Hello my readers!
My updates are probably going to be every 1-2 weeks now, and I won't be aiming to update every week. I haven't started my courses in college yet, I've only had my induction, but I will be starting them on Monday. So please don't ask me to update soon and expect me to do so... Because I won't be xD Please also consider I do have various restricting health problems as well.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Concealed Torture
Chapter Seven – The Map Never Lies
Nervousness started to build up inside Draco as he made his way to Professor McGonagall's office. Despite the headmistress' attempts to convince him that it would be best for the Ministry to know about Draco's abuse, the thought of something happening because of this worried him greatly.
Once he arrived outside her office, the realisation that he didn't actually know what the password was hit him. He paced back and forth while he decided what to do, but stopped when the familiar woman's voice spoke from behind him.
"I do apologise for being late, Mister Malfoy," Professor McGonagall said, walking up beside him. "I'm afraid I got held up by Professor Lupin."
"It's fine, Professor," Draco replied.
She turned around to face the gargoyles in front of them, and raised both of her hands.
"Sherbet Lemon," she said in a proud voice, and both of them watched the staircase as it was revealed. She chuckled when she saw the look of slight confusion on Draco's face.
"It was always Dumbledore's preferred password," she explained. "I have kept it in memory of him."
Draco smiled, though he felt a pang of guilt over the mention of Dumbledore. She smiled with understanding and patted his shoulder. She gestured for Draco to follow her up the staircase, and opened the door at the top to reveal Kingsley inside, who had arrived at the castle earlier.
"Ah, hello Minerva and Draco," Kingsley smiled, and Draco immediately smiled back. He had always been fond of the man, and was hoping for him to be the next Minister.
"Good evening, Kingsley," Professor McGonagall greeted. "Let's all take a seat, shall we? This may take a little while."
The two adults sat themselves down on a cushiony sofa, while Draco said on an armchair in front of them.
"So, Draco, I understand completely that this may be a very sensitive topic for you to talk about, and some of the questions I will ask could upset you. Are you alright with this?" Kingsley asked kindly. After a moment of hesitation, Draco replied.
"...Yes, I am. I think it will do me some good to talk about this thoroughly anyway."
Kingsley nodded at him and smiled, while McGonagall looked at him proudly – an expression that Draco was not used to have being directed at him.
"I am glad. So, first of all, how long has this abuse been going on for, Draco?"
"Well, he has verbally abused me for as long as I can remember. But he first hit me when I was three..." McGonagall's eyes widened at this. "...And up until I was five, he would only hit me every few days or so, when he was angry. After I turned five it started to become much more frequent, and he started to use the Cruciatus curse when he felt as though it was needed once I was ten."
"I'm very sorry..." Kingsley said, pausing for a moment before continuing. "Has your mother ever contributed to your father's abuse?"
"No, never. She... She has always wanted to protect me. The times I've had one of the more serious beatings, she would always see if I was alright. She felt guilty every time it happened and said to me she would rather her be in my place, but I never let her. Every time it seemed as though my father had reached the point where he might hurt her, I always stood in his way. I would never allow her to get hurt."
Draco took a deep breath, trying to stop tears from forming in his eyes. Kingsley noticed this and stayed silent for a few moments. Both he and McGonagall were astonished by how loyal Draco was to his mother. Even if the abuse had been directed at him, he still had made sure that his mother was never in harm's way.
"It's lovely to hear how much you care for her," Kingsley murmured.
"Of course I care for her that much. I love her."
"I can see that," Kingsley smiled softly. "Are you alright for me to ask more questions?"
"Yes, of course," Draco nodded.
"Has Lucius ever abused you... Sexually?"
Draco quickly shook his head.
"Verbally and physically, yes, but I have never been sexually assaulted by he himself-"
"He himself?" McGonagall repeated, tilting her head slightly at him.
"Well, yes..." Draco hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was basically a target for a lot of the Death Eaters over the summer. They were angry at me because some of them would have finished my task in a heartbeat if they had the opportunity, but I didn't. I had one extremely bad day where I had been hit with a number of Cruciatus curses and I was fairly weak. One of the Death Eaters, well, he took advantage of me while I was like this... Father had just laughed about it. But he himself has never done anything like that."
