Author's Note

--I didn't know what this word meant until I was 20-something, so, really, I am not insulting anyone's intelligence here. I just thought some people might want the definition so they don't have to go look it up… Paradigm (pair-uh-dime', -dim') A set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality

--I recognize that there's controversy over Harry/Harold and Draco/Draconis. Please see my profile for my view about this. Guess I should have said this in chapter 3…

Chapter 8 – Interlude – Severus Snape

Friday, 11 October

Severus watched his son interacting with his housemates at the Slytherin table, proud of the boy's performance this past week. Draco had not let any hint show of the tiredness he must have been feeling all week and especially today as his transition approached. After their conversation on the first day of school, neither he nor Draco had brought up the subject of Draco's transition again. It was simply too dangerous for them both.

Walking back to his quarters after supper, Severus wondered whom his son had chosen as a transition partner. He had to admit to himself that he had no idea whom Draco would have chosen. The only thing he was sure of was that it wasn't Pansy. Severus would watch the student population tomorrow; if it was a student here at Hogwarts, Severus should be able to figure out whom fairly quickly.

Severus puttered around in his rooms for several hours, rearranging his furniture and tapestries and books; tasks he had put in the category of "when he had time." Knowing he would never be able to concentrate this night for his worry for Draco, Severus threw himself into the relatively mindless labor. By the time he was finished it was nearing eleven o'clock. Pouring himself a brandy, Severus sat in his favorite chair and watched the fire while taking an occasional sip. He was startled out of his reverie an hour later when his clock began to strike midnight.

"Good luck, my son," he whispered, and took himself to bed.


Saturday, 12 October

"First and second year snakes all accounted for, though I doubt Draco would have asked one of them anyway. Ah, there's Anthony and Pansy's clique. Fourth and sixth year snakes accounted for," Severus thought to himself as he watched the students trickle in for breakfast and tallied heads.

Turning to the Ravenclaw table, Severus quickly eliminated all fifth and seventh year ravens from his mental list; they were all at their house table busy studying for their respective end-of-year tests, and probably had been for the last hour, despite the fact that it was only October. A perusal of Hufflepuff surprisingly let him eliminate the first, second, third, and sixth years. A glance at Gryffindor revealed a mostly empty table. "Lazy imbeciles," he groused to himself uncharitably, completely ignoring that breakfast had only just started and would continue for another hour.

Just before leaving the staff table at his normal time, Severus was able to eliminate the remainder of his snakes, as he had expected, the sixth year ravens, the fourth year badgers and the first, second, and third year lions. He would have to wait until lunch to make additional eliminations.

But lunch found Severus cursing his way back to his quarters. It was a nice day outside, evidently, not that he cared in the slightest, and most of the students had opted to eat outside. He would have to wait until supper.

At supper a cranky Severus stabbed a hapless carrot and scowled out at the students. As this was his normal demeanor, nobody took special note of him. "Ravens. First years, first years. Yes, all here. Second years?" Severus scowled at his plate and counted them from the corner of his eye, absently eating his carrot. "No. Farmer is missing. Third?"

Continuing his headcount, Severus eventually eliminated all but three Hufflepuffs, four Ravenclaws, and six Gryffndors before his normal leaving time. Growling his frustration, Severus made to rise, when he was stopped by the mediwitch. If it wouldn't completely ruin his hard-won reputation, not to mention make him green, he might have kissed her for the distraction that would likely allow him a couple more minutes to keep an eye out for the thirteen missing students.

"Yes, Poppy?" he asked nicely, for him. If he was nice maybe she would talk a bit longer.

"It seems that the autumn outbreak of colds has started, Severus. I had four children through my ward just this afternoon. Will you be able to brew a batch of Pepper-Up for me tomorrow? Or should I place an order with St. Mungo's?" she asked politely, mindful of the man's temper but still needing an answer.

Severus narrowed his eyes and pretended to consider her request. "Yes. I have time enough tomorrow. Do you require anything else that I may be able to brew simultaneously?" he answered, marking off the three Hufflepuffs as they snuck in late through a side door.

Glad to have caught the potions master in a good mood, the nurse replied, "I'm a bit low on hair restorer, perhaps, and I will always take burn cream."

Two Gryffindors were eliminated as Severus nodded his acquiescence. "Very well. I will have them all to you by tomorrow evening."

Poppy smiled at him in gratitude. She really was a kind woman, always thankful for his efforts no matter how disagreeable he was being. "Thank you, Severus. I will see you tomorrow then. I won't keep you any longer."

