|
runaway dragon
Disclaimer 1: Draco, his parents and teachers all belong to JKR. (As if you didn't all know that.)
Disclaimer 2: Severus Snape owning a raven belongs to J.L. Matthews. (Go read her story everybody. It's great.) I found a new name for him this time though.
Disclaimer 3: The gang name Sharks is borrowed from the musical West Side Story of course. I don't remember where I found the name Rakers, but I know I read it somewhere.
Disclaimer 4: The idea for Snape having a family comes from Al's fic Time of Trial. (Thanks Al. I always seem to get the best ideas when reading your fics.)
A/N - FF.net is back just in time. Lets just hope the upload and review functions really work.
Chapter 2: Three Pets And A Baby
A sudden weight dropping onto his chest woke Draco. He sat up quickly and promptly fell off the couch.
"Mrweow!" protested the sudden weight.
Draco glared at the large gray and white cat with badly torn up ears. The cat glared back turned, swished his tail and stalked out of the room obviously disgusted with the intruder in his home.
Draco wondered why the door was standing half open for a moment, then remembered Pansy Parkinson's cat who had an uncanny knack for opening doors. And this was an easy one. All the cat had to do was jump at the handle and the door would open on its own.
Light was streaming in through the window and Draco could hear unmistakable sounds of activity from outside the door. He got up and looked out the window. He had definitely slept too long. The sun was shining brightly down at Merlin Park. He could see people walking through the park and there was a group of kids playing some game he didn't know on a large lawn beneath his window.
The park actually looked very nice and inviting in bright daylight. He wondered why his father had warned him about the place. The kids looked like they were having fun and not worried about their safety at all. They were all dressed in blue muggle clothes and wearing identical blue caps. There was one ball on the playing field and they all seemed to be chasing after it. Maybe it was a team game similar to Quiddich and this was a team training for their next game? That would explain the uniform though it didn't seem to be all that strict except for the caps.
Draco picked up his robes and padded out into the living room. Maybe Snape would let him go down to watch the kids play after he'd written to the aurors? It would take them some time to check Malfoy Manor.
But Professor Snape wasn't in the living room. Sarah Snape was sitting by the window sewing and there was a very small somebody crawling around on the floor.
"Good morning Mrs Snape." Draco said politely. "Good morning baby."
"Good morning." answered Mrs Snape.
"Da!" answered the baby.
"His name's Billy." Sarah explained smiling slightly.
"Hi, Billy." said Draco smiling too. Billy was a cute kid. He had his father's black eyes and hair, but his mothers rather unremarkable nose which in Draco's opinion was a rather lucky combination. Who'd want to have a nose like Professor Snape's?
"Da!" repeated Billy and Draco concluded that that was probably all the little guy ever said.
Draco had no experience with babies and therefore no idea how old Billy might be or what he might be able to do and not able to do. From what he saw at the moment he was quite good at crawling about and no good at talking. He'd have to find somebody else to talk with. Well, the kids he'd seen in the park were certainly old enough to talk and he was very curious about that game they were playing anyway.
He padded into the bathroom to wash and dress and when he returned he found that Sarah had set out a plate for him and was just filling it with breakfast. Scrambled eggs. Mmmh! He'd had no idea he was this hungry. He sat down to eat and Sarah sent him another smile when she saw how hungrily he dug in. She'd probably cooked this herself, Draco realised once again startled. This took a bit of getting used to.
The cat was now in the living room as well having his own breakfast sitting beside the kitchen sink and Billy was still crawling about on the floor.
"Mmummy!" he said when he passed Sarah.
So Billy could talk. Or at least was learning to talk. Draco watched the baby with renewed interest. It wasn't entirely true that he couldn't walk either. Sometimes he'd pull himself up on some piece of furniture with his hands, then make a few unsteady steps and fall over once he had to let go of the supporting furniture.
Neither Professor Snape nor the dog had showed up until Draco finished his breakfast.
"Where's Professor Snape?" he finally asked Sarah. "He promised to owl the aurors about my mother today."
"Oh, he already did that hours ago. Sent Munin right off with the letter and then went to show the dog around in Knockturn Alley. I don't know why he bothers. He knows that dog's a stray. He's just pretending to want to take him back. I know we're going to end up with another pet." she eyed the cat angrily.
"He went to Knockturn Alley? Why didn't you wake me up? I'd have gone with him." Draco exclaimed.
"Oh, no, young man. Knockturn Alley is no place for good little boys."
"I'm not little!" protested Draco. "And I've been there before. Father always took me to Knockturn Alley with him when he went shopping."
"Then your father is a very irresponsible man. Taking a kid to Knockturn Alley. Really! What was he thinking? People who know what's good for them don't go there at all. But no, Severus has to go ask all those mad death eaters and monsters if they've lost a dog. The ministry's going to suspect him again if he goes on like this, but will he listen to me? No."
