September 12 I am sorry that I have not written anything since I came here. I cannot say that I am happy to be here.

I hate acting this way, but I must. It hurts seeing everyone so happy. It hurts even more than when my father hits me. I would have written earlier, but I have been too busy dressing my wounds. My father found out that I was gay this summer. As you can imagine he did not take it too kindly. Although I am quite glad that Grandfather taught me French so I could write this down without him knowing what I was saying. I am just glad that he has not realized who I have a crush on. I mean he is a Weasley and older than me. He might not be that older than me, but he is older. Also I have only met him twice in my whole life. I was with my father both times so it did not go well. Charlie Weasley is the only person I actually want to be with though. I have not seen him in over a year, but he still haunts my dreams. From what I know he lives in Romania and works with dragons. He is so handsome and so smart. I just do not know if he is gay. I have to go now. I have to do my homework, but first I have to stop my wrist from bleeding. This is the first time in a long time that I have not had control over myself when I hurt myself. Good-bye Draco Putting my notebook down I sighed and went into the bathroom. I started to bathtub dipped my arm under the faucet and watched as the blood went down drain. I took a washcloth and wet it before gently wiping the dried blood away. Sighing I made sure that I wasn't bleeding anymore and started to wrap my arm in gauze. Once I had wrapped my arm I started to put everything away only to drop everything on the floor when the door opened "Malfoy," Harry said walking in with Ron. "What the hell are you doing here?" Ron said glaring at me. I wanted to say something, but nothing came out. Shaking my head I reached down to pick up the bloody rag and notebook only to touch another hand. My eyes traveled up only to meet Harry's.

"Why is this bloody?" he asked curiously. "Does it matter?" Ron said rolling his eyes. "Ron, he could be hurt," Harry said glaring at Ron but looking neutral when he looked at me, "Are you hurt?" Biting my lip I nodded slowly and moved away from Harry. I didn't know what he was going to do, but when his hand rested on my shoulder I let out a painful gasp. He pulled back and gave me a curious look. "Where are you hurt?" Harry asked kneeling in front of me. "Everywhere," I whispered sadly, "It hurts. Please make it stop." I curled into myself and let tears run down my face. For the first time that I could remember I felt like I wasn't alone, but I knew that it wouldn't last. Ron hated me and they would both leave soon. "Can we see?" Ron asked surprising me. "Doesn't matter," I said standing up, "I'll just get more later." "Draco," Harry said standing up also, "Let us see." Biting my lip once again I started to unbutton my shirt. When I ran out of buttons I let the thin fabric fall from my body. Hearing Harry and Ron gasp I turned away from them forgetting that my back was worse. "Oh shit," Harry said softly, "Who the hell did this?" Shaking my head I moved to grab my shirt only to be stopped my Ron grabbing my wrist gently. He started to unwind the gauze and let it join my shirt on the floor. The cuts were more erratic and deeper than I had thought. "Draco," Harry said his eyes trained on my wrist, "Ron, go get Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey." "Okay," Ron said before running out of the room. "Who did this to you?" Harry said slowly. "It doesn't matter," I said falling to my knees, "It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter." *Harry's Point of View*

As I watched Draco curl up in a ball, cover his ear with his hands, rock back and forth, and mutter 'It doesn't matter' over and over I thought that this was the first time I was ever seeing the real Draco. In all of my years of coming to Hogwarts Draco has always been a pain in the ass to me, but when I saw him in here and than saw that bloody rag I knew that I was wrong. I knew that Draco was hurt, and I felt the need to help him. When I saw how badly he was beaten I felt my blood boil. From what I could see Draco was still a child. I knew enough about abuse to know that he was probably being abused for years and it was causing him to revert to acting as a child. "Harry," Ron said running in with Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey, "What happened?" "I don't know," I said sighing, "He's been like that since you left." Turning to Dumbledore I quickly explained the situation as Madam Pomfrey took care of Draco. Madam Pomfrey told us that Draco had been beaten so badly she was surprised he was functioning. "I think it wise that he stays with someone other than he father," Dumbledore said sadly, "I have a feeling that's who did it." "I can owl my folks," Ron said shrugging, "If I explain the situation I'm sure they'll let Draco stay." "Go write the letter," he said nodding, "Harry help me get Draco to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey will have to treat him before he leaves." "Okay," I said kneeling next to Draco, "Hey Draco. Do you want to come with us?" "Draco's not here," he said in a soft childlike voice, "I'm Dragon." "Okay Dragon," I said realizing how bad this situation really was, "Would you like to come with us?" "Where are we going?" he said jumping up and grabbing my hand. "To the hospital wing," I said walking out of the bathroom with him, "Someone hurt Draco pretty badly." "I know," he said sadly, "I told Draco to tell someone, but he just said no one would believe him." "Can you tell me what happened?" I asked hopefully.

