"All right, now?" asked Severus as he let go of Draco's shoulders. "You've had quite a shock."
"Oh, yes, quite," sniped Draco. "You might have told me--"
"I did tell you," said Harry calmly, his form still shimmering a bit after the Apparition. Draco had to grit his teeth at the thought that perfect Harry Potter hadn't needed any help returning to Devon.
Draco turned his back on him and stomped into the cottage, intending to go straight to his bedroom and lock the door. Once Harry and Severus followed him inside, though, he found he had more to say. A lot more.
"Yeah, well you know I didn't believe you!" shouted Draco, rounding on his brother. "I'd have believed Severus!"
"Oh, thanks!"
"You blame me for saying that?" Draco bared his teeth. "He understands bloodlines." Which brought him back to Severus. Draco rounded on him, his hands clenching so hard that he thought his bones might crack. "You didn't say a word, not one single word!"
Severus didn't act like a man who had just been accused of letting his son down. He merely lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "You wouldn't have believed me either, Draco."
"Oh, yes I would have--"
"Really."
There wasn't much sarcasm in the comment, but there was enough to make Draco really think about himself. About his motives. About how hard he'd tried to find some magic in Rhiannon, how he'd made up story after story to explain why she was lacking any.
A long moment passed, and then another, Draco staring at the stone floor until it started to blur. Finally, he raised a stricken face.Severus was right. He wouldn't have believed the truth, because he wouldn't have wanted to believe it. Truth to tell, he still didn't want to believe a thing like that about Rhiannon. Who would? The stark facts of the matter were too horrible to believe!
"Draco?"
Harry again, his voice so concerned, so loving, that it made Draco want to hit him. The feeling only increased when his brother kept speaking.
"Er . . . you know what?" Harry began shuffling sideways as he spoke. And he had the gall to call Draco a bad liar! "I think I'll take Sals out for a while, work on my spell lexicon--"
Of all the transparent excuses Harry could have come out with, that was the one guaranteed to annoy Draco the most. Oh yes, Harry's spell lexicon. Because he had easy access to his dark powers. Because he had so much magic that he was overflowing with it.
So unfair that Rhiannon didn't have any at all.
Draco rounded on Harry. "What, you think I can't deal with this? You think I need time alone, is that it? Time alone with my father?"
If Harry had a scrap of decency, he'd have denied it. But of course he had to indulge his honest streak. "Well, you do seem under a lot of stress at the moment. I'm sure you need to talk to someone about it."
"Like you were sure I was going to hurt Rhiannon?" Draco curled a lip, yanking his hands out of his pockets to fold them over his chest. He knew the gesture looked defensive--he and Marsha had talked about what she called "body language"--but he couldn't stop himself from standing there with his arms crossed. He felt better, now. More in control. "You don't know anything, Harry. You don't know me. I don't need to talk to Severus! I don't need anyone! I don't need anything, either! Though I wouldn't say no to a drink right now. The pair of you can leave me alone, is that clear? Just . . . go to free swim, or something!"
"That doesn't start until one."
Like Draco needed to hear that. He knew Rhiannon's schedule better than Harry did, obviously.
Oh, Merlin. Rhiannon. . .
Draco whirled on a heel and made for his bedroom, slamming the door behind him. Wand out again, he locked it with his best wards. Severus could make a hash of them in under a minute, of course, and Harry could blast right through them if he wanted to, but neither one of them was likely to force his way in. Draco had said that he wanted to be alone, and they'd respect that--
Or not, as it turned out, since at that moment Draco heard a noise that he recognized as Severus' knock. Harry's was more of a bang. No decorum. Not that Draco was feeling like he had lot of that, just now. "What?" he shouted through the closed door. "What!"
It turned out to be Harry, after all. "Draco--"
"Leave me alone!" shouted Draco, though by then it was more of a scream. "Leave me alone or I'll--" Draco abruptly clamped his lips together. It might make him feel better to say something vicious, but it wouldn't do any of them any real good, would it? And anyway, he didn't want to threaten Harry, even if it was almost too much to bear that Harry had known, that Severus had known, that the two of them had probably been giving each other looks all along over how stupid Draco had been.
Draco slumped. He usually prided himself on proper posture; it was part of projecting the correct image to the world. I'm the one in control, here, and no setback, no matter how daunting it may seem, can change that in the least. That was the aura he'd been taught to project, but he couldn't maintain it now.
How could he have been so stupid? So blind?
"Just go away," he said in a lower voice as he leaned against the creaking wood of the door. He felt defeated, clear through. "Please, Harry."
Harry did, but he didn't go far. "I can't believe you aren't demanding he open the door so he can talk to us. To you," he complained, his voice clearly audible even though it sounded like he was facing away from the door, now. "Dad . . ."
"I suggest we treat your brother as the adult he is," said Severus in a calm voice.
The adult he is. That was right; Severus knew. He knew everything.
Draco found it mildly unbelievable that the man was taking it so much in stride. After all, the last time Draco had done something illegal, Severus had actually made him eat poison over it.
On the other hand, aging himself a little bit wasn't quite the same thing as sending toxic sweets to the other students in his house. Draco felt better when he thought about it like that.
"The adult he is," said Harry with a glimmer of something in his voice. Not humour, not exactly. "He may have aged himself, but he's not that much older than me. Anyway, being a little older doesn't make him invulnerable, so I think you ought to go in and talk with him--"
Harry stopped talking so abruptly that Draco thought Severus must have raised a hand to demand silence. "He wants to be alone, Harry. And in the circumstances, that might be the best thing for him."
Best thing for him?Draco straightened to his full height, gritting his teeth. So he seemed like a man that needed to lick his wounds, now, did he? Like he was some sort of lion? Like he was a cursed Gryffindor?
But that wasn't what Severus had meant, it turned out.
"Best thing?" echoed Harry. "Look, when I was upset that Ron had been such an idiot, you wouldn't let me hide in my room. You called it brooding, and came and got me and made me play Wizard's Scrabble, and--"
"You were brooding," said Severus sternly.
"And Draco isn't?"
"He may be, but he also has some thinking to do."
Thinking to do? Draco scoffed out loud, then clapped a hand over his mouth. Then again, Severus probably knew he was eavesdropping, even if it had yet to occur to Harry. So that "thinking to do" comment had been intended for his ears, not his brother's.
Severus believed that Draco ought to have some thinking to do . . .
But that idea was even dafter than Harry's insane notion that Draco was going to draw his wand on Rhiannon. What was there to think about? Nothing! Rhiannon Miller was a Muggle!