Healing Draco Malfoy

Chapter 42

Published: 4/20/2022

Ron watched as Malfoy fidgeted nervously in his wheelchair. He hadn't looked at him once and would only briefly glance at Hermione. They had been summoned at nearly four in the morning to come to his room. The frog Patronus had directly asked for him to come, too, though Ron wasn't sure why. Malfoy was clearly affected by his presence, and Ron didn't want to cause him stress. He was sure there was a reason, though, and just tried to be as non-threatening as possible and let his wife lead the conversation.

They were sitting across from Malfoy. The kid... Joel... was talking low to Malfoy, trying to ease his discomfort, and was sitting next to him. The two wardens, Natalie and Cass, were standing by the door, anxiously waiting and talking low to each other. They were waiting for Zabini to arrive, which Joel had assured them, that it would just be a few minutes.

Hermione also tried to talk to him, trying to reassure him as well. Malfoy... Draco, he mentally corrected himself, was not as affected by Hermione as much as him. Ron had had plenty of victim sensitivity training from being in the Aurors. He stressed it a lot when he took over his department. Victims can be easily traumatized by the wrong person even being in the room or questioning them, especially when it involved abuse. He knew victims tended to close up when large, over-bearing Aurors were in the room, and he especially tired not to be unless it was necessary.

However, M-Draco knew him. They had hi온라인카지노게임, and maybe that's why Draco was so nervous around him. Ron tried to be as calm and soft-soften as possible, but Malfoy tightened up if he even breathed loudly. Ron was sure that he didn't need to be there. Hermione remembered everything, and could just give him orders. She was the boss, he thought, with amusement. When he subtly shifted in his chair, Draco twitched, immediately noticing the movement. Ron figured he should leave.

"Maybe I should just wait outside?" he suggested, quietly. "I don't want to make you upset, Draco."

Malfoy tightened up and looked away, clearly wanting no part of his presence. Joel tried to take his hand on the table, but Draco snapped it back to his body and leaned back in his wheelchair. He wanted no part of contact, which wasn't uncommon for sexual assault victims. Ron was about to get up when Malfoy shook his head.

"I don't need to be in here. Hermione can...."

"Harry asked for you," Draco whispered, still rigid.

Ron settled back in his chair. "I see. Well... still... this is stressing you out. I don't want you to be so... uncomfortable."

Draco was still staring at the table and, now, making eye contact with no one.

"I won't ever hurt you, Draco," Ron said, using his calm and soft voice.

Malfoy still just stared at the table, blankly. Disassociating, the books called it. It was hard to know what to say or do in this situation. Sometimes, you just had to ride it out. However, Joel leaned forward and tried to engage with him.

"Draco?" he asked.

Malfoy slowly looked at him.

"You want some tea? I think it'll help?" Joel asked and looked at the wardens. Natalie nodded and left to get it. "Draco, come on. Breathe in and out, slowly, like we talked about. Stay here...stay with us, okay?"

Draco breathed and said, "Sorry."

"You don't have to apologize, Draco," Joel whispered and set his hand on the table, open for him.

Malfoy shook his head, declining the offer. Natalie returned and set the cup on the table in front of him. Draco sniffed it and slowly drank it. Ron had understood that tea was a euphemism for a Calming Draught. Draco's breathing became more relaxed, but he still didn't look at him. Draco leaned forward onto the table and held on to his cup with both hands. He finally looked at Joel, and they had some kind of wordless exchange.

Ron could see the deep scars on his wrists and others on his arms, neck and face. He, himself, still had nightmares about what he saw at Azkaban when he went undercloak there. None of the other prisoners were chained down like Draco had been, but it was still horrifying. He had done the interviews and watched the memories (which he would never ever tell Draco or Harry that). So, he knew exactly what those bastards did to Draco. Ron didn't understand how he was even functioning.

Draco did look a lot better than the last time Ron had seen him, and a hundred times better than when he left prison. His face was fuller. Clearly, he had been eating more, and his skin and hair looked better, though he still had "bed hair". Ron guessed that Harry was not a fan of mirrors, because there were none in the room. He idly wondered if Harry always did Draco's hair. It seemed so... domestic. Ron often wondered about the nature of their relationship as Harry was so protective of Draco. Hermione had mentioned that Harry and Draco had often looked at each other when she came before the trial to do the interview.

