Hi! Yup! We got another chapter and this'll be more about his struggles at school with everyone against him. I'm surprised at how much writing this has helped me. I don't face 90% of these issues but I do feel empty. So writing this has helped me cope and I hope you feel less alone if you're going through the same type of thing. Enjoy!

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Draco didn't go to breakfast the next day and instead stayed in the boys dormitory. He wanted to pale the Dark Mark on his arm more and also get used to the pain it may bring. He took a blade and slid it across the horrid tattoo making the black tar like liquid spill out of his cut. He smiled at the incision and held back the screams of pain that could escape even though he had placed a silencing charm so that no one would hear him.

He knew it wasn't healthy, but he was desperate to get rid of the damn mark at any cost. When it stopped 'bleeding', he bandaged up his arm because he really didn't want to have the mark out on display. He had learnt that apparently because there were so few Slytherins they would be sharing classes with another house. And that house just so happened to be Gryffindor so he really didn't want his mark to be out for everyone to see.

His first class of that day was Herbology with Professor Sprout, Head of Hufflepuff. He was interested, since he needed to understand the plants to become a healer like he wanted, but the Gryffindors were quite distracting. They weren't necessarily bad or terrible at the class, it's just there was one particular Gryffindor that always seemed to catch Draco's eye. And he really didn't want to get distracted in Herbology because that would ruin his chances at being a healer. He could just never win.

It was a rather warm day so Draco didn't bring his robe, but he did bring his Slytherin vest and kept his sleeves rolled down. He had a bandage on his mark, but he didn't want people to see the bandage because they might guess what he was doing to himself. He strolled out into the common room and saw that no one else was there, all probably eating breakfast. The dungeons were cold, but once outside of the dungeons it was a lot warmer seeing as the sky was cloudless.

He walked down he corridor and the few students that weren't in the hall - it was mainly Ravenclaws - sent glares his way. He was expecting this, but it almost felt like someone had placed a hundred kilograms on his shoulders weighing him down and making him feel worse then he already was. He headed straight for the greenhouses because he guessed no one would be going to their classes that early. But he was wrong, Theodore Nott was in fact already there.

"Well, well, well," he began, "if it isn't the Death-Eater. Shouldn't you be in Azkaban kissing a dementer?"

Draco didn't say anything.

"What? Got nothing to say?"

Draco rolled his eyes and scoffed, "You know I'm really sorry if I've hurt you in some way, but I can't fix things if you don't let me."

"So you can talk. Well I'm sorry but you're out of second chances."

Draco sighed, he knew Theodore was right, but he just didn't want to admit it.

Soon enough, the Gryffindors started to arrive with an enthusiastic Neville Longbottom and excited Hermione Granger. Of course they would be really excited, they were the top students of the class and had friends that shared the class with them. But all of Draco's friends weren't at Hogwarts, let alone in the same classes as him, and even if they were there they'd probably hate him. It's just how things were for the blonde pure-blood, whether he liked it or not.

Professor Sprout came out of the greenhouse with dirt on her clothes and her regular gardening hat and gloves. She was a squat woman with curly grey hair and always looked as though she had just been gardening - most likely because she practically was always gardening. She didn't look at any students in particular really, she just looked at the class as a whole when speaking, which was a nice change from teachers looking at either Harry or Draco. It's what they get for playing the part they did in the war.

"Today we will look at some muggle plants," she explained, "the stinging brush to be more specific."

The class looked at their teacher with interest.

"It's sometimes referred to as gumpy gumpy and is native to the Australian jungle. It's said to sting worse than acid, and can be felt for over two years. Us wizards and witches have a way of stopping the sting and that's what we'll be learning about." (It's a real plant in Australia, but it's not very common and can only be found in the jungle, which we don't have much of and is burning away so yeah.)

