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Practicing Liars	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 63257 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and I am not making any money from this story.

Chapter List
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Thank you again for all the reviews!

Chapter Thirty-Nine�The
Hunt Begins

�� Severus
began his hunt among the Slytherins. As much as he favored his own House, he
knew that he was more likely to find his culprit there than he was among the
others. Besides, if Draco had been poisoned at dinner, as Severus thought
likely, a Slytherin would have had the least trouble placing the Acromantula�s
Bite in Draco�s drink or food.

�� There was
also the fact that most of his Slytherins were more advanced in Potions talent
than the other Houses�no small thanks to his extra lessons and favoritism�and might
have thought of poison before a Gryffindor or Hufflepuff would have. They would
also have the skills to brew it themselves, if need be.

�� Severus started
with observation alone on the first day. Well, observation and a simple spell.
He murmured an incantation that made a slight sting appear in the left forearm
of the person he was looking at. Then he watched to see who merely scratched,
who looked suspicious that it was a prank, and who looked panicked.

�� Five of
them had expressions he considered panicked: Blaise Zabini, Daphne Greengrass,
Pansy Parkinson, a seventh-year called Monica Cravens, and a fifth-year, Joseph
Napier. Severus nodded slightly. He had expected that the predominance of
suspects would come from the upper years. Not even the Dark Lord thought that
fourth-years and younger would make good soldiers. They could be indoctrinated,
but they could not be trusted to keep secrets; Severus had first learned about
the Dark Lord as a third-year from a student in the year above him who simply
could not stop himself from bragging about his newfound knowledge.

�� There might
still be others, of course. Or they might all be Death Eaters, and yet none of
them might be the one who had poisoned Draco. Severus had to accept that the
failure rate of his mission would be high at first.

�� However, it
gave him a smaller number of suspects to use Legilimency on, which meant that
there were fewer people who might learn what he was doing, and fewer minds to
need Memory Charms.

�� Severus
glanced at his son, and was sorry that the nature of his mission meant that he
could not be open about what he was doing. He would have liked to receive a
green-eyed glance of approval.

*

�� But what happened to Malfoy?�

�� Draco
bristled. Harry, after a day of being plagued unmercifully by his friends as to
what had happened after he had run away to Professor Snape with Draco in his
arms, had begged Draco to let him tell Weasley and Granger the truth. It was
the only thing that would make them leave him alone, he said.

�� Draco had
agreed. Anything for Harry. It was
the thought that had come to him when he woke up the other morning, cradling
Harry and meeting Professor Snape�s steady glare, and realized, again, that he
might have died if not for Harry�s quick action.

�� But he hadn�t
expected them to ignore the fact that he was present and keep talking to Harry
alone.

�� I�m right
here,� Draco said. He�d held his tongue so far, because peace on his part would
make it easier for Harry to reconcile with his friends. But there was such a
thing as too much leniency. �You could talk to me instead of about me.�

�� Granger turned
on him, looking so exasperated and angry that her hair almost stood on end. �All
right,� she snarled. �What happened?�

�� Harry
stepped back and let Draco move forwards. Draco nodded to him and took his
place. �Harry suspected that I�d been poisoned,� he said. �Rightly. He took me
to Professor Snape, and they brewed the antidote for me. That�s all.� He waited
to see how Granger would twist his words, because she would find a means for
him to corrupt Harry in the most innocent tone of voice.

�� Why didn�t
you go to Madam Pomfrey?� Granger demanded, looking back and forth between
them. �She could have helped a lot sooner than Snape could have. How long did
it take to brew the antidote?�

�� An hour,�
Harry said. �Maybe a little less. I was just doing what Snape told me to. I
didn�t count the time.� He looked down at Draco, and if the tenderness in his
eyes wasn�t visible to Granger and Weasley, they were fools, or simply not
looking. �I was too worried to do that, and just wanted Draco to get well.�

�� Draco
squeezed his hand back and moved a step closer to him, then faced Weasley, who
was starting to splutter in the way that meant he was winding up his mouth. �But
that doesn�t explain why you didn�t go to Madam Pomfrey,� he said stubbornly. �How
did you know that you could trust Snape,
mate?�

�� Because��
Harry began.

�� You ran a
lot farther to him than you would have had to go to get to the hospital wing,�
Granger said.

