Anyone surprised at how fast I'm updating?

Because I am.

I've started a new fanfic which I will explain more about at the end - for now, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Concealed Torture

Chapter Ten – The Rescue

The five students, three professors and Kingsley walked down the stone pathway leading to the grand doors of the manor, while the Aurors on duty remained outside just in case Lucius tried to escape on foot or on broom. They made sure to look around cautiously as they walked – the master of the household was very cunning, and they had to be careful.

"Is it only Lucius and Narcissa who are in the manor, or are there any other Death Eaters?" Harry asked Kingsley, who shook his head.

"No Death Eaters have naturally been able to get into the Manor, and it seems as though they have left here now that we know that this is their headquarters. If there are any in there, it's going to be very few."

They eventually made it to the doors. The door had a lot less magic used on it than the barriers, and Snape was able to open it with simply the magic he possessed from his Mark. The hall was incredibly empty, and it seemed as though it was going on for eternity. The only sound was their footsteps as they walked forward with precaution.

"Isn't it a bit quiet in here?" Harry whispered.

"He must have used a silencing charm – wherever they both are," Snape said, gritting his teeth.

"Wait, listen!" Pansy said. They stopped walking and noticed a couple of voices that seemed to be coming from the library.

"Come on," Snape said, and they silently walked over to the library's open door.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" a woman's voice asked – it was Narcissa.

"He's threatened me... I couldn't let my wife get hurt, but I can't allow this to happen to Draco either."

"Dad, what are you doing here?" Blaise said. Both Cais and Narcissa looked over in surprise.

"I-I... Lucius threatened to harm your mother if I didn't keep watch over the barriers."

"It looks like you failed that task," said Narcissa. "How did you break through?"

"We haven't got time for this, we need to go now!" Harry exclaimed. Before they left, however, Severus placed a hand on Narcissa's arm, looking at her in the eyes.

"Narcissa, you have to pick the right thing to do now," he murmured. "You have stood in the dark for far too long now, and we both know whose side you really want to be on – it's either Draco or Lucius."

Narcissa nodded, already walking out of the room.

"Let's go. Cais said they're in the dungeons."

They hurried through the corridors of the manor and eventually made it to the entrance to the dungeons. They opened the door and quickly ran down the steps, to find Lucius already looking back at them. His wand was pointed at the base of Draco's neck, and he had a very threatening look on his face. They gasped at the sight of Draco behind his father. Both of his arms were chained to the wall behind him, and his skin was covered in cuts and bruises, even more so than over the summer. The entire colour in his face had drained, and his usual bright, almost silver eyes were dull and lifeless, as though he had given up on any fight he may have had in him. Narcissa was covering her mouth with her hand, and was starting to pale herself.

"How dare you do this!" Harry screamed at him. He put a foot forward but stopped the moment that Lucius dug his wand deeper into his son's neck, making him whimper in pain.

"Don't you come any closer, Potter! You wouldn't want something to happen to your dear Draco, now would you?" Lucius purred.

"You twisted bastard," Harry growled. Lucius merely chuckled, but then he narrowed his eyes at Snape and Cais.

"I thought you were supposed to be my friends, but now you are against me?" Lucius said. He looked over Narcissa. "I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"I'm..." Narcissa paused, but then she raised her head, looking at him and standing with much more confidence than she had ever had in Lucius' presence. "I'm not going to stand in the dark and allow you to do this to our son, Lucius. I've always been too afraid to stand up to you. It's always been Draco who has protected me – but now, I'm going to do what's right. You need to be stopped."

"You are a father, Lucius," Snape added, glaring at Lucius. "I could never see why you treat Draco like you do. I honestly find it sickening how you have been – and if I knew about this sooner, I would have done everything in my power to stop you."

"He is not worth to be treated nicely," Lucius shrugged. "He is a poor excuse for a Malfoy. I might as well just leave him here to die."

His eyes moved over to Draco, and he smirked.

"...Which seems like it would be easy to do. You're going to need a high amount of luck in order to help him."

Before any of them could react, Lucius had stepped away from Draco and apparated out of the building. Harry let out a horrified gasp when he saw that Draco's skin had turned into a sickly grey, and he had only just noticed how much blood surrounded him. He rushed over to him and lowered to his knees. He gently held Draco's head up while Snape and Narcissa attempted to break the chains around his wrists without doing any harm to him.

"H-Harry... I... I-I feel so c-cold..." he whimpered, his weak body falling against Harry when his arms were released. Harry quickly caught him and lifted his head once more.