She directed everyone to he greenhouse filled with muggle plants and brought them to a bush that was quite large. They all already had their gloves on, so it wouldn't sting them but they were going to study the plant and how to avoid it's poison the wizarding way. They were taking cuttings from the plant because it could be used in some medicines, but Sally-Anne Perks had an dear for a prank. The sting was diluted due to the work they had been doing, and wouldn't last as long, but it would still hurt a decent amount.

She took one of her cuttings and picked it up, then dropping it down the back of Draco's shirt and quickly walking away as to not get caught. Draco's eyes widened as he began to scream and dropped to the floor. Sally-Anne, Sophie and Ramilda were all chuckling together and some of the Gryffindors like Neville, Hermione and Seamus looked a little sympathetic as the rest of the class tried to hold in laughter or rolled their eyes. Professor Sprout came to help and she knew that it had been intentional. No one drops a cutting perfectly down someone else's shirt.

"No one move while I take Mr. Malfoy to the hospital wing," she said as more of a demand.

Neville, Hermione and Seamus seemed to be the only decent people in the room because everyone else thought it quite funny. Sally-Anne admitted it had been her when someone asked, and it ticked the three off. Harry and Ron had been part of the eye rollers group, they thought he was overreacting seeing as it was only a small sample that had been severely diluted for medical purposes. But that only shortened the time it stung for, it would still feel worse than acid, it just wouldn't last two years and the sting would probably only last a week or two. 

Meanwhile with Draco, he was stumbling slightly and Professor Sprout kept asking if he knew whom had placed it down his shirt. Draco really didn't know, but he thought of the people near him at the time; Neville, Theodore and Sally-Anne. It didn't seem to be something Neville would do so he said it could be either of the other options. She didn't seem too stunned by Sally-Anne, but Theodore was a shocker for her since she had thought the two were friends.

"Well, if that's who you think it could be," she replied.

She then left and Madam Pomfrey brought out a few bottles of different potions and looked through them. She found the one she was looking for and gave it to Draco to drink, then pouring another one down the back of his shirt. She found the cutting and took it out and left it on a tray. She told Draco to get some sleep, and so that's what he tried not to do. He really didn't want to face a nightmare in the Hospital wing.

Meanwhile Professor Sprout headed back to the greenhouse with clear rage marked on her face. How could someone do this to a fellow classmate, she thought to herself questioning all possible reasons. She could only come up with one that made sense, but it was stupid and childish; revenge. She hoped that wasn't true and that it was a misunderstanding, but you can't perfectly drop a sample down someone's shirt on accident. The more she thought about it: the angrier she got.

When she got back to the classroom she was livid. She asked for someone to admit dropping the cutting down Draco's shirt, but to her surprise, it was Hermione that put her hand up.

"Ms. Granger?" She was confused by this.

"I didn't do it," Hermione went on to explain, "but I know who did."

"Elaborate."

"Well, Sally-Anne admitted to doing so, and she was right near him when it happened."

"Thank you Ms. Granger, I have to say I am very disappointed in you Ms. Perks. Ten points from Gryffindor, for stupidity and childish behaviours. Your eighteen for Merlin's sake!"

"Sorry Professor..." Sally looked at her feet.

"I'm not the one you should be apologising to."

And the class ended with Draco in he hospital wing and the loss of ten points for Gryffindor.

-~-

Draco waited in the hospital wing that night and Madam Pomfrey brought in a tray of food for dinner. He didn't want to eat, the most he had eaten recently was a bit of dry toast a few days earlier. Madam Pomfrey wasn't aware of Draco's terrible eating habits however, and so she didn't stay in the room while he 'ate' his dinner. He didn't really eat his dinner though, he stumbled out of bed and dropped it all into the bin.

Just the sight of food was making him gag, which really wasn't healthy and he needed help desperately, but he didn't know that nor did he want help. He spent the night lying in bed pretending to be asleep and listening to everything going on around him. There wasn't much happening until he heard a student stumble in with a grunt of pain. Draco opened one eye to see what was going on, he found a first year Slytherin girl with a twisted ankle.

