Hey all...so I actually had this fic started and then, ahem..let it die (sorry to the mods..my bad! *hides*)...and I want to post it again and see if I get anywhere with it this time because I do really like the story, it just takes a lot of time to add to because I add full chapters at a time...

anyway....this is a Herm./Draco fic but it's 10 years out of hogwarts and there's actually no magic really in it..it's kinda dark (hence the rating) but there is a smattering of romance..promise!

I'll just post the first chapter then and see how you get along with it..lol




The Sting of a Broken Man

Chapter one: Battered and Bruised

Broken. That’s how Draco Malfoy felt as he sat in his cold, dark jail cell and watched the stars out of the high window, dressed in metal bars. How had he gotten here? Screaming; he remembered screaming. And a blinding pain. And…and blood.

On a quiet Sunday morning, Draco Malfoy is sitting at his kitchen table, drinking coffee and reading the morning paper. He’s still wearing his blue stripped pajamas and there are tired circles under his eyes. He checks his watch and sees he has an hour to get ready, so he puts his paper down and walks back into the bedroom.

He reaches the side of the bed where a mass of blonde curls covers a pale face. The girl lying on the bed is snoring – loudly.

Draco pushes her shoulder lightly and bends down to brush away her hair and kiss her forehead.

“Honey, it’s time to get up. Church in an hour,” he whispers in her ear. He knows they’ll be late but he pulls the covers off of her slim body in an effort to get her up all the same. She pulls them back around her and he sighs, knowing that it’s no use.

He heads to the bathroom where he starts the hot water and grabs his shampoo off of the counter.

Draco pulls the door open to their church and they walk inside. The Draco Malfoy who is walking into the church is not the same Draco Malfoy who walked out of the front gates at Hogwarts some 10 years ago. He’s wearing a crisp black suit and his shiny black shoes click-clack as he walks to a pew at the back; the service has already begun. The woman now sitting next to him in the pink sun-dress is his wife, Camila, and they are expecting their first child in a few months. He runs a very successful, self-built law firm and things are good. Very good.

As Draco walks out of the church he squints in the bright sunlight and recognizes a familiar face. Leaving Camila with a friend, he makes his way over to the tall dark-haired man.

“Jared, how are you?” he asks as he reaches his friend. He extends his hand for Jared to shake, which he does.

“Pretty good, and you? How’s things with the missus?” Jared replies. Dark glasses mask his eyes and he, too, is wearing a suit. He smiles as they both look over at Camila.

“Good, good. What about you, found the right girl yet?” Draco responds, turning back to face Jared. He shakes his head.

“Nah. Just can’t seem to tie a girl down, really. Broke up with Mindy last week. You know, she and I want different things and we just couldn’t agree so, we decided it was time to move on.” He clears his throat and changes the subject. “Everything good with the baby? No problems there?” he asks.

“No problems. Doctors say everything’s fine and Camila is moving along perfectly to plan. Look, nice talking but I gotta go. Give me a call later, we’ll have drinks.” Draco waves as he begins to walk back toward Camila.

“Draco!” he hears Jared yell from behind him.

He turns to look. “Yeah?”

“She’s a special one; don’t you let her get away,” Jared says. He’s smiling, but Draco was sure that if he hadn’t been hiding his eyes behind those glasses, he would’ve seen some sadness in them. Even the self-proclaimed bachelors know a good thing when they see it.

He nods back and then meets Camila at his car, kissing her on the cheek before opening the passenger side door for her. As he bends his head and slinks into the driver’s seat, he sees a white-blonde head of hair disappear into the trees behind the tall, white building.

A grinding, scraping sound fills his ears and Draco looks up to see the sole opening in his cell door open up. As he watches, a grungy metal tin with some orange creation that looks semi-liquid, semi-solid is placed on the floor by a big weather-beaten hand. There’s a burn on the man’s thumb. Draco stares at “food” for a minute, his mind blank and his eyes opaque and glossy. The constantly dim light filters from the high ceiling and bounces off his platinum hair. Finally, he pushes himself up off the floor and walks slowly to where the bowl is sitting. Picking it up, he sniffs and his nose involuntarily wrinkles.

Draco pushes open the flap in his door and looks out through it. He can see the light green linoleum staring back at him, smell the scent of the guard’s cheap cigarettes mixed with the awful stench of the dozen other trapped souls nearby. He sighs and pushes the tin bowl out through the hole and drops it on the floor before making his way back to his corner and dropping down on the freezing cold floor. He isn’t eating tonight.

