Writer's Pov.
Grimmauld Place.
The golden trio sat in silence as they were in deep thinking. The silence was broken by the loud screaming of Draco.
They immediately got to their feet and ran toward Draco's room. Harry was the first one who got inside the room and looked at Draco.
He was shaking and crying and shouting in his sleep.
"Noooo please it's hurting."
Harry immediately walked towards him, sat on the bed, and started shaking him to get him out of his sleep.
"Draco, wake up. It's just a nightmare," He said in a loud tone to wake him.
"Kill me, please," Draco shouted and another scream of pain left his mouth while his body twitched as if he was being hurt.
"Draco, wake up it's a nightmare." Harry again said loudly while shaking his body.
"No no not that no pl..please Master sorry sorry."
"Draco," Harry shouted at the top of his voice and Draco opened his eyes. He looked around and saw Ron and Hermione standing near the door.
He immediately sat on the bed and tried to get away from Ron and Hermione however he was held at his place by Harry.
His body shook and he closed his eyes as he tried his best to get out of Harry's hold.
"Draco?" Draco heard Harry's voice and he immediately opened his eyes.
"H...Harry? Harry?" Draco called his name as if his life was dependent on it.
"Yes, I am here, Draco," Harry spoke in a soft tone.
Draco held Harry tightly and hid his face in the crook of Harry's neck.
"S...save me, please." He cried and his hold on Harry's hand was painfully tight. "N...no pain. No m..more. Please."
Harry's arms wrapped around Draco tightly and he softly caressed his back. "I won't let anyone hurt you, Draco. I am right here with you. No one will harm you."
"T..they were here, Harry. T..they w..want to take me back." Draco said in between his sobs. "Please s..save me."
"They are not here. You are in our house, remember? No one will harm you here. You are safe, completely safe." Harry said while caressing his hair.
"Please, Harry." He cried more.
"Shh calm down, I am here with you," Harry said and looked at his best friends, who were still standing at the door with tears in their eyes. They were shocked to see Malfoy's condition, it was worse than they ever imagined.
It took a few minutes for Draco to finally calm down. He had stopped crying but still was holding Harry tightly. While Harry was caressing Draco's back and placing a kiss on Draco's head from time to time whispering some encouraging words to him.
Draco moved his head a little only to see if the others had left or not. To his dismay, they were still there. He was scared of them. He knew they were Ron Weasely and Hermione Granger, Harry's best friends but he was still scared of them.
"Shall I bring a calming draught for him?" Hermione asked in a low tone not wanting Draco to get scared of her. Yet Draco's body stiffened after hearing her.
"Do you want a calming draught, Draco?" Harry asked him softly. He knew that Draco had to take this decision, not him. If Harry forced anything on Draco then he would stop trusting him and he didn't want that.
"Hm?" Harry asked again while caressing his back. Draco slowly looked up at Harry and met his eyes. He was not sure what to answer. He was scared about a lot of things. What if it was not a calming draught? What if that potion gives him immense pain? What if that potion takes away his senses and they assault him?
"Don't be scared, Draco, the decision will be yours. If you deny then we won't force you, I promise." Harry spoke softly as he saw reluctance in Draco's body language.
"No." Draco's body shook and he looked at Harry expecting to be punished painfully.
"No problem." Harry smiled at him. "Do you want to go back to sleep or want to have your lunch?"
"Lunch," Draco replied in one word.
"Will it be okay if they join us?" Harry asked while pointing at the other two. "I promise they won't harm you and they will stay away from you."
Draco looked up at the other two and then at Harry. He didn't want them to join as he was afraid of them but this was Harry's house and he couldn't deny his best friends for lunch. He had to say yes whether he liked it or not.
Draco nodded his head in yes and Harry looked at Hermione.
"Mione, can you please ask Kreatcher to make some food for us?" Hermione nodded and she along with Ron left the room.
Harry again caressed Draco's back before breaking the hug.
"Are you alright?" He asked Draco.
"Fine," Draco replied still trying to calm himself.
"Wash your face, you will feel better," Harry suggested and they walked towards the bathroom. Harry showed him toiletries and left the bathroom.
"I am around, don't worry," Harry said as Draco looked a little scared at the idea of being left alone.
