each other, it might be that Granger will act as a positive influence on Draco in the time they spend together."
"Good influence?" Lucius snorted. "The girl is brave, I'll grant her that, but she' s hopelessly na?ve. She has an appalling tendency to speak her mind at the most inopportune times."
The corner of Snape's mouth rose slightly. "You'd be surprised how addictive honesty can be once you've tried it."
"Ah. Now I believe it is your turn to say what you mean to say."
Snape was only too happy to oblige. "When are you going to tell him about his mother?" he asked softly.
"And what would you have me tell Draco? That I refused to relinquish him to Narcissa, and that the vain woman took it upon herself to strike at me in the most asinine way possible?" Lucius seethed.
"Merlin' s teeth, Lucius!" Snape countered. "His mother did not simply expire from the shame of banishment. The woman consumed enough opium to kill a Centaur. She's been dead for months. You must tell him!"
Lucius's reply was whisper soft. "He does not need to know as yet."
"Draco is not a fool. Were he to trace Narcissa's so-called contributions to his Gringotts account, he'll know they came from me. "His mother is dead, Lucius. No matter how contained the incident is, the news will reach him eventually. You must tell the boy or you will risk losing what little you have of him."
"And would that be so appalling?" Lucius demanded. "For him?"
Snape didn' t see the need to soften his words. "No," he admitted. "He would not miss you. And Lucius, you'd be wise to thank whichever deity it is you occasionally blaspheme, that your son is so much more than you are. And so much less, at the same time."
Lucius looked away, and to Snape's amazement, swayed slightly. He looked completely spent. "He should have been ours' Sev. Yours and mine"
Snape chuckled, but the sound of was dry and devoid of amusement. "Even if modern magic did find a way to circumvent reproductive biology, he'd be a certifiable monster. Be grateful he's inherited some of Narcissa's grace."
"Yes," Lucius agreed, his gaze thawing slightly. "You always were a great, blundering oaf."
It was an old, familiar insult between them, one not used for many years. The jibe was made all the more ludicrous given that adult Snape was twice as fluid and as precise as when he had been Draco's age.
Snape looked into Lucius' deadened gaze, beyond the haze of drink, and found that he was still able to see remnants of the young man he had followed without sense or reservation more than twenty years ago. It was sometimes unnerving to watch Draco sitting in his class, as the boy listened with rapt attention over a demonstration, or stared into space, Lucius' trademark sneer stamped across Draco's younger features.
So much like his sire, Snape thought. It was a worrying thought. But thankfully for Draco, the ambition that had driven Lucius nearly to the brink of obliteration had been diluted by Narcissa's complete lack of personality.
Draco was decidedly cunning, and at times, malicious. But the boy would never allow himself to be wielded as someone else's blade. Like his mother, he was much too self-serving for that.
Not that Snape was a stranger to the allure of blind faith, to follow without question, logic or sense. At seventeen, he had suffered through the Dark Lord's initiation, buoyed by the supportive presence of his mentor, an extremely enigmatic Lucius. A few years later, he had stood amidst the crowd at Lucius's wedding, watched as Lucius had kissed Narcissa Black's cold, red lips. Had watched as those grey eyes had searched him out from the throng and bestowed upon him a brief, achingly private smile.
"I suddenly have an urge to kill something," Lucius said. At that moment, he looked every day of his forty-one years. He also looked like a worrying father.
"Which reminds me, Lucius," Snape said, adding a measure of steel back into the velvet voice "Harm your son again, in any way, and the next time you see him, it will be from behind Azkaban bars. Do not mistake my assistance for friendship."
Lucius' smile was slightly scary. "Ah Severus, I wouldn' t do that. Not again."
Snape didn't need to locate his pocket watch to know that the Floo communication was up. The green flames were now more smoke than fire.
Lucius noticed it as well. "I trust you will keep me informed? Demanding information