"But Draco seems all right," Harry broke in, though he wasn't completely sure he was supposed to talk. On the other hand, this was their interview, wasn't it? Not Snape's alone. He ignored Snape's warning glance at him and continued, "I mean, when we first decided to do this, he seemed pretty upset, but he got over it. I mean, mostly."
"What caused him to 'mostly' accept the idea?"
"I have no idea," Harry admitted, running one finger along the edge of his teacup. "One day he was sniping at me, and the next he was back to just helping me with my homework and being his regular self."
Thistlethorne leveled her blue gaze at Snape. "You know, though, what occasioned the change."
Snape shrugged. "I told him his attitude had to improve and I'd take a hundred points a day from Slytherin if it didn't."
Harry's whole hand jerked so badly that tea sloshed into his saucer.
Snape gave him a glare. Nothing terribly special about that, of course, but on this occasion, Snape was also on the receiving end of a glare. Thistlethorne's. "Are you quite sure," she said in a high-voiced, smarmy way, "that threatening Mr. Malfoy is the best way to address the problem?"
Snape's own voice was cool. "He's a student and he happens to be living in my personal rooms. I will not tolerate blatant rudeness under my own roof."
"Still, to take what is essentially a family matter and make it fodder for points..." She sounded hugely disapproving.
"Draco is intent on Slytherin House welcoming him back," Snape mildly replied. "Huge point losses on his account would interfere with that goal. I knew the tactic would be effective."
"Still..." she muttered again, auburn eyebrows raised in challenge.
"Rest assured, such measures are not my only strategies for dealing with... ah, familial discord. Perhaps you're unaware of this, but I've known Draco Malfoy literally since he was born. I know how he thinks, and I was confident he would respond well to my gambit. As indeed, he did."
Her blue eyes had taken on a rather calculating gleam by the time Snape finished. "Ah. Well, if you're so well-acquainted with Mr. Malfoy, and you're aware he looks to you more-or-less as a father already, it occurs to me that a better way to address his jealousy might be simply to adopt both young men?"
Harry's heart dropped straight into his shoes, because he knew exactly what Snape was going to say to that. His dream had laid it all out in vivid color. So I guess we're brothers, Draco had said, and Harry had laughed in reply. And not a derisive laugh, either. Actually, the feeling that had swamped him in his dream had been relief. Profound, heartfelt relief, like he had never been so glad in his life to hear Draco mention they were brothers!
But he didn't want to be brothers with sodding Draco Malfoy, he just didn't! And if Snape was going to adopt them both, well...
All of a sudden, Harry wasn't so sure he wanted to be adopted at all.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Coming Soon in A Year Like None Other:
Chapter Forty-Four: Formalities
Comments very welcome,
Aspen in the Sunlight
Chapter 44: Formalities
http://archive.skyehawke.com/story.php?no=5036&chapter=44
-----------------------------------------------------------
A Year Like None Other
by Aspen in the Sunlight
-----------------------------------------------------------
Chapter Forty-Four: Formalities
-----------------------------------------------------------
Snape was shaking his head almost before the casewitch had finished uttering her asinine little suggestion. "Adopt them both," he dryly echoed, managing to make the notion sound positively irrational. "Out of the question."
"May I ask why?"
"To begin with, Draco Malfoy is a proud and intelligent young man. He will not appreciate being an afterthought, I quite assure you."
The casewitch spread her hands on the desk as she pondered that.
"Moreover, there are serious practical considerations," Snape continued, his voice taking on rather a sardonic note. Harry got the feeling that Snape thought the casewitch should have considered a few more things before opening her big, fat mouth. "Because Draco came of age early, he is now in nominal control of a large fortune previously held in trust for him. If he reverts to minor status now, Lucius Malfoy will petition for the funds to be returned to the estate proper. Need I mention that in that case, Draco will never see another Galleon from the vault that is supposed to be his and his alone?"
"Surely the younger Mr. Malfoy could withdraw all his money beforehand?"
Snape shook his head. "Nominal control," he repeated. "His access to the funds is limited in several ways until such time as he marries and produces a 'worthy' heir."
"Worthy?"
"Pureblooded and not a squib."
"Ah." Amaelia Thistlethorne sighed. "Well, that is a problem. Depriving him of his remaining inheritance is bound to exacerbate the emotional burden he already bears from having been disowned."
"It is not merely an emotional issue," Snape said, his voice going flat. "It is political. Draco has been taught since birth that money is power, and power is all that matters."
"Mmm. You've given this some prior thought."
Snape's dark eyes glimmered. "Evidently."
"So Mr. Malfoy would not be an afterthought," she said on a note of triumph.
"What matters is not what he is, but rather what he thinks he is," Snape neatly dodged the question. "It is also not lost on me that there is little to be gained from enraging Lucius Malfoy further. To release Draco from his control was offense enough."
The casewitch frowned, the desk chair squeaking as she shifted her weight. "But Mr. Malfoy has already sworn to kill the boy. It was on this basis that we emancipated him, so that he could stay here in safety even in the face of his father's objection. How much more enraged could he get?"
Even Harry knew what a stupid question that was. He had to really admire Snape's ability to reply to the question with a marked lack of sarcasm. Normally, the Potions Master would cut a strip off anyone speaking so brainlessly to him... But Snape was nothing if not Slytherin to the bone. He wasn't about to offend the casewitch, whose approval was so vital to getting this adoption put through.
The idea made Harry sort of glow warm inside.
Of course, that might be mostly due to the trend of the conversation. Harry could tell already that no matter how much the interfering old biddy tried to insist, Snape was not about to adopt anybody but him.
Just. Him.
He felt like shouting, So there!
"I do not dispute that Lucius wishes to kill Draco," Snape was replying. "At the moment, however, his primary motive for so doing is to restore himself in the eyes of Voldemort. Draco has defied his Death Eater heritage to provide significant assistance to Harry, you see, therefore Lucius himself has fallen under suspicion. He hopes to allay this by sacrificing his son. However, if Lucius learns that I have taken for my own that which he believes is his, his desire to see the both of us slain will increase a hundredfold. Do you really think that the worst Lucius Malfoy can do is enlist Horace Darswaithe to infiltrate my quarters?"