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Inter Vivos	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 42948 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 1
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Chapter
Two�Bloody-Mindedness

�� Are you
scared, Harry?� Hermione�s voice was soft and solicitous, and she had walked
with him most of the way down to the dungeons, her hand on his shoulder. Ron
had taken one look at Harry�s face and stayed behind.

�� In this
case, Harry thought, and rubbed furiously at his eyes because they were dry and
itching, Ron was the smarter one.

�� No,� he
said, because what else did she think he was going to say, with her right
beside him?

�� The pressure
of her hand on his shoulder grew heavier, and she whispered, �Harry, I�m
worried about you. Since Seamus burned your things��

�� Harry
pulled stiffly away and marched like one of Dudley�s
toy soldiers to the end of the corridor they were walking in, trying hard to
concentrate on his breathing and nothing else.

�� He knew the anger was there. It burned just
under the surface which he�d adopted, cool and contained, to keep it at bay.
And it would feel good to let it out, to jump on Seamus and beat him until he
was bloody and crying the way Dudley used to
do over the slightest punch or slap. A month�s detention with Filch wasn�t
enough. The twins had offered to show him creative hexes. Harry could use them.
He could�

�� And then he
would have to think about what had really happened, instead of forcing the
knowledge away from him whenever it tried to come back. He�d have to really
dwell on the fact that he�d never wear the Cloak or see those pictures of his
parents again. He wouldn�t fly; he�d already had to quit the Quidditch team.

�� And�this
was the worst part�everyone would know he could be hurt by something like that.
So they�d make it worse for him, waiting for him to crack and break and lash
out at someone, so they could say that he was a Dark Lord. They�d say it if he
went after Seamus, too, Harry knew. Being a Parselmouth
wasn�t actually against the rules, but beating up another student was.

�� So Seamus should have got in more trouble
for burning�

�� Harry cut
the thoughts ruthlessly off. Yes, he should
have, but he didn�t, and that was the point. Since when had adults ever
been fair to Harry? Never, that was when.

�� The only
tactic he knew that would succeed was the one he�d often used against the Dursleys when another Christmas passed without presents, or
when Dudley lied to his parents and blamed Harry for some mess he�d actually
caused. He withdrew from them and locked up every emotion except indifference
behind stern walls. They got bored when he didn�t cry and scream like a baby
and left him alone.

�� And it had
worked here, too. They didn�t hurt him, did they?

�� Because you have nothing left to hurt.

�� Harry drove
the heel of his hand against his forehead and sighed in relief as the
threatening pain of tears and rage lurched away again. He had to make the
indifference last a little longer here, that was all.
When it was Christmas holidays, he could creep into some corner of the school
and cast spells at the stone until it cracked. Then maybe it would be all right
again, when the new term started and Ron and Hermione came back.

�� For now, he
didn�t care how much his silence and indifference were
worrying his teachers. The point was
that they worked.

�� Never let anyone see that you�re in pain.

�� They
exchanged protective amulets and whispered about him, but they hadn�t actually attacked him. Harry was smart enough to
realize that was a combination of fear and confusion at his behavior, but he
wanted to keep the confusion alive. It was the only way to avoid the�

�� The thing
he wouldn�t think about.

��

�� And then he
was in front of the door to Snape�s office, and it
was detention, and everything was going to be fine. Snape would try to hurt
him, but not about this. He didn�t care about this. Harry knocked on the door,
and then pushed it open at Snape�s briskly barked
order with a steady hand.

�� He looked
over his shoulder once, and saw Hermione standing there with her hands over her
mouth and tears in her eyes.

�� Harry
smiled a little, because for her he could manage that, and stepped into the
room.

*

�� He came
alone, of course. He wasn�t quite stupid enough to come with companions,
although Severus heard a choked sob and sniffle that suggested at least one of
the tiresome children was out in the corridor.

�� The Potter
brat stared at him with no expression on his face, just as usual, and said,
�What am I doing tonight, sir?�

�� Do you
know why you�re here, Potter?� Severus asked, rising from behind his desk and
walking forwards until he was a few feet away from the boy. Potter craned his
neck back to search his face, though he showed no surprise. Severus had hoped
he would; most of the time, he waved the boy through his detentions in silence,
pointing to the prepared cauldrons or stirring rods or ingredients and chopping
knife and trusting to Potter�s (meager) intelligence to figure out what needed
to be done. It seemed as though delicate tactics would not work.

