And Then There Were Three

Chapter 16

Snape paused outside Draco's bedroom door when he heard murmured voices from inside. Harry and Draco had been hanging out upstairs for the last hour, but it was time for dinner now and Evelyn was waiting for them.

He knocked on the door and waited to hear Draco softly say, "Come in."

Draco was sitting at the head of the bed with his knees brought up to his chest, while Harry was lying on his back, sideways across the other end, his feet dangling off the side.

"It's time for dinner, boys," Snape said.

"I'm not hungry," Draco replied without even glancing up at him.

Snape turned to Harry who was already sitting up. "Head on downstairs, please," he said. "Evelyn is already there and I believe you had something you needed to say to her anyway."

Harry looked as if that were the last thing he wanted to do, but he must have realized that Snape wanted to talk to Draco alone, because he stood and left without a word.

"Draco," Snape said moving further into the room, "you didn't eat lunch, and I'm willing to bet you didn't have breakfast before you came here. I know you've had a terrible day but I'm going to insist that you try and eat. It doesn't have to be a lot," he added when Draco looked like he was about to complain. "But it does need to be something."

Draco sighed as he let his legs stretch out in front of him, and said "Fine, but do I have to eat down there? I don't want to be around everybody."

Snape took a moment to really look at Draco. Despite the nap he had taken on the couch, the boy still looked exhausted. His hair stuck up in odd angles, as if he had repeatedly run his hands through it. His clothes, which had been neat and wrinkle free when he arrived, we're now rumpled, and the collar of the light blue shirt was stretched out. Snape knew that was from Draco pulling at it, a nervous habit he'd had since he was young.

Young. As if fourteen were so old.

Merlin, what was he going to do with these boys? How was he going to help them? Part of him was so afraid that he was going to make everything worse, but another, bigger part knew that not trying at all would guarantee that outcome.

"Alright," he said, "I'll send Jenka up with your dinner, but maybe you can come down for tea with us later?"

Draco nodded. "Sure."

Snape left him alone, closing the door behind him softly. One thing was certain; he would never give up on them. Not ever.

When Snape made it back downstairs, he found Harry and Evelyn standing together in the kitchen. Harry was smiling, so he took that as a good sign that perhaps all was well between them. He had no doubt that Harry had apologized for the way he spoke to her the day before. Harry was the type of person that would feel guilty about something until it was sorted, and Snape knew that he would feel better now that everything was behind him.

Snape thought back to the time he had snuck out to Hogsmede the year before, and how if he hadn't confessed, he might have gotten away with it. He shook his head. It was a really good thing that Harry had no inclination towards spy work.

"All right," he said, pulling out his chair at the head of the table. "Shall we eat?"

Harry took his usual seat at Snape's right hand, and Evelyn sat across from him. She caught his eyes and sent him a questioning look.

Snape shook his head.

"Jenka," he said half a second before the small elf appeared.

"Yes, Master Snape?"