It was the summer before 7th year; everybody was at the Weasley's having a party before the start of the school year. Everybody was happy, except one too small 17 year old in the corner of the kitchen, hugging himself and sipping from a can of soda. This 17 year old was Harry Potter, but you wouldn't be able to tell it was him unless you looked at his shimmering green eyes that danced even when there was no light inside them to shine.

"Harry," a soft voice called from the kitchen entry way, "why don't you come and join everybody else?" Hermione asked softly. Harry looked up at her and shook his head, looking away,

"No Hermione, I'm not going out there," he said firmly. Hermione sighed at his response,

"But harry, this is your family, shouldn't you be enjoying this time before school starts? You know we won't be able to have this much fun during the school year, what with our N.E.W.T.S and all, I'd be surprised if you had time for quidditch! Come on harry, com join the party," she pleaded. But harry held his ground and protested. There was no way he was going out there. Hermione huffed slightly and went to the fridge, taking out a can of soda herself.

"You are killing yourself doing this harry," she said with slight anger in her voice. He didn't have the heart to tell her that if he went out there, it would be putting a bullet threw his head.

Over the summer harry had grown about 3 inches in height, and his hair had gone from just below his ears to the back of his neck with slightly red streaks running throughout it. He looked pretty good if you didn't pay attention to the slightly too small frame he had. Harry was always underfed as a child, and was paying the repercussions of it now as a young adult. He didn't mind so much, but he always hated the stares from people who actually saw his too thin body, so usually he hid himself from the world with concealment charms, it made everyone happy.

Harry always felt uncomfortable in large groups of people, he was used to small gatherings of 3-6 people, anything more than that was too many and caused him anxiety. He never told anybody this little bit of information, they'd think he was lying for attention, but it was true. And most the time during classes at Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry (a whopping 30 people in each class room!) he could be found with shaking hands and the difficulty to breathe and speak. When the teachers called on him to answer a question and he fumbled over his words, everybody laughed, even his two "best friends" Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. A lot of the times he thought the Weasley's and Hermione weren't who they say they were. And it scared him greatly that his adoptive family could possibly be working against him. But it wouldn't surprise him at all.

Right now Harrys heart was being a mile a minute, all of the Weasley's plus more people were in the room next to him partying and talking loudly. He could make out a few conversations here and there when he heard the tapping of a glass and the room went quiet.

"While he isn't here," harry heard "I think we should talk about harry." there was a little bit of chatter and the glass was chimed again.

"We all know that he is a nascence here in our home. And we all know that he shouldn't be here. But we have to deal with him only a little bit longer and then we can hand him off to Dumbledore and get rid of him for good. I've been hearing all of your complaints, but the money we get paid for treating him like family is worth having the pest in our home." There were a few agreed murmurs. Harry's eyes stung with tears as he listened to the matron Weasley talk that way about him; they thought he couldn't hear them. They thought he was obsolete. They thought, just like his aunt and uncle, that he was a pest. So with tears in his eyes he turned and exited through the back door. Not even bothering to grab his trunk before he left.

As he stepped out of the back door he felt the warm summer air flow through him as if he was made of sheer material. He walked and walked and walked. Tears streaming down his face angrily with his wand clenched in his fist. He lit random things on fire as he walked, not caring about the blazing trail it left behind him from the Weasley house to the small town a few miles down the road. When harry reached the town he sighed, letting some of the anger release in one giant ball of light. He apparated away, his calm façade falling from his face, and his eyes looked as cold as ice.

Harry apparated to knocturn alley and a smirk spread across his face. He had a cloak on and he put the hood over his head as he walked down the road, casting venomous glares at anybody who looked at him the wrong way. He walked to a wand shop that specialized in custom wands. But before he entered he stood in between the wand shop and the ancient artifacts shop beside it. He curled into himself and mustered all of his energy, focusing on his magical core.