"He didn't do anything to help?" Kingsley said, looking at Draco in disbelief when he shook his head.
"He encouraged the Death Eaters if anything, but he still hurt me himself when he felt the need."
McGonagall looked down at the floor, clearly feeling guilty that the thought of Draco not being safe never came to mind.
"When has he normally felt the need to hurt you? As in, what sets him off, if you do not mind me asking?"
"It can be anything, I suppose. What I do varies what he does. If I ever speak up for myself, like the Boggart showed in class, then that's when it is worse. A simple look can make him angry, and on some days I can even just be in his presence and he would want to hurt me, either mentally or physically, if he feels the need to do so."
"Alright... Thank you for sharing this information with me, Draco. I'm sure that we will now be able to try even harder to catch this man as soon as possible. There is one last thing I would like to ask, however, if you do not mind. I think it might help with your case."
"Of course I do not mind."
"Did you become a Death Eater because it was his desire, or was it willingly?"
"It was partly his desire," Draco started. "Before he was in Azkaban, he had always made it clear that he wanted me to be a part of the Death Eaters. That was part of the reason why I became one. The other was because the Dark Lord threatened to kill my mother and I, so I didn't see any other option."
"Right, thank you for your time, Draco. I know this is very hard for you, but I am certain that we will finally stop Lucius. He will never be able to hurt you again," Kingsley smiled reassuringly.
"Thank you... This really does mean a lot to me," Draco whispered, no longer able to stop the tears from brimming in his eyes. McGonagall smiled softly, and reached over to gently place a hand on Draco's shoulder.
"It would be best if you head back to your dormitory, Draco. I want to thank you myself, Kingsley," said McGonagall.
"There is no need to thank me. Goodbye, Draco."
Draco said his own goodbyes and left the office. He made his way to the Slytherin Dungeons, grateful that the corridors were almost completely empty.
"Anguis," he said when he reached the door. He walked in once it had opened, and didn't make it very far before he was squashed by Pansy in a hug. He laughed and hugged her back, in a much gentler way.
"It's great to see you, Draco. How did it go?" she asked him, smiling.
"It went okay, thank you. I actually feel relieved that I got it all off my chest, really," he replied.
"Um... Draco?"
They both turned around to see Blaise standing by them.
"I just wanted to apologise for the fact that... Well, I haven't really been there for you since last year and I'm really sorry for that."
"Blaise, you have nothing to apologise for. Even if we haven't been as good friends recently, you've never been disrespectful to me and I thank you for that. I have nothing against you – I only feel hatred towards Crabbe, Goyle and a couple of others."
"I'm glad about that... I suppose I'm just paranoid," Blaise laughed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Thank you for helping me the other day," Pansy smiled. "With Draco, I mean."
"It's not a problem at all," Blaise smiled back. They looked at each other for several moments because Draco spoke.
"After all that's happened today, I'm exhausted. I'm going to go and have an early night."
"Alright, see you in the morning, Draco. I'm going to stay down here for a bit as I'm not very tired just yet," Pansy replied. Draco paused for a moment, as it was strange for Pansy to stay in the common room than her own room, but he was too tired to think about it.
"See you both tomorrow," Draco smiled at them.
"Goodnight, Draco," Blaise replied.
"Sweet dreams," Pansy added.
Yawning, he walked down both of the sets of stairs, entered his room, and collapsed on his bed. He barely had he energy to change into his nightwear, but once he did so, he had fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.
Draco was walking down by the Black Lake. A beautiful night sky was reflected in the water, with millions of shining stars and a crescent moon. He sat down on the grass beside the water, resting his head on his knees. He stared at his reflection in the clear water, turning around when another figure appeared. He smiled up at the raven-haired Gryffindor behind him, and watched as he took a seat beside him.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Draco whispered, resting his shoulder on Harry's. The other boy smiled as he took Draco's hand.
"It is, but I can think of something even more beautiful," Harry replied, holding up Draco's hand so he could brush his lips across the pale skin.
"You're too kind to someone like me," Draco said softly, a blush forming on his cheeks. "You deserve someone much better than I am."
