Aftermaths, Part 117

by Geri ([email protected])

Rating: Mostly PG-13, but NC-17 for overall story

Pairing: Snape/Lupin, Theodore/Blaise

Warning: AU; events that occurred at the end of Order of the Phoenix were significantly altered from the book.

Sequel to: Always, Summer Vacation, For Old Time's Sake, Three's a Crowd, Return of the Raven, Phoenix Reborn, and Phoenix Rising.

Summary: The various characters deal with the aftermath of the war, and Snape and Lupin try to build a family together with Theodore and Dylan. However, some people are unable to let go of the past...

Author's note: {} Indicates character's unspoken thoughts.

Disclaimer: Characters belong to J.K. Rowling, except Hob, who belongs to William Mayne; no money is being made off this story; consider it a little wish fulfillment on my part.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Draco was slightly more unsteady on his feet than Aric was, and Lupin carefully helped him descend the stairs of the Astronomy Tower to prevent him from tripping and breaking his neck. As they went down the stairs and headed back to the dungeon, Snape kept up a running lecture: "Professor Sinistra had to come wake me up in the middle of the night...You two are an absolute disgrace to your House...When your mother hears about this, Malfoy..."

Meanwhile, Professor Sinistra was saying something about not being able to sleep and coming to check on the telescopes and finding two drunken idiots on the Tower landing. The boys seemed to be finding it difficult to concentrate.

"Are you two paying attention to me?" Snape demanded. "And stop laughing, Lupin! This is a serious matter!"

"I'm not laughing, Severus!" Lupin protested.

"No, but you look like you're about to burst into laughter at any moment," Sinistra pointed out dryly.

"I'm sorry," Lupin said with a grin. "It's just that it reminds me of the time that Sirius stole a bottle of scotch from his father's liquor cabinet and brought it to school and--"

"Lupin!" Snape shouted. "Can you please try and set a good example for your students instead of egging them on with your Gryffindor idiocy?"

"I'm sorry, Severus," Lupin said meekly, although the corners of his mouth were still twitching. "You're right; it's a serious matter, and the boys should be punished, but perhaps we should wait until they're sober?"

"I do not coddle my Slytherins, Lupin," Snape said testily.

"Well, you are the Head of Slytherin," Lupin conceded. "It's your prerogative."

"That's right," Snape said firmly.

"But if I might suggest--"

"I feel sick," Draco mumbled.

"You will feel worse than sick when I get through with you, Mr. Malfoy," Snape said darkly.

"No," Draco groaned, "I mean, I REALLY feel sick!" And then he threw up all over Snape's shoes.

Lupin couldn't contain it any longer. He started laughing so hard that he had to lean against the wall for support. Professor Sinistra just sighed and shook her head. Snape's black eyes filled with fury and kept darting back and forth from Draco to Lupin, as if he couldn't decide which one he should kill first.

"Guess Malfoy can't hold his liquor," Aric muttered under his breath. Then he gulped and turned pale as Snape's glare shifted towards him.

"I'm s-sorry, Severus," Lupin laughed, trying to regain control of himself. "I tried to warn you. The same thing happened to James, only it was McGonagall that he threw up on."

"Too bad it wasn't Branwen," Snape said sourly. "She would have killed him on the spot and saved me years of grief."

"As Lady Malfoy is already a widow," Sinistra said in a mild voice, "perhaps you should not also deprive her of her only son, as tempting as that thought may be."

"I'm sorry, Severus," Lupin repeated, trying to look contrite, and cast a cleaning spell to get rid of the mess.

"The Dietriches, though," Sinistra continued, still in that mild, conversational tone, "have two children..."

Snape slowly turned towards Aric, who began to back away, stammering, "N-now, wait a minute..."

Lupin quickly stepped between the two of them. "Now, now," he said soothingly. "You really shouldn't kill Aric, Severus."

"Give me one good reason why not," Snape growled.

"Well, for one thing," Lupin said reasonably, "he's too drunk to really feel anything. It would be too merciful a death. You ought to wait until he's sober and can properly appreciate the fear and pain."

Snape's anger seemed to dissolve, and he patted Lupin on the shoulder. "You know, Remus, I'm beginning to like the way you think. You might have made a good Slytherin after all."

