Severus was not used to second-guessing himself, and days of vacillating had left him more irritable than usual. He had come to a decision to take the risk only at the last moment - now that he was practically certain to be headed back to Hogwarts under the Dark Lord's direction, he knew it would be much more difficult to play both sides of the field without drawing attention to himself.
Lucky for him, then, that he had someone he could bully into doing it for him. The desire to have someone with whom to speak the truth was also ever present, of course, but it had played only a secondary role in his calculations, of course. His mind made up, he had paid an unnecessary visit to Malfoy to discuss his conversation with the Minister and the likely changes in the administration, and had kept an eye out for Draco. Severus caught up to him in the gardens on his way out of the house. He gestured brusquely to a section further away from the door. "I need a word with you," he said, before trooping past him with barely more than a nod.