Chapter 4 - Scratching the surface
As Draco woke the next morning and sat up, he realised that the sting in his backside already had vanished. His father was not the same last evening while dishing out Draco's punishment. Draco got the impression that his dad wasn't as convinced about the effectiveness of spankings as he was before. Of course Draco didn't complain. His bottom had still hurt enough but now the pain was gone completely.
Sighing he stood up. He wondered how Harry was doing; if he was up already or if he was still asleep. After some considerations he walked to his cosy corner, picked Mr. Paw up and then sneaked out of his room into Harry's. The black haired boy was rolled up into a tiny ball breathing deeply.
Draco watched his brother while he slept and then placed Mr. Paw next to Harry's head. Harry stirred a little but he didn't wake up and so Draco stepped back and slowly he left the room again but not before he noted that Harry's room was relatively empty compared to his own room.
-oxo-
As Harry woke up his eyes fell onto the white cat. "Mr. Paw?" Harry wondered, "What are you doing here?"
Cuddling the soft stuffed cat to his chest the boy smiled happily. "I'm not sure if you are supposed to be here. Maybe Dobby misplaced you, believing you belong to me?"
Sighing Harry sat the animal down again and slowly slid to the end of the bed. Before his feet touched the floor his gaze was caught by the book on his bedside table. 'The Hobbit' "Oh, look, Mr. Paw. Severus forgot his book." With a small smile Harry carefully took the book in his hands and stroked over the cover. Devoutly he opened the book and found a short message in an unknown handwriting.
Dear Sev,
For your eleventh birthday I wish you all the best.
I hope you will like this book. I still have to read it.
Maybe we could read it together?
With love,
your Lily
"Mum," Harry whispered to himself and stroked a finger over Lily's signature.
-oxo-
After breakfast Lucius asked Harry to follow him to the study. Harry gulped nervously but stood and followed.
"As I told you yesterday I will show you some exercises to improve your penmanship," with that Lucius pulled out a parchment with different lines and dots on it. It reminded Harry on his time in preschool.
"Do you know how this works?" Lucius asked.
"Yes, Sir."
Lucius sighed at Harry's formal tone. "Harry, I already told you not to Sir me. You are not in trouble with me. I want to help you. Next I will show you how to prepare your quill for writing."
At this Harry arched his eyebrows "Prepare?" he wondered.
"Yes, of course. It is very important. Every hand is different and the standard tip on your quill when you buy it doesn't suit most of the people. A sloppy handwriting can be caused by an unsuitable tip. Unfortunately more and more people forget about the importance of a correct quill tip."
At this Lucius pulled out a new unused quill and showed Harry what he had to do, before he can write properly with it. This was completely new for the boy. Nobody ever told him that he would have to do this.
As Harry finally started with the exercises, Lucius stopped the boy again. "You should not grip the quill so hard. It's not necessary and will cause you pain when you have to write for a long time. Watch me, hold your quill like this."
Harry looked at Lucius and tried to copy him but he couldn't do it. He hung his head and tried to hold back the tears which already pooled in his eyes.
"Harry?" Lucius frowned, "What is the matter?"
"I cannot do this. It... it... hurts," he whispered.
"What is hurting you? Your hand?," Lucius wanted to know and as Harry nodded he asked, "Give me your hand, please."
Slowly Harry complied. The man took the boy's hand carefully into his own and then pushed and pressed Harry's wrist and palm.
"Ouch," Harry hissed and pulled his hand back.
"I'm sorry. It wasn't my intention to hurt you. I fear I have to contact my healer to have a look at your hand," Lucius said and stood up. "Please go to your room. I will be there in a minute."
"What about the exercises?" Harry asked in a small voice.
"They have to wait. Your health is more important. Come on Harry. There is no need to look so worried. The healer is nice, you will like him," Lucius tried to reassure the boy.
-oxo-
Nervously Harry sat on his bed and hugged Mr. Paw. He knew he had to give the stuffed cat back to Draco but right now he felt the need to hug the soft white cat. He didn't know why he felt so small and so afraid.
"Hi, Harry," Draco entered the room and smiled as he saw Harry hugging Mr. Paw for dear life.
