When Living Ain\'t Easy

Like all the rest, this chapter is unbeta\'d. For warnings, disclaimers ad nauseum, see prologue.

~ * ~

Chapter Eighteen : Modus Vivendi

While his father and Head of House dragged Harry out back for a full round of testing, Draco contented himself with a bit of creative writing.

He snickered as he wrote, carefully remembering to mask his voice and penmanship -- it wouldn\'t do to let the world know who was standing up for the famous Boy Who Lived. Not yet, at any rate. He also realized that he couldn\'t target all four of the people who had last written Harry. Too obvious, especially when one of them was Hermione Granger. That girl had a nasty habit of taking random facts and reacing a logical conclusion. No, for now he would simply have to content himself with the Weasley women.

Halfway through his scathing letter, Draco\'s vision blurred. He put down quill and ink, preparing for whatever images were to be shown.

// a flash of faces and feelings, all well known to an educated pureblood. whispers of suggestions from unseen voices. a brief glimpse of four wizards and two witches, channeling power to another, in a remote clearing. an admonishment not to do anything rash that might interfere, followed by an image of himself writing. \\\\

Coming out of his vision, the blond rolled his eyes and sighed heavily as he crumpled up the Howler he was preparing for Molly and Ginny Weasley.

\"Fine. Message accepted,\" he muttered, grumbling, \"But they deserve to be told off for this.\"

The hair on the back of Draco\'s neck prickled, tingling sensations running along his spine. He understood well enough -- the gods would have their way, and he must leave the redheads alone. For now.

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Severus watched his student\'s progress, becoming progressively more concerned as the tests gained difficulty. Oh, Harry was doing just fine with the tasks set for him, but his apathy was like a sour note that ruined a fine opus. No matter how hard he was pushed, the Gryffindor\'s depression rang through. Except it wasn\'t a true \'depression\'... moreso, he had accepted that he would have to deal with any and every injustice thrown his way. He finally allowed himself to comprehend the young man\'s earlier words: where his classmates were busy deciding what to do with their lives, Harry\'s basic right of choice was taken from him in so many respects.

It would be so terribly easy to lay blame for this travesty all on one man\'s shoulders. Indeed, Albus Dumbledore had orchestrated a great deal of the publicly known \'facts\' about the Gryffindor hero. But Severus was not one to lie to himself -- he was all too aware that the youth had a role to play, and the reality of that role insured little personal freedom.

The early summer sun was high in the sky when they broke for lunch. They sent Harry in for a quick shower while Severus fixed their meal. Lucius located his absent son and brought him to join them in the kitchen.

Looking more solemn than was the norm, Draco sat at the table just before Harry came in. His silver eyes met the young brunet\'s for only a moment as Draco tried to decide how to relay the morning\'s vision. Or even if he should. The gods sent him images, messages, and sometimes actual instructions... but they never said if he should make his position public knowledge. With a mental shrug, he decided to wait to get the Gryffindor alone before making that decision.

Innocuous comments were passed around the table alongside the salt and pepper, as if each wizard wished to keep the mood light. This was a defeated effort, thanks in large to the lingering black fugue hanging from the Boy Who Lived.

Harry knew his mood was bringing the atmosphere down, he just couldn\'t shake the feeling that he was doomed to be lonely and alone, to die trying to save a world that didn\'t really see him for what he was: a scared teen, supposedly destined to fight a Dark Lord. He wanted to rant and rave, to throw a wobbly, to scream at Molly and Ginny and the whole of magical Britain. Instead, he sat back and listened with half an ear to his dubious companions trying to make polite chitchat. He might\'ve laughed at the irony of Severus Snape and polite in the same sentence, if he could just shake the feeling of dread hanging over him. A phrase he\'d heard from one of Hermione\'s books kept coming to mind, a \'miasma of grief\', that seemed to be most appropriate to his present state.

He missed the end of the meal. Missed his professor bullying the feared Lord Lucius Malfoy into cleaning up. Missed the brief discussion between the three Slytherins that would decide his immediate fate. Harry was so stuck in his dark mood that he almost jumped out of his skin when a pale hand was placed on his shoulder.

\"Come on, Potty. It\'s recess and we\'re going to leave the old folks to play elsewhere.\" The blond kept his voice even and gently teasing as he ushered his classmate back to the relative privacy of their bedroom.

The door had barely closed behind them before Draco set locking and privacy spells on the room. He eyed Harry\'s dour expression and nodded to himself.

\"Right, here\'s what we\'re going to do.\" He waited for dull green eyes to focus on him before laying down his idea. \"There\'s this part-Muggle magic that\'s used on people who do you wrong but you can\'t get close enough to them for a proper confrontation. The practice is often mocked as being supersticion, a hoax, but it works well enough.\"

A flicker of interest was quickly squashed. \"I don\'t want to hurt the Weasleys. They\'re just trying to stay safe.\"

\"Not them, you dolt. Voldemort. We\'ll find a few scraps of fabric and sew up a doll. I\'m sure either Father or Severus has something of His we can use as a focal point. Then we take pins and whatever other instruments of torture you\'d like to use, and you can take every bit of your frustration out of the Voodoo doll. It might not do much damage to Lord Snake Thingie, but it\'ll make you feel alot better.\"

Harry listened through a thick black fog, gradually coming up for air. His mood had been so stiffling, choking him with negativity. How was it that the one person who had always been so hostile toward him was the only one to try to change his bleak moods?