"Thank you, dear."

"Don't call me 'dear,' Lupin."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Aric protested, giving Lupin a wounded look. "I thought you were the softhearted one!"

Lupin grinned and winked at him. "Ah, but I've been a Slytherin's lover for the past four years. I suppose it must be rubbing off on me."

Sinistra coughed politely to gain her colleagues' attention. "Should we send the boys to bed, then, and punish them in the morning, as Remus suggested? It seems to be the most practical thing to do."

"I suppose so," Snape grudgingly agreed.

Sinistra smiled--a rather sinister smile, as befit her name. "Then I'll leave their punishment up to you, Severus, since you are their Head of House."

"Thank you," Snape purred, in a positively evil manner. "I promise that I'll deal with them...appropriately." That one simple word was laden with overtones of menace and filled with the unspoken promise of punishments too horrible to mention, causing Draco and Aric to break into a sweat. Lupin grinned, still looking highly amused.

Snape and Lupin escorted their two errant students to the dorm and sent them to bed, but not before Snape admonished them to show up in his office first thing in the morning.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Snape did not leave things to chance, but sent Howlers to Aric and Draco to make sure they woke up on time. Draco woke with a start and jumped out of bed as Snape's voice shouted, "I expect to see you in my office in five minutes, Malfoy!" Then Draco groaned and clutched at his head to keep it from splitting open.

A short time later, he realized that it only felt like someone was hammering on his skull and it hadn't really cracked open, but that didn't make it any less painful. One dubious benefit of the hammering was that it distracted him from his sore nose and the fact that his mouth tasted like something had crawled in there and died last night. Then it dawned on him that he now only had four minutes to make it to Snape's office. He quickly washed his face, brushed his teeth, and pulled on his robes, wincing as each movement caused the pounding in his head to increase.

Aric emerged from his room as Draco stepped into the hallway; Draco noted with some satisfaction that Aric looked nearly as bad as Draco felt: he had a black eye, a swollen lip, and was looking a little green around the gills (figuratively speaking). "This is all your fault, Dietrich," Draco accused.

"No one told you to follow me last night," Aric retorted. "Come on, we're gonna be late."

They hurried to Snape's office, but apparently not fast enough, because Snape bellowed, "You're late!"

Both boys clutched at their heads. "Please don't shout, Professor," Draco whimpered.

"I will do as I damn well please, Malfoy!" Snape shouted, sending another surge of pain through Draco's head.

Lupin leaned over and whispered to Snape, "Yes, but you want them to be able to understand what you're saying, Severus."

Snape glowered at the boys, but said in a normal voice, "Sit down."

The pounding in Draco's head subsided to a dull throbbing, and he carefully eased himself down into a chair. Aric followed suit, moving as slowly and carefully as Draco did.

Snape lectured them at length about the stupidity of their actions and what a disgrace they were to their House. They mumbled "Yes, Professor" at appropriate intervals, wincing every time Snape lost control of his temper and raised his voice. Behind his back, Lupin gave them amused and sympathetic smiles. By the time Snape was done with his lecture, Draco's head hurt so much that he wished someone would just cut it off.

"We should wrap this up soon, Severus," Lupin said in a soft, gentle voice, as if deliberately being careful of Draco's headache, and Draco was so grateful to him that he could have kissed the werewolf. "It's almost time for breakfast."

Draco groaned; the very thought of food made him sick, and probably the only thing that stopped him from throwing up was the fact that there was nothing left in his stomach to throw up.

Lupin grinned and Snape balefully told him, "If he throws up in here, you're cleaning it up, Lupin."

Draco took it all back; the werewolf was as evil as Snape. He was like a Slytherin in Gryffindor colors. He wondered if the Gryffindors realized that they'd had a traitor in their ranks all these years.

But maybe he still had a little Gryffindor softness left in him, because he said, "Perhaps we should give them a hangover potion, Severus?"

Any faint spark of hope Draco felt was quickly extinguished when Snape smiled maliciously. "No," the Potions Master declared heartlessly. "No hangover potion for these two, and they will attend all their classes today as usual." The two boys groaned in unison. Snape sighed regretfully, "It's a pity that they don't have Physical Defense class today."

