Draco
Reaching Harry was going to be harder than Draco had previously thought. He knew it wouldn’t be easy but after seeing him…
Draco had gone back to his room after Harry shut the door on him. He had already eaten dinner with Luna so everyone else ate without him. He should’ve been getting ready for bed but he already knew that he wasn’t going to sleep tonight. He had tried to close his eyes but every time he did he saw Harry’s gaunt face. He looked nothing like Draco had thought he would. He looked panicked and the bags under his eyes and circles were so dark they almost looked black. He looked like he never slept, which was strange because Luna said that’s all he ever did.
His green eyes were dull and his black hair was shaggy, well past his ears, and in need of a good washing. His skin was so pale it looked almost translucent, he was basically skin and bones. Harry looked terrified and Draco hadn’t even done anything. He didn’t miss how badly Harry’s hand shook from just touching his wand.
Draco walked to his boxes that were still sealed on the floor. He might as well sort out a problem that could be solved. He opened the first box and looked inside. He had a lot of his textbooks from medical school, he even had a few from his Hogwarts years. His favorite was his Advanced Potion Making copy. Mostly because it reminded him of Severus, a heavy feeling settled in his heart, one he was uncomfortably familiar with.
He placed his books on the shelves by the window. The world outside was dark, but he didn’t want to close the drapes because he would feel suffocated. He liked seeing the moon shine through the smog and clouds. Harry had his drapes closed tightly, but during the day they were open, Draco saw the sunlight shining under the door earlier. He shook his head to get all thoughts of Harry out of his mind. He could worry about that later.
He didn’t know how to help him. Truthfully, one of the only reasons he became a mind healer was because he didn’t know how to help himself. After the war he was… he was really screwed up. He didn’t admit it lightly at first, he was so ashamed for not being able to handle things that everyone seemed to handle perfectly. He had nightmares every time he closed his eyes, and only slept a few hours every couple days. He actually went a full week without sleep once, then he collapsed on the floor and didn’t wake up for two days. Everywhere he looked in the manor he saw Voldemort, he couldn’t take it. He felt like he was on the verge of a total mental breakdown at any moment.
He had no future, no one would hire him so he left. It had been his mother’s idea. It killed her to send him away, but it was the best thing he had ever done. No one knew who he was, and if they did they didn’t mention it. The doctor at the children’s clinic, Remy Barbier, always treated him with respect and he helped Draco through school. He had also helped him through his trauma, it was a rough few years. The smallest things would set him off and he had no idea why. Dr Barbier was the kindest man Draco had ever met.
Draco turned away from the windows and back to his boxes. He pulled out a small black pouch, the items inside clinked together as he sat cross legged on the floor. He poured the contents out onto the floor and snorted when he saw them.
His ‘Potter Stinks’ button flashed brightly at him. He picked it up and ran a finger over the smooth surface, he was a rotten child but he still found the badge hilarious. He set it aside and looked at the other things. He had his Slytherin tie pin and prefect's badge and the ‘Weasley Is Our King’ pin. He couldn’t recall why he had kept the last one.
It didn’t matter though, he was glad he had it. He put all his pins back in the pouch and continued digging through the box. He decided he would call it his ‘box of trinkets’. He didn’t have much but it was like digging through his history.
He dug through the entire box until his life was laid out around him. The last thing in the box was a slender black stick with a silver piece on the top of it. He reached down and pulled it out. He grabbed his wand and waved it over the stick. It grew in size until he could make out all the little details of his father’s cane. The snake head had been removed from his wand and placed onto the cane permanently after he died.
Draco had idolized his father. He didn’t see through his whole facade until it was too late. In truth he was just terrified, his mother was too. Anything could have set Lucius off, they had a mental list of what to do and what not to do. And sometimes that was even a gamble. His father was a cruel man, even more so when Voldemort was in their home. If that’s what he could even call it, it was never home. Draco wasn’t even sure what a real home felt like. He shrunk the cane down with a promise in his heart to destroy it.
He placed his other things in the drawers of his desk. He had packed his quill, ink and paper in hopes he could keep in contact with Luna. He didn’t have an owl, his eagle owl had been killed by Voldemort just in case anyone got any ideas to contact anyone. He always used the post in France to contact people, he could probably do that. But it was complicated with the attacks, and people could read his letters, if he wasn’t careful he could lead anyone back to Grimmauld Place, and Harry.
