Madness ***Complete***

Chapter 3:
Settling

(((…Marvel…)))


It took near a week for Harry to grow accustomed enough of Draco’s thoughts for the blonde boy to go about his days normally. It took far less time for their insults to mellow into a mild banter. By the time a month of the summer break had passed the two boys were chatting amiably as Harry worked through his ever lengthening list of ‘chores’.

As the time passed Draco found himself feeling less and less pity for Potter. In place of the pity there was a steadily growing sense of admiration. Harry endured so much from his ‘relatives’ and he never said a word. He may have thought curses and hexes towards them but he never spoke them aloud, never questioned, never screamed. Draco wasn’t sure how he even knew this, but he did. When Harry spoke aloud it felt slightly different, a little heaver, almost like an echo.

Draco was not the only one reforming his perception of the other. Harry was beyond surprised to find that Malfoy was not only compassionate and warm, but that he also had a deep seated love of kittens. As much as Draco may have wanted to keep this side of himself hidden from all but his family, he was hard pressed to hide it from someone who could hear his own thoughts.

(((…Life…)))

The days seemed to settle into an odd routine after a time. Harry would work diligently to finish all of his duties while trying to avoid any mishaps, often caused by his cousin. While Draco read or practiced flying.

To Draco’s surprise, Harry could hear him when he read. He had offered to stop the first time this had happened, worried that it would distract the other boy. But Harry had said that it was nice, comforting. And he still seemed to get things done, perhaps even a bit faster, not that it ever mattered how fast he was.

The reading also seemed to have another positive effect on Harry. Draco often read school related books and the act of hearing the information appeared to make it stick better with Harry than reading it himself had ever done.

At night, while waiting for the Dursleys to go to sleep, Harry and Draco would talk. They spoke of life in general, of Draco’s family, of school, of quiddich, of their likes and dislikes. The list went on and on as time continued.

When Harry was certain that the Durselys were all asleep he would begin on his homework. Draco chose to do his own work in unison with Harry, finding it easier for both of them to focus if they were working on the same thing at the same time.

That and they seemed to complement one another in their studies as Harry was far more advanced in Charms and Defense Against The Dark Arts, and Draco more advanced in Potions and Herbolagy. As for Care of Magical Creatures…they were evenly matched there and usually ended up cracking jokes about the odd beasts. In was a surprise to find that their senses of humor matched so well and only disturbing for the first week.

And when the time came that one of them would begin to yawn uncontrollably the other would stop his work and they would fall back into bed. The sound of the other’s thoughts lulling them into sleep.

For Draco the hardest part of the whole ordeal were the times when Vernon would come into Harry’s room. Draco tried to shut his mind down at times like these but found that it was easier for Harry if he didn’t. Draco’s voice calmed the raven-haired boy. And so, with tears pricking at the back of his eyes, Draco would recite potions ingredients or list his favorite quiddich players as Harry’s uncle beat, cut, and twice…raped him.

Harry never wanted to talk about his relatives and Draco respected his wishes, even as he wished he could murder them in so many a gruesome manner. Harry couldn’t help but agree with him.

(((…Move…)))

It was two weeks before the return to Hogwarts that the Weaselys came for Harry. They flooed in and nearly caught Harry unawares. Draco was a bit confused as Harry began to curse loudly in his head.

‘What’s wrong? Isn’t it good that they’re there?’ Draco asked as he set his book down.

‘Oh! Draco. Well…yeah. But they can’t see me like this. Hold on a minute.’

Draco waited patiently, holding his thoughts and questions in check, as Harry began searching his trunk for something.

‘Found it!’ Harry thought in triumph.

‘What?’ Draco asked curiously.

‘I can’t cast magic outside of school,’ Harry stared to explain.

‘No shit,’ Draco sniped.

‘Shudup. You want to know or not?’ Draco’s silence was taken as an affirmative. Harry began to explain once more as he gathered his things in a rush. ‘I can’t do magic so I bought this. It’s a compact. It casts a glamour.’

‘Those are for girls, Harry,’ Draco drawled. ‘And why do you need a glamour?’

‘Think about it Draco!’ Harry snapped in his agitation at being caught unaware, he hadn’t been reading his mail lately. ‘You said yourself, there’s no use in anyone knowing what’s going on here. I use the glamour to hide the cuts and scars and bruises and…’

‘Okay, okay…just how beat up are you Harry?’ Draco mental tone was more concerned than he meant it to be but he couldn’t really change that.

‘Um…let me try something, kay?’

‘Whatever you say Harry…’

Draco waited patiently as Harry gathered his thoughts. After a few minutes a picture filled Draco’s vision. It was Harry, clad only in boxers. His chest was a mass of purple, green and yellow with bright red lines intertwined like a spider’s web across the entire expanse of skin. His arms were tanned and muscled but badly scarred. His legs were only slightly better than his arms. His neck had bruises shaped like hands encircling it. His face was a mess. His nose had obviously been broken again and recently, his magic having only half healed it yet. Both his eyes were black and his lips were cracked and moist with blood. His cheeks had several layers of shallow cuts. The skin across one cheekbone had been split by a fist and one of his ears was bloody.

The entire image looked like the reflection in a mirror and Draco realized that it was. It was Harry looking at himself in his mirror.

‘Holy fucking mother of God…’ was all that Draco could summon into his shocked mind. If it hadn’t been for the horror he felt at this sight he might have found a nearly naked Harry irresistible. But as it was…

‘Um…yeah. But it will heal soon,’ Harry assured him as the vision faded.

‘And a glamour actually has an effect on all that?’ Draco demanded.

‘Yeah…well…I use eight.’

“EIGHT!” In his near rage Draco shouted the number aloud as well as in his head.

‘Yeah…’ the tone sounded meek. Almost frightened. And not at all like Harry.

‘Gods Potter,’ Draco couldn’t help but think. Unconsciously reverting to Harry’s surname in his horror. ‘How can they let you live in that place?’

‘I…have no idea… I have to go down now. I need to make them think everything okay and…well…’

‘You need to be the Gryffindor golden boy,’ Draco supplied.

‘Yeah, their expecting it.’

‘You’re not that person. Why do you even bother acting it?’

‘Why do you bother with your mask, Draco?’

‘You know why,’ Draco snapped at him, then literally bit his tongue.

‘Yeah: it’s safer,’ Harry said with a mental sigh and Draco could feel him pull back.

There was a thing that Harry did sometimes. It felt like he was asleep, or maybe daydreaming. It was like a fog had come between them. He was still there, in Draco’s head, but rather muted.

Draco knew it was Harry’s façade. It was a powerful mask, literally full of magic. Though Draco hated to admit it, Harry’s mask was even better than his own. It scared him a little, how truly different Harry could appear with almost no effort.

With a sigh Draco resettled his eyes on the book in his lap, waiting for Harry to revert back to himself.
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A/N: Please Review