Desperately

Disclaimer: Again Harry Potter is not mine, all ownership lies solely with J.K.R. I just like to play with Severus.


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Chapter 8- Mother's Only Son


The hallway seemed a lot longer than he remembered as he walked down it, heading towards the black door at the end. The walls were painted black and his shoes clicked on a black marble floor as he walked. Every once in awhile he would pass a set of candles that were hung on the walls, the wax dripping, as the lights flickered. Paintings of long dead relatives hung in-between the candles. All of the occupants glared and stuck up their noses at him as he passed. Some would whisper to others in the portraits, he would sometimes catch parts of the conversation. 'Beating' and 'deserved it' were always the words that stuck out the most as he passed. A cry came from the door at the end of the hallway and he could see shadows moving under the door. He started running as yet another cry came from the enclosed room, but no matter how fast he ran he couldn't reach the door. It was like the hallway was teasing him, as he would come within a foot of the door only to be a whole Quidditch field away once more. The cries grew louder into screams of pain and were now joined by a cold, cruel laugh. He pushed himself to the limit as he ran down the hallway, tears formed in his eyes, from the sounds of pain. The door was only feet in front of him now and he reached out, grabbing onto the handle before the door could get any further away. He turned the handle but nothing happened. Silently cursing, he continued yanking at the handle and jumped at the loud scream that rang through his ears. Why won't this damn door open? He threw himself at the door using all the strength he had, pleading to the gods for the door to open and all the pain to just be someone's cruel joke. He stood back and kicked at the door, over and over again, the door was now chipped and marked with scratches. A low growl escaped his lips and throwing back his head he screamed in frustration while on the other side of the door someone was laughing. Remembering his wand he pulled the long black piece of wood out from the inside of his coat and pointed it at the door. 'Alohamora' but instead of the door unlocking red sparks flew from the tip of the wand. Confused, he shouted out the charm again receiving more red sparks and now a puff of white smoke. Frustrated beyond belief he threw his wand at the door causing it to shatter to millions of pieces. He rushed the door once more but to no avail. The laughing got louder and louder, taunting him as he banged on the door with his fists. Resting his forehead against the door and giving one last hit with his fist he cried out in misery. He stood there with his forehead pressed against the door and his eyes closed, his left hand resting by his face. His right hand was resting on the door handle when he heard a small click, his eyes shot open and he turned the door handle slowly. When it opened his eyes grew wide, then he yanked the door open the rest of the way. It was pitch black in the room and he cursed as he fumbled to find a light switch, candle, or anything. He walked forward and almost tripped over something laying on the ground. Taking a step back his head hit a chain that was hanging from the ceiling, he reached up and pulled the small chain, making the room fill with light. He was in his father's study, bookshelves lined the walls and a black desk stood off toward the side of him, everything was in order. It was as if he had just imagined the struggling sounds, painful cries, and cruel laughter. He stepped forward again and his foot hit something soft, he looked down trying not to scream at the sight.


There on the floor lay the mangled body of what used to be his mother. He dropped to his knees in front of her body and tried to hold back the bile that threatened to spill from his mouth. Her silver dress was ripped and bloody, exposing the whole of her inuries to him. Her once perfect body was marred with scratches, some of them shallow, others were deep enough to see the bone. His eyes swept up her lifeless form to see her face but it was hidden beneath her blood soaked hair, no longer luminous and blonde, but dull and dirty. He hesitantly reached out, drawing back her hair and quickly turned from the sight before him, throwing up on one of his father's most valuable oriental rugs. He threw up until there was nothing left in him and soon he was only making dry heaves. Tears flew down his cheeks and he closed his eyes trying to rid his memory of the horrible image, but it became even more vivid the more he tried to steer it away. Her once flawless face was now swelled up and covered in deep reddish-purple bruises. Her left eye was swollen shut and had blood running from the corners while her right eye, which had once been the perfect shade of blue, stared blankly ahead of her filled with blood. A deep gash settled just above her forehead and disappeared into her hair, showing where all the blood in her hair had come from. Suddenly he heard a pair of shoes off to his right, getting louder and louder as they approached. He opened his eyes and saw the tips of a pair of expensive black dress shoes out of the corner of his eye.


"Your crying aren't you?"


