Chapter 18 – Rage the Destroyer of Worlds
The room was stunned into silence as the Angel disappeared into nothingness.
"No!" Ron cried, he ran up to the Vanishing Cabinet and tried to prise the doors open.
Arms wrapped around his middle and tore him away before he ripped off his fingernails.
"We have to get him back. This is all my fault."
Draco was only slightly surprised when he appeared in the Malfoy Manor parlour. He followed the sound of Potter screaming down into the dungeons. The sound of his pain made the Angel grin in satisfaction. The elder Malfoy stood facing his victim, twirling his wand between his fingers.
As Draco rounded the corner, the apparition of his father vanished into smoke leaving him to face straight at the object of his mate's torment. A swish of a cloak from behind startled him and he began to turn. Before he had completed his revolution, Draco found himself collapsed to the floor, pure agony frying every nerve ending as he writhed uncontrollably. After a while the torture abated, leaving him breathing raggedly as his body twitched in after shock.
Lucius forced open his jaw and poured a small bottle of black liquid down his throat, not caring if he started choking.
"There, now you'll be out of my way. Do you honestly think I will let you go about not doing as instructed? You are a disgrace to this family."
The Death Eater lifted his son's dead weight and cuffed him to the wall, slipping his wand out of his front pocket before leaving the dungeons.
"You're lucky. He gave you all of it. You'll die quicker. He gives me a drop every day and I can feel my insides slowly dying." Potter whimpered from the corner.
Draco snarled, "I'll kill you first don't you worry. I'll kill you for what you did to Hermione."
"I didn't do anything to her. I haven't seen her since before the holidays. Please tell me she is still alive?" He cried.
"Don't lie to me! You raped her. I saw you."
Harry's eyes opened wide in disbelief, "Please tell me you're joking?"
The growl that left the Angel confirmed his fears and he promptly vomited on the cold stone floor.
"No...no...no...it wasn't me...you have to believe me...I would never..." He sobbed, choking on the bile that was trying to leave his body.
Draco turned to watch the boy and he was confused.
"If it wasn't you, Potter, who was it? What happened to you?"
The new captive pushed out his mind to read the other's. Flashes of pictures flooded his brain.
Potter ran his hand through the tall grass surrounding an almost toppling haphazardly-put-together building. He ventured further away from the structure and spun around as he felt eyes on his back. A bolt of pain shot up his spine and the world turned black.
The world felt out of place as his vision returned; fear flooding his brain as he saw Malfoy Senior stood over him.
Pain. So much pain. The Cruciatus tore through his body, making his limbs spasm and eyelids flicker. He felt like he was on fire. Every nerve ending seemed to be torn apart, only to be pieced back together and broken again. All he could hear was his blood pumping through his veins at a frightening pace. So much pain. He welcomed the darkness invading his vision, glad of the reprieve from the pain.
A hard yank pulled him out of his stupor; he felt blood pool on his forehead. Lucius was stood in front of him, holding a tuft of black hair in his hand.
He was going insane, the poison was tearing through his mind. The pressure behind his eyes made him want to put a knife through his temple so that he'd be away from the pain. A figure walked towards him, all cloaked up in Gryffindor colours...it was him? He was stood in front of himself. The doppelgänger winked as he pulled the stopper off a vial and pressed it to his lips.
A monstrous rage filled the Angel and he roared, pulling his arms towards his chest, tearing the manacles straight out of the wall. He roared in anger as he went to search for their torturer.
Draco stalked through the Manor in search of the man of the house. On his way he came across two cauldrons full of a brewing mud-like liquid. He growled as he recognised the potion and swiped it off the table. The cast iron buckets struck the floor with a loud bang as it cracked the tiles below it. Their contents spewed out over the floor seeping into every crack and seam.
A small wooden trunk caught the Angel's eye. He tore off the lid. Phials and bottles and boxes all stood in their perfect arrangement. Each vessel was labelled with a name. Potter, Ginny Weasley, his mate and his late mother, among others (names he recognised and others he didn't), were all represented in the trunk. Draco growled as he opened the brown glass bottle labelled 'Mudblood Granger' and shook out the contents. A few strands of hair slid out of the neck and into his hand. Some were of Hermione's new style, dyed black and cut short but there were a small number of hairs that were from before this year, in her well recognised bushy brown mop.
