See the Voice Of Alexian in reviews for this chapter for replies to readers reviews from the 12th July.
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Beta by Kristine Thorne
Summary - Severus tries to find out what has been happening to Draco since they last saw him but meets with a wall of silence. Can Harry and Severus figure out what is going on before something awful happens?
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Chapter Twenty Six - Draco's Allegiance
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Harry and Severus were up early despite having been late to bed.
"Hermione's Muggle pregnancy book says that we should be getting plenty of sleep," Harry grumbled.
"Hermione's Muggles don't have our life," Severus replied.
"Hermione's Muggles probably have to commute to work though," Harry added pulling on his clothes which Severus used his wand to alter as Harry tried to do up his pants, "They're probably out of bed for two hours before they even get to work, at least we just have to go next door." Harry smiled as his clothes increased in size a little; he and Severus had been altering their robes one set at a time for a few days now, they had started to become tight and uncomfortable.
"I wish I didn't just look fat," Severus complained smoothing his robes over his slightly enlarged but not as yet protruding abdomen.
"You don't, not to me anyway," Harry reassured.
"Just everybody else,"
"Since when did you care about that?" Harry asked.
"Good point," Severus had to admit.
"You might look only a little rounded now, but soon you will be bigger, soon you will be as big as a whale," Harry teased.
"Hmm, let's go see what your friend has done to the Malfoy boy, shall we," Severus grizzled sternly.
Severus and Harry went through to the bedroom where Draco had been left with Ron; Harry had had it decorated in lilac and cream to keep Severus guessing about his child, little wizard drawn puppies scampered around the walls in a band about a yard up the wall.
They were surprised to find Ron awake, he had curled up on the armchair but he hadn't fallen asleep and from the dishevelled and exhausted look of him he hadn't given in to temptation at any point during the night either. Draco lay on the bed as they had left him but it would have been odd if he hadn't been, with the immobilisation Meg had applied. Ron looked up at Harry and Severus as they entered.
"You can go have a sleep now if you want, Severus will be working in the potions room this morning and can keep an eye on things in here." Harry told Ron.
Ron sat up a bit in the chair, "He woke up,"
"When?" Severus asked.
"A few hours ago, the pain had come back and I got him to swallow a potion, he fell asleep after that," Ron explained.
"Did he say anything?" Severus asked.
"No," Ron replied, "He didn't tell me anything, he just whimpered really pathetically, but then I suppose he was in pain."
"I will see if I can get him to explain himself if he wakes again," Severus announced.
Harry touched Severus' arm, "You could leave him for a bit, he's still very sick and it can't be pleasant to talk about, whatever has happened to him."
"Having such a person amongst us threatens your safety and the safety of everybody in this castle," Severus insisted.
"He can't move and he has no wand, he won't be able to move until we get Meg up here and she lifts the spells," Harry continued.
"I don't like it," Severus grizzled, "I won't harbour an enemy."
"You were all for accepting that he couldn't be a Death Eater last night," Harry pointed out.
"It seems unlikely but maybe I was wrong, in any case I have changed my mind, the risk is too great, I don't want you to be in danger, I can't even begin to think what I would do if…" Severus continued before running for the bathroom.
Ron sighed, "I'll see to him in a minute," He told Harry.
Harry smiled sheepishly, "I think he might be feeling a bit emotional today, what do you think we should do?"
"Well we never trusted Draco and with good reason, I don't see how that has changed, however, even if he breaks the spell he'll only end up falling flat on his face," Ron answered, "I have felt the pain that he is experiencing, and he can't get away from that even if he were the Dark Lord himself."
Harry smiled in appreciation, "Thank you Ron," He said patting his friend on the shoulder, "My first instinct is to protect Severus at any cost, I would say that we Kin have a tendency to overreact, your rational thought is appreciated."
Ron used the walker to get up onto his feet, "Can I stay here?" he asked.