"Draco," Harry was surprised and then looked horrified. "I'm... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... to steal. I don't know how he got into my room, I know it's yours, I didn't-"
"Harry, breathe!" Draco interrupted Harry's rambling. "It's okay. I brought Mr. Paw to you this morning. I want you to have him," Draco explained as soon as he understood what Harry was on about.
Harry looked bemused. "I don't understand."
Draco sighed. "I have enough other stuffed animals and you seemed to like Mr. Paw the other day. So I decided to give him to you."
"You...?"
"Yes. He belongs to you now," Draco said and smiled at Harry.
Harry wanted to say 'thank you' but his emotions got the better of him and so he hugged Mr. Paw tighter while tears streamed down his cheeks.
"What is going on?" Lucius asked as he entered the room and found Draco next to a crying Harry.
"Nothing, Dad. I just gave Mr. Paw to Harry and then he started to cry," Draco explained nervously.
"That was very nice of you. I'm sure Harry likes your gift," Lucius said.
"But why is he crying?" Draco wondered.
"I don't know. I fear he has problems coping with all the sudden changes in his life. We need to give him time to adjust. Mr. Paw will be a great help for Harry. It was a good idea to give him the cat."
At that Draco smiled and gave his father a hug. Lucius smiled back and patted his son's back. "Could you please go to the library and wait for the healer and then show him the way to Harry's room?" Lucius asked.
"The healer? What is wrong with Harry?" now Draco was worried.
"Harry's hand is hurting him and I want to know why," Lucius explained and finally Draco nodded and went out of the room.
As soon as Draco left, Lucius sat down next to Harry and pulled the boy into a hug. He smiled as he felt Harry leaning into the touch instead of going stiff.
"I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me," Harry whispered.
"It's okay, Harry. No need to apologise."
"I have nothing I can give Draco in exchange for Mr. Paw," the boy said in a sad voice.
Lucius stroke through Harry's hair. "I don't think Draco expect something in return. He just wanted to give you the cat."
"But why?" Harry asked not understanding the act of friendship towards him.
"You will have to ask him, Harry," Lucius said.
"Dad?" Draco's voice interrupted, "Healer Greg is here."
"Oh yes. Greg, come in," Lucius said and wanted to stand up to greet the healer only to find two small hands holding on to him. As Lucius turned towards Harry, fearful eyes looked up at him.
"Who is my patient today? You, Mr. Malfoy?" Greg asked jokingly with a big toothy smile.
"No. Not me but Harry here. He told me of some pain in his right hand and I'm a bit concerned about his weight, too. Maybe you can do a full medical," Lucius said.
"No problem at all," Greg said and eyed the frightened child. "So... you are Harry?" he asked in a friendly voice.
Harry gave a short nod. He was not able to say anything.
"Well, I'm Greg Jason. I'm the family healer of the Malfoys. It's nice to meet you, Harry," Greg introduced himself and offered his hand to the black haired boy. Cautiously Harry took the hand.
"I need you to lie down on your back for the scan. Can you do that for me?" Greg asked and Harry nodded. Lucius stood up and then left with Draco the room to give Harry some privacy. He didn't notice the panicky look on Harry's face.
"I promise, there is nothing to fear from me," Greg tried to reassure the child. "It is easier for me to scan you, if nobody else is in the room. It's just for a bit. Mr. Malfoy will be back as soon as I'm done. In fact, I'm sure he will pace nervously in front of your room just waiting to be able to get back in."
Harry still looked uncertain and so Greg pulled out his wand and made Harry's wall transparent from the inside. Sure enough there was Lucius with a worried face waiting in front of Harry's door. Draco leaned next to his father on the wall. His arms crossed and a thoughtful frown on his face.
"You see? You must be very important to them," Greg whispered.
Harry was indeed surprised. This was completely new to him. The Dursleys always locked him away, whenever he was ill or hurt in any form. They never wanted to deal with Harry if he had problems. Harry hugged Mr. Paw again and a very small smile flitted over his face.
