A.N. - Sorry it has been a while but this chapter is about half of the previous story in length, so it took a while. Also I have had tests and stuff to do, as well as family shizzle, so please don't take it out on me.

All my reviews so far have been great, so a massive thank you.

IMPORTANT - The flashback in ITALICS is probably not something you light stomached readers would like to read so beware.

Don't like, don't read, simples.

Chapter 7 - Sanctuary

A loud crack rebounded off of the walls startling them out of gazing at their own handiwork.

Dobby looked at the three friends all gathered on one small bed, cross-legged and content in the presence of each other. Dobby had never seen Draco look so carefree, but he knew that behind those stormy grey eyes you would see a boy falling to pieces, he knew that if you actually looked, really looked, at the teenagers sat on that bed, happy to just be, you would find the same thing in each and every one of them.

He clicked his fingers and the now cold food had disappeared but was quickly replaced with food for brunch.

"Dumbledore is waiting for you to eat." Dobby reminded them sheepishly, before disappearing again into thin air.

"Draco, why has Dobby given us desserts for brunch?" Hermione inquired her eyebrow raised.

Draco picked up a large slice of Honeycomb Cheesecake before replying with a shrug, "Because at Malfoy Manor the only thing I would eat after intense pain or almost dying was deserts, anything sugary and fatty."

"So extreme comfort foods?" She verified.

"Yeah basically..." Draco started before being interrupted by Orion.

"And because they just taste soooo good." Orion drawled, exaggeratedly licking his lips, a forkful of Chocolate Fudge Cake inches away from his salivating mouth.

Hermione flicked a blob of Whipped Cream off of her fruit covered waffles, towards Orion who caught it in his mouth.

"Eww..." Hermione cried, chuckling under her breath.

"Thanks 'Mione that is just what this sugary mass needed." He replied with a wink.

Draco let out an uncharacteristic snort of humour as his mouth was full of Cheesecake.

Orion and Hermione both raised their eyebrows looking at Draco in mock disgust.

"Yes Draco very suave." Orion said smoothly, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

They both waited in silence as Draco swallowed his mouthful, his expression stern.

"Suave is my middle name." Draco drawled, his voice full of false sincerity.

They all shared a look before bursting out in laughter.

"Sure." Hermione snickered.

The food soon disappeared leaving only a jug of milk to wash away the sticky sweet taste in their mouths.

The trio got up off the tiny bed and examined their new uniforms. The whole style was completely different. The new uniform's screamed Steampunk. For the boys there was a tight fitting black and dark grey pinstriped trousers, a fitted black waistcoat, a blood red button-down shirt and a black and dark red striped house tie, all complete with brass buttons and a intricately cut brass pocket watch. A heavy black woollen winter cloak and fitted cotton tail coat lay to the side of each set of uniforms. For Hermione there was a black ruffled skirt, similar to the dress she bought on the first day of school, a blood red blouse and the compulsory house tie. Also she had a black under-bust corset, with brass fittings and red lace, that she would wear over the tie and a pocket watch hanging from a long necklace chain, a long fitted black tail coat and a thick winter coat.

Pulling one of the thick hospital screens across the line of sight from the door, they quickly changed into their more comfortable uniforms.

"Wow, you guys look hot." Hermione exclaimed.

Draco rolled his eyes dramatically, "Always the tone of surprise."

Orion slapped him lightly over the top of the head and replied to the comment, "Thank you 'Mione, you look stunning. Steampunk suits you."

"What he means to say is that you look damn fine." Draco amended.

"Ah thanks my boys, I love the compliments coming my way. Do me up will you?" Hermione said referring to the lacing at the back of her corset.

Draco slid Hermione's hair over her shoulder so that it was out of his way, brushing his fingertips across her bare skin under her neck making tiny goose bumps erupt on her flesh, before doing up the lace on her outfit.

The screen slid back to its original position with a swish of Orion's hand.

"Shoes?" Hermione asked, "I don't mind walking round in bare feet, but we will be back here at the end of the day due to broken toes if we don't."

Draco nodded in agreement and clicked his fingers.

Dobby appeared in a bang.

"Hi Dobby. Would it be possible for you to find us some shoes that go with our uniforms?" Draco asked slowly.

"Right away Mister Draco." Disappearing again in a crack.

