Hagrid began blinking, then looked like he was smothering a guffaw. "Tha's right. Yeh be sure to get Harry there on time, Draco."
Harry gave Hagrid a quick hug, and wasn't too surprised when Draco didn't even bother to say good-bye as they made their way out of the hut. So much for perfect manners . . . but Harry decided that mentioning the rudeness would be a waste of breath.
The other thing he felt like saying, though . . . there was no holding that back.
"Look," Harry said as they made their way up a sloped hill, "Dad's had a hard enough day, already. Don't let on that Hagrid spoiled the surprise, all right?"
"Wouldn't dream of it," said Draco, almost snarling.
"I mean it, Draco--"
"Yeah, well I mean it, too." Draco looked like he was gritting his teeth. "I'm fairly intelligent, you realise. It's your oh-so-special day and Severus has no doubt knocked himself sideways arranging things just for you, and whatever you may think of me, I'm not petty enough to ruin all that. Pity your great oaf of a friend didn't feel the same, but I suppose he's not got enough brain to match all that brawn--"
"Shut up, you jealous twit! I'm sure Dad has something brilliant planned for your birthday, too!"
"I'm not having this conversation again," said Draco, wrinkling his nose like something stank. "Except to say that you don't know Severus at all if you think he'd do something special for my birthday. Learn by experience, don't you know. And Severus thinks that won't happen unless we choke on our mistakes. Literally, and you know what I'm talking about. But I stand by what I said before: this wasn't a mistake, because Rhiannon is worth it."
For someone who didn't want to repeat himself, Draco was doing a lot of it, Harry thought, almost shaking his head. He didn't, though. He didn't want to set Draco off again.
"Let's just go see how Dad's doing," said Harry. "He might not feel up to going out, party or no party."
Draco gave him a disgusted look, but said nothing more as they made their way into the depths of the castle.
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"Change into formal attire, both of you," said Snape the moment they got through the door.
"Oh, are we going to a very formal restaurant, then, Severus?" asked Draco. "Something more exclusive than Merveilleuse, I expect? Perhaps a private room just for the three of us? We must do Harry's coming of age in style, you know!"
Harry gave his brother a pleading look. Draco just stared back, his chin lifted high.
Strangely enough, Snape didn't say anything about Draco's foul mood. That puzzled Harry for a moment, but then he remembered that the man was still recovering from the Dark Mark flaring earlier. If Hagrid hadn't let slip about the party, Harry would have suggested that they simply go home to Devon and have a quiet night. As it was, he didn't think that his father would agree to that.
Yeah, now that Harry thought back, he understood the headmaster's comments better. Dumbledore knew about the party and had urged Snape to call it off in favour of some much-needed rest. And Snape had refused. Categorically.
If Snape wouldn't listen to Dumbledore about what was best for him, was he likely to listen to Harry? No . . . in fact, Harry would only manage to annoy the man. Snape would probably start in on one of his, You-are-not-the-parent-here lectures, and Harry didn't want to have another argument on his birthday. Particularly not when they were headed out to a party.
"Dress robes, then?" he asked.
"Or the equivalent," answered Snape, moving down the corridor leading to his own room. "We'll leave in ten minutes."
"Oh, I'll need a solid hour, at the very least--"
"Ten minutes, Draco," repeated Snape without turning around.
Draco made a face, and when that didn't garner any reaction from Harry, he whirled on his heel and strode into their room, muttering something about how he wasn't at all certain that he'd left any dress robes down here.
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"I really must do something about this tatty old house," said Draco, sweeping his gaze around the parlour at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. "Those curtains look spun from cobwebs, and when was the last time anybody gave the rugs a thorough beating? Honestly, it's so hard to find good help."
Harry had had just about enough of his brother's awful mood. "Yeah, especially when you can't stand house-elves underfoot. I guess you'll have to clean the place yourself. Oh, and redecorate, don't forget--"
"There are other sorts of servants, and you can believe I'll be redecorating, all right--"
"When the war is over you may redecorate to your heart's content," interrupted Snape. "Until then, you'll leave well enough alone. The Order doesn't need its work disrupted."
"Oh, I like that, you telling me what I can do with my own house!"
"Shall we just go?" asked Snape, his eyes flashing in irritation. "We're running a bit late as it is."
Draco raised his chin. "Any establishment worth the name restaurant will wait the table for us. Especially as it's only a table for three. Or was somebody else meeting us?"
"Draco," said Harry in a warning tone.
"What?" Draco's nostrils flared. "It wouldn't shock me in the least if Severus has invited your friends to join us. Or your cousin, or perhaps all of them, just to make certain that you understand, on this, the occasion of your seventeenth birthday, just how important you are to him."
"Idiot child," muttered Severus. For once, it didn't sound much like an endearment. "Well? Take me by the arm, both of you, and I'll Apparate us all."
Harry took a step back, instead. "Oh, no you don't. Side-alonging one passenger is hard enough, but two, and after the day you've had?"
Snape began rubbing the bridge of his nose, exhaling a long sigh. "Most inopportune, but I must admit that you make a good point."
Draco spoke without a trace of sarcasm, then. "Take one of us first and come back, Severus," he urged, nothing but concern on his face. Harry couldn't help but think that it was about time his brother got over his snit. "Harry first, I suppose, since it's his birthday."
Snape was shaking his head before Draco had finished. "No, I do believe we'd best all arrive together. Harry, you've been to this location before, so perhaps you could Side-along your brother for me. At this point I think I'd do well to Apparate only myself. All right?"
"Isn't it on the Floo network, where we're going?" asked Harry.
"There isn't room for three to arrive at the same time."
"Not to mention the soot," added Draco, making a face as he gestured at himself. Silly gesture, really; Draco had cast a whole slew of cleaning charms over himself when they'd arrived at Number Twelve a few moments before. Harry didn't know how the other boy could be so fussy over his appearance.
"Side-along it is, then." Harry stepped closer to Draco and put a hand on the other boy's arm, holding on tightly. Draco would just have to bear it if travelling like this put a wrinkle in his robes. "Where are we going?"
Good question, Harry thought as soon as he'd asked it. Draco had been to the French restaurant, after all. Then again, they weren't going out to dinner, were they, but to a party. So . . . where had Harry been, that Draco hadn't, that might be a good place for a party?
"The Weasley residence," said Snape shortly. "Do try to act surprised."
With that, the man got a look of intense concentration on his features, and vanished.
Harry was about to do likewise, but Draco had yanked himself out of Harry's grip. "The Weasley residence? The Weasley residence? Ha!"
"Well, what do you expect?" asked Harry, exasperated. "He's my best friend, and--"