�� Of course they will not. What about Potter
is delicate?

�� Because I
didn�t make my potion work right,� Potter said. �Sir.�

�� If he had
not been watching the boy so closely in the last few days, Severus would have
thought the late title a mark of insolence. In reality, he knew it came from
that brutal complacency the boy carried about him, which made him more than a
touch slow on the necessary things.

�� For that,�
Severus said quietly, lowering his face so that the boy would be forced to lean
forwards to hear him, �and for other reasons.� Potter only stared at him,
without even a betraying glint of anger in his eyes or a telltale folding of
his arms, so Severus continued to push forwards. �Do you not think your
reaction out of all proportion to the minor incident that produced it?�

�� Potter�s
shoulders hunched, and Severus hoped for a moment that
he would see him lash out. Instead, Potter blinked, then
seemed to make a concentrated effort to let the words slide off his shoulders.
�That�s why I didn�t ask for more punishment than a month�s detention,� he
said. �Sir. What am I doing tonight? Scrubbing
cauldrons?� He turned around and looked at the bare walls and shut potions
cupboards of the office. �I don�t see them.�

�� I am not
talking about Finnigan�s detention,� Severus said,
and moved closer still. Potter stiffened, but didn�t look at him. �I am talking
about your decided apathy in classes,
your refusal to learn, and your sparing use of words since the burning of your
possessions. Must you let their destruction come home to you so strongly,
Potter? They are only things. The
Dark Lord will take far more precious belongings from you if he has the chance.�

�� Potter�s
lower lip quivered, and he drew a hitching breath.
Severus allowed none of the satisfaction he felt to cross his face. If the boy breaks now, then getting him back
to normal will be a relatively easy process.

*

�� Pressing
one eye to a crack in the stone and holding your breath so that dust wouldn�t
get down into your lungs was no way to spy on such an important meeting, but
Draco really had no choice.

The knowledge his father had passed
to him when he started attending Hogwarts included the location of a secret
tunnel that ran from one of the walls of the Slytherin common room down to an
abandoned, sealed-up storage room just to the side of the current Potions
master�s lab. Lucius had warned Draco not to use it except in dire need.
Professor Snape was smart enough to cast wards that would alert him to the
presence of most spies.

�� Well, this is dire need, Draco thought
rebelliously. If Professor Snape doesn�t
succeed, then I�ll need to spend time with Potter and yell at him until he
responds. And I don�t think he�ll succeed. You have to use emotion with Potter,
not dry sarcasm and words more than two syllables long.

�� He wriggled
uncomfortably when more dust drifted into one nostril and held it shut with a
finger to keep himself from sneezing. He found it hard to see Potter�s face
with his eye pressed to the crack like this, but he didn�t want to look away
and then rearrange himself until he found a better position. He might miss
something important.

�� Potter
still hadn�t answered Professor Snape. Draco had to resist the bizarre urge to
break into the open and give Snape a lecture on how to torment a Potter. For
one thing, you�d think Snape would do better than this; he�d been torturing
Potter in class for a year now.

�� For
another, Snape would kill Draco if he
saw him.

*

�� They were the only things I had from my
parents! And the broom was a gift from Professor McGonagall! Maybe they were
just things, but they were mine! I
didn�t have parents! I didn�t grow up in a normal house! I was�

�� That was
what Harry wanted to scream at Snape.

�� And then he
remembered that doing that would be giving Snape what he wanted. Harry wasn�t
interested in giving stupid adults what they wanted.

�� Besides, he
could feel the anger coiling down in his throat like the snake that Malfoy had
conjured in the Dueling Club. If he started shouting, it would all come out, and then Snape would make
fun of him for screaming and bawling.

�� Harry could
take a detention and a few classes� worth of cruelty about different subjects.
He couldn�t take sustained teasing about the same thing.

�� He fixed
his eyes on the floor and just waited in silence. Silence was his best defense.
Certainly no one in Privet Drive or his primary school had ever known what to
do when faced with it, or been determined enough to get past it.

*

�� Severus
felt his eyes narrow. He had been sure that insulting the boy�s possessions
would be enough to provoke a spirited defense of his parents.