"I believe I can't be happier with anyone else. You're much more special than you think," said Harry, and lifted up Draco's chin so their eyes met. "I mean that with all my heart."
He leaned in to kiss Draco softly, who returned the kiss. He pulled away for a moment, smiling.
"I love you, Harry."
"I love you too."
Draco woke up, smiling at the thought of his dream. He was certainly enjoying these dreams with him and Harry much more than the nightmares he usually had, and it was also nice to see that he had enough sleep – the time was 7:15.
"Draco, are you awake?" he head Pansy call through the door.
"Yeah, you can come in if you want to."
She walked into the room, already fully dressed in her Slytherin robes.
"Wow, you are dressed this early two days in a row? This is quite surprising, Pansy."
"I just woke up this morning in a really happy mood and got out of bed fairly quickly," she chuckled. "But I'm surprised how you aren't dressed early. Dreaming about a certain green-eyed Gryffindor, are we now?" she winked, making him blush slightly.
"Perhaps, perhaps..."
"I think you should tell him, Draco."
"Like I would do that..." he started, but then stopped. Would it really be so bad if he confessed? Sure, if Harry didn't feel the same way, it would be very awkward, but it wouldn't be the end of the world. Now it was known he was abused... Did he really have to worry about his father knowing he was gay? "Actually... I'm thinking maybe I could tell him tomorrow."
Pansy squealed and threw her arms around the startled blonde.
"That is so unbelievably cute! Oh my gosh, you have to tell him now you've said that."
"Alright, if I'm able to, I will. Just please stop suffocating me. Oxygen would be nice."
After he got dressed, without using a concealing charm this time to hide his scars as he didn't need to, they made their way down to the common room, greeted Blaise, and went to the Great Hall for their breakfast. They looked over at the Golden Trio, who were gesturing for them to come and sit with them again. They sat like they had done previously – Harry in the middle, with Draco and Pansy either side of him.
"Hello, guys," Draco greeted them, receiving a quick hug from Harry first. The Gryffindor placed a finger gently on the scar on Draco's face, while he shook his head, looking rather angry.
"Hey, Draco," he said, removing his finger from Draco's scar. "You've made it on the front page of the Daily Prophet."
"Oh, of course I have. What a lovely surprise. Could you pass me the paper, Ron?" he asked. The redhead looked a little surprised at the use of his given name, but soon smiled.
"Sure, Mal- I mean, Draco," he replied, handing him the newspaper. Draco thanked him, and looked down at the front page.
'The Ministry have recently had a shock over a crime committed by none other than loyal Death Eater, Lucius Malfoy, one which has, in fact, been occurring for years. Since the age of just three-years-old, his son, Draco Lucius Malfoy, has been a victim of unforgivable abuse. As well as being verbally abused, Draco has been a victim of countless beatings and numerous Cruciatus curses, and was also allowed to be attacked by other Death Eaters over the summer. The Aurors are now in search of Lucius Malfoy, and intend to make sure that his wife, Narcissa Malfoy, is safe. Abuse is something which is not to be taken lightly...'
Draco put the paper down on the table, having read enough. Harry placed a hand on his arm, making him flinch slightly.
"Are you alright, Draco?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm fine. I'm relieved, if anything. Not just about them hunting down my father, but also because a decent reporter actually wrote this," Draco chuckled.
"I can't believe it has been going on for so long, Draco," Hermione said sadly.
"I feel the same way, and the Cruciatus curse too? I hope they catch him soon," Ron added.
"You're very brave. You do know that, Draco?" Harry said softly. Draco gave a small laugh, though it didn't reach his eyes.
"I'm not, really. I mean, the amount of tears I've shed from this, and how terrified he makes me feel doesn't make me brave. That just makes me a coward."
"No, it doesn't. My aunt and uncle treated me badly when I was younger, and I thought that was hard enough, but if anything, I consider myself lucky after what you've been through. You're very brave for coping with it all. If anything, you cope with it better than most people would, including me."
"He's right, Draco. You are very brave for coping through this. I know for sure I wouldn't be able to cope with it even half as well," said Pansy. Both Ron and Hermione nodded at him in agreement.
