heal what has been hurt

Draco Malfoy was not expecting for his life to play out this way. Granted he’d made plenty of mistakes, choosing the wrong side in the war, fighting for a cause he didn’t believe in, trying to pull off yellow. But at this point he was just surprised he wasn’t beaten to death by some do-gooder with a grudge or put in Azkaban for decisions he made as a child.It was always assumed by Draco and everyone else that he would go into politics, following in his fathers footsteps, but when those footsteps lead his father to a jail cell and the whole family were branded as muggle-hating bigots (which, granted, most of them were) it made them much harder to follow. Instead Draco focused on the facts: he was smart, he was good at magic, he wanted to redeem himself in some small way and if he could manage to drag his family name from the mud a little whilst he did it, all the better. This is what lead him to healing, a quest to do good like some god forsaken Gryffindor with the added bonus of making him look good.
Him and his mother had some quiet conversations about it all but ultimately this was his decision and Narcissa had learnt better than to try and sway her son's opinion, seeing as last time it ended up with the whole family being outcast from wizarding society. She was delightfully terrifying, his mother, far better at pulling this apart than stitching back together but she respected Draco for his resolve and he knew she was proud of him even if her eyes got tight around the sides at the mention of him having apply for a position instead of just being granted it.
Having never actually taken his exams Draco’s first task was getting his NEWTS as he didn’t have the right qualifications to even try and become a mediwizard, so with grim determination he set up shop in a small outbuilding on the manor grounds that he turned into a makeshift office and studied. He took the exams with the year below in 1999 and hated every second he spent back on Hogwarts grounds even if it was to only sit with his peers and fill out the test sheet he still felt the stares and whispers from every brick in that damned castle. Unsurprisingly he did very well, having done nothing else but eat, sleep and study Draco would’ve been furious if he had achieved anything less than outstandings in all of his NEWTS.
However months of applications and rejections Draco was reaching his wits end, no one wanted an ex death eater around the most vulnerable people in wizarding society so he had to do something, anything, to make him unrefusably the best candidate for a healing internship.
So he worked. No slytherin scheming or using his family name for a leg up (if anything this actively worked against him), he did back breaking, agonising and often dull, work. This was his only chance was to get the edge on his fellow applicants, first with a small research position for a potions master looking into the healing effects of Gillyweed, then a short stint filing in the Magical Maladies Department at the ministry, finally a temporary position in the St Mungos medical library; nothing that could be accredited to his name or allow him to do anything of consequence but enough for him to be able to say he’d been working closely with healers and their practices for several years which gave him a firm lead on the knowledge one needed to succeed as a healer as well as some very helpful contacts.
By some twist of fate his application ended up of the desk of Healer Shu, who had gotten to know Draco as the quiet but attentive library assistant who helped her reach the harder to get books with his long lanky arms and who got in a huff when people didn’t pay attention to the dewey decimal system which he fiercely enforced. This is what allowed her to look past the damning last name of Malfoy and agree to give him a shot, but not without warning him of the trouble he was bound to face.
“As thrilled as I am to have another talented healer training under us, you must know there will be some who won’t be happy to have someone with your history helping them no matter how hard you try.” she asked him in the very same breath as telling him the good news.
“Oh I’m plenty aware, it's taken me twice as long to get anywhere because of my ‘history’” Draco responded, sulkily frowning as he folded and unfolded his hands in his lap, thoroughly uncomfortable sitting on the other side of the desk in Healer Shu’s office as if he had been called into the headmasters office, not being given the opportunity he’d been working towards for the best part of three years.
“Well if you’re willing to put up with that then I don’t see how dragon pox pustules will put you off ether” Healer Shu said with a smile as she stood up and offered her hand
“Welcome to the team Mr Malfoy, I will see you on monday” they shook on it and Draco left the office with equal parts excitement, pride and apprehension.