�� Harry
frowned at her. �I was worried about Draco, not counting my steps,� he snapped.
�Besides, I was going to say that��

�� And you
could have waited so we could catch you up,� Weasley said. �You were running so
fast that we lost you before you got to the dungeons.�

�� Harry nodded.
His face was flushed, and his tongue got tangled behind his teeth when he
started to speak. �But I was thinking about saving Draco, and that meant I��

�� Why Snape?�
Weasley asked again.

�� Because he�s
my father,� Harry snapped. �Would you
let me get a word in fucking edgewise?
That�s it! Snape is my father, and I trust him to make potions, and I trust him
to take care of Draco, and that�s why I went to him and not to Madam Pomfrey,
and that�s why I didn�t wait for you. I was in a hurry, and I didn�t want to
listen to what you would say about Snape or Draco or both! I left you out on
accident, but I would have done it on purpose if I�d been thinking, because you
talk so much!�

�� There was a
period of silence that Draco gloried in, because it was a period during which Granger
and Weasley looked steadily redder and Harry only a little more pale. Then
Harry coughed and said, �Anyway. I don�t want to leave you out all the time.�
He looked so tired that Draco was reminded of the night when Harry had gone to
sleep in his lap and talked unhappily about being weary. Draco rested a hand on
the back of his neck. Harry sighed, and his eyes shut for a moment before he
continued in a stronger voice. �I really don�t. I know it must seem like it.
But I can�t let you into things that involve Draco and Snape unless you try to
behave better.�

�� You haven�t
given us a chance.� Granger looked like she wanted to cry, of all the manipulative tactics. Weasley stood stiffly next to
her, sometimes looking at Harry�s face, sometimes looking at the floor. Granger
sniffled and continued. �We do want to be your friends, Harry, but you�re
always shutting us out.�

�� I talked
to you openly about dating Draco and Snape being my father,� Harry said
steadily. �And you didn�t want to listen.�

�� We were
startled,� Weasley muttered, scuffing one foot over the floor and then staring
even more intently at it. They were once again in Umbridge�s old office. Draco
thought he remembered Weasley during the same thing the last time they were
here. Maybe he was trying to polish a section of the floor as practice for the
household cleaning charms that he would always have to cast, Draco thought. It
wasn�t as though his girlfriend would ever let him own a house-elf even if they
were rich enough to afford them. �You can�t blame us for that.�

�� And now?�
Harry asked harshly. �Now that you�ve had time to think about it, what do you
think?�

�� I still
find it hard to accept,� Granger said, and looked at Draco with a distinctly
unfriendly expression. �How do you know he won�t turn around and insult us
tomorrow?�

�� How do I
know you won�t do that?� Harry
snapped. �I�m trying to give you chances, Hermione, but you�re making it really
difficult.�

�� We�ve been
your friends for longer,� Weasley said stubbornly. �That means that we should have a chance, and you should
be harsher with Draco and Snape.�

�� Harry
sighed and pressed down on Draco�s shoulder, cutting off the words that he
desperately wanted to say before they could emerge. He knows me so well, Draco thought, as he closed his mouth and
tried to look stern instead of reprimanded. �Yes, but you haven�t shared these
last few experiences with me,� Harry said in an exhausted voice. �Draco and Snape
have. And things have changed.�

�� We just
need more time,� Granger said.

�� Harry
walked out without answering. Draco lingered a moment to look at Granger and
Weasley, shaking his head. �You don�t realize how lucky you are to have him,�
he said. �He doesn�t have to put up with this, you know.�

�� It�s too
much of a change,� Weasley said. �It�s not like
him.�

�� Draco
raised an eyebrow. �Maybe you should think more about the new person Harry�s
becoming than the old person he was.�

�� He could
have said a lot more, but he sauntered out, because Harry needed him and because
he was more like an adult than Granger and Weasley were.

�� And because
staying and arguing would have meant a chance that he wouldn�t get the last
word.

*

�� I didn�t
do anything wrong.�

�� Severus
looked up. �What was that, Miss Parkinson?�

�� Pansy
looked sullenly back at him, then focused on the cauldron in front of her. �Nothing,
sir,� she muttered.

�� As it
happened, Severus agreed with her. Pansy had done something that Severus had
ignored at other times: running through the corridors because she was late to
Charms. This time, it had given him a convenient excuse to tell her off for
breaking the rules of the House and the school, including the ones that
demanded decorum, dignity, and waking up on time so that one wouldn�t have to run.

