Whisper

Chapter 2: Question-System of a Down



The next morning Draco woke to his dragon alarm clock, roaring the time loud enough to wake him. He touched the dragon, which made it stop roaring, and pulled back his lime green covers. His room was a complete replica of the Slytherin Common Room, a supposed gift of his father when he was accepted into Slytherin house, but Draco saw it as a joke. Over the years he made small changes to the room, a Persian rug here and an Oriental tapestry there, but it was mostly still like the Slytherin Common Room.



He had just finished bathing and dressing in casual robes when his house-elf, Sissy, appeared.



"Breakfast is ready for Master Draco and Mistress Narcissa," she said.



"Thank you, Sissy. You may go now." The house elf bowed and disappeared. Draco grimaced that they only had two, Sissy and Nobby, to keep the manor in order. But both never shirked their chores and never stopped till a job was done. He was thinking about taking a leaf from Granger\'s book and award them with small trinkets, but that was asking too much.



He walked down stairs to the dining room and greeted his mother.



"Good morning, Mother," he said kissing her cheek and pulled out her chair for her. Narcissa Malfoy sat down and Draco safely pushed it closer to the table before taking his seat at the other side.



"Good morning, Draco. How is your work?"



"Fine, Mother. I met a new client yesterday." Draco was careful of what he said around his mother. After the war she burned anything that had to do with the Dark Arts. Lucius and Draco attempted to stop her but the damage had already been done and a lot of the books and objects couldn\'t be repaired. Both father and son couldn\'t blame Narcissa for her temporary madness and Lucius had sold away the rest of his objects. It got worse after Lucius was convicted. Nowadays Narcissa was just about normal, as long as no one mentioned anything with the Dark Arts.



"What is wrong with this one," asked Narcissa as she ate a strawberry.



"My client wishes for me to not discuss his friend\'s ailment at this time. They were very serious on the matter."



"Are you sure it has nothing to do with those objects?"



"I don\'t believe so. I shall do my best to aid him, but it will be quite a challenge."



"And when has Draco Malfoy been known to pass up a challenge," asked Narcissa with a sly look in her eye toward her son.



"Never, Mother."



xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo



Later that day Draco read over Potter\'s file before he studied the man\'s daily life. He flipped passed the usual stuff like Potter\'s address and birthday, he already knew those, and began to read the reports Granger made for his illness. For someone not trained in the Healing Arts she was really neat in her notes.



Name: Harry Potter

Age: 26

Birthday: July 31, 1981



Subject is in complete reclusive state. State is believed to be caused by a curse cast six years prior. Subject utters no speech except for screams from time to time. At times subject could be heard muttering but in inaudible tones. Extensive research has been done to find unknown curse but none could be found.



The rest was a schedule on what Potter does during the day. According to Granger\'s report Potter is in an autistic state, completely cut off from the reality and can only acknowledge the horror in his mind, judging by the screams Draco heard yesterday.



After the schedule was a brief history on Potter\'s school years. Draco, at first, wanted to skip the school history. He knew what Potter had done during their stay at Hogwarts, but soon found himself reading with fascination. He read through first year on how Potter saved the Sorcerer\'s Stone. Draco already knew hat Potter had saved the stone and the Weasley girl in the first two years of Hogwarts and that he tried to save Sirius Black from being given the Dementor\'s Kiss, but proven that he had been in the Hospital Wing with Granger and Weasley the whole time when Black did escape. Fourth and fifth year were widely known to everyone in the Wizarding World. But sixth year and seventh year had been a mystery. Granger put in for those years that Potter had been training for the final battle during sixth year and hiding during the seventh.



In the years after Potter had gone to the Auror Academy and trained to be an Auror, but was discharged after his disappearance and the death of his fiancée, Ginevera Weasley. Draco had read about the fire in the Daily Prophet and Potter\'s disappearance. When Potter returned two months later it was said he left to find his fiancée\'s killer. It was around the time Lucius was arrested. It didn\'t take long for Draco to put two and two together. Narcissa, on the other hand, refused to talk about it, which suited Draco fine.