�� How deep does his apathy go?

�� If one
tactic had failed, try another. Severus had survived months of spying on the
Dark Lord because he had been able to change and flow with the tides of the
moment; he did not privilege one plan above the rest. There were still the
boy�s friends, the two people he allowed close to him. Anyone with connections
to the rest of the world is vulnerable.

�� I should know, he thought, and the image
of a green-eyed woman would have hovered before him if he had allowed himself
that much weakness.

�� Did you
not think to ask Weasley and Granger for a loan if you missed your possessions
that much?� he asked in a falsely innocent tone. �Perhaps they could replace at
least the broom, which seems much the least important of the bunch�� Then he paused thoughtfully. �Of course, the Weasley
family might be rather hard-pressed to find the funds, and the Granger family
might wonder why one should fly on a
broomstick rather than use it to clean with. Muggles are often incapable of
understanding such things. I would imagine that Granger has not enlightened
them. She does not make herself clear at the best of times.�

�� The boy
quivered as though Severus had stuck his hand in a hot skillet. But he folded
his hands behind his back as if to prevent himself from striking out, and said,
�The cauldrons, sir?�

�� Rage and
uncertainty and wariness surged together in Severus, mixing into a thick, hot
sludge.

�� Too transparent. Too brittle. If he
were truly in control of his emotions, then I might praise him, but his mask is
ice, and it will break at the worst possible moment: when someone steps on it
heavily. We cannot have our invaluable future Savior expelled from the school
for trying to murder another student when he was twelve.

�� Or, for that matter, left bitter and exposed
to temptation if someone were to whisper the right words about the Dark Arts into
his ear.

�� I must break him now.

�� Severus
paused a moment to tell himself that his urgency might be misplaced�there was
no predicting the future, or how a boy might change between one month and
another�but then remembered the truth. If he were wrong, the price to pay would
be much smaller than if he were right and did nothing.

�� Swiftly, so
that the boy would not have time to prepare himself, he dropped to one knee in
front of Potter. Potter stared at him with his mouth open, and then shut it
with a click. Sweat gleamed at the corners of his eyes, which were drawn tight
in intense suffering.

�� More suffering than the loss of a cloak and
a book is worth. More, even, than the loss of an expensive broom.

�� Severus had
known such grief before, when he had lost one of his only remaining photographs
of Lily. And that caused a connection to spring to life in his mind, gleaming
and linking together two disparate conclusions in a cord of intuition.

�� If they were his only reminders of his
parents�

�� They should not be, but if they were�

�� That would account for his reaction. And it
would account, perhaps, for the tactic he has adopted. He has faced suffering
like this before. He had enemies before he came to Hogwarts. The candidates are
sparse.

�� Calculations
had ever guided his words, but there were few he had reason to be prouder of
than the ones behind what he said now.

�� This is
not like the other times,� he murmured. �You can take revenge on Finnigan. You are not
powerless, at least not if you find the right allies. Do
it carefully, do it subtly, and do it slowly, and no one will notice. I can
help you.� His voice hardened, and he made it ring like armor dropped on
stones. �If you come out from behind
that infernal apathy and convince me I should.�

*

�� Draco
suffered the strange and terrible urge to applaud.

�� Yes, that�s the way to handle Potter. Give
him permission to express his emotions and exempt him a bit from those tight
Gryffindor rules, and he�ll run free.

�� Of course,
the next moment Draco slumped against the wall as conflicting emotions seized
him. He was irritated at the notion that Professor Snape was helping Potter, rather than mocking him
out of his idiocy. Draco would have preferred a way that stirred up Potter�s
anger, because if Draco lost control of his emotions and acted stupid around
Potter�he knew he did, because his father told him so�then at least he could
make the other boy lose his control in return.

�� And he was
jealous.

�� I�m not, Draco thought in the next
moment, his automatic response whenever someone had accused him of jealousy in
the past. What did he have to be jealous of? He was richer than anyone who
could compete with him, and more cunning, and someday he was going to be more powerful.

�� But maybe
because there was no one around to hear his denials, the next moment the truth
recoiled and came back at him.