He whispered "me esse unum, et anima, et ut invicem se core." (may my soul and core be one with me and each other)

A black glow surrounded him and needles seemed to prick at his skin. He let out a loud gasp of pain before falling to his knees on the ground. After catching his breath he stood up on slightly shaking knees, smiling as long strands of silver hair fell into his vision. He stepped out the alley way and into the wand shop, smiling at the gentle looking woman behind the counter.

"Ah hello dear, how may I help you?" she smiled a witch's smile, her eyes dancing with unhidden mirth. Harry smiled back at her

"I am here looking for a wand my kind lady, as mine," he took it out of his pocket with a sneer, "has become obsolete to me, and I no longer need such a pathetic piece of wood, Such a sad waste of holly. Would be ever so kind as to make me a new one?" he asked her pleasantly. Her eyes danced brighter

"Of course my dear! Come! Come! Right this way and I will do some testing to see which materials would be best for you" she bounced out from behind the counter, going into the back room. Harry smirked and snapped the holly wand in two, vanishing it away and following her to the back of the store.

Once they were finished in the back room harry was holding a brand new vine wood wand with unicorn horn and dragon heartstring core, it was slightly bendy and very light for easy carrying. Harry smiled as he waved it around, casting a few animals appearing spells. The women that was behind the counter smiled at her customer's glee.

"Excuse me sir, would you mind signing your name? I like to keep record of all my customers, incase their wands happen to malfunction or break. I haven't had any do that sense 1202, but it's just a precaution." She assured him quickly. Harry looked over at her and after a minute nodded

"Sure thing ma'am," he said and went over to her booklet, elegantly writing the name "Absentis Hominis" (missing man)

Her witch like grin grew tenfold, "thank you Mr. Hominis, I hope that your wand is to your liking,"

He smiled at her "oh I'm sure it will be" before pocketing his wand and leaving the shop with an elegant flourish taking careful strides to gringotts bank.

When he entered the bank the chattering that usually was in the bank stopped, He looked around with a raised eyebrow at the other wizards and witches that were getting their money out of their accounts. They quickly looked away as they noticed the icy look in his eyes, he smiled satisfactorily. A goblin walked up to him and after giving him a thorough looking over took his hand and brought him to a privet room.

"Mr. Potter, I see you have changed a bit sense the last time we have seen you," the goblin, he remembered as Gorku, said. Absentis gave him a charming smile

"Yes Gorku, I decided that being 'harry potter' wasn't the right thing for me. What being treated like a pig for slaughter all these years and expected not to go a bit dark? Well I just didn't want to take it anymore. I hope you don't mind I have come to retrieve all of the money from all of my accounts and place them in a new account under the name of 'Absentis Hominis'" Gorku smiled at his response, "of course not Mr. Hominis, right this way," his grin was unmistakable as he took harry to a very lavish office.

Harry sat down in the chair in front of the desk and listened to Gorku give instructions. First he was to take the dagger in front of him and cut a tiny slit in his finger, putting a drop of blood in the bowl also in front of him to make sure that he was in fact harry potter. Then the cut would magically heal and he would fill out a form stating all of his financial records be transferred, as well as his name be changed. Absentis had a smile on his face the whole time he did this, that was until Gorku brought up the subject of his previous guardians.
"Mr. Hominis, I understand that this may be a touchy subject regarding your past. But I would like to speak to you about the fact that Albus Dumbledore previously had control of the account that your parents left you for scho-"but Absentis cut him off

"HE HAD WHAT?!" he jumped out of his seat in a red hot fury "THAT BASTARD HAD CONTROL OF MY ACCOUNT? AND NOBODY TOLD ME?" he wanted to blow up the bank, but knowing that that would get him nowhere, he settled for lighting a chair on fire. Gorku quickly went on explaining "that! Mr. Hominis is why I brought it up! Once a magical guardian is placed it is common that the guardian has control of that account! But that is the thing! It is only, that, account, all of your others are untouched and most of them he has no clue even exist. Please Mr. Hominis sit down and calm down so we can talk about this rationally!"

