A/N: Still not completely thrilled with this chapter, but you all have been waiting for quite a while. Sorry!

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Chapter 21

"Sure you don't want to go with me?" London asked again, pulling on his leather jacket.

"No, the students would be horrified if I showed up. You can leave your jacket here, you know. You're only going down the hall to the party."

London looked down sheepishly. "Yeah. Right." He slid it off of his shoulders slowly and hung it back on the coat tree. He stared at it blankly for a brief moment before nodding once more.

"Do recall that you have the first of your 'tests' with tomorrow."

"As if I could forget," London sneered. Dumbledore had demanded that he give up his weekend to submit to testing in all areas of magic. Of course, since London didn't have an actual day job during the week, it wasn't exactly a sacrifice to give up two of his already empty days.

It was the thought of it that rubbed him.

They had damn near come to blows over the nature of the exams, but eventually Dumbledore was made to see to reason, and he had agreed to only have practical exams. London had argued vehemently that written exams were the exact thing that he had sought to escape by dropping out of school, as well as the fact that they wouldn't actually demonstrate anything since he didn't actually know any spells or magical theory.

He had, of course, won the argument with that little fact.

Second test, passed.

He wasn't sure how long he could keep up the pretense that he knew how to read though. He knew that he needed to do something, he just didn't know what, yet.

Hopefully inspiration would hit him at some point before he was confronted with a disappointed and potentially angry lover who had inadvertently discovered the truth.

It was a lot easier pretending that he could read when the two saw each other only for a few months during the summer hols. Most of the time, Severus didn't particularly want to do too many things that involved reading either. Living in a school though, surrounded by books and learning…this was a whole new fight for him.

London hated this kind of fight. Set him in front of a gang of assholes to fight, give him a weapon or two—hell, even leave him with only his wits and he could deal with that. But fights like this? What the hell could he do?

Severus pulled London into his arms for a quick kiss and then shoved him toward the door. "Go. I have grading to do. Do try to make it back to the rooms at some point in the night, or I will be forced to enter the Slytherin dorms to come looking for you, and I really prefer to pretend that I have no idea that nights such as these exist in the dorm rooms."

London gave Severus one more, quick kiss before turning to leave.

Draco and Pansy met him about halfway down the hall.

"We thought that you weren't coming," Draco said.

"Nah. I'm not very good with being on time. Drives Sev mad."

"I would imagine," Pansy said, smiling.

"'S his own fault, really," London said. "Bastard should have bought me a watch."

Draco and Pansy laughed quietly, both more amused by the fact that London managed to make 'bastard' sound like a term of endearment than by the fact that he had blamed his lateness on their poor professor.

"Everyone's thrilled that you're coming," Pansy said, linking her arm through London's.

He looked down at it blankly for a moment, before tucking her hand further into his arm and sending her a blinding smile. "Are they, love?"

"Of course. You managed to catch the eye of Severus Snape. Not an easy feat, if rumor is to be believed."

Draco stepped up onto London's other side. "My cousin didn't date anyone for a long time after the First War. He didn't start dating again until a few years ago."

"I know," London said simply.

"Yeah, of course," Draco said, blushing lightly. "Of course you two have talked about your histories before."

London shrugged, deciding not to correct the blond's misinterpretation of his words.

"How long have you two been together, anyway?" Draco asked.

So much for that. "About two and a half years now."

Draco's jaw dropped. "But that would mean…you would have been fifteen!"

"Fourteen."

Pansy stopped dead in her tracks. "Fourteen?" she whispered. "That's…young."

"I turned fifteen about a month later," London said by way of excuse.

Draco quickly pulled himself back together. "It's not much younger than many of us begin our courting, really. It just seems that way because Severus is so much older than us."

"Courting?"

"Purebloods tend to begin the courting or marriage rituals just before they turn sixteen. It's important to find out if our magic is sympathetic to each other's before we are of age. So you're really just a year ahead of us in that respect," Draco explained.

"Who are you courting?" London asked curiously.

