In Blood Only by EM Snape
Past Featured StorySummary: Everyone is dismayed to learn Snape is Harry's father. Especially Snape and Harry.
Categories: Parental Snape > Biological Father Snape Main Characters: .Snape and Harry (required), Draco, Dumbledore, Hermione, Lucius, Remus, Ron, Tonks
Snape Flavour: None
Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama
Media Type: None
Tags: Snape-meets-Dursleys
Takes Place: None
Warnings: Alcohol Use, Character Death, Torture
Challenges: None
Series: None
Chapters: 45 Completed: Yes Word count: 173775 Read: 400907 Published: 29 Jan 2005 Updated: 28 Aug 2006
Manuvers by EM Snape

Another man might have felt guilty, playing trusted confidant to a teenage boy whose father he'd days earlier tortured half to death. Snape did not.

"Professor Snape!" Draco called upon spotting him, rushing over to share his good news. "Did you hear, sir?" He was glowing with happiness. "My father…" he glanced around quickly before saying in a low undertone, "… escaped."

Snape smiled thinly. Stupid boy. As a senior Death Eater, of course he knew.

"Why, that's marvelous news, Draco," Snape said smoothly.

"I can't wait until Potter finds out," Draco said viciously. "I want to see the look on his face."

"Why don't you tell him?" Snape suggested, amused by the prospect of witnessing Draco's disappointment when Harry failed to react.

Really, he shouldn't be extending his enmity from Lucius to his son, but it was difficult to prevent himself.

Draco looked frustrated. "Mother said to play ignorant for a while."

"That shouldn't be too difficult for you."

Draco's head whipped up; he'd obviously caught the double meaning of the words, and he stared at Snape searchingly, trying to figure out whether it was intentional. Snape maintained a carefully neutral expression until the boy appeared satisfied. The briefly perplexed look fled from his face, to be immediately replaced with the familiar Malfoy arrogance.

"Once it's publicized, Potter's going to shit himself," Draco said brashly. "He knows my father's coming after him."

"No doubt," Snape replied dryly, wondering if the boy was truly deluded enough to believe his own words.

Draco's attention was caught by a group of Slytherins just entering the common room, and he tossed Snape a farewell smirk. "See you in class, sir."

Snape watched him stride away, undoubtedly to spread the word among the Slytherin ranks about his father's fortuitous escape. Inevitably, it would spread to the other houses, and then to the outside world.

No discretion whatsoever, Snape thought contemptuously.

He watched the young Malfoy speaking grandiosely to a crowd of admirers. Draco disappeared a moment beneath the sea of heads, and then emerged, holding a new broom aloft.

Snape had no idea why the boy needed a faster broom; he had no decent competition now that Harry no longer played.

He scowled, contemplating that. Really, it was ridiculous that Harry refused to play. Whatever psychological issues underlined his decision, Snape doubted they'd be alleviated by quitting a sport he seemed to love.

In any case, Severus could certainly envision reaping some visceral thrill from seeing his progeny defeat Lucius Malfoy's. He clenched and unclenched his fist, frustrated just thinking of it.

It wasn't until dinner that night, when he overheard two Gryffindor third years speaking about their prospects for the House Cup, that it occurred to him Harry must have concealed the lifting of his ban from his housemates. He doubted the Gryffindors would have left the boy in peace, had they known they could reclaim their best seeker.

Snape paused by the third years, noting with amusement the way they simultaneously jumped in alarm.

"Rather optimistic, aren't you?" Snape drawled. "Speaking of the House Cup as though Gryffindor has any conceivable chance of winning it."

He watched them flush with hurt pride, but before one of the little brats could speak, Snape added snidely, "Potter's ban may have been lifted, but you'll need more than a decent seeker to defeat Slytherin."

Comprehension flooded their features. The two Gryffindors exchanged a shocked glance.

Snape did his best not to smirk as he left them to wreak their havoc.

* * *

Harry felt a chill creep up his spine at the sight of platinum blonde hair amidst the crowd of students. He reigned in his anxiety; it had to be Draco, not Lucius. Lucius couldn't possibly enter Hogwarts.

Draco Malfoy… Harry studied him from a distance for a long moment, wondering how he should feel about the blonde Slytherin now that he was thoroughly acquainted with Draco's father. One part of Harry was tempted to pity him. Surely much of the other boy's vindictive behavior stemmed from his upbringing by Lucius. Had Lucius been as cruel and malevolent to his own son as he had been to 'Septimus'? Did he treat Draco with that precarious mix of affection and cruelty?

Or should he feel wary of Draco, now that he had some idea of how the boy was raised? Those dark curses at Lucius's fingertips, his eagerness to inflict punishment- had Draco inherited that?

He didn't have much of a chance to think about it. What seemed like half of Gryffindor descended upon him in a flurry of excitement.

Ron was the first to reach him, pulling him into a one-armed hug.

"Harry, we just heard! When were you going to tell us, mate?"

Harry glanced around in mounting alarm as they crowded about him.

"About… what exactly?" he said uncertainly, disliking the press of excited faces.

"You should have written us!" Ron cried. "Talk about a good Christmas present, eh?"