Severus nodded to her and swooped out of the dining hall. He eliminated another Gryffindor, watching in amusement as the unfortunate student scrambled to get out of his way.

"This leaves four ravens, all fourth year. Very unlikely. And the obnoxious trio. Impossible. So, he chose someone outside of Hogwarts, then. How did he get them into the castle?" Severus mused on his way to his dungeon lab.

Setting up for the potions he would brew for Poppy tomorrow, Severus suddenly lost his grip on a cauldron. It crashed onto the countertop, listed to the side, and fell off onto the floor with additional loud banging. Severus ignored it, his eyes wide with alarm.

"No," he breathed, horrified, "Draco, what have you done?"

For Severus knew…he knew…that Draco had chosen Potter.


Sunday, 13 October

Severus had never before been more thankful than he was today for Poppy's need of Pepper-Up. He was making her two batches; he needed to keep busy to distract himself from thinking of Draco's foolishness. Today's breakfast had turned up all the remaining students on his list…except Potter.

He was at a loss to explain his son's motives. Oh, Severus knew that Draco had always wanted to befriend Potter; even that he still had a fascination with the obnoxious brat. But Potter hated all things Slytherin, with Draco probably in the top five. How could Draco think that Potter would accept?

Of course, Potter obviously had accepted.

Severus couldn't see how that was anything but bad for Draco. Potter had probably fucked Draco as many times as the boy had begged in his delirium, stealing Draco's transition magics in misplaced retaliation for not getting any new magics during his own transition. Potter would taunt Draco all week, making the most of the time to get back at Draco for every perceived slight against him, his friends, his house, Merlin, his damn broom! He wanted to rescue his son from Potter's callous clutches.

And couldn't.

Severus had checked every transition chamber last night when he realized what Draco had done. None were in use. He had then sent out a search spell for Draco. It had returned empty even though Draco had to be in the castle. He, like every other Head of House, would have been alerted by the wards if any student had left the castle grounds. No, he couldn't find his son.

Why had Draco made such a poor choice? He didn't understand.

Later that evening found Severus standing in his main room, staring forlornly at the fire. Closing his eyes and hanging his head, Severus begged, "Salazar protect my son."


Monday, 14 October

As he expected, Monday's potion class of sixth year Slytherins and Gryffindors was two pupils short. He delighted in taking points and assigning detention for Potter's truancy. He had taken his standard amount even though he had longed to do more. To do so, though, would draw suspicion to him that he was aware of the reason why Potter was absent, and he couldn't do that. When the spoiled brat was back in school, though, Severus would take the utmost satisfaction in making the boy's life hell.

"Mister Zabini, stay after class," Severus demanded as the students packed away their books at the end of class.

"Yes, sir."

When the last student had left, Severus turned to Blaise Zabini and raised an eyebrow pointedly. "Make it good, Severus," he thought to himself.

The boy shifted nervously under his gaze. "Nobody knows for sure, sir. We think he's still in his room. He's been staying in his room every weekend this year, not coming out. Nobody thought anything was up until this morning when he didn't show up for first class."

"And nobody thought to inform me after first class, instead of now?" Severus asked sarcastically.

"Well, ah…," Severus watched the boy swallow nervously. "We think he's hiding, sir."

"Hiding," Severus repeated emotionlessly.

Blaise straightened his shoulders and looked his Head of House in the eye. The boy had spunk, Severus had to admit. "It is the considered belief of the sixth year boys that Draco is in hiding and will not emerge from his rooms of his own volition for the next two weeks. Everyone knows that his birthday is Saturday and Pansy was to be his transition partner. Pansy hasn't been able to shut up about it for weeks. Everyone also knows that Draco detests Pansy. We believe that Draco may attempt to go through transition by himself. Sir."

Severus stared at the boy unblinking for several long moments. "I see. You may go, Mister Zabini."

"Yes, sir."

As Blaise Zabini left hurriedly, Severus had to contain a smirk of satisfaction at the rumor that had started without any help from him. "Perfect," he thought. His scowl returned in force, though, when he remembered whom Draco was with.

Severus headed to lunch, predicting that an emergency staff meeting would be called to discuss the "disappearance" of Potter. He would have to be careful not to give away what he knew. He may wish great suffering upon Potter, but to reveal he knew anything about Potter's disappearance meant he would reveal he knew about Draco's. And he wasn't prepared to give up that secret in this lifetime. To do so would likely land him at the Dark Lord's feet as the newest plaything, courtesy of Lucius.