Afterward Potter fell deeper in himself, refusing to leave the house in case he accidentally hurt someone in his screaming fit, or so Granger\'s report says. The official report said that he was recovering from the death of the Weasley girl, which he never did. Nine months later Evangeline Lily Potter was seen with Potter, supposedly adopted from an orphanage. Birth parents unknown. No one attempted to find any relatives for the girl and she remained in Potter\'s care. Draco at the time didn\'t really care about Potter\'s private life, but did find it odd that Potter had secluded himself to both the Wizarding and Muggle Worlds; both he seemed to have loved very much. For five years he kept to himself, and as far as Draco knew, he had been the first visitor outside of the Weasley family to see Potter in his state. Somehow he didn\'t feel that had been an honor.



He looked through the file again and found nothing on Potter\'s life before Hogwarts. He had known that Potter had been raised in a Muggle home, it was common knowledge, and it would explain why Potter was determined to save the Muggle-borns, but it didn\'t say what his like had been like there.



Why would Granger give him an incomplete file? She was the one that asked Draco for his help and yet she gave him an incomplete file.



Draco looked at the time and saw that Granger had just gotten off of work. The Weasley\'s had given him their work schedule in case he needed to contact them. Well, now was a time to contact them. Taking a bit of Floo powder he threw it in the fireplace, yelling "The Sanctuary," and walked through.



He walked into Potter\'s house just as Granger walked through the door, Harriet and Evangeline behind her. At the sight of Draco Granger first stared in surprise then understanding.



"Harriet, Eva, why don\'t you go upstairs and visit Uncle Harry while I talk to Mr. Malfoy," said Granger.



"Yes, ma\'am," said both girls. Harriet immediately ran upstairs while Evangeline stayed behind for a moment.



"Hello again, Mr. Ma\'voy," she said politely.



"Hello, Evangeline," said Draco, not even trying to correct her on his name.



"Will you see my daddy later?"



"I think so."



With a smile Evangeline went upstairs to her father\'s room. Watching her Draco wondered how such an obnoxious person could have such a nice daughter. He turned to Granger.



"So what is it you need to know," asked Granger.



"Potter\'s childhood," said Draco. "Before Hogwarts."



Granger walked over to the couch and sat down. "You were never interested in Harry\'s past. Why now?"



"To help my patient I must know his past. Hogwarts and after I already know about. Now what about before that?"



Granger chuckled. "You wouldn\'t believe if I told you."



"Try me."



Granger smiled. "Please, sit down," she said indicating to the second couch. Draco sat down. Orion ran into the room, placed his paws on Draco\'s lap, licked his face, then went down onto the carpet and curled around his seat. "What I\'m about to tell you isn\'t well known except by Harry\'s closet friends. As you know, he grew up in a Muggle house, right?" Draco nodded. "Well, Harry\'s relatives, his aunt, uncle and cousin, didn\'t care for Harry at all. They locked him in a cupboard for most of his childhood. Then abused and starved him, treated him like a house-elf. In our second year they even attempted to keep him from going back to Hogwarts."



Draco raised an eyebrow. "You\'re right. I don\'t believe it."



Granger shrugged. "Believe what you will, but it\'s the truth. Harry\'s uncle hated him so much he attempted to kick Harry out of the house. He didn\'t even believe that Voldemort was a threat, or didn\'t care. All he cared about was making Harry\'s life miserable." Sighing, Granger got up and walked over to the fireplace mantel and took down a picture of Potter, Granger, Weasley and Weaslette. "I don\'t know if Harry tried to patch things up with his aunt and cousin, who seemed sympathetic in the beginning of seventh year, or not. Harry did mention that Dudley, his cousin, apologized before Harry left, but never said if he kept in contact with them." Setting the picture back down she turned to Draco.



"I know you hated us in Hogwarts and you probably don\'t believe what I told you, but it\'s the truth. Harry isn\'t the kind of person to use other people for his own gain. He\'s a protector. It\'s in his nature. And when everyone knew that Voldemort was back, the world placed the problem on his shoulders. I\'ve seen times when Harry wanted to break down and hurt something, or himself, just so he could have a moment to be Harry Potter the man. Not Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived." Sitting back on the couch she looked straight at Draco. "Please, Malfoy. I\'m begging you. Help him."



