Chapter 4

Blaise strode down the corridor at a brisk pace, blood rushing in his ears, his whole body tense with rage. How dare someone hurt Draco like that? How dare they? Harry Potter did this, he needed to pay.

He was ready to confront Potter in the Great Hall, in front of everyone, tell the whole school what their golden child Harry Potter does to people, but he spotted Harry on the staircase going down to the Entrance Hall instead. He was with Weasley and Granger, like it was just a normal day of classes.

"POTTER!" Blaise shouted, and all the chattering and milling about stopped, like time had ceased passing. Lots of people turned to see who had shouted and a confused, excited chatter recommenced, until Harry replied.

"Zabini?" he asked in an even tone, infuriating Blaise further. How can he be so calm and arrogant after hurting Draco so badly, after breaking him?

"Draco told me, Potter. He told me everything." He saw a flash of fear in Harry's eyes, the looks of confusion on his friends', and everyone else's, faces. "You're not getting away with it!" Blaise snarled, pulling out his wand. Instantly, Potter, Granger and Weasley all had their own wands pointing right at him.

"Blaise, don't be stupid!" Goyle shouted, he and Crabbe just leaving the Great Hall. Blaise ignored him, gripping his wand. He wanted to make Potter suffer, like he'd made Draco suffer for who knows how long. He was just trying to think of the best spell to use, his pounding heart drowning out his thoughts, when a voice boomed around them.

"What is the meaning of this?" Dumbledore was striding into view from dinner. Blaise met the old man's eyes as he looked up at him, his jaw tight, but he never moved his wand from Potter.

"Lower your wands, all of you!" McGonagall cried angrily, appearing beside the Headmaster. Blaise hesitated, looking back down at Harry and the others. Hermione had obeyed, and was nudging the others to do the same. Weasley was looking stupidly at Potter, obviously not wanting to unless he did. "Now!" McGonagall shrieked, and Harry and Ron's wands dropped, Harry staring up at Blaise, his mouth a tight line. Blaise did the same, slowly, not taking his eyes off Potter. McGonagall and Dumbledore both came up the stairs.

"To my office, please, Blaise. And you, Harry." Dumbledore said calmly, walking past them all. Blaise broke his staring contest with Potter, and followed the teachers. He vaguely heard Potter's friends asking what Blaise had meant, but Harry just said he'd see them later.

Blaise followed Dumbledore and McGonagall up to the Headmaster's Tower. He could sense Potter behind him but knew that, if he looked back, he'd do something he'd probably regret. They arrived at a large stone gargoyle, and Dumbledore said 'Caramel Cauldrons' and the gargoyle began to spin, moving upwards and bringing a spiral staircase with it. Blaise was taken aback, having never visited the Headmaster's office. Potter, however, didn't even break stride, passing Blaise as he followed the teachers up the stairs. Blaise clenched his jaw, and followed.

Dumbledore's office was large, and full of strange objects on spindle-leg tables. Blaise didn't care about that though, he cared about Draco.

"Now," Dumbledore said, sitting down behind his desk, McGonagall standing beside him "what was all that fuss about? Blaise? Care to explain why you brandished your wand at a fellow student?" he asked calmly, looking at him over his half-moon spectacles. It irritated Blaise, but he conceded, wanting Potter to be punished.

"Yes, sir. Harry Potter attacked Draco… He's covered in bruises and…Draco said Potter…he said Potter raped him, sir." He lowered his eyes as he said this last painful thing, his fists and jaw clenched to stop himself screaming. There was silence for a moment, he couldn't see their expressions but he imagined they would be similar to Madam Pomfrey's – shock and sadness. Potter was completely silent. Say something, you coward. Blaise thought angrily, watching him from the corner of his eyes. His head was down, his fists were clenched too, shaking.

"Is this true, Potter…?" McGonagall asked slowly, her voice tight, almost tremulous. Blaise turned his head to look at Harry when he saw him nodding, and he was surprised to see he was crying, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Y…yes… I hurt Draco…I hurt him so badly…" he sobbed, shaking his head slowly. "I w-wanted to stop…I've never wanted anything to stop more in my life but…something was controlling me…in my head, in my chest…the Monster wouldn't let me stop…-"

"Monster? What do you mean?" McGonagall asked. Blaise looked at the teachers, and saw they were both staring at Harry. McGonagall looked completely dumbfounded, her face white, and Dumbledore had a hauntingly blank expression, studying Potter fixedly.