"Yes, of course, if you sort Severus out first he can go to his room and I'm going to sort out some things in the Defence classroom, just sleep on whichever sofa takes your fancy."
Harry went to the bathroom and peered round the door to find Severus sitting on the floor curled up in the corner of the bathroom with his back against the bathtub, he was hiding his face in his hair.
"Are you feeling sick?" Harry asked.
Severus shook his head slightly and Harry left him to it.
Harry returned to Ron, "Actually he's fine," he announced, "Why don't you just curl up now."
"Oh," Ron replied, "Ok."
Harry went to the window and closed the curtains again, "He'll come out in a while, just get to sleep or pretend to be asleep when he does, he doesn't want anybody gawping at him after that incident with Hermione."
Ron wasn't exactly sure that he knew what Harry was talking about but he agreed anyway.
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Severus came out of the bathroom when he heard Harry go into the Headmaster's office, he found Ron asleep on one of their sofas, at least he presumed that that was what was under the duvet covered mound. His hair was a mess and he knew that he would be looking terrible but he was only going to check on Draco and the young ex Slytherin student was more used to him looking grumpy and dangerous. He supposed that it was fortunate that their first meeting wouldn't be too much of a shock to the system for the young man.
When Severus opened the door to the bedroom he found that Draco was awake and had been looking around the room, his eyes went wide when he noticed that he had company and maybe also because of who Severus was. Severus had to entertain the possibility that Draco had thought that he might have been taken to Dumbledore.
"Well," Severus began, trying to sound as much like his past self as he could, "I certainly never thought I would see you here again."
Draco didn't reply, he just stared right back.
"I am Headmaster at Hogwarts now," Severus informed Draco, feeling that the whole conversation was going to be one sided and difficult, "You must excuse the walls, this room will be used for another purpose in the near future," Severus added hoping that Draco knew enough from his father about Kin Bonds to know what that meant without him having to explain everything, "So, do you want to tell me where you have been all this time?"
Severus still got no response from Draco other than a frown so he decided not to push him on it.
"Are you in pain?" Severus asked next.
Draco nodded though he didn't speak, Severus sighed and gave the young man the relevant potion and gave him another rejuvenation potion as well. Severus considered interrogating Draco about what had happened to him since graduation but he changed his mind and let it be as Harry had suggested, not least because he thought he wouldn't get any answers anyway.
"Don't worry about not speaking to me, I have you under my care now and I can wait, but be assured that you won't leave this bedroom until you do."
Draco shut his eyes and turned his head away from Severus. Severus sighed and knelt down at the fire to summon some food. He returned to the armchair recently vacated by Ron and sat down. He had some breakfast for himself and a bowl for Draco if he would take it. Since Draco still had his head turned away he decided to feed himself first.
"I know who you are, despite your cunning attempt at disguise, I doubt that the Dementors were fooled either," Severus spoke once he had finished eating, hoping that discussing recent events would grab Draco's attention, "Draco?" he prompted to show him that they had broken through the glamour.
Draco did indeed face Severus at the sound of his name and seemed quite distressed to hear it.
"Yes," Severus said once he had the young man's attention, "I DO know who you are."
Severus held a spoonful of very milky semolina pudding out for Draco to take but he refused to open his mouth.
"I have very little rejuvenation potion," Severus warned in an irritated voice, "And my patience can be, as you know, rather limited."
Draco stared right back but did not give in.
"I can make you eat it with just a flick of my wand," Severus snapped, "So there's no use persisting with this nonsense."
Draco at last gave up and he closed his eyes once more and let Severus feed him, it was only a few mouthfuls in any case since Severus knew that giving him too much after so little would only make him sick.
After he had finished eating Draco kept his eyes closed and Severus sat back in the armchair watching him until he was sure that the young man was sleeping.
Severus then heard Meg coming in through the office and knocking to be let into the living room. He left the door ajar as he went to let her in. Hermione was with her and they bustled in together. They both did an admirable job of ignoring the mound on the sofa and the fact that the room was so dark.