"Pansy."

London turned his gaze back to the young woman on his arm. "Good choice."

She blushed prettily at his words, and then released his arm as they approached the door to the common room.

"Motivation," she said to the heavy wooden door, which slid open immediately.

The party was already fully in swing, with music on the wizarding wireless and drinks being passed around. A few of the braver (or drunker) souls were already dancing.

"Drink?" a young man said to London, holding out a glass filled with juice and liquor of some sort.

London accepted it gratefully. "Ta."

"I'm Greg Goyle," he introduced himself.

"London."

"I know." At London's raised eyebrow he elucidated. "Er…everyone knows, so I suppose that wasn't terribly intelligent. Glad you came though."

London nodded, his body already throbbing with the desire to dance and lose himself in the pounding music.

He caught the eye of one of the young women who was staring at him with open curiosity. "Dance?" he asked, finishing his drink in a single gulp.

She nodded immediately, and they pushed their way to the center of the room where a dance floor had been cleared.

The room watched in stunned amazement as their professor's boyfriend lost himself in the music. He moved as though his body were made for this moment, for this song, for this dance. It was mesmerizing.

When the song ended he pulled another girl to his side, dancing with her for a few minutes before turning toward a young man. As he switched from dancing with a woman to dancing with a man, his movements instantly became more sensual, an almost heady sexual allure pouring off of London.

The Slytherins stared at him in undisguised lust as he danced with his partners. A light sheen of sweat covered his arms, and his already tight shirt clung to his chest.

"Fuck," Pansy said softly.

"I know. No wonder Severus is with him. He's sexy enough to even turn my head," Draco whispered back.

"Tell me about it," she said, not at all disturbed that the man she was courting admitted to being turned on by his cousin's lover. London was gorgeous, and just watching him dance with Gideon Macey was enough to make her pant. "Can you believe that they've been together for so long?"

Draco paused for a moment. "In some ways, no. I never thought Severus would take a kid to his bed. But in other ways…fuck. Look at him. I bet he was just like this at fourteen. And I'm sure that he looked far older than fourteen, too."

"I know." Pansy watched in silence for a moment as London moved toward Blaise Zambini. "They must be made for each other, to be able to have come together when London was so young. Their magic must be incredibly sympathetic."

"That's my thought too," Draco agreed.

"So what have you two learned about London?" Millie asked, joining their conversation along with Theo.

Draco and Pansy exchanged a long look. Draco nodded.

"He and the professor have been together for quite a while. It seems that their magic is sympathetic. If I'm not mistaken, they are nearly bonded without even having to go through the formal steps."

Millie gasped softly. "That would take years though. Even if you are sympathetic with your lover, it takes…years and years!" she said. "Doesn't it?"

Draco nodded slowly.

Millie gasped again, understanding sinking in. "I see."

"We'll need to keep it quiet," Theo said. "Those who are not purebloods will never understand."

"My thoughts exactly. They'll accuse Severus of pedophilia," Draco said.

"But…but that's ridiculous!" Millie argued.

"It's the way muggles think," Pansy explained. "Muggles and muggleborns don't understand our ways. They don't understand the importance of the courtship rituals and sympathetic magic and soul bonds. They just don't get it."

Draco explained further. "Most of them think that true love can only happen between a man and a woman who are both the same age, or nearly so. They don't understand that your life partner can come in many different guises. They certainly don't understand that it is possible for a fourteen year old boy and a thirty five year old man to fall in love."

"Can they do anything to them? Either of them?" Theo asked.

"No. Not really," Draco said. "I don't believe that there are any actual laws regarding the courtship process—at least there aren't any that specify the ages either of the members must be before it begins. People will just try to make Severus look bad because of it."

"And because he helped the Boy Who Lived to hide," Pansy said, noting that London was dancing with two fifth year girls now. Although tamed, his movements were still sensual enough to make many of the young women blush.

"Do you think he knew?" Theo asked.

