In The Arms of an Angel

***Warning*** This chapter has dark themes and acts. Rape is mentioned, but not detailed and there are a few character deaths in the recounting of Draco's story and I will warn you that I cried while writing it. Also, my wonderful beta Heather says that she cried as well.


Chapter 3 Draco's Story

Hermione apparated into her living room and let out a scream of rage, "WHO THE FUCK DOES HE THINK HE IS – GODDAMNED SELF-RIGHTEOUS BASTARD!" She then let out another scream but this time it came out more like an extremely loud squeal. Draco had run out from the library to see what was wrong to find her standing in the middle of the room, seemingly having a hissy fit.

"Hermione, are you alright?" he asked her as he took each of her arms into his hands.

She took a deep breath before looking up at his face, "Yeah. He just makes me so mad thinking he knows everything about everything."

"Who?"

"Moody."

"Ahhh ..." He'd heard how the Moody who changed him into a ferret was really Barty Crouch, Jr.; but he'd also heard tons of stories of the real Moody from his father and some of the other Death Eaters. The man might be crazy, but he wasn't someone that Draco wanted to deal with. "What did he do to get you so upset?"

"He, umm, told me that you shouldn't be allowed a wand, that I should bring you to headquarters so he could questions you and that I shouldn't go around making promises I couldn't keep, especially to prisoners." She said the last word with a sneer on her face as though the very word itself left an unwanted aftertaste in her mouth.

Before Draco could respond there was the sound of two pops of apparition and the next thing he knew Hermione was pushed into his arms, Remus standing behind her and Severus off to the side. Hermione looked up at Draco, her eyes wide, to find that he had a similarly shocked look on his face, only he was looking at his Godfather. She pulled away from him and smoothed out her shirt after extricating her waist from his arms where he had grabbed a hold of her so she wouldn't fall before, bringing his attention back to her at the loss of her body.

He looked back up to the former potions professor who had an odd look on his face as he watched the two interact. A grin spread over the young man's face, pulling at the scar across his cheek as he stalked over and wrapped his arms around Severus into a big bear hug. Neither Hermione nor Remus were surprised to see Snape hug Draco back, as both had been able to see the pain in his eyes when he had delivered the news that Draco was dead over two years ago.

When Severus pulled away, the picture of stoicism, he spoke to his Godson, "I need an hour to tend to the Wolfsbane, and then I expect a full report on where you have been." He whirled around with his trademark billowing robes and stalked to the potions lab, closing the door behind him.

Draco turned to Remus. "Hello, Mister Lupin. I assume that you can wait until Severus is back before questioning me?"

"It's Remus, and yes, I think it can wait."

Before any more awkward conversation could occur, Hermione butted in. "Draco, I don't know if you've eaten while I was gone, but I haven't and I'm sure that Remus and Severus could do with a nice meal, so I think I'll be headed to the kitchen."

The next hour was spent with Hermione and Draco cooking a nice stuffed pepper soup and Italian bread while keeping up a light conversation with Remus, who told Draco all about how Hermione stood up to Moody and about how after she left Severus started laughing. Hermione was shocked, as she had never heard the man laugh either but it didn't seem to surprise Draco too much. He knew what could set off his Godfather, and a tiny witch like Hermione intimidating a man like Moody was definitely one of those things, though he had the feeling that the "old man" comment is what really set him off. He was wondering when Severus had changed sides, as he most certainly had been a Death Eater the last time he had seen him, but felt that the man in question deserved the respect to be asked to his face rather than behind his back to these two.

When Severus entered into the kitchen it was to find Draco setting the table while Hermione pulled the bread out of the oven. He sat down next to Remus in wonderment at the sight of Draco doing something that he had always considered to be house-elf work. One look at Severus and they, as the people who knew him best in the world, could tell that he had spent some of his time in the potions lab crying at the rediscovery of his Godson, though no one said anything, whether out of respect, or fear, it was hard to tell.

After everyone had eaten their fill they went to the living room and sat down on the comfortable sofas, Hermione and Draco on one and Severus and Remus each in an overstuffed chair. They each held a fine scotch in their hand with the bottle on the table between them. Draco drank down the cup in one and poured himself another glass while everyone else watched.