Draco was very, very grateful for that. Trying to fight with a hangover would probably be sheer torture.

"Although," Snape said speculatively, "maybe I could send them to Diggory for their detention." Draco and Aric groaned again.

"Actually," Lupin said cheerfully, "I was thinking of asking Lukas to help us with their detention." His expression turned serious and he gave the two boys a thoughtful look. "Yes, I think that they should serve their detention together at the clinic."

Snape looked disappointed. "That wasn't quite what I had in mind, Lupin. Besides, it hasn't proven to be much of a deterrent for Dietrich."

"Yes, I realize that it would be much more fun for you to let Lukas beat them up--er, I mean, spar with them," Lupin said placatingly, "but they're shorthanded at the clinic and Haruko is worried that Takeshi is working too hard. Draco and Aric could at least help him brew his healing potions and the Wolfsbane Potion."

"Mr. Kimura was a good Potions student," Snape said reluctantly. "Very well, you can let these two miscreants help him out for a few days, I suppose."

The name "Kimura" evoked a vague recollection of a quiet, unassuming Ravenclaw boy that Draco had never taken much notice of. Draco couldn't even remember the boy's face, but his potion-brewing skills must have been quite impressive for Snape to actually praise him. If Draco's head hadn't hurt so much, he would probably have felt jealous, but right now, it just didn't seem to be worth the effort.

"Thank you, Severus," Lupin said. "I'll take them down to the clinic after classes today, and I'll ask Lukas to come along and help me supervise them."

That comment got Draco's attention as he suddenly remembered that he was supposed to be mad at Diggory. He jerked his head up, ignoring the sudden stab of pain, and shouted, "I'm not working with that werewolf!"

Snape leaned forward, a dangerous look in his black eyes, and snapped, "You will do whatever I tell you to do, Mr. Malfoy!"

"I will not," Draco said through gritted teeth. "I don't care if you expel me."

"Don't tempt me, Malfoy!" Snape snarled.

"What is your problem with Master Diggory, Malfoy?" Aric demanded. "You were saying something last night about him staining your family honor."

"Shut up, Dietrich!"

"Make me, Malfoy!"

Snape opened his mouth to shout, but Lupin quickly stepped forward and said sternly, "You two are in quite enough trouble as it is, don't you think? Do you want to be in detention till you graduate?" The boys subsided into sullen silence, slouching down in their chairs. Lupin hesitated, then said, "Go to breakfast, Aric. I'll talk to you later." Aric got up and left the office, and Draco rose to follow him, but Lupin firmly grasped his shoulder to stop him. "Not you, Draco. I want to talk to you."

Draco wrenched free from Lupin, even though the effort started up the pounding in his head again. "I have nothing to say to you!"

"Why are you angry at Lukas?" Lupin persisted. "Up until recently, he was one of your favorite teachers."

"I never liked him that much," Draco snapped, "and anyway, it's none of your business!"

Snape's eyes narrowed in thought, and he said nothing, just leaned back and traced his lips with one finger as he watched Lupin circle around Draco like a wolf stalking its prey.

"That fight with Ron in Physical Defense class," Lupin continued. "It wasn't about Ron at all, was it? It was about Lukas."

Draco nervously tried to back away from Lupin, but the werewolf kept circling around him, cutting off his avenue of escape. "You have been behaving strangely ever since your last trip to Hogsmeade, Draco," Snape said from behind his desk. "Everyone thought that you had a fight with Miss Avery, but that's not true, is it? Something happened between you and Diggory."

"That's why Serafina wouldn't talk about the incident," Lupin said, picking up where Snape left off. "She said some things I didn't understand that are beginning to make sense now. She said that you were not mad at her but at someone else, and she wouldn't tell us who that someone else was. I thought at the time that she was protecting your privacy, but she was also protecting Lukas's, wasn't she?"

"If you think you're so smart, go ask the werewolf!" Draco shouted, a sudden sense of panic making his heart beat faster, distracting him from his pounding headache. Why was he so scared about them finding out the truth? It wasn't like Lupin and Snape would look down on Narcissa for sleeping with a werewolf. But he was suddenly terrified at the thought of his secret being revealed.

