"I can act my age," retorted Harry, stung.
"Let us hope so."
Sighing, Harry went over to his brother and looked him in the eyes. "I'm really sorry they expelled you. It's wrong and unfair. But it'll come out all right, Draco--"
"There you go with the infernal optimism," said the other boy, looking away. "I told you there wasn't one chance in hell this would end up any other way. And it's not going to come out all right. It can't, not now."
He meant the money, Harry knew.
An idea burst forth out of nowhere to fill Harry's whole mind. He really didn't know why he hadn't thought of it when Draco had first mentioned being worried about his vault. Well, maybe he did know. Most days, he tried pretty hard to avoid thinking of Sirius. But after using the mirror, after realising that Sirius would be proud to claim Draco as family... he couldn't help but think that this was exactly the right thing to do.
"No, it's not gone," he said, taking Draco by the arm. "You can have it all back. More than you lost, probably--"
"Harry," said Snape in a warning tone.
Harry ignored it. "I have Sirius Black's vault, Draco," he explained. "I was his sole heir. There's even a house! And it's really more yours than mine, all of it. You're a Black, too. I'll just sign it all over--"
"Shut up, Potter," said Draco in a low voice as he yanked his arm free.
"No, really, it should be yours," Harry insisted.
"Shut up about it!" Draco crossed his arms in front of him. "You're a complete fucking imbecile. It's not enough I have to lose my wand and membership in Slytherin. You want my pride as well?" His eyes glinted like daggers. "Well, you can't have it. Malfoys don't take charity."
"It's not charity! We're family!"
"Family!" screamed Draco, the word clearly some sort of fuse for him.
"Harry," Snape said again, his tones this time sounding more exhausted than anything out. "You'd better go. You're making things worse."
"But I--"
"Go."
So finally, Harry did.
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Coming Soon in A Year Like None Other
Chapter Seventy-Eight: Third Time's a Charm
Comments very welcome,
Aspen
Chapter 78: Third Time's a Charm
http://archive.skyehawke.com/story.php?no=5036&chapter=78
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A Year Like None Other
by Aspen in the Sunlight
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Chapter Seventy-Eight: Third Time's a Charm
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Harry said nothing about his family when he joined his friends on their way back to Gryffindor tower, but his dreams that night spoke volumes.
He was standing before the enchanted picture frame, wand at the ready, then stepping back as the wall dissolved into the image of the double doors that led into the Boardroom. The doors were closed just then, and Snape was standing there with Draco, one hand on his shoulder as he gave the boy a last word of encouragement. The doors opened like magic, beckoning the pair inside, but instead of seeing his father and brother walk forward, Harry was suddenly transported into the middle of the hearing.
Or trial, really, for that was what it had been.
Everything was the same as it had been in his waking life, down to the last detail. The stone stool where Draco sat. Lucius, his entire demeanour composed, though he was ever so slightly smirking. Fudge, banging his gavel when the Governors began to speak amongst themselves.
Then Harry noticed his godfather, and realised that not everything was the same.
Sirius, alive and well.
He was seated at the curved table with the other Board members, just as if he had a right to be, as if he were one of them, when in fact he was a fugitive from the Ministry's horrid idea of justice. How could he be sitting out in the open like that, with the Minister of Magic himself not twenty feet away? And what if some Aurors came in to testify? They'd recognise Sirius even if nobody else seemed to. Sirius was going to get tossed to the Dementors...
But not if Harry had anything to say about it.
Standing close to the wall, he thought desperately of his godfather, trying to make the wall focus on him alone so that he could whisper a warning. But nothing happened; he could still see the entire Board, and Draco, Snape, and Dumbledore as well. Snape was glaring, his black eyes fierce, but strangely, his anger didn't seem directed at Sirius.
Uh-oh...
Snape somehow knew that Harry was using the magical picture frame again, knew that Harry was misusing it...
But what did that matter when Sirius could be arrested any second?
Concentrating again, Harry thought only of Sirius, focusing his every thought on him and only him, reaching down deep into the core of his being to pull forth every bit of magic he possessed. Protecting Sirius was all that mattered. His father would be angry, but that was all right. He'd said he didn't expect Harry to be perfect; he'd promised that he and Harry would get past whatever difficulties might arise.
It's going to be all right, Harry thought. I'll warn Sirius to get away, and once he's safely in hiding, I'll make it up to Severus. Somehow. Everything will be just fine...
In the next instant, though, Harry realised that things were far from fine. The whole wall before him shattered like a mirror dropped upon a hard, stone floor. Jagged granite chunks fell to the ground, the noise of them so loud that Harry winced and covered his ears.
Suddenly Snape was there in person, in the bedroom with Harry, shaking his head.
"Idiot child, you broke Draco's Christmas present!"
"He broke mine," Harry said, and right away wished he hadn't, because he didn't really resent that. He understood the kind of state Draco had been in that day. And now his father was going to think he was an idiot, wasn't he, or at the least he would think Harry a child, a petulant child. And Snape knew how to be scathing, didn't he? He knew just how to cut Harry down to size, and he wouldn't hesitate to do just that, would he---
But all Snape said was, "Oh, but you're hurt, Harry. Let me see. Come now, let me see..."
Harry didn't know what he was talking about. "Huh? I'm not hurt--"
But he was only just realising that yes, he was. His whole hand felt like it was on fire, the sensation worst on the finger that bore his snake ring. "Severus," he said, his voice wavering with shock, "I think I need a potion."
"No potion," said Snape, his voice smooth like honey, yet laced with something sinister. "You don't deserve a potion after what you've done."
Snape pricked his finger then, using a thick, long needle that reminded Harry of Samhain, and Harry flinched. Blood dripped from the wound and oozed onto his mother's ring. Except, it wasn't his mother's so much now, was it? It was Severus' as well. And Severus was angry...
Harry yanked his hand away and began to rub it on his shirt, back and forth, trying to get the blood off the ring. But the blood remained, coating the ring so completely that no part of it was visible, now. The ring was ruined, and Snape's so-called help had been no help at all. Harry's finger felt like it was going up in flames. "Why'd you do that?"