"Well, Draco has been beaten since before I can remember. His father is one sick monkey. Draco doesn't even do anything wrong and he beats him," he said sighing, "When Draco got a letter saying he could come to Hogwarts he was so happy, then his father told him that he had to be friends with you so you'd be more likely to join Voldemorts side. As you know he failed. From that day on the beating got worse. Sometimes he even got hit with an unforgivable curse. Two summers ago Draco started to hurt himself. He said that he didn't deserve to have happiness and he had to remind himself of that everyday. This summer Draco's dad found out that Draco is gay, and, well, you saw the result of that." "Oh," I said shaking my head, "He hid all of this?" "Yeah," he said when we got to the wing, "Draco thought that people would tell him he deserved it. Want to know a secret?" "Sure," I said smiling. "Draco has had a crush on Charlie Weasley for years," he said giggling before pushing the door open and going inside. I stared at Dragon as he skipped into the room and did what Madam Pomfrey was telling him. How is it that I thought I knew Draco only to have that image ripped from my mind and replaced with a child that needed to create someone in his own mind to deal with being beaten? "Harry," Dragon said waving at me, "Venez ici. Come here." "I'm here Dragon," I said sitting next to him. "Draco always liked you," he said smiling sadly, "He used to say that he would do anything to have you as a friend, but that he ruined having a chance with you. Because of his Pre, Father, he would never get to know you." "He can get to know me now," I said calmly, "And what language are you speaking?" "French," he said watching at Madam Pomfrey healed most of his wounds, "Draco's grandfather taught us when we were younger. I loved talking to him. He was the only one that knew about me, now you know too." "Yeah I do," I said as he yawned, "Why don't you go to sleep?" "Okay," he said leaning up and kissing my cheek, "Bonne nuit Harry, good-night." "Good-night Dragon," I said moving to stand up. "It's Draco," he said before falling asleep.

Looking down at him I noticed how innocent he looked when he was sleeping. Ever since I saw Draco in the bathroom everything I ever thought about him has changed. I never knew someone who could act like everything was fine while he was breaking down. "Harry," Ron said walking up with his parents, "I told my parents everything. They said that Draco can stay with them and Charlie." "Charlie is at the Burrow?" I asked biting the inside of my cheek, "And you didn't tell them everything." "What did I miss?" Ron asked confused. "Draco's abuse started so early that his mind developed Dragon," Dumbledore said walking to us. "Who's Dragon?" Mrs. Weasley asked confused. "Dragon is an alternative personality of Draco," Dumbledore said calmly, "I had a feeling that he did, but with the information that Harry has found has proven it." "Is there a way to help him?" I asked hopefully. "It is possible that once Draco feels safe enough that Dragon will go away on his own, but it is also possible that Draco will have to be medicated," he said softly, "He should be awake soon and then you can take him to the Burrow. All of his items are already there. Harry, Ron, don't tell anyone about this, at least don't tell anyone other than Hermione, Fred, and George." "Yes sir," I said walking away with Ron. When we got out of the room I sighed. I hated seeing Draco like that. He was always so strong and in control, but now he was the complete opposite. Seeing him like this was scary. *Draco's Point of View* Waking up I noticed that I was lying in the hospital wing at Hogwarts. My eyes traveled to see Professor Dumbledore talking to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Looking at them made me realized that I had told Harry. Harry knew about everything. He told them. They hate me. My breathing started to pick up and the room started to spin. They were going to make fun of me for being weak. "Draco," Mrs. Weasley said looking over at me, "Calm down, Hun. Everything will be alright you just need to breathe."

