Chapter 8:
Ulterior Motives:
Harry paused and sighed heavily before opening the door to the fifth floor, where the visitor's tearoom was located. Here goes nothing, Harry thought as he walked down the hall.
"Daddy!" Abbey cried when she saw him, and releasing George's hand, ran over and Harry swept her up in his arms.
"Hey, baby," murmured Harry, holding her close. "How are you?"
"Fine," Abbey answered.
"That's good. Have you been a good girl?"
"Yes," she said, looking him up and down, scrutinizing his actions. "Daddy?" Abbey asked. "Why are you here? Are you okay?"
"Yes, sweetie," Harry answered and kissed her temple. "I'm fine," he said, then turned to the others. "Thank you for bringing her," he was saying when he heard the fifth floor door close behind him. "Not to worry, I'm here visiting an old friend."
"An old friend?" Molly asked, looking at him in concern, and then looking around the room at those gathered there, Fred, George, Ginny, Ron and Hermione, Minerva, and Remus. Only her older children, Bill, Charlie and Percy and her husband were missing. "Who are you talking about, Harry?"
"No one you need to worry about right now, Molly," Harry said, looking up at her steadily. He had been slightly surprised to see his friends there, but realized that Molly had probably let all of them know that he had contacted her, as well as to tell them what was going on, Or at least what little he had told her.
Harry had lowered his daughter to the ground, and stood once more.
"Papa!" Abbey squealed, drawing his attention to the person who entered, and scampered toward the blond walking leisurely into the room.
"Abbey!" Harry called sternly, wheeling around to face them. "Freeze!" The little girl slid to a halt and looked back at him curiously. "Come here, please."
"But, Daddy," Abbey whined.
"I said, come here," Harry said firmly. Moping, the little girl lowered her head and returned to his side before he raised an icy glare to the man before them. "What are you doing here?" Turning to Molly, he asked, "Did you?" However, the woman only shook her head in reply so he returned his hard gaze to the blond.
"I came to make sure my daughter was okay," Draco answered coolly.
"She'snot your daughter, Draco," Harry replied angrily. "She's mine and Severus'."
"Oh,wake up, Harry!" Draco answered, his anger rising. "Severus is dead! He's not coming back! Do you want Abbey growing up without a father?"
Seething, Harry held tightly to Abbey's small hand, holding it firmly but gently, and whipped his wand out with the other. "Gentlemen!" Minerva said, using the condescending tone that she used with misbehaving students. "This may be the place, since help is close at hand if one of you requires it, but it is not the time! Put it away, Harry," she said firmly, but her tone softer than before.
Harry slowly lowered his wand, still glaring at the blond. "You won't get Abbey," he said venomously. "I won't let you have my daughter." He turned to the others a moment. "Now, if you'll excuse us, I need to have a word with my daughter; besides, there is someone I wish her to meet."
They nodded, and Remus stepped forward. "Harry," he called gently, giving the man reason to pause. "Are you sure that you're all right?"
"Yes, Remus," Harry answered, his anger diminishing. "I'm fine. I'll explain everything later; I have to get back now. I told them that I wouldn't be long." Remus nodded and watched the young man and little girl head back to the stairwell door, noticing that Harry put himself between the child and the blond as they passed.
"Daddy," Abbey whined as Harry led her down to the next floor, opening the door. "Why wouldn't you let me see Papa?"
Harry sighed. He had never lied to his daughter, well, that wasn't true, but he was soon to remedy that and no matter how hard it might be for her to hear it, he wasn't going to expound on it, Draco had done enough of that already.
"Come here, sweetie," Harry said as he walked up to a bench and sat down outside room 415. The little girl moved closer and Harry lifted her up and set her on his knee. He was quiet a moment, organizing his thoughts, then, it hit him and he turned to look at her.
"Abbey," Harry said. "Do you remember when I told you that Draco wasn't your father?"
"Yes," she answered quietly, looking at her shoes.
"Well, I know you're probably wondering where I was today… why I didn't come back to get you for so long." He looked down and saw the little dark head nod. "Abbey," Harry said. "I want to tell you something, will you look at me?"
Slowly, the little girl raised her dark eyes to his green gaze.
"Do you know the difference between the truth and a lie?"
"Yes," Abbey answered. "Telling a lie is wrong. I don't like people that lie."
Harry smiled.
"Okay," he said thoughtfully. "But what if a lie was told to protect you – to keep you safe? Would you hate the person who lied then?"
Abbey was quiet a moment and swung her feet as she thought this over. "Well, no," she said finally. "I – I guess not…"
"Now, knowing that, there is something I need to tell you," Harry said and exhaled heavily. "Draco never told you anything about your father when you asked him, did he?"
"No," Abbey answered grumpily.
"And it made you mad, didn't it?" Harry probed gently.
"Yes," Abbey answered.
"Well, sweetie," Harry said as he shifted her on his knee. "Draco and I fought this morning because he lied. I really didn't know that he did at the time, but I found out afterward." Harry watched and noticed his daughter scowl. "He told me something I have been denying ever since I was in my sixth year at Hogwarts."
"What?" Abbey asked curiously, anger lacing her voice.
Harry sighed and closed his eyes a moment. When he opened them, he looked down at her and squeezed her hand gently.