The girl had black hair that was in a messy braid ending just below the shoulders and amber eyes that sparkled. Draco had always supported the first year students, and so he sat up and asked if the girl wanted help.

"Sorry if I woke you...?" She trailed of signifying that she wanted a name.

"Draco Malfoy," he replied wincing at his last name.

"Um - you're the Malfoy kid - well you're not a kid now - but I'm - Sure. I would like some help."

Draco nodded and got up to help the eleven year old to a bed. She was rather shy and almost scared now that she knew who her company was. Draco wasn't bothered by this in the slightest, he had expected to be either feared or hated, but just because you expect something doesn't mean you necessarily like it. But he tried his best to correct the mistakes of his past, whether his father would approve or not.

"Why are you here?" The girl asked.

"Some idiot thinking it'd be funny to drop a cutting down my shirt," he answered.

She slanted her brows at him.

"Stinging brush."

"Oh, that would have to hurt."

"It did. Well, you know my name, what's yours?"

"Violet, Violet Thomson."

"Nice to meet you Thomson."

"My friends call me Vy."

Draco looked at the girl stunned at her use of the word 'friend'. But he smiled genuinely for the first time in a long while.

They sat there talking for a bit and got to know each other a little, it was nice and exactly what Draco needed at that time. Violet was apparently a half-blood with a muggle dad and witch mum. Her father was shocked when he found out and was thinking about a divorce, while her mother was depending on her daughter to prove not all witches and wizards are evil. It didn't help when she was sorted into Slytherin, and her mother was a Ravenclaw which made her father even more fearful.

Draco explained how he felt like more of an heir then a son, and how his father had ridiculously high expectations. They both didn't have the best lives, but that's what helped them bond and create the same unbreakable bond Draco had had with Pansy and Blaise. Violet told him about how horrible her and her friends were being treated just for being in Slytherin, how people constantly compared her friend Jasper to Voldemort just because he was a half-blood with dark hair. It truly was sad how they were being treated.

"Guess I should apologise for contributing to the brush their painting you with," Draco commented.

"It's not your fault they're all stereotypical douches," she remarked, "Besides, how could you know this would affect future generations?"

"Because it affected my generation..."

"And there were some amazing people from what I've heard."

"If you see that side of them, most of us put on a mask and hide behind a tough façade."

"Insecurities usually make people do that, guess the others are too blind to realise that."

They continued talking, and for the first time in a while, Draco forgot about all his problems and felt an emotion he lost long ago. Happiness. But all good things must come to an end, and unfortunately for Draco, he wouldn't have many opportunities to feel the foreign emotion, and it would disappear quicker than it arrived.

-~-

The next morning Draco had woken up and his new friend Violet wasn't there. He originally thought that it might've been his mind playing a cruel trick on him in his sleep when he realised he hadn't had a nightmare. He guessed that the safe energy of the hospital wing was responsible, and he was right. He didn't know for sure, but it was the reason, which wasn't necessarily a good thing. Because he might get a shock when going back to his dormitory - which he was doing that day.

When he was released he still felt a tingling sensation on his back, but it didn't sting which was a massive improvement to what he originally felt. He didn't go to breakfast that day either, he just went right to Transfiguration class now taught by Abiforth Dumbledore. He wasn't sure if he liked Abiforth seeing as he was Dumbledore's brother and probably had a bone to pick with Draco for the whole Astronomy tower incident. Of course, he wouldn't blame Abiforth if he did.

They were working on changing air and water into different objects, which wasn't the easiest to do considering it involved changing its state of matter. After that it was Charms with Professor Flitwick where they learnt about the manifestation charm. After that they had Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid, and they studied the effects of unicorn blood. Then it was time for lunch. Draco - again - wasn't originally going to go.

"Draco?" He heard a familiar voice say.

"Hi Thomson," he turned around to say.

"I thought I told you to call me Vy. Where are you going? The Great Hall's that way."