Then the blond\'s suggestion really hit him, and Harry almost feel over laughing.

\"If it workds at all, we can just have Lucius\' fake scroll explain it away as growing pains.\"

Draco allowed himself a smirk of satisfaction as he went on to plot with his former rival the many things they could do with the Voodoo doll.

~ * ~

Severus had mixed feelings about letting his star Slytherin handle Harry\'s depression. In the end, he could think of nothing that might help, and left the two teens to their own devices. Besides which, it was time for him to check in with his co-workers. On both sides.

A quick message to Minerva explained that her precious Golden Boy\'s training was progressing well, and that they would need some time at Hogwarts over the summer for research. In spite of the ban on students staying at the school over the summer months, he felt sure his colleague would approve a few hours worth of library time. Of course, he failed to mention which library, or any other side trips that were expected.

Next on the list was the more loathsome, but equally necessary, missive to the Dark Lord\'s chief psychophant. He truly hated spending any time dealing with Bellatrix Black Lestrange, but he would need to arrange a meeting through her. Carefully expressing degrees of veiled suspense and excitement, Severus hinted at an ancient treatise he\'d recently begun translating. As her role as Draco\'s aunt (however pitiful her attempts at familial duties were) he included a status report on the yougn blond\'s \'private tutoring\'.

Satisfied with the turns of phrase he had used, Severus sent a sharp whistle to call his gyrfalcon to deliver both parchments.

His final letter would need more tact, and less subtlety. Molly Weasley, in her quest for her family\'s safety, had almost done what the Dark Lord had failed at so many times -- break Harry Potter\'s spirit. Such callous treatment could not go unpunished. And since Harry wouldn\'t think to deliver his own retribution, Severus would take great delight in doing the deed for him.

My dear Molly,
I write in hopes thhat you and your lovely family are well and safe. That was your primary purpose in sending your recent letter, was it not? It surprises me that you have not yet thought to forbid any of your sons from their friendship with Mr. Potter. Surely Ronald is in a more sensative position as the best friend of the Boy Who Lived. Hmm... If one were of a suspicious nature, your missive to Potter might actually be deemed the work of a Death Eater, trying to break the brat. Fortunately for the Order, Mr. Potter appears only mildly suicidal.
Have no fear, Molly, I will insure that the Golden Boy survives to defeat the Dark Lord. However, do not expect me to cushion the boy against any further blows to his fragile ego. Perhaps you should get Ms. Granger to explain some Muggle psychology. Ask her how a young man, after suffering years of abuse and neglect, might react to having one of his few chioces ripped away from him, and by the only people he had ever learned to trust.
If you indeed wish to transfer your loyalties, I would suggest a meeting with Peter Pettigrew. After all, you Gryffindor turncoats should stick together.
As to your request of a publically amicable break-up, you shall receive just that. Mr. Potter does not wish to harm your precious clan. I cannot guarantee his mental state, naturally, but I will guarantee him the opportunity to dissolve ties with your youngest offspring.
A word of caution, Molly dear: Do not attempt to contact Harry Potter any time in the foreseeable future. Nor should you speak of him in any matter. This parchment is charmed to prevent such gossip, even from your blasted kin.
In future, you might consider more carefully the impact your decisions have on others. Or you might continue to force an innocent young man to feel betrayed by his surrogate mother.
Severus Snape

Borrowing one of the unmarked Malfoy birds, Severus tied the letter on the owl\'s leg and sent it off. He felt little satisfaction for scolding the Weasley matriarch -- the woman would weep and wail and whine, then return to her petty mechanisms.

He barely noticed the shower turning off before Lucius stepped into the room, covered only by a towel. \"Finished wrecking havoc on the Weasleys, have you? If you won\'t, I shall.\"

Severus waved away the offer. \"Nonsense, Luc. They know of my presence in Mr. Potter\'s affairs, but you are still a wanted escapee. We cannot afford to tip anyone off as yet about your change in allegience.\" He grinned slyly at the disgruntled blond. \"Besides, I quite enjoyed telling off the hariden. Did you know that her twins were originally placed in my House? She made such a fuss about it that Albus moved them to Gryffindor.\"

TAhe change in subject didn\'t go unnoticed, but Lucius let it slide. \"That would certainly explain a number of occurances involving Misters Fred and George Weasley. They do have a fair amout of ambition as well.\"

\"Quite. And I suspect our Harry to be in cahoots with their latest enterprise.\"

\"Mmm, that sounds about right.\" Exchanging amused smirks, the older wizards continued discussing less serious matters as Lucius dressed and primped.

~ * ~

\"See, here is an illustration on how to imbue Moldiwart\'s essence into the doll. It won\'t take much... Maybe Severus can get a sample of his skin or soemthing, with the series of \'new potions\' he\'s supposed to create.\"

\"That would be wicked! Wish I could see his face when we jab a pin through his bollocks.\"

Draco cringed even as he laughed at the thought. \"Oh to be a fly on the wall,\" he said through laughter.

\"Maybe we can figure a way to transfer spells through it too. Send the Dark Weenie a case of acne to go along with his second adolescence. And heat flashes. And maybe a cravy for Cockroach Clusters.\"

\"Oh, oh! And make him have wet dreams about Pettigrew\'s rat form!\"

The ideas went rapidly downhill from there. And a good time was had by all.