Seconds later he returned with two pairs of knee high black leather boots with brass buckles running up the sides and a single pair of high heeled thigh-high black leather boots with buckles and laces.

"Master Alerion Tuck left you a message with Dobby."

Dobby handed a grinning Draco a piece of black paper with red writing.

Draco,

Congratulations on becoming one of the youngest ever founders of a house in history.

Say hi to your two friends for us. They are very important so don't piss them off too much. Don't push them away either, it may seem like a good idea at the time but we all need you outcasts as much as everyone doesn't want to believe it, we will need you in the end.

The boots are free on one condition, that you get your fellow founders to come visit us. We are getting bored so hurry up. Albus is a good friend so I'm sure he will let you come to the stores.

If you are wondering who gave Dumbledore the idea of the uniform it was Andy, I was a bit sceptical at first but now I believe that you three will look epic. God we would love to see the reaction of the school when you walk into the Great Hall for the first time, I shall ask Dumbledore for a visit.

Remember you promised to write to tell us everything and seeing as though things are starting to become weird you will be writing lots.

See you promptly dudes (and dudette),

Andy and Alerion Tuck

Draco chuckled, "Cryptic bastards."

"You talking about us?" Two deep voices called from the door way.

"No why would I be talking about you, you aren't important enough to appear in this mind." He said sarcastically at the brothers standing in the doorway.

They grinned, "Great to see you too, Draco. I see you have made a speedy recovery from almost guaranteed death. We are glad that your father didn't succeed."

They hugged each other.

"You look much better than you did when we saw you two days ago." Alerion stated.

Orion was confused, "But he looks worse than he did yesterday, no offence mate."

Andy nodded, "Yeah he does, but surely you can see that there is more life in his eyes. When Draco came into our stores, he was dead inside, he didn't respond to the pain of having a muggle tattoo or having a piercing like anyone normal would. There was no emotion in his eyes, the only glimmer of emotion we saw was when he burnt all of his clothes, his mouth twitched, but there was still nothing. But now Draco is being sarcy and there are emotions in his eyes, even if he can't feel some of them."

"I am still here you know." Draco exclaimed rolling his eyes good-naturedly.

Hermione snorted, "Yes how could we forget we are in the presence of the founder Draco. I must apologise profusely for our considerable lack of acknowledging you, Sir." She made an exaggerated curtsy.

Draco stuck his nose in the air, "Yes, apology accepted peasant." He waved his hand, shooing Hermione away as if she were a bad smell.

Grinning Hermione retorted, "Peasant? Really Draco darlin'?"

"Yup." He said popping the 'P' and winking in her direction.

"Guys seriously get a room." Orion cringed half-heartedly.

"We are in one." Draco rolled his eyes at his silliness.

They all chuckled.

"So how do you feel about your uniforms?" Andy asked wiggling his eyebrows.

The trio began gushing over the chic Steampunk style.

"I am so glad that I don't have to cover up who I am when wearing our uniform." Hermione exclaimed, her eyes lighting up at the prospect of being herself.

"It's wicked, but do you think my bum looks big in this?" Orion asked seriously, twisting round to look at his derrière in the full length mirror hanging on the wall by the doors.

Draco laughed then pushed him out of the way of the mirror and tidied his hair, sweeping it to the side.

Orion landed on the floor and pouted at the brute who had shoved him to the floor.

The two brothers giggled at the bittersweet expression on Orion's face.

Hermione laughed at them all as she held out her hand and pulled the still pouting boy off of the floor.

"Is our whole house going to have the same uniform?" Draco asked suddenly.

"No, this is your uniform for being the founders. Your other house members will have a toned down Steampunk uniform, not so spunky," Alerion grinned, his smile turned serious as he continued, "But you have to be careful, there are many people in this school who would love to see you three dead, and having the opportunity to become a founder in this school at such a young age will be one of the reasons for this. Your uniform will just shout out the fact that you are different and that you are more important than them in many ways. Be careful who you trust this year as trust might be one of our downfalls in the upcoming war."

"And how do you know this?" Hermione asked slightly scared off what this could mean for them.

"I simply just know shit," Alerion shrugged, "It's not like Trelawney, because she zones out once in a blue moon to give a real prophecy, but I just get this nagging feeling which tells me important things, things I need to know, more than once a day. We, as brothers, have other powers too, but these you will have to figure out."