Draco listened to Sarah's rant for a while, then asked her when she was expecting the answer from the ministry.
"Sometime this afternoon, I suppose. But don't you worry about your Mummy. I'm sure everything's all right." Sarah said, but Draco had a feeling that she was just trying to calm him down.
"She's dead." he insisted. "I saw her lie there all surrounded by blood. Father killed her and he'd have killed me too. I know Professor Snape says Father would never do something like that in his right mind, but he wasn't in his right mind. He was drunk. I should have stayed away from him. I always do when he's drunk. But I'd just come home from school and I wanted to talk to him. Mother didn't have any time so I went to talk to Father and he got angry, because Hermione Granger got better grades than I did again and he started to hit me and then Mother came and he killed her. It's all my fault."
"No it's not." said Sarah. "People do the strangest things when they're drunk. It's nobody's fault but their own for drinking too much. And I'm still convinced your Mummy's fine. You'll see when that letter comes in a few hours. You just wait and try not to think about it too much."
"Okay, I'll just go down and take a walk through the park until then."
"Oh, no, you don't!" protested Sarah at once. "Merlin Park is no place for little rich kids. It's all full of thieves and gangs and who knows what might happen to an innocent rich boy like you. Severus said you're not to leave the flat without either him or me with you and I totally agree. This is a very bad neighbourhood and you don't belong here."
"But I saw some kids play down in the park. They didn't look afraid at all and they didn't have any adults with them either."
"Those kids wee born here, boy. They know their way around."
"I just want to go down and talk to them. That can't be dangerous."
"Oh, yes it can. As I said, those are local kids. They're very dangerous, for little rich kids like you."
"I already told you I'm not little. I'm almost fifteen. And what makes you think I'm a rich kid anyway? What did Professor Snape tell you about my family?" he wasn't really sure why he was protesting against being called rich. It was the truth after all. Maybe it had something to do with that feeling of shame he'd had back when he'd arrived here. He didn't want her to think of him as rich.
"He didn't tell me anything except what you heard. You're one of his pupils. That means you go to Hogwarts, ergo you're a rich kid."
"So you just think that everybody who goes to Hogwarts is rich?" Draco didn't believe his ears.
"Of course. Poor people can't afford to send their kids to expensive private boarding schools. And Hogwarts is the very best. It's a place for rich kids."
"Oh really? The Weasleys' kids go to Hogwarts too, you know. You can't call the Weasleys rich, can you?"
"Yes I can. By our standards here they're rich. They even have their own house. The Weasley kids may be the poorest who can afford Hogwarts, but the point is that they can afford Hogwarts. And rich kid or not, you're, not leaving the flat and that's final."
"So what do you expect me to do all day? I didn't bring my school books, you know."
"What would you want with your school books anyway? I thought you've got summer holidays." Sarah sounded slightly confused about this.
"I've got to study to get good grades. Father insists that I have to be top of all my classes, but that stupid mudblood Granger is always better than me."
"Watch your language, boy!" Sarah scolded. "You will not use such words in my presence or that of my son. Understood?"
"Sorry." Draco said meekly.
"Where do you kids learn these words anyway?" Sarah started into another rant. "I'm sure your parents don't teach you such fowl language at home."
"Actually they do. Father's pretty much into the pureblood issue. He's always going on about how mu... muggle borns and sqibs are beneath us and we have to keep the family pure and all that sort of thing. So that word's really okay to say around him."
"I'm beginning to really dislike your father, boy. He sounds like a very unpleasant person to be around. I sure hope he doesn't come here to get you. I wouldn't want someone like that in my home and who knows what a bad influence he might be on Billy!"
Draco regarded the baby once again.
"Billy looks a bit young to understand anything Father might say about purebloods and politics." he stated.
"Oh, you never know how much the little ones understand. That's why I insist that you watch your tongue from now on. I don't even want him to try to repeat what you said there."
Draco nodded. Billy crawled over to him, pulled himself up on his chair and threw some squishy baby toy into his lap.
"Da!"
"Actually my name's Draco, not Da." he told the baby. "Dra - co."
"Da-oh?"
"Well, that's much closer, yes." Draco giggled.
He took the toy into his hand. It felt very soft and rubbery and when Draco squeezed it slightly it emitted a soft squeak. Billy squealed with delight. So Draco squeezed the toy again and Billy laughed and clamped one tiny hand onto Draco's knee.
"Da-oh!"
He pulled Billy onto his lap and the baby cuddled against him happily.
"Da-oh!"
They played with the little baby toy for about ten minutes until Billy got bored and struggled to get off. Draco set him down onto the floor very gently feeling a little stab of regret in his heart at letting the cuddly little bundle go. He'd never known that babies were such adorable cute little creatures. Hadn't his mother always said that they were annoying and cried all the time? Well, maybe she'd meant the really small ones that were lying in their cradles all the time. It had to be boring not to be able to move about at all. No wonder the kids got cranky and demanded attention by annoying everybody else.