"Okay," Greg said and cancelled the spell again. "Now let's see what's wrong with your hand. Just lay back and relax. I will not hurt you with the scan. It may tickle a bit but nothing more. Your cat may remain at your side but your arms should lay still for a moment. Ready?" Greg asked and placed Mr. Paw next to Harry's shoulder, where the boy could still see him.
Harry gave a short nod and then closed his eyes in fear. Greg sighed but got to work. It was obvious that the boy in front of him had more problems than just an injured hand. Only the scan can bring some light into the situation. A parchment popped into existence and started to write down all injuries and illnesses Harry ever had.
Greg frown deepened with every minute the scan went on. Normally the scan didn't take so long and this parchment was without any doubt the longest scan document he had ever seen. As the scan finally ended the healer was shocked. There were several wrong healed bones, like the one in Harry's hand which probably was the reason for the pain. The child was underweight and malnourished.
"It's over. You can open your eyes again," Greg finally said in a soft voice.
Slowly Harry complied looking a bit lost.
"How are you feeling?" Greg asked.
"Tired," Harry mumbled and closed his eyes again.
Greg frowned again and then placed a hand onto the boy's forehead. The boy leaned into the touch obviously unaware of who was touching him.
"I promise, soon you will feel better. If you are tired then sleep, child," with these words the boy took a deep breath and fell asleep in the next moment.
Greg stood up, took the parchment and then went out of the room to meet Lucius. There was a lot he wanted to know about the child in the bed. Whoever had been responsible for this child need to be brought to trial.
-oxo-
Draco watched the adults heading to the library and pondered what to do. He also wanted to know how Harry was, on the other hand, he wanted to see his little brother. Finally he turned away from the adults and entered Harry's room. The black haired boy on the bed looked peacefully asleep. Draco took the seat the healer had pulled over to Harry's bed and sat down. He took Mr. Paw and placed the stuffed cat on Harry's chest.
Harry sighed in his sleep and his arms slowly encircled the cat. Then he curled up and turned on his side, with Mr. Paw securely clutched in his arms. Draco smiled and stroked a loose strand of hair out of Harry's face.
"Hi Bro," Draco whispered trying is best not to wake up the other boy while he found the need to speak, "Healer Greg didn't look very happy as he came out of your room. Guess you are not feeling all too well. I really hope it has nothing to do with me. I mean I know I was horrible to you but... I don't know... I have the feeling there is something more, you haven't told us. Am I right? I really want to know what Healer Greg and Dad are talking about but somehow I don't want to leave you alone. You look so small and vulnerable when you sleep."
Draco pulled his feet up and hugged his knees. "You know, I cannot understand why I never noticed how small you are. I should have been fighting more for our friendship. I shouldn't have been jealous of Weasley. I was so stupid. I still try to imagine how our first year would have been, if you would have been sorted into Slytherin instead of Gryffindor. Maybe you can be resorted? That is... I don't know if you would want that. You have your friends in Gryffindor of course."
Draco sat at Harry's side for nearly an hour before his dad silently made his way into the room, too. He looked at Draco enquiringly but the boy just shrugged his shoulders.
Lucius conjured a second chair to sit on. "What are you doing, Draco?"
"I don't know. I just cannot leave him alone. I talked a bit but he seems to sleep very deeply. Did Greg give him something that made him sleepy?" Draco asked.
"No, but he told me Harry is sleep-deprived and now he is catching up," Lucius explained.
Draco studied Harry's face with a frown, "What else did Healer Greg tell you?"
Lucius closed his eyes and shook his head, not sure what he should tell his son. There was so much, that wasn't right with Harry. "Harry will need time to heal. It's good he is with us now. Severus can brew potions to help with Harry's healing process."
"Dad, how bad is it?" Draco asked with a serious voice.
"Bad."
"Please, Dad. Tell me. Maybe I can help?" Draco pleaded.
At that Lucius smiled. He cannot say how relieved he was that Draco didn't see Harry as an enemy anymore. "As it seems his relatives abused and neglected him badly. There are several bones that need to be corrected. There are many scars, all over his body and he will need to take potions to help him gain some weight. Right now it is dangerously low."
"I don't understand why nobody in Hogwarts noticed something. Uncle Severus normally detects abused children," Draco said in a sad voice.