After a few minutes, Draco stepped out of the bathroom looking comparatively put together except his clothes were sweaty and dirty. He wanted to change his clothes but he didn't have any.
Harry saw Draco looking a little uncomfortable in his clothes.
"I think you need to change your clothes."
"I don't have any," Draco said in a low tone to which Harry smiled, held his hand, and dragged him to his bedroom.
He walked towards his closet and opened it wide apart.
"You can wear mine until we get you some clothes," Harry said and started looking in his closet.
Draco also looked in his closet and looked around his clothes to see what would fit him. Harry was way bigger than him and so his clothes would be loose on his body.
"Arghh, we both know that you have way more fashion sense than I do. So you should choose clothes for yourself." Harry said and stepped aside.
Harry was not lying when he said that Draco had more fashion sense. The way he dressed himself during Hogwarts was commendable. So many students tried to copy his clothing sense. It was better if he chose clothes for himself. Also, he needed to get his confidence back, needed to understand that he was in charge of his life now.
Draco walked near the closet and looked around. He didn't want to choose anything that looked expensive. Those were not his clothes and so he didn't want to ruin them.
He chose old black pants with a red T-shirt and old black robes. Harry saw that he was choosing old clothes but didn't comment. He didn't want to interfere in his decisions.
"Is this okay?" Draco asked while showing Harry those clothes.
"You have chosen them so it has to be perfect," Harry said with a smile, Draco nodded and stepped inside the bathroom to change.
He came out once he had changed his clothes.
"Wait, let me fix the size of your clothes," Harry said and used his wand to resize his clothes for Draco and even used a cleaning spell on him. He was not allowed to take a bath so in this way, he was germs-free.
"Thank you," Draco said with a small smile.
"No problem. Now let's go?" Draco nodded and they walked down the stairs towards the dining table.
Hermione and Ron were already seated and the food was placed on the dining table.
Draco was uncomfortable at their presence but he knew that Harry would protect him from them.
Harry pulled out a chair for him and he sat on it. Harry sat on the chair right beside him.
"Let's start?" Harry asked mainly to Draco who gave him a small nod.
Hermione, Ron, and Harry filled their plate with food however Draco looked around not knowing what he was allowed to eat.
"What happened?" Harry asked as Draco didn't fill his plate.
"W..what am I allowed to eat?" Draco looked at Harry for an answer and all three of them were now looking at Draco.
"You can eat whatever you want, Draco. Whatever you like." Harry replied instantly while looking into Draco's eyes.
Draco nodded his head and plated out some food for himself but the quantity of it was extremely questionable.
"You should eat more," Hermione said softly as she looked at the quantity of food he plated out.
"Wait let me help you," Harry said and he plated out more food for him. "Okay?"
Draco nodded in yes and they started eating their food in utter silence. Ron and Hermione were thinking about Draco's behavior. Harry was trying to come up with ideas in which he could encourage Draco's confidence.
"Ice cream?" Harry asked as soon as they were done eating their food.
"Sure," Ron replied with a smile.
Harry picked up his wand and summoned different flavors of ice cream on the table. Hermione and Ron got their favorite flavors whereas Draco just sat there and didn't pick any.
"You don't want to have ice cream?" Harry asked Draco and Draco nodded his head in denial.
Draco wanted to have some but he was not sure if he could or not. He knew that he could eat whatever he wanted but some rules were imprinted in his mind and his mind was not allowing him to go against those rules. It scared him. He didn't want to be punished for anything.
"Okay fine, but just have one bite. It's not that bad." Harry said and took a spoonful of ice cream near Draco. Draco opened his mouth not wanting to disrespect or deny Harry. Harry smiled and fed him. Draco was shocked when he tasted butterscotch ice cream which was his favorite ice cream flavor.
"Isn't butterscotch your favorite?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow to which Draco nodded his head in yes.
"Want some more?"
Draco again denied and Harry shrugged not wanting to push him more.
Draco's eyes were fixed on Harry as he was eating his favorite chocolate ice cream. How did Harry know his favorite ice cream flavor?
To be continued...
I have written 80% of this story in one go (I haven't written the ending of this story, yet) so it is a little hard for me to split the story chapter-wise. I am sorry if it feels that the chapter ended abruptly.
BY J.