With the floo disconnected he couldn’t make any fire calls, well he could, it just wouldn’t be legal and with everything going on he couldn’t afford that. He would just have to figure out how to get in touch with her. He would have to talk to Blaise and Pansy in the morning to see what their ideas were. He would also have to tell them all that Harry was the owner of the deteriorating house. That was not a conversation he was excited to have. He knew Blaise wouldn’t be a problem.
By the time the sun rose all of Draco’s things were put away. He showered and made his way to the parlor for breakfast, and an interesting conversation. Everyone was already around the table when he made his way into the bright room. There were two empty places, one for him and one for Harry. He looked briefly at the back doors. Just as he had seen from his window the back garden was a small forest and knowing the Black family anything could be in there.
He sat down with the other’s, Pansy eyed his long sleeve shirt, he pulled the sleeves further down towards his hands self consciously. He had taken to wearing long sleeves more often ever since he had been forced to take on the Dark Mark. Every day it faded more but it was still apparent on his pale skin.
Narcissa smiled softly at him. “Did you sleep well Draco?” She had dark circles under her eyes, the past few weeks had been hard on her.
“Yeah… great thanks.” He sighed.
“Come off it Draco,” Pansy drawled, “you look like hell.” She pointed her fork in his direction, egg yolk dripped off the fork onto the table cloth.
“Thanks Pans,” Draco mumbled while he picked at the toast on his plate. He knew he looked like rubbish, but she didn’t have to say it like that.
“She’s right, you know.” Blaise said calmly, “you haven’t been sleeping.”
“I’m fine,” Draco said firmly. The fact that Blaise had said something meant that he really did look like hell.
“Liar,” Pansy whispered.
Draco huffed and continued to pick at his food. He wasn’t hungry anymore. The only sounds around him were forks scraping around the plates and the occasional groan of the house. The food looked good, he felt bad for not eating anything, but not bad enough to eat. He kept glancing at the doorway as if expecting Harry to suddenly appear and sit with them. Draco needed to figure out how to get him to eat, if he didn’t he would be dead by the end of the year.
“Who are you looking for?” Pansy leaned over to look through the doorway, “you know, we still have no idea who this rubbish of a home belongs to.” Draco grimaced.
“Don’t talk like that, Pansy.” He said.
“Draco, do you know who the master of the house is?” Narcissa asked, she folded her hands in her lap giving him her full attention. Her green day robes matched the house perfectly.
“Yeah…” he said slowly.
“Well, who is it?” Pansy leaned forward, Blaise put his fork down and stared at him.
“It’s Harry… Potter.” He said quietly. He had nearly forgotten to say his last name, but then again, how many Harry’s did they know?
Pansy’s eyes went wide, Narcissa made a concerned noise and Blaise looked around the parlor.
“Merlin,” Blaise whispered, “does he really resemble this place?”
“It’s…” Draco hesitated, he rubbed his jaw and crossed his arms, “It’s pretty bad.”
They sat in silence as they took in the information. They all looked around the parlor, seeing it in a new light. He knew what they were thinking, he thought it himself. The “Golden Boy” had fallen and he had hit the ground hard.
“What happened?” Pansy asked.
“I’m not sure.” Draco mumbled. He knew that the amount of trauma that had been in Harry’s life was enough to make the strongest person go mad, but for some reason seeing Harry fall so far made everything seem more impossible than they were when he was standing.
“Can we help him?” Narcissa asked. Draco smiled softly at her, he had no idea how her heart had survived Lucius.
“Yeah, where’s Weasley and Granger? Those three used to be attached at the hip. A rather annoying bunch if I say so myself.” Pansy said through a mouth full of eggs.
“I’m sure we were just as annoying.” Draco scoffed.
“Not to that extent.” Blaise said, “don’t talk with your mouth full Pansy. The three of them were inseparable… So where are they?” Pansy made a face at Blaise but didn’t speak again.
Draco waved his hand making the parlor doors shut. “As far as I have been told, he has pushed everyone out of his life. Luna managed to stay in it somehow. But we all know that Ron and Hermione would not have given up easily.”
“First name basis now?” Pansy raised her eyebrows.
“Piss off Pans,” Blaise pointed his fork at her.
“Stop it, both of you,” Narcissa said. They both turned back to their food. “We can all agree that no one in Harry’s circle would give up on him. Especially Hermione, Ron and the rest of the Weasleys.”
“But why are you using first names now?” Blaise asked, still caught on the previous subject.
“I don’t see why not.” Draco answered as he continued to pick at his toast, he looked at his mom. “Luna has asked me to keep an eye on him. It seems like everyone else has attempted and failed to get through to him.”