"How is he?" Meg asked, her case in her hand, they walked towards the bedroom as they spoke.
"Improving, we are going to need some more rejuvenation potion, do you have any that you can spare?" Severus asked.
"Oh yes," Meg replied, "We've got so much down in the hospital wing store that I have run out of shelf space, you are very welcome to it."
Severus directed a glower at Hermione, "Wonderful," he said to Meg brightly.
Meg entered the bedroom and approached the sleeping Draco; she placed her hand on each of his limbs in turn and then returned to Severus in the living room.
"You don't really need me here," She announced, "As long as you keep the pain under control I can return in five days time to check if I can remove the immobilising spells."
"Fine," Severus replied, "Don't forget to send up the potions I need."
"I won't." Meg replied before both she and Hermione left again.
Severus was then left with the place to himself; unconscious ex students didn't really count. He headed for the potions room knowing that he had at least a few hours of peace and quiet and that he would know if Draco woke due to some modifications that Harry had made to the bedrooms in anticipation of their expected offspring rather like a muggle baby intercom.
Just before lunchtime Severus went in to Draco with some more food. He was awake as Severus had expected and took each spoonful without any protest, although he kept his eyes closed the whole time and turned away from Severus as soon as he was done.
A short while later Harry came back for his lunch and they woke Ron up so that they could have the curtains open again. He had had five hours sleep and they would let him have the rest of the afternoon too if he would agree to keep watch again.
Harry held out a copy of The Daily Prophet to Severus once they had eaten.
"You'll never believe what they have on the front page," Harry began obviously annoyed by whatever it was.
Severus nearly smiled, "I think I can guess."
"'Harry Snape', at least they got my name right, 'stages show with Dementors at Hogsmeade', they are saying that I set the whole thing up for the publicity," Harry quoted.
"Perhaps just as well considering the secrecy that we need to keep about the truth," Severus offered.
"Look inside," Harry instructed.
Severus did and was met with another article about Harry.
"They went ahead anyway! They ran the story about the rumour that I am expecting triplets!" Harry explained for Ron.
"I don't know why you are so surprised," Severus pointed out.
Ron chuckled, "Maybe you are," he unhelpfully suggested.
Harry went pale, "Severus?"
Severus was amused, "Surely you are not going to believe your own gossip column?"
"Sev, am I?" Harry persisted anyway.
"No," Severus replied, "What is it called when there are four?"
Harry threw a cushion at his Kin, "Sev, be serious."
"You're not I can assure you," Severus replied.
"How many?" Harry asked.
"I thought we agreed not to talk about this sort of thing," Severus teased.
"Sev!"
"You are pregnant with just one baby, don't worry," Severus relented.
Harry suddenly didn't feel as relieved as he was expecting to be, "It would have been rather nice," He grumbled.
"You are quite mental," Ron observed, "You are both quite mental."
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The following three days passed in much the same way. Ron did night duty, now staying just outside the room but vigilant and ready should he be needed. On the one occasion that Ron had had to do anything Draco hadn't even opened his eyes, though Ron had known that he was properly awake. Severus attended to Draco during the day after Ron had taken away the sickness and spent some of his time in the Headmaster's office. By the fourth day Draco had still not said a word.
"This is ridiculous," Severus complained to Ron, Hermione and Harry, over lunch in the living room, "We have three days to go before his bones are healed and we have no more idea as to what has happened, than we did when he was first brought in."
"One of us could try," Harry suggested.
"He's going to talk to one of you lot when he won't talk to his old house head?" Severus pointed out.
"You've got a point there," Ron agreed.
"No, it's best that only I attend to him."
"There's always a truth potion," Harry suggested.
"There is," Severus sighed, "I had hoped to avoid that kind of thing."
"Threaten him with it, see what happens," Ron suggested.
"Nothing to lose," Harry added.
"It's about the best that we have," Severus also agreed.
