"Actually, it's Harry I'll be taking away. That eye needs seeing to. Back at Hogwarts, where my private laboratory is at hand should anything go awry."
Draco gave a shrug as though it was nothing to him if he was left all alone. "You look as if you have news, Severus. Bad news. Any plans to tell me soon?"
"Two young Aurors came by early this morning." Snape's dark eyes were unreadable. "They carefully examined all your shirts and found it quite interesting that one had several missing buttons."
Draco looked puzzled.
"You ripped some of the buttons free when you tore your shirt off yesterday," Harry reminded him.
"Well, it hurt! It stung like you wouldn't believe, rubbing up against the burn."
"The disturbing thing," Snape put in, " is that when I explained that you had disrobed rather carelessly, one of the Aurors cast a localised accio to summon any strewn buttons. Only three leapt into her hand, though the shirt is clearly missing four."
Draco sucked in a harsh breath. "Don't tell me, let me guess. The fourth button was found in the Owlery to confirm my presence there?"
"The Aurors declined to comment, but one must presume something of that sort. We are dealing with Slytherins, after all. When your wand refused to cooperate they settled on an alternate means of incriminating you."
"I would be wearing the shirt with the diamond ones," Draco groused. "Damned distinctive handmade buttons. Well, if I get through this perhaps it'll teach me to purchase things off the rack." He shuddered at the mere thought.
Harry thought that gemstone buttons were a bit much in any case. On the other hand, if Draco really did lose all his money on account of being expelled, at least he'd have a little laid by in the form of those buttons...
"Luck does not seem to be with us," Snape agreed. "Had we realised earlier that a button was missing, I could have removed it from the Owlery before the Aurors found it."
"Maybe they haven't found it," Harry mused. "The house-elves clean the Owlery, don't they? And Dumbledore... sorry, Professor Dumbledore said he was with the Aurors when they searched it. He didn't mention them finding anything of note."
"It does not take much sleight of hand to collect surreptitiously something so tiny," Snape pointed out. "And Aurors who are not in the Order have no particular reason to share information freely with Albus, despite his having presided over their education here at Hogwarts. Be that as it may, I feel certain they found it. Their own questions to me were too... leading."
A bad feeling began creeping over Harry. "Did you mention the burn at all? I mean, when you had to explain why Draco ripped off his own buttons?"
Snape's lank hair swung as he shook his head.
"Well good, then we can still heal it," Harry said to Draco.
"I think not," Snape said. "I believe a better course would be to let the injury demonstrate that Draco was in metaphorical rather than physical peril. That is, a conspiracy to incriminate him was afoot and the amulet did not know how to interpret the danger. This scenario even accounts for the fact that the amulet behaved atypically, as it should not have produced sufficient heat to burn the wearer."
"What the hell kind of gift was that, that's what I'd like to know," said Draco.
Harry figured that the other boy was cross over having to keep the burn, so he didn't react.
After a moment, Draco seemed to recover his panache. "So where were we? Oh, right. If the Aurors have found a button of mine in the Owlery, they won't believe I was never up there. Why didn't you say something when Harry was explaining his Slytherin little cover-up?" A moment later, the blond boy narrowed his eyes. "Oh, I see. You have a Slytherin cover-up of your own, don't you, Severus?"
Snape shrugged. "As it happens, I did mention a certain house-elf who recently visited us on the pretext of delivering a letter. It's no exaggeration to say that I have been frankly suspicious ever since as to his true motivations for gaining entrance to my quarters. Not that he came to steal a button, but the Aurors needn't know as much. What matters is that my door parchment will confirm Dubby's visit; Dobby can verify that his cousin is in the employ of Narcissa Malfoy. Therefore, the button can be viewed alternately as evidence against you or as one more indication of a conspiracy originating with the Malfoy family."
"That's perfect," Harry said, nodding. "What else would he use to frame Draco except something so tiny it might not be missed, like a button? Though it's a bit odd you'd be wearing that same shirt the day of the murder."
"Mmm, I might have dropped a hint about Dubby also casting an influence charm to that effect, and since a great deal of elf-magic is difficult for wizards to accurately detect..." Shrugging, Snape let the boys draw their own conclusions.
Draco's was rather extreme. "This story's getting less and less likely. So are we all leaving Scotland before they can charge me? That is," he paused, but only for a fraction of a second. "After you see to Harry's eye, of course."
"If Draco's about to be charged with murder my eye can wait," Harry staunchly declared, looking towards his father in hopes of communicating a silent message. Tell him he matters, too. Tell him you love him every bit as much as you love me...
If Snape perceived Harry's plea, he ignored it.
"New investigators are due to arrive this afternoon," he informed them both, "including at least one senior Auror who will take charge. Ironic, isn't it? Fudge resisted Albus' every machination, but when the Parkinsons themselves threatened to go to the press to complain that the case hadn't been assigned a single seasoned professional? At the very least, they've bought us some time." The Potions Master paused, then added, "The junior Aurors currently at Hogwarts wanted you questioned this morning, Draco, but Albus and I maintained that you were distraught and should really be interrogated only once. The matter has therefore been deferred."
Draco glanced across the table at Harry. "There, all better? Now we're both known as mental."
"Distraught is hardly a character judgment," Snape chided.
"It is when your name is Malfoy." Draco crossed his arms and scowled, then looked as though he was trying to rise above it. "Enough about my problems. Harry, tell him about your ring."
Snape raised a concerned eyebrow. "Something has happened to your mother's ring?"
It was only then that Harry realised he hadn't thought about it in ages. He still wore it, looped around his neck on the chain Snape had supplied, taking it off only for showers and the like, but he'd grown so used to its constant presence that he didn't clutch it in his hand as he used to. It almost seemed a part of him now.
Shaking his head to answer the question, Harry briefly explained Draco's idea about the tattoo and how they had decided that a ring might be a better solution.
By the time he finished, his father was nodding. "Well-reasoned, all of it," he commended them, his glance encompassing them both. Standing, Snape laid a hand on Harry's shoulder. "I will see to it that Harry acquires a snake-shaped ring before he ventures out into the castle. Draco, you will be all right on your own?"
"Oh, but of course," the Slytherin boy said, eyebrows raised as if the very question had been preposterous. "No need to worry about moi. Malfoys don't curl up and die at the first sign of distress. We have backbone, or failing that, enough good sense to lie our way out of trouble."
Tell him, Severus, Harry thought. Tell him you love him; tell him you do worry.
"Be good," Snape merely admonished.