Hello lovely people, I apologise for not uploading another chapter sooner, but I've been a little distracted with writing what hopefully will one day be my own novel and writing one-shots for the Riverdale fandom which I have found myself a part of. I hope to get back into the swing of things with this one, but I cannot make any promises as my last ever exams are approaching and I really would like to do well before I head off into the big wide world ?

Thank you for sticking with this

~PureBloodSnake xx

Tearful Therapy

Neither Draco nor Caelum had been in this room before, despite the exploring they had done in the last couple of weeks. The room was furnished with a cream sofa and matching armchairs, all with pale green accents. The rug and the walls matched the green accents and overall there was a sense in calm in this room. Both Caelum and Draco could see why Narcissa had suggested this room for Caelum to tell the two of them about his childhood. Draco was the most anxious out of all the Malfoys, his protectiveness and worry for Caelum's mental state whilst retelling these stories was overriding the feeling of anger he knew he was going to feel. Caelum, on the other hand was feeling numb. Draco's anxiety was beginning to annoy him and he just wanted to get it out of the way. Deliberately, Caelum chose an armchair and dragged it opposite the sofa, before sitting down. He moved the green cushion from behind him and placed it on his lap, squeezing it tightly.

Caelum are you going to be okay? Draco's voice was shaky and Caelum almost sighed in frustration.

Dray- we've talked about this: I. Am. Not. Glass. Are you going to be okay after I share what's made me so messed up? Okay, so maybe Caelum was a little more wound up than he thought, but it was possibly Draco's influence as well.

I think it's perfectly okay to question how you think you're going to cope when you're doing something this huge and emotionally draining. Draco could feel Caelum's own emotions pulsing against his own. Caelum was almost entirely numb, but there was a small amount of self-loathing as well, Draco concluded that, that small amount of loathing was making Caelum question his emotional stability which caused him to react more to Draco's questioning. After their talk a few days ago, Draco was sure that the bond between the two of them was stronger, but he hadn't voiced this to Caelum.

When Narcissa walked through the door with Snape trailing behind her, Caelum was tempted to call the whole thing off.

I know you didn't get along in the past, but he's family and he's the most qualified to help right any lasting physical effects. Draco's words were the only thing keeping Caelum from fleeing.

"Mum, Professor Snape." He stated, false politeness seeping in his tone, Narcissa wanted to reprimand him for the tone, but Draco's quick shake of the head stopped her.

"Mum, Sev. It's nice to see you again." Draco's voice was a lot more courteous than his brother's.

"Boys. Now I know that I may not be a wanted visitor." Snape looked at Caelum when he said those words. "But I am godfather to both of you and your mother feels I should be here, to better understand you. We have had our differences in the past and I want to resolve our problems." Caelum nodded in response and gestured to the seats around him. Narcissa took the seat next to Draco on the sofa, whilst Snape took a seat on the other armchair. He was an outsider to this conversation, but that was what he preferred, he could watch all three Malfoys like this.

Caelum fiddled with his fingers and the Malfoy crest hanging around his neck, before making eye contact with Draco. Snape mentally noted the nervous behaviour and the way in which Caelum relied on his brother for reassurance. Taking an audibly deep breath, Caelum began to talk quietly.

"When my mum- when Lily and James Potter were killed, I was sent to live with Lily's sister and her family. They were muggles." Snape inaudibly sucked in a breath, no wonder Harry Potter had been a troubled child, from what he could remember, Petunia was a horrible person, he doubted much had changed. "From what I have been told, Petunia found me on the doorstep the morning after the Potters were killed, with a letter from Dumbledore tucked into my blankets. She took me in and raised me. She already had a son, a boy a couple months older than me but a lot bigger and a lot more spoilt. The Dursleys own a three bedrooms house in a nice village called Little Whinging, Surrey. One bedroom was for Petunia and Vernon, another for Dudley and the third for Dudley's broken toys. Until a couple of days before my eleventh birthday, my bedroom was the cupboard under the stairs. My cupboard was also used as my punishment, whenever I did any accidental magic. I was locked in the cupboard for days on end, only coming out a couple times a day for toilet breaks, a shower and minimal amount of food. I had enough not to starve." Caelum paused his eyes darting between Narcissa and Draco trying to gage their reactions. Narcissa had gone stuff as a board, her hands balled into fists so tightly that her knuckles were white. Draco, on the other hand, was fidgeting. His fingers were playing with the buttons on his shirt and his leg was bouncing up and down. Caelum was glad he wasn't sitting next to Draco. Gathering the courage together, Caelum looked at Snape and was pleased to see that the potions master was not looking at him with pity, just his usual calculating expression.

"The treatment you have just described perfectly explains your slight stature and bad eyesight. We can easily fix that with a couple of potions, however they take a while to brew." Caelum nodded at his godfather before turning back to his mother and brother, sitting back in the armchair in complete silence.

"What else?" Draco's voice broke and Caelum almost refused to continue, it was hurting his family too much. But he had started, he couldn't give up halfway through.

"Their son, Dudley, was a lot bigger than me and was a bully. He scared other children into hating me and he would play this game called 'Harry-hunting'. He would chase me around and hurt me when he caught me. Vernon encouraged it. He too would beat me when Petunia was out of the house. It was never too serious, but it was enough. Petunia, although she never hit me was in some ways, worse than her husband and son. Petunia would make me do the chores. By the time I was four, I could cook a full English breakfast and weed the garden. I also knew how to bleach the tiles and what colour they should be when they were clean. The older I got the more extreme the chores became."