That voice sent chills down his spine but he didn't shake, instead he blinked back the rest of his tears and sat back on his knees, head bowed. Suddenly his head was jerked back and he tried not to grimace at the sharp tug, adding to the alreaady growing headache. Cold, cruel silver eyes looked down at him and sneered, noticing the dried tear streaks.


"Weak. Just like she was. I wonder if you are even my son at all."


"I wish I wasn't," he whispered.


He was thrown forward, catching himself with his hands before he could fall completely. A sharp kick hit him in his side and he tried to hide the groan of pain, four more swift kicks met his ribs, he was now grasping his side with one hand and leaning forward trying to stay up with the other. The cane, his father had used so many times to beat him and his mother with, went under his chin and lifted his head up slightly. He turned his head towards his father and put on a mask of indifference.


"You little prick! You should be grateful to have a father that is so prominent and wealthy within the wizarding world." A fierce glare came over his face before he covered it with a sickening smile, "Take care of this mess for me won't you Draco, that's a good boy." He turned and walked from the room his cold, cruel laugh echoing throughout the hallways.


Draco bolted up in bed, his body was sweaty and tangled in his emerald colored sheets. A sob almost escaped him, how many times now had he had that same dream within the last month. He looked over to the clock that was resting on his bedside table, the hands were ticking slowly to four. He had about four hours or so until breakfast started, he cursed and fell back onto his bed wincing, forgetting about the gashes that Lucius had put there just hours ago with his cane. Punishment for his lack of making sure that Granger kept her legs closed. He moved to his side and gritted his teeth against the pain he felt, he growled when he thought again of why he had received his punishment. How in the hell was he supposed to watch her every fucking second of the day? What should Lucius care if she became the resident tart of Hogwarts? Why the hell did he want the mudblood anyways? He moved to his stomach and punched his pillow a couple of times, finally getting semi-comfortable, he closed his eyes trying to get a couple more hours of sleep.


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Slinging her school sack over her shoulder, Hermione headed over to the portrait and squared her shoulders in determination at who she might meet on the other side of the door. Last night she hadn't thought much about who could possibly hold such high regards in Severus' opinion. The only person or persons rather she could think of were Professors McGonnagal and Dumbledore, neither of which she knew would be waiting outside that door. She hated the fact that she was jealous of someone she hadn't even met yet. Making sure she had everything for today she pushed open the portrait and stepped out. She looked around and was kind of disappointed not to see anyone outside waiting for as Severus had said. She turned to head for the Great Hall when she felt the weight of something settle on her shoulder. She gave a little shriek and went to turn around only to come face to beak with Mystic, who was sitting on her shoulder. Hermione gave a sigh of relief and gave a couple of strokes to the soft black feathers before turning and walking down the hall.


"Mystic you don't know how relieved I am that he sent you."


She laughed to herself as she walked down the corridors oblivious to the stares she and Mystic were receiving.


"I can't believe how jealous I was and it turned out to be you." Mystic gave a small sqauwk then rubbed up against Hermione's cheek as they entered the Great Hall and sat down to breakfast. The boys mumbled their hello's, Ginny was the first to notice the newest member to the Gryffindor table and smiled at the large bird sitting on her friend's shoulder.


"Hey Hermione, maybe now you can introduce us to your new friend?"


Neville looked up from the Daily Prophet, Harry came out of his daydream, and Ron swallowed his mouthful of eggs. They all turned their attention to Hermione, their eyes widening upon seeing the raven again. Hermione smiled and looked towards Mystic.


"Everybody this is Mystic. Mystic this is Ginny, Neville, Ron and Harry." Hermione motioned to each of her friends and couldn't help but smile when she saw Mystic glower at Ron and Harry. If the bird had been human she could swear the look would have been a perfect imitation of her owner's scowl. Ron took in another mouthful of eggs and grabbed a piece of toast, tearing off a small bit of the crust.


"Do...shwansom...tos?" he managed to say between chewing.


