"I see," Harry said, relieved almost. "What about the shaking?"
                              
She looked at Malfoy's hands. "Oh... that's from the Cruciatus Curses. Nerve damage."
                              
Harry nodded. "Will it go away?"
                              
The healer handed him Malfoy's file. "I don't think so. He had that issue before this."
                              
Harry, though surprised the healer just handed him Draco's file, looked at her. "Sorry... you said... before this, he had nerve damage?"
                              
"Yes. According to his file, he saw a few healers for his shakes. Repeated Cruiatus Curses during the war. Strange, him being a Death Eater and all. But I'll leave you with him. I have a dinner planned with my partner. Goodnight," she said, softly and left.
                              
Harry sat down and read Malfoy's healer file with interest. Usually, healers waited until a Wizengamot-order came, but he wasn't going to complain. Narcissa had mentioned that her son needed a tonic for his nerves and, from the file, Malfoy had serious nerve damage. It was probably one of the reasons Malfoy stayed in hiding. He didn't want people to know, no doubt. Harry read the healer notes that mentioned eating problems, sleep disturbances and severe depression. 
                              
Malfoy was hurting, and Harry's heart felt heavy. He felt... sympathetic. Malfoy hid from the world with only his mother as company. Harry jolted. His mother... fuck. He sent a Patronus and, a few minutes later, Hermione showed up.
                              
"What's wrong, Harry?" she asked, and he took her into the hall and put wards up.
                              
"Please, I need a big favor," he asked, earnestly.
                              
"Harry, I haven't said no yet. Even when you leave the tracker I gave you behind," she chided.
                              
"Sorry. Heat of the moment. But listen... I have to stay here, but Malfoy's mother needs to know that he's alright. I forgot to let her know, and I don't want Ron or another Auror to do it."
                              
"Why?"
                              
"Hermione... he's all that matters to her. She can't come here without an escort. DEK might come for her or come back for him. Can you convince her to stay home?"
                              
Hermione pushed the hair out of his eyes. "You're a good person, Harry. I will, and then I'm coming back, so you can sleep."
                              
"Just come back in the morning. I don't want to sleep. I can't," he whispered, glancing at the door and thinking about the lure of Malfoy's file.
                              
She nodded. "Alright, Ron and I will escort Narcissa here in the morning."
                              
Harry gave her a look. "Thank you."
                              
"I know this means a lot to you. Malfoy always did. I'll see you tomorrow," she said, a little cryptically.
                              
He hugged her goodbye and went into Malfoy's room. No change to his charge and he picked up Malfoy's file. It was thick enough to take the whole night and he couldn't stop reading it.
                              
"The patient is extremely withdrawn and refuses to talk about the abuse that had been going on for a decade," a mind healer wrote, nearly four years ago.
                              
Harry grimaced and looked at Malfoy. For a decade? That was before Voldemort came. His father was the only explanation. Abused for years... and who used the Cruciatus Curses on Draco. His father? Voldemort? The other Death Eaters? Someone like DEK? Harry didn't like the picture that was forming in his head.
                              
The older files weren't any better as he skimmed them: multiple referrals from Madam Pomfrey at Hogwarts for potion abuse, lack of eating and a suicide attempt in his sixth year. That was when he was trying to fix the cabinet. At that time, the healer reported that she could get nothing out of him, and neither could the Magical Child and Adult Protective Services (MCAPS) rep.
                              
"Mr. Malfoy is under extreme duress and, when I suggested a stay in the hospital, his mother and her brother decided to take her son home against recommendations," the healer wrote and including several heart-wrenching paragraphs of how bad Malfoy was. She wrote that if a war wasn't going on, there would be no question that the boy would be committed.
                              
Harry went further into Malfoy's medical past and found more reports from St. Mungo's, Hogwarts and a few private healers. Even his Sectumsempra attack was in there, though he was unnamed. At fifteen, Malfoy was admitted for several broken bones after school ended and the healer then reported evidence of pain-enduring curses, possibly Cruciatus. Harry was confused, though. Lucius was imprisoned after the Department of Mysteries.
                              
"The patient reported being attacked in Diagon Alley, though was brought in by his mother from their home. Aurors did not investigate," the healer wrote.
                              
Harry shook his head and pulled out a red-stamped file signifying that MCAPS had investigated. He turned the page and froze. At thirteen, their third year, Malfoy was admitted for rectal trauma and a severe beating from Hogwarts. Harry's hands were shaking as Mal-Draco's injuries were cataloged without euphemism: rope burns, tearing, bleeding, broken bones, dislodged teeth, head trauma and bruises everywhere. MCAPS reported that there was more than one attacker, but Draco said nothing, and none of the people questioned would admit to anything.
                              
The investigator found that Draco was attacked in his own common room and the most likely suspects were either his dorm mates or his teammates, as the Slytherin team just lost the final match and the cup that day. MCAPS was leaning toward his own team as being the attackers, but there was no proof. The investigation was halted when school ended, and Lucius Malfoy threatened to eviscerate the investigator if she dared continued. The case was shelved.
                              
Holy fuck... Harry hadn't even an inkling of what Draco had gone through over the years. Harry's heart sunk as the day that was one of his best memories, winning the Quidditch Cup, was the day that Draco was brutally tortured and, for all appearances, gang-raped by his "friends". Harry tried to remember any sign of distress Malfoy had shown in the last few days at school that year, but he remembered nothing. Malfoy was at the end of year feast, sitting with his friends like nothing had happened.
                              
Harry slowly lowered the file and stared at Draco, still unconscious after another traumatic experience. Malfoy buried it all and went on like nothing had happened. Harry had always thought Draco was a coward, but knowing he went through all that was a different kind of brave, especially as it was his own housemates. Flint was the only one who graduated that year, the rest were there for a few years. He even thought about how Goyle and Crabbe were always with him... like bodyguards. And how Draco had turned the attention to him in their fourth year.
                              
Harry understood it now. He knew what it was like to live with his abusers, trying to stave off reasons for them to hurt him. The desperation and the isolation were crippling. There was no one to turn to for protection. So, he did understand why Draco had chosen to lash out at him, someone who wouldn't hurt him as by comparison, he was a much safer target to vent his anger on.
                              
He looked at Draco and straightened as he saw Draco's grey eyes open and close, again. He smiled. He saw them. Draco was going to wake up soon, and they had a lot to talk about.