Not thirty minutes later saw a glum potions master sitting in the staff room waiting for Albus to start this impromptu waste of time. "Sometimes I hate being right," Severus thought irritably.

"It seems we have a problem," Albus started.

"No, you don't have a problem. Draco has a problem," Severus thought sourly.

"Mister Potter was missing in this morning's classes. Mister Weasley thought that Harry was still in his bed, as the curtains were still drawn when Mister Weasley left for breakfast. However, Minerva spent a great deal of time during second period dismantling the wards on Harry's bed only to find that Harry was not there. Apparently, he's not been seen since Friday evening," Albus said gravely.

"Of course not. He's been with Draco sucking off my son's magics to make up for his own pathetic lack and is now having fun tormenting a helpless Slytherin," Severus thought bitterly.

"While I have been able to determine that he is healthy and not in any distress, the location charms I have cast have been unable to find Mister Potter. I do know, however, that he must be in the castle as no student has passed through the wards since the beginning of term," Albus added.

Severus raised an eyebrow at this revelation while the other teachers made varying sounds of distress. The Headmaster had any number of tracking devices tuned to Harry Potter. Just where had the boys gone that those devices were ineffective?

"What I would like to know from you is if you have noted any unusual occurrences since Friday evening?" Albus asked.

"Oh, yes. My son asked Harry Potter to be his transition partner," Severus responded mentally.

The Headmaster looked around the room, taking in the negative responses of most of his staff. "Severus? Have you noted any unusual occurrences?"

"Mister Malfoy barricaded himself in his room Friday evening and has refused to come out," Severus said. He figured he might as well help start his own rumors amongst the staff.

"Do you think Harry might be in there with Mister Malfoy?" Minerva asked.

Severus gave her a scathing glare and refused to comment.

Minerva sighed. "No, I suppose not."

Albus raised his eyebrows at Severus and asked mildly, "And just what does Mister Malfoy hope to accomplish by locking himself away?"

"As if you don't know," Severus thought but aloud said, "His year-mates believe that he is hiding from the possibility of Miss Parkinson becoming his transition partner. His birthday is this Saturday."

"But why, Severus? That doesn't make any sense," Minerva said, her brows furrowed in confusion.

Severus glared at her. "Mister Malfoy detests Miss Parkinson. Mister Malfoy has objected to Miss Parkinson since their fathers first made arrangements for them to transition with each other. Mister Zabini related that it is believed the boy is going to attempt transition alone."

Various exclamations of shock, denial, and horror were heard throughout the room. Even Albus looked taken aback.

"Quiet!" Albus demanded. "That seems unwise, Severus," Albus added, looking at the potions master in concern.

"Unwise!" exclaimed Poppy, desperate hysteria edging into her outburst. "It's more than unwise! It's suicidal! The boy is too powerful to go through transition alone. He'll end up killing himself! You must get him out of that room!"

Severus glared at her and stated acerbically, "I can only presume that Mister Malfoy believes it worth the risk."

"Severus," Albus said firmly, "Poppy is right. Mister Malfoy cannot go through transition alone. You must get him out of his room. I'm sure a solution can be found if he truly objects to Miss Parkinson that much."

Severus scowled fiercely. "There is no other solution, old man, I've been contemplating options for sixteen years," Severus thought angrily. "I cannot," is all he said out loud.

"Why ever not, Severus?" Albus asked, looking over his glasses sternly.

"He has removed my emergency password from his wards," Severus replied. "I taught the boy wards myself, there is no way anyone will get in without his consent. And before you bother to suggest such a thing, he has warded his room against house-elves."

"I see," Albus said with surprise. "Well, you and I will have to take a trip to his rooms when we are done here. I can use Hogwarts' magics to create a new door into his rooms. We can then discuss alternative solutions."

Severus didn't object, just nodded and remained silent. As he had told Draco, it wouldn't matter if the Headmaster found him now; the transition bond was already set. Not that Draco was actually in his rooms. Not if Potter wasn't.

"Anyone else? No?" Albus sighed. "Please keep your eyes open to anything that might reveal to us the location of Mister Potter. Thank you everyone."

Severus waited for everyone to leave then led the Headmaster to the Slytherin dorms. His stony face relayed his displeasure to the few students in the common room. Likely speculation would soon be running throughout the house as to whether he was upset about Draco locking himself away so thoroughly that the Headmaster's help was needed or whether it was because the Headmaster was insisting on removing Draco from his sanctuary. He wouldn't bother to enlighten them.