Once again bored he looked up at Sarah who was busy in the kitchen again.
Sarah seemed to feel his eyes on her. Or had she been watching him out of the comer of her eyes all this time?
"You could help me wash the dishes, if you're really bored." she suggested.
Draco jumped up and walked over to her.
"Okay, but I've never done that before. What do I do?"
"Here take this and dry the dishes I hand you." Sarah ordered handing him a towel. "It's not difficult. If Billy were just a year or two older, he'd do that. Doesn't your mother ever make you help her in the kitchen?"
"Er... no. She never goes into the kitchen at all herself. We've ...um... got a house elf who does all the cooking." He somehow didn't feel like mentioning that there were in fact several house elves and also a few servants. It somehow didn't seem right.
"A house elf. And you say you're not a rich kid?"
"Okay, so my family is rich, very rich to be honest, but I still don't see why that should make me any different from those other kids down there." Had he just said that? Had he really just said that? After all the times he'd teased Ron Weasley and also some other kids about being poor? But all of a sudden Draco really felt like there should not be any difference, like he should be allowed to play in the park with all the other kids no matter how much money his parents had.
"It doesn't really make you different, but it does put you in danger. Those kids would be after your money, you know. Just put that plate over there. We'll build a pile of them and put them away after we're done with the washing."
Draco nodded and started building a pile of plates. It was actually not so bad to wash dishes he thought listening to Sarah hum a happy tune while she was working. He tried to hum along a bit and Sarah smiled at him again. Maybe she liked him after all? Draco at least decided that he liked her. Almost as much as he liked Billy.
After they were done with the dishes Sarah showed him how to change Billy's diapers. That proved to be a lot trickier than washing dishes. Billy didn't mind having the dirty diaper removed at all, but he obviously didn't feel like wearing a fresh one. Maybe because it was so hot today? After several minutes of fighting Draco finally managed to hold the baby still while Sarah quickly fixed the new diaper. Billy protested for a moment, but then Draco found a little baby rattle that provided sufficient distraction.
Professor Snape returned around lunchtime to find Sarah busily preparing their meal while Draco was feeding Billy. To Sarah's surprise that undertaking had proven to be less messy than she'd expected so she'd left Draco to it.
'That dog' came back with Snape once again and with a loud bark and mad rush through the whole living room announced himself an official member of the Snape family. Severus had not been able to find his owner and had finally given up.
Sarah only sighed at the news. She'd been expecting it anyway and Draco suspected that she was secretly glad to keep the dog. At least the speed with witch she produced another can of dog food indicated that.
"Heard anything from the aurors, yet?" Snape asked Sarah and Draco.
"No, nothing." said Draco. "They wouldn't make me go back, would they?"
"Draco, your mother isn't dead. I'm sure of it." Snape insisted.
"Okay, you don't believe it, but if she were dead, would they make me go back to my father?"
"No, they wouldn't. They'd have to arrest him and they couldn't lock you into a cell with him." said Sarah.
"So what would they do with me?" Draco asked anxiously.
"I suppose you'd go to live with some relative." Snape said. "Are your grandparents still alive?"
Draco shook his head.
"No my closest relative would be Uncle Thomas, I think. He lives somewhere in Scotland."
"Well, that's most likely where you'd go then."
All through lunch Draco tried to remember everything he'd ever heard about his great uncle Thomas Malfoy. It wasn't much. His father didn't like him very much, but Draco couldn't really remember why. Maybe he'd never even known. He was sure that he'd never seen Uncle Thomas or any other relatives at any balls or soirees. He supposed that they all avoided all contact with dear old Lucius. Maybe they were all muggle lovers? That would be good, Draco decided. If he went to live with a family of muggle lovers he could take Muggle Studies and learn everything he wanted to know about electric gadgets.
Sarah's electric oven fascinated him. He wondered why there were all these electric things here and no fireplace. He'd ask Snape sometime he decided.
After lunch Draco quickly volunteered to help with the dishes once again, which earned him a surprised look from Severus and this time Sarah let him do the actual washing. Draco splashed about with the water a little more than necessary, but Sarah didn't reprimand him for that. Washing dishes was actually fun. Maybe being a house elf wasn't all that bad after all? Well, if one didn't belong to the Malfoys.
Then Sarah put Billy to bed for his midday nap and Draco began to feel bored again. Sarah had returned to her sewing and insisted that Draco couldn't help her with that as it required magic and he wasn't allowed to do magic during the holidays.
So Draco finally went to see what Professor Snape was doing in his lab. It wasn't a real surprise that he was brewing a potion. More interesting was the gas light he was using to heat the water in his cauldron. Draco remembered his earlier question.
"Why don't you have a fireplace, like everybody else does?" he inquired after Snape had shooed him away from the gas light for about the fifth time because he was standing in his way.
