Author: Lorielen ( [email protected] )
Word count: 160

"Severus?"

The Potions Master raised his eyes and nodded shortly by means of thanking Lucius for the crimson liquid poured in his crystal glass.

"Do me a favour, if you will."
"Hmm-mm."

Low moaning, of agreement as much as inquiry or simply fondness of the fine wine. Knowing Severus Snape, probably a small amount of each and something else, small and hidden and crude. Lucius paid that no greater concern than it deserved, and moved on.

"Remind me never to bet with you," the bottle was placed on a small table, "ever again."

The dark-haired man interrupted his contemplation of the intricate patterns of the carpet to settle his appreciative glance on Lucius Malfoy instead. His lips curled upwards subtly.

"I shall do that," he reached to adjust the neck of Lucius' French maid uniform, getting no facial reaction from the Malfoy. "Although in all honesty I do not see why."

To his credit, Lucius restrained from groaning his annoyance.

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The following is a series of drabbles writen by Lorielen ( [email protected] )

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1. Meeting
Word count: 250

It wasn't a surprise for Severus Snape to be sorted into Slytherin; he'd overheard the other children in the train from his hiding place - behind a thick book on magic much more advanced than the ones on his case - Salazar Slytherin had been an outcast, just like Severus himself. Son to former Slytherins, the eleven-year-old wisely preferred to be satisfactory to them than to the rest of the world. It was safer, and he had no qualms in being a black sheep; books and Potions, both of which he held a fascination for, added to his absolute lack of conversation skills and made of Severus a reserved child, at best, and a bitter, dark and unpleasantly intelligent one, in the opinion of most who knew him. He certainly didn't expect school to provide him with any more acceptation than he had already had on his life, therefore his sorting seemed right to him.
Yes, the House of Those Who Were Looked Suspiciously At did, indeed, sound like the accurate choice. What made Severus arch a thin black eyebrow in near-puzzlement was that, as he sat down at the Slytherin table, hoping for no warmth and offering none, he was met by a smile. A luminous grin coming from the older, blond boy sitting right across himself.
"Welcome to Slytherin." A lazy drawl.
Severus found that the third year's own raised eyebrow made him look smart. He also found himself smiling back, discreet and hesitantly and without really knowing why.

2. Associating
Word count: 165

Severus' cheeks were still devoid of blood as he gathered his notes and books and quill, which laid scattered in the grass. His paleness, sheer anger and spread school material were one of the often recurring results of his confrontations with the loathed Marauders.
Three - Pettigrew didn't count - to one; talk about Gryffindor sense of justice.
He pushed strands of hair away from his face angrily, bristling like a teakettle as he sat under a tree by the school lake.
"There better be none of your Charms notes gone, Severus, or those two will be in serious trouble." Slim paleness sat next to him, adding carelessly, "I want Os in my Charms OWLs as well."
Dark eyes met glittery silver ones, and Severus' scowl softened somewhat.
"Fuck you, Lucius." He breathed out.
The blond Prefect laughed softly, and Severus found himself looking down, not knowing what to do with that.
"Don't pout, Sev."
"Or...?" Daring voice.
"I'll be forced to kiss it off."

3. Binding
Word count: 200

"Hurts like hell."
Lucius' voice was low and Severus knew, even though no-one else would notice, that the Malfoy was biting at the right end of his bottom lip. He must be in pain.
All the better, he thought as he smirked darkly, and leaned down to brush lips against a swollen nipple of the other youth's. Along with this unusual tenderness, he moved his hips, rocking forward. Lucius nearly howled; he ranked longish and elegant nails down Severus' back, and the dark-haired male adored it, because he knew that pain so well. Treasured it, for Lucius had been the one to first bring it to him.
"You're doing it on purpose." A condemning hiss; eyes bright with knowledge and pain, darkened with arousal. Lucius was so pretty. Severus chuckled and pulled out, revelling in the mute relief of the boy beneath him, at the delicious control. He then moved to change the angle and thrust back in. His hair was yanked at and he smirked. He watched Lucius' face hungrily as the grey eyes widened and the pale and thin lips parted in a soundless gasp, and he knew he had hit his aim.
"Now I am." He whispered.

