Hermione nodded. "I'll be down to see you tomorrow, Harry," she promised, her voice suggesting that she'd be down there every day if she could manage it. To check on things, to be there in case Harry needed her... "I think I know the way by now. I... I wish I didn't have to go home for the holidays; I'd rather stay here and see more of you--"
"Hermione," Harry softly said, "you don't understand, yet. I'm fine here. I'm looking forward to having a family Christmas for once."
"Your reply, Miss Granger," Snape announced, holding out a small, parchment scroll. "Not as prolix as your own, I'm afraid."
"Mine wasn't long!" Hermione objected.
Snape gave Harry a sidelong glance, which had Harry looking away. So Hermione did know some fancier words than Harry had figured on... well, Snape was always reading her essays. It figured that he would know. "Miss Granger," Snape expounded. "When I ask for twelve inches on a subject, you invariably give me thirty. I have yet to see you be succinct."
Hermione scowled, then quickly schooled her face into a more neutral expression as she turned toward Harry. "Good night, then."
"Good night," Harry echoed, saying it several more times as he ushered the Gryffindors out. When the door finally closed behind them, he leaned on it, his knees almost buckling with relief.
"That went as well as could be expected," Snape neutrally remarked.
Harry nodded. "Thanks for the points."
Snape waved a hand as though to say it hardly mattered.
"No, really, it was great," Harry insisted. "I never thought you'd give Gryffindor any points, sir."
"Ah, well. I can always take an extra twenty off Mr. Longbottom the next time he melts his potions desk."
Harry clapped a hand over his mouth. Neville had melted many a cauldron, but his desk, this time? "Did that happen today, sir?"
Snape's flaring nostrils were enough to answer that.
"Well, it was brave of him to come, then," Harry decided.
Snape didn't reply to that, but then again, he didn't need to. The points sort of spoke for themselves, didn't they?
Draco loudly snorted. "Oh sure, Severus. Give them points for stealing my brilliant idea."
"Your idea?" Harry questioned, eyes puzzled.
"Well-wishes are for babies, Harry," Draco complained, his tone biting. "I thought of making it an adoption thing. Your Housemates there are just a bunch of plagiarists."
"I do believe you would admire any Slytherin who saw a good idea and passed it off as his own, Draco," Snape pointed out.
"Yeah, well they're not Slytherins!"
"They're my friends," Harry reminded him. "I don't appreciate their efforts any less than I appreciate yours. And besides, Draco, it's not like I don't know who dreamed up the first well-wish for me. The credit's all yours."
Draco twisted a lip, but brightened a bit as he realized, "Well, at least this time Granger'll know better than to help you look up the plants. Her, and all of Gryffindor. You'll have to do your own research, so that's all right, then."
"I could always write Padma," Harry threatened.
He'd expected a reaction from Draco, but it was Snape who took exception to that. "You," he announced, casting his full gaze on Harry, those eyes dark with insistence, "will comport yourself as a proper young wizard this time, which means discovering your friends' wishes for yourself."
"Yes, sir," Harry murmured, lowering his eyes. It hadn't occurred to him that asking Hermione before was any big deal. It came to him now that he'd disappointed Snape. He realized that he didn't like how that made him feel. "So... what plants do I need to look up?" He thrust the well-wish out a bit so Snape could see it better.
His father crossed his arms. "I do believe an appropriate consequence for last time is that this time, you must fathom that out as well. I will tell you this, though. Your friends may not have a way with words, but they have spoken their fill by means of that little token you hold."
Harry couldn't help but smile. Snape could be so very Slytherin, sometimes. "You're just trying to pique my curiosity so I'll do the research."
"Draco?" Snape oddly questioned, but the other boy understood what he meant.
"It's not your average well-wish, that's for certain," Draco responded. "Sneaky, in fact. I thought Gryffindors were supposed to be so brave."
"All right!" Harry admitted, laughing as he flopped down into a chair and set the well-wish on the table in front of him. He waved for the other two to sit down, too. "That's enough! I'll decipher it!"
"You'd think Granger could tell you to your face what she really thinks," Draco went on, undeterred.
"Oh, but she did," Harry insisted, his laughter dying an abrupt death. "Really, I'm not sure whether I should be irritated at her attitude or touched by her concern."
"What do you mean, Harry?" Snape asked, eyeing him carefully.
"I can't believe you didn't pick up on it," Harry murmured, shaking his head. "Hermione said they'd come to offer me a show of support. And that's what it was, a show. I mean, she doesn't really support my decision; she just thinks she ought to act supportive. You know, so I'll have somewhere safe to run when the adoption turns out to be a disaster. Not that I think it will," he rushed to say. "I'm talking for Hermione."
"Obviously," Snape wryly returned, stretching his legs out. "I can't fault your analysis of Miss Granger's intentions, though I did sense a tad more sincerity from others in the group."
"Yeah, Neville and Ginny," Harry agreed. "But that makes sense. Neville knows what it's like to long for parents, and Ginny was trying to make up for Ron being so foul. Decent of them both, really. I mean, the truth is that you've been worse than foul to Gryffindor all these years."
"I told you, Potter, Severus had to do something about Dumbledore's total prejudice against Slytherin--"
Snape gave a long suffering sigh as he reached for his wand. "Ten points from Slytherin--"
"No," Harry interrupted. "Please. I call him Malfoy every now and again when you're not around. We don't mean it in a bad way, Professor, not any longer."
"Defending Slytherin already," Snape nodded, surprise lurking in his eyes as he slipped his wand back into his cloak. "I must admit I approve."
"I was defending Draco," Harry murmured. "Long past time to return the favor."
"I suppose you two are indeed getting on, then," Snape remarked, relaxing still further.
"Yeah, I suppose we are," Harry admitted. He glanced over at Draco, expecting a smile, or at least amusement, but the Slytherin boy's silver eyes were hard and glittering. "What it is?" Harry asked. "What's wrong?"
Draco shook his head as though to clear it, and adopted a rather bored faÃade. "Oh, nothing. I was just remembering something."
"Draco," Snape prompted in a low, intense voice.
"It's nothing," Draco snapped. "Leave it, Severus." With that, he was stomping from the room.
"Uh... did something I said get to him?" Harry asked.
"You intimated that you trust him," Snape remarked. "How much did you mean that?"
Harry leaned forward, his gaze on the well-wish. "Uh... I don't know how to measure it. I mean, I think he's on my side, now. But I still can't say I really understand why he would be, all things considered. I mean, he always hated me, before. Why would he risk being disowned, risk being killed, to help me? See, this is why I try not to think about it, Professor. Because it doesn't make any sense, what he did, and the longer I think about it, the less I trust him."
"But...?" Snape prompted.
"But it doesn't make sense, yet there's so much to it," Harry sighed. "The wand. All the tutoring. Darswaithe. And even with my friends, it's like he's on guard to protect me. You saw it in the Pensieve; he jumped right in to make sure Ron couldn't throw a hex my way. Yeah, okay then. I do trust him, I guess. I just don't know why he'd want me to."