Chapter Fifty Four- ...And a Happy New Year
Disclaimer-Most of these characters belong to JK Rowling, I'm just borrowing…
Lucius remained in his room all night. Severus had dinner in his bathtub and then retired by the fire with a book before falling asleep around three in the morning. At six in the morning there was a knock at the pre-teen's door. He turned over and glared at the door and then went back to sleep. A moment later there was another knock, followed by the door opening.
A tallish dark haired boy in very obtuse robes entered the room, walked right passed the bed and opened the curtains.
"I like this room mama."
"Good Vyxnard. It's yours," the voice of Verunia said as Severus finally lifted his head from the welcoming pillow.
"Oh good morning Mr. Snap. This is my son Vyxnard and this will be his room as soon as Dobby moves you that is," she said with an evil smile as the house-elf mentioned entered the room and began moving Severus out.
"What time is it?" the groggy boy asked.
"It's six in the morning Mr. Snap. Rise and shine!"
"It's Snape not Snap," he corrected in a vicious tone. The two Albanian's stood with their arms crossed at their chest and stared at him. He got out of bed and walked to this bathroom or what once was his bathroom.
"Pay him no mind, he's a lowly half-blood," he heard her say in her native tongue. Some of the finest dark text's come from Albania and he understood enough of the language to know what she was saying.
"Why is he here then?" the boy asked his mother also in his native language.
"A friend of Lucius. I think he's doing it just to anger his father. Lucius knows how his father feels about them."
"Won't He be angry when he finds out a half-hlood is here?" Vyxnard asked.
Severus made sure to pee as softly and slowly as possible so he could hear them talk more. Who was 'He'?
"Yes of course son, He probably will. This boy is nothing. Once I'm Mrs. Malfoy he won't be stepping foot in this house ever again. Neither will Lucius if he does not join us."
"Let's just kick him out then. I don't want to sleep in the same bed a filthy half-blood slept in," the boy whined.
"Oh I know dear," she said. Severus left the bathroom and made sure not to brush his teeth or wash his hands or lower the toilet seat. Verunia was hugging her son who looked utterly disgusted to be seen in the presence of such a scum bag.
Severus got right up in the woman's face, which was simple since she was the same height as he. He was inches from her nose when he decided to speak in her native language.
"You may burn the sheets in ephagy now," he breathed right onto her face. He knew his morning breath was as offensive as any others and wanted to be sure she got a nice good whiff before he left the room.
It appeared Dobby had vanished with his bags and he was not about to go searching for them. He knocked on Lucius's door and opened it when there was no answer. Lucius was sleeping on his side with his back to the door. His long hair was braided and tied in the back.
"Hmm?" Lucius groaned.
"I've been kicked out of my room and I have no idea where Dobby installed me. Can I come in?"
"Hmm," he groaned more agreeably.
Severus approached the bed and got beneath the covers. It was a king sized bed and Lucius was way on the other side. Severus had never shared a bed before with anyone and suddenly felt nervous and uncomfortable. He was also tired and cranky and just wanted more rest. He rolled over on his side so he was not facing Lucius and noticed the Merlin standing straight up with a smile on his face. Second thought, face down beneath the pillow is an awfully comfortable position too.
Severus was awakened several hours later when the sound of a long stream of urine made him open his eyes. He would have thought that Lucius would be the type to close the door being the prude he was. Severus emerged from beneath the blankets and pillow and stretched out his arms. The clock said ten. He heard the faucet go and then saw Lucius in his pajamas walking out of the washroom.
"What are you doing here?" Lucius asked while tying his bathrobe.
"I've been here for hours. I was kicked out of my room, remember?"
"Oh," Lucius said with a mystified look on his face. "I thought that was a dream."
"More like a nightmare."
"That whore kicked you out?" Lucius asked sitting on the bed near Severus but not near enough to be the second person nearly knocked out from his morning breath that day. "What did she say?"
"She and her kid came in at six in the morning, six! And had Dobby pack my stuff and told me to leave. Then they started speaking in Albanian and talking about how they don't know why a half-blood was allowed in this house and how he didn't want to sleep in my bed."
"You understand Albanian?"
"I do, well I understand enough. They said that all half-bloods were scum, and 'bout you following Him or else…"
"They are insane Severus. Pay no attention to them."
"Who's Him?"
"No one…pay them no mind."
"Some Albanian wizard?" Severus asked. He had a feeling Lucius knew Him or knew of Him and he wanted more information on said Him.
"No, do you ever give up?" he asked. Severus shot him a blank stare and lifted one brow. "He's British and He's a great and powerful wizard. He lived there for a time."
"He knows I'm here?" Severus asked.
"Well…He most likely does not. It's nothing, they are horrible people. Pay them no attention."
"This makes no sense."