The thought of his father being close enough to steal a lock of hair made him shake in anger. The trunk vibrated, the bottles rattled, rubbing against each other with a force that should have cracked them. Draco clicked his fingers and a small flame ran around the bottom edge of the trunk. He smirked as the wood began to burn.
He stood in the archway and watched the bottles crack as the heat became too much for the fragile glass and they shattered, leaving their contents to the mercy of the fire. Draco smiled at the destruction and turned his back on the now roaring blaze. He kept within the billowing smoke as he continued his stalk of the house, being careful to not be seen and ambushed again. Draco kept his senses open as he tiptoed around the mansion halls, making sure that the chains around his wrist did not create too much noise.
He slowly opened the door to Lucius' study, thankful that the house-elves were ordered to keep the hinges well oiled, to stop them squealing. His torturer sat behind his desk, engrossed in some parchment that was gripped tightly in his hand.
The relaxed stance his sperm donor had adopted, infuriated the young Angel. Draco flicked out a wrist and watched as the chain followed, striking the elder blond across the face, knocking him to the floor. A deep red welt formed where the cold metal had connected, blood pooled in a slight cut on his cheek. The sight pleased him. For the first time, he was getting his own back.
"You stupid bastard." Lucius tentatively placed a hand against his cheek to sooth the pain and was furious to find that his son had drawn blood.
"Crucio!" He yelled.
The boy stepped to the side as the bolt of light came towards him and counterattacked wandlessly.
The force of the Angel's attack broke through Malfoy's usually well fortified mental wall. Both flinched at the invasion.
The flickering of images made Draco feel sick. He could see torture from Malfoy's point of view, feel the euphoric rush he had gotten from their pain; his torture, Potter's torture, his mother's, his young Muggle friend's...his mate's.
The memories of Hermione didn't make chronological sense. His co-creator had been welcomed into his mate's home and had been sat down for Sunday lunch as if it were the norm. Something wasn't right.
The pictures continued and after a while, Draco wrenched his mind from the old man. He gasped for a breath, trying to keep the bile that was rising up his throat from reaching the top.
"What are you? No human could do that to another, no way. Is this all because of your stupid superiority complex? Do you really believe that Merlin gave you the power of magic to do something like that? I am going to kill you there is no doubt about it. You are the cancer of this race. I hate you. I will never be you. I hope you rot in hell."
"Draco Lucius Malfoy, you will not speak to your father in that way."
His sperm donor raised his hand to strike.
Draco growled at the man and grabbed his wrist. He jumped over the last Malfoy heir and twisted his arm behind his back hard.
"My name is not Draco 'Lucius Malfoy'; my name is Draco Severus Black and I expect you to address me as such if you don't want to die too painfully. You are not my father. You are simply the man who knocked up my mother and forced her into a loveless, abusive marriage. You are the scum that defiled the Granger sisters. You are the father that no one should have. Severus Snape, Albus Dumbledore, even Rubeus Hagrid have been better fathers, better role models; hell, two brothers who are only a year older than me have looked after and taught me a thousand times better in these past few months than you ever have, you mudblood. Muggleborn's bleed just like everyone else father, you are the mudblood, you are the stain in the magical community. You tortured me, my mother, Harry, my mate and her sister. You used an unforgivable on a girl, to kill a woman you don't even know and torture my brother. I loathe you."
"You will always be a Malfoy," The man smirked, "There is nothing you can do to change that. You'll see that soon."
Draco's body tensed as the poison made its way through his mind.
Lucius laughed at the reaction, "You're not going to make it back to your beloved mudblood, though she is such a good fuck, she felt so good wrapped around my cock, you'll be missing out. The dose I gave you only gives you a couple hours at best. If you die here no one is going to care, son, no one. And you think your mother loved you? Well that's the biggest lie I've ever heard."
He spat the word 'son' as if it tasted foul in his mouth.
The Angel behind him growled in self hatred and anger, he wrenched the arm he was holding harder and smiled slightly as it dislocated at the shoulder. Draco muttered a spell and watched as a rope twisted around his biological father's throat and hoist him off the floor, using the chandelier as a pivot point. He slid an ornate chair under the man's feet, grinning as premature relief showed on the Death Eater's face. Draco grabbed the other end of the braided yarn and pulled. He morphed the floor to encase his end of the rope once Lucius' toes were just touching the back of the chair. The chair wobbled as the wizard tried to balance, careful not to move too quickly or his only saving grace would topple from underneath him and he would spend his last moments suffocating slowly.