4. Parting
Word count: 210

"Severus..." Faint knocking at the door of the bedroom he shared with the other fifth-year Slytherin boys.
No answer. But undoubtedly Lucius already knew that loathing silence would be the best he'd get.
How else was Severus supposed to react to the news of Lucius' goddamn engagement?! He hadn't hexed any of the lovebirds, and speaking of Severus Snape, that was quite the accomplishment. All he wanted to do was curl up somewhere quiet and mope his misery in peace.
... well, he also wanted to put into practice any of the ruthless, evil, magic or non-magic methods he had come up with to cause the female blond as much pain as he was feeling, but that was not an option. He kicked a stool childishly, fingers curling with the anger within him. The blasted Malfoy bloodline needed to be continued. He'd known, he'd always known. An unspoken threat looming in the distance. Why did Lucius have to meet her so SOON? Men could generate children up to their seventies, as far as Severus knew.
... and now he was being bitchy. Ah, but he'd always been, to everyone. Up to the present day, every single person hadn't deserved but his dislike. Except Lucius Malfoy.
Some things did fucking change.

5. Glimpsing
Word count: 205

Severus' lips weren't but a line, barely distinguishable in the paleness of his hood-shadowed face. The darkness hid his features, but it also made his resentment shimmer; it outlined his angry mannerisms, he thought.
At least the hood prevented people from seeing that he kept staring directly at Lucius.
It always hurt to see his former lover. Severus was convinced that the pain of the Dark Lord's summons wasn't his burning wrist flesh, but instead his tearing heart. It was maddening to think that they had been forced apart and then shoved together by things greater and more cruel than themselves.
Severus hated fiercely those forces that played with him, forever working for his misfortune. He loathed them as much as everything else, nowadays.
The terror and darkness he instilled into those doomed to have him as their Horror in grey cloth were nothing compared to the pit of his own lacking soul.
Silver was kept just close enough to touch, and yet unreachable. Severus fought the demons of lunacy and his own pride nightly, but he never did more than look at Lucius. Look and crave, look and hate. He couldn't tell the difference now, and he could not care less about that either.

6. Touching
Word count: 250

Lucius had changed very little of the Malfoy Manor since becoming its lord, Severus noticed as he walked in. His manners were as sombre as his clothes and face; impeccable.
He had yet to understand fully the unfolding of events that had led to his invitation to see the Malfoy's new-born Heir; most of the time he merely shrugged and mumbled to himself something about Lucius having always been able to walk round his ill-temper. What he knew for certain was that some time between him turning coat, Lucius finding out and their unspoken agreement of not telling on each other, complicity had sprung anew and a frail bond had been woven between the two former Slytherins. Civility had slowly morphed into Severus' never-mentioned, reborn tolerance of Lucius, and from there into hesitant trusting and half-unwilling welcoming back of the other man in his life.
It took some time for Severus to look away from the joyous and beaming figure of Father Lucius; he spared a quick glance to the Manor Mistress and eventually let his gaze take in the chubby, little, irrefutably Malfoy thingie nestled in the cradle.
He thought he'd hate that baby more than anything; more than Lucius' wife, even; the knee-faced and big-eyed shred of a human being was the ultimate cause of their parting. Strangely enough, though, Severus extended a long-fingered hand.
That little Malfoy had taken the burden from Lucius' shoulders, had unchained his Lucius.
Severus smiled his gratitude subtly, and petted the baby.

7. Embracing
Word count: 300

Severus had worked for that, Lucius knew. He had made the best out of his double-agent condition until it had been discovered and him, forced to flee to Dumbledore's beard for dear life. Even then, he'd been most useful, sharing what he knew of the Lord he resented for reasons that were his own and even Lucius did not condemn nor questioned. Just as Severus did not question Lucius' own devotion to Lord Voldemort, even though it worried him and he knew it wasn't a hidden pain in his eyes. It remained, however, unspoken; like so much between him and Lucius. Silence was safer, closing the eyes was easier than to stare openly at their parting ways, at the imminent collision of their efforts. Lucius' side had been the defeated one, and there was no hiding or denying that Severus had worked for his friend and lover's pain. It didn't matter how much he told himself he had done everything he could to keep Lucius' back; fact remained that Lucius was losing grip and it was partially his fault. Even more so because he had done it on purpose. Not with the intention of hurting Lucius; it was somehow more sordid. He had done it even though he knew it would hurt Lucius.
Petty revenge, throwing the 'I must work on my own best interests' back at the Malfoy? At times, he thought so. But not when his heart weighted with guilt as he paid the Manor a visit, uninvited. Uncalled for, and, more than likely, unwanted.
As he linked his arms around Lucius, returning the man's own shaky embrace, he wondered idly that Lucius' light body against his own made his shoulders that much less lowered, the very same power that Lucius had over the corners of his mouth.