"Draco, please, try to keep your eyes open," Harry begged, looking into Draco's closing eyes frantically.

"I-I'll try... But I just want... T-To sleep..."

Harry took off his robe and wrapped it around Draco before he picked him up for the third time that year, this time conscious.

"Draco, please!" Harry pleaded.

"I-I will, Harry..." Draco whispered, resting his head on his friend's chest.

"We can't apparate with him like this!" Narcissa cried, brushing her son's hair off his forehead. "He's far too weak!"

"Do we have to fly him there?" Hermione asked.

"We will have to," McGonagall sighed.

"He has a spare broom in his room – Severus, could you go and get it?" Narcissa asked, her eyes still fixed on her son's face. "Get mine while you're there – you know where my room is."

Snape quickly nodded, and raced out of the room. Harry carefully carried Draco up the stairs, refusing the help that was offered to him by the others, though Narcissa walked close behind to make sure Draco was okay. Once they eventually made it up the stairs, Snape was already there with the brooms and passed them to Narcissa.

"Alright, I will go and inform the rest of the Aurors about Draco. Harry and Narcissa will fly with Draco to St Mungos – the rest of us will fly there..." Kingsley started.

"Wait, maybe it would be best to bring him back to Hogwarts," McGonagall protested. "It is the safest place for him to be right now, without the Vanishing Cabinets."

"But surely-"

"Just decide already! We're losing time, here!" Snape snapped, pressing the back of his hand on Draco's forehead.

"J-Just... Take me... To H-Hogwarts..." Draco whispered, before his eyes shuttered closed and his body went even more limp.

"We have to go there now," said McGonagall. "Keep heading north – I will let Poppy know you're coming."

Pansy held onto the professor's arm once more, Ron held onto Hermione's hand, and Blaise hung onto the arm of his father's rather than Snape's, as Moony had jumped into the arms of the startled professor and after he gave Snape a couple of licks, he looked at Draco and whimpered. Harry walked as fast as he could to the exit, with Narcissa right by his side, and the rest had already apparated just outside of Hogwarts.

"Here, let me help you," Narcissa said as she helped Harry make Draco sit as comfortable as possible on the broom in front of him. He thanked her and they both took off into the air. When Draco let out a small whimper in his sleep, Harry pulled him closer to his body.

"Hang in there Draco, please hang in there..." he whispered.

The others waited worryingly in the infirmary for Draco, Harry and Narcissa to arrive. Kingsley had to stay in the Ministry with the other Aurors to start their investigation on where Lucius could have gone, but asked them to let him know as soon as possible if Draco was alright. Mrs Pomfrey was furious when she was told about what had happened to Draco during his capture, and quickly got everything ready for his arrival. Perhaps she did this too quickly, as after she finished doing this, they were all either standing or sitting silently, wishing that time would go faster. Ron had placed an arm around Hermione, and Blaise copied the gesture with Pansy, who accepted it happily. She had her head buried in his shoulder, trying to not let her tears fall. McGonagall stood by Pomfrey, looking unbelievably stressed. Snape was sat on the end of a bed, stroking a whining Moony, who rubbed his brown head against the professor's leg. He stood up after a minute, rubbing his forehead.

"Where are they?" he groaned. "They should be here by now!"

Just as he had finished his sentence, Harry was walking into the infirmary with Draco in his arms, Narcissa close behind him. He put Draco into the closest bed with the help of Madam Pomfrey.

"Oh my goodness, I cannot believe this..." she whispered, before she cast a spell to check his vitals. A worried expression grew on her face, and she quickly grabbed a vial nearby containing a red liquid. "Potter, go get a damp cloth from over there, please."

Harry nodded, and rushed to the other side of the room while Pomfrey gently made Draco swallow the potion. Harry soon came back with the cloth, and he already knew what to do. He began to wipe Draco's brow with the cloth while Pomfrey set to work applying numerous creams and potions to his body, her face screwed up in concentration. The others watched the two silently, and all knew that if Pomfrey was to do anything wrong, it could be the difference between Draco's survival and his death. After she was done, she checked his vitals once more, and sighed deeply in relief when she found they were almost back to normal.

"That was a close one," she sighed again. "If you were to arrive with him just a couple of minutes later, we probably would have lost him."

"So he will be alright, madam?" Pansy whispered, and smiled joyfully when she received a nod in response.

"I do recommend you all go, now," said Madam Pomfrey. "You can come back as soon as he wakes up."

"I have a room for you in the Slytherin Dungeons, Narcissa," Snape said. She nodded and smiled, before planting a kiss on Draco's forehead.