Ron held out the bread in Mystic's direction and tried to get her to take it. Mystic turned her head away from the offering and screeched at the red-headed slob. What did her master call him again, ahh yes, the weasel, who was the right hand man of the one called Harry or as master called him, Potter. She moved her head back and forth when the weasel tried to force her to take the disgusting bit as if she were an ordinary owl. The weasel shrugged his large shoulders and tossed the toast on his plate gorging himself on more food. She turned to look at the Potter being and saw him fiddling with the food on his plate then sneaking glances at the next table. Turning her head she caught sight of what Potter was staring at and looked back over to the boy. Interesting. Her attetion was soon diverted to the slurping sounds coming from the other two beings Hermione had introduced her to. Purple eyes opened wide in surprise and wondered about what should be done when she saw the larger male trying to eat the face off of the smaller female. A gasp escaped the girl and when nobody seemed to do anything about it she took matters into her own wings. She jumped off of her perch, or Hermione's shoulder, and walked over to the couple carefully, trying not to knock anything over. She turned her head from side to side in wonder, it seemed that the girl had no problems with letting the male eat her, how curious these beings were. Mystic leaned forward cautiously and nipped at the males skin, making the two break apart.


"Ouch. Hermione your bird bit me?" Neville said while rubbing his arm where a red mark had appeared.


"Neville she's not mine and I'm sure she had some type of reason for biting you." Hermione looked toward the raven, "Why did you bite him?"


Ron started laughing at the question, almost succeeding in shooting pumpkin juice out of his nose.


"Hermione it's not like it's going to answer you or anything."


Hermione glared at Ron and reached across the table to smack his arm.


"She is not an it, Mystic is her name and you should address her as such."


"Hermione it's a bird, it's not like it can understand us anyway who cares what I call it."


A loud squawk rang out through the Great Hall before Mystic flew up flapping her wings in Ron's face and tried to peck at him. Ron covered his face with his hands and got up running from the room being chased by the giant black bird. Hermione hurriedly grabbed her and Ron's things and rushed off after the red-head, laughing with the rest of the students, as she went to rescue her friend.


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Draco grabbed his Charms book out of his bag and sat in one of the older looking chairs that was located in the library. He turned his head slightly to his right where, a couple of tables away, Hermione sat scribbling on a piece of parchment. The raven she had brought into breakfast this morning was resting on the table just in-front of her, it's black feathers slightly puffed out and it's head turning every so often at the slightest noise. He wondered for a moment where the bird had come from before returning to his book. The minutes ticked by into hours and he glanced out of the corner of his eye to see Hermione still sitting at the bench looking through a rather large and tattered looking book. Pulling out his watch he saw that there was only an hour or two left before curfew. He leaned back in his chair and winced, gritting his teeth from the pain.


"I'm sure Madam Pomfrey could give you a salve for that."


At the breathy voice, Draco whipped his head towards the chair next to him, not realizing that someone had come and occupied the space. The newspaper, The Quibbler, stared back at him, a picture of Cornelius Fudge on the cover in a compromising position with a house-elf. Draco let a smile form on his lips from the picture presented to him and momentarily forgot his pain until he leaned back once more letting out a small growl.


"A salve for what?" Draco narrowed his eyes at the paper.


"Hmmm, did you know that the remaining mountain trolls plan to open up a bakery? I wonder how their steak and kidney pie would taste?"


Draco paused for a moment and said the first thing that came to mind.


"I think it would depend on which human they got the kidney from." A small smile spread across his lips as he answered.


The paper lowered revealing a mane of dirty blonde hair and silver eyes, a little lighter than his own shade, Draco paused for a brief moment, lost in the smile he saw playing in those eyes. She looked familiar, he wracked his brain to think of what her name could be when she spoke again.


"I suppose you're right." She lifted the newspaper back up covering her face from his view and answered the question running through his mind, "Luna Lovegood."


"Looney Luna." he nodded, "I'm Dra--"


"Draco Malfoy." She pulled the newspaper down again and looked at his face for a moment before saying, "I don't see it."


"What? See what?"


"I know why I'm called Looney Luna but I don't see why some of the others call you ferret-boy. You look nothing like a ferret."


Draco's face turned red in fury, people were still calling him ferret-boy. If anyone so much as thought about calling him ferret boy again he would...he cracked his knuckles menacingly.


"It's no use you know."


Draco turned his attention back towards Luna.


"What?"