For some reason hearing her voice sound so caring and soft I started to get my breathing back. Once I could breathe again I tried not to let it show that I was afraid. I had no clue what they were going to do to me. "Draco," Mrs. Weasley said sitting on my bed causing me to curl into a ball and whimper, "Shh, you don't have to be afraid of me." "Svp, ne me blessez pas" I said whispering. "What was that?" she asked confused. "Please, do not hurt me," I repeated in English. "We're not going to hurt you," Mr. Weasley said walking to us, "We were hoping that you would come stay with us." "You're not going to hurt me?" I asked tears filling my eyes. "No," Mrs. Weasley said shaking her head, "We would never do that Draco. Now, you're going to be staying with us, okay?" "Yeah," I said nodding, "Okay." "Good," she said standing up, "Let's go." I stood up also and wrapped my arms around my body while blushing. It was weird having the Weasley's be nice to me considering how much their family hates mine. Are they my family still? What if they didn't want me anymore? I don't have a family anymore, do I? I'm alone, like always. No one wants me. When this family gets to know me than they'll send me away too, I know they will. "Draco," Mr. Weasley said as we walked to Dumbledore's office, "Our son Charlie will be staying with us also." "O-Okay," I said biting my lip. Charlie was going to be there. Oh god, I was going to be staying with Charlie Weasley. I moved to lean against the wall and started to grip my sides harder and my breathing started to pick up. 'Draco, why don't you let me take over?' Dragon said softly. "Svp," I said shutting my eyes tightly, "Please."

'Okay, Hun,' he said calmly, 'Just go to sleep. Everything will be better when you wake up.' "Okay," I said letting myself go to sleep. *Dragon's Point of View* "Hi," I said jumping up and smiling at Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, "How are you?" "Hello," Mrs. Weasley said confused. "Oh, you don't know," I said nodding, "Well, I'm Dragon. Draco was freaking out because he has a huge crush on Charlie even though he's only seen him twice and the last time was years ago and now he's going to be staying at the same house as him. I told him he should sleep for awhile." "He likes Charlie," she said grinning, "That's wonderful!" "Why is it wonderful?" I asked as we started to walk again. "Charlie has a crush on him too," she said in a tone that made me believe she knew without him telling her. "He does?" Mr. Weasley asked confirming that he didn't tell her. "A mother knows," she said smirking. "Hauts cinq," I said raising my hand, "High five." "Do you speak in French a lot?" Mr. Weasley asked shaking his head as Mrs. Weasley and I high fived. "Oui," Draco said softly, "Yes. It's the one thing my father couldn't take away from me." "Draco," I said happily, "You're awake. Are you feeling better?" "Yes," he said nodding, "Thank you Dragon." "Welcome," I said watching as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley gave us a weird look, "Oh, Draco and I can't both be in control, but if one of us is willing we can communicate like we just were. Like talking to yourself out loud only you reply to yourself too." "Sorry if this is freaking you out," Draco said sighing, "You don't have to let me stay at your home."

"Don't be silly, Draco," Mrs. Weasley said smiling motherly, "You're stuck with us now. There is no getting out." "Good," I said grinning widely, "Because I don't think Draco can handle another family hating him." "Dragon," Draco said angrily. "They need to know whether you like it or not," I said rolling my eyes, "If you ever want me not to be in your head they need to know." "I don't want you to leave," he said tears filling our eyes. "I know you don't," I said soothingly, "But when I do leave you'll have someone else to take care of you a lot better than me." "Non, je ne veux pas que vous me laissiez seul encore," he said desperately. "He said he doesn't want me to leave him alone again," I repeated to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley when I saw they were confused, "And you won't be alone because I won't leave until I'm sure that you're fine." "Je n'irai jamais bien!" he yelled before giving me full control. "Draco," I said shaking my head. "What did he say?" Mr. Weasley asked concerned. "He said that he'll never be fine," I said running a hand through my hair, "I wish this was easier. I love Draco, but he hides too much." "What does he hide from?" Mrs. Weasley asked when we got to the statue for Dumbledore's office. "Life," I said watching the statue move, "He hides from life." Walking up the stairs I waited for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to come up behind me before walking in. Dumbledore looked up from his desk and smiled happily to me before standing up. "Hello," I said walking over to him and offering him my hand, "I'm Dragon." "Hello," Dumbledore said shaking my hand, "Are you ready to go to the Burrow?" "What's the Burrow?" I asked confused.