"What's bleach?" Narcissa asked politely, her voice strained.

"Erm… it's a muggle cleaning chemical, that's really dangerous." Caelum tried to explain but all he received were blank looks.

"It's a muggle potion that is a very good cleaner. As Caelum said, it is very dangerous, a lot of muggles drink it as a way of committing suicide. It erodes away their insides almost instantly." Caelum smiled gratefully at Snape, still a little surprised that the man that had tormented him for several years was being so openly helpful.

"How old were you? When you started using the bleach?" Draco's voice was almost non-existent, if it wasn't for the same question echoing around inside his head, Caelum would not have heard.

"I was probably four or five when Petunia introduced bleaching things into the daily chores. By that point I knew not to put any of the cleaning products near my mouth." Narcissa was trying not to look horrified at that revelation, trying to keep her face neutral to not scare her son into not telling the rest of his story. Draco, however, was not so good at keeping his true feelings hidden, and Caelum wanted to run from the emotional pain he was causing his brother, the only thing that kept him in the chair was the knowledge that it would hurt both of them more if he didn't tell them the entire truth. As if sensing that the notion to flee was at the forefront of his mind, Snape encouraged Caelum to continue.

"The chores weren't too bad, it gave me something to do, I especially enjoyed doing the gardening, I liked bringing life to a hostile environment." Caelim smiled slightly before taking a deep breath and continuing, his fingers playing with the edge of his shirt. "The worst part was when I messed up something, the tiles weren't clean enough, I accidentally burnt something while cooking or planting the flowers in the wrong order. If it wasn't too serious, I was given extra chores to do the next day, or the chores would be harder, I had to wash many things with a toothbrush over my few years with the Dursleys." His joke fell short and the answering silence was deafening. "There was only one thing the Dursleys hated more than my inability with the chores set, and that was talking about magic. As I said before, my worst punishments came from accidental magic. By the time I got to Hogwarts age, I knew not to say the word 'magic' without understanding the consequences. When the first letter came, I was treated like more of a freak than normal. They started to watch my every move with distrust as if even breathing would be a cue for me to gain complete knowledge of the wizarding world and curse them for how they treated me. They were also petrified that the letter was addressed to my cupboard, they thought that someone was watching the house and how they were treating me. They were right, but she didn't care what was happening to me in that house." The bitterness in Caelum's tone took them all by surprise and Snape wanted to question his godson about this woman more but didn't want to move the conversation off topic. "Her name was Arabella Figg, a squib, who has too many cats." Caelum supplied he details readily, the vehemence in his voice increasing as he spoke. Snape noted that whilst he talked about the Dursleys, Caelum's voice was hollowed out and almost narrator like, distancing himself from the events slightly, but this squib had caused Caelum to hold a grudge.

"Figg is a member of Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix." Snape's voice was slow as if the answers to everything was crashing down on him.

"So Dumbledore most likely knew about Caelum's mistreatment and just left him with those abusive muggles?!" The fury in Draco's voice shook Narcissa and Snape, but Caelum just looked on numbly, becoming more hollowed out as the facts were revealed.

"Draco…" the sound that slipped through Caelum's lips was not his voice, it wasn't a moan, it was more of a plea for help. Within seconds Draco's anger had dispersed and he was at Caelum's side, helping him out of the armchair.

"We'll finish this later." The authority in which Draco spoke to his mother and godfather surprised the aforementioned adults and they let the twins leave without much question.

Caelum? Please just acknowledge that I'm trying to talk to you. Draco sighed as he once again received no acknowledgment from his twin, he was beginning to get worried. Snape's truthbomb about Figg being a spy for Dumbledore had shaken Caelum more than the actual retelling of the events of his childhood. Draco was furious, Dumbledore's golden boy, his most valuable weapon by the sounds of things, was in an abusive home and Dumbledore knew and did nothing!

Draco… stop… The words in his head were quiet and sounded far away, but it was enough.

I'm sorry, I just can't stand that he knew you were being abused, I can't stand that he treated you so awfully and then expect us to treat him as a hero for bringing you back to us. Draco knew that it was probably unfair to unload this on Caelum at this very moment but he couldn't keep quiet, it was as if a fire had been lit that he couldn't extinguish. The same fire that caused him to rage also caused him to curl up in the bed next to Caelum who had closed his eyes and was shaking slightly.

"It's okay, I won't let anyone hurt you again." Draco meant every word of the whispered promise.

"Don't make promises you can't keep." Caelum's harsh whisper that evolved into a sob echoed around Draco's head. Without anything to say in return, Draco offered his comfort as best he could by letting his brother bury his face in the junction between his neck and shoulder and cry, tears staining the expensive fabric. If this was what Caelum needed right now, he was not going to argue.

"I'm sorry that we have to go through this. I'm sorry that life with us isn't simple. I'm sorry that life is falling apart bit by bit. I'm sorry that we'll have to do this again. I'm sorry…" the rest of Draco's apologies went unspoken, but with the way Caelum clutched at Draco harder and his sobs racked his body, he understood.