Draco's Reason

Shattered Glass

Beta'd by my friend Taylor Dong. She's the one that you need to thank for updates.

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Draco stood beside the door as his parents apparated away. He didn't wave or say goodbye, he just stood there. When there was no sign of them he closed the door and looked around the empty hall.

"Dobby?" he questioned the air, hoping that something would happen. Nothing did. Draco waited for a few more minutes before sighing and walking down the hall. He walked to the room in the East Wing and opened the door.

"'Co? Are you there?" three voices asked variations of the same question.

"Yes, it's me. We're going to move you guys into my room today. Does that sound fun?" Draco slipped into the room and propped the door open as he talked.

"Where's Momma and Papa?" Twyla was the one to always ask when Mom and Dad would come to see them. Not because the others knew that Lucius and Narcissa despised them but because she was the most vocal.

"They had to go away for a little bit. Can you two help me grab Naomi's chair and your bears?" Twyla and Grayson nodded. Twyla headed straight to the the wheelchair hidden beside Naomi's bed and Grayson grabbed two stuffed bears- one a dirty white and the other a deep black.

Draco lifted Naomi into her chair and placed a small stuffed rabbit into her lap. "Everybody ready?"

They all nodded and Draco push Naomi out the door, Twyla and Grayson following behind. They made their way across the house and into Draco's room. He pushed Naomi to the window and pulled a mattress down from where it was hidden by Dobby years ago.

"Do you want to go outside or do you want me to read you a story?"

"Outside! Outside!" Naomi, Twyla, and Grayson all cheered as they set their animals onto the mattress or the floor.

"Who wants to push Mimi today?" Twyla bounced up and down as she waved her hand around in the air. "Ok. Twy is going to push you today Mimi. We're going to take a trip out to the lake."

They made their way out the back door and down the path, walking slowly so that Twyla and Naomi could keep up. Every few steps Greyson would stop, turn around, and pick a flower before placing it on Naomi's lap. Naomi would pick up each flower and study it before telling Twyla to smell it or starting to braid it into a sloppy flower crown.

When they reached the lake Draco told Greyson and Twyla to pick as many flowers as they wanted and to bring them to him. He sat on the ground beside Naomi's wheelchair and she placed her crown on his head.

"It matches 'Co's hair!" she giggled as the yellow flowers she had picked to braid disappeared into his hair.

"Yeah?" Draco raised his hand up to his head to feel the crown.

"Yeah!" Naomi smiled as she nodded. Twyla and Greyson returned soon after, both carrying armfuls of flowers- mostly roses.

"Draco! Can you make me one?" Twyla asked as she pointed to the crown sitting on Draco's head.

"Absolutely." Draco pulled a couple of the roses, a few violets, and forget-me-nots out of the pile and started to defly braid them into a crown. Naomi watched silently while Twyla and
Greyson ran off to play a game of tag.
When Draco finished he put it aside and started on another one. This one consisted of irises, chrysanthemums, carnations, and a single peony. Draco braided the flowers together in an
intricate pattern that had Naomi leaning over the side of her wheelchair to get a closer look at
what Draco's fingers were doing.

"'Co?"

Draco hummed in response, focus mostly on the crown in his hands.

"Can you teach me how to walk?"

Draco's head snapped up and he slowly turned towards Naomi. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because you're legs don't work the same way that mine do."

"Is it because I don't have magic? Like you and Mama and Papa?"

"No. Mimi that's not- that's not why you're legs don't work."

"Then why can't I walk? Or run? Why can't I play with Twy and Grey like you do whenever you're home?"

Draco sighed and placed the half-finished flower crown beside him. "It's because you were born special. Your legs decided that everybody else needed the extra help to keep up with you. There's nothing wrong with not having magic, or not being able to play with Twyla and Greyson the same way as I do because you have a special type of magic. It isn't like the magic that I do because I'm a normal person. It's more powerful and more beautiful than anything I can
achieve with my wand or my potions. You have special ways of playing with Twyla and Greyson and me. And each new way you figure out how to play is magical."

Naomi nodded, wiped away the tears that had started to roll down her face out of the sheer frustration that she had felt about not being able to walk, and smiled. Because Draco told
her she was special.

They spent the morning outside. Making flower crowns, running around, even getting to go into the lake for a little bit. When the sun was directly above them Draco ushered everyone back inside and made them grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup. They headed back to
Draco's room to take a nap while Draco worked on cleaning their room out.