Severus wasted no more time and stormed into the bedroom where Draco lay and approached the bed.
"You know I could spend all day trying to coax the truth out of you, about where you have been and what you have been doing, I could use a truth potion, but let's cut out all of that tedium, why don't you just tell me what your allegiances are right now with no fuss, you've lain there silent long enough," Severus demanded of Draco who just lay in bed staring at him.
"I don't want you to tell me what you think I want to hear," Severus continued, "I want the truth and I want it now."
Draco continued to stare.
"Are you loyal to the Death Eaters?" Severus asked.
Draco's eyes widened but still he said nothing.
"Well are you?" Severus hollered.
Draco nodded and turned his head away.
"Right," Severus said feeling rather shocked at the admission even though he had demanded it, "That's all I wanted to know."
Severus returned to Harry in the living room, "Well I asked for that."
"What happened?" Harry asked noticing his Kin's rather stunned expression.
"I asked him and he admitted it, he nodded to indicate that he is loyal to the Death Eaters, although he still refuses to speak," Severus replied.
"What now?" Harry asked.
"I don't know," Severus had to admit.
"Swords," Harry suggested.
Hermione and Ron looked horrified, to them 'swords' meant imminent bloodshed.
"Just for a minute, just to feel if there is a threat," Severus told them before drawing his sword.
Harry took his sword out too and held it making the connection with Severus. He waited for something to happen, feeling rather nervous because he didn't want to have to kill anybody in his own home. There was nothing though, they could confirm that Draco did not mean them any harm.
"Did you sense anything?" Severus asked Harry.
"No, you?"
Severus shook his head and put his sword away.
"What does that mean?" Ron asked.
"Well if he's admitted to being a Death Eater and yet you don't feel that he is a threat, maybe it means that the fact that he is immobilised is blocking the threat from being expressed and so the swords dismiss it since intention alone is not enough." Hermione interrupted.
"I don't know," Harry replied, "I had Lucius frozen in a similar state shortly before I killed him and I felt the threat well enough then."
"But then what are we left with?" Hermione continued.
"And why does he say he is a Death Eater, maybe he only wants us to believe that," Harry added.
"I asked for the truth whatever it was and why would he want us to believe that he is a Death Eater?" Severus asked.
"That is the surest way of indicating that you insist on a particular answer, did you suggest to him what you wanted to hear?" Hermione added.
"I shouted at him, this situation is testing my patience," Severus replied.
"Of course his motives can only be judged against what he knows of the wizarding world at the moment, we don't know who he thinks might be on the winning side," Harry added.
"Well if you tell him there are no other Death Eaters because they're all dead he's bound to say that he isn't one any longer," Hermione continued.
"Aaargh! You're all doing my head in!" Ron interrupted.
"He's right," Harry responded, "We haven't got a clue."
"So what are we going to do then?" Severus asked the group, nobody had an answer.
"Sometimes when I go in at night it seems as if he has been crying, it's happened a few times now," Ron mentioned, only just remembering about it but not knowing if it could help or not, "Just doesn't seem like a very evil thing to do," Ron added with a shrug.
"No, it doesn't," Harry had to admit.
"And if he was a Death Eater trying to get inside Hogwarts made out to look like an injured Oliver Wood, why didn't he just have one broken leg or something like that, it would have gained him enough sympathy to bring him into our quarters or the hospital wing," Ron mulled the thoughts over as they occurred to him, "He was disguised so effectively that we didn't know at first and he was half dead and the aurors don't check the shrieking shack that often."
"Well this is a moment for Hogwart's history," Severus commented.
"Ron defending Draco Malfoy," Harry added.
"Shut up."
"I killed his father." Harry suddenly remembered feeling perhaps a little over emotional about it, "What does that make me?"
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Coming Soon - Chapter Twenty Seven - A Prized Possession - Severus is making no progress with Draco but when Harry gets sent in things start to get more complicated. Severus finally gets Draco to explain himself and he and Harry head down to the Shrieking Shack to recover something important that Draco has left down there.
