Malfoy Child

Nightmares

Harry left the dorm room door open and made his way back down to the common room. Once again the room was fairly noisy and full of activity. There were several people studying, but there were also groups playing chess, playing exploding snap or just talking with their friends. Harry made his way back to the chair he'd been sitting in earlier to talk with his own friends.

"Your charge is quite the character, Harry," Hermione said, as Harry sat down.

Harry grinned. "Yeah, he is."

"Are we okay, mate?" Ron asked tentatively.

Harry shrugged. "We are, if you lay off of Draco."

Ron held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "I don't pretend to understand, but I get the message," he said in defeat.

"Good," Harry said simply.

"But why are you the one taking care of him?" Ron whinged. "I just don't understand."

"It's because they're kindred souls," Hermione piped up.

Ron snorted, but Harry nodded thoughtfully, causing Ron to stare at him in shock.

"You don't believe that crap, do you?" Ron scoffed.

"Well, I don't know about kindred souls exactly," Harry admitted. "But I do understand how the little guy is feeling."

"You used to get laughed at in classes when you were little, just like we all laughed at Draco today, didn't you?" Hermione asked. It really wasn't much of a question.

Harry nodded. "Dudley always made sure I was the centre of all the ridicule in primary school," he said bitterly. "It's not a fun place to be."

Ron looked horrified. "They laughed at you like that?"

"Yeah, only I didn't even have to do anything to cause it. Dudley and his gang were always bullying me and causing trouble. It was a lot to take at times," Harry admitted.

"You also didn't have anyone to turn to," Hermione pointed out.

Harry shook his head and tried to pull his thoughts together to explain how he was feeling to his friends. He wasn't used to opening up about his past, but maybe under the circumstances, it was time. He really wanted Ron to understand, and for him to understand, it meant Harry needed to explain his past.

"I grew up feeling scared, lonely, insecure and unloved. It's miserable," Harry said quietly. "I managed to take care of myself, but it was because I didn't have any other choice. I had no friends and was ridiculed and bullied on a regular basis. On top of that, I was neglected and often punished harshly for things that were no fault of my own, or even if I had done something wrong, the punishment far exceeded the crime."

Harry shook his head again, trying to clear away the old memories that were attempting to bring him down. "Anyway, that's how Draco is feeling right now—scared, lonely, insecure and unloved. Like I told Snape, I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. He's just a little boy. As far as he's aware, he was just thrust from his comfortable bed into the middle of that classroom where he was being laughed at."

"Even by his own friends," Hermione pointed out.

"Exactly," Harry said. "It sounds corny, but my heart just ached for that poor little boy, and I couldn't just stand there and let everyone keep hurting him. He needed someone to be there for him."

"All right, I suppose I can understand now why you're wanting to take care of him, but why does he trust you so much?" Ron asked. "He certainly doesn't seem to trust anyone else."

"He doesn't. He doesn't even seem to trust his godfather." Harry shrugged. "I'm honestly not sure why he's chosen to trust me, but I guess it's because I was the first one to help him, when everyone else was laughing at him."