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Dignosco Perturbatio	By : KianaD Category: Harry Potter > General > General Views: 1773 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 13
- 14
- 15
same warnings and disclaimer from chapter one apply. Still slashy, smutty, silly, and not beta'ed. Reviews would be nice, but I'm not forcing you. Enjoy. :D

Draco woke before the sun the next morning, curled up with Harry next to him, face to face. He pressed a kiss to Harry�s forehead before slipping out of bed, shivering at the change in temperature.
He considered, briefly, leaving a note for Harry but decided against it. He didn�t doubt Harry would figure out where he was anyway.
The hallway was quiet as Draco made his way to Severus� quarters. He moved quietly through the living room and into the kitchen, noting without surprise that Severus was already awake.
Snape was sitting at the kitchen table, nibbling on a slice of toast, a cup to his lips as he noticed Draco enter.
"Up so soon?" he asked, the slightest hint of amusement in his voice. "Surely you aren't bored with Potter already."
Draco shook his head at his Godfather laughter. "No, not quite yet," he said, taking a seat. "Actually� I need your help."
Snape levitated a cup over to where Draco sat, charming the teapot to pour for him before settling back in his chair and eyes his Godson carefully. "Oh?" he asked. "With what?"
Curling his cold fingers around the mug for warmth, Draco turned to face Severus. "With Lucius."
It was just as Snape had feared. He was concerned that merely informing Potter of the plot against him, especially after becoming� involved with him, wouldn't satisfy Draco. That he wouldn't be able to walk away and let others, in particular Potter, deal with the situation. That he'd want to do more; even if it meant risking himself more than he had done already in the process.
Setting his cup back down in the table, he nodded his head slightly. There was no question of Snape's not helping Draco; he would always do what he could to help the boy and that was particularly true in this instance. He was certain that Draco was going to need all the assistance he could get. However, it would also make Snape feel better to know that he wasn't off on his own and doing something incredibly stupid brought on by a temporary failure of judgment as a result of Gryffindor Poisoning (which he had taken to calling the disgusting sentimentality and nobility that seemed to accompany over exposure to them).
"Very well," he replied after a few moments. "What is it that you require me to do?"
"Not speak of it to Dumbledore for one," Draco answered. "Possibly not Remus either, the last thing I want is for him or Harry to get wrapped up in this."
He took a sip from his tea before sighing and putting his cup down on the table with a thud harder than he meant. "I am tired of this, Severus. He will not stop, ever. We both know that. He is not who he used to be. Or perhaps he was never what I thought he was, either way." Draco shrugged. "I will not be safe, you and Remus and� Harry will not be, and�" he paused before shrugging again. He did not feel like mentioning Morrigan, not by name. "It would be best for everyone if he was locked away, and for good this time. I am the only one that can assure that."
Snape listened attentively as Draco spoke, making no move to acknowledge anything he had heard until he was certain he was finished. When he was, he rose from his chair, setting his empty plate and cup in the sink before turning to face his Godson solemnly.
"You are correct," he said, almost sadly. He hadn't believed in a while that Potter was capable of doing this himself; he'd seen how the boy's spirit had all been broken following the end of the war and what he was called to do. He didn't even have the same desire to taunt Snape that he used to, no matter what provocation Snape gave him. Something within Potter had died, it seemed. It was almost as though he had no wish to continue fighting but simply went through the motions. Unfortunately, this meant that once again, it was left to other's to handle what he could not; and it grieved Snape immensely that this burden should fall on Draco.
His distrust of Dumbledore however was slightly disconcerting, although Snape supposed that under the circumstances this couldn't be helped. Dumbledore's plan had cost Draco greatly, although he had every confidence that the Headmaster had done what he considered the best option, Snape admitted to having been�surprised by the method chosen.
"Rest assured Draco, I shall grant you every assistance that it is within my power to do so. Although I dislike keeping things from Remus, as you know, I also happen to believe the fewer people that know about it the better it will be. There is little point in endangering them needlessly."
Draco nodded again, wordlessly. He drained his cup and followed suit by standing and rinsing it in the sink. "Come with me to Brugge today?"
"Of course," Snape nodded without hesitation. "I would hardly permit you to go alone, would I?"