"Because the owner of the house doesn't allow it. Actually he doesn't allow the gas light either, but I didn't ask."
"Why? What's so bad about having a fire place?"
"The fire. I think he's afraid it might burn down the house."
"Is that why there are all the lamps in here? Because candles require fire as well?"
"Exactly. Can you hand me two dragon teeth, please? They're in that big jar on the shelf right behind you."
Draco took two teeth out of the jar and held them out to Snape, who took them and threw them into the bubbling cauldron.
"What are you brewing?"
"Pepperup potion. One of the neighbours has a bad cold and these things tend to be contagious so I'm making a larger amount just to be prepared."
"I didn't know dragon's teeth were needed to make pepperup potion."
"Not for the regular kind, but this is my special version. It's a little more difficult to brew, but has less side effects and in my opinion it also tastes better."
"Side effects? What side effects?"
"The smoke coming from your ears. Or hadn't you noticed that? I always thought that's pretty annoying so I made up a recipe that doesn't smoke all that much."
Draco kept watching and amused himself with trying to come up with more differences from the version Snape had taught them in school. But after a while Snape was done with adding ingredients and began to patiently stir the potion which was rather boring to watch. Draco went over to the window and looked out again. The kids with the blue caps were nowhere in sight, but a little further away there was a group of kids with red bandanas gathered under a tree.
They didn't seem to have a ball with them. Still Draco thought that they might be rivals of the first group. Maybe they'd just put their ball down somewhere under the tree where Draco couldn't see it.
A smaller child ran up to the group and was intercepted by two of the kids with red bandanas several metres before he reached the tree. The boy flinched away from the bigger kids, said something. One of the two seemed to ask him several questions which the little one answered. The two exchanged a look and the one who had asked the questions nodded at his friend who then turned and walked over to the tree to talk to the boy at the center of the group. Was he the team captain? Again there were questions and answers and then the kid came back to where his friend was waiting with the smaller boy and the two of them led the child to the kid in the center.
"What are you looking at?" Snape was suddenly standing right behind Draco. He hadn't noticed him sneaking up.
"Just a bunch of kids in the park." Draco said pointing at the gathering under the tree.
Snape looked at them through narrowed eyes.
"That's the Sharks." he said. "Wonder what they're doing there. I'm not even sure that's their territorry."
"Their territorry?" Draco asked confused. Why would those kids have some territorry? And why did Snape call them Sharks?
"Yes, we live pretty much on the border between their territorry and the Raker's. Another reason why you shouldn't go out there. Especially not if the Sharks are trying to take over."
"Why are they called Sharks?"
"It's what they call themselves. Their leader's Mark the Shark." Snape pointed at the boy in the center of the group who was now talking to the smaller boy. "They take their name from him I suppose. Or maybe it's the other way round. I've never seen a reason to ask them. I don't usually bother with the gangs. That's kids' stuff and adults don't usually get involved."
Gangs? Those kids were a gang? Draco stared down fascinated. He'd always thought that gangs were always fighting or braking into people's houses or something like that, but the Sharks looked rather peaceful to him.
"They don't seem so bad. Why can't I just go down there and say hi?" he asked Snape.
"Don't seem so bad? They're looking for a war with the Rakers down there. And they've never heard of neutrality. You're either with them, which means the Rakers are gonna beat you up, or you're with the Rakers which means the Sharks are gonna beat you up."
"So who are you with then?"
"Nobody. I already told you it's kids' stuff."
"Then why can't I just tell them I'm not with anybody either?"
"Because you're a kid, Draco. You can't explain to them that kids' stuff doesn't concern you. Around here kids your age just aren't safe if they don't belong to a gang."
"What if I promise to stay away from all the kids? I'll just take a little walk through the park."
"No, too dangerous. They're not going to stay away from you. Going out there is just asking for trouble."
"But I'm bored. I don't even have my books to study. What do you expect me to do all the time?"
"We'll hear from the aurors any minute now, Draco. Just have a little patience."
"I've been patient all day. At least then I had Billy to play with. Now I'm bored. How long do babies nap anyway?"
"As long as they're tired and I think you wore him out pretty much." Snape grinned.
"Hey, he was the one always crawling about. I wasn't asking him to."
"That's just the way babies are. If you really want to study, there are enough books in this room. They're aren't all suitable for you, but I'm sure you'll find something."
"What do you mean not suitable? What have you got here?" Draco asked intrigued.
"Mostly the books I need for my potions. Rather advanced literature for a fifteen year old, but there are some more basic texts around here somewhere. You'll just have to look till you find something you understand."
Draco gave the bookshelf a long look. It was crammed full and a closer inspection revealed that there was actually a second row of books hidden behind the first. Finding anything in there had to be complicated. Unless of course Snape had some system Draco didn't recognise.
