How to tame a Basilisk

It is with a heavy heart that Draco arrives at the Manor for Christmas Holidays. He is filled to the brim with trepidation, fearing his aunt's and father's reaction to seeing him again after their plan with the diary failed. He wouldn't have come at all, if not for the pleading letter his mother had sent him right before the break started. Draco never could deny his mother anything, a predicament that not always turned out in his favour.

The heavy ornate doors open to reveal Draco's father and aunt engrossed in what seems to be a screaming match. Draco's mother immediately guides him towards the stairs, clearly hoping to escape their family's notice. The atmosphere is still tense as Narcissa Malfoy accompanies Draco to his rooms on the first floor, constantly gazing backwards, as if fearing her husband or sister might turn up behind them at any moment. As soon as they reach the doors to his rooms, Draco's mother faintly kisses him on his cheek, before turning around and hurrying towards the loud voices still sounding from the entrance hall.

Draco quickly casts a locking and silencing charm on his door, before he slides to the floor, burying his head in his hands. As soon as he has gathered his nerves, he summons the house-elves. All remaining eight little faces stare up at him with a look of fear mixed with tentative hope.

Draco calls forward Tinky, the one elf he knows to have been loyal to Dobby, and by that seeming the most trust-worthy of the lot. ''Tinky, I ask you to tell me how you all have been treated since I left for school in September.'' he demands.

The little house-elf in front of him fidgets for a moment, clearly uncomfortable at being singled out, but soon answers his question ''Tinky and the other elves have been able to heal themselves, just like Master Draco commanded.'' she starts hesitantly.

''And how has my aunt been treating you?'' Draco enquires.

Tinky wrings her hands in front of the dirty towel she is wearing ''Mistress Bellatrix has been... worse.'' she seems to be on the verge of punishing herself for talking badly about one of her Master's family members, but Draco stops her before she can hit her head against the wall.

''Please continue Tinky.'' he states calmly, ''And you don't have to punish yourself for telling the truth, ever. That goes for all of you.'' he adds, looking over the wide-eyed elves assembled in front of him.

Tinky takes a deep breath, clearly preparing herself to tell Draco of all the occurrences at the Manor during his absence. ''Master Lucius is mostly stopping hurting Tinky and her friends.'' she nervously tells Draco, ''But Master Lucius is getting more and more mad, because the Mistress Bellatrix is angry with him for failing a task.'' Tinky gulps. ''So Master Lucius is being very stressed and is sometimes taking it out on the elves.'' Tinky finishes her tale.

Draco nods and thanks her for speaking the truth. Clearly his aunt is pulling the strings around the Manor by now, if his father cowers in front of her anger and lets out his frustration on the house-elves. Draco suspects that they both must be furious that their plans with the diary haven't worked so far. He resolves to try and ease the tension by mentioning some made up struggles at his school, if only to try and appease them enough to not further hurt the elves, or worse, his mother.

Dinner's at the Manor are as glum an affair as they had been during Draco's summer break, but by now even his mother seems to have given up on trying to reign in her sister and her horrid tales.

''Ooh, and you should have seen them writhing in pain!'' Bellatrix exclaims, ''By then they weren't making any sense anymore, but that didn't stop Rodolphus and me, no.'' she seems lost in memory. ''And in the end I managed to break their spirits, even if we didn't find their little brat of a son that day.'' Bellatrix pouts exaggeratedly. ''Oh, but Draco, you must know the boy!'' she shrieks in glee.

Draco tries his best to focus on the meal in front of him, not daring to meet his aunt's crazy gaze.

''The Longbottom boy? No?'' Bellatrix cackles. ''Oh what I wouldn't give to have my turn at that little prat.'' she reminisces happily.

Draco forces himself to push down the bile threatening to rise up his throat as he imagines what his aunt might do if she ever laid her hands on Neville Longbottom. Luckily the dinner is almost over by now and Draco quickly makes his exit after a dessert of chocolate pudding with Cranberry sauce, which just reminds him of blood on torn apart bodies.

Before he can retreat back to the safety of his rooms, his mother stops him.

''Draco, darling, I am so sorry for asking you to come.'' she whispers.

Draco refuses to meet her eyes, simply staring at the wall in front of him.

''I- Your father asked me to make sure you came,'' his mother continues quietly, ''I wasn't strong enough to openly disobey him, you must understand Draco, I was raised to be the perfect obedient wife.''
'No', Draco thinks, 'He doesn't have to understand anything. This is his mother, the one person who is supposed to shield him from any danger in the world.'

''I see now that I made a mistake.'' she defeatedly adds. ''Maybe... Maybe you'd want to visit Blaise again over the holidays?'' she asks hopefully. ''I would tell your father and aunt that it was my idea.'' she suggests expectantly.

Draco considers this for a moment, but in the end he doesn't want to jeopardize his mother's safety, no matter what she did to get him here. If he left with her permission, he is sure Bellatrix and his father would take their anger over his disappearance out on her, and no matter how many times his mother failed him, he can not be responsible for any pain that might be inflicted on her.