Absentis sat back down, mumbling to himself about the death of an old goat. Gorku shook his head slightly, starting to talk about his accounts. In total he had 10, each filled with no less than 50,000,000 galleons each, some had more. Absentis' mouth had dropped to the floor as he realized that he was richer than the Malfoys, and even richer than the Potters had been in their prime. Absentis left gringotts with a small smile on his face and money jingling happily in his pocket alongside his new wand. Things were going to be good.

It was long after his trip to gringotts that Absentis got bored. He was sitting in his flat above an abandoned shop in knocturn alley when it hit him. He smiled brightly and went down stairs, cleaning out the previously dusty storage rooms. He turned the old rooms into an apothecary, getting (with his rather large bank account having affect in the matter) some rather hard to find and illegal potions ingredients.

The first day that Absentis opened his shop he didn't have very many people come in accept the occasional sketchy looking people. But when a certain black haired potions professor stepped in he almost fell off of his chair.

"I heard you have some of the more… potent stuff?" Severus Snape asked him, Absentis turned professional and he gave a swift nod, bringing Severus into the back room.

"What is it you're making Mr. Snape?" Absentis asked absently as they walked down a long dark hallway. Severus sneered,

"That, you pathetic shop owner, is none of your concern, I just want my ingredients. You do not need to ask questions about what I need them for." Absentis glared at him, his green eyes more icy then they normally were. Severus just sneered harder at him. When they got to the room Severus quickly gathered all of the ingredients needed for the potion, all of them being highly illegal and poisonous. But when combined they made a rather strong and affective anti-venom for even the most poisonous of snakes. Absentis looked over the ingredients as Severus went to pay and he smiled slightly

"Someone seems to be worrying about Nagini attacking them, whether it is you or someone else, I have no care to know," he said absently. Severus looked up at him, his eyes slightly wide

"Maybe you are not as absent minded as I had come to believe. Yes, I am making anti-venom. A few of the newer recruits are rather… paranoid if you will. So they ask me to brew them the potion, even though constant reassurances that Nagini will not bite them, they don't seem to take my word for it," he said, a slight dark chuckle in his voice. Absentis smirked lightly, his green eyes dancing with mirth. Severus looked up at him suddenly, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"I know you from somewhere. What is your name?" he asked, Absentis raised an eyebrow at him

"I am Absentis Hominis," he replied easily. Severus' own eyebrow rose,

"Missing man?" he inquired. Absentis smiled "I see you know your Latin professor Snape. I guess you would have to, to be one of the best potion masters in the world."

Severus' eyes widened minutely as he heard the words come out of the other man's mouth, when he heard 'professor' he put the pieces together.

"Flattery will get you everywhere Mr. Potter," he said smoothly. Absentis cringed at the use of his given name.

"Do not call me Potter, I am no longer Harry Potter in magic, mind, or body. I am Absentis Hominis now. And I do hope we can put our old differences aside and become at least somewhat of acquaintances, I do have a feeling you'll be coming back often. Yes?" he said with a charming smile. Severus smirked,

"Oh most definitely Mr. Hominis, Most definitely," and with an air of finality he turned and swept out of the shop, his robes billowing behind him like a shadow on a hot summer's day.

The next time Absentis saw Severus was during a raid right in the center of Diagon alley, he saw all the death eaters including a few of the new recruits, who he recognized as Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, and Blaise Zabini. Harry let a small smile grace his lips as he stood between the alley ways of Knocturn and Diagon alley. When he saw the Order of the Phoenix appear he sneered, the Weasley's were there fighting and shooting at the death eaters with their hand me down wands. All of the Weasley's that is, except the twins. Absentis decided to save that as a point of interest, writing a mental note to check in on that later.