"Please, only interrupt if you have to. I can tell all of you that this is going to be hard for me, but you all deserve to know where I've been and what I've been doing. Remus, you need to know because Hermione tells me that you're the leader of the Order and when Potter kills the Great Bastard I'll probably need all the help I can get in not going to Azkaban. Severus, you deserve to know because you are my Godfather and have cared for me more than my natural father ever did. Hermione, well, there are a few reasons you deserve to know, and I hope you don't go back to hating me after you hear them."

Hermione tried to protest that she wouldn't hate him no matter what he had to say but he put his hand up to stop her.

Draco sat back in his seat, his glass still firmly in hand. "I suppose the story starts when Father was sent to Azkaban. About half of those involved with that stupidity at the Ministry were Inner Circle, including Father. When Lord Bastard figured out that there was no chance of his people getting out of there, let's just say he was pissed off. He was losing some of his most influential supporters and he wanted something in return. And he wanted to punish father, though I didn't realize it at the time. So he decided that I was going to take my father's place in his ranks, though most definitely as part of his Inner Circle."

He took a sip as he continued, practically cocooned in the softness of the couch and its many pillows. "I was happy to; I was looking forward to it. I had thought that I wouldn't have the privilege to join his ranks until after graduation and to be initiated in before even sixth year, I just felt honoured." At this point, Draco's face was full of disgust for himself and he looked into his drink but did not take another sip. "It was nothing like I expected. Father always thought he was raising me to be, well, not a 'perfect little Death Eater' as some think, since he really had believed him to be dead, but, he wanted me to not care. I tried to act how he wanted on the front, but I could never be who he wanted me to be and I was a big disappointment to him. He never hurt me physically or anything, but he was just so ... cold towards me. When the Bastard Extraordinaire came back, he started me on the Death Eater training, showing me how to use the Unforgivables and everything, but he never said that they were used practically with glee at every possible opportunity, just to make people suffer. But, yeah, so since the Dark Bastard had decided that I was going to be a Death Eater either way, I wasn't forced to kill anyone or anything before I was marked like some of the others, who still had to prove their loyalty. That was one thing he did not question about me; my loyalty to him."

"Through the summer he sent me on a couple of small raids. It was … not good. I didn't understand why we were killing pureblood wizards and witches, never mind their children; especially since they weren't all blood traitors. Some of them just had the misfortune of being in a position that he wanted to fill with his own people rather than seeing if they would even be willing to join him to begin with. I didn't kill anyone but I had to do something, even though it sickened me. If I didn't, the other Death Eaters who were with me would tell him that I couldn't do it, and then I would be in trouble. So I cast the Crucio on a couple of the children as they were being raped. I just hoped that it would take their minds away from everything else before they died."

Silent tears were slipping down his face but he continued undeterred. "Aunt Bella didn't trust you, Severus. Looking at you now, I guess she was right. So she taught me Occlumency, knowing that I was going to have to deal with you at school. It came easy to me, compartmentalizing all my thoughts and feelings. I had always done so in Father's presence subconsciously and so when I did it on purpose I had no trouble with it at all. It was almost right away, though, that I was given my task. I thought that it meant that he believed in me and I was almost … ecstatic, I guess. I mean, if he didn't even trust Severus with such a mission, when obviously he could have done it anytime, then I must be favored. I would be allowed to fix what happened when Father was captured without the prophecy. I sat in Father's study for hours on end trying to decide how to do it. When I figured what to do I went out to set everything up. I'm not going to explain everything that happened over the year, as I'm sure you already know about it. Suffice it to say that Severus tried to help me out and talk to me, but I thought that he was just trying to steal my glory. Not to mention that the Great Bastard had said that I had to do it all by myself or he would kill Mother and Father. As much as I don't really care for him, I still didn't want Father to die. Mother, on the other hand, was the only person in my life to consistently show me that she loved me, whether it be through a hug or just small things, she made sure I knew that she loved me. I was her world; nothing mattered more to her than I did."

"When it was finally time, I couldn't do it; I just couldn't kill him. He even offered to help me and my family get away from the Supreme Bastard. Then the Death Eaters I had let in got through the fighting. I was really surprised by how fast you all got there, by the way. At the time, it pissed me off, but now I'm rather impressed and I wouldn't mind hearing about how that came to be at some point. Severus, you came up and Dumbledore was pleading with you, but he wanted you to kill him, didn't he? Then you did it. And he was dead. And it wasn't by my hand and I was scared shitless. When we got off of the schools' grounds Severus apparated me to his house before he went to see the Bastard. Soon after I felt my mark burn and I knew I was being summoned and I went, even though Severus had told me not to."

