Authors note: Hello my darlings. It's been a small while since I finished the last chapter, but I still don't think I took too long.
I'm happy that some people favourited both my and this story. I guess that means you want me to continue, which I will do now. Thanks for your interest.

Chapter 3: Broken pieces

Harry and Ron were sitting on the floor, yawning. Ron had gone and gotten his wizard chest set to kill the time, but after 5 games or so, the pair of friends was sick of that too. They had resorted to making their homework instead. It had been hours since the pair of snakes slitchered into what Harry knew was the room of requirement, and he was getting sick of waiting. Not only that, but the two boys were close to getting in trouble. In half an hour, every student had to be in their dorm room. Why were they even risking their necks for this? Sure, Harry had an innate sense of curiosity while Ron just liked to tag along but truth be told, they couldn't even be sure if the two would come out the same way they went in. Either way, Harry did not want to give up so soon. They still had his secret weapon: the invisibility cloak. Oh why was Harry always so obsessed with Draco's coming and going? Well for one, he knew the boy was always up to something. Besides, his father was a known death eater which meant that whatever they were doing, would probably affect Harry in some way. Yeah that's right. A perfectly valid reason to stay right there and wait. At least for a little while.

Draco was exhausted. His body was numb. His muscles ached as if he has just ran a marathon. Surely, right now, not a single wound was to be seen but his body reminded him that horrible things had just happened to him. And the evening was not yet over.

Lucius licked the long, sharp knife that had been on the floor before, ready for use. He grabbed the small axe as well and almost skipped behind Draco who tried to look behind him but was met with a slap to his face.
"Oh no, Draco" whispered his father, his voice quivering. "You mustn't peek. In fact, you mustn't move at all." He paused for a second as if in thought. "You know, tradition would have it that you can't make a sound at all. You should suffer in silence for whatever silly religious reason there was. Why don't you give it a try?" Lucius' venomous voice made Draco shudder. Did that mean he would get punished if he screamed? He knew he couldn't keep quiet. He knew he was going to cry. He wished that he would die already.

A sharp pain made him arch his back while he threw his head in his neck. He wanted to scream but he couldn't. The pain took his breath away. He was only able to inhale sharply. Lucius misunderstood this as courage and praised his son.
"Well done Draco. Step one is complete" It felt as if Lucius had sliced open his back. Sliced open to the bone perhaps? Draco felt his precious blood poor down his back and heard it trickle on the floor. He tried to free his arms so he could collapse on the floor but they were bound to the branches.
Lucius put the knife to the side and grabbed the small axe.

The pain that Draco felt next was nothing like he ever felt before. He wanted desperately to black out but was unable to. He couldn't help himself and screamed as his beloved father used the axe to chop his ribs loose. It took forever. Draco cried and screamed louder with every sharp and heavy slash he felt. Maybe, if he was lucky, he could die right now from blood loss. But he wouldn't fade. His mind stayed unfortunately clear. Had his father fed him another potion to make sure of it? Draco didn't know how long it took but when Lucius was done with the chopping, he took every loosened rib and twised it outward, as if to create wings our of bone. The sensation was new and incredibly painful. Perhaps Draco had indeed died because this was surely hell. He was sure he would've preferred being burned at the stake. He would've preferred to be dipped in boiling water. This was otherworldly. Inhuman. He might have been unable to pass out but he did feel himself weaken. His head slumped down as he saw his fathers' feet come back to the front. He stepped a short distance away and squatted. Draco weakly lifted his head to finally meet his fathers gaze. He was grinning from ear to ear as if he was a child that had just gotten the toy he wanted mostly. He was admiring Draco as if he was looking at a beautiful painting.

The cruel man took out a camera and started snapping pictures from every angle. Obviously proud of his masterpiece. He said something to Draco but he didn't hear it anymore. His eyes finally closed, too heavy to keep open. Hopefully, this would be the last time.

