Severus looked amused but dropped the subject. Few people understood his relationship with Draco. In fact there were times he didn't quite understand it. It worked, that was all he cared about.
"I was talking about the night we go in," he clarified. "I would prefer to have no werewolves and few vampires to contend with. The attack can occur on any night, though if we want to ensure that the werewolves are there, the new moon would be an ideal night. And not only for that reason. The lack of a moon in the sky will give those flying some advantage."
"Evasion will be the aim of the game on your part," he said with a small smirk. So Stephen thought this would be easy. Well, admittedly the man had never seen him in full Death Eater/spy mode and was probably thinking it was something akin to what he'd done with his petty theft or what the Aurors were like. But he'd played these hunting games with the other Death Eaters on a few occasions when he'd been unable to talk his way out of them. Hunting Muggles and Muggleborns and even the occasional halfblood and blood traitor. Distinctly unpleasant but the skills learned had been valuable for his spying.
He snorted and looked amused. "Unpredictability is the way of the world. Keep the plan simple but flexible." Severus knew that he'd throw any plan out the window if needed once they were on the ground but if it made Stephen happy to have one then he could spend his time on it if he liked.
"Then you were luckier than I," Severus said grimly. He'd have thought that his father had never cared for him if not for a photo he'd found when cleaning out his parents' effects. It showed his father holding him when he'd been just a few days old and the man had had an expression of devotion on his face. Severus didn't know what had changed and he'd stopped caring a long time ago. "My father did not want a wizard for a son. The more powerful I proved myself to be, the more vicious he became. If he'd directed that solely at me, I could have understood in some way but he included my mother as well." Not that his respect and love for his mother had lasted much longer than his respect for his father. It had died when he'd realised his mother had given up and would not raise a finger to protect him from his father's temper.
He arched an eyebrow at Stephen and gave a singularly humourless smile. "At least I have an excellent example of how not to treat my own son."