Draco was cornered. Some of the older Gryffindors had seen him walking alone, returning from the library, and jumped at their chance to hurt him. This wasn't the first time Draco had been hit, his father took special pleasure in doing that, but this took him by surprise. He tried to yell, but it was quickly cut off by a “Silencio!" He was starting to hyperventilate. As much as he hated to admit it, he was scared. The Gryffindors noticed this and began to laugh. “Not the tough guy now, eh!" One of them snickered. The beating seemed to last for hours, and Draco felt more pain by the second. He was close to a panic attack. Then he heard something he hasn't heard since that summer: “Crucio!" Pain overcame him, and he fell to the floor writhing in agony. He barely felt a few more curses through the pain, and then the Silencio was released and he was left alone, frozen from pain.
He started to panic as he realized nobody would find him until morning. He thought he heard footsteps in the distance, and attempted to make himself as small as possible. He ended up falling back to the ground, gasping for air, his panic only growing worse as the footsteps got closer. He was on the brink of blacking out, but saw someone round the corner. His panic turned to dread as he recognized the golden boy; Harry Potter. His breathing was still shallow, and he heard himself groan as he tried to get smaller. What if he does the same thing? What if he's here to crucio me? His panic was only getting worse. He didn't notice the other boy get closer until he felt a hand on his chin. He flinched back, almost hitting his head on the wall behind him. “I'm not going to hurt you Malfoy. Let me see your injuries.” Harry tilted Draco's face to where he could see it. There were cuts and bruises lining his face. Harry felt a sudden coil of rage in his stomach. “Who did this?" was all he said. Draco looked away, considering a false naiveness. That had never ended well for him in the past, the memories of his consequences came flooding back, he felt himself trembling. Harry must have noticed too, for his face softened from anger to concern. “Hey, look at me. It's okay, you're safe. Just tell me who did this."
“Some Gryffindor boys.” was all Draco said. He said it so quietly that Harry barely caught it. He lifted Draco up, carrying him carefully, trying not to cause any pain. He froze when Draco winced. “I'm going to put an invisibility cloak on. Try not to make too much noise.” Harry carefully took out a cloak from the pocket of his robe, and threw it over the two. He then carried Draco up to the Gryffindor tower and laid him in his bed. As he was getting up, he heard the slightest “Thank you." from Draco as he drifted off to sleep. Now it was time to make some boys pay.