Blinded By The Dark   von Astrido
                          (a Snape adopts Harry fic)
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                         Kapitel 10: A smiling Malfoy
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Chapter Ten: A smiling Malfoy

He restored it quickly and the next moment he was gaping. The picture was of the
person he had least expected Potter to have a photo of. Draco Malfoy. And it was
not just any photo of him. He was neither scowling nor sneering. He was smiling.
No big toothy smile, but it was a smile nonetheless. It was a snapshot and he
was not looking directly into the camera. He looked more like he was deep in
thought and staring into space.

Snape was floored. He had rarely seen Draco with such an expression on his face
and he was his godfather, damn it! 

And Potter of all people even had a photo of that! He would give a lot to find
out what he was thinking about at that moment - and what could make him smile
like that. Draco usualy looked so guarded and malicious. Snape really wanted to
know what could make him drop his guard and look so peaceful.

And he had to ask Potter how he got that photo, because he knew that Potter had
no camera.

He quickly made a copy of Draco's picture and stuffed it into one of the secret
pockets on his robes before he pocketed the rest of the photos.

He briefly entertained various thoughts of hexing the Dursleys into the middle
of the next week, but decided against it. Right now, he had things to do. But
there was always the opportunity to come back again later and...educate
them...thoroughly.

He apparated to the apparation place in Diagon Alley. He went there, because he
thought it would be prudent to buy a new collection of books for Potter to
replace the ones he had had from his earlier school years at Hogwarts - even
though Potter would most likely never look at them again. Snape loved books and
he didn't understand that others wouldn't share his passion. 

In Flourish and Blotts he wandered along the shelves, picking up the prescribed
books for Potter's prior years and taking the liberty of replacing a few of the
more useless texts (which all happened to have been written by Lockhart) with
something more informative. 

Finally, he had all books of every subject Harry had taken during his five
school years. He also took a book about Ancient Runes and additional reading
material about potion preparation and their ingredients, just in case Potter
happened to want to read them - however unlikely that seemed to be.
Harry had expressed very little knowledge about disabled wizards, not that this
was unusual. Normally, these accidents were treated immediately and therefore
could be healed. Snape decided to talk with Harry about his blindness more
thoroughly, so he would understand and not feel sorry for himself any longer.
Snape was quite annoyed that Harry lacked his old spirit, and he would do
everything, okay nearly everything, to get it back.


All in all he bought over forty books and had to shrink them so he could carry
them all with him. He wondered how muggles coped with these problems without
being able to rely on magic to make their lives easier. 
Noticing the time, he became aware that he had spent too much time in the
bookstore like he always did. He regretted getting carried away with himself
today, because he may have bought all of the books Harry would need, but he
still had to buy all of the prescribed school materials that Laures and he had
not been able to buy in the morning.

Several hours later, he apparated home, completely exhausted. Snape knew Potter
had no money at the moment, so he paid for everything out of his own pocket in
advance, More importantly, Harry would start school again in five days and he
had no money of his own to take to Hogwarts with him. After what happened that
morning, he didn't think Harry would be able to cope with going to the bank,
even if it was just to withdraw some of his own money. He made a mental note to
ask Harry to give him the authority to access his bank vault so that he could
take care of these problems.


Snape sad tiredly in an armchair in the lounge, contently sipping at his
Whiskey, when he remembered that he still had to talk to Laures about Draco.

Sighing, he put down his glass and made his way to Laures' room. He knocked
before he entered the dimly lit room. In fact, it was so dimly lit that, on
first sight, he couldn't even see Laures at all. He closed the door quietly
behind him and took a closer look about the room. The room was so dark and
Laures was soo small that he almost missed seeing his small form on the bed,
lying curled up in a fetal position. His long black hair was spread about
himself and over the covers. He wore black silk pyjama bottoms and a warm wool
jumper. His small form was practically swallowed up by the clothing that was far
too big for him, even though they were the smallest clothes that Snape owned.
His rhythmic breathing told Snape he was asleep. He looked like a very small
forlorn child and rather adorable. Snape growled at having such thoughts.
Shaking his head, he walked to the big bed and sat down on the edge. He watched
Laures sleep a few more minutes. He was still breathing rather shallow, but he a
quiet sleeper and didn't snore. 