�� He had set
her to detention with him, and she had sulked and grumbled and moaned so much
that Severus was tempted to take points from Slytherin. Had his Snakes really
become so undisciplined while he was occupied with Draco, Harry, and winning
his freedom from the Dark Lord? It seemed so.

Severus decided that he would have to
look at them more carefully, and keep a particularly sharp watch out for any
recruitment attempts on the part of the Dark Lord. He had become Harry�s
father, but that didn�t mean that he had stopped being Head of Slytherin.

Pansy finally straightened up,
working the tension out of her back, and then went to put the cauldrons away. Severus
waited until she turned around again, her head bent and her eyes directed
towards the floor in a scowl.

It was a perfect moment. She was
looking down, but not completely, and against a mind he expected to be
undefended, that was all the eye contact Severus needed for the spell.

�Legilimens,� he whispered.

Yes, he passed into her mind
through no sort of shields. Severus held his contempt back, because Miss
Parkinson might still be sensitive even if shieldless, and began to explore her
recent memories of Draco.

�� There was
fear that Draco�s father dying meant that Pansy herself (because she had once
been Draco�s friend) would be noticed by the Dark Lord, wonder that he could
continue getting good marks in his classes despite his stress, curiosity about
what had happened to his mother, and suspicion as to the nature of his
relationship with Harry Potter. But no matter how deeply Severus pressed or how
thoroughly he searched, he could uncover no evidence that she was involved in
the poisoning.

�� And she
bore no Dark Mark. She had probably grabbed her arm simply because she was startled
by the sting that the incantation had caused her.

�� Severus
pulled carefully out of her mind, watching her face all the while so that he
might see if she suspected something. But though Parkinson blinked and touched
her forehead, he saw no anger on her face. She even looked at him and said, �Did
I fall asleep, sir?�

�� You look
half-asleep on your feet,� Severus said. �Back to your common room, Miss
Parkinson. And this time, make sure that you get enough sleep that you don�t
need to run in the corridor.�

�� Pansy
flushed, said, �Sir,� and left.

�� Severus leaned
back in his chair and smiled thinly. As disappointing as it had been not to
find the poisoner in his first effort, the evening had not been without result.
It had given him the excuse that he would use to investigate the rest of his
Snakes.

*

�� Harry
sighed when Ron and Hermione sat down on either side of him at breakfast. It
wasn�t that he hated to see them, he thought, staring at his plate while he
pushed around the remains of the single piece of soggy toast he�d had for
breakfast. But they�d avoided him for the last few days, talking furiously to
each other at the opposite end of the table, and he wondered if they�d come up
to him simply to scold and complain.

�� Hermione
touched his arm. Harry looked up and tried to put on his most patient
expression. Maybe he could do this. If he tried really hard.

�� It�s easier with Draco and Snape, he
thought, and then paused in astonishment, because that was the first time he
had ever included the words �Snape� and �easier� in the same sentence.

�� We�ve
thought about it,� Hermione said. �We want to know whether Malfoy�s changed his
mind.�

�� How couldn�t
he?� Harry asked. He kept his voice low, because while they were discussing
things Ron and Hermione already knew about Draco, he hardly thought Draco would
like his private business plastered all over creation. �You saw what the Dark
Lord did to his father.�

�� Ron and
Hermione exchanged hard looks. Then Ron leaned forwards and said, �No offense,
mate, but that doesn�t mean he�s changed his mind. For all we know, he might
have decided that he�d like to stick by his ideals because it would be a way of
honoring his dad.�

�� Harry
smiled in spite of himself. That objection sounded much more reasonable than
some of the ones they�d raised so far, and didn�t rely so much on Draco�s past
behavior.

�� Well,� he said,
and lowered his voice further, so that they had to lean in to hear him, �Draco
also told me that he�s changed his mind about blood. If you want to know more
than that, you�ll have to talk to him. I�m already sort of violating his
confidence by telling you this much.�

�� Hermione
ran her finger through her hair, unwinding one curl and letting it spring back.
�He doesn�t think I should die anymore?�

�� Harry shook
his head.

�� He
probably still thinks of my family as poor and nothing else,� Ron muttered.

