Loving Lily: A Snily Story

Chapter 83 - Father and Daughter

Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
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On his way to class early one morning, Draco ducked into the boys' bathroom and splashed cold water against his heated face.

His life had begun to unravel in front of him.

Harriet would not speak to him, would not look at him, would not even acknowledge he existed at all.

Gryffindor had won a Quidditch match against Slytherin the week prior and although she had jeered with her teammates, she purposely left Draco out of her gaze.

He panted as he looked down and let the excess water drip off his sallow skin.

What had she learned?

What did she know?

He swallowed thickly and closed his eyes as he contemplated his fate.

It mattered little, he would never have a life with Harriet via love, arranged marriage, or any other path.

After Voldemort had assigned him such an insurmountable task, Draco knew that his life as well as his parents' had shortened dramatically.

He left the lavatory a moment later and walked to class with a heavy heart.

As he went, he focused on the pleasant song of birds singing in the breezeway and the fresh smell of early morning air.

Knowing he would soon be dead, those simple pleasures seemed like extravagant luxuries.

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Later that afternoon, while Severus's languid voice carried his class through their Potions lesson, Ron frowned at Harriet.

Hermione nervously glanced behind her friend before she looked down at her open notebook and pretended to jot down a few things worth remembering.

"He's looking at me again, isn't he?" Harriet snapped at Ron and Hermione.

"........That's about all he does now." Ron shrugged, "It's not with a sneer, though. He looks a bit......sad, I suppose. That expression on his face is bloody awful."

"Yeah, well, he's bloody awful." Harriet retorted.

"Do you think you should.....talk to him?" Hermione asked as she looked up from her notebook, "Ask what he wants?"

"Why do you care about Malfoy?!" Harriet snapped before she could stop herself.

Students at nearby tables looked over to see what had caused the sudden outburst.

Harriet frowned as her father threw her a scathing grimace.

"Five points from Gryffindor, Ms. Snape." Severus snapped, ".........For failing to wait until  class's conclusion to discuss your private affairs."

The Gryffindors groaned as Harriet put her face in her hands.

At the front of the room, Lily frowned.

She glanced worriedly between her daughter and Draco as she wondered how they had ever become so hostile towards one another.

Had Harriet learned more than she and Severus realized?

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The awkwardness that occurred during Potions class that afternoon barely registered in Draco's mind.

During another rib-eye pause passed in the bathroom later that day, he wondered what Harriet had meant while he splashed water on his pale face again.

It was the only way he kept the anxiety-induced nausea at bay.