Numb
Co-Written By SSTigerLily386 & ChristaRiddle
Chapter 1: The Servant
A fifteen year-old boy sat at the desk in his ornately furnished bedroom, his neat handwriting rapidly filling a page of his journal. He seemed oblivious to the blood that was slowly seeping through his white tee shirt.
"Dear Journal,
A week into the summer and my father is already beating on me again. He was yelling at me because Granger, or in his words, 'that damned mudblood,' got one O.W.L. higher than me. You'd think he'd be proud that I had the second highest score in my year, but Hell no! Damn it even if I had gotten the highest score, he would have probably found some reason to punish me. He probably wouldn't have beaten me if I hadn't decided to say that unlike Granger, I had a life and wasn't going to waste it in the library, and that I didn't care what my score was or that Granger beat me. Damn it! I hate this life! Everyone thinks it's so great. That all I do is sit around all day being spoiled by my parents and being pampered and waited upon by servants. Yeah Fucking Right!!! You know, having a giant mansion and tons of money seriously isn't worth getting beat up over grades for.
Draco "
Once he finished his entry, Draco snapped the black, leather-bound journal shut and put it into one of his desk drawers, hiding it under several scrolls of parchment. He pushed himself out of the chair, wincing and giving a soft groan as the pain in his back and chest suddenly became apparent. Steeling himself, Draco walked out of his room and down the hall, coming to a sculpture of one of his ancestors.
Once he was sure that no one was around, he whispered a password, "Servus domus." The statue jumped out of the way and a panel of the wall slid to the side, revealing a narrow, rickety staircase. As Draco stepped onto the small landing, the panel moved back into place and he was plunged into complete darkness. He put one hand flat against the wall and said, "Ignis," causing torches to ignite all along staircase. Draco made his way down the stairs and a narrow corridor as quickly as his injuries would allow.
If one were to go by the horrible state that Servants' Quarters were in, one would never guess how much money the Malfoys' really had. The candle brackets were rusting and the finish on the wood flooring had worn away long ago. Each person or family had their own room, but most of their furniture and other belongings were old, worn out, or broken. Some of the servants weren't even supplied with clothing much better than that of a house elf.
Draco approached one of the doors and knocked. A tall, thirteen-year-old girl with dark brown hair and blue eyes opened the door, her blue dress patched and fading. He looked up from the ground and nodded in a pained greeting. The servant girl gasped as she noticed the blood, "Oh, Draco, come in."
"Hey, Lilac," Draco said softly while walking in.
"Are you all right Draco?" She asked, her worry and concern obvious once she shut the door.
He sighed, "He got pissed over a stupid comment I made."
Lilac frowned deeply, "Did he break anything?"
"I dunno, maybe a rib or two, they're really sore."
Lilac sighed and led him over to an old, worn out chair and gently pushed him into it. She then pulled a role of bandages from an old cabinet.
"Take off your shirt Draco." Draco removed his shirt, wincing as he pulled it over his head.
"All right, you know the drill. This'll hurt a little," Lilac said beginning to tightly wrap the bandages around his chest, as Draco grit his teeth against the pain. "He really got you good this time, huh?"
He shrugged, "I've gotten it worse."
"Yeah, I've gotten it worse too.... Why is he so," She paused, searching for the right word to describe him. She shrugged, "Mean anyways?"
"I dunno," He replied while thinking of his abusive, controlling, perfectionist grandfather.
Lilac narrowed her eyes, " I've known you since I was real little Draco, I was born here. I know when you lying," She grinned mischievously, "It can be quite useful." He just gave her a half-hearted glare, not in the mood for her friendly jesting. "Tell me the truth, Draco. Why is he so messed up?"
"I don't know for sure, but I think it's because of my grandfather. I think Tarquinius was probably worse than Lucius. So he probably grew up kinda like me."
"Then what's he puttin' you through for?!" Lilac asked, outraged. Her friend's only responses were a frown and shrug. "He's just everyone's worst nightmare then isn't he?"
Draco gave a small smile and leaned back in the broken but very comfortable chair, "He can't be everyone's worst nightmare can he? I mean he can't his own worst nightmare can he?"
She rolled her eyes but her friendly smile suddenly turned into a pained grimace. Draco's forehead creased in worry, "What's wrong?"
"This morning while I was clearing off the table, I broke a glass. So he picked up another one and threw it at me so hard that it broke on my arm. I-I think it broke something. I can't move it without throbbing pain."
Draco gently took hold of her injured arm and pulled the sleeve of her patched and faded dress up. Her arm was swollen and bruised and had deep gash that had been poorly bandaged. Lilac hissed in pain when he touched the wounded limb. After a muttered apology, Draco walked over to the dilapidated cupboard in the corner and pulled out the items he needed. Ignoring Lilac's protests, Draco cleaned and bandaged her injured arm.
"Draco," she whined, "How am I supposed to work now?"
He rolled his eyes, "How do you think you're going to work if it's infected?"
"I guess you're right..." She sullenly admitted. "I guess it'll be okay. As long as I don't mess up again I won't get hit."
"Wish it was that easy for me..." Draco mumbled miserably.
"Try dropping something in front of him Draco. You just get smacked for it, I get beat."
"That's because he has better things to beat me up for," he explained sarcastically.
"I know, Draco. Now you better go before we both get in more trouble."
Draco pushed himself out of his chair and gently hugged Lilac," I'll try to come back later 'kay?"
"If I'm here," she said while returning his friendly embrace with her one good arm.
He hastily made his way back down the corridor and up the poorly lit, rickety staircase. Draco cautiously checked the hall before emerging and heading towards his bedroom. He thought he heard his father yelling in the distance, but disregarded it and kept walking.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
^_^
A/N: Yay, I finally got it typed. I've probably had this written for several months. Wish I still had a computer class, but oh well. Please review, hopefully that'll motivate me to type the rest faster than this. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter out by Christmas.
This story was inspired by the Linkin Park songs Numb and Points of Authority.
Disclaimer: We do own Lilac. But anything you recognize obviously doesn't belong to us. I have a feeling that if it did we wouldn't be worrying about long distance we call each other (stupid phone bills).