Paternity

Chapter Twenty
Contemplation

A week later

Snape was sitting at his desk, studying a piece of parchment. It seemed that Neville Longbottom had a competitor for Most Incompetent, but you had to go back to the 1500s to find her. Her name had been Crocus Bitterweed, and she had been single handedly responsible for giving the entire school hives and violent nausea when her attempt at a simple itch curing balm had gone wrong.

Of course the student population had been a lot smaller back then, and he wondered if the magnitude of that boondoggle would outweigh the seriousness of Neville giving Clovis Twomby that third eye. That had been two years ago, and so far no one had been able to do anything about it. While the Department of Medical Magic looked for a cure, Clovis just wore bangs. The boy had taken it with remarkable equanimity. Of course, the fact that his branch of the family claimed psychic powers probably contributed to that. They already believed that they all possessed a \'third eye\', and just assumed that Clovis\' had been made visible.

There was a tap on the door, and Snape put down the paper with a mild feeling of relief. He didn\'t feel that finding out what other Potion Masters had suffered before himself was comforting--it just pointed up what he had to look forward to. \"Come in.\"

Draco opened the door and peered in. \"You wanted to see me?\"

\"Don\'t loiter, Malfoy. Come inside and shut the door.\"

Draco did so, approaching the desk. \"I hope this won\'t take long. I have an appointment.\"

Snape gave him a dour look. \"Really? You mean to say that you\'ve actually set up a rendezvous rather than just taking potluck at the Hog\'s Head, as usual?\" Draco scowled, but didn\'t comment. \"I want you to refrain from any further confrontations with Weasley or Potter.\"

\"What sort of tales have they been telling now?\" Draco snarled.

\"Nothing so very hard to believe. I find it puzzling that you were so quick to deny any possibility of paternity with me, but feel compelled to insinuate it to Weasley.\"

Draco shrugged. \"Call it a pre-emptive strike. I was just letting him know that he needn\'t try to come whining around later.\"

\"Oh, please!\" Snape\'s tone was disgusted. \"I know that you like to pretend that the Weasley\'s are lower class gits who envy their so-called betters--that\'s the official Pure Blood party line. I also don\'t believe you\'re stupid enough to buy into it yourself. You know bloody well that when it comes to personal and family pride, the Weasleys can give the Malfoys a run for their money any time, and I think they might have you beat in hardheaded stubbornness. Believe me, Malfoy--you needn\'t worry about Weasley making a scandal. Even if he believed you were the father, he\'d be more inclined to violently deny it.\" Snape regarded Draco for a moment, then said, \"The fact that you felt free enough to confront Weasley makes me wonder--have you voiced your suspicions to anyone else?\"

\"Do you think I want it bruited about that I\'m implicated in Weasley\'s... Shall we say misfortune?\"

Snape\'s eyes narrowed. \"I think that one of your favorite pass times is gossip, and that if you thought you had a chance to make things difficult for the Weasleys, you\'d have a hard time passing it up. Have you?\" Draco was silent. \"Are you going to force me to use a veracity spell on you?\"

\"No need to threaten,\" Draco said sulkily. \"Just my father.\" Snape made a disgusted sound. \"Well, it\'s not my fault! He came to me thinking that -I- might be pregnant--I HAD to. You know Lucius. If I hadn\'t talked, he wouldn\'t have used just a veracity spell on me.\"

Snape nodded. He had no doubt that Lucius Malfoy would have no problems using his fists, or perhaps even one of the Unforgivables, on his son. \"What was his attitude?\"

\"What do you think?\" Draco smiled slightly. \"If his blood pressure had been a bit higher, I think it might have given him a stroke--but it didn\'t.\" His smile broadened a little. \"Drat.\"

Draco\'s attitude didn\'t shock or surprise Snape. He\'d known Lucius a long time, and had observed the man\'s methods at close range. Lucius was not the sort to inspire love. \"Do you think that he will hold his tongue about this?\"

\"I think so. Can you imagine what even a rumor like this would do to his standing in the Pure Blood community? Not to mention how You Know Who would view it. No, I don\'t think you need to worry about him spreading it around.\" He hesitated.

\"But you think that there might be something else to worry about?\"

\"I\'m not sure,\" said Draco slowly. \"I hadn\'t thought so, until just now. But a thought just occurred to me.\"

\"What?\"

Draco shook his head. \"It\'s impossible.\" He thought some more, and Snape let him. Draco might be a miserable little git, but he wasn\'t stupid, and he knew his family. Anything he came up with would be valid. Finally Draco said. \"Not impossible, but highly unlikely. No, I don\'t think you need to worry about it.\"

Snape grunted. \"Well, if you think that there might be any trouble coming from that quarter, I\'d appreciate being forewarned.\" He flicked his hand at Draco. \"Run along. Far be it from me to deprive some lucky witch or wizard of your company.\"

Draco stood, and smiled at him. \"If you ever decide to unbend, I won\'t have to make that long walk into town.\"

Snape silently watched him leave, and thought, *No, I don\'t think so. You\'re tempting, my lad, but ethics aside, there are just too many thorns--not the least of which is your illustrious sire.*

~*~

Something dangerous was happening. Lucius Malfoy was thinking. He occupied the large wingback chair drawn up before the fireplace in the room he shared with his wife. He stared into the flames, brow wrinkled, on long, elegant finger tapping slowly against the chair arm.