"That's what the Weasley family calls their home," Draco said his voice unemotional. "Are you mad at me?" I said childishly. "No," he said sighing, "I understand why you had to tell them, but that doesn't mean I like it." "I know, Hun," I said nodding, "But you have to realize that this is good for you." "I know it is," he said softly, "Professor Dumbledore, shouldn't I get my things?" "We already took care of that," Dumbledore said calmly, "Now you just have to Floo to the Burrow." "Okay," I said happily, "Let's go." I took some Floo powder and got into the fireplace. Calling out the Burrow I watched the flames consume me. Once the flames were gone I climbed out of the fireplace and saw Charlie reading a book on the couch. "Hello Draco," he said calmly. "I'm not Draco," I said giggling, "I'm Dragon." "Okay," he said confused, "Hello Dragon." "Don't worry," I said sitting next to him, "I'll explain if you want me to." "That would be nice," he said nodding. "Of course, Hun," I said smiling, "Draco has been beaten for as long as he can remember. It got so bad that I came. When the beatings got so bad that he couldn't handle it I took over to help him deal with it and to show him he's not alone." "Where is Draco then?" he asked closing the book. "He's reading a book," I said shrugging. "What is he reading?" he asked as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley walked out of the fireplace. "Some muggle book," I said calmly, "I'm not sure which one." "Oh," he said smiling. "Are you hungry?" Mrs. Weasley said turning to us.

"Yes," I said jumping up, "Draco would never admit it, but he hasn't eaten in about five days." "No wonder he's so skinny," she said her eyes wide, "I'll go make some food." "Wait," I said touching her arm to stop her, "Draco and I and vegetarians." "Oh," she said softly, "I'm going to guess I can't get you out of that." "Yeah," I said grinning, "We've been vegetarians since his father forced Draco to eat raw meat. Don't ask how he survived that." "Okay," she said softly, "I'll go make some food for everyone." "Thank you," I said pulling away from her, "Do you want any help?" "No," she said pushing me gently onto the couch, "You need to rest. Madam Pomfrey said she was amazed you were alive. So you're going to sit here and talk to Charlie while I make food." "Mr. Weasley, where are you going?" I asked turning to him. "I have to go back to work," he said smiling, "I'll be back for dinner." "Okay," I said sitting down and yawning. "Why don't you go to sleep?" Charlie said putting his book on the table. "Yeah," I said nodding, "Then you can talk to Draco. I know you like him." "What do you mean?" he asked nervously. "Don't worry," I said smirking, "He likes you too. He likes you a lot." "He does?" he asked hopefully. "Yeah," I said giving up control to Draco. *Draco's Point of View* "Charlie," I said my eyes wide. "Hi Draco," he said smiling. "How are you?" I asked hoping not show how nervous I was.

"I'm well," he said nodding, "How about you?" "I'm not sure," I said toeing my shoes off and pulling my legs to me, "I guess I'm scared." "Why are you scared?" he asked softly. "I don't want to get close to you," I said in a whisper, "I don't want to get close to any of you. You'll hate me and leave." "Draco," he said offering me a hand, "I'm not going to leave you. We're not going to leave you." "But I made your life miserable," I said staring at the hand trying to bring myself to take it. "No you didn't," he said shaking his head, "Your father did that, but that's him not you." "YouYou don't hate me?" I asked biting my lip. "No," he said instantly, "I could never hate you Draco." "Why couldn't you?" I asked my hand moving to his slowly. "Dragon told me you have a crush on me," he said taking a deep breath, "Is that true?" "Yeah," I said my hand freezing. "Good," he said smiling softly, "Because I like you too." "Why would you like me?" I said standing up, "I'm nothing. Je suis un baiseur stupide, idiot, petit. Je ne mrite pas d'tre vivant." "Draco," Dragon said worriedly, "Charlie, go get Draco's inhaler. You need to get it quickly." Charlie stood up and took off running and brought my bag and dug through it until he found my inhaler. I tried to take the inhaler, but I couldn't. Black spots started to dance in my vision. Feeling something pressed against my lips I let my lips wrap around it and let the air flow through my lungs. Once the inhaler was away from my lips I took a deep breath. As my vision came back I saw a very concerned Charlie stare down at me. "Are you okay Draco?" Charlie asked sitting down again. "No," I said closing my eyes and letting Dragon take over.

