The Secret Hidden Inside

Chapter X

"The Argument"

…

In the Malfoy Manor, Draco had finished opening his presents. Snape had disappeared upstairs shortly afterwards, and he had not returned for some time. Draco, who was growing rather anxious at the prospect, looked up at his mother and said, "I'm going to go to my room, alright?"

"Alright, sweetie, I'll see you later," Narcissa replied, already heading upstairs herself.

Draco waited until his mother had turned the corner to quietly make his way to his father's study. Once he reached the door, which stood slightly ajar, he realized his assumption had been correct. There were raised voices emanating from the room, and the boy knelt down next to the creak, just out of sight, and listened intently.

"I've told you, I don't need your lectures!" it was his father's voice. It was dripping with anger. "Stick to your students, and stay the hell out of my life! What the hell is wrong with you, anyway?!"

"What's wrong with me?" Snape's voice was calmer. "You've been in this damn place all Christmas-break! Your son hasn't even been able to see you! I suppose you enjoy causing your family misery? Is that it? Do you honestly think they appreciate that?"

"Oh, shut-up Severus!" his father sounded irritated. "You have absolutely no place to speak. It's not like I'm the one who killed the one person I ever loved. You think Lily appreciated that?"

Snape did not respond for a moment. Draco hesitated only a moment, before looking in through the small crack in the door, and he saw Snape staring at the ground, his countenance stricken with hurt. For a while, there was a silence between the two men.

Then, Draco heard Snape's voice. It was almost hoarse. "Do you honestly think that I don't regret that?"

"You can live with the regret as long as you want, but that's something you can never take back!" Lucius yelled.

"Lucius…damnit, Lucius, don't you see?!" Snape snapped, anger flaring in his voice, as well. "If the Dark Lord kills your wife and son, you'll have to live with the regret of how you treated them! You'll wish you had spent more time with them! You'll regret everything you've ever done! You'll wish you could take it all back! Trust me, I know! I've lived with this every day since that night! But…you're not like me, Lucius! You still have time! Why do you have to be so damn proud?!"

"Shut-up!" Lucius ordered. "Just…just get the hell out of my house!"

"What?" Snape sounded taken aback.

"You heard me!" the Malfoy returned. "Get out! Get out of my house, and stay away from my family! I'll treat them however I wish! And don't you ever try to lecture me on how to run my own damn life!"

"What happened to you, Lucius?" Snape asked. He sounded almost desperate, and, at the same time, chastising. Perhaps…disappointed? "What the hell happened to you?"

"Get out, I'm sick of listening to you!" Lucius shouted, and Draco saw that his father had now rising to his feet.

"You know what, Lucius?" Snape heaved a sigh. "One day, you're going to find yourself all alone. No family, no friends, because you'll have chased them all away, like you're doing right now. And you know what? You'll have no one to blame but yourself."

"Get the hell out!"

Draco quickly ran across the long corridor and up the extensive flight of stairs. By the time he exited the tapestry, he was gasping for breath, and, within that moment, Snape appeared from behind the tapestry as well. At the sight of Draco, and noting the condition he was in, the Potion's Master sighed.

"You're not leaving, are you?" Draco asked in a start

"I'm sorry," Snape told him, "but yes, I am."

As the man headed down the stairs, Draco ran after him. "Don't listen to dad!" he urged him. "It's not like he'll ever find out that you're still here, is it?"

"Draco, this is his house, and I have no right in it," Snape replied. "I'm sorry, but I'm leaving." Before he reached the door, however, he was stopped by Narcissa.

"Where are you going, Severus?" she asked, her brow furrowed in worry.

"Your husband asked me to leave," Snape said simply, about to turn the doorknob, but the woman slapped his hand away.

"Don't you dare leave this house, Severus!" she exclaimed. "I'm going to have a word with him! Stay here until I get back!" Narcissa then turned on her heel and walked up the staircase, but Snape and Draco immediately hurried after her.

"Mom, don't!" Draco pleaded.

She stopped when she came to the tapestry and then turned to look down at him. "Don't worry, sweetie," she assured him, "I'm not afraid of your father. Now, you and Severus stay here!"

"Narcissa, you really shouldn't bother," Snape told her. "I was going to return to Hogwarts tomorrow, as it is."

But Narcissa could not be dissuaded. She quickly moved the tapestry and disappeared behind it.

Draco looked up at Snape, and then asked, "Do you want to try to stop her?"

Snape released a heavy sigh, but he lifted the tapestry out of the way for Draco. "Come on," he instructed. Draco quickly stepped through the passageway, followed by Snape, and they headed down the two long corridors and flight of stairs, until they finally came to the doors of the study, which stood slightly ajar.

"Well, it's too late now, Draco," Snape whispered, and started to head back, but then they heard a voice from inside.

"Lucius!" Narcissa yelled angrily.

"Oh, god," the man's voice sounded irritated. "And what the hell do you want?!"

"Why did you tell Severus to leave?!" she demanded.

"It's my house, and I have a right to tell someone to leave," he replied flatly.

"Damnit, Lucius!" his wife screamed. "Why do you always have to be so heartless?! What happened to the man I married?!"

"Must you make everything so dramatic?" it was as if even his words echoed the eye roll.

"You're the one throwing this out of proportion!" Narcissa snapped back. "Why did you tell Severus to leave?!"

"That is none of your concern!" Lucius informed her shortly.