Albus was looking quite grim when fifteen minutes later revealed an empty dorm room and even grimmer when he finished reading the short letter addressed to Severus that Draco had left on his pillow. An additional fifteen minutes only produced several failed location spells. "Severus, this is not good."

Severus nodded and looked around the room with narrowed eyes, trying to spot any evidence at all about where the boy had gone. Nothing. He didn't dare express his pride in front of the Headmaster. Severus may be dismayed at Draco's choice, but he couldn't fault the boy's execution of his escape. And the letter was a nice addition for which he would be sure to praise his son. It wasn't part of the original plan they had discussed but it would definitely be helpful to keep them both out of…well, not all, but surely out of some trouble.

Severus was glad he'd been facing away from the headmaster when reading the letter as he had had to clamp his lips together to keep from laughing out loud. "I've discovered, by quite a fortuitous accident, that my birthday is actually October 12." Fortuitous accident, indeed. Severus had placed the paternity potion first on the sixth year curriculum the very first year he had started teaching. "Please thank Father for keeping my true birthday a secret. Although I'm sure this isn't one of the ways in which he meant to protect me by keeping the true date hidden, I am, nevertheless, taking advantage of this opportunity… I hope he wasn't too harsh with you when he came to collect me…" Oh, how he couldn't wait to "thank" Lucius! He could just imagine the man's face…

"Perhaps he and Mister Potter are together, after all," Albus suggested.

Severus sneered, "I highly doubt it, Headmaster. They are bitter enemies, in case you hadn't noticed."

Albus nodded. "Perhaps so, Severus. However, their simultaneous disappearance is too coincidental."

Severus scowled but said nothing. Leaving Draco's room, Severus saw a couple students in the hall. More than likely they had heard the conversation. "Excellent," he thought, "More rumors."

"Should I contact the boy's father?" Severus asked stiffly.

Albus nodded. "Please, Severus. Perhaps he has another way to locate his son."

"I'm sure he does, but if your trinkets didn't find Potter I doubt Lucius will have any luck finding Draco."


Tuesday, 15 October

Severus woke in an even fouler mood than the day before; tired, sore, and cranky from a rousing bout of painful interrogation. And his worry for Draco only increased each day he was under Potter's abuse.

Lucius had been furious and accused Severus of all manner of foul play before coming to Hogwarts himself to cast various spells in search of his heir as well as question, and subsequently terrify, several Slytherins. Having as much success as Severus had predicted, Lucius had then left in a snit to complain to the Dark Lord, resulting in Severus being called and interrogated before the inner circle. It had been vicious and painful but Severus was glad it had happened and was now behind him. He even managed to garner some amusement from the situation when Lucius had been taunted.

Severus' alibi had held easily, as he had known it would. He'd only spent the last sixteen years on it, after all. The inner circle had all been present and once they understood what had, supposedly, happened, they had laughed at Lucius' folly in not double checking Draco's birth day with a simple age spell.

Even the Dark Lord had found the situation funny. That was, until Severus had told him that Potter had disappeared at the same time and was also unlocatable. Thankfully, it had been Lucius that had felt the brunt of their Lord's displeasure at that news. The Dark Lord had then cast a parseltongue location spell on both Potter and Draco. Both failed. The Dark Lord had vacillated between being delighted that Potter was helping Draco hide and being angry that Draco was accepting help from Potter. It hadn't been a fun night for anyone.

And to Severus' delight, everyone had blamed Lucius.

Today, Severus planned on taking his foul mood out on the students. It was the least he could do since he was going to be subjected to Lucius' presence during his free time as the man prowled the castle looking for his heir. It seemed Lucius had his own trinkets that were tuned to Draco and he wanted to bring them to the castle for optimum performance.

Severus figured they would be just as effective as the Headmaster's.

He was right.


Wednesday, 16 October

Severus glowered at his breakfast. This was day five of Draco's transition; the traditional day that invitations would arrive if there was to be a Presentation. Severus had been certain his son would receive a specific Gift and therefore would have a Presentation. Now, though, with Potter draining off Draco's magics, he doubted Draco had managed to hold onto enough of his transition magics for a Gift to manifest. The Gift and Presentation were something else Potter had stolen from his son.