It was fun watching the two sides go at it, Severus was dueling molly, who was trying her best to outsmart the professor, but it simply wasn't working. Severus easily knocked the women to the ground and stood over her as the rest of the death eaters went into the shops, looking for something or someone. As Absentis watched he noticed Severus kept glancing at him, even with the mask on Absentis could tell there was something going on, something involving him.

Suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder and a man about 5 inches taller than him next to him. Absentis looked up at him and raised an eyebrow, easily identifying the death eater as Draco Lucius Malfoy.

"Tom wishes to have a word with you, Mr. Hominis," the blonde said in a civil tone. Absentis shrugged,

"Then take me to tom young Malfoy." And he did.

Draco apparated Absentis to the throne room at Malfoy manor, where Absentis was thrust onto his knees by Lucius and Draco. Absentis sneered slightly at them when tom called his name.

"Ah, Mr. Hominis," he paused, stroking his wand in between his fingers. "I have heard about you from my dear friend Severus, I do believe that he was a client in your shop a few weeks ago?" Absentis nodded,

"He was buying the necessary ingredients to make anti-venom that would cure any snake bite in the world." Tom smiled at him,

"Yes, he was. Now you see Mr. Hominis, I am rather intrigued with you. You are a very powerful wizard, and also very wealthy. Yet you run an illegal apothecary and live in the apartment above it, now, if you were me, would that not send off some red flags?" tom seemed to hum. Absentis rolled his eyes,

"Well Mr. Riddle, I assume it is okay to call you this as you are addressing me formally by my last name, you are as wealthy as the Malfoys, yet you seem perfectly content with using their home for meetings and having a small cottage home off in Scotland where you spend your nights. Let me say again a small cottage. Should that not send off any red flags for me?" tom smirked, his blood red eyes dancing.

"Ah, so you are one who does his research. And actually I can't access my mansions, or my bank account, being the worlds most hated dark wizard kind of puts you on a bit of a hold on life. Now, would you be so kind as to enlighten me on your reasons for living the way you do?"

"If you tell the two blondes to let go of me, I do not quite like being forced to bow like one of your pathetic prisoners," Absentis sneered slightly. Tom waved his hands at Lucius and Draco who let go of Absentis, the silver haired man got up off of the floor elegantly, brushing off his robes in a bit of a compulsive habit.

"I have about 900,000,000 galleons in the bank. I am in fact the richest man in the wizarding world. And I would be closer to around 1,000,000,000 if it weren't for my magical guardian stealing my money for the past 16 years, anyway. I have absolutely no need to go spend tons of money on a giant mansion that only I will stay in. I have no friends or family, and I am quite content with being in my apartment. It grants me privacy yet doesn't make me lonely. My shop is for social reasons and for mental health. I have experienced extreme isolation before, with nothing but abuse for human contact. It is not fun and in fact almost drove me insane.

"That part of my past has influenced me not to isolate myself, no matter how much depression sometimes takes control of my life. If it weren't for my shop, I would probably transfer my money over to charities and then off myself. I have yet to find a reason to live other than my shop." He finished easily, his eyes stayed trained on toms the whole time, and he was as calm as the minutes before a storm.

Tom nodded slowly,
"I see Mr. Hominis, now, and I just have one more question for you." Absentis inclined his head

"Ask away Mr. Riddle," he responded.

"Have you chosen a side in this war that is going on?" Absentis smiled, he had been expecting this.

"This is no war Mr. Riddle, this is a political campaign. And if we had to vote for who we wished to win, well Mr. Riddle, I'd be putting your name on my voting slip." With one last smile he bowed and apparated home.

It was a few months later that harry noticed an ominous feeling in his shop from the back room. He walked out and upon finding the shop empty his eyebrows shot into his hairline, waving his hand a slip of paper appeared in it and he rolled his eyes.

"Severus, Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Riddle, come out," he said and with a few groans the three men appeared.

