"Uh, no. I don't think so." Harry glanced at his father, who hadn't spoken since handing over the scroll. "No offence, Severus. I'm proud to be your son and have the whole world know it, but I can't change my name, I just can't."
The Potions Master didn't look put out in the least; that was nice.
"Well then," said Draco, moving forward a little. He hesitated, then took the scroll from Harry and swiftly rolled it up. Only after he had placed it atop the bookshelf alongside Harry's own suitable-for-framing certificate did he resume speaking. "I guess this really does make us brothers."
Harry started, the phrase reverberating through his mind, and then he began laughing.
Draco narrowed his eyes. "What?"
Taking several deliberate deep breaths, Harry managed to get his laughter under control. "You know how you asked me once what I knew about the future? And I didn't answer? It was because I knew this, Draco. I dreamed a long time ago, before Samhain even, that you were going to say we were brothers!"
"And how exactly is it amusing?"
Uh-oh, Draco was starting to sound a bit miffed. Remembering how rough and raw he'd felt after his own adoption, how unsure of his welcome even though Snape had been nothing but kind, Harry rushed the rest of the story out. "It's funny because you've said we're brothers so many times that now I'll never know which time I actually dreamed! And I used to think it mattered; I was trying to figure out what order things were happening in, but you pretty much made it so I couldn't. Let's see, first it was, we're brothers because you're a Slytherin too, and then Severus lectured us about how we were both his sons, and it was so I guess we really are brothers, and now you've said it yet again!"
Draco's voice was cool. "I hadn't realised you were keeping such careful track."
"You would have, too, if you'd dreamed back before Samhain that I was going to say that we're brothers."
"Hmm, I suppose so. I can remember what I used to think about the way you always stole my thunder."
"Oh, that's rich. I don't recall distributing Malfoy stinks buttons all over school."
"Not a bad idea at this juncture though," Draco said, shrugging. "It wouldn't bother me, considering. Though it might be a poor tactical move to insult one of the Governors, much as he does deserve it. Of course he'll be simply furious that Severus managed to outsmart his every scheme. And the name change. Now that's an insult. Too bad I won't get to see his face when he reads about it in the morning edition of the Prophet."
Harry almost choked. "You're advertising it?"
"It's WFS policy since I'm a minor again now." Draco made a slight face, then appeared to shake off his morose thoughts. "So, are you all right with all of it? Not the name thing. The adoption, I mean."
"Well, of course. We were family already--"
"Not like this."
"Yes, like this." Harry sighed then, because if Draco could think that a certificate proved anything, then he really never had understood that Harry loved him. Patience, he heard the casewitch say inside his mind. Figuring it was better not to argue the point, he smiled a little bit. "I guess the third time's a charm."
"Huh?"
"That's three times you've said we're brothers."
"Is it, though? A charm?"
How two words could hold such insecurity was a mystery. Harry took a step towards Draco and grasped both his forearms. "Listen, Draco. If I'd known in advance what you two had planned I'd have made you a proper well wish. Actually I'm a little put out to have been left out--"
"I tried to tell you--"
"I know. It's all right, really. Severus explained. Hagrid was here so he shut you up."
"I encouraged discretion," Snape dryly corrected.
"No, you shut me up would be more accurate," said Draco, his tones every bit as dry. "I still did try to tell you again, even after it started to look hopeless. But on Wednesday all I could think about was the funeral, and then Severus said it didn't make much sense to explain until we knew more. And then I got expelled and had to leave, so I figured you might as well know everything, but when Severus and I got back here, your friends were hanging about, gloating like mad that I'd been kicked out of school!"
"They weren't gloating."
"Weasley was."
"Only after you mentioned again how poor he is. Come on, Draco, they testified for you! They tried to make the Board see that those other students were lying. They only came down here afterwards because Hermione wanted to apologise to me that her letter was used in such a foul way."
"She should apologise to me," sneered Draco. Harry braced himself for a tirade, but his brother dropped that matter for one more immediate. "So what's going to happen to Bella and Erik, Severus? They conspired to get another student expelled. Not to mention, their fascinating performance in the hearing tends to suggest that they were part of the plot to murder Pansy. Why else would they be trying so hard to help frame me?"
Snape folded his arms in front of him, his dark eyebrows drawing together over eyes that glittered with unpleasant intent. His voice cut through the air like a razor. "I will be speaking with Miss Uwannawich and Mr. Vanvelzeer. You may count on it."
Harry flicked a glance towards Snape, wondering what the Potions Master had in mind. He somehow didn't think Snape would tell him, though. Which reminded him... "You might at least have mentioned that Argentina was off, you know."
Snape raised a questioning brow. "I did."
Oh, right. He had. "Well you know I didn't believe that! I mean, it might have been Bolivia or Kenya or something, but I definitely thought we were leaving the country. You knew I thought that!"
Snape took off his own cloak then, carefully hanging it on a peg. "How should I know what you think?" he asked, a trifle snidely. "You gave me to understand quite some time ago that I was not to use clandestine Legilimency on you except under extraordinary circumstances."
"Oh, that's a bit beside the point."
"Last night I did not feel like discussing my dearth of travel plans with you, as you had seriously displeased me with your dabbling in untested magic!"
"So leaving me in the dark, that was your idea of a punishment?"
"It was not done consciously," Snape said, his voice stiff. "I had much to accomplish and a good deal to consider besides your tender feelings."
"Harry," Draco broke in, "don't you remember what Lucius would do to me for punishment? Or what those awful Muggles would do to you?"
"Yeah," admitted Harry. "Still doesn't make it right to make me think I'm leaving Hogwarts, though."
"I didn't make you think that, you idiot child."
"Let's just drop it," said Harry. He could see that nobody was going to win this argument, and really, it wasn't so very important. He'd have handled things differently if he'd been in Snape's shoes, but then again, everyone made mistakes sometimes. And Snape hadn't been in the best position to know for sure, had he, if they might need to travel after all. At that point the adoption had still been in doubt.
Draco drew a pale wand from his pocket and levitated the satchel Snape had carried back from Devon. "Well, that's more than enough talk of leaving. I'm going to settle back in." With that he was striding into the bedroom, the satchel floating behind.
When Harry glanced back at his father, it was to see that the man was watching him carefully. "Harry," he began, but whatever Snape had meant to say was interrupted by Draco stomping back out to the living room, an open envelope clenched in one hand, a tiny gleaming key in the other.