�� Yes, you are. You�re jealous that Professor
Snape found a way to get through to Potter when you didn�t. You�re thinking of
the way that you could have insinuated yourself into his good graces if you
approached him with ideas about revenge and maybe�

�� Maybe even his friendship.

�� Down in the
part of himself where he carried things that he admitted to no one, Draco knew
he was bitter that Potter had refused his friendship. It made him a loser. And it increased his chances of
being on the opposite side of someone very powerful, which he knew wasn�t a
good thing. Yes, the Dark Lord was powerful, but Potter had killed the Dark
Lord when he was a baby, so maybe he was stronger.

�� And, well,
Potter had seemed nice. And certainly more intelligent than Gregory and Vincent.
Draco would have liked having a friend like that.

�� Swallowing
his jealousy�which burned like bile, and which he wasn�t going to admit to
anybody, ever�Draco pressed his eye to the crack in the wall again.

*

�� Harry
stared up at Snape, horribly afraid that his mouth was open and his eyes were
bulging. And if his eyes were bulging, then there might be wetness in the
corners of them�

�� He shut
them hastily. Meanwhile, his mind was whirling and diving among the words that
Snape had pronounced.

�� He�ll help me take revenge on Seamus. And no
one will know, because I�m sure he could prevent anyone from knowing something
like that. He�s scary enough. He�s strong enough. He�

�� Harry�s
thoughts shuddered and jerked to a halt.

�� And he wants something in return. Everyone
does, except Ron and Hermione and Hagrid. He�ll want
me to break down, and then he�ll be able to taunt me about it. That has to be
it. Otherwise, he�d never care that I was like this. I�m not making any more
mistakes in Potions than I normally do.

�� Harry tried
to open his eyes, and then discovered he still might start crying out of pure
rage and couldn�t trust himself to do so. Instead, he kept his voice steady as
he said, �You would take revenge on another student for the student you hate
the most? Don�t make me laugh. Sir.�

�� He heard a
slight shuffling sound, as if Snape had moved a leg or an arm in surprise. He
didn�t see what was going on, because he wasn�t looking. He wasn�t looking
until Snape had gone away again.

�� Yes, it was
a pathetic defense, but sometimes it had spared him some things when he was
with the Dursleys, like seeing his uncle�s savage
grin as he promised that Harry wasn�t going to have any food for the next two
days.

�� I have no
particular reason to care for Finnigan,� Snape said a
moment later. His voice was very careful. Harry wondered why, and then smiled
bitterly to himself. Snape knew he wouldn�t get what he wanted if he didn�t
persuade Harry. �And more should be done about the burning of your possessions
than has been.�

�� Harry
almost opened his eyes again, simply in disbelief. What?

�� He did
laugh.

�� Snape
seemed to understand the laugh the right way, because he continued in a hard
but meditative tone, without getting angry. �He burned your Invisibility Cloak,
Potter. No ordinary spell can do that. I had tried�that is, I have seen similar
magic used against it whilst it was in Dumbledore�s possession. The flames slid
aside. However, certain powerful and ancient Dark magic spells could manage it.
Finnigan looked it up in a book or perhaps was taught
it by his mother, who I understand claims to have a Parselmouth
in the family.� His voice descended for a moment into a strange whisper. �Fools, to have the gift near them and not cultivate it.�

�� Harry
opened his eyes then, but he kept them trained on the floor. He could see the
wash of Snape�s robes and boots. He was still
kneeling down in front of Harry, as if he actually wanted to be on the same eye
level.

�� That
confused Harry the most, maybe. He�d never had an adult who wanted to treat him
as an equal. They were always quick to point out how they knew more than Harry
and were smarter than he was, even McGonagall and Dumbledore.

�� That
means,� Snape went on, his voice back, �that a student has used Dark Arts
within the school, and was not punished
for it. Detention is not the right punishment for that crime. Expulsion
is.�

�� But if we
tell someone�� Harry blurted, hope rising within him for the first time in
days.

�� We have no
evidence now,� Snape countered coolly. �The ashes of the fire are long dead,
and Finnigan has used his wand many times since then,
meaning that the Priori Incantatem spell, which the Aurors use to detect past
illegal magic, would be hard put to it to reveal the culprit spell.�

�� Then
there�s nothing we can do.� Harry shut his eyes again. He hoped Snape would let
up on this ridiculous idea of helping Harry soon. He really needed to go somewhere and scream. He didn�t think he�d be
able to wait for Christmas hols after all.

