𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀 𝐅𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐘𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐄

Chapter 4

Chapter Four: To Deny

Poppy Pomfrey had never seen such injuries before in her lifetime. She'd been a Mediwitch for several years now, and had much experience under her belt, but the wounds on Draco Malfoy's body were intense. They penetrated the skin deeply, leaving him with cuts that'll forever scar and bruises a horrible shade of brown. The Malfoy heir was known for his pale, flawless skin, but now there was barely a square inch of skin without a mark of some sort.

The first thing she did was clean the grazes on his wrists and his ankles because she had to restrain him again. His nails were doing just as much damage and she didn't want that to continue. So she cleaned them and healed them before binding him down again, but with a full-body bind rather than one where he'd be able to thrash about and cause himself more pain.

Poppy then started on his chest. Her wand was moving over the blonde's torso when Minerva and several of the Order members came into the medical wing, determined to figure out what to do next. She was genuinely surprised to see Harry Potter in the group, though. However, that was unimportant. Making sure Malfoy wasn't about to bleed to death or get a nasty infection was her first priority.

"So you just found him like this?" Minerva asked of Remus, watching as Poppy worked on the boy.

"By the one-eyed witch, yes," Remus lied. "I'm guessing someone broke him out of You-Know-Who's 'care' to get him here."

"Who'd do that?"

"His mother, maybe?"

Minerva nodded her head at that. "No mother would want to see her child go through something like this."

Remus was thankful that Minerva bought the lie and looked at Harry. At first, he thought the teen was watching Poppy closely, but he realised that Harry was watching Malfoy instead.

Three large slashes seemed to be the centrepiece of Voldemort's handiwork, surrounded by smaller cuts. He was certain he could even see a deep puncture wound or two around the blonde's hips. Ugly bruises from beatings covered his collarbone, his high cheeks and his abdomen and smaller scratches were red around his stomach and his arms. The only part of his body that Remus could see that was untouched by any injury was Malfoy's left forearm, where the Dark Mark was imprinted on his skin.

Poppy's wand waved into Remus' sight and he found himself watching as she tried to heal the larger slashes. The first time she ran her wand over them, nothing happened. She tried a different spell, but that didn't work either.

"Oh dear," she muttered to herself and attempted a third spell.

"They're from the Sectumsempra Curse," Harry told her, though he hardly raised his voice. "Snape created it. I don't know how to heal it. There's a special incantation."

Poppy took in the information and got up from the chair that was placed next to Malfoy's bed. She headed over to a shelf, where she pulled out a small box. Harry nearly shivered when he saw the long needle and the medical thread. "This will have to do, then."

She sat back down and threaded the needle. As she leant down to sew Malfoy's skin back together, she paused. "This curse has been used on him before," she observed, noticing the thin scars.

Harry had to bite back the need to vomit. They were there from when he cursed him not so many months ago. Snape had been there to save him that time, but he was running for his own life now. He was on the run, having risked his position in Voldemort's ranks to help out this time.

Poppy didn't need to know, so she continued with her job and pierced Malfoy's skin with the sharp needle. The blonde whimpered slightly and tried to move away, but the bind kept him in place.