Snape had not intended to stay. The plan had been to drop Harry off, keep the polite chitchat to a minimum and Apparate away as quickly as possible. It wasn’t that he disliked the Malfoys’ company; they considered him a friend, after all. Nor was he particularly pressed for time with any of his duties and projects; it was the Christmas holidays, most of his snakes had gone home, and none of his experimental potions needed attending in the next twenty-four hours.

Still, if he could help it at all, he was not going to be drawn into a children’s birthday party. From his experience as a teacher, Snape had some idea of what such an event involved, and all of it – the sticky sweets, the inane games, the sugar-hyped brats, the horrible noisy music – seemed to have been taken directly from his own personal idea of hell. He’d have to be a fool not to slip out and disappear as quickly as he could possibly manage.

It was Lucius who thwarted this plan. The man was seated at the “parents’ table” in a corner of the hall where Draco’s party was taking place. Surrounded by witches who, from the looks of it, were discussing the latest issue of ‘Glamour and Spells’, he looked as miserable and put-upon as Snape had ever seen him. Then he raised his head, and his face lit up when he saw Snape.

“Severus!” He jumped up and came hurrying over, a little too hastily to maintain his usual savoir-faire. “What a pleasant surprise to see you.”

“And you, Lucius,” Snape replied dryly. “Harry, meet Mr. Malfoy.”

The boy, Snape was satisfied to see, remembered the etiquette lesson he had been given, bowing politely as he greeted the older wizard. “Hello Mr. Malfoy. Thank you for inviting me.”

“It’s our pleasure, Mr. Potter,” Lucius replied, eyeing the boy with great interest. “We meet at last. I trust you have been recovering well from your ordeal?”

Harry nodded. “Yes sir. And – thank you for the Nimbus,” he added, blushing slightly. “It’s brilliant.”

Lucius smiled. “Draco told me you’ve been enjoying your flying lessons.”

“Potter!” came a shout from somewhere behind them, and a moment later Draco came racing over, his cheeks aglow and neatly brushed hair slightly tousled. Snape recognized the first stages of a major sugar rush, and it strengthened his resolve to make his excuses as quickly as possible. “You’ve got to see what-”

“Draco,” Lucius interrupted sharply. “Greet your guests in a proper fashion, and do - not - run.”

“Yes, Father,” Draco said, slightly subdued. “Hello Potter, Uncle Sev. I’m glad you could come. Thank you very much for the present.”

Lucius glared at his son for acknowledging the present before it was given to him, but Harry didn’t seem to mind.

“Happy birthday, Draco.” He handed over the parcel, which Draco proceeded to rip open. His eyes widened at the colorful box within.

“What is it?”

“An RC car,” Harry replied proudly, as if no one could have thought of a more tasteful gift. “We got it in Muggle London. It’s  so cool.”

Lucius eyed the obviously Muggle-made toy with suspicion, but Draco seemed intrigued. “What does it do?”

“You need the remote control-” Harry pointed at the item in question, “-to steer it. It’s a BMW model, it speeds up to 90 mph, and you can make it jump and stuff. I brought mine so we can race them.”

Draco seemed delighted at the idea of racing two noisy and useless items and causing general mayhem in the process. “Wicked! Er, I mean, thank you, Potter, Uncle Sev,” he added with a glance at his father.

“Take Mr. Potter to join the rest of your guests,” Lucius said, and the two boys raced off towards the table in the middle of the hall, where nearly all of the first-year Slytherins and Hermione Granger were gorging themselves on the elaborate cakes and gourmet desserts served by the Malfoy house elves.

Lucius raised an eyebrow at Snape. “Shopping in Muggle London, Severus?”

Snape sighed. “The boy was very persistent.” In fact, Harry had used all of his Slytherin cunning to lure Snape out of Diagon Alley and to the shop where, he insisted, they would find the ideal birthday present for Draco. Which, of course, would be even more impressive if Harry could show Draco the delights of care racing, hence the second car Harry now owned.

Lucius smirked, and Snape raised an eyebrow at him in turn. “I assume Mr. and Mrs. Granger had no trouble in reaching the manor?”

Lucius looked as if he had swallowed something sour. “We had Dobby pick Miss Granger up at her place of residence,” he said stiffly, and it was Snape’s turn to smirk. Politically adept as they were, the Malfoys seemed to realize that inviting Muggleborns could only help their new image as a modern pureblood family.

