Chapter IV
"Marcus…leave me be. I beg you to just go…"
The man pulled Draco back into the Quidditch locker room and shoved him into the showers. Turning on the water, he pulled off the boy's clothes and pushed him underneath the hot water. The steaming stream hit the boy's chilly flesh and made him wince a little. He was pressed against the wall, Flint's manhood sliding thickly into his body. Draco endured the abuse once more, fists clenched tightly on the wall, fighting back the tears that threatened and finally won. Draco's skeletal body shook with sobs and collapsed to his knees on the hard tile, barely supporting himself with his arms. Marcus followed him, continuing to pummel the weak boy; his hands and lips leaving bruises on the already tainted pale skin. Finally the man ceased, and let Draco fall to the floor, the water still on as he got out and dressed, leaving the boy. Sobs still wracked the feeble frame, and his skin was red from the hot water beating mercilessly down on him. He lay there for a time unknown by him, until Snape found him twenty minutes later. Shutting off the water, he gently lifted up the fragile figure and wrapped it in his own warm, thick cloak. Swiftly he walked up the hill to the school and made his way to Gryffindor house. Entering the common room, he banished the shocked faces of the students to their rooms with a word, and sent for Hermione and Ron.
"Professor Snape? What on earth…" Hermione exclaimed when she saw him. "Oh dear god….Draco!"
She rushed forward and took the pale head in her lap as Snape laid him on the floor in front of the fire.
"He needs to stay somewhere other than the dungeons. I thought of the two of you."
"Of course he can stay here…Ron?"
"Yeah…all the others from my room are gone for Easter. He'll stay with me."
"Thank you Ron, and Hermione."
"Professor…what's happened to him?"
"I'm not going to say, Ms. Granger…but I'm going to stop it. Take care of him. Make him warm, feed him, and clothe him. He needs to sleep most of all, and don't let him go out or anything; though I doubt he'll fight you on that. I will return later to see how he's doing."
Snape left the common room, and Ron picked up the blonde boy easily in his strong arms.
"He weighs almost nothing, Miney."
"He looks like a skeleton…his cheeks are so sunken in."
She bewitched the boys' staircase so that she could go up into their dorm, and preceded Ron to his room. The redheaded boy laid the blonde on an empty bed and went to fetch some towels. Hermione pulled away the cloak and extricated Draco from it, folding it neatly and laying it on a chair. She noticed the bruises on his body, and where they were most frequent; she formed her own ideas on what had happened to him. Tenderly, she tucked the boy's naked, bruised body into the warm bed. Once, his eyes opened and fixed on her and she smiled comfortingly, kissing his forehead gently. A small smile began to brighten his lips, but he fell unconscious again as Ron walked in.
"You see him naked?"
"Yes. He's got bruises all over and I can see every single one of his ribs, Ron."
"Snape said to feed him."
"Let him sleep for a while, then we'll get him some sort of food."
Meanwhile, Snape had hurried to Slytherin here Marcus Flint was sorting through some papers.
"Ah, Severus. What can I do for you?" the younger man smiled, looking up from the desk.
"You can pack your bags and never come here again, Flint."
Marcus raised an eyebrow.
"I wish I knew how I have incurred your wrath, Professor."
"I will not stand to see Malfoy mistreated thus."
Flint laughed cruelly and a wave of blind hatred washed over Snape.
"We all have our weaknesses, Severus. Mine just happens to be in the form of a young boy-toy."
Snape's fist smashed into his former student's jaw and the young man fell to the floor. Grabbing the front of his robes, Snape glared into Flint's face.
"My godson is no one's 'boy-toy'." Easily, he picked Marcus up by the front of his robes and threw him against the wall. Flint grunted as he hit the floor, and Severus crouched down beside him.
"I want you out of here by nine o' clock, do you understand me?"
Looking like a beaten dog, Marcus nodded as blood from his nose dripped on the floor.
"Get your things out, and never come here again. If I ever catch you within earshot of Draco, I swear by the mark upon my arm that I will kill you."
Fear showed in the young man's eyes and he scrambled up, away from Severus. When a former death eater swears upon the Dark Mark, it is an oath that must be kept.
Snape left the dungeons, and fifteen minutes later saw Flint hurrying toward the gates. Professor McGonagall came up behind Snape and looked out at the retreating figure.
"Dismissing faculty again, Severus?"
"For the well-being of my godson, Minerva. His parents are practically no more, and he has no other family besides Sirius and me."
She nodded and handed him a letter.
"From Albus."
Silently Snape read the letter, his eyebrows raising and some of the wrinkles in his forehead smoothing.
"Four days? I'm not sure that his friends will be able to handle such a shock. They think him to be dead."
"True, but they still have not accepted that fact fully. Had they resigned themselves to the knowledge that he is dead and they'll never see him again it would be harder. But they still have some hope, Severus." She smiled, tears welling in her eyes. "Through all of this, these young men and women have kept the hope that we all needed."