Lupin and Snape exchanged a knowing look. "Perhaps I will," Snape said, his voice hardening, but his anger was not directed towards Draco this time. "I think that Master Diggory has not been completely forthcoming with us, and if so, I shall have words with him."

"Draco," Lupin said in a very gentle voice, "please tell us why you're angry at Lukas. You don't have to hide it any longer." Draco shook his head frantically.

"Well then," Snape said, "let me take a guess. Does it have something to do with Narcissa?"

The expression on Draco's face must have given him away, because Snape and Lupin exchanged another look and nodded at each other. "I'm a fool for not seeing it sooner," Snape said, looking a little annoyed, "but I never pay much attention to the gossip of the Slytherin girls. My mother would have known better. But I did recently overhear some of them speculating about whether Diggory had a girlfriend; they were talking about hearing some kind of rumor that he was meeting a woman after his court dates in London. I didn't give it much thought at the time; I don't care about Diggory's lovelife, but..."

"Is Lukas seeing Narcissa?" Lupin asked gently. "Is that why you're so mad at him?"

Draco should deny it, tell them that they were crazy, but he found himself whispering, "How did you guess?" He felt strangely relieved to finally have it out in the open, as if a burden had been lifted from him.

Lupin and Snape smiled at each other, still looking concerned, but also a little amused. "Er...during the Yule Ball," Lupin said, "when Severus was chasing couples out of the rose bushes..."

"I stumbled across one couple who were not students," Snape finished.

"It was going on as far back as that?!" Draco exclaimed, horrified by the sudden image that sprung up in his head of his mother and Diggory making out in the rose bushes. He shook his head to try to shake the image out of his mind, then groaned and clutched at his skull. He'd almost forgotten about his hangover, but it suddenly and unequivocally reasserted its presence.

"They claimed that it was a brief moment of insanity, and they both seemed horrified by what they'd done," Lupin said, still smiling. "I never thought that anything more would come of it, although I thought it was a pity that they were letting their prejudices ruin what might be a perfectly good relationship."

"My mother?" Draco cried in outrage. "And the werewolf? Form a 'good relationship'?!"

"Why not?" Lupin asked lightly. "Lukas is a good man. He's a little gruff and ill-tempered, of course, but he's also brave and loyal and compassionate." He grinned at Snape. "Not unlike someone else I know."

"Please don't compare me to the werewolf, Lupin," Snape said, sounding insulted. Only he actually looked more embarrassed than insulted.

"I knew you wouldn't understand," Draco said sulkily.

"Understand what, Draco?" Lupin asked quietly. "That a werewolf is not a fit mate for a pureblood?"

Draco felt his face flush with shame. "I'm not...that is...I didn't mean you..."

"It's okay, Draco," Lupin said kindly. "I'm not angry. It must be hard for you to see your mother dating a man who isn't your father, whether he's a pureblood or a werewolf."

"They aren't dating!" Draco said, feeling the resentment returning. "They are--they were--sneaking around having an affair. Only 'affair' is too nice a word for it--meeting in a cheap room at an inn, even shagging on the shore of the lake near Hogsmeade, out in the open where anybody could have seen them! It doesn't surprise me to learn that the Professor caught them in the rose bushes together!"

Snape raised his eyebrows. "You saw your mother and Diggory...er..."

Draco blushed again. "Well, they did cast an obscurement spell," he admitted. "And we left before they started...uh...you know. But I saw enough."

"You and Serafina followed Lukas out of Hogsmeade on Valentine's Day, and saw him meet Narcissa by the lake," Lupin said. He seemed to be reasoning things out on his own rather than asking Draco a question, but Draco nodded anyway.

Lupin reached out and took Draco's hands in his. "Oh, Draco," he said, his blue eyes filled with empathy and concern, "why have you been suffering alone all this time? Why didn't you come talk to us about this?"

To his horror, Draco felt his eyes fill with tears. "Because...because you've got Theo and Dylan now," he found himself blurting out. "You don't need to waste your time listening to me whine." Draco wanted to pull away and run out of the room before he humiliated himself by bursting into tears. But Lupin grasped his hands more tightly, not enough to hurt, but enough so that he couldn't easily break Lupin's grip. Right; he had a werewolf's superior strength, of course. Lupin's gentle demeanor tended to make you forget that.