�� We have no
evidence,� Snape repeated, �except the evidence of logic. And if no one would
believe us, did we carry the tale of the crime to them, then
it remains for us to carry out the punishment ourselves. Not expulsion, but the
making of Finnigan�s life considerably uncomfortable.�

�� And then
Harry couldn�t help it. He opened his eyes and tilted his head back so that his
gaze would meet Snape�s.

*

�

�� Severus
knew he had won the moment the boy said we.
For someone as isolated as Potter had made himself, this victory could not
be overestimated.

�� But it
would not do to show his triumph too soon. He must confirm his possession of
Potter�s mind and attention first.

��

�� His eyes
were still vulnerable�too vulnerable. Severus did not like that, but he
accepted it as a necessary stage on the road to recovery.

�� And if the
boy went back to normal this way, he would put himself in Severus�s
power. He could hardly brag about the revenge on Finnigan,
except perhaps to his two best friends, without revealing that he had agreed
with subjecting another student to danger. And Severus could use the knowledge
in the future to manipulate Potter, perhaps to urge him to be less annoying.

�� At the same
time, he would obtain the chance to test some of his more recent experimental
potions.

�� Yes, it was
a good bargain all around.

�� Wouldn�t
someone notice?� Potter whispered, in a voice so timid that Severus could
barely hear him. He wanted to frown, except that any negative sign at the
moment was likely to make the boy move further away from him. How has he become so fragile? Or was he so
all along and I never noticed it? �I mean, if Seamus gets sick or
something, wouldn�t they look for potions?�

�� I have
been working on certain common potions so as to make them undetectable,�
Severus said smoothly. �And others that are new and which no one would know how
to test for, or sense if they did.�

�� Still
Potter hesitated. �I don�t�I mean, I don�t want to really hurt him. I mean, put him in a
lot of pain or kill him.�

�� Spare me from Gryffindor martyrs. �I
have no intention of doing either to Mr. Finnigan,�
Severus murmured. �I only want to make him suffer the way that you suffered,
Mr. Potter. Surely that is acceptable?�

�� The boy
hesitated, and swallowed. Severus waited patiently. He could almost feel the
delicate balance in Potter�s mind ticking back and forth. There was nothing he
could do at this point to influence it that he had not already done.

�� Besides, it
was another double victory. If the boy refused, then Severus had still broken
through his apathy and would encourage some lesser form of revenge. If he
accepted, then Severus had put him in touch with a slightly darker side of his nature,
one that had the potential to make him less annoying through Severus�s sheer knowledge of its existence, because it
would make him less like James.

�� James would say that all his pranks were in
fun, that he never intended to hurt anyone, or that he hurt only those who
deserved to be hurt. For his son to see the edge of moral wrongness to this and
yet pursue it makes him different.

�� It was,
then, that Severus found himself considerably more interested in a Potter�s
moral decisions than he had expected to be.

�� Perhaps it
was because Severus was the first one who had offered him an end to this
exhausting pretence; perhaps it was simply because Potter had been pushed too
far and was tired of not fighting back against anyone but the Dark Lord or
Draco. Whatever it was, he dipped his head and said, �Yes. I�I want to make him
hurt as much. But I don�t want anyone
to suspect us,� he added quickly.

�� Severus
could have concealed a smile then, did his face naturally form them. Us. Yes, I am winning him.

�� Very
well,� he said. �It will take me a week at least to add the correct ingredients
to the potion that I am brewing now. Do nothing until you hear from me.�

�� Potter gave
him a single deep glance and nodded once. Then they stood in silence for a
moment before he asked, �Can I go now, sir?�

�� His respect is more prompt this time. �Yes,�
Severus said. �Remember what I have said. Do not tell even your best friends,
or it is possible that they would talk you out of it or inform Dumbledore.�

�� Potter
snorted with what sounded like bitterness. �Yeah.
Hermione would do that first thing.� He hesitated, then added, �Thank you,
sir,� and slipped out of the room like a shadow.

�� Severus
stood watching him go with a twist of his lips. Potter had proven more interesting than anticipated. And
Severus felt the mental capacity for another hobby than brewing and tormenting
students, now that it had been eleven years since he had last spied against the
Dark Lord.