The following monday he arrived 45 minutes early and waited outside till he was an acceptable only 10 minutes early before heading in. He was greeted promptly by Healer Shu and joined the crowd of four other healers in training. It was tense and awkward, everyone knew his past but he didn't even know their names, leaving him at a disadvantage. A couple of the other healing students gave him polite smiles but the others refused to meet his eye or acknowledge his existence. But he was prepared for this, he knew what people thought of him and frankly he couldn’t care less what went on in their heads unless they were going to actively sabotage him (which by the looks he was getting a couple of them might).
Draco already had the layout of the hospital memorised and knew most of the staff by name as well as having done extra research into the training program so he knew most of what he was being told in the induction already. He allowed himself to tune out as they walked the halls with a brisk Healer Shu, trying to get it all over with as soon as possible no doubt. Eventually their little group arrived at the entrance of the Bone Skin and Blood Department where he knew they would be introduced to the doddery old Healer Johnithan Wagstaff, who often fell asleep at his seat in the library but who always put his books back in proper order. Just as predicted Healer Shu led them into the room where Healer Wagstaff was waiting and made introductions, they were each given a cupboard to put their things and a set of training robes before Healer Shu explained she had to go collect another trainee from her office. This caught Draco’s attention, who was this person receiving specialty treatment? Maybe he wasn’t the only social pariah on the course? Maybe it was a celebrity who needed to draw as little attention as possible? His stomach dropped for a second thinking against all reason that it might be Potter. He quickly dismissed that thought, whilst it was a noble enough position for the great Harry Potter he knew for a fact he was currently employed as Hogwarts’ most recent Defence Against the Dark Arts professor and it was the middle of term, no way would Potters stupid sense of duty allow him to leave part way through the school year.
Frustrated that he’d spent far to long thinking about Harry Potter, Draco shook his head a little to try and rid himself of the thoughts before refocusing on the task at hand; he needed to get these people to see past his last name if he was going to have to work in close quarters with them, the situations would most likely be life or death, and if they didn’t trust Draco to be acting in someone's best interest no doubt he’d be removed quicker than an owl on coke.
So Draco bit his tongue and tried to look approachable, he shook hands with each of his new colleagues and committed their names to memory, he knew using their names in conversation would get them to like him more. He also chose one thing about each of them to compliment or comment on, nothing personal, always an object or choice that indicated taste and personality rather than physical features. One witch had distinctive earrings (Heather Plank, the earrings were a gift from her mother), another with silky hair (Josephine Tera, she made her own hair tonics from scratch and offered Draco the recipe) ,one wizard was was wearing well made shoes (Jasper Metch who got them from a shop just off Diagon) and the last was a witch with cat eyed glasses with small gems embedded in them (Rita Avera, who thanked him but offered no follow up conversation).
Draco was reaching the end of his ability to people please when there was the sound of muffled talking behind the door. The mystery Trainee was bound to spell trouble for Draco, most likely
Weasly or Granger or some other hero that would love the attention and hate having to be in the same room as someone so morally grey as himself. He tensed in suspense and prepared himself for the worst when the door opened to reveal a tight lipped Healer Shu who was announcing
“Healer Wagstaff this is your newest intern, he will be joining the others with you”
Healer Wagstaff turned with a suspicious eye and said
“Pleased to meet you Mr Black, please get to know the others you will be learning with, and try not to cause any trouble. I will not stand for grudge holding or politics in my wing.”
/Huh/ Draco thought /maybe the old codger likes me more than I thought/ but then Sirius Black is turning toward him and Draco’s blood runs cold. He sees his mothers high cheekbones and graceful movements in the man before him and the obviously forced easygoing smile on his face did nothing to hide his handsome features but his eyes land on Draco and the smile falters. Just Dracos luck that after years of trying he finally gets put into a course with Harry Potter's godfather who deserted the house of Black and was widely considered a blood traitor by the relations Draco knew. No doubt Potter had already filled his head with lies and gossip about him, as if he needed to have any more stacked against him. Draco paused for a moment before putting an equally forced smile on his face and extending a hand.
“Hello cousin, glad to make your acquaintance, I’m Draco Malfoy and I look forward to working with you”.