Blood Vengeance

Chapter 3

*TRIGGER WARNING* - References to sexual assault

Malfoy didn't wake up that night or the next morning, when Proudfoot finally showed up and demanded to know where Harry had been for the last twenty-four hours. Harry took the jerk into the hall.

"In case you hadn't noticed, I found a victim, alive," he hissed.

"We don't care about DEK's victims!" Proudfoot spat. "You let DEK get away and broke protocol Apparating into a scene without backup. The two of you could have put the wards up while the other subdued DEK!"

"Malfoy was almost dead when I got there!"

"You let DEK get away!"

Harry frowned. Proudfoot was right to a limited extent, but he was wrong. The life he saved was more important. "I didn't let him get away. Short of stunning a Muggle crowd, I wasn't going to catch him."

"Hello! That's what Anti-Apparation Wards are for! That's why you go as a team. One casts the spells, and one duels! You should know this!"

"I do. There wasn't time."

"Time? DEK was there. A few more minutes wouldn't have made a difference, Potter! I'm reporting you!" he growled. "We'll see what Robards says."

Harry snarled, "I thought he was called Head Auror Robards?"

Proudfoot glared and spat, "You are not to leave this ward until that Death Eater gives up who DEK is, understand?"

Normally, he'd have told him to fuck off, but it was what he wanted, so he nodded curtly. The senior Auror left in a huff, and he went into Malfoy's room. Man, that pompous jerk was an asshole. He walked over to Malfoy's bed. Unfortunately, Malfoy had been breathing shallowly for a long time as his lungs slowly filled. He had almost drowned in his own blood. The healers weren't sure he'd wake up, as there could be brain damage.

"Heal, Draco. You didn't let that bastard win. I know you didn't... and don't let him win now," Harry said, and he thought he saw Malfoy's eyes open slightly, but they closed. Maybe, he imagined it and watched him for a long time to make sure.

Malfoy's eyes didn't open again. He was breathing alright, now, but the healers kept draining blood out of his lungs all night. Harry could see that his hands shook, even when he was asleep. But he kept his questions to himself and returned to his seat. He waited and didn't sleep, though he was well into a 36-hour shift. Near dinner time, Malfoy's assigned healer came in for a checkup before she went home.

"Can you give me an update?" he asked.

"The... patient... is doing alright. The lungs are healing. His other organs are responded to potions and charms well. We sent his blood to the lab to check for potions. He just needs time."

"Any lasting damage?"

"Maybe to his brain. The Oxygenation Charms are helping to heal, but we won't know until he wakes up. As far as the other... damage... it was all healed, besides his hands and feet. But they will need a week to heal fully. Most of the external damage was caused by muggle implements, and we can heal all those wounds."

"Everything?"

"Yes... physically... if he wakes up. Mentally... is another question. I definitely won't release him until a mind healer comes. There were over a hundred wounds to his body and deep enough to cause internal injuries, that are still healing. We also had to remove a curse on his lungs. It was slowly filling with blood."

"Purposely?" Harry asked.

"Yes... he was slowly drowning. It would have been agonizing. Another few minutes and he would have died, Auror. It's amazing you made it in time, and he held out as long as he did."

"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.