Chapter 5
Harry was stuck. He couldn’t walk back out the way he came or go further into the room, with the group of people glaring and blocking his path. He couldn’t escape, he knew he should never have come but against his better judgment, he had. And for what?
To prove a point to Malfoy of all people? Even worse, about a lie they both knew was untrue.
How pathetic.
Honestly, this one was on him, how stupid did he have to be to think for even a second that walking back into the lion's den would result in anything but a fight? Running away from Malfoy would have been far easier, but as always he did things the hard way.
Gryffindor had been very open in their hatred of him, especially Ron. It was like he was disgusted to have ever considered Harry a friend. He had outed Harry to not only the school but to the world without a second thought. Harry hadn’t read the paper in months knowing what he would find if he did. He had enough problems inside of Hogwarts let alone knowing what the rest of the world thought of him.
It wasn’t that he was ashamed he liked blokes, after all, if the Dursleys thought something was bad then it was probably fine. It was just who he was, a part of him he couldn’t change even if it would make his life a bit easier. Why should this be his unredeemable trait, he knew he had many but liking guys certainly wasn’t one of them. He had never thought of his preferences in a negative light, well he had but not seriously. Before now that is.
Maybe it was the slurs that were constantly being thrown at him, but he was starting to think everything they said about how wrong he was was true. No matter how much he tried to pretend it wasn’t, all the comments were getting to him. How wouldn’t they? He knew their attention would pass, it had to. As soon as they found a new person to obsess over or curse he would be fine. He just needed to wait it out.
Besides, he was nothing if not patient.
At least when he was forced into the Slytherin common room it was just one house he had to deal with. His decision to walk back into Gryffindor left him surrounded by the remaining three. He never thought he’d miss Slytherins let alone Draco bloody Malfoy but here he was wishing more than anything he had never left the dungeons. Desperate times and all that.
But it’s fine! Sure they hated him, and he had half a dozen wands pointed straight at him but it’s not as big of a problem as he was making it in his head.
Besides it's not like they would use any curses that would cause real damage. He hoped. He just needed to find a way to defuse the tension that was currently suffocating the room.
They had all been his friends at one point in time, or at least he thought they had. The more open they became in their hate left him wondering if they had ever cared or if all was really just an act. He had survived the killing curse twice, it’s not like this could be any harder than fighting Voldemort. Except for the fact that he knew why Voldemort hurt him, with his friends, he could only guess.
He took a deep breath and put on his most convincing smile, “Hey, guys. I didn’t mean to interrupt your party so sorry about that. I wouldn’t want to distract any of you any longer so I think I'm just going to head out. Carry on as you were everyone.”
He started to slowly back up. Maybe if he went slow enough, they wouldn’t realize he was moving until it was too late to stop him. Of course, that wasn’t the case, but when you have no chance at escaping, you might as well try even the stupidest ideas, right?
Ron leered at him as he yanked Harry away from the entrance, “You think you can come back here without consequences Potter? I thought I made it clear what would happen if you even thought about pretending you're one of us again. I put up with your bullshit for five years and this is how you repay me! You're not a Gryffindor, you never were a Gryffindor, all you’ll ever be is a freak. You’re just another nobody who will get nowhere in life. Even your family didn’t want you. I bet they begged You-Know-Who to kill them so they could be spared the disappointment of seeing what you would become.”
Harry flinched as if Ron had slapped him, he almost wished he had. It would have certainly hurt less. Maybe he was right. His parents had died 15 years ago on the dot, he would never know what they would have thought of him.
Would they have been proud of him? Would they have loved him unconditionally just for being him? Would he have been able to have a normal childhood if only they had been the ones raising him?
Questions, questions, questions all without answers. Yet he couldn’t help but long for them, no matter what his parents would have said about him, anything would be better than the doubt that came with not knowing.
How was he going to get himself out of this mess?
He had been thrown onto one of the many couches in the common room, with his luck of course it was the one farthest away from the door(also known as the only way in or out of the room). Where were Fred and George when he needed them? If they were at the party he knew they would have stepped in by now.
Maybe they didn’t bother to step in, finally realizing he wasn’t worth the effort like everyone else had. Would they leave him to fend for himself? In the past he had been certain they wouldn’t, they hadn’t done anything to make him doubt them so why was he wasting time worrying about it when he had more important things to be worrying about?