8. Trusting
Word count: 290

Severus tapped his foot impatiently on the floor of the first wagon of Hogwarts Expresss.
He never went with the train. He didn't have any business outside Hogwarts, and seeing all the students again, along with the new faces that he knew he was bound to come to loathe, was definitely not something that brought him any sort of pleasure. Meeting with Lucius, however, was something else entirely.
Draco proved to be useful, indeed. Under the guise of escorting the child, Severus got to meet with his lover.
It amused and unnerved the Potions Master in equal measures that the excuse to meet wasn't needed for the sake of any outsiders, but for the two of them. If, and only if, Severus were to be honest with himself, there was some truth in it all. The Heir had become Lucius' prized possession, and to be trusted with such a precious item was proof of the strengthening of their once shattered link.
He stood when he saw them approach - House Elves carrying the case that bore the Malfoy crest. He stuck his head out the wagon's door, to regard the standing figures of Lucius and his miniature self.
He could have smiled but didn't.
Lucius, in turn, grinned widely at him, and let go of his son's shoulder (not without squeezing it reassuringly first, Severus noticed) to extend his aristocratic hand along with drawled greetings. Severus' own, subtle smile, was a response to the secret twinkle in Lucius' eyes.
"Welcome; to Slytherin, I hope."
Severus remained still while Lucius chuckled discreetly, approving of the evoking line, even more because it had been addressed to himself so much more than Draco, and he hadn't failed to notice. Severus knew he wouldn't.

9. Shaking
Word count: 340

Once again, it wasn't as much the inky blackness creeping up Severus' creamy wrist as it was dark worry claiming his soul.
With the new rise of the Dark Lord, Severus' forehead acquired nearly permanent horizontal lines. Not for the dangerous service that was to be asked of him again, not for the association with those he had never liked, whic was to become habit anew. Not for the lives of his students or those who were to die in this new War.
He could not stop thinking of what was to become of Lucius and himself.
That was their one difference, the one topic they couldn't bring themselves to reach an agreement about. Severus had been so relieved at the time of its seeming burial, and now it haunted him again.
Life couldn't be reasonably enjoyable for an extended period of time, now could it? Certainly not to him.
He couldn't tell what made his soul bleed the more; if the repetition of the situation when his efforts and Lucius' were conflicting, or the dreaded shine that was back on Lucius' eyes. Because. Lucius. Was. So. Damn. Inconsequent. And so Severus feared, not just physically, but that crimson might become too wide a blood river between the minds and hearts of the two of them. Lucius had covered his back before, but Severus was no longer sure whether or not his lover was willing to overlook his choice of sides again, now that both knew how far it'd go. Lapdog, he was called in the Order, on behalf of Lucius. He was completely aware that sooner or later the Malfoy would be pressed about his whereabouts, for the Dark Lord did not leave betrayal unpunished. And his trust in Lucius, that had once been absolute, was now as feeble as his faith in his own willingness to protect the other man against anything. He knew now, by bitter self-experience, that he wouldn't go that far.
He didn't like to think that it could very well be a reciprocated thing.

10. Knowing
Word count: 350

Severus had been shocked to learn the news. Not only shocked but alarmed, and not just alarmed but devastatingly worried.
Lucius was too pretty and delicate for Azkaban.
Sure, the Lucius he knew could swirl minds around his manicured Malfoy little finger as well as cause considerable and permanent damage with a wand, but Severus knew, from touching and kissing and licking and rubbing and hitting and cutting and whipping, that his skin was peach-soft. Knew that his ever perfectly cut and brushed platinum hair needed a long list of care products. Knew that Lucius, sparkling bright with wit and intelligence and gifted with looks and words and charisma, was too sociable and spoiled a creature to do on his own in a damp cubicle.
Also, Lord Voldemort's retreat that had left his Inner Circle behind was sure to have a big impact on Lucius, who was much more attached to the red-eyed man than Severus would have liked.
For all that and the very noble mission of verifying if Lucius was leading the imprisoned Death Eaters in a riot and possible taking over of the Wizarding Prison, Severus was let alone in an iron room with handcuffed Lucius, which would have been, at other times, reason to make him smirk darkly in fondness and desire. Now he was simply sad to see that his lover's eyes still glittered, but there were angst and resentment in his features instead of the proud sneering that Severus'd learned to endear.
All the more reason for him to smile back, minutely, when he realised that upon travelling over him Lucius' eyes had become softer; a faintly amused curl of lips had made its usual appearance.
"Glad you're not pouting, Lucius."
"And why's that? "
"Kissing it off would have me arrested."
"Don't fancy my company anymore?"
"I cannot help you out, if I'm in here myself."
That was it. Being pulled apart and shoved back together at fate's whims; up to then, it had had very little to do with their will. Severus was finally ready to put a needed stop to that.

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