† No other Cure †

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. They belong to the author.

Pairings: Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy

Rating: M for sex scenes and language. This is a MM, meaning a man having sex with another man. If you don't like, don't read.

Genre: Romance/Angst

Theme: Harry Potter

Chapter I Hard Words

It was a new year at Hogwarts and Draco was looking forward to it but at the same time dreading it. His father, Lucius had sent him off with money for supplies and a usual cold eye, warning him that he would be visiting for the next Quidditch match and hoped that his boy wouldn't make a mockery out of him and the family name. The whole speech had been utterly boring and old news but it had stuck with him through the whole train ride like the grass stuck to the hills they passed. Draco had wandered about the train countless times already, checking in on the Slytherins and tormenting Potter and his friends before returning to his cart with Crabbe and Goyel who, as you can imagine were stuffing themselves with the sweets and treats off the trolley. Draco sat back at his seat next to the window, across from a grubby Goyel.

"Are you not hungry Malfoy?" asked Crabbe, taking a moment to stuff his mouth with a chocolate frog, the remainder of it smeared over his lips and teeth as though he had fallon in dirt.

"Yeah--- there's plenty to go around." Chimed in Goyel who had paused to spit out a Bertie Bott's. "Yuck, earwax." He scolded the treat and wrapped it in an old wrapper from a chocolate bar.

"No." he replied, loosing any appetite he might have had by seeing his 'friends' stuff their faces with crap. His silver eyes settled out the window, watching the fields and hills and then on his own reflection in the window, blondy, white hair, fair pale skin and piercing grey eyes. He smirked at his reflection for he liked to see himself in it, he thought himself quite handsome and could stand in front of a mirror for hours if need be. But there were always things to do.

A second year named Haviar Quince passed by their door, than stopped and backed up so he was in the frame before turning to them.

"Heya Malfoy!" he said cheerfully. He was a short fellow, only 5.2 feet with black hair that fell smoothly around his neck to touch his shoulders and had long figures and a skinny frame. His voice was gentle but sharp and he was a mud-blood.

"What do you want, pest?" snapped Draco, without turning away from the window and his reflection.

"I... just wanted to say hi…" he replied, sounding hurt a little. He was in Slytherin too and should have been in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, for he didn't have what it took to be a Slytherin. With a sigh the boy turned and left the cart to head back to his own and Draco turned. He was already dressed in his robes so had no need to go and do so, but he could tell by the landscape and the darkness creeping in through his window that they would arrive soon. Draco was seventeen and this would be his Seventh year at Hogwarts. He was a prefect and was farley good at Quidditch … most of the time.

There arrival was a slow one. The train wheezed and chugged to a screeching halt that hurt his ears and then, some of the students got out and held the doors open. He got up with Crabbe and Goyle, who had cleaned themselves up a tad before arrival and made his way out and off the train into the fresh spring smelling air. You could see the stars brilliantly out here. Hagrid called to the first years and the Seventh years headed to the castle a different route.

Draco didn't remember a lot about that dinner that night he had been very sleepy but there was something else, when he looked at the Teacher's Table he caught Professor Snape looking at him with those cold black eyes. When he saw him, Snape folded his cold hands onto his lap and answered a question Profferor Flitwick had been asking him prior to the distraction. Draco found it a little odd, but than again the Potions teacher had always been fond of his prim student. Draco thought nothing more of it and went on to drink some water and finish his plate of tomatoes and

other sweet fruits and vegetables.

They entered the large green Common room with its big black chairs and couch and turned up the stairs to their room. All the stuff they had brought was there, sitting by their beds. This year the boy had bought himself a Bat named Fawne. It was a fruit bat, rather small with a scruffy brown mane and black wings and big eyes on its fox like face. Draco unlocked the cage and took out the little creature, planting him on the four-poster bed hanging by his feet.

It was dark out and Draco was indeed tired, though he didn't go to sleep yet. He got changed into some silver and green pajama's and went down into the common room with a potion's book from his father. Of course it was of rather intense potions like ones to kill painfully and such… just a bit of light reading. Draco settled himself down in front of the fireplace in a leather chair; his legs slung over one arm and his back to the other. He opened the book carefully and began to read, eyes flicking from a picture than to the description. There were potions to suffocate someone without any signs of poisoning or struggle. There were ones to burn through metal like acid, ones to increase the senses and many others.

The next day he found himself wandering the halls to his Charms class, the tall brick walls seemed to look ready to cave in by the lightest touch. It was so boring he managed to get some more sleep. He was worried about something, which wasn't like him at all… He felt like he was being watched constantly. The class ended when Neville, instead of enchanting a broom to sweep on it's own, set it out to chase Ronald about the classroom. With a cast from the distressed Professor Flitwick the broom froze, shivered and fell to ashes on the floor where Harry's boom swept it up and disposed of it. Through this all Draco hardly flinched but he did laugh hysterically at Harry and Ron.

They left the class and headed to the Dinning hall where all the other students had already begun to feast on Lunch. The Seventh years found there seats and began to eat. He wasn't half way through his meal when once again, he looked up to see Snape looking back at him. Ashamed he had been caught twice he took a sling of his wine and cut into his meal of some sort of fish. Draco himself found his only appetite in the sliced mango, strawberries and oranges.

