Summary: Josie's family has fallen apart and she has to pick up the pieces. Her new brother and sister need her, but she still has some growing up to do. Draco Malfoy has always tormented her, but can she get past that and let him help? Rated M for violence and sex.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters. That's all on J.K. Rowling.
"Daddy, please stop," I whimpered as he raised his wand once again. I looked around at the shattered fire whiskey bottles that covered the room. My skin burned as the alcohol worked its way into the gashes left from the broken glass. This was my punishment for working on school work when my dad wanted dinner. I could feel my eye lids getting heavy as I heard him say it again. "Crucio!" My back arched painfully as my eyes bulged from the sockets. My bones seemed to be bending and every cell in my body screamed out along with me. My heart ached at the cruelty radiating from my father.
Four months ago I enjoyed my life to an extant. My dad had a physical way of disciplining me, but I shouldn't have disobeyed him. He was only preparing me for the real world, or that's what I told myself. I really don't understand how something as pure as bringing new life into the world could cause such chaos and destruction. My mom got pregnant about a year ago and our little family of three was beyond excited. When we found out that there were two babies on the way, my dad insisted on having two separate parties and two separate baby showers for them. I think that might have been the happiest period of my life and it only got better as the arrival date got closer. Unfortunately, that's when my world shattered. The twins came before they were expected, and the stress was too much for my mom to handle. I still can't believe that she's gone, that I'll never hear her calming voice again. Noah and Abby survived, but just barely. I don't think I would have lasted if they died too. I love them; I loved them the moment I saw them. The stress might have killed my mom, but it destroyed my dad. I don't even consider him my dad any more. As far as I'm concerned, my dad died as soon as the light faded in my mom's eyes, as soon as the warmth left her skin. The empty shell of a man is my guardian now. My dad liked to have fun and drink with his friends, but my new "dad" doesn't drink to have fun. He doesn't even drink with his friends. He drinks to get drunk. How he hasn't died from alcohol poisoning yet, I haven't a clue, but I've never seen anyone consume as much alcohol as he does. He wakes up to a bottle of fire whiskey on his bedside table. That's drained by about two in the afternoon. After that he leaves for the bar until about nine thirty and then he drinks until he passes out. I usual find him sprawled out on the floor somewhere, so I hoist him up as far as my arms allow and try to drag him either to a couch or to his bed. He's a very angry person, and no matter how hard I try, he always find's something to be angry about. As many times as it has happened, the first hit always shocks me. Sometimes I think I won't be able to get back up, but I always do. I just don't have enough in me to stay though. Maybe that makes me weak, but I just can't. I can't stand the thought of Noah and Abby growing up in this environment.
"Oh, come on Josie, I didn't know I raised such a wimp. My little whoring daughter always has to embarrass her daddy," my dad yelled. Once again, that oh so wonderful substance, fire whiskey, had found its way into my dad's hands. He threw the bottle at me, and exited the room. I let out a little scream. The glass pierced my exposed skin as the alcohol caused all the little cuts to catch fire. This beating was over, but I'm sure it won't be the last if I don't get out of here. He left for the bar, which gave me plenty of time to pack up the stuff and get the hell out of here. Much to my dismay, I had to do all the packing the muggle way since I'm underage. I folded one of the cribs down and packed some diapers, toys, and other essential supplies for the babies. I packed some clothes for myself and other things that I might need. The last thing I did was make two bottles for each baby in case they got hungry. I put all this in a red wagon that I found in the basement and put it in the drive way in the front yard. I went back upstairs to get the twins. I put one baby carrier on my back and the other on my front. I heard Noah start screaming and racked my brain for the reason. Noah doesn't like to be put in the back.
"Noah, shhhhh, please don't cry." I put him in the front, gave him his binkie, and kissed him on the head. He calmed down thankfully and fell asleep soon after. Abby didn't care where she was put as long as she could sleep. I smiled at that and went back down stairs and outside. I grabbed the wagon and started my walk, wincing with every step because of the weight and the pain from the beatings. Suddenly, a thought hit me, Where am I going?
After about a mile and a half, my legs gave out on me. My body ached all over and my eyes felt like they had five pound bags hanging from them, just begging me to close them. Sleeping didn't come easily for me. If I wasn't up with the twins, I was spending alone time with my dad. If I wasn't with my dad then I was having nightmares or daymares. My mind's always filled with the screams of my mom and the curses from my father. They haunt my every thought. I want to sleep dreamlessly, but that's not something one can control. I was in the room with my mom as her life was slipping away from her. I watched her waste away. It was absolutely horrible to see her in so much pain and to not be able to do anything about it. I tear up just thinking about. In fact here come the water works, great, just great. I hate crying, it makes me feel so vulnerable. The tears silently slid down my face and plopped onto Noah's head. I couldn't help but smile down at his little head, with its wisps of light brown hair. It's an odd transition, going from an only child to having two siblings, but I love it.