"I will be back soon, darling," she whispered. She and the others began to leave the room, with the exception of Harry, who was still sitting in the chair by Draco's side.

"I am going to be realistic, here," said Pomfrey, raising an eyebrow. "You're probably not going to leave this room until he wakes up, aren't you?"

"Nope," he grinned. She simply shook her head, trying not to smile back.

"Fine, you can stay. But the rest of you have to go."

"But that's not fair! We're-" Blaise started, but he immediately stopped speaking when Pansy grabbed hold of his hand.

"No, we understand, Madam! Come on, let's leave them alone!" Pansy chirped as she pulled a confused Blaise out of the room, while the others followed. Snape stopped at the doorway and turned around to look at Harry, with Moony standing by his side.

"Goodnight, Potter. Thank you for your help tonight," he said, and actually gave him a slight smile. He walked out of the room behind a shocked Harry could say anything, with Moony close behind. Pomfrey chuckled at the expression on Harry's face.

"He does have a nice side, you know."

"I... I can see that," he replied, smiling. Pomfrey yawned, and it was then that Harry saw just how exhausted the poor woman was after the ordeal.

"You should go and get some rest, madam. I will call for you if anything happens," Harry said. The woman nodded at him in gratitude and went back to her office. Harry's eyes moved back to Draco and he smiled sadly. Luckily, due to Pomfrey's work, the cuts and bruises were all beginning to fade, but you could still see them a little. Harry looked at them all, asking himself how a man could do this to someone, especially his own son. Almost every part of Draco's fragile body was marked, and it shook every now and then because of the high amount of torture it had been put under from the Cruciatus curse. There was no reason of it. Draco had just wanted to grow up as a normal child, and take his own path in life, but he was punished for that. The thought of this sickened Harry to no end.

His thoughts were interrupted when Draco started whimpering and shaking in his sleep. Harry quickly grabbed Draco's hand softly, and almost immediately after, Draco had calmed down and was now sleeping soundly. Harry smiled in relief and rested his head on Draco's chest gently, and fell asleep in that very position.

"Potter? Mister Potter? Wake up!"

Harry groaned loudly and opened his eyes. He noticed that it was already morning, and his head was laid on Draco's chest, with his right hand still holding Draco's left. He let go and sat up, wincing and rubbing the pain in his back and neck.

"It's no wonder that you're hurting, you've been like that for hours! Take that potion there, it will help," said Madam Pomfrey, pointing at a nearby potion. He thanked her and drank it, sighing in relief when he already started to feel the pain starting to fade away. She simply nodded and checked on Draco, smiling when he saw how much he was already healing.

"Thank goodness he is alright," she said. "I was so worried when you brought him in. I thought I wasn't going to be able to save him."

"Thank you so much, madam. I couldn't be grateful that-"

He stopped when Draco started groaning. Pomfrey rushed to the side of the bed, but smiled.

"Is he alright?" Harry asked.

"Of course he is. It seems like he's waking up," she replied. Harry sighed in relief and hurried back to Draco's side.

"Draco, can you hear me?"

"H-Harry? Is that you?" Draco said softly, blinking up at Harry.

"Draco, thank Merlin you're awake!" Harry exclaimed. Draco nodded slowly and smiled, but winced when he tried to sit up. Pomfrey sighed and handed him a potion.

"Take this, it should help," she said. He drank the potion, shuddering, and thanked her. She reached out a little too quickly when she was going to take the empty bottle back from him, and he flinched.

"I'm sorry," he said, handing her back the bottle. He sat up in the bed, as the pain had reduced a little.

"There's no need for you to apologise, Mister Malfoy," she said as she placed the bottle down.

"Thank you for helping me – both of you," Draco said, smiling. Harry returned the smile, though his reply was interrupted by the entrance of Snape, Narcissa and Lupin.

"Draco, you're awake!" Narcissa cried joyfully, rushing over to her son's side.

"How are you feeling?" Snape asked, standing by the bed as Narcissa had already sat herself in the other chair besides it.

"Okay, I suppose. I feel a lot better than I did before, anyway," the blonde smiled.

"It's good to see you better, Draco," said Remus.

"Thank you," Draco replied. He turned to his mother. "I wasn't sure if you knew what was happening to me. I was hoping you weren't going to come down to the dungeons, in case Lucius would have hurt you too."

"I only knew about what Lucius had done when Cais had told me," said Narcissa. "But I'm not going to allow myself to fear him anymore – and no matter how much you worry for me, I'm going to stand up to him. This was the final straw for me. I'm not allowing him to be like this."

