Chapter Twelve – Late May, 1997
Narcissa and Snape continued to write to each other using the enchanted notebook on a daily basis, but now that the novelty had worn off a bit, they weren't confined to flirtatious messages about missing each other or detailed descriptions of the dirty things they could do upon seeing each other next. Rather, it began to feel a bit (for both) like writing in a diary that could write back. Narcissa could safely express her worries over Draco and her extreme dislike of living in close proximity to the Dark Lord, while Snape could vent his frustrations about obnoxious students and stress over figuring out the best way to help Draco without giving himself away. As the days and weeks passed, Narcissa also shared her triumphs and failures in the kitchen and her conflicting feelings about Lucius, while Snape confided in her a bit more about the torment he'd received thanks to her cousin Sirius as a teen and asked her academic opinion about a new healing potion he was trying to create by modifying a hybrid of two existing ones. After nearly twenty years of 'friendship,' it was truly starting to feel like they were friends.
One day late May, when the notebook burned hot, Narcissa opened it expecting to see an inquiry, a compliment, a desire, or a vented frustration. Sometimes he included all of these, if the note was a long one. What Narcissa did not expect to see upon opening the notebook was a sloppily scrawled message in handwriting much messier than his usual, stating simply:
Draco's hurt. Do not panic. I will send for you only if need be.
Of course, she panicked.
Of course, she did not wait for him to send for her.
She apparated from the safe point beyond Malfoy's Manors new, improved wards (placed by the Dark Lord himself) to the Shrieking Shack on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. From there she walked, as quickly as she dared so as not to arouse suspicion, to the castle.
Once inside (and it was easy – too easy – to get inside) she didn't know where to go. Down to the dungeons, to Snape's office? Up to the hospital wing? To Slytherin's common room? Panic swelled up even more greatly inside her.
"Narcissa Malfoy?" asked a voice from behind, one she recognized, with a Scottish lilt. She turned.
"Professor McGonagall," she said, as calmly as she could manage. "I received word that my son has been injured. Where is he?"
Minerva McGonagall cocked her head to the side ever-so-slightly, and pursed her lips. She had only ten minutes ago been informed of what happened to Draco, the result of a curse cast by Harry Potter, and could not discern how it was possible for Malfoy's mother to have been informed and subsequently made the journey to the school so quickly. She chose, though, not to ask.
"I am headed to speak with him now in the office of Severus Snape. They should be meeting us there from the hospital wing. Your son has just been discharged."
"Alright," said Narcissa. She headed in the direction of Snape's chambers.
"You know where to go?" McGonagall was still regarding her with suspicion.
"I…" Narcissa was thrown for a moment. How could she explain how she knew where to go? Slughorn no longer used the dungeon for his office and chambers by the time Narcissa was a member of the Slug Club, opting for Merrythought's old chambers instead.
"No matter," said Minerva briskly. "Follow me."
Though they walked at a quickened pace, it seemed to take forever to arrive at Snape's office door. Minerva knocked twice, whispered the password ("Magical Theory in the Middle Ages," which happened to be the title of the book Narcissa bought for his birthday, which would have made her smile were she not so worried about her son) and they entered. Snape was easing Draco into a chair.
"Minerva," Snape greeted her. "We've only just arrived… I see you've brought a guest?"
Draco looked up and his eyes went wide at the sight of his mother.
"Mum!" Immediately he stood, though he had to grab the chair for support.
"My baby!" cried Narcissa, rushing to take him in her arms. She kissed his forehead, then his cheeks, while he pulled away insisting he was fine, though he didn't really mind.
"He is weak," said Snape, "But Madam Pomfrey gave him a blood replenishing potion and applied Essence of Dittany to his wounds, which I had already closed, so he should recover completely in a few days time, though there may be some scarring."
"How did you even know I was hurt?" asked Draco, though his voice was muffled by her shoulder and hair as she held him to her. Her tears dripped steadily onto his blood-stained white shirt.
"I knew because I'm your mother and a mother knows," she said. She ran her fingers lightly over the healing slash marks across his face. "Who did this to you, darling?"
"Potter!" Malfoy spat the name out. "Who else but Potter?"
"What exactly did Potter do? Severus, what is this magic? My son is covered in blood!"
"Please Narcissa," said Snape calmly, as McGonagall conjured up two extra chairs. "Sit."