�� At the
moment, he had other business to attend to.

*

�� Draco rested
a fist against the stone and barely resisted hammering at it whilst loosing a
scream of frustration. He was next to Professor Snape�s
office, though, and that wouldn�t be the wisest thing.

�� Snape was going to help Potter in his
revenge. Snape was going to get the
chance to have Potter show him something other than anger, perhaps even to
laugh with him over what would happen when Finnigan
came into contact with Snape�s experimental potions.

�� Snape, and not Draco.

�� I want to. This is the kind of thing I�m
good at. This is the kind of thing that would make Potter into my friend.

�� For a
moment, Draco entertained wild fantasies. Maybe he could bring a different idea
about revenge casually up in front of Potter, explain how he disliked the
burning of valuable wizard property like Invisibility Cloaks, and say that he
wanted to help�

�� But then I�d have to say why I thought of
revenge only now, and not when it first happened. And I know he�d be
suspicious. Would he really have any choice, with the way I�d have to approach
him?

�� Draco was
so occupied in pondering that he didn�t notice the soft footsteps moving slowly
towards him. But he did notice when
the wall suddenly vanished and he fell through into Snape�s
office.

�� And it was
impossible to escape the glittering black eyes that bent on him a moment later,
or the wand that waved casually and stiffened his limbs in a Body-Bind.

*

�� Harry made
his way slowly upwards to Gryffindor
Tower from the dungeons,
rubbing his cheeks and feeling like someone who had had a months-long
nightmare.

�� Had he
really just done that? Had he told
Snape he wanted to take revenge on Seamus, and had Snape agree? Had Snape offered in the first place?

�� But yes, it
had happened, because for the first time since the burning Harry felt his chest
expand with something other than rage, and he was thinking that maybe, by the
end of the school year, it wouldn�t be so intolerable to see Seamus�s face around after all. He wouldn�t kill him. Snape
wouldn�t dare kill him, he thought suddenly, because he had to know that Harry
would know if he did it. And Snape, unlike Lockhart, wasn�t an idiot.

�� And, in the
meantime, he had something that was secret from Ron and Hermione.

�� That made
him uneasy, but it was important, as well. They had followed him so closely,
and been so loyal. Harry appreciated that, he really did. But there were times
he just wanted to be alone, the way
that he was when he lay in his cupboard at the Dursleys�,
and to have thoughts that they didn�t immediately see reflected on his face or
demand from his mouth.

�� He�d make
it up to them. He thought he could start talking normally and participating in
classes again, now.

�� But right
now, he really was alone. They weren�t expecting him back from the detention
anything like so soon.

�� Harry
immediately began slipping through the corridors in the direction of an old
classroom on the second floor that he sometimes used as a hiding place when he
was wandering the castle in his Invisibility Cloak.

�� Which you don�t have anymore, and you�ll
never have it again.

�� Harry knew
what was going to happen, then, and sped up. He had barely reached the
classroom and shut the door behind him with a locking spell when the tears
drove him to the floor.

�� He knelt
there and cried, small sounds of intense, fierce suffering which were old
friends after a childhood of being in the cupboard. Now and then he pounded a
fist on the floor and mixed a scream with the tears. That was a luxury, because
he couldn�t scream at Privet Drive,
or the Dursleys would have heard him.

�� Now,
though, he had a grain of comfort. He knew the storm would pass. He knew
someone would help him get back at Seamus.

�� It was
worth the tears and the mingled feeling of shame and comfort that followed
after, as he dried his face and dusted off his robes, knowing that.

*

�� Severus
watched indifferently as Draco sprawled on the floor, his attempts to struggle
made impossible by the spell that Severus had used on him. Then he moved him
back to his feet with a sudden, nonverbal spell that he knew would make the
room spin terrifyingly for Draco, and began to stalk in a circle around him.

�� Draco�s
eyes tried to turn sideways to follow him, but so complete was the spell that
they couldn�t move. Then he tried to free one hand, as if he thought he could
reach up and turn his head with that. Severus resisted the impulse to bare his
teeth in amusement. The boy would be a compendium of twitches by the time
Severus released him, if he kept this up.

