"Huh?" Harry blinked. "You've known all along I was. I'm skipping Hogsmeade for it, remember?"
"Because I assigned you to."
"Well, not just that," Harry murmured. "There's also the well-wish."
"The well-wish that caused you to miss class."
"Yeah, and besides I have that extra essay ready like I said, all three feet of it--"
"And this is what you were up so late doing, the reason why you could not start your homework until four in the morning."
"Well, that and the well-wish, actually, but I was already up pretty late so Hermione could help me get my notes copied for Draco like you wanted--"
"Harry," Snape interrupted, "it seems to me that your saving-people-thing has found a new way to manifest itself. You appear to have developed a pleasing-people-thing."
Suddenly the dungeon classroom felt uncomfortably hot. "Uh, no I haven't. I just wanted you to be proud of me, you know."
"Harry, I am proud of you!" As though realising he had been shouting, Snape lowered his voice. "You do not need to buy my affection with essays or notes or well-wishes or certainly, not with a pretence that your homework is done when it is not. I told you, did I not, that you didn't need to be perfect?"
"Yeah, but I just thought that with Draco, you know, being such a prat..."
Snape chuckled softly then. "Ah, I understand now. You're competing with Draco."
"No, I'm not--"
"Oh, yes, you certainly are. He's intent on proving to himself that neither one of us will abandon him, and you're intent on proving that you can be as good as he can be bad." Snape leaned forward then, and caught both Harry's hands in his. "I'm given to understand that it's actually quite normal, this impulse. I don't much care for it, however. You shouldn't put yourself last like that, going all night without sleep to see to things that can be done another time."
Harry looked down at his shoes. Or tried to, anyway. What he saw was his father's strong hands clasping his. "I... I just didn't want you to say that I only thought about myself, I guess."
Snape's hands tightened, the pressure somehow comforting. "I don't think that of you. I know I used to say it quite often--"
"You said it last Friday night," Harry murmured, glancing up into his father's eyes.
"Friday night... Draco had just been expelled, Harry!"
"I know." Harry smiled a little bit, then. "I... I guess you weren't in the best frame of mind and I shouldn't have taken what you said so much to heart. But it just seemed like... well, I realised I had been being selfish, and I thought Draco should come first for a while, that's all."
"If you thought that then why haven't you once come down to visit?" Snape's voice was ragged by then. "Harry, I realise that Draco was quite horrid towards you on Sunday, but I thought you understood. He's pushing you away because he's afraid that what he has won't last. And in letting yourself be pushed, I suspect you are confirming that fear."
Harry's smile died. "Oh. That's not good." He shifted in his chair again. "I wasn't staying away because he was so rude. The casewitch said he'd need lots of time alone with you, that's all. And I was trying to make sure he got it."
Snape squeezed his hand still more, then let go and sat back with a sigh. "Ah, the casewitch. I'm surprised you'd take her advice so much to heart, after she was foolish enough to believe that preposterous rugby story."
"I thought of that, but you know, she was spot-on about Draco turning into a bit of a prat." Harry's spirits lifted a little when Snape raised his eyebrow at the phrase a bit. "And when he straight away made it clear he didn't want me tagging along to Hogsmeade, I figured he did need time with his new dad."
"A reasonable deduction." Standing then, Snape looked down at him. "I believe you are right in part; Draco does want to have my undivided attention at present. But he also wants to see you, and these conflicting needs will no doubt cause him to continue to be somewhat antagonistic when you visit." Snape's eyes were hooded by the end. "You will visit, I hope?"
"Yeah." Harry stood up and stretched. "How about I come down right now for dinner?"
"Actually, I told Draco earlier that I already had plans for dinner tonight. I thought it was time we talked."
"Oh, so even if I hadn't destroyed the floor--"
"Yes." Snape beckoned him with his fingers. "We'll eat in my office and you can tell me how your week has gone."
"But if he knows you're up here with me, won't he feel awfully left out?"
The Potions Master lifted his shoulders as though that couldn't be helped, "Draco is not the only one who needs to spend time with his father. He will simply have to share."
Harry grinned. "You know, Draco has his good points, but I don't think sharing is really one of them."
"Then it's time he learns."
And that, Harry sensed, was Snape's final word on the matter. A warm feeling spreading through him, Harry followed his father into his office.
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Eating in the potions office was a new experience. Not one Harry liked much, either. There were just too many horrible things floating in the jars that lined every shelf. Putrid, distorted things. Some of them looked alive, too. Alive and suffering.
Harry soon learned to keep his gaze focussed on his plate and his father's face. That helped.
And of course the chance to catch up with Snape made it all worthwhile.
Over roast chicken with jacket potatoes, they talked about Harry's week. Harry had a lot to say, though he left out Ron and Hermione's constant bickering. But there were loads of other things to talk about, so it wasn't until pudding that the conversation wound around to Nott's story about the plague. "Do you think it could have happened that way, Dad? Bella and Erik causing the whole thing by accident because they were trying to keep Nott from saying that he'd been at the Owlery stairs that afternoon?"
Snape took a few sips of wine before he answered. "In the first place, I cannot credit that Mr. Nott would take it upon himself to so vigorously defend Draco against the accusation of murder. They used to be allies of a sort, but they were never close friends. Moreover, according to his own story, he already suspected that Miss Uwannawich and Mr. Vanvelzeer had been persuaded by Lucius Malfoy to testify. I find it highly unlikely that Mr. Nott would attempt to obstruct any of Malfoy's plans, especially after he's heard exactly how vicious Malfoy can be."
A reference to Samhain, Harry felt sure. "So Draco really has been writing to Nott? That part at least is true?"
"Yes. However, his story has a fatal flaw nonetheless. We know that since a memory charm was involved, Miss Uwannawich and Mr. Vanvelzeer believed their own testimony. They might have been offended that Nott called them both liars, but I doubt they would find it necessary to curse him. Only a knowing accomplice is likely to act in such a way."
"True..." Harry poked his spoon into his trifle, over and over. "But that might just mean that he's wrong, not that he's lying. He didn't say he knew that Belladonna and Erik had cursed him. He just said he thought they had."
"All the same, I would advise you to put no faith in Mr. Nott."
"Oh, I won't," Harry assured his father. "But you might see me partner with him or sit with him at the Slytherin table or something. As long as he thinks I'm likely to trust him, he'll keep talking, see? And he might let slip something useful."
"Doubtful. He's had six years in my House, Harry."
"Well, I've had six years in Gryffindor so I have to try."
Snape smiled. "Yes, I suppose you do. And given that you have already eaten with Slytherin, I think it's time to introduce you formally to my House."
Harry felt a headache coming on just thinking about that. "That's really not necessary, is it?" He tried for a weak joke. "I'm pretty sure they all know who I am."