There was now guilt as well as concern in Lupin's eyes. "Draco," he said softly, "just because Theo and Dylan are a part of our family now doesn't mean that we don't care about you. We'll always have time to listen to you."

"Yeah, well, it seems like you've been pretty busy lately," Draco said in a surly voice, more to try and cover up the tears that kept threatening to spill than because he was angry at Lupin. He knew he wasn't really being fair; Lupin had tried to talk to him a couple of times, and Draco had brushed him off. Still, a small, spiteful part of him wanted to hurt the werewolf.

And Lupin did look hurt. Snape frowned, looking both angry and troubled. Although Snape frequently insulted Lupin in public, he tended to take umbrage when anyone else did it. "Malfoy--" Snape started to say in a stern voice.

But Lupin interrupted him. "I'm sorry, Draco," he said. "There's been a lot going on recently, and we have been busy. But I promise that if you ever tell us that you need help, or even just someone to talk to, we will make time for you from now on."

"I don't need your pity," Draco mumbled, looking down to avoid Lupin's compassionate gaze.

"It's not pity, Draco," Lupin protested. "We care about you--"

"Sure, sure, you care about all your students," Draco said dismissively, trying to affect an air of indifference. "Look, I don't need you to feel sorry for me. I'm a Slytherin; I can take care of myself. It's too bad that my dad screwed up everything for our family and cost us our status, but that's life. He made a big gamble, throwing in his lot with the Dark Lord, and he lost. It'll be tough, but I can regroup, work my way up through the ranks again."

"Draco--" Lupin said.

Draco turned towards Snape. "I'm not stupid," he said, a hint of bitterness creeping into his voice. "I know you only treated me like your favorite because you had to stay on my father's good side."

"Draco," Snape said hesitantly, coming around from behind the desk.

"And now he's dead," Draco continued, "so you don't need to bother pretending that things are still the same now. Really, Professor I understand."

"No," Lupin said in a quiet but firm voice, "you don't understand. Severus wasn't just looking after you to stay on Lucius's good side."

"Yeah, I know," Draco said bitterly. "He wanted to keep me from joining the Death Eaters. Well, no fear of that now, so you can stop worrying."

"Draco," Lupin said, his voice still kind but beginning to sound a little angry as well, "you don't understand how much Severus cares about you."

"Lupin, don't," Snape said, looking uncomfortable and embarrassed.

Lupin, of course, ignored him. "It wasn't just about political expediency," Lupin persisted. "You don't know how many sleepless nights he spent agonizing over whether he could save you."

"Lupin!" Snape snapped.

Lupin stared directly into Draco's eyes. "He wasn't just trying to keep the ranks of the Death Eaters from growing, Draco. He wanted to keep you from making the same mistakes that he and Dylan's father did. He didn't want to have to face you in battle someday and kill you, or watch you be killed or captured by the Order. He didn't want you to have to live with the guilt of becoming a murderer in the Dark Lord's name. He was putting his life at risk trying to save you, Draco. If you or your father had suspected something, if word had got back to Voldemort that Severus was a traitor, he would have been killed. And his death would not have been a quick and easy one; you know what the Dark Lord was like. The easiest and safest course of action would have been to never let his mask slip, to always play the part of the loyal Death Eater, to encourage you and the other Slytherins to become Death Eaters, too. But he tried his best to make you think, to make you doubt. He tried to show in subtle ways that he was not like the other Death Eaters. There were times when some of the other Order members got angry with him, saying that he was risking the outcome of the war on the lives of a few children--children who were probably already a lost cause. But he refused to let you be sacrificed for the greater good. We swore to each other that we would not let Voldemort have any of you, that we would save you all--you and Theo and Dylan and Sera and Vincent and Gregory."

Draco was struck speechless, and Lupin smiled tenderly. "Never doubt that we both love you, Draco."

Draco was filled with a combination of joy and grief. He knew now that Lupin and Snape really did care about him, but the knowledge was bittersweet. "Not as much as you love Theo and Dylan," he said, and burst into tears.

