‘I think I want to know two things, Severus,’ Draco said as he sat behind Lucius’s desk.

‘Just two?’

‘For the moment, yes.’ Draco let a cool smile twitch his lips. ‘How and why?’

Sirius looked from one to the other. Something was puzzling him; apart from the wand that lay on the desk, there didn’t seem to be any malice in Draco. Then again, Lucius had been an accomplished actor; perhaps he’d learnt the art from him.

‘I could make up any story, you know,’ Snape said from Lucius’s mouth; he had made no sign to Sirius that he wanted the reversal potion.

‘But you won’t. You’re too honourable for that, too noble by half,’ Draco said with the same smile. ‘Merlin, but I wish you knew how that used to make everyone’s teeth ache. I could never understand how you got into Slytherin.’

Snape raised his eyebrow. ‘Indeed?’

‘That and the towering vanity,’ Draco went on, warming to his subject as his self-assurance seemed to grow. ‘You were almost as bad as Lucius; and I’m sure you’ll forgive me for saying so, but with far less reason.’

Snape flared Lucius’s nostrils. ‘Just what is that supposed to mean, Mr Malfoy?’

‘Well, you’re no oil painting for starters,’ Draco said, with slightly less confidence.

‘Can we cut to the chase?’ Sirius put in, before it was morning and they had to explain the presence of a living breathing Lucius Malfoy, when his corpse was lying on a bier in the Ministry, awaiting its release back to the family crypt.

Draco looked at him. ‘I agree with the Animagus,’ he said in just the way Lucius would have, the same degree of dismissal and disdain, except for the fact that he agreed. ‘And I’d prefer to do so before Narcissa arrives and sees the gold; she might get quite the wrong idea.’

‘Like?’ Sirius asked.

‘Like she might think she has some sort of entitlement. I do not intend to swell the Black family coffers. Anyway she is the only person involved with Lucius who is not owed some type of reparation.’

‘What do you want, Draco?’ Snape asked quietly. Sirius could tell he was becoming fed up with whatever game they were playing.

‘Half the money. I shall allow you to leave enough here, a part of each of our shares, to leave it in no doubt that Lucius was merely insane and not broke; I have a feeling we both want that much for him.’

‘And your conditions?’ Snape asked.

‘That you help me to get my gold out. I’ve been down to that cellar often enough to know that I would never see it again.’

‘And?’ Snape held his eyes as Sirius felt something flow between them; something that made him feel uncomfortable and comforted at the same time.

‘That you acknowledge me as your son.’ Draco looked away for a moment, and Sirius could see he’d been working this out. ‘You see, that way I will still inherit, eventually, and I shall at least get it all back one day, on the not unreasonable assumption that you will die before me. But I know enough of the murky family history to know that you are Lucius’s brother on the all-important Malfoy side, and as his nearest relative, you will inherit anyway.’ He gave a little smile of triumph. ‘In fact, you could consider it to be a loan; I will lend you Lucius’s gold, until you die.’

‘And you expect anyone to believe that I am Lucius’s brother and you’re my son?’ Snape retorted. ‘Especially when the debts get miraculously paid off with good hard gold?’

‘I don’t have to convince anyone, Severus. Your birth papers name you as Severus Malfoy. Abraxas bought them many years ago, just in case Lucius came to an untimely ending before the line was secure; he never got around to changing them to Snape.’ Draco seemed to consider something for a moment before continuing. ‘As it turned out that was rather fortunate, because they became “lost” for quite some time.’

‘And why should I bother?’ Snape asked coolly, and nodded to the wand that lay on the desk. ‘I’m quite sure that you are aware that you do not have the power to harm me in any way.’

‘And I’m sure I don’t need you to tell me that.’ Draco stood up. ‘I’m a loose end, Severus; you won’t cut me adrift. With all that insufferable honour and nobility, I’m surprised they didn’t put you in Gryffindor.’

Sirius watched him; he’d already worked out that Severus wasn’t going to dump the boy. He hadn’t failed to notice that Snape had stopped putting up any arguments about Draco’s immediate ancestry.