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Beta by Kristine Thorne
Summary - Severus tries to find out what has been happening to Draco since they last saw him but meets with a wall of silence. Can Harry and Severus figure out what is going on before something awful happens?
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Chapter Twenty Six - Draco's Allegiance
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Harry and Severus were up early despite having been late to bed.
"Hermione's Muggle pregnancy book says that we should be getting plenty of sleep," Harry grumbled.
"Hermione's Muggles don't have our life," Severus replied.
"Hermione's Muggles probably have to commute to work though," Harry added pulling on his clothes which Severus used his wand to alter as Harry tried to do up his pants, "They're probably out of bed for two hours before they even get to work, at least we just have to go next door." Harry smiled as his clothes increased in size a little; he and Severus had been altering their robes one set at a time for a few days now, they had started to become tight and uncomfortable.
"I wish I didn't just look fat," Severus complained smoothing his robes over his slightly enlarged but not as yet protruding abdomen.
"You don't, not to me anyway," Harry reassured.
"Just everybody else,"
"Since when did you care about that?" Harry asked.
"Good point," Severus had to admit.
"You might look only a little rounded now, but soon you will be bigger, soon you will be as big as a whale," Harry teased.
"Hmm, let's go see what your friend has done to the Malfoy boy, shall we," Severus grizzled sternly.
Severus and Harry went through to the bedroom where Draco had been left with Ron; Harry had had it decorated in lilac and cream to keep Severus guessing about his child, little wizard drawn puppies scampered around the walls in a band about a yard up the wall.
They were surprised to find Ron awake, he had curled up on the armchair but he hadn't fallen asleep and from the dishevelled and exhausted look of him he hadn't given in to temptation at any point during the night either. Draco lay on the bed as they had left him but it would have been odd if he hadn't been, with the immobilisation Meg had applied. Ron looked up at Harry and Severus as they entered.
"You can go have a sleep now if you want, Severus will be working in the potions room this morning and can keep an eye on things in here." Harry told Ron.
Ron sat up a bit in the chair, "He woke up,"
"When?" Severus asked.
"A few hours ago, the pain had come back and I got him to swallow a potion, he fell asleep after that," Ron explained.
"Did he say anything?" Severus asked.
"No," Ron replied, "He didn't tell me anything, he just whimpered really pathetically, but then I suppose he was in pain."
"I will see if I can get him to explain himself if he wakes again," Severus announced.
Harry touched Severus' arm, "You could leave him for a bit, he's still very sick and it can't be pleasant to talk about, whatever has happened to him."
"Having such a person amongst us threatens your safety and the safety of everybody in this castle," Severus insisted.
"He can't move and he has no wand, he won't be able to move until we get Meg up here and she lifts the spells," Harry continued.
"I don't like it," Severus grizzled, "I won't harbour an enemy."
"You were all for accepting that he couldn't be a Death Eater last night," Harry pointed out.
"It seems unlikely but maybe I was wrong, in any case I have changed my mind, the risk is too great, I don't want you to be in danger, I can't even begin to think what I would do if…" Severus continued before running for the bathroom.
Ron sighed, "I'll see to him in a minute," He told Harry.
Harry smiled sheepishly, "I think he might be feeling a bit emotional today, what do you think we should do?"
"Well we never trusted Draco and with good reason, I don't see how that has changed, however, even if he breaks the spell he'll only end up falling flat on his face," Ron answered, "I have felt the pain that he is experiencing, and he can't get away from that even if he were the Dark Lord himself."
Harry smiled in appreciation, "Thank you Ron," He said patting his friend on the shoulder, "My first instinct is to protect Severus at any cost, I would say that we Kin have a tendency to overreact, your rational thought is appreciated."
Ron used the walker to get up onto his feet, "Can I stay here?" he asked.
"Yes, of course, if you sort Severus out first he can go to his room and I'm going to sort out some things in the Defence classroom, just sleep on whichever sofa takes your fancy."