But life wasn't that easy or kind. Draco drifted back into consciousness, his body sore and his limbs heavy. Above him, he saw the face of his father, twisted in what seemed to be an expression of concern, however mild it was. As a response to Draco opening his eyes, the man seemed to sigh in relief.
"Don't scare me like that, Draco" he said. "How would I explain your death to your mother? To your headmaster?" Draco wanted to answer but couldn't even find the strength to open his mouth.
"In any case, we're done here" stated the family patriarch matter of factly. "I had a great time Draco, thank you." He chucked a fat coin purse towards Draco which landed next to his head. "Get yourself something nice" A sly grin was barely visible on the face of the silverhaired man. Draco could barely fathom what just happened. Not only the torture he had been forced to endure was horrendous but the idea of the offendor being his own father, who seems to be paying him for… for what? A job well done? Never before has Lucius hurt Draco as badly as he had done tonight. He had gotten the occasional lashing, the standard beating and sure once or twice he had been hit with the Cruciatus curse. But this was beyond any of that. Lucious interrupted his thoughts.
"Get up boy" he sneered. "Get back to your dor mand get some sleep. And don't let anyone notice something is off" he cracked his knuckles unnecesarily. "I have for more things I would like to try out, you see? Maybe next time, I'll pick someone else…. Or not. It's up to you, really." When Draco still didn't move, Lucius kicked him in his flank. "Up!" he demanded.

Draco obeyed and sluggishly struggled on his feet. He tried to adopt a calm, proud stature as his father expected of hi mand took a few aching steps toward the door. When his father didn't follow, Draco looked at him expectandly.
"Oh, I'll be leaving through the back door, Draco" Lucius said, pointing at a different door. "This room truly gives you everything you need. And I need not to be seen on school grounds anymore." He skulked towards the door at the back of the room. "Sleep well Draco" he whispered and finally left.

He finally left, oh thank the heavens. Draco just wanted to collaps again right then and there but he thought he would not be able to get up a second time. Not only that, but this room was filled with instruments he did not want to lay eyes on anymore. The sight of his own blood spilled around the room made him nauseous. So much so, that he suddenly felt the urge to get out of the room as quickly as possible. He did however, take the bag of coins with him. If he was going to suffer, he might as well get something out of it. To his father it would make no difference.

He dramatically opened the door with a fast swing and closed it even faster with a loud bang he startled himself with. It was probably after hours which was fine for Draco. That meant he would probably not run into someone else. As soon as he reached his dorm, he could just climb into his bed and forget all of this ever happened. Oh how he wishes things could've gone that was.
Once again though, life refused to cooperate.

"If it isn't Malfoy, slithering his way through the halls." A familiar voice sneered. Draco turned around painfully just to see Potter and his Weasley friend standing there. The ginger boy had a triumphant smile on his face. Harry however, kept his face more neutral for now. Draco really didn't feel like engaging with the hero team right now. So he chose to ignore the comment, ignore that they too were out after hours, and ignore that the two of the were just floating heads at that time. He had no time or effort to spare, so he just began walking.
Now, the hero team would not live up to their name if they would just let Draco go, so naturally, they stepped in front of him. Draco's weary eyes met Harry's whom he deemed far more empathic and gave him an akward glance. But to no avail.
"What have you and your death eater snake of a father been up to Malfoy?" Ron demanded. "You were in there for hours! Very suspicious if you ask me." Draco wanted to proudly retort. Make a statement about how poor Ron was, maybe about the size of his family. Heck, he would throw the death of Harry's parents in there as well but when he opened his mouth, no sound came out.
He suddenly felt all the anxiety, the pain and the exhaustion wash over him twice as heavily as he had already felt them. The strain his body had had to endure has become too much and Draco just cracked.

And he cried. Uncontrollably loud. Heavy sobs interrupted his crying as he fell to the floor, his legs too weak to carry his frail body anymore. Harry and Ron looked around in panick, scared that someone would hear and find them. Ron even tried shushing Draco but to no avail. The boy had turned into a blubbering mess on the floor, inconsolable. His sadness was heartbreaking. His eyes quickly became red and puffy as he clutched his robe near his heart. His breathing was ragged and shallow.
"Stop Malfoy" begged Harry. "They'll find us. What happened? What's wrong?"
Nausea came over Draco once more as he flopped on his hands and knees and vomited in a corner. He didn't even feel ashamed. He might have been crying in front of his archnemesis but who cared. Why did that even matter anymore?

Well that's it for now.
I hoe you enjoyd it and in regards to reviews I give you this famous movie quote: "Please sir, can I have some more?"