Author's note: Hey guys, sorry that it took me so long to get this posted! I'm going to keep this going as if the 5th book didn't happen. I might use spells and stuff but I'll leave the plot of the OOTP alone. And I will definitely finish this story by the middle of August. I hate it when people don't finish their fics but when I go back to school I'll be too busy to write. Oh, and as a warning, some of this is a little cheesy. I apologize beforehand for that, but I hope that you enjoy it anyway :-)
Summary: Lucius and Severus have a little chat…
Chapter 11
Lucius Malfoy observed from a chair as a pair of house elves tended to the motionless form lying in his bed. He had been one of the few that were given a room in the Dark Lord's resumed lair. The Dark Lord had called upon Lucius often and he found it more convenient to harbor the man near by. The majority of his other followers, however, remained at their own homes. Too many absences would raise suspicion and as long as the ministry was unaware that he had returned, he would face little interference.
The blonde man watched one of the creatures scamper away from the bed with a bloody cloth, apparently used to clean the dark man's head wounds. Pettigrew had certainly put him in worse condition than Lucius was happy about. But he didn't understand why Severus had done what he had. He knew that the man hated the boy. Why was he protecting Potter?
The house elf had returned carrying a clean cloth and recommenced dabbing at the man's head. The other elf, satisfied with Severus' lip, had moved down to his torso and was now unbuttoning the man's shirt.
Lucius sighed irately. He remembered when Pettigrew was in school with Severus and himself. Pettigrew had never done anything like this. He had never shown any competency in dueling. Why did he now choose to unmask this ability and lash out at Severus? The fat little man had hated both of them as boys but he was forced to cooperate with Lucius under the Dark Lord. But why hadn't he fought back when they were young? Perhaps he had only recently acquired these new skills. But that was rather unlikely given the power and skill affording them.
Lucius lifted his eyes, intending only a glance to note the progress that had been made. But what he saw kept his eyes from dropping back. Severus' pale chest was splashed in black and blue bruises, which was expected. What had caught his eye was the dwindling size of the man.
Getting to his feet, Lucius walked to the bed side, grabbing one of the elves by the tea towel and shoving it away. His face was skewed with an uncharacteristic look of mixed concern and anger. He had met with Severus only six months ago and he was certain that the man lying in front of him had not been this thin at that time. As his expression evolved into one of untainted anger, he silently cursed Severus and his infamous neglect for his own health.
The other elf started to tremble with the seething man so close. He small hands shook as they wiped the blood and grime away from a wound. Looking up, Lucius directed his anger toward the small creature. "Are you done cleaning the wounds?" he spat in a furious voice.
The elf jumped at the tone and nodded vigorously. "Y-Yes, Sir."
Lucius stalked to the corner beside the bed where he had thrown the other elf. Grabbing it by the back of the tea towel once again, he flung it to the bed side. "Then get on with it!"
Both elves were now shaking uncontrollably. One held its trembling hands over Severus' head while the other held its hands over the man's torso. They began mumbling an ancient incantation together, each slightly rotating their palms over the man's body.
Lucius looked on as Severus' wounds began to progressively fade away. Turning to the two creatures, he said snidely, "Leave us."
The two elves turned on their heels and all but ran from the room as if an enraged dragon lay behind them.
Lucius turned his attention back to his boyhood companion. His eyes lingered on Severus' face for a few moments with an unreadable expression before returning to his chair in the opposite corner of the room to wait for the man to regain consciousness.
However, he did not have to wait long before he noticed a hand twitch in the bed, a sign that Severus was nearing consciousness. Blowing a rush of air through his nose, he stood from his station and strolled casually to the man's right side. He then sat on the edge of the bed with his back to the man and stared out of the window that lay directly across from him. It was a miserable day in the mountains. It was nearing midday but the sky outside was gray and clouded over, threatening rain.
Another stir from Severus brought Lucius' attention back to the man. He noticed that Severus' head was now resting on its cheek, facing the other wall. His lips had also begun to twitch, reminding Lucius of his friend as an adolescent. He knew only had a few more moments' silence for reflection telling from the signs of wakefulness. He still didn't know exactly what he was going to say to the man. Severus was a very proud man, one of his qualities that had attracted Lucius to him in the first place. Yet, that quality would only be a hindrance at the moment.
Lucius' eyes now fell to Severus' rising and falling bare chest. The elves had not bothered in their haste to refasten the many buttons on the shirt. He noticed that the man's breathing was loosing its irregularity, a distinct sign that he would wake soon.
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Severus' eyes flickered open. He stared straight out waiting for his eyes to focus noting to himself that he felt oddly relaxed and comfortable.
"Would you like something to drink?" a drawling voice next to him said.
Severus, muscles tensing at the intruding voice, bolted into a position that fell somewhere between sitting and laying down where he supported himself with his elbows. He pointed his eyes in the direction of the voice and his eyes finally focused on the man sitting next to him, Lucius.
"Or perhaps," Lucius' eyes lowered themselves from Severus' and rested on the man's exposed torso, "something to eat?" His voice still held the casually elegant tone.
Severus followed the man's gaze with his own eyes. His face contorted into a glare as he hastily began buttoning his shirt from the bottom to the top.
"No? Watching your figure, then?" Lucius said, intentionally trying to goad Severus into speaking.
"What do you want, Lucius?" Severus spat, clasping the last button. "Is there a reason that I'm still alive?"