"Or we could use all this to do some practical work. Brew me a sleeping potion using no other than these ingredients!" Snape sat ten jars onto the worktable.
"I don't know any sleeping potions made from any of these." Draco protested. "You didn't teach us any."
"Afraid of a little challange? You've got all my books to help you. You can do it."
Draco took another close look at the ingredients. Some of them he'd never used before. He wouldn't even have known what they were if they hadn't been labelled. Knowing Snape half of those weren't even necessary and just meant to confuse him. He decided to start by finding out what each of his ingredients was good for. Maybe that would lead him somewhere. He picked the first book off the shelf hoping to find one of his ingredients in the index. The book however turned out to be written in ancient runes that were quite a bit more complicated than anything he'd translated in class so far.
Draco gave Snape a sidelong glance and returned the book to the shelf. He picked up the next book. Organic Chemistry? Whatever was that? He opened the book and found that it had to be written in some sort of code consisting mostly of capital letters and tiny numbers. He closed that book as well giving Snape a very puzzled look this time. His teacher was still grinning.
"I told you they aren't all suitable for you. Keep looking."
The next book proved to be a potions book and written in English. But Draco's triumphant smile lasted only seconds. It might have been English, but that didn't mean he understood it. Most of it seemed highly theoretical, probably even speculation. He was looking for a simple register of potion ingredients or spell recepies not advanced scientific texts.
The fifth book's title nearly made Draco forget everything about the sleeping potion. 'Advanced Physics'. That had to be about such stuff as electricity. He leaved through it for quite a while, but again didn't understand a thing. He clearly lacked the basics. Maybe he could find a book titled 'Basic Physics' somewhere around here? Draco returned to looking through the books and this time found a potions book that wasn't altogether too complicated for him. It wasn't an easy text either though and Draco nearly would have put it back as well if Snape hadn't stepped in.
"That's a good one. I'd stick with it, if I were you."
Draco sighed softly and searched through the index again. Yes, that book might work.
Still he required a lot of help from Snape to fulfil this task. Snape didn't look disappointed though which surprised Draco.
"Are we going to do stuff like that in class next year?" he asked when they were finally done.
"The potion yes. The guessing game not. It'll be in your book so it won't be difficult at all. No different from all the other potions you learned in school."
"So why didn't you just give me the recipe like you always do in school?"
"Because I wanted you to see what brewing potions really is like most of the time. You don't get a recipe and all the ingredients piled up nicely on the table in real life. Normally you just know what you want to achieve and you have only a certain number of ingredients available. Most of the job then is to find the right recipe to do it."
"That's exhausting." commented Draco.
"Well, I never said being a potions master was easy. Every job has its good and bad sides. It does get easier once you get a little experience though. I know most of the standard potions by heart by now and I know my books as well. Once you know where to look it's actually fun to try something new."
"That's what you say." grumbled Draco, but he had to admit that he'd most likely never forget that particular potion recipe again. "Is that thing at least on the OWLs or are you planning to torture us just for the fun of it?"
"Ah, if I remember correctly it actually is." said Snape in a very oddly vague tone.
Draco suddenly got the strange feeling that he'd better practice that potion a lot before the OWLs.
It was nearly time for dinner by now and Billy seemed decided to keep Draco busy until then.
"Da-oh!" he exclaimed happily as soon as he saw Draco enter the room.
The baby let go of the chair he'd been using to hold himself upright and tried to run over to his new playmate. Draco caught him just in time before he fell.
"Da-oh!"
"You know something? Da-oh's pretty close, but actually it's Draco. Can you say Dra-co? Dra-co. Come on, you can do it." Draco said lifting the baby up and cuddling him.
"Da-ko?" Billy asked.
"Much better. You're really close now."
"Dako!"
"Well, he's even turned it into one word now." commented Snape. "Leave it at that. I don't think he can manage any better."
Draco didn't answer. He was busy swinging Billy around the room. Billy squealed with delight. That had to feel almost like being on a broom, Draco thought. He wondered if anybody ever had swung him around like this when he'd been a baby. Probably not. His parents would definitely never want to be seen doing something as silly as that and the house elves and servants no doubt had had better things to do than play with a baby.
"I took that horrible dog of yours for a walk while you two were playing around in there. Just in case you'd like to know." Sarah informed Severus.
"We weren't playing around. We were brewing potions." Snape informed her.
"Whatever. You could have thought about the dog anyway."
"I can take him out if you want me to." Draco offered immediately.
"No you can't!" scolded Sarah at once. "You're not leaving the flat. And I already took him anyway."
"It was just a suggestion." Draco pouted for a moment, but Billy quickly demanded his attention back and he forgot about going out for a while.
When there still hadn't been any answer from the aurors by the time dinner was over and Sarah had taken Billy to bed, they all started to get a little nervous. What was taking the aurors so long?
