Meant to Be

Second Chapter

A Nasty Surprise

*

Harry had just Apparated to the coordinates given to him. He thanked all the deities who might be listening that he had managed to master that skill before being sent into Azkaban. A quick glance around him told that he was in the middle of a large forest, far from any human beings. A beautiful, clear lake glimmered in the afternoon light near him. Some way further, in the middle of the trees and with a path leading to the lake, he saw a small cottage. That, of course, was what he now headed for.

He turned around the corner of the cottage to get to the front, and then froze in shock. He stared at the man who was crouched there, apparently weeding a flower bed. At seeing him the man quickly stood up and gave him a wary, almost fearful look. The man's hair was long and shiny, but his robes were tattered, his skin deathly pale, and his eyes wide with fear and wonder. This man did not know him -- but he feared him.

"Professor Snape?" Harry asked disbelievingly. Surely this wasn't the cool, composed man he'd known? Of course Hermione had said that Snape'd gone, well, crazy, but he most certainly hadn't been prepared for this. This was... this was just wrong. There was no other word for it.

Whatever he had expected the man's reaction to be, that certainly wasn't what he saw. Snape took one look at him, then crouched down defensively. "Go away!" he shrieked franticly. "Go away, you nasty man! You do bad to Moony! I hate you!"

"What the Hell?" Harry blurted out. Was the man out of his mind?

"Don't mind him," he heard a calm voice from behind himself. Turning around, he saw, to his great shock, Lucius Malfoy. The man looked rather bad, his robes worn and a light stubble on his jaw, his hair hanging on uneven tangles, but his expression was just as controlled as usually. Not giving him another glance, the blond now turned towards Snape. "Don't worry, Severus," he said soothingly. "This is just Harry. He would never do anything bad to Moony, believe me. He likes Moony."

"No," whined Snape, his eyes now wide with fear. "No Moony. Moony away. Nasty man hurt Moony!"

Just then, the door of the cottage was pushed open, and a large, golden wolf slipped outside. It went to Snape's side, licking his hand soothingly. The darkhaired Slytherin calmed down a bit, but still looked fearfully and angrily at Harry. Obviously he wasn't going to calm down so easily.

"You see, Severus?" asked Malfoy. "Moony's just fine. In fact, Moony likes Harry. Don't you, Moony?"

The wolf turned his head to look at them, then let out a happy yelp. He trotted over to Harry and jumped against him, knocking him down to the ground and starting to lick his face. Snape looked at this for a moment, then said childishly, "Oh. Moony like nasty man."

"Not a nasty man at all, Severus," Malfoy continued in his soothing voice. "A good man. Harry."

Snape frowned a bit in confusion. "No nasty man?" he asked. Then, his eyes lit up. "Harry good man!" he exclaimed. "Moony like Harry. Severus like Harry!" After this affectionate announcement, he went happily into the cottage, seemingly no more worried. The wolf stopped licking Harry's face. With a quick last glance at him, it turned around and followed Snape inside.

"Get up, Potter," Malfoy said, offering him a hand to help him up from the ground. Harry complied. Before he could voice any of the numerous questions in his mind, Malfoy raised his hand. "Don't. I'll tell you everything later. In the meantime, I think that we have to get you properly dressed."

Not only clothes, he also provided Harry with a warm bath. Well, at least it was warm after Harry had charmed it. Malfoy had told that the Ministry was trying to trace him down and thus he had to do everything in the Muggle way, so if Harry could use some magic, it would be a great help.

So, after some time, he finally sat in the kitchen of the cottage. Like Wizarding homes often, it was much more spacious in the inside than in the outside. As Harry expressed his wonder on this, Malfoy smirked briefly. "This cottage has been here for a few hundred years," he explained. "It's not like we built it."

Harry nodded, satisfied at this explanation. He then watched closely as Malfoy poured some tea for them both, making sure that no other concoctions were slipped in. Oh, he did trust Malfoy as much as he trusted anyone nowadays; it just wasn't that much. He knew that the blond had been a spy for their side in the War, just like Snape, but he simply couldn't trust anyone. Not anymore.

So, they settled on the table, both with a cup of tea in their hands. For a moment, there was a silence.

"Severus and Lupin never thought you guilty," Malfoy suddenly started his tale. "In fact, they were very convinced that you were innocent. Dumbledore let them be, as they couldn't prove their suspicions right." With a sigh, he continued, "Then, however, they found proofs that Dumbledore had framed you. Before they could tell anybody, however, Dumbledore turned Lupin into a wolf permanently, not just for the night of full moon. He then told Severus that if he ever told anybody of your innocence, Lupin would stay like that forever. If, however, he stayed quiet, Lupin would return to his human form once Dumbledore died."

Harry just nodded. There was nothing he couldn't believe of the old bastard.

"So, anyway. Two years ago I stumbled over the proofs also. I went to confront Dumbledore about them. He told me everything, even about Severus and Lupin. He also told me that he had no intention of freeing Lupin of his wolf form, not ever. Of course, I knew that would break Severus, and I told him I couldn't accept it. After telling him that I would have his betrayal all over the newspapers the next day, I left." After a small pause, he finished, "The next morning I woke up to find Aurors on my doorstep, accusing me of the murder of Albus Dumbledore. The bastard had known he'd die soon, and wouldn't allow his name to get stained even after that. So, he had committed suicide, and framed me guilty of his own death."

