Harry stirs, taking a moment to realize where he is, then gently shaking Draco till he stirs. "C'mon dray, we need to go." He says softly. Draco mutters something incoherently, but props himself up all the same, though he still is glaring in annoyance at Harry, his eyes are soft. "C'mon, Harry, five more minutes?" he asks hopefully. Harry laughs and kisses him for a moment, then shakes his head. "I'm sorry, but, no. I wish. We need to get down to breakfast cause someone is going to see us and think...you know. This." Draco sighs, but drags himself to his feet and follows Harry down from the tower, waiting for him to get sufficiently ahead of him before turning around and going back to the tower, trying to hide the pain in every movement. He isn't hungry. Not today.
Harry glances around the dining hall, surprised not to see Draco. He's ALWAYS hungry, so why isn't he here to eat? Harry nervously tucks a muffin into the inside pocket of his robes when nobody is looking and hurries to finish his plate of toast and eggs, then tells Ron he has to go grab a book he forgot before hurrying out of the dining hall, search for Draco. It takes him fifteen minutes to even consider it, but he immediately realizes how stupid it is that he didn't and hurries to the astronomy tower, gasping when he sees him. "Draco?" he asks softly
Draco finishes climbing the tower and curls up tightly in the corner. His robes hurt, pressing on his body everywhere it hurts. He eventually just pulls off his shirt and robes, leaving his slim chest and back bare. He is laced with scars, some fully healed but a many are still wide open and bleeding. He cries softly to himself, until he hears Harry speak.
Harry can't believe it. Draco, his Draco. He struggles to keep his face from looking scared, but he knows it's not working well. He kneels next to him, slipping his hands over Draco's. "Who?" he asks gently. Draco shakes his head, burying his head against Harry's shoulder. Harry gently puts his hand under his chin, lifting his eyes to see his. "Dray." He murmurs. "Who is hurting you?" Draco just gives a weak moan and whimpers something Harry can't hear. He holds him tighter for a moment, feeling Draco's thin body shaking. "Dray, please. Please tell me." He soothes. Draco lets out a strangled gasp, then wheezes out, "Dad." Harry doesn't speak, just pulls Draco into his arms and lets him cry, his own tears falling onto his shoulders.
Draco finally just goes limp, thin body shaking from pure exhaustion. His eyes are half closed. Harry thanks the world that it's Sunday so they don't have classes. Draco whispers softly, "H-harry?" Harry nods and brushes Draco's hair off of his face. "Yeah, I'm here. Are you ok." He shakes his head, letting out a gasp of pain as he shifts. Harry hesitates, then asks softly, "When you went home last weekend…did he…" he can't finish. Draco nods silently, glancing down at the still open wounds on his chest and back. "They hurt so much." He whispers. Harry nods softly, more understanding in his eyes than he'd expected. "Dray? Can I take you somewhere?" Draco looks at him for a moment, and sees that he is genuinely wanting to help, so he nods and lets Harry put his arm around his waist as he slowly helps him forward, pulling the invisibility cloak over them both. Nobody needs to see this.
Harry ducks into a small room off a deserted corridor. It's fairly empty, Draco notices, with a bed, a small cabinet, a dresser, and a door that presumably led to a bathroom. Harry helps Draco sit on the bed, then sits next to him. Draco looks at him for a moment before speaking. "What is this place?" Harry shrugs. "I found it two years ago. Can I show you something?" Draco nods as Harry gently slips the robes off his shoulders, showing severe scarring. Draco runs his fingers gently over them, recognizing them as belt wounds and growling in anger. He doesn't have to ask whose fault this is, because he knows. "Draco, can I treat your back?" he asks gently. Draco nods slightly, looking a little wary. "I won't hurt you, Dray." Harry murmurs. "Never. I promise." Harry rises and walks slowly across the room to the cabinet and pulls out two rolls of bandages, gauze, ointment, and two more bottles, setting them on the floor next to the bed as draco pulls off his robes and shirt, laying on his stomach to expose his damaged back. Harry works quickly, but Draco is still left sobbing in pain by the time harry is done putting ointment on his back and bandaging it tightly. "Dray?" Harry whispers. "Can I see your chest?" Draco nods and rolls onto his side, groaning in pain as Harry does the same to the wounds there. "Here, drink this, it'll help the pain." Harry says softly, holding a potion to Draco's lips and helping him swallow it before pulling him into his arms with his head on his chest and closing his eyes, completely spent.