"Um, just ate."

"But how could you've just eaten if everyone's still on their way there?"

"Um -"

"C'mon, you need to eat something."

Violet then proceeded to drag Draco by the arm into the Great Hall and pushed him in the direction of the Slytherin table with a few glances thrown their way. People stared at the two confused and some just thinking it rather funny that Draco was letting an eleven year old girl push him around. Some Slytherins were shocked by the sight of it, and amazed that someone would want to be friends with him. Violet's friends looked at her weirdly because of it.

She plopped down at the table beside him and told him to eat the food in front of him. He looked at it and tried as hard as he could not to just threw up at the mere smell and sight of food. Of course, he wouldn't be able to hold it in if he tasted the food on his plate. But, something possessed him, and he ate the smallest of bites.

He chewed for a while, but it didn't taste like anything and he was trying with all his might to not throw up. But he didn't have the strongest stomach and when he swallowed it he could no longer hold it back and he ran out of the room. Violet got up and followed him out, but once she reached the door to the boys bathroom she stopped in her tracks. She couldn't hear what Draco was doing, but she had a pretty good guess that he was puking.

Draco was in fact doing what she thought, but he also began crying in the locked cubicle as memories similar to it flashed through his head. He remembered being told he had to lose weight, he remembered the few times he ate and the result of those times. But his most traumatising memories were ones his mother altered. And he only knew of one that she changed ... until that moment...

The image flashed into his head and he began to feel a migraine start to come about as he remembered one of the memories Narcissa had changed:

He was only twelve, and Draco was in the Manor just a week before going back to Hogwarts. He was in his room with bruises and cuts covering his body when Dobby, a house elf, arrived and seemed startled by Draco's appearance.

"Oh my," he said, "did Master Lucius get upset with Draco?"

A tear slid down the twelve year old's face, "Why is h-he like thi-is...?"

"Dobby doesn't know. Dobby wants to know what happened though."

"I've g-gained weigh-eight, I don't look g-good en-nough..."

"But Draco, is unhealthily light!"

"No. I'm f-fat!"

Lucius burst in through the door making Draco jump back and Dobby squeal. He picked the scared house elf up by his pillow case clothing and threw him out of the room, then looking at his trembling son. He gripped onto Draco's hair and pulled him into his bathroom, throwing him onto the floor and slamming the door shut. Draco backed away scared and hit the bench with his back. Lucius laughed at the fear in his eyes.

"Pathetic!" He hissed, "Even if you did look good no girl would ever like a worthless kid like you!"

Lucius picked up a toothbrush and pulled his son up by the collar, a look of pure hatred marked on his face. Draco tried to pull away but had the toothbrush shoved down his throat and causing him to puke. Lucius smashed Draco's face into the sink just in time for him to throw up and not get any on the floor or his father. Lucius continued to do this over and over, until there was nothing left for Draco to throw up.

"If you ever gain weight again you do this!" Lucius commanded.

"Y-Yes father..." Draco answered.

Draco's head pounded as the image snuck back into his memory and he watched as Lucius stuck a toothbrush down his throat. He didn't want to remember any of it, he didn't want to see just how horrid his father really was, he didn't want to know the truth... He'd rather live a lie then know just how traumatising his childhood really was. The memories he gained gave him more reason to wish death upon himself, and came at the worst times possible.

He staggered to his feet and tried to regain his composure before daring to leave his stall. He stumbled to the sink and washed both his face and mouth, beginning to hyperventilate due too how much he was only just learning and fearing what else he might find. He began to walk back out of the room when his vision began to blur, he felt heavy and his hearing wavered. He was having trouble keeping his eyes open and he became too weak to hold up his own weight. He fell to the ground and blacked out.

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Hello! Just gonna put this out there, that's what passing out is really like. Most people envision just falling, but it's a little more complex than that. Don't know why I'm telling you this, but I guess you could use it in your writing. Thank you!

     - Turtlefreakakw2 <3