"He was probably just telling you the truth again, wasn't he?!" his wife continued. "I wish you would just accept it and stop acting like such a prick to everyone!"

"Narcissa, I'm only going to say this once," Lucius' voice dropped to a deadly tone. "Unless you want to be cursed, I would suggest getting the hell out of my study."

"Oh, and after all this time, that's really threatening," she returned with biting sarcasm.

"I'm warning you, Cissy," he told her dryly.

"Oh, and one more thing: unless you're going to have a positive attitude, you'll stay in here! Do you understand?!" Narcissa asked crossly.

"That's fine, now get the hell out!" Lucius's voice rose angrily.

Draco heard a loud sound, almost like a smack, but harder, and all he could assume was that someone had been punched. He looked through the small opening in the door, and he saw his father's hands over his nose and his mother heading for the door. He exchanged a worried look with Snape, and then he took off running down the corridor. Snape followed him, and they were both gasping for breath when they were back in the open.

Suddenly, from behind the tapestry, Narcissa appeared, and she looked a little pleased with herself.

"He won't say another word to you, Severus," she informed him with a snooty smile. "As long as you're here, he won't be coming out of his study."

"That's great, Narcissa," Snape replied sarcastically. "That's exactly what I was going for."

Draco walked down the staircase and sat on the couch in the lounge. He pulled his knees to his chest, frowning down at the ground, as he realized that, no matter what anyone did now, his father would not be coming out of that study. Not after what had unfolded between him and Draco's mother.

He searched desperately for a distraction, but when he reached one, it was something that set him into an even great spiral of frustration. 'What would he say if he knew I was having dreams of the stupid girl?' he thought in perplexity. 'Why was I dreaming of her? Was it because I was thinking about her before I went to sleep? I mean…she's a damn Mudblood, and I couldn't possibly have feelings for her…right?'

At that moment, the 'stupid girl' was, unlike Draco, having a wonderful Christmas. Her parents had just agreed to let her and Harry visit Ron, so there they stood in the fireplace, hand-in-hand, yelling, "The Burrow!"

Ron sat on his couch, staring at the fireplace, having endured teases from Fred and Ginny all day. George was, at that moment, teasing him about Hermione again, saying things like, "Ronnies shouldn't dream of kissing a girl, he's too young," or, "Ronnies in love!"

Well, he had had just about enough of it so he yelled loudly, "Alright, I like Hermione, are you satisfied? Now will you leave me alone?!"

At that very second, Ginny and Fred were passing by and they were now laughing hysterically, as was George, who seemed to be highly satisfied with his work. They all left Ron to sit alone on the couch, with their laughter ringing in his ears.

Then, all of a sudden, Harry and Hermione appeared in the fireplace. They quickly walked out, wiping dust off, letting go of one another's hand in the process. Ron jumped up, his sulky expression shifting to one of pure delight as he pulled them both into a hug.

"God, am I glad to see you two!" he exclaimed happily.

George poked his head into the room and said, "He's happy to see her! But what would Lavvy say, Ronnies?"

"I don't like Lavender, so I couldn't care less!" Ron yelled back, and George left the room, again, quite satisfied.

Hermione raised a curious eyebrow, a smile on her face. "You like Lavender Brown? That's so sweet! She has a huge crush on you!"

"She does?" Ron asked, slightly disappointed. "But…I don't like her, though."

Presently, Ginny came running in the room, a broad smile on her face. Hermione smiled back and they shared a quick hug. "See you boys later," they both said, and then exited the room, leaving the two standing alone in the living room.

"Hello, Harry!" Fred said from behind, prompting them to turn around, where they found him and George smiling down at the pair of them.

"Do Ickle Ronalds and the Boy-Who-Lived want to come with us outside?" George asked in a mock-baby tone.

"Sure!" Harry beamed.

And so, the twins led the way outside house, and there they showed Harry and Ron a hill of snow they had made, which had hundreds of already-made snowballs.

"I think we should send a hail of them at the girls when they come out!" George exclaimed with a mischievous smile. "What do the rest of you think?"

Fred smiled in turn and said, "I'm always up for a good trick! What do you two say?"

Harry stood there for a moment in thought as Ron nodded in agreement. Finally, it was only left to Harry to decide, and he shrugged his shoulders. "Sounds like fun!"

Narcissa stood in the entrance hall with Snape, discussing something rather dull, causing Snape to only listen to half of it, as he mulled over a few things.

He turned to look at Narcissa, seeing that she was finished talking, and asked, "Did you know that your son knows where Lucius' study is, Cissa?"

She looked at him for a moment, somewhat stunned by the question, before answering, "Well…I didn't know that. Wait…does he?"

Snape raised his eyebrows, slightly surprised that she had not gotten what he had just told her. "Yes, Narcissa. He knows where it is," he replied more plainly for her, knowing that this time she would grasp what it was he was trying to tell her.

Narcissa walked into the lounge, having just realized something. "Sweetie…do you know where your father's study is?" she asked, slightly confused. Apparently, Snape could tell her all he wanted, but she still needed to hear it from her son. Only that could appease her curiosity.

Draco looked down at the ground bashfully and replied in a nervous undertone, "Yeah, I found it the other day. Why?"

"Oh, I was just wondering. Just making sure I wasn't wrong," she said, smiling sweetly down at him.

Draco stifled a laugh. Even though he loved her, and even though she was the perfect mother and the nicest person he had ever met, she could be a little ditsy some times. Like right now.