Draco drank down the rest of his glass and took a deep breath to prepare for the next part. Hermione refilled his glass and he gave her a wan smile before he told them about the worst experience in the entirety of his life. "Almost as soon as I arrived I was taken and put into a cell in the dungeon. Mother was put in my cell with me shortly after that but we were chained against opposite walls and silencing charms were placed on us so we couldn't talk to each other. We were kept there for close to three months. We were fed once a day and beaten a lot more than that. Every single day of those three months I was forced to watch as Mother was raped in every way possible." He barely choked out the last sentence and Hermione moved closer to him and pulled him to her and for the second time that day he cried on her shoulder with her arms wrapped around him.

Remus and Severus looked decidedly uncomfortable with the situation, mixing in with the shock of what Draco had been through that Remus felt and the sad resignation of Severus, who had already known this all but had never seen or heard it first hand. Soon enough Draco had calmed down slightly and pulled away from Hermione whispering a soft apology in her ear. She just smiled sadly at him but made no move to distance herself from him.

He once again sat back into the couch, looking to the ceiling, the fingers on his right hand entwined with those of Hermione's left. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze in support when he finally was composed enough to restart his tale. "Eventually we were emaciated and broken, though not just physically. Then the last day came. They told us it was our last day. Five of them took their turns with Mother; not once had I been touched sexually. They just wanted me to watch. When they were finished they gave me my wand, though I was at the end of all five of theirs. They gave me my voice back and told me to kill her. I looked down into her face and she nodded to me. She wanted to die. She wanted me to do it. So I lifted up my wand, built up all of the hatred I could feel towards those other men that were in the room with us, and spoke the curse. My voice was hoarse with disuse, but I struck true and the only person who has ever loved me died by my hands."

Hermione lifted up their joined hands and gently placed a kiss on each of his fingers, her own salty tears falling onto the raw skin on the back of his hand. "After, they snapped my wand and beat me until I was unconscious. My last thought was one of happiness that I would get to be back with Mother forever and all of the pain and the beatings and rapes were over. When I woke back up I was in a Muggle hospital. Apparently they had left me for dead in a Muggle park. A couple of Muggles found me while on their nightly walk and called the ambulance. I was stuck in the hospital for almost two months with all the damage that had been done to me, what with how much slower Muggle healing is compared to wizard healing. Though, I will admit that they have some nice painkillers, I barely felt anything."

"The couple who had found me came to visit me to see how I was doing. When they saw what kind of mental state I was in, coupled with the fact that I had no where to live, they came to visit me at least two or three times a week and when I was released they took me home with them. I stayed in their daughter's room, she was away at boarding school. They treated me as if I was their own flesh and blood, despite the fact that they barely knew me. It was the third week that I was with them that they told me they knew I was a wizard. When I asked how they figured it out, they told me that their daughter was a witch and that they had a small amount of knowledge of our world; though I had figured that out already since her picture was all over the house. She really was a cute baby. Then they told me that I had done an overall bad job at hiding my general curiosity of lots of small little things that Muggles took for granted, like a toaster, though I was no where near to the point of Arthur Weasley’s odd fascination with Muggles." His voice was indignant with the last, daring them to make a remark.

Hermione was staring at him avidly and he knew that she was working out what he was saying. "I was there for almost six months. We got to know each other and I realized how my father had tainted my thoughts towards Muggles because these people were some of the most kind-hearted, nicest, loving people I had ever met and I grew to care for them. Then the Death Eaters came while we were asleep one night. I didn't wake up right away, and by the time I did there was nothing I could do. They were already in the house. I hid behind the door at first, planning on opening it up and try and sneak to their room and help get them away. Then I heard their bedroom door open. Richard screamed for them to get out of his house. The next thing I heard was two Death Eaters casting the killing curse." Draco turned to look directly into Hermione's eyes, "They didn't suffer; they weren't hurt beforehand. It was a quick death. I knew they were about to find me, so I apparated away."