So he declines Narcissa's offer and decides to try and talk to his father while he is alone. Maybe he can convince him that whatever plan he made is just taking a little while longer to come into full effect. He already meant to make up some stories about struggles at Hogwarts, to try and appease his father. The threat to his mother is just another added incentive. The only thing preventing him from seeking out his father right now, is the fear of whatever the man might do to him, should he find out that nothing happened in the end after all and that Draco's stories were all lies.

Christmas morning is a tense affair. Draco tries his best to put on an appreciative smile at the sight of the mountain of presents that awaits him. But once he opens one gift, which turns out to be from his aunt, his smile quickly vanishes.

''That is an eye-burning book. I've cast the curse myself!'' Bellatrix exclaims proudly. ''Just give it to whoever might have wronged you and their eyes will burn out as soon as they open it.'' She smiles self-satisfactory.

Draco forces a smile which must look more like a grimace onto his face and thanks his aunt for that 'considerate gift'.

Daring a glance at his parents, they both seem unhappy with his aunt's choice in presents, but are keeping their mouth tightly shut.

The rest of the enormous amount of presents just leaves Draco feeling hollow. He always fakes a grateful expression at every robe, book or trinket he receives, but secretly he can't wait to be over with the gift-giving ceremony, to just be alone in his rooms and forget about the insane murderer currently occupying his home.

Back in his rooms, Draco flops back onto his bed, sighing in relief at the sudden solitude. He only looks up when Tarragon gives an impatient hoot, to see the small wrapped gift lying on top of his desk. Tarragon must have brought this in while Draco was still opening presents downstairs in the company of his family.

Draco's treacherous heart starts beating faster as he approaches the gift, hoping against hope that the gift might be from the one person he wishes to matter to.

With trembling hands Draco tears away the wrapping paper, only to reveal a delicately carved, ornate box. His breath hitches as he takes in the familiar markings, this must be something Goblin-made. He opens the box to find a beautiful silver dagger, it's hilt emblazoned with numerous emeralds, lying on a bed made of green silk. Draco gasps at the delicate work of art in front of him. He can't fathom that it might really be Potter who has sent him such a priceless gift. Goblin-made weapons cost a fortune, Draco knows. And this particular piece is so exquisitely carved, it has to be on the top of the scale even for said Goblin-made weapons.

With hesitant fingers, Draco unravels the enclosed note, only to be met with the familiar scrawl of the boy-who-lived.

'Malfoy, I hope you won't need this, but I guess better safe than sorry. So having a second weapon apart from your wand might come in handy some day. -P' it says.

Draco falls back on top of his bed, cradling the dagger close to his chest. Potter is thinking about him, he is evidently worrying about Draco, wanting him to be safe. It gives Draco the hope and strength he needs to make it through the remaining two weeks of Christmas break.

Draco still hasn't approached his father and by now he has to admit to himself that that is out of fear of the man. He gathers his courage, thinking of Potter an dhow the Gryffindor has faced evil after evil in every school year. Draco wants to try and placate Lucius Malfoy, try and promise the man to help him find out whatever is happening at Hogwarts.

But as he approaches his father's study, Draco once again hears his father and his aunt shouting.

''It is your fault that it isn't working, Lucy!'' he can hear Bellatrix yelling. ''You are a failure now, just like you where back when our Lord was still shining brightly. I should have known you'd be good for nothing.'' she spits. ''I should have gone to that blasted school myself and taken care of the Potter brat and all of those other little blood-traitors and mudbloods.''

Draco can hear his father mumbling some response, but it is so weak and timid that he can't make out any words.

''If the diary doesn't work until Easter, I will just have your precious little heir let me into the castle and then I'll handle everything myself.'' Bellatrix' voice sounds.

Draco trembles at the prospect of being involved in his aunt's schemes and makes to leave, but before he can take more than two steps backwards, he hears his aunt's familiar cackle ''Oh Lucy, I think we have a visitor!'' she laughs maniacally. And the door to his father's study open up in front of Draco. His aunt emerges and grabs his arm, long untrimmed fingernails digging into his flesh as she drags Draco into the room.

''So ickle Drakey, now tell me what has been happening at your precious little school?'' Bellatrix grins viciously.

''I- I don't know what you're talking about.'' Draco stammers.

''Are you sure?'' Bellatrix triumphantly gazes at Lucius, ''Because Drakey baby, you should know of something happening if your father wasn't such an utter failure.'' she giggles.

Draco glances at his father, but the man just looks to the floor, keen to avoid his son's look.

Bellatrix laughs gleefully ''Should we show him what happens if he displeases his Lord, Draco?'' she turns her focus back onto him, ''Should we show your father what awaits him should this plan of his fail like it seems to be doing?'' she grins widely.

Draco only has the split of a second to recognize the familiar insane glint in his aunt's eyes, before without warning she cries out ''Crucio!''

The pain is immediate, Draco can feel every nerve ending flaring up in agony, his body convulsing for what feels like eternity, but probably only is a minute at most. When she releases him from the curse, Draco falls onto the floor, trembling uncontrollably. As soon as he is able to open his eyes once more, Draco catches his father's horrified eyes, but the man just looks away hastily and cowers in front of Bellatrix, making no move to come to his son's help.

