Hogwarts, a ward in the Hospital Wing.
Draco lay in bed, his eyes vacant as he stared blankly at the ceiling. He looked as though he had lost his soul.
"This isn't like the Draco I know." The sudden, familiar voice startled him.
He shot upright and turned toward the voice, his eyes instantly reddening. "Mr. Weasley—"
Seeing the person he admired most at the very moment he was falling apart was a feeling difficult to put into words.
Of everyone involved in the incident, Draco had undoubtedly suffered the worst psychological blow.
Even after Harry and Ron learned the truth, neither could possibly feel as much despair and pain as he did.
Any wizard's mental defenses would crumble the instant he saw his own father cast the Killing Curse at him.
In the Chamber of Secrets, Draco had even clearly seen the viciousness in his father's eyes. And if the basilisk had not "just happened" to collapse in front of him, he would already be dead—killed by the father he had always been so proud of.
Before Vaughn came along, his father had always been the person Draco admired most. He had been proud to have a dad like him.
Vaughn watched Draco calmly. He offered no words of comfort, simply standing there in silence.
He knew very well how deep the bond between Draco and Lucius ran, and how well Lucius had always treated his son.
Many details in the original story had made that clear—
Simply to support his son joining the Quidditch team, Lucius had bought brand-new broomsticks for the entire team.
And after Buckbeak scratched Draco's arm, Lucius had pressured the Ministry of Magic for an entire year. Despite Dumbledore's intervention, his persistence and pressure had ultimately secured a death sentence for Buckbeak.
Draco could