Again, Harry nodded. Then he asked, "What about Lupin? And how did Snape go crazy?"

"Well, how do you think Dumbledore killed himself? The old bastard simply used up all his powers -- just to make sure that Lupin would never become a human again. And, of course, he had to also deal with me knowing, and somehow arranged for a magical trace of mine to be found on his corpse.

"After that, well, I fought off the Aurors and fled. I knew where Severus was, as he'd moved into this cottage with his 'pet wolf' after Dumbledore turned Lupin into a wolf, and so I came here. He asked what I was escaping, and I told him." Malfoy was quiet for a moment. "I don't think I'll ever forget what he looked like when he heard that Dumbledore was dead. For a moment, he just stared at me, then turned to look at Lupin, then again at me. Then he whispered, 'But he promised...' sounding every bit like a child who's just been told that Santa Claus doesn't really exist."

Harry swallowed. He couldn't even imagine what Snape must have felt like at that moment.

"I saw when his mind broke down, I swear I did," Malfoy continued quietly. "At one moment, he was staring at me, his eyes wide but still with a light in them. Then, that light died off, and he turned to look at Lupin again. 'Nasty man do bad to Moony,' Severus said. And ever since, he's been like that."

"So, Dumbledore made sure that nobody could tell of his betrayal even after his death," Harry said. "You are accused of his murder, Snape's mad, and Lupin is a wolf. Splendid." Then he narrowed his eyes. "What are you doing here, anyway? You could just as easily leave; surely a Malfoy can survive with their own magic. Even if the Ministry is indeed trying to track you down, I'd suppose you could find a way around it. Somebody might come here anytime. Why do you risk getting caught?"

"And here I was thinking that you are clever, Mister Potter," Malfoy snorted dryly. "I see I was wrong."

"Hey, there's no reason to --" Harry started, irritated. Then his eyes widened in realization. "You love him, don't you?" he asked quietly. "Snape, I mean. You love him, and that's why you stay."

The blond sighed and nodded. "Right," he said quietly. "I do love him. He never loved me as more than a friend, though. But still, I can't leave him alone. He wouldn't survive without my help."

"What about full moons?" asked Harry then. "Isn't Moony dangerous to you two?"

"Oh, no," the blond replied. "As his body is a wolf all the time, his mind is human all the time. It is really sad -- I know that he suffers from seeing Severus the way he is, but he can't leave any more than I can. We will both stay here until either we die or Severus dies. And if Severus is the one to die first, I, at least, will kill myself." With a bitter smirk, he added, "Moony would have done it already, if he only could."

"What?!" asked Harry, startled. "And how would you know that, anyway?" he then added suspiciously.

"Oh, that's pretty easy." In a second, a white snake was on his place, hissing. Then, the snake turned back into Malfoy. "I'm an Animagus, like you probably noticed. And Animagi can talk with werewolves."

Harry nodded slowly. Then he asked, "But what about your family? Don't they wonder where you are?"

At first, Malfoy seemed startled. Then he shook his head. "I almost forgot that you haven't heard any news for the last six years," he said casually. "Well, I guess I'm the one who has to fill you in." At Harry's questioning gaze, he continued, "Narcissa... she was murdered by an Auror. They claim that it was an accident, that the Auror was trying to defend himself against one of our hounds, she got in front of the spell and fell down the stairs, breaking her neck. I know, however, that it was not an accident. She wouldn't let them into the Manor, they needed her out of way. So, they killed her. Simple and easy."

"Oh." Harry's eyes widened momentarily. "I'm sorry," he then said, actually feeling sorry for the man.

Malfoy, however, just laughed bitterly, shaking his head. "Don't be," he replied briefly. "I don't want your pity and I'm not worth your apologies. I do miss her, however," he then added with a bit sad voice. "I never loved her as a lover; our marriage was arranged by our parents. However, she was a good and dear friend, one I loved as a friend, and one of the most intelligent witches I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. Most of the other women in the Pureblood families are just empty-headed, greedy bitches, but with Narcissa I could actually talk without getting a headache after two minutes."

At that, Harry nodded. "And what about your son?" he asked then quietly, almost fearing the answer.

"Suicide." At the younger wizard's startled expression, Lucius merely raised an eyebrow. "It was kind of expected, anyway. He, too, was put into Azkaban -- framed by Dumbledore, I'm sure -- but only for two years. After he got out, he was very depressed, and nothing Narcissa and I could say helped. Then, one day, he didn't come to dinner." After a momentary pause, the blond man continued, "I went into his room to see if he was there... And he was. Lying on the ground, an empty phial in one hand. He'd drunk one of the most fatal poisons known to Wizardingkind, right from my own stocks." Shaking his head, he finished, "I'll never forgive myself for leaving my laboratory unattended. True, he was a little prick, snobbish and spoiled rotten, but he was still my son, and I definitely didn't want him to die."

Now, they were both silent for a moment. Malfoy was looking somewhere in the distance, and Harry was looking at Malfoy. Suddenly he understood the lines of age on Malfoy's otherwise unreadable face, the traces of tiredness on the flawless complexion. This man had truly gone through a lot.

And, if Albus Dumbledore got his way, he would still go through more -- or break.