"You breaking rules is almost certainly inevitable," Snape snapped.
"Well, if the mere prospect practically sends you into a fit, we're probably not a good match, then!" Harry snapped back.
"My fit, such as it was, was sheer unadulterated rage that those Muggles made care and punishment somewhat synonymous in your mind. I am not angry with you for asking the question, however." Snape tapped his fingers together. "What would I do to punish you? I don't honestly know. I suppose the same sorts of things I've had you do in detention. Or... extra assignments? No dessert? I certainly won't hex you, as Lucius favors, or maltreat you as seems to be the Muggle way."
"All right," Harry agreed. "So what about rules, then? What would they be?"
Snape stared at him. "I have no idea at the moment. We'll need to negotiate them as needed, I should imagine."
"Negotiate..." Harry cocked an eyebrow. "You mean that?"
"I do know you aren't six, Harry," Snape pointed out. "I know you have needs and opinions of your own, and a mind fully capable of appreciating multiple points of view. There will doubtless come times when you will have to accept my judgment on certain things, and accept it even though you vehemently disagree. But when it is feasible, yes, we will negotiate."
Harry thought he could live with that. Actually, it was a better deal than he'd expected to get. Snape seemed more the authoritarian type... but that was probably confusing his classroom demeanor with the man himself. Potions class, after all, wasn't a place where much negotiation was possible, not when one wrong ingredient could make cauldrons go off like rockets.
He tried to think of anything else he needed to ask. "Is the whole thing going to have to be some secret I can't tell anybody?"
Snape seemed slightly surprised. "You may tell whomever you wish."
"So can you," Harry quipped, and when his teacher jerked slightly, added, "Oh, I mean yes. I probably should have said that part first."
"Yes?"
"Yes."
As though reluctant to believe it, Snape cautiously confirmed, "You have no more questions?"
"No. Do you have any?"
Snape shook his head, but Harry couldn't tell whether it was in answer or some kind of disbelief. Definitely, the man seemed a little bit shocked now that things were more or less settled. He covered it by conjuring a second wine glass, his wandwork just a little more grandiose than required. The bottle from before was still on his desk. Snape cast a cooling charm across it, then poured out two half-glasses of pale amber liquid. Harry's glass was still in his hand; he held it carefully still while Snape poured, afraid that making him spill might mean bad luck, or something.
And Harry felt like he needed all the luck he could get.
Snape lifted his glass. "To the future," he softly said, then clinked his glass against Harry's.
Harry knew he should say something back, but he didn't think he could. A sort of choking feeling was coming over him. Not fears, not tears... he wasn't really sure what it was, but he wanted it to go away. He went ahead and took a big swallow of wine, but it didn't help.
The feeling remained, a lump in his throat, a slight tremor in his hands. Harry ignored it as best he could. This adoption thing would work out all right, wouldn't it?
Of course it will, his rational mind answered. Never mind that behind that thought were countless others. Aunt Petunia stuffing him in that cupboard, saying he deserved nothing better. Remus, practically dropping off the face of the earth just when Harry had finally started to believe in him. Sirius, wishing Harry could be James, instead. Sirius, falling through the Veil...
Unable to bear such thoughts, Harry brought up his defenses, raised a wall of fire in his mind, and hid himself inside it. He didn't know what else to do, how else to manage. But because he did trust Snape, he didn't try to hide the fact that he was Occluding.
Snape studied him for a moment, his dark eyes intent, but said nothing of it.
After a moment, he drank his wine as well.
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Coming Soon in A Year Like None Other:
Chapter Forty: A Lack of Confidence
Comments very welcome,
Aspen in the Sunlight
Chapter 40: A Lack of Confidence
http://archive.skyehawke.com/story.php?no=5036&chapter=40
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A Year Like None Other
by Aspen in the Sunlight
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Chapter Forty: A Lack of Confidence
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Breakfast the next morning was such a tense affair that even Dudley couldn't miss the undercurrents. Harry was exhausted, having only had a few hours of sleep after that long conversation with Snape. Worse than that, he had no idea how to act around the man. He tried his best just to behave normally, but ended up self-consciously analyzing every possible phrasing and intonation any time he had to talk. It got to be so nerve-wracking that practically all he could come out with were variations on the yes, sir... no sir theme. Harry didn't know if Snape understood just how mixed-up he was feeling, but he was grateful that the man didn't rebuke him for all those "sirs" the way he had the night before.
And then there was Draco, who pushed his food around his plate, smearing a trail of egg yolk all over it, but didn't eat a single bite. Draco, who kept his lips pressed tightly together and his comments inside, but slammed his fork down every time Harry used the word "sir."
Snape didn't say anything about that, either, though it couldn't have been lost on him that Draco was angry. And jealous. Harry figured that Snape probably planned to talk to Draco about it later, when he could get the Slytherin boy alone. While they were brewing together, maybe. They did a lot of that, and Harry didn't usually join them. Potions just weren't very interesting.
He smiled a little bit, thinking it was sort of nice that Snape wanted him around even though potion-making wasn't Harry's favorite thing. Had wanted to apprentice him, even, just to keep him around.
Draco glanced up, saw the smile, and made a strange sort of growling noise.
Evidently having had enough of the strained atmosphere, Snape rose to his feet and pulled on the outer robes he kept hung by the door. "I'm sorry to spoil your Saturday, but I believe the headmaster has some paperwork for us to complete in his office," he announced to Harry. His gaze swept over the table. "Have you finished?"
Harry's glance skittered off to the side. Paperwork meant legalities, and legalities would make the adoption official. He suddenly couldn't face it. "Um... I think I might like another cranberry muffin--"
"You haven't eaten more than a quarter of the one you have!" Draco all but exploded.
Dudley shifted his chair over, away from the other boy, and ate his watermelon in worried little nibbles as he glanced from Harry to Draco and back.
Snape narrowed his eyes and gave Draco a short glare, but when he returned his gaze to Harry, his expression was mild. "Procrastination, Harry? Where's your Gryffindor courage?"
"It gets people killed," Harry bitterly stated, mashing the tines of his fork into his muffin until it was a pulpy mess.