�� I know
that you were listening to my conversation with Potter,� Severus began. �I
sensed you the moment you arrived in the room.� That was not true�in fact, it
was about halfway through the conversation that he had heard the soft chime in
his head that announced an intruder was close; he had been too involved in his mindwork with Potter to hear it before�but Severus had
never known truth to serve as many purposes as deception. �You will tell me, I
suppose, what you were doing there.� He folded his arms and looked bored.

�� Now a
ripple was running up Draco�s jaw. Severus pretended not to notice for a few
moments, simply for his own entertainment, before he released him. Draco
moistened his mouth with a sweep of his tongue and licked his lips, as if they
were bruised, then started speaking.

�� The time
you gave him detention wasn�t a secret, sir,� he said. �And I was curious about
what you would say to him.�

�� He knows that it is the part of the weaker person
in a conversation to be honest. Severus approved. He had watched Draco last
year and the first part of this one skeptically, wondering if Lucius had
actually taught the boy anything worth knowing, or if he had groomed him to be
a political parasite without a sense of the dance of loyalties and strengths
that he would have to master, did he want to be more than a charitable sponsor.
But if Draco understood power dynamics, then he had a start in life at being
both a true Slytherin and an independent wizard.

�� You have
always been too interested in Potter for your own good,� Severus said. �Why?�
It irritated him that he had never known. So far as he could see, Potter and
Draco had arrived at Hogwarts with their rivalry already established, and it
went deeper than mere House conflict.

�� Draco
looked for a moment as if he wished he could close his eyes. Then he said, �I
wanted to be his friend on the train. He rejected me. For Weasley.� The seething resentment
behind his voice told Severus several particulars of the conversation that he
doubted Draco would have the courage to repeat. �And so I want to make him
regret that. But he doesn�t!� The
words were bursting out of Draco now, in irregular pulses that made Severus
glad he had bound the boy. Draco would probably be pacing about and breaking
vials if he were not. Lucius�s son did not have as much control as he thought
he had. �He never does! But at least
he�d fight with me. Until the last few weeks. So I
wanted him to fight with me again, and I thought I�d have to sting him back to
life if you couldn�t.� Then he drew a deep breath and looked up at Severus. �But
you did. Please, sir, can I help you with your revenge? I want to�I want to do
something to make Potter notice me.�

�� A weakness. A weakness deep-seated.
Severus barely resisted the temptation to shake his head in exasperation.
He could try to guide Draco around this, to counsel him to pay no attention to
Potter, but he doubted it would work. Draco would agree on the surface, and
perhaps think he was agreeing in the depths, but the moment the opportunity
presented itself, he would go back to tormenting the boy.

�� He has potential, both as an intriguer and
as a brewer. I would not see him waste it in useless squabbles with Potter. If
his feelings grow strong enough, then they might disrupt even my classroom. Severus
had not missed the stray ingredients that Draco would sometimes toss into
Potter�s cauldron. In moderation, he approved of them�a brewer needed to know
how to work under extraordinarily difficult conditions, including the
interference of jealous rivals�but the pace of the meddling had increased since
last spring, and sooner or later Draco would cause a disaster.

�� If not halted, then this might grow into an
obsession. I would not see Draco grow free of Lucius�s shadow only to fall
under Potter�s. The mere thought made Severus want to curl his lip in
disgust. He had spent all his time at school under the Marauders� shadow,
forced to respond to them whether he wanted to or not, and to tolerate the way
that Lily sometimes associated with Pettigrew or Lupin.

�� On the other hand, if I include him as part
of Potter�s training in revenge, then he may be satisfied with the friendship
he wanted in the first place and stand straight and proud on his own outside
it. Then he would see that he is good at things Potter is not, such as Potions,
and stop trying to compete with him in Quidditch, at which he will be forever
inferior.

