The dark clouds overhead and the down pouring rain fit the wizard's mood as he walked along the deserted streets, opting for the long walk from the edge of town instead of apparating to the doorstep of his destination. As the cool rain hit his face, his nervousness about what he was about to do started to come back to him. This was probably not the best idea, but he couldn't hold everything in anymore. He needed to talk to him. See his face. Anything. It had been too long and he felt like he was dying inside.
For the past six years, since that last time he had set eyes on Lucius, he had been struggling with their bitter farewell, wanting nothing more than for it to get resolved, but that hadn't happened, and now he was losing it. He felt like he would seriously die if he couldn't see him again. He wanted to die now anyway, his dark thoughts of suicide taking over his mind more and more as time went on. He was hoping things could be resolved between the two of them, but he wasn't too confident. It had been so long and the bitterness from their farewell could have grown into hatred on Lucius' side. Hopefully that wasn't the case, but if it was, he knew the suicidal thoughts would win and his life would end. And that would be okay because he no longer could handle living without talking to Lucius anymore. Even if things couldn't be resolved, at least he would have seen Lucius' face one last time.
Pushing open the gate that led to the manor, there was a quiet creak, seeing as it had started to rust. The man frowned as he heard it, the frown only deepening as he saw the long grass and overgrown bushes that were all over the once well-kept grounds. Lucius must have really given up to no longer care about the appearance of his home, and the dark-haired man feared what the man inside would look like. If Lucius let his grounds, which could be seen so publicly, be a mess, what would he himself be like? The man walking up the path knew that after Narcissa and Draco had left, Lucius had rarely shown his face in public, the last time being over a year ago. All of this made the visitor more uneasy, worried about the state that Lucius would be in.
He approached the vast double doors of the great manor and swallowed nervously. It felt like the biggest moment of his life, standing on this doorstep, although he'd been through so much over the years. This moment could change everything. He closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths and knocked quietly on the front door. It was a quiet knock, barely audible, but the sound rang throughout the empty manor. The man waited in silence, staring at the door, wishing it would open soon. Each passing second felt like an eternity, his heart fluttering nervously and his stomach tightening into a knot as he waited. After what felt like years, but was only a couple of minutes, the doors parted slightly and there he was.
But the wizard who answered the door looked nothing like the proud man he once was. Lucius stood at the partially open door, looking out at his visitor, saying nothing. His eyes looked dead and there were bags under them, as if he hadn't slept in weeks. His robes had a hole in them and looked unwashed. He smelled of alcohol and his hair was a mess, not to mention the scraggly beard that was trying to grow on his sunken cheeks, just as it had the year his son had been made into a Death Eater. He stood there quietly, looking at his guest vacantly, as if he could not even recognize him even though they had known each other for decades.
Could a heart explode from happiness and yet break at the same time? Because that's how it felt for the man looking at Lucius. He was looking at the man that he had missed so much, and his heart was overjoyed just to gaze upon him. But Lucius looked so terrible and far from who he had been that it hurt to see. Not because the man loved Lucius for his looks, but because it meant Lucius didn't care about how he looked anymore and he hated that he had given up on anything. The man's dark eyes slowly took in the haggard man, not wanting to miss a detail, memorizing it all in case the door was slammed on him and he didn't get a chance to apologize.
The two of them stood in silence, looking at each other, memories of past years filling both their heads. The visitor was the one who broke the silence, and although he had planned a long speech to ask for forgiveness, all he was able to whisper was, "Lucius."
At the sound of his name, the blonde's eyes seemed to look alive for a brief second, but quickly returned to their dead look and he nodded an acknowledgement. He replied in kind, saying only his visitor's name, "Severus."