Jail Bird Choir

CHAPTER 13

“They’ve already been in here looking for you.” Harry sat staring out of the window at the walled garden outside, trying to ignore the reunion happening behind him at the kitchen table. Harry had known for over two years of Draco and Snape’s relationship. A lot of things had begun to make sense the night he’d found Dumbledore’s diary. An unassuming leather book shoved in between texts on a shelf in his office. Each page had been lovingly scripted, each event no matter how momentous or trivial noted in explicit detail. Perhaps it had been Harry’s destiny to read the diary, but it had come too late for many things. Dumbledore was already dead, Severus had disappeared and Voldemort was rising. Harry had read the page about Severus a million times over, hardly believing his eyes. Severus Snape had never returned to Dumbledore simply to plead for mercy on his own life, he’d come back for the sake of his unborn son.

“How have you been?” Draco took the kettle off the stove and poured three cups of steaming tea, one he sat beside Harry at the bench and the other two he took to the table where he’d been sitting with his father.

“Considering the circumstances relatively sane.” Harry bit his lip in silent irritation knowing that Snape had been hardly sane when he’d fetched him from Azkaban. Yet if the man wanted to lie then let him do so, he’d been doing it for years anyhow. “It’s good of you to put us up.” Snape sipped from his tea, carefully holding it with two hands with his fingers still in a rotten state.

“Anything for family…” Harry felt the bitter glance that Draco threw at him but Harry shrugged it off and proceeded to tip his tea untouched down the sink in disgust. Getting up from the stool Harry wandered over to the living room dresser with his empty teacup before uncapping the bottle of whisky and pouring himself a generous portion into the cup. “A thank-you would be nice.” Draco spat as Harry sat himself down heavily in the armchair by the fire and put his feet up on the coffee table, uncaring that both Draco and Snape were glaring at him.

“I wouldn’t thank-you if it was my last breath Malfoy.” Harry spat as he sipped his whisky. Snape growled low in his throat as he finished his tea and helped Draco to wash the cups in the sink.

“Why are you doing this Severus? He’s an ungrateful son of a bitch like his father.” Harry clenched his fists around the cup as he heard Draco address Snape in the kitchen as if ignoring his very presence in the room.

“I don’t explain myself to you Draco, just trust me.” The teacup Harry was sipping from shattered in a shower of china and whisky as the boy caught the loving hug Snape gave to Draco in the reflection of the glass doors of the liquor cabinet. This had been the problem from the very beginning of their strange relationship and while Harry had never quite understood why Draco always took precedent over Harry in Severus’ mind he knew he was always going to be second best to the blonde. Snape had made a choice the night he’d killed Dumbledore, and he’d chosen like always Draco over Harry. Harry had never quite got why until he’d read the diary but it had made sense in the end.

“Potter.” Snape growled in Harry’s face as he tore the shattered remains of the china from Harry’s hand to inspect the damage. Harry hadn’t felt the pain of the china sinking into his skin but as the warm trails of blood trickled down his fingers and arms he felt a satisfied relief wash over him. “Shit.” Snape muttered as he snatched the tea towel from Draco’s grasp and wrapped it tightly around Harry’s hands to stem the bleeding. Harry’s gaze had fallen distant and empty, the familiar flicker of amber slowly creeping into his irises. Snape saw the change but this time he was quicker, with his wand ready Snape drew back his hand and slapped Harry sharply across the face sending the young wizard reeling onto the floor. The slap had no doubt hurt Snape’s injured hands more than Harry’s cheek but it had seemed to do the trick. Shaking his head Harry came out of the fog and stared up at Snape in fear. This was getting out of hand and he could no longer control himself.

“What was that?” Draco who had been standing watching the entire scene play out now stared cautiously at both his father and Harry. A thin trail of thick black blood dripped out of Harry’s nose and Draco looked to Snape for an explanation. However before Draco could speak, Snape had stepped over to him and lifted his arm revealing a similar black trail of blood leaking from the pale dark mark on the boy’s forearm. Draco looked pale and shaken as he realized what was going on. “Oh fucking hell.” Draco breathed out fearfully as he wiped away the blood with his handkerchief his eyes never leaving Harry who was still slumped on the floor.

“He needs my help Draco, and it’s in all of our interests that he gets it.” Snape sighed as he turned back to Harry and helped the boy to his feet. “I need access to your lab and supplies, and I’m going to need you to get some books from inside Hogwart’s.” Draco nodded blindly as he watched Snape sit Harry back down on the chair and begin healing his cut hands with some wand waving and incantations. With Harry healed and resting in the chair Snape turned to Draco to stare at the blonde seriously. “I also need you tell me where Lucius is.”

“Ten feet under.” Harry laughed incredulously from his chair by the fire but his laughter died when both Snape and Draco turned to stare at him knowingly. “No fucking way…” Harry snorted in disbelief as he watched Snape roll his eyes and shake his head pointedly. “I killed him, I took his life and watched him die until the blue of his eyes had gone cloudy and the tremors in his body had finished. He’s dead.” Harry stared at Snape who slowly shook his head again.

“He never even stepped foot on that battle field Potter, what you saw was an illusionary spell designed to make the Auror’s believe he was there. Lucius Malfoy was sent to Azkaban to free who he could. Most of those he did free, the Ministry still aren’t even aware they’re missing such was the confusion that night.” Harry felt suddenly ill, the rush of guilt he’d been bottling up since that night rushing to his head. It had been a crushing sight to see Draco crying over Lucius body but it was all just another of Voldemort sick illusions designed to break his spirit.

“Where is he?” Ignoring Harry’s pale face Snape turned to Draco who was fiddling with his handkerchief.

“On a canal boat in Kent.” Draco put simply as he stood up from the couch and wandered back into the kitchen. Snape nodded in understanding knowing that it would be up to him to find out exactly where in Kent and on what boat. “Listen there’s a spare room off the landing that I keep general stuff in, there’s a single bed in there so you’ll have to share. I’ve got to open up for the afternoon customers, so keep out of sight.” Grabbing the keys from the kitchen table Draco disappeared through to the front of the shop leaving Snape to help Harry up to the secret little spare room off the landing.

TBC>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>