Harry gaped at them. What..?

"I told you it would happen," Ginny announced, grinning. "We worked out a new lineup while we were waiting for you. I'll take Chaser so you can have Seeker again."

Harry stared at them. They knew he wasn't banned. How had they-

Of course. Who else would it be? Who was one of the few people who knew about it, and the only one spiteful enough to use it against him?

Snape.

* * *

Harry waited for him in the dungeon corridor, seething with anger.

"You told them I wasn't banned!" he accused Snape as he approached.

The Potions Master smirked. "Oh dear," he said in a soft, mocking voice. "Was that supposed to remain a secret?"

Harry dogged Snape's steps as he walked. "Every Gryffindor has been on my case since last night, trying to make me play again!"

"I would think you'd relish the attention," Snape shot back. "Your celebrity appeal has somewhat diminished of late, hasn't it?"

Snape was clearly trying to goad him. Well, it was working!

Harry glared at him. "I can't believe you did this. You only told them because you knew I didn't want to play!"

Snape cast him a dour look. "I told them because the recent games have been exceedingly stale, and Draco Malfoy is sorely lacking a worthy opponent. As a Head of House, I am obliged to watch, and I am growing quite bored in the absence of true competition."

That stopped Harry short for a whole second. Snape was obviously unaware he'd inadvertently complimented him.

Then his thoughts returned to his memories of Quidditch. He'd… well, he'd loved it. The thrill, the flying, the razor-sharp focus in his mind every time he hunted for the snitch.

But after losing Sirius… he simply couldn't imagine feeling excited by something so insignificant as a game again. And he couldn't stand the prospect of all those eyes on him as he played, all the attention centering around him when he ended the match.

The last few months had been safe. He'd drawn as little attention to himself as possible. He wasn't playing Quidditch, speaking in class, or going to Hogsmeade, and no one paid more than cursory attention to him once they were over the novelty of meeting the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry could almost be fooled into thinking he was just like any other student.

And now Snape was trying to take that anonymity from him!

How could he get out of this? How would he explain to Ron and the others that he simply didn't want to play? What would he say? What would they think of him, if they knew he was refusing?

"They're not going to leave me alone after this!" Harry burst out resentfully. "They won't stop pressuring me!"

Snape looked pitiless. "I think you'll one day learn, Potter, that the best way to alleviate peer pressure is to succumb to it."

Harry stared at him incredulously, and the Potions Master sent him a sly, calculating glance.

"Oh, never fear, Potter. I'm sure you can explain to your housemates that you simply don't care whether they lose or not, they'll understand. Or perhaps you can tell them you are no longer capable of flying. I'm certain if you admit that Draco Malfoy is too formidable an opponent for you, especially in your current weakened state, well…" Snape allowed the sentence to hang in the air.

Harry glowered at him. "I know what you're doing!"

"And what is that?" Snape inquired silkily, raising an eyebrow.

"Reverse psychology," Harry spat. "Well, nice try. But I'm not doing anything because you're forcing me to."

Snape still looked exceedingly smug as they walked into the Entrance Hall, and Harry wanted nothing more than to punch him.

He then noticed Snape's features transform with loathing. Harry followed his gaze to Remus, who had just emerged from the staircase leading to Gryffindor.

"Oh, Harry," Professor Lupin said with a weak smile. "I was just looking for you."

Harry felt his heart clench in sudden hope. "You were? What- er, why?"

He was only vaguely aware of Snape shifting impatiently at his side, and he wondered briefly why Snape didn't just continue on to wherever he'd been heading. He approached Lupin tentatively.

Remus smiled down at him, and although the affection seemed… strained, somehow, it helped take the edge off Harry's anxiety.

"I heard you're going to be playing Quidditch again," Lupin said with a smile. "That's wonderful news, Harry! You must be thrilled."

"Yeah, well…" Harry shifted awkwardly, wondering how to word it.

"I'm looking forward to seeing you play," said Lupin softly.

Whatever strangeness had existed between them lately, Remus's eyes were earnest. He seemed to genuinely mean it, and Harry suddenly found himself hard-pressed to swallow around the lump in his throat.

"That's good," he croaked.

"I know your father would be so proud of you," Lupin added kindly.

Harry forced himself to smile. "Er, thanks. I'm- well, thanks."

He suddenly felt unbearably awkward and uncomfortable, and slightly sick, having realized he'd just committed himself to playing again.

Lupin smiled again, and clasped him on the shoulder briefly before leaving.

Harry stared after him, feeling hollow. He wanted to call Remus back, but he didn't dare. What if he wouldn't turn around?

At least he could sleep tonight, remembering what Remus had just said to him. He didn't want to risk another exchange that might rob him of this tentative return of Moony in his life.

Somehow his eyes found Snape, still lurking several feet away. He, too, was staring after Lupin, but there was an absolutely venomous look on his face.

Snape shot him a glare, too, before storming away. Harry wasn't sure whether he should find the man's inability to move on from old grudges amusing or simply sad.

Some people, it seemed, would simply never change.

* * *

Snape was feeling angry enough, and bitter, that he almost welcomed the familiar burn of his dark mark. He apparated to the Dark Lord, and found himself in a lavish country estate owned by the Dolohovs.