"Severus wasn't looking all too closely at Harry. Harry's father and Severus didn't get along very well. And Harry's eyes reminded Severus painfully about what he had lost as Harry's mother had died."
Draco shook his head in disbelief, "But what about his head of house? Or Madam Pomfrey. Harry was in the infirmary quite often. Why didn't she notice anything?"
"I don't know, my Dragon. I don't know. He was with us for a week and we didn't notice anything either. He seems to be good at hiding his true self."
-oxo-
"Lucius, what can I do for you?" Severus asked as his friend called him via floo.
"I have a list of potions that I need," Lucius said and pushed a parchment through the green flames, "Do you think you will have time to brew them?"
"These are all medical potions. They aren't all for Harry, are they?" Severus asked with a raised eyebrow.
"They are. Healer Greg will come tomorrow and wants to correct Harry's bones. He will have to re-break at least three of them. The smaller fractures, he said, should be able to heal with the Skelegrow potion. The nutrient potion he will need to take twice a day at least for a week, and then once a day for a minimum of a month. Greg also advices us to brew an eyesight-correction potion and then we should see to an oculist. About the scar balm Greg said he isn't sure if it will work. There are a lot of scars that are older than five years."
"Broken bones and scars? What have they done to the boy?" Severus asked shocked.
"It's horrible, you should have seen the scan protocol. Without his magic, there is a great possibility that Harry wouldn't be alive anymore."
Severus shook his head in disbelief, once more asking himself, why he didn't notice anything before. "I will have the potions ready tomorrow and then bring them to you."
"Thank you, Severus."
"No problem at all."
-oxo-
Harry woke up again at lunchtime but his appetite wasn't the best. He felt strange. As if he would be weak and helpless. He never was weak before. He never had allowed himself to be weak. He wasn't used to people around him that are concerned about his well being. Nothing was like he was used to. It was nice to have adults looking out for him but Harry didn't know how to deal with it. Can he really trust Lucius, Draco and Severus completely?
"Harry? Aren't you hungry?" Lucius asked as Harry just sat there and stared at his plate without eating anything.
"Oh. Erm... I'm sorry, I was just lost in my thoughts," Harry said and shoveled a fork loaded with potatoes into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed but it tasted like nothing. He sighed inwardly. He wasn't hungry in the least but he didn't like the worried faces of the others, therefore he continued eating until his stomach protested. He felt the heat rising in his face and his fork clattered down onto the table. "Sorry," he whispered before he jumped up and fled the room.
Draco wanted to follow Harry but Lucius put a hand on the boy's arm and stopped him. "Please finish your lunch, I will see after Harry."
Harry ran back to his room and into his bathroom and then vomited the little he had eaten out again. He felt horrible, his throat burned and he felt the urge to cry.
Lucius found the boy bent over the toilet. He took a small towel and wet it a bit. "Come here," he whispered and as the boy looked up he wiped Harry's face. Immediately the tears, Harry had tried to hold back, rolled down his cheeks.
"What's wrong with me?" Harry asked feeling so damn helpless.
"Nothing," Lucius answered and wrapped his arms around the child. "Nothing that can't heal with time."
"Everything is so confusing," Harry whispered.
"I know. You will need to give yourself time to adjust. I have to ask something of you, though."
Harry looked up questioningly.
"Please, never lie to me. If you are not hungry, then say so. I do not have to like it but I need to know," Lucius said in a soft voice but his eyes held a serious look.
"I'm sorry," Harry choked out, while new tears streamed down.
"Shhhh. It's okay," Lucius said and carefully wiped Harry's tears away. Then he tightened his arm around the boy while with his other hand he pulled Harry's head carefully against his chest.
So they stood for a few minutes absolutely motionless. Harry started to feel better. He felt safe and protected. Was it really so bad to be weak, when there was someone this strong to hold you? He asked himself. This was something Harry had never experienced before.
"I am afraid," Harry finally explained in a low voice.
Lucius caught his breath? Afraid? Was the boy still afraid of him? "Afraid of what?" he asked carefully.
"Of losing this new feeling of being cared about," Harry whispered.
