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Dismissing those thoughts, Harry, for once, actually thought about his clothing. Most of his wardrobe still consisted of Dudley’s handoffs or school robes. Clothes shopping had never been much of a priority and even his dress robes fourth year had been picked out by Mrs. Weasley, not him.
“Uh, don’t I need to go shopping?” he asked. “Not that I want to go or anything, but you don’t approve of my wardrobe choices, either. I’ve never been to a wedding before, but I really doubt I have anything appropriate.” Maybe he could simply snag something of Draco’s to wear. He certainly had enough clothing.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got it all worked out,” Draco said, his voice muffled.
As Harry snagged a pair of socks and his trainers, he wondered if he should be concerned about what Draco meant by that.
“Are you almost ready?” Draco asked, reappearing momentarily, fully dressed, before disappearing into the bathroom again.
“Yeah,” Harry answered. From where he was sitting, he could see into the bathroom where Draco was fixing his hair.
“That’ll have to do,” Draco muttered to himself, tossing the brush back onto the counter. Draco looked perfectly put together in Harry’s opinion, and he couldn’t figure out why Draco didn’t seem satisfied. He didn’t ask, though.
“Hurry up, Harry,” Draco urged. “We’re running late.”
Harry blinked. “Late for what?” he asked.
“For lunch, of course,” Draco said. “We were supposed to be downstairs ten minutes ago.”
“Of course,” Harry mumbled under his breath as he met Draco at the door. They hurried downstairs, Draco practically pulling Harry along in his rush. Draco paused outside the kitchen door and Harry almost ran into him. He watched bemusedly as Draco brushed at his robes quickly, checking himself over and straightening his spine before he pushed the door open calmly.
Harry followed him into the room warily. Remus and Narcissa greeted him warmly, wishing him a happy birthday. Severus and Lucius both nodded respectfully.
“Thanks,” Harry said, smiling slightly.
Lucius, Narcissa and Severus were sitting on one side of the table, and Remus on the other. There were two chairs free on Remus’ side of the table, with Victoria’s feeding chair in the middle. Harry sat down next to Remus as Draco retrieved Victoria from his mother.
“Late, as usual,” Severus said dryly.
“Yes, well, I wasn’t informed I was supposed to be down here at a certain time, until we were walking out the door,” Harry retorted.
“Thanks, Harry,” Draco said sarcastically, darting a glare at him as he deposited Victoria into her chair.
Harry opened his mouth to say something snide back, but then he shut it again. It had actually been well worth being late, and he would’ve been late even if he’d known he was supposed to be down at a certain time. Draco’s sudden smirk was smug.
“No, we do not want to hear why you were late,” Severus said before Draco could say anything. Draco didn’t lose the smirk, but he kept his mouth shut as he sat down.
The food was already on the table, under appropriate warming and cooling charms, and everyone started dishing up their plates now that they were all there. Harry passed Victoria some bites of fruit to get started, not feeling at all comfortable with the situation.
“Na,” Victoria said, her fingers mashing the bite of banana as she picked it up.
“Yeah, I gave you some banana,” Harry said wryly.
“How are you feeling today, Harry?” Remus asked quietly.
Harry shrugged, turning away from Victoria and focusing back on his own plate. “I’m fine. I reckon I’ve got today off, so it’s kind of nice,” he said. He looked over at Severus. “Then again, the last time I thought I had a day off, it didn’t exactly work out that way,” he said dryly.
“You have today,” Severus said evenly. “After today, I do not know what the Dark Lord’s plans are, and you will need to be especially alert.”
Harry darted a glance at Lucius, before turning back to Severus. “Consequences will have to be paid soon,” he said.
Severus nodded once in acknowledgement.
Harry bit at his lip. “Why do I have today?” he risked asking the question. “And why did we have yesterday?”
“I arranged for these two days,” Severus admitted, rather grudgingly. Harry had to wonder why the man had to be so difficult and why he couldn’t have just told him that the day before.
He quietly explained that Voldemort believed he was working on perfecting the potion that lessened the Dementor’s effects. As he already had one available that diminished the effects a little, he would be able to show Voldemort that he’d made progress, without actually giving him a fully working potion.
Harry was surprised, but then realized he shouldn’t have been, to learn that there was a potions lab in Malfoy Manor. As it was a long, complicated brewing and experimenting process, Voldemort had ordered his followers away for two days so that Severus could concentrate on his work.
“Where’d all the Death Eaters go?” Harry asked.
“To their own homes, I would presume,” Severus said sardonically.
“I thought a lot of them were actually living at the Manor,” Harry said. “And what about Pettigrew. You can’t tell me he had a home.”
Severus eyed him speculatively before deciding to answer. “They do have other places to go. Pettigrew happened to be staying at my home,” he said curtly.
Harry blinked at him. Severus actually had a home? Severus’ tone indicated that he wasn’t going to say anything more about it, so Harry asked a different question. “You haven’t been at the Manor. What if Voldemort decides to go check up on you?”
Severus arched a brow. “Do I appear to be a recalcitrant child that needs to be monitored?” he asked.
Harry ignored the implications towards himself. “He really trusts you that much?” he asked.
“Yes,” Severus answered. He hesitated a moment before continuing. “Harry, I am his most trusted follower. There are very strict orders not to disturb me, which includes disturbances from the Dark Lord himself. He sent a few followers out on a minor raid last evening, but he is holding off on any major attack until I am available again.” He hesitated again. “It is a position that I have earned.”
Harry went back to his plate of food, not wanting to think about the things Severus had done to earn his position with Voldemort. He ate automatically as he let his thoughts drift. He wondered what was going to happen when Voldemort found out Pettigrew was gone. Severus seemed to believe that Voldemort wouldn’t suspect him being involved in any way, but surely Voldemort would want to take out the disappearance on someone and Pettigrew had been staying at Snape’s house when he went missing.
Narcissa and Draco had disappeared and now Pettigrew. Several of his other followers were being captured. Then there was the fact that Harry had taunted him about the power issue and the prophecy. Voldemort could not be in a good mood. The question Harry had, how was Voldemort going to strike back?
Remus nudged his shoulder, and Harry blinked back into awareness slowly. “Hmmm?”
“Severus asked you about what your plans are,” Remus said mildly.
“You know, the daily ritual that we start with – attempting to figure out what Harry’s up to now,” Draco added dryly.
Harry didn’t rise to Draco’s sarcastic teasing. “I’m waiting,” he said seriously. He took a drink of his pumpkin juice as he gathered his thoughts. He glanced at Lucius over his goblet. The man hadn’t really said much of anything. Narcissa had also been unusually quiet. Harry focused on Severus who was patiently waiting for Harry to finish answering.
“I’ve pissed Voldemort off this week,” Harry said thoughtfully, absently toying with his food. “I’m waiting to see how he reacts to what I told him the other day and I’m waiting to see if he reacts the same way to Pettigrew’s disappearance as he did to Draco and Narcissa’s.” Harry glanced back up at Severus, who nodded solemnly.
Harry closed his eyes for a moment. Severus’ nod could only mean that it would be bad.
“What do you mean?” Draco asked sharply. Harry opened his eyes to see Draco looking back and forth between him and Severus. Draco didn’t know that Severus had taken the punishment for his disappearance, but he obviously suspected something.
Harry glanced at Severus again before shrugging at Draco’s question. “Voldemort’s wreaking havoc even when he’s in a good mood,” Harry said flatly. “He’s likely to be even worse now that I’m actively pissing him off.”
“What about the locket?” Severus asked, diverting attention.