But why would they stick around? He was broken, ruined, a fragment of who he once was. Hell, if he could leave himself behind he would have at the first chance he got so could he really blame them for doing the same?
It wasn’t fair, but he couldn’t help it.
He felt a sharp stinging sensation on his cheek bringing him back to the moment, looking up he saw Ron who had slapped him for real this time. Perfect now his face would be fucked up for the next week as well as the rest of his shitty life.
He couldn’t think of a better way to spend the anniversary of his parent's death than this!
Trying to keep the fear out of his voice he said, “Look Ron I'm sorry I know I shouldn’t have come here it was a mistake. I swear if you let me leave I won’t come back. I don’t want any trouble, this is just a misunderstanding I-”
He was unable to finish his apology as he was cut off by a spell that bound his wrists behind his back. No, no, no a far too familiar feeling settled in his stomach. He knew what was coming, it had happened too many times for him to recall, and at a certain point, he almost became accustomed to it.
Maybe not accustomed, but he knew to expect it. He was helpless to stop it, he froze up. He always froze.
The best he could hope for was to get lost in his mind.
All Ron did was sneer as he said, “Don’t act like you don’t want it freak. In case you forgot I know all about your little secret, well it's not so secret anymore. Don’t bother trying to tell anyone about this, we both know that all the world will ever see you as is a liar. You'll never be anything more than an attention seeker, spreading rumors no one ever believes.”
Harry had thought he was safe at Hogwarts, that it was the one place this line would never be crossed. Looking back it was foolish he had ever thought that the wizarding world would be any better than the muggle world. That they wouldn’t put him through just as much pain.
He had come to expect it from his uncle but from his classmates?
His voice was lost in his throat, he tried to speak but he couldn’t fucking breathe let alone get words out. He was falling with no one to catch him, he was plummeting only able to hope for his suffering to be short-lived. Yet he knew it wouldn’t, it was a feeble hope at best.
Hands from Merlin knew who was on him before he was able to register the shirt being tugged over his head, his trousers being yanked down as he squirmed trying to get out of the hand's grasp.
Suddenly the room went silent, he could feel movement surrounding him, hands running over his now bare chest. Yet the panic he had felt was gone as quickly as he come. He knew whoever it was wasn’t going to hurt him, he was safe. How he came to this concussion, he didn’t know, too out of it to think let alone focus on his surroundings. He finally gave in to the black dots clouding his vision, as his chest stuttered with breaths he couldn’t quite even out.
His eyes drifted shut and everything went black.
___
Draco knew he would regret letting Potter leave the Slytherin common room, but what other choice did he have? Potter was the most stubborn person he knew. There was nothing he could have said to make him stay, so for once he hadn’t bothered fighting the matter.
Instead of wasting both of their time fighting, he offered to walk Potter back to his common room so at least he would know he didn’t spend the rest of the night walking the halls. What had he been thinking? He knew Potter no longer slept with Gryffindor, it was clear that his once housemates had shunned him along with the rest of the world.
Draco had been worried about him since his first year, but this was the first time he had been able to get close to the boy. Ever since the first time Potter had appeared in his common room, he knew he wouldn’t be able to look away again. He had always been obsessed with him, even though he refused to admit it. Even though he refused to acknowledge it, Pansy would never let him forget the drunken confession he shared with her.
It was a well-known secret throughout Slytherin that he was in love with Potter, he had tried to forget his feelings but it had been four years. Honestly, maybe he had loved him since the first time he had laid eyes on him before they met properly on the first day.
He knew Potter would never reciprocate his feelings, he was an “Evil Slytherin”. Why would the golden boy of Gryffindor ever look at him twice?
Potter had never exactly been alright, anyone who paid attention could see that, although no one ever had. He couldn't help wondering if the lack of help Potter had received was intentional or not, maybe it was just ignorance. Either way, he knew he had to help Potter in whatever way he could.
He deserved to have someone in his corner.
The rest of Slytherin followed his lead, looking out for the boy, especially since last year with the Triwizard tournament. Someone had to make sure Potter didn’t get himself killed in that death tournament. The best part was that no one outside of their house was any the wiser, it was a foolproof plan.