Inwardly Lucius sighed. This feeling shouldn't be new to a twelve year old. "You will not lose that, I promise. I will be here for you as long as you need me, like I'm here for Draco. You are my son now and you don't have to be strong all the time. Now you can be a child like every other child your age. Sometimes I will make decisions you will not like but rest assured, I will always act in your best interests. I want you to become a well-behaved and respected young gentleman."
Harry snuggled against the warm body sighing in relief.
Lucius stroked through Harry's hair giving Harry a few more minutes until he spoke up again. "What about we go back to Draco and reassure him that you are okay?"
Harry nodded and then stepped back, a small smile graced his lips. Lucius smiled back and then placed his arm around the boy's shoulder and lead him back to the dining room.
Draco sat with his shoulders slumped and a lost look on his face at the big table. Lucius noticed that his other son hadn't eaten much either. Normally he expected Draco to eat up but today he could understand Draco's loss of appetite.
"Draco, come and join us in the living room. I have to discuss something with both of you," Lucius said.
The blond haired boy looked up surprised. Draco thought his father would insist upon him to eat up, like he always did but he was glad, that he wasn't forced today. He was so worried about Harry that he couldn't eat a single bite since his brother had fled the room.
As Draco stepped to his father, Lucius laid his other arm around Draco's shoulder and in a threesome the walked to the living room.
Lucius smiled as the boy's huddled together on the sofa and then took the seat opposite of his boys.
"What do you want to discuss with us?" Draco asked finally.
Lucius looked from one boy to the other and then said. "I want to set a mark that Harry really belongs to us now. I want to adopt you, Harry, by blood and magic. What do you think about that?"
By blood and magic? Harry wondered. Was that more than just the paper saying that he was a Malfoy? "What does that mean?"
"It would fuse us together in any possible way. I'm not sure if you would want that. There is no way back then. You would be tied to me like Draco is because I'm his biological father. You would have to exchange your independence to the stability and protection of our family. It wouldn't be just a name on the paper. You would become a real Malfoy."
"I would love you becoming my real brother," Draco pointed out with a smile to make sure Harry knew his opinion of this.
"I don't expect an answer immediately. Think about it. Sleep on it. Ask your questions whenever they pop into your mind and tell me your answer if you are completely sure about it. Take all the time you need. It is also okay if you don't want it right now but in a year, or even later. In my heart you already belong to us. It is up to you what you make of it."
Once again Harry felt overextended and unable to say a single word.
"Severus will come over tomorrow. You can talk with him, if you want," Lucius suggested.
Finally Harry nodded.
-oxo-
Draco and Harry spent the afternoon together. Draco was happy that he finished the essay for his father and now had time for his brother. He wished he could go flying with Harry but his father forbid it because of Harry's dangerously low weight.
Therefore Draco showed Harry around the Malfoy estate. Harry hadn't had much time till now to explore the grounds. There was a large flower garden with a beautiful fountain. Some white peacocks were running around looking sceptically at the boys.
As the boys sat on one of the benches to watch the fountain Harry dared a question that was burning inside of him for a while now. "What happened to your mother?"
Draco bit his lip and frowned. Harry was about to take the question back but Draco held up his hand, "No. No. You have every right to ask that. Truth to be told, I'm not sure. Dad told me that she is dead but... I don't know. There is something he isn't telling me. Probably because he wants to protect me from an awful truth. You saw her portrait in living room? It is not moving. Dad said he spelled it motionless but what if she is still alive?"
"Do you remember her?" Harry whispered.
"Not really. I was a year old when she vanished," Draco said with a sigh.
Harry looked sad. "I'm sorry."
"What for? You lost both of your parents. I still have my dad."
"Still. It's so horrible that a single man had the power to destroy so much."
"He didn't destroy you," Draco pointed out and smiled.
"When he comes back one day, he will hunt me down," Harry said with a shudder.
Draco frowned "You will be a strong man when that happens and I will stand by you to protect you."
A horrifying thought struck Harry at that. "What if he will kill you too, like he did with my parents? I don't think I can survive that."
"Why do you think so much about this bastard? He wont be back for a very long time," Draco tried to lighten the mood again but it wasn't working.