*Dragon's Point of View* "Hi Charlie," I said smiling sadly, "Sorry about that." "What did Draco say?" he asked calmly. "He said 'I am a stupid, idiotic, little fucker. I do not deserve to be alive,'" I said sighing, "I'm sorry he's just afraid. He used to talk about you every day, and now you're saying you like him. It's too much for him right now." "Oh," he said looking away from me "Charlie," I said taking his hand, "Draco does like you a lot, you must believe that." "I do," he said shrugging, "I just hate seeing him like this." "I know," I said making him look at me, "Just give him some time. I'm the only person that he trusts. He'll learn to trust you." "I want to kill his father," he said angrily, "How could he ruin something like Draco? How could he ruin something so pure and innocent?" "Because he was a sick puppy," I said running a hand through my hair, "But give it time and everything will fall in place." "No," Draco said shaking our head, "I don't need time." "What are you saying Draco?" Charlie asked calmly. "Maybe we couldCould get to know each other better," he said nervously. "I'd like that," Charlie said smiling. "Foods ready," Mrs. Weasley said loudly. "Okay," I said standing up. I stood up from the couch and walked into the kitchen and sat down. Mrs. Weasley put a huge bowl of fruit, a grilled cheese sandwich, and a glass of milk in front of me. "Merci, Mrs. Weasley," I said grinning, "Thank you." "You're welcome," she said leaving the room as Charlie walked in. "Can I talk to Draco?" Charlie asked sitting down.

"Yeah," I said letting Draco take over. *Draco's Point of View* "Hey Charlie," I said shyly. "Hi," Charlie said smiling. "Do you want anything?" I said motioning to the food. "Thanks," he said popping some fruit in his mouth. Watching Charlie eat the fruit I smiled softly and took a sip of my milk. He smiled at me softly causing me to blush and bite my lip. He started to grin when he saw me do that. "You're cute," Charlie said smiling. "Thanks," I said blushing harder. We continued to eat the food and talk. Charlie told me about what he did in Romania. Listening to him I couldn't help but smile at how passionate he was about the dragons. When we told me about how beautiful Romania was I wished that I could go there with him. The thought of Charlie going back to Romania made me sad. I was getting to know him and he was going to leave soon. "Draco," Charlie said touching my hand softly, "What's wrong?" "When are you leaving?" I asked biting my lip. "I have to go back to Romania in a week," he said sadly. "Then what are we doing?" I asked pulling my hand away, "You're just going to leave, like everyone else." "Draco," he said standing up and walking around the table, "I like you, a lot, but you're not ready for me to ask you to come live with me. When I go back to Romania I'll owl you as often as I can and I'll visit you and you can come visit me, but it's too soon for you to come with me." "So, you're not just going to leave me?" I asked shyly. "No," he said shaking his head, "I could never do that to you." "Okay," I said nodding.

"When you're ready you can come stay with me," he said pulling me up, "But until then this is the best place for you." "Yeah," I said nodding, Charlie and I walked back into the living room and sat down on the couch. Mrs. Weasley was already in there cleaning. The three of us talked for what seemed to be hours. While we were talking about the different types of potions I found myself resting my head on Charlie's shoulder and falling asleep. The whole day seemed to catch up with me. The next time I woke up I was still on the couch, but this time I was resting most of my body on Charlie's chest. I smiled softly and blushed. Resting my head back on his chest I let the beating of his heart fill my senses. Charlie was right. I wasn't ready to be with him, but I knew that when I was he would be there for me. I remembered that I hadn't talked to Dragon for awhile, but I wasn't freaking out like I used to. Maybe I didn't need Dragon as much as I thought I did, but there was no chance that I was ready to let him go yet. I still needed Dragon, but hopefully I'd be there someday. But it was not yet.