That was of course until the Dark Lord returned. Draco knew he would be back; he wasn't naive enough to believe he had been vanquished for good. But he had hoped it wouldn't be so soon yet alone in the way it had been done.
Potter was labeled a liar by not only the school but the entire wizarding world. His shaky mental health seemed to have completely broken, but who wouldn't have in the position he was placed in? Each time he had seen Potter in the halls he had looked more and more like a ghost, gaze flicking around whatever room he was in as if he expected to be attacked. To be fair it was a likely possibility.
Often he had the Weasley twins around which seemed to be helping. Draco would never admit it but he almost liked them. Especially since they turned the target of their pranks from Slytherin to Gryffindor.
The walk to Gryffindor with Potter had been silent, he expected as much. He never knew what to say to Potter so he stayed quiet. Anything he said seemed to annoy the boy but he hadn’t the faintest clue why.
Sure he was a bit pushy but it was for Potters's own good even if he couldn’t see it. He just wanted to help. They arrived at the common room far too quickly for Draco's liking. He couldn’t help but feel reluctant to let him go. He knew it would end badly, but why would Potter go along with it if he thought the same? So he let Potter walk in.
Looking back it was stupid of him to believe that Potter would have any self-preservation instincts.
He couldn't help but stand outside the portrait waiting, maybe for Potter to come running out so he could take him back to Slytherin, or maybe for nothing to happen so he had at least a bit of confirmation Potter was alright.
Neither happened, he was about to walk away when the painting swung open. He instantly heard shouting and jeering, and without thinking he ran inside the room. It was an awful sight, filled with maroon and gold. Almost suffocatingly hot with a combination of warmth from the multiple fires and the amount of people who were all crowded into one room.
He pushed through the crowd which parted with ease, and that's when he saw him. Potter was surrounded by a group of seventh-years as well as Weasley, groping his exposed skin. Potter looked to have his hands tied behind his back, and was currently hyperventilating seemingly on the brink of a panic attack with his eyes screwed shut.
Once the seventh years saw him they took a step back, he liked to think it was because of fear and the reputation he made for himself although he knew it was more likely since they knew they were caught.
Harry didn’t seem to be present enough to realize anything had stopped, he had to get him out of there if he had any hope to calm him down. He needed to be checked out by Madam Pomfrey or at the very least Gemma Farley who was training to become a healer.
He rushed over to Harry and pulled him so he was leaning against the back of the couch seemingly the only thing stopping him from falling as the boy had passed out as soon as Draco reached him.
Draco snapped his gaze up glaring at everyone who made the mistake of locking eyes with him, “What the hell are you doing? You're supposed to be brave and kind, or at the very least decent people but you lot are cowards. Weasley you're supposed to be his best friend who the fuck do you think you are to not only let them do this to Potter but encourage it. He’s Harry fucking Potter he's saved all your arses more times than me or you know, and this is how you repay him? I don’t care if you don’t like him or don’t believe he deserves fame because nothing he or anyone has does deserves this type of response. When I walk out of this room with Potter I expect none of you to curse him or bully him again let alone look at him or so help me Merlin I will burn your common rooms to the ground and use curses you can only dream of. Got it.”
The room stayed silent which angered him more. They were about to assault Harry, only stopping since he showed up then they didn’t even have the decency to acknowledge what he was saying.
Yeah, no way in hell was that going to happen.
“No, I want to hear you all say you understand me, I'll say it one more time in case the message hasn’t sunk in yet. You will not so much as look at Potter again, let alone come close enough to touch him. Do. You. Understand. Me.”
This time he heard quiet members of agreement throughout the room.
With that he lifted Harry off the couch, half carrying him and half dragging him out of the common room. No one tried to stop him, the whole room standing in shock behind them. He only stopped when he was far enough away he knew no one had followed them.
He carefully placed Harry down in an alcove and sat down next to him. He was speechless. Another thing was quickly becoming apparent the more time he stared at Potter, his chest, arms, back, and every part of him he could see was covered in purple and green bruises and silver and red scars. His ribs stuck out an unnatural amount, he had known the boy was just based on looking at him but he had not realized to this extent the damage had gone.
What had been going on with the boy who lived, and why had no one cared to step in?
Why hadn’t he noticed?