"This…thing in me… Every time I saw Draco…it would stir. It woke up when I was angry…when I wanted to hurt Malfoy but…it took over and…and really hurt him…"

"Where is Draco now, Blaise?" Dumbledore asked. Blaise jumped at being addressed, looking at him.

"I-in the Hospital Wing, sir." He said. Dumbledore nodded, and stood.

"Professor McGonagall, I would like you to accompany Mr Zabini to the Hospital Wing. I will take Mr Potter to visit Professor Snape." He said decisively. McGonagall nodded, and gestured Blaise out of the door before her, her hand resting gently on his shoulder. He obeyed, and they walked to the Hospital Wing in silence, Blaise barely able to keep up with the Scottish woman's hasty strides, like she was forcing herself not to run.

When they arrived at the Hospital Wing, they found the curtains drawn around Draco's bed, and Pansy sitting at Pomfrey's desk, hands wrapped around a steaming tea mug, and looking exhausted. Her eyes were red and puffy, she'd obviously been crying a lot. She stood up when she saw Blaise, rushing over to hug him.

"What? What's wrong?" he asked, scared Draco had gotten worse while he was gone.

"It's just so awful…!" she sobbed. He hugged her, looking at McGonagall, who had a very harassed, almost scared, expression on her lined face.

"Poppy?" she called, and Pomfrey came through the door of her office, carrying a large heavy book which she placed carefully on her desk. She looked worried, not even trying to smile at her friend and colleague. McGonagall rushed over to her, and they spoke in hushed, quick whispers. Blaise tried to hear what they were saying, but could only catch a few words: before, fever, blood. McGonagall covered her own mouth, and Pomfrey led her over to the drawn curtains. Blaise only caught a glimpse of what lay beyond the white curtains as they were drawn back, but that was enough. Draco lay on his side in the bed, deathly pale, bruises stark and angry against his skin. His expression was pained, clearly shivering feverishly. The curtain closed again, and Blaise released the breath he hadn't realised he was holding.

He and Pansy sat down at Pomfrey's desk, silently waiting. There were murmurings from behind the curtain, it sounded like they were asking Draco questions, but his replied were too soft to hear.

After a few minutes, both women reappeared, McGonagall clearly trying to keep herself together as Pomfrey firmly closed the curtains. Pansy and Blaise both looked at her.

"Will he be alright?" Pansy asked. The matron smiled wearily and nodded.

"Yes, dear, he will be able to leave in a week or so. You're his friends, I take it?" she asked them both, and they nodded. "He will need you. You need to be there for him…" she said seriously, looking into both of their eyes. They both nodded, tears forming in Pansy's eyes again, Blaise's jaw so clenched his teeth ached. "For now, the best thing we can do for him is let him sleep." She said, then seemed to think for a moment before speaking again. "He's very thin…has he been eating?" she asked them. Blaise and Pansy looked at each other, then Blaise shook his head.

"He's never been much of an eater, but recently he's been much worse." he said. "We've done our best trying to get him to eat but he just cringes at it most of the time… We were trying to get him to talk to you about it…before this…" he muttered, letting out a sharp sigh.

"Can we see him?" Pansy asked. Pomfrey sighed and nodded, gesturing them over.

"Only for a moment, he's asleep." She said softly, holding the curtain open for them. They went through, and Pansy could barely contain a sob when she saw him. She went over to him, stroking his soft white gold hair off his forehead and holding his hand.

