Chapter Text
The cold stone walls rose against the stormy evening sky. The first raindrops fell full and heavy on the cobblestone path that led through the gate, over the bridge and onto the stone steps.
Draco stood shivering, staring up at the tall towers of Hogwarts Castle. His father was wearing a long black coat, taking long steps next to him. He kept his head lowered as if trying to disappear in the coat. Draco's father did not want to be associated with this place. And as far as he could tell his father, at this moment, did not want to be reminded of his association to Draco either.
His mother on the other hand held her head up high, stern face urging them along up the path. She was carrying a small black suitcase. Draco had no idea how this tiny suitcase was enough to fit his belongings. Surely, this wasn't everything they allowed him to take in with him. A gust of wind carried the thought away as it combed through his hair.
Without realizing how he had ended up there, Draco's perfectly shined shoes hid the first stone step leading up to the massive wooden doors. His father was already ahead of him. The sound of metal hitting wood ripped through Draco's brain and brought back the headache that he had just managed to push away. His father let go off the old-timey door knocker. It was shaped in a peculiar way - a monster clinging to a metal ring. Draco wondered why they didn't just install a regular doorbell.
After a short moment the door was opened. Before them stood a tall, older woman with spectacles. She eyed the Malfoy's for a long moment, her eyes lingering on Draco. He wanted to disappear.
Finally, she stepped aside and allowed them entrance.
Lucius Malfoy was clearly displeased. His long blonde hair, clung to his face, wet from the rain. Narcissa, however, continued to hide whatever her true feelings were behind a well-practiced and long-perfected stern facade.
The woman who had let them in turned to Draco's father.
"Mr. Malfoy. It is a pleasure to meet you.", she said, holding out her hand. "I am Professor McGonagall. One of the full-time faculty at this fine institution."
Draco's father nodded, ignoring the hand.
"As I am sure you are aware, Mrs. McGonagall, my wife and I are not entirely convinced of the necessity of this whole ordeal. Our son will only stay as long as it takes for us to clear these things up with his physicians.", Lucius said coldly.
McGonagall dropped her hand.
"I assure you we will take the best care of him until then.", McGonagall replied with a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Now, if you don't mind, I would like to have Draco meet his roommate and settle in."
"You mean this is it? We are to leave him here, just like that?", Narcissa chimed in.
"We find that a quick departure of parents and caretakers typically leads to an easier transition for new students and patients."
Narcissa looked as if she was about to argue, but then thought better of it and turned to Draco instead. She handed him the suitcase.
"Draco, dear, you know this is just a temporary situation. Your father and I will work this out and you should be home in no time."
Draco nodded, disinterested. Here or home, it was quite irrelevant to him.
His mother pulled him into a short formal hug, while his father simply gave him a stern look.
The next moment, they were gone, back out into the now howling storm, that seemed to mirror Draco's headache.
McGonagall looked at Draco with an unreadable expression on her face.
"Well then, Mr. Malfoy", she said, "Follow me!"
---
She led Draco down a corridor to their left. Draco was struggling with the suitcase, it had seemed far too small just moments ago but now in his boney fingers it appeared to weigh tons.
As they walked McGonagall spoke, but Draco was struggling to understand her through the pain behind his forehead. Still he kept his face neutral, no need to concern this old woman with his pain. He grabbed the suitcase harder and tried not to fall too far behind.
Finally, McGonagall stopped. She led them into what Draco guessed was some sort of activity or community area - there were couches with green cushions, a few blankets, pillows and tables. Draco noted that there were only three other people in the room as they entered. A young man sat at the far wall with a book. And two girls were to their right in a couple of armchairs having a quiet conversation.
McGonagall turned to Draco.
"This is the common room for your station. Down that hallway are the boy's bedrooms. And this young man over there is your new roommate. Mr. Zabini!"
The boy looked up from the book and stared at Draco before a genuine smile crept onto his face. He got up and walked across the room towards them. Draco took him in, his face was quite angular, his eyes slightly glassy, Draco knew those eyes. His eyes often looked like that these days, along with dark shadows underneath. He was wearing a large sweatshirt, and pants that hung loosely from his hips. Draco realized he was staring when the boy stood in front of him.
"I am Blaise Zabini", Blaise said.
"Malfoy. Draco Malfoy.", Draco replied.
Blaise nodded. "I've heard of your family... big name, huh?"
