Markings of an Inmate

Chapter One: Scars from my Past

My eyes scanned over the man that replaced the boy I was in my younger years. I was no longer arrogant, self-centered, manipulative, pompous, or any other traits my peers would have used to described the Draco Malfoy they had known in previous years.

What occurred over the summer months after my sixth year could change any teenage wizard, and it did. It changed me - changed me mentally, physically, and emotionally. I didn’t even know who I was anymore and I found myself being both relieved and frightened.

When I looked at my reflection, I was disgusted, examining the intricate, metallic blue markings that traced my torso. I sneered as I traced one of the charmed runes with a long finger.

They had laced a curse in the tattoos for probation. The markings were meant to remind me why I was placed in that hell in the first place. It was a punishment and a reminder for the fabricated crime I supposedly committed. The crime that my father committed, the crime I was going to commit, before someone stopped me. I was saved - saved by the devil’s advocate.

The magic in the tattoos glinted in the soft light from the candle. I watched as the curse pulsed once more within the dark blue, torturing my mind with memories. The memories of Azkaban were still fresh in my mind. The screams and cries of the inmates stung my ears as if I slept beside them still. The smell of dying, rotting bodies burned intensely in my nose, and the thought of the cold damp floor of the cell still sent the chills down my spine.

How can one forget something like that?

The sneer on my lips fell as I looked at my chest one last time. I scoffed as I pulled a black thermal over my head to conceal every inch of my torso. I smoothed out the non-existing wrinkles before shouldering my satchel and looking once more into the mirror.

I wasn’t the mirror image of my father anymore. My hair had grown out to a shaggy style. My bangs covered my eyes, which were now a steel grey color. The skin beneath my eyes was a light shade of blue from the sleepless nights.

I was no longer his perfect son.

Turning on my heel, I apparated to a bathroom at Kings Cross, I leaned against one of the stalls and sighed deeply. “You can do this,” I muttered quietly to myself.

Straightening my broad shoulders, I moved out of the stall and out of the out-of-order loo, before walking through the hordes of muggles, witches, and wizards to Platform 9¾. I felt the familiar pull as I stepped through the barrier.

With one quick look over the crowd, I spotted one of my best mates leaning casually against one of the brick pillars. Making my way through the throng of people, I stuck out my hand in greeting.

A roll of his golden hazel eyes and he had me pulled into a tight but manly embrace, in which I found strength as I returned it. Blaise Zabini was the one person I knew I could always count on. He knew exactly what I had been through this summer, only because he was in the same program I had been. He had been subjected to the same probation as I.

The probation itself was simple enough. Neither Blaise nor I were allowed to be associated with Death Eaters, but where Blaise was forbidden in using dark magic, I was forbidden to have any sexual encounters with a female.

Walking past the compartments and through the train cars, we searched for the rest of our group: Pansy Parkinson, Daphne Greengrass, and Theodore Nott. We finally found the compartment that we usually occupied on the previous trains rides, where we also found our friends lounging comfortably in.

“Blaise! Draco!” I heard Pansy and Daphne exclaim.

Daph crossed the distance between Blaise and her in a short run, throwing open the door and wrapping her arms around her fiancé before she pulled me into a tight hug. Pans and Theo stood from their seats and walked towards us.

Daphne moved out of the way so Pansy could embrace Blaise and then turned to me. She was a small thing, Pansy. The girl could easily be tucked under my chin. Her dark hair had been layered since last year, giving her face a softer look, and her ocean blue eyes were still as gorgeous and piercing as ever. When she wrapped her arms around my waist, I let out a small chuckle as I placed my chin on the top of her head with ease.

She slapped my chest lightly before looking up with a small watery smile. I shook my head before I kissed the top of her head. Theo watched the interaction with ease and, when Pans backed away, wrapped a thickly-muscled arm around my shoulder in a brief hug before wrapping them around his petite girlfriend. They were an odd couple, his brawn against her tiny figure.

I pulled a silver badge out of my pocket and threw it at Theo, who caught it quickly and with ease. ‘Good,’ I thought. ‘Summer hasn’t completely killed his skills.’

