GIVEN HOW IT was likely he’d get a sentence of his own ( we’ll wait for the aurors, draco. i don’t think we can do much of anything else ) right next to dad, it was like seeing snape taken into custody was harder on him than when it would be his turn. draco had no idea of the man’s prior intentions — or much of anything, really — but the fact that he would still be likely ROTTING AWAY in azkaban, just like the dark lord’s more loyal, was still upsetting. even looking back once more, draco saw how UNGRATEFUL he’d been when offered protection, and how his former professor saved his life by carrying out draco’s task for him. it felt kind of… he couldn’t come up with a word for it. meaningless, maybe.
even something along the lines of my father can vouch for you, which used to carry a lot more worth, seemed stuck at the tip of his tongue. STUPID BOY, YOU COULD NEVER DEPEND ON A FOREIGN REPUTATION. he doesn’t know what to say. he doesn’t say anything, for a moment. he doesn’t know what he can say. “ for how long? ” it’s a childish question, even though it didn’t come with the familiar SIR his eleven year old self gleefully added. forever? he means to ask, but doesn’t.
A PAIR OF THICK, DARK EYEBROWS WAS RAISED. & to think, of all people, draco would be the one to bring him some amusement in those dreadful times. it was like returning to that first potions class back in seven years before —- admiration printed on his grey-hued gaze, legible even through the thick fumes that filled the room. time ate away all of that : draco’s hopeful youth, his own life & freedom. they all had prices to pay, it was just a shame the malfoy heir had to pay his so early & for a mistake his father had talked him into making.
‘ fifteen years. ’ severus was unable to keep his voice from cracking. it was a fair deal —- too fair if it was meant to be served in isolation rather than in the company of dementors. what would be left of his mind, the only aspect of himself he could be proud of, when the time was up ? would there be life when all he held dear had been taken away from him ? ‘ if minerva would be so kind to offer me my former position once my sentence is over, i wouldn’t be a fool to refuse. ’
a joke ? something so rare to come by those days, & it is uttered in his signature deadpan.
‘ take care, draco. ’