--------

Harry awoke that morning, groaning slightly as he flung an arm out to his side, frowning at the cold, empty spot beside him where he was certain a warm, comfortable body was supposed to be.
Opening his eyes, the world beyond was, unsurprisingly a blur; a combination of the absence of his glasses and the sleepy haze that still hung like a heavy cloud over his head.
Throwing an arm out to his other side, he fumbled on the bedside cabinet, fingers finding their quarry as he placed his glasses upon the bridge of his nose, blinking several times as his eyes eventually began to focus. He was alone. Totally and utterly alone, and seemed to have been so for quite some time.
Frown deepening, he swung his legs out over the edge of the bed, hissing quietly to himself as his feet made contact with the cold, stone floor beneath and he immediately made a mental note to himself to cast that warming charm on the floor that Draco had suggested the previous night. It didn't seem like such a bad idea after all; but then where was Draco anyway?
After a quick rotation of the rooms proved fruitless, not even so much as a note to say where he had gone, Harry showered quickly and decided that perhaps it would be a good idea to call on Lupin and Snape. He may after all just have gone to have breakfast with them, in which case Harry would feel like a bit of an idiot barging in�especially now. But what if something was wrong? What if something had happened to him and Harry hadn't alerted anyone to his being missing because he was to�well, he wasn't sure exactly what he was being too much of at the moment, but he knew it was a stupid risk to take; even by his standards.
Arriving at Lupin's room, Harry hovered outside the door for a moment, trying to brace himself for seeing them again for the first time since he had found out about the three of them; and truthfully, he wasn't looking forward to it. However, he took a deep breath, pushed his uneasy feelings aside, and forcefully knocked twice on the door.
Remus groaned at the intensity of the knock on the door. Whoever it was on the other side was obviously in a hurry to be answered, so he kicked his blanket off and did not bother with a shirt before answering.
To find a troubled looking Harry on the other end was a bit of a surprise, and he blinked for a moment before stepped aside. "Harry. Come in?"
Harry met Lupin's eyes for a moment before he averted them again, walking past the other man into the room as he made a quick sweep to establish whether or not Draco was with him.
"Have you seen Draco this morning?" he asked, voice a little cooler than he had meant but apparently, he still had some residual resentment from the evening before.
Remus shook his head and made way to the kitchen. "No, you just woke me. Tea?"
"No thanks, I'm not staying," Harry replied, shaking his head and trying to ignore the slight feeling of foreboding that he felt rise with the realisation that the stupid sod had probably gone back to France; despite them having talked about this. He only hoped he had the good sense not to go alone, although really a note explaining exactly where the hell he had disappeared to, especially under the circumstances, would have been nice, he thought with a snort. "Snape here?"
Remus tensed slightly at the cool tone in Harry�s voice and tried not to be affected by it, but failed. He sighed and shook his head. "No, he isn�t."
Well that was something at least, Harry thought with a slight grimace. Either Snape had gone with him which was better than Draco going alone, or they were off doing�well something else that Harry didn't really feel ready to think about yet. Although Draco had said that he wouldn't if Harry didn't want him too, but then Harry hadn't said that he couldn't so really it was still a very real possibility. And already it was beginning to give him a headache.
Sighing, he ran a hand down his face and began to make his way to the door.
"Fine, I'll leave you to it then. Sorry for disturbing you."
-------
All day they had searched, and yet there was so little they had found. It was not as though Lucius was not a careful man; he was. But he was cocky, arrogant, and a fool as well, and Draco knew without a doubt that it would be all of those reasons why Lucius Malfoy would leave � something for Draco to find. Something that would tie Lucius with a lead weight and sink him.
The problem was Draco didn�t know what, exactly.
Frustrated with the pile of worthless papers from the desk, he tosses them down onto the wood with an angry noise and stands.
"Perhaps that is enough for one day." Snape said as he himself looked over a roll of parchment that he was perusing to observe Draco's outburst. "Little will be accomplished if you are at your wits end, Draco."
"Then explain to me how Dumbledore has accomplished all he has," Draco snorted in reply.
"He may seem like a foolish old man at times Draco but I assure you he has a very astute mind," Snape chided softly. "Although I understand your grievance with him, surely it is better than the alternative should you not have sought his help."