Andy grinned, wiggling his eyebrows as if daring them to ask.

The founders groaned. Hermione turned around to look at the mirror. She pulled out a small pencil stub of eye-liner from her pocket and applied a thick black line under her eye.

"Oooo..." Orion exclaimed, slipping the pencil from her hand before using it himself, "I haven't had the chance to buy a new one since I got here."

Alerion rolled his eyes and conjured two black guy-liners from his shop before handing one to Orion and the other to Draco.

"You can't really do much with that tiny thing." Andy uttered rolling his eyes, before conjuring a separate eye-liner for Hermione.

Hermione giggled whilst Draco applied a thin line of black to his eyes.

"Hey...We look awesome...The eye-liner definitely finishes this outfit off." Orion exclaimed in excitement.

"I see you like your new uniform," Dumbledore's voice emanated from behind them, "I have something for you three, as the founders of the new house."

The startled trio swung round quickly to see their headmaster grinning at them.

Dumbledore brought his hands from behind his back and swung his arms in an puzzling curve. They nearly jumped out of their skins as they felt cold metal encase their upper arm, or in Hermione's case cold metal wrapped around her neck. Hermione pushed down her collar to find a worn metal choker with the house arms encased by wings, not a bird, but more of an angel's wings. The boys pushed up their sleeves to find an antique style bangle clasping their forearms with the same emblem engraved in it.

The Tuck brothers nodded in approval, "Very symbolic." They said cryptically, but not elaborating.

The trio raised their eyebrows at the pair's statement, but didn't question it.

"The governors have decided that your house needs a head, even if it has founders...So we are going to have two heads, Andy and Alerion will you become the heads for the new house and the advisor for your friends?" Dumbledore asked slowly as if giving them time to adjust to their duties.

"Hell yeah," They yelled, high-fiving each other, "We shall definitely do it."

The pair reminded Hermione of Fred and George Weasley, she sniffled quietly remembering the family atmosphere she will no longer be able to participate in.

"With that settled now would be a good time to introduce yourselves in the Great Hall as it is now lunchtime." Dumbledore said trying to defuse the joyous feeling spreading through the sterile infirmary.

Alerion uttered a dark chuckle as he grinned, waving his hand towards the door beckoning everyone out.

The group stood outside the closed hall doors. Hermione stood between Draco and Orion, linking arms with them both. Alerion and Andy stood either side of the founders waiting to open the doors in sync for maximum impact. Dumbledore had already entered the room to calm the students.

The brothers turned to look at them and gave them an all knowing grin before flinging the doors open wide. The trio took a deep breath before powering their way through the archway.

There was immediate uproar, people began shouting, whispering, staring, pointing, crying.

"Eww...They look like bloody emo's." A boy shouted from Ravenclaw, incorrectly identifying their new style.

"Who the fuck are they?" Potter exclaimed.

"How come they get to wear a different uniform, that is sooooo unfair?" A blond girl whined from Slytherin.

"OMG...It's Granger, Malfoy and Black, look at them hanging off that slut." Ginny screamed, making Hermione flinch.

Everyone stared at them with disgust as the school population realised just who was intruding on their sacred ground

"Your father's going to kill you Malfoy." An unknown female spoke. Draco shuddered but carried on walking to their house table that was in front of the Professor's table.

"Your father already warned you once about fraternising with the enemy, yet here you are. Your father will kill you Malfoy mark my words," Goyle had stood from the position he had taken, shovelling food into his mouth, to sneer at Draco, "Your mother can't save you now." He laughed, not noticing how the room had turned silent as they all turned to look at him.

Draco's eyes had darkened and his lips slid into a murderous growl, the whole school population could see how dangerous he had become in that spilt second and tried to make themselves as small and non-threatening as possible. Draco took a step towards his attacker.

"I have already told you not to talk about my mother, who knows what sick, perverted, Death Eater thoughts you have running around in your mind about my dead mum," Everyone in the room gasped not knowing of the death of Narcissa Malfoy, "Many people know that you and Tweedledee over there tried and failed to kill me on both Lucius' and Voldemort's orders, yet you are still here and alive. Why are you still here fucker?" Draco growled.

