Chapter 3

                                        

                                              
Chapter 3
                              
Published: June 15, 2021
                              
Granger let out an audible breath and came over. She held out her hand. "Come on, M-Draco. Let's get you out of those clothes, first." Her voice was surprisingly kind.
                              
He was still in his gray prisoner uniform. He slowly took her hand and got up. He meekly followed her as she went upstairs. He was out of breath out the top. The effects of months of inactivity and barely eating. Thankfully, they stopped at the second floor. There were three rooms on the floor: a bathroom and two bedrooms.  She guided him to the smaller room with a large bed inside.
                              
"This is the guest room. Ron and I will take the master across the way. There are two more upstairs, but they're smaller."
                              
He nodded, keeping his eyes on the floor. He couldn't feel easy about this. It was Granger and Weasley, and he didn't know what to say or how to act.
                              
"Mal-Draco... there are some clothes in here. You and Ron are about the same height, and Bill has some old clothes, too, but he's bigger. Maybe when you get your weight back? But I can alter them, so they fit better."
                              
He looked at where she had indicated and nodded, again.
                              
She looked at him, and he awkwardly avoided her eyes. "Are you okay?"
                              
"Yeah," he whispered.
                              
"You don't have to be scared," she said, like trying to reconcile his behavior with what she knew of him. "Harry will figure it out. You can trust him... us. We do want to help you."
                              
"You don't have to... I mean... be here... be nice to me," Draco said, quietly.
                              
"No... but... everyone deserves simple human kindness. Mercy."
                              
Pity, he added, mentally. He shook his head. "I was an asshole to you."
                              
"Yes, you were, but I'll ask you, what Harry asked. Did you mean what you wrote? You apologized. You said that your father... beat you... because I did better than you?"
                              
"Yeah... he was angry. Greg and Vince would tell their parents who ratted me out to mine. I had to be... strong. Be a bastard to you guys... or he'd do worse."
                              
"Worse than what?" she breathed.
                              
Draco considered that, and maybe the Calming Potion drew him to unbutton his prison flock and take it off. He showed her his back and the crisscrossed scars on it. She gasped. He took a shirt out of the chest of drawers and put it on. She seemed shocked.
                              
"Actually, the Cruciatus was worse, but I just... took my pain out on you guys. I'm sorry."
                              
"Don't be sorry," she said. "I forgive you, Draco. I believe what you said downstairs, too."
                              
"Don't forgive me. I watched them torture you in front of me and did nothing."
                              
"I remember you looked scared to death, Draco. You didn't revel in it like Bellatrix and your father."
                              
"No. I never wanted to hurt anyone," he whispered.
                              
"Then you don't deserve this... any of this... and I'm sorry that you had to go through it. I'm sorry that your parents... are gone and your friends."
                              
Draco nodded. The last time he saw them was when they were taken for their execution. His father screamed for him to do something. His mother was regal and said she loved him. Greg cursed at him. Pansy begged for mercy and tried to escape the guards' hold. The rest generally ignored him.
                              
"Draco? Draco!" Granger called, and he jumped. "You kind of faded out there."
                              
"I'm sorry... I was remembering... when my parents and the others were taken... down the hall."