�� I don�t
know,� Harry said stubbornly. �I wouldn�t listen to what he said about you and
not defend you, either, but I�d invite you in so you could speak up for
yourselves. You�ll have to listen to him.�

�� All right,�
Hermione said. �I can�t do it today because I have too many essays to write,
and I have to keep to my NEWT schedule.� Harry refrained from rolling his eyes
by a heroic effort. Hermione had gone around to every teacher at the beginning
of the term and got a schedule from them of how many essays they were likely to
assign this year, then divided the two years until NEWTs up into certain
amounts of time for each task. She knew what she was doing every day from now
until the start of the exams. �But can you have him meet us tomorrow so we can start?�

�� As long as
you promise to listen to him,� Harry said. �And let him talk,� he added, because
he hadn�t forgotten his frustration with trying to explain about Draco and Snape
while they kept interrupting him.

�� Ron
coughed. His face was red enough to hide his freckles, as if he was remembering
the way he�d acted and disliking it. Harry hoped so. That had been the most
annoying conversation he�d ever had with them. �We promise.�

�� Hermione
nodded. She hesitated, then added, �And Harry�if you can accept Snape as your father,
so can we. Right, Ron?� She nudged him in the ribs.

�� Ron leaned
forwards, one hand raised as if he wanted to shield his words from any
lip-readers who might be sitting around the Great Hall. �He doesn�t hurt you,
right, mate?� he asked. �I mean�I�ve heard that sometimes, people with�families
that aren�t the best�seek out other parents and friends who aren�t�the best.�
He was flushing even more heavily by the time he�d finished, obviously trying
to hint that he knew something about the Dursleys without saying outright that
he did.

�� Harry did
his best to relax the tense hunch his shoulders had automatically taken on. Ron
knew more about the Dursleys than Draco and Snape did, since he had seen the
bars on the window the summer that he came to rescue Harry from his bedroom. It
was all right for him to talk about it like that, as long as he never talked about it. That would be more than
all right, in some ways. Harry could have some sympathy, and it was a bond
between him and his best friends that wasn�t threatened by Draco or Snape.

�� It will be if you ever tell them more about
it.

�� Harry ignored
that thought and nodded. �I know that. But he really does treat me all right. I�ve
learned too much about families who aren�t right.�
He smiled grimly. �And families that are, by watching you with your Dad and
Mum.� He nodded to Ron, who seemed to be flushing with pride this time. �I
wouldn�t stand for that kind of thing.�

�� He decided
that, for right now, he wouldn�t tell them that he�d avoided telling Snape he
was his father because he�d been afraid of exactly that kind of thing. It was
enough if they knew that Harry accepted Snape now. Harry thought Snape was probably even more private than Draco
and wouldn�t like them knowing how long it had been before he learned the truth.

�� More stupid secrets. But he didn�t
resent them as much when he was keeping them for someone else instead of
himself. The number he�d carried earlier in the year had soured him on having
his own.

�� Good,� Ron
said, and relaxed. �We�ll see you and Malfoy tomorrow then, right?�

�� Harry
nodded, and watched as they left the table, Hermione talking animatedly to Ron
about nothing in particular. When Harry looked up, Draco was watching him with
sharp eyes from the Slytherin table. Harry smiled at him, which seemed to
reassure him enough to let him eat the rest of breakfast.

�� Harry reached
for the plate of eggs, suddenly hungry himself.

*

�� I have
been remiss in my responsibilities.�

�� In most
Houses, Severus knew, if the Head said something like that, there would be a
murmur of denial as students who liked the Head spoke up for him or her. But he
didn�t tolerate murmurs, so all his Slytherins simply watched him with becoming
gravity as he paced back and forth in front of them. They were assembled in the
common room. Severus had allowed no exceptions, either for study or for any
other reasons. He had persuaded Minerva and Filch to release several from
detention for an hour, as long as they promised to return immediately after the
meeting.

�� That meant
the group included Draco. He sat still on the couch between Zabini and
Parkinson, his eyes wide with wonder and innocence, as if he couldn�t imagine
more than any of the others why Professor Snape would be blaming himself. Severus
had to avoid looking directly at him.