Goyle and Crabbe barely contained themselves; the glares the trio were giving them were enough to put the fear of God into even the toughest, war hardened of men.

Crabbe steeled himself up against the glares and stupidly retorted, "You can't prove anything Malfoy. Voldemort would not trouble himself killing you, you are not a threat to him and never will be. You just aren't strong enough. What's the point of trying to make us believe that you are going to attack us when we already know how much of a wimp you are when your mother died you did nothing and we have already rendered you unconscious twice." He clapped a hand over his mouth as he realised his mistake.

Orion and Draco both growled, their eyes black, they pushed Hermione slightly behind them to protect her.

"Oh shit." Alerion gasp as he suddenly knew the outcome of this scene.

Andy and Alerion each grabbed hold of one of Hermione's arms in case she were to move in front of her new friends.

"Get the fuck out of here now if you value your life." Orion snarled for his friend.

"Why should we listen to you, you are as much as a wimp as he is, I bet you have never even felt real pain?," Goyle sneered, dropping his gaze to his fingernails before returning his attention to the pair, "Do you really think you can harm me, especially in front of your darling headmaster?" The dumb duo chuckled at their smarts.

Orion cocked his head to the side, an evil smile played on his lips showing how much he was enjoying this.

"Actually Goyle, they have every right to threaten you and harm you, but you wouldn't know that because even they don't fully understand what is going on at the moment." Dumbledore replied, a strange glint in his eyes.

Orion and Draco showed no recognition of hearing Dumbledore's speech, but grinned when they saw the look of terror pass over their faces.

"Your father and the Dark Lord will kill you if you harm us." Crabbe stated seriously.

Draco laughed, his voice held no emotion as he turned his blank look towards the pair.

"My god, you are really going to let them get away with this. It wasn't as if his mother needs defending against, it's not as if she was nice or nothing," Ginny asked Dumbledore, but sneered when she received no answer, "Wow Hermione, you really do have everyone wrapped around her little finger, you are such a slut..."

Draco flung his hand out in red-heads direction, not even looking. She screamed for a second before hitting the back wall hard and knocking herself unconscious. Everyone ignored Potter's pleas for aid and concentrated on the confrontation in front of them, Ronald didn't even flinch when he saw her body fly through the air.

"Do you really think I care what those bastards think?" Draco asked slowly as if to a small child, "If it weren't for Lucius trying to kill me it would be for other reasons like morals."

Hermione stood behind them startled at this confrontation, knowing by the look on her friend's faces that there would probably be bloodshed and she feared for them as the justice system was so warped that they would be the ones punished, even if they were only following their instincts.

"You are just like your father." Goyle spat disgusted and attempted to walk to the door with his companion.

Orion slammed the doors shut as he closed his eyes. His instincts screaming at him that there was evil in the room and he transfigured his shield of weaponry from the many platters and goblets in the room to protect his friends.

Andy and Alerion gaped at the array of weaponry, the sheer amount of energy needed to do just a small transfiguration was huge, but to see that at this size was overwhelming. Orion's normal shield consisted of well over two hundred different instruments of war.

Draco grinned when he saw the sharp instruments of war float around the room. He plucked one of the short daggers out of the sky and examined it slowly before throwing it toward the Great Hall doors.

Goyle jumped when he saw the weapon fly towards him, he tried to move out of the way but found himself unable to move. The knife slid cleanly through his uniform and pinned him to the door. Goyle breathed out a sigh of relief when he saw that it hadn't cut his flesh and pulled the dagger from being embedded in the wood and dropped it to the floor where it turned back into a silver plate.

"Is that the best you can do?" Goyle taunted, stupidly beaconing Crabbe over to help open the heavy oak doors.

Orion and Draco looked at each other and grinned, the same demonic expression graced their faces. Draco grabbed the closest weapons and threw them one by one towards the doors. Orion used his telekinesis to direct them to a specific point.

Weapons hurtled at the cowering pair who covered themselves with their arms. One by one Orion's creations flew past the boys not drawing blood, twanging when they stuck into the hard wood. It really was a sight to see.

Soon the storm passed, Draco and Orion stopped attacking the cowardly pair, knowing that the pair was unharmed, yet grinned at their handiwork. They hi-fived seeing that their job was done. Hermione hugged them glad that they didn't spill any blood.

