And there he was. The unbelievably stupid boy with mud-stained robes and leaves in his hair. Only just stepping back into the anti-apparition wards. Only just coming back from the 'forbidden' forest. With the one boy that's practically been ordered to hand Potter over to the Dark Lord. His skin still crawled remembering that the monster wanted Potter to join his side. He would have tried before had he thought it possible… so why was the Dark Lord so confident about it now?
What would he do if Potter joined the Dark Lord? He knew the answer. He would keep on protecting the insufferable brat. Although that was not going to happen. The boy would never turn his back on his friends and the boy loathed the Dark Lord for killing his parents.
"Potter!" He snapped, louder than he realised, making both boys flinch. The anger must have been building up with every step the brat took toward him. Merlin! He wanted to throttle the little idiot himself. "The forbidden forest? Missing class? Perhaps if you are so eager to skip class you want to spend the rest of today in detention with me! Fifty points from Gryffindor! No get inside!" He said grabbing the boy roughly by the cloak covering his shoulders and shoving him on the path leading to the castle.
"Professor, if I may, I forced Potter to-"
"I want none of your talk mister Malfoy. Make your way to your classes." He told the boy who looked at him with surprise and then insubordination. No doubt to play his little part for the Dark Lord.
"You can't pull Potter out of an entire day of class professor! Such a thing can only allowed by a parent or guardian."
"How lucky then for mister Potter that the headmaster serves as his stand-in guardian for issues such as these and has already accepted this form of punishment. Mister Potter should have fun catching up for his lessons over the weekend." He said glaring at the green eyed boy whose anger turned genuine and turned, storming back up to the castle.
"Professor… what are you doing?! You're tampering with my mission. I'll tell the Dark Lord that I couldn't get close to Potter because of you!" Severus made sure to give the boy his most intense glare.
"Silly little child. Have you not seen enough death over the summer? I'll let you know that the weight of death doesn't become heavy until someone you've known closely is dead at your feet. The Dark Lord has no time for whining and childish pointing games. He may kill me, but he will certainly kill one of your own. Listen very closely Draco because I will only say this once." He hissed at the already terrified and pale looking boy. "The rules of this game are to get the Dark Lord the exact results he wants, and show no interest in anything else. Your life is his. If you do anything else. He will destroy you." With that last warning to his godson he turned and marched his way inside, to the real source of his anger.
The boy gladly understood his words because when he stormed into his office the boy was already there. He slammed the door hard behind him and made the angry boy jump to his feet, a trace of panic in his eyes.
"Snape I-"
"Give me one good reason… why you walked beyond the anti-apparition wards, entered a werewolf infested forest and all in the company of a Malfoy?" He hissed. He didn't care how scared the boy was. He didn't give a damn! "Do you have any idea what I thought had happened to you?"
"Yes I know! You thought he took me to Voldemort. As he was ordered." He said glaring hatefully at him. He would ask how he knew this later.
"Then knowing that why did you follow him!" He yelled.
"Because it's not fair on Malfoy! Why should he be a puppet on Voldemort's strings! He has more to lose than I do."
"Are you out of your blessed mind? Are you telling me you want to help him?"
"I want to help Draco, yes! But I don't want to join Voldemort! I don't want him to end up without a family because of me!"
"The Malfoys got themselves into this mess! It is not your responsibility what happens to them!" He yelled. The boy gave a sort of strangled scream of frustration and actually stomped his foot on the ground.
"It's not fair! How is this any of Draco's fault?!"
"It's not yours either you stupid boy!"
"I want to be able to do something!"
"What? Throwing yourself into the Dark Lord's arms? Was that the something you had in mind?"
"No! You don't understand anything!"
Severus shook the boy once, firmly, by the shoulders. "It is you who doesn't understand! You have no idea what he could put you through!"
"I don't care! I wasn't going to go to him! Stupid Snape! You don't know anything! Stop screaming at me! I have enough of that from the Dursleys and you have no right to do the same!"
That stung more than it should have. How dare the brat compare him to those vile muggles. "Do you have any idea how worried I was?" He said a little louder so it would get into the boy's thick, thick skull.
"I-I was fine…" Oh, that sure helped to bring the volume down.
"Listen to me here, Potter, because I never want to feel again the twisting, agonising uncertainty and concern that hit me when I was told you'd gone missing with Draco Malfoy in tow." He gave the boy another shake of the shoulders, lighter this time but it seemed to rattle the boy all the same as he avoided eye contact.
"You shouldn't be worried. You're not my father or anything." He said.
"I am not your father. But you have no idea the things going through my mind every second you were not within my sight!" He hissed. "For some reason unfathomable to me the floor beneath my feet seemed to give way and it was not because I was on a moving staircase at the time." That made the boy smile a little though he seemed to be getting smaller with each thing Severus said.
"I've never had that before." He whispered.
"Many people worry about you." Severus amended, straightening up, releasing the boy who remained as small as he had been.
"Yeah… but it's different with other people." Those big green eyes looked at him, glistening with unshed tears. "I'm sorry." The boy's voice broke slightly as he looked away, wiping the tears away quickly, his cheeks becoming red with embarrassment.
Severus clenched his jaw as he too looked away, embarrassment settling in that he had admitted his concern for the Gryffindor. "I apologise also." He said reaching out to pat his head. The boy looked up then and must have misinterpreted his gesture because a couple of seconds later the boy had his arms around him. He cringed but didn't let the boy see that. And only to save the boy further embarrassment he hugged the boy back.
It was quite a peculiar feeling. Last hug he had received had been from his mother and she had been the taller person doing the comforting. He tried to remember how it was that she did it. All he managed to remember was that she had a gentle way of rubbing his back that Severus knew he could never re-enact. Still he tried. And the boy's sobs gradually stopped. His robes felt a lot wetter by the time the boy pulled away. They managed to each sit down by the table and talk.
"I figured I would only answer things that may be insightful to him but not really a big deal to me." The boy said softly. "I gave him only one answer, about my family. That they don't care. I don't know what Voldemort can do with that information but I think it's minimal to me." He said. It was smart, if Voldemort wasn't cunning to the bone. He would find a way to use it against him.
"I do not, want you anywhere close to fresh air while you're alone with Draco Malfoy." He told him strictly. The boy nodded.
"Thank you by the way."
"For what?" Severus asked.
"For the gift. I really liked the duvet. It was very comfortable."
"It was not a gift." Severus defended himself. How dare that stupid elf interpret it that way!
"Oh… so you want it back?"
"No. It's yours."
"… but it's not a gift?" The boy asked confused.
"Exactly."
"…yes sir." Why was the brat grinning like an idiot now?