Hermione, by this time, could no longer control her sobbing. Draco pulled her onto his lap and rocked her gently. By the looks on the two former professors' faces they had yet to work it out. "I'm so sorry, Hermione. There was nothing I could do for them," he told her softly as he pushed her hair back behind her ear.

"A quick death?" she asked through hiccups.

"A quick death," he reaffirmed.

"Thank heaven for small favors," she whispered, clinging onto his neck with tears still streaming down her face, "Is this why you thought I would hate you?"

Draco nodded his response and before she could disabuse him of the notion, Remus put three and four together. "The Muggles who took you in were Hermione's parents?" he asked, only to receive a nod in his direction from the young man whose only focus was the woman in his arms.

Hermione pulled Draco's face so that his nose was practically touching hers and she was looking directly into his eyes, "Draco Malfoy, I could never hate you for that. If anything it makes me like you more." She continued through her sniffles when he gave her an incredulous look. "My parents always wanted more children but they couldn't have them. I was like their little miracle baby. Then when I found out that I was a witch, they were very supportive, and very proud, but I was taken away from them to go to Hogwarts. Without me there, they were lonely. I know that they missed me very much while I was away and the older I got the less time I spent with them and I know that it hurt them that I was moving away from them, even if I didn't see it that way. I'm just glad that they spent their last months with someone that they could care about and fuss over just like they always did with me. I'm sure you made them very happy." By the time she was finished both Remus and Severus had tears in their eyes as well, though Severus was much better at hiding it.

"Hermione Granger, you are an amazing person," he told her, lightly kissing her forehead.

"So are you, Draco Malfoy," she whispered back before she settled herself back on his lap with her head resting on his chest and his arms tightly wrapped around her.

Draco could see that the two older men in the room were uncomfortable and feeling like they were interrupting a private moment and so he decided to continue on with his story. "I ended up apparating to the park where I was first found and quickly got into the shadows. I didn't stay in that town for long; I didn't stay in any town for long, preferring cities where there were a lot more people to blend in with and hide. With the upbringing that I had, I didn't have any useful skills that I could use to my advantage to find work and apparently no one will hire you without experience or a birth certificate or any form of identification, and not necessarily in that order. I ran a few messages for some people but it didn't take long to see that it wasn't really anything that I wanted to get involved with. Eventually the work stopped and I became homeless." He looked down to Hermione, whose breathing was now coming in slow, even breaths, having cried herself to sleep.

"There's not really much more to it. I started staying in homeless shelters. There were a couple of groups who tried to get me jobs, but it never worked out. I claimed that the hospital I was born at had had a fire, and all of the records of my birth had been destroyed. I'm not too sure if they believed it, but they never said anything against me. It went on like that for a long time, and then yesterday I saw a couple of Death Eaters in Muggle London. They didn't recognize me, but I got scared. I ended up causing a scene a few hours later and that's how Hermione ran into me. Right on the spot she decided that I was going to come home with her. Wouldn't take no for an answer. She's a lot like her parents that way. She's a lot like her parents in a lot of ways ..." his voice drifted off, full of emotion as he played with her hair.

He looked up to the two men on either side of the couch. "And that's what happened."

The three men made some small talk before Remus and Severus excused themselves and left Draco with a sleeping Hermione in his lap. He stood up and carried her up the stairs into her bedroom. It was the first time he had been in it, her having just pointed it out during the tour the night before. It looked like an ice castle, the entire room done in soft blues, purples and silvers right on down to the paint on the furniture and the cat bed for Crookshanks. He placed her in her bed and pulled off her shoes before pulling the covers up. Just as he was about to leave she opened her eyes. "Please don't go," she said quietly.

He turned around and looked at her pleading eyes. He walked over next to the bed and crouched down so he was at eye level with her, "How about this, I'll go to my room and put on some of Potter's pajamas, you put on some of your own, brush your teeth and get ready for bed, and I'll be back in ten minutes?"

"Okay," she breathed. Ten minutes later they were snuggled up together in her bed, each feeling safe so close to the other as they drifted off to sleep, exhausted from such a long and tiring day.


* I just reread the chapter where they are taught how to apparate and there is not one mention of the use of a wand so I am going under the suspicion that this is wandless magic as it requires so much concentration on so many other factors to have to add in a wand movement or anything. Also, thanks go out to sheedy, crescentmoon, and rpkathera for reviewing!