Harry shook his head while he said, "You cannot be sure of that. I saw him, I even talked to him. He is near. I don't believe it will take him much longer to come back again. He nearly managed it last term. Just think what would have happened, if the Philosopher Stone would have fallen into his hands."
Draco stared at Harry with big eyes. He hadn't known much about Harry's adventure last school term and he hadn't been aware that Harry had been having an encounter with the Dark Lord himself.
"How can you sleep at night?" Draco wondered aloud.
"How do you think I sleep? Often I wake up from a nightmare and cannot fall back to sleep because I know these pictures would haunt me again. Sometimes I wish I never would have learned that I am a wizard but that would also mean I would still be living with the Dursleys. So, I guess that's the price for my freedom."
Draco shook his head wondering how Harry could live with all the horrible things in his life.
"When you were falling asleep in my room a few days ago you hadn't been having a nightmare, had you?"
"No. It's a lot better now," Harry said.
"But you had some lately?" Draco wanted to know.
Harry frowned and looked away. He didn't want to make Draco feel bad. The first week he had spent here was horrible. Both day and night.
"I'm so sorry," Draco said making his own conclusions.
"It's okay," Harry whispered. "You didn't know me then."
"It will never be okay to me but I cannot undo things that had already happened. I'm here for you now," Draco pointed out.
Harry smiled again, "And that's all that matters."
-oxo-
After dinner Harry went to his room. He pulled out his quills and then started to cut a new tip the way Lucius had shown him in the morning. After that, he wrote some lines to see if it was better, and it was. Harry grinned. Why nobody ever told him how to prepare a quill was beyond him.
While he worked on his other quills Lucius knocked on the door.
"Come in," Harry said without looking up.
"What are you doing?" Lucius asked as he entered and then walked over to the child.
"I'm preparing my quills," Harry answered with a small smile.
"Oh? How is it working?" Lucius asked surprised.
"Much better, thank you for showing me," the boy said happily.
Lucius smiled back "I'm glad you appreciate my advice. How is your hand?"
"I don't know. I'm used to the pain. I never thought much about it," Harry admitted. The Dursleys wouldn't have listened to his complaints about a hurting hand and so Harry had learned to live with it.
Lucius conjured up a chair and sat down next to the boy. Taking Harry's hand into his he said. "You shouldn't be used to any pain but I know I can't change that. I hope in the future you will come to me, if you are hurt. Tomorrow Greg will come and correct your ill-healed bones. It will be painful but after that, you should be free of pain."
Harry gulped and looked down.
"What is it, Harry?" Lucius asked immediately.
"I'm afraid of this re-breaking thing," Harry admitted.
"I know, but it is necessary. The pain you constantly feel will only get worse the older you get, if we don't do something against that now. It will be an uncomfortable morning but it will last for a maximum of six hours and then it is over. Your hand will stop giving you troubles, you will be able to take a deep breath without a stabbing pain in your chest and you can learn how to dance to impress the girls, without a hurting knee."
Harry sighed. "That sounds nice," he agreed and then a thought struck him and he looked up with an excited face, "I could start drawing. I always wanted to do that but I couldn't hold a pencil long enough, it got unbearable."
Lucius smiled, trying his best to hide the sadness he felt at this statement. "I promise I will stay with you tomorrow the whole time. You don't have to go through the ordeal alone."
Once again tears glistered in Harry's eyes but they didn't fall this time. "Thank you," Harry said and then leant forwards and wrapped his arms around Lucius. It was the first time Harry sought comfort from the other man on his own accord. Lucius couldn't be more happy. He hugged Harry back and pressed his cheek against the black hair of the boy.
-oxo-
After Lucius told Harry to be ready for bed in half an hour, he went to see his other son. Draco sat on the windowsill of his room staring into the setting sun.
"Hello, my Dragon. How are you?" he asked after he was told to come in.
"Hi, Dad. I don't know," Draco answered while shrugging one shoulder. "Harry asked about Mother this afternoon."