Draco grabbed the mats that his siblings had always slept on and rolled them up. He took them outside and hung them on a low hanging tree branch. Leaving them there he headed inside and grabbed the broom sitting beside the door. Piles of dust and dirt clouded into the air as he
swept, causing Draco to choke and unlock the single window. Light poured into the room and Draco looked around. From where he stood he was reminded of his dream. Of the way Naomi's body had hit the concrete. The stains of blood placed around the room- as if somebody had planned exactly where everything would happen. The way the light had flickered off the arc of green, gleaned off of the hand of the wielder of that wand. Draco leaned against the wall and slid down it slowly, stuck in a loop of those horrible moments. Leaning to the side he promptly
emptied the contents of his stomach.

He stood up shaking. Dropping the broom he grabbed the wall and used it as a crutch out of that room. He continued walking to the middle of the house. He glanced down the hallway that led to his room and turned towards the kitchen. Food for the three before anything else.
Cooking would take his mind off of the dream.

Draco grabbed a couple of pots and filled them with water, only to dump the water back out and sit against the cabinets. He scratched at his arms and his neck and his legs. Pounded his
head against the cabinet. Pulled a knife out of a drawer. Held it to his wrist. And stopped. He stopped and looked at the red lines running up his arms from his own perfectly cut nails. At the bruises that still stung when he moved. The ones around his wrist from his father's grip on him
last night. The ones around his waist from being thrown into a wall this morning. The ones around his ankles from the day before last, because he had tried to run away and his mother had grabbed his ankles. The ones on his collar bones and back from being dragged through the house last week. The one on the side of his face that was just starting to fade. He looked at the scars littering his skin. The ones that were raised and ugly and visible beneath his shirt. The ones that
had faded just enough that they were almost invisible but were still there because he couldn't figure out how to make them go away. The ones that had cut deep and left no mark on the
outside. The ones that they had caused because they had stopped loving him. Because he loved his siblings. His little brother and sisters that had nothing to do with anything yet were treated as dirt. Treated worse than the house elves had ever been. Because he wasn't strong enough to stop it. Couldn't handle even the simplest job so they punished him. They took it out on him because he refused to allow them to hurt his baby sister. Refused to let them hurt the twins that he had raised. He looked at the silver against his ivory skin and pushed. Just that little bit he thought. Just that simple press of metal against skin. Nothing would come out of it. He wouldn't do it again. It was just this once. It was always just this once. He couldn't even protect his siblings. So
why would anyone care if he hurt? Why would anyone care that he broke? Or bent? Or snapped?
Why would anyone care if something happened to him? Who would care if he just...disappeared?

Draco pulled the knife away from his skin and threw it at the opposite wall. He shouted in frustration as he punch the cabinet beside him. A noise so full of hurt and anger and sadness that
it tore at Draco's throat as it left him. He sat back against the cabinet and scrubbed at his face. Tears had left little clear tracks across his cheeks and he hated it. Because it showed that they were right. He was weak. Couldn't even pull the knife across his skin, couldn't bear to see the crimson liquid drip into little puddles. He sighed and dropped his head against the cabinet. "It'll be over soon," he whispered to the empty air.

Standing up he refilled the pots and placed them on the stove. His arms stung from the scratches but he couldn't care less about those. Right now was about the food. Draco paced
around the kitchen, grabbing different spices and the medicine for his siblings- and a couple of salves for himself. He worked on making simple foods that would help his siblings regain the weight they had lost. And keep on the weight he would lose over this summer.

A bowl of soup and a piece of bread for each child was placed on a tray, along with cups of water and the medicines. He turned everything off and picked up the tray, balancing
everything in one hand as he pulled open the door and walked out of the kitchen. Draco breathed
deeply before walking to the foyer and down the hallway that led to his room. He balanced the tray in his arms as he turned the corner and froze.

The tray slipped from his fingers slowly. Draco could feel his heart stop and his breath catch. And, for a single moment, time stopped. When the tray crashed to the floor, Draco flinched and came back to his senses. But the noise also attracted the attention of the unwanted guest standing in front of Draco's room.

"What are you doing here?" Draco hissed just loud enough to be heard.
The boy stepped away from the doorway and Draco realized that if he told anyone something bad was going to happen to his siblings.

"Malfoy, who are they?"

"What are you doing in my house Potter?" Draco's words were clipped and Harry could tell that he was holding his emotions back.

"Who are they?" Harry stuck with his first question in the hopes of getting an answer.

"What does it matter to you? Their not your problem to deal with," Draco broke eye contact with Harry and bent to pick up the tray that he had dropped. He winced as the sudden
movement pulled on a bruise but continued to pick up the broken pieces of bowls and bottles. He
didn't move from his position on the floor as Harry approached and knelt to help him.