Goyle was the first to regain his senses and stood quickly. This movement caused the now shredded material that hung from his torso to fall to the floor. He was so frightened of the demonic duo that he didn't notice the tiny scraps of fabric slide and show the whole school his Dark Mark. Crabbe stood too, the same thing happened, slips of cloth fell to the floor. Two new Dark Marks were shown to the world.

A girl screamed and started to sob uncontrollably.

"Oh please be quiet Cho, they aren't all that dangerous." Draco said rolling his eyes.

Harry spoke up, "How come they knew that Crabbe and Goyle had the Dark Mark, they must be Death Eaters too?"

Dumbledore stood at the professor's table, the hall quietened, the whispers and the glares stopped. "They are the founders of the new house, En Lucem. They are definitely not Death Eaters and do not have Dark Marks. These three who you have distanced from yourselves are important in more ways than one. This year I beg of you, DO NOT under any circumstances antagonise any one of them because it would probably mean sever injuries if you are lucky and their actions would be supported by the law."

"But there is nothing special about them," the Golden One grumbled, angry that his headmaster was protecting his enemy.

"That is where you are wrong." Dumbledore answered glaring at his ex-prised pupil.

Potter scoffed and shook his head in disbelief, "You are truly an insane old man if you believe that."

For the first time since they had arrived in the hall, Andy spoke up, "Potter, I do believe we haven't met yet. I'm not a teacher so I'm sure I can teach you a lesson. Take that staff out of your arse and look around you. You are surrounded by people who are the same as you. Some of them have fought against Voldemort and survived, like you, some of them have lost their families because of Voldemort, like you. Just because you survived the killing curse doesn't mean that you are better than everyone else, it just means that your mother had brains. You are not the one who is going to lead us into the final battle so stop acting like you are the son of god and act your age, you spoilt prat." Andy turned his back to the childish teen.

Harry whipped hid wand out of his side pocket and pointed it Andy's retreating form. But Draco was faster and shouted 'Stupefy' before Harry had even opened his mouth.

"Thanks dude." Andy said as he saw Potter's unconscious form crumple to the floor.

"No problem." He replied as he turned back to the dumb duo.

The two were facing the door, scrambling and clawing at the hinges, trying to escape and run back to their master with their tails between their legs.

Draco cleared his throat to gain the attention of the pair.

Startled Goyle let out a soft scream but Crabbe remained as composed as he could.

"What," Crabbe snarled, "So I tried to kill you, I am sure it would be a big surprise to all of you, I would have succeeded if it weren't for you being a bloody freak."

Draco shrugged dramatically, "I am sure it isn't that surprising, after all, you're a right foul git. I told Dumbledore that it was Lucius via you, and believe it or not he trusts me."

Crabbe grinned, "Was that before or after you told him you killed your own mother?"

"No." Alerion whispered, his face contorted in agony.

Draco's playful demeanour quickly turned cold. Candles flickered with an unseen wind making the room more eerie as the aura in the Great Hall screamed with doom. The inhabitants flinched as the room grew colder much like when a Dementor is close by. Puffs of condensation were rising from the mouths of the gathered. The room was silent except for breathing and this scared the dumb duo more than they had been before. A loud growl could be heard coming from Draco's chest that steadily got louder and louder until not even the whimpers being emitted by Crabbe and Goyle could be heard. His eyes morphed into black endless pits that made Goyle scream and being clawing at the doors like a caged animal, leaving bloody marks where his fingertips had ripped off.

"Shit...Everyone who doesn't want to die hit the deck!" Alerion shouted as he practically threw himself to the floor, the rest of the school followed suit.

A pulse of energy blasted across the room in a ring wave, Draco being at the epicentre with Hermione and Orion both holding his sides to keep him grounded were protected. Andy wasn't so lucky, he was struck hard across the chest and flung across the hall, knocking him out. Crabbe and Goyle were both hit the hardest, they struck the wall with enough force to make to a small crater in the solid stone wall. The sickening sound of bones breaking reverberated around the room making most flinch. The members of En Lucem didn't react at all, they were more focused on Draco, who was emitting a continuous animalistic growl of rage. His black eyes were filled with anguish as he collapsed on the floor shaking.

The school remained where they were, lying on the floor, scared that Draco would unleash his anger on them.

