No Mouth But Some Serpent's

Chapter 13 - A Grim Hope

Thank you for the response to the last chapter! I'm so glad that so many people liked it. Review responses will be up in my LJ later.

Now, this chapter, I enjoyed writing.

Chapter Thirteen: A Grim Hope

Later, Snape reflected that it would have all gone far differently if Draco hadn't caught him before he could bundle Harry into his office.

"Professor Snape."

He turned, because the tone was not one he had been expecting. He could have ignored the hysterical crying of a child, or a mere innocent question about Potions homework. Those were less important than finding some way to heal Harry and help him control Tom Riddle.

But Draco spoke in the coldly courteous tone of a pureblooded wizard, a tone that Snape had learned very early in life not to ignore. When he turned around, he blinked. For the first time, he could see Lucius Malfoy in Draco-

Lucius as he had been the night he helped initiate Snape into the Death Eaters, Lucius the night he explained the power and glory of the cause.

Snape found himself with the urge to bow his head. That, of course, only irritated him further. He wasn't young anymore, and he certainly was no longer an idiot.
"Draco." He made his own tone scathingly cold. He might never be able to imitate Lucius Malfoy himself, but he had developed his own brand of ice to hurt people who made inane requests of him. "As you can see, I am quite busy-"

Draco caught sight of Harry then. His mask only grew firmer, which Snape did not understand. He had thought Harry and Draco were close, at least after the screaming tempter tantrums Draco had indulged in earlier that term because the boy had ignored him.

"He's had another attack, hasn't he?" he asked. "The Dark Lord's in his head."

Snape narrowed his eyes. Has the idiot boy been telling the truth to everyone who crosses his path? "That is not your concern, Draco," he said. "Return to the Slytherin common room at once. You may tell anyone who asks that I will be unavailable for the rest of the day." He attempted to brush past Draco. Harry was growing heavy in his arms, and the Locusta had not stopped hissing once. Snape did not want to have her wrapped around his neck again, as he suspected she would be if she thought for one moment that he was not doing everything possible to help Harry.

"It is my concern," said Draco. "And take him to your private rooms, not your offices. I'll come with you."

"You dare to order me?" Snape swung around. Harry was in danger, but he could not allow such disrespect to go unpunished. "I will not hesitate to give you a detention."

"I have to firecall my father," said Draco, his face perfectly calm. "He was the one who gave the book that held the Dark Lord to Harry. And Harry didn't tell anyone. He protected him." There was some intense emotion behind his voice, but Snape could not tell what it was yet. "My father owes Harry a debt of honor. He is going to pay it, right now."

Snape narrowed his eyes further, ignoring the shock that the news had given him. He would deal with it later. "Do you really think that your father will be of any help in prying the Dark Lord out of the boy's head?"

"Not with that," said Draco. "With the far-reaching consequences."

He only stood mutely when Snape stared at him, before adding, with a viciousness that made him sound more like a Death Eater than ever, "That, and I want him to see what he did."

Snape decided that he could not waste time arguing. Harry was moving, about to wake up. His shields of guilt and self-loathing would rise then. Snape wanted to peer into the boy's mind while he still slept and see if Tom Riddle was lurking about. "Very well," he said, and swept down the corridor to his offices, whispering the password to the wall. It slid open.