Bellatrix laughs at Lucius' cowardice, but still continues to take pleasure in torturing Draco further. After what seems like centuries, his aunt releases Draco from the spell, stating that she is hungry. Draco is spasming on the floor, no control over his bodily functions, laying in a puddle of his own piss. Lucius Malfoy can barely look at his son, but before he too makes to leave after his sister-in-law he summons a house-elf and orders him to take Draco up to his rooms.

A worried Wonky looks down upon Draco's still convulsing form. He knows he has to take draught against nerve damage soon, or he might be left with uncontrollable spasms for the rest of his life. So he tries to gather the required ingredients to brew the potion he has once perfected while living in a house where Crucio's were as common as dinner. But cutting the Mandrake roots into fine slices is not possible for Draco's trembling hands. He just can't bring his body to cooperate, so he slowly and painfully falls into a nightmare-fuelled sleep.

The next morning, at breakfast, Draco tries to suppress the shivers running through his body, as he tries to pretend that everything is fine. He fears his aunt's reaction should he show any obvious weakness, and though he had promised himself not to give a shit anymore about his instilled Malfoy-pride, the ingrained need for composure still keeps him from making any noise. Draco also doesn't think that it would be beneficial in any way to disclose his pain, considering his father's reaction to him being tortured last evening. And Draco still doesn't want to put his mother into a position where she feels like she has to choose, afraid that when it comes down to it, she might not choose him. But during the meal, Narcissa eyes her son's slow and erratic movements suspiciously.

After breakfast Draco hurries to his rooms, to again try and brew the draught, but he still can't cut the required Mandrake root fine enough, as his hands won't stop shaking. So Draco collapses onto the floor in a heap of his robes, silent sobs shaking his body in addition to the Crucio after-tremors.

The doors open, Draco inwardly curses himself for not casting a locking charm in his hurry to brew the potion. Maybe his aunt has come to finish what she started. But then he is pulled into a warm hug and his mother whispers frantically into his ear ''My darling, darling boy. I am so sorry. Please, please forgive me. I couldn't protect you. But I will try and help you now.'' she promises softly, gently rocking him from side to side, lulling Draco's quavering body into a light sleep.

***

It breaks her heart to see her little boy like this and she curses herself for bringing him home for the holidays. Narcissa wishes she could just kick her sister out of her home, but as the wife, she holds no real power over their estate. Lucius wields all of that force, because of the Malfoy inheritance, and it seems like her husband has given all of his remaining strength over to Bellatrix' mercy.

And if Narcissa tried to get rid of her sister nonetheless, she fears Bellatrix might target Draco even more viciously if she fails. She will just have to keep her son and sister as far apart from each other as possible, but first she has to get the necessary potions into Draco, so that he doesn't have any lasting damage.

During the first war, the Malfoys used to have several anti-nerve-damage draughts in storage, but since then none of them have had any use for them, so Narcissa has to think of a different way to get hold of the required potion. After she summons Tinky to watch over Draco, she hurries over to her room's floo and throws in some floo powder to call out ''Severus Snape's quarters, Hogwarts'

As soon as the fire flares green, she sticks her head through the flames and calls out for her son's godfather. Severus thankfully arrives quickly after her summons, though he looks annoyed at the sudden intrusion.

''Whatever is the matter that you call me like this, Narcissa?'' he frowns down on her face inside of the hearth.

Narcissa wastes no time in explaining ''It is an emergency Severus. Draco, he-'' she winces as she's about to disclose her family's most private affairs ''He was tortured, Severus. Crucio.'' she urges the man.

Severus wastes no time, as soon as the words leave her mouth he gathers some vials and motions for her to make space for him to come through the floo.

''You are lucky that I still have one of these on stock for emergencies. It's only enough for one person.'' Severus mutters as he strides out of the fire and follows Narcissa up to Draco's rooms. She occasionally glances back at the blank face of her son's godfather, but she can see the worry about Draco in there. As they arrive at the rooms, Narcissa watches the Potion's Master's shock at taking in her son's state. He hurries over to his twitching form on the ground and gently opens his mouth to infuse the first of the potions he brought. After he administers three different vials, Severus tenderly lowers Draco onto his bed and beckons Narcissa to follow him. As they arrive back in her rooms, he closes the door and wordlessly casts a strong silencing charm.

''Who did this?'' he basically growls.

Narcissa gulps heavily, before she whispers ''Bella. It was Bella, my sister.'' she averts her eyes from the judging look Severus throws her.

''I have given him anti-nerve-damage draught, as well as some pain reliever and dreamless sleep to help with the healing process.'' he states, devoid of all emotion. ''You will call me immediately of anything else happens to him, do you understand?'' Severus threateningly lowers his voice.

Narcissa nods, knowing that she at least has one ally to help Draco, though she is acutely aware of Severus' disdain for her, knowing that it was her who has let it come to this.

Nonetheless, Narcissa is grateful. No matter the rumours about Severus' questionable loyalty to the Dark Lord, she knows that he will always be loyal to Draco above anything else, and that is all that matters to her.