“Am I right to assume that you have seen him?” Narcissa turned in her chair to face Draco head on.
“I saw him last night,” Draco considered what he should tell them. He knew his mother would want to hear everything and he would tell her everything, but he didn’t know how the other two would react. They all had had enough time to grow but old feelings may still be present.
“What… What did he look like?” Pansy asked hesitantly.
Draco trusted everyone in this room with his life, surely he could trust them enough to care about Harry. It was no secret about his weird ‘obsession’ with the boy in his Hogwarts years. Draco was still kind of embarrassed about that. The same ‘obsessed’ feeling had come back ever since he knew that Harry was in trouble, though he wasn’t sure that the feeling ever fully went away. He wouldn’t say he was obsessed, more like concerned to a great degree that wasn’t natural for someone he claimed to hate. And perhaps he did have a bit of a crush on Harry but that was years ago… well it used to be years ago.
“Draco?” Narcissa touched his arm, making him jump slightly. He cleared his throat.
“Yeah sorry… he looks… not great.” Draco felt his face heat slightly. He grabbed his teacup and took a long drink.
“How does ‘not great’ look?” Blaise asked, “because you look not great,” Draco sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
“He looks horrible.” Draco looked down at the ground, he twisted the cup in his hands anxiously, “I found his wand in the hall which was strange so I went to return it.” Draco dove into the story without being beckoned, “the way his hand shook when he took the wand, you would think he had never touched one in his life… he was terrified.”
They all sat in silence once again. Draco had an entire day to come to terms with the fact that they were in Harry’s house. He would understand if none of them wanted to help. They all had enough on their plates with the ministry and the loss of their jobs. Not to mention the death threats and having to leave everything behind. It would make sense if they said they didn’t want to help.
“How can we help?” Pansy and Blaise said together.
Draco smiled at them. They would all figure it out in the end. The first step was going to get Harry out of that blasted room of his. If Draco could figure out how to do that, the rest would fall into place.
“He keeps isolating himself, he’s never going to get better if we don’t get him out. He’s not going to leave the house, that much is clear, but if we can get him out of his room.” Draco explained. All the food had been forgotten. Draco saw some movement out of the corner of his eye, the house elf was listening. Draco pretended that he didn’t see him.
“But how do we get him out?” Pansy sat with her legs crossed on the chair, her mother would have had a fit if she saw her feet on a chair.
“Well, I’m not sure.” Draco wracked his brain, maybe he was thinking too far ahead. Harry hadn’t been eating based on what Luna had told him. “We might be thinking too far ahead. We need to start smaller.”
“Well we can’t start if he doesn’t come out of his room.” Blaise pointed out, the women hummed in agreement.
“We also have other things going on at the moment,” Pansy said, “we need to figure out what’s going on with the trials.”
Draco took a deep breath, they were both right. They needed more information and Draco and Narcissa couldn’t be in hiding forever, that would look too suspicious and it is no way to live. He thought about everything for a moment.
“Pansy, could you focus on figuring out if the trials are real?” He asked, “Will you get in contact with Daphne, she’s still in the auror offices right?” Draco wasn’t sure what he would do if she wasn’t. Daphne was probably one of the only ones who would help Draco. Daphne and Pansy had always kept in touch especially after the war.
Daphne had become an auror, her hand Pansy had been partners before they fired her for multiple complaints and speculations that she was ‘conspiring with the enemy’. The enemy in question was Draco though they wouldn’t say it, they didn’t want all the paperwork it was just all hearsay. Blaise had the same treatment. But he had worked in the Department of Mysteries. They clearly didn’t believe what they fired him for because if they did Blaise would be dead. Someone was obviously pulling strings.
“Yes Daphne is still an auror, I’ll ask her to poke around.” Pansy said a hint of anger laced her words, she was not pleased for being fired with no proof, “last I heard from her she was moved to cold cases.”
“Matches her personality,” Blaise mumbled, making Pansy scoff.
“Blaise will you contact anyone we might need to make it through this?” Draco asked, Blaise was known for being neutral, he had many allies that Draco didn’t know about, especially with his job. They would need all the help they could get if the rumors were true, he would not allow his mother to be sent to Azkaban for his father’s sins.
“I’ll send some letters, I make no promises though.” Blaise said, “what are you two going to do then?” he gestured to Draco and Narcissa.
“We are going to figure out how to help Harry.” Draco said. He glanced at Narcissa, she nodded in agreement.
