Nightmare on Privet Drive
Chapter 4: Pity and shame
Lucius scanned his house quickly, with Harry in his arms. He did not even want house elves to know of their little visitor.
He looked down at Harry, wondering if he had come to yet.
Nope. He still hung lifelessly in his arms. Lucius new that if he did not want anyone to see Harry, then he would have to clean him up himself. 'Slaves work', he thought, grimacing. Although he loathed the idea, even more he despised the idea of having a filthy boy in his house. Lucius was a bit of a neat freak.
Quickly, he walked to the master bathroom and locked the door behind him. He laid Harry on the soft rug before taking off his cloak and setting it aside, then grabbed a large bath towel.
Leaning down to the floor, Lucius shook Harry gently, attempting to wake him. "Potter", he called softly. But nothing. He sighed heavily. If the boy awoke then he could just bathe himself. "Potter", he called again, but still no reply. "Harry!" He spoke loudly.
He cursed himself for speaking so loud. But thankfully the house elves would be in the kitchen at this hour. Unfortunately it was not enough to wake the boy, so he rolled up his sleeves and ran the bath water.
He stared at Harry for a while, looking over his bruised face and dirty clothes. Slowly, he began to take off Harry's socks and set them aside. Next he went to undo the button of his pants, but found that they were already undone. 'Odd', he thought. Carefully, he slid the oversized pants off his legs and was surprised at what his beneath them. 'So many bruises', he thought. 'No way were these from playing sports.' Apparently he was not just locked away and starved. He was also being physically abused.' Lucius narrowed his eyes. 'How dare those filthy muggles', he thought angrily. 'Don't they know who they're dealing with?'
Examining further, he noticed a trail of dried blood running down Harry's leg. Curious, Lucius raised Harry's boxers up to find the wound, but found that the blood kept going up. Now, hoping that he didn't wake up, Lucius slid down Harry's boxers. Following the blood trail, he was horrified to see where it came from. "You disgusting bastards", he spoke aloud. Had he known, he would have not allowed them such a painless death.
"Filthy muggles", he hissed. Even if Voldermort killed him, he would have allowed him to die honorably.
Lucius sat still for a moment, staring at the tortured boy, wondering what he must have endured. Finally he removed Harry's shirt, extremely carefully, having a somewhat new respect for him. Under the shirt was a collection of deep scratches running down the boys back. Lucius breathed deeply, trying to relieve his anger as he cradled him in his arms and eased him into the tub. Almost instantly, the water turned a pinkish color.
First Lucius cradled Harry's neck and soaked his hair. It wasn't easy, but he managed to wash his whole head without drowning him. Next he took a lathered cloth and wiped off the blood, sweat and tears from his face, revealing beautiful pale skin, which only flaws were a few bruises. Being mindful of his scratches, he continued to wipe him down, relieved that He was still unconscious.
Lucius wiped his brow and continued working his way down. He was about mid way, when Harry decided to wake… in a most frightening manner.
Even before opening his eyes, Harry screamed madly, making Lucius almost jump out of his skin. He flailed his arms in the air, trying to fend off his savior. Lucius practically jumped on top of him and clamped his mouth shut. But Harry kept fighting him. All he knew was that someone was on top of him and he was undressed… again.
In a desperate attempt to make him stop, Lucius pushed Harry under the water.
After a short moment, he brought him up to the surface. Harry attempted to breath, but could only cough up the water that was in his lungs.
While Harry got himself together, Lucius backed away quickly, figuring that he would calm down if he didn't feel threatened.
As Harry caught his breath, his eyes searched the room, finding Lucius a few feet away, turned away and holding a large towel out. Harry's eyes peeked shyly over the edge of the tub. His eyes focused on the towel, which he wanted badly.
"Take it", Lucius offered, figuring that he was either too shy or too scared.
Harry reached out slowly, stretching as far as he could to reach the fluffy object. After getting a hold of it, Lucius let go and Harry quickly pulled it in to cover himself up.
When Lucius turned around, he found that Harry had covered himself up and backed into a corner, still looking frightened.
"It's all right Harry", Lucius held up his hand, to show him that he meant no harm. "I'm not going to hurt you."
"You're going to hand me over to Voldermort!" he accused, gripping his towel tightly. "Then he'll kill me."
"I assure you, He has no knowledge of your whereabouts. And even if he did… Wouldn't death be a blessing compared to what your Uncle did to you?"
Harry froze. 'No he doesn't know. He couldn't.' "What? These bruises? They're nothing", he answered quickly, hoping that's what Lucius was referring to.
"I'm not talking about your bruises Harry", Lucius said, taking a step forward. "I know." Harry shook his head, not wanting to believe him. "Yes", he answered, still walking closer. "I saw the scratches", he explained, now right next to him. Harry continued shaking his head, trying to fight the tears that he could feel coming. "…And the blood", he whispered in Harry's ear.
"No!" Harry cried, sinking to the floor. He hid his head in shame. Of all people, why did he have to find out? The person who thought of himself as the most superior being on earth… why did he have to find out what a worthless piece of shit he was?
Lucius looked at the boy sobbing, almost silently into his hands. He wasn't sure how to respond in a situation like this. After all, Draco wasn't much of a crier.
Harry pulled at his hair in frustration, pulling his head down as he curled into a ball.
Lucius slowly reached his hand out to touch him, to offer some mild form of comfort. But the boy only flinched at his touch, clearly not comforted. "Harry", Lucius spoke barely above a whisper. "You've nothing to be ashamed of." Harry looked at Lucius, who was now leaning down to his level. "You know that, don't you?" Harry slowly nodded his head 'no', lowering his gaze to the floor. Lucius sighed softly. There was a moment of silence after that.
"Why'd you come looking for me?" Harry asked, managing to stop his tears. "Were you going to kill me?" He asked shakily.
"Of course not", Lucius huffed. "Voldermort wants you for himself." Harry looked up fearfully. "Oh. No. No." Lucius regretted his words. "I'm not going to turn you over to him. You've nothing to worry."
"Then why'd you save me?" Harry asked, still a bit panic-stricken.
Lucius thought for a moment. "…I don't know", he answered honestly. "I've never seen a child like that before", he said, thinking back to the moment he opened the cupboard door. "If that were my son… I'd never forgive the person who could walk away after seeing him like that."
Oddly, after hearing those words, Harry felt comforted. He believed that perhaps he wouldn't be handed over to the Dark Lord. He relaxed, thinking of that. Maybe he would get through this. Maybe he'd even get to see Hogwarts again.
AN: Thanks for your reviews. But can I just say HOLY CRAP to all the people who were bothered by my misspelling of Lucius. I let my spell check correct it, not thinking – obviously that name isn't going to be in the dictionary. Duh. Anyways, oops. Next chapter: A Hero lost