Engrossed in his bitter musings, Severus didn't notice right away the number of owls for the morning post until Minerva's exclamation of "Great Merlin!" Looking up, Severus saw the usual number of morning owls had doubled. He was surprised when owls of various types landed in front of every teacher, including himself. Relieving the bird of its burden, Severus was only able to stare blankly at the expensive envelope addressed to him in silver ink; an envelope that obviously carried an invitation. And he knew who would be named.

He was certain it was someone else directing his hands to open the envelope; he certainly couldn't remember any such command to his appendages. Pulling out an equally expensive invitation, Severus felt his eyes drawn inexorably to the elegant silver script.

You are cordially invited
To the Presentation of the Gifted
Draconis Lucius Malfoy
By Harold James Potter
At six o'clock on Saturday, 19 October1996
At Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

This…was impossible.

Severus stood, still staring at the invitation, and left the dining hall. Later, Severus would be glad to learn his reaction had been reported to several interested parties, strengthening his and Draco's alibi. Unfortunately for Severus' reputation, however, it would be years before the stories would die about the shocked face of the surly potions master.

Severus was even more shocked when that evening he received a private missive. Included in the large privacy spelled envelope was a second invitation in gold script and a short note from Potter: For the true father of my charge. H.J. Potter.

Holding the gold invitation to his chest, Severus, for the second time in his life, felt his paradigms shatter. Obviously, he needed to reconsider what he thought he knew about Harry Potter.


Thursday, 17 October

Severus wandered into yet another shop in Diagon Alley. He was searching, willingly and sincerely, for a gift for Harry Potter. The concept boggled his mind. However, it was tradition that the transition partner/guardian of a Gifted wizard was presented with a suitable gift. While it needn't be as valuable as what was given to the Gifted wizard, it was certainly supposed to be nice. Far be it for him to buck tradition. But he was stumped. He had no idea what Potter would like.

"Probably because you have no idea who he really is," Severus thought to himself somewhat sourly.

Severus had come, quite reluctantly, to the conclusion that Harry Potter was not like his father and that, in fact, he knew very little of any real substance about the infuriating boy. Throughout the day he had been systematically reviewing all his memories of the Boy-Who-Lived and had come up with discrepancy after discrepancy.

For instance, the boy was obviously hiding his academic abilities. The boy's classwork was of poor quality, yet he had received an E on the potion's O.W.L. Potter had garnered the highest score in defense, yet nearly every teacher for that subject had been beyond incompetent. This meant that Potter either had had private tutelage or was disciplined enough for serious self-study. The same was true for the boy's E in Care of Magical Creatures. Potter had been one of the few to even pass the O.W.L.s in either subject. Given his previous classroom showing he should have failed spectacularly with the majority of his classmates. Yet, he hadn't. Severus actually found himself wondering if Potter's grades on the O.W.L.s were a true indication of his academic level or if the boy was hiding even more of his knowledge. Somehow, he wouldn't be surprised.

Potter was also not as good of friends with Granger and Weasley as seemed apparent. Now that he was looking, Severus had found many incidents where Potter's facial expression at Granger's know-it-all diatribes or Weasley's quidditch rants had been one of impatience and aggravation quickly masked to be the typical teenaged horror and/or suffering and/or annoyance and/or pained tolerance that matched the third of the triad's reaction of the moment. Very sneaky. Very clever. Very Slytherin, even.

"Not to mention," Severus thought with grim amusement, "he's obviously smart enough to realize that he needed to secrete himself and Draco where they could not be found, even by the Headmaster."

Severus knew that the inability to find the boys had to be Potter's doing, though he had no idea where or how the boy had learned the appropriate wards. Draco may be highly trained in entrance wards but, as far as Severus knew, his son was not yet skilled in non-detection wards. And he had found out earlier that day from Albus that the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets had not been disturbed so he knew the boys were not under any Founder's Wards. He wondered if the boys would answer any questions about their location when they returned. Probably not.

Fingering the set of small throwing knives, Severus decided that he was going to have a long talk with the erstwhile Golden Boy. Potter had acknowledged him as Draco's true father; he ought to be able to use that to convince the boy that Severus had the right to know his son's transition guardian. Yes, that would probably work. At least, it would work as long as the boy actually had a Gryffindor's sense of honor and not a Slytherin's. He could only hope. Severus pulled himself from his thoughts.

"I will take these," Severus informed the merchant.


Friday, 18 October

"I will do it," Severus volunteered.

The entire staff room went silent as all the professor's stared at Severus in shock.

"What?" he sneered. "I do not trust any of you not to decorate the hall in a completely inappropriate fashion. Draco is my godson. I will ensure that his Presentation is not overshadowed by hideous ornamentation or, Merlin forbid, shades of red and gold."

