Realising that his mouth had fallen open, Harry shut it. But the question just wouldn't go unasked. "You don't mind?"
"No," said Draco shortly. "As I was saying, her parents and her uncle don't get on well. They're artists -- ha, potters, Harry, though her mother sang quite a lot when she was younger -- and the way Rhiannon tells it, the uncle distrusts anybody whose efforts aren't grounded in commerce. That's why Rhiannon has to work at the pool! Can you believe it? He doesn't even need the help, but he thinks that her time is wasted--wasted!--on opera, so he only agreed to let her room with them this summer if she quote, learned to work a real job. And she had to room with them if she wanted to participate in the theatre project Adrian runs, since her parents can't afford to put her up in Exeter."
Harry felt winded just listening to all that. Draco just kept on, too, Rhiannon this, Rhiannon that, talking so constantly that Harry could hardly get a word in edgewise. It was a relief when the kettle whistled and Draco waved it over to pour boiling water into the teapot he'd laid out as he'd talked. For one minute, as Draco dug tea boxes out of a crate, he stopped going on about Rhiannon.
"Earl Grey," said Severus, coming to the table to join them. "All right with you two?"
Harry got the shortbread, and sat watching as Draco set the tea to steep. Then he decided it was time his brother knew. Some tiny part of him was hoping that news of the trip wires would bring his brother to his senses, but Harry tried not to let that show. He owed Snape that much.
"Er . . . so you never asked what Dad and I were doing all evening."
Draco sat back in his chair and raised an eyebrow. "Something interesting?"
"Advantageous for you, I should say," Snape answered, reaching for a wedge of shortbread. "Harry and I placed some protections across Exeter. If witches or wizards other than ourselves appear in the city, we'll be alerted. Hence, you'll be able to see the young lady alone more."
Draco blinked. "I . . . I don't know what to say. Thank you, Severus."
"That's what not to say," joked Harry. "I helped too, don't forget."
"Yeah, well you I know I can thank," said Draco, shaking his head. "Though I'm not sure why you'd want to help me date Rhiannon, considering how much we disagree about her."
"Oh, I take back everything I said," said Harry airily, waving an arm as if he didn't have a care in the world. Then, afraid he might be overdoing it, he picked up the teapot to pour as he kept talking. "Maybe you're right and her family has been in hiding so long they've forgotten everything about themselves. No telling, really. Though it is a bit odd that none of them ever got a Hogwarts letter."
Draco was staring, probably wondering if Harry was having him on, or if he'd really changed his mind about Rhiannon. Well, Harry wasn't the one here who was such a bad liar, most times. After a moment, Draco seemed to remember the point Harry had just brought up. "Oh. Yes, the missing Hogwarts letters. More than one, now. Hmm. Must have been a powerful charm they hid behind, way back."
"Yes, must have been," said Harry, deadpan.
He got a suspicious glance for that. And a warning glance from Snape. "Anyway," he quickly added, "if you want to date her you ought to date her, right? Doesn't much matter what I say, as long as she's not a Death Eater or something."
Draco looked like he might gag. "Don't say things like that, Harry. Don't you know it makes me ill to remember how stuck I was on Pansy? I mean, I thought she wanted out, but she didn't, which means when I was kissing her I was kissing somebody that wanted to kill you, and if you don't think that makes me sick then you're just a tosser, aren't you?"
Oh. This rebound thing was even worse than Harry had thought. It was more than Draco merely wanting to be in love. Now it seemed like what he wanted most was to replace Pansy with her exact opposite. Blond hair instead of dark. Tall instead of plump. And most significant of all, a Muggle instead of a witch.
No wonder he'd fallen for her so hard and fast. He was just trying to get away from his memories of Pansy. As far away as possible.
And he didn't even know it.
Harry felt torn apart. Truth to tell, he was more worried than ever, now. He wanted to shake Draco and ask him what he thought he was doing. Or better yet, shake him and tell him what he was doing.
But he'd just promised Severus that he'd stay out of it. That he'd let Draco make his own mistakes.
Harry's stomach started to ache. Draco was going to get horribly hurt, he just knew it. Harry wanted to save him from that.
But his saving-people thing wasn't always the best trait to indulge. He and Snape had just discussed that, and even if they hadn't, what had happened with Sirius was proof enough of it.
"No, I don't think you want to get involved with Death Eaters," he said weakly, aware after the fact what a horrible thing that had been to say, even in jest. "I just meant that your love life is your business, that's all. Sorry."
Draco still looked a bit put out. He spent a moment drinking his tea. "Hmph. Well, don't worry, Potter. I'll still invite you to the wedding."
Harry tried to smile, but couldn't really manage it when he felt his insides knotting up. One date, and Draco was talking weddings. Though perhaps he'd meant that a little sarcastically. Or facetiously. Whatever.
"I thought you'd be interested in the protection spells," he finally said.
Draco shrugged. "It sounded like Severus meant Avisato Alambrum. Lucius used those from time to time. Though of course as they have to be renewed every full moon, they aren't too useful for constructing permanent wards. Plus, they don't work well if the caster uses a lot of other magic around them, so they're pointless around one's own home . . . what?"
"You remind me of Hermione."
Draco made a slight face, but at least it was only a slight one. "I sounded like an encyclopaedia, just then?"
"Well, like you'd lived with this stuff all your life, maybe."
"And she gets all her knowledge from books," said Draco, sounding like he liked things that way. He probably thought it gave him an edge . . . even if he knew full well that Hermione's marks were often better than his own.
Harry was a little surprised that Draco hadn't already picked up on the main point, so he decided to prod him, just a little. "Er . . . you know, Dad arranged for the wires not to sound an alarm for any of us, but I guess we ought to add Rhiannon to that, you think? Otherwise, we might start hearing alarms all the time. Or . . . " Harry turned to his father and tried to act as though they hadn't already discussed all this. "She should have tripped them already, you think? We did really cover Exeter--"
Draco laughed, actually laughed. "You don't know how they work, do you, Harry? Wands trip the wires, not witches and wizards themselves. Now, if you think that a young lady who's never had any idea that she's a witch will be carrying a wand . . ."
Shite. Now that Harry thought about it, Snape had in fact mentioned wands being a focus of the spell.
"Oh." He forced a bright smile to his face. "Well, that's good, then. I didn't want to get a headache from the clanging. Um . . . will she be getting a wand soon, do you think? We'll have to add her to the spell then, I suppose. I mean, if she's a witch. I'm not saying I know for sure."
Draco smiled too, then, just as brightly as Harry had. "Well, that's better. How could you know, really? You don't have a feel for these things, as I have. Raised the way you were . . . oh, but I wanted to talk to you about that, about what it's like to be a wizard child and not know it. I'm trying to figure out the best way to ease Rhiannon into understanding what she really is. She . . ." Draco lowered his voice, sounding almost embarrassed. "She doesn't even believe in magic."