“Well, that settles it then,” Pansy took a sip of tea from her cup, “We’ll leave you two to scheme like all good Slytherins do. Come on Blaise, we have to go and find an owl or two.” They left the parlor leaving Draco and Narcissa alone.
“Draco dear,” Narcissa said, she set a gentle hand on his arm. “What are we going to do?”
“I am not sure,” he rubbed his eyes. “Luna said he sleeps all the time, but it looks like he never sleeps and on top of that, he isn’t eating.” Draco was more concerned than he would have liked to be but it was too late to back out, he would never do that though. “I think the first thing we need to do is get him eating.”
“I agree,” Narcissa crossed her arms and looked at the table, “I am not sure how long he has been like this, but I don’t think he has much longer.” She looked around the parlor, the room looked like it would collapse in the next few months.
“Yeah,” Draco set his cup on the table.
He needed to do something quickly. Draco had seen all the potions on the tray that Kreacher had taken to Harry. He needed to figure out what those were, he had seen the elf close by, maybe he would be open to letting them help.
“Kreacher?” he called. The house elf appeared with a crack by the door.
“What does Mister Malfoy need?” he asked gruffly.
“Please, call me Draco.” the elf nodded, “I want to help Harry.” Draco looked at Kreacher earnestly. The elf glared at him.
“Others have said such words, none have been true.” The elf said angrily. “The others offered, Kreacher says yes and they leave.” He folded his arms, “Master Harry mustn’t have more hurt, he cannot take it.” The elf looked at the house, worry flashing across his face briefly.
“What are you talking about Kreacher?” Draco asked, what others had left? Surely none of his closest friends did. “Who has left, who lied?” He didn’t like the way his heart twisted in his chest at the mere thought of people leaving Harry.
“Miss Luna is the only one who stays. She always stays no matter how Master Harry pushes her, she never gives up. The other’s do, bunch of traitors no one cares about Master. Kreacher will not allow more hurt.” The elf stalked up to Draco, “Master needs no more hurt. If you hurt Master Harry…” The elf left the threat unsaid.
Draco glanced at his mother to see a confused look on her face.
“Kreacher,” Narcissa started, “why do you care for Harry so much?” she asked softly. The question had been nagging at Draco as well.
“Master changed what Kreacher thought was right.” the elf said, his hand strayed to the locket around his neck.
“We want to help, Kreacher,” Draco said, “I want to help him.” Draco didn’t know how to get the point across. For some reason or another Draco didn’t just want to help Harry, he needed to help him. The elf looked at Draco studiously.
“If Mister Draco helps Master with his eating, he will let help be given.” Kreacher said seriously.
“Can I see what potions he’s taking?”
“Very well,” Kreacher turned out of the room and waved for Draco to follow.
Draco turned and kissed Narcissa on the cheek, “I’ll be back.”
Draco was led down to the basement. Kreacher walked through the big kitchen to a door at the back. He waved his hand and the door unlocked. The only thing in the dark room was a heavily locked cabinet.
“Here’s Master’s potions and medicines.” Kreacher said.
Draco was left alone to go through everything. He opened the cabinet to see rows and rows of potions. He walked to the kitchen and grabbed a chair. Once he was back in the small room he transformed it into a table and began going through the potions.
There was a small book on one of the shelves. He opened it and started flipping through the pages. Charts filled every page, all to keep a schedule of Harry’s potion consumption. By the looks of it the last time he had taken his potions had been a little over three months ago.
Draco sorted the potions. Sleeping Draught, Dreamless Sleep, Calming Draught, the classic Healing Potion, and much much more. They were all used for multiple mental health conditions and illnesses. Draco ran a hand through his hair as he looked at the colorful vials that covered the surface of the table.
“Kreacher, who brews the potions?” Draco called into the kitchen.
“St. Mungos, Master’s under a different name.” Kreacher responded.
Draco hummed to himself. He didn’t trust St. Mungos. He really should but they had some unethical treatments he didn’t agree with. He opened the schedule book again. Harry was given the schedule two years prior, most likely before he left Hogwarts. He was supposed to be taking the calming draught every six hours and dreamless sleep every other night.
That was way too much. Whoever his Mediwizard was clearly didn’t know what they were doing. Taking that much dreamless sleep would inevitably become an addiction and he would build up a tolerance to the calming draught. The sleeping draught looked like it was only to be used when Harry hadn’t slept for days.
Draco tossed the book onto the floor. “When was the last time he saw a Mediwizard?”
