Snape nodded, but in sympathy, not to agree to the request. "You need closure," he simply stated, the word reminding Harry of the things he'd read in that Road to Recovery book. "It is only to be expected that you can't truly accept what has happened without proof of some sort, Draco. But as for viewing the body..." Snape sadly shook his head. "That will not help, I am afraid. After the violence of her passing, Miss Parkinson does not resemble herself."
"Oh, that's ridiculous," Draco objected.
"Corpus Aqueous," Snape informed him.
Draco pulled his hands out from beneath his legs in a reflexive motion, raising them to his mouth as though to hold in a sudden surge of nausea. Clearly, he didn't need the curse explained, though between his fingers he did moan, "I... I'd still really like to see her one last time, Severus..."
"No, my boy, you wouldn't," Dumbledore softly insisted. "It's far better to remember her the way she was in life."
Draco glanced up then, his eyes a dull grey covered by a sheen of tears. One dropped past his lashes as he gave another one of those awful uncoordinated nods.
"Here, I've brought something for you to read," Dumbledore went on, reaching inside his robes for a thick scroll of parchment.
"Expulsion papers?" Draco bitterly joked, wiping furiously at his cheek as though disgusted with that single tear.
"It's the school charter," Albus explained. "Not the full charter, of course. That would be a few dozen scrolls, most of them in Latin. But this section was revised within my own lifetime." He smiled slightly. "There were those who wanted to maintain the entire document in Latin, but Headmaster Dippet and I managed to convince them that it was time to include English in our venerable tradition."
"Uh, thank you, sir," Draco murmured, breathing deeply as though to get himself under control. "But... why provide me a copy of this?"
The headmaster merely gestured for him to unroll the scroll and begin reading. "Oh." Draco looked up with sombre eyes. "I understand. It is about expulsion. Procedures, student rights, parental rights. Ha, like those matter a shrivelfig."
"All parental rights rest in your own person because you are an emancipated minor. And forewarned is forearmed," the headmaster pronounced. "Should it come to that, it is best for you to fully understand what we are facing."
"Should it come to that?" Draco repeated, clearing his throat. "That's an odd thing to hear. Word of the murder's gotten out by now, I expect."
"Yes, but there's been a notable silence from the Board as of yet."
Harry felt relief washing over him. "There, you see? Lucius must have realised that this plan is simply mad, he can't possibly get away with it--"
"Harry," Snape interrupted. "That's a rather Gryffindor interpretation."
Draco nodded agreement. "Tactics, Harry. He's waiting for the Aurors to do their job. Once I've been charged with murder, it hardly matters if I'm expelled as well. And if by some miracle I'm not charged... well, Lucius has failed before to expel me, so I expect this time he'll have someone else push for it. He's going to go to great lengths to look neutral..." The Slytherin boy sat up straight, holding himself so rigidly that Harry knew he must be afraid he might crumple. "He might even speak on my behalf, but it'll all be a feint to make sure this time, everything looks above-board." Draco's hand tightened around the scroll, but not enough to damage it. "Thank you, Headmaster. I'll make sure I understand the procedures, make sure I'm prepared to put forth the best possible defence."
Albus favoured him with a quiet smile. "Do. And keep in mind, we are working on that miracle for you."
"We?" Draco sighed. "Oh, you and Harry and Severus."
"The Order of the Phoenix," Albus corrected. "We owe you a great debt. Indeed, one it would be most difficult to repay, Harry's wand being of uncalculated worth in this struggle."
Draco glanced down. "I... When you said you'd help me, I thought you just meant... you."
"I suspect that what you actually thought was that I didn't mean it in the least," Albus returned, his voice keeping to the soothing tones he'd used since his arrival at the cottage.
"Well, you were sure I'd killed her," Draco pointed out, his own voice small.
"I did think that, yes," Albus admitted. "It did not sit well with me that after all I had done for you, you turned on Harry."
"I didn't turn on him," Draco exclaimed, looking horrified at that interpretation.
"I know," Albus soothed. "You acted your age, which took me aback, I suppose, because during these past months you have vastly exceeded my expectations. It cannot have been easy, what you have lived through. That I was so very disappointed in you must show you that I had come to believe quite firmly in your fealty to Harry. To depend on you as an ally in this war, Draco."
"You can depend on me--"
"I know," Albus said again, his blue eyes steady and sincere. He stared at Draco a moment more, as though testing whether the Slytherin boy believed him. Then rising to his feet, he announced, "Severus is right that I should take a short trip to London... I'll leave you three to family matters, then."
Snape's glance at him was swift and assessing, but the Potions Master said nothing as Dumbledore let himself out through the door.
Harry waited until he heard the slight pop of Apparation before questioning, "Family matters?"
"I believe Albus is indicating his acceptance of the situation," Snape explained. "You did rather emphasise the point when you rebuked him on the matter of names. Not that it is your place to lecture the headmaster--"
"What did Harry say?" Draco asked, looking from one to the other.
"Oh, nothing," Harry passed it off.
"He only declared," Snape wryly detailed, "that if I found it necessary to leave the country with you to keep you safe from the Dementors, he would come wander the world with us."
"Yeah, well he's the one who resigned," Harry pointed out.
Draco's face went paler than usual. "Severus, you resigned from Hogwarts? Over me?"
"You are my son, are you not?"
"I don't want to cost you your job--"
"The headmaster didn't accept the resignation," Harry hurried to explain, wondering why his father hadn't made that clear. "Severus still has a job. So that's all right."
Harry would have thought that the news would have Draco feeling better, but the other boy still looked ill. Probably the mention of the Dementors. "We won't let anything bad happen to you, Draco," he promised. "We won't, all right? We'll go hide where the Ministry can never find us if it comes to that. We know you didn't do anything wrong."
"We know you didn't commit murder," Snape coolly interrupted. "However, there is the matter of your wand, Draco. Your dabbling. Under the circumstances that worked out well, as it foiled the conspirators, but still, I cannot condone your foray into the Dark Arts. Particularly not considering the way you were raised; you may be more susceptible to the lure than you realise."
"Then why'd you leave the book in plain reach?" Draco rudely questioned, going on the offensive. "You know how potions fascinate me, and you knew I was looking into bloodlines and such, and you left a book on kinship potions in the stacks Harry and I were supposed to shelve?"