Lucius stiffened at that. He had hoped Harry would talk with Severus or himself about that. It didn't cross his mind that Harry would ask Draco about Narcissa. He walked over to his son and placed his hand over Draco's. "Are you okay?" he asked in a soft voice.
"Yes. Of course. I'm worried about Harry though," Draco confessed and leant his head against his father's shoulder.
"What exactly are you worried about?" Lucius wanted to know.
Draco frowned while he said, "His life seemed to be so bleak."
"I agree that Harry's life wasn't easy but what make you call it bleak?"
"Did you know he met the Dark Lord last school year?"
Once again Lucius froze. "He. What?"
Draco turned around to look at his father. "You know about Professor Quirrell. He acted strange last year. It turned out he shared his body with the Dark Lord, who wanted to steal the Philosopher's Stone. Harry and his friends tried to stop him and Harry ended up face to face with that monster. Harry believes that it will not take long until the Dark Lord comes back and he is afraid that he will lose us to the monster like he lost his parents. He even has nightmares about him. I mean, weren't his relatives bad enough? Does he have to worry about the Dark Lord, too?"
Lucius sighed as he realised that he had just had scratched the surface of Harry's problems till now. He still didn't know what exactly the boy went through at the Dursleys but as it seems they are not Harry's only problem.
"Thank you for telling me, Draco. It may be that Harry opens up to you easier. If you are overwhelmed with some of his topics, please do come to me."
Draco nodded and after that silence stretched through the room. Finally the boy asked, "Dad?"
"Hmm?"
"Will you tell me about Mum when Harry gets better," Draco asked and then hold his breath.
Lucius frowned, "What do you want to know?"
"What really happened to her and if you think she is still alive. I know you didn't spell the portrait in the living room."
"Oh, Draco. Do you really need to know?" Lucius asked with pain in his voice. He hadn't been aware that Draco figured out the unmoving portrait.
"Not right now, Dad, but yes. I want to know the truth," Draco said and locked eyes with his father.
"Of course, I will tell you. It's your right to know," Lucius found himself saying.
"Thank you, Dad." Draco said and then leant his head back against his father's shoulder and watched the colourful sky darken.
"Dad?"
"Yes?"
"Are you going to spank me today?" Draco asked in a small voice.
Lucius grimaced, "Do I have to? I know I promised you four spankings but there has been so much that has happened since then and you've changed a lot. I really don't see any reason to go on with your punishment. You even gave Mr. Paw to Harry. You loved that cat."
"You don't have to do it, Dad. I have learned enough about Harry to know I will never ever do that to him again. And about Mr. Paw... Yes I liked that cat a lot but since I got Drago I didn't spend enough time with Mr. Paw. Harry will take better care of him. Mr. Paw earned a better place than being number two. Harry has so little. There is no single toy in his room."
"We will have to change that, won't we?" Lucius asked.
"I love you, Dad."
"And I love you. Come here," Lucius said and picked Draco up. Draco squeaked in delight, as his father spun him around and then deposited him on his bed.
"It's bedtime, young man."
"But I still need to brush my teeth," Draco argued.
"Then see to it. I will check on Harry and then tuck you in, so be ready by then," Lucius said and left.
Harry was already in his bed, hugging Mr. Paw to his chest and a small smile on his face. His eyes were closed and he didn't react as Lucius entered, so the man assumed he was asleep.
Lucius watched the sleeping boy for a while, then he bent down and kissed Harry's forehead. "Sleep well, my Phoenix," he whispered, then turned off the light and left the room.
Harry's smile grew and he sighed deeply. Turning around he fell asleep for real.
Draco was ready as his dad re-entered. "How is my brother?" the boy wanted to know.
"Asleep," Lucius answered.
Draco nodded to himself. Then he picked up his stuffed dragon and hugged the green animal in a similar manner as Harry. Lucius smiled at that sight. His boys were already acting like brothers.
"Good night, Dad," Draco said smiling.
"Good night, my Dragon," Lucius answered and kissed Draco's forehead.
"Daaad, I'm twelve," Draco pointed out.
"And? You will never be too old for a goodnight kiss from your father, will you?" Lucius replied and grinned.
Draco wiped his forehead dramatically with his sleeve but he grinned, too.