Draco studied Granger\'s face as she talked. Not one word she told him was false. She was anxious and apprehensive and worried. The tears that filled her eyes were genuine. Staring at Granger with a fixed determined stare he stood up.



"Mrs. Weasley, I have already told you and your husband that I will help Mr. Potter with everything I have. I stand by it."



Granger\'s gratefulness must have been deep because she launched from the couch and hugged Draco. Draco tensed up at the close contact but relaxed a little and patted her on the back. After a moment he stopped.



"Granger, you better let go of me or your husband will kill me before I help your friend."



Granger gasped and pulled away. "I\'m sorry. I\'m so sorry. I was just so grateful…."



Draco stopped her with a halting gesture. "It\'s all right, Granger, but I hope Weasley won\'t hear about this."



Granger laughed. "Of course not. If Ron knew he\'d blow a gasket." Granger smiled up at Draco. "Let\'s go see Harry then. Shall we?"



Nodding Draco followed her to Potter\'s room. There he found the dark haired man on the floor, watching as Evangeline and Harriet drew and colored around him. Potter had also drawn a picture but the man tried to keep it out of sight. Draco walked up to Potter and crouched in front of him.



"Hello, Harry," he said. At the state the man was in, it\'s better to be on friendly terms. "Do you remember me? Draco Malfoy? I\'m here to help you."



Potter looked up and immediately recognized Draco. He jumped from his place on the floor and went to a corner, attempting to hide himself by crouching in a fetal position and holding his head.



"You scared my daddy," yelled Evangeline and ran to comfort her father. Harriet glared at Draco.



"Mean old man," she said, stuck her tongue at him, and joined her friend.



"He must have remembered you from his school years," said Granger. "You\'re lucky he didn\'t lash out at you."



"I guess," said Draco. He noticed Potter had left his picture on the floor and picked it up. It was a sad picture. Mostly gray to represent stone walls, and silvery vertical rectangles for windows. There were figures in black surrounding the "doorway," except for one. The wild black hair and green eyes of the figure had to represent Potter. And there was a figure in the silvery doorway. The figure was non-descriptive, hazy, as if seen out of the corner of a person\'s eye.



"Harry has a lot of pictures like that," said Granger. "I keep them here." She opened a drawer to reveal the other pictures. Some were of the same as the one he held. Other were different, some plain, some grotesque. He picked up one up from the top. This one had two persons in it, one thin and the other round. The thin figure was fending off two black robed figures floating off the ground with skeletal fingers with a silvery shield.



"Dementors," he said.



Granger nodded. "I\'m sure you\'ve heard the rumor, that Harry cast a Patronus Charm in front of his cousin and claimed here were Dementors."



Draco nodded. He hadn\'t particularly believed it was true, thinking Potter was just begging for attention at the time.



"It was real," he asked. "All of it."



"Every word."



Draco gathered the rest of the pictures. "Would he mind if I take these?"



Granger shook her head. "He draws them and forgets about them soon afterward. Sometimes, he draws the same scene over and over again. It\'s about the only thing he does. That and read. Sometimes we have a game going and he\'d play for an hour. He\'s very good at Clue."



Draco blinked in confusion. "Clue?"



"A Muggle mystery game. Harry loves playing it."



Draco looked back down at the picture drawer and pulled out another drawing. This one was of a man riding a hippogriff from a castle that looked suspiciously like Hogwarts. The man looked like the ex-fugitive Sirius Black and the hippogriff looked like the one he was going to have executed third year, but had "mysteriously" disappeared. He looked at Granger.



"He did like Buckbeak," she said. "He even named one after it. He lives at the Burrow with Molly and Arthur."



Draco could tell she was lying through her teeth, on one part, but let it go as it was. He gathered up the drawings and placed them in the briefcase he conjured. Walking back to the huddled man and the girls around him he gave them a friendly smile.



"I\'m sorry for scaring your father," he said. "I\'m only trying to help him."



"Can you make him better again," asked Evangeline. "Can you make my daddy sing to me again?"



Draco looked at her in surprise. "He sings?"



Evangeline giggles. "Daddy sings funny, but me like it when we sing togever."



Draco nodded and petted her jet black hair. "I promise I will do everything in my power to make your father better."



Evangeline smiled at him.



To Be Continued