"He told me that your father was dead, that he wasn't coming back."
"But," Abbey said. "But he's not, is he?"
"No, sweetie," Harry said and drew her hand up, kissing it gently. "I was so angry with Draco for saying that he was, that I had to get out of there and I didn't want to leave you behind. That's why I took you to the Weasley's; I wanted to make sure that you would be safe. I left after that so that I could have some time to think, and while I was alone, I found out that Draco lied… to both of us."
"What do you mean, Daddy?" Abbey asked, wrinkling her brow in curious confusion. "What happened?"
"Your father found me, Abbey," Harry said with a smile, squeezing her hand once more. "He's been looking for us for a long time."
Abbey was silent for a while and swallowed dryly. "He has?"
"Yes, sweetheart," Harry said gently. "He told me that he found that he was unable to enter the grounds of the Manor…Draco's been keeping us apart. If we hadn't left this morning, we still would be."
"So," Abbey said, her curiosity over powering her anger for the time being. "Why are we here?"
Harry heard the door opened down the hall as he smiled at her, once again paying no mind. "Would you like to meet your father, sweetie?"
Minerva watched shrewdly, as Draco walked out of the tearoom, not waiting long before following Harry to the stairwell. She had seen Molly tell the Harry that she hadn't let the young man know where they were, and knew the woman never lied. She had her suspicions and quietly excused herself from the small group to follow him. She paused and held her breath, slipping into the shadows when she heard voices.
"Now you know what to do, right?" The voice of Draco Malfoy echoed up to her.
"Yes, of course, Mister Malfoy," Rufus Scrimgeour said. "Are you sure that he knows where the man is?"
"Yes," Draco answered. "Who else could it be? That brainless oaf, Hagrid, was the only one who wasn't here, and Harry knows that he would rather tend to his own injuries than come to the hospital."
Minerva continued to listen as the group headed down the stairs. She heard the door start to open and then Draco's voice once more.
"Just remember," he said, drawing the group to a halt. "Abbey comes to me, no matter what happens."
"Yes, of course, Sir," Scrimgeour said, and once more, silence reigned in the stairwell, the group departing through the fourth floor door. Minerva peered down to the floor below and saw that Draco had remained behind, and watched as he waited a few moments before opening the door once more and stepping out.
Minerva exhaled heavily and wiped the sweat off her brow, not believing what she'd just heard. She looked up back toward the door she'd just left, contemplating going back, but shook her head and after another moment's pause, clutched her wand and headed to the door leading to the fourth floor.
"So?" Rufus Scrimgeour said coldly, making the young man jump. "Severus Snape is here, is he?" Harry looked up with a startled expression. "Look here, boys," Scrimgeour continued with a gloating smile. "Looks like we've finally found him, seems our Golden Boy's known his whereabouts all along."
"What?" Harry cried, lifting Abbey from his lap and jumping to his feet. "No! He didn't do anything!"
"Take her," Scrimgeour said to one of the Ministry workers who stood beside him, motioning to the little girl.
"No!" Harry cried, closing in on Scrimgeour, but found himself quickly restrained, watching horrified as he realized the men with Scrimgeour were in fact Aurors, and Dawlish stepped forward, restraining his daughter.
"Daddy!" Abbey cried in fear, trying to fight the man holding her.
"It's okay, baby," Harry said, trying to calm her down. "What are youdoing?" Harry asked, twisting within his own captors' grasp. The door opened at the end of the hall once more and he looked up to see Draco approaching with a smirk on his face. "You!"
"Good to see you, too, love," drawled Draco. "Ah, good of you to come, Scrimgeour."
"Well, Mister Malfoy," Scrimgeour said. "I'm glad that you let us know that Mister Potter had been located. We were simply lucky to find out that he knew where Snape was."
"No!" Harry yelled, twisting once more in his captors' hold.
"Oh, come on, Harry," Draco said, stepping closer to him. "You didn't think that I would actually let him get his hands on you, did you?"
"Youknew?" Harry cried in disbelief. "All this time, and you knew?"
"Well," Draco said. "I didn't know for certain, not until a moment ago that is, when you said that you were visiting, and I quote, 'wanted Abbey to meet someone'. One can only assume that you were referring to Severus since everyone you've ever been close too, aside from Hagrid that is, was upstairs in the tearoom."
"Tell me, Mister Potter," Scrimgeour interrupted. "Where is Mister Snape?"
"Never," Harry said venomously. "I'll never tell you!"
"That's a shame," Draco said with a sneer as he walked over and caressed Abbey's face, and Harry saw her cringe at the touch, glaring at him angrily as she tried to fight off Dawlish once more. "Abbey will miss you, you know… but I'll take good care of her, you can rest assured."
"What!" Harry cried.
"Well, you won't be seeing her for quite a while, after all," Draco said and looked up to meet Harry's gaze with steely blue eyes. "It's your choice of course," he continued. "If you tell them where he is, I might be able to save you a trip to Azkaban."
"You're despicable," Harry said in a quiet tone, laced with anger. "I'll never tell you."
"Very well," Draco said. "Take him away."
"No!" Abbey cried, fighting against Dawlish. "Daddy, please!"