“Two years ago, or longer. Memory’s not what it once was.” Kreacher popped up next to him and shoved a newspaper into his hands, the elf then disappeared back into the kitchen.
Draco’s eyes trailed after him, that was rather unexpected. He looked down at the newspaper. It was the Daily Prophet dated almost three years ago. The headline made Draco nauseous.
THE GOLDEN BOY HAS FALLEN: Inside scoop on Harry Potter’s mental illness
Draco read through the article each word made the knot in his stomach twist tighter. Harry’s mental health was dragged through the mud. “Harry Potter’s sanity has been declining steadily since the attack on Hogwarts…” and “Will the hero be able to push through the unfortunate events that have landed him on this steady course to hysteria? Only time will tell…”
Draco resisted the urge to throw the paper on the ground next to the book. “Shit,” he whispered. Everything Harry did was published, the man couldn’t even heal in peace. “Shit.” he said again. The whole article downplayed the events of the war. He would figure out how to help Harry, he had to. It wasn’t fair, it wasn’t right. These people should’ve been on Harry’s side. They shouldn’t be against him.
“Kreacher, I’m making a new schedule for Harry and I’m brewing the potions myself. I’m going to need you to set up a space for me and get ingredients.” Draco didn’t wait for an answer as he stormed out of the basement with the paper in his hands.
He found Pansy and Blaise in the library sitting at the table in the middle of the room. They had quills and paper surrounding them, both of their hands were stained in ink. Draco didn’t know how many letters they had written, or attempted to write based on the crumpled paper that surrounded them.
Narcissa was behind Draco, just like the rest of the house this room was filled with green, black and gold. A large fire was crackling in the fireplace at the back wall. Draco sat down heavily into one of the two remaining chairs at the table. Narcissa followed suit.
“What’s that?” Pansy pulled the newspaper out of Draco’s hands.
She made a choking noise as she read the article. “‘Harry Potter’s mental breakdown may lead to his insanity. The Golden Boy has fallen.’ this is fucking rubbish!” she threw the paper to Blaise. Narcissa didn’t say anything about her language. She had said much worse to Draco when he showed her the article.
When Blaise finished he didn’t say anything and calmly handed the paper back to Draco. Fury was burning in the quiet man's eyes. Draco hadn’t expected such strong reactions for the boy they hated in school, but he was grateful that they cared.
“This explains why he hasn’t gotten help. He was supposed to be protected and instead he was exploited.” Draco tossed the paper onto the table. He was furious, no one should have their privacy infiltrated like that.
“Was there any statement going against the article? Any response, a defense maybe?” Pansy asked.
“Nothing.” Narcissa said, “Not a single thing was said.”
“Not even from Granger? She’s the Minister’s little protege for Merlin's sake.” Pansy’s voice was rising.
“Nothing was released. He left Hogwarts after.” Draco said, “how did we not know about this?”
“The article was taken back, though damage had been done.” Kreacher said from the doorway, everyone in the room jumped, except for Blaise of course. “None said anything to help young Master. Not his friends who have laid claims to be his family. Only family Master has is Master Sirius and Mister Remus. No one else who cares like they did.” The elf twisted his hands angrily in his clothes, “and the red-haired twins and the young girl. The older boys seemed to care some too, but not as much as they should.”
“The Weasleys?” Narcissa asked.
“The twins, Ginny and the two oldest boys.” Blaise said. “Not Ron or Hermione?”
“They say they are too busy.” Kreacher grumbled and left the library.
“Well, that certainly changes things.” Pansy said.
“There must be a misunderstanding. Something must have happened.” Narcissa said, “Molly loves her children and I know that she sees Harry as one of her own. Something must have happened.”
“Hopefully we will figure that out.” Draco said, “once we get closer to Harry I’ll ask if it would be okay if we visited with the Weasley's to see if they would help with his healing.” it was something he had been thinking about. He needed to get Harry a good support system and the Weasley's were the best support Harry had ever had. He knew what the muggles were like, he knew what Dumbledore had been like. “We will get answers. In the meantime let's keep working on what we can.”
It was odd, Draco had never met the two oldest Weasley children. He knew Fred and George well enough, though after Fred's death Draco hadn’t heard much about George. Ginny was okay enough, he didn’t know much about her besides the fact that she and Harry had dated for a while. It was strange that Kreacher didn’t think Hermione or Ron cared about Harry, they were best friends. And even Molly Weasley!
Something had happened and Draco wouldn’t stop until he figured it out.