�� I have not
spent enough time with you of late, or attended to my duties as a Head of
House.� Severus paused in front of them and swept them with a grim gaze. �I
could give as my excuse my concern with magical matters and the new classes,
but those are not enough to remove all duty from my shoulders.�

�� His Snakes
looked wise. By �magical matters� they would know that he was talking about the
rumors of Dumbledore�s power weakening, and the new classes were a convenient
excuse for any number of things. Severus knew some of them suspected that he
was a traitor to the Dark Lord, others knew, and still others lived in
ignorance but had an idea that something important had happened. The morass of
silence and sly hints in Slytherin House meant that one could never be sure of
the state of general knowledge at any single time.

�� You may
come to me still with your concerns, your questions, your problems,� Severus
said. �In fact, I insist on it. I will be conducting a series of random
meetings in the next week, so that I may make sure you are not falling behind
in your classes or letting your personal life interfere with your
responsibility as I let it interfere with mine.�

�� There was a
tiny groan from the back of the group sitting on the couches, which Severus
understood perfectly well: Great, he�s
upset with himself so he�s taking it out on us. He raised an eyebrow, and
the groan ceased.

�� Severus
consulted a piece of parchment in his hand, frowning as if he were choosing names
from it. In reality, it was blank; he had memorized the names he would call,
the suspected Death Eaters mingled with others added for concealment purposes.
He had learned long ago never to create permanent documents about his students,
at least not if he wished to store them in the dungeons.

�� Mr.
Zabini,� he said, �Miss Cravens, Miss Keller, Miss Greengrass, Mr. Goyle, Mr.
Todd, Mr. Napier, Miss Marks.� He paused and stared directly at Draco, letting
his voice become slow. �Mr. Malfoy.�

�� Sir?�
Draco sounded not at all worried, which in reality he had no reason to be. He
and Severus had already spoken about this and established the necessity of the
deception. He sat up with a bright helpful face that Severus would have found
irritating in an ordinary situation. He
is overacting.

�� You have
had more problems than most of the others,� Severus said, and lowered his voice
in the way he did when he was looking to impress, perhaps frighten, but under
no circumstances let off. �You will make sure that you come to me before the
others do, and that you stay longer. A detention might not be out of order.�

�� Draco
folded his arms and glared. �Most of those problems weren�t my fault, sir,� he
insisted.

�� Nevertheless,�
Severus said, �you have let them interfere with your schoolwork and your
personal life, and that is enough for me to be concerned about you.� He took a
moment to study the other Slytherins skeptically, and then turned his back. �Dismissed.�

�� He could
feel Draco pouting at his back, and had to hold back a dark smile. This
deception would make it seem as if Draco were removed from his protection, or
at least potentially so, and perhaps encourage the poisoner to strike again. It
was dangerous, but in this case, Severus intended to provide Draco with a
bezoar. If his Legilimency did not identify the culprit first, a careless mistake
could.

�� Then, too,
it was entirely possible that the candidates Severus had identified were not
the only Death Eaters in his students� ranks. He would welcome a double-baited
trap, a safeguard to be sure that he had not left Draco too dangerously exposed.

�� In that way, I am different from my son, he
thought as he strode back to his office. For
he will not think twice about taking risks, whereas I move to ensure that no
risks are necessary.

�� Then he remembered
what his life was currently like, especially when he tried to get Harry to
speak openly about his emotions, and grimaced.

�� At least, that no risks are necessary which
do not simply assert themselves as part of the laws of the universe.

*

�� k lave
demo: Thank you! I�m glad that you like that element of my writing.

�� KadyRae: I
think it�ll probably end up around 47 or 48 chapters total, and then I�ve been
asked to write a short epilogue. As for a sequel, probably not.

�� Sneakyfox:
Thank you!

�� Jay: Did I?
I forgot that. Well, he did think about the idea, but wasn�t sure that Harry
had it. Anyway, it isn�t as important as some of the other things they�re going
through right now.

�� polka dot: Arguably,
his mother and Snape, but other than that, not many people.

�� Werewolf
Mistress: Thanks!

�� SP777:
Thanks!

�� I�m not
sure what you mean by inspiration. Real-life models? In that case, no.

�� The next
major actions are the finding of the poisoner, followed by getting the Horcrux
out of Harry.

�� Severus
would indeed laugh at him, but Harry probably wouldn�t do it where he could
see!

�� xxBxx:
Thank you!

�� puck: Thank
you!

�� Thrnbrooke:
Present and accounted for.
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Practicing Liars