"How did you do that?" Severus asked, going over to the counter along with his friends. Harry chuckled,

"A simple magic finding spell, Have you come to buy something or do you just want to be my company?" he smiled, Severus rolled his eyes,

"Both actually," Lucius replied for him, a slight purr in his voice. Harry looked at him with a perfectly arched eyebrow raised.

"Is that so Mr. Malfoy?"

"Please," he purred, "call me Lucius."

"Alright Lucius, why would you three want my company?" he asked leaning forward against the counter.

"Well who wouldn't want to be in the company of such a gorgeous and exotic man, and a polite and pleasant one at that?" he gave him a charming half smile. Severus looked at Lucius and slapped him upside the head, causing the blonde to jump.

"What the hell was that for?" he asked indignantly. Harry jumped slightly at the thwacking sound and had to cover his mouth with his hand to stop from giggling, his eyes crinkling at the corners as they filled with amusement.

"Absentis deserves more than a one night stand with some guy he's barely met." He drawled. Harry smiled at the dark haired man and then looked over at tom, he was shaking from being unable to laugh. Harry sent him a message through their still intact mind link.

"So tom, you like seeing your death eaters beat each other up, huh?" he chuckled through the link.

Tom jumped and looked around for the source of the voice, when his eyes landed on Absentis he noticed the smirk and his eyes widened of their own accord.

"Potter…." He breathed into the link and Absentis' face turned cold and stony,

"I am no longer that insufferable boy who lived. My name is Absentis Hominis and I would appreciate it if you called me by my actual name." Tom quickly nodded

"Of course! I'm sorry, I just... Didn't realize it was you. Your magical core is different, stronger; you must have changed it when you went missing?"

"Good observations tom," a small smile crossed his face, "and I didn't exactly change my magical core, I just unlocked it and became who I was supposed to be. Dumbledore locked all of my magical potential away, so I wouldn't be able to use all of my power in case I ever went against him. But he didn't realize that as I grew so did my magic, so I had enough to break the binds."

Toms mouth fell to the floor and harry laughed, neither of them paying attention to the other two that were still in the shop.

"How many people know that you're… you know…?"

"Just you and Severus, and I do not intend for anybody else to find out. Is that clear?" he gave him a look that said he was up for no negotiations. Tom quickly nodded,

"Chrystal…" he said out loud, causing the death eaters to look at him confused, and harry to give him a big smile.

Absentis was walking down diagon alley to madam malkins, needing a new set of dress robes, his were becoming old and fraying slightly, if it wasn't for repairing charms he would have had to replace them a lot sooner. When he entered the store he smiled at the clerk and went to the back for fittings. As he got to the back room he paused, noticing long blonde hair facing the opposite direction and the smooth voice of Lucius Malfoy. Lucius turned as he felt someone staring at his back and he smiled, his eyes turning lustful as he looked at Absentis. Absentis smiled back and allowed the witch to measure him and give him some styling tips. When he was finished he went to leave the shop but was stopped by a gentle yet firm hand on his shoulder.

"I've missed you Absentis," Lucius purred in his ear. Harry bit his lip slightly, closing his eyes at the tingles that ran through his body at his touch.

"I have missed you as well, Lucius," he responded, his voice coming out far more steady then he felt.

"It has been a few months, would you like to come back to the manor and catch up? Over a glass of wine perhaps?" Lucius purred, a small smirk on his face as harry nodded his acceptance.

When they got back to the manor Lucius brought him to a very fine sitting room, harry sat delicately on the couch and waited for the blonde to come back with a bottle of wine and 2 wine glasses. Lucius gave him his already filled glass and Absentis smiled, clinking his glass with the blondes.

"You captivate me," Lucius breathed after his third glass of wine. Absentis blushed, noticing how Lucius leaned closer to him, "such a beautiful creature, with such a mysterious way of living. I crave to know more about you."