"Oh, Draco," Lupin said sadly, and held him while he wept, as if he were a little boy. Draco couldn't remember his father ever holding him that way; it had always been Narcissa who held and cuddled and comforted him as a child. Lucius had frowned upon most displays of emotion as distasteful and showing a lack of control.

In spite of that, Draco whispered, "I miss my dad," as he wept in Lupin's arms. And finally he realized that it wasn't really Snape and Lupin that he was mad at. Even if he became Snape's pet again, favored over all the other students, it would still not be enough. Because it was his father's love and approval that he really wanted, not Snape's and Lupin's, although in a way, he did. But no matter how much they loved him, they would never be able to replace his father in his heart. He was a little jealous of Theo and Dylan because Snape loved them best, but mostly he was jealous of them for having a father when he didn't.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Draco wept, and Lupin murmured, "Shh, it's all right, Draco." Snape hovered over them nervously, not touching Draco, but with his flowing black robes, his presence was like a shadow hanging over them. It should have been intimidating, but instead, Draco found it comforting.

After what seemed like hours, Draco finally stopped crying, not so much because he had stopped feeling miserable, but because his eyes and nose were sore and he didn't seem to have any tears left in his body. Lupin loosened his hold on Draco, who pulled away, wiping his eyes on the sleeve of his robe. Snape fished a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to Draco, still looking uncomfortable. Draco wiped his face and blew his nose, then automatically started to hand the handkerchief back to Snape. The Potions Master eyed the sodden little bundle of cloth dubiously and said, "Keep it, Malfoy."

Lupin giggled and Draco managed a faint smile. Snape cleared his throat and said gruffly, "I am sorry, Draco, that we did not realize how troubled you were."

Draco stared at him in surprise; was Snape actually apologizing to him, and after the way he'd behaved? He flushed and looked down at his feet, mumbling, "It's not your job to worry about me."

"Actually, Draco, it is," Snape said coolly, "since I am your Head of House."

"We don't worry about you just because it's our job, Draco," Lupin said earnestly. "We worry about you because we care about you."

"We do want to help you, Draco," Snape said, then added in a slightly sarcastic voice, "although it would help us somewhat if you would tell us when something is wrong."

"Severus!" Lupin said, turning to glare at Snape.

"No, the Professor is right," Draco said, smiling a little. "I shouldn't expect you to read my mind." He paused, thinking of certain rumors he'd heard about Snape. "Er...should I?"

Snape grinned, the evil Potions Master grin that all the students were familiar with. "I am not normally in the habit of practicing Legilimency on my students or dosing them with Truth Potion. Sadly, the Headmaster frowns upon that sort of thing for some reason."

Draco noticed that he said that he was "not normally in the habit" of doing such things, not that he never did them at all. He was enough of a Slytherin to know that there was a distinct difference between the two, and regarded his teacher with a look of trepidation.

Snape looked more comfortable now, perhaps because he was on familiar ground, terrorizing a student. "And don't think that you'll be getting off easy, Mr. Malfoy," he warned. "Regardless of the reasons, you broke the rules and made a spectacle of yourself, and you will be punished. I'll indulge Lupin and let you and Mr. Dietrich serve part of your detention at the clinic, but don't think that you'll be getting off with a few hours of potion-brewing."

"Yes, sir," Draco said in a resigned voice. He should've known that the Potions Master's sympathy was limited. But in a weird way, he preferred the old, familiar Snape to the nicer one. It made him feel better, as if everything was still the same, even though it wasn't. "But...sir? Please don't make me serve my detention with Diggory--"

"Master Diggory," Snape corrected.

"With Master Diggory," Draco said meekly. "It would be rather awkward under the circumstances, don't you think?"

Snape frowned, but did not reject his request outright; he seemed to be thinking it over. Lupin said gently, "It is awkward, but you should take some time to get to know Lukas a little better. If he and your mother are going to be seeing each other--"

"They're not seeing each other anymore," Draco said flatly. "I confronted him, and he promised not to see her anymore. It's for her own good; he was just playing around with her, and she would be ostracized if anyone found out that she was sleeping with a werewolf." He stared at Lupin and Snape defiantly, knowing that he was indirectly insulting them both with his comments. His stomach felt like it was tying itself into a knot, his insides churning in a way that had nothing to do with his hangover. But he refused to back down, even if it made Snape and Lupin hate him.