His small size made the bed seem bigger than it was, like he was sleeping on a
king-sized bed.
He could not believe that he had ever hated this child. Of course he had had his
reasons, Severus Snape was not a man to do something without a reason, but they
didn't seem important anymore. Potter had changed so much. Or was it him that
had changed? Who could say? Watching Laures sleep, Snape realised that he had
come to like the child...and he hated himself for it.

Gently he shook his shoulder to wake him up. Laures groaned, lifted his head and
blinked. Then he closed his eyes and layed his head back down.
"Laures..." Snape uttered softly.

"..."

"Potter..." Snape tried again.

"What?" the boy mumbled sleepily, burying his face deeper into his arms.

"Laures, I have something to ask of you." He went on in the same deep and warm
voice. He was staring intently at Laures, noticing every small change in his
expression, which was no mean feat considering Laures still had most of his face
buried in his arms. Laures was turning his face minimally to Snape. Snape
realised Harry wasn't going to say anything and carried on with the conversation
himself.

"My godson is coming here for the last four days before school starts. I ask you
to be nice to him."

Laures hmm-ed. Normally Snape was suspicious of people who hmm-ed at him. It
usually meant that they had no intention of doing what they'd just agreed to,
but in this case, he was quite sure that that was all he was going to get out of
Laures. 

However, Laures asked in a hoarse vioce and with a sense of foreboding: 
"Who is your godson, Sir?"

"Draco Malfoy!"

"Why does this not surprise me." He muttered under his breath but Snape heard
it.
"I will behave, Sir." He promised. "But, please, don't tell him who I am. I am
Laures. Just Laures, okay?" he pleaded, his dead eyes boring uncomfortable holes
into Snape's own.
"If you wish. Do you have anymore questions?" he asked uncomfortably.
"Yes, when does he come?"
"Tomorrow morning." Snape said in a tone that indicated this topic was finished.
He retrieved the books and the photos, that he had acquired for Harry this
morning, from his pockets and sat them on the bed, before enlarging them to
their normal seize. Laures who had felt the shift of magic in the air raised his
head warily and asked in a small voice.
"What did you do, Sir?"

Snape didn't answer the question, but merely told him.
"These are the school books of your previous years. They are not the ones you
owned, however. I was so free to buy new ones. Yours needed to be replaced, as
they were impossible to repair. Similarly, most of your photos could not be
restored. These few seven are all that could be saved. The rest of your
belongings are lost. I am sorry," Snape said quietly, handing Harry the key to
his vault.
"Really? What about my invisibility cloak and the map? Or my wand?"

"I do not know what map you speak of and I did not find your wand. However, it
is interesting that you should have such a rare thing as an invisibility cloak.
I did not find them among your belongings, however, I shall search for them.
They are highly magical and have a stronger chance of being able to be restored,
if they have been burned, too.
Also, you and I will have to go to Diagon Alley once more. You still need proper
clothing and a new wand." Snape explained in a soothing voice. Laurs tensed at
the memory of this morning, nonetheless.
"It is late, get some rest, Laures. Good night!" he said as he stood and walked
out. The almost silent "Good night, Sir," Laures whispered in reply was faintly
heard before the door was closed.


++


Harry was surprised that Snape had done all that for him. Getting his things and
replacing the lost ones. A warm feeling was rising in his chest. Maybe Snape was
not so bad after all.

He picked up the little stack of photos and chose one, before he put the others
aside. He tentatively reached out with his magic to the photo, trying to feel
the magic shifting when the people on the photo moved. At first, he felt
nothing. Then he slowly became aware of the magic that radiated from and
surrounded the picture. Only about an hour later, after god knows how many
failed attempts, he finally sensed the magic of the person on the photo.
But before he could focus on their movements, he was sound asleep, exhausted
from his efforts. 