"People will talk about you no matter how much you threaten them, it's just the way it is." She flipped the page in her paper just as a loud screech of "PEEVES!" came from Filch as he ran past the library doors. "I wonder, how a steak and Filch pie would taste?"


Draco couldn't help the laugh that escaped at the girls musings, he smiled softly wondering how Looney Luna of all people had managed to make him do the one thing no-one had been able to do since his mother had died, make him genuinely laugh and smile. He turned his head and glanced over to Hermione who was packing up her things getting ready to leave. He sighed and started to put his book away.


"I can heal those you know, if you don't want to go to Madam Pomfrey."


"Heal what?" he feigned ignorance.


"I may be a little eccentric Draco but I am not stupid, otherwise I wouldn't be in Ravenclaw." Luna got up, folded her paper, put it in her bag, and started to walk off. Draco loked over and saw Hermione talking to Ginny, he looked back to Luna's departing form, grabbing his bag he quickly followed after her. He grabbed onto her forearm and pulled her into one of the aisles of books. Once he was far enough into the back of the bookshelves away from prying eyes and ears, he turned and faced her.


"How did you know?"


Luna gave him a sad smile and took her wand out from behind her ear.


"It was kind of obvious with the way you were acting. Besides we can always sense our own--" she whispered, but he had heard her-- "now do you want me to take care of your back?"


Draco nodded and turned around carefully lifting up his shirt, he placed his hands on one of the shelves in front of him and leaned forward, he expected some sort of reaction out of her, but he heard nothing instead he felt her fingertips brush against one of the wounds softly, caressing it and he surprisingly felt at peace with her soft touch. When he had lifted up his shirt Luna felt her hand rise on it's own and traced the outside of the largest gash on his back. It was about 6 inches in length and was an angry red-purple color, it, along with his smaller cuts, that were about 3 to 4 inches in length, were starting to turn a sickly shade of yellow, green, and blue. As she traced her fingers along the edge she felt the tension she had seen when he had lifted his shirt lessen and he relaxed at her touch. There was nothing she could do about the bruising but at least she could heal his cuts. Taking her wand she slowly ran them over each cut whispering the incantaion, signum vulnus, his flesh seemed to sew itself back together, leaving a white line of fleash where the cut had once been. She stepped back and started to ruffle through her bag. Draco looked back at her and saw her pull a brown bottle out of her bag, she popped the top and poured a foul smelling, clear liquid on her hands.


"This might sting a little but it will help against any infection and make the scars less noticeable." She took the generous amount she had poured on her hand and rubbed her palms together than carefully placed them on Draco's back. She paused when he tensed and sucked in air, as she ran her hands over his back he relaxed once again and sighed when the sting went away. He opened his eyes and stared at the floor, remembering something she had said earlier.


"Sense our own?" he whispered.


"Hmm?"


"You said 'sense our own' earlier." he paused when her hands stilled on his back, "Who is it?"


She resumed rubbing the salve on his back and never answered him, he waited, then her hands left his back and he slowly pulled down his shirt as he turned around. She wasn't looking at him and he didn't know why but he needed to know who it was that was hurting her so he placed his fingers under her chin and made her look at him. He stared into her eyes and saw the slight sign of tears.


"Tell me." When she still didn't answer him he went on further, "I promise I won't tell anyone." Still silence surrounded them.


"Parents? A relative?" she shook her head, "Boyfriend?"


A tear or two escaped and he knew he had his answer, "Who is he?"


"You can't do anything if that's what your thinking, anything you do he'll give back to me tenfold." A couple more tears escaped her eyes and she moved away from him, using her sleeve to wipe them away, " If he knows that I've told anyone..."


She trailed off and Draco fisted his hands at his sides, angry that she wouldn't tell him and furious at the unknown ass who would hurt her. It was a strange thing but he was starting to feel protective of the unusual woman in front of him. Suddenly Madam Pince's voice rang out that the library was now being closed up, Luna turned and started to head out towards the doors. She stopped and turned back to Draco.


"Since you promised it's only fair I make the same promise. Goodnight Ferret." She smiled and before she was out of earshot Draco said, "Goodnight Looney."


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A/N: Song is "Mother's Only Son" by Yonder Mountain String Band. This was just a little background chapter for Draco and also a way to show that Mystic can understand to a certain degree what is going on around her.