Harry went to the bathroom and peered round the door to find Severus sitting on the floor curled up in the corner of the bathroom with his back against the bathtub, he was hiding his face in his hair.
"Are you feeling sick?" Harry asked.
Severus shook his head slightly and Harry left him to it.
Harry returned to Ron, "Actually he's fine," he announced, "Why don't you just curl up now."
"Oh," Ron replied, "Ok."
Harry went to the window and closed the curtains again, "He'll come out in a while, just get to sleep or pretend to be asleep when he does, he doesn't want anybody gawping at him after that incident with Hermione."
Ron wasn't exactly sure that he knew what Harry was talking about but he agreed anyway.
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Severus came out of the bathroom when he heard Harry go into the Headmaster's office, he found Ron asleep on one of their sofas, at least he presumed that that was what was under the duvet covered mound. His hair was a mess and he knew that he would be looking terrible but he was only going to check on Draco and the young ex Slytherin student was more used to him looking grumpy and dangerous. He supposed that it was fortunate that their first meeting wouldn't be too much of a shock to the system for the young man.
When Severus opened the door to the bedroom he found that Draco was awake and had been looking around the room, his eyes went wide when he noticed that he had company and maybe also because of who Severus was. Severus had to entertain the possibility that Draco had thought that he might have been taken to Dumbledore.
"Well," Severus began, trying to sound as much like his past self as he could, "I certainly never thought I would see you here again."
Draco didn't reply, he just stared right back.
"I am Headmaster at Hogwarts now," Severus informed Draco, feeling that the whole conversation was going to be one sided and difficult, "You must excuse the walls, this room will be used for another purpose in the near future," Severus added hoping that Draco knew enough from his father about Kin Bonds to know what that meant without him having to explain everything, "So, do you want to tell me where you have been all this time?"
Severus still got no response from Draco other than a frown so he decided not to push him on it.
"Are you in pain?" Severus asked next.
Draco nodded though he didn't speak, Severus sighed and gave the young man the relevant potion and gave him another rejuvenation potion as well. Severus considered interrogating Draco about what had happened to him since graduation but he changed his mind and let it be as Harry had suggested, not least because he thought he wouldn't get any answers anyway.
"Don't worry about not speaking to me, I have you under my care now and I can wait, but be assured that you won't leave this bedroom until you do."
Draco shut his eyes and turned his head away from Severus. Severus sighed and knelt down at the fire to summon some food. He returned to the armchair recently vacated by Ron and sat down. He had some breakfast for himself and a bowl for Draco if he would take it. Since Draco still had his head turned away he decided to feed himself first.
"I know who you are, despite your cunning attempt at disguise, I doubt that the Dementors were fooled either," Severus spoke once he had finished eating, hoping that discussing recent events would grab Draco's attention, "Draco?" he prompted to show him that they had broken through the glamour.
Draco did indeed face Severus at the sound of his name and seemed quite distressed to hear it.
"Yes," Severus said once he had the young man's attention, "I DO know who you are."
Severus held a spoonful of very milky semolina pudding out for Draco to take but he refused to open his mouth.
"I have very little rejuvenation potion," Severus warned in an irritated voice, "And my patience can be, as you know, rather limited."
Draco stared right back but did not give in.
"I can make you eat it with just a flick of my wand," Severus snapped, "So there's no use persisting with this nonsense."
Draco at last gave up and he closed his eyes once more and let Severus feed him, it was only a few mouthfuls in any case since Severus knew that giving him too much after so little would only make him sick.
After he had finished eating Draco kept his eyes closed and Severus sat back in the armchair watching him until he was sure that the young man was sleeping.
Severus then heard Meg coming in through the office and knocking to be let into the living room. He left the door ajar as he went to let her in. Hermione was with her and they bustled in together. They both did an admirable job of ignoring the mound on the sofa and the fact that the room was so dark.