“Head Boy?” he asked in disbelief. “Damn, Draco. You know who is Head Girl, right?” I nodded my head as he threw the badge back.

“Oh my gods, Draco. Congratulations!” the girls gushed together.

“Well go on, you have to be in the heads’ compartment soon,” Blaise added. I nodded and hugged the girls goodbye and walked down the hall.

I was a train car away from the heads’ compartment when I heard two arguing voices.

“Ronald, I can’t believe you.” Hermione Granger’s voice said in a hush tone.

“Hermione, you are overreacting.” Weasel’s voice replied.

“Overreacting?” Her voice raised an octave.

“Hush,” he pleaded with her.

“No, Ronald! Leave me alone.” I realized that I was eavesdropping on a very private conversation and shook my head, then started on my trek once more. That was before Granger ran out quickly, knocking into me. “I am so sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going. This was completely my fault. I am so so sorry,” She babbled as I held her.

“It’s okay,” my voice was foreign to my own ears. At the sound of those words, she looked up at who held her.

“Malfoy?” I let go of her when I knew she was stable, and then I nodded as we kneeled to pick up her bag and books, which had spilled onto the pathway. Once they were back into the brown satchel, I handed it to her as she stood up. She looked at me skeptically, but muttered a thanks and took her belongings. I nodded again and continued on my way.

Once I got to the Heads’ compartment, I put my trunk above my seat and dropped into the soft cushions. I pulled the black rubber tie out of my hair and shook it to let it fall naturally, and then I reached into my bag and pulled out a muggle piece of literature, ‘Dante’s Inferno’. I scanned the pages in with interest, and then the door opened once more to revealing the same girl that ran into me twenty minutes ago earlier. She never looked at me, and that was fine with me. I did not crave the attention that I once had, so I said nothing to her.

She spoke first. She must have been accustomed to the constant chatter of Potter and Weasel, and this silence must have been some sort of new atmosphere. “How was your summer?” Of all the questions, it had to be that one, but all the same I marked my page and set the book down before I turned my attention towards her.

“It was quiet with Father in Azkaban and Mother in St. Mungo’s. I had a lot of time to myself.” I replied. My mother had gone insane when my father was finally sentenced to the Dementor’s Kiss, which would commence that evening at ten. Granger was quiet, not sure what to say, and I knew I shouldn’t be rude, “And yours?”

“It was the same as usual.” She spoke to me as if I knew what she did everyday. I presume my bored and confused expression articulated my thoughts, because she continued, “Most of the summer I spent with Ron and Harry or my parents.” I then nodded my understanding.

We spoke of trivial things, such as the weather, until Professor Snape apparated into the compartment. Granger let out a shrill squeak and my eyebrow rose in amusement at the sound she made before turning my attention to my godfather.

“Mr. Malfoy, Miss Granger, as you can tell you are the Heads for this year.” He paused for a moment and looked toward me to find my face completely unreadable. His face was saddened slightly before it changed back to its emotionless self as he continued with the speech, “As you both know, you will have rules and regulations to follow. You two must set an example for the younger students and the rest of the school.” I diverted my attention to my counterpart and noticed she was watching Severus’ and my interaction discretely.

“Do you both understand me?” Granger and I nodded solemnly. “Now, Miss Granger, will you please inform the prefects of the meeting that will be held in this compartment? I must speak with Mr. Malfoy alone.” She again nodded and walked out the door.

“Draco, how are you?” He sat down beside me and placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. I felt the comfort that I wanted but I was still upset for what he had done.

“I do not know,” I said in a very soft voice. “How would you feel if you were sent to Azkaban by your guardian and were treated like a common criminal?” My voice held the hatred I felt.

“I do not know how I would feel.” His face was grave as he spoke and his hand came off of my shoulders before he apparated back to Hogsmeade.

Hermione returned about thirty minutes later. McNair walked in with Daphne and her sister at his side and pain seared through my entire being. The longer he stood there, the more pain seared though my body. Granger looked at me with a look of confusion when I gasped in pain. I shook my head and indicated for everyone to sit down.

