Draco's Protector

Title: Draco’s Protector
Author: Ras
Archived: This story is not archived elsewhere. You may post it on your own site if you credit me and e-mail me so I know where it is posted.
Summary: Lucius Malfoy demands excellence from his son. When Draco fails to meet his expectations, Draco suffers the consequences. Alone and hurting, Draco turns to his godfather, Severus Snape for comfort. (H/C involving a MINOR) H/C, child abuse, belt, cane.
Rating: R for excessive violence and graphic descriptions of child abuse
Pairings: Severus/Draco (in a parental way, not a sexual way)
Feedback: Please post a review on the board. I’d love to hear your comments!
Author Notes: This story came into my head while watching Chamber of Secrets. I always wanted to know why Draco was whining for attention in the infirmary scene after the Quidditch match. It seemed out of character to me, so I made up my own little story of why he would act like that. Please note that I have taken some liberties with the story, for example deciding the Snape is Draco’s godfather. Also note that the descriptions of child abuse are graphic, so please don’t read this if that is going to bother you.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter, Draco, Severus, any HP characters or copyrighted words that appear in this story. I make no money off this story.
No copyright infringement is intended.


Chapter 4

Draco left the Slytherin common room and walked down the deserted corridor towards Severus’ chambers. It was only a few days after Christmas and there were hardly any students at the school. Crabbe and Goyle had stayed to keep him company, but almost all the other students were gone. Despite it being the holidays, Draco had his book bag slung over his shoulder and was going to Severus’ living room to study. Severus said that if he continued to study for a few hours every day, he’d be ahead of the other students when they returned from break. Suddenly Draco stopped dead in his tracks, and his stomach jumped into his throat. His father was only a few feet away from him.

“Father . . .” Draco said completely shocked at his sudden appearance. For a fleeting second Draco thought of pushing his panic button, but quickly remembered why he couldn’t. He couldn’t risk Severus getting into a fight with his father. “What are you doing here?” he stammered. His heart was suddenly pounding from fear and adrenaline.

“Meeting with the other school governors,” Lucius explained.

Draco nodded. It probably was the reason Lucius was on school grounds, but it wasn’t the reason he was standing in the empty hallway waiting for his son. Draco knew he was there to punish him. His mind quickly started to recall and tally the mistakes he had made recently as he tried to determine how much trouble he was actually in.

“Did you get my owl?” he asked calmly.

Draco’s heart sank as he realized what he was about to be punished for. In Draco’s most recent letter to his father he had asked about the Chamber of Secrets and had informed his father about the duel with Harry Potter. Severus had said he did a good job in the duel, and Draco thought he had done okay. But, the letter back from his father had contained a whole page about how upset he was that Draco had underestimated Potter and let him knock Draco down. Draco, of course, hadn’t mentioned getting knocked down to his father in his letter, but the charm that informed him of Draco’s mistakes must have given him this key bit of information. The letter also said that Lucius was angry at him for saying he had embarrassed Potter when in fact he had humiliated himself in front of the whole school. Vividly recalling the last punishment he had received, Draco desperately wanted to find a way to avoid punishment. He hadn’t been that bad, had he? He decided to try to distract his father and bring up something that would make him happy. “I enjoyed the newspaper clipping you sent.”

An actual smile came to Lucius’ face as he said, “So did I; it’s amusing to see that blood traitor Arthur Weasley in trouble.” The smile faded quickly though, and he pushed Draco up against the wall. “However, I was talking about the part of the letter where I told you how disappointed I am in you.”

Draco tried hard to swallow the lump in his throat. He hated that word, disappointed. He hated it worse than even the curse spells his father used to punish him with. It meant that Lucius expected his son to be special and someone to be proud of, but he was in fact worthless and unworthy of being loved. Draco wanted nothing more than to please his father, but he had to accept the fact that he was continually a disappointment who deserved nothing besides punishment. Draco forced his pain and emotions deep down inside himself and simply said, “Yes, Sir.”

“I can’t have my son, a Malfoy, being shown up by the stupid Potter boy in front of the whole school. How could you just let him knock you on your ass, Draco?”

“I’m sorry, Sir,” Draco whispered.