"Why are you doing this?" Harry just wanted an answer. And he could see the scratches on Draco's arms and the way that he refused to close one of his hands all the way. Draco stayed
quiet. Only glancing up to see if Harry was going to hurt him. Because he had messed up. Dropped the whole tray and now there was a giant mess. He looked up again to see Harry staring at him with a single piece of glass extended towards him and Draco flinched. Looked down at his
own hand and bit his tongue.

Harry frowned when he saw fear pass through Draco's eyes when he had looked up, "Why are you doing this?"

Draco and looked at Harry, "You need to leave."

"What?"

"I need you to leave. Forget what you saw here and leave."

"Why would I forget about what I saw? Malfoy! There are children in that room!"

"You don't think I know that? I'm the one that takes care of them! I'm the one that plays with them and teaches them. I'm the one that bathes them because they have problems taking
care of themselves! I feed them! And nobody cares about them! They are so special and nobody can see that because nobody knows about them! I have to protect them! And I need you to leave!"

Draco sat back as he gasped for breath, realizing that he had just given his family's biggest secret to the boy that hated him. He clenched his hands into fists- not caring about the
blood dripping from the cuts that the glass was causing- and lowered his head.

"Draco, who are they?" Harry half-whispered across the pile separating them.

"They're my younger siblings."

Harry gasped and looked back at the room the children were still sleeping in. He turned back to Draco and looked him over. The scratches and now closed fist were the first things he saw. But the bruises around his wrist and peeking out of the collar of his shirt and on the side of his face were something that Harry hadn't seen. Hadn't cared enough to see.

He lifted his hand and touched the side of Draco's face. Draco froze and turned away quickly. "What happened?"

"Nothing. It doesn't matter."

"Draco, this isn't nothing."

"Yes it is Potter," Draco leaned away from Harry and resumed picking up the broken pieces of everything that he had dropped.

Harry reached over and grabbed his bruised wrist, pulling it up so that Draco was face to face with him, "This isn't nothing Draco! This is a bruise! There are bruises covering your
body!" Harry's voice started to raise in anger as Draco looked at him with nothing on his face. "These are scratches! You can barely close your hand! What is happening to you?"

Draco ripped his hand out of Harry's and pulled it to his chest. He scrambled backwards in the face of Harry's anger before stopping and lowering his head. Harry had stopped as soon as Draco had moved. Had stopped as soon as Draco looked at him in fear.

"I'm sor-" Harry reached towards Draco again.

"Don't- don't touch me-" Draco's voice came out shaky and wet "- don't ever touch me. I don't want your pity, or your help. I can handle this on my own. Just- just go away."

Harry watched a single tear drop from Draco's chin and hit the carpet. And realized that he had made Draco Malfoy cry. "I'm so sorry Draco. I'll leave-" Harry stood "- and I promise I
won't tell anyone."

Draco stayed on the floor as Harry walked away. And he soon heard the familiar sound of the floo being used. When it disappeared he curled into a ball, clutched his bruised wrist close to his chest, and cried. It hurt. Everything hurt. And he had just sent the one person that might be
willing to help away.

Slowly he stood. Leaving the mess where it was he headed straight to his room- his hand still clutched tightly to his chest. He sat on the edge of his bed and breathed deeply. Calming
himself so that he wouldn't scare them. Draco smiled at the sight that met him when he looked at
his siblings.

Twyla and Greyson were laying on either side of Naomi. Protecting her from each side. Draco watched as they wrapped an arm around her and cuddled closer to each other. And he
wished that they would stay safe with each other for many years to come.

They started to wake up a few minutes later and noticed Draco sitting on the bed. His hand had finally stopped bleeding but they noticed the dry blood running down his fingers and the way he cradled his wrist.

"Is 'Co ok?" Greyson spoke softly while approaching him.

Draco smiled just as softly, "'Co is ok. Just a little hurt."

"Will you get better?" Naomi asked while Greyson nodded and sat beside him.

"Of course silly goose. I'll always get better. There's nothing that can hurt me."

Twyla nodded her head- as if she were the one that was hurt- "Draco can beat any bad guys. Including yucky booboos."

"Exactly. Now, who wants to hear the story of a dragon that became a king?" Draco smiled through the pain as Twyla pulled him onto the bed next to her and Naomi and began to tell the story of a dragon that saved a kingdom, only to transform into a human and be crowned king.

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I just want everyone to know that if you are having troubles with self harm (scratching, cutting, pulling at your hair, etc.)  I am always open to talking. You can private message me or talk to me in real life if you know me. Do not keep it to yourself. Please, please, please talk to somebody you trust about it. I have lost close friends because they didn't talk about what was happening to them and I don't want any of my readers going through that. I love every single one of you guys ❤❤❤ Stay strong.