I brought my hand to my face to wipe the tears away, flinching as soon as I touched my cheek. I took a mirror out of my bag and looked at my reflection. There was a nice blue and black bruise on my face where my dad had back handed me last night, along with a decent cut from his ring. I saw how pretty I had started to become over the summer. I was finally growing out of my ugly stage. This summer I grew out my hair instead of cutting it. I found that it was unnecessary to have long hair at school. It always got in the way with everything, especially quidditch. I now had longer somewhat curly hair; it was caramel brown with natural blonde highlights. I had grown a few inches, giving me a slimmer build. My body had acquired curves that made me look older and my acne cleared up giving me a nice complexion. I could see the obvious fear in my once bright blue eyes. I looked so much different then I had last year at school. I go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, sixth year, Slytherin, and I'm a prefect. I come from a long line of purebloods. Because of my bloodline, I have been training to be a witch since age three. Most my training was in the dark arts though, beings my father is death eaters, hence the Cruciatus curse he uses on me regularly. My parents were best friends with the Malfoys until my mother's death. My father doesn't really associate with anyone right now, he just drinks, sleeps, eats, and causes pain. Draco is certainly not one of my favorite people in the world. Avoiding him in my mansion of a house was relatively easy. Most people hate me at school, 1) because I was the ugly girl and no body wants to catch the ugly disease 2) because I was a teachers pet, got out of everything and got good grades and 3) because I am a Slytherin so all the other houses think I'm the scum of the Earth, isn't that pleasant. I never really tried to get to know the people in my house either. I figured it would just be a waste of my time, so I focused on my education. The only people I really made an effort to impress are the quidditch team members. I like Blaise Zambini and I tolerate Marcus Flint, only because he's the captain. If I ever hang out with anyone, it's the quidditch team, although I try to steer clear of Malfoy. I do have two best friends, though they don't go to Hogwarts. Amanda Tintero and Annalise Winters. I grew up with them, we're all purebloods, and we just fir together like the three musketeers. Amanda goes to a small school in New Zealand. Annalise goes to school in America. We write letters and usually visit over the summers, but this year they're both going on vacation, Amanda's in Australia and Annalise is on a Cruise. I missed them terribly, but I suppose it was better this way so that they could enjoy there summer instead of having me burden them. Draco wasn't an arrogant self-centered git all the time. He had actually gained the tiniest ounce of my trust over the summer. It was at my mother's funeral, where he found out about my dad.
"You are such a screw up Josie, every time I give you a job you fuck it up!" His harsh words tore through me. "That speech was bullshit, every word of it. All those people were watching you make a fool of yourself and disgrace your mother's honor!" His words stung as he hit a nerve. SMACK! I was on the ground with a stinging pain on my cheek. I had just made a speech about my mother for the funeral ceremony. Everyone loved it except my father; it had even made some of my mother's friend's cry. It wasn't good enough for him though, nothing was ever good enough. He kicked me a few times in the stomach causing me to lose my breath, and then he pulled out his wand. Crutio! I heard him shout and a sudden wave of pain washed over my body. My stomach tied itself in knots and my heart pumped blood faster until he stopped. I was so exhausted already. *Come on Josie; don't let him break you this time. Don't give him the satisfaction of making you cry.* I kept trying to pull myself together and stay strong. He pulled me up by my hair just to smack me back down again. He pulled me up one more time and slammed his arm down on my shoulder. CRACK! And the tears started streaming down my face after that. He kicked me a couple more times and then left the room. I curled up into a ball and just sobbed. The tears just wouldn't stop.
"How did this happen?" I wondered aloud through my sobs. How could my life have turned out so wrong?
"Well if it isn't…..," I recognized that voice as the one that had tormented me for so many years. "Josie, I saw your dad come walking, more like stumbling out and figured you were in here. What happened?" he asked almost sounding like he cared.
I laughed through my sobs at the fact that he sounded worried. "Wh-Why do you care M-M-Malfoy," I sobbed, wishing I was alone. He took a step towards me and I backed away flinching as I moved my arm.
"Let me help you."
"Leave me alone Malfoy," I said finally calming down. He didn't leave, thoroughly annoying me. The tears were still falling, so I avoided looking at him.
"Aren't you going to laugh or something? You enjoy other peoples suffering so much," I spat, surprising myself with how malicious I sounded.
"No." He said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and sat across from me. I finally looked up at him and he wasn't smirking, which through me off. I thought for sure he was go run off to tell all his little friends.
"I know what's going through your head right now and I would prefer you not tell anyone, Malfoy. I've got enough to deal with right now," I said looking him straight in the eye with a pleading look on my face.
"Ok, but in order for me to do something for you, I need you to do something for me." Now came the smirk. I looked at him in pure disgust.
"Whatever Malfoy."
"First of all, you can stop saying my name like your chocking on one of Snape's hairs." He smirked and I actually managed a chuckle. "Second, you can stop being so damn mean to me; I'm just trying to help. Third, you have to say "Draco is the bestest, hottest guy I know and I want his help""
"Bestest isn't a word."
"I don't care, say it."
"Don't be such a child."
"Say it"
"I don't want to"
"Say it!"
"Your really obnoxious, you know? Draco is the bestest, hottest guy I know and I want his help even though he's a little git." I whispered the last part so he couldn't hear and he smirked.
"Well I guess if you want it that bad I could lend you a hand. We can go to my house, and our house elf can fix you up, hell we have a house elf for just about everything." He picked me up bride style and carried me to the fire place, so we could Floo to his house Maybe Malfoy isn't such an arse.
"Then we have the whole house to ourselves," he said with one of the biggest smirks I have ever seen. I've been wrong before.
I live rather close to Malfoy. I don't really know where else I could go that won't cost my anything. He would at least let Noah and Abby stay there for a few days even if he wouldn't let me. He helped me once, he might be willing to do it again. I'll have to send an owl to Amanda and Annalise. Hopefully they'll be coming back from vacation soon. After that I could stay on the Night Bus for a little while, until I get a reply from my friends. It's the only plan I've got so I suppose I'll have to try…
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Author's Notes: Alright, I just edited this to try to make it better. I'm not sure how well it worked. I'm going to re-edit all the chapters and I might work on an update before I finish, but I've been focusing on my other story. I know I'm horrible with updates, but just bare with me here. My brains been a little foggy. Tell me what you think and any suggestions you might have. I could really use improving.