"He's so c-cold…" she whispered, tucking his hand under the blanket. Blaise stood at Draco's feet, staring at him. He thought about what Draco had said, that Harry had hurt him like this before…twice. How had they not noticed Draco was in so much pain? The first time must have been so…unbearable. He wondered when it had happened. In a bathroom, Draco had said… It must have been the day Draco came back to the Common Room quite late, having missed dinner. He'd said he'd been studying late in the library but the knees of his trousers had been wet and he went straight to bed, looking completely exhausted. But that had been, what? Over a month ago…had he really been dealing with this for that long? Blaise wanted to scream and cry and never let Draco out of his sight again. He moved closer to Draco as he lay, motionless and broken, on the bed, leaned down, kissing his forehead gently. He moved away slightly, looking down at the soft, porcelain-like skin and fine features.

"I'm sorry, Draco…I'm so sorry…" then tears were falling down Draco's cheeks, but not from Draco's eyes, which were closed. Pansy shoved Blaise away, hissing about waking him up, and gently wiped Blaise's tears from Draco's skin. Blaise's chest was burning with sobs, surging in his lungs, and he had to almost run from the Hospital Wing before he could let it out, not wishing to wake Draco.

He stood in the corridor outside, sobbing and swearing, kicking and punching whatever was in front of him – a wall, a door, a suit of armour. One portrait told him to keep it down, to get a hold of himself, but another portrait hushed her, saying letting emotions out was good for the sinuses.

Blaise waited outside for Pansy to join him, and they walked back to the Slytherin dungeon, both sniffing covertly. They both went to bed as soon as they arrived, parting with weary words. Blaise got to their room and collapsed onto his own bed. No-one else was there yet, thankfully, and he was able to cry some more before getting ready for bed.

He dreamed of Draco, screaming, covered in blood. He dreamed of Harry Potter turning into a dragon, and burning Draco alive, then crunching on his charred bones, the blackened shards raining down around Blaise as he stood, paralysed in his own subconscious. He woke up panting, his back drenched with sweat, and he felt sick. Goyle was sitting up, wearing his pyjamas, frowning at Draco's empty bed.

"What happened?" he asked Blaise quietly, glancing at him. He knew Goyle was fond of Draco, even if he'd never admit it, and Blaise decided he deserved to know.

"Potter attacked him."

"Attacked…?" Goyle asked, still staring at the immaculately arranged bedding Draco spent that morning before breakfast perfecting. Whenever he'd asked Draco why he put so much effort into making his bed every morning, Draco would say he just liked the way it looked, clean and tidy. Draco always liked to be clean and tidy…

"Potter…Potter raped him… Apparently it's happened before, a couple of times." He said, feeling numb. Goyle's jaw clenched tightly, wringing his huge hands, his expression dark and sad.

"I knew something was wrong… Something in his eyes…" he trailed off, shaking his head. "Are they handling it? The teachers?" he asked. Blaise shrugged.

"I guess so, Dumbledore took Potter to Snape…maybe they're gonna see if it's true…" Goyle nodded slowly.

"Can you go to Azkaban for…for that..?" he asked, as unwilling to say the word as most people were saying a certain name.

"Not sure… But Potter's underage…" he said, thinking hard. "He said something made him do it…something took over his mind and made him hurt Draco…" he said. Goyle let out a humourless laugh, shaking his head as if to say 'yeah, right'. Blaise didn't know what to think about any of it, all he cared about was that his friend had been hurt. "Night…" he said, lying back down, and Goyle replied the same.

The next morning was a blur of questions, stares, and scathing, biting rumours. The whole school knew about Blaise loudly confronting Harry Potter in the Entrance Hall, and that it had something to do with Draco Malfoy. Rumours included use of the Cruciatus Curse or some other awful torture spell, Harry attacking Draco with a poisoned knife, and the two of them having a duel that ended in Malfoy's death – though lots of people seemed to know Draco was in the Hospital Wing, and was alive.

Blaise ate breakfast with Pansy, who seemed angry at the rumours but angrier at Blaise for making such a big thing about it.

"Draco won't want everyone to know, you idiot!" she scolded him.

"They don't know." he hissed back. "None of these stupid rumours are even close, they all think it was just a fight." She sighed, looking tired. She'd barely slept that night, her imagination reeling with horrifying images of Draco being raped. "I told Goyle…but he won't say anything…" he said. She nodded, knowing this to be true, and they didn't talk for a while after that.