When he had finished and looked up he found his potions teacher gone, completely without a trace and he wondered where he could have gone… wait… why did he care? Why was it Malfoy found himself thinking about Snape? He was probably in the Dungeons preparing their next class. Still he felt himself being watched and it made his stomach ache. When all had eaten their share they were guided to there next class, Potions of course. This time, Snape didn't sweep through the classroom like a bat, he was already standing at the front of the class.

"Get out your quills, there will be a test to reveiw what you remember from last year. Any cheating, any talking or any disturbance of the slightest will see you minus 50 points, do I make myself clear?" he spoke in a voice so cold and so bitterly tinged with venom you could tell from the start he expected to be obeyed with no fuss. When no one spoke out he began handing out the parchments, it was a five page long test! Not a problem for Draco but still, what a way to welcome them back.
"You may start… Now" rang the sharp voice and Snape took his seat behind his desk, reading through a book on Advanced Potions.

The questions were easy, 'How do you prepare this or that' 'what is the difference between making Twiliht Dramorta in the Morning? At Night?'

They were easy questions and Draco; with some beating back on last year's brain had the answers in 34 minutes, 26 minutes before class was over. He wrote his name at the top in elegant handwriting and flipped back to the first page. He would have looked his answers over but he had that sickly feeling in his stomach again and couldn't bring himself to. Instead he found himself drawing. Drawing something at the back page in the corner. What it was he didn't really know cause he wasn't paying attention again.

Finally, the tests were collected, and Snape walked back to his desk and flipped through them, then he stopped, his eyes were sealed on something, those black eyes just frozen. He slipped one test to the side, face down and continued to flip through them. Then stood.

"You will have your marks tomorrow, you are dismissed… except you Mr.Malfoy. I need to talk with you." He hissed, placing the papers in a drawer to look over later.

Everyone filed out and complained about the test and the answers they couldn't get on their way to Transfiguration Class. Draco remained in his seat and didn't budge. His throut felt like it had a rock in it. Why did Snape want to talk with him? Had he done something wrong?

"Mr.Malfoy…" he spoke slowly as if to gather his words. Then he handed Draco his test back. "Tell me what you see wrong with that test." He spoke again with his sharp tongue. Draco shivered, as if a cold cloud had descended on him as he opened it and flipped through. He saw nothing wrong with it… than he froze, the last page... the one he had been drawing on. Snape watched him like a snake. "Now, can you tell me why you would draw something like that on your test?" he asked in a cold voice. Draco was frozen, he couldn't speak. How… how did he even draw that without noticing!? How stupid could he be!? Snape was probably freaked out to the up most extent and he could face charges for something like this.

At the bottom of the page... there was a drawing… of his potions teacher…. Rather…naked with only a leg blocking what would have been drawn. Draco wondered if Snape would care if he fainted. He couldn't breath. There was an eerie silence about the room, so quiet it seemed the slightest word would break and shatter it.

"I-…I-" nothing came out but weak attempts. Snape looked at him in a scolding way.

"You realize just how much trouble you could be in if this fell into the wrong hands, correct?" he asked in a sharp tone, he had pulled a chair in front of Draco's desk and was leaned over it, like a scorpion waiting to make the deadly blow.

"Y-yes…." He couldn't even ask to be forgiven at this point, nothing was coming out but yes. He wanted to apologize a lot and say how sorry he was, tell Snape that he had been feeling weird and hadn't paid attention. Snape watched him with flicking eyes. "Now then…. I take it… this will never happen again, Mr.Malfoy?" Asked Snape, leaning in closer to hiss 'never again'. Draco felt he could throw up at this point. He admired his potions teacher quite a lot… that's not saying he would ever admit he was gay but he was very fond of the black haired man and admired him from a distance. But this! This must have been the worst thing he could have done! How could he draw such a…. revealing picture as this!? Snape paused. "If it won't happen again I'll have you re-answer the test on another set of parchment and I'll dispose of this one. This would be trouble for the both of us, understand?" he asked with a snap as he stood up and took the test right out of the boy's hands with a 'whshk' and strode across the room to his desk.

"Y-yes…" he replied, inking his pen with a shaking hand. Snape put the test in his drawer and pulled out a new copy. And made his way back to Malfoy.

"Since you've already answered I think you can finish in ten minutes, before the next class arrives." Came his cold words as he sat down behind his desk.

"Y-yes…" and so Draco, still shaking, answered the test quickly, put away the quill and rushed the test to his teachers desk. Snape took it, skimmed the pages and put it in with the other 'good' tests. "You may leave Draco." He said calmly and he did, he hightailed out of there very fast, so fast he might as well have been a cat chasing a mouse.

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And that is chapter one! I hope you guys liked it so please R and R and you get a limited time Snape plushy squee

Snape: That... was odd

Draco: Uh huh….

Snape: I want to see this picture

Author: Well don't forget to come back for Chapter two! Named, The Watcher!!