‘Is it your intention to stay in the manor?’ Snape asked, and Sirius suspected he did so to earn himself a little more time.

‘Oh yes,’ Draco replied. ‘I have long harboured delusions of grandeur, Severus … and now I can be Lord of the Manor in a way I had always hoped for.’ He looked down at the papers that were still strewn on Lucius’s desk. ‘I confess this lot gave me a bit of a start though.’ He picked up a random scroll and tapped it on the fine mahogany of the desk. ‘I shall turn the question to you now. Is it your intention to stay at Grimmauld Place?’ he asked with the faintest arch of his eyebrow which made Sirius suspect that Draco Malfoy knew a lot more than either of them thought.

‘I have no intentions at this point in time.’ Severus made an admirable attempt at not appearing startled. ‘What is to stop you just taking the gold and destroying whatever papers you think exist proving any claim I may have on Lucius’s fortune?’

‘I don’t have the papers, Severus. Your mother’s lawyer has them,’ Draco said quietly, as though he were wary of what reaction the reference to Eileen Snape might invoke. ‘Apart from that, if I don’t have you I can’t get the gold either.’

Snape had looked away. Sirius suspected he was uncomfortable with the fact that someone seemed to know not only some of the secrets he’d thought were his alone, but some he didn’t even know. When Severus looked back at Draco he was cool, almost cold. ‘Just what do you think you know about my mother?’ he began. ‘And just what is the source of that knowledge?’

Draco looked to Sirius in some sort of appeal, as though he were stepping over into uncharted waters and was afraid he was going to drown in a sea of his own making. ‘Your mother wasn’t the only person who suffered at the hands of my grandfather, Severus,’ he said quietly. ‘His inheritance lives not only through her letter to you.’

Snape had whitened in fury; even through Malfoy’s face he looked every inch Severus Snape. ‘Shut your mouth. How dare you compare what he did to my mother with anything else he could have dredged up.’

Draco stood his ground. ‘I’m not; and I don’t pretend to know what went on. But my grandmother was married to him, Severus. She was a meek woman, totally dominated by him. But she had one ally, one person with whom she had at least her suffering in common, and although they never met and she had no way of allaying Eileen’s suffering, she had at least a soul mate of sorts. Grandmother found a message that had been delivered to Abraxas, begging for money to give her son a decent burial; and I’m sure that you don’t need me to tell you that it came from Eileen Prince Snape. Cassiopeia Malfoy wrote a letter herself, one that had to be opened by any grandchild she had, on the death of the son who was forced upon her.’ Draco dipped into the pocket of the black velvet doublet he wore and pulled out a document written in black ink, in a spidery feminine hand.

‘She wrote a letter to an unborn child?’

‘No, Severus.’ Draco looked at Sirius again. ‘Help me here, Black. Help me make him understand this.’

‘Understand what, Draco?’ Sirius asked, barely keeping up with the unfolding story. ’What are you trying to tell us?’

‘The letter from my grandmother wasn’t written to me; the original recipient was supposed to be Eileen Snape, but she didn’t know she had already taken her own life. The message also enclosed your birth papers; my grandmother removed them from this house to the only place she considered them to be safe. Once she knew Eileen was dead, she delivered them and her letter to Eileen’s solicitor; Merlin alone knows how she found out who he was.’

‘What do you want from me?’ Snape turned to look at the boy, much more like father and son when he was Lucius. Sirius thought Severus was beginning to struggle a bit with the Malfoy persona.

‘For myself, nothing but the money … if there is nothing else.’ Draco put the letter back into his pocket. ‘For them, Severus, for both of them; I want what you want.’

‘You are appealing to the honour you somehow seem to think overrides my actions?’

Draco nodded. ‘Even the one that let you somehow stage-manage Lucius’s suicide while you were safely incarcerated in Azkaban. Even by your standards that was very clever, Severus; perhaps one day I can tell my grandchildren how you did that.’

‘Perhaps I shall leave a letter with my solicitor when I die.’ Severus smirked at last.

