Potions and Snitches
Snape and Harry Gen Fanfiction Archive

Author's Chapter Notes:
I know it has been forever and a day since I’ve updated this story. Good news if my muse cooperates, there is only one more chapter to this story. Thank you to everyone that has stuck with me on this story.
Chapter 22

“…But I want to know one thing. Why?” Narcissa asked.

“Why what?”

“Why would you do this?” Narcissa asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

“Oh, like you don’t know,” Lucius said, accusingly. “You know exactly why this has happened. If you didn’t do what you’ve done, then none of this—it’s your fault.”

Narcissa paced the length of the room. She couldn’t understand her husband’s meaning. How on Earth could she be blamed for this?

“You are not making any sense,” Narcissa sighed. “How can you say that all of this—Draco in custody, Harry’s been kidnapped and assaulted. How is any of this my fault?”

She turned away from her husband, continuing her pacing. There was a small clink she heard when she turned, and she remembered what she had in her pocket. Without saying a word, she walked over to Lucius. Since he was still petrified to the chair, it would be easy. Narcissa poured a small amount of its contents in her husband’s mouth. Keeping her hand over his mouth and pinching his nose, she made sure that Lucius swallowed.

Lucius coughed after he swallowed the liquid.

“What was that?” Lucius bellowed. “What did you give me?”

Narcissa didn’t reply to her husband’s rants. She just contented herself with waiting for the potion to do its work. She usually wouldn’t do things as physical as this, but she was beyond angry with her husband that she didn’t care. She stepped away from him and gathered herself. Sitting down on the small sofa across from Lucius, she waited.

Looking at the clock, she waited a few moments. Narcissa didn’t acknowledge her husband. He continued to rant and rave, but she sat stoned-faced as she watched him.

A few moments later, Lucius’ rants gotten quieter. Narcissa smirked at her husband.

“Now that you are ready to have a civil conversation,” Narcissa said, coolly. “Let’s begin.”

Lucius didn’t say anything.

“I’ll ask you again,” Narcissa said. “Why did you do this?”

“You were having an affair with Severus,” Lucius forced out.

Narcissa opened her mouth to retort to the accusation, but she was so flabbergasted by the idea of her having an affair with Severus that she was momentarily struck dumb. She knew she probably looked like a fish out of water with her mouth gaping and closing repeatedly.

Yes, she was friends with Severus. She was one of his close friends. The only other person Narcissa saw Severus with was that Lily girl from Gryffindor. But to think that she would have an affair with him, though not impossible, was simply not true.

Finally finding her voice, she said, “Who told you those lies?”

“I’ve seen it,” Lucius snarled. “Don’t you dare play stupid with me.”

“Because you have Veritaserum coursing through you will I allow the disrespect you’ve just shown,” Narcissa said. “Now, please tell me what have you apparently seen.”

“I’ve seen the way you two talk to each other,” Lucius said. “You two are always laughing and carrying on.”

“Lucius, you fool,” Narcissa said, shaking her head. “I’ve never been unfaithful to you. Severus is my friend. He was my friend before I met you. He was the one that told me to give you a try. He was the one that pushed that I go out with you. That I accept your hand in marriage. Honestly, you should be thanking Severus. Because if he didn’t push me towards you, you would be alone.”

Narcissa took a deep breath, trying to calm her anger. That was something she did expect. Never would she have thought that Lucius would question her faithfulness. She wanted to walk out of this house and never come back, but there was one more matter that she had to deal with: her son.

“Now,” Narcissa said, with a renewed calmed. “What did you do to my son?”

“Nothing the little bastard didn’t deserve,” Lucius growled.

“Bastard? BASTARD?!” Narcissa raged. “Why would you—no,” shaking her head, “you can’t be serious. You actually believe…”

Narcissa couldn’t stay sitting now. She stood up and started pacing again.

“Was that your so-called evidence?” Narcissa said, turning to face her husband. “Draco.”

If Narcissa was flabbergasted at the accusation of her having an affair with Severus, she was totally lost for words at the fact that he believed that Draco wasn’t his son.

“I don’t know what you have rolling around in your mind. How could you ever think that Draco wasn’t yours? Draco is your son.”

Lucius didn’t reply. His look was cold and harsh.

“Fine,” Narcissa sighed. She was done with all this. There was a few more things she needed and then he could be out of her life for good. “What did you do to Draco?”

“The bastard,” Lucius growled. “was supposed to set that half-blood up. But he couldn’t do that right.”

Trying to keep her temper, she asked, “What was Draco supposed to frame Severus with?”

“He was supposed to make Snape get rid of Potter,” Lucius said.

“So, it was your idea to have Harry get kidnapped?” Narcissa’s voice was void of emotion.

“I didn’t care how Potter was dealt with just as long as that half-blood was accused of it,” Lucius said.

“What did you put on my son?” Narcissa asked, sitting back down on the sofa.

“The bastard was hard to convince,” Lucius snarled. “He didn’t want to go against his godfather. So, I put the Imperious curse on him.”

Narcissa’s eyebrow arched as her head slightly tilted to the side.

