"Draco, you willingly let the Potter boy escape? Why?" the small eleven-year-old screamed and cried as he was dragged by his hair into a dark room with a cold floor. He shivered with fear as he felt himself piss himself from the sheer terror. The Dark Lord looked down on him with amusement, fiddling with the whip in his hands.

"If you're that afraid of me, Draco, why betray me? Betray us? The entire organisation?" the pale man with the hood asked. Malfoy was speechless and backed away until his back hit the wall.

Voldemort laughed. "Rest assured, Draco, you will be punished."

"NO!" a woman screeched and bolted into the room, pushing past Voldemort and towards Draco. Narcissa draped herself over her young child, shielding him with her body.

"Mother, no!" Draco yelled, struggling. He would NOT let his mother do this for him! He deserved this...

"Be quiet, Draco," she said sternly. "I'll handle this."

"Narcissa, you're a faithful subject of mine," Voldemort drawled. "Why do you interfere in this matter between Draco and I? The boy deserves punishment."

Narcissa turned to face the evil man, face twisted in anguish. "He's merely a child!"

"You didn't have these complaints when we decided to kill the Potter boy," Voldemort reminded her. She flushed.

"Because he is not my child! I love Draco, my lord. Please, have mercy!"

Anger flashed in Voldemort's eyes. "I AM THE DARK LORD. I GRANT NO ONE MERCY!"

He brandished the whip and Narcissa screamed as it sliced through her face. Voldemort whipped her over and over ruthlessly. Draco screamed even louder than his mother, struggling in her grip and trying to put himself in between the whip and the woman who was taking so much pain for him.

This was his fault, so why was his mother taking the blame?

"Narcissa and Draco Malfoy, I expect to see you tomorrow in the meeting room. There we will discuss your proper punishment."

And the Dark Lord left, leaving behind two broken dolls in his wake.

"Narcissa!"

Someone else appeared in the doorway. A tall, stern-looking man with his blonde hair tied back in a ponytail. He looked at the scene before him with wide eyes.

"You... you idiot! What have you done?"

The words were directed at Draco, but the boy didn't respond. He was focussed on his mother's trembling body curled up on the floor. She was weeping, but the Dark Lord had stopped whipping her for quite some time now.

"You are no son of mine."

This made Draco look up, tears shining in his eyes.

"You have ruined everything!" Lucius cried. "Why did you betray us?"

Draco didn't respond, but he knew the answer very well.

He was in love.

In love with emerald eyes sparkling despite the dim light. A smile so bright it lit up the whole room. In love with unruly hair that refused to be tamed. In love with soft lips that felt like heaven when they were pressed against his.

It was a young age to be so in love, but it was true.

Harry Potter had stolen his heart.

"That boy was using you!" Lucius growled, not waiting for an answer. "Don't you see? He'll forget about you by tomorrow! The light side are probably laughing at us for falling for their tricks! This was probably their plan all along!"

Draco had refused to listen back then, because he believed Harry loved him more than anything, just as he did. But his father's words had created doubt in him.

But when his mother was sent to the cells because of his mistakes, his mind couldn't help but grapple at something to shove the blame onto. His memories of Harry had been tarnished and stained.

His mind continued to build up resentment and hate directed towards Harry until it came to a point where he would lie in his school bed and mutter the words, "I'm going to kill him, I'm going to kill him." in his sleep.

Harry had used him. And now he was going to use his best friend Pansy.

And what pained Draco most of all was the fact that deep inside, he still loved Harry Potter.

He hated himself for it.

Ron and Hermione sat by Harry in the Great Hall as he told them about his latest encounter with Draco Malfoy during dinner.

"Maybe he's right, mate," Ron said uncomfortably. "Your plan does sound an awful lot like what he did to you."

"Harry, what you're doing isn't right," Hermione said bluntly, looking a little apologetic. "The ends don't justify the means, you know. Breaking a heart to heal your own? You shouldn't, Harry."

"I'm not breaking her heart to heal mine!" Harry protested, but it felt a little weak. "I'm doing it for the greater good!"

Ron snorted and promptly choked on his chicken. Hermione rolled her eyes at him.

"I'm sorry, you just reminded me of someone there," Ron said, laughing once the choking subsided.

"Who?" Harry said, a little nettled.

"My mother," Ron said.

Harry and Hermione fell quiet. Ron hardly discussed his parents with them.

"It's alright," he said, noticing at the looks on their faces. "My mum always thought sending me here was for my own good, since I was a little... troubled back then."

"Troubled how?" Harry prodded. Hermione stayed quiet, since she already knew his story.

"At the age of ten I was breaking into stores and stealing money because my family was so poor we couldn't even afford food on the table," Ron said sadly. "Thankfully, Hogwarts is free, because my parents still aren't doing too well financially."

Harry's eyes widened. "Oh. I never knew that. Do you think you'd still talk to her if you could?"

"Well, I talked to her earlier," Ron said, taking another chicken drumstick and dumping it onto his plate. "She and Dad came into my room and apologised and... I told them to leave. But apparently there's Order stuff going on they need to stay for. They told me they wouldn't bother me again, so that's good."

"Are you part of the Order?"

Ron laughed. "Of course not. Because of that I don't know who's in it apart from my parents or what goes on in it since it's a secret. I'm going to join it when I'm older."

"But how are you going to join something you know nothing about?" Harry's eyebrows furrowed. Ron shrugged.

"I mean, it's what's expected of me, after all," he said. Harry turned to Hermione.

"Do you... do you want to tell me about your story?" he asked tentatively. Hermione looked reluctant, but nodded.

"My parents sent me here after I came out as bisexual," she said, face going red out of shame, looking down at her lap.

"Ah! Same!" Hermione looked up at Harry's words. "Well, not same. I'm here for being gay. And also because my relatives... strange."

"That's..." Hermione trailed off sadly. "I guess we all have pretty shitty relationships with our parents?"

"Yup. Pretty much," Ron said, smirking a little.

~~~

Boop. I have no words.

Vote and comment? (^人^)