They did so, with Narcissa close enough to her son that she could hold his hand, something he would never allow in front of his friends, but given only his Head of House and the Deputy Headmistress were present, he didn't see any reason to resist.
"Now," said Snape. "Draco, tell us what happened."
So Draco did, though he left out the bit about how he was crying into his reflection while Moaning Myrtle begged him to reconsider what he'd been contemplating (suicide, though honestly he doubted he would've done it – it was the fear talking, thanks to seeing Katie Bell returned to school, and knowing he was a month away from being murdered if he didn't figure something out fast). Draco admitted that they'd dueled, but also conveniently forgot to mention he'd been in the process of sending the Cruciatus Curse (taught to him by his beloved Auntie Bellatrix) in Potter's direction when the Boy-Who-Lived shouted 'Sectumsempra' and left him a bleeding mess on the flooded bathroom floor.
"I want him expelled!" demanded Narcissa, furious. She glared at McGonagall. "Tell Dumbledore I want him expelled. I know you won't do it. You've been letting bullies practically get away with murder since the boy's father was your student, him and my cousin Sirius and their pet werewolf, but I demand..."
Her voice trailed off as she noted the sharp look sent her way by Severus Snape and realized she'd just revealed information she shouldn't have had.
"The boy has been sufficiently reprimanded," said Snape. He averted his gaze to that of his colleague. "I assume I can trust you to uphold my punishment, Minerva?"
"Absolutely, yes, and I may be taking House Points away too, or adding a punishment of my own. This is completely unacceptable. Despite what you may have heard, Mrs. Malfoy, I take accusations of bullying as perpetrated by my students very seriously, though in this case it sounds like they were dueling – both breaking Hogwarts rules – and though Potter took it too far, he will not be expelled at this time."
"I want him cast out," said Narcissa, squeezing Draco's hand.
"No," said Snape so sharply Narcissa flinched. "Potter has been dealt with. Draco will recover. And you should not be here."
"If you'll excuse me," said Professor McGonagall, standing and vanishing her chair. "I need to go speak with Potter myself."
She exited, leaving Draco alone with his mother and godfather.
"You shouldn't have come, Narcissa," snapped Snape, almost forgetting her son was in the room.
"I had to! You didn't give me a single detail, only that he'd been hurt!"
"I said I would send for you if need be!"
"But what if you didn't send for me and he needed me?"
"I told you not to panic!"
"I couldn't help panicking! He's my baby and you said he was hurt!"
"I said he was hurt, not dead!"
"But what if he was so hurt he died? My only son!"
"If he were in danger of dying, I would have told you!"
"I thought perhaps he was injured in… in…" She glanced sideways at him. "In an attempt to complete his task! I know it's not going well, I know he's exchanging regular letters with my sister and she won't let me read them or tell me what he's saying, so when you said he was hurt, I thought maybe he'd been discovered, or… or… I don't know, I thought the worst!"
"If he'd been injured so gravely I thought he might die, I would have said so. If I had wanted you to panic, I would not have written 'do not panic.' If I had wanted you to come here, I would not have written, 'I'll send for you only if need be.' If he'd been discovered, I'd have written something like, 'He's been discovered.' What I wrote was that he was hurt, not to panic, and I'd send for you…"
She interjected. "But what if you couldn't send for me and my sweet darling little boy was lying in the hospital wing or in the Great Hall or on the grounds outside somewhere dying without me?"
"Excuse me," said Draco, using the corner of Snape's desk to push himself into a standing position. "I'd love to continue to sit around listening to you fight over me like I'm five years old, but being nearly murdered by that git Potter this afternoon has me a bit tired, so I think I'd like to return to my common room now."
"Naturally," said Snape. He scribbled a note on a piece of parchment and charmed it to fold itself like an origami bird. It flew from the room as the door opened and closed again of its own accord. "I've asked Miss Parkinson to report here. She can accompany you as I'd rather you not walk through the corridors alone and I have something to discuss with your mother."
Draco narrowed his gray eyes at Snape, but didn't try to push away Narcissa, who was wrapping her arms around him again, sniffing his hair. The trio didn't speak for a full two minutes, which is how long it took for Pansy Parkinson to knock on the door. Snape waved his wand and it opened, allowing her entrance.
