"Come on... listen to me. You couldn't say no, could you? He hurt you, didn't he?" Harry said, still rubbing his mark.
More tears came out as he choked out, "He tortured me... the snake... it was... right there... ready to...."
Harry squeezed his hand. "Draco, please listen. You-did-not-have-a-choice. Whatever he said, whatever he did to you or made you do... it wasn't your fault. It isn't who you are. Remember what I told you? About your familiar? About remorse? You're a good, moral person, Draco, and no one, not Voldemort, not Lucius, and not the Ministry could make you into a monster."
Draco sniffled and looked down at his forearm. Nothing could wash it away. He was branded forever.
Harry rubbed it, again. "Don't, Draco. I know what you're thinking."
"I'll always be one of them. It'll always be there."
"Yeah... but it's not what you think it means, Draco. This mark... this is a mark of enslavement, Draco. He forced you to take this... to work for him, or he'd kill you or worse. It's a testament to what you suffered at his hands, that you survived. You didn't want to take it, did you?"
"No... I wasn't supposed to. I wasn't! Mother said that he would wait until... I was of age, but he didn't!" he cried, looking at Harry, trying to explain.
Harry patted his arm, reassuringly. "He was a monster, Draco. He didn't care if you were underage. Hell, he tried to kill me when I was an infant. He didn't care about the sanctity of life. You were just a kid, Draco. You couldn't even legally use magic outside of school back then, much less refuse him!"
Draco's lips trembled. "He said... he said...." He couldn't finish it, though, and looked away, again. Gus whimpered and put his head on his chest.
"It's okay, Draco. You can tell me," Harry said, still gripping his hand and arm.
"That I would always be his...that I would always be one of them... his family."
Harry's eyes narrowed. "He was not your family. Hell, Lucius wasn't your family by the end. Your real family members are the people who love and cherish you. Blood doesn't mean shit if your father sold you out to Voldemort. That mark sure doesn't make you his, any more than the scar on my head makes me his. It's just a scar... an old wound that sometimes reminds you how much it hurt you. You can leave it all behind Draco, whenever you want. Ron, Hermione and all the Weasleys are my real family, not the muggles I grew up with. And you can accept anyone into your family... as you did with Gus."
Draco locked eyes with his familiar, who was already reaching out to him mentally to declare that he was his true family. Gus whimpered and put a pawed him gently. Then Draco looked at Harry. He didn't know what to say, but he wanted it to be that way for Harry, too. He remembered that desire to belong that he felt earlier, but he wanted Harry to offer it. He wanted to be a part, a permanent part, of his life. He couldn't ask... he just couldn't. If Harry rejected him... it was over. His eyes watered, and he just knew that he didn't belong.
"Draco..." Harry whispered, as though reading his mind, again, "... you're already a part of my family. Draco... you bonded to my familiar. Do you not understand what that means? Just think about it... the connection."
Draco then looked to his other side at Harry's krup, who tilted his head and then stepped forward to lick his face. He grimaced from the dog breath, but felt such love and devotion from Shadow just like he did for Gus. He wasn't alone in the world anymore. Harry was right. They were his family, and then he looked at Harry, who smiled. His fingers were still gripping him, and his thumb was still gently rubbing his Dark Mark... caressing it.