"Thank you, guys. It really means a lot to me," he whispered. Harry wrapped an arm around him, and Pansy, of course, quickly jumped out of her seat to move over to him so she could hug him herself.
"Can I have your attention, please?"
The whole of the Great Hall look at the headmistress. Some looked confused, being as announcements were normally said in the evening.
"I think after the majority of you hearing the recent news yesterday and surely all of you must know now after it being written in the Daily Prophet, I feel the need to say this," she started. Naturally, the majority of eyes in the Hall landed on Draco, before she cleared her throat loudly. "I will not tolerate any appropriate behaviour aimed at Mister Malfoy because of this situation. Anyone who thinks they can take advantage of this will be severely punished. Now, continue with your breakfast, we still have ten minutes until your first class."
The students turned back to their breakfasts, a few catching a quick glance at Draco first.
"She has been very nice to me about this, you know. Same with Professor Lupin and Kingsley, not to mention you four. Blaise has spoken to me again now, too."
"As in Blaise Zabini?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, that's him. He apologised to me yesterday for not being as close to me as he was last year. I told him it's alright though – he's never disrespected me or anything like that."
"It was really sweet, bless him. He's a good person," Pansy said, looking down at her hands. The realisation suddenly hit Draco, and he grinned.
"Ooh, do you have a little crush, Pansy?" he winked.
"Shut up, Draco. Don't you forget that I can use a certain something against you if you were to annoy me too much," she said cheekily.
"But that isn't fair! You've had your share of teasing, why can't I?" Draco moaned.
"Because when I teased you about your crush, Draco, you had nothing to threaten me with. I, however, do."
"Oh wow, thanks a lot," he said sarcastically, but he couldn't help but crack a smile.
"Wait, who do you have a crush on, Draco?" Harry asked, looking at him curiously.
"It doesn't matter," the Slytherin mumbled, picking at the remains of his food with his fork. Hermione noticed he was feeling uncomfortable and decided to change the subject.
"Did you three revise for the Potions test we have this morning?" she asked Ron, Harry and Draco. She earned a couple of groans in reply.
"You know I didn't, Hermione," Ron groaned.
"Ronald, you told me that you would revise for this one without me telling you to!"
"I haven't either, Hermione," Harry mumbled.
"What am I going to do with you two? Honestly," she sighed, making both Pansy and Draco chuckle.
Far too soon for any of them, it was time for their first lesson. Harry sighed deeply once he and Draco had taken their seats.
"How lovely, I absolutely adore Potions tests," he groaned sarcastically, making Draco laugh.
"I am sure you will do fine, Harry. Well, maybe you would do a little better if you had actually revised."
"It's alright for you, Draco. You're brilliant at Potions. I'm useless at it."
"You did well last year."
"Yeah, but I did have Snape's old book..."
"You had what? You cheater!"
Harry shrugged and smiled slyly, looking a lot like a Slytherin wearing Gryffindor robes.
"Okay everyone, quiet down. I trust you have all revised for your test?"
"Not bloody likely," Harry mumbled. Draco smiled to himself, knowing why he had fallen for him.
The rest of the day had continued, surprisingly, to go well for Draco. Naturally, he still received numerous stares from people, but a lot of them were nicer to him. A few of the ones who smiled at him were people Draco had thought despised him. However, throughout the day, he had noticed a lot of whispers coming from Crabbe and Goyle which seemed to be aimed at him. He tried his best to ignore them, but it was still highly distracting. Luckily, Draco and Pansy continued to eat at the Gryffindor table, and so he was away from Crabbe and Goyle at these times.
Dinner was very enjoyable, as the five of them were simply chatting about any random subject that came to mind. He would have never guessed that he would ever be sitting at the Gryffindor table with Pansy to talk to the Golden Trio, or that the Aurors would ever be after his father for another unforgivable crime.
"Ginny and Neville look really sweet together, don't you think?" Hermione asked. They looked down the table at the said couple holding hands, with Neville laughing at something Ginny had said. They all smiled and nodded in agreement.
"They do," Ron said. "I am fairly surprised, though. I was certain that she still liked Harry."
"She may have moved on from him now," Hermione smiled.
They had soon finished their dinner, though as they were about to leave, Professor McGonagall called out to Draco.