"Oh my dearest Draco!" the pug-faced girl squealed, taking his hand and pulling him away from his mother, into her own arms. "You already look so much better than you did in the hospital wing! I told everyone what happened! Professor Snape says you need me to walk you back to the common room? Of course I can do that for you." She pressed her lips dramatically to the back of his pale hand.
Now Narcissa was the one with narrowed gray eyes, glaring at Pansy as if she'd like nothing more than to try out that Sectumsempra spell on her. Her wand hand twitched. Snape fought the urge to roll his eyes.
"I will check in on you tomorrow," Snape said. Draco nodded.
"Bye, darling," said Narcissa. She stepped forward to kiss him on the forehead. "I love you."
"I love you, too," he said. "Even though you didn't need to come. I'm fine."
Once they were out the door and safely out of earshot too, Snape moved out from behind his desk and grabbed Narcissa's arm roughly.
"What the hell were you thinking? I shouldn't have told you anyway! I didn't think you'd be stupid enough to come rushing here without any further information. What do you suppose Minerva thinks? I'd only just gotten word to her, since my initial priority was making sure your son would be okay, and here you are! Don't you think she'll be asking herself how you could have possibly been made aware so quickly?"
"Then why did you write to me at all?" She wrenched her arm away, on the verge of tears. "All you did was panic me! As soon as you tell a mother, "Do not panic,' she panics! I was panicked! I thought… I thought Dumbledore… I thought Draco tried… and failed… He's only got about a month left, Severus! If he doesn't do it soon, he'll be dead!"
All of the anger evaporated from Snape. He slipped his arms around her, drawing her into his chest, kissing the top of her head.
"I'm sorry, Narcissa."
"I was scared."
"I'm sorry."
"I hate Potter."
"There isn't much to like about him," said Snape.
"There isn't anything to like about him," she argued.
'Except that he has his mother's eyes,' thought Snape, but of course he didn't say it.
"Bella won't tell me what they're communicating about and I haven't managed yet to intercept any of their Owls, though I suspect they're writing in code anyway because I know my sister."
"He won't let me in on it either," said Snape. "He's still insistent that I want to steal the glory."
"I'm sorry I came to the school. I'm sorry I almost told Professor McGonagall that I knew about you and Sirius and Potter and the werewolf. I just worry that whatever Bella has planned will be dangerous. More dangerous than necessary, because she likes this sort of thing, murder, it's fun for her, it's like a game. But where she can hold her own against anyone – save, perhaps, for the Dark Lord and Dumbledore – I don't have the same confidence in my son."
"Isn't that why we made the Unbreakable Vow?" Snape cupped her face in his hands before placing a kiss on each of her tear-streaked cheeks. "You don't need confidence in him. Have confidence in me."
"I do," she said, bringing her own hand up to the back of his neck, under his hair. She pulled him down toward her, bringing his lips to hers. "I trust you."
"Since you're here anyway…" he said, looking at her hopefully.
"Oh, sure. Lure me away from my home by telling me my only child is hurt and then try to get me into bed."
He feigned disappointment. "Does that mean you're not interested?"
She let out a little sigh of resignation, hiding a smile. "I mean… I'm here already, like you said."
He lifted her up by the waist, spun her around, and sat her on the edge of the desk.
"What's his punishment?" she asked as Snape moved her hair aside to kiss her neck.
"Potter?" he murmured against her skin, already too distracted to discuss it further.
"Yes. Will it pain him?"
"I think so. I'm going to have him copying over detention slips."
She put her palms on Snape's chest, pushing him back. "That's all?"
Snape smirked. "I have a particular set of detention slips in mind."
"That hardly sounds sufficient, considering what he did to my son!"
"I could send Potter into the Forbidden Forest, but he's been there." He kissed her neck. "I could have him write lines, but Umbridge did that last year – had him etch words right into his skin, which I'd be fired for doing – so I doubt putting quill to parchment would bother him." His lips moved to her shoulder. "I could ban him from Quidditch but there's only one match left. This Saturday, actually, which he'll miss because he'll be in detention." He cupped her left breast in his hand and placed a kiss over her heart. "There are no Hogsmeade visits left, the last one just passed, so that's out." His tongue flicked under the material of the neckline of her dress, as his hand continued caressing her chest. He was hoping selfishly she would shut up, because he absolutely did not want to discuss Potter. He'd had enough Potter. He wanted her.
She, on the other hand, seemed to be ignoring his efforts.