Dumbledore stood and started giving out instructions, "Snape, I need you to show the Tuck's to the new house common room. Alerion, wake up your brother, and escort your house back to their new home."

"This is why you do not antagonise any of them, as they are more powerful than you know. Detentions for all who uttered a word against them today," Dumbledore said, anger lacing his tone, "Everyone back to their own common rooms now that is an order."

The Great Hall cleared quicker than it had done when the troll had been set loose in the First Year by Professor Quirrell.

Alerion stood over his brothers waking form.

"You are an idiot Andy," He said hitting him sharply over the head, "You know to do what I say in times like these."

Andy grumbled as he stood, swaying slightly, "That hurt...a lot."

"I know." Alerion replied wincing as he healed his brother's wounds.

Between them they picked up Draco's quaking form. His eyes were glazed over as he remembered how the life left his only loving parents eyes. The brothers followed Snape to their new house, carrying his unresponsive body with the other founders trailing behind.

When they got to the entrance Hermione found that it was much like the door for the Room of Requirements except that it appeared for them without having to think of it.

"Wow," Orion breathed, "Dumbledore doesn't do it by half does he."

Snape looked confused for a moment before his face returned to its normal calm expression, "You can see the door?"

They all nodded as Hermione put her hand on the door handle to open it. The handle warmed at her touch and sprang open to reveal a slight slope downwards that led to their common room. En Lucem entered their new house leaving Snape looking at the stone wall, in which they disappeared, in curiosity and sadness.

The room they entered was dark. The walls themselves were a slate colour, not quite true black, with blood red trimmings. The plush carpet was also blood red and was dotted with black furnishings. Comfy black snugglas and tub chairs surrounded the open fire. Two doors led off of the common room, one labelled 'Founders' and the other 'Bathroom'.

Orion opened the 'Founders' door and found a private lounge with a shared bathroom and three bedroom doors leading off of the room, each had their own symbol on it, a dragon for Draco, a wolf for Orion and a sphinx for Hermione. There were two large stained oak book cases leant against the walls. The carpet was black and much more plush than in the common room, and there was a small sound system hidden in the corner with speakers placed around the room for complete surround sound. A flat screen television was hidden behind a moveable tapestry with their respectable room guards frolicking joyfully on.

The dragon growled as Orion approached the door, but swiftly let him through upon seeing the state of his ward. Alerion laid Draco down in the dragon guarded room and then re-entered the private lounge.

"What the hell happened in the Great Hall, one minute we are walking in getting abused, next second I feel like I'm going to explode and then I feel like I'm dying for a split second before he collapsed?" Orion said frustrated pacing.

Andy walked over to him and put his hands over Orion's shoulders to calm him down.

"You were probably feeling Draco's emotions as well as your own instincts. But the 'why' we cannot tell you, you have to figure it out by yourselves. I'm sorry."

"So you know why Draco and Orion can feel each other's emotions?" Hermione enquired slowly.

"Yeah, but we aren't allowed to tell you...yet." The brothers sighed, but the pair seemed to sense that they couldn't say any more as the questions stopped.

Orion growled but didn't ask again. He pulled out a packet of ready rolled cigarettes and lit it, he calmed slightly as he took a long drag on the fag.

They sat in a comfortable silence, Hermione sat on the floor running her hand through the long tufted carpet, Orion leant against the wall, breathing in the nicotine infused smoke, next to the CD player as he put on Yashin's album 'Put Your Hands Where I Can See Them' and the brothers perched on the back of the sofa. They soon found themselves singing to the heavy lyrics waiting for Draco to revive from his self-imposed hell.

You've got the face of a stranger

But you talk to me like I'm your friend

And everyone suffers in silence

Do your best to try to hide it

Cannot try to hide this

Why are you scared (YOU'RE SCARED)

Just step away (STEP AWAY) from the crowd

...

You don't know me

Don't be afraid

We are alive

Tonight the stars (WILL SET ALIGHT) set alight

This is the closest place to hell

So why close your eyes or waste a minute?

This is the closest place to hell

Don't want to close our eyes or waste a minute?