Joel and Draco finally stopped staring at each other. Joel was going to be a mind healer and knew some Legilimency. At least, that was what Ron guessed was happening. Draco finished his tea and took a deep breath.

"Sorry, it's hard," he said, quietly.

"It's completely fine, Draco," his wife assured him, but then Ron nudged her with his foot to prompt her to talk. Malfoy didn't tense up nearly as much when she spoke. "But I think it'd be better, if Ron went out into the hallway, Draco. I'll tell him everything. I'm sure Harry didn't mean that he had to be here. Just said that he needs Ron help. It'll make it easier for you."

Malfoy shook his head, idly spinning his empty teacup on the table with one finger. "I know what he said, and we don't have time. If Blaise doesn't get here...."

"I'm here," Zabini said, coming in the door, and Neville came in behind him. "Sorry, had to arrange substitutes for both of us."

Ron nodded hello to Neville, trying to avoid talking for Draco's benefit. He eyed Zabini, though. He was still a little peeved about the whole eavesdropping thing, but this wasn't the place for confrontations. Neville had owled the next day to apologize, but emphasized that they had wanted to make sure that Harry was okay. The fact that Zabini had helped track down Harry and got him to a safe place, definitely diminished his anger. He would need to actually talk to the man before he forgave him.

Hermione waited until Blaise conjured a chair between Draco and Joel to say, "Alright, we're all here. You spoke to Harry?"

"Not exactly," Draco said, grimacing. "But he-he said that Higgs dosed him. Gave him a salve form of a Panic Potion. He said that it was the reason he freaked out during the evaluation, and Higgs gave him another dose for the night, too."

Zabini straightened up, Joel swore under his breath, and the others gasped in shock and anger. Ron, however, had to maintain his emotions. He didn't want to make Draco stop talking by getting worked up, needlessly.

"That's highly illegal! Higgs can be charged for that. But wait... was it just absorbed through skin contact?" Hermione asked.

Draco nodded and his eyes flickered back and forth between her and the table. "He had a huge rash on his arm. His emotions were completely out of control when I first got there. It took a bit to calm him down, and even then, he still was barely in control. It was several hours old, too, so I imagine a fresh dose would really mess his emotions up."

Ron grimaced. Harry barely had a hold on his emotions as it was. A Panic Potion was just cruel.

"Well, I can test his skin for the potion, and there is certainly no medical need for it. It should stay on his skin for a few days. Did you touch it?"

Draco frowned and looked at his finger. "I should have remembered that, but yeah... I did."

"It shouldn't have affected you... much, but it could," Hermione said, quietly.

"I feel okay, all-be-it a little... apprehensive."

"The Calming Draught would have directly countered its effects," Joel explained, and Draco took a deep breath.

Draco nodded, somberly. "Harry said that Higgs would try to give it to you, Joel, to mess up your certification."

Joel humphed. "I'd like to see him try."

"There's no need to be reckless," Hermione warned. "All it takes is contact with your skin."

"Well, I can put on an Impervious to guard against it... just in case."

"Do it. We can't risk you... freaking out."

"Well, we just need to get a skin scape from Harry to prove the potion was administered, but it won't tell us who did it, and Harry... well... he isn't the ideal witness. So, we might have a little bit of a conundrum."

Joel mumbled under his breath, but Draco bit his lip and said, "Harry also said that Higgs was going to administer it to him, again, sometime today."

Ron's eyes narrowed, and a plan was already forming. Harry asked for him for a reason, after all.

Hermione nodded. "We'll have to arrest Higgs before that happens. We can't have Harry going into a panic attack during his evaluation."

Draco looked down, grimacing. "There's more. Harry can't talk."

"What?" Hermione gasped, and Joel leaned forward to ask, "What do you mean?"

"Higgs... gave him some kind of muggle drug that paralyzed his tongue to make him helpless."

Zabini growled under his breath and crossed his arms, and Hermione blinked some tears from her eyes.