“And how DARE you lie to me in your letter. If you ever lie to me again, you will be receiving a much more severe punishment than you are about to receive, I promise you.”

“Yes, Sir,” Draco whispered again while trying to make himself go numb emotionally before the punishment began. He hoped that his punishment wouldn’t be as severe as the last one. He still had faint stripes on his bottom from that punishment. He couldn’t take another punishment like that. Surely this didn’t deserve as severe a punishment as he deserved for losing the Quidditch match . . . surely.

His father released Draco from the wall and pulled his wand. He realized his father intended to punish him right then and there in the hallway. Draco prayed it would be over with fast and that no stray student would walk past them and get to watch the scene. “Epididerm inflamare,” Lucius said with his wand pointed at the middle of Draco’s back.

“Ahhh,” Draco suppressed a moan as he felt the first flames erupt on his back. His father held the curse and the fire spread up and down his back. Of course Draco knew there was no real fire, but it felt like there were flames licking up and down his back. Draco began to whimper as his father increased the intensity of the fire. He gripped the stone wall as he felt his back begin to blister from the heat. Then suddenly, the pain recessed and his father put his wand away.

“I think that’s enough for now. You will receive the rest of the punishment this summer. Just be glad your grades have started to show some improvement, or I would have made that much, much worse. I suggest you do not give me further cause for punishment this year, or I will not hesitate to use the Cruciatus. Now, I’m off to my meeting,” and his father walked away as if nothing had happened.

Draco was left panting in pain in the empty hallway. It took him a moment to adjust to the fact that there were no longer flames dancing up and down his backside. The flames were gone, but his back felt burnt and sore now. He was grateful the punishment hadn’t lasted long. It really was mild in comparison to the punishments his father usually gave him, but then he had said it was only a teaser punishment. Draco finally slowed his breathing down and forced himself to go see Severus as planned. He would act like nothing had happened. He didn’t want Severus worrying about him, and he certainly didn’t want Severus to think he needed to confront his father about this.

Draco opened the door without knocking. They had given up on that formality quite a while ago. Severus said he was welcome to let himself into the living room anytime he wanted, and it felt good to Draco to know that he always had a safe place he could go. Draco found his godfather sitting at the table marking a large pile of parchments with a quill dipped in red ink. Severus looked up long enough to give Draco a slight nod as a greeting before returning to covering the top essay in red. “Study transfiguration for two hours today, Draco. I’ll quiz you when I’m finished grading these,” Severus reminded.

“Yes, Sir,” Draco agreed. He didn’t mind that Severus made him study hard. Severus did make him study A LOT, and if he didn’t concentrate and try his hardest Severus did punish him. Severus never beat him, though. He usually just scolded him a little, or sometimes if he really wasn’t trying hard Severus would assign him an extra essay to write. But despite all the extra work, Draco was grateful since his grades actually had improved quite dramatically. Even his father had commented on it. Draco hoped that the pain in his back wouldn’t distract him from concentrating on his studies too much today. He didn’t think his heart could take it if Severus had to scold him so soon after those awful words from his father, and he really didn’t want to have to work longer and write an essay.

Draco sat down on the couch and pulled out his transfiguration notebook trying to pretend like everything was completely normal. The couch was his preferred study spot. Although it didn’t give him a table to work at, he felt safe there. It was the spot his godfather had first comforted him. He tried to settle back and get comfortable so he could concentrate on studying, but his back hit the couch back, and he gasped in pain. It was as if the flames erupted on his back all over again. Draco jerked himself forward, and the pain lessened.

Draco saw the look his godfather was giving him, and he knew that he knew. Severus closed his eyes and asked in a quiet tone, “Why didn’t you push your panic button?”

He didn’t sound angry as Draco would have expected, just sad. Draco shrugged unwilling to tell him the real answer, “It happened so quick and it . . . it didn’t get real bad.” Draco fully expected to be punished over this. He had agreed to push the button right away if his father surprised him, but he had never meant it. He hated that he had disobeyed Severus, but he knew he could never let him confront his father about his punishments.

Panic momentarily flooded over Draco as Severus stood, but he quickly reminded himself that Severus wouldn’t hurt him. He had promised once before that he wouldn’t use physical punishment while Draco was hurting from the injuries his father gave him. Severus was use to dealing with Draco’s irrational reactions, though. Before moving closer he said, “It’s okay; you’re safe now.”

