I am really sorry that this took so long. slaps self

Chapter 5: Revealing Too Much

Pansy and Blaise had been taking turns following close behind Draco ever since he had returned to the Slytherin common room after his encounter with Harry Potter. He loved his best friends dearly, but if he didn't get time to himself, he was going to self destruct.

"You don't look like you slept well last night, Dray. I heard you tossing and turning. Are you feeling alright?" Draco turned slowly to look at Blaise. His stony glare softened immediately as he looked into his friend's worried eyes. Blaise was definitely a great friend.

Without realizing it, Draco turned to a mirror on the wall. He looked dreadful. The cuts on his face had yet to heal, and dark circles surrounded his abnormally dull eyes. He was pale, even by his standards, and that was saying something. He subconsciously tried to flatten his hair as he thought of a suitable response.

"It's the meds that Pomfrey has me on. You know, the pain killing potion for my lung as it finishes healing. She said they would keep me up for a while. Sorry I kept you up," Draco shrugged and continued walking. Naturally, Blaise quickened his pace to catch up to his friend.

"You never told us why," Pansy cut in as she joined the duo.

"because popping a lung hurts, Pans…" Draco began, trying to avoid the conversation that he was inevitably going to have to have with them.

"You know that isn't what I mean," she said with a glare. "Nott and Flint… why did they attack you like that? And you never answered my question from the feast. Why does everyone seem to be angry with you?"

"Ask them."

With this response, both Pansy and Blaise were insulted and outraged. Blaise caught Draco's shoulder and spun him around to face his concerned friends.

"We're not going to get a proper answer from them. Why would we when we can ask the victim himself?" Blaise snarled. Draco was a little bit shaken. He wasn't used to this side of Blaise unless he was bullying a younger student. Draco sighed and sat dejectedly on the couch, waiting for the other two to follow suit. They did, both with curiosity tearing at their features.

"I'm a traitor." Draco simply stated, and looked out the window.

"A traitor to whom?"

"Who do you think?" his voice was steadily rising. Why couldn't his friends understand that this was unbearable to speak of?

"The Dark Lord?" Blaise asked, stupidly.

"No, Blaise, your mother," Draco sneered in response.

"Dray," Pansy cut in. "Please don't snap at us. We're just trying to understand…"

"I DON'T EVEN UNDERSTAND."

Silence followed the blonde's outburst as the trio sat staring at each other uncomfortably.

"So you refused the dark mark?" Pansy gently asked, moving closer to the shaking boy, while Blaise mirrored her actions on the other side. Draco nodded as he closed his eyes in an attempt to shield his tears.

"That's nothing to feel sorry for Draco. You're so brave. You should be proud, sweetie…" Pansy began as she embraced her friend. "I know I'm proud. So that's why they're mad? Was your father devastated?" She placed a kiss on her oldest friend's head as she waited for his response.

"I got what was coming to me."

With that sentence, Blaise's hands unconsciously balled into fists as Pansy's eyes widened.

"You said he stopped hurting you years ago…"

"Well, he had."

"Oh, Dray, what did he do?"

"I… can't. I can't do this. I can't talk about it. I haven't told anyone. Please don't make me say." Blaise's eyes seemed to have caught fire.

"I'll have my father kill him. All I need to do is tell him what your father did and…"

"I'm sure your father knows exactly what happened."

"Why do you say that?"

"Everyone knows."

"Do they?"

"They should. Voldemort flaunted it for weeks." Blaise could feel the bile rise in his throat. He had heard that the Dark Lord had a slight interest in his best friend.

"Your father… Lucius… he… turned you into the Dark Lord?" Draco nodded.

"And Voldemort… he… he didn't… Dray. Tell me he didn't…" Pansy couldn't continue. Her eyes filled quickly with tears and she collapsed into Draco's arms. Draco knew they had both figured it out. Now all they needed was the confirmation. They needed to hear him say the words.

Slowly, his dry mouth let the words escape. "Lord Voldemort raped me."

The words emerged sounding hollow. No emotion could be traced. This scared Draco's friends. Pansy sat up from Draco's embrace and looked at his face, noticing that Blaise was doing the same, and for good reason. Draco's features were scarily stone-like. The emotion that they knew he was feeling was nowhere to be seen. Finally, he closed his eyes, and with a painful sob, all of the emotions exploded.

"I'm his whore."

Blaise moved to reassure his friend, but Draco tore out of the common room before either of the shaken teenagers could do so much as voice their protests.

Draco sprinted down the corridor as fast as he could. He didn't know where he was going; he just felt that if he ran, nobody could hurt him. This belief was proven wrong when he was torn painfully from the hallway into a classroom.

"Sit," his professor and godfather simply stated. Draco obeyed, not out of fear, but out of relief. Severus Snape always knew what to do. Suddenly a wave of apprehension washed over Draco. What if Snape was ashamed of what had happened to him?

Draco could feel the tears prickling his eyes again as his godfather made his way towards him. There was nobody in this world Draco adored more than this man. If he could have chosen his father, Snape would have been his from the very beginning. He was always there when nobody else was. Draco knew that Severus cared. Or at least he had cared up until now. Now Draco wasn't so sure.

His fear was pushed aside as Severus knelt down in front of him and looked into his eyes. A hand came up from his side and Draco flinched, fearing being struck, and Snape was taken by surprise.

"You know I would never hit you, Dragon." Draco flinched again, this time at the name he was being called. Every time he heard that word, he remembered that snake-like mouth forming it. It brought him back to the night that changed his life.

"You know that I love you, Dragon."

The hand that Severus had raised came to rest on the cuts along Draco's cheek. This also brought him back to the very same night, when those bony fingers cupped his cheek before capturing his protesting lips. Draco was trembling now.

The older man moved his face closer to Draco's to look closer into his eyes. The boy let out a whimper now, and turned his head away in an attempt to shield his lips from his godfather's in a repeat of history.

Nothing more came. The hand abandoned its place on the boy's cheek and he couldn't feel his godfather's breath on his face anymore. Draco opened his eyes shakily.

"Dragon. What is wrong? Why are you suddenly so afraid of me? You know that I would never lay a hand on you in an attempt to harm you. You know that I love you…"

"Sometimes, my dear, love hurts."

"NO!" Draco cried and brought his knees to his chest.

"Draco, please… Legilimens"

Severus found himself in a memory that he would have preferred not to be subjected to. His hands balled into fists as he watched Voldemort advance on his own godson. He watched him bring his face inches away from the emotionless boy's, and everything clicked as he said, "You know that I love you, Dragon." This was all he needed to hear, but he couldn't bring himself to end the spell. He had to see for himself what had happened next. "Sometimes, my dear, love hurts." He gagged as the Dark Lord forcefully captured Draco's lips within his own and his hands slid up and down Draco's clothed chest, but not for long as Snape watched Draco's bare chest slowly become visible as The Dark Lord unbuttoned his shirt. He had to end the spell before he saw anything else. He already knew how this had ended.

Suddenly, he was back in the classroom again with his broken godchild. He skillfully caught Draco's shoulders as the boy passed out, and held Draco close to his chest.

"I'm so sorry, my Draco. I'm so sorry that I couldn't protect you."

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