Lucius smiled a not unkind smile. "Glad to see that you've still got your spirit. At least that's one thing that Dumbledore hasn't stripped you of."
Severus slid off then opposite side of the bed gracefully and got to his feet. He grabbed one of the ornate bed's four posters to support himself until he reacquainted his legs with a standing position. "Why don't we just skip the pleasantries, Lucius? What is it that you want?" he said dryly.
Lucius got to his feet and strode to the chair that he had been sitting in previously. Seating himself, he stretched out a hand, offering Severus a nearby chair.
Severus shook his head slightly, glaring at the man, and remained distanced from him in the opposite corner of the room.
Lucius politely nodded before speaking. "You look tired. Have you been sleeping well?"
Severus shot the man an exasperated look. "Get to the point, Lucius," he demanded impatiently.
Lucius' lip curled into a halfway smirk. "As you wish, Severus." He took in a deep breath before beginning again. "The Dark Lord has missed your services."
Severus scoffed.
Lucius raised a single eyebrow but continued. "It is his desire that you return to the fold, Severus. And, mine as well."
Severus narrowed his eyes and disgusted with the man in front of him, diverted his gaze to the only window in the room, noting the weather and guessing the time of day. "There are many who could offer the same services to the Dark Lord."
"Yes, but none so well as you," Lucius said in a smooth voice.
Severus turned back to the man. "What does it matter how well the potion works as long as it achieves its intended purpose? What does he really want from me?"
Lucius sighed. "Does it really matter?" he asked. "He is giving you the second chance that he has never offered anyone before."
"Really, Lucius, you make this 'second chance' of his sound as it is a great kindness on his part."
"He doesn't like being made to look the fool." Lucius said dryly. "Your departure from our ranks did not sit well with him."
Severus gave a unmodest snort. "My departure? Is that what has offended him enough to being me back to this retched place?" He began pacing in his small corner, wrapping his arms around himself in a manner in which it was difficult to determine consoling or defensive. "Tell me, Lucius, do you not find it at all suspicious that Dumbledore trusts me to the vicinity that he does?"
Lucius raised both eyebrows momentarily. "A bit, yes, but you've always had a gift for talking your way out of trouble."
"Do you really think that the Ministry of Magic would allow a former Death Eater to teach at Hogwarts? Do you think that even Dumbledore's forgiveness stretches so far?" Severus, though still occupying his corner of the room, had stopped pacing and was staring directly into Lucius' eyes.
Lucius only looked unflinchingly back into Severus' dark orbs. Though the atmosphere was tense in the small compartment, neither man showed any sign of awkwardness. Both men stood proudly, emitting an aura of elegance. Severus looked the part of scholar while Lucius looked the part of aristocrat.
"Surely," said Lucius, "you found similar ways of avoiding Azkaban as the rest of us."
"No, Lucius, my way of 'avoiding Azkaban' was much different than yours."
"I highly doubt that, Severus." Lucius' voice was loosing its calm and becoming a bit more strained.
"Oh? Think back on all of the occasions that we've seen each other since the fall of the Dark Lord. Can you recall one occasion that we spoke of my trial?" Severus spat acidly.
Lucius looked as if a thought had just occurred to him.
Severus, however, did not give up his tirade. "There was no trial, Lucius." He let this sink in for a moment before continuing. "I was a spy for Dumbledore."
Lucius' mouth was parted slightly. For a small amount of time he looked as if he was attempting to make sounds with his mouth but nothing came out. Eventually, he muttered, "Why?"
Severus' lip curled in repulsion. "How can you ask me that? You of all people should understand."
Lucius looked even more pale than normal. By his facial expression, it was apparent that, though he was not completely over the shock of what had come out of the other man's mouth, he was regaining control of his thoughts and becoming angrier by the second. "Understand? And what exactly is it that I should understand?" he said darkly.
Severus' eyes narrowed and he averted his eyes back to the conveniently placed window. "You remember what happened shortly after I accepted the mark," he said in an eerily calm voice.
Lucius' eyes darted to the man's arms that were now folded across his chest. His face became the image of someone recalling an unpleasant memory from far in the past. "You never said why," he said in a voice so solemn that Severus turned his back completely to his friend, hiding his own somber expression.
"You knew me better than anyone. I didn't think that I had to," Severus said, the customary smoothness in his voice now sounding strained.
Lucius' expression evolved into a look of contemptuous pain. "I was only seventeen and I found my best friend on the bathroom floor, surrounded in his own blood that was streaming from his own wrists that he had just slit!" he shouted, his breathing becoming harsh and unsteady. "You never said why. You never so much as apologized for putting me through that! You just went on as if nothing had happened."
Severus turned back to meet Lucius' eyes, wearing an empty expression. "And you," he said scornfully, "never apologized for saving my life."
Lucius' mouth gaped open, loosing all sense of his customary reserved elegance. He stalked across the room, diminishing the distance between himself and Severus.
Severus stood his ground in quiet resolve, only peering gravely into Lucius' furious eyes. A fraction of a second later, he found himself on the stone floor, his lip and nose aching, and his face turned toward the ground.
Lucius towered above the man, breathing hard with his fists clenched tightly at his side.
* * * * *
Author's note: Ok, sorry that I left off in the place that I did but I'm really tired and I wanted to get something posted before I left on vacation. Also, I know the whole healing scene was cheesy but it's not really important, so I will just ask your forgiveness on that. As always, thank you very much for reading this and keep letting me know what you think :-) Until the next post!