"Now you know what fear feels like Lucius." He said as he made his way back to the dungeons, ignoring the pleading coming from the hanging body.
Draco pulled the younger boy up on to his feet and wrapped an arm around his waist.
"Can you walk Pot...Harry?"
He nodded slowly in confirmation and started to put one foot in front of the other, trying to ignore the pain coursing through his veins. Once they made it outside, Draco picked up his old-enemy to avoid splinching and apperated just outside the Hogwarts' grounds. He led the way back to the castle, every so often lifting his fallen friend.
The colossal doors to the Entrance Hall swung open and the whole of En Lucem stood behind them.
The smiles at his return slowly changed to scowls and disbelief.
"What are you doing with him?" Sophia snarled, pointing her wand at the pair of them.
Draco growled softly, annoyed yet understanding of their reception.
"He is innocent. He has been held captive in Malfoy Manor since the holidays."
Pain coursed through his body as his mate ran, "'Mione, please." He groaned as she disappeared around the corner sobbing.
The Auror shot a spell at Potter's deteriorating form but was soon defended by Draco.
"I will defend him till I die," He spat, the pain making him less agreeable, "Immobulus!"
His rage strengthened the standard spell from freezing one, to freezing them all.
Draco picked up Harry from where he had collapsed, aware that the charm wouldn't last long, and rushed to the Infirmary.
Madam Pomfrey smiled at his entrance, "Glad to see you are in one piece, dear. Who have you got there?"
"It's Potter. Guard him with your life Poppy because he is innocent. The others do not believe me yet."
The nurse said a quick spell and the manacles that he had ripped from the walls of his childhood home, dropped off his wrists and clattered to the floor.
"Right you are Draco. Off you pop. I have a feeling that his healing is going to take some time."
Pomfrey's easy acceptance lifted his heart and he smiled warmly at her.
"Thank you." He whispered before making his way back to his house.
The pain of rejection returned as Draco made his way along a corridor expecting to see his house doorway. It wasn't there. He clawed, howling, at where it used to be. For hours he stood at the wall, hoping anyone from inside would come out so that he could explain, but no one came.
A cold empty feeling settled in his heart and he staggered back out into the castle grounds. Draco looked up at the castle and began to climb, forgoing a broomstick or any protection for if he fell. He focused on the exhaustion, hoping that it would make him forget the pain. He was lucky that the castle walls were uneven and mottled with erosion, so the climb was almost easy. Halfway to the top and his hands were already taking the brunt of his anger, bloody cuts littered his finger tips. Yet he ignored it and continued, thanking Merlin that it wasn't raining.
Draco hauled himself over the roof's edge, his breathing erratic and his legs shaking. His fingers were torn to shreds and his palms were grazed from the harsh rock that he'd climbed. He curled around himself and watched the sunset. Beneath him he could hear the hustle and bustle that came around dinner time at Hogwarts. He could hear laughter and talking and knives and forks and spoons hitting crockery. He wanted to be down there sharing in the positive atmosphere but he knew he couldn't, he knew he wouldn't be accepted down there. Instead, Draco cast a silencing spell around himself and he screamed. Forcing everything he felt into that one expulsion of air.
Across the castle five different Angels felt the scream tear through their minds. Only four of them went to find the source. The Tuck twins made their way to the main entrance and saw Snape and Orion waiting for them.
"What was that?" Orion asked, clearly shaken.
His father raised his eyebrow and answered the question, "That was your brother. He is in emotional anguish, probably because you all abandoned him when he rescued Potter."
"Andy and I have been waiting for him to get back to the Common Room but he never came." Alerion frowned at the accusations.
"I don't care; we just have to find him before he does something stupid." Snape growled.
"Ron gave me the Marauders Map as I left." Andy suggested slightly pale.
He said the charm and they all watched as the map unfolded and began showing the layout of the school. They quickly scanned the moving footprints and each let out a breath when they found him.
"He's in the dungeons..."
"...the Great Hall..."
"...your classroom..." They each said at the same time.
"What?" Snape said startled.
They examined the map closer and sure enough Draco was in all these places and more. Each of the footprints of the missing Angel seemed to glitch.
Alerion frowned and waved his hand above the map. The lines on the page moved, lifted off the parchment and into the thin air, layering themselves on top of each other as they would be if you looked down from the sky. Draco's unmoving feet synced up with each layer.
