21
Am I wrong for thinking that we can be something for real?
It is rare when Draco is left alone without supervision so he cherishes when an occasion arises. Don't get him wrong, he enjoys Blaise, Pansy, and now, Harry's company but, sometimes, it becomes overbearing and a bit annoying.
He hates feeling like a burden. As if, he doesn't deserve the care and attention that his best friend and lovers give him - and he doesn't; he is an abomination. His father, at least, grained that into his useless head.
There are days when all he wants is to be normal - to hold hands, to stop counting and establish his career but, then, there are days where he wants to hide in a corner like he used to when he was young, crying and lonely as he was forgotten by his parents.
He bites his lip as he shakes his head, physically attempting to remove the morbid thoughts from his head. After making cup of tea and redoing it twice when the water boiled to eight minutes and not nine - he curls up in a ball on the couch, his head laid on the arm and a book in his hands. The one that Harry has given to him to read when he is bored.
They were mostly muggle novels with the occasional Potion journal inserted but he enjoyed them, nonetheless. He opens the book and a note flutters to the ground and his eyes widen as he catches a glimpse of it.
"Hello," Draco stares at his hands, he sit back on the couch. "Will you not acknowledge me?"
Draco lets out a shaky breath, his mind was playing tricks on him, again, and he refuses to succumb to the fear of it.
"That's quite alright; I just need you to listen."
Draco swallows thickly, his head bowed as he ignores the voice, he refuses to look up.
"Do you think I wouldn't have found you?" There were footsteps before the sultry, tenor voice is near his ear, "That I could break you again and again until you forgot everything but me."
"No," Draco finally responds; looking up to meet cold, grey eyes. "You will never break me again, Father."
"I will," Lucius hiss out, his mouth twists into a devious smile and Draco stares past him, unseeing, as his heart thuds against his rib cage. "Because you are my son and I will do with you as I please."
"No, no, no," Draco repeats, shaking his head, his resolve wavering at the promise in his father's eyes. "You will never have me."
"Oh, I will, Draco," Lucius says straightening up, he looks down at him with a sneer, "Consider this a welcome home present."
"Shut up!" Draco shouts his words echoes loudly in the silent house.
"You think you can stand on your own feet, boy?" Lucius raises an eyebrow, coolly. "You need me -"
"Draco!" He turns to see Harry and Blaise enters the room, crowding him instantly. He doesn't understand why they aren't panicking at the sight of his father, though.
"Are you alright?" Harry asks in worry.
"He's right there…"
"Who, Draco?" Blaise looks around before he turns to him, "There's no one here."
"He's right there," Draco says, tearfully, staring at where Lucius lounged on the couch across from him. "How can you not see him?"
"They don't understand, Draco," Lucius says, "They don't understand you like I do, you need me."
"I will never need you," Draco whispers as he blinks away his tears, the comforting weight of Harry around him anchors him as Blaise crouches in front of him.
"Draco whatever you're seeing right now is a hallucination, baby," Blaise is whispering as he stares past him where Lucius stood near the fire. "It isn't here, He isn't here."
"Be prepared, son." Lucius says, mockingly. "Soon."
"Come on, Draco, it's only in your mind," Harry says, brushing a hand across Draco's face and the blond takes in a deep breath. "Counting, that calms you, right? Count the prime numbers starting with 167. You don't have to count the even ones."
Good, he only knows the odd ones, anyways.
"167...173...179..." Draco's voice quivers as he recites them all, he closes his eyes tightly as the odd numbers and Harry's encouraging voice calms him like a lullaby. It seems like a few moments but he is already up to nine-hundred when he finally stops and opens his eyes.
He lets out a relieved breath when he sees that it was the only three of them and he blinks down at Blaise, who face was contorted with worry.
"Trigger?" Blaise asks, softly.
Draco knows what he means and he turns away to pick up the note he had found in his book and handed it to Blaise.
Blaise sighs, leaning his head against his knee. "How did he get in?" He hands the note to Harry who eyes widen when he reads it.
SOON - LM
"How was your holiday?" Granger asks as soon as she spots him, it was a day after New Year and Blaise had been reluctant to return to work.
"Fine," Blaise says, curtly. "Not that it's any of your business."
"Well, that's good." Granger says, shifting a bit. "Shall we make rounds?"
"I actually have to do something first, actually." Blaise says. "I will meet up with you in a few."
"What is it?" Granger asks before she quickly adds, "Maybe, I can help."
"Really, now?" Blaise drawls as he turns from her, "Thanks but no thanks, Granger."
"Oh, come on, Blaise," Granger runs up to cut him off and gives him a pointed look, "We're friends, right?"
"I need to find a new Mind Healer, if you must know," Blaise says, exasperatedly. "The Head Mind Healer bailed on me so I was heading to the Mental Ward."
"Rogers?" Granger asks in surprise. "That isn't like him."
"Rogers?" Blaise looks at her in confusion before he says, slowly, "No, you have it wrong."
"I know who is the Head Mind Healer is, Blaise," Granger rolls her eyes in annoyance; "I work with Rogers quite a lot."
Blaise looks at her, a sense of dread fills his guts as he croaks out, "No, Harry is the Head Mind Healer."
Granger takes a step back in surprise, "Harry? My Harry?"
"What other Harry do we know, Granger?" Blaise snaps, annoyed by Granger's evasiveness, he lets out a breath as he says, "Don't mess with me, Granger."
"Blaise," Granger places a hand on his shoulder. Her brown eyes wide with anxiety and worry and Blaise's heart twists, painfully, and he stumbles back as Granger whispers, "Harry isn't a Mind Healer."