Draco began to fear that his father might have killed the auror that had been sent to investigate as well. Was Lucius Malfoy powerful enough to kill all of England's aurors? Sarah tried to distract him by making him wash the dishes all alone this time, but once this was done they all sat there waiting, wondering what might have happened, once again.
Finally Munin the raven came back, but he wasn't carrying any message. Severus gentle stroked his gleaming black feathers looking expectantly at the door.
"What's wrong?" Draco asked him. "Why didn't he bring a response?"
"Somebody has to be coming here in person." Snape answered not taking his eyes off the door. "I told Munin to wait for an answer and he wouldn't come back without one unless he's accompanying somebody else who's bringing the answer."
"But there isn't anybody here." stated Draco looking around as if the messenger might be hiding somewhere in the small room.
"Munin flew in through the window. Our messenger has to climb the stairs." Sarah explained. "He'll be here any moment."
Indeed a sudden BRRRING! sounded only seconds later and Draco jumped.
"What was that?"
"The door bell." Snape answered already half way to the door. "It's electric and has a button. I'll show you later." he added with a slight smile at Draco.
Snape opened the door and a very exhausted looking wizard stepped in.
"Couldn't you at least live on the first floor, if you can't get a fireplace?" he snapped instead of a greeting.
"You could have apparated." Snape answered voice neutral. "And you wouldn't have had to come at all. A simple letter would have sufficed. That's why I ordered my raven to wait for a response, you know."
"Are you at least going to feed me?" the stranger growled.
"I'm afraid you missed dinner, but I'll make you some bread and cheese, if you wait a few minutes." Sarah answered politely.
"Pah, cheap food." the guest scoffed, but he ate it anyway.
Severus waited patiently for the impolite man to finish his meal. Draco thought that they should have kicked him out the moment he arrived, but he followed Snape's example and waited. After all it was Snape's home and not his.
"You were right about Malfoy." the stranger finally barked. "We found the body of his wife and the butler and two house elves confirm that it was he who killed her. When we searched the house we found more then enough dark arts objects to supply the dark lords entire army. He denies everything of course, but not even the best lawyers will help him this time. He's going to Azkaban."
Draco felt himself shake all over and wondered why. He wasn't feeling anything at all at the moment. Why would he? He'd already known.
Sarah gently put her arms around him.
"We'll be needing you as a whiteness for the trial tomorrow." the stranger said to Severus.
"What about the boy?" Snape asked calmly.
"If you and the butler tell a good story, he might not have to come. Judge Waller the old softie thinks it would be too hard on the kid to have to tell the whole thing again. He thinks the child needs protecting. Pah!"
Less than five minutes later the stranger was gone again, but not before he'd woken up Billy with his gruff bellows and stepped on the cat's tail. Severus had just barely managed to grab 'That Dog' before he could sink his teeth into the stranger's leg after that last transgression. Sarah had run into the baby's room and was now holding Billy trying to gently rock him back to sleep, but he wouldn't stop wailing angry about his disturbed slumber. The cat had retreated onto the highest kitchen shelf and was licking his mistreated tail and Draco for some reason couldn't stop crying. Snape was hugging him gently, trying to comfort him, but there wasn't much he could say this time.
"Who was that guy?" Draco managed between his sobs.
"An auror, I have the misfortune to be acquainted with." Snape answered gently rubbing Draco's back with one hand.
"Why didn't you kick him out? Why did you let him come in and behave like that?"
"I had to. I have to make nice with the aurors. They can do pretty much what they like with us."
"No, they can't." protested Draco still crying but tearing free of Snape's hold nevertheless. "They have to at least have a little respect for your home."
Snape smiled sadly and shook his head.
"I'll explain that some other time. It's a long story. But the bottom line is that an auror can do everything he wants and I'd better not cross them."
Draco tried to wipe off his tears with his sleeves, but more and more kept running out of his eyes and he still didn't know why he was crying at all. Snape wordlessly handed him a package of tissues. One handkerchief would probably not have helped at all this time. Draco cuddled up against him once again.
"I'm sorry." he sniffed softly.
"For what?" Snape asked him. "Whatever that auror does isn't your fault. And he drops by every once in a while anyway. I should have expected him, really."
"Not for the auror. For being so weak."
"Weak? What do you mean? You're not sorry for crying, are you?"
Draco nodded slightly.
"Draco, you're not weak. It's okay to cry. Hey, your mother just died. I'd be very worried if you weren't crying, you know."
"But I already knew."
"Knowing something and hearing somebody say it are two very different things. That's okay, Draco. Really. It's okay to cry."
Draco continued to sniffle for a very long time. Or at least it seemed very long to him. He heard Sarah take Billy back to bed and say good night some time, but he didn't react. Finally he felt like there were no tears left inside him and he just sat there quietly.
"Draco? Do you want me to take you to bed now?" Snape asked him softly.