“Well,” Lucius said, recovering his suave manner, “why don’t you join us for a cup of coffee, Severus. Narcissa has ordered your favorite brand…”

“No thank you,” Snape interrupted him quickly. “I really must return…”

“Surely you can spare half an hour, Severus.” The look on Lucius’ face came close to pleading. “Perhaps we could retreat to the library for a glass of Ogden’s-”

“… or you could stay right here and entertain our guests, Lucius.” Narcissa had come over, resplendent in tasteful silver robes, her eyes narrowed at at her husband. “You had better not sneak out on me again. Severus,” she added, her smile returning. “How very lovely of you to join us. Do come and have some refreshments, the house-elves have outdone themselves.”

“Thank you, Narcissa, but-”

“But nothing, Severus. Come and meet Mrs. Parkinson, she’s been dying to ask you about an Ageless Potion she read about in ‘Glamour and Spells’…”

Following Narcissa to the parents’ table, Snape shot a glare at Lucius, who looked entirely too pleased with himself.

In the meantime, the children had abandoned their seats and gathered at the other end of the hall, in front of a shaggy-haired wizard with garish robes and a magical microphone. “Now, where’s our birthday boy?” the wizard shouted.

Draco, looking more hyper than ever, jumped up and down. “Here!”

“Congratulations!” the wizard yelled, conjuring a shower of rainbow-colored sparks that rained down on Draco to a sped-up version of ‘Happy Birthday’. “Now, I’d say this young man gets first pick! Shall we get started with Wizard’s Hoedown or Do the Hippogriff?”

“Do the Hippogriff!” Draco screamed, joined by the rest of the children. “Do the Hippogriff!”

The wizard gave a sign to the band members behind him. “Alright then, ladies and gentlemen, get ready to shake your booty! Can you dance like a hippogriff, ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma…”

Two songs later, Snape knew that not even Narcissa’s finest brand of Arabian Cauldron could save him from the thrumming headache that was building up between his temples. Most of the parents around him had a slightly glazed look on their faces, whereas their offspring seemed to be having the time of their lives. Snape watched Harry jumping up and down next to Miss Granger, waving his hands in imitation of the shaggy-haired wizard. It was hard to believe that this was the same boy who had sat alone in the common room, a vacant expression on his face as he stared into the fire…

“…if you’re interested,” Lucius was saying next to him, and Snape returned to the present.

“Excuse me?”

“I was saying that I recently acquired an old Egyptian grimoire you might be interested in.” Lucius glanced at Narcissa, who was engaged in conversation with Mrs. Bulstrode. “It is in my study, so…”

“Yes,” Snape said quickly. “I should be most interested to have a look at it.”

Lucius nodded and snapped his fingers. A second later, a house-elf in a tea towel appeared next to him, bowing deeply.

“What can Dobby do for Master Malfoy, sir?”

“Go inform Mistress that the Black Forest cakes are ready to be served.”

Dobby’s round eyes widened. “But Master, Mistress is ordering Dobby to save the Black Forest cakes for tonight’s feast…”

“Exactly,” Lucius said. “That should buy us at least five minutes.”

Dobby looked decidedly unhappy, but disappeared with a *plop* only to rematerialize at Narcissa’s side. “M-Mistress, the Black Forest cakes are ready to be served…”

“What? Didn’t I state explicitly-”

“Now,” Lucius said under his breath. “Quickly.”

Abandoning their seats, they slipped out a hidden door behind one of the wall tapestries and down a flight of stairs. The music and the noise from the screaming children grew dimmer in the distance. Snape had never before appreciated what a blissful experience silence was.

“That’s better,” Lucius sighed. “What on Earth possessed me to hire that man I don’t know.”

“Draco seems to be enjoying himself,” Snape pointed out, and Lucius sighed.

“Yes, I suppose there’s that.”

Snape thought of Harry, and the fact that he would probably want to attend next year’s party, as well. He sighed, and Lucius raised an eyebrow at him.

“The lot of the parent, isn’t it?”

Snape wanted to disagree that in no way he counted himself among that wretched portion of the human race, but, for some strange reason he merely nodded.

“Yes,” he said. “I suppose it is.”