“You used an Unforgivable on my son,” Narcissa asked quietly. “You used… How long?”

“How long, what?”

“How long was he under that spell?” Narcissa yelled.

“Until I went to see him.”

Narcissa nodded. She closed her eyes as she tried to calm herself down. She knew Lucius had to stay alive to vindicate her son. Every fiber of her being wanted to kill the man sitting across from her. She wanted him to hurt. She thought of the entire time her son was under that curse. Deep inside he couldn’t stop what he was doing. She thought about Harry. She meant what she said to Severus. No child should endure what Harry’s been through those two weeks.

In this moment, she loved that her best friend was a Potions Master. A smart Potions Master that knew how to create spells. A very smart Potions Master that taught her how to perform said spells.

Narcissa took out her wand and pointed it towards her husband.

“What are you doing?” Lucius asked, the harshness leaving his tone.

“You’ve accused me of having an affair. You’ve said that Draco wasn’t your son. You used an Unforgivable on my son. You orchestrated the kidnap and torture of another child. I am trying to keep my temper, so that the proper authorities can handle you.” She bit her lip, trying to stem the tears that wanted to fall. “I have no words. How could you be so sadistic?”

Narcissa lowered her arm. Lucius gave an audible sigh. He knew how formidable his wife was. She could be fierce with a wand.

“Good-bye, Lucius,” Narcissa said, “I’ll have my elf come to pack up mine and Draco’s things.”

Narcissa couldn’t stay one more minute with that man. She couldn’t think of him as her husband. Never would she have thought that her husband would frame her son to do anything. All she knew now was that she had to save her son.

Narcissa apparated from the house for the last time.

___000___000___000___000

A WEEK LATER

Harry was getting around a lot better. He still needed help on the stairs, but he could get out of bed and walk to the bathroom by himself. He loved that he was feeling more independent. Professor Snape said that he didn’t mind helping Harry around, but it felt great to do some things on his own.

“Harry.”

Harry was brought out of his musing by his name being called.

“Yeah,” Harry said, walking albeit slowly towards the stairs.

Severus was standing at the bottom of the stairs.

“Are you ready?” Severus asked.

Harry nodded. Yesterday, Harry expressed that he wanted to see his friends. It was the first time Harry would see anybody outside Professor Snape and Madam Pomphrey. At first, Harry was afraid. He didn’t know how they would react to him. Harry didn’t want their pity or feeling sorry for him. He wanted to be able to get around a lot better than he had.

Before Severus helped him get to bed, Harry asked to let him tackle the stairs the next day. Severus said yes, but he would stay close just in case. So, Harry, with his hand tightly on the banister, made it slowly down the stairs. He was more stiff than hurt, so it wasn’t as difficult as he thought going down.

Even though it was taking him a little longer to get down the stairs, he had a huge smile on his face. He was so proud of himself. He felt like he really overcame the worst.

Severus kept his eyes on Harry then entire time. He wanted the child to do this on his own, but he still wanted to be close by just in case. It took Severus a long time before he would let Harry walk alone, but once the child was passing him, Severus conceded and left Harry alone.

When Harry was standing in front of Severus, he looked at the child, assessing if he could see pain in those emerald eyes.

“How do you feel?” Severus asked.

“I’m okay,” Harry said. “It’s still a little stiff, but I’m okay. I want to see my friends.”

“Okay,” Severus said, walking away. “Why don’t you go and sit down on the sofa and I’ll fire-call Mrs. Weasley.”

When Severus went to the fireplace, the flames turned green before he could make his call.

“Severus.”

Severus knew that voice. He didn’t want her to come in. Harry was sitting on the sofa. Even though she came before, Severus tried to be cautious of letting people know that Harry was with him.

“Narcissa,” Severus said, kneeling. He gave Harry a side-glance.

“Severus, please,” Narcissa said. “I know. I know you have Harry. I must speak with both of you. There are some things you must know.”

Severus looked at Harry. The child looked nervous. Severus didn’t want to risk it, so he pulled out his wand and placed a disillusionment charm on Harry.

“Come through,” Severus said, standing away from the hearth.

Narcissa stepped through. The first thing that Severus noticed was that she looked haggard.

“Where’s Harry?” she asked as she walked further into the room.

“He’s safe,” Severus replied. He glanced over to the spot of the sofa he knew Harry was sitting. He didn’t see anything, but he wanted to assure himself that Harry was hidden. “What can I do for you, Narcissa?”

“I’ve come to apologize,” Narcissa said.

“Apologize? For what?”

“I’ve learned a few things,” Narcissa said. “Can I trouble you for a small amount of Firewhiskey?”

Severus knew that if she was asking for hard liquor, something was wrong. As long as he’s known Narcissa, Severus could count on one hand how many times she’d asked for something hard to drink. Walking over to the small bar, he poured two small finger tumblers of the drink and handed one to her.

She sat down in the long-back lounge chair. When Severus gave her the tumbler, she just held it in her hand.

“Cissy,” Severus said. It had been a long time since he called Narcissa by her nickname. “What’s wrong?”

“This whole thing: Draco, Harry, me. It was all to ruin you,” Narcissa said, looking at the amber liquid.

