year without writing I am eager to upload everything I can.w