Draco steps out of the store juggling his three bags of groceries and his cell phone, into which he is talking. He reaches his car and asks the person to hold on a sec. He pops the trunk and loads his purchases in before slamming it shut again and raising his cell phone back up to his ear.

“Okay,” he says as he unlocks the door and climbs in. “6.30 at the movies? Right, yep, now don’t be late this time, you slowpoke.” He laughs loudly at something the other person on the line has said and pulls out of his parking space. “Right, love you, see you tonight. Bye” He flips his phone shut and throws it on the empty passenger seat.

That night he stands outside of the local movie house, waiting for Camila. He checks his watch and notes that she is 15 minutes late already. As he looks up, he sees her walking towards him.

He walks to meet her. “Wow, I thought you weren’t coming,” he jokes and holds her hand.

“Are we really late?” she asks, a worried look on her face.



“No, I lied. Movie starts at seven. See, this way we can actually get places on time,” he replies, grinning. She hits him playfully.



“Sneaky,” she says.



“Well, I’m a sneaky kind of guy,” he grins and they walk inside.



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“Honey, I’m going to the bathroom, I’ll be right back. Tell me if I miss anything,” Camila whispers to Draco 30 minutes into the film.

“Okay, sweetie,” he replies, not actually looking away from the large screen.

He feels her brush against his arm as she rises and exits through the door with the lit red sign at the back of the theater.

10 minutes later Draco looks over but Camila is still not back. He shrugs it off, figuring it’s just pregnancy stuff and continues to watch the movie. But in another 10 minutes, she still isn’t back and Draco is getting worried. He decides to go see what’s wrong.

He reaches the bathroom and looks to see if anyone is around before knocking on the women’s door. He enters slowly and looks around.

“Honey?” he asks shyly. “You okay?”

A toilet flushes and a second later a large woman walks out of her stall. She eyes him suspiciously.

“Oh, very sorry. I’m looking for my wife. Would you happen to know if there anyone else in here?” he asks, timidly.

She looks him up and down again, and then walks to the sink and washes her hands.

“Yeah, okay..thanks” he says under his breathe.

The large woman dries her hands and leaves shaking her head and muttering something about “perverts…own bathroom..” The door swings shut behind her and bangs loudly. Draco checks for feet in the stalls but doesn’t see any. He decides to go back to the movie and see if he and Camila somehow missed each other.

She’s not there when he gets back to his seat so he grabs his coat and heads back out. He runs to the man behind the ticket counter.

“Hi, did you see a tall blonde woman wearing jeans and a green shirt walk out a few minutes ago?” he asks, slightly frantic by now. The guy appears to be in his late teens; he chews his gum a few times before shaking his head a silent no. His eyes have a droop to them and there’s a gap in his front teeth.

“Are you sure?” Draco asks. The guy nods and raises a finger to scratch his oily nose.

“Thanks,” Draco says before running out the doors. He sees his car in the parking lot. The spot a few spaces down where Camila parked her car, is empty. Draco reaches into his coat pocket and grabs his phone. He dials Camila’s number and waits as it rings a few times.

Hey, you’ve reached Camila’s cell, I’m not here- he hears her message machine recite in his ear.



“****it!” he screams as he runs to his car and jumps in.



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“Rooock a-bye baby, on the tree top..”

Draco can hear the words floating into his cell, quiet and soft. He hears the guard get up from his chair and walk over to the cell where the tune, a slight humming now, appears to be coming from.

“…When the bough breaks the cradle will fall..”

He roughly hears the guard say something to the inmate and the hall goes quiet again. The guard walks back to his desk and Draco hears the scrape of the chair being moved back into place.

He sighs and closes his eyes. A few minutes of silence go by.
“..and down will come baby, cradle and all.”


Ok...first chappie..a little awkward because i tried starting it in the present tense and it's too long to go back and change...it'll change in the next chapter, which will be up as soon as I see how this one's recieved!

hope you liked it (and if you're confused, you should be! lol..it's v confusing, ask quetsions, please and hopefully between the next couple of chappies and my answers to your Q's, you'll start to get it...)

~Jes xo



Chapter Two: Murders and Jail Fights
Chapter Three: Lawyers and Surprise Guests
Chapter Four: Decisions and Care Packages
Chapter Five: Dreams and Pleas of Innocence
Chapter Six: Surprise Visits and Guilty Kisses
Chapter Seven: tedious trials and Hollywood endings
Chapter Seven: tedious trials and Hollywood endings (P2)