"How is he?" Meg asked, her case in her hand, they walked towards the bedroom as they spoke.
"Improving, we are going to need some more rejuvenation potion, do you have any that you can spare?" Severus asked.
"Oh yes," Meg replied, "We've got so much down in the hospital wing store that I have run out of shelf space, you are very welcome to it."
Severus directed a glower at Hermione, "Wonderful," he said to Meg brightly.
Meg entered the bedroom and approached the sleeping Draco; she placed her hand on each of his limbs in turn and then returned to Severus in the living room.
"You don't really need me here," She announced, "As long as you keep the pain under control I can return in five days time to check if I can remove the immobilising spells."
"Fine," Severus replied, "Don't forget to send up the potions I need."
"I won't." Meg replied before both she and Hermione left again.
Severus was then left with the place to himself; unconscious ex students didn't really count. He headed for the potions room knowing that he had at least a few hours of peace and quiet and that he would know if Draco woke due to some modifications that Harry had made to the bedrooms in anticipation of their expected offspring rather like a muggle baby intercom.
Just before lunchtime Severus went in to Draco with some more food. He was awake as Severus had expected and took each spoonful without any protest, although he kept his eyes closed the whole time and turned away from Severus as soon as he was done.
A short while later Harry came back for his lunch and they woke Ron up so that they could have the curtains open again. He had had five hours sleep and they would let him have the rest of the afternoon too if he would agree to keep watch again.
Harry held out a copy of The Daily Prophet to Severus once they had eaten.
"You'll never believe what they have on the front page," Harry began obviously annoyed by whatever it was.
Severus nearly smiled, "I think I can guess."
"'Harry Snape', at least they got my name right, 'stages show with Dementors at Hogsmeade', they are saying that I set the whole thing up for the publicity," Harry quoted.
"Perhaps just as well considering the secrecy that we need to keep about the truth," Severus offered.
"Look inside," Harry instructed.
Severus did and was met with another article about Harry.
"They went ahead anyway! They ran the story about the rumour that I am expecting triplets!" Harry explained for Ron.
"I don't know why you are so surprised," Severus pointed out.
Ron chuckled, "Maybe you are," he unhelpfully suggested.
Harry went pale, "Severus?"
Severus was amused, "Surely you are not going to believe your own gossip column?"
"Sev, am I?" Harry persisted anyway.
"No," Severus replied, "What is it called when there are four?"
Harry threw a cushion at his Kin, "Sev, be serious."
"You're not I can assure you," Severus replied.
"How many?" Harry asked.
"I thought we agreed not to talk about this sort of thing," Severus teased.
"Sev!"
"You are pregnant with just one baby, don't worry," Severus relented.
Harry suddenly didn't feel as relieved as he was expecting to be, "It would have been rather nice," He grumbled.
"You are quite mental," Ron observed, "You are both quite mental."
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The following three days passed in much the same way. Ron did night duty, now staying just outside the room but vigilant and ready should he be needed. On the one occasion that Ron had had to do anything Draco hadn't even opened his eyes, though Ron had known that he was properly awake. Severus attended to Draco during the day after Ron had taken away the sickness and spent some of his time in the Headmaster's office. By the fourth day Draco had still not said a word.
"This is ridiculous," Severus complained to Ron, Hermione and Harry, over lunch in the living room, "We have three days to go before his bones are healed and we have no more idea as to what has happened, than we did when he was first brought in."
"One of us could try," Harry suggested.
"He's going to talk to one of you lot when he won't talk to his old house head?" Severus pointed out.
"You've got a point there," Ron agreed.
"No, it's best that only I attend to him."
"There's always a truth potion," Harry suggested.
"There is," Severus sighed, "I had hoped to avoid that kind of thing."
"Threaten him with it, see what happens," Ron suggested.
"Nothing to lose," Harry added.
"It's about the best that we have," Severus also agreed.
Severus wasted no more time and stormed into the bedroom where Draco lay and approached the bed.