Draco nodded, grateful that Severus wasn’t yelling at him for his disobedience. Severus came and sat next to Draco on the couch and gently put his arm around him, being careful not to touch his back. Draco knew that this was his godfather’s way of saying that he wasn’t angry with him and that he still cared about him. Draco let himself relax a little in his godfather’s embrace.

“What did he use?” Severus asked. His tone wasn’t judging or condescending, just gentle and concerned.

“A fire curse,” Draco whispered. “It’s not real bad. He didn’t hold it for very long.”

“Does it still hurt?”

“Just a little,” Draco lied.

“Let me see,” Severus commanded.

“No,” Draco whined. He was embarrassed. Yes, Severus had seen his back when it was much worse, but it was still humiliating to think of showing him his punished backside. “It’s not that bad,” he reiterated.

“Let me see; I can make it stop hurting so much.”

Reluctantly, Draco agreed. He stood and removed his robe, then lifted the itchy wool school vest, and finally unbuttoned and removed his white shirt before he sat back down feeling very vulnerable and exposed. He felt completely ashamed as he leaned forward and let Severus examine him.

“This doesn’t hurt that bad, Draco? Your back is covered in blisters,” Severus commented, but to Draco’s relief he didn’t scold any more. He went to his cabinet of potions and pulled out a sticky green liquid. “Barbadensis can cure most minor burns,” Severus informed him as he poured some of the liquid onto his hands. He gently began massaging the substance into Draco’s back. To Draco surprise it didn’t hurt at all and instantly relieved the pain.

“Thanks,” Draco whispered as his godfather continued to coat his back.

“What reason did he give for punishing you this time?” Severus asked.

“The duel,” Draco admitted. “For letting Potter cast that jinx on me.”

“How did he find out about that?” Severus asked with concern.

“I . . . I guess he just heard someone gossiping about it. Everyone’s talking about Potter and the snake,” Draco lied.

“Damn it,” Severus swore under his breath. “It’s my fault then, Draco. I shouldn’t have set you up against Potter. I’m sorry.”

“No, you were trying to give me an opportunity to succeed. It’s my fault I failed.”

Severus kept his tone casual as he continued to rub more liquid in. “Do you still believe you deserve it?”

Tears stung Draco’s eyes, and his throat felt like it was going to swell shut. “I disappointed father,” he confessed.

Severus cast a quick cleaning spell to remove the stickiness from his hands then turned Draco’s chin to face him. “But, do you think you deserved to have your back burnt? Was that an appropriate punishment for what happened?”

Draco thought about it a really long time before he timidly answered, “You . . . you said I did all right, but . . . you were disappointed when Potter knocked me down me, too. I saw it in your face. A fire charm is a reasonable punishment for being a disappointment.”

“But, you got back up and got another spell in. All together, I’d say you won the duel. I also said I was proud of your performance,” Severus reminded him.

“Did you really mean that?” Draco’s voice cracked. Was it possible? Was it really possible? Severus hadn’t just said that to make Draco feel better. He really was proud of him?

“Of course I meant it; I am proud of you, Draco.” Before Severus had even finished the words he had a sobbing adolescent on his shoulder.

“I’m not a disappointment to you?” the words were barely recognizable through his sobs, but Draco had to hear Severus say it.

“You are not a disappointment to me, Draco, and you did NOT deserve to be punished.” Severus held Draco tight as Draco sobbed uncontrollably into his shoulder. Severus reassuringly repeated the words over and over again “you’re not a disappointment; you didn’t deserve this.”

“But Father said . . .” Draco sobbed.

Severus took a deep breath and took his time before replying. “Draco, I know you think very highly of your father. But, it’s okay to continue to love and respect him and still realize that the way he abuses you is wrong. You don’t deserve it.”

“Really?” Draco wept into his godfather’s neck. He barely dared to believe it. If Severus really was proud of him, then maybe he wasn’t a complete failure. If what Severus said was true, then maybe he didn’t deserve to get his back burnt and maybe he deserved just the teeny tiniest bit of the affection his godfather gave him?