Severus sat on the edge of the hospital bed as Draco tossed and turned restlessly as the effects of the potion began to wear off, whilst Poppy Pomfrey tried to examain him.

"Well," She said finally, "I can heal the burns to his hands quick enough, the arm, though, will take a little longer to mend than normal as it has gone to long without attention. The bruises and split lip will heal effectively in their own time, but I need to get his shirt off to see if there has been any extensive damage to his body."

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He ran, dodging and weaving throughout the masses of demons crowding around him.

He had to get out, had to find an escape! But whichever way he turned, all he could see were monsters and darkness.

Shadows reaching for him from every direction.

Then something grabbed him. He writhed and struggled against the strong hands that tore at his clothes, digging at his body with steely talons.

Touching him where he didn't want to be touched…

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Draco awoke screaming and pulled violently back, out of the reach of those hands, only to be pulled back by another pair, this time stronger, more determined.

The boy writhed and struggled as hard as he could, but to little result,

"Make it stop!" Draco sobbed hysterically, his resistant movements gradually becoming weaker, "Please…stop!" Pomfrey turned away from the distressed boy, feeling way out of her depth. Something had happened and, unfortunately, it was only too obvious what. But she knew the little boy, who was supposedly Draco Malfoy, would never admit it, not now at least.

"Dragon," Severus said quietly, cuddling the cowering child close, "What happened? What has he done to you?" Draco gave an involuntary whimper, "Draco?"

"Nothing Uncle Sev'rus." Came the whispered reply, monotone and well rehearsed, "He didn't do anything…nothing."

"Then what about your arm? How did that get broken?" Draco turned his head quickly away as tears trickled down his face. He didn't want anybody to see that he was being weak,

" 'twas an accident, 's all. I-I wasn't being careful an' I fell. " But than his resolve to be brave failed and the little boy burst into tears, "Why didn't you come?" He choked, "I waited an' waited but you never came. Why did you leave me there, Uncle Sev'rus?" A huge wave of guilt swept through Snape as he tried to keep his voice even,

"Draco…I swear I came as soon as I could. Your mother's letter only arrived two days ago…" Instantly, Draco paled,

"Mama…Mama wrote to you? Is that why you came? Because she wanted you to take me away?" The older man looked uncomfortable, not liking where this was going at all,

"In a sense, yes. But…"

"Mama doesn't want me." Draco stated plainly, causing both adults to wince at his frankness, "She says it's my fault Papa gets upset, so now she wants me to go away."

"I'm sure that wasn't your mother's intention, as strange as it may seem." Draco looked up sadly,

"You don't have to pretend for her, Uncle Sev'rus. Papa told me that Mama resents me. So…so I know the truth." The little boy sniffed and wiped his nose on the already filthy shirt sleeve of his not so broken arm

"And do you believe everything your father tells you?" Snape asked gently. Draco looked up at his godfather, frowning,

"Of….of course I do…why shouldn't I?"

"Even though he locked you in the dark and did that?" he nodded in the direction of Draco's bandaged arm. Draco lowered his head, eyes burning.

"My Papa loves me." He said quietly, "I-it's my fault for making him angry. If I was better he wouldn't do it. I should've been more careful."

"Dragon…nobody has the right to hurt you like this, not even your Papa."

" 's my fault." Draco repeated stubbornly, "Mama says if I didn't provoke him, Papa wouldn't hit me and get upset. I ought to have learnt that by now. Besides, if Papa didn't love me, he…he wouldn't touch me… Would he?"

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A/N: Greetings once again! Heh heh, I'm leading up to my big twist soon! Bet ya can't guess! >;-)

Chocolate hugs to...bambambambaaaaam!

blueeyedchibi, sarcastic-ha ha ha, Nikki's evil doppelganger, brittagirl, perfectpureblood, lilmissgullable, 13BlackAngels, TimeMage0955, Dark Princesses, 'writin'-like-crazy-, pictureperfexion.

Lots of love, Lilyxxxx

PS- Does anyone read Fruits Basket? I'm thinking of doing a Yuki and Akito fic soon...