Memories of the Past

Memories of the Past

"Have you ever seen anything quite so pathetic? And he's supposed to be our teacher!"

Crabbed and Goyle, the mimicking duo I was condemned to spend my time with, sniggered right along with me. Hagrid was truly weak, displaying such emotion like that. Didn't he know that emotional scenes only lead to trouble? So deep into my thoughts, I didn't even notice Hermione's hand flying at me.

SMACK!

I stared at her in shock, cradling the cheek she had hit.

"Don't you dare call him pathetic!..." she screeched, forcibly reminding me of another time...

Narcissa hand flew at her son's cheek. SMACK!

"Draco! If you ever interrupt another one of my social gatherings again, I will personally see to it that you will have a nice little stay at St. Mungos!"

His mother loomed over him, a hateful expression in her eyes. Her friends were laughing all the while in the background, enjoying this little entertainment. Draco broke down into tears. The wine stain on his mother's dress was horribly apparent. She would beat him to within an inch of his life when her friends left. He had made her lose face in front of them. To have a clumsy child was to be an unsatisfactory mother.

"Draco Lucius Malfoy! You will learn to have grace! You will not ever spill another glass, especially your father's valuable private stock of wine...!" and on and on it went.

I blinked back at Hermione. She was glaring at me, her hand still raised, ready to strike again. She went on yelling and screaming at me, calling me foul and evil. Her eyes had darkened to an almost black and looked as if hell's fire would shoot me down at any moment for being such a disagreeable and disgusting human being. That was how my mother always looked at me...

He ran to his room after the horrible humiliation in the parlor. His mother's glare stayed with him as he flung himself onto his bed, crying his eyes out. Mummy had asked him to bring her that glass of wine. He knew it had been special. He had been very careful not to spill. But it was a big glass, and the wine was filled almost to the top. His chubby six year-old fingers hadn't been able to steady the heavy glass when she reached out to take it. It had dumped all over her dress. He had embarrassed his mummy, and would pay for such childishness as clumsiness.

He was still crying when Narcissa burst into his room. Narcissa looked at him as if he was nothing more than a piece of dirt she fully intended to remove from her sight. Hermione was pulling out her wand and threatening him...

Narcissa reached for her wand and pointed it at his heart.

"Draco! Stop that ridiculous crying this instant! Crying only shows weakness! That is a far worse misdemeanor than the clumsiness you displayed this afternoon! Get up and walk over here boy!"

Draco quickly walked over to her, knowing that if he didn't obey fast, his punishment would only be worse. She began screaming at him once more, punctuating each word with a smack on his small body.

"You--will--not--ever--embarrass--me--again--in--front--of--my--friends!" At the end of this cruel assault, Narcissa finally jabbed her wand at him, yelling "CRUCIO!" at the top of her lungs. He fell to the floor, pain concentrated in all the bruises she had inflicted on him. But he did not cry. He would never cry in front of anyone again...

Crabbe and Goyle grunted startling me out of my horrifying memories. I shot them a glare and spat out some instructions on autopilot, leading them back to the castle.