I'm OK

It was supper time at the Malfoy mansion. Lucius and Narcissa sat at opposite ends of the long oak dining table while Draco sat alone in the middle. He mindlessly pushed his food around with his fork, mashing the potatoes in with the other vegetables. He tried desperately to distance and tune out what was happening. Again.

"WHAT did you say to me??"

"Nothing Lucius," came the meek reply of Draco's mother. He stole a glance at her and she had lowered her eyes to her own plate of food.

"Don't you DARE speak to me like that in front of the boy!"

Choking back tears, Narcissa nodded and continued eating her supper. Evidently, that didn't satisfy Lucius enough. He violently shoved back his chair and glared down at his family. "Look at me when I'm speaking to you," he said through gritted teeth.

Draco knew the drill. He had learned from all the times that this had happened before. His father had made him learn. When he got like that, Draco knew it was time for him to excuse himself from the room. Making as little commotion as he could, he pushed his chair out from the table and placed the napkin that was on his lap onto the table. He gave a silent sympathetic look to his mother before closing the dining room doors behind him. The moment he did so, he heard his father snap in on his mother.

Once upon a time there was a boy

In his early years he had to learn

How to grow up living in a war that he called home

Never know just where to turn for shelter from the storm

Hurt me to see the pain across my mother's face

Every time my father's fist would put her in her place

Hearing all the yelling I would cry up in my room

Hoping it would be over soon

The young blonde boy ran up the steps to his room in a vain attempt to block himself from hearing their fighting. It seemed, however, that no matter how far away from them he got, it didn't appear to matter. He could still hear the horror that was going on.

Eventually, he gave up and sat at the top veranda overlooking the mansion's front hall. He rested his back against the wall and leaned against the railing. The moment he peered out over his house through the bars of the railing, memories from his childhood came flooding back. He had been there many times before in his earlier years. He had sat in that exact same spot whenever the exact same thing happened. Only back then, he would have been in tears. Now, he was suppressig the tears with his anger towards his father.

Bruises fade father, but the pain remains the same

And I still remember how you kept me so afraid

Strength is my mother for all the love she gave

Every morning that I wake I look back to yesterday

And I'm OK

Sounds of his mother yelling could now be heard. Draco wished sometimes that she wouldn't let her husband push her around like that. He knew she was a strong woman but she needed the courage to direct it towards Lucius. Draco then noticed that his mother's screaming had ceased and now a loud choking cry was coming from the dining room.

He sat completely upright; his ears were listening at alertness to confirm what he had thought he heard. There it was again. Draco felt helpless. He wanted to run back down there to help his mother but he remembered what had happened the last time he tried to help. Lucius had turned his rage towards his own son.

He shuddered at the thought of reliving the tormenting from his fellow Slytherins. They teased him about being beaten up by Potter. In turn, this had made Draco even angrier.

The boy debated with himself whether or not to help his mother. He eventually decided that he had to. He had to do something before his father really hurt her.

I often wonder why I carry all this guilt

When it's you that helped me put up all these walls I've built

Shadows stir at night through a crack in the door

The echo of a broken child screaming "please no more"

Daddy, don't you understand the damage you have done

To you it's just a memory, but for me it still lives on

Getting up from his place in the upstairs hallway, Draco braced himself against the railing. He gripped the support with all the strength he had. It shouldn't be like this. He shouldn't have to confront his father like this. Why couldn't they just have a normal family life?

Why? Because they were Malfoys. And Malfoys were not like any other family.

His father had said that to him years ago when Draco had asked him that very question. At that age, anything his father said he would've believed.

All the lies he had told him.

"Oh, I'm not hurting your mother. She doesn't mind this."

"She deserved it. I would never hurt you though."

"I promise I'll never lay a finger on either of you again. Promise."

"That cut? Your mother's clumsy. She hurt herself while preparing you lunch."

Bruises fade father, but the pain remains the same

And I still remember how you kept me so, so afraid

Strength is my mother for all the love she gave

Every morning that I wake I look back to yesterday

Draco shook his head furiously, trying to clear his mind of these haunting thoughts. He gathered up all the courage he could that came with being a Slytherin. Descending the stairs methodically and slowly, one at a time, he tried to size up what was happening behind closed doors.

He could still hear his mother crying and his father yelling at her. Draco hated how his father over-reacted about everything. The next second, he heard the sound of flesh hitting flesh. Hard. It had taken him by surprise that he felt himself feel sick. In an effort to stay strong for both him and his mother, Draco continued on and his hand hesitated on the dining room door.

Taking a deep breath, Draco slowly opened the door. To his relief, yet somewhat disappointment, he saw the back of his father's robe trail off out of the other doorway. He had finally had his fill. It took Draco a moment before he spotted his mother curled up in the corner. Her usually pristine hair was a mess around her tear-stained face. Her sobbing broke Draco's heart. He didn't like seeing her like this at all.

"Mother?" he said quietly, bending down to embrace her.

It's not so easy to forget

All the lines you left along her neck

When I was thrown against cold stairs

And every day I'm afraid to come home

In fear of what I might see there

Narcissa was overcome with emotion at the sight of her only child caring for her. She put her arms around Draco and held him tightly towards her. Neither one of them said anything for a long time. They didn't need to. All they needed was each other.

"It'll be okay Mother," Draco whispered, in an attempt to calm and reassure her.

Narcissa looked at her son and she gave him a bittersweet smile. "Yes... it will..."

Bruises fade father but the pain remains the same

And I still remember how you kept me so afraid

Strength is my mother for all the love she gave

Every morning that I wake I look back to yesterday

And I'm OK

I'm OK