"Flattery will get you everywhere, Lucius," Absentis whispered, Lucius leaned closer to him, their lips barely a centimeter apart,

"Will it?" he breathed, before kissing the younger man soundly on the lips. Absentis kissed back, tasting the wine on Lucius' tongue as it explored his mouth, enjoying the way the man felt against him. He let out a small moan as Lucius picked him up by the waist and carried him towards the bedroom.

They had gone three rounds of passionate sex before they couldn't feel their limbs anymore, adrenaline coursing through their veins, from the alcohol or the feelings they had they couldn't tell. It was after the third time that they finally laid down for rest, panting as they did so. Lucius moved so that he was lying on his side, watching Absentis. The green eyed man looked at him and caught his gaze, but his courage faltered and he looked away. It didn't take long for Lucius to think Absentis was asleep, and it didn't take much longer to fall off to the blissful land of dreams, as well.

When Absentis heard the breathing of the other man deepen and steady out he sighed softly, tears springing in his eyes. He got out of bed as gently as possible and put his clothes back on, heading for the door. He turned around before grasping the door knob and went over to the blonde, kissing his temple so lightly it was more like a whisper on his skin. Lucius turned in the direction of the kiss, but harry had already backed away and left the room, and the manor, entirely.

When Lucius woke up the next morning he turned around, expecting to find his partner from the night before beside him. But when he found the bed empty he sat straight up.

"Absentis…?" he breathed, looking around the room quickly. When nobody came out of the bathroom or back into the room he slumped over himself, his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands. He was stupid, so stupid! How could he let the one person he actually wanted to stay, leave?

Lucius wallowed in bed for a few hours when there was a knock on his door.
"Come in," he called weakly, a bit of hope in his voice. But when it was only Narcissa he faltered again.

"What do you need cissa?" he asked quietly, she looked down at her best friends and suddenly she couldn't remember what she needed. She sat down on the edge of his bed and rubbed his knee gently.

"What happened?" it only took two words to get Lucius to open up, but once he did he didn't stop.

Lucius explained everything to her, even including the sex, which he referred to as "when we made love."

Narcissa listened with rapt attention, and when the story was finished she pulled Lucius out of his bed and pushed him towards the bathroom, not caring that he was still naked.

"First thing first is you're going to clean yourself off! You smell like stale and damp sex, then after you shower and dress in a decent outfit, which I myself will check over to make sure its good enough. You will go down to his shop and demand to know why he left, but don't be harsh about it. The way you described him he sounds like a scared animal trying to be the alpha of a one man pack. And if it has anything to do with the fact he thought you just wanted a fling, you'll tell him how you feel about him. If HE just wanted a fling, you slap him and walk off. No big deal," she said firmly. Lucius smiled at her sadly, he kissed her cheek

"Thanks cissa, you always seem to know what to do," he mumbled before getting into the shower.

He left the manor in a flourish, he was wearing a set of navy blue robes with a silver snake clasp, his hair tied back with a simple black ribbon. He walked quickly and easily to the shop of his desires. But when he got to the front door of the apothecary he froze, reading a "close indefinitely" sign on the front door. He looked in the window and found the place empty, everything already off of its shelves and boxes littering the floor. His face fell and he turned, walking back towards the front of the alley.

Inside the shop Absentis was curled up behind the desk, he was hugging himself and sobbing quietly into his knees, when he saw Lucius approaching him, quickly hid himself. He didn't want to see the look of satisfaction on the elder man's face that came with fucking someone and then not wanting anything to do with them. Every sense the first time in the store Absentis feelings for Lucius had blossomed into a red rose of passion and love. But he couldn't bring himself to confront the man who stole his heart, he wasn't sure he wanted it back.

A few months later Absentis was inside of his apothecary, it remained open, just with some very strongly placed disillusionment charms only able to be seen by one aristocratic blonde. He was stalking some of the ingredients in the back when he heard the front door chime, signaling that there was a customer to be dealt with. He went out front and upon seeing Severus he smiled weakly, but the black haired man only stared at him.