Draco shrugged.
McGonagall interrupted: "Well. I will leave you for the evening, Mr. Malfoy. Tomorrow morning we are expecting you at breakfast, Quiet Hours start at 10.30pm. It is currently 9.00pm. Mr. Zabini has offered to show you around, so I will leave you in his hands for now."
With that McGonagall left.
As soon as she had left Draco dropped his suitcase.
"Long day?", Blaise asked in a chipper tone. He picked up the suitcase. "Come on. I will show you our room."
---
A few moments later Draco found himself in a small room with two beds and two desks. One side of the room was barren, while the other had posters and pictures on the walls, a couple of lights hung up above the bed, which tinted the room in a warm glow. Blaise plopped himself down on that side.
Draco steered towards the other bed. He sat down and eyed the decorations that Blaise had put up.
"You like it? Soccer fan?", he asked.
Draco shrugged.
"Wow. You're a real talker, huh?"
Draco shot him a cold look.
"Alright... Well, you'll warm up sooner or later. Most kids are like that when they first show up. In the meantime - you wanna see the rest of this place?"
"I suppose", Draco finally said.
They returned to the common room.
"As you can probably guess this is where they put all the kids that have trouble with food. Overeating, Undereating, Eating and Throwing Up, etc. etc. So, for example, that's me and Pansy over there", Blaise pointed at one of the girls who were still in the room. She promptly flipped him off. "aaand evidently yourself as well! Congratulations.", Blaise explained, keeping his cheery expression.
"Great," Draco grumbled.
"They are very strict about meal times, obviously. So Breakfast is at 7.30 on the dot. Lunch is at 1 and Dinner is at 6.30. If you're late, you get in trouble. They might take away privileges if they feel like it, so at least show up." Draco tuned him out. He didn't like thinking about this too hard, plus his headache was still persistently pushing up against his skull.
"If you follow me this way..." Blaise led him out of the common room back into the entrance hall. "These mighty doors...", he pointed at the large double doors ahead of them. "... take you straight into the pits of hell, or as everyone else calls it the Dining Hall. I can't show you right now, cause they don't let us go in there outside of meal times but we get our very own special section separate from other kids from different stations, so that they can keep a close eye on us. Makes sense, yeh?"
Draco nodded.
Next, Blaise showed him a classroom and therapy room ("Believe it or not we have a lot of these around here"), the hospital wing ("Try not to come here to often or they might put a tube up your nose") and the courtyard ("During your first few weeks they won't let you go out onto the grounds, so stone benches must be enough for now").
"The faculty and caretaker offices are close to the different common rooms, they gotta make sure that someone's always keeping an eye on us. As for the other stations... It's getting kind of late so I won't take you there but we are also technically not supposed to visit each other's common rooms. Kinda stay in your lane thing to ensure privacy or something like that. Don't worry though, you won't be just stuck with me. Classes and group therapies are typically mixed between stations, as well as free time, you get to hang out anywhere in the public areas with whomever."
Draco yawned. Blaise took the hint and they returned to their room.
Draco was tired, exhausted. As soon as he laid down on the unfamiliar bed he closed his eyes but to his misfortune sleep wouldn't come. He tossed and turned nearly all night. He couldn't believe he had gotten himself into this situation. He couldn't believe he had caused this much trouble for his parents.
He knew his father would probably try to sue the doctor who ordered him to be sent here. He worried about what his private school classmates would say... Draco Malfoy had to go to the loony bin? Serves him right.
But then again, why was he here? He had only followed directions, no? He had adhered to the expectation that was placed upon him. His mother had taught him from a young age that control over one's own body was praiseworthy. His father drilled into him that gluttony did not look good on a Malfoy. And yet, the disapproval in his fathers eyes when he left him here cut into him. He had followed what was asked of him true, but he had made too much of a ruckus about it. Everything a Malfoy did was supposed to seem flawless, effortless.
Passing out at school was neither of those things. Being put in an ambulance and rushed to the ER wasn't either. And being examined and sent to the loony bin most definitely wasn't.
Draco came to the conclusion that his only mistake had been that he had made people aware of himself, aware of the things he did to adhere to his parents strict rules and expectations. People aren't supposed to see how you do it, they should just be aware of the fact that you succeed in the end. Success over everything else.
Finally, Draco drifted off to sleep.