Chapter 2

Morning light filtered through the tall stained glass windows of Harry's chambers. He was still in his nightgown with a massive case of bedhead while the crown lay discarded on the desk beside him. A map of Britain was spread open with several ink marks scattered across its surface as Harry decided the destination for his first inspection.

Behind him, Draco Malfoy, smartass Advisor to the Crown, rummaged through the wardrobe with the air of a man personally offended by every garment he touched. "Honestly, Potter," the blond drawled, holding up a deep blue cloak with disdain. "This is not tyrant-chic. This is... provincial, at best. At least have it embroidered. I know this wonderful seamstress who did Father's winter cloak. She uses real silver treads, too. If you want to terrify your ministers and seduce half the aristocracy, you need something bolder, and less of whatever this is." He tossed the cloak aside.

Harry didn't look up. "I'm not trying to seduce anyone. I'm trying to decide where to go first. Manchester? Cardiff? Or maybe somewhere smaller, where the reports don't reach me."

Meanwhile, Draco pulled out another robe and made a face. "Thistle color, really? If you are going for pastels... don't," he stated while holding it against himself in the mirror. "This says 'absolute ruler with questionable taste'."

Harry shot him a glare over the map. A silvery light seeped through the stone wall, coalescing into the shape of a doe before Draco could yank out another piece of clothing.

"Bloody hell!!" Harry nearly jumped out of his chair while Draco's eyes widened. "That's... my godfather's patronus. What is it doing here?"

The doe lifted its head, and a voice filled the chamber. It was smooth, cutting, and unmistakably Snape.

"Your Majesty," the patronus intoned, "An urban developer in Cokeworth is parading a royal seal as though it were his birthright. Tell me, have you begun distributing your authority to dunderheads now? I am perilously close to hexing the man into silence myself, so I suggest you intervene, if only to spare me the inconvenience."

Harry blinked once. Then again. His mouth opened, closed, and opened again as if words refused to form.

Finally, he turned to Draco and said, "Your godfather has some balls, bypassing the castle wards with a Patronus."

Draco shrugged, utterly unbothered. "You know Professor Snape."

Harry rubbed his temples. "Yes. For five hours before my parents yanked me out of Hogwarts to be homeschooled. Five hours was enough to know that tone anywhere."

Draco smirked, "Should I have the healers on standby, or a body bag? Uncle Sev is usually serious about hexing someone. If he says he's close, he's already halfway there."

Harry frowned as his gaze drifted back to the map spread across the desk. His finger hovered over Cokeworth while he questioned aloud, "Someone other than my Ministers with my Royal seal?"

"Then it seems your first inspection has chosen itself," Draco stated while throwing a black robe at Harry. "Here, wear this one. You can't terrify anyone in a nightgown."

"If you keep talking, I'll go in the nightgown just to spite you." Harry shot Draco a look.

Draco merely arched a brow, and his lips twitched slightly. "That would certainly make an impression. Not the one you want, but an impression nonetheless."

Harry apparated to the public apparition point with a sharp crack and without his entourage. The air smelled of stagnant water, and the bricks of many houses were covered in a layer of soot from the town's industrial past. He straightened his black robes, though he still thought the finery was excessive. He glanced around and frowned. The town looked deserted. There were rows of brick houses sagging under years of neglect. Many windows were boarded up or broken.

Harry frowned. "Strange. Even for Cokeworth, this is too quiet."

Then he heard it, the sound of a commotion further down the street towards the canal. He followed the sound until he turned a corner and froze.

Severus Snape stood in the middle of the street, wand raised, and his expression was pure venom. Opposite him, a pompous wizard in gaudy blue robes stumbled backward toward the muddy water with an indignant voice.

"I have the right to demolish this house!" the man shouted while brandishing a scroll.

"Not with me in it, you nitwit," Snape snapped as he aimed his wand at the other man.

"You should have taken the offer when I tried to buy it!" The developer sneered.

"You lowball me and think I should be grateful?" Severus retorted with a raised brow. "Ten percent of its actual value? Really, did your mother drop you on your head as a child... repeatedly?"

The developer's face flushed crimson as he clutched the scroll tighter, "I have the seal! The King's seal! That gives me the right! Today, you and all these squatters are going to be out of here!"

Snape's lip curled into a sneer. "That scrap of parchment is worth less than the mud you're about to fall into. You insult me with counterfeit authority."

Snape took a step forward, causing the other to instinctively step back a bit. "Only ministers can enforce a royal decree, and only with a seal that is iridescent and made with the special ink. Not blue like the one you have been waving around. Clearly, you haven't done your homework."

"H-how would you know?!"

Snape's eyes narrowed, "Because, you imbecile, I make the base potion for the ink."

Harry watched with a raised brow from behind the onlookers. So his old professor was the one who supplied that particular potion. He'd always wondered about the mail-order company they had employed, but Lady Malfoy had been particularly tight-lipped about it. He supposed he might as well make his entrance now before Snape really hexed the man's balls off.

"That's enough," Harry said in a commanding voice while flaring his magic slightly, which caused the crowd of onlookers to part for him. Several people in the crowd gasped as Harry strode forward. The developer saw the crown embroidered on Harry's robe and stumbled in shock.

"You... You're..." he stammered. His feet slipped on the wet cobblestones. He flailed his arms as he lost balance, and with a splash, he toppled backward into the muddy water.

"I pity whatever wildlife still lives in this canal," Severus stated while putting his wand away. He turned towards Harry and gave a short bow. "Your Majesty,"

Harry nodded while trying to keep a straight face at the Potion master's comment, while the wizards and witches who had accompanied the man scurried out from hiding to help him out of the canal.

"Accio scroll," Harry cast the spell wandlessly, and the now wet scroll flew into his hand. He made a face at the smell but unfurled it. "This is indeed a fake. It is nothing but cheap dye on cheap parchment."

Harry straightened while letting his magic hum faintly in the air. Severus shivered slightly as he felt the magic. "No one drives my people from their homes with counterfeit authority."

The developer's knees buckled as he now prostrated himself before their monarch. "Please, Your Majesty, I... I was only following orders!"

"Whose orders?" Harry's eyes narrowed.

The man hesitated, glancing nervously around, then back at Harry. "I... I can't say."

"You will say. Or I'll make you wish you had." Harry replied. Then he called out, "Zippy!"

With a sharp pop, a small house‑elf appeared, dressed in an absurdly frilled tunic that looked like it had been stolen from a doll's wardrobe. She bowed so low her nose nearly touched the cobblestones. "Yes, Glorious Radiance of Eternal Majesty, Keeper of Crowns and Conqueror of Dark Lords?"

Harry winced faintly at the title. Draco had clearly been meddling again, but kept his composure. "Take this man and his accomplices behind him to the castle dungeons. I will interrogate them later."

Zippy's enormous eyes gleamed. "At once, Supreme Sovereign of Shadows and Light!" She snapped her fingers, and with a series of pops, the developer and his cronies vanished, leaving only the stunned silence among the onlookers.

Harry turned back to Severus, while still watching in rapt attention. Snape's expression was unreadable, though Harry caught the faintest flicker of his gaze lingering on the black robe Draco had insisted he wear. 'Damnit, Draco,' Harry thought.

Then, suddenly, an idea struck him. It was half strategy, half impulse. "Severus Snape..." Harry paused while letting the silence stretch, "...Marry me."

The crowd gasped while Snape's brows arched ever so slightly and his dark eyes narrowed.

"No," Severus deadpanned.