"Couldn't you put him under the Cruciatus Curse or something?"
"Are you serious?" He abruptly ceased his attempts to arouse her, staring into her gray eyes. Her no-nonsense expression told him that she was, indeed, serious. He shook his head, thinking her quite possibly mad.
"That's an Unforgivable Curse, Narcissa. We don't use Unforgivable Curses on students. We can't use any curses on students, actually. Not as punishment, not ever. You've spent too much time cooped up in Malfoy Manor with your sister and the Dark Lord. You've forgotten what it's like in the real world, where Unforgivables get people sent to Azkaban."
"The boy used an Unforgivable on my sister."
"Which boy? Potter?"
"Yes. In the Ministry. She told me, after I… it isn't important why she told me, but she did! She said he tried it multiple times, but he was no match for her. He doesn't have it in him, she said. So why isn't he in Azkaban?"
"You're asking me why a teenager isn't in Azkaban for using an Unforgivable Curse against your prison-escapee sister the night she and your husband tricked him and his friends into breaking into the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic to steal a prophecy as per the order of the Dark Lord? The same night your sister probably tried to kill him, or maybe some of his friends, the very night Dumbledore himself battled the Dark Lord, the night the Dark Lord let the bulk of His inner circle get captured, including your husband, save for Bellatrix? You want to know why Potter's not in Azkaban after that?"
Narcissa crossed her arms across her chest like a stubborn child, refusing to comment. Snape scoffed, shaking his head again, prompting her with, "Well?"
When she still neglected to respond, he said in a sardonic tone, "Tell your sister if she'd like to press charges, I'm sure the Wizengamot will be more than pleased to listen to her… right before they turn her over to the Dementers."
Narcissa's eyes flashed. "My cousin, Juliet Rosier, thinks the Ministry will fall. Then the prisoners of Azkaban will be released. She says those 'in the know' think it will happen soon."
"Does she? She must be more 'in the know' than I am, then." He turned away, as if distracted by the books on the shelf by the door. She could tell he was annoyed but wasn't entirely sure why.
"I hope she's right," said Narcissa. "I hope the Ministry does collapse and I hope the Dark Lord puts Bella herself in charge of the damn thing and I hope Dumbledore keels over of a heart attack so my son won't have to kill him and I think Potter deserves a far worse punishment than writing out detention slips… I wouldn't mind seeing that arrogant little look of his snuffed right out of his toady green eyes."
"I think you should go."
Narcissa was taken aback, both by Snape's words and by the harsh tone used when he uttered them. She fixated her gaze perplexedly at his back.
"What do you mean?"
"You shouldn't be here. The longer you're here, the more suspicious it will look. I think you should go."
She crossed one knee over the other, leaning back slightly on the desk, putting her hands behind her to hold her up. She studied him carefully from behind, wishing he would look at her.
"I thought you wanted to take me to bed."
"I did. But now I don't."
"I don't understand."
He whirled around, black robes whipping around him from the force of it.
"I believe I have made myself quite clear, Mrs. Malfoy. It's time for you to depart."
What little color there was in her pale face drained out, though spots of pink quickly dotted her cheeks. She blinked several times, afraid she would start to cry again. She cried easily. Always had. But she was determined not to do it now. She slid off the desk.
"Okay."
"You should not return to this school unless there is an absolute emergency and you are subsequently sent for by the Headmaster or Deputy Headmistress. Take this with you."
He reached into his desk and removed the notebook she'd given him, the one they used to correspond daily. "Obviously it is no longer to be considered a safe method of communication."
She blinked harder, but one of the tears managed to escape from the corner of her left eye. She didn't wipe it away, afraid to draw attention to it.
"Okay," she said meekly.
"Goodbye."
He did not move toward her to touch her, or kiss her, or even escort her out. He simply turned on his heel again and exited to the sitting room of his private chambers. The door slammed behind him. She jumped as if slapped.
"Goodbye," she whispered, hugging the book to her chest. Another tear made its escape.
She had no idea what she'd done wrong, or why he was so angry.
But she had a feeling it meant they were over.
A/N: Harry Hobbit: No, Bellatrix gets pregnant around June of 6th year (so within a month after when this chapter takes place, when Snape kills Dumbledore) and has baby Delphini in the spring of what should be the trio's seventh year, 1998. We are still in spring of 6th year (1997).