Severus nodded and folded the letter again, handing it to the woman. She was older now than she had been seven years ago, and they both remembered seeing young Harry Potter for the first time. A round-faced little boy with staunch courage, frightening ambition, selfless kindness, and sharp intelligence as they'd not seen in years had come to them with mixed reactions.
"I need to go check on Draco."
"Where is he?"
"I left him in the care of Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley in Gryffindor. I do hope you don't mind, Professor." He smiled.
"Not at all, Severus. That is probably the safest place for him, really. I hope he's a little better in two days when Harry arrives."
In two days, Draco was better. When he'd been told Flint was no longer at the school his mood had lightened a bit. He was still quite thin, but Hermione had coaxed him to eat little by little since Marcus left, and he was beginning to look less like a walking skeleton. The three were at dinner and heard the door in the hall open, the chilly wind sweeping in over them. Ron and Hermione shivered, but Draco's attention was drawn raptly to the hall.
"Draco, what is it?"
The blonde swallowed hard, and turned back around, staring at his plate.
"Probably nothing. Don't worry about it."
Once they finished dinner, they started to go back to Gryffindor but Hermione remembered she needed a book from the library.
"I'll go with you." Ron grinned, and Draco shook his head, smiling a little after them. He walked slowly towards the house, but suddenly Hermione's scream echoed down the corridors. Spinning, Draco raced toward the library, only to stop stock-still at the sight before him. The corridor was well-lit, and he saw Hermione shaking in the arms of Ron, who seemed torn between protecting the girl and going toward the figure before both of them.
"Ron, Hermione…it's me. I swear it's me…"
Walking forward, Draco's heart was pounding in his head. He stopped beside the other two and stared at the black-haired boy. He no longer had his glasses, and his skin was pale and smooth-looking. His hair had grown and covered the scar, but he too was very thin; his clothes hung off him like a scarecrow.
"Draco…please. It's Harry, I promise…" he stepped forward, only to see that Ron and Hermione retreated even farther. Draco stood fast, and shook his head slightly in disbelief.
"Draco…" Harry whispered, looking at the beautiful blonde whose sunken cheeks caught the shadows. The boy had feared he would be received like this, and ran a hand through his hair. Finally Draco stirred, and walked swiftly to the boy he'd thought he'd never see again. Harry looked up as Draco appeared in front of him, and put his arms around the thin body as their mouths crushed together. The new shock of seeing their best friend kissing their once worst enemy made Ron and Hermione pull apart. Hermione wasn't as surprised, but Ron was dumbfounded.
"What the…Hermy, did you know?" He whispered to her, receiving a nod.
The two young men clung to one another, tears streaming down both their faces.
"I thought….you…but the death eaters…oh god."
Harry smiled and gently kissed the pale cheek.
"I'm not dead, Draco. I'm very much alive, it just took a long time for me to become recognizable."
The blonde choked and Harry held him.
"But I saw you….dead."
"Only severely wounded, Drake. Albus and I have been living in hiding for the past few months."
"Dumbledore? Dumbledore is alive?"
"Yes. He's here, meeting with the Professors."
For the first time in too long, Draco smiled and once again kissed the other boy. Finally they parted, and Harry was attacked by a sobbing Hermione, followed by a choked and shocked Ron. The reunion was a very happy one, and the three young Gryffindors held one another for a long time. Finally they all trooped back to the common room and were up until all hours of the night talking and simply being together. Over the next few days there was much catching up to be done, and too soon break ended and brought back all the students. The first night back, there was an assembly in the Great Hall where Professor McGonagall announced that the Headmaster had returned. There was silence in the hall until Ron, Hermione, and Draco began clapping. Soon it turned into a thundering roar and no one cared how he had returned. Finally regaining control, Dumbledore spoke.
"It is an honor to be back once again, my friends. But I am not the only one to rise out of the ashes, as it were. As we all know, things in the wizarding world have been getting steadily better since last year when Lord Voldemort was defeated by young Harry Potter. The loss of this young man was taken hard by many of you in here tonight, especially by a particular few."
The three smiled at one another.
"But, now that peace is returning to our world, I think it is only fit that our joy be complete."
With that, Harry came out of a door behind the large table, and a collective gasp rose from the assembly, even some teachers. Murmurs began and were silenced by the old man's hand.
"What everyone needs to understand is that Harry and I were never dead. We have not returned from the grave in any way; no wizard is that powerful. It was necessary to our cause that many of the other side believe that two of the greatest figures of good in the world were dead, and the rest of the Death Eaters were easily brought to justice."
Some Slytherin students stared dully at their plates.
"There are things in our world that many do not know, and will never understand. But I am about to introduce to you a man who was feared by all, and believed to be dead by even his closest friends two years ago."
A few in the assembly knew who was being spoken of, and when Sirius Black came into view, mixed emotions showed. Again, these were silenced by Dumbledore.
"Sirius Black was never guilty, my friends. He has long been on the side of good wizards, and plays a key part in many lives here."
After a few more words, stating that Sirius was to become the new Defense of the Dark Arts teacher the plates filled and all was well.