"Mister Malfoy, could Remus and I have a word, please?"
"Yes, of course," he called back, nodding at the others to go on without him. He gave Harry and Pansy a quick hug before he walked over to the professors.
"What is the matter?" he asked them.
"We just thought it would be best to give you a quick update on your father," Professor Lupin explained.
"Several Aurors have made their way to Malfoy Manor. Even though it is evident that the Dark Lord is no longer in your home, it is currently charmed stronger than usual to prevent anyone from breaking through. However, they are trying to discover how to break the barriers. They are planning to make sure your mother is out of harm's way and to take your father into custody. There is no possible way he would be able to escape unnoticed – the whole of the Manor is surrounded," Professor McGonagall informed him.
"Thank you for letting me know," Draco smiled. "It is a very big relief."
"It's my pleasure, Draco. You may want to go to your common room now."
He nodded at both of them, and exited the Great Hall. He soon arrived at the Slytherin Dungeons, and found Pansy and Blaise chatting on a sofa when he entered the common room. They smiled and waved at him when they saw him walking over.
"Hey, guys," he greeted them.
"Hi, Draco!" Pansy said, getting up to hug him.
"Hey," Blaise said.
"What did they want?" Pansy asked.
"They just wanted to tell me the progress they are making to catch my father."
"Oh, that's good. How is it going?"
Draco opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated when he noticed how much quieter the common room was. He looked around, and saw that everyone was looking at him curiously. Well, most were curious – Crabbe and Goyle, for some reason, seemed angry. Draco sighed and shook his head.
"Not here," Draco said quietly. He nodded in the direction of the stairs. "Let's go up to my room."
The three of them quickly walked down the flights of stairs to Draco's room, and Pansy and Blaise sat themselves down on his bed while he cast a locking and silencing charm on the door.
"It's fine, Draco," Pansy said. "So what's been going on with your father, then?"
"He has raised the strength of the charmed barrier around the Manor so that the Aurors surrounding it can't get in. But this means that he shouldn't be able to escape without getting caught, either. They're going to try and find a way to break through – things are looking fairly positive."
"That's great, Draco!" Pansy cried, hugging him.
"It is, I'm very happy for you," Blaise added, giving him a hug of his own.
"I am so relieved to know that he is finally going to get what he deserves."
"I am too – it's about time," Blaise grinned. Pansy nodded in agreement.
"Anyway, it's getting late, and I am fairly tired. I think I'll get in bed now."
"I am too, actually," Pansy yawned. "We'll see you tomorrow, Draco."
"See you," Blaise smiled. They both exited the room, and Draco quickly changed into his nightclothes and jumped into his bed.
After a relaxing night of chatting to Ron and Hermione and losing at Wizard's Chess, Harry laid on his bed, still not very tired. After boredom started to kick in, he got out his Marauder's Map. It was always amusing to see if there were any students who had snuck out of bed and were wandering around the castle. He smiled when he saw the names of Draco, Pansy and Blaise in Draco's room.
His thoughts on Draco had changed drastically over the last few years, and he was glad that their old rivalry had now turned into friendship. He was also proud of Draco and how he had managed to keep going despite all that has happened to him. Draco was now friends with Ron and Hermione as well as Harry, and seemed to be coming good friends with Blaise once more. His father was soon to be in captivity – what could be better?
To tire himself out, Harry began to quickly organise and tidy his room a bit more, which took him around half an hour. When he was satisfied, he went to pick up his nightwear from the end of his bed, but paused when his eyes hovered over the Marauder's Map, still lying on the bed. All of the students were now in bed, including Draco, but a loud gasp escaped his lips when an unexpected name hovered outside the Slytherin common room.
Lucius Malfoy.
I remember how I felt guilty over this cliffhanger in the original story. Now I just feel evil. Mwahahaha.
To any readers who have only read this by me and not the original or my other stories - sometimes, I like to write cliffhangers. I also like to write emotional things. A lot. So brace yourselves, as we still have another sixteen chapters to go.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter! The next one might end up being a lot longer than chapter eight in ASoDM, so feel free to review so I am motivated to write it all. Thanks for reading!
