"You three have bonded," said Hermione, nodding as though it made perfect sense.
"You've bonded?" gasped Ron, going back into panic-mode.
"She doesn't mean magically bonded! Look, Severus unofficially adopted Draco, that's how it happened. He cares about us both and Draco needed to know he was just as much a son here as I was. And I can tell you one thing for sure -- my father wouldn't have appreciated it if I'd gone on about how I was the real son and Draco wasn't. And so that was it, really. I cared what Severus thought of me, so I didn't complain that Draco being his son meant the two of us were brothers. I just accepted it as fact and moved on." Harry gave a tremulous smile. "And just for the record, I like having a brother. I like him."
"Yeah, well I'd figured that last part out on my own," said Ron. "Why do you think I jumped to that other conclusion?"
"Because you're completely brainless, Ronald."
"I could have found a better way to tell you both--" Harry was saying, but he abruptly fell silent as the wall behind Ron began to dissolve. "Shh, shhh, the wards are being lifted," he practically hissed, waving an arm so Ron would turn around and see.
Beside him, Hermione had gone still and quiet.
The boardroom came into view again, the image centred on Lucius Malfoy since the spell, presumably, was still focused on him. Jumping up, Harry fixed that with a quick, low, Show me Draco.
The boardroom spun on its axis until it was showing Draco from the side, as before, Lucius Malfoy still visible as well. Severus, Harry noticed, had a particularly grim look on his face. Clearly, he was expecting an unfavourable verdict.
Well, either that or he'd just recognised Harry's Parseltongue.
Harry shivered, absolutely hating the thought of what his father was going to say to him about all this.
Fudge was banging his gavel on his podium, even though most everyone was already paying attention. "The room will come to order!" When he was satisfied that every last eye was on him, he turned to face the Board members. Only when one of them gave him a sharp nod did he proceed. "I have before me the binding decision of the Hogwarts' Board of Governors regarding the expulsion of Draco Alain Gervais Luthien Malfoy."
He paused for effect, then raised his voice. "Effective immediately, Mr. Malfoy is expelled on the grounds that he poses a grave danger to the safety and well-being of other students attending the institution!"
Harry saw Draco go as stiff as a board, his eyes glittering hard and silver as, for the first time since the hearing had begun, he looked directly at Lucius.
Lucius stared back, eyebrows slightly raised, his whole expression one of complacent amusement.
"Mr. Malfoy," Fudge went on, "will surrender his wand to the headmaster."
"Point of order, Minister," Lucius broke in, his voice so smooth it sent shivers down Harry's spine. "The wand in question is my property. Mr. Malfoy will surrender it to me."
Harry felt his fingers twitch at that, and recognised that his anger was trying to unleash itself again. He clenched his fists to keep it under control, and held his breath as he watched Draco stand up and walk stiffly forward, his entire bearing screaming that he was determined to remain composed. That Lucius wouldn't break him, not even with this.
The Slytherin boy held his wand out, holding it parallel in front of him instead of pointed at Lucius. There was no implication, that way, that he was threatening the man... but no offer of a wand truce, either. It was a completely neutral way to hand over a wand. Harry had to admit that he was impressed. It was all he could do not to hex Lucius, and he wasn't even the one getting expelled.
"Why thank you, Mr. Malfoy," said Lucius in a sneering tone as he took the wand in hand. The minute touched it, however, a strange expression coursed across his face. Surprise, almost. Or maybe even a touch of respect...
The lineage potion, Harry thought. The one that makes the wand able to be used only by someone named Malfoy... Lucius is a Malfoy, so he can sense it, somehow. And he's impressed at this proof that Draco's been dabbling in the Dark Arts...
At that moment, more so than ever before, Harry got a sense of how hopelessly twisted Draco's childhood must have been.
Draco stepped back and looked about to take his seat again, but Fudge forestalled him. "You are no longer a student at this institution, Mr. Malfoy. There is no reason for your continued presence. Indeed," here he glanced at Lucius as though seeking approval, "Hogwarts bylaws require you to leave forthwith."
"The Express doesn't run until morning," objected the pipe-smoking witch. Her eyes shone with more than a little bit of compassion. "Surely the young man can stay until then?"
"My apologies, Madam," Fudge said, shaking his head as he tapped the large sheaf of parchment before him. "The procedure is quite clear. He's to have an hour at most, and that only so that he can gather up his belongings."
"If you will excuse us, then," announced Snape, standing. "Draco?"
Turning his back on Lucius, Draco faced his real father.
"Aren't you forgetting something, Headmaster?"
"No, I don't believe so, Minister," replied Dumbledore while peering out over the top of his spectacles.
Fudge's fingers tightened on his gavel, but he didn't bang it. "I believe the Hogwarts' Charter is quite clear on the matter of who has the right to wear a House crest. Students, staff, and those who have successfully completed seven years of education at the institution, including passing at least one N.E.W.T." He gave the Governors a rather thin smile, as though the situation was unpleasant but he had to do his duty, nonetheless. "Mr. Malfoy no longer qualifies."
"Of course," murmured Dumbledore, sorrow in his blue eyes. "Draco, would you come here please?"
Draco now, not Mr. Malfoy. Harry appreciated that, even if the scene before his eyes was simply dreadful. As Draco walked towards the headmaster, Lucius Malfoy's eyes glittered maliciously.
"Courage," Dumbledore softly murmured as he waved a hand over the crest on Draco's robes. The Slytherin crest vanished as though it had never been, leaving Draco's robes a stark, unrelenting black.
"And any other crests he might have on other cloaks or robes?" asked the wizard in the pointed hat. Dumbledore merely stared, his blue gaze somewhat fearsome, until the wizard waved a hand. "My apologies. Of course they've been taken care of as well."
"It's time, Draco," said Snape in just about the most gentle voice Harry had ever heard from him.
The boy crossed the short distance to where Snape stood, his steps unsteady now. He'd managed to hold up well while giving his wand away, but he'd been expecting that might happen. The removal of his crest had taken him by surprise. His spirit obviously sapped, Draco looked as though his legs might collapse. Snape must have thought so too; the instant the boy got close enough, he took him by the arm and with a firm grip, kept him from stumbling further. The Potions Master nodded at the Board then, which irritated Harry. Shouldn't Snape be telling them how inappropriate their action was? How they were going to lose the finest Potions Master in all Britain now?
Shouldn't he be writing out a resignation and flinging it straight at them, accompanied by a few dozen scathing words about idiocy and irresponsibility and incompetence?
Harry couldn't believe Snape was taking this outrageous decision so calmly.
Then again, though, there was that discretion thing Snape was so fond of. He'd felt free to rail and scream at Dumbledore, but apparently he had a different code of conduct when it came to dealing with the Governors. Or maybe, he just didn't want to make Lucius Malfoy aware of his plans to take Draco abroad.