"Very well, Severus. Thank you," Albus agreed mildly, ignoring the outraged protests of the remainder of the staff.

Severus pulled out a folded sheet of parchment and passed it towards the Headmaster. "Lucius has sent a list of caterers he finds acceptable to service this event as well as an authorization to charge his Gringott's account."

Minerva sniffed in annoyance but pushed the parchment closer to Albus. Albus picked it up, perused it quickly, then set it back down and tapped it thoughtfully with one gnarled finger.

"That was thoughtful of him," Albus said placidly. "However, I have been informed by the head elf that arrangements have already been made. And paid for."

"Indeed," Severus said, raising an eyebrow. Well, that was interesting. He probably shouldn't have been surprised, though, the invitations were rather expensive. But where…

"Albus! Just how is Harry paying for this!" Minerva exclaimed. "Those invitations were not cheap. I thought at first that only the professor's had received such fine invitations, but that isn't the case. I checked with the students of my house and they were all the same. There must have been a hundred invitations delivered just at Hogwarts! Who knows how many went elsewhere?"

"Yes, Minerva, I know," Albus replied, also looking slightly worried. "I received a guest list; nearly three hundred and fifty people were invited, half with a guest of choice as well. I expect they will all come."

"Of course they will all come," Severus scoffed. "To not come to a Presentation? And one for the Malfoy heir to boot? Inconceivable. They will all be here, rest assured, even if they are dying."

The Headmaster waved his hand dismissively. "Yes, yes," he said. "Have there been any problems with the evening passes to Hogsmeade or with parents taking their children further away to shop for gifts?"

Various negative responses sounded throughout the room. Severus had been skeptical when the Headmaster had granted "shopping rights" to the student invitees, mostly upper years, at Wednesday's noon meal, but it seemed that the students were being responsible so far.

"Very well. It seems our wayward students will return tomorrow and all this drama will finally end," Albus said.

Severus snorted. "No, Albus. The drama will be just beginning. What with Miss Parkinson being snubbed and Lucius will being disobeyed in favor of bonding with, of all people, The-Boy-Who-Lived. Likely no one will be so uncultured as to throw a fit at the Presentation, however, Slytherin and Gryffindor House are both up in arms over this and will likely take great delight in tormenting both boys come Monday. Also, Draco's parents and Miss Parkinson and her parents are guaranteed to have any number of harsh words for Mister Malfoy. Before the weekend is over Draco will be glad he cannot be disowned, mark my words."

Albus sighed. "Perhaps you are right."

"Oh, I'm right," Severus said darkly.


Saturday, 19 October

It was 3:30 and Severus was expecting the elder Malfoys at any moment. As parents and godparent, the three of them needed to open the doors to the great hall at 4:00 and begin greeting the guests. A Presentation was once of the few social gathering for which "fashionably late" did not apply. You arrived in plenty of time to be admitted or you were not admitted at all. At five minutes to 6:00 they would close the doors and all would await the arrival of Draco and Potter.

Severus picked up the long silver chain that denoted his status as godfather and placed it around his neck, settling it against his robes. Another long look into his mirror confirmed his immaculate appearance. He wore deep black rich velvet robes; understated, though of fine quality and an excellent cut that subtly flattered his frame. The godparent chain was highly visible and complementary. His hair was freshly trimmed, washed and dried and, as it held none of the fume resistant conditioner this evening, floated lightly about his face and shoulders. His "greasy git" reputation was going to take a hit this evening but there was nothing for it; he would look his best for Draco.

Hopefully, Potter was wearing at least an appropriately formal, if not traditional, robe and had provided Draco with a good quality set of robes for his Gift. Despite the rumors floating about amongst his Slytherins that Potter wasn't going to provide Draco with quality robes at all, much less the properly traditional robes appropriate to Draco's Gift, Severus rather thought that Potter had, indeed, provided well for Draco. They would see.

A knock pulled Severus from his musings. Opening his door, Severus greeted Lucius and Narcissa, "Good evening. Please come in." He opened his door wide for the couple and gestured them into his chambers. Severus closed the door and turned to his guests.

"Lucius," he nodded towards the blond. "Narcissa, you are as lovely as ever."

"Thank you, Severus. You are looking handsome this evening," she observed blandly.

He inclined his head and turned to Lucius.

Lucius eyed him dispassionately, "You are ready."

"I am ready."

"Then let us go."