Actually, he wished he hadn't harassed Harry so much about what to call their father. As it turned out, switching what you called someone was trickier than he'd realised.
"You seriously expect us to believe that she's a witch pretending to be a Muggle," Harry was still ranting.
"I don't give a shrivelfig what you believe, Harry. And why do you care, anyway? Since when are you so obsessed by blood?"
"You're the one obsessed by it, so much so that you can't see what's right in front of your face! Rhiannon Miller is a Muggle clear through, and if that's not bloody obvious by now, then you're just a --!"
Severus shook his head and gestured for them to all enter the cottage. "Let's try to do this without insulting one another, shall we?" His cool gaze assessed each of his sons in turn.
"Oh, all right." Harry sounded grudging about it, Draco thought.
"Yes, of course," said Draco in his most pleasant voice. "Dad."
Severus might have concealed a chuckle, or it might have been some sort of grimace, Draco thought. He really couldn't tell. Either way, he decided he'd better not say dad every other sentence, even if he was just trying to get used to calling Severus that.
Only after Harry and Draco were both sitting down did Severus take a seat himself and continue. "So, Draco. What has you so convinced that the young lady is playing at being a Muggle?"
Draco gestured, then cut it out when he realised how wildly he was waving his hands. "Everything, that's what! Talk about obvious. I'm not surprised Harry missed it, seeing as he comes at the whole matter with a priori assumptions--"
"That's his way of calling me stupid without you noticing," said Harry fiercely.
"I do notice quite a bit, you realise."
Harry went right on talking. "But I attend quite a good school, and I know what that means--"
Draco raised his chin. "Then you should know not to let prior assumptions guide your thinking."
"You do, all the time, with your disdain for anything that's not from the wizarding world. And anyway, what's this stupid idea that Rhiannon's a witch, if not an assumption before the facts are known?"
Harry was trying to get a reaction, but Draco wasn't in any mood to give him one. "Ah. Perhaps you have a point. But the facts are known now, so--"
"What facts?"
This was rather fun, Draco thought. The cooler he remained, the more steamed Harry seemed to become. "All the facts you apparently overlooked," he said, folding his hands in his lap as if he hadn't a care in the world. Actually, he didn't. Harry and Severus could think whatever they liked. It wouldn't make a Knut of difference to Draco.
"I apparently overlooked them as well," said Severus, his voice so dry that Draco swallowed. He knew then that he'd better explain.
For all that though, he shrugged, doing his best to come across as cool and unconcerned. "Well, to begin with, she called me Darren."
Severus and Harry exchanged a baffled glance, then looked at Draco, clearly waiting.
Hmm. Draco wasn't surprised that the reference would go over Severus' head, but he'd really expected Harry to catch on. "Don't you remember that time when Granger was visiting you in the dungeons, and your wand wasn't working yet, and she said it was a shame you couldn't just wiggle your nose to do spells?"
"Yeah, now that you mention it. But what does that have to do with--"
"She said that got the idea from some old programme for the telltell--"
"Telly. Short for television."
Draco rolled his eyes. So he didn't remember exactly what it was called. And Harry said that Draco liked to show off! "Didn't I tell you that Rhiannon was speaking in double-meanings with me? See, on that programme, Darren was a Muggle married to a witch. And Rhiannon didn't know for sure, not when she said it, that I'm a wizard, see? So she called me Darren as a test of sorts. I was supposed to catch on that she was wondering if I was a wizard. That's why I mentioned Potions, see? I was trying to be as subtle as she'd been. And no offence, but your name just isn't subtle at all."
"Neither was telling the young lady that I taught Potions."
"But did you see her?" asked Draco, ignoring Snape's frown. Well, not completely. It did quell his urge to bounce up and down with excitement, for example. "Rhiannon got this . . . I don't know, look in her eye, for just an instant. And then she covered it and tried to act as though she didn't know what we were talking about. She did the same thing when I brought up Harry's scar."
"I didn't notice any look in her eye," said Harry.
Draco smiled, all confidence. "Well, that just proves what a fine actress she is. She deserves better than a grotty little stage in Exeter."
Harry actually scoffed out loud. "So basically, your only evidence is the fact that she couldn't be bothered to remember your name. Look, I'm sorry to burst your bubble--"
No he wasn't, thought Draco.
"--but her calling you Darrenisn't that big of a deal--"
Draco did bounce, then. He couldn't help it. A person could only hold in so much happiness. Sooner or later, the excess just had to be shared. "But you don't understand!" he exclaimed, grinning. "Darren shows that she's interested in me, too. The way Granger explained it, Darren's wife was a witch! Samantha, I think. And Samantha was very much in love. Rhiannon was putting herself in Samantha's place by calling me Darren!" Draco rubbed his hands together. "She's definitely passing. For all we know, it could be that not even her uncle knows about her magic. And I'm sure she keeps it a secret in the theatre. Very common, as I told you."
"How could her own uncle not know?" asked Harry, clearly exasperated. "Mine did!"
Draco had already thought of that. "Your parents weren't trying to hide their nature, though. Think about Rhiannon's case. She was home-schooled, and no wonder. You can't send your children to wizarding school if your family tradition is to keep the magic something that only a very limited circle of people know about. There are rumours of just that. Families who dropped out of wizarding society during the worst witch-hunts of the Middle Ages, who kept to themselves and kept their magic a deep, dark secret down through the ages." Harry was openly scoffing by then, so Draco made a gesture toward Severus, who understood at once.
"There are indeed such rumours," he said, his voice perfectly level.
Huh . . . Draco had been hoping for a little more support than that. He wanted some sort of sign that he'd convinced Severus, at least. Not that he really cared, but it would be nice to think that his father believed him, if not his brother. Oh, well. It didn't really matter what they thought. All that mattered was Rhiannon.
"The families trying to hide," Draco went on, "only intermarry with each other, but obviously Rhiannon's aunt broke out and married a Muggle. And Rhiannon's starting to chafe against the strictures, too. She wants people to know that she's a witch, but she's not sure how to go about it."
"All this from a name," mocked Harry, crossing his arms as he sat there looking like he was sure he knew everything. "I don't think that some old programme on the telly is so significant."
Draco snapped his fingers. "Bewitched, that was it, that's what it was called. And of course it's significant! Even if they left wands out, it was clearly scripted by someone who knows a bit about our world. And it was promoting mixed marriages. Very irresponsible."
"Says the wizard who's heading straight into a mixed marriage!"
Severus held up a hand just as Draco was about to reply. Hmm, probably a good thing. Draco had been debating whether to call Harry a cretin or an ignoramus. Probably best to desist from name-calling, though, even if Harry was being unbelievably disgusting. Mixed marriage. Honestly!