"What does that mean? He cannot be in that many places at once."
"He is on the roof. Since he was little he would climb to the highest point of the Manor whenever he was upset." Severus berated himself for not remembering sooner.
"Andy and I will go see him and bring him down. Orion you stay here. Professor, you should go and tell Dumbledore that Draco is back and that Harry is innocent."
"Why can't I come with you?" Orion said confused.
Alerion groaned, "Your mate attacked him and you did nothing. I am sure he is feeling a little bit betrayed."
The youngest Angel nodded sadly and slid down the wall as he watched them all march off in different directions.
Alerion took off his shirt and let his wings uncurl. He grabbed his brother's hand and they rose into the sky. A few moments later and they had both touched-down on top of the Great hall.
"Lumos." They whispered, pointing the beams of light over the roof.
They split up trying to find their missing friend.
"Can't see him." Andy called out to his brother, seconds before he tripped over something solid and slid down the steep pitch.
"Ahh." He yelped as he slipped over the edge.
A hand caught on to his wrist and he sighed with relief.
"Jesus Andy. Can't you summon your wings and help me out a little?" Draco said after a while of him just hanging.
A look of sadness flashed over his face for a second before it was replaced with a tight smile, "They don't work so I don't think they would help much, they'd probably just get in the way."
The new found Angel frowned but then grabbed hold of his damaged ally with his other hand. They struggled together to pull him up but relaxed once Alerion had arrived to help them both.
"Thank you." Andy gasped as he returned to the flat of the roof.
"Why are you here?" Draco said slowly.
"We are looking for you."
"Why?"
"What do you mean why?" Alerion asked puzzled.
Draco turned around so quickly that the brothers flinched, "You don't want me around that much was clear. You wouldn't listen to me. I told you that Harry was innocent and you didn't believe me. So I took him to the Infirmary because he has been subject to my father's torture methods for weeks with no proper healing. Weeks in the hands of a sadistic Death Eater who has no qualms over torturing his son and heir! And then I went to your house with the intention of explaining everything and you wouldn't let me in! So I will ask again. Why are you looking for me?"
His eyes had turned to black and the air around him felt dangerous.
"We were waiting for you to come; we know you were telling the truth about Potter."
Draco snarled, "Stop lying to me!"
"Andy run!" Alerion yelled, grabbing hold of Draco, giving his brother a chance to get to safer ground.
Andy charged off the edge of the roof and summoned a broom. His broom broke his fall and he flew through a window in the Great Hall. The glass cut through his skin but he hardly noticed.
"Everyone is to evacuate to their Houses. No exceptions. Do not let anyone into the castle. There is something wrong; he's trying to kill us. Get Snape." He shouted to the headmaster before flying back out.
Andy landed in the middle of the school grounds and looked up at the roof, cursing his damaged wings not for the first time. Sensing the presence of his brother, Alerion took off and fled towards him, knowing they had a better chance if they were together. Draco swung his head round and roared at the escaping party. He ran after the flying Angel and leapt before the edge, easily clearing several meters of roof.
"No!" Andy screamed stepping towards the castle as his friend fell.
A cloud of dirt went up as his body hit the hard ground. The rest of the Great Hall's unbroken windows shattered at the force and fell like dust upon a rising figure. Draco snarled and charged towards the brothers.
The twins braced themselves for the oncoming attack. They began working together to take down their friend but no amount of effort made a sizable difference. The Tucks were bloodied and battered yet Draco didn't seem to have a scratch on him. Draco struck Andy across the back of the head leaving him dazed, clutching at the grass for stability. A scream startled Andy out of his stupor.
Alerion was on all fours, his body shuddering in pain as Draco gripped his wings. A crack reverberated around the grounds and the Angel convulsed one last time before collapsing unconscious. His wing lay awkwardly broken on top of him.
Andy roared and pounced onto their attacker. His rage and need to kill his brother's attacker gave him strength. He soon had the younger Angel beneath him and his hands around his throat. The two Angels snarled at each other. Draco grabbed his wrist and jerked it at angle, grinning as the bone snapped between his fingers. The pain didn't bother Andy who just continued his pressure at his assailant's gullet. Soon Draco's eyes flickered and rolled back. Andy growled and slammed his fist hard down on Draco's chest.
"Andy!...Andy!...ANDY STOP!"
