It took Harry a moment to assimilate the fact that Draco was jealous, of all things. "You needed a different kind of help, that was all," he quietly said, looking at the other boy but not really seeing him.
"He could have adopted me," Draco raged, stomping back and forth across the room, "instead of setting things up so I'd be emancipated from my parents' control. But adoption... didn't even occur to him, I bet. Never mind the fact that I'm a Slytherin while you're just a bloody irritating Gryffindor. Never mind that I'm the one who's known him forever and ever, while up until what, late-September he absolutely hated your guts! And you just throw it all back in his face with this it's just for the spell crap!"
"But it is for the spell," Harry insisted.
"The spell's just a catalyst!" His sneer becoming more pronounced, Draco scathed, "Oh, no wonder you don't get it. In the first place, with your lousy marks in Potions, I bet you don't know what a catalyst even is! And in the second, you probably don't think Slytherins have any feelings!"
"I never said Slytherins don't have feelings!" Harry protested.
"You sure did! You do, every time you forget I gave you back your damned wand, every time you make some snide remark about how I just must have a way to fool Veritaserum, every time you act like I'm some species of slug incapable of the slightest loyalty!"
"Yeah, well Veritaserum or not, I know you lied to me!" Harry shot back. "I just felt so bad when I heard what my father did to you..." he cruelly mimicked Draco's aristocratic tones. "Even Snape says you're a bad liar, did you know that? And you were lying! I know it and you know it. About the only one who doesn't seem to know it is Snape! So don't go on about how he's choosing a Gryffindor over you, Malfoy! If he was doing that, I wouldn't have to put up with your lying face!"
Draco was as ashen as earlier, but somehow more composed. "I take back everything I said about the book," he calmly announced, brushing his hands against the front of his trousers as though the atmosphere in the room was tainted. "You aren't overcompensating at all. You're completely mental, Potter. And there's something wrong with the Eyesight Elixir, since you're blind as well! You honestly can't see that Severus cares about you?"
"Well sure, he cares," Harry admitted, shrugging. "He's a decent man where it counts. But why does he care? Because I'm the vanguard of the war effort, just like you said! Snape'll do anything it takes to make sure I can fulfill my damned destiny! One look at Dudley here is all you need to prove that true!" Harry turned to his cousin, giving him an apologetic look, and then resumed talking to Draco. "Snape didn't want a Muggle in his quarters! But he went to a lot of trouble to arrange for it, just to keep me safe so that I can off Voldemort some day! This latest idea of his is more of the same. It's strategy, Draco. I'd think a Slytherin could see as much!"
"You aren't just strategy!" Draco exclaimed, shaking his head. "For Merlin's sake, he lets you go chat him up every night!"
"Yeah, well I read the book, just like you kept harping on about, so that's not so hard to explain, is it? Very clear in there, all that stuff about trauma victims needing someone trustworthy to talk to. He knows he's just about the only person I trust these days, so he's trying to be there for me. I said he was a decent man, didn't I?"
Draco bared his teeth, then opened his mouth as if he had a few more choice things to say. When he spoke though, it was to urge, his voice a little shaky. "Harry... it's not like that. Listen, all right? Severus... he told me he'd wished you'd been sorted into Slytherin. Said it would have taken him one hell of a lot less time to see who you really are, if... crud, Potter, just how dense are you? Severus is really fond of you."
Harry retreated, pushing himself more firmly into the corner of the couch, his hands shaking.
"You're a complete mess, do you know that?" Draco questioned. "You'd better just hope that the spell does mistake technicalities for real relationships, 'cause you're so psychologically damaged, you can't wrap your mind around the idea of family, can you?"
"Don't be mean to Harry!" Dudley erupted, jumping to his feet, his hands balled into fists at his side.
"That's it," Draco pronounced, throwing up his hands. "I'm going to bed."
The bedroom door slammed again, though with less force than before, leaving Harry and Dudley staring at each other.
"Uh... I guess he forgot he's supposed to sleep out here," Harry murmured, beginning to wonder just where Draco would be sleeping. It was hard to imagine him willingly sliding into the bed Dudley had been using, even taking into account cleaning charms and the like. It seemed equally unlikely, though, that Draco would take his bed.
The faint sound of water dripping drifted through the air. No singing though, not tonight.
"He's mean, but he's right, you know," Dudley slowly said as he turned to face Harry. "I don't know your teacher very well, but he seems to really like you."
"He's... I don't know," Harry said, rubbing the sides of his head.
"You look done in," Dudley said sympathetically. "Why don't you go in to bed? I'll take the couch. No big deal."
Harry couldn't help but sigh. "No, I'd better wait up for Snape. Um, you look pretty tired too. You go use my bed, all right?"
"All right," Dudley murmured. "'Night, Harry."
"Good night," Harry returned. Once he was alone, he fetched Sals from her little box, and let the snake slither up and down his arms. After a while, he lay down on his back and stared at the ceiling, remembering how it had looked being spelled with that silvery spectral fabric.
"Harry is up-ssset," Sals hissed, her tongue coming out to flicker lightly against his ear.
"No, not really," Harry hissed back, closing his eyes. "I'm just tired."
"Sssleep," Sals suggested.
Harry didn't think he could, especially considering that the room was still brightly lit, but as the minutes ticked past, each one slower than the last, he found that what had started off as an excuse quickly became the truth.
"Ssstay with me, Sals," Harry whispered as he felt the weight of sleep begin to drag him under.
Sals curled up into a coil on the boy's breastbone, her head lightly bobbing as she watched Harry sleep.
-----------------------------------------------------------
The loss of Sal's slight weight was enough to rouse Harry from his slumber. He cracked an eye to see Snape cradling the little snake in one palm, then tipping her carefully into the box she slept in.
Shaking his head to clear it, Harry pulled his feet off the couch and sat up. His first thought was rather inane, but he was still half-asleep. Besides, he didn't think he'd seen Snape touch Sals before. "You aren't afraid of snakes?"
"Not at all," Snape replied in a level tone.
"Right," Harry said. Snape was doing it again, just looking at him. Staring, sort of like Harry was some mysterious Potion ingredient, and Snape had to decide if he should chop him, mince him, or toss him in the cauldron whole. The sensation of being studied was so strong that Harry abruptly broke out into shivers all over. "Um, could you spell the lights off for me?" he ventured, a little desperate to just end that stare. "I'm sleeping out here, tonight."