Whelp

'Yes, Master Snape, sir.'

As they climbed the first set of stairs to the infirmary, Draco kept giving him covert looks. Finally, Severus said, 'What is it?'

'You . . . you won't tell my Father, will you?'

Without knowing the full story, he would promise nothing. 'We'll see, Draco.' When Nelli popped back into being, next to him, he said to her, 'Take Draco back to my quarters and have him put some dry clothes on. Pick out some for Harry, too. Come back here when you're finished.'

'Yes, Master Snape, sir.' The house-elf bowed low, ears aquiver, and led Draco back down the stairs.

Severus pushed his way into the infirmary, where Poppy was readying a bed for Harry.

'What happened?' she asked, as Severus laid Harry down. Poppy spelled his wet clothes off, as well as the wet bandage and dressing on his hand. His chest and back were covered with bruises. Poppy frowned. 'The house-elf said he fell into the lake.'

'I think it's a bit more serious than that.' He watched as Poppy ran the same diagnostics as he had, then went for a bottle of Skele-Gro. 'Something to do with the squid.'

'The squid! Well, no wonder, then.' She spelled infirmary pajamas onto Harry, but as small as he was, he was swamped by them. Shrinking them down to fit him, she said, 'I'd rather not wake him, to dose him. That shoulder's going to be painful as it heals, and he'll need a good bit of rest.'

'Very well.' Severus slid in behind Harry on the bed, and eased the boy up, so his back was against Severus' chest. This way, Poppy could feed him various potions with his help in making the boy swallow.

'You know, Severus,' Poppy said conversationally, once she put the third empty potion bottle down and started rebandaging the boy's hand. 'I'd like a day to go by in which Harry didn't end up in the infirmary.'

Severus felt his own face burning. He obviously wasn't keeping as close an eye on Harry as he should be. 'He has a knack,' he said quietly.

'Mm.' Poppy was just about done when Draco entered, with Nelli at his side. The boy was still sniffling, and Severus sent him a Look, which at least made him stand straighter.

'Is he . . . will Harry be okay, Uncle Sev?'

'This time.' He nodded at a chair nearby. 'Sit. And tell me what happened.'

Draco sidled onto the chair, and sat stiffly, his hands folded properly on his lap. 'Hagrid told us about the squid, and we wanted to see it, but we couldn't, not from the shore . . . so we decided to fly our brooms over —'

'What!!?' Draco flinched back in his chair, and even in his sleep, Harry twitched at Severus' shout. Severus gritted his teeth, and his voice was much softer, but far more menacing, when he continued. 'You did what?'

'W-we flew our b-b-brooms over the lake, t-to see the s-squid. I . . . we didn't know it would come up like that!'

'Like what?' Severus felt like a parrot, but it was all he could do not to shake the boy. Instead, his arms tightened around his son.

'It just zoomed up and grabbed Harry out of the air. His broom . . . I didn't even see where it went. He was being squished tighter and tighter, and I tried to fly in and get him, but then there was this bright flash of light and the squid just . . . blew up. There were bits of tentacle everywhere, and Harry fell into the lake.' Draco took a deep breath, his gaze on Harry. Tears poured down his cheeks. 'I couldn't see him. I looked all over, but I couldn't find him. So I ran to find you, Uncle Sev. I never meant for him to get hurt!'

Severus exchanged a glance with Poppy, and she lifted her eyebrows. He knew what she was thinking, that Harry had blown up the squid. He already knew the boy was powerful, but this was the first instance of him using offensive magic. He would need to be reined in, or at the very least, taught some control.

Letting out a deep sigh, Severus pressed a kiss to the top of Harry's head, then rested his cheek on the still wet mane of hair. So much turmoil in this little boy's life. What were they thinking, to ride brooms over the lake? He thought the boy was afraid of deep water.

He peered at Draco. 'Whose bright idea was it to take the brooms out?'

Draco bit his lip and looked away, which was as much answer as he needed, though he'd still like for the boy to tell him the truth.

'Did you bully him into it?'

'What? No, Uncle Sev! He agreed to go; he wanted to see the squid, too!' Realizing he'd just confirmed himself as the origin of the day's excitement, Draco clamped his mouth shut.

'And he expressed no reservations? You didn't say or do anything to convince him?'

Draco flushed, and Severus had his answer to that question, too. A sudden rage took hold of him and he barked, 'Did you shame him into it? Did you know he was afraid? Get out of my sight! Harry could have died because of you! Get out! GO!'

Casting a last, tearful glance at Harry, Draco slipped off his chair and fled.

TBC . . .

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Next chapter: Repercussions galore!

A/N: Thank you to everyone who's read and reviewed! If you have any questions, or comments or corrections, please let me know. Next chapter should be out by Monday. Probably.