The shouting didn't register to the Angel. Snape placed a hand on his shoulder and was surprised to be snarled at. He shot a stunning spell at the last remaining conscious fighter and watched as Andy crumpled on top of his mate's son.
He sighed and levitated all three bodies to the Infirmary with a speed hardly ever seen by the cool, unshakable Professor.
"Poppy! You need to set Alerion's wing right now or he will never fly again!" Snape shouted as he blasted through the double doors.
"I'll do that, you get the poison out of Harry and fast. I don't know what it is, but I expect something dark. You will probably have more luck." She said, running from one bed side to another.
Potter was in a sorry state; his skin was ice cold and covered in perspiration that had mixed with the grime of his captivity. His eyes were open yet he wasn't seeing anything; he seemed to be paralyzed with fear.
Snape muttered a couple detecting charms before cursing. There wasn't enough of the poison to actually kill the young Potter but from the looks of his scans it was damaging some vital organs; easily repairable if the venom was removed soon. The professor deliberated his options for a moment before conjuring a vial and making a start on healing his sister's son. He pressed the tip of his wand above the boy's heart and chanted an incantation.
Harry began thrashing as the dark liquid slowly filtered out of his skin like sweat. The fine black mist emanating from his body floated into the phial the Potions' Professor was holding. Potter's body jerked for a final time as his blood cleared of all traces of the poison.
Alerion let out a shallow scream from behind them, as his wing was pulled into the right position by the small nurse before being healed with magic. The pain had reached him through his unconsciousness, which made the sympathetic woman let out a tiny weep that she soon covered up.
Poppy shooed Potter's healer away from his body and began making preparations for the necessary healing. His mind would need time but his insides needed a lot of attention. Snape swiftly made his way back over to his godson and scanned his unmoving body for any trace of magic that would change Draco's behaviour, but he couldn't find anything; which was strange as he had been sure that the Imperious Curse would have been the only reason Draco attacked so ferociously. His Godfather tried again, this time he found the cause, the poison. The exact same poison that had been used on Potter.
In Harry, the toxin had a general attack range being any and all organs; but in Draco, the damage seemed concentrated on his brain. Severus continued his observations well into the night, aware that prolonged exposure could cause permanent damage.
The older man started his attempt at healing Draco; aware that any slip-up could cause irreparable damage that would, either, paralyse or kill him. Snape slowly began drawing the black substance from his temple, taking it slower than he would have usually. His body shuddered as the poison leaked out of his pores. His back arched off the bed as the last of the toxin left his body, giving a shuddering sigh of relief as his body relaxed back into unconsciousness.
Snape muttered a quick few spells, attempting to see if there was any lasting damage. Thankfully, he didn't see anything out of the ordinary, except for some easily repaired hairline cracks in Draco's legs. The Infirmary doors opened behind him and hit the walls with a force that should have cracked the stone.
"Where is he?" Ron yelled, "Where is Andy? I could feel his pain. Is he ok?"
"Mr Weasley, if I were you I'd take a deep breath before you pass out. He is fine. Poppy has fixed his wrist, he is okay. Alerion, however, remains to be seen."
The redhead perched on his mate's bed and began stroking Andy's cheek.
"What happened to them?"
"Draco did," Ron let out a gasp, "Before you get any ideas, it wasn't his fault and I will explain later why, when everyone is here. Just relax 'til then."
Severus was surprised to find that his directions were taken without complaint; he was expecting some sort of demand. He turned to look at the youngest male Weasley and found him to be curled around his mate, snoring softly. A bolt of jealousy shot through the elder man which he quickly dismissed.
Almost an hour later and Neville and Luna burst their way into the quiet room, Ginny, Orion and Sophia in tow. The latter scowled as she entered.
"Hermione coming?"
"No we didn't tell her." Ginny muttered, clearly thinking that that decision was a bad one.
Snape glared at the group for their reckless choice, "Now that you are all here, you'll have to wait for the twins to have a check up, they've had quite the ordeal. If Draco wakes up and realises that she isn't here and he has a bad reaction, I'm blaming you."
Once Alerion and Andy had been given the A-ok, Snape started his explanation.