Draco smiled at her softly, though they were interrupted by Pansy running into the infirmary.

"Draco, you're awake!" she called as she dragged Blaise inside in by his hand.

"Yes I am, Pansy," he chuckled. When they both stood by the bed, Draco looked down to see them both holding hands. "When did this happen? I was only gone for a bloody day!"

"Well, we've been getting closer recently," Pansy said, blushing slightly. "He was comforting me a lot yesterday, and we both confessed to each other that we want to be more than friends. So we're together now."

"I'm so happy for the two of you," he said joyfully, and looked over at the door when it opened once more.

"How is..." Hermione started, but smiled when she saw Draco sitting up in his bed and looking at her. "Oh, he's awake!"

She walked into the infirmary, with Ron by her side and Professor McGonagall close behind.

"Oh, thank goodness!" McGonagall exclaimed. "How are you feeling, Draco?"

"Better, thank you," Draco replied, smiling.

"It's nice to see you well, mate," said Ron.

"So, how did you all manage to break into the manor, then?" Draco asked.

"Well, we just combined a few forces of dark magic, really," Hermione explained.

"I used my magic and Dark Mark," said Snape.

"I simply put my paw on the barrier as Moony – my werewolf form," said Remus. "I took a good amount of Wolfsbane so I acted like a perfectly tamed wolf, and I remember everything."

"I just used my wand, as both that and my magic are connected to Voldemort," said Harry.

"And I used your wand. Speaking of which..."

Pansy reached into her pocket and pulled out Draco's wand. She handed it to him, and he thanked her and placed it on the bedside table besides him.

"Thank Merlin he was stupid enough to leave it behind," he chuckled. He turned to Harry, with an amused smile on his face. "So, now you have a grand total of having to carry me into this room three times. I'm not sure about you, but I fancy trying to prevent that number from increasing any further."

"Yeah, maybe we should," Harry laughed.

"Anyway, we all better get going to the Great Hall," said McGonagall. They made their way to the door, but like the previous evening, Harry didn't even budge.

"I want to stay here," he stated simply. Draco looked at him and smiled.

"Please can he stay?" Draco asked, turning to Pomfrey, who sighed.

"Alright, fine..." she said, knowing that there was no use in arguing with him. "But the rest of you, out."

They said their goodbyes and exited the room. Madam Pomfrey excused herself and went into her office. Once everyone, except from Harry, had left the room, Draco sighed deeply.

"Draco, what's wrong?" Harry asked, looking concerned.

"I... I just feel so weak, Harry," he responded, looking down at his hands.

"You are bound to, with the amount of damage that you took..."

"Obviously that, of course. But I meant me myself. I should have been stronger, not have let him treat me this way all of these years. I could have fought back, I'm sure, but I never did. I just took it pathetically each and every time. Now look what it has done."

He burst into tears after he finished talking, burying his face in his hands. Harry put his arms around his friend, pulling him close.

"Draco, I don't want you to ever say again that you're weak. You're anything but. Most people, if not everyone else, wouldn't be able to cope with it as well as you do."

"But maybe if I had just been stronger, he wouldn't treat me as badly as he does now... Maybe he would only be like he was when I was younger."

"Draco, do not blame yourself at all for his actions. He shouldn't have treated you like that at all, and you shouldn't have to deal with this. It is all him, and what he has done to you is unforgivable. You've even tried your best to protect your mother over the years and always made sure she was never hurt, only you. That's what makes you a strong person, and shows that you have courage. Don't say that you are not."

"Thank you, Harry..." Draco said softly, wiping his eyes.

"It's no problem, Draco. I'm only speaking the truth."

They stayed in each other's arms for a few more moments before Draco broke the silence.

"Harry?"

"What is it, Draco?"

"...I want to tell you everything. Well, obviously not literally, but some things I want to say. Can I?" he asked.

"Of course you can, Draco."

Draco smiled and took a deep breath, wondering how he could start.

Yay, Draco is saved!

So about that new story - it's a Wrestling one, but I think some of you may enjoy it even if you aren't a part of the fandom. It's basically an AU which, even though it has the wrestlers in it and has a reference to the Authority, isn't actually about wrestling itself. You'd see what I mean if you read the summary and/or story.

I am honestly loving writing it! In all honesty, I find it more fun to write than this one, but that's only because I've never written one like it before. As this is a rewrite, it isn't as fun. I will still update this one though, of course.

Anyway, thank you for reading, and as always, reviews are appreciated! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!