He just nodded and Snape picked him up and carried him back into the lab and sat him onto his bed on the couch. Draco quickly changed into the old t-shirt again and curled up tightly in the bed.
"Tomorrow is market day, you know." Snape told him. "You can go shopping with Sarah, if you want. She could use someone to help her carry her shopping bags and watch Billy. There are some shops around here that sell all sorts of muggle stuff. Maybe you'll see some more electric things. And you can take the dog along too."
"Don't I have to go to Uncle Thomas' place tomorrow?"
"No, not until after the trial. They might still need you as a whiteness and they have to know where to find you for that. If it goes fast, the trial might be over in one day, but I doubt it. With the number of lawyers Lucius can afford they'll probably drag it out for a whole week."
"Not longer?"
"Not with Waller as the judge. Waller's a nice guy, but he can't stand people who mistreat their wives and kids. Lucius really doesn't have a chance. He'll go to Azkaban for life and I think he knows it."
"And what about me? What are they gonna do with me?"
"You're going to your uncle, like I already told you. I'm sure you'll soon feel at home there. Do you like your Uncle Thomas, Draco?"
"I don't know him. I think he doesn't talk to Father. Doesn't like the dark arts, I think."
"Well, that's good for you then. He'll teach you some real values, then. And he won't put you under so much pressure. He'll be good to you, Draco, I'm sure."
But Draco wasn't all that sure about that. After all Professor Snape had also been convinced that his mother was still alive. But then again living with Uncle Thomas had to be better than sleeping in a street comer in Diagon Alley or living in some orphanage. At least he would have some place he belonged. And maybe, just maybe Uncle Thomas had some electric things in his house? If he was a muggle lover, he just might have some muggle things.
Thank yous for reviewing to:
Jivanna - Well, sorry about 'That Dog's' owner in that case, but somehow I just knew he was a stray. Narcissa is dead as you wished. I had no use for her in my plot.
~LM~ - Yep, 'That Dog' is kind of cute, isn't he? He'll be around for a while still, but I'm afraid he's not the main character of this story though.
SarWolf Snape - Whoa, calm down! it's all right. Here's more, see? And there'll be even more next week. (That better now?)
SophieB. - Draco's never been let out of his father's eyes much so he didn't have much of a chance to mature. And muggle electricity has to be somewhat like magic if you've never seen it before (see Arthur Weasley). Sevi's a teacher after all and rather glad to see Draco fascinated with muggle stuff (one first step away from the death eaters). That's why he's so willing to answer questions. I like that immaturity about him by the way. It's so cute. By now you know that Narcissa is indeed dead. I needed to get rid of her to make some room for ... other people in Draco's life. Spot on about Lucius, but this time even all his money doesn't seem to be able to buy him out of trouble. (The dangers of alcohol, behold!) Hm ... we don't know for sure if Thomas Malfoy's nice. You're probably gonna meet him in chapter 8 or 9. Then form your own opinion. It's Lucius who's making Draco take things too seriously. (I was inspired by Heidi Tandy's fic here and a little by memories of my own childhood. No, it wasn't that bad. My parent were only obsessed with school work.) Harry doesn't have anybody who's pushing him. The Dursleys are mean, but they don't care how serious he takes anything in life. That gives him a certain carefree freedom Draco's subconsciously envying him. Ah, I'm planning to get into the why Snape is so poor issue later on. He earns less than all the other teachers at Hogwarts and there's a reason for that, but Draco will only get to the bottom of that in time. JKR doesn't show a lot of things that are still a part of life, but have no impact on Harry and I wanted Draco to end up in quite the opposite of the world he's always taken for granted. ... Draco's not very clear about his feelings. He's been indoctrinated by his father so much, he thinks he's feeling things his father would, but he's not his father and his real feelings show up in those jumbled thoughts. (Yes, I remember thinking like that too, though not when I had to make decisions. It was when I was about 8 and my parents went out and left me alone at home for about two hours at a time with only my pet rabbit for company and I got scared.) ... Spot on again about the impolite man. I hate to say that he'll be back, but not too soon. Um ... still have any questions about Billy? Thank you for the long review. I love it!
Taran - It wasn't really an idea at all. My plot just turned Hogsmeade into a city for me. ("It was my plot's idea, not mine!") It's very different from the environment you put Sevi in, but I really wanted to confront Draco with everything he's been taught to despise. (Yes, he's even going to make friends with a squib.)
Ruby - The other teachers aren't that poor. There's a reason for Sevi being paid a lot less than the others, but Draco will take a while to find out about that. Be patient, it will be revealed in time. Good guess about Billy and as for your other guesses: I can't tell you how much you have right or wrong, but you're really good at this.
skyiela - Hi! Don't worry I always finish my stories (I just don't allow myself to start a new on before the first is finished.) I usually upload once a week.