++


Draco stood in front of the fireplace, saying goodbye to his parents. Only the
day before, uncle Sev, even though Snape was his godfather, he couldn't recall a
time when he'd ever called him anything other than uncle Sev, except when he was
in school, of course, had confirmed that he could come for the rest of the
holidays, which was four days. In five days, on September the first, he would
take the train back to Hogwarts for another school year; his sixth.
The news that somebody else was staying with his godfather, surprised him. A
child, no less! His uncle couldn't stand children. And he had to be nice to him.
He snorted. As if he would be. The only people he was friendly with were his
mother, uncle Sev and Blaise Zabini, his ex-lover and best friend. 

The goodbye was rather frosty, but that was normal. He hugged his mother, who
gave him a peck on the cheek. His father was frostier still in his farewells.
Draco shook his hand and listened to a few stern warnings about preserving the
honour and integrity of the Malfoy name. With one last glance at his parents, he
threw the floo powder into the crackling fire and shouted "Snape Manor".


With a swoosh he entered the fireplace at Snape Manor, and gracefully stepped
out of it. He brushed a bit of imaginary soot off his clothes as a Malfoy did
not get dirty while floo-ing. Then he put his suitcase down and looked around
the room. It was empty, which was expected as Severus normally had breakfast at
eight or ten o'clock and it was eleven o'clock now.
He called for a house elf to get Severus and sat down at the empty table to
wait. He didn't have to wait long, before Severus marched into the room in his
usual imposing demeanor.
He was scowling like he always did when somebody interrupted him in his work
until he caught sight of Draco. His features brightened considerably. 
"Good morning, Draco!" Severus greeted him warmly.
"Hello, uncle Sev!" Draco replied and his cold mask fell away. To the casual
observer who didn't know Draco well, he looked no less imposing or
unapproachable, but Severus noticed the change in his demeanour straight away.
It matched his own. Neither was sneering or glaring anymore and Severus embraced
him lightly.

"You can not have your usual room, because of the boy I already told you about.
Please, take the one to the left of it and make yourself at home. I apologise,
but I must finish my potion, before we can talk. I'll come and get you then." 
With that he already rushed out of the room again. Draco was only slightly
surprised as he knew the passion Severus felt for his potions. They would always
come first. He grabbed his suitcase and made his way to the room he would be
staying in.

It was a large bright room with a pale blue wallpaper. It had a small balcony
with a double door through which the sunlight flooded. There was a big
fourposter with slytherin-green hangings and silver-blue sheets. A big desk in a
dark wood was in the right corner as well. The door and the wardrobe were made
in light wood. The door led to the bathroom which was tiled in blue and white
and had a big tub, a shower and a sink.

After he had finished unpacking, Draco thought he would pay this mysterious
child a visit. He was wondering how old it was and wether it could do magic.
He knocked twice, but after receiving no answer, he let himself in. The sight
that awaited him was really not what he had imagined. On the bed was a bunch of
long deep black hair spread across the pillow. The rest of the person was
covered with a dark green coloured blanket. Many books were spreadon the blanket
and some lay on the floor where it looked like they had fallen and lay
forgotten, or unnoticed. 
When he walked closer he could see that there were a few photos, as well. In
fact, this mysterious child was holding one of them in his hand which he just
had spotted between the covers.

Curiously he picked it up. He was interested in what could be so precious to
someone that they would fall asleep holding onto a picture of it.
Draco nearly dropped the picture when he saw himself smiling at himself. He was
shocked. Firstly, he could not grasp how this person had managed to get a hold
of a picture where he was actually smiling, because he almost never did and
secondly - and more importantly - he'd never seen himself smile before, and he
had to admit that he looked quite attractive when he did. The question why a
stranger had a picture of him, completely escaped him. Disbelievingly he stared
at the person still peacefully sleeping in front of him. 

