Severus flicked a drooping bang out of his eyes, ignoring the broken man in front of him. He focused on his surroundings instead – the howl of wretched souls, the rattling chains of Azkaban prisoners, the invading smell of stale urine and rust.
"Why did you come?" Lucius Malfoy asked.
Not able to look away any longer, Severus dropped his gaze to the cross-legged man, who was thin, so very thin, with skin plastered over protruding bones, and dust-encrusted hair splayed over his shoulders.
By the time he responded, the rain outside had subsided to staccato patters. It was with a dry sob that he dropped to his knees to cup the blond's face with spidery ink-stained fingers. His thumb caressed the aristocratic cheekbones that angled to thin cracked lips that somehow had retained its gorgeous shade of soft pink.
"How could I not?" Severus whispered and captured Lucius's plaint mouth with his own.
He poured his feelings and pain into that kiss. Emotions he had hidden in the depth of his hollow chest crawled out and choked him with their intensity. 16 years had passed since these two sets of lips had joined. With his eyes fluttering shut, Severus could believe he was 15 again, with his shaking fingers grasping Lucius's robe as they kissed for the first time in a deserted Hogwarts corridor. He could believe that pureblooded-customs and war hadn't ripped them apart, and that Lucius's deep-sated groan was loud enough to drown out the screaming wail that rent the air.
With a soft whimper, their lips parted and Severus rubbed his large hooked nose against the other man's in a gesture so familiar and intimate that a surprised chuckle slipped from between his – their – lips. Awed grey eyes looked up to him and a whispered word was all that needed to be said.
"Stay."