Shadow aka Mia - I know it's OOC. I think I even said so in the beginning. Well, too bad for Luci that the butler told on him. You're right about not finding 'That Dog's' owner, but Sevi does keep him. He kind of likes him, you know. As for draco and muggle studies: You'll have to wait till school starts again to find out and at the speed this is developing at the moment that will take a while.
Smooth Volt - Sorry, I'm not too good with Sirius. He's just a cute stray little dog.
Jamie - Sorry, but I'm pretty sure JKR won't write anything like this. That's part of the reason I wrote it. I do hope she doesn't kill either Sevi or Draco though.
Himitsu Natsume - Well, some people say that small dogs aren't even 'real dogs' so maybe 'That Dog' isn't a real dog and you can like him? (Sorry, being silly again.) You got your wish with Narcissa. Now to get rid of Luci ... As for the rest of your predictions: I'm not saying anything. Can't give away my plot this early. Draco keep 'That Dog'? I didn't plan it that way, but I might rethink that. Then again I had that other idea ... and I'm not sure dogs are allowed at Hogwarts. They're not magical, you know and with all those cats around ...
Katara - Right twice at least. I'm not gonna tell about the muggle studies yet though. Well, I#m not planning to torture him all the time. He'll have good times as well.
tracev - Hi! Always nice to meet a new reader.
Phoebe - Er ... terribly sorry, but I think it's a bit to late to tell you what this chapter is called. How about I tell you the next one. It's called West Hogsmeade Market. Hm, yes, I always seem to alternate between funny and sad. Guess that's just my style.
dljewel - Hi! Is that a spelling error or how do you pronounce your name? I tried, but failed miserably.
emma - Er .. yes different and on purpose. If everybody else has already written something, what's the purpose in doing it again? I'm not so good that I could do it better than all those others.
Jenny-chan - Actually I feel very much the same about Narcissa, but I had no room for her in this fic, so she had to go. Sniff! Oh yes, Draco will devinitely stay with the Snapes for a few chapters. Yep, 'That Dog' is staying too. I like Sevi that way and he'd definitely not act that way, if Harry suddenly showed up on his doorstep. Draco's his favourite. That's why he's being nice.
Akisis - Hey, who's trying to write cliché fics anyway? And who really does know what Sevi or Draco or any body at Hogwarts is like when not seen through Harry's eyes? As for the light switches: I don't live in an apartment house anymore, but in the one I lived in as a child they were red and glowed in the dark. I've also seen some that were square, glowed orange and had little lamps drawn on them. They seem to be standard apartment house equipment here in Austria, but maybe they are an Austrian phenomenon. I admit that I have no ideas what an English apartment house looks like. Please assume for the sake of this fic that they usually have glowing red buttons. You ought to get AuthorAlert as I paid for it for one year. If you have me on AuthorAlert you're supposed to get notified whenever I upload. This has nothing to do with the favourites page though. You have to enter my number (It's on my Authors Page somewhere. I have no idea what it is. Bad memory especially concerning numbers.) into your AuthorAlert list.
Lucy - Oh yes Lucy, Luci sure did! (Sorry, I just had to. Couldn't help myself.)
Venus Black - Gee, thanks.
Nepenthe - Sorry, I can't tell you about the muggle studies yet. You're right about Narcissa being dead, but Luci never ran. I guess he thought he could cover it all up saying that she fell, but the butler told on him. (That's what he gets for being so mean to his servants all the time.)
little lizard - Hi! More's on the way. (As always.)
Kalinka - Oh Draco never thought of himself as an electrician before either. ... Okay that was because he'd never even heard of electricians before. He's discovering an entire new world and it's beginning to shape him in a very unexpected way.
Sova - Sevi thought he knew Lucius much better than he really did and was truly convinced that he wouldn't do that. He did offer to go to Malfoy Manor himself though, but Draco wouldn't let him, remember? The only other thing he could do (Dumbledore's not even in the country.) was go to the Aurors and as you noticed those treat him like dirt. You'll find out why later on in the story, but right now please just accept that Sevi really hates to have anything to do with them and they'd have been much worse if he'd gone to them at night. You're used to adults taking children's words seriously, aren't you? It also be a reason for the way I wrote this, that the people I usually have to do with think that anybody who isn't about the same age as they are, doesn't know a thing and that's not even restricted to children. Not that I wanted Sevi to think like that. He just couldn't believe that it was true. Actually a lot of people dismiss such horrible stories, because they just don't want them to be true.
Sinister Severus - Er ... I got that idea from Al's fic Time of Trial. (He had a Mrs Snape which just had me thinking about baby Snapes and pets.) Oh, don't worry there's a lot more on the way. This is threatening to become a really long fic.
A/N - So do you think Uncle Thomas has electricity in his house? Will Draco have to show up at the trial? And do you know where the name Munin comes from and what it means? Please R/R.
In the next chapter: We go to the market. Draco gets some new clothes and tries to learn some Physics.
Last Chapter
Next Chapter
|