�� Severus
cocked an eyebrow. �And how would you suggest that I explain your sudden
impulse to help to Potter?�

�� Tell him
the truth,� Draco said, and if his eyes weren�t confident his voice was. �Tell
him I listened in and that as punishment for eavesdropping you�re making me
work on the potions with you.� He twitched as if he wanted to lean closer. �And
you can say that you�ve bound me with a Secrecy Spell not to tell anyone else
about the revenge you�re getting on Finnigan, in case
he thinks I�d trot away and owl my father about it.�

�� Faster than
Draco�s frozen eyes could move, Severus leveled his
wand at his heart. �And would you allow me to put a Secrecy Spell on you?�

�� Draco
didn�t even hesitate. �Yes.�

�� It is well that I caught this now, Severus
thought, past his stunned astonishment. If
Draco were willing to risk so much for the mere chance of being close to
Potter, then what might he not do in the future? What bad decisions might he
not make, simply for the rush of Potter�s attention?

�� Very
well,� Severus said, and chanted the Latin aloud, so that Draco could know
which version of the Secrecy Spell he was choosing, and why. �Confuto et creo furias!�

��

�� Draco
gasped as a white whirlwind surged out of Severus�s
wand and wrapped him head to foot in chains more binding than the spell he was
already under. Severus watched closely, seeing tiny darts of forked lightning
stick into Draco�s hands, throat, tongue, and face�those instruments he might
use to tell someone else about Potter or Severus�s
revenge. Then the white light condensed into a tight cap around Draco�s head
and blended with his hair.

�� Severus
nodded, satisfied .There were several versions of the Secrecy Spells, which
were not Dark Arts as long as the victim agreed to them. This particular one
enforced silence by scattering the victim�s thoughts in all directions if he
tried to talk or write about the subject to anyone outside the chosen group.
Enough attempts to break the silence would drive him mad.

�� From the
way Draco looked at him a moment later, he knew that very well.

�� And yet, he
still said, �Thank you, sir.�

�� Severus
inclined his head and released him from the Body-Bind. �Meet me in a week�s
time.� In this matter only, he would not give Draco privileges over Potter.
They would need to be handled in subtly different ways, but if he elevated one
in treatment above the other, then the second was likely to distrust him.

�� Severus
would not self-sabotage his new hobby.

*

�� Draco felt
gingerly at his head as Professor Snape released him back into the dungeon
corridor. He thought he could feel the pressure of the Secrecy Spell like a
crown. If he opened his mouth to speak about Potter or Professor Snape, it
tightened warningly.

�� He didn�t
care.

�� Vincent and
Gregory would demand where he had been when he got back to the common room, and
Blaise probably would, too. Draco would have to think of a good lie for them.

�� He didn�t
care.

�� His father
wanted a letter about the things that Draco had learned in the last week, and
whether he had finally pulled ahead of the Mudblood
in his studies. He would have simple words to say about Draco�s delay in
answering that would make Draco feel as though he had been sliced apart by
knives inside.

�� He didn�t
care.

�� Something new was starting, and he was part of it.

�� He didn�t
know why he felt that so strongly, when he hadn�t felt it when he first came to
Hogwarts or when Potter rejected his friendship or when the Chamber of Secrets
was opened.

But it was there, and it was real.

*

SoftObsidian74: Thanks! I
definitely haven�t written a Hogwarts story that reaches this far back before,
though I�ve written a few with Harry and Drac as �eighth
years� at Hogwarts.

Draco didn�t really have a plan if
Snape didn�t succeed with Harry, other than to annoy Harry so much he would
eventually have to retaliate. This Draco is smarter than the Draco as portrayed
in the books, but not as smart as he thinks he is.

linagabriev: Thank you! And, well, I did hope that
second scene would make people feel a bit protective towards Harry.

Snape is more self-aware here than
he is in the books, probably, though since we didn�t get to see his internal
thoughts during Harry�s first few years I suppose we can�t know for sure. On
the other hand, this is a Snape who hasn�t been embittered by having to teach
Harry Occlumency or help kill Dumbledore.

Mangacat:
Good to see you back again! Please take your time with the comments; I�m
pleased you have time to read again.

And thank you for the comment.

Yume111: Thank you! One of the
reasons that Snape and Draco have a chance to gain Harry�s trust at all is
because of how isolated he�s feeling from everyone but his best friends.

I hope you had a Happy Christmas as
well.

Lilith:
Thank you! Ron and Hermione will be Harry�s friends all throughout the story.

Lady Laran:
Well, that first chapter was meant to
invoke strong reactions�

silverqueenbee: Thank you for reviewing!

Jennie: Yes, they will. ;)

paigeey07: Here you are!
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Inter Vivos