"Better for who." Draco�s statement was not a question and they both knew it. Shrugging, he turned away and began pacing the room. "If I were an insane mental case, where would I hide� things?"
Snape considered this carefully for a moment, eventually setting the parchment down on the desk. "Is there a place of significant importance to Lucius? Somewhere he had felt victorious, perhaps. A place where simply being there would make him feel powerful and in complete control."
Draco considered that for a moment. Lucius had not come to the Manor in France often, preferring Malfoy Manor instead. But after the marriage, he had come here often, with conception potions and warnings. When he was done playing the loving father, he would retire with port� to the patio.
"Outside," Draco said, spinning on his heel again and marching out the double-glass doorway that led to the patio, and the gardens beyond.
He considered each corner with equal consideration, taking in the chairs, the table, the wrought-iron hearth that wasn�t truly needed.
He stared at it again. When Severus joined him, he pointed to the eternally burning flame. "There," he said.
Snape's eyes followed in the direction that Draco pointed to fall upon the fire that, looked as though it had been newly lit, despite the fact that neither Draco nor he had done so.
"You may be correct," he said quietly, regarding the fire closely. "Would you care for me to� or perhaps you would like to do the honours."
"I probably should," Draco said without conviction. Regardless, he walked forward and had his wand poised to extinguish the fire when he hesitated. Lowering his wand, he opened the metal gate and pushed his hand in.
Immediately his skin was engulfed in a freezing type of burn, but Draco merely grunted in reply as his charring fingers closed over a metal box. He yanked it out with a hiss, and the fire fell dead. "Ice manipulation," Draco grunted as his Godfather. He held out the box. "And a present."
Snape had to stop himself from lunging forwards and pulling Draco back when he saw him about to put his hand through the flame. However, he knew his Godson wasn't as foolish as to do something like that without first being sure he wasn't going to make himself catch fire, and so he simply took a deep breath and waited instead.
As Draco handed the box to him, Snape snorted softly as he accepted it, moving into the other room and sitting before placing it on the table in front of him.
"The sooner you get this over with the better, Draco." he said after a few moments. "Although you should probably prepare yourself. We cannot be sure of what we may find within."
Draco sat in way of agreement, eyed the box, and tapped it.
It opened.
Draco snorted. "Fool," he said with a shake of his head. Still, he was cautious about reaching into the small box, but when nothing bit nor melted his hand off, Draco pulled the papers out that his fingers had curled around.
Several moments of silence past as Draco read them. Then in a steady voice, he said, "If I were the type of person to feel guilty, those feelings would assuredly be gone."
He folded the papers back up, slipped them into the box, and tucked the box into his coat. He waved his wand at the mess of papers around them in an effort to clean before he turned back to Severus. "Are you ready then? I�m certain Remus is about fit to be tied by now," he said.
Eying Draco carefully, Snape nodded as he stood, contemplating whether or not it would be wise to ask what it was that he had discovered.
"Yes." he said after a few moments. "I don't imagine he will be to pleased upon our return although I am sure he will be relived to know we are both alive. I should have probably left a note, but that is of little matter now. He has waited his long so it will do him no harm to wait a few moments more. What is it that you found out?"
Draco shrugged on his coat before raising a brow at his Godfather. "An Iphigenia sacrifice," he said. "Only, I�m a son who had a daughter. Oh, and lots of raping and curses first."
Snape let out a long, slow breath as his eyes slowly closed. It was worse than he had envisioned, and he couldn't even begin to understand what Draco must be thinking or feeling at this point, so instead he decided it would be a better idea to just get them back to Hogwarts.
"We should go," he said quietly.
"I am ready if you are," Draco replied.
The two men Apparated to outside the school grounds, and Draco took a minute to recollect himself. He was trying extremely hard not to feel angry, or� hurt. Or God only knew what, but he was failing.
And Draco hated to fail, even if he did tend to be good at it.
With a snort, he started walking toward the castle, not even glancing to the side as he heard footsteps fall into place beside him.
Draco did not notice that those footsteps slowed as he own lost pace. He was unaware of his breathing coming harder, and that his face was growing paler despite the pink from the cold. Finally, he stopped walking all together.
He turned, raised a brow at Severus, and fell to a sitting position. "Well fuck."