After a while, he frowned. He really didn't know what to think of this person.
Strange was that the child was still sleeping, as well. It was already twelve
o'clock. He sat down on the edge and shook his shoulder, or rather where he
assumed his shoulder was.
The youngster flinched noticably and squeaked, before it buried itself even more
in it's blanket. He lifted one pale eyebrow in wonder, then he started laughing.
He'd expected a lot of things, but this was unexpected. He placed his hand above
the child on the blanket again. The child started whimpering and shaking quite
badly.
Suddenly the child crept away from him and a bit nearer to where the cover
ended. Then a head slowly appeared from under it.

"Who are you?" he asked in a muffled and quivering voice.
"I'm Draco Malfoy." He drawled. "What's with you? Why are you so scared?" 

'Not that I don't appreciate it, but uncle Sev said I have to get along with
you.' He added silently, smugly.

"I-It's no-nothing." he whispered between chattering teeth. He wasn't cold, no.
He was just absolutely frightened about what Malfoy would do to him.
"Wha-what do you w-want f-fr-from m-me?" he managed to stammer.
"Me? I just wanted to get to know the mysterious child uncle Sev willingly
harbours." He sneered, looking disdainfully around the room. This was, or rather
had, been his room. He'd always stayed in this room when he had stayed at Snape
Manor. He didn't know what Severus had thought when he had put the child in
here, but he didn't like it.
He scrutinized the child. It was strange, he couldn't even tell if it was a boy
or a girl. 
"Are you a boy or a girl and how old are you?" he asked, rudely.
"I am a boy and I am sixteen, thank you very much." the child spat bravely,
narrowing his eyes. At least, he would have been looking angry, hadn't he been
almost completely covered in the blanket.

Slightly startled, though, Draco raised his eyebrows. He couldn't possibly be
sixteen. He barely looked twelve. However, he resolved not to comment on this.
His gaze fell, once again, to the picture that he still had in one hand. 

"Why do you have a picture of me? Where did you get it?" He looked sharply at
Laures who blushed furiously.
"I... I..." 
"Oh, for heaven's sake, can't you talk without stuttering?" Draco snapped
angrily.
Laures' eyes widened in fear and hurriedly crawled away from him. He was shaking
again, and whimpering in fear. He pressed himself against the headboard as if he
wanted to disappear through it. 

"No. Please, don't." he breathed, staring wide-eyed in his direction, though he
seemed to be looking through him, not recognizing Draco anymore.

The next moment, Snape burst into the room. He looked around wildly until he saw
Draco and Laures. He breathed a sigh of relief and slumped slightly against the
doorframe. Then he mumbled something under his breath and walked towards Draco
and Laures.
"What happened, Draco?" he asked sternly.
Draco looked up at him and blinked innocently.
"I didn't do anything. I just wanted to wake him up, because I wanted to talk to
him, and so I shook his shoulder lightly."
Snape looked at him suspiciously, before turning his attention to Harry. He knew
his godson and what he was like.
"Laures." he uttered softly. At first nothing happened except that Draco's
eyebrows shot up to his hairline again. Draco seldomly saw Severus being nice to
someone at all. So, he was extremely curious about Severus' behaviour toward his
charge.
The child, Laures as he knew now, turned his head to Severus who continued
talking softly. Slowly Laures seemed to come back to realitly, relaxing
slightly.
Severus turned away from him and looked at Draco with an unreadable expression.
"I think you and I have to talk."
He said and Draco shuddered inwardly. He knew by Severus' tone that he had done
something seriously wrong, though he didn't knew what, which made him feel even
more nervous.

TBC

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Danke an alle Kommi-schreiberInnen: Mangacat, Serenity, Gwenryn, Pummelluff,
Darkeye.
Tut mir leid, dass ihr so lange warten musstet, aber ich muss leider sagen, dass
das nächste kapitel nicht schneller kommen wird. ich will erst meine andere ff
fertig stellen. 

cyu as^^

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