Black and White

28

"How did you sleep?" I ask Draco at breakfast, knowing full well that he didn't sleep at all.

"Fine," he lies. "You?"

"I passed out in the Common Room," I lie back. "One of the house elves must have covered me up, because there was a blanket on me when I woke up this morning."

Draco nods. "You got into a bad habit about that last year."

I shrug. "At least I'm sleeping at all so far this year," I answer. "Anyway, I have DADA first thing this morning. What about you?"

"Potions," he sighs.

"Ooh, fun," I say. "You get to meet the new teacher."

Draco rolls his eyes.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I ask. "You love potions."

"Nothing," Draco lies again. "I just don't feel well."

"Do you need to see Madam Pomfrey?" I question.

"I'm fine!" Draco snaps.

"Ok, whatever," I relent. "If you don't want to talk, don't talk. I'll see you later."

I head off towards Defense Against the Dark Arts, with Professor Snape. It's a boring first lesson, just going through the introduction of the book. After, I wait for everyone else to leave before approaching his desk.

"Professor Snape, I need to talk to you," I say.

"Very well, you may come to my office after the day's classes are finished," he answers in his classic monotone.

"Can't we talk now?" I ask.

"Miss Black, in case you've forgotten, I do have other classes to teach," he replies sourly.

"Right," I say. "Alright, um, I'll see you after classes."

I hurry to my next class, Muggle Studies with Professor Burbage. She's really nice, but I have trouble focussing.

After my last class of the day, I run down to Professor Snape's office. He seems to have been waiting for me, and motions to the seat across from him. I sit uncomfortably as he watches me.

"I know," I say finally. "I know that my mother was your sister. That you're my uncle. My godfather."

"Who told you?" he asks, and I can't tell if he's angry.

"Does it matter who told me?" I question.

"No, I suppose not," he answers.

I hesitate, then finally ask, "So, why? Why didn't you help me?"

"Who's to say that I didn't?" he asks.

"You've been around as long as I can remember, and you never once tried to stop Bellatrix and Uncle Lucius from hurting me," I snap. "You never tried to help me. That's what family does, they help each other!"

"Do not assume I sat idly by all your life," he snarls, and it's the angriest I've ever seen him. "I very frequently persuaded them not to kill you. I kept her from using the torture curse on you as long as I could, until you went and caught Draco's hair on fire. It was made very clear to me from the day she took you that if I ever told you who I was, if I ever tried to take you, she would kill you where you stood. I made sure you had a place to sleep, and food to eat. I convinced Rodolphus to teach you to read, and gave him the password to Narcissa's library. Do you really think I was at the Malfoy's so often because they're my friends? No, I was there to keep them from damaging you beyond repair. Just because you did not see it, do not assume it didn't happen."