'You're absolutely positive that your father won't mind the unexpected company?' Harry asked for the seemingly umpteenth time.
'For the love of all things that you find sacred...' Draco took a deep calming breath. 'Yes Harry, Dad will be fine with it. Sev on the other hand...'
'Sev? Severus Snape? HE's your uncle?' Harry cut in, in a rather panicked way.
'Yes. Why? Did I miss something?'
'You were in his class with me. You saw how he treated me. The man Despises me because of what my father did to him when they were in school.'
'He's mellowed Harry, he'd be happy to see you.' Draco assured him.
Harry could only snort in disbelief. 'Yeah I believe that. You know what? Just drop me off here, I'll catch a ride with the next car.'
'What if it's Ginny?' Draco couldn't help but smirk.
'Gah!' Harry wanted to bang his head against the dashboard but he moved to fast and the seat belt locked on him. Draco stopped the car and let Harry have his tantrum.
'Believe me Harry, Sev is not the same as he used to be.' Draco tried to calm Harry.
'Fine but if he kills me I'm coming back to haunt you so I can say I told you so.' Harry collapsed back against the seat clearly defeated.
A few hours later as Harry rushed to the bathroom after having had three colas Draco made a few phone calls. When Harry emerged from the bathroom looking back at it questioningly he found Draco sitting on the trunk.
'Maybe it's not my fat ass that dented your trunk.'
'Oh it was your ass that dented it,' Draco shot back, 'it is substantially larger than mine after all.'
Harry threw a wadded up napkin at him, 'you're just jealous your jeans look better on me than they do you,' Harry couldn't help but grin.
'What!?' Draco sounded like a wounded school girl. 'Harry James Potter you twat give me back my clothing!'
Harry started laughing, 'relax Draco, they're not your pants.'
'They better not be.' Draco grumbled.
'Hey you want me to drive for a while?' Harry offered suddenly.
Draco looked absolutely scandalized as he clutched the car keys to his chest and stared at Harry open mouthed for a full minute, 'absolutely NOT, no one drives my Princess but me. Isn't that right darling?' the question he directed at the car as he gave it a loving caress.
'Princess?' Harry could only stare at Draco like he'd gone bonkers, finally.
'She's the only woman to have captured my heart.' He stated matter of factly.
'Oh well then my apologies.' Harry couldn't hide is amusement.
'Get in the damn car Potter.' Draco glared at the brunet and slammed the car door shut, only to murmur his apologies to the car a moment later.
Harry was still laughing as he climbed in.
xXxXx
Harry was hyperventilating as Draco pulled into the drive at Malfoy Manor sometime around 9:30 that night.
'Honestly Harry, don't you think you're overreacting just a little?'
'No,' came the meek reply from the rose bush beside the drive.
'Honestly,' Draco mumbled as he rolled his eyes. 'Let's go.' Draco hauled Harry up by his armpits.
'Please just let me go, I'll find somewhere else to stay, don't make me go in there, he'll use me in one of his experiments.' Harry continued his weak complaints and pleads as Draco dragged him through the manor to the den where he expected his father and his uncle to be at this time of night.
'Dad, look who I found standing at the side of the road.' Draco announced pulling Harry to stand next to him.
'Harry, you look well,' Lucius stood taking Harry's hand.
'So do you Mr Malfoy.' Harry replied shaking the older man's hand.
Lucius laughed, 'Please Harry, call me Lucius, Mr. Malfoy makes me feel old.' The dark man that was still sitting snorted at that.
'You are old Luc,' Severus Snape commented as he stood to greet the new comers.
Harry could only gape at the man that was now standing next to Lucius.
'You're looking well, if a little stunned Mr. Potter.' Severus offered with a smirk. Gone was the lanky pale greasy man that Harry remembered from his biology labs, in his place was a tanned, freshly coifed, well dressed imposter. Where before Severus had worn heavy black teaching robes now he was wearing a charcoal button up with the sleeves rolled up his forearm and slightly faded dark blue denims, to say he looked much better would have been an understatement.
'You look very good too Professor Snape,' Harry managed with only a faint blush.
Severus let out a surprised laugh that startled Harry, Draco and Lucius watching in amusement. 'I have not been your professor in quite some time Mr. Potter. Please call me Severus.'
'Yes sir- er Severus.' Harry replied unable to lose his blush. He gave his former Professor a beautiful smile. 'Then I insist that you call me Harry.'
'It's a pleasure to see you again Harry, even if we didn't part on the best of terms.'
'What's done is done.' Harry offered.
The four took seats and sat in silence for a few minutes drinking tea. Finally it was Lucius that broke the silence, 'so why were you standing on the side of the road?'
Harry flushed again in both embarrassment and anger and Draco let out a surprised laugh but quelled it when Harry glared at him. He knew he would find humour in the situation one day but the pain and hurt from what had happened was still too fresh.
'It would seem that your pride has been bruised.' Severus offered and while it could have been condescending as Harry had often found Severus to be in the past he found that it held concern and that touched a chord in the young man.
Harry sighed, 'Ginny and I were driving to the Burrow for the holidays but we got a late start because McGonnagall had wanted to talk to me and that went on for far longer than it should have. I had driven for some time and Ginny had napped finally sometime around 11 we switched and she started driving. I was asleep when she just started yelling at me to get out. Thankfully she stopped and I wasn't pushed out of a moving vehicle. She tossed all my bags onto the road and drove away. I still have no idea where I was but I started to walk we were farther from the next rest stop then I thought. Eventually a motorist stopped and picked me up. Imagine my surprise when it was Malfoy.
'Eventually we stopped for the night but Ginny had also stopped at that same motel, which happened to be owned by the Finnigan's.' Harry stopped here and Draco took over. Severus was listening to Draco but he was watching Harry.
'We found out the next morning that she was there with Zabini and that they watched a lot of porn,' he smirked, 'when we left they were threatening to call her parents if she didn't pay the whole bill. Blaise had left her hanging.'
The older men couldn't help but laugh at the redheads predicament but the humour was short lived when Harry stood, 'I'm sorry, but it's been a long couple of days, Draco could you show me where I'll sleep for the night?'
'Or course Harry,' Draco stood and led the upset brunet out and to a room near his own.
xXxXx
Severus and Lucius sat in pensive silence for almost five minutes. 'He's very much not James Potter.' Severus commented.
'No he's not and if you had bothered to pull your head out of your ass you would have noticed it years ago,' Lucius shot back slightly angry on behalf of the younger man.
'I should apologize.'
'You should.'