Narcissa didn\'t dare leave the room, lest Lucius suddenly want her, but she also didn\'t dare intrude on his contemplation. She had pushed a chair into the most distant corner of the room and now she waited, trying to do handwork. She\'d actually forgotten what it was she was supposed to be knitting, but it didn\'t matter--she was making a perfect mess of it. She couldn\'t do two rows without having to stop and unravel everything, but it gave her something to do with her hands other than wringing them.

He\'d been in exactly the same position for close to two hours. It was past suppertime, and since she hadn\'t had any appetite for lunch, she was very hungry, despite her nervousness. She wanted to call room service, but dreaded Lucius\' possible reaction to any intrusion.

His continued silence worried her. Narcissa had given him a wide berth since his return from Hogwarts. He had immediately sent an owl to Great Aunt Anisa, but he hadn\'t bothered to inform his wife of what he\'d found out on his trip. Narcissa wasn\'t sure that this was a good sign, but she\'d decided to be hopeful. After all, he didn\'t beat her immediately upon his return. That could mean that either the situation wasn\'t as bad as he\'d feared, or that it was much worse than he\'d anticipated. If it was the latter reason, Narcissa would rather remain in blissful ignorance for as long as possible.

Her stomach made a quiet, protesting noise, and she clenched her fist over it, eyes flashing toward her husband. Lucius didn\'t move, and she decided that if he didn\'t break his concentration in another fifteen minutes she was going to bed. She thought that there was less a chance of attracting his wrath that way.
She needn\'t have worried. Narcissa was not the subject of Lucius\' contemplation--in fact, he\'d forgotten she was present.
While Lucius\' expression remained unchanged, his mind was working fiercely.

*Damn the boy. He could hardly have gotten us in a worse mess if he\'d actually tried. I thought I made it clear to him when he went away to school that he was to be discreet in his sexual escapades. I know he must have been active for several years--we Malfoys are a precocious lot--and he\'s been cautious till now. There was never a breath of scandal before. By all that\'s dark, what possessed him? Even with the libido magic working I\'d have thought he\'d have enough sense to pull out and just give the red headed bastard a splash.*

*Well, there\'s no point in chewing over that--it\'s done now, and we have to face the present situation. Weasley\'s pregnant. It might be Draco\'s. It might be Potter\'s. Damn. I don\'t know which prospect is worse. In either case, Voldemort is likely to be furious.*

*I wish this would just go away.* He cocked his head slightly. *It COULD go away. I know that the Weasleys are a beastly healthy lot, but... There are accidents. There are potions. This pregnancy doesn\'t HAVE to come to full term. It would be tricky, though, while Weasley\'s at Hogwarts. He\'s bound to be under the protection of Snape and Dumbledore. While they might be fools when it comes to politics, they\'re not stupid.*

*If Arthur had any sense of the way things work, he\'d capitalize on it somehow. Knowing him, though, all he\'ll be thinking is that it\'s his first grandchild, the sentimental fool. It very well might be MY first grandchild as well, but I\'m not going to get soppy about it.*

There was something nagging at the back of Lucius\' mind. Lucius sat up a little straighter as something occurred to him. *Here I am insulting Arthur for not having the sense to make use of the situation, when I\'m no better. There MUST be some way to turn it to my advantage.*

He settled even deeper into his chair, scowling into the fire. Narcissa quickly laid aside her knitting and crept into the bedroom, hoping now that her husband\'s deep pondering would go on for a while longer. If she was lucky he\'d be tired enough to sleep through breakfast. Perhaps by lunch time he\'d be over this brooding fit.

~*~

Dinner had been excellent. Now Harry was spooned up behind Ron in bed, and with Harry\'s arm over his waist, and his breath on the back of his neck, Ron was feeling warm, contented, and safe. He was just drifting off to sleep when he jerked, eyes flying open.

Harry\'s arm tightened, and he murmured, \"Bad dream already?\"

\"No,\" Ron replied just as softly. \"Wasn\'t asleep yet.\"

\"Then what\'s wrong? Are my feet cold?\" He kissed Ron\'s shoulder. \"Toenails need cutting?\"

\"I was thinking about mentioning that, but that isn\'t what it was.\"

Harry\'s hand slid down his belly, petting him. \"Need to go to the loo again?\"

\"Not yet.\"

\"Well, I give up.\"

\"I\'m not sure. I just felt cold all of a sudden.\"

Harry sat up, reached down to the foot of the bed, and pulled the second blanket up over them. He lay back down, saying, \"Better?\"

\"Thanks, but...\"

\"But? Ron, you\'re starting to worry me.\"

\"It\'s just that it\'s not that type of cold.\" Ron hugged himself. \"It ran right down my back. I don\'t understand it. You were plastered right up against me, and you\'re as good as a hot water bottle. I think I understand now what my Gran used to mean when she\'d say she felt like someone had walked over her grave. Anyway, that was gone almost as quickly as it came, but now the cold seems to have settled inside. Have you ever felt like that, Harry?\"

\"Yes,\" Harry said shortly.

\"When did it happen? What does it mean?\"

\"Never mind, Ron. It\'s nothing.\" He embraced Ron again, snugging up against his body. \"You\'re just broody because of the baby. Pregnant people have odd mood swings--we both know that. It\'s not unusual for you to be worried about things, but whatever it is, just let it go for now, eh? There\'s nothing at all we can do right now, so get some sleep. You need your rest.\"

Ron hummed in doubtful agreement, but the foreboding sensation was seeping away now. It was hard not to feel secure with Harry holding him like this. He let himself grow drowsy again. As he was drifting off this time he reflected that he was probably being foolish. Things were going well enough, and whatever came--he had Harry. They could face anything together.