"Absentis…. What has happened to you? You look like death!" he exclaimed. Absentis sighed softly and moved behind the counter, sinking down on his chair, he put his elbows on the hard wood and put his face in his hands.

"It… it is a very long story Severus, one that I wish not to tell," he said with such simplicity that it almost hurt. Severus glowered at him; he lifted his head up and searched his face. Absentis' eyes were puffy and swollen, like he had been crying. He also had had heavy bags under his eyes that spelled out nights of no sleep. He was skinny, far too skinny for someone of his height and building.

"Absentis, you WILL tell me what is killing you, and then I WILL find a way to fix this. Now start. Talking." He said firmly.

Absentis cursed under his breath and began to tell him the story, from the first time he met Lucius to the last time he saw him. By the end of his story he was crying, tear drops falling down his face in fat drops. Severus listened with rapt attention, and after the story had finished being told he straightened up,

"I will be back, eat, and shower, please. Just…. Don't keep hurting yourself like this. Ill fix this," he said, and before harry could protest, he was gone.

Severus apparated to Malfoy manor and stormed to Lucius' study, the man was bent over a book as he sat at his desk. Severus went over to him and slammed his hand down on the desk, making his friend jump about a foot in the air and look up at him with shock and confusion.

"Severus!" he practically shouted in response. "What is the matter with you?" he asked, noticing the feral look in his eyes. Severus' eyes blazed.

"You want to know what the matter with me is?" he hissed "you, and your habit of having one night stands and breaking hearts. I may not know your side of the story, but Absentis is DYING from the depression you left him in! Maybe if you weren't known to sleep around so much he wouldn't have left Lucius, do you not even want him back? It wouldn't surprise me; you've always been like that. Only wanting sex with someone, no matter how good of a person they are!" he snapped. Lucius' eyes had widened to 3 times what they normally were.

"h-how did you find him…?" he whispered, "He… his shop has been closed for months! And any magical trail that might have been on him has completely disappeared!"

"His shop isn't closed you dolt. If you were smart, you would have seen the disillusionment charms trying to keep you out. So you won't break his heart again," he sneered before turning around and leaving the room in a flourish of robes and anger. Lucius sank slightly into his chair before jumping up. Later he would deny scrambling to the apparition wards and looking anything but dignified as he went after the love of his life.

When Lucius got to the shop he was met once again with the sight of and dusty and empty storage room. But looking harder he noticed a waver to the picture. He grabbed the door handle and pushed his way inside. Once inside he saw the shop like it had been before he left, flourishing with life and intriguing potions materials. He walked a bit further in,

"I'll be right with you!" Absentis called from the back, he had just gotten out of the shower so his hair was tied damply at the base of his neck. When he got to the front of the shop and saw Lucius he froze and turned, most likely to run. But Lucius quickly moved and wrapped his arms around him from behind, holding him against his chest.

"No, I won't let you leave again," he whispered in Absentis' ear. Absentis struggled slightly in the embrace before giving up and leaning against him.

"I thought you liked your bedmates to leave in the morning," he breathed, his eyes stinging with tears that tried to force their way from his eyes down his cheeks.

"Maybe, but you aren't just a bedmate. You are so so so so SO much more," Lucius whispered, holding him closer. He spun Absentis around so their chests were pressed together and he noticed the younger man's tears. He gently kissed them away, "so much more."

Absentis looked him in the eyes and seeing the honesty there, he broke down, crying into the firm chest in front of him. Lucius soothed him gently, rubbing his back with one hand and petting his hair with the other. Absentis' sobs slowly turned to hiccups, then to light sniffles. He clutched tightly to Lucius,

"Don't let go," he whispered so softly Lucius had to strain to hear him. He cradled Absentis' head to his chest.

"I made that mistake before, I'm not going to make it again," Lucius responded, tilting Harrys head up by his chin and kissing him as tenderly as he could. When Absentis kissed back he smiled slightly.

All was well.