Title: There's No Place to Fly To
Fandom: Potterverse
Characters: Severus Snape (mentioned: Lucius Malfoy, Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy)
Rating: T (L2 N0 S0 V0 D1)
Warnings: Snape talking to himself is a lot less tasteful than his comments to other people.
Notes: I have no idea. I was going to make breakfast and watch an episode of NCIS, before I got back to work on the stack of renders I'm supposed to be working on, but then this happened. Snape, probably about book 2 or 3, considering his life to that point and his responsibility for the two boys who have come to be part of it.
Lucius spoiled the boy. Severus knew it, but he couldn't argue too stringently against it, knowing what they'd been through as children. All the same, to see Draco, who looked more and more like his father, with each passing day, gallivanting about, full of undisciplined pureblood pride, was an offense to his sensibilities. The boy couldn't go through life believing that his blood and money would protect him from the consequences of his every action — even the Dark Lord had paid for his sins, when he'd gotten too cocky.
And that whole affair with Potter, well… For all they looked alike, Harry wasn't James. He was Lily's son, and he didn't deserve half the shite he'd been getting from Draco. And Severus knew that he was responsible for some of that. He pushed Potter hard, trying to force sense, reason, and a decent defence into him. He wasn't sure he believed the stories that the Dark Lord would return. Dead men didn't generally get up and take up their former professions, but some did, and if this one did, everything would rest on Potter — on Harry, the boy who could've been his godson, if he'd been less of a cock. The boy who might even have been his son, by the same.
But, he hadn't been less of a cock, and looking back, he wasn't sure he could have been. He'd had a bad hand, and played it the best he knew how. And as stupid as it was, looking back, that had meant not letting some mudblood girl, no matter how sweet and kind and pretty, defend him in something that revolved around his worth not only as a wizard, but as a man. Sure, that made him a stupid cock, and he lived with it every day of his life that he spent without her.
But, he could make sure that her son was prepared, in case the worst came to pass. He and Harry were similar in some ways, and in the ways that pained him most. The boy deserved to have grown up with his mother, not shut in a cabinet under the stairs, in a house of Muggles. And for all that he loathed James, to this day, Severus couldn't imagine him harming his own son. The boy deserved better, and it was the fault of one stupid cock with a big mouth that he hadn't gotten it.
And that brought him back to Draco. The boy was his responsibility, to some degree, but with Lucius letting him run wild, Severus could only wonder how much discipline he could successfully instill. Yes, house pride was an excellent trait. Certainly, it had always been the way of the pureblood families, particularly those who'd joined with the Dark Lord, to look down on everyone else, but even then, there was a nearly-inviolable code of public behaviour, the most vital part of which, at least in his opinion, had always been 'don't get caught', which, to be frank, Draco wholly sucked rotten medlars at, not only getting caught, but even promoting his behaviour as not only appropriate, but justified.
He would have to talk to Lucius again, maybe remind him of the sorts of trouble Roddy had been so prone to, or that mouthy git, Castor Avery, whose blatant and wholly pompous hatred of mudbloods had nearly gotten him removed from school and shipped off to Durmstrang. All told, he wasn't quite sure if he was glad the Averys hadn't been sent to Durmstrang. Maybe they'd have stayed in Vilinus. He couldn't be certain that things had turned out for the best, but they were the way they were, and the only help to be had was for what was yet to come. He'd mention the Averys to Lucius. The man likely just didn't realise how bad Draco had really gotten.
To be fair, it could be said he took after his Aunt Bella. The very thought gave Severus chills, but the boy did seem to have an attitude more consistent with the arrogant thoughtlessness of the Blacks, than the subtle manipulativeness of the Malfoys. Either way, centuries of entitlement came to a head in Draco's manner, and that had to be addressed, before he did something regrettable — possibly to Potter.
But, not tonight. He'd floo Lucius in the morning, he decided. Tonight, he'd just have a couple drinks, and try to forget that the fate of the world might actually rest on his actions — which was, truth told, a horrifying thought, and one worthy of several more drinks than he was meaning to have.