"Draco was poisoned by his father earlier, it's a poison I have seen used a lot by Malfoy Senior; usually it dissolves all your internal organs slowly so that you die slowly and painfully. Draco however was given a month's worth of the potion, which was one of the reasons he reacted so violently. However, it appears to not work in the same way on Angels; it attacks our brains. I believe, primarily, the hypothalamus, which gives us uncontrollable mood swings. We don't deal with fear very well; we, as a species, tend to resort to anger as a defence mechanism. When he couldn't get into his home and everyone deserted him, his fear turned into anger. He is probably aware that he is slowly dying as well so that probably didn't help. With the amount he consumed, I am surprised he is still breathing, a lesser man would not have been. I think that the time in which he had been exposed made it more potent and that's why he was fine when he arrived but feral when he tried to kill the twins."
"He tried to kill them?"
"The poison made him lash out and they were unfortunately the ones to receive his wrath. He'll be back to normal when he wakes up."
"Will he remember?"
"More than likely. You'll probably find out soon."
Everyone waited around Draco's bed, except Hermione, in silence waiting for his eyes to open.
Draco flinched as a hand gripped his shoulder and started growling. Orion soon removed his hand from his person looking a little hurt at the reaction. Sophia shuffled awkwardly behind her mate before grumbling and tearing through the Infirmary doors. The Tucks rolled their eyes at her immaturity and sat down on the bed beside their friend.
"Sorry for trying to kill you both and I am so sorry I broke your wing. I can't imagine the pain I must have put you through." The bed-ridden boy whispered as he stared at the ceiling.
Alerion flinched but smiled softly, "Don't worry about it. I know you didn't mean to; whatever Malfoy poisoned you and Potter with has adverse reactions with Angel blood, hence your murderous rage. Though, this wouldn't have happened if you had told Poppy that you'd been poisoned in the first place. What were you thinking?"
"What was I thinking? I was thinking that I didn't have long left to live and the last thing I did was save Potter from the clutches of a madman. I wasn't going to have that go to waste by you all coming to kill him for something he didn't do. So I went to the house but the doorway was not there, I couldn't get in. I waited hours for one of you to hear me clawing where the door should have been or someone to come and find me. And you didn't. After everything you couldn't bring yourselves to look for me. I went to the highest point I could climb to before I collapsed. I was in so much pain and I was alone. There was so much rage building up inside of me from when I was with Lucius and from being deserted like that and I knew I had to get it out somehow before it consumed me. I was thinking that no one would care if I did just disappear without a trace."
"Don't..." Alerion said, only to be smothered by a louder voice.
"You are really screwed in the head, you know that? How do you even know that Potter is telling the truth? Your mate was attacked and is scarred by it, yet you willingly push that bastard back into her life. She hasn't spoken to any of us. She doesn't even know that you tried to kill some of her best friends. You aren't worthy of her." Orion snarled, scorn visible in his eyes.
Draco recoiled away from his half-brother, the torturous words tearing through his heart.
"I know. She deserves better, I've only brought her pain. But if you kill Potter and I turn out to actually be trustworthy, then it will hurt her a-hell-of-a-lot more, knowing that you had the truth and you ignored it anyway." He replied faintly.
"How can you be so sure that it wasn't him?!"
The boy on the bed flinched at the power in his friend's voice, "Because it was Lucius Malfoy."
"What?" Orion froze, his anger dissipating in shock.
"It was my father."
His anger returned, "You stay away from her!..."
"Orion stop!" Andy choked out.
"...If I see you around her I will kill you. You brought this on her."
"Get the fuck out Black." Alerion snarled.
Orion's face contorted in rage and he ran out the Infirmary unaware that all the items in the room quivered in his wake.
"No," Draco whispered, "He can't do this. Please don't let him do this. I can't..."
His breathing turned erratic as he fought with the covers on his bed. Draco wrenched them off, not realising that he knocked the twins off as well, as he slid out of his confinement. His feet touched the floor and his legs crumpled underneath him. He pressed a hand to his chest, feeling his heartbeat, as he scrambled to escape. Luna crouched down next to him and rubbed his shoulder in comfort.
The panicked Angel gasped at the contact and retreated to the corner, his cheeks flushed as he struggled to breathe.
"Please...I can't do this...This can't be real...How can he do this to me..."
His eyes were filled with fear as he hyperventilated.
"Whoa there Draco. You are going to be fine, don't worry. We trust you. It's not your fault. Just breathe." Andy said softly, making sure not to startle the boy.
Draco clawed at the floor with free hand, trying to push himself as far into the wall as humanly possible, as he turned his gaze on the potential threats inching their way closer.
"I can't..." He whispered as his eyes flickered shut and he slid down the wall, succumbing to the inevitable darkness.