"Draco, can't you please give Lukas a chance?" Lupin pleaded, but Snape shook his head slightly, and Lupin fell silent.

"You do not have a choice about how you will serve your detention or whom you will serve it with," Snape said sternly. "That is why it is called a punishment."

"Yes, sir," Draco said. He wasn't happy about it, but he was relieved that Snape didn't seem to be angry--at least, no angrier than he normally was with a misbehaving student.

"You will be suspended from Quidditch practice for another two weeks," Snape said, scowling at Draco. "Rather inconvenient timing, Mr. Malfoy, since the Headmaster has decided to let the Quidditch matches resume."

"Yes, sir," Draco said glumly. He wondered if Snape was going to have Dylan replace him as Captain and Seeker, temporarily at least, and possibly permanently.

"However," Snape continued, "it should not prove to be too much of a problem, since I have asked the Headmaster to move Slytherin's remaining matches to the end of the season. Since the attacks at the matches have always been against Slytherin, it seemed prudent to wait. Perhaps by then the Aurors will have figured out who was behind them."

"Yes, sir," Draco said with a sigh of relief.

"Go to breakfast, Mr. Malfoy," Snape ordered.

"Yes, sir," Draco said obediently, although the thought of eating anything was very unappealing at the moment.

Lupin smiled at him sympathetically, seeming to guess at his thoughts. "You should at least have a little tea, even if you can't eat anything, Draco. It might help settle your stomach, and you should...ah...replace the fluids that you've lost."

The fluids he'd lost by crying his eyes out and throwing up, Lupin was too polite to say. Draco nodded and turned to leave.

"Oh, and Mr. Malfoy?" Snape called out.

"Yes, sir?"

"You may not have a father, but you do have a mother who loves you and would risk her life for you. Don't forget that."

Snape's gaze was not angry, but steady and penetrating. His black eyes seemed to see deeper into Draco's soul than he was comfortable with, and he hastily said, "Yes, sir," and fled the room. Snape did not stop him.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Severus, don't you think that we should talk to Draco about Lukas?" Lupin asked after Draco had gone.

Snape shook his head. "I know you'd like everyone to live happily ever after, Lupin, but it's too soon to push a new stepfather on Draco. He clearly didn't react well to finding them together; give him some time to adjust."

"It will be hard," Lupin said quietly. "He really loved Lucius, even if Lucius didn't deserve it. He wanted so badly to please his father. I know that he also resented Lucius, but--"

"In some ways, that only makes it harder for him to let go," Snape finished.

Lupin smiled sadly, not just for Draco, but also for Severus, who had never been able to resolve things with his father, either.

"Damn that werewolf," Snape said irritably, and it was obvious that he wasn't talking about Lupin. "If he'd said something to us, we could have stepped in and tried to help Draco before things got to this point." He scowled. "Then we'd only have had one drunken idiot up on the Astronomy Tower."

Lupin couldn't help but laugh in spite of his concern for Draco and Aric. "I don't think that Lukas likes to discuss his lovelife with other people."

Snape, however, did not find things in the least amusing. "He can sleep with whomever he wants, but if it affects one of my students, it becomes my business. He should have told us when Draco found out, and he most certainly should have told us what was behind Draco's attack on Weasley."

"Let me talk to him, Severus," Lupin said, deciding that it would probably be safer for everyone involved not to let the two alpha males butt heads.

"Fine," Snape growled, "but if he pulls another stunt like this again, I'm poisoning his Wolfsbane Potion."

"Not turning him into a toad or blasting him into a pile of ash?" Lupin joked, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"Do I look stupid enough to confront a werewolf directly, Lupin?" Snape demanded, sounding insulted.

"No, love," Lupin said, kissing him lightly on the mouth. "Not unless the werewolf is me."

"Well, Diggory's a lot more dangerous than you are," Snape retorted. Then he grinned slyly. "Although you might want to check the potion before you drink it next month."

Lupin kissed him again. "I'm not afraid of you, Sev."

"That's because you're a Gryffindor, and Gryffindors are too stupid to be afraid when they should be," Snape said, but he kissed Lupin back, so Lupin decided to be generous and let him have the last word.

Chapter 118