"That fucking bastard!" Joel swore, and the normally calm and relaxed kid was getting visibly upset. He really looked up to Harry. Draco actually reached out and put his hand on top of Joel's and met his eyes, again. Joel took a resigned breath and thanked him. Draco pulled his hand back when he had calmed down.

"Wait... if Harry can't talk... then how did he tell you all of this?" Hermione asked, and Ron was wondering that, too.

Draco waved them off. "It doesn't matter how. But he said to go after Harding. I guess he's Head of Potions, here?"

Joel nodded. "Yeah, he's friends with Higgs. They had a merry ol' time riding me during training. I can't believe that they would violate their oaths as healers like this, though."

"Higgs probably needed someone to brew the Panic Potion, too. He barely passed Advanced Potions," Zabini said.

"You remember that?" Draco asked, looking at Zabini directly. Draco wasn't afraid of him, so maybe he was an okay guy.

"Well, there are perks to being a professor. I pulled his school file."

"You can't...."

Ron interrupted his wife. "It's not the time for that, honey. What else?"

Draco had immediately looked at the table and tightened up when he spoke. But then he took a deep breath and said, "Harry said that... Higgs set up Harry... for everything, including the guy who attacked him."

Hermione was slightly glaring at him for cutting her off, but her eyes snapped back to staring at Draco. "Higgs got someone to purposely assault Harry?!" Hermione gasped.

"Yes."

"That's... well, he's just as responsible for the assault as the guy, Wortchuck, is. Even just planning to touch Harry is illegal, not to mention filing a false Auror report, which Wortchuck did. We'll have to track him down and arrest him," Hermione rambled on. "It seemed so random that he was referred by a healer who doesn't even work at St. Mungo's. So we'll have to locate the healer, too. He was either in on it or improperly gave a referral. There has to be something there. I bet...."

"Hermione," Ron sighed, and even Draco was smirking. "We got it."

"Right, sorry, getting ahead of myself," she said, slightly blushing.

"It's alright... but we need to stay on target," Ron said, taking her hand. "Was there anything else, Draco?"

Malfoy looked at the table and trembled a little at being directly addressed by him. "Yeah, one other thing," he paused, and glanced toward the door where Neville had stayed unobtrusively. He was there to support Zabini. "Harry said that Higgs experimented on his other patients... with the salve."

Neville blanched and whispered, "He did?"

Zabini stood up and walked over to him. He didn't hug him, just stood ready as Neville processed it. He was trembling more than Neville. Draco was looking down at the table and nodded.

"He tortured my parents with a Panic Potion?"

Draco's voice was quiet, and he was shaking. "H-Harry just said that Higgs used it on his patients. He didn't say specifically that... he used it on them."

Neville buried his face in his hands, and Zabini slowly pulled him into his arms. Ron could feel deep sadness and anger for him for the situation. But he realized that they were locked in a catch-22. Neville's parents, Harry, and anyone locked in that ward had zero credibility. Harry was under the Panic Potion when Higgs admitted it. Reasonable deniably. They could try to get him convicted, but Harry, most likely, had no specifics.

Hermione could maybe get into evidence that Higgs assaulted Harry. With skin scapes and if they arrested Higgs with the salve on him... but it was circumstantial. Plus, Ron realized that a trial would require Harry to testify in open court, again, and maybe, as Draco was essentially their informant, he might have to testify, too. Harry was an Auror once, too, and knew there was a process. Neither one wanted to be hauled into open court, again, if they-if he could help it.

Hermione got up to comfort Neville, as well, but Ron leaned forward and softly asked, "Was that all, Draco?"

He looked away but nodded. Joel whispered some words to him, telling him that he was proud of him. Ron was, too, to be honest, but it was time to act, now.

"Thank you for telling us this, Draco. You can be reassured that we will handle it," Ron said, standing up, and Malfoy leaned away from him. He couldn't deal with that right, now. He turned to Neville. "Mate... I'm so sorry if your parents went through that, but I need you not to go curse-happy or tear up the ward. It would be out of their system right now, and I suspect Higgs' attention will be on Harry. Please wait until I arrest him?"

Neville dropped his hands and nodded. Zabini didn't.

Ron stepped forward before Hermione could say anything. "Za-Blaise? Can you restrain yourself? Neville surely doesn't want you to get arrested, too."

