"All right, all right," Harry conceded, pulling up a chair to join his father. He glanced at what his father had already written, and frowned. "First thing is, if you want her to come so you can fill her head with rugby stories, this needs to sound a little less... um..."
"Yes?" Snape darkly inquired, eyes narrowed.
"Er, well... this just sounds a bit like you plan to poison her during dinner," Harry admitted. "I mean, you're angry and it really, really shows. And I think we want her at ease, not looking at the food and all of us with suspicion. I know. Let's invite Ron as well so it seems more like a social occasion."
"Ron," Snape repeated, his eyes studying Harry closely.
"Yeah. Hermione wouldn't think you'd bring her down here to yell at her over the complaint, not if it meant informing him of its existence."
"Unless she already told him all about the supposed abuse you've suffered at our nasty Slytherin hands," Draco reminded him.
"But that's just it," Harry argued, swiveling his head to look at Draco. "She can't possibly have shared her concerns with Ron, because if she had, he'd have come down here to warn me about it."
"Unless he also suspects your bruises might have dire causes."
"After he saw Severus singing to me?" Harry scoffed, then added with a quick glance at his father, "or humming, I mean."
"Quite," said Snape, crossing his arms.
"Besides, Ron saw how much a mere Lumos beat me up," Harry went right on. "If Hermione complained to him that I'm getting hurt down here, he'd have known it was magic practice doing it. He'd have done his level best to convince her that nothing bad was going on, and failing that, he'd have told me straight away that she was likely to cause us some problems."
"Why do I have the feeling that I'm being maneuvered?" the Potions Master inquired with an arched brow.
Then it was Harry's turn to shrug. "Because you just saw me lie my head off?"
"I would not be pleased to find that my son had treated me the same way he treated a certain idiot Hufflepuff casewitch," Snape announced in a hard tone.
Personally, Harry thought that his father's withdrawal from purple loosestrife might be affecting his mood, but he didn't think it would be wise to say as much. "Well then, don't invite Ron. I just thought it'd make everything a lot less tense than if Hermione comes down here alone."
Snape's gaze on him was still rather suspicious, but he appeared to relent, gesturing that they should just get on with it.
"Do you want the invitation to sound like it's coming from me?" Harry thought to ask.
"I don't believe I want to put the young lady that much at ease," Snape drawled. "How about this... Dear Miss Granger, It has come to my attention that you are labouring under a misapprehension that must at all costs be rectified. You are therefore invited to dine with Harry, Draco, and myself tomorrow evening so that we may discuss why your latest crusade to save those in no need of salvation is a serious misjudgment indeed."
Leaning his chin on a hand, Harry considered that. "Maybe something more like, Dear Miss Granger, Although I am certain that you care deeply about Harry, there are things you do not know. Perhaps it is time to come clean. Please join Harry, Draco, and myself for dinner so that we may discuss the matter."
Draco called from across the room where he was reading once more. "Severus would never write come clean."
"All right... Perhaps it is time for us to reach an understanding," Harry amended.
"I suppose that will do." Snape said, nodding slightly.
"Not too prolix," Harry quipped, but his father didn't smile as he scrawled out the message on a fresh scroll of parchment.
"Should we write a separate one for Ron, do you think?" Harry added.
Sighing, Snape picked up the quill again and added, You are welcome to bring Mr. Weasley if you wish.
"If you ask me, Granger deserves something a bit more painful than a dinner," Draco snarled.
"Well, we weren't asking you," Harry returned, leveling his gaze at the other boy. "And no offense, but I think it's fortunate we don't all get what we deserve, don't you?"
Draco didn't answer, though he did take the hint. He stopped complaining... but his ostentatious show of reading his book made it clear that he was far from happy at prospect of dinner with Hermione Granger.
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The next morning over breakfast, a whoosh of fire in the Floo had all three wizards reaching for their wands, but all that arrived was a tightly rolled parchment which fluttered gracefully down to the ashes in the grate. For all that though, Snape examined the letter with every verification spell Harry knew and several he didn't, before pronouncing, "It appears to be innocuous enough."
"Perhaps it's Granger's refusal," Draco sniped.
"Perhaps it's time you accepted that I can and will have other friends!" Harry retorted.
"Some friends," Draco muttered, though he dropped that subject when he peered at the letter, which Snape was by then reading. "Steyne!"
"Indeed," Snape confirmed, shaking his head as he read.
"What does he want?" Draco pressed.
Snape gave the Slytherin boy a telling look, then read the letter out loud:
Dear Professor Snape,
How lovely it was to see you once again and to meet your son, the famous Harry Potter. I must say, I was beyond astonished when I first heard that the Head of Slytherin had adopted him. Knowing you as I do, however, I expect you must have your reasons.
I believe the conclusion of my visit to your quarters was satisfactory? I would like to believe I had a small hand in it, being as I was the disinterested party who assured my superior that rugby is indeed a hazardous activity. I think it was that additional confirmation of your story which convinced her, actually.
I must say, sir, that I have always admired your expertise in Potions. I am pleased to have been able to assist you in this matter. I trust you will remember it in future should I have a need to call upon you.
Yours sincerely,
Richard Steyne
"As letters go, that seemed all right," Harry neutrally commented, only to have Draco all but snort.
"Such innocence," the Slytherin boy mocked. "Don't you get it? It's a deal! He helped Severus, and he's serving fair warning that he's going to want something in return, and that Severus had better deliver."
"He didn't say that."
"Oh, didn't he?" Draco held out a hand for the letter, and when Snape gave it to him, went on, "Let's just read between the lines, shall we? It as good as says..." With that, he translated:
I could tell it mattered to you keeping Harry Potter as your son, not that I believe you adopted him just so you can play daddy. You're as Slytherin as they come, so you want him for something, don't you?
I let you have him, Snape, and I didn't do it out of the goodness of my heart. Any idiot would know that rugby's got nothing to do with Potter's injuries. He's getting hurt down there, but you don't want anybody to know how, so I lied to my boss for you. I kept your secret.
I'm far too intelligent to actually blackmail you, as your reputation for poisons is unparalleled, but I will be asking you for something. When I do, you remember that you owe me.
Harry's jaw dropped. "Oh, it's not as bad as all that, surely."
Snape's own look was grim. "Draco's interpretation is sound. In fact, Mr. Steyne did have a marked tendency to blackmail his fellow Slytherins while he was in attendance here. I would say he's continued the pattern into his professional life."