A Different Life

The next morning, Draco got up early and wrote a short letter to his father.

Lucius Malfoy, I have left, and I have absolutely no wish to acknowledge you as my father. Mother I will acknowledge, but only if she is nothing like you and will forgive me for running away. Anyway, I have no desire to remain in your home, and I have absolutely no intention of going to Durmstrang. I would rather be killed than be separated from my friends like that. Dobby is also free. I set him free and then asked him to do me a favor and help me escape. As he was free, he didn't have to obey you anymore and willingly granted me the favor. He has found a new family to work for who will treat him much better than you ever did. If you try to force me back home, then Sirius Black, as head of the Black family, will dissolve your marriage with Mother. So I suggest you just disown me and then get together with Mother and produce another Malfoy heir. This letter terminates all contact with you.

Draco Alphard Black (I am no longer using the Malfoy name, and I have decided that my middle name will be after one of the few members of the Black family that turned out to be decent.)

He then borrowed Beth's owl and sent the letter. When Lily had flown out the window, Beth sat down next to Draco on his bed. She was still in her nightgown and her black hair was messy, but it didn't make her any less pretty in Draco's eyes. "Are you all right, Drake?" she asked gently. "He was your father for twelve years, after all, and though you don't like him now and no longer want to be his son, you still must have some feelings."

"I don't know," responded Draco. "I'm happy to be living here with you and your family, Beth. But I never though I'd be running away from home and deciding to no longer be a Malfoy. Things were so much better this time last year. I was relatively happy and my parents loved me. Father did want me to act like a proper Malfoy, but he had never laid a hand on me except that time when I was eight when I really angered him and he spanked me. But that all changed yesterday. If I had to do it all over again, I'd still run away from home and stand up to him, but I never thought he'd cane me like that boy in the book you lent me."

Beth patted his hand and said, "Well, you can't predict the future. And what book are you talking about?"

"David Copperfield," replied Draco. "You remember the part when David's stepfather hit him with a cane."

"I do," answered Beth. "David had a hard time reciting his lessons in front of his stepfather and so was 'taught a lesson'."

Draco sighed. "I'm glad that you're my friend, Beth. If you hadn't made me rethink my views on the Hogwarts Express and I didn't become a Junior Marauder, I'm sure I'd be a miniature version of my father now."

"Well, you didn't make a very good first impression," said Beth, laughing. "But I was brought up to be polite to everyone, unless they're evil like Voldemort or Satan. Since you weren't evil, and I had a feeling that you could turn out nice if properly directed, I decided to be nice and at the same time make you rethink your views. It worked."

"I'm very happy it did," said Draco. "I'm going to go brush my teeth now." He went to the bathroom and Beth left for her room.

At breakfast, Dobby dished up the meal and loaded Draco and Beth's plates almost to overflowing. The two managed to finish most of the food and had to talk Dobby into not refilling their plates. Beth then helped her mother bottle feed the twins and after that worked with Draco on some of their summer homework. At eleven, Hermione came over and three Flooed over to the Weasley home. Neville was already there, having arrived a few minutes before them. Susan arrived two minutes later.

Mrs. Weasley greeted them all warmly and pulled Draco into a hug. "Ron told me what happened, Draco dear. I'm sorry that your father is like that and that you had to leave home. Do come to me if you need a mother's help and Mrs. Black isn't available." It was quite obvious that she had decided to treat Draco like one of her sons.

Mrs. Weasley then went to make lunch and the Junior Marauders went out to the yard, where Ginny and the Weasley twins were. Ron introduced Ginny and his friends politely greeted her. "I have a cousin that's your age, Ginny," said Beth. "Her name is Evanna Harper. I'll introduce you to her someday and maybe the two of you will become friends."

"Thank you, Beth!" exclaimed Ginny, looking surprised and happy.

Ron then turned to Draco. "What exactly happened with your father, Drake? All you wrote was that you couldn't send letters, you were confined to your room for the summer, and that he was going to send you to Durmstrang. Then later, you and Beth wrote that you had run away with the help of Dobby after you set him free and was now living with Beth's family."

Draco sighed. "My father was furious with my choice of friends. It was the angriest I'd ever seen him."

Susan hugged him and Hermione asked, "What did your father do? Other than having you confined to your room and forbidding you from sending letters?"

Draco hesitated. He had told Beth everything, but that was only because he was most comfortable with telling her things and he knew she wouldn't judge him and try to make him feel better. Well, he knew the others would try to comfort him too, but other than Hermione, they weren't as well-read and wouldn't necessarily know that parents would use corporal punishment that wasn't just a simple spanking. "I don't want to talk about it," he finally said.