‘Come on, let’s get this fucking gold before it disappears.’ Sirius grinned at Snape. ‘I don’t think you want to be found looking like that if anyone calls.’ He watched Draco pocket his wand; both men seemed content now that they could at least trust one another.

*****

‘I hear from Harry that Lupin has moved in with you,’ Draco commented over his shoulder from between them, as they walked back down the stairs to the cellar.

Snape turned. ‘Lupin?’

‘Thank you, Draco,’ Sirius snarled and turned to Snape. ‘Ah, yes, didn’t I tell you?’

‘No, it must have slipped what passes for your mind.’

‘It was your fault; you were the one who said he needed to be looked after,’ Sirius accused, and gasped again as he saw the piles of gold lying before them.

Draco walked into the vault and frowned. ‘Maybe the gold will just disappear the same way as the vault does.’

‘No, it is the vault that is charmed; the gold is quite real, I assure you,’ Snape said with a smirk.

Sirius thought he’d begun to look tired; he didn’t want to imagine what the mental baggage of carrying a dead man around in your head felt like. ‘Come on, let’s get moving here; this stuff’s going to be heavy.’

‘How long can you stay like that?’ Draco looked across at Snape as though he were having the same reservations.

‘Let us just say that we should make this as quick as we can.’

Sirius frowned at him. ‘Are you sure you’re okay? I mean d’you want to change back for a while?’ He nodded to the gold. ‘After all, that lot’s not going anywhere without you.’

‘Black’s right, we can do this tomorrow, Severus,’ Draco agreed quickly. ‘I’ll fire off a few owls and keep the vultures at bay for now. There’s no rush.’ He looked to Sirius. ‘You can trust Lupin, can’t you? And I’m sure Harry would help. I think we want to keep it in the family, so to speak; although we can bypass the rest of Blacks if you don’t mind.’

Snape shook his head. ‘No, I don’t want to do this again,’ he said quietly, and Sirius could see he was struggling.

‘Why don’t you wait over there, and Draco and I can levitate it out into the main cellar, and we can charm it ourselves?’

‘It will take a while,’ Snape said in doubtful agreement.

*****

Snape watched as Sirius and Draco removed the piles of gold bit by bit to the main cellar. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could do this; he felt the soft blackness try to encroach upon his senses again, all but snuffing out everything around him.

Most of the gold lay outside the vault now; there were only two small piles left, about ten thousand Galleons perhaps, Salazar Slytherin’s original stake. Sirius and Draco looked exhausted; even levitating the weight of so much gold was taking its toll on them. Severus felt himself start; he needed to stay awake, he knew what the alternative was.

Draco and Sirius were both in the vault when Severus felt his heart stagger in its regular beat, the out of kilter pulse frightening him; he had done too much, waited too long. Draco had been right about his towering vanity; he wasn’t nearly as powerful as he had thought. It was the last notion he had as he felt the stab of pain in his chest and slipped from consciousness.

*****

‘Hold his ruddy mouth open,’ Sirius gasped as he unstoppered the flask of the reversal potion.

‘I’m trying; he bloody bit me,’ Draco replied as he tried to prise apart the jaws that Snape had clenched in agony.

‘I don’t know how much to give him,’ Sirius muttered. ‘Fuck it, the arrogant fuck, couldn’t he have said something?’

‘Come on, Black; just make a decision,’ Draco said with rising panic. ‘He’s a terrible colour.’

‘Fuck,’ Sirius snarled and tipped the bottle to Snape’s mouth. The gooey mixture ran down his chin. ‘Hold his head back, for fuck sake.’

Draco took the bottle from him. ‘You hold his mouth open.’ He began to pour the mixture slowly down Snape’s throat, massaging it every couple few moments to make him swallow.

‘What now?’ Sirius asked, his own panic threatening to break loose.

‘I don’t know, do I?’ Draco ran a hand through his blond hair and turned to kneel beside the man who was slumped against a pile of gold that would have bought a controlling share in Gringotts. ‘Come on, Severus,’ he pleaded. ‘There’s no point to any of this if you don’t wake up.’