"I know, pay Him no mind. Again, ignore it. Let's find where Dobby installed you and have some breakfast."
--
Wallace and Vyxnard were identical twins with identical personalities. They were pompous, rude, and arrogant. If it's one thing Severus hated it was arrogance. Dinner was uncomfortable. The only people who spoke were Verunia and her sons to each other.
Severus could hardly eat his mushroom soup. Lucius did not eat a single bite and even Abraxas looked uncomfortable. He was probably uneasy because a disgusting half-blood was seated near by draining his appetite away.
Lucius insisted that Severus room with him for the duration of his stay. He told Severus he just did not want to be alone.
His room was identical to Severus's former one but with the windows facing west instead of east. His room was not cream colored like Severus's was, instead it was a very deep garnet colored with black furniture. His bathroom had black marble and gold fixtures. His closet was the same size and packed with multicolored robes, shoes, hats, cloaks, shirts and trousers.
On his nightstand there was a magical photograph of his mother, who Severus learned was named Gwendolyn, holding what appeared to be an infant Lucius in her arms. He could not have been more than one month old, was wrapped in a white satin blanket and had not one hair on his head. She held the baby close to her body and kissed his bald head three times while rocking him. After the third kiss she mouthed the words "Mummy loves you" and then looked into the camera and smiled.
He noticed another picture next to it. That one was just his mother alone, wearing her Hogwarts robes and Slytherin tie. She was giggling and laughing at the camera. There was another one of her with a little Lucius, probably aged six, sitting on her lap with his arms wrapped around her neck. Her face was touching his and she kissed him on the cheek as he giggled.
The last picture was when Lucius looked much older, possibly thirteen. He was in his Hogwarts robes and Slytherin tie and he stood nearly as tall as she did. She did look thinner and less happy than in the other pictures. She had her arms around him and kissed him on the temple and mouthed the words "I love you," to him before they both smiled for the camera.
It was nice to see family photos, and even he had a few of his own. One of his dad holding him when he was maybe a month old, one of his mother holding him when he was one year old, and one of the three of them on his third birthday. That was the first and last family portrait ever taken. Severus had not seen the pictures in years and had no idea where they were anymore.
--
The next few days were spent mostly in Lucius's room. The two of them took nearly all of their meals there and no one seemed to notice or care too much. Severus knew that the tub was the same but he could not relax and enjoy it with Lucius mere feet away.
Every day the two would come down stairs for a little while after Verunia made a remark that she thought the two were gay. Mostly Lucius was nauseated at the sight of Wallace and Vyxnard and infuriated at the sight of Verunia. His father was mostly absent or glued to her side.
Severus could not figure it out. Abraxas was a rich and powerful man. She was a hag, ugly, and boring. Her sons seemed like spoiled rotten little children who decided to take over Malfoy Manor. Their father had died two years ago and it seems they'd find a new one in Abraxas.
One afternoon Lucius went to visit Narcissa and Severus stayed behind, locked in the room, wrote a long letter to Lily and read some books. He also enjoyed a very long and relaxing bath and taunting the Merlin.
--
New Year's Eve was spent in Lucius's room. He was two-waying Narcissa for a couple of hours while Severus was investigating a curse he was curious about. Around eleven at night Dobby came in with biscuits and milk for Severus and ale for Lucius.
Severus dunked his biscuit into his milk while watching Lucius sip his ale made the realization that their age difference all too apparent to Severus. Even Lucius noticed as he glanced down at the plate of fine biscuits and smiled. He took a biscuit and ate it. Two biscuits later and Dobby was coming to deliver a large glass of milk for Lucius. He put his ale aside and dunked his biscuit in his milk without embarrassment.
Closer to midnight the two donned their cloaks and stepped out onto his balcony. Lucius switched back to ale while Severus sipped on his favorite, cranberry juice. The moon was glowing and all of the stars were shining.
"You have a birthday soon?" Lucius asked, gazing at the moon.
"Oh, uh, yeah I guess I do."
"You guess?" Lucius asked.
"Yeah, it's no big deal. I don't celebrate."
"Don't celebrate? Severus you'll be thirteen! A teenager! You're growing up finally."
"Yeah I guess," Severus said not really caring much at all about his birthday. Lucius looked down at his watch and smiled.
"One minute to go!"
"Woopie," Severus said unenthusiastically. New Years, Valentine's, Boxing Day, what was the big deal? It's just a day.
They heard laughter and cheering coming from downstairs at the stroke of midnight.
"Well, welcome 1973! Sure to be a great year!" Lucius exclaimed.
"Sure, I'm sure it will," Severus said. It was three seconds into 1973 and he was already bored. He missed Lily and just wanted to be with her that night.
AN: 1973 was a great year! Hell, it's the year I was born! Can't get much better than that! :-)