The pain that coursed through my torso caused my attention to be cast elsewhere and not in the meeting. Granger kept throwing me concerned or annoyed looks, but I only shook my head in response. The meeting lasted about an hour, during which I learned that the longer a Death Eater – such as McNair – was in my presence, the more misery I suffered. I sighed in relief when the meeting ended and all but the know-it-all left.

I dropped fully into the seat, my chest rising and falling quickly as the agony gradually departed. I gritted my teeth every once in a while as the pain eased, but the worst thing of all was that I was being watched.

I opened my eyes and saw Granger staring at me, deeply confused. Her mouth opened as if she was about to speak but she quickly closed it and I let my head fall back to the cushioned seat.

“What’s going on?” Her tentative voice shattered the silence of the room.

“I am fine,” my voice was soft and ragged.

“That is not what I asked, Malfoy,” I pushed myself up onto my elbows and looked at her.

“Okay then, nothing is going on,” she rolled her eyes and sighed before she walked over to me. She sat down beside me and I looked at her incredulously.

“Something is up,” her eyes had softened to reveal her true desire to know what was wrong.

“Don’t worry about it,” a small smile appeared on my face, for a reason I was unsure of, and at that moment Blaise walked in with the same expression of pain as I had moments ago.

“Mate?” As I stood up, he fell into my arms.

His body was limp, his eyes were closed, and he was barely breathing. I dragged his body to the seat I was just in and placed his body on the soft cushion. His wavy black hair fell, lightly framing his face. I figured he had passed out from the pain.

Hermione stood at my side, panicked. Her incoherent babbling was getting on my nerves, so I turned to her and pressed a rough hand against her lips to silence her. She fell quiet quickly but danced anxiously on the balls of her feet. I looked at her annoyed and she stood still for a few moments, then her hand began to shake and tears sprouted to her eyes.

“Aren’t you supposed to be cool and collected when these things happen? Just a quick spell and all is fixed.” I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to Blaise.

“Not when I don’t know what’s wrong with him, Malfoy.” Her voice held her panic. I inhaled deeply and looked at her once more. This time my gaze was softer then before.

“He will be okay,” I stood up and wrapped my arms around her pulling her into a gentle embrace.

“We should call a professor,” I shook my head as I smoothed her hair. I pulled away and led her to the other seats.

“I promise you, he will be fine,” I reassured her in my most convincing voice that I could muster, because in all reality I was scared for Blaise. I had never seen this happen, although we had only gotten out of the Azkaban a week before. We had no time to experience being around these people. I did not understand why he had passed out from the pain. Yes, being around McNair had been painful but it was not unbearable.

Granger and I sat in silence for a good thirty minutes, both watching his unconscious state. I was looking down at my hands when I heard her inhale sharply. When I looked up, her eyes were fixed on Blaise’s body. I crossed the space quickly; he was taking quick shallow breaths. I sat him up quickly and got behind him holding him tightly to my chest as I had many times before – because of his asthma.

“Breathe with me, Blaise,” I whispered in his ear as I exhaled, “Just breathe.” I inhaled deeply, but his breathing was still quick and shallow. “Calm down mate, relax. You have to. In through your nose and out through your mouth. It will pass. Just breathe,” I inhaled again and exhaled. “It’s okay, just relax. Please.”

It took him a while until he began to mimic my actions. I knew he was afraid. After a few long moments, his breathing returned to normal and his eyes opened. He pushed away from me gently, looked at me with tears in his eyes, and shook his head.

I rubbed my hands against my face to wipe the tears that had come to my cheeks at the thought that I could not have calmed him. Tears fell lightly on his face as he wept. I pulled him into my chest and his tears became quiet sobs. I knew he was frightened. I would never blame him.

His face was buried against my chest when I looked up to see Hermione staring at us in shock. Her eyes moved to mine and she smiled softly before leaving the room so we could have some privacy.

~~~~~~~
Edited on Feb. 27, 2010.

AN: Nothing has changed...besides correcting grammar and spelling. The betas for this story are Margarita and Sam.