Losing Pain

Chapter Nineteen

"Draco! We're so happy you came!" Narcissa immediately hugged her son tightly the moment she found out it was him who rang the doorbell.

Draco stood there stiffly, allowing her to hug him. Usually he would return the gesture gladly, but now he wasn't in the mood for happy things. The last hug he had wasn't a happy one, and this one only reminded him of it.

"Come in." Draco's mother motioned him in. She took the bag from his hand and set it on top of a small table next to the door. Then she led him through the first door on their left.

It was the family's sitting room. Of course the manor had three separate sitting rooms, one for each floor, but the other two were rarely used. Lucius was calmly sitting in his usual armchair staring at the room's large fireplace that was constantly lit.

"Look who's here already, Lucius!" Narcissa exclaimed.

Lucius looked away from the fire and turned to his wife and son. "Hello, Draco. It's nice to see you again."

"And you, Father." Draco replied and curtly nodded his head.

"Sit! Sit!" Narcissa told her son and pushed him to a chair near Lucius. Then she left the two of them alone.

Draco sat. He didn't really notice what he was doing. He was only doing what was told of him with the amount of politeness he had been taught. His father though noticed everything that his son was doing.

"Draco, stop this depression right this instant." His father ordered him.

Draco slowly turned his head to look at Lucius with his blank face. "I am not depressed, Father." He said with a rather sullen voice. "I am merely waiting for Harry to come back home."

"You do not have to wait for him in this kind of state. If Harry found out, I could bet you that he wouldn't be very pleased."

Draco shrugged. "It's the only way I can be. Nothing else can make me happy until he returns."

"Meet up with some of your school friends. Blaise is probably worried that he hasn't heard from you." Lucius told him.

"He is perfectly fine." Draco replied. "Haven't you heard? He and Pansy just recently became engaged. They're having the wedding next summer in June I believe."

"You've been keeping in touch with your friends?"

Draco laughed, but it was empty of feeling. "They send me letters telling me what they are doing. I don't feel the need to reply. There's nothing I can tell them, and I cannot explain to them about Harry unless he tells me it is okay."

Lucius glared at his child. The boy was so stubborn and stupid. If he could just see the mess he was creating in himself, maybe he'd take the initiative to fix a bit of it. Lucius knew Harry wouldn't like the way Draco was acting, but no one could write a letter to the boy. Everyone knew sending such a letter would only make the teen worse.

"Draco, put some emotion in yourself." Lucius told his son. "It's sickening and childish to see a Malfoy act this way. You're pathetic." Fury flashed in Draco's eyes for a split second. Lucius noticed and knew he was getting somewhere so he continued. "Everything you're doing is making our name look bad. Malfoy's control other people. Our name has meaning in the wizarding world. You are putting it to shame."

This time, Draco was openly glaring at his father. "How?" He growled.

"You publicly display your unhappiness. Malfoy's are never unhappy. They can be unhappy, yes, but they show it through anger, not through vulnerability."

Draco stood and walked up to his still sitting father. He glared down at him and asked. "Like this?" All of the sudden, his fist connected with Lucius's jaw. There was a sound of glass shattering as Narcissa walked into the room and dropped the tray of full wine glasses that she had been carrying. Draco went to take another swing, but this time Lucius was prepared. He grabbed the fist headed towards him, stood up, and slightly twisted Draco's hand so it would emit pain up his arm. Lucius knew Draco could feel the pain, but he didn't quit twisting until the boy winced and collapsed to the ground in defeat.

"Lucius!" Narcissa gasped the moment Draco hit the ground. She left the broken glass on the floor and went to help her child, but Lucius held her back.

"No, let him recover by himself." Lucius told her softly.

The two watched as Draco slowly brought himself to his hands and knees. He stayed frozen that way for a few moments before he started to shudder uncontrollably. Soon, the familiar sound of sobbing filled the quiet room. Draco looked up at his parents, tears streaming down his face.

"I want him. I need him. His absence is killing me!" Draco finally confessed. His parents looked down at him with sympathetic expressions. They couldn't bear to have their son so hurt.

Lucius helped the blonde up and brought him into a hug which Narcissa soon joined. When they broke apart, Lucius held Draco by his shoulders, forcing the boy to look at him. "All three of us are going to visit him."

Draco shook his head violently. "No. Harry and I agreed that visiting him would only slow down his process of getting better."

Lucius slapped his son and glared at him. "Are you foolish, boy? Everyone needs to know that the people who care for them support them. That's what completes a recovery, not abandonment."

Draco, now holding a hand to his stinging cheek, bit his lip and looked at the ground, trying to fight back more tears. Somewhere deep inside him he knew that his father was right, but he just went along with Harry's idea because Harry always seemed to survive when he did it his own way.

***

Harry was lying on his bed, looking up at the blank ceiling when a nurse he learned was named Susan came in. "Harry, you have visitors." She said then immediately left.

He quickly sat up and walked out of his room. Who knew he was here except for Draco? They made sure to never tell any of their friends. Trying to figure out who it was, Harry walked down the hall to the front room. He stopped suddenly when he saw that it was Draco, Narcissa, and Lucius. Narcissa and Lucius had broad smiles on their faces when they saw him. Draco looked like he just wanted to run away and die.

"Harry!" Narcissa exclaimed before she walked up to him and squeezed him tightly. Harry wondered how she was always so chipper.

Lucius walked up to him next and shook his hand. Draco stayed behind, keeping his eyes on the floor. His parents didn't seem to notice their son's actions. Instead they started questioning him nonstop.

"How are you?"

"I hope everyone's been treating you nicely."

"Are you starting to get better?"

"When you can come home, we're going to have a huge dinner!"

Harry tried his best to listen and answer them, but his mind was focused on the one Malfoy who wasn't doing anything. Lucius was the first to notice. He placed a hand on Narcissa's arm to quiet her. Once the two were silent, Harry stepped up to the blonde.

"Draco, why are you here?" He asked, but no anger was heard in his voice.

Draco didn't look up, but answered. "We came you see you."

"I can see that, but I thought we agreed on no visiting and writing letters."

Draco still didn't look up, but nodded.

Suddenly, Harry hugged his Slytherin. Draco just stood there, confused at Harry's reaction. He had thought the boy would be angry. He thought he wouldn't want to speak to him for breaking their rules. But, instead, the boy seemed to be happier than ever.

"I missed you, Draco." Harry whispered in the blonde's ear.

Draco smiled and got his arms out of Harry's tight embrace to give Harry his own squeeze. "I missed you too, Harry. You don't know how bad it's been."

Harry laughed and pushed Draco back by his shoulders to get a good look at the boy. His clothes were all wrinkled and had a few small stains. His eyes held dark bags, and his hair looked like it couldn't be fixed. "I think I have a good idea."

Draco laughed too as he looked down at himself. "I can't help it. Being without you makes me forget everything I should do."

A/N: I hope you liked this chapter. I think it was one of my better ones. I have to give a special thanks to ams71080 for helping me on the subject of anorexia. Without her, this story probably wouldn't make sense. If you haven't noticed, I've changed the ending of chapter eighteen because of her information. As for the rest of you, thank you for reading!