The boy’s words warmed Sirius; he cared, and not just about the money. ‘Maybe we should give him more,’ he said from Snape’s other side. It was useless trying to remember the change he had made in Azkaban; that had been brought about by Lucius’s death. They could hardly march into the Ministry and ask if they could kill Malfoy again.

‘It’s working … look,’ Draco gasped in relief, as he took a handful of the white-blond locks and held it up to the guttering wall sconce. ‘It’s definitely getting darker.’

‘Give him some more,’ Sirius said as he prised Snape’s mouth open again, and hauled his neck back in an arm lock.

‘For the love of Merlin, Black,’ Snape groaned. ‘I’m sure there are easier and less painful ways to kill me.’

Sirius dropped his stranglehold. ‘Why didn’t you say something, you arrogant fuck?’ he accused in a rush of relief. ‘For all you know we might not have noticed and you might have fucking died. That’s just typical of you, you know. Too fucking arrogant to ask for help.’

‘Have you finished yet?’ Snape asked dryly, he seemed to be quite himself again.

Sirius couldn’t have explained how relieved he was that the Malfoy look had been dropped and the familiar dark scowl glowered back at him. ‘No, I haven’t actually,’ Snape muttered, ‘I’ve only just started.’

Draco smirked at them for a moment. ‘Can we attend to that lot?’ He nodded to where the gold still stood. The significance wasn’t lost on any of them; Snape had changed back to himself and the piles of gold were still there, only the few bars they had abandoned in the vault had disappeared.

‘It’s a pity about the bit we left, isn’t it?’ Draco said with mock regret as he looked at the space where the vault had been, and Snape finished casting the charm around their own gold.

If Salazar Slytherin ever came back for his share, he’d have to find it first.

*****

EPILOGUE

“My Dear Eileen,

You do not know me, but I know you know of me. I am Cassiopeia Malfoy, Abraxas Malfoy’s wife, for want of a better term. Please read on, Eileen; this letter is sent to you as an appeal, from one woman wronged to another more deeply wronged.

I have just come across a letter that you sent to Abraxas asking for help in burying the son who has been stolen from you. I do not know how my son or husband are involved in his death, but suffice it to say that I know enough of both of them to assume that their hands are, as ever, involved in the deed. I can only offer you whatever crumb of comfort you can take from knowing that I, at least, share your sorrow. I know these are perhaps futile words, but I beg that you accept them as some sort of indication that someone is not only aware but understands the type of suffering that the Malfoys can inflict upon those unable to stand up to them.

I recently came across the enclosed documents of birth, which I suspect relate to your own sons, Arial and Severus. I return these to you as an act of defiance which I am fairly sure will go unnoticed; but they name your sons as Malfoys and, who knows, maybe one day the boy you still have at your side will be able to use the knowledge that he has a claim on the Malfoys to better use than either you or I have done.

My own son, if I should even call him that, was taken from me at birth and brought up in the true Malfoy traditions of greed and lust for power, in the same way as my body and I suspect yours was taken, to be used as a vessel for the same purpose. I have no contact with Lucius at all; considering the fact that he is even more of a Malfoy than his own father, having even been conceived with the help of Dark Magic, I regard that as a disguised blessing.

I am unsure of how I can assist you, Eileen, but if you have a Gringotts account perhaps I could put some money into it for you to help your circumstances. A small amount on a regular basis would be easier for me than finding large amounts, as Abraxas does not offer me access to the Malfoy deposits. I seek not only to assuage the conscience that my husband does not possess, but perhaps also to help you in bringing up the boy, Severus. He is, after all, the only chance either of us will ever have of visiting the sins of the Malfoys back upon them. The boy is young I know, and maybe we should keep the knowledge from him until he is old enough to deal with it. I do not say lightly that we could both be in our own graves by then. Perhaps even that would be appropriate; it is often said the dish of revenge is best savoured cold.

With kind regards, and hope for at least one future

Cassiopeia Malfoy.”