(OR WASTE A MINUTE)

Draco shivered as he rose from the bed he had been placed on. He could hear singing from through the wall but it did nothing to alleviate his depression. Draco shuffled to the one door that was in the opposite direction of the singing and found himself in a huge slate bathroom. In the centre stood a golden claw footed bathtub, Draco quickly filled the tub with vanilla scented water that reminded him of his mother. He stripped down to his boxers, pulling the blade out of his breast pocket, and sank into the scalding hot liquid.

Draco breathed in the scented fumes rising from the water and sank into the memory of when he last smelt it, a week before she died.

Draco awakened slowly, a pulsing pain erupted all over his body as if he had been pushed in front of the Night Bus. He knew not to utter a word or his punishment would be worse. Draco slightly tilted his head to the side to see the chains holding himself up and off the ground. The old fashioned manacles that, were always used by his father if they were in the dungeons, were successfully holding his arms above him and his feet a couple of inches off of the ground. There was blood in his mouth, from his tongue that he seemed to have bitten hard, he spat it out on to the floor, it amused him to see it join the slight puddle of blood underneath him.

"You disgust me. I should kill you now." Lucius snarled from behind him.

Draco smiled a little at that thought and waited for his father to walk in front of him. He only had to wait a moment to see Lucius with a sick grin on his face.

Draco's father began to pour a warm clear oily liquid over his son's body, then took a step back to admire his handiwork. Lucius slipped his wand out of his cane and pressed the tip against Draco's chest.

"Incendio." He muttered, a cold yet excited expression on Lucius' face.

His body was engulfed in flames and he whimpered as he smelt his own flesh burn, but forced himself not to utter anything louder as it would satisfy his father. The pain was unbearable and he became almost drunk on the pain being inflicted towards him. Draco shuddered as he saw Lucius slide his trousers to the floor.

Lucius wasn't wearing underwear and Draco could see his father's dick standing to attention, aroused by his son's suffering. The fight immediately left Draco's body and he hung limp from the chains in the ceiling, ignoring the pain from the fire, just wishing that death would take him quickly.

Lucius wrapped a hand around his member and began pumping his hand backwards and forwards, slowly, staring at the flames that were burning away his son's flesh, the fire reflected in his eyes as the pleasure engulfed him.

Draco could feel himself slipping in and out of consciousness as his flesh melted away, but he was forced back into reality as the flames disappeared. He rolled his head on to his shoulder, and hissed when the open wounds touched, and looked at Lucius.

The man stood barely a foot away from him, his head thrown back in ecstasy. A muffled moan escaped Lucius' lips making Draco dry wretch. Draco's body jolting with silent sobs. The tears flowing down his naked form stung the open sores and he whimpered.

Lucius waved his wand slightly but nothing seemed to happen. Draco looked around in silent fear but still didn't see what his torturer had done and he began to relax. He jerked when he noticed the pain in his wounds increasing. Draco writhed, trying to break free of the cold sticky metal chains. Agony washed over his body, a pressure began to build in his temples as the pain increased, he shook and shook, trying to get away, to go anywhere, to do anything that would let him escape from this torment. He screamed, louder than he ever had before as his nerve endings fried at the sheer amount of torture being inflicted in a single moment.

Lucius' eyes rolled back in pure bliss at the sound of his sons pain, two more frantic strokes and he ejaculated all over Draco's front.

The pain suddenly shot up as the salty liquid oozed into Draco's bloody sores. His screams elevated as the pain became unbearable; he had never been in more pain. Blood vessels popped in his eyes and he passed out in a haze of red.

Sobbing brought Draco out of the darkness. He felt himself lying on the cold stone floor of the dungeons, the rusty metal manacles were no longer ripping holes into his flesh. He slowly forced his eyes to open and found Narcissa crying as she looked at his form, wand in hand, to heal the deep burns.

"Mum..." He croaked, closing his eyes, "It hurts."

"I know, baby," His mother choked, tears flowing down her pale cheeks, "I will make it feel all better."

She was careful not to get her tears on his healing wounds, but she knew that his pain would get worse as she healed the burns. At St. Mungo's, the biggest cause of death for children was burns as they could not handle the pain from the healing process and they went into shock. The burn's unit was not somewhere you ever wanted to find yourself, no matter how small your burn was, screams always penetrated the supposed soundproof walls. Unbelievably, the pain you went through to get it healed was double the original agony of being burnt. Narcissa knew this and hated Lucius for putting herself in this position.