Draco rolled his eyes. "This is Severus. Of course he knew. He might have been fooled for a bit, but I'll bet you half my inheritance that he knew who London really was within a few months of them meeting."

Millie nodded. "Me too. The Professor is just too smart to have been fooled for long."

"I don't know," Pansy said. "London seems like someone who can keep a secret if he wants to."

"He told you two about himself and Severus easily enough," Theo pointed out.

"Yes, but he seems to have little understanding of why we would have been surprised that they had been together for so long. Not to mention, even if he did know that it might be better to keep that quiet, he also knows that Draco is related to the Professor. He would have little reason to keep his secrets then," Pansy explained.

"You're right," Draco said. "He doesn't seem to know some really basic things. He didn't understand why Severus wouldn't want to come tonight. I don't think that he knows much about schools, or about what is or isn't normal for kids."

"I guess so," Theo said. "Seems odd, anyway. Who wouldn't know not to drink near adults?"

"Someone who's lived on the streets for basically his entire life. Not to mention…well, later, maybe," Draco said, deciding to keep quiet about his earlier suspicions for now. Perhaps he'd discuss them with Pansy later on. But a boy who was that incredibly gorgeous, who lived on the streets and had evidently started having sex with Severus when he was only fourteen…well, there were only so many conclusions to draw from that.

Their conversation ended abruptly when they noticed London making his way toward them. He grabbed a second drink from the table.

"You're not dancing?" he asked, his green eyes shining vividly in the dimly lit room.

"Not yet," Draco said. "I need a few more drinks first."

Pansy decided to begin introductions. "London, this is Millicent Bulstrode and Theodore Nott. They're our closest friends. Millie and Theo, this is London, as I'm sure you are aware."

"Pleasure," Millie said, smiling.

London nodded in greeting.

"How did you and the Professor meet?" Theo asked.

"At a club. I was dancing with a few men when he saw me. He came over, danced for a bit and then we left for his place."

"Could you feel that your magic was in sympathy then?" Pansy asked, assuming that was the reason he had gone home with their Professor the first night they had met.

"Eh? No. I didn't even know he was a changer. I just thought he was fucking hot."

Draco choked on his drink for a moment. "Severus? Hot?"

"He fucking drips sex. Haven't you ever noticed?"

Draco shook his head but Pansy nodded.

"What do you mean—changer?" Millie asked curiously.

"You know. Like us. We can change things. Wizards, I guess."

The Slytherins nodded their understanding.

"So…you just went home with him?" Theo asked.

"Yeah. It was fucking brilliant. So the next morning when I asked him his name—"

"You didn't know his name yet?" Theo whispered, his shock evident.

"No. When was I supposed to have asked? I was a bit distracted by his cock, thank you very much. So when I found out his name I asked if he wanted to meet up again at the club. So we did."

"Wow…that's…quite a story," Pansy eventually said.

"You should probably keep it a bit quiet," Theo said, filling London's glass again. "The Slyths will understand, and won't give a damn how old you were when you started dating. But some of the others won't get it. And they'll give you two a lot of shit…particularly the Professor."

London frowned. "I see."

"London, I can't believe that you lost your virginity to some nameless guy from a club? I mean, sure, he ended up being your soul partner, but it was still a big risk!" Millie said.

"I wasn't a virgin," London said.

"Oh," Theo said. "Oh." The rest of the students exchanged silent looks.

"What?"

"Er…it's just that a lot of witches and wizards will only ever have sex with the person that they will marry," Draco explained. "Most of them will remain faithful to their spouse. At least until the marriage is cemented and the heir is born. Then both of them can sleep around as much as they want. They often take a few lovers, later in life."

London stared at Draco for a moment, then shrugged. "Bit late for that. Been too late for that since I was twelve."

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A/N: There have been A LOT of questions about when London will learn to read, and when Severus will find out. All I can say is, I have planned it all out, and Severus won't find out for a while longer. He WILL find out though.

Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews! Everyone has been very kind and encouraging. Thank you!