Thicker Than Blood | Drarry

Two.

"I received a letter from Lucius last night."

Draco lifted his head from out of his potions textbook and stared into his godfather's black eyes, trying and failing to read his blank expression.

It was the afternoon that the remainder of Hogwarts students would arrive at the castle, but Draco had been here all summer. He had been here every summer, actually. Apart from traveling to Hogsmede and Diagon Alley, Draco had not stepped a foot out of Hogwarts since arriving in his first year. The morning after the sorting ceremony, he had received a howler from his mother. He can't quite remember the exact wording, but it was something along the lines of "you have disgraced our bloodline" and "we hope to never see you again." That meant that once summer rolled around, he was no longer welcome to return to The Manor.

After the school year, Professor Snape allowed him to stay at the Castle with him over the summer with the permission of Dumbledore. Draco stayed in a bedroom connected to an unused classroom, originally designed for a previous professor. Dumbledore kept this arrangement under the table, and the only people who knew about Draco Malfoy's permanent residence at Hogwarts were the professors themselves. His parents had no idea where he was currently living, nor did they ever try to figure it out. Snape regularly wrote to them, being close friends, but never once mentioned Draco.

He had spent the majority of his first year hiding in the library. He had no one to talk to, no one to turn to. After being shunned from his family and the entirety of the Slytherin house, he grew cold and sinister. Potter had tried to talk to him, and every time he had done so, Draco just snapped in return. He had been part of why he ended up where he did, and Draco refuses to believe that might not be true.

After a few weeks of trying to talk to him, he eventually gave up. Everyone had thought Potter was a fool for trying to befriend Draco Malfoy, and they were definitely right. No one would ever be friends with him, he wouldn't dare let anyone get close enough to him. Why put yourself in a position of emotional vulnerability to someone? Nothing good would ever come from it. At best, he would have a feeling of brief happiness. At worst, the same thing would happen all over again, everyone would betray him and hurt him.

He tried to put on this facade of simply being cold and sinister, appearing as emotionless as possible. In reality, he had cried himself to sleep every night until Halloween. He was drowning, unable to scream with all the water in his lungs. His parents, his family, his true house, were all suffocating and silencing him while burying him beneath the waves of disappointment he brought them.

His first Christmas was especially hard. He turned to his books and found an escape. The more he threw himself into his schoolwork, the less he had to think about those around him. The only thing that mattered to Draco was himself and his grades. It paid off in the end, too. He had received the highest marks in his year. He nearly lost to Hermione Granger, but he scored one point higher on his potions final examination than her.

Snape was the only person Draco talked to. He would occasionally have some genuine conversations with some of the other professors, but they were almost always related to academia. He was now just two days away from beginning his fifth year at Hogwarts, and this was all still true.

Draco was curious as to why Snape would mention his father's letter to him. He rarely ever spoke of him, so it must have been of importance.

He closed his book and sat it beside him. Placing his hands on either side of his legs that were swinging off the side of the table of which he was sitting upon. "And what exactly did he say?"

Snape gave a disappointed sigh. "You have a brother."

Draco's heart sank. Of course. Why are you surprised? They disowned you, they have already burned your name off the family long ago. They need someone else to carry on the bloodline. You should be surprised that they waited this long to do this.