"I'm so sorry baby." She whispered over and over, as she levitated her sons unmoving form from the floor over a copper bath filled with a cold shimmering cream liquid.

Draco whimpered as he was submerged by the healing liquid. The salve absorbed into his skin and the itching started. He dragged his nails across his broken skin, trying to find a way to get rid of the pain. Blood poured from the trails left by his fingers as he clawed at his chest, turning the potion red. The pain increased as the deep wounds bubbled but started to heal, Draco thrashed against the cold metal sides and tried to escape, but the warm soothing hand on his cheek and the comforting smell, of the vanilla body wash his mother used, kept him at bay.

The last thing he heard was the gentle singing of Narcissa as he slipped under the cream liquid."Hush, little dragon, don't breathe a word,

I'm gonna find you a phoenix bird.

And if that phoenix can't heal your fears,

I'm gonna save you from your tears.

And if your tear's don't disappear,

I'm gonna hang Lucius from the chandelier..."

Shuddering Draco released the breath he had been holding. He grabbed the knife off of the bath side and placed the cold metal against his pale skin. Draco slid the blade across his wrist and sighed in relief when he felt the pain normally accustomed with his ritual. He cut again and again, making a bloodied criss-cross on his arm. Draco smiled as he rested his mutilated limb on the bath wall and dropped the gory knife on the stone floor, he closed his eyes as the cold metal clattered to the floor.

The first moment of comfort Draco had felt since his mother's demise was shattered by a knock on one of the four doors, he ignored it and shut his eyes, waiting for the annoyance to move from the door.

"Draco...are you alright?" Hermione's soft voice floated through the crack in the bottom of the door.

Still he ignored her, he pushed himself under the water to get away from the disruption. A breeze fluttered by his fingers startling him, Draco shot up gasping for breath, warm water flowing off of his face. He flinched as he saw a body sat on the tub side but relaxed when he saw it was only Hermione.

"What are you doing in here 'Mione?" Draco sighed, silently slipping his lacerated arm into the water.

Her eyes tracked the movement but didn't say anything about it, "We were worried about you and you weren't answering the door."

Hermione ran her hand through the water that was now turning slightly pink and grabbed his arm and pulled it out of the water. Draco flinched as she examined the mutilated flesh.

"You haven't gone deep." Hermione stated surprised, walking to the cupboard under the sink and retrieving a mesh bandage to wrap around Draco's self inflicted wound.

"Yeah, well I wasn't trying to kill myself." Draco scowled, but continued to let Hermione tend to his injuries.

"Why do you do it then?" She asked sullenly.

Draco ignored the question and stood up in the bath and grabbed a fluffy black towel. He was suddenly very thankful that he had decided to keep his boxers on instead of jumping in the bath commando like normal people do. Wrapping the plush towel around his body Draco dragged Hermione into the room he woke up in. He found his pyjama bottoms on the foot end of the bed and quickly slipped the thin fabric on. He sat on the edge of the bed with his face in his hands. The bed dipped next to him where Hermione had sat.

"I do it to feel." He whispered, his hand moving to claw at his bare chest, the corner of his mouth turned at the slight pain caused.

Hermione wrapped her hand around his fingers and lifted his hand from his skin.

"Don't," She said, rubbing her thumb over the back of his hand, "Narcissa would not want you to hurt yourself, and neither do we."

Draco lay back on the bed, pulling Hermione with him, but didn't acknowledge what she said. She rolled on her side, sliding her leg over his and rested her hand on his scar covered chest.

"Will you tell me how you got these?" She said tracing each and every blemish on his bare skin.

"Yeah, eventually, but not now." Draco whispered after a while closing his eyes.

The pair lay side by side in silence, listening to the karaoke in the next room as they slowly nodded off together.

A.N. - The lullaby said by Narcissa in the flashback is mine, unlike the lyrics that occasionally pop into this story. I'm sorry if you didn't like the flashback but I'm ill with flu...possibly...and it just happened so deal with it.

Also this is over 7000 words long, which is around half of the previous story in one chapter, you now know why I cut the last chapter off of the beginning of this one...hmm...

Review please, I need advice on whether graphic flashbacks are your thing or not, so that I know what to write next.

Thank you.