"You know I could spend all day trying to coax the truth out of you, about where you have been and what you have been doing, I could use a truth potion, but let's cut out all of that tedium, why don't you just tell me what your allegiances are right now with no fuss, you've lain there silent long enough," Severus demanded of Draco who just lay in bed staring at him.
"I don't want you to tell me what you think I want to hear," Severus continued, "I want the truth and I want it now."
Draco continued to stare.
"Are you loyal to the Death Eaters?" Severus asked.
Draco's eyes widened but still he said nothing.
"Well are you?" Severus hollered.
Draco nodded and turned his head away.
"Right," Severus said feeling rather shocked at the admission even though he had demanded it, "That's all I wanted to know."
Severus returned to Harry in the living room, "Well I asked for that."
"What happened?" Harry asked noticing his Kin's rather stunned expression.
"I asked him and he admitted it, he nodded to indicate that he is loyal to the Death Eaters, although he still refuses to speak," Severus replied.
"What now?" Harry asked.
"I don't know," Severus had to admit.
"Swords," Harry suggested.
Hermione and Ron looked horrified, to them 'swords' meant imminent bloodshed.
"Just for a minute, just to feel if there is a threat," Severus told them before drawing his sword.
Harry took his sword out too and held it making the connection with Severus. He waited for something to happen, feeling rather nervous because he didn't want to have to kill anybody in his own home. There was nothing though, they could confirm that Draco did not mean them any harm.
"Did you sense anything?" Severus asked Harry.
"No, you?"
Severus shook his head and put his sword away.
"What does that mean?" Ron asked.
"Well if he's admitted to being a Death Eater and yet you don't feel that he is a threat, maybe it means that the fact that he is immobilised is blocking the threat from being expressed and so the swords dismiss it since intention alone is not enough." Hermione interrupted.
"I don't know," Harry replied, "I had Lucius frozen in a similar state shortly before I killed him and I felt the threat well enough then."
"But then what are we left with?" Hermione continued.
"And why does he say he is a Death Eater, maybe he only wants us to believe that," Harry added.
"I asked for the truth whatever it was and why would he want us to believe that he is a Death Eater?" Severus asked.
"That is the surest way of indicating that you insist on a particular answer, did you suggest to him what you wanted to hear?" Hermione added.
"I shouted at him, this situation is testing my patience," Severus replied.
"Of course his motives can only be judged against what he knows of the wizarding world at the moment, we don't know who he thinks might be on the winning side," Harry added.
"Well if you tell him there are no other Death Eaters because they're all dead he's bound to say that he isn't one any longer," Hermione continued.
"Aaargh! You're all doing my head in!" Ron interrupted.
"He's right," Harry responded, "We haven't got a clue."
"So what are we going to do then?" Severus asked the group, nobody had an answer.
"Sometimes when I go in at night it seems as if he has been crying, it's happened a few times now," Ron mentioned, only just remembering about it but not knowing if it could help or not, "Just doesn't seem like a very evil thing to do," Ron added with a shrug.
"No, it doesn't," Harry had to admit.
"And if he was a Death Eater trying to get inside Hogwarts made out to look like an injured Oliver Wood, why didn't he just have one broken leg or something like that, it would have gained him enough sympathy to bring him into our quarters or the hospital wing," Ron mulled the thoughts over as they occurred to him, "He was disguised so effectively that we didn't know at first and he was half dead and the aurors don't check the shrieking shack that often."
"Well this is a moment for Hogwart's history," Severus commented.
"Ron defending Draco Malfoy," Harry added.
"Shut up."
"I killed his father." Harry suddenly remembered feeling perhaps a little over emotional about it, "What does that make me?"
.
.
.
Coming Soon - Chapter Twenty Seven - A Prized Possession - Severus is making no progress with Draco but when Harry gets sent in things start to get more complicated. Severus finally gets Draco to explain himself and he and Harry head down to the Shrieking Shack to recover something important that Draco has left down there.