|In The Dark|

80

ANNABELLE LUPIN-BLACK

When we arrived back at home, I stopped at the front door. "Is she here?" I asked. My dad looked at me. "Yes, Annabelle. She's here." he said. I forced away tears and nodded. Then I went inside. When I stepped foot inside, everything looked the same. But it didn't feel that way. Tonks walked in from the kitchen and smiled. "Annabelle, thank Merlin you're ok." she said. She reached out and I pulled away. "Annabelle, be nice." dad said. I scoffed. "Draco and I are going upstairs." I mumbled. I took his hand and we started to leave. "Draco?" Tonks said. He paused. "You're Draco?" she said. He turned and looked at her. "Yes." he said. "I-I'm Tonks. Nymphadora Tonks. I'm your aunt." she said. His face fell. "You've never met?" I said. They shook their heads. "Mum and dad wouldn't let her see me. They said she was a blood traitor." he said quietly. I nodded. "You're all grown up." she said with a small smile. "I'm 16." he said with a shrug. She smiled. "What are you doing here?" he asked. I laughed. "Funny story, Draco. You'll love this...my dad knocked her up." I said. "Annabelle!" dad said. "We're going to my room." I mumbled. Then we walked up the stairs and into my room.

"Go ahead and lay down." I said. "But w-what if I- you know..." he trailed off. "Draco, you're in pain. I can tell. Lay down." I said. He nodded quickly and laid down on my bed. "I'm going to check you out now to make sure there's nothing wrong." I said. "I said I'm fine-" he started. "And I said I'm going to check." I said. He sighed. I got my wand and I was finally able to perform a diagnostic. He had some broken ribs, a few cuts and, just as I suspected, trauma to his genitals. My face paled. "What? What is it?" he asked. I forced a smile and shook my head. "You're going to be ok. Alright, everything is going to be fine." I said. Tears filled his eyes. "Just tell me." he said. "There is- um- trauma- to your- your- genitals and there's blood- causing pressure-" I stammered. "Am I going to die?" he asked. "No. I won't let that happen." I said. He nodded. I sat on the edge of the bed next to him and took his hand. "We need to tell someone- I- I can't fix this- I don't know how." I said. "No!" he yelled. He sat up quickly, shaking his head. "No! You- you can't!" he said. "Draco, if we don't get help, you'll die." I said. "Good! At least then I won't have to- I won't have to do what he says." he said. Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes. "I'm not letting you die. We have a deal." I said. "Please Anna, I don't want anyone to know what happened to me." he said. "Draco-" I started. "Please, there has to be another way." he said. I thought for a moment. "What if we only told one person?" I said. He paused. "I know someone with healer training. They could help you and they won't tell anyone." I said. He paused for a moment. "Ok. Ok, fine. But don't tell them who did it- just say- you know-" he said. I nodded. "I'll be vague. Give me one second." I said.

When I went downstairs and into the kitchen, it was quiet. Dad was making tea and Tonks was reading the paper. Dads used to do the same thing but there was laughter, jokes, happiness. It felt strange. "Annabelle?" I looked up and dad was looking at me. "Sorry, I was just- I need to talk to Tonks." I said. He paused. "Girl stuff." I said. She smiled. "Of course, Annabelle." she said. She glanced at him and he gave an encouraging nod. We went back to my room and stopped at my door. "I'm going to tell you something and you can't tell anyone. Not even my dad." I said. "Should we go in your room-" she started. "It's about Draco." I said. She nodded strangely. "Are you two..." she trailed off. "No, um- Draco's gay." I said. "Oh. Ok, then what is it?" she asked. "We need help. He does." I said. "What do you need help with?" she asked. "Something happened to him. Something bad. And now, he's injured and I don't know what to do." I said. Her face fell and she opened the door. "Wait-" I started. She walked in and Draco was curled up on the bed. "Draco, what's wrong?" she said. He winced as he sat up and looked at her. "Did you tell her?" he asked. "Sort of." I mumbled as I shut the door. "What's going on?" she asked. "You can't tell anyone. You have to promise." I said. "I promise, now what happened?" she asked. I looked at Draco and he looked sick. I stood on my toes and leaned in to whisper. "Draco was raped." I whispered. Her face fell. "Draco, sweetie. Why didn't you say something?" she asked. He shrugged. "They were- the person was really rough and now- um- there's damage-" I stammered. She drew her wand and ran her own diagnostic. "Can you help him?" I asked. She nodded. "Do you have a standard healing kit?" she asked. I ran to the bathroom and grabbed my dad's from under the bathroom sink. "Alright, Draco. Can you lay your stomach for me?" she asked. He glanced at me and I nodded. I sat on the bed next to him and held his hand. "I just have to perform a few spells and then you'll drink a potion for a few days. There might be some pressure, but after that, you'll be ok." she said. "Ok." he said quietly. He closed his eyes as she began to work. A few minutes later, she was done. "Alright, drink this blood replenishing potion once a day for 1 week." she said. He nodded and downed the bottle. "Thank you." I said. She nodded. "I'll give you two some time." she said. Then she walked out and shut the door. "See Draco, everything is ok." I said. He looked at him and choked back a sob. "I- I'm sorry." he cried. I pulled him into my arms and he buried his face in my shirt. "I've got you. I've got you." I whispered.