“I’m not following,” Severus said.

“Draco selling Harry. Harry’s tormented weeks. My supposed death. It was all to get back at you.”

“Why?” Severus asked. “And by who?”

“Lucius,” Narcissa said, taking a sip of the amber liquid. She gave a small cough when it burned her throat going down. “He got it in his mind that we were having an affair.”

Of all the things Severus could be accused of, having an affair with his friend was not one of them.

“Where would he get that hairbrained idea?”

“I don’t know,” Narcissa said, taking another sip. “He put an Imperious Curse on Draco. When he sold Harry, he wasn’t in his right mind. It doesn’t excuse what he did 100% but it shows that Draco isn’t the cold-heartless monster he has portrayed himself to be.”

Severus couldn’t believe there was a small bit of relief that his godson wouldn’t have done those horrible things on his own.

“But why would he do that to his own son?” Severus asked.

“He believed that Draco was your son,” Narcissa said.

Severus knew if he had taking a sip of his drink, he would have choked on it learning that bit of information.

“Mine?” Severus said. He was shocked. “Where in Merlin’s name would he come up with that dunderheaded conclusion?”

“I don’t know,” Narcissa said, standing up. “I don’t care. I’m going back to see my son. I just wanted to let you know that the true ringleader behind everything Harry’s been through was Lucius not my Draco.”

Narcissa walked over to the bar and put her glass down and walked over to the hearth. Throwing down a pinch of floo powder, she turned to Severus one last time saying, “I’m so sorry, Severus. I’ll be in touch.”

Narcissa disappeared in the flames.

Severus couldn’t grasp all of what he just heard. Him having an affair with Narcissa. Draco was his. It was ludicrous. Severus looked over to the spot he knew Harry was still sitting. He knew Harry heard everything. Not that he would have kept this information from him. Severus waved his hand canceling the charm.

When he looked at the child, he was surprised to see that Harry had tears streaming down his face. Severus rushed over to the boy and sat next to him, thinking that he was having another flashback. They had been infrequent lately. But every once and a while it would show its ugly head.

“Harry,” Severus said softly. He slowly put his hand on Harry’s shoulder to see if he put a protection around himself again. Severus was surprised and happy that he didn’t

“Harry,” Severus said again, wrapping his arm around the boy. “What’s wrong? What is bothering you?”

“Draco was much a victim as me,” Harry said quietly.

Severus prided himself that there was nothing that could surprise him. He thought up every angle that would possibly occur in a given situation. But today, Severus has been in a constant state of surprise. First Narcissa and now Harry. This child had a truly forgiving heart. It simply amazed Severus at the things Harry would forgive.

“Are you saying that you forgive Draco?” Severus asked.

Harry leaned into Severus side, laying his head on the man’s shoulder. He took a deep breath, held it, and then let his lungs empty slowly.

“I don’t know,” Harry said. And he really didn’t know. Everything that Harry went through those two weeks was because Draco sold him to that bastard. But hearing that Draco was cursed and he wasn’t himself during that time, it changed something in Harry. Yeah, Draco was the one that physically set out to have him sold into the most horrendous torture, but it was now proven that Draco, the real Draco, wasn’t in control. That had to mean something.

“I don’t forgive what happened to me,” Harry said after a moment of silence. “But hearing this, I don’t think that it was solely Draco’s fault. Draco had no control. In our fourth year, Professor Moody, or who we thought was Professor Moody, taught us about the Unforgiveable Curses. He put the Imperious curse on several students not just me. Draco was one of them. Even though I had a little more power to not succumb to the curse, meaning I could break away, I was the only one. Nobody else could break away from that curse. So, if it is found that Draco was really under the Imperious Curse, then he wasn’t at fault. And he was more a victim, like me.”

“You are a forgiving child,” Severus said.

Harry shrugged.

“You don’t believe it?” Severus said, looking down at the boy. Harry looked up at him. “You are. You forgave me. You’re willing to forgive Draco.”

Harry reached up and wiped the remaining tears with the backs of his hands.

“Can my friends come over now?” Harry asked, trying to pull himself together. The last thing he wanted was to make Hermione and Ron believe he was still too overcome by his depression that he couldn’t function.

Severus gave Harry a little squeeze and got up and fire-called Molly.

___000___000___000

Kingsley was working on some paperwork when there was a knock on his door. Without looking up, he waved his hand opening the door. “Yes.”

“Hello, Kinsley.”

Hearing the voice, Kingsley stopped writing and looked up. Narcissa, once again, standing in his doorway.

“Madam Malfoy,” Kingsley said, standing up. He held out his hand, offering the chair in front of his desk. “What can I do for you?”

Kingsley looked at Lady Malfoy and noticed how tired she seemed. He had never seen her anything but impeccable. Tired wasn’t the right word to describe how Narcissa looked. She looked defeated.

“I’ve learned some things about my son and the circumstances he has found himself in,” Narcissa said once she sat down. Her voice was flat like she had given up.

“All right,” Kingsley said. “What information?”

“Draco wasn’t of right mind when everything happened,” Narcissa said.

TBC  


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