A small company of Death Eaters- the inner circle, mostly- lurked about, unmasked, waiting to be summoned for a private audience with the Dark Lord in his antechamber. Snape paced to and fro, a ball of restless fury, cursing Lupin to hell, and plotting several brutal detentions for Harry.

When his pacing brought him face-to-face with a wan and haggard Lucius Malfoy, Snape felt a spike of vicious glee and immediately pounced.

"Why, Lucius, you're looking a might bit unwell," Snape said viciously. "Someone must have had a good deal of insight for you."

Lucius bristled with fury, clearly recognizing his own language from the time their roles had been reversed.

"Do not push me, Severus," Lucius warned him coldly.

Challenge rang in the words, and around them, the other Death Eaters fell silent to watch. Snape felt an odd thrill of anticipation at the raw hatred in Lucius's expression.

Although he personally had no arch-rival among the Death Eaters, feuds between the Dark Lord's followers were common. One of the hallmarks of the Dark Lord's leadership was the enmity he encouraged between his own partisans. He clearly believed that while his hounds were baring their teeth at each other, they would have no chance to rip out their master's throat.

Periodic rivalries between Death Eaters were commonplace. And unfortunately, Severus himself had never much taken part in them. While he himself was certainly rude, snide, and capable of reducing the best of men to hysterics, whenever the hatred seemed on the verge of taking flight into genuine antagonism, his prospective foes inevitably retreated.

That part of him that would always remain that humiliated teenager, forever expecting to see the word 'Snivellus' on the lips of others, had whispered to him that his foes refrained from quarreling with him simply because they didn't perceive him as a worthy opponent.

But now, he was faced with the prospect of a feud with Lucius Malfoy himself. Up until this moment, their dispute had been 'tit for tat', but this threatened to be more.

Although Malfoy was not nearly the powerbroker he used to be, his former preeminence lingered in people's memories. It would still carry some measure of respect to be perceived as his rival.

He felt his mark flare with a sharp pain as the Dark Lord summoned him for a private audience.

"I must go." Snape sent Lucius a lethal smile. "Send my best wishes to Narcissa."

He paused for effect, and then spoke the words that sealed their enmity for all time.

"Oh, and convey my regards to Julian."

The Death Eaters about them broke into laughter at the open reference to Narcissa's not-so-secret young lover. No one had spoken openly of him in front of Lucius. From the look on his face, Malfoy had apparently been operating under the delusion his wife's affair was a secret.

Lucius's look of utter horror and humiliation was enough to make Severus smile behind his mask even as he drew the Dark Lord's robe to his lips.

* * *

It was only after Snape's departure that a seething blonde aristocrat sauntered up to his sister-in-law, receiving a contemptuous glance from her.

"Are you here to waste my time?" Bellatrix said coldly.

Lucius's smile was winning. "No. Just exchanging pleasantries with my wife's beloved sister… And perhaps approaching you with a proposition."

Bellatrix looked him over, expression filled with the disdain she'd reserved for him ever since he'd evaded Azkaban after the Dark Lord's fall.

"You have no proposition that could interest me."

Sensing her imminent withdrawal, Lucius leaned imperceptibly closer to her. "I know you've been growing restless with this recent inactivity. I have a gift to alleviate the monotony."

"Oh?" Bellatrix said, sounding bored. "What is it?"

He smiled wickedly. "An innocent, delectable young half-blood."

He didn't miss the spark of interest in her eyes, or the way Rudolphus Lestrange suddenly found their exchange worthy of attention and drew closer to his wife.

"Not just any half-blood. An uncommonly pretty boy," Lucius added in a salacious tone. "And I assure you, he screams so beautifully…"

The smoldering look Bellatrix sent her husband suggested she was in the mood to torture a half-blood right now, rather than wait for Lucius to bring one to her.

"He's small of stature, around fourteen I should think," Lucius continued, invoking a mental image of the boy, trying to find something that would definitively hook their interest. "He has deliciously expressive features…"

He considered his mental image of the boy for a long moment, searching for an appropriate description of those remarkable eyes.

"And green eyes... a very extraordinary shade of green," Lucius continued absently. They'd always reminded him of someone. He fumbled through his memory, searching for it.

And then the image clarified in his mind. A smile crept across Lucius's lips, because he knew this would be enough.

"They're the exact same color as Harry Potter's."

Bellatrix's crazed eyes snapped to his, and remained fixed intently on his face. Lucius felt a surge of pride. He had her.

"You must be seeking something in return, dear Lucius," Bellatrix purred. He could see from her expression that she was already indulging in sweet visions of a green-eyed half-blood screaming at her feet.

Lucius's smile was genuine this time, and he encompassed both the Lestranges with his avaricious gaze.

"Nothing. Nothing at all…" He leaned back in his chair, relishing his victory. "The boy will be entirely yours."

Lucius's eyes drifted to the spot where Severus had shamed him earlier, and he felt a surge of malicious glee.

"All I ask in return, Bella, is your help finding him."

The End.


This story archived at http://www.potionsandsnitches.org/fanfiction/viewstory.php?sid=130