It was Sunday, so they went to visit Draco, taking his homework along in case he wanted something to do. He was sitting up in bed when they arrived, looking pale but his bruises were pretty much gone and he didn't seem to be in too much pain. He was eating a piece of toast, which they were very glad to see.

"You're eating!" Pansy said with a grin as they sat down beside the bed. He nodded.

"Pomfrey gave me an appetite stimulant…" he said, not really looking at them. "So…what's happening?" he asked. Blaise sighed and told him the whole story of what happened the night before, starting from their own conversation that led to them taking him to the Hospital Wing, unsure if he'd remember. Draco nodded along with a slight frown as he listened, waiting until Blaise was finished before speaking.

"Dumbledore took him to Snape…? Why?" he asked. Blaise shrugged.

"I thought maybe to see if it was…if it was all true. Maybe Veritaserum, or that Legilimency thing that you do."

"Draco does Occlumency…" Pansy corrected him, but Draco looked horror-struck.

"If…if Snape does Legilimency on Potter…h-he'll see everything…" he said, his voice shaking. Snape…and probably Dumbledore seeing what Potter did to him… He was just being sucked into a blind panic when he felt warmth around his shoulders. He looked up to see Blaise, his arm around him as he sat on the edge of the mattress. Draco looked at him, eyes wide, and Blaise returned his gaze, steady and calm, calming. He slowly looked down, letting out a shaky breath, relaxing into him. Blaise looked at Pansy, who looked very sad.

"It'll be ok, Draco…" he said, rubbing his arm gently, holding him close.

"Why won't they let us even see him?" Hermione demanded yet again, pacing up and down the Common Room. Harry had gone to Dumbledore's office right after dinner, and it was now almost 3 o'clock in the morning.

"Calm down, Hermione, I'm sure its fine. That prick Blaise was bang out of order, he's probably just trying to get it sorted so they know the truth."

"But what if Harry did do something awful, Ron? He's been acting so strangely lately…what if he did hurt Draco? Blaise was really angry…it must have been something horrible…" she said fretfully, her mind reeling with possibilities, each more horrific than the last. "He's not been right for a while now, he could have done something really terrible… What if it was an Unforgivable Curse or something? He could go to Azkaban!" she cried, losing her composure more and more with every word.

"Keep your voice down!" he hissed, conscious of how late it was. "Anyway, you really think Harry's got it in him to do something like that? Even to Malfoy?" Ron demanded, angry she was even suggesting it.

"He used the Cruciatus Curse on Bellatrix Lestrange less than six months ago, Ron!" she cried, fighting tears now.

"She'd just killed Sirius, the only family he had left, right in front of him! All Malfoy does is insult him, he's never done anything like that-" they both looked up when the Portrait Hole opened, Ron's sentence dying in the air. Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore stepped inside, then Harry behind them.

"Harry!" Hermione cried, breathlessly, and Ron stood up. Harry barely glanced at them.

"Come with me, Mr Potter, we will collect what you need for the night." Dumbledore said, heading for the boys' dormitories.

"What's going on? Why does he need his stuff?" Ron asked, looking between the three of them. Dumbledore gestured Harry up the stairs, and he obeyed, the Headmaster following him. Ron and Hermione both looked at McGonagall, their expressions incredulous. She looked tired, sighing.

"We are keeping Mr Potter separate from the rest of the students while we…investigate these claims from Mr Zabini."

"You can't believe Blaise! Him and Malfoy are doing this to f-"

"I can assure you, Mr Weasley, that Mr Malfoy is in no condition to be doing anything close to what you are implying." She said, almost angrily, and he went quiet, looking at Hermione, whose eyes were wide.

"So…so Harry did hurt Draco… Oh…oh my God…" she whispered, slowly sitting down on the sofa with her hand over her mouth. McGonagall looked sympathetic, but Dumbledore and Harry returned before she could offer any consolation. The three of them left quickly, Harry carrying his rucksack over one shoulder, his jaw tight and eyes fixed ahead of him, blatantly avoiding his friends' eyes. When they were gone, Ron and Hermione sat in silence, completely shocked. After a while, Hermione went up to bed, and Ron forced himself to go up too. The dormitory felt very wrong without Harry…

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