Snape had seen it coming. It had to come, sooner or later at any rate. No one, not even Draco Malfoy could take news such as that and act as completely unaffected by it as he had tried to do, and keep the pretence up forever.
Slowly bending to his knees in front of his Godchild, he felt something tighten in his chest, a gripping pain that seemed to twist and pull and torture him from within merely at the sight of the lines of anguish on the young face; a face far to young to have carried the cares that he had, in Snape's opinion. The eyes that had once sparkled vivaciously now nothing more than smouldering ghosts of their previous vitality.
Looking into them, it was then that Snape realised that if the opportunity presented itself, he would happily go to Azkaban in Lucius Malfoy's place. If such were to be his punishment for the satisfaction that he would undoubtedly have in being responsible for decimating the man - just as he had taken such pride and pains to do to his son, then Snape would embrace it gladly. To think that they had once been friends, of a sort, sickened Snape and he had to force himself not to retch at the thought.
He said nothing. No words would comfort Draco now. Nothing he could say would make the blindest bit of difference to the boy, as they both knew. So instead he merely held out his arms, pulling the boy close to him as he cradled him against his chest, soothingly stroking his hair and silently assuring him in the only way he knew how that he wasn't alone.
----------

Harry had spent the day wandering aimlessly around the castle. He tried not to think about Draco and what he was doing and if he was all right, just like he also tried not to feel guilty about the way he had spoken to Lupin earlier in the day. However, most of all he had been busy trying not to run through his mental list of all his friends, picking them off one by one and studiously scrutinising every act they had done, every word he could remember them speaking for the past however many weeks, trying to determine whether or not they were the one helping Lucius Malfoy.
Naturally it didn't matter how hard he tried, he ended up doing it anyway and by evening he was still no closer to identifying a culprit. He simply couldn't believe that one of his friends would hate him so much that they would want to do this to him, despite the fact that he knew it to be true.
It was getting late, and Draco still hadn't returned and so Harry decided to take a walk in the grounds. It was better than going back to an empty room after all, where he would only sit and mope and think a little more before quite possibly polishing off what was left of that bottle of whisky and passing out.
He had no idea how long he had been walking for. He'd gone by the Quidditch Pitch, down by the lake, even stopping by ruined remains of Hagrid's old hut, one of the many casualties of the war.
He'd just been about to return to the castle when he heard the distinct crush of hardening snow beneath feet, and instinctively he'd hid behind the ruins, watching closely as a blonde boy accompanied by a tall, dark man walked back up towards the castle.

Draco, Harry thought with a sight of relief at realising he was okay. At least he had appeared to be okay, right until the moment when Harry observed as his legs crumbled beneath him, falling to the ground in a broken, hopeless pile that caused Harry's heart to drop into the pit of his stomach. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong, and he was just about to run to him, to ask what had happened when Snape knelt before him, taking him in his arms and just held him.
It was easily the most touching and heartbreaking thing Harry had ever set his eyes upon. He'd seen a lot during the war. Death and despair, carnage and commotion and yes he had seen those attempting to comfort others in a similar manner. However, this was Severus Snape. He didn't have a sensitive bone in his body, so Harry thought. He wouldn't know comfort even if it was somehow transfigured into a Crup and began eating his hair. But somehow here he was, face devoid of the usual sneer, black eyes sorrowful instead of brimming with anger and resentment. It was as if the mask had fallen, barriers had dropped, and for the first time Harry understood what he had failed to see before.
He didn't know Snape, not really. Yes, he knew the bitter, angry, resentful Snape because that is all either of them really wanted him to see when it came down to it. He couldn't understand what it was that someone as kind and as gentle as Lupin could see in such a hateful, loathsome git. But Lupin knew Snape in a way that Harry didn't, just like Draco did. They were permitted to see past the walls that he had built around himself, and Harry never had been. He shouldn't even be witnessing this now, and with that thought he began to feel uncomfortable, spying on them however unintentional it was, felt wrong. So slowly and quietly he backed away from the ruins, making his way stealthily back to the castle where he would return to his room and pretend he hadn't seen a thing, despite the concern that was eating away at him regarding Draco.
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- 13
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- 15
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Dignosco Perturbatio