"Thank you, Draco. And thank you for teaching me all of this."
"You're welcome, Joel. 
Your mind was quite... nice. Is it weird to say that?"
"No. I... umm... was wondering... if... umm...."
"Spit it out, kid."
Joel smirked. "I wanted to... use Legilimency... on you. I want to try to... help you."
Draco stared at him.
"You've seen a lot, Joel, but inside my head is but pain and misery. Images that you can't get out."
"I want to try. If I want to learn mind healing effectively, I need to be able to handle the hard stuff and soothe a distressing memory. But... there are other people who go through bad stuff, too. I have to be able to handle it. I need to be able to help them."
Draco lowered his head. "It's a lot to ask, Joel."
"I know, but I think it could help you."
"Are you trying to get ready to do this for Harry?" Draco grunted, meeting Joel's eyes.
"No," Joel responded, quickly and his upfront answer threw him. He stared at Joel until he went on, "I want to walk you through this, because I think that you'll have to help Harry."
Draco looked at him, surprised, for a second, and then he considered it. He was right. It'd take years before Joel could convince Harry to let him in. He could persuade him much faster. He was on equal ground with Harry. "You're probably right. How... how do you want to do this?"
"Any preferences?" Joel asked, quietly.
"Not really. It's all bad."
"Let's start at the very beginning. It's a very good place to start."
"Says you. My childhood trauma... you want to talk about it first? Or full sensory?" Draco asked, petulantly. 
"I'd say just dive in. We'll see if you can handle it."
Draco snorted. "We'll see how you handle it, kid."
"Just a short one. Are you going to fight me?" Joel asked.
"I might. I have controls up for a reason." 
"Okay, try not to? I-umm... are you ready?" he asked, a little nervous, and Draco nodded, "Legilimens!"
Draco braced himself for the intrusion but didn't attack Joel. At this point, he knew and trusted the kid. Joel was recovering from the initial entry, too, but suddenly delved forward on a mission. His childhood. The old memories. Draco didn't block them as much. His mother was in them. Good with the bad. Joel got flashes of them in a chaotic mess. Joel soothed the memories when the bad ones popped up, taking out the fear and anxiety and replacing it with a kind of numbed acceptance. It didn't hurt, and Draco felt his body relaxing.
Joel made it through his childhood to the start of Hogwarts before he pulled out. Draco took slow, steady breaths, trying to recover. Joel looked a little pale, too. 
"Are you alright?" Draco muttered.
"Yeah... some were... hard to watch."
"Those are my good memories, kid. Are you sure you want to go in, again?"
"Definitely. It was... working? Wasn't it? You were calming down."
"It helped, but as I said, it only gets worse from here."
"We can take it a day at a time... if you're still... willing," Joel asked.
Draco nodded as they both turned, as a knock sounded at the door. It opened and Harry came back from his afternoon appointments.