Severus paced his office at Hogwarts, waiting for Harry's reply.
He felt bad about manipulating the boy, but if Albus Dumbledore successfully petitioned to have Remus Lupin teach at Hogwarts, then Harry would need to know some context in advance, and those letters waiting in the Potter trust vault combined with Severus' commentary would probably do the trick without arousing anyone's suspicions about Severus going out of his way to sour Harry's opinions.
Harry would need to learn about both Lupin and Black eventually. It was better he learn at a place and time where Severus could provide damage control.
Merlin, what a mess.
Lucius was going to be the death of him, if Harry didn't manage it first. Or Dumbledore.
Or The Dark Lord.
Or bloody Remus Lupin come back to finish the job.
He sank down into his chair and rubbed at his temples.
He could deal with Lucius attempting to brainwash Harry into his bigoted views.
Harry was a smart kid. Empathetic.
He would listen to reason and seek out information to sift through. So long as Severus kept in contact with the boy, he did not fear him being radicalized beneath his nose.
The rest of Lucius' plans for the boy were more concerning.
Harry had already been thrust into the public spotlight and Ministry politics more than Severus liked.
Hel, Harry had dived into the political scene headfirst in an effort to save him.
Severus was grateful but felt incredibly guilty that he had put Harry in that position.
He might not be falling for Dumbledore's traps yet, but he was still growing up too fast.
Casting a tempus charm, Severus frowned. It was getting late.
Lucius had mentioned that Harry and Draco were hanging out near Petunia's place that day, but surely that had ended hours ago. Severus could not imagine Lucius nor Narcissa allowing their son to spend so much time in a muggle neighbourhood.
Had something gone wrong?
Had Lucius learned of Severus' true allegiances after all and invited him over only as a pretext to keep him from interfering with the boy's demise.
Merlin, Severus hoped not.
If Lucius Malfoy had engineered Harry's death under Severus' nose, he would be begging for death by the time Severus was finished with him.
Azkaban be damned.
No, Severus needed to stay rational.
It was too soon to panic.
Right?
Anything could be going on.
Perhaps Narcissa had taken the boys out for a late dinner.
Perhaps they'd gone to Malfoy Manor for a few hours, after Severus had left.
Perhaps Harry was dead in a ditch.
Severus sighed.
He had better check in on Privet Drive, at the very least.
If he could get visual confirmation that Harry was alive and well, then he could get on with being annoyed at the boy for ignoring his letter and get some much-needed sleep tonight.
With a great sigh and a considerable amount of strain on his healing leg, Severus trudged to the edge of Hogwarts' wards and apparated to Privet Drive.
There was a giant limousine parked in front of the Dursley's house.
Severus didn't know what to make of that.
Casting a disillusionment spell on himself and creeping closer, Severus saw that the vehicle was occupied by a bored-looking driver who was reclined in his seat and reading a book.
Either he had already been there for a long time, or he was expecting he would be.
That did not track with what Severus knew of the Dursleys. There was no way Petunia Evans was capable of fostering a relationship with anyone with wealth or class.
No, this was not an unrelated muggle coincidence.
This was the Malfoys.
Why were they still here? What were they up to?
Severus readied his wand, just in case.
There was the noise of dishes clanging together and laughter coming from the kitchen.
Frowning, Severus peered inside.
He nearly choked at what he saw.
Narcissa Malfoy had the sleeves of her very posh muggle outfit rolled up as she helped Harry and Draco cook dinner.
Baffling.
What was she up to?
There was no way she would sully herself with such a demeaning task without a damn good personal motivation.
Harry smiled fondly at Draco and laughed at something the blonde said.
Narcissa gave them both a look of pure motherly affection.
No.
That must be an act.
There was no way that Lucius Malfoy's cunning wife would allow herself to become attached to a boy who was doomed to die.
This was grooming, pure and simple.
It made Severus angry to witness Harry be so taken in by the adult Malfoys' charade, but there was nothing he could do about it while maintaining his cover with them.
Still, this meant that Harry was physically safe, for now. Narcissa Malfoy would not wand down a famous eleven-year-old in his own home after making such a flashy entrance in front of the entire neighbourhood.
Now that Severus thought about it, if the Malfoys had been this engaged with Harry all day, the chances were high that the boy had not even seen his letter, yet.
He had been worried over nothing.
Such was the fate of a spy.
Or a parent, but that didn't bear thinking about.
Severus was not in a position to be more directly involved in Harry's life than he already was.
Again, such was the fate of a spy.
Isolated and looking in on displays of human affection from afar.
He needed to get back to Hogwarts before Albus noted his absence.
He'd caused enough of a headache for himself for one day.