Neville frowned. "Did your father do something to you physically?" he asked.

Hermione and Susan gasped and Ron looked at Neville, then at Draco, eyes wide with shock. Beth didn't say anything, for she had promised Draco not to reveal what he had told her. "I don't want to talk about it," repeated Draco.

"Okay then, let's play Quidditch," said Ron, but he looked angry. They were going to respect Draco's wishes and not pursue the subject, but his saying that he didn't want to talk about it answered Neville's question as to whether Draco had been physically punished.

Beth had brought her Nimbus Two Thousand as well as her old Cleansweep Two. She handed the Cleansweep to Ron and said, "Use my old broom so Neville can borrow your Shooting Star, Ron."

"But - but - I'm horrible at flying!" protested Neville. "I almost fell off my broom during our first flying lesson!"

"We're going to teach you," said Beth. "You should get over your fear of flying, Nev. But if after a few lessons you're still afraid of flying and don't do well, then we'll stop and you can just watch us when we're playing Quidditch, okay?"

"Okay," said Neville. He took Ron's old Shooting Star and the others proceeded to spend the next half hour teaching him to fly. By the end, he was hovering ten feet above the ground, but he didn't feel comfortable doing anything else.

At noon, Mrs. Weasley called them all inside for lunch. Her cooking was delicious and she forced large second helpings on everyone. She tried to give Draco a third helping, saying that he was too small and thin, but he politely refused, saying truthfully that he was full and really couldn't eat any more of the delicious meal without bursting. Mrs. Weasley smiled at the praise and fussed over him for several minutes before getting up to wash the dishes.

When Draco went to the bathroom, the other Junior Marauders gathered in Ron's small room. "Mr. Malfoy must have punished Drake physically as well," said Susan. "That has to be why he doesn't want to talk about it."

"Mr. Malfoy was carrying a cane when he took Draco away," said Ron. "Do you think that he could have used it?"

"Maybe," said Hermione, frowning. "This character in a Muggle book was caned by his stepfather."

Neville looked at Beth. "Well, did Drake mention it to you, Beth? He's living with you, after all."

"I can't tell you," said Beth. "I promised Drake that I wouldn't reveal what he told me last night."

"Then he's the only one that can confirm it," said Hermione. "But we can't exactly confront Drake about it, because he doesn't want to talk about it and we have to respect his wishes."

"I don't see why he didn't tell us," said Ron. "Does he think we'll tease him or something? We're his friends, for Merlin's sake! "

"Yeah, we'd stand by him and do our best to make him feel better," said Neville. "We'd even insult Mr. Malfoy if it'd make Drake feel better."

"Really?" asked Draco, standing in the doorway. He had obviously heard part of the conversation without them noticing.

"Of course, Draco Mal- I mean Black!" exclaimed Susan, getting up and dragging him over to the group. "Honestly, you should know us better than that! Now, sit down and talk with us. If you want to."

"Fine. Okay, my father previously had never laid a hand on me except for a spanking when I was eight. I'd really angered him then. Yesterday afternoon he was really furious. I'd never seen him so angry. He went on about the improper friends I'd made, then ordered me to bend over a chair. Then he used his cane." Draco looked down at his lap, unable to look at his friends.

Susan threw an arm around him. "Drake, you're a wonderful person and Mr. Malfoy is a horrible, evil git for doing what he did to you. He doesn't deserve to be a father."

"Beth, tell them the rest," whispered Draco, still not looking up.

Beth sighed. "Draco wasn't going to give Mr. Malfoy the satisfaction of hearing him cry, so he bit his lip, clenched his fists, and managed to suffer in silence. When it was over, Drake made it clear that he was still defiant with a look, so Mr. Malfoy threatened to use to the Cruciatus Curse."

"You mean the Unforgivable Curse that was used on my parents?" demanded Neville in shock. Draco nodded his head.

"Well, Drake knew that if he underwent that, he could, in a moment of weakness, give in to his father," continued Beth. "So he pretended to be sorry for his behavior and showed some fear at the threat. Mr. Malfoy was satisfied with that and sentenced Drake to confinement in his room, no mail, and told him that he was going to Durmstrang. And that's what happened."

"I wish I could hex Mr. Malfoy," muttered Ron angrily. "Draco didn't deserve that. Well, it's a good thing that you ran away and Beth's family took you in, Drake."

"Please don't tell anyone about the caning," whispered Draco, finally looking up.

The others exchanged looks and then Hermione said, "Don't worry, we won't, Draco."

"Thanks, guys. Let's go out and go flying again." The others exchanged looks again, but did as Draco suggested.