Neville turned Blaise's head toward him. "Please, don't. I'll be alright. Let Ron try it the right way... first."

Blaise nodded and snarled, "I can't guarantee what will happen if we run into him."

Ron was a bit surprised at his ferocity, but he was glad he got the concession. "Thank you."

"Ron, what are you...."

He lifted his wand and shot his Jack Russel Patronus through the wall. "Hermione... go meet Terry and Michael at the office. They'll go with you to pick up Harding before he comes to work. You know Potions better than all of us... can you get his confession? Or get him to implicate Higgs?"

"I-sure. Of course, I can," she insisted, but was eyeing him suspiciously.

"Make sure Terry or Mike is in the room, okay? You're not an Auror."

"Ron...."

"Hermione, trust me, alright?" he said, and she met his eyes.

"I do, but what are you...."

A wailing sound came back through the wall, indicating that the message was received and his guys were in motion.

"Hermione, I got it. We need to get to Harding before he comes to work, and time is wasting. I wasn't going to brief Terry through the Patronus."

"I'll go. Don't you do anything to get arrested or fired, either," she said and gave him a kiss. She then clicked her portable portkey back to the Ministry. Department heads had all sorts of perks.

Ron lifted his head. "Blaise, you want a mission?"

Zabini whipped around to face him. "Fuck yeah, I do."

"Congrats. You and Neville are now officially deputized to assist the Auror Department with this investigation. Seamus and Dean are in the lobby. Go with them to track down and arrest Wortchuck. Try not to injure him... much," Ron growled.

Zabini smirked. "Don't worry. I happen to have a guy that can find anyone."

"Good. Dean and Seamus are there to make sure you don't go too far and make it official. Find him, get the confession, and determine what healer gave the referral. Visit him, too."

"I won't fail, Weasley," he growled and took Neville's hand, dragging him out the door.

Ron looked at Joel, who was now holding Draco's hand, as he was shaking. "Joel... you know your part. Make sure you protect yourself in case Higgs has a minion doing his dirty work."

Joel nodded. "What about Higgs?"

"I'll take care of him. You worry about your task. Go, now. Hermione called in some favors... or blackmailed a few people."

Joel nodded. "Are you going to be alright, Draco?"

"I will be when Harry is out of there," he whispered, still looking at the table. His shaking was getting worse, though. Ron guessed that Draco was worried about being alone with him, again.

Joel left after saying goodbye, and Ron turned to Natalie and Cassandra. "Do you want to help? Or are you too tired, Cass?"

She snorted. "Whadaya need?"

"If you can, swipe any of Higgs files or records o his patients. Ask the other wardens if they know anything about his possible victims... like freakouts or attacks. That rash Draco mentioned... do some small poking around, but scram when Higgs arrives. Alright?"

"Got it. Harper's got a good eye on that ward. He might not have known what was causing it, but would notice changes like that."

"Be careful, and though it wasn't mentioned... Higgs much have accomplices within his department."

"Damn right, he would. Sycophants... all of them," Cass sneered.

Ron smirked. "We'll take any of the patient records anonymously. But if you find anything on the other healers, send a message to Hermione, alright? And don't get caught."

Cass nodded and headed out, and Natalie looked at him for orders.

Ron glanced back at Malfoy, who was looking at the table, his trembling arms clenched tightly to his chest. He was scared and worried, but he was seemingly unconcerned about his presence, now. Ron was wrong. Malfoy wasn't worried about him anymore. He was retreating inwardly, disassociating, again. Ron knew for sure then that Draco would never be alright until Harry was free. Their fates, their souls were intertwined, now.

He turned back to Natalie and took her hand, to better convey the importance of his next words. "You have the most crucial job, Nat. You need to stay with him, alright?"

Natalie looked at Draco and nodded. "Yeah, of course."

"He shouldn't be alone. He's stressed and upset. Try to get him to lay down and relax. Hopefully, this will all be over soon, okay?" Ron said, loud enough for Draco to hear. He hoped he was listening, as he knew that Draco was in his head then